Since he was applying for independence, he had to leave the orphanage and now had his own apartment.
Waking up the next morning, Leon prayed, ate, and then freshened up for the day. Today, there wasn't exactly much that he wanted to do. It was just another day to enjoy the new life that had been granted to him.
"I should probably look into keeping myself busy," Leon said as he watered the plants he had started taking care of.
He didn't exactly know when he got into gardening, but if he were to answer, he would say it was a side effect of being in the presence of the Fourfold Paintings for too long.
His mind now craved that level of serenity, and the next best thing to grant it was either joining nature or starting gardening.
He chose the lazier option, and surprisingly, it worked just the same. He felt a weird sense of clarity whenever he was there.
The more he thought about why he felt this way, the more he realized that the paintings had literally trained his brain to organize itself whenever nature was around him.
It was an unprecedented effect, which also meant that any painting with adverse effects he made would leave long-lasting scars on the psyche of the person involved.
After a brief 30-minute stay in the garden, Leon finally got ready and left the apartment. This time, he was looking for something that would keep him busy.
Painting was no longer an option since the more he did it, the more danger he might fall into. The effects of his paintings could be used in many ways beyond what they already were.
So, he wanted to leave that scene as soon as possible. Since he wanted to leave that world, the next best option was tattoos.
However, he feared that his ability would create another mess through this medium. Hence, he wanted to practice—buying up all the practice materials he could find, from tattoo guns to fake skin and more.
Leon was ready to enter a whole new style of artistry with a completely different medium.
For hours, Leon sat at home and practiced.
It felt like his signature skill to draw hyper-realistic art, but on skin, it was a bit different. Though he believed that with practice, he would eventually master it.
Above all, he needed to figure out what designs he could tattoo safely and what effects his ability would have on human skin.
As for the tattoo shop itself… he had long since bought a space for it. It had cost him a total of around $800,000.
It was still undergoing renovations, and thankfully, Richard had a lot of free time on his hands since some of his past piano students had stopped attending for one reason or another.
Hence, Leon hired him to be the shop's manager. He didn't need any profit from the shop, to be truthful. Rather, he handed it all over to Richard.
As a result, he didn't know much about how the tattoo shop was doing. Instead, he remained at home, training his tattoo skills.
Apart from running a few errands and picking Grace up from school, Leon had no reason to leave the house.
Ring, ring.
His phone rang, and he immediately picked it up. The caller ID showed "Art Gallery," meaning it was Edward.
"Hello, good afternoon," Leon greeted.
"Afternoon, my dear boy! How are you?" Edward replied, obviously in a much more jovial mood than Leon was.
"I'm great. Did something happen? Don't tell me… did they finally steal the painting?" Leon asked as his heart dropped.
"Don't be silly. As if I would let such a precious painting leave my grasp," Edward said.
"Huh? Then what's wrong?" Leon asked.
"Remember when you told me that if I received a large number of requests to buy the painting, I should contact you?"
"Wait… you mean?" Leon asked, dropping the pen he was holding.
This had to be the best news so far. If the Cosmic Map painting was sold, then it would be completely out of his hands. Considering its effects, he expected a high turnout.