After giving Leonel this information, Aina, to the shock of Leonel, gently softened the wrinkles in the animal fur and laid on her side with her back facing him. She cradled the long arm of her ax in her bosom, the soft sounds of her steady breathing soon following.
Leonel blinked for a moment. With will power he didn't know he had, he forced himself to look away from the elegant curve of her back and…
'Focus, focus… You have a lot of work to do.'
Leonel had spent all his life avoiding women. In middle school, he simply wasn't interested in them aside from the usual teasing a boy might have for the opposite sex at that age. And, when it came to high school and he finally realized that girls were more interesting than he thought, he caught sight of Aina. No… It was more accurate to say that she was the reason he found women were worth looking at.
With how popular Leonel had been as a Five-Star Professional, the women who wanted him could form a line that wrapped around Earth. But his father's two mantras had always been respect and persistence. If he wanted to respect Aina, even if they weren't a couple, he had to at least do the bare minimum.
Like this, Leonel, who had a friend like James who had probably lost count of the number of women he had been with, was a green virgin. Something like being in a tent barely four meters in every direction with the only woman who stirred his heart was too much stimulation for him to handle.
To clear his mind, Leonel began to subconsciously circulate [Dimensional Cleanse]. Without having to worry about Invalids, he unleashed his talent completely. Those who could only be considered normal humans felt a comfortable and warm, yet strong wind picking up.
The flaps of open tents whipped back and forth. The horses, in their makeshift stables, neighed, hot air billowing from their nostrils. It almost seemed like a gentle summer's day despite the fact they were deep into fall and quickly approaching winter.
As for those who weren't normal…
Aina's eyes flashed open, an unconcealed shock hidden within. But she didn't turn back. Instead, she closed her eyes once more, feeling comforted. A light smile Leonel couldn't see played her delicate features.
'The energy density in this place is severely lacking compared to the current Earth… Is that the difference between a world that's begun its evolution and one that hasn't?'
Despite the low energy density, Leonel's speed was still much faster than it had been when he was constantly worrying about Invalids. In fact, he felt that it was faster than it should have been.
'My speed increased more than it should. That's probably related to my increase in spirit?'
Eventually, Leonel's mind slipped away. By the time he awoke again, the sun had set and risen.
[Leonel Morales]
[Strength: 0.80; Speed: 0.75 (+0.1); Agility: 0.85 (+0.1); Coordination: 0.99; Stamina: 0.87 (+0.05); Reactions: 0.99; Spirit: 0.12]
Leonel's spirit had risen once more, this time by 0.1. He couldn't help but smile to himself. Before, three days had netted him some small improvement due to his forceful slowing of his own progress. But, now that he had unleashed his full potential, he gained such a large amount in a little over 12 hours. He was immensely satisfied.
By now, Aina had awoken. Her back still faced to him, she was meditating as well. It seemed that she wasn't able to meditate and sleep like Leonel could. In addition, whatever technique it was that she was practicing, it relied entirely on the goings on of her own body. There was no energy entering her from the outside at all.
Leonel noticed a tray of food in front of him and nodded a thanks Aina couldn't see. It wasn't nearly enough food for him, but he couldn't expect an encampment of a thousand men to have too much to spare.
After wolfing down the porridge and sausage, Leonel set the tray aside, thinking of going hunting for his own food as he had in the Mayan temple. However, not wanting to leave Aina alone, he thought against it.
'It's rare that I have time to calm myself and think. It's already been four days since I received those two booklets, yet I've yet to even open them.'
If Montez heard Leonel's thoughts, he would go numb from shock.
If Leonel had never opened the technique booklets, how was it that he had used both [Dimensional Cleanse] and [Call of the Wind]?!
Unfortunately for Uncle Montez's sanity, Leonel's answer would be the same shrug he used after he chose [Dimensional Cleanse] over the other four Tier 9 Black techniques.
When Leonel laid hands on the booklets, the things he could already sense with his eyes were magnified several times over. He got an instinctual feel for the existence of the technique without even opening its cover. That first night he spent with his friends after coming back, he found that he could simply use them with ease.
When Leonel realized this, he refrained from reading through the techniques. He felt that in such a dangerous environment, since he could already use them without issue, there was no point in risking anything now to read them. After all, he couldn't meditate and rest if he had to read.
Finally, Leonel pulled out [Dimensional Cleanse] and flipped open to the first page. The first thing he saw was a summary of the technique.
'Dimensional Cleanse. This technique attunes the body to the shift in Dimensions, using Fourth Grade Force to wash Third Dimensional Constitutions and bring them closer to Perfection.'
'Fourth Grade Force? Is that what it's called?'
Leonel realized immediately how important this booklet was. He didn't have enough fundamental knowledge about his quickly changing world. The more he knew, the better system he could build in his mind. Then, there'd be less variables to contend with.
'But this 'perfection', what is it that they mean by that?' Leonel kept reading.
'The completion stages of this technique are graded from One Star Cleansed Body to Three Star Cleansed Body.
'If you succeed in forging a One Star Cleansed Body, congratulations. You are one of the foremost talents in your world. Should you help your plane continue to evolve, you have the potential to form a Seventh Dimensional Constitution. You can be considered amongst the 1%.
'If you succeed in forging a Two Star Cleansed Body, I praise you whole heartedly. You are a generational genius of your time, a God amongst men. Should your world continue to evolve, you have the potential to form an Eighth Dimensional Constitution. You can be consider the 1% of the 1%.
'If you succeed in forging a Three Star Cleansed Body, I hope you'll remember the Karma we've forged on this day.'
'So a Three Star Cleansed Body is this 'Perfection' they're talking about?'
Leonel wasn't sure. Even the lowest completion of One Star received such high praise. If that was the case, then what sort of existence was the Three Star Cleansed Body.
Shaking his head, Leonel could only continue.
'Internal Sight.
'Before any Force technique can be cultivated, Internal Sight must be mastered. If you do not have the talent to awaken this ability, I advise you to place down this technique. Once you advance to gain a Fourth Dimensional Constitution, you will naturally awaken Internal Sight and you can then choose another Force Technique.'
'Internal Sight is a subconscious, instinctual grasp of the Force not only in the world around you, but within you as well. Without the ability to both sense this energy and also guide it into your body, the quest for Perfection is simply not in your destiny.
'Force Nodes.'
Leonel turned the page to find a diagram of the human body. From his biology studies, there were several points off from the humans of Earth. But the creator of this technique wrote diligent notes on how to adjust his diagrams to fit the evolutionary quirks of each world.
'Force Nodes are the points in the body that generate and propagate Force. They do not exist naturally in Third Dimensional Constitutions. Instead, they must be formed either through the use of techniques such as this one, or naturally as a world evolves.
'Cultivated Force Nodes are neither inferior or superior to Natural Force Nodes. The only exception to this are individuals able to forge Natural Force Nodes of a higher rank than their current world's Dimensional Plane. However, these individuals are incredibly rare and are usually World Spirit wielders, or the offspring of one.
'In addition to this, the better the foundation technique, the better your Cultivated Force Nodes of the future will be. My Dimensional Cleanse technique can be considered among the best, so you are in luck.'
Leonel refrained from rolling his eyes. You hadn't even finished the technique when you wrote this, how could you possibly know that? What a narcissistic creator.
As Leonel continued to read, he found a few differences from his expectations.
For one, due to the fact he hadn't formed even a single Force Node and was just cultivating Force by instinct, what he was doing now was 'Priming' his body. According to the creator, the longer one could 'Prime', the higher chance they had at forging a Three Star Cleansed Body.
From what Leonel could see, he had already begun to pass the thresholds necessary to enter those completion realms. The creator described that state as 'Force infused into the brain'. Leonel had already naturally accomplished this.
The second thing that subverted his expectations was that unlike those anime he and his dad liked to watch, the core of Force techniques wasn't at his lower belly, but was rather in his mind. The reason 'Force infused into the brain' was so important was because this was where the Stars would form. The more resilient the mind, the higher chance there was at success.
The third thing was that Leonel felt he could already form Two Stars without issue. But the fact he could exposed to him just how difficult it was to form Three. He felt that it was an astronomical distance away despite the fact he had reached the Two Star threshold so easily.
The fourth thing Leonel began to contemplate was on just what his ability truly was, then… According to the description of Internal Sight, it matched the way he had used his ability all along.
Could it be he had mistaken Internal Sight for his ability? If that was the case, then what was his actual ability, then? It couldn't be that his ability was something everyone would receive eventually… right?
Leonel could only set these thoughts aside. The more he cultivated [Dimensional Cleanse], the stronger his ability would become. By then, he'd know the truth. If it was more potent, he'd be able to get a rid on it much easier.
'Alright, there are multiple options from where to start forming Force Nodes. If I want to gather enough Force to form the first Star, I need three Nodes. Six Nodes for two. And nine Nodes for the third and final. But, it's very difficult for a Pseudo Fourth Dimensional body to withstand that many nodes even if my brain can withstand Two Stars already.
'The most dangerous starting position is the brain stem… the easiest is the calf. However, starting at the calf will make your Nodes about a tenth the size of their full potential. The further the starting position from the brain, the longer the path you need to forge, and thus the less energy you can spend on widening your Node.
'The closer to the brain you start, the less energy you need to spend on the path, and the more you can spend on widening your Node. The wider the starting Node, the more Force it can withstand. Since your first Node acts as a pathway to your second Node, the same principle applies, so the closer the second Node is to it, and the larger that first Node is… the larger the second will be…
'In that case, what I need to focus on is reaching saturation in my Priming stage. After this, I'll form my first Node at my brain stem!'
Like this, three weeks passed and Leonel's brain had finally reached its full capacity.
[Leonel Morales]
[Strength: 0.80; Speed: 0.75 (+0.1); Agility: 0.85 (+0.1); Coordination: 0.99; Stamina: 0.87 (+0.05); Reactions: 0.99; Spirit: 0.30]