After a while, he finally dropped the call and immediately called Mr. Weber so he could arrange for an auction.
If there was anyone who could pull it off well, it would be a financial manager who was as seasoned as the old man.
After ensuring that everything was well, Leon turned to the fake skin before him and the drawing on it.
It was what he had been working on, and just like all his other paintings, the effect was there, but it wasn't dragging his psyche with it for some reason.
He just felt great power within the tattoo, but apart from that, there was nothing else.
This was already one reason to smile, but the possible sale of the painting added more joy to him.
"Wait, does the effect change when drawn in ink?" A horrifying thought appeared in his mind.
As soon as that happened, he dropped the tattoo pen in his hand as he stared at the fake skin tattoo before glancing at his arm.
"Ah no… No," Leon said as he immediately shifted away, but looking at the tattoo, his curiosity continued nagging him.
Several minutes later, Leon could be seen holding a pen to his arm as he carefully shaped the tattoo layout on his skin.
Minutes passed, and soon the image of a halo surrounded by wings appeared on his arm. As soon as he raised his pen, Leon felt a soft drain of energy in his body and immediately knew that the tattoo had taken effect.
Closing his eyes a bit to try and recalibrate himself to deal with the loss of mental strength, he felt a sudden sense of empowerment as he opened his eyes to look at the mirror before him.
As he stared at the mirror, Leon noticed the floating ring above his head. It remained suspended just a few inches above him, and somehow, despite reaching for it, he couldn't touch it.
Seeing this, Leon quickly stood up to fully examine himself, and just as he expected—but hoped it wouldn't be—there were now two sets of wings behind him.
"Wow," he said, surprised, as he plopped down on his seat.
Out of everything he had expected, somehow, he didn't imagine that a tattoo's effect would result in power-granting.
Staring at the wings on his back, a strange thought came to mind as the wings immediately opened, and with a single flap, he was embedded in the ceiling of his apartment.
Somehow catching himself just before he could hit the ground as he fell back down, Leon found himself floating quietly in the air for some reason.
The wings weren't even flapping—they were just spread out—and yet he was floating above all. The sharp pain in his head from hitting the ceiling had subsided to the point of non-existence.
"Is this really my ability?" Leon thought to himself.
Thinking about it now, he understood why his paintings and artworks had always felt like tigers trapped in a cage. They actually were trapped, unable to showcase their true strength, and could only exhibit their power via subliminal effects.
Thinking of this, Leon immediately thought of the Cosmic Map painting, and his heart immediately sank.
If this was how his ability worked, then did he actually create a true cosmic map? Considering that even granting himself literal angelic powers had only taken a bit of his mental strength…
So he imagined what sort of power was granted to the painting that it was capable of draining him completely, such that he slipped into unconsciousness.
"Shit!" Leon cussed as he landed on the ground gently, but the look on his face no longer reflected the joy he once felt.
If anything, he was now terrified of what could happen should the painting fall into the wrong hands.
"Wait… what the hell am I worrying for? It's not like they will actually believe that it's a map of the universe," Leon said as he sat down.
This was the only source of comfort he had—that most people would dismiss such effects as just their imagination acting wildly—so it would be hard for anyone to believe that this was a real map.