Chapter 18: Journey (2/2)

With that, Leonel locked down a new stat: Spirit.

[Leonel Morales]

[Strength: 0.72; Speed: 0.67 (+0.1); Agility: 0.75 (+0.1); Coordination: 0.99; Stamina: 0.78 (+0.05); Reactions: 0.99; Spirit: 0.10]

Spirit was what Leonel classified as the ability to use that weird energy. Unlike his other stats that were measured by the limit of the human body, Leonel set 1.00 as the energy density of a Tier 9 Black threat.

After he categorized it this way, he immediately slotted himself in for 0.10. However, in three days, it hadn't budged a single inch. Or, more accurately, it had, but Leonel couldn't register it sharply enough to put a number to it.

Still, there were other outstanding effects. Leonel's Reactions and Coordination had improved to 0.99. It was only now he felt that the barrier to 1.00 was exceptionally thick.

Luckily, though his coordination and reactions had slowed to a grinding halt, his other 'stats' had also increased decently. Setting aside the boosts from his treasures, his speed had improved to 0.57 and his agility to 0.65. Of course there was also the leap of 0.05 in his strength and the increase in his stamina to 0.73.

From what Leonel could tell, these changes most definitely didn't come from [Dimensional Cleanse]. He had picked that technique primarily because it increased his spirit. His spirit, by extension, increased his coordination and reactions. In addition, his coordination had a positive impact on his agility. But, spirit should have had next to no impact on his strength or speed.

Simply put, Leonel had no idea where these 'stat' increases were coming from. But his body seemed to be slowly improving over time at a pace that was out of his control. And, whatever improvement it seemed to not appear in the Zones.

'It might be related to what Uncle Montez was saying about Pseudo Fourth Dimensional constitutions? Maybe as a world evolves, its people do too. The closer Earth comes to the Fourth Dimension, the closer we all come to dropping that 'Pseudo' from our title.

'But if that's the case… Why isn't anyone else experiencing this increase —.'

Leonel's eyes flashed open. 'Something big is coming…'

Without a sound Leonel jumped up. Everyone around him seemed to be soundly asleep already. Looking at the time, he should have been practicing [Dimensional Cleanse] for several hours.

Making his way to a smaller second exit, Leonel exerted some strength and quietly left, appearing beneath the night sky and high raised moonlight.

'B-grade…' Leonel sighed.

The group he had taken out two nights ago were just a bunch of F-grade Invalids. Their boost to his 'stats' were so minuscule that Leonel knew they couldn't have had an impact on his 'stat' increases.

Though this quickly approaching Invalid was of the B-grade, Leonel wasn't afraid despite the fact he knew the Priest he had struggled with so much was still a sliver away from the B-grade himself.

There was something Leonel had realized over these few days. First, Invalids weren't as intelligent as humans, making them less dangerous than the 'Bosses' of Zones. Second, not all Invalids had the same abilities. They personified the abilities they would have had had they survived the awakening process.

Simply put, the Priest was a C-grade Spirit type entity. This made him especially dangerous to a naive youth like Leonel who knew little of this world of powers and abilities. The Priest's Spirit had actually been much higher than Leonel's current 'stat'.

This was all to say that a B-grade speed type Invalid like the one rushing toward Leonel now was much easier to deal with.

'Why'd you have to come here.'

Leonel stood atop the rubble, his left hand calmly reaching toward his back and his right pulling his white boned atlatl from his waist.

'40 meters… 30… you've long since gotten too close.'

A beautiful silver dart with feathers of white to one end appeared in Leonel's hand. It was just about a meter and a half in length, looking more like a work of art as it sat atop Leonel's atlatl instead of the deadly weapon it was.

Cocking his arm back and releasing with barely 20% of his ability, Leonel allowed a line of silver to cut across the skies, reflecting the dull moonlight.

The Invalid who dashed forward like a vampire in the night was suddenly struck in the forehead, a hole as thin as a bullet wound bloodying its skull.

With a heavy heart, Leonel crossed the 20 meter distance between them. His use of [Call of the Wind] was already too refined for an enemy to survive at such a close distance.

Bending down the side of the Invalid who was beginning to turn to motes of light, he caught a glimpse of its face. On the last day he rode his bike to school, the day of the Championship Game, this 'Invalid' had been among those to greet him and wish him luck. He even said he bet on Leonel to succeed with Aina that time around.

By this point, it felt like a lifetime ago.

Leonel picked up his dart. It was slightly damaged, but if his treasure could build darts from raw materials, why wouldn't it have the ability to repair ones with nicks and scratches? To now, Leonel still had all 200 it came with.

'I guess that's it for tonight. I'll head back and rest.'

Leonel suddenly looked over his shoulder, frowning. He thought he had sensed something, but there was nothing.

Just as Leonel was about to investigate further, his mind trembled.

An inconspicuous black wrist band on his arm that seamlessly blended into his flexible armor silently tugged him in a certain direction.

A Zone had appeared! But not just that… It was within 500 meters of this place.

But, what truly shook Leonel was the fact he sensed not just one but seven A-grade Invalids!

It was only then Leonel realized the appearance of his B-grade underclassman wasn't a coincidence. Could it be that Zone openings attracted Invalids too?