Leonel sat silently, sipping at a sweet drink. In his fingers, he rolled what looked like a silver ring, sliding it between his digits with a deft flexibility. His hands seemed capable of performing tasks that would otherwise be impossible.
'This ring… what is it?'
Leonel found it hard to believe that someone like Senior Lu could be holding onto something so valuable. But, when it came to random events of the universe, who was Leonel to say that he could perfectly understand them all?
Leonel had already been trying to Dream Sculpt this ring for the better part of the last half an hour, but he was still only half of the way there.
To put this matter into perspective, after Leonel reached the Peak of the Fifth Dimension with his Calculative Mind ability, completing a Dream Sculpt for even one of his Quasi Bronze Spears would take a few minutes at worst, and that was a treasure at the very peak of the Fourth Dimension.
Leonel had never tried to Dream Sculpt his Quasi Silver Spear before, but he really wasn't sure if even it would take so long. If he had to guess, the times would be fairly close.
If Leonel used this to deduce the value of the ring, it would at least be of the Fifth Dimension.
Once he broke things down like this, it wasn't impossible to believe that Lu could get his hands on such a thing. After all, as a student of Valiant Heart, he had the potential to one day become a Fifth Dimensional existence even though the probability was smaller than running into this ring in the first place.
Intuition told Leonel that maybe even Lu didn't know what this ring was but he kept it close understanding that it had to be special. Considering the sly nature of that Senior Lu, this did indeed sound like something he would do.
Leonel sighed. He couldn't help but think of nights Lu probably stayed up dreaming of what kind of treasure this ring would bring him to, hoping that he would shoot into the stars in one sweep the moment he learned of its secret.
And yet now, those dreams had been stamped out and the final light of his hopes was now rolling between Leonel's fingers so casually.
'This world is a cruel place…' Leonel thought to himself.
Ultimately, Leonel decided that he would need to ask the dictionary about this. But, before that, he would need to find a quiet place.
BANG!
The small shop suddenly shook, a violent force flinging the doors from their handles. A few shrieks sounded amidst the freshmen as they scurried out of the way. But, with their talent, such a flimsy, half rotten door couldn't cause any severe harm to even the weakest of them.
What could cause harm, though, was the force that had sent it flying.
"Who was it?! Which bastard dares provoke Bear Rose?!"
The members of Bear Rose had come here with fires in their bellies. No matter how they thought of it, they were certain that Hero Peak had begun making their move again.
What bullshit abolition of the Peak system? Anyone with half a brain knew that Peaks still existed, they just hid behind the label of factions all the more now. This rule change only gave Hero Peak more freedom to snatch resources.
However, the cohort of Hero Peak dogs they expected to find here weren't here at all. Rather, a singular young man walked out from the now broken doorway, standing before them all.
Bear Rose had come prepared for an all out war. Not knowing that they had been challenged by a brat who had barely been here for two months, they brought a full entourage of several white belts and even sent a blue belt to lead them all. Their lineup consisted of one of their most talented upper mid-level teams and totaled nine.
They almost opened their mouths to tell Leonel to get the hell out of the way until they all froze seeing the plaque in his hands.
Leonel scanned the nine before him. Eight white belts and one blue belt. Each of them wore the emblem of Bear Rose on the belt fabric that hung between their legs, making their affiliations quite clear.
"This shop." Leonel pointed over his shoulder. "I'm taking ownership of it."
The members of Bear Rose were stunned. The spectators who had come here for a good show, hoping to see a clash between Bear Rose and Hero were also stunned.
By this point, Leonel hadn't even switched off his black belt for his white belt yet. But, even if he had, the reaction wouldn't be any less speechless. It only made it all worse that Leonel was wearing no emblems to speak of.
The blue belt who led the group narrowed his eyes. His arms crossed over his broad chest, pressing down the dense patches of hair that covered his torso almost like coarse fur.
Even with his arms crossed, he still held two massive hammers connected by a single thick chain. He looked toward Leonel deeply, his spine tingling.
This young man before him was too calm.
"You, a freshman, decided to challenge my Bear Rose faction?"
"Well, I didn't choose to challenge you specifically. I just happen to need this store." Leonel replied.
"Are you aware of who owns this store?"
"I am not."
The frown of the blue belt grew deeper and deeper.
"Fril. Bane. Take him down."
Losing his patience, the commander coolly commanded. Since this freshman didn't know what was good for him, it was best that they deal with this quickly. The more time they spent here, the longer Bear Rose's name would be dragged through the mud. Even Hero didn't dare to provoke them so casually.
Without a word, two white belts shot forward. As though by prior agreement, they weaved in an out of each other's paths, appearing before Leonel in a flash.
Their legs whipped out like vipers, each aiming for a side of Leonel's head.