[Bonus chapter for reaching 200 powerstones. Next at 300. Take advantage of this, because judging by how things are going now, I'll probably have to increase the requirements next week lest my fingers fall off]
Leonel pushed these worries to the back of his mind. He refused to allow Aina to worry. She was still in a precarious state though her symptoms hadn't flared up in a while. Though he wasn't certain what might cause her to sink back into that state, it was best if he kept her calm right now.
Even aside from this, there was something else on his mind as well. He wanted to make this Force Art on his body as useless as possible as quickly as possible, but that didn't mean he didn't want the knowledge within it.
If he relied on the Force Art entirely, then as soon as it lost its ability, the knowledge would go along with it. However, if he went out of his way to make this knowledge less instinctual and root it into his memory, then regardless of this whether it continued to work or not, the knowledge would become his.
Whoever it was who created this Force Art most definitely had a devastating ability. Leonel couldn't fathom what kind of power someone who could translate numerous abilities into Force Art wielded. However, no matter how much of a great genius this person was, they had ultimately miscalculated this time.
Leonel's ability couldn't be considered a counter to this mysterious person's. But, what it was, was an ability capable of exploiting a weakness. And that was exactly what Leonel intended to do.
After taking a deep breath.
"Give me half a day. Half a day is all I'll need to organize all of this information."
Aina nodded solemnly. She knew that half a day was already worth five days to the world of their quest. By then, Charles would already be crowned and the French would begin marching toward Paris. However, she knew that it was useless to try and rush Leonel. If he couldn't do this, then they wouldn't be getting out of here at all.
Without hesitation, Leonel leaned against a stone wall and crossed his legs, his mind entering a deep state that seemed almost like slumber.
Compared to the abilities of others, Leonel's really seemed too lacking. He didn't have a flashy amount of strength, nor could he erect energy barriers like James or control things through the air like Yuri. However, only Leonel knew just how truly formidable his ability was, and the next few hours would prove this.
Nicolas had spent his entire life integrating the knowledge given to him by that unknown person he worshiped like a God. He had lived over 60 years before the time of his death and over 50 of those had been spent in diligent study.
However… Leonel had confidence to surpass him in just half a day!
The first and foremost reason Leonel chose [Dimensional Cleanse] was because he instinctually felt that it could raise the potency of his ability. He hadn't even known about the so-called Star Cleansed Bodies before.
Now, though, he knew that these Star Cleansed Bodies unlocked levels of potential your body would never have otherwise. Even without having formed his First Star yet, Leonel felt that his ability was far stronger than it had been in the past. And he knew… That he could make it stronger.
A strong surge of Force erupted from Leonel's body, causing Aina's expression to immediately change. She wanted to rush forward and stop Leonel, but it was already too late. She no longer dared to stop him for fear of harming him.
'You idiot!' She roared in her mind.
A faint wisp of a smile curled Leonel's lips as though he could hear her thoughts. And maybe it was due to that, but the anxiousness in Aina's heart faded.
There was truly nothing to worry about. This time, Leonel wasn't putting his life on the line. Even with those Force Chains trying to wiggle their way through his body and take control of him, Leonel didn't have the faintest drop of worry in his mind.
In the last few months he and Aina had been here, the reason they hadn't wasn't due to the fact they hadn't accumulated enough. Leonel could have formed his second Force Node a very long time ago. In fact, he could have likely formed his fifth or sixth by now had he not been obstructed.
The only reason he hadn't was because he didn't want to be found out by Joan. Aina had similar reasons for not forging her Seventh Node.
That said, in this time, Leonel hadn't been idle. Not only had he calculated the perfect locations for up to his Eighth Force Node, but he had simulated their creation hundreds of times in his mind.
This was the first true tangible ability Leonel awakened after forming his First Force Node. When he entered a deep sleep like the one he had just now, he was able to think at a speed even several times that of his wakeful state. In addition, he could perform incredibly realistic experiments as well.
Leonel felt that these experiments were only about 70% aligned with reality as he still hadn't reached a level of being able to simulate everything perfectly, but this 70% was already more than enough, especially when Leonel ran the simulations of the same events countless times over.
If there ever reached a day where he could simulate the world perfectly, then just one simulation would be enough!
Leonel called this ability Dream World. With it, he could perfectly calculate how to rearrange his cells to make room for a Force Node in advance, allowing him to complete the real thing with not only exceptionally high success rates, but also at speeds others could only — somewhat ironically — dream of!
Aina could only stand in a daze as she watched Leonel swiftly form his Second Node. It took him no more than half an hour! And in her shock, she almost didn't notice he had begun forming his Third Node… And it too only took him half an hour!
A rush of Force surged toward Leonel from all directions. The torrent was so furious that Aina's lovely hair whipped about wildly, almost like the waters of a waterfall crashing to the rivers below.
The momentum of the birth of Leonel's First Star was far beyond his expectations. In his shock, he realized that the Force that was holding up the surroundings was actually being sucked dry!
One of the reasons Leonel had dared to do this was because the Force in this place was actually somewhat denser than even Earth. But, even if it was, it was almost a fraction of a fraction the size of Earth.
Then, there was a dull BOOM. It almost sounded like a bag of sand hitting the ground, and following it, the Force in the surroundings all but vanished.
Leonel's eyes opened with a bright flash, his body glowing as layers of skin fell from his body. It wasn't just skin that fell, but even his hair did as well, leaving him completely bald. As if this wasn't already enough, but a foul odor came from him as dense brown-black liquids were forced out from him at the same time.
However, he didn't have a mind to think about any of this because he met Aina's shocked gaze with a shock gaze of his own. Then, he could only smile bitterly.
If he had known he only needed to breakthrough to leave this place… Why would he have etched this damnable Force Art on his hand?
To make matters worse, after destroying this pseudo Fourth Dimension during his breakthrough and returning to the Third Dimension, the ability of the Force Art to exert its strength multiplied, causing the Force Chains attempting to latch onto Leonel to grow several times in power.