Dimensional Descent

Aina adjusted quickly. Her battle sense had always been beyond Leonel’s. What Leonel had to deduce and calculate, she did as naturally as breathing, her instincts and reflexes existing on a plane all to her own.

Facing the oppressive leg kicks of the Rapax, her movements were as calming as a spring’s wind and as lithe as a ball of cotton.

Leonel observed without a word, his mind entering a different sort of state. Now that he was out of his raging battle mode, he began to think about things in a new light. It was quite interesting, of all the battle styles the Rapax could have with its powerful body, their race seemed to have chosen to become a group of kicking experts.

One would never expect such a thing from their poor overall posture. But, at the same time, Leonel had to admit that it suited them quite well.

The claws on their feet had a lethality that spoke for themselves, their tails gave them an extra foundation to balance upon, giving them freedom of movement two-legged humans couldn’t hope to match, they had an extra joint in their legs giving them added leverage for power and, as though all of these things weren’t enough, their legs themselves were exceptionally long, taking up as much as three quarters of their body.

When things were broken down this way, it felt like it would be more of a shame than anything else if the Rapax chose any other martial art form.

Still, what fascinated Leonel wasn’t the choice, but rather everything that facilitated its success. The Rapax could display strength far beyond their Tier all because of this choice of theirs. Leonel could imagine that their people had probably evolved a whole culture around their legs. Every technique, every Lineage Factor, and maybe even their Ability Indexes to a certain extent, were all streamlined to maximize this ability.

Ability Indexes were meant to be random and had nothing to do with genes and DNA. However, they had to come from somewhere.

If Leonel was correct, then much like everything else, Ability Indexes were gifted and birthed from Force. And, just like Wise Star Order had said, the Human Domain was the only Domain where the Force was so widely variable and random. In that case, if the Rapax’s Force distribution was so much more compact and streamlined, then wouldn’t that also mean that the kind of Ability Indexes that could be bestowed upon their people also existed within a narrow margin?

When things were looked at from this perspective, it all fell into place. Leonel hadn’t noticed any obvious usage of an Ability by the Rapax in the battles he had fought. But, then again, he had only fought one real Rapax while these Aina was facing now were nothing more than simulations. However, he had a feeling that even if they were real, the talents of the Rapax would all be so united in one pursuit that it wouldn’t be easy even for him to tease apart their intricacies.

’So this is why the gap exists between humans and other races… We’re so good at so many things that we’ve branched our evolutionary paths into more roads than could possibly be accounted for. If things are looked at in this way, even though my world views make the likes of the Brazinger family to be disgusting… Maybe they have their reasons as well.’

Having such a thought made Leonel feel slimy, but it was the objective truth. The obsession of the Brazinger family over the purity of their bloodlines, even to the point of cursing a little girl to a lifetime of pain and suffering all as a warning, could be said to make sense if things were looked at through this light.

When Leonel thought about it, everything about Aina’s talents were perfect. Her Ability Index, her Lineage Factor, her Style, her Force affinities… They all combined into a single monstrous monolith.

Now that he thought about it, the one other Brazinger family member that he had had in depth contact with was also like this. Simeon’s Gene Manipulation Ability Index was a lot like Aina’s Ability if you thought about it. If anything, Simeon’s Gene Manipulation Ability was just a more involved and controlled version of Aina’s Ability when extrapolated to an extreme…

Something that would make perfect sense since Aina was a half-blood while Simeon was, presumably, full blooded.

When Leonel reached this point in his thoughts, he felt his heart skip a beat. These were all things he had already known for a very long time, but when they were put together and described like this, it all made almost too much sense. But, at the same time, it was a reminder of his weakness.

Leonel’s talents worked together well enough, but it couldn’t be said that they synergized and exponentially improved one another. However, if he truly wanted to reach the pinnacle of his strength, he would have to find a way.

Leonel’s gaze became serious. ’When I return to Earth, I won’t let Simeon go again. His Gene Manipulation Ability isn’t even documented in any Ability Index I’ve ever read. In fact, I haven’t ever seen Aina’s Ability documented either. But, it also happens to be the perfect last piece to what the tentacle womb is missing…’

Leonel’s mine whirred.

He had created his Dream Path ability to help his brothers maximize their training regimens, taking inspiration from Aina’s Ability. It seemed that he would need to adjust it. Not only would he need to focus on maximizing their training, but he would also need to fuse all their talents toward a single path and battle style, only like this would they become the absolute strongest versions of themselves.

’But first… I need to figure out how to do this for myself. I’ve already decided that my foundation will be my Scarlet Star Force and my comprehension of it is progressing smoothly… I need more data to complete the Dream Simulations for my future path, though…’

Leonel suddenly looked up as they vanished from the foggy world. ’Perfect timing.’

Up ahead, a group led by a young woman with a poisonous sort of air appeared to their left.