Chapter 417: Shadows (2) (2/2)

The little mink crawled up from Leonel's hands, up his arm and stood proudly on his shoulder as though showing off. Such a scene pulled out a smile from the depths of Aina's heart.

”I don't think it's so simple.” Leonel said slowly. ”It's hard to explain, but I felt as though absorbing that shadow would take something away from me, almost as though it was taking an average of my shadow and this one to form an all-new shadow.”

Leonel's senses were incredibly sensitive. On top of that, his memory was impeccable. He was able to simulate that exact moment again and again in his Dream World.

'What if…'

Leonel closed his eyes. With Aina around him, he didn't have to worry about anything else.

In his Dream World, a new Dream Clone appeared. But, this time, it wasn't himself but rather a perfect replica of Joel. Everything from his height, to his mannerisms, to his ability were perfectly reflected.

After breaking through, Leonel's simulations within the Third Dimension had a 99% accuracy rating. He could practically reflect the world perfectly in his mind.

Over ten minutes later, Leonel opened his eyes, his gaze blazing.

Aina, who had been watching over Leonel this whole like looked to him with a half annoyed, half curious look. This really wasn't the place to suddenly be taking a nap.

By now, the shadows had all faded away into nothing, but Leonel didn't mind one bit. To him, the information he gleaned from them was far more important than the strength they could provide him.

This matter was life changing. He couldn't just casually take action without testing out every parameter he could.

In that time, Leonel learned a few things.

First, the limitation on the little mink wasn't affinity related, it was a limitation of quantity. In the little guy's current state, only a single ability could be absorbed by him.

Second, anyone could absorb any shadow as long as they had the little mink as a proxy. However, it wouldn't be a simple addition to one's ability. Only the little mink had the benefit of absorbing abilities without consequences, everyone else had to weigh the pros and cons.

One had to treat the shadow like one's soul. Randomly absorbing the shadows of others into oneself would be like changing oneself fundamentally.

If someone with a strong ability absorbed a weaker ability, that someone's overall strength would become an average of the two. In addition, if the two abilities weren't compatible, it could lead to a disharmony that could cripple a person entirely.

Even beyond this, there was the matter of oneself. It was very likely that absorbing a shadow could influence one's personality in ways one would never even expect.

All of this made Leonel realize that this ability would be useless for him. Where could he find an ability comparable or better to the Quasi Silver monstrosity that was his own? And, even if he did, where would he find one compatible with something as outrageously rare as Dream Force?

But Leonel didn't care. He felt that he was talented and powerful enough. He had yet to find his match in that regard, though that was obviously in part due to the fact he had yet to reach higher Dimensional worlds.

What Leonel really cared about were the benefits his teammates might gain from this. If they had more strength to protect themselves, it would be for the best.

Leonel kept getting this nagging feeling that something big was coming, but he couldn't completely finish connecting all the dots. This left him feeling uneasy… Unfortunately, all he could do was prepare to the best of his ability.

Still, he had to consider the problem of warped personalities. If the friends he had grown up with all his life suddenly became completely different people… then who had he saved, exactly?

Leonel sighed and rubbed the little mink's head, its little whiskers twitching.

At that moment, the grinding of loud gears caught Leonel's attention.

'Oh… So they want to open the inner city now?' Leonel's gaze suffused with a cold light.