W

C816 I'm Taking It!

The old gentleman's fingers flickered, causing the monitors to shift and images of Leonel to be spliced together one after another. The video feeds paused, skipped forward and backward, and zoomed in and out to his leisure.

However, even after being finetuned to the most final and even the most inconsequential detail, the old gentleman still couldn't see how Leonel had managed to teleport.

There was no device, there was no flash of Force, even the spatial ripple itself was hidden beneath the all encompassing sea of black flames.

There was only one explanation for all of this. Even in that situation, Leonel had timed his trump card so perfectly that even the cameras were unable to pick it up. That meant that he had been willing to be completely covered in those flames for a split moment in exchange for anonymity.

But this wasn't the only shocking part about this. The timing was obviously immaculate. What was more impressive, though, was the fact that someone of Leonel's strength actually managed to survive such a thing.

The old gentleman flipped the images once again, watching as Leonel reappeared upon the teleportation platform. But once again, there was nothing to find there. The only difference between the Leonel of before and the Leonel of then was in the fact his spear was no longer anywhere to be seen. Yet, his spear wasn't left behind, so it was clear that Leonel had hidden it before his maneuver.

Interestingly enough, Leonel's clothing was also in good shape. And, though he wore the uniform of Valiant Heart which left his chest completely exposed without protection, he didn't seem to have been burned at all either.

"Interesting. Interesting…"

As though he had all the patience in the world, the old gentleman cycled back to the very beginning of it all and watched everything frame by frame. He didn't miss out on a single detail, imprinting everything onto his mind.

"To give us so much footage yet not make a single mistake at any time… The only information this absence of information gives us is the fact he most definitely has a sensory ability. No other existence could be so flawless.

"Yet, despite having an ability lacking in combat, he still has such strong offensive strength. Just what family could he come from to have such powerful Lineage Factors…?

"Or… Is he a Spark?"

If Leonel had been here, even his own face would have been twisted into confusion. A 'Spark'? It was a term he had never heard before. However, when the words drifted to Havoc, he trembled outside of his own control.

Havoc had been on pins and needles from the very beginning. He hadn't been called here by this gentleman. Rather, he had taken the initiative to come forward and give all the information he had. Since he hadn't done anything wrong or illegal, there was no issue with him being upfront, and it might even help him forge a path for his future.

So, the reason he was shaking right now wasn't because he feared dying, but rather because the presence of this old man was too stifling.

It seemed that a long time had passed while he was scanning imaged of Leonel, but the truth was that he had been moving so fast and analyzing images so quickly that he left blurs in his wake. Just the small amount of Force that leaked from his actions left Havoc in such a state.

Still, that didn't stop Havoc from picking out the old gentleman's words.

A Spark…

It was said that just as easily as the past could influence the future, so too could the future influence the past. When one saw a talent of immense potential, it seemed 'logical' to assume that they came from a great background, but that was a conclusion only those ignorant of the ways of the Dimensional Verse would make.

A Spark was a genius without foundation or backing that had such a bright future ahead that they were able to awaken to Lineage Factors beyond even the imaginations of most.

One would think that a Spark was rare, and in fact they were, but this was only a matter of relativity.

In a powerful section of the Dimensional Verse, it was more likely to run into a genius with a strong background than it was to run into a Spark. However, in a weaker segment of the Dimensional Verse like this one, if a genius was displaying talent that should only appear in Sixth and Seventh Dimensional Folds of Reality, the most logical conclusion was that they were a Spark.

"We had already predicted that Earth would birth numerous Sparks in the coming centuries, but to actually birth one so powerful so soon… Fascinating…"

The old gentleman arranged everything he knew about Leonel in his mind.

He had a sensory ability. He had high affinity for Light, Fire and Earth. He likely had a hidden Spatial affinity or, at the very least, a treasure that could instantly teleport him. And, he was more likely than not a Spark.

"The best counter would be… Alright."

The old gentleman pulled out an odd partially glass device. It looked like a small glass orb imbedded into a rectangular cut out of precious metal. The interesting part was that the glass orb floated in space, not attached to anything.

"Manson."

The line was silent for a moment before the groggy face of a half-naked woman appeared on the screen. It was difficult to tell if she was just too tired to notice her state of if she simply didn't care.

The old gentleman, though, didn't seem to mind at all as he continued speaking without missing a beat.

"You have a new target. His particulars are… Get the job done. You have until the end of the day."

"Mmmmm…. I don't wanna…"

"He's a Spark."

Manson suddenly shot up, her breast jiggled along the bottom of the glass orb, but her face was too up close and personal to see much of it at all.

"Don't you dare give this to any other squad! I'm taking it!"

To be continued