"I see..." Ilyana nodded. "Their movements have been kind of hectic as of late, but that information will help me to understand their actions a little more. Well, I have heard what I wanted. You can ask anything now."

"Sure... So, you were a victim of harvesters too?" Leon asked. "There are many others like us?"

"If you live long enough, you will find a few hundreds of people that have been messed with by several troublesome individuals," Ilyana explained. "Most of them are much older than me, so I can't understand what their goal is, but a few only want to get rid of individuals like you because they can accelerate the growth of entire races."

"I imagined something like that," Leon said.

"After reaching a certain level of power, they can only manifest their bodies in worlds that are on the fourth stage of assimilation," Ilyana added. "However, they can only kill individuals because they are beings that considerate to belong to the worlds on the sixth stage of assimilation. I can't say for sure, but I think they are in a race to reach the seventh stage of assimilation... I never heard of a sentient being that becomes powerful enough to reach that stage, but many think that is the last stage... the ones who reach that level will become gods."

"Seriously... "Leon massaged his eyebrows. "They caused so much trouble to many just for power... I already knew that, but... after hearing that from someone else only makes me feel a terrible headache."

"If you want to know, I can tell you how your world will change," Ilyana said. "At this pace, in four hundred years, Earth will reach the fifth stage of assimilation, and the true harvesters will be able to manifest themselves there. It will be a slaughter. As you can imagine, the people there aren't strong enough or have the numbers to protect themselves. Some of them fled to other planets. Only that won't solve the problem. With the level of mana on your planet at the fifth stage, the planet will be able to heal itself from the damage caused by them. However, even though it will be hard, it won't be impossible to destroy the whole planet if two or three harvesters that are on the sixth stage get serious."

"Is that so..." Leon said.

"After one thousand years on the fifth stage, Earth will reach the sixth stage of the assimilation," Ilyana added. "From that point onward, your planet won't be destroyed no matter what. However, the harvesters will be able to use their power freely and appear and leave whenever they feel like it. Their presences alone will change the weather of your world and destroy everything that makes it habitable."

"That sounds scary," Leon said while he was scratching his chin.

"In the end, those harvesters that messed with your sole goal was to prevent you from returning to Earth and making preparations for their arrival," Ilyana said. "Everything they said to you was a lie to keep your mind busy and take you out from the fastest path toward home... they did that to hundreds, perhaps thousands of times and they killed many individuals like you and me whose sole purpose was to obtain revenge... knowing that, do you still want to face them?"

"I don't want to face hundreds of them," Leon answered. "I will be satisfied in beating the two that messed with me to a pulp... I guess I can't just leave Earth behind since the fastest way to find them is to try to protect Earth."

"So, are you going to protect your world?" Ilyana asked, "Even though no one there still remember who you are?"

"I don't have much of choice," Leon said. "Even though that is the case and I don't know for how long I will live, I want to keep that place habitable. Besides, it doesn't matter if my family and friends forgot about me. I didn't forget about them, and my memories won't let me just watch they die."

"I see... considering your level of Mental Fortitude. I'm quite impressed." Ilyana said.

"Is that so?" Leon asked.

"Yes, ninety percent of people like us become mad dogs after understanding everything," Ilyana explained. "Being forgotten by every single person is enough to crush the spirit and heart of any ordinary individual. The people who suffer through that sometimes even chose to end their own lives."

"Well, being forgotten is really a scary thing, after all," Leon said.

"Do you want to work with me?" Ilyana asked. "I failed to save my planet, now that place can't even grow a single blade of grass... but perhaps with my help, you can save yours."

"... Why would you help me?" Leon frowned. "What would you gain by doing that?"

"Not much, but if you manage to kill one or even two harvesters, my workload will decrease a lot," Ilyana explained. "If you are that dubious of my intentions, then you don't have to do anything that I would recommend. Just ask what you want to know and train the way you want to train."

That was quite a good proposal. It would actually decrease the chances of Leon falling into a trap. If what Ilyana said was true, she already had the means to kill Leon. That world was on the third stage of assimilation, and she would only be able to stay there if her power was considered to be on the fifth stage. The system wouldn't stop her from killing Leon. Despite all that, there was a chance that she could lure him into a trap, in some way or another. Unfortunately, Leon would have to accept some risks in order to obtain power. To find the other spirits, it was better to ask her.