Dimensional Descent

Leonel had already realized that music and its resonance abilities were far more fundamental to life and all there was than it had initially seemed to him. But watching Aina apply it to so many things only enlightened him further.

Still, he really wanted to understand… What was so special about music?

Leonel wasn't sure. The best he could think was that only in the presence of things could music exist. It was a vibrational energy that couldn't exist within the vacuum of space. In fact, in Leonel's many battles in space, unless he dispersed his Force to allow music to have a medium by which to travel through, there wouldn't be a single sound at all.

And maybe that was precisely what was so beautiful about it.

Still, it was easy to say that, but Leonel didn't feel like he truly understood. Wasn't light even more omnipresent than even music? Let alone a medium, light wasn't restricted by anything aside from the darkness of a black hole. It could easily travel through the darkness of space without an issue and it was also the fastest substance in all of existence.

While music might be a sign that there was something there, light was a sign that there was something out there.

It was only the difference of a single word, but the difference was as vast as a chasm. As amazing as resonant sound was, shouldn't resonant light be even more unfathomable?

Was that why the artistry of painting was the final step in his grandfather's spearmanship? Or was he overthinking it?

Was the final step really about light resonance? Or was it more akin to the lines of poetry which were meant to allude to a certain Artistic Conception?

'No… it's life. It all goes back to that. In the end, that's what the value of Artistic Conception is. It's not in the art, but in the real world aspects that it calls upon.'

Leonel had already figured this out the moment he picked up his Quasi Life Grade Force Quill, but watching Aina had made him second guess himself for a moment. However, after a moment, he realized that there was nothing contradictory about his thoughts at all.

His poetry gave his spear a conception and his calligraphy brought it to life.

His music would resonate with a conception and his stroke would bring it to life.

His brush brought light to a conception and his spear would breathe life into it.

That give and take, that sort of balance, that was the true hidden strength behind Spear Force… No, behind any Weapon Force. No... maybe behind any Force at all...

What Leonel was missing wasn't this comprehension. Thanks to his Force Quill and his Force Art mastery, he had been able to grasp this and understand the underlying belly of his grandfather's wishes. What was missing was how he could take this and transform it into a Sovereign Spear and a Sovereign Bow.

The moment Leonel had heard Silyn's words just hours ago, Leonel realized that in his world, there existed people who went by Spear and Bow Sovereigns. It also seemed that this title of Sovereign described many important things like Aina's Bow Sovereignty or Little Blackstar's Shadow Sovereignty.

What both Aina and Blackstar shared, that Leonel seemed to lack, was an absolute dominion over their Force. Whether it was Blood Force for Aina or Dark Force for Blackstar, their abilities could almost be classified as omniscient in just this particular path.

Leonel had a hypothesis that this was the true end goal of his Spear Domain ring: to bring his Spear Force to the level of true Spear Sovereigns. It was trying to birth such a talent within him.

And if he was correct about it, then this also meant that the secret to what he was missing was found in its very name… Spear Domain.

When Leonel took another large step forward in his Spear Force, what had happened? He had finally managed to form his Absolute Spear Domain, a domain that appeared to protect him even without his conscious effort. In fact, it was as effortless as AIna's control of Blood or Blackstar's control over the Shadows.

However, Silyn had been right. There was still something missing from it… And that was once again found in another name.

Sovereignty.

When Leonel first grasped True State Universal Force, allowing him to apply Universal Force to whatever it was he chose instead of having to comprehend each piece individually, a large qualitative change had taken place within him.

That day, his life had been on the line as he faced Lionel, his supposed Dark Prisoner copy. Thanks to this sudden breakthrough, he managed to survive and he comprehended the truest form of Universal Force. It was this comprehension that also allowed him to have the combat prowess he did now.

And what was it that he had come to understand that day? It was simple. That the True path of Universal Force, the True path of Domains, was that of a King.

He had understood this so long ago, years ago, in fact. So what was it that was holding him back? Why was it that he couldn't seem to take this final step?

With his current speed of thought, Leonel thought through countless possibilities but he eventually landed on a single one.

93% likelihood – Mutation of King's Might.

Leonel's eyes narrowed.

Why was it that it had been so easy for him to grasp his grandfather's teachings?

In just 10 months, he had reached complete mastery in poetry and calligraphy. He was only restricted by his Dimension. If not for this, he could say grandiose words like: "This strike will split the world in two." But if he tried to do that, his body would combust before he could even pierce with his spear.

A part of the reason was his Ability Index, specifically Dream Class. But truthfully, that was only maybe 20% of the reason. The remaining 80% was actually his King's Might Lineage Factor.

King's Might allowed Leonel to take his will and project it out into the world, giving it tangible form. This made his Artistic Conceptions far more powerful and it made it very easy for him to visualize them. The threshold he needed to meet was far below the threshold others would need to meet as a result.

However, Leonel's King's Might was a mutation of his mother's Emperor Might, it wasn't exactly the same.

In addition, Leonel had fused his King's Might projection with his comprehension of Destruction, further altering it from its original path.

And now, Leonel seemed to realize that it was precisely this that had led him astray.

His King's Might was no longer pure. It might even be more accurate to call it Destruction's Might. It was also no wonder why all his poetry and calligraphy just seemed to be more and more powerful attacks, there was a lack of fluidity and variety among them.

How could he have variety when the projection of his will only wanted to destroy?

It might be fine if in the future Leonel chose to make his King's Might focus on Destruction, but he had skipped too many steps…

He had still yet to grasp exactly what it meant to be a Sovereign, so how could he now pick and choose what to be a Sovereign of?

Leonel's heartbeat slowed to a crawl as he understood what he had to do.

Somehow, he needed to find a way to reset his King's Might. Only then could he leap across this final hurdle.