CORRUPTION

Leonel looked at the "corrupted" tag for a long while, his eyes narrowed. He had expected this already, but it was still annoying to see.

The good news was that he didn't receive the same tag, and the reason was quite obvious. His Spear Domain Lineage Factor had fused with his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor, not to mention the Radix, Midas, and Florer family Lineage Factors to become [Unnamed].

As for his Bow Domain Lineage Factor, it was incomplete and had yet to fully form. He had also not taken the steps to complete it even though he had the Bow Domain Lineage Factor. So, obviously, he didn't have to deal with that issue with it either.

Instead, his Bow Domain Lineage Factor received the tag of "Fragmented," if he recalled correctly. If he completed it, though, he was almost 100% certain that it, too, would be marked down as Corrupted.

'Wait...'

Leonel looked toward the Force Art, focusing his attention. After just a split second, he waved a hand and got rid of it. He was being foolish. If he wanted to comprehend the corrupted portion of the Lineage Factor, he had to pick a Lineage Factor that he was intimately familiar with.

He took out his Spear Domain Ring and had the Silver Tablet scan it. It was a ring that was always on his finger, and he felt that it was about time he comprehended its true depth.

Even though [Unnamed] wasn't corrupted, who was to say that it wasn't imperfect due to the corrupted nature of Spear Domain being part of its foundation?

Due to this, it might very well be more important than just for the sake of his curiosity to get an understanding of what was going on.

Leonel spent the next half an hour memorizing, analyzing, and teasing apart the secrets of Spear Domain. Not only did he feel like he learned a lot and even new methods, but he felt that he had nailed down the corruption of the Lineage Factor.

There were two aspects to the corruption, the first was something that he had already expected: control.

Spear Domain was a Lineage Factor that gave one access to a Weapon Force with hardly any conscious effort. A Weapon Force was highly linked with one's very being as it relied on the will of a person and the laws of reality to manifest. As such, controlling a person through their Weapon Force was as far a stretch as it seemed.

The second aspect, though, was more surprising, and that was just the fact that the Lineage Factor was imperfect.

This shouldn't have been as surprising to Leonel as he originally felt it was. Of course, the Lineage Factor was imperfect; that fit well with everything else he knew.

He had a feeling that the existence of the Domain Rings mimicked True Sovereignty because the original intention of the Domain Lineage Factors was to birth True Sovereigns.

Leonel didn't know who had created this Lineage Factor, but they had to be a genius to get so close to a perfect product even though they hadn't succeeded.

Lineage Factors and Ability Indexes could provide affinities that could help one's comprehension, making the world of a certain Force easier to understand. But this Lineage Factor was trying to take it a step forward, directly granting comprehension. Or at the very least, making the path toward comprehension so easy that it was barely a step or two away.

'I see. The imperfection part of the Lineage Factor can be fixed just by becoming a True Sovereign on your own. However, the control part...'

The control portion of the Lineage Factor was designed as a failsafe. It allowed, assumedly the creator, to control those who had the Lineage Factor.

Of course, their targets were likely those that could perfect the Lineage Factor by becoming True Sovereigns themselves, which ironically meant that Leonel would have become one of their prime targets. In fact, he still might be their target even now, even more so since they couldn't control him.

Just what he needed, honestly. More enemies in the dark. Who didn't love that?

However, Leonel disregarded that. What he cared most about was the fact this "control" aspect also masqueraded as a dampener on the Lineage Factor, not allowing it to display its full strength once completion was reached.

Now that Leonel thought about it, there wasn't any bump in strength in his Spear Domain Lineage Factor at all that didn't come directly from his Spear Force. But his Spear Force was his own; he could use it with or without the Lineage Factor.

He hadn't thought much about it in the past because he didn't not of the connection. But now... he realized that his Lineage Factor likely hadn't reached its full potential precisely because of these blockers.

With a thought, [Unnamed] appeared before Leonel.

It was a complex, jumbled mess. Leonel got a headache just looking at it. It was so much more complex than even Goggles' that it was hard to pay attention to the details he needed to.

This was quite shocking for Leonel considering just how strong his Dream Force was, and he felt that it might be a helpless endeavor, until he suddenly had an idea.

'My Spear Force fell out of True Sovereignty after my recent comprehension. That means that if I reach True Sovereignty again, I can compare the changes to the [Unnamed] Force Art with and without it. That should help me pinpoint the location in the Force Art that Spear Domain made up.

'Once I do that, I should be able to find the corruption as well as they should be nearby one another.

'If I can fix the corruption on mine, fixing the corruption for Joel would be a breeze.'

Leonel got to work. It would take him forever if he was alone, but didn't he have a lovely wife that would be a perfect sparring partner?Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Unfortunately, he underestimated just how much this lovely wife of his loved to kick his ass.