Chapter 373: Resolve (1/2)

Of course, Leonel wasn't going to sprout wings just by unlocking the first of his Lineage Factor's chains. Such a mutation would only occur at a much deeper level of integration.

First Flight represented the invocation of the essence of the Snowy Star Owl's speed.

~Four Seasons Clones~

Each one of Leonel's four Dream Clones focused on a different Force Art. They floated before his main body, each capturing a different scene.

Despite the fact Leonel had already been bestowed the Winter Legendary Skill, he still chose to comprehend it on his own again. It was then he suddenly realized something shocking.

When he finally grasped Winter on his own… he realized it was different from the comprehension Merlin's Trial had bestowed to him.

'It can't be…'

Leonel froze for a moment.

Compared to the comprehension Merlin's Trial had given him, the one he comprehended by Dream Sculpting was several times deeper. In fact, Leonel felt as though he could sense the essence of the Seasons as though it was his very own understanding.

Leonel was stunned.

What limited those who chose the second path of comprehension – relying on another – was that their understanding would never be as deep as the original creator. However, by Dream Sculpting these Force Arts, Leonel had integrated this understanding so deeply within himself that it almost felt like his own.

Leonel was shocked to his core. When he realized this, he immediately consulted the dictionary. It was only after this that he finally calmed down.

'So that's how it is…'

Leonel learned from the dictionary that there were two things that distinguished the second and third forms of comprehension. The first was as Leonel thought: how deeply one comprehended. But, the second was how much Universal Force one could evoke.

Universal Force was the strength behind the Four Seasons Realm. When one comprehended one or all of the Four Seasons, it was possible to use Universal Force to increase one's strength. This was where the power of the Realm came from.

When one comprehended a Universe Cycle on their own, the amount of Universal Force one could use was far greater than when one relied on someone else.

This essentially meant that Leonel was now in an in-between Realm. He felt as though the comprehension was his own, but the Universal Force hadn't recognized it as such.

As a result, the power he could evoke from the Four Seasons Realm was more than someone who comprehended it with the help of another, but less than if he had comprehended it all on his own.

Even though this wasn't as great as Leonel had been hoping, this was still excellent news. The second form of comprehension would have just been a minor boost to his strength, but this was much, much, much more of a boon.

Leonel's confidence grew as he once more sunk back into his meditative state.

…

~Mage Art Clones~

After the increased strength to Leonel's ability, he found that his ability to master Force Arts had skyrocketed. Not only could he draw Mage Arts much more quickly than he had in the past, he felt that he could even freelance their symbols to a small extent.

Though 'freelancing' lowered the strength of the Art, it once again increased the casting speed and gave Leonel much more freedom in battle.

However, what Leonel needed wasn't just speed, he needed added strength.

There were two avenues he could travel down to accomplish this.

The first was the [Layering] Art. Leonel had already used this Art many times in battle. It allowed a mage to stack the same spell multiple times to increase its power.

Unfortunately, it had its own limitations. For one, the maximum number of stacked spells for a Three Star Magus Art was three and no more. This wasn't anywhere near enough to harm a Fourth Dimensional entity.

In addition, the second problem was time. To layer multiple Arts, it was obviously necessary to draw each one of them individually. This would increase casting time and not be conducive to battle.

Of course, this second problem overshadowed the fact that it would also take a lot of stamina to layer so many Arts.