PULLING HIS LEG

Leonel nodded slowly. His father's words were helping him to slowly bring together the bits and pieces of information that he had cobbled together over the years into a more holistic understanding of what he had to do. He had to first find a balance between strengthening the Ability Indexes of his brothers, and helping them to reach the limits of them as well.

It would be easier to help them reach the limit with the help of the Silver Tablet's Force Arts, but he still had to factor in their talent and the digestibility of the material. Not everyone could just innately comprehend Force Arts by using prior, seemingly unrelated knowledge like Leonel or Aina could.

"The Force Arts of Silver Tablet were in a language that Leonel had only seen once before, and back then he was just barely 18 years old and was stuck in the Joan Zone."

Then, he would have to help find resources that could aid them to comprehend their Forces faster. Maybe he could even fuse the two purposes into one. Who knew, maybe he could help them gain an Ability Index that would make it easier for them to comprehend their desired Forces. That way he would be killing two birds with one stone.

But he was still curious about something.

"How did Universal Force factor into all of this?"

Leonel's task, the one given by his father before he could even begin to progress out of the Third Dimension, was quite similar to the three things he just listed. He had already succeeded in separating his soul, and the only Forces he had left to raise to the Impetus State would be his Dark Force, his Scarlet Star Force, and his Emulation Spatial Force.

"The Dark Force was a requirement of him since he had both halves of the Northern Star Lineage Factor. Of course, that would usually require him to understand Star Force as well, but he felt that he already had his bases covered on that front."

"With Vital Star Force, he had already brought one Star Force-related Force to the Impetus State. If he did it again with his Scarlet Star Force, he felt that he would be in a good position."

"He didn't believe that his father meant for him to grasp not only all of his Forces, but all of the individual strands that made it up as well. That would defeat the purpose of focused attention."

"Plus, he had already had an enlightenment on that front during the Heir Wars."

"Forces like his Vital Star Force and Scarlet Star Force weren't just a whole that could be separated into parts. The only reason they had individual categorizations like Life and Star Force for Vital Star Force, or Light, Star and Fire for Scarlet Star Force, was just as a way to colloquially categorize them."

"What was more important wasn't the parts, but rather the sum of them."

"As for why Leonel was bothering to comprehend Dark Force separately, it was because he had decided to abandon Void Star Force, so he needed another anchor of comprehension to satiate the Dark Side of his Northern Star Lineage Factor."

That all led back to his question.

"Why is Universal Force so important? Isn't it by definition external to all of this? And if it's so important, how could you want me to push it to its final stage before even leaving the Third Dimension? Isn't that contradictory?"

"There are three pillars in your path of progression. Your body and your soul are the first two. They are highly important. But what's just as important is their connection to the world at large."

"Until the day you grow powerful enough to separate from the laws of the world, your connection to said world is of paramount importance, and there's no stronger connection that can be formed than through Universal Force."

Leonel sat in silence for a long while when he heard these words.

"It was true. His body would only day reach the Ninth Dimension, and that could be considered the end. His soul would one day truly be one with the Second Dimension, and that could be considered the beginning." © content.

"But neither represented where the real impetus of creation was, where the true spark of life was, where the strength that sparked all that was, all that had ever been, and all that ever would be, rested...."

"His father was essentially saying that the root to that kernel, that spark, that impetus of life itself and the path toward the strongest existences in the world, was Universal Force."

"Universal Force was the only Force that could grant you strength and power beyond your means. It was the only Force that even the current Leonel could use without any burden to his body whatsoever, and that was despite him having comprehension at the Sixth Dimensional level while his body was in the Third."

"Although his Vital Star Force seemed to fall into this category as well, Leonel was certain that it was somewhat related to his [Unnamed] Lineage Factor."

"Universal Force, however, could be used by everyone. If a newborn somehow grasped enlightenment and entered the Constellation Realm, they could use that Universal Force without detriment to themselves."

"It was the only Force that was truly without bias."

Leonel's eyes glowed. He just realized. Two of the aspects his father wanted to focus on were both things like this, things that anyone could work on to strengthen.

"His Ability Index and Universal Force."

Even so, that still didn't answer the last question.

"If Universal Force was so powerful and so useful, how could his father want him to push it to the Constellation Realm? That was impossible."

"Wanting him to push his Forces to the Impetus State was already pushing it somewhat, but it was still acceptable."

"But the Constellation Realm was the Realm of the Ninth Dimension. He had been far from that even when he was in the Seventh Dimension, let alone now."

"The Constellation Realm isn't the end, it's the beginning. I never reached it myself, but that I'm certain of."

Leonel's lip twitched. This old man was pulling his leg, surely.