[BONUS] KITCHEN
[Bonus chappy thanks to Dragonman009 <3 (1/6)]
Leonel collapsed almost immediately. He couldn't be bothered to care about anything else; he barely had the strength to appease Aina for a bit and calm her before his heavy eyes fell closed.
He was in the Third Dimension now, the fact he could even stay awake for so long in the first place was nothing short of a miracle. He was completely relying on his strong Dream Force and his Vital Star Force. The two were able to bolster his baseline, but there was only so much they could do.
His Dream Force right now was in the Higher Impetus State, but it could barely exhibit the strength of the Lower Impetus State, and that was only because of his Dream Sovereignty. If not for this, it wouldn't even be that good.
His Vital Star Force was in a similar state, as were his other Forces. His current body was just too much of a bottleneck.
These were some of the last thoughts Leonel managed to have before his body ran to the end of its rope.
...
Aina stood watching Leonel sleep with a hint of a sad smile. She took a seat by their bed, stroking Leonel's hair lightly.
She found her previous thoughts to be a bit amusing. She was so much stronger than Leonel now, and yet wasn't she still being protected by him?
There was a part of her, a deeply feminine part that liked the feeling. That trust she could place in Leonel to handle everything.
But there was another part, a part that was equally as feminine, full of care and nurturing, that didn't want him to have to constantly carry such burdens on his own.
In the end, though, what other choice did they have? She was strong, much stronger than she should be at this stage, but she still wasn't a match for an Eighth Dimensional existence of the human Bubbles, let alone a Ninth Dimensional existence.
There was just something about Leonel that made his lack of strength irrelevant.
On the surface, it seemed to be that it was just because he was smart, but Aina felt that it was deeper than that. There were a lot of smart people out there, and you couldn't enter the Ninth Dimension without being an absolute genius. And yet, hadn't they still been outplayed by Leonel?
He just seemed to always find a way, as though he was a guiding light.
Aina made a move to carry Leonel to the time-dilation pods. He was so scatterbrained that he didn't even realize that it was probably best that he rest in there, but when she tried to do so, she found herself being pulled into his arms.
In the end, she smiled and just let it happen. At the end of the day, what was the difference between a few minutes and a few days at this point? It wasn't like they had anywhere to go.
Even if the world was ending around them, what did it matter since he was here?
Aina hadn't always had this sort of faith. This sort was different from love.
She had been in love with Leonel for a long while, but it had never been a blind love. She had been willing to leave that love behind at several points in her life.
First when she thought to place revenge for her mother first and was worried that Leonel following her would only put him in danger. Second, when she felt that she couldn't emotionally handle Leonel risking himself for the sake of others again and again...
Her love had never been blind; it might have been irrational at times, but never blind. So a blind faith had never come with it.
If she had blind faith in Leonel's abilities, she would have never doubted his talent to keep up with her. If she had blind faith in him, she would have never doubted that he could keep his life no matter how many unrelated people he tried to save.
But now, it could be said that her faith had truly reached that level, and she was almost intoxicated by it.
It had started when she woke up. When she did, she knew that somehow, that undefeatable beast, capable of wiping out a galaxy on a whim, had somehow been killed by him. Then, he escaped that woman who could make her freeze with just her name... and now he had escaped almost a dozen Ninth Dimensional experts, and he had saved them all on top of that.
If she couldn't have blind faith in this man, then who could she give it to?
Leonel was startled awake. His mind seemed to flip on like a switch when he finally had enough rest, but for the entire time, he had truly been out of it. Even if there was danger, he was certain that he would have probably just died.
That sort of fatigue was something that he hadn't felt in a long time, and he reminded himself to take his rest more seriously. Luckily, there were still the pods. He'd have to make better use of them in the future.
After a glance around and using his connection with Anastasia to scan the world, he realized that Aina was in training so he didn't bother her.
"I'm so hun-"
"Go to the kitchen," Anastasia's voice echoed in his ears.
Leonel did as he was told and found a spread of food that made his mouth water. His future wife was truly the best. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
He devoured it all. His Vital Star Force churned in his body and his digestive system seemed to roar with life.
After just the first bite, Leonel felt his cells singing. Every bite revitalized him and felt like his body was quickly soaring past its previous strength. He had thought that his body was already finished adjusting to his soul, but it seemed that he was wrong about that. There was actually still so much room, and Aina's cooking was helping that along greatly.