Dimensional Descent

Leonel gazed toward Dee then his brother for a long while, his expression not shifting very much.

Pride in one's world wasn't something Leonel was familiar with. Things like nationalism and cultural pride had already been weeded out by the Ascension Empire long ago. It was easier to bring people together when they didn't believe that there were things that separated them.

But, what Leonel realized just now was that this pride hadn't vanished… It had just been buried. There was nowhere to flaunt this pride if everyone around you shared the same identity.

Much of Earth's Pride turned into one of status and wealth. But, it was also something that anyone could get so long as they performed well enough on the Gene Assessment. As long as you were talented, building up a noble family in just a single generation wasn't impossible…

Leonel himself was a prime example of this. Even though he had no interest in being a quarterback, there was no doubting that it would have made him a very rich and very popular man. The fact he was born on a Paradise Island didn't hinder his future in the slightest.

Due to all of these things, Leonel never truly felt this sinful sort of a Pride. In fact, he had always subconsciously rejected it, even to the point he built his future aspirations on hoping this sort of pride never restricted the life of anyone else…

But what happened the moment Earth was opened up to the rest of the Dimensional Verse?

Suddenly, what once was a closed system became an open one. The cohesive unit of Earth became a minority and the enemies that surrounded them forced Earthlings to look upon them like the 'others'.

What had Leonel thought the moment he stepped onto the battlefield? He had wanted to show these people that the citizens of Earth weren't pushovers and that they were to be feared. But, wasn't that the antithesis of everything he wanted to accomplish?

In just a few steps, even he who was consciously aware of it all, or at least assumed himself to be, had fallen victim to the same sort of indoctrination. In fact, the more enemies he defeated in Earth's stead, the further the citizens of Earth would fall into this line of thought.

where those who aimed their blades toward him weren't people

felt a heaviness on his heart at

was the best sort of

walk into it anyway….

sighed and looked up toward the metallic ceilings above

wasn't ready. He was nowhere near prepared enough to face his grandfather or challenge his ideologies. Who was right and who was wrong didn't matter because regardless of it all, if things continued in this way, Leonel simply had no

not the faintest inkling of how to do that… I don't even really understand myself, how can I grasp the hearts of people I want to follow me? My uncle is probably right to say I

to calm. The emotions that Dee and Dre had showed on the battlefield replayed in his mind again and again. They had put everything on the line just for a chance at weakening

and left. His teammates looked at one another, but they too remained silent. They didn't

football, they actually quite loved it. It could even be said that Leonel was a rare exception when it came to hating

what they had always done. This sort of team bonding, relying on each other and having each other's backs is exactly what they lived life for. If

rely on himself.

…

spent several days building the wooden fort of the second Lake Crossing. His speed and skill this time was much greater. As

end of the week, everything was prepared. In that time several, scouts had come from other regions to see what had happened,

the eighth day, there was finally

got word from

a familiar spear made of vines and