Dimensional Descent

The arrival of the Luxnix could only be said to be quite grandiose. Being the last of the three major families to arrive, they seem to have made it a point to make a statement. But, maybe this only made sense. After three generations of slowly biding their time, they could finally see success on the horizon. This Selection would be the time for them to rise.

An enormous golden bird flew through the skies. And yet, somehow, it carried not the slightest hint of a shadow.

If Leonel had to describe it in just a few words, he would most definitely choose Golden Phoenix.

It had a long and slender neck of perfect groomed plumes. Its wings gently flapped despite its size, wafting about intoxicating scents and unintrusive winds. Its tail feathers sparkled with delicate patterns, filling all those who saw it with awe.

A sonorous call left the beak of the majestic bird. It rang through the arena like the clanging of a silver bell. Somehow, it didn’t feel annoying in the slightest but rather filled one with amazement and worship.

By now, Leonel would have usually looked away, displaying a sheer lack of interest. However, he wasn’t the type of person to fake what he was feeling, at least not when it came to matters that weren’t superficial.

While others saw a bird, Leonel saw one of the most elaborate and complex Force Arts he had ever laid eyes on. Regardless of how he felt about the Luxnix family, he didn’t take his eyes off of it, his gaze filled with curiosity and awe.

Whether it was the lack of shadow, the wind movement ratio, or even the number of people it could carry… everything about this bird seemed to defy the laws of physics and left Leonel intrigued.

Creating such a lifelike creature was definitely something the Camelot Magic System couldn’t accomplish. While the Camelot Magic System was good at taking Artistic Conceptions and functionally applying them to an attack or defense, it didn’t have the malleability to form such a lifelike creation.

Leonel wasn’t very surprised by this. If one magic system could accomplish everything, then there would never be a need for so many to exist. This was especially so for Force Art languages.

Leonel knew three currently. One was the Morales family’s Crafting Arts, the second was the Camelot Mage Arts, and the final was the very first he had ever learned, the nameless Force Art capable of transcribing abilities into an Art.

Of them, Leonel was the most unfamiliar with the third. He always had at the back of his mind just how dangerous the person who could use this ability was, but that was about it. At the level he had comprehended it to, he could at most copy low level abilities that couldn’t even really be considered to be at the first level of an Ability Index.

Within the piles of Luxnix core texts and teachings Leonel’s mother had left behind to him, the Luxnix family’s Force Art discipline was detailed within it as well. Until now, Leonel hadn’t paid much attention to it as there were many other techniques that had caught his attention. But, seeing it all at work before him left him astonished.

”Grandma, how familiar are you with the Luxnix Force Art techniques?”

Roesia blinked. She had expected that Leonel was staring so intently at the Luxnix’s arrival because he was still enraged or angered. She hadn’t been sure of whether to try to comfort him or leave him be, but to think that Leonel was actually just observing the bird because he was curious about it. Such a turn of events left her stunned before her smile bloomed.

It wasn’t the first time Leonel had called her grandma, but she still felt her heart bloom whenever she heard it. She was very much excited that Leonel was actually asking something of her.

”I know a little. Do you want me to teach you?” Roesia’s gaze glowed. She forgot all about the Luxnix and even forgot about everyone in her surroundings. Her only focus was pleasing her grandson.

Leonel smiled. ”I’m just a bit curious. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. I remember that elder Sparking Star Order… When I met her before she tapped her cane and her body was enveloped in fluttering butterflies that seemed shaped of fire. Was that an application of the Luxnix Force Arts?”

Roesia seemed to grow younger by several years every time Leonel spoke to her.

”Yes, you could say so. Sparking Star Order is among the most skilled in the Luxnix Force Arts.”

”Are the butterflies just an aesthetic choice, or?”

Leonel actually wasn’t sure. He didn’t have a high enough understanding of the Luxnix Force Arts to make an assessment. Plus, seeing through the technique of such a high level Sixth Dimensional expert was beyond even his means.

”Not exactly, though in part.” Roesia patiently explained, ”the Luxnix Force Arts are very good at embodying and manipulating Life Force. When Sparking Star Order taps her cane and summons her butterflies, she’s using a fusion of her ability and her comprehension of Force Arts to disperse her aura and make her teleportation impossible to track.

”The flapping of the butterfly’s wings are more than just an aesthetic choice as the frequency they do so at is very important. Even the most skilled of Internal Sights would find trouble tracking her down. It makes her movement both flexible and unpredictable.”

Roesia divulged a major secret of one of the Luxnix family’s Star Order elders without blinking an eye.

”I see… Flexibility, huh?” Leonel fell into thought.

Roesia nodded. ”If the strength of the Luxnix Force Arts was to be described in one word, its adaptability. What it loses out in strength, it makes up for by melding into the perfect technique for the situation.

”Take a Sensory Force Art as an example. A more rigid Force Art language might send a ripple into the surroundings to send back a static image to the user. But, with the Luxnix Force Art language, you might instead form and send out several wolf constructions. Their adaptability would be several fold greater.”

Roesia patiently taught her grandson what she knew, the two seemingly lost in their own world as the golden phoenix of the Luxnix touched down, dispersing to reveal a shocking reality.

The Luxnix was being headed not by their Patriarch, and not by a Star Order elder…

But rather a single young man of barely over 20 years of age.