Dimensional Descent

Several platforms hovered in a circle around the center of the lake. It was clear by the lack of variety in the paths taken to get here that many had still made the opposite choice to Leonel, instead choosing to forge their way to the center as quickly as possible.

Leonel immediately felt that this was a great opportunity. Those with the least stone pathways were likely among those who believed in their abilities the least and were, as such, easier targets. Aina was only a step or two away from wielding an Amethyst Token.

However, Leonel suddenly thought of another possibility that made him frown.

'I went out of my way to always choose the more difficult path, and yet we somehow only ran into two groups with just enough Golden Tokens to place Aina on the brink of earning the next grade? Was that by coincidence? Or by design?'

Leonel's gaze narrowed. With how important the Amethyst Token was to the Void Palace, would they really allow one to so easily upgrade to it? What if these pathways had purposely led Leonel and Aina here after it deduced that they were close to a breakthrough?

'That lends itself to more questions than answers, though. There has to be a path toward reaching the Amethyst stage. But, why would it be here? The Void Palace must know that it might be even easier to gain what Tokens we're missing here compared to elsewhere… Unless?'

Leonel suddenly realized something quite obvious. There was no easy path to reach anyone here. Though they were all concentrated into a circle, the space between each platform was enormous. The circumference covered at least a few kilometers, but there were only a few dozen platforms and groups. There was no simple way to challenge them unless Leonel just flew over. But, something told Leonel that there was a reason they were so spaced out. If he tried to close the distance, he would definitely end up blocked.

'So we aren't given an opportunity to reach the Amethyst rank and we can't challenge people anymore. What exactly is the point of this, then?'

platform appeared within the

onto a golden pair of irises, his eyes not shifting

the fogginess of the lake to increase

threatening to re-enter that state once again. It was the same feeling he had gotten from Simona, except multiplied several times over. Much of Simona's lethality was concentrated in her Pyius Force, something that didn't give Leonel any pressure at all… His feeling when meeting her was more like an

young man…

from Conon. Not just that, but he

him had wild, unrestrained auras. But, they also had a lofty, imperial sort of arrogance as

smiled, an action that made Conon, who only wanted for murder, feel taken aback. He couldn't

of a bitch taunting

at least not immediately. After smiling, Leonel looked away and sat down cross-legged, taking a deep breath. Little Blackstar vanquished his wolf construct and hopped into Aina's arms as she took a seat as well. It was clear that whatever it was that was about to happen

even and his mind focused. He had felt like he was on the precipice

and recording what was happening to his body at any moment. Whether it was his mindset, the changes to his biochemistry, and

moments with absolute clarity. This was the power of the Tier 4 Control stage of Leonel's Ability Index. When he reached a certain level of mastery, he would even be able to 'replay' the state his body had been in during a failed

so that's what