TIME

Leonel sat in silence. The room he was in, if it could even be called that, was made of a grey fog. There was no obvious ceiling or walls, or even ground for that matter. It felt like he was stuck inside a rain cloud with no way to get out.

But this was exactly what he wanted.

In truth, this was probably the most difficult thing that he would have to do in his entire life. That was because the time dilation in this place was so great that even if he called for Anastasia now and she reacted immediately, it might still be a difference of several months.

But this was exactly the sort of time dilation he needed.

As he had said, he didn't have the time to waste on hoping that things would eventually work out like he might have done in the past, and this time, he only needed to suffer through pain.

"Show me what you have…" Leonel spoke lightly.

At that moment, he stopped suppressing his Spear and Bow Force. As expected, in that same instant, he was hit with a wave of pain.

If it had felt like getting hit by a truck as a mortal, he might have preferred that. But it was very different. Instead, it felt like his body was filled with a countless number of blades that were slowly tearing him apart.

His pores opened up, only for golden needles sharp enough to pierce through space to come rushing out as though they were beads of sweat.

Leonel sat in silence. Other than the fact his body had grown exceptionally pale, there was nothing else on his face that said he was experiencing a great horror.

Memories of his mother began to run through his mind. They weren't the same memories that someone else might remember at all…

Leonel's first memories weren't in the world at all, but rather in his mother's womb. He could hear her words soothing him, he could remember her care and affection, he could remember how she made his father turn off the music he liked for something that would help her son sleep better, he could remember how she would rub her belly every time he kicked and how she would protect him from discomfort as she slept.

He could remember the first time he looked into her eyes, the first little kiss on the forehead she had given him, he could remember her precise scent, the precise tone of her voice, the heartbreak she experienced when she realized she would have to leave him behind… and how they had been robbed of their short moments together because of the actions of the Luxnix family.

Softness toward family had taken something more precious from him than he could describe in words. They had forced him and his mother to separate when they should have been together.

He could feel that smoldering anger holding him together, and it became a different sort of pain that overwhelmed any other he was feeling.

He couldn't feel his Weapon Forces tearing his flesh and bone. He couldn't feel it assaulting his soul. He couldn't feel it needling through his very cells themselves as though they wanted to erase him down to the very last molecule.

Any of those feelings were completely overwhelmed by something else entirely.

It wasn't just a willingness to protect his family; it was a willingness to cull those who called him family but actually had ulterior motives.

He wouldn't allow the same thing that happened to him to happen to his and Aina's child. He wouldn't allow the mention of family to make his own life a living hell. He wouldn't allow anyone to stand in his path.

Every moment they had was so precious. As beautiful as these memories were, he could have had so many more… but he couldn't… and he would never have the chance to form new ones.

A single tear streaked down Leonel's cheek before it erupted into a blade light. The droplet left a blade mark down his face, but he didn't react to it in the slightest.

It continued to drill through his body again and again, and he lost track of time. Content © 2024.

Minutes became hours, which became days. Days became weeks, and weeks became months, finally years.

In the outside world, maybe not even a few minutes had passed, and yet Leonel was suffering untold horrors.

Until now, he still hadn't brought out any of the materials that he had traded for. He was forcing his body to experience these horrors, forcing it to try and heal itself, all without relying on anything else.

This method was crude and violent, and it would take decades to show any sort of substantial improvement, all while undergoing the cruelest of tortures imaginable. On top of that, it would leave countless lingering issues behind. There would eventually come a point where his body would simply break down, unable to take even a single step forward any longer.

However, Leonel was more than willing to do this. He and Nilrem had both decided that this foundational process was necessary. It wasn't just about building tolerance, it was also about making the Weapon Force so ubiquitous in one's body that every subsequent step was possible.

On an unknown day, decades later, Leonel finally opened his murky eyes. They weren't murky due to fatigue, but because they had been completely blinded. At some point 20 years ago, his eyes could no longer keep up with the grueling torment. The flesh within them had practically corroded as though they were metal, no longer sending signals.

In fact, his eyes were the least of his problems. His organs were shutting down, his lower half didn't even work anymore, and his mind was beginning to display signs of Alzheimer's. None of this was due to age, but rather the grueling torment.

Having to constantly heal itself like this made Leonel, who should have still had many more years to live, look no different from an old man.

'It's time.'