Dimensional Descent

The reaction was only as one might expect.

The truth was that Leonel hadn't tried to lean on this advantage because he truly felt that it wouldn't matter much to begin with. His ties with the Luxnix and Morales families were… loose to say the least. Not only that, but Leonel was a bit stubborn about it all at the same time.

He wanted to use his Luxnix and Morales blood for the sake of taking over said families. But, as far as relying on them? He never really had any intention of doing so.

As far as he saw things, he would be the one in position to elevate them, not the other way around. And, he also wasn't fond of the idea of having to rely on others as well. This wasn't just a matter of pride, it was also a matter of practicality.

Just seeing how Aina's family had treated her, Leonel felt it would be a fool's dream to hope that his own families would welcome him with open arms. If he really went into the world with that kind of thought process, he would end up chewed up and spit out before he realized what happened.

Leonel had always subconsciously known that his own power and strength would always be the most important. But, seeing how things ended up for Augustus today, and how many times he had been forced to change and alter his plans before he could even take the first step on his journey, he realized it even more now.

If he didn't wield enough power and strength himself, it would all be meaningless. There would be a day where no amount of scheming could get him out of a situation and he would be forced to face it head on. If when that time came he was still trying to play chess when the situation demanded checkers, all his dreams and aspirations would be for naught.

'Maybe I've been going about this all wrong…'

Leonel forgot that he was supposed to be waiting for an answer from Augustus for a moment as he lost himself in a trail of thoughts.

'I'm trying to build a Kingdom, but before it's even gotten off its feet it's already pulling me in so many directions. I'm worrying about recruiting, about loyalty, about resources and money… It's diverting my attention so much at just this scale, what would happen on a larger scale?'

Leonel shook his head.

It was difficult to make a choice.

In truth, he needed somewhat of a Kingdom just to fight for position during the Morales Heir Wars. Those individuals probably had far better connections than Leonel could even dream of right this moment.

But, if he focused too much on this, his own power would be lacking when the time came.

Ultimately, Leonel realized that he once again knew too little.

When would the Heir Wars take place? What were the rules? Who was allowed to participate at his call and who wasn't?

If Leonel could just bring his mother and father with him to the Heir Wars, would he even need to worry about victory? If he could do something like that, why was he wasting so much time recruiting people?

In that case, wouldn't it be better to just focus on himself and a small group of elites? Then, when the time came, he could sic his dad's foul mouth on all his enemies and lay back and relax.

Though Leonel wasn't exactly sure how powerful his parents were, he assumed they were pretty good. And, even though his dad would be against helping him at first, from what Leonel remembered of his mother in his memories, he only needed to ask her once and he would fall in line.

Leonel might be against using the Morales and Luxnix family, but he had no qualms about relying on his own parents, even if he had to be a bit shameless about it.

These sorts of thoughts were exactly what left Leonel at a bit of a loss. He realized that he was still too overeager and impatient. A dream like uniting the entire Dimensional Verse was maddening enough, and yet he was actually trying to speed run it at the same time.

He needed to take a breath and calm down. There were more important things to consider.

When Leonel reached this conclusion, he finally looked upward again, only to find Augustus looking back toward him with clenched fists and a gaze that was just a little bit too fiery.

It was hard to tell if he wanted to tear Leonel limb from limb or kiss him passionately. The oddity was so striking that even Leonel's own expression couldn't help but turn weird. This Augustus was an… interesting character?

"I will follow you." Augustus suddenly said.

Leonel blinked. It's that easy?

Leonel was stunned. He was used to things going wrong one way or another. Even his own organizations had turned on him more times than he could count by now. It was baffling that anyone would be so straightforward with him.

In the end, though, he grinned.

**

An unknown amount of time later, Leonel appeared within the Segmented Cube, gasping for breath. His body was aching all over. Truthfully, he felt as though he had just ran ten marathons back to back to back. He really didn't know what he would do without his Vital Star Force.

'There's definitely even more potential in Camelot's Magic System than just this too…' Leonel's mind wandered as he moved through the Cube.

He eventually made his way to a large training field, just one of several. But, at this moment, it was a complete mess.

Craters littered the ground, large amounts of Force hung in the air, making it difficult to breathe, and there were even the dull sounds of struggle still lingering in the air.

Leonel stopped looking around to find the Head of the Umbra family pincered by Vice and Candle. He was on his knees, his hand raised up to his sides as though they had been nailed down, when in reality there was nothing there at all.

However, the most intriguing part wasn't any of this, but rather the little mink who took the Umbra Head's hair as a nest to rest in.

[Three more chapters coming later today]