Dimensional Descent

Leonel frowned. He had never felt uncomfortable. Plus, even if he did, what was a little discomfort compared to being fried to ash by his own Innate Node? A part of him still somewhat believed that Wise Star Order was trying to trick him again. But, he deduced that that was unlikely.

Also, it wasn\'t very difficult to manage this because he just set one of his minds to the task.

"You\'re pretty vulgar for an old man. Now that I think about it, I have two Savants under my wing. You can train them."

Wise Star Order had been too surprised today so he had begun to think a measure before he spoke. Still, hearing that Leonel had two Savants with him made him speechless again. Since when did his kind start to grow on trees? But, worst yet, what made Leonel think he could train them? He had his ability and they had their own.

Plus, wasn\'t he afraid that he\'d use the Savants to mess with him? The relationship between Master and Disciple was pretty special and Savants could either be much harder or much easier to manipulate than a normal human. He was playing a risky game here.

"What makes you think I can train them?"

"Even if you don\'t have their abilities, I\'m sure you have a deep understanding of what it means to grow powerful as a Savant. Plus, you\'ve seen a lot."

"What are their abilities?"

"One has a spatial lock ability, the other has a defensive mirror ability. They both seem to be variations or mutations of known Ability Indexes, Vice with a Spatial Affinity Ability Index, and Candle with an Energy Shield Ability Index."

"… Lucky brats."

Wise Star Order was jealous. If he had those abilities instead of his own, he would have been able to do great things.

In the end, he shook his head. He wasn\'t naïve enough to believe that was true. If he had been born with another ability, not only would he have lost his long lifespan, but he might not have been able to keep his abilities a secret. By then, he would have become a weapon of war for the Luxnix like so many other Savants before him.

"Alright, I\'ll guide them. But don\'t blame me when they become more loyal to me than you."

Leonel chuckled. What choice did he have?

He was completely unequipped to care for Savants and the actions of his grandfather, though a risk mitigation measure, had made them only more unpredictable.

Wise Star Order definitely wasn\'t normal, and he had his quirks. But, he still functioned within realms of reasons to certain predictable limits. He was on a spectrum, but it wasn\'t to the point Leonel couldn\'t understand him.

Vice and Candle, however, were completely anti social and couldn\'t properly interact with the world. They needed a mentor like Wise Star Order if they would be Leonel\'s guards in the future.

Plus, what other option was there? At least he had a modicum of control over Wise Star Order. If he handed them to some teacher with unknown motives at the Void Palace, who knew what could happen?

Leonel stood, arranging the containers. After he was done, he thought for a moment before pulling out a large basin three quarters the height of a normal man. Then, he filled it up with Cleansing Waters.

He thought that he should at least do this here and like this. If he was really going to die, then hopefully his mom and grandmother would be able to stabilize the situation. If he was within the Segmented Cube, who knew what might happen?

"That… Don\'t tell me…"

"I\'ve heard the spiel already. Just rip the band-aid off now. I use this water to flush my toilets. Good? Good. Now focus, I\'m trying not to die here."

Leonel threw his boxers to one side and hopped in, a cool and refreshing feeling hitting him from head to toe. Even after so long, Sixth Dimensional Cleansing Waters would never not feel soothing to an extreme.

"… I need a new word for you. Idiot and fool doesn\'t seem to cut it… You have this kind of treasure and you don\'t even know how to use it… How are you supposed to use Cleansing Water properly if you\'ve sealed off your Nodes?! It\'s through them you\'re supposed to take in the greatest benefits. Why are you using it like normal water?!"

Wise Star Order had reached the point of shedding tears. He truly couldn\'t take it anymore.

Leonel stopped listening to the old man. He had only brought out Cleansing Waters because they had an exceptionally high boiling point and its Specific Heat made regular water look like a highly conductive metal.

\'No need to overthink it… Just… Just relax.\'

Leonel slowly released control over his Nodes, allowing Force to flow through them naturally. He began very slowly, only going bit by bit. Even if this was the natural state of things, after so long doing things the wrong way, he didn\'t think that letting it go all at once would be a good thing.

But then… The pain came.

A heart tearing bloating began to push out from within him. Leonel grit his teeth, his skin beginning to glow a fierce red. But, just as that was happening, as though a sieve had been connected to the inside of his body, Leonel suddenly felt the Cleansing Waters around him drill into his pores and enter him.

His mind was suddenly on full alert, but the feeling felt so good that his inhibitions seemed to all be released at once, an involuntary moan leaving his lips.

Somehow, with timing blessed by the gods, the door to Leonel\'s Penthouse Suite opened at that moment.

Leonel\'s and Aina\'s eyes met across space, but the former\'s face was still contorted with pleasure. With most of his body being submerged under water, making it difficult to see much of anything outside the strong outline of his collar bone and upper chest, the situation was simply impossible to explain.

Aina blinked and smiled lightly. Without a word, she went to the table and scooped up all of the containers into her arms. Her steps were elegant and unhurried, a radiant beauty beyond words exuding from her. Just the delicate fragrance she released alone was more enticing that even she could imagine.

Her appearance only made it harder for Leonel to control how the Cleansing Waters were making him feel. For a moment, something within his lower belly truly did light on fire, though it was hard to tell if it was lust or his Innate Node trying to burn a hole through him.

To Leonel, this was even worse than getting caught snuggling with Joel. He couldn\'t even find the words to speak.

"I will bring you dinner later, you can focus on your relaxing."

With a click, the door closed.

\'…\'