Dimensional Descent

[Official artwork for Leonel's Dark Ice Armor is now live on my instagram >> @awespec_ :) ]

It wasn't long before Leonel had left the Sith family Faction, another million Void Points poorer. He was certain it shouldn't have cost this much, but there was nothing else he could do if he wanted solid information.

As for what had changed, it seemed that Treanna's Faction had finally been promoted to Silver Grade, and as such, its wealth and power had substantially increased, as had its territory and influence. This made Leonel's brow furrow a bit, but that was all.

Silver Grade Factions had more leeway and could also have their own territory. These territories were the very same neighborhoods Leonel had mentioned before.

In the Void Palace, outside of a few places, the regions were all controlled by students. Everything from city planning to even some laws were set and decided by the Faction of a given area.

Of course, there were also some neutral areas where lower class students who couldn't afford to live in these higher class areas could use. In fact, these neutral areas were precisely where Aina had chosen to buy their home before it was burned down.

Living in a Faction's territory didn't necessarily mean that you were part of a Faction, but in partaking in their benefits, you did have to pay taxes and, of course, rent. Many higher class territories even required entry fees. As for why you would pay just for a temporary stay, though the effects weren't as exaggerated as with the Spear Faction, there were many benefits.

For example, there were certain specialties you would only find in certain areas. Just one potential thing were restaurants run by high level Force Pill Crafters. Factions of high levels would either recruit or rent such experts to run popular food stops in their territories. If you wanted to partake in such luxuries, you would have to pay just for the chance to enter.

Of course, Leonel wasn't interested in this as there was no better cook than the woman by his side. But, that didn't mean there was nothing that could tempt him at all.

training regions, some exclusive areas of the Void Palace, and even some of the prime living locations were mostly cornered off by

Leonel didn't usually care about such things, but their earlier spat seemed to have reminded him that he hadn't really done much of anything to make up for his earlier follies. If Aina was trying, then

Likewise, Leonel wouldn't be surprised if, in the back of her head, she was worried about the day that switch would flip off

how his mind worked quite well. He had never stopped 'wanting' Aina. He had just shifted his priorities and sacrificed

the only person who could do such a thing

was, could

he realized that the only reason they had shifted in the first place was because he felt that Aina had betrayed him, not in the harshest sense, but enough that

the time he learned of why and the weight she had carried everyday, it was already too late to turn back. There were sometimes

sit with. He ended up doing things that were completely outside his character, and even acting in a fashion that

though even his Tier 4 Ability Index couldn't control what

and he allowed it to stop his footsteps and fester in his mind. But, this was something

never really cared about

the back of her mind, there were clearly still some fresh wounds that

he would probably accept it with open arms anyway, but that didn't mean that

Why it was things were like this, he didn't know. All he knew was that he

like an Aina-sexual. He was practically asexual in almost 100% of contexts outside

pendant in

I'm still mad at you and