Dimensional Descent

Leonel stirred awake. His eyes blinked for a moment before he sat up far quicker than he should have, something that he instantly regretted.

However, the sharp pain he expected from his ribs never came, causing him to look down at himself in confusion.

'My injuries are healed…? Wait, where am I?'

Leonel was bombarded with a sudden wave of sensory information. The limestone beneath his butt and hands, the odd wind that gently blew against his exposed skin, even the ancient smell in that hung in the air, almost reminiscent of a copy room with a slight mustiness to it.

The feeling made Leonel keel over, vomiting out the contents of his stomach. It was just that his belly happened to be quite empty at the moment, so he could only dry heave.

By the time his body finally stopped convulsing, Leonel was left with a bitter feeling of confusion. Everything seemed too loud, too bright, too textured, all at the same time.

No matter how much Leonel willed it away, it didn't seem intent on disappearing. He sat there for hours, feeling sicker than he had in all his life.

The world had suddenly become too detailed for him take in. It was as though he was staring at an optical illusion puzzle, one that if you gazed at long enough, it would appear to be moving. Yet, this wasn't an optical illusion, it had become his reality.

Half a day later, Leonel felt his throat burning. He felt a thirst he had never felt before in his life, but there was simply no water here, there was nothing but ancient ruins and the unconscious bodies of his friends. He would go look for water if he could, but every time he tried to stand, his head would spin.

Not only did the world give him more detail than he could handle, but his body did as well. He could almost feel thoughts forming in his mind, he could feel the electrical pulses going from his brain to his limbs, he could feel the powering of every cell as they contracted. Just simple movements felt worse than even observing the world around him.

Out of desperation, Leonel slowly slung his backpack off of his shoulder. Luckily, when he had been forced to use his coat to bind that girl, he had taken his backpack off and hung it from one arm. If not for this, he didn't think he could manage to do even this simple task.

Taking out a familiar bottle of green sludge, he brought it to his lips, drinking shakily. Unfortunately, he could only feel a wave of despair, remembering that he had finished the rest of it after Coach Owen reminded him to.

Never in his life did he think he'd miss his dad's vomit brew.

Parched, he still tilted the bottle as far back as he could, licking up the faint drops that touched his tongue. He didn't know if it was because of this sickness that had taken hold of him, or the stress of the past day, or maybe it was just pure frustration, but Leonel's chest welled up with rage, his eyes watering.

'Dad… I miss you.'

Why was any of this happening? Why did the world suddenly collapse? Why was it that his friends wouldn't wake up no matter how hard he shook them?

Leonel laughed self-deprecatingly. How pathetic of him. He didn't know how long he had been out for, but as for how long he had been awake, it was not even a full day, yet he was already breaking down like a fragile baby.

At that moment, something fell from Leonel's tipped bottle and left a paper-cut on his nose, causing him to wince. That was nice to know, apparently his pain was amplified several times over too. A little micro cut and he felt worse than when his ribs had cracked.

With slow movements, Leonel once again lowered his arm, delicately picking up what had fallen. It seemed like a rolled up piece of flexible fabric.

'Wait… Is this paper?'

but illegal. Though paper itself wasn't banned, the use of trees and other plant life to manufacture products had been heavily restricted in the Nature Protection Act of 2046. How

even recognize it had it not been for his robust education. If others knew he had this, both

was likely in right now, Leonel couldn't be bothered to care. His wrist watch also no longer had

the roll of paper, wiping the bits of green

time you read this,

Leonel's heart stopped beating.

"Dad…"

meant I died right? Be honest, you started

for a moment

Don't let

father

on Earth who can threaten me. Those folks haven't dared to bother me for a long time

but

anime and

but remembering the mental breakdown he almost just had, he swallowed

together.

I will

your friends. You've likely woken up long before them, and they won't

Leonel's expression flickered.

that your mother isn't dead, nor has she abandoned you. I also haven't abandoned you.

this dimension, and the scar across your right hip

a long time. In fact,

his thoughts. He felt an agitation he hadn't

had faint memories of his mother. His father had never explicitly told him that she had died, so he always assumed that it was to spare his feelings about her death. Or, maybe to spare

felt a weight he hadn't even known he was holding

the details since I had to suppress it in your youth, but it should

was just about emptying your mind. The military taught

he was a Four-Star General and taught it to him because he was curious. He hadn't used it in

Slowly, the overwhelming feeling dissipated, replaced by a sharpness that stunned Leonel. Feeling much better,

was shocked by the fact it felt he was reading the

is an heirloom of our Morales Clan. Unfortunately, until the Metamorphosis begins, taking these things out to hand to you directly is too dangerous. So just take it as this old

face now isn't like anything you've faced before. I've taught you some things, but I definitely haven't taught you everything. You'll have an advantage being the first to

'Love, dad.'

He lost count of how many times he re-read his father's words. Unbeknownst to him, he had actually completely memorized it the first time, a fact he didn't realize until maybe the sixth or seventh read

always been good…

enough time. His father said it was an advantage for him to wake up first and that it had somehow happened because his constitution was different from others. At least that's what he gathered from his words. Since that was