The Polished Glass faction members looked toward one another as Leonel dashed away as though his feet were on fire.
Was this the same young man who displayed such confidence the whole time they had known him? Why did he seem so… whipped?
"See? I told you he had a girlfriend." Radlis beamed.
But, his smile didn't last for long before he found Litia's foot and Kaela's fist closing in on him together.
…
Leonel dashed through the city, most seeing nothing but a golden blur as he whizzed by. Despite the fact he hadn't trained his body in a month, his control over Force had reached new heights.
Leonel's purpose in spending a month Crafting went beyond just accumulating merit points, it also allowed him to train his mind. He hadn't just been showing off when he began to Craft 20 Elite Polished Grenades at once, he had actually been focused on honing his split minds.
The same way Leonel found that he could dull his senses by splitting his experiences of them between different streams of consciousness, he also found that he could sharpen these same senses by doing the reverse.
By focusing on the same task with many different minds, he could also heighten his senses.
But, what Leonel ultimately found was that this approach was much less effective than the dulling of his senses.
If one thought about it, it made sense. Ultimately, Leonel's split minds would lose some computational ability in comparison to if he focused his entire mind on one thing.
What was the solution to this? It was obviously to strengthen his individual streams of consciousness.
Leonel found that there were two ways to do this. The first was to improve his control of Dream Force. It was ultimately Dream Force that allowed him to do all these fanciful things.
The second method was more crude and that was simply to practice.
So, Leonel did both simultaneously and continuously for the last month, only resting rarely.
As a result, his control had reached new levels in just this month alone. The use of his Mage Core and its connection with his body especially had become far easier.
During his battle with Nigmir, Leonel mostly relied on his Earth Element because he still found that he was most comfortable using it despite the fact his Fire Element affinity should be higher. But now, he believed he could be far more versatile in battle.
Leonel was happy with his progress. Soon, he'd feel confident enough to break into the Fifth Dimension with his Soul Force. Once he did this, he would finally have enough capital to look for the latter portions of [Dimensional Cleanse]. When he reached that step, curing Aina would become much easier.
Of course, there was also the chance that he wouldn't have to go so far to help her at all. Who knows, maybe the Valiant Hall Zone would have a solution?
Leonel blazed a trail to the freshman quarters, a place he hadn't been in a long time.
He couldn't help his smile from blooming when he saw a familiar silhouette standing near the community meditation grounds.
Before she could react, Leonel had dashed over, sweeping her petite figure into his arms.
"Ah!"
Aina, caught off guard, couldn't even react before she found herself practically enveloped. If it wasn't for the fact she was currently wearing her mask, even her lips might have been assaulted at that moment.
Leonel hugged her tightly, taking a deep breath. A familiar smell of apple tickled his nose, making him feel at peace. For a moment, he forgot about all his worries and basked in her softness.
Aina wiggled around in his embrace, her face flushed completely red. She seemed keenly aware that she was being looked at by all sorts of people. And how could they not be? After all, they were in what was effectively a community square.
Finally, Aina managed to wiggle her way out. But, she simultaneously wanted to hide her face away from everyone, leading her to the point of resting her forehead against Leonel's chest in defeat.
Leonel grinned. "Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing you."
With a wave of his palm, Aina and Leonel seemed to disappear from everyone's view even though they hadn't moved a single inch.
"Happy now?" Leonel's smile became gentler as Aina looked up toward him.
Without a word, Aina wrapped her arms around his back. It seemed this workaholic missed him too.
Aina stood to the tips of her toes, taking her mask off to plant a kiss on Leonel's cheek.
"Sorry… I missed your call before." Aina was a bit embarrassed. She hadn't seen Leonel's attempt to contact her until more than a month later.
Leonel raised his brow. "Just a kiss on the cheek? Is this how shallow your apology runs?"
Leonel's voice sounded broken and hurt, causing Aina to pout.
"Hmph, I --."
She didn't get to finish her words because Leonel had already sealed her lips. He greedily took a taste, his mind whirling. It had really been too long.
This girl dared to disappear for almost two months, she deserved this bit of punishment.
Aina's spine tingled as she felt Leonel's hands slide down her waist. She almost lamented the exposed skin. How gently he caressed her, as though he was afraid to harm a hair on her head, made her heart flutter.
She hopped up a little bit when Leonel's palm traveled just a bit too far down. Like a scared little rabbit, she wanted to escape but found that her knees were a bit weak.
Leonel pulled back, his eyes jumping back and forth between Aina's own. Her gaze seemed somewhat hazy, her lips still slightly parted.
The feeling of her plump bottom in his hands made him feel just as intoxicated. The combination of firmness from her training and elasticity from her excellent genetics made Leonel feel as though he couldn't get enough, he almost didn't notice Aina slightly hurried breathing.
Leonel couldn't decide what felt better between a memory of a soft chest and this… Though, he guessed the former would have an edge since it wasn't impeded by any fabric.
"Want to go back to my dorm room?" Leonel asked with a slightly expectant and gruff tone.
He rarely, if ever, spent time over there. But, it should technically still be his.
Aina nodded almost imperceptibly, something that Leonel himself almost missed.
With a smile, he swept his girlfriend into his arms and dashed off to the freshman living quarters.
…
At that moment, four new items silently appeared on the Golden Exchange List.