Chapter 82: Simulation
[Bonus chapter for 600 powerstones. Next at 900 :) ]
For the first time, Leonel felt the might of his One Star Cleansed Constitution.
According to the creator of [Dimensional Cleanse], just the act of forming his First Star was enough for him to be ranked in the top 1% of talent. Of course, 1%, even on Earth, constituted tens of millions of people before the Metamorphosis began, let alone the fact that the creator was likely referring to a multiverse of people. However, this still meant that out of a hundred people, Leonel would be the very best amongst them.
Still, though Leonel had read the words of the creator, he had thought it was an exaggeration. What was so difficult about forming three Force Nodes and forming the First Star? To him, it was as easy as breathing. So, he had thought that that narcissistic creator who had been bragging about his own technique was just exaggerating.
But, Leonel couldn't have been more wrong.
What he didn't know was that the frame of reference the creator used wasn't a mere Third Dimensional world evolving into the Fourth like Earth at all. Even the dictionary Leonel's father left recognized the technique as exceptionally high grade. The only reason Leonel could even see a piece of it like this is because the part in his hands was the mere first part of many, as for the later parts, he was nowhere near qualified to trade for them.
What Leonel needed to understand was that forming the First Star wasn't just about creating three Force Nodes. This was simply a minimum requirement. There were many who formed even all nine Fundamental Nodes while failing to form even one Star!
All of this led to Leonel vastly underestimating himself. Not only was [Dimensional Cleanse] a great Force cultivation technique, it was practically the perfect technique for him.
Leonel found that when he circulated [Dimensional Cleanse] in full force, his mind was clearer than it ever had been before.
His Internal Sight blossomed and he could vaguely feel that he had entered a new world. This world was somehow both less material than Earth, but more material than his Dream World. It was an in between kind of space that left him feeling light headed but comfortable at the same time.
All sorts of conflicting sensory feedback assaulted his mind. He felt weightless, but heavy, that the space was infinite in size, yet as small as a pebble, like up was down and down was up.
The only thing that seemed to make sense was a singular floating star above his head. Like an anchor, it silently pulsed in the sky, radiating a pure white light as it slowly revolved. It was only when Leonel focused on it that everything in his mind grew calm once more.
'This… is the Ethereal Glabella the dictionary spoke of?'
Leonel felt a subtle control over the Star. The slower it rotated, the weaker the streams of Force entering him would become. The faster he egged it on, the thicker the invisible lines of Force would become.
A portion of the Force would enter his body and nourish him, subtly increasing his stats. Another portion would nourish the star itself, causing it to pulse. Every pulse would refresh his mind, recovering his spirit several times faster than normal.
Under normal conditions, it would take about three hours for Leonel to recover his spirit if he took a nap. If he didn't and simply let it recover in his wakeful state, it would take six. But now he felt just half an hour was enough!
If that was the case, what would the result be when he formed his Second Star? Or the penultimate Third? Even if the effect was only additive, the benefits would be unimaginable.
A large part of the reason it took him almost 24 hours to Dream Sculpt Joan's polearm was precisely due to lack of spirit. But now…
'Thirty minutes is still not fast enough…' Leonel took a deep breath. '… I can't wait for it to finish, I need to try and use the incoming replenishment at the same time.'
Leonel's thoughts were impossibly immature. If others knew that he was attempting to circulate a Force technique while distracted, their only conclusion would be that he was courting death.
In truth, Leonel wasn't so naive. He knew that Force and that manipulation of it was dangerous. He learned as much studying [Call of the Wind]. However, the uncomfortable feeling in his heart only grew greater and greater, it was like hundreds of tiny ants gnawing at his heart.
No matter what he tried, he simply couldn't calm down.
Leonel could vaguely feel that this was the instinct of the primitive man. He could smell the danger lurking with a nose refined over decades in the jungle. Since he was so certain it was coming, Leonel knew it couldn't have been baseless.
'Dream World.'
Leonel stretched his ability's computation prowess to its limits, madly accepting the Force that poured into his body.
One half of his mind remained in the Ethereal Glabella while the other entered a blank white space that looked like an insane asylum ward. Leonel had no choice but to keep the surroundings as bland as possible, he couldn't spare thoughts toward anything superficial.
He began to run simulations. No, it was more accurate to say that he was replaying every action the primitive consciousness took while it had control of his body. Every step, every strike, every twitch of the muscle.
He ran the simulation again and again as though trying to sear it into his mind.
Sweat poured from his forehead, but he didn't spare the effort to wipe it away.
Time dilated.
One could think far faster than they could act. Leonel's simulations broke what would have been normal pacing under his agitation. The movements of his Dream World avatar grew quicker and quicker, but since it all occurred in Leonel's mind, it felt to him that nothing had changed.
Aina laid behind Leonel, watching his back slowly drown in sweat. Though she knew what he was doing was dangerous, she didn't stop him. Instead, she was focused on her own recovery.
'One isn't enough…' Leonel's jaw clenched tighter.
He felt that at this speed, it would take him three days to fully digest the combat ability of the primitive consciousness and a full week before he could translate it to use in his true body. However, he didn't have this kind of time, he really didn't.
If other owners of the Spear Domain ring knew of this, they would definitely faint from shock. Let alone completing such a task in a week, many past owners of the ring never succeeded in fully digesting a 'Spear Consciousness', at least not on their first try. And, even when they did succeed, it was only with the spears they had the highest compatibilities with and only after several months and even years.
Not only was this primitive consciousness the polar opposite of Leonel, he even said he could fully digest its insights in just three days! It was completely ridiculous.
It could only be said that Leonel's ability was perfectly suited for Spear Domain. So perfectly suited it was enough to make others green with envy.
Like a madman, Leonel's Dream World suddenly gained two shadows.
He stripped the avatars bare of everything. They wore no clothes, they wore no expressions, in fact, they had no faces at all! Leonel stripped them of everything that would waste his computation ability, even taking their Force Nodes away.
The fact the man was so primitive was a blessing in disguise for Leonel. Because of this, everything about his fighting capability was firmly rooted in the Third Dimension, making it much easier for Leonel to simulate his fighting style.
The bad news was that this meant the simulations didn't teach Leonel how to make the best use of his Force, but Leonel couldn't afford to be picky anymore.
'Two isn't enough!'
A third shadow appeared. This one was even less detailed than the first two. At best, it could only be considered a stick figure. Without muscles, its simulation was even less accurate. But Leonel threw everything he had at the wall, burning his limits to the very edge of what they were capable of.
Blood dripped from his nose and his face paled, but his expression was without change. He had returned to the Leonel on the football field, the Leonel taking a pop quiz, the Leonel who would take even the simplest of tasks with the utmost seriousness.
It was at that moment that it happened.
SSSSKKKKRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE
The sound of sharp, whistling wind and the screech of a beast resounded through the skies.
A massive tentacle stretched up taller than even the wreckage of skyscrapers and slammed down with all its might onto the silver shuttle.