Dimensional Descent

"Leonel!"

Coach Owen seemed to use the final bit of his strength to breakthrough to Leonel. In return for his efforts, he spit up several more mouthfuls of blood, whatever bloody bandages that had wrapped around his wound had been completely soaked through once again.

Leonel's gaze, which had lost its focus, locked onto his Coach again. But, his gaze carried an added vacancy that hadn't been there before.

Coach Owen sighed, coughing beside himself.

"Brat, though I told you these things out of my own selfish desire to vent, these are still important things for you to understand. This is the world you live in. You're one of the lucky ones who can benefit greatly from it. What you choose to do with this chance is up to you and no one else."

Leonel didn't seem to react much to Coach Owen's words. He only nodded lightly, his mind not processing things as well as they used to. It was hard to tell whether this was because of his fatigue or if it was because of the information he had just received.

Coach Owen shook his head. He knew that his words would have this effect, but he wanted to say them anyway. Though he said it was out of his own selfishness, it was deeper than this.

Leonel needed to understand these things. It wasn't just so that he could comprehend his own privilege so that he could decide what to do with it. But, most importantly… if there ever came a day where his talent, his background, or his luck wasn't enough… He would be ready as well.

How he chose to navigate these matters would be up to Leonel.

Owen would always say that Leonel was the most talented child he had ever come across. Even the Savants who were supposedly blessed by the Universe fell to him one after another. Though

an ounce of ambition. This was maybe the most frustrating thing for a mentor to see in one

this, simply telling them that they should be better, that they shouldn't waste their gifts, that they should make the most of the talent they were given, just didn't work. If these talents didn't decide to strive for greatness on their own, there was nothing

was that even if this talent ran into a roadblock, do to their level of genius, they might not even need to try their best to cross it. This led to a perpetual cycle where these geniuses trudged through with a minimum level of effort, until they

reached this point, they would

despair to roll over them. Their genius would

But, there would come a day when he ran into

came, Leonel would collapse just like

want to

workers Coach Owen had ever seen. But, he didn't have a single, one-minded

that could fuel him regardless of outside sources. It couldn't come from his family, it couldn't

find this drive for Leonel. He

thing he could do for the

sons. To him, Leonel was as

Owen swallowed his next mouthful of blood, gathering up the

About James…" Coach Owen sighed, his voice getting fainter. "… You two have always been like brothers, I watched you grow up. But brat, you've always been too good at