As much as Aina trusted Leonel, the feeling of whipping wind slicing so close to her body couldn't help but make her freeze for a moment. It wasn't like Leonel had never supported her from the rear like this before. In fact, this was their favorite battle style whenever they fought together. The main issue was that usually Leonel's arrows would be half a foot from her at the closest, he had never toed the line like this before.
Luckily, Leonel had already accounted for the chance of Aina freezing.
His arrows tore past her, two curving toward the snout of the prowling creature and the last shooting for its last remaining eye.
Distracted by the arrows, the creature couldn't take advantage of Aina's lapse, immediately finding itself targeted in some of its most sensitive regions.
PENG! PENG! PENG!
The creature reacted quickly, swiping its paw and knocking down all three arrows at once.
"Trust me." Leonel's voice drifted to Aina's ears.
Aina had already begun to move, her ax descending from the skies with a valiant strength.
Leonel's gaze flickered, several simulations layering in his mind at once.
After his training, Leonel was able to split his mind into 27 ways. Originally, Leonel had been planning to rely on this to complete Dream Model.
By now, Leonel was able to simulate matters of the Third Dimension with a probability infinitely close to 100%. Even when it came to matters of the Fourth Dimension, he had a better than 90% accuracy.
The issue came in that 90% was not good enough in battle. It worked fine when Leonel had time to complete thousands upon thousands of simulations for the sake of his Crafts. But in battle, if he tried to do such a thing, he would be asking for death.
At best, in battle, he would be able to use his 27 minds to complete 27 simulations in a split second. This was nowhere near enough with such a low accuracy rate.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the accuracy of Leonel's simulations in a controlled environment versus one with endless variables varied wildly.
It was one thing to simulate the creation of a Craft in a laboratory with no outside influences, but how could it be just as easy to map out the simulation of a living, breathing being?
When Leonel ran into this roadblock, he was enlightened during his time of intimacy with Aina. Rather than trying to have the perfect parameters already formed pre-battle, why not build them in the midst of battle? This would give him far more flexibility and it would also take far less stamina.
However, it was then that Leonel was met with yet another stone wall.
Leonel became like a machine, his arrows raining down in an endless avalanche. Every time, they would narrowly slide past Aina, almost making it seem as though she was spontaneously dodging every time.
Leonel's gaze grew fiercer and fiercer, his fire rate increasing.
PENG! PENG! PENG! PENG!
Having long since tapped in the Four Seasons Realm, Leonel's endless barrage filled the surroundings with a biting cold. It felt as though a relentless hail was falling. The combination of both he and Aina made the creature constantly backtrack, its steely body becoming peppered with terrible wounds.
'This is it…'
Aina had brought enlightenment to Leonel. In battle, why should he be the one to wait for the opponent to react? Wouldn't that constantly put him in a passive state?
The weather was so difficult to predict because even the smallest changes in variables could lead to large sweeping changes. However, who cared if you could control it as you pleased?
In battle, Leonel wasn't the only one that needed to counter. His opponent needed to counter as well. Just like he was trying to see through his enemy's movements, so was his enemy trying to see through his own.
In that case, rather than wasting time trying to guess every possible reaction his opponent might have, why not force him to the point only a few reactions were even possible?
If an enemy felt a strike coming for their head, they might be able to dodge and counter quickly. But, if that same strike was coming for their knee, would it be just as easy?
Most would have to block in that situation, thus delaying their counter. The only exceptions would be someone with a special ability that allowed them to circumvent this. But in that case, Leonel would only have to tweak the model.
'Model complete.'
Within Leonel's Dream World, a life-like construction of the creature appeared. It was as though he had Dream Sculpted a living, breathing beast.
However, there was a difference between this construct and the real one. This Dream Model had pulsing red points dotted across its body almost like a location tracker.
In the real world, Leonel's aura reached its peak.
He grasped at air, pulling out two arrows from nothing.
He held one between his pinky and ring finger, nocking the other one and releasing it in swift motions.
Without pausing, he nocked the second, flipping it between his fingers as though it was a pen rather than a lethal weapon.
The two arrows flew in a completely straight line, headed directly for the back of Aina's head. One would think that Leonel surely had murderous intentions. But, in that instant, Aina's weight suddenly shifted.
Aina's hips dropped. Swinging her ax to a side, she gathered up momentum, feeling the arrows whizz by her.
Within Leonel's Dream World, 27 creatures faced 27 Aina's and 54 arrows. In that moment, the images all overlapped, all pointing toward a single future.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack from a blind spot, the creature could react before its only good remaining eye was pierced through.
Before it could even cry in agony, the second arrow arrived right behind it, tearing the butt of the first arrow in two.
The creature felt the two arrows spreading its eye and brain matter apart. A horrified howl finally released along with the rotting stench of its breath. But, there was no recourse as Aina's ax swung down.
As though by coincidence, the large blade fell over the creatures wounded eye, splitting its head into a third and a two thirds piece.