[BONUS] LIFE

[Bonus chapter courtesy of Mr. Ham <3 5/6]

Leonel waved a hand and let the Dream Force dissipate. He didn't seem to care very much about what he had just done and had already moved to focus on other things. He knew that there were probably several pairs of eyes on him, but whether he did things this way or another, nothing would change.

He caught something in the air and then looked up. He had left the Starry Tailed Fox behind and had taken a bit of a quick path down the mountain, but there was no telling if it would try to follow after him.

As for what he had caught in his hand, it was none other than the net of runes the Nomad Race was using to skyrocket their strength in a short time.

Leonel observed it for a moment and shook his head. Observing Force Arts that were so far beyond him in skill was annoying enough without it also being drawn in a language he had never seen before. He wasn't even sure how to use it, or if he should use it at all for that matter.

There was a clear tradeoff with its use and it wasn't necessarily worth it, not if you were alone now like Leonel. If you were in a huge group and could make use of it to elevate the whole in a short time, it was definitely worthwhile.

'It is a bit annoying though...'

He was used to grasping everything Crafting and Force Arts related instantly, but now he felt like the same kid he had been back then when he first started to learn about these matters.

It made sense. His father was far beyond the rest of the Dimensional Verse in skill, and under his tutelage, everything Leonel learned laid a foundation that made seeing through everything else as easy as breathing.

Unfortunately, while the foundation his father had laid for him was still solid, Leonel wasn't far away from completing the training regimen. In another couple of years, he felt that he would catch up to his father in Crafting Skill, and by then he would be on his own for the first time. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Leonel sighed.

The fact his father had accomplished so much in the Dimensional Verse of all places would probably make him a God in the eyes of most. Even the God Races themselves couldn't look down on such a feat, but it couldn't continue into perpetuity.

He put away the net of runes for now and looked toward what he really wanted: the Forgetful Orb.

After some thought, he shot into the distance, putting some more space between himself and the Starry Tailed Fox's mountain before finding a secluded place.

Then, he crushed it.

It wasn't smart to do this in this environment. In fact, it wasn't just not smart, it was highly dangerous. Most hoarded these orbs until they returned to a secure environment. Only then would they use them.

Of course, some would store them purely for the sake of exchanging for Contribution Points as well.

The reality was that the Forgetful Orbs were top-tier treasures, but they weren't guaranteed home runners either. You were more likely to have an incremental improvement than a sudden breakthrough.

But that was also because most weren't using them properly.

For one, Forgetful Orbs were most useful when used in conjunction with the True Dream Plane. This place was filled with Dream Force, and it acted in ways Dream Force didn't act anywhere else.

It was the fault of the new higher-ups that these Challenges had become bloodbaths instead of what they had once been, causing many to deviate from the path they had originally taken.

And second...

Well, no one had the Life Tablet.

Breaking apart, analyzing, rebuilding, these were things the Life Tablet was there to assist Wise Star Orders with.

The moment Leonel broke the orb and targeted his Dream Force, he felt that he was in limbo and there were constant attacks on his mind. "Forgetting" the context of your Dream Force in a world where you relied on your Dream Force to stay alive was masochistic, without a doubt. But Leonel did so without hesitation.

It was just that he trusted the Life Tablet, or that he trusted his talent either, it was instead that he had a clear view of what had triggered his Sovereignty.

He remembered the imposing might Mo''Lexi had released back then, the world of endless blood and carnage... how it had made him feel.

The reality of it was that he felt as though a mirror had been put up to his face, like he was forced to confront every one of his actions.

He felt the visceral and disgusting feelings one should have to what true Destruction was, and it was that moment that crafted his Dream Sovereignty, not because it was related to Destruction, but rather because he didn't want to have anything to do with it.

That single, pulsing will had cleared the blood lake of his mind and released the large portion of his soul steeped in the blood of demons from its shackles, and he gained...

Tranquility.

The Forgetful Orb could erase the context of his Force comprehension, but it couldn't erase the context of his Sovereignty, the kernel that gave his Dream Force true Life.

As a result, it took Leonel mere minutes to begin to reconstruct the web of his Dream Force once more. He could feel every line, intimately understand every hidden truth. It became stronger, more robust, and when it finally came together again, he felt the world around him slowly changing.

He opened his eyes, a deep violet light pulsing within. In reality, though, it was a pulse of silver that matched well with his irises, using them as a filter to manifest itself to the world.

Leonel looked down at himself. 'Quasi Life State, and so easily at that... That took maybe a few minutes.'

He gripped his fists, feeling the strength of Tier Five very clearly.