Dimensional Descent

The Black Ice Spear wasn't the true name of the spear, it was just what Leonel had chosen to call it. But, the reality was that this spear had little to nothing to do with ice and frost. In fact, its true name was the Kinetic Blade and its domain was the Kinetic Domain.

Leonel had made Water type and Ice type spears to choose from in the Quasi Silver ranks, but the truth was that this spear wasn't one of them. In fact, this blade worked so well with Leonel because it relied on his Fire and Light Elemental affinity. In this regard, it was even better than the Duality Spear which played on none of Leonel's best affinities.

The reason for the darkness and frost the spear exuded was because it was sapping its Domain of Light and Heat. Leonel hadn't used the darkness ability of the spear at all and simply relied on its ability to absorb Kinetic Energy.

Against an opponent like Syllar who relied so heavily on the energy he could output, this spear was, indeed, the perfect counter.

Of course, the best part was not only in that Leonel could sap a region of its energy, but he could also use it to fuel the attacks of the spear itself. Leonel hadn't needed to use it against Syllar, but it could be very useful in the future.

With Leonel's level of Fire Elemental affinity, he could absorb so much heat that he could bring a Fifth Dimensional region to near Absolute Zero. That kind of power was absolutely lethal. It could only be said that everyone was quite lucky that this was a Sixth Dimensional world, or else this Selection would basically be over.

…

"Did you see it?" Orinik asked with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not sure. It happened too quickly." Ganor said slowly.

Orinik had been too infuriated before to think. But, when he thought back to the previous events, Leonel had used his bare fingers to deflect three Fifth Dimensional arrows. Then, he used a bare fist to leave a dent in Fifth Dimensional armor. And, just now, he blocked a Fifth Dimensional blade with nothing but the skin of his neck.

In his life, Orinik had never heard of defensive abilities on this level, at least not with just one's unaltered skin. It was to the point of being absolutely obscene. Unless…

It was from that family.

The trouble was, he didn't really have any proof. And, even when it comes to that family, their defense only touches upon these levels when they activate their Bronze Runes, so why was it that he hadn't seen Leonel's Runes?

Was it another ability? A technique he had never heard before? Or could it be a mutation of that Lineage Factor?

The last was a strong possibility. After all, with how many members of that family that there were, how could they not have bastard children spotted all over the Human Domain? Just the recognized children of the Nova Generation alone numbered over a billion, let alone the unrecognized ones.

"Why does it matter, anyway?" Ganor said. "Even if he's from that family, if he's here, he clearly doesn't have high standing amongst them. Why would he be participating in a Selection if he could practically get guaranteed entry so long as the right person spoke up?"

"You're always thinking short term." Orinik shook his head. "Think about what event is coming soon and what it means."

"You mean the Heir War?"

"Yes."

"And what about it? At our level we'd just be canon fodder and barely any of the spoils would be ours for the taking. You can't want me to risk my life just to get a handshake and a pat on the head right? I'll pass."

Orinik ran his fingers and thumb through his brows. He felt like he was talking to a wall. How did such an idiot manage to get into Void Palace?

Orinik didn't stay on this line of thought for long, though. When he thought about that massive thing Ganor was always carrying on his back, he couldn't bring himself to belittle the man anymore. That scrawny, half-dead looking body had far too much strength in it.

"First of all, canon fodder is an exaggeration. We'd at least be in the middle levels, enough to get something in return. And—"

"I'm adjusting for my own laziness." Ganor yawned while resting his cheek on a single palm.

Orinik couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes this time.

"—As I was saying, the existence of a member of that family with a good bit of talent like this is pretty valuable. Just think about the possibilities.

"The first potential reality is that his Lineage Factor mutated. You know how valuable such a thing is. Any mutation, even a regressive one, will want to be studied by even a weak family, let alone one on the level of them.

"If we sold this information to one of the potential Heirs, it would be a great spike in their merits so close to the event and we would definitely get a nice thank you in return without even having to lift a finger."

Ganor's eyes brightened when he heard this. This idea indeed wasn't bad. The fact Leonel's skin could be so hard without fully activating his Runes was definitely something they would be interested in.

Though it sounded like a great ability, it might still be regressive. After all, there were a ton of complicated variables at play. For all they knew, this mutation didn't allow Leonel's skin to grow any firmer beyond this point.

Still, if it was a mutation, it was valuable nonetheless. Every mutation represented the potential of evolving a Lineage Factor to an all new level and it was a chance to deepen one's understanding of the mechanisms that governed it as well. There was simply no family who would turn down such an opportunity.

"The second potential reality is that he isn't mutated but rather just hides it well. In that case, then he's a pretty decent genius of their family."

"Isn't that much worse?" Ganor's excitement dimmed.

Orinik sighed and shook his head. What was he going to do with this one?

"No. The competition has been raging on for so long already. Those that could be recruited have already long since been recruited and most of them are focused on grooming their faction to step into higher levels of strength.

"Someone who isn't tied to any of them and has good talent will always be worth something. Think about it, would you rather split rewards with others who will just leave and bring the benefits to their own families? Or would you rather split rewards with your own kin? If we sell this information to the right person, it won't be as lucrative as the first potential reality, but it will be good business either way."

Only after hearing this did Ganor's expression lighten up again.

"Finally, there's the third potential reality that he isn't part of that family at all. But, don't you think they'd be very interested in someone who has a body even stronger than their own…?"

Ganor's gaze glowed like twin torches

"It seems we'll need to find a way to figure out what the truth is."

Orinik smiled as though he could already see the dollar signs.

"The third day of the Selection might be a good chance to see what his limits really are."

[Last chapter for today. Tomorrow will be a 4 chapter banger, promise <3]