Dimensional Descent

Leonel placed down his final plate, his brows furrowing.

"Regulator?"

"You're not a complete fool when you decide so. Think about it with that head of yours.

"When a weapon reaches the Life Grade, it becomes a holistic whole, fusing to become something of complete oneness and becoming a unique existence. Across cultures, there are countless philosophies that follow that sort of mantra."

Leonel nodded. He could already think of one, and that was just Earth. The concept of one giving birth to two, and two to three, and three to one. A cyclical beauty. It seemed that the Life Grade was very much like this philosophy.

"Since you know, then the answer is both simple and complex. What is the bigger example of oneness than the entire Dimensional Verse itself?"

Leonel froze.

He didn't know if he was imagining it, but he felt as though a strong breeze had brushed against the back of his neck, sending a tingling sensation down his back.

Wise Star Order frowned. 'He understood?'

The Luxnix Ancestor hadn't expected this. Understanding this was both a blessing and a curse, and it was also the key to grasping the God Path far beyond the first step at the Sixth Dimension. But, the curse portion of this all weighed exceptionally heavy.

It was all speculation and even Wise Star Order had only heard tidbits and rumors about it… For once, he had harmed Leonel without even trying to do so. He had genuinely not expected Leonel to grasp anything from the words he had just spoken.

The difference between 'understanding' and truly understanding were two different concepts. It was like the difference between knowing that a car ran on gas and understanding how combustion engines worked. They couldn't be compared.

The fact that Leonel understood what he meant with just a single sentence spoke volumes about the kind of level his mind worked at.

"… Seems you screwed me this time, old bastard. You win another round."

Wise Star Order's lip twitched. 'He understood to that depth as well? I really didn't even do it on purpose this time. How could I think a fool like you could have a little bit of intelligence?'

What Leonel had understood was complex and multi layered, but he was fairly certain that his conclusion was correct.

'Everything is a matter of perspective…' He thought to himself. 'A weapon is considered to be on object, but how many metals is it forged of? And could it even be considered independent of its creators? And even if it entered the Life Grade, would it really, truly, be one existence? What about its atoms? What about the parts of its atoms? The parts of those parts?

'Everything can be broken down into something smaller, technically. But, that also means that the larger your scope and the broader your sight, the bigger your definition of oneness becomes…

'A city, a country, a planet, a star, a solar system, a galaxy… On a large enough scale, even a universe can be counted as One.

'In that case, if a universe is a perfectly closed system, wouldn't it too be in the Life Grade? Maybe it would be at a level within the Life Grade we can't fathom, but it would still be at that level regardless. In that case… Could it too… have its own 'personality'?'

Leonel had concluded all of this in an instant and that comprehension made him feel like he had been marked somehow… As though he was now being constantly monitored…

It made his hairs stand on end.

SWOOSH! BANG!

Leonel's body increased by a size before being squeezed back down, the definition of his muscles seeming to only grow.

'… Tier 5…'

The Fifth Dimension should have been far slower than the Fourth, and in Leonel's case, it technically was. After all, he had leapt through the Fourth Dimension in a single bound. But, that was only because he had practiced Metal Body first, something it had taken Leonel months to years of effort to reach any sort of accomplishment in.

But, his pace through the Fifth Dimension felt blazing. He wasn't even relying on <Dimensional Cleanse> like he could have. His mind was constantly evolving on its own without even much conscious effort. Leonel had a feeling that this had to be related to his King's Might. Something about his will being tangible made breaking through these shackles feel exceptionally easy.

"… One way or another, you would have been marked by the Regulator. Your Scarlet Star Force Innate Node is basically a natural disaster waiting to happen. Just consider this an early initiation."

"I feel like we're missing the important topic at hand here."

"There's nothing more to say. Congratulations. You've learned about the glass ceiling. Feel free to feel despair, it'll give me some sorely needed entertainment."

"You've been stuck in a Bronze Tablet for years, I'm sure you can do with some boredom."

"What do you know? The Luxnix family estate is always filled with drama. You'd be surprised how much fun you can have peeking into everyone's private lives."

"If you're a pervert, just say so, old man."

"I'm not going to let an impotent virgin like you ruin my fun, brat."

Leonel's lip twitched. Virgin was fair enough, but when did he become impotent? He had a ceiling tile with a hole through it to prove his point.

"You're one to talk. You couldn't even have sex with your own body even if you wanted to."

"Take that back!"

"Oh, did I strike a nerve? Oh my, I'm shivering in my boots."

"I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"Why, so you can have sex with my body? You really are a pervert."

Wise Star Order seemed to realize at this point that he was close to losing the war. How had he let Leonel catch onto one of his weaknesses like this? He had slipped up.

Without a choice, he forced himself to change the subject.

"Just stop holding back your Nodes, brat. The entire point of a Nodes is to connect with your others. At this point, you're like a constipated middle-aged woman on menopause. You need to release. And now that you've waited so long, it's going to hurt like hell."

"… Couldn't you have picked a better analogy?"