Dimensional Descent

"You…"

Hearing Leonel speak to the White Lion Bow in such a way, an undisguised fury lit in the eyes of the three young men. 

Discarding the White Lion Bow? Forcing it to be obedient? What kind of ridiculously arrogant words were these? No, it was even worse than that, it was blasphemy of the highest order and it only seemed to confirm the speculation about the dubious methods by which Leonel gained control over the White Lion Bow. 

Unfortunately for them, Leonel was still not listening to them, his mind entirely focused on the Force Art before him. 

At that moment, the Force Art surged forward, fusing with Leonel's eyes before he could properly react to what was going on. 

A rush of information flooded Leonel's mind, but more importantly, he felt a rush of energy flood into his eyes, winding in a feedback loop between them and his brain again and again. Every time the energy revolved, Leonel felt that his vision became clearer. In just a few seconds, his vision was as strong as when he used the Starry Tailed Fox's eyes despite the fact he hadn't activated it. 

Leonel's gaze couldn't help but narrow. Was this a reward of the Bow Pagoda? Wasn't it supposed to give out techniques? 

But just as Leonel thought this, the rush of information in his mind consolidated and formed a nameless technique. It worked by forming a Force Art in the irises with the use of Bow Force. This Force Art would thus gather all the Force in the surroundings and funnel it toward your eyes, making it possible to see further. 

Leonel raised an eyebrow. All things considered, to most people, this technique was hyper useful. In fact, even to him, it could be considered so. Although his Internal Sight would probably still be more useful, this technique had its own applications. 

However, all things considered, he wasn't too overly excited about it, it was just alright. 

Still, while his own reaction was benign, the reaction of the three youths was vastly different from just this. In fact, they felt like their worlds were being flipped upside down. 

Leonel might be ignorant about what was happening here, but how could they be? 

All of the pagodas of the Void Palace had a single line connecting them: the Domain Ring Heirlooms. There was one pagoda in the Archery Faction, one in the Spear Faction and one in the Sword Faction. These were the three pagodas… At least they were the three that remained. 

It was said that many years ago, before even the establishment of the Void Palace, the ultimate reward of these Pagodas were, precisely, the Domain Rings. Thanks to these pagodas, the Spear Domain, Sword Domain and Bow Domain Rings were all claimed by the human race. 

Unfortunately, also during an event many years ago, the Tarius family lost their Bow Domain ring, severing the inheritance of the pagoda. This meant that while one could climb the pagodas and receive its rewards, its ultimate reward would forever elude you. 

This was the harsh reality. Without the Bow Domain Ring, it was simply impossible to gather the full inheritance. 

However, even with this being the case, the pieces of the inheritance were still greatly sought after. Only one person could ultimately have the Bow Domain Ring, after all. So for everyone else, cobbling together these pieces of the inheritance was the greatest boon that they could hope for. 

The troublesome part was that gaining these pieces was far too difficult, difficult to the point that it was impossible for those that didn't awaken the Bow Domain Lineage Factor. But due to the loss of the Bow Domain Ring, the number of individuals who awakened this Lineage Factor in each subsequent generation was continuously lessening. 

And yet, today, someone who had the Spear Domain Lineage Factor had actually succeeded? How was that possible?! 

The worst part was that Leonel didn't even seem to be showing any happiness at all, he looked completely unimpressed. If it wasn't for the fact they couldn't attack him personally, they would have stormed forward to strangle him to death with their own hands. 

Before they could say anything further, Leonel's platform surged forward, vanishing into the second floor. 

The three grit their teeth, turning their attention toward their own trials. They had to hurry up and catch up. If they didn't, who would stop him?

A helpless light flashed in their irises. Even if they caught up, how would they stop him exactly? This felt like all those years ago when that woman charged into the Archery Faction and took the White Lion Bow away under everyone's eyes. 

There were rules they all had to follow. Gatekeeping things like this was impossible. Even if the Morales family and the Suiard family allowed their pagodas to stay here, so what could they say if Leonel gained all the pieces of the inheritance?

If they complained, wouldn't people say that they only left the pagodas here as long as no one actually used them for their intended purpose? By then, what would be the point in leaving these pagodas here at all? 

Leonel couldn't be bothered with the thoughts of the three as he was entirely focused on the trials. Although he was uninterested in what was the first reward, he wanted to see if there was anything better waiting for him ahead. 

To do this, he realized that he would have to reach the highest standards for each of these tests, but he wasn't very worried about doing this. Compared to all of his other abilities, what he was maybe the most confident in was his throwing ability. If there was a second, it was his archery. 

If there was a standard to be reached here, he would definitely reach it. It was that simple to him. 

He completed the second trial even faster than he had in the first, watching as the second pillar of light descended before him with a hint of curiosity.