STATISTICS

Leonel was a bit surprised. He hadn't thought that they'd take this approach. It was much more nuanced. He had expected them to back the theory in its entirety. But this... He cast a glance toward Minerva, then smiled.

Leonel took a seat on the pillar and Aina sat by his side. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his thigh, seemingly forgetting about the rest of the world. If Leonel needed her, she'd be here. But for now... It didn't seem necessary.

"How about you define what the three Convergences mean to you first?" Leonel asked with a smile.

Celestia cast a glance toward Leonel. Quite frankly, with all the training she received, she felt this young man was beneath her. Dream Force expertise did not a Crafter make. And even then, her Dream Force was also in the Life State... she just wasn't a Sovereign.

"That's not an appropriate question, don't you think?"

"Isn't it?" Leonel chuckled. "You just asked what we thought the fourth Convergence was but you want to keep all your cards hidden? That's not the magnanimity a first seed should have, right?"

Celestia's eyes narrowed. This wasn't something that she could easily rebut. She had, indeed, been the first one to ask a question, but she hadn't really cared about the answers of the others. She just wanted to start to gather her first points.

"Hey-"

Celestia held up a hand and stopped him. She didn't use her silencing ability, but she also didn't want this man to fight her battles for her.

"In that case, I will begin."

Leonel's pillar trembled and a flickering character for the number "one" appeared. Celestia cast a glance at it but didn't mind it. The pillars wouldn't just take into account things that happened during the debate, but also things outside. So long as it was a spar of words, the winner would come out with a point.

"I can only provide my humble understanding.

"To me the Point of Life and the Point of Creation very clearly refer to the Second and Third Dimensions, the first being where the potential for Life resides and the second being where that potential becomes life itself, thus being Creation.

"Some might believe that the Points of Creation actually refers to the First Dimension, but I don't believe that to be the case. Humanoid and Beast Races alike are entirely unable to access the First Dimension. Even the majestic experts of the Creation State can only tap into an infinitesimally small piece of it, and yet it's capable of granting them so much power.

"Therein lies the trouble. Because without the assumption that the Point of Creation is the First Dimension, then the Point of Dimension seems to lose its meaning.

"It seems that the logical procession of matters should be the Points of Creation, Life and Dimension referring to the First, Second and Third Dimensions respectively.

"However, I believe the Point of Dimension is far more fluid, much like our own prowess can be. It represents the body of the treasure or the pill, and as such can exist in all Dimensions from the Fourth to the Ninth.

"Does that explanation satisfy you?"

Leonel smiled and nodded, not rebutting our providing a counter view. This made Celestia's eyes narrow, especially when it looked as though a dawn of understanding came across several people nearby.

She didn't understand what Leonel was trying to do. Originally, she had thought that he would have some wild haymaker to throw that would put a wrench in her plans, and she even felt somewhat on edge.

But in the end, he just rested in silence and stroked his wife's hair as though the rest of them weren't there.

The rhythm of the debate was thrown off and suddenly more people were lost in thought than those that were willing to speak. It was clear that they were still digesting Celestia's words.

Minerva frowned but she forced her expression to smooth out. This was a "battle" that would go on for three days, there was no need to get angsty. Plus, it seemed her disciple had already figured out what to do.

"And your thoughts?" Celestia asked lightly, her gaze still on Leonel.

"My thoughts?" Leonel chuckled. "I'm just a layman, what thoughts could I possibly have?"

"Is that so? Then you were asking just to learn of my definition?"

Leonel chuckled. "If that's what you want to think."

"And my thoughts are wrong? I believe everyone here can see what's happened."

"I would agree with Celestia," Lumina suddenly spoke lightly. "This is an exchange, not a one-sided affair. If Celestia can take a step back, why can you not?" © content.

Leonel's smile didn't fade. "I just find it interesting. Why would I need your definition, did I not perform the third best?"

"Is third best considered first in your eyes?" Lumina sneered.

"I mean, that would depend. It's all a matter of relativity."

"How can something like that be relative?" Lumina snapped.

"Well, my wife and I at least got our answers ourselves."

Celestia's gaze suddenly became frighteningly cold.

"Is that an accusation? I hope you've brought forward your evidence."

Their pillars trembled and a direct challenge seemed to have been registered.

"Are you sure you want to play this game?" Leonel asked with a grin. "I can give you a chance to back down now."

"I would like to see your evidence," Celestia said calmly.

To the side, Lumina sneered as though this was her own personal victory. As for Talon and Somnus, they watched on with great interest.

"Alright, if you say so," Leonel shrugged. "Are you aware of how the Pillar of Truth works?"

"Of course I am," Celestia said with a frown.

"Then you should know how impossible it is to get 37 runes to light up."

Celestia couldn't help but scoff despite her usual calm demeanor. "That's your evidence? Did you not light up 36? Are you saying you cheated as well?"

Leonel chuckled. "You're not getting it. The runes on the pillar light up in sets of nine and subsections of three. Lighting up just one extra requires being an infinitesimally small amount better than the one before. It's almost like filling a cup past its brim and then hoping surface tension helps stop it from spilling over. But rather than getting to the point drop by drop, you're pouring in a whole bottle of water and hoping for the same result.

"The default setting of the pillar is sets of three or nine, to light up 37 is highly improbable."

"So what-" Celestia froze as her pupils constricted.

Leonel's lip curled. "Alone, the probability of you doing it is incredibly low. The probability of not just one, but two groups doing it," Leonel looked toward Talon, "and both of them just so happened to be Demi-Gods who chose their partners immediately and without conversation...

"If my calculations are right, the odds of that are less than one in a trillion."

Celestia quickly recovered. "Those are just statistics, not proof."

Leonel's sneer deepened. "Statistics are the weapon of true scientists and intelligent minds. Those on the cutting edge of research only deal in theories with great backing and high probabilities of being correct, they don't deal in absolutes.

"Do you disagree?"

Celestia's lip quivered. "I..."

Their pillars suddenly lit up.

Celestia froze. She had no idea that Leonel could have gotten 37 as well. In fact, according to his calculations, that was exactly what he would have gotten had he not dialed his answer back a bit.

But he didn't precisely so that he could spring this trap.