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C369 - Uproar

The moment Leonel heard these words, he felt his mind tremble.

After a moment, he wiped the tears from his eyes and shook his head.

Leonel's personality was one that was difficult to grasp. It was hard to imagine that a person who seemed so soft hearted as him wouldn't even spare a single thought toward his mother. It wasn't rare for children who grew up with one or no parents to have fanciful images of what could have been. Of course, some grew out of this phase while others never did. However, maybe very few were like Leonel and never had such thoughts at all.

This was maybe one of Leonel's true faces. Though he loved, he also had a deeply calculating side to him. When he told his former best friend James that he would leave Aina alone if she truly rejected him, he hadn't been lying. If the words 'no' ever came out of her mouth or her actions ever made him feel as though she was rejecting him, he wouldn't hesitate to let that part of his heart die.

Leonel knew this about himself. Maybe if it wasn't for the love he gained from his father, he could have very well become someone's cold killing tool. There really wasn't much separating such a person from himself aside from his upbringing.

To now, maybe Leonel had subconsciously accepted that his mother didn't want him so he very logically cut off that part from himself. There was no need to waste time thinking about someone who had no need for him.

However, the moment he saw that gaze… everything suddenly changed for Leonel.

As logical and calculating as Leonel was, he was just as loving and caring. If the gaze his mother had for him was still the same, then no matter where she was, what trouble she was in, what was keeping her from his side, he would make sure to wipe it all out.

It was that simple to Leonel. There was nothing more to think about.

Jerach suddenly felt that suffocating aura once again. He could hardly move until Leonel finished going through his thoughts.

"What is Dream Force?" Leonel suddenly asked, his heart growing calm.

Leonel needed to know. Was it just coincidental? Or was there a reason behind everything.

"It's…"

Jerach hesitated.

The Dream Force abode was an extremely enigmatic existence. According to what Jerach knew, it didn't appear all of the time. It would often hide itself as though it was an illusion and rarely appeared.

However, the times it did appear usually led to tragedy. There were no small number of geniuses who had lost themselves in an illusion just staring at it.

It could be said that Jerach was lucky to not be one of them. He had been observing Leonel this whole time because he thought he was a madman. But then, Leonel suddenly stopped and entered a daze. This luckily triggered some of Jerach's memories so he didn't dare to look where Leonel was looking.

But, from what Jerach knew, it should have been impossible for Leonel to wake up. Yet, not only had Leonel woken up, he had only been in a daze for a few seconds at most. This left Jerach more shocked than almost anything else ever could.

Could it be that all those legends were exaggerated? They must be…

Despite thinking this, though, Jerach still didn't dare to look toward the sixth abode.

"… It's another high level Force. Wherever there are people, there will be Dream Force. So, in a way, just like how Star Force is never restricted by location, so is Dream Force. After all, if you happen to find yourself in such a place, as long as you exist, there will be Dream Force."

"But what is it exactly?" Leonel asked, his expression having regained an eerie calm. He almost seemed too placid.

"I don't know much about it… I only heard someone once describe Dream Force as the representation of consciousness."

Leonel's gaze sharpened.

Consciousness… How much effort had the scientists of Earth put into finding the source of human consciousness? It was the one thing that even hundreds of years of technological advancement still couldn't describe.

Some believed that human consciousness was stored in a soul or spirit. Others believed that everything that represented consciousness could be found within the brain and that we only couldn't describe it because we didn't understand the brain well enough…

When Leonel entered this new world order, he sometimes had fleeting thoughts that maybe a soul did exist. He had seen so many fantastical powers in the past year that this was much easier to accept for him.

Yet, even now, he had yet to find this so-called 'soul' of his.

One had to know that Soul Force was just a name. It didn't represent a spiritual form of Leonel. It was simply an extension of Leonel's senses, another form of energy. Nothing more, nothing less.

This was the reason why even though Leonel knew his Ethereal Glabella inside and out, he had never run into anything like a soul in there. All one could find were his Embryos and his Stars. There was nothing else.

But, what Jerach was saying now was that this Dream Force represented such a thing? It left Leonel feeling… well, he wasn't exactly sure how he was feeling at all.

All Leonel knew was that this was the abode he would be choosing. He didn't even hesitate as he took a step toward it.

Jerach panicked. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Leonel smiled lightly. "Choosing an abode, obviously."

"You're going in the wrong direction! The Star abode is over there!"

Leonel smiled but didn't reply. Jerach knew well what he was doing.

Whether it was dangerous or not, Leonel didn't care. He needed to know why his heart was thumping like this. It was the same feeling Leonel had felt when he chose [Dimensional Cleanse]. It was the same feeling he had when he chose [Golden Feather Step]. Yet, it was several times more potent than the feeling had ever been.

Were those names he chose a coincidence?

Dream World. Dream Sculpt. Dreamscape. Dream Clone.

How much of it was a casual name he had given his abilities and how much of it was something compelling him toward the right path?

Leonel had always believed that his ability and his Soul Force was inextricably linked. But, what if this wasn't entirely correct? What if he was missing something?

Leonel took several more steps, ignoring Jerach's attempts to stop him. Eventually, the poor bald Jerach, scared for his own safety, didn't dare approach the house any closer. Though he could stop Leonel by force with his strength, he could see a look in Leonel's eye that made him not dare to do so.

Then, Leonel crossed the threshold no one else dared to.

What he didn't know was that his actions would soon cause an uproar.

To be continued