Dimensional Descent

This girl was truly too loose with her lips. When she wasn’t saying things that made no sense, she was teasing him as though they had known each other for decades. She was really too difficult to get a read on and Leonel also had a feeling that her veil was only making it more difficult.

In the end, Leonel could only shrug. He had thought that Anya was coming with him because she had free reign over the items in this treasure house. After all, with how the elders treated her—likely due to her status—he had made certain assumptions. But it seemed that instead, she was just stuck to him like glue like a little girl chasing after her big brother.

It reminded Leonel a bit of Little Nana, he couldn’t help but think back to that adorable little blue haired girl. The trouble was that even Little Nana was far more mature than Anya.

Leonel found that his experience in the Valiant Zone had made him far more stoic and level headed. Even when he had been with his brothers, he hadn’t joked around with them as much as he usually did.

What he couldn’t tell was if that was a part of him maturing, or if he was just becoming jaded. Of course, he could turn his charisma on and off like a faucet, but was it really the same if he had to consciously act like that…? It felt somewhat robotic.

How many people could have heard Anya’s advice about being too ’scary’ and immediately change on a dime. Maybe Leonel was the only one… But a product of that was the realization that he was a bit too good at artificially producing his personality.

Something like that made it difficult for him to tell who the real him was…

Was he charismatic because he wanted to be and that was just the type of person he was…? Or, was he just abusing his emotional intelligence to get what he wanted out of the world?

Leonel shook his head again. It felt like Anya’s presence was forcing him to introspect. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

But, if there was anything Leonel was good at, it was stone walling those kind of things.

In one moment, he had a pensive look in his eye. In the next, it vanished with a calculating light, scanning the array of Light Elemental healing herbs before him.

Anya’s irises twinkled with something imperceptible. But, she stood obediently to the side, her sweet fragrance hanging in the air with a strange magnetism. Leonel, though, didn’t seem to notice, his mind completely focused.

As beautiful as Anya was, to the point where Leonel was certain if she removed her veil she wouldn’t lose out to Aina in the slightest, there was still only one woman who could ever distract him from a task at hand. And, Anya wasn’t that woman.

’All the like herbs are here. Convenient, I don’t even need to move. There are 38 variations of herbs in the Fourth Dimension. There are three variations for the Fifth Dimension.

’A Fourth Dimensional Mage Art might be useful if I want to mass heal a large group of individuals. But, my priority right now is forming the most powerful healing spell I can muster. 

’I need an herb that not only matches the Light Element, but it also needs to be one that is compatible with Snow Force so it can synergize well with the Healing Branch of my Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. If those are the parameters I set, then there are only three of the Fourth Dimension that fit and only one of the Fifth Dimension.’

Leonel ignored the three Fourth Dimensional herbs for a moment, training his eyes on the Fifth Dimensional one he felt responded the best to his Snow Force. By all measures, it was quite a beautiful herb.

It had the six petals and delicate bell shape of a lily. It was a gorgeous white color and had veins of white that would even sometimes spring to life, dancing above its body for a moment and sprinkling down a heavenly light before going to rest once again.

It had a long stem that attached it to three other companions identical to it. However, what was curious about this long stem was the fact it was covered in a white fur that waved about as though it had a life of its own.

However, even this was just the tip of the iceberg. Amidst the six petals, coming out from the center, several stamens that seemed shaped of pure gold metals sprung upward. On their ends, each of them held a twinkling gold bell. Every time the flower swayed, these bells would release a delicate sound that tickled the ears, filling one with warmth.

Or, rather, that’s what would have happened had the Twinkling Bell Lily not been enclosed by a glass case.

Leonel didn’t waste much time, immediately beginning to Dream Sculpt the Twinkling Bell Lily.

’The root of this flower’s artistic conception seems to be the ringing bells. Even its name says so. But… I feel like the fur covering its stem is actually just as important. This beautiful plant is actually… a bit carnivorous. No wonder it resonated so well with my Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor, it might be more beast than plant…’

Leonel didn’t know much about Force Herbs, after all, he wasn’t a Force Pill Crafter. However, combining the dictionary and his Dream Sculpt allowed him to understand an herb far better than even an expert herbologist would.

’How fascinating…’

Leonel had come looking for a Force Herb that could replace [Grand Heal]. But, he had never expected to find a combination heal-attack Mage Art like this. If he shifted it to a Light-Earth Elemental Mage Art, the results might be even more shocking.

However, for now…

”[Twinkling Lily: Bell’s Blessing].”

At that moment, Leonel’s eyes snapped open, his body beginning to glow with a fierce light.