Dimensional Descent

Leonel could feel the animosity, it was almost palpable. The hairs on his skin stood on end and his blood vessels dilated. The pumping of his heart grew slower and more forceful, a subtle crimson energy racing throughout his body.

In the blink of an eye, his body had been covered in a thin veil of sweat. However, it wasn't the kind of sweat one would gain out of fatigue or fear. It was the kind of sweat that would cover a boxer on their way to the ring, having just completed a small round of cardio to warm their bodies up. It was the kind of sweat that would soak a runner in the middle of a run when they finally set their pace and hit their perfect stride. It was the kind of sweat that didn't allow the body to rise past a certain level of heat, settling in at the perfect degree for prime functioning.

When Leonel's body entered such a state, he felt more alive than he ever had before. His Nodes worked as one, circulating his blood throughout his body and leaving him a state where he was absolutely prepared for everything. One could have easily mistaken him for a predator on the prowl, his expression seeming decidedly less human in those moments.

BANG!

At that moment, a geyser shot into the air. The temperature skyrocketed and vision from all angles was completely blurred.

Leonel was forced to retract his Internal Sight at that moment. He felt like a scolding heat was ready to fry his mind if he remained any more stubborn. It was a shocking sort of feeling for someone like Leonel who hadn't felt true heat in years.

Thanks to his Fire Elemental affinity, what was usually overly hot for others was a breezy spring day to Leonel. For his Internal Sight to be fried like this… It was definitely a unique experience. But, considering his body was still just fine, it was clear that his mind had a weakness that the rest of him didn't share.

Leonel slotted in this realization to the back of his mind and kept it for future deductions. For now, though, his mind focused entirely on what was before him and he remained supremely focused, ready for anything.

happened next felt

the heavy mist it had come with faded. But, there was hardly any other change but a platform that had appeared one meter ahead of Leonel's cliff ledge. This platform of rock hung upon absolutely nothing and it seemed

a single stomp, he leaped onto the platform, Little Blackstar

though, he vanished, disappearing as

soon, with a VWOOSH, Leonel and Blackstar appeared once more. Nothing seemed to have changed at all. Aina was still resting on Blackstar's

possible to see that a subtle hint of blood drizzled down the pointer and middle finger of Leonel's right hand, dripping down to the ground in slow, steady

next. And, he wasn't disappointed

BANG!

eyes on him, intent to focus on what was before him, his

One ahead, one to the left and another to the right. The ones to the left and right were

subtle and almost meaningless, it made his mind whir into action. In truth, in this state, he wanted to do nothing more than turn his brain off and fight to his heart's

still obscure but the general gist was obvious enough to Leonel: Use the Platforms, defeat their bosses,

destination, then a movement of two meters obviously seemed better…

to be any opposing bank or cliff edge. By process of elimination, the destination was most likely the center of the lake

obviously take 1000 battles for Leonel to reach the center. However, to his left and right, there was a movement of two meters. The bad news, though, was that unlike the center platform, these ones deviated from the path toward the center. So,