Dimensional Descent

Leonel hadn't moved in weeks. He wasn't even consciously aware of the fact that Aina had left and come back several times already. Without any strong threats around him, and subconsciously putting his trust in her, he went all out.

Due to the strong winds and comfort that emitted from his tent, the Frenchmen hadn't dared to approach. By now, they were all convinced that he was an envoy of God.

Aina entered the tent once more. But this time, she frowned deeply seeing his current state.

Leonel's lips were a deep shade of blue, his body quaking with every passing second. The whirlwind of Force surging toward him was more than ten times greater than it had been on the first day. Whether that was due to the increase in his Spirit, or due to the fact he had a deeper understanding of the technique after actually reading it, it was impossible to tell.

Ghastly blue-green veins ran across Leonel's neck and forehead. Beads of sweat rolled down his body, mixing in with the foul odor it was giving off. If Leonel knew that Aina had continuously dealt with his body odor without a complaint for so many weeks, who knew how he'd feel.

If one peered into Leonel's brain stem, it would be possible to see a growing seed of concentrated Force. There was no simple way to complete this process. Leonel had to carve out his own flesh while simultaneously using Force to heal himself.

This was why this step was so dangerous. The brain stem was arguably the most important part of the brain. If it was ever damaged, death was basically guaranteed. Yet, Leonel had to actively do exactly that to carve out a Node for himself.

The only way this was possible was due to the special characteristic of [Dimensional Cleanse]. Not every Force technique would carve out Nodes in the same places, and most directly avoided such dangerous areas. It was precisely because the creator of this technique was so confident in his methods that he dared pen down this technique.

'Use your senses to perfectly memorize the structure of cells in your brain stem… reorganize… stimulate their recreation… destroy the original… repeat…'

It took hundreds of years of research before humans of Earth were able to use stem cells to reproduce brain cells. In fact, it was still in its infant stages even now. Yet, this technique was able to use Force to surpass anything Earth was capable of.

However, it was still up to Leonel in the end to repeat this process countless times. It was simply impossible for him to do this for every one of the millions of cells in his brain stem. That said, a normal Node formed of Fourth Grade Force would barely be visible to the naked eye and could have its size measured in cubic micrometers.

The issue Leonel faced was that his Node was not normal. And, though a normal Node would only take up the space of about 10 cells at most, the true difficultly came in properly restructuring everything so that your mind could continue to function properly.

That alone was already difficult… But Leonel had to replace and reorganize not just 10 cells… But 100!

On any other day, a mere paper cut could slice across far more than 100 human cells with ease. But to Leonel, that seemingly small number was the barrier between him and death.

He knew he could have stopped at 10, that he could have stopped at 20, even at 50… These numbers were already far more than a normal person could match. And, it should also be considered that [Dimensional Cleanse] wasn't a normal technique to begin with, another technique might have their user form a Node of five cells at most!

But, Leonel knew that if he stopped, he would be cheating himself. What had he wasted so much time Priming himself for if he wasn't going to tap into his full potential? If he stopped now, then he might as well have formed his first Node back when his Spirit was at 0.12.

Blood began to leak from Leonel's nose. It was such a deep crimson that it almost appeared black.

The calculations running through Leonel's mind were astronomical. Just how many other neurons did 100 brain stem cells connect to? How many spinal connections? How many smooth muscle connections? How many organs did they control?

Rerouting his whole body like this put immense pressure on his mind. He just wanted to sleep, to alleviate that pain racking his body, but he knew he couldn't.

'Persistence…'

His back straightened. He realized now that the reason he fought those seven A-grade Invalids wasn't because of some random excuse, it was because of something his father had ingrained in his body since he was young.

Persist.

Aina stood at the doorway, her teeth biting down hard on her soft lips.

'He's forming his first Node now? How is that possible? He should at the very least be on his fifth or sixth… Is his high coordination and reaction purely due to his ability then? What kind of ability is that?'

have access to the same stats Leonel self-created. But, she had a natural ability to read people that came from years of training and experience. From her experience, it was simply impossible to have such high 'base stats' without

her Force, the stats Leonel had of her were actually

the fact Leonel's ability, whatever it was, was actually so

of blood bursting from the pores

sound of something that almost resembled a massive flame being lit swept through. Concentric circles of rippling force winds and dust billowed

flash, their hazel burning with a deep blue light that

to toe. In fact, the his general vicinity looked as though a concentrated

It had an impure, brownish-black quality to it that released a terrible smell. At that moment, despite

[Leonel Morales]

0.85 (+0.1); Coordination: 1.00; Stamina: 0.87 (+0.05); Reactions: 1.00; Spirit:

He had crossed the limits the human body

only had minor ticks up. But, Leonel knew that if he activated the

missed something important…'

stink." Aina's soothing voice appeared

down at himself and

quickly found the

with me."

Aina raised an eyebrow.

I'm okay with you taking advantage of

to be speechless. In the end she turned and blushed,

had thought that Aina's bashful personality was all just an act, not different from how Yuri pretended

with me. Come on."

she caught up, Leonel was already stripping by a riverside. Flustered, she could only find

any defensive abilities. All it had were its convenient pockets that allowed her to

on Earth right now was near impossible. So though she missed the feeling of

think they'll be alright

he alternated between scrubbing himself

on the same timeline. The Zone we're in currently is ten

I didn't know

to him as if the things she was saying were obvious. Did she not realize

the pie… His words seemed to imply that they had started doing this even before the Metamorphosis began… Could Aina's family be related

only just light your first

sweet voice traveled

Nodes?"

the only one?" Leonel could almost hear the light smile through Aina's voice. He

I had to do a lot to get my hands on

was the first to clear a Zone, and as such,

forgot to consider that a Force technique didn't have to be such high grade. And, also, from Uncle Montez's words, maybe others had gotten their hands on treasures

Leonel eventually answered. "I chose my brain stem

did

"That I chose my brain

"Are you insane?!"

was he supposed to respond to that?

at best, and most can't even form a second. Recklessly choosing your brain now is not only dangerous, but if you reach a bottleneck

almost huffing and puffing. It seemed the Aina who could curse out a grown man three times her size had come out. He