Regression

Leonel's gaze narrowed, his ears subconsciously perking up. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't interested in hearing the truth behind this matter. He too had considered it an oddity.

In his own low level understanding, he found it weird that something like Snow Force came from a Northern Star. Snow Force was indeed a Star Force, but shouldn't the type of star in question be called Snow Star?

Leonel himself accepted that this was a crude line of reasoning that even a five year old could think of. It was ironically because of this that he didn't pursue it too far. Who was he to say what the Star should or shouldn't be called? For all he knew, all these names were chosen randomly. Snow Force didn't even sound like it made any sense for a Star Elemental Force already, so why did anything else need to make sense?

Just as Leonel was quite eager to hear the explanation, the laugh of Wise Star Order entered his ears again.

"Truthfully, I don't really know either."

Leonel was speechless. Was this old man pulling a prank on him? He wasn't even sure how to react to that.

Seeing Leonel's reaction, Wise Star Order only laughed harder. In fact, he laughed so hard that Leonel was a bit worried about his health. And then, he felt somewhat bad.

This old man had probably been stuck here in silence for who knows how long. This was the first human interaction he had had in a very long time. It was no wonder he was acting like this.

Leonel's view of the world was still very much Earth centric. Though lifespans had about doubled to tripled thanks to Earth's technology, the idea of being secluded for decades at a time was still foreign to Leonel. Even he could only stand to focus on a single problem for a few days at most, he had no idea how Wise Star Order had done it.

"I'm just pulling your leg a bit, young one. I don't have the full story, but I do know a bit. The fundamental truth is that the Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor is just a starting point. Beyond the Twelve Awakenings, there's something more."

"Twelve Awakenings?" Leonel's brow arched upward.

"Yes." Wise Star Order confirmed. "There are Three Branches of the Snowy Star Order Lineage Factor. Each Branch has a total of Four Awakenings. Once you complete these Four Awakenings for all three Branches, your Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor can be said to be complete."

"And then…?" Leonel pressed.

"And then you will have a choice before you. You can either continue forward with a perfectly blossomed Lineage Factor. Or, you can regress."

Leonel's pupils flickered. "Regress?"

"Yes. Regress. Beyond the Snowy Star Owl there isn't an evolution. Rather, there is an opportunity for an exchange. You can give up everything the Snowy Star Owl has given you and trade it in for a higher class Bloodline. But, you will need to start from the very bottom once again."

Leonel's brow furrowed.

The idea of starting from the very bottom in exchange for a higher class Lineage Factor didn't sound terrible to him. He had awakened his Snowy Star Owl Lineage factor for the first time three or four years ago and yet he had already progressed so far without the help of the Bronze Tablet.

Of course, Leonel had an idea as to why this was. His Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor was heavily reliant on Snow Force affinity and everything was centered around it. However, because of his Innate Node, Leonel's base Light Elemental affinity was already far beyond anything his density of Bloodline could compare to. As a result, by virtue of his Innate Node alone, he was guaranteed to have high class Luxnix Blood.

Beyond this, Leonel felt that whatever he was exchanging his bloodline for was highly likely to be related to the Snowy Star Owl to begin with, so it was probable that his Innate Node would continue to give him a great advantage.

The issue here, though, were the variables. What if this new bloodline wasn't as compatible with him as the Snowy Star Owl? What if he was wrong about their relation and this new bloodline didn't respond well to his Innate Node at all? He could think of too many things that could potentially go wrong.

"That's an interesting expression you have there. That other youth didn't hesitate to purge his Luxnix Blood and he hasn't even told anyone of the change. He's only interested in climbing to a higher peak, what's left behind doesn't matter much."

Leonel's brows furrowed further. "I can't say that I'm much different than he is. The issue is I just don't know if it's worth it. And judging by what you're saying, there'll probably be more than just this one chance to purge the gained Lineage Factor and take on a new one, right? So then you have to consider the variable that even if this coming Lineage Factor isn't useful, there may very well be one in the future that is.

"Plus, there's the problem of techniques. I used to believe the Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor was weak and not very useful until my mother gave me your techniques. If I have to start from scratch to build techniques that are suitable instead of relying on several generations worth of trial and error, it might not even be worth having a stronger Lineage Factor if the end result is weaker overall to begin with."

Leonel had learned this lesson the hard way. In fact, when he thought about it, even his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor only seemed far more powerful only because Metal Body and Divine Armor were such excellent synergistic techniques. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

Though he was confident in creating his own techniques if given enough time, how much time would that be? And how many times would he have to undergo the same thing? And, the greatest problem of all, while his strength was undergoing these peaks and valleys, how would the people who needed his support do in the meantime?

"Your concerns are valid, but ultimately the decision is up to you. What I can tell you is that considering how far these prophecies say you must travel, a Lineage Factor of the Sixth Dimension will quickly become useless to you…

"Still, those are matters for the future. In the present, I can describe to you the Lineage Factors that come next. Well… At least the two that I know of."