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C1216 Other Way Around

There was one large matter that still left Leonel deep in thought, though.

The Soul Manipulation ability was more than just about a soul being able to exist without its body for extended periods of time and giving the soul shape. It came with a great boost in intelligence similar to other mental type abilities, came with an enormous boost in soul durability, and, most importantly… came with extraordinarily sensitive senses.

Honestly, when Leonel had read the description of the Soul Manipulation Ability Index, he had assumed that Tier 5 practically aligned with an indestructible soul. But hearing the screams of pain and agony of Wise Star Order, even to the point he couldn't even maintain his form properly anymore, Leonel realized that at least that assumption had been wrong. But…

What about the rest?

With the sensitivity of a person with a Soul Manipulation ability, it should definitely be far beyond Leonel's own. Was it not possible to sense?

Leonel actually wasn't sure. He had been walking around with a massive ticking time bomb in his right kidney, but no one had ever said anything about it. In fact, now that he thought about it, his grandmother, who also had senses far beyond himself, warned him to watch out for Myghell. From her words, it was clear that she was also unaware.

When Leonel's thoughts led him down this road, he realized there was another person whose ignorance was a bit baffling. Leonel wasn't sure of the abilities of the World Spirit, at least not entirely, but he would think that his mother's Internal Sight was probably pretty powerful as well. But, she hadn't said anything about his regrown Innate Node either.

Previously, Leonel hadn't linked all of these things because he wasn't aware that regrowing an Innate Node was so impossible. It was only after he heard Wise Star Order's shock that he put two and two together, finally understanding why his grandmother was so worried.

No one but he was aware that he had regrown his Node. Even those he fought at Valiant Heart Mountain, back during the last time he had been forced to use it, all died at his hands.

'I see… Is this a sort of protection? Or is it something else? Wise Star Order didn't even notice that my Innate Node was back until he ran into my Seventh Star, he didn't confirm until then…. Interesting…'

"AAHH! Young one! You win! You win! I yield!"

Leonel who had tuned out Wise Star Order's screams raised a brow. Honestly, Leonel wasn't being neglectful. He was ignoring Wise Star Order because there wasn't much he could do in this situation other than observe the status quo.

While he could take control of his Seventh Star to absorb more Scarlet Star Force, he would just end up hurting himself. And, quite frankly, Wise Star Order's wisdom was beyond his own, he clearly lived up to his name. This wasn't a man Leonel could just outsmart because he wanted to.

"Why couldn't you sense my Innate Node?"

Wise Star Order, who was experiencing the pain of a lifetime, was speechless. What the hell was this little brat asking him right now? But, he seemed to want to grasp onto the last strand of hope he had, so he answered. He and Leonel weren't exactly normal people to begin with. Maybe there really was no better time than now for this.

"… I couldn't sense your Innate Node even if I wanted to. Even now I can't. The only explanation is that it's grown to a point where it will return to nature soon."

"Return to nature? My Innate Node will leave me?" Leonel blinked, not liking the sound of this.

"No." Wise Star Order grit his teeth, doing his best not to call Leonel a fucking idiot. "Forces on the level of Scarlet Star Force are called True State Forces. There are only a few and each represents the greatest pinnacle of a particular Element. When it returns to nature, it means that it is in perfect union with its surroundings and is accepted by both your body and the universe."

Wise Star Order felt like bashing his head against a wall. The Philosophy behind this was deep and complex, but it felt like thousands of drills were twisting into his body at once. How could he focus on this lesson and that at the same time?!

"The appearance of an Innate Node comes with a Phenomena. The more powerful the Innate Node, the more powerful the Phenomena. Usually babies like you die, but your father was powerful enough to protect you, so you lucked out. This Phenomena represents the fury of the universe as you are stealing something from it, this punishment is even worse for Humans than certain other Races.

"The pinnacle state an individual with an Innate Node can reach is a Return to Nature state. That's a stage where your Innate Node is no longer a foreign object but rather becomes a true part of yourself. Similar to a Savant, the burden of usage drastically lowers when such a state is reached.

"The beginning stages of this transition is denoted by a large influx and increased concentration of Natural Force Nodes and you will begin to hear your Force Node 'speak' to you."

Wise Star Order spoke these words as fact as he could, expelling them almost like hot air. If it wasn't for Leonel's thinking speed, he probably wouldn't' have picked up on all of it.

Leonel's gaze lit up. "Oh? That's sounds great."

Wise Star Order, probably pissed off by Leonel's reactions, just sneered deeply, a cold laughter filling Leonel's mind.

"I don't know what you did to be approaching such a state so early, but it's not a good thing for you by any stretch of the imagination, especially not with the nature of Scarlet Star Force.

"At your pace, within a hundred years your Innate Node will return to its natural state. Usually, only those old bastards of the Elemental Races who've seen tens of thousands of years of life would be able to reach that stage. Their minds are far stronger than yours and their paths have already been set in stone.

"But you're nothing more than a little brat with a ticking timebomb hovering somewhere within his body. If your Innate Node returns to nature without you fully comprehending and grasping it, it'll be controlling you, not the other way around."

To be continued