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C367 - Now?

The third monument that caught Leonel's attention was actually a sword wielding man. However, this wasn't because of the weapon. Leonel had no interest in switching from the spear. In fact, he found that he was growing more and more fond of the spear every day.

There were two reasons this monument caught his attention. For one, Leonel recognized a part of its aura. When he thought about it, he realized that it was very similar to the aura he had sensed on Syl's elder brother.

Of course, the aura on Syl's elder brother was far weaker than the one Leonel sensed from this monument. However, it was the same aura nonetheless.

As the saying went, it was important to understand one's enemy. Though Syl's brother wasn't yet at such a point with Leonel, Leonel had too much PTSD from organizations he joined betraying him. By this point, he was already on his guard and was preparing for the worst case scenario.

That said, if it was only about understanding Syl's elder brother, Leonel wouldn't be so interested in this monument. After all, no matter how much he understood the Young Heir, it was useless if he was too weak to do anything about it. Ultimately, what was most important was his own strength.

However, there was a second matter that caught Leonel's attention: The sword wielding man had a pair of wings.

Leonel hadn't spent much time comprehending [Golden Feather Step] just yet. But, he already understood just how important movement was in battle, especially if he was the weaker party.

If one was far weaker in strength but had speed, there would always be a chance for survival. However, there were plenty of examples of stronger individuals suffering at the hands of those much faster than them. This was part of the reason Leonel didn't agree with Jerach's methods.

Speed kills.

What was exceptionally beautiful about this monument was that this winged swordsman placed emphasis on his speed. His movements and swords were fluid, moving together as one. The flaps of his weapon and the swings of his sword almost looked like breathing.

The contraction of the diaphragm, the expansion of the lungs, the suction of air, the relaxing of the diaphragm, the shrinking of the lungs, the expelling of air…

In a continuous cycle, they flowed into one another, nurturing one another, strengthening one another.

Even compared to the other monuments Leonel had lost himself in, he spent an exceptionally long time at this one despite the fact he was only trying to hop from monument to monument as quickly as possible.

It was thanks to this that Leonel realized something else his Dreamscape Battle Sense was missing… He didn't have enough fluidity.

Right now, his Battle Sense worked by sensing a change and reacting to it. But, that was entirely reliant on his opponent doing something. What if Leonel ran into a patient opponent who shared a similar battle style? How would his Battle Sense react when it had no information to read?

Unfortunately, Dyon could only store such thoughts in the back of his mind. Even this most simple version of his Battle Sense used up so much stamina, he couldn't imagine what would happen if he tried to add fluidity. He couldn't even wrap his mind around how he would do this.

Still, this matter of fluidity taught Leonel something most could only learn after experiencing countless battles…

Movement wasn't just about evading and defense, it was just as important in attacking. Only when one's steps flowed with one's actions seamlessly would one reach true mastery of their movement.

Leonel was exceptionally lucky to grasp this truth before he truly began to study [Golden Feather Step]. It might even halve the time he would need to master this technique.

…

These were the three monuments that had caught Leonel's attention. This was a good result.

Unfortunately, there was bad news.

After Leonel studied all the monuments, he realized that he had been mistaken. There were no hidden techniques to learn or grasp. This meant that there were no Fourth Dimensional techniques Leonel could learn to help make use of his Soul Force…

All the monuments seemed entirely focused on aura and feel, as though it was teaching the disposition a warrior of a certain type should have. However, there were no techniques to glean from them at all.

Such a reality left Leonel sighing.

'There are important lessons to learn, but that's about it…'

Leonel shook his head.

These things weren't as useless as he thought. For example, the core lesson of the winged swordsman would lay a foundation for him in movement techniques that would only exponentially multiply in the future.

If Leonel was correct, there were lessons to be gained from the bowman, or bowwoman, rather, and the fire mage as well. The bowwoman likely taught about control and the fire mage definitely touched upon the concept of a domain.

Still, all of these things sounded nice, but now Leonel didn't have an obvious path toward improvement. Without matching techniques, breaking into the Fourth Dimension wouldn't create as great a boost to his strength as he would like.

Leonel looked up to the sky and sighed. It seemed that things wouldn't be as easy as he thought. He needed to talk to the dictionary to arrange his thoughts…

After a while, Leonel grit his teeth. He would have to risk it.

The only place he would feel safe using the dictionary was in his own protected abode. He would have to put it all on the line and claim one now. If he let things stay as is, he would eventually suffer. Hesitancy and inaction were just as bad as failing miserably at times.

Leonel could feel many eyes on him. Many had been watching his every action for a long time now, wondering how long he could hold out.

When everyone saw him walking back toward the abode setting, numerous spies sent to monitor his actions rushed back toward their masters, cold lights flickering in their gazes.

Jerach, who had followed Leonel all this time, frowned deeply. He couldn't help but look toward Leonel's side profile…

Was he really going to do it now?

To be continued