[BONUS] WILDFIRE

[Thanks to Ian <3 (4/6)]

Leonel entered the Dream Pavilion with his mind ironically in the clouds. He paused, remembering something, then chose to do a check. He wanted to understand why Cindra was so powerful. Soon, he figured it out.

He should have realized it earlier. But this was the first time he was actually meeting such a person in the flesh so it hadn't really sunk in.

Of course, Cindra was a Snow Star Order. Well, that was Leonel's guess, but he was fairly certain that he was actually correct because nothing else made sense. © 2024.

But this wasn't the only interesting thing he had learned.

Snow Star Order. Stone Star Order. Starry Star Order. Twinkling Star Order. And Golden Star Order.

The names of these Orders were fairly self-explanatory. These were people who had a natural advantage in the control of Lineage Factors related to the Snowy Star Owl, White Stone Elephant, Starry Tailed Fox, Twinkling Light Bear, and the Golden Tiger.

The only reason the Luxnix family only knew of the Snow Star Order was, obviously, because they had only ever unlocked the Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. Even if they had had one of the other Orders, they wouldn't have even been aware.

There was also the fact Wise Star Order had manipulated the history of the Luxnix as well. And now that that man had disappeared, Leonel had no way of telling what parts of it were real and what parts were fake.

What he did know, though, was that Orders of this kind were very special.

In Leonel's worldview, the Snowy Star Owl was just a Sixth Dimensional Lineage Factor. However, in the visions, the Snowy Star Owl was a creature that could cross a universe with a single flap of its wings.

The disparity between the actual creature and the Lineage Factor it represented was a vast chasm.

To the God Beasts, the lesser Lineage Factors were entirely worthless. It was only those humans that could eventually reach the end and form the Infinity Beast or Void Beast Lineage Factors that could really be considered to be the true powerhouses of their movement... With one exception.

The Orders.

The Orders were able to unearth potential from the lesser Lineage Factors that most humans could not.

And it seemed now that Cindra was likely to be one of them.

'Hm... What to do...'

The matter with Cindra was even more complicated now. Unlike him, Cindra would be immediately recognizable. She didn't have a Lineage Factor that was mutated like his own.

Right now, if she appeared before a knowledgeable God, she would definitely be exposed immediately.

Leonel had already explained these things to Cindra, and for now, he could only hide her away. So, unfortunately, it seemed that he had actually lost a great asset instead of gained one.

Unless he was strong enough to snub his nose at the Gods, it was impossible for him to bring her out and lean on her... at best he could have her join the Dream Pavilion and she would be an extra buffer to his ratios. But he couldn't use her in any other ways...

'It's possible that I can find a way to hide it like I did. But she's not like me. She doesn't have other talents and such to rely on. If she sacrifices her Lineage Factor to boost her body alone, much of her strength would plummet.'

As Leonel thought, he continued to walk, strolling as though to free his mind of his worries.

His mind drifted to the Gathering of Minds and a smile crept up onto his face. He truly had never done an exchange with other Crafters. Come to think of it, the only person he had somewhat done so with was Anya, but that ended quite quickly, and she had always been far beneath him in skill. That "exchange" was mostly just him proving himself in every fashion.

However, he had some worries about it too.

The first was Tolliver. He still didn't quite understand what changes the little Metal Spirit had undergone, but they certainly weren't normal by any stretch of the imagination. He felt that he would have to try and find a way to hide Tolliver's specialness.

The second was, obviously, Anastasia. He didn't like the idea of using her like some sort of bartering chip, but he also knew that he had no other choice... Not only was this important for baiting and dealing with the Minerva Race, and at least making sure that they wouldn't come and attack him before he was ready, but also...

How else could he possibly get his hands on a Demi-God World Spirit if not by doing this?

Demi-Gods were well beyond him, let alone their World Spirits. If he didn't get one like this, would he be stuck in the Fourth Dimension for the reset of his life?

Either that, or he would have to raise one of the Human Bubbles up to that standard, but that was a whole headache in and of itself.

This was the only choice he had left to complete his father's mad science experiment.

Leonel sighed. He slid his hands into his pockets and stared into the beautiful skies.

He smiled.

He was beginning to see this cruel world in a different sort of light. It was no different from another 9-5 job to him. If he was on Earth and still in the Third Dimension, it wasn't like his life would be all sunshine and rainbows either. He'd be dealing with problems that would feel probably just as existential as all of this did.

As he stood there, news of the Gathering of Minds began to spread like wildfire.

All across Existence, the best Crafters of the younger generation seemed to have had a fire lit under their bellies.

However, it wasn't just them, but the Force Pill Crafters as well. Who said that the Gathering of Minds was just about Crafting?

A different sort of fervor rushed through the Bubbles of Existence.