Dimensional Descent

The third teammate's gaze turned steely. Regardless of the situation, he was still a genius in his own right and the weight of a Golden Token wielder this year was far heavier than it had been in previous years. As far as he was concerned, they had underestimated Leonel, but they wouldn't continue to do so.

Setting his teammate down, he immediately flipped his palms to reveal a twin pair of short sabers. With a step, his figure flickered and vanished, appearing before Leonel with a wind.

It only took a glance for Leonel to pick out several things. A strong Wind and Dark Elemental affinity, Level Two Saber Force, Tier 9 strength, and what seemed to be either a Lineage Factor or Ability Index capable of making his presence fade. That matched with a top level Fifth Dimensional movement technique and it felt like he had truly disappeared.

Just this alone made the difference between these enemies and the ones Leonel had previously faced all too obvious. Just a random young man actually had so much Talent. Leonel would often not run into an individual with even one of these talents, let alone all of them.

The young man was right to be confident in himself. His blades flickered through the fog, jetting toward Leonel's throat like twin pincers, ready to sever his head from his shoulders.

BANG!

The young man suddenly found himself in a daze, his brain rattling in his skull and his jaw feeling like it might shatter as a strong upward pressure shot into it from below. It took him several moments for him to realize that Leonel's heel was blasting his head upward, his sabers just inches from the latter's neck and yet feeling like a world away.

The young man couldn't wrap his head around how Leonel had grasped such impeccable timing. No, how had Leonel even been so fast? How had he been so confident?

Leonel's legs formed a perfect split in the air, his heel driving up through the young man's jaw with such fierceness that the latter's feet lifted off the ground, sending him spiraling into the foggy skies like a rocket.

The young man tried to reach out with the last reserves of his strength to close the final distance. But, his efforts only made Leonel's gaze flicker.

CRACK!

The final bits of structural integrity the young man's jawline had left crumbled. A muffled cry tried to leave his lips but ended up dwarfed by a mouthful of shattered teeth and jaw bone shards.

SHUUU!

He spiraled into the air as Leonel slowly lowered his leg, the dense crimson around him and the subtle red-gold of his veins becoming more prominent.

With a dull thump, the young man fell back down to the ground, his body having shut down completely. And, maybe for him this was for the best. The pain of having half your face shattered was most definitely not something anyone would want to be conscious for.

Leonel released a breath, his chest moving at an even rhythm. He didn't even seem to have exerted himself, his breathing remaining unhurried and unbothered.

'Is this all?... How boring.'

Leonel was disappointed. Maybe it was his mistake for still unleash everything, he hadn't even held back his Ability Index.

In truth, as fast as Leonel was progressing, he still needed to find time to comprehend his Ability Index as well. Wise Star Order had told him that this was the only way to stop the restrictive ability Anarchic Force had on his Dream Force. But, at the same time, using his Ability Index made battles too easy.

Leonel had progressed so fast that what had started as a challenge had become the same mundane nonsense he was used to. Was this really the pinnacle of the Human Domain? There had to be more, there had to be something waiting…

The glowing cloaks of the three down and out geniuses rumbled before separating from their bodies. Soon, they became floating orbs in the air.

'Oh? You can take them? Okay.'

Leonel reached out, causing the three orbs to come toward him. Then, his flicked he wrist toward Aina and let her absorb all three.

An audible crack resounded as the Golden Tokens of the three youths shattered. However, Aina's color still seemed to be gold without the slightest change.

'I see, so this is a choice. Those that go straight ahead have the best chance at dodging a forceful confrontation between geniuses. However, those that go right or left will eventually find themselves in a fight. You can either go straight and choose to keep the Token you have or deviate and seek out something better.

'I already have an Amethyst Token so I don't particularly need this. However, if I can raise Aina to an Amethyst as well, it'll be a great advantage for the future. Plus… This is still a good opportunity to hone my combat prowess…'

From Leonel's understanding, only those who wielded Golden Tokens could immediately become Quadrant Ranked disciples upon entering the Void Palace. Those without Golden Tokens would have to slowly prove themselves to rise above the Nominal disciple rank. However, what no one had explained just yet was what the Amethyst Token could do.

If Leonel was correct, the Amethyst Token just might represent a straight path toward the Galaxy Rank. Or, at the very least, you would get the chance to try. With this attempt, not only would a whole host of new resources be opened up, but it would also save Leonel many years as well.

If he could bring Aina along with him and they could work together, the benefits would be exponentially greater. That way the two of them could forge a path for everyone else to follow behind.

Having come to this conclusion, Leonel's gaze sharpened.

BANG!

A geyser erupted once again. But what was interesting was the fact that the path ahead didn't gain an explosion. In fact, the path the three youths had come from was still open.

'Interesting… The easy path, or?'

Leonel's feet were already moving as he jumped toward the mist left behind by the geyser.