Dimensional Descent

An arrow streaked across the training room. Exploding pockets of air hovered like a halo around it for just a moment before it shot by. 

If one looked closely, though, this ’arrow’ seemed to be far too large to have been shot out of the bow of a normal human. It was encased in a Force that made its weight and substance far more substantial. 

The moment it impacted against the opposite wall, tearing a path through several prepared stones, the training room shook and quaked. 

Leonel slowly put his bow away. He had put this room through a lot in the past several days, he was surprised it hadn’t collapsed yet. 

  Of course, he had no intention of holding back. After everything Valiant Heart had put him through, maybe destroying a few training rooms would be the best way for him to get some payback. 

Shaking his head, Leonel began his second round of yoga for the day. 

Leonel was very surprised by how much these yoga poses were helping him. Without exaggeration, if he had to pick the single best technique he had learned during this partial seclusion, it would be [108 Rising Suns]. 

It wasn’t the most powerful, obviously, and it couldn’t be applied directly in battle. But, the benefits it gave to Leonel as a whole couldn’t be understated. 

Leonel felt that his coordination was through the roof. At the same time, his speed and even his strength had taken a tick up. The more limber his body became, the less work Leonel had to put in to fight against its limitations, and thus the more direct and efficient strength he could apply. 

From Leonel’s estimation, a small tick up in flexibility caused sweeping changes through his body, especially since Leonel was a person with high levels of coordination to begin with. 

All of this should have made Leonel very happy. But, the reality was the opposite of this. 

Of course, this unhappiness had nothing to do with the embarrassment of the poses. Leonel had long since gotten over that. Rather, much more seriously, it put a big problem of Leonel’s into perspective. 

This time, Leonel had been able to pick out a facet he could improve in and fix it. However, what about next time?

Leonel wasn’t Aina who had an intuition about how to best train her body. Leonel had to deduce and often guess at everything. Never in his wildest dreams did Leonel believe just adding some flexibility to his body would cause such wide, sweeping changes. 

This led to Leonel being stifled by a fear of missing out. What if there was some other simple method he hadn’t quite grasped just yet? What if there was some important training method he should be starting now to set a foundation for the future he was completely unaware of?

Toward such a thing, Leonel could only sigh. Dedicating one of his split minds to always pay attention to his body’s state was about the best he could do in the regard. 

Finishing up his exercises, Leonel took another cold shower and engulfed an entire family’s worth of food before turning his attention back to the control panel. 

At this point, Leonel was quite satisfied with his gains. He had learned four spear techniques, one excellent bow technique, and he even had the framework for several new Mage Arts being configured and tested in his Dream World even right now. 

For now, Leonel decided against choosing a Style. After looking through all of them, Leonel didn’t find any that were truly worth it. Though those Styles seemed extremely powerful when he first learned of them in Brave City, months removed, Leonel realized that they weren’t much different from parlor tricks. 

Leonel found that shifting his state of mind to use these Styles was a hindrance to his optimal battle state. And, splitting his mind to maintain them would still, likewise, be hindering his best self. 

Leonel was a cold and calculating warrior. He meticulously broke down his movements and that of his opponents into countless numbers a very rare few could understand. However, none of these Styles were quite like that. And, those that were seemed like cheap knock-offs of something Leonel could do on his own better. 

So, Leonel ignored Styles for now, deeming them to be a waste of time. Instead, he turned his attention to everything Valiant Heart had on Dream Force, his eyes lighting with excitement. 

If this went well, he might very well be able to bring his ability to a new level. 

What was unique about Dream Force that set it apart from every other Force type was in the fact every living thing with a consciousness had it. It might have appeared in very small quantities in most people, but that didn’t change this fact. 

What made those with Dream Force affinity special was that they were able to use this unique Force in large quantities. These individuals could be considered to be ’hyper aware’. They had minds that worked on a different level than everyone else.

When Leonel began to delve into the world, he truly began to learn something new. 

Within the Dimensional Verse, abilities weren’t as random as Leonel once thought. Though there were always instances of unique, uncharted abilities popping up here and there, most abilities could be separated into defined categories and graded in very specific ways. 

This grading system was known as the Ability Index and it was widely accepted. It was likely due to a comprehension of the Ability Index that Arte was so easily able to decipher that Leonel had a sensory type ability!

For example, take for instance the Ability Index of Telekinetic individuals. These people were separated into four categories based on the strength of their ability. 

The first level was called Control. The second level was called Strength. The third level was called Amplification. And, the fourth and last level was known as Sublimation. 

There were countless individuals born with Telekinetic abilities, but most of them fell into the weakest ’Control’ category. 

As one might expect, then… Those with Dream Force related abilities also had their own Ability Index and were likewise separated by strength.