Dimensional Descent

Leonel didn't seem to be enraged. It was more so that he had already expected as much, it was an inevitable end. Everyday he seemed to be learning about fascinating and great things, but too often these were matters that others were fully aware of, or could have been explained to him long ago.

The fact that Wise Star Order mentioned going to seek out a second Tablet after he had enough strength was enough to prove that he at least knew something about these matters, enough for him to be ready for everything Leonel was prepared to throw at him.

Wise Star Order was correct, Leonel had overestimated himself. Ten million minds mind sound like a great feat and an enormous number, but one had to remember that the gap between Dimensions was akin to the difference between mortals and Gods. By the Fifth Dimension, millions probably shouldn't even be considered a large denomination anymore.

The fact that Wise Star Order could treat it like a joke didn't really fill Leonel with humiliation. He just felt inadequate and foolish. Maybe he was an idiot for taking offense to Aina's lack of belief in him. She probably knew far more about the Dimensional Verse than he did. In that case, her reaction to his dream wasn't cruelty, it was just a dose of reality.

The harshest realization of it all was that even if Leonel was correct and ten million minds was far too much for Wise Star Order to sift through, it wouldn't matter. Even if he had caught Wise Star Order off guard, the Silver Tablet still wouldn't have been able to wipe his personality.

Leonel thought that he might be enraged when he faced death, or feel fear, in the very least. But, he didn't react those ways at all. Rather, it was almost like because he could see the 'logic' behind his death, he could accept it.

He didn't know how to feel about this. It was much less dramatic than the last time he almost died. Well, there were multiple of those times, but there were only two he could remember that truly felt so close.

The second was of course this moment right now, and the first was the day he almost died at the hands of that Mayan girl. His guilt had reached such a peak at that time that he felt like he deserved to die. In a lot of ways, it was similar to this moment in that he saw the logic in it.

Leonel was rational and logical to a fault, or at least that was the way he liked to see himself. Because of this, he could never understand why some thought themselves to be better than another. There was no objective metric by which you could judge the value of a human being, there were only various lenses you could see worth through.

Leonel's talent was seen as oh so valuable in the world he was currently in… But it was exactly just that… Only valuable in the world he was currently in.

What if the Dimensional Verse was absolutely peaceful and they entered a world where battle prowess and the ability to throw the strongest punch was meaningless? Would his perceived value still be the same?

In Leonel's mind, unless one could come up with an objective metric by which to value someone, all of this was just worthless.

No matter what world you live in, one liter of water would remain one liter of water. One second of time would remain one second of time. The wavelength of blue would remain the wavelength of blue.

Unless someone could give him the worth of a human with an objective, unadulterated and indelible number, you could never convince Leonel otherwise…

Maybe somewhere deep inside, Leonel was fascinated with finding out what this objective metric was. His fascination with Crafts, his pursuit of unity and peace, maybe it was all because of this one purpose.

But it didn't seem to matter much now. He had finally slipped up.

Leonel sighed. 'Old man, you really screwed me over this time.'

Leonel's mind flashed with images of his father before he stopped thinking all together. He didn't feel like giving Wise Star Order the satisfaction. The only chance he had now was for his dad to realize that he was no longer Leonel. Maybe then he could get revenge from the afterlife.

He wasn't mad at his father for not teaching him about the Dimensional Verse. No matter how much his father knew, there was a limit to his knowledge as well. Eventually, Leonel would run into something his father hadn't taught him, and then what?

There was no way anyone could know everything about such a vast world. What would set people apart were those were either lucky enough to never have to face the unknown, or powerful enough that the unknown didn't matter.

Clearly, as lucky as Leonel was in life, he still wasn't lucky enough. And, as powerful as he thought he had become…

He was still an ant.

Leonel relaxed. But, what he hadn't expected was for the moment he did, for a shocked scream to ring through his mind.

Leonel didn't seem to react to this like one should. He calmly turned his attention toward his Ethereal Glabella, the location Wise Star Order must have entered, and what he found made him raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, I see."

Leonel's almost deadpan voice filled Wise Star Order with an almost endless amount of fury.

"How is this here?! HOW?! I MADE SURE TO HAVE THEM TAKE YOUR INNATE NODE OUT OF YOU!"

Wise Star Order felt himself crumbling away beneath the might of Leonel's Seventh Star. It swirled about slowly, but menacingly, a harsh aura of Destruction wafting outward.

The moment Leonel was born, Wise Star Order had decided on his vessel. He was absolutely perfect, but the Scarlet Star Innate Node was too dangerous, it was deadly to practically anyone who came in contact with it, let alone a fragile soul.

So, Wise Star Order devised a plan to have it taken out of Leonel. His original intention was to let Leonel grow without it, take over Leonel's body, and then snatch the Innate Node back from Myghell, thus completing his machinations. After all, there were certain troubles associated with transplanting high level Innate Nodes that would act as stumbling blocks for Myghell, slowing his progress enough for Wise Star Order to overtake him with ease even with Leonel as a starting point.

However, even with all his vast stores of knowledge, he could have never expected that Leonel would regrow his Innate Node. How was that even possible?! He had travelled so much, seen so much, absorbed so much... But he had never heard of such a thing!

Leonel watched as Wise Star Order struggled, his emotions hardly fluctuating. It was like it wasn't his life being saved right this moment at all, almost as though he was watching a movie from a third perspective. He was stimply unmoved by it all.

He didn't feel any happiness or relief. Instead…

"I guess I really am just lucky. You should have feared my father more."