"It won't be anytime soon, Coach. It's just that your Province is without a doubt the best launching point. The only trouble is I don't really understand my grandfather's ability. If he has the World Spirit, taking Earth from him will be difficult."
At first Leonel thought that his grandfather was able to display such strength because of the World Spirit. But now, he wasn't so sure. In fact, he was almost certain that during the attack that wiped out the entire fleet of Shield Cross Stars members, not a single ounce of World Force had been used.
Leonel could be certain of this now because he had experienced real World Force during his battle against Alexandre the Apex. After comparing and contrasting that strength, Leonel had come to understand that the energy he had felt that day wasn't like World Force at all and was much more like the energy of his King's Might Lineage Factor with some obvious differences.
Still, it was similar enough that Leonel was able to recognize it.
Such a reality was indeed a scary prospect. How powerful, then, was his grandfather really? And how had he managed to grow to such a point?
Leonel realized that his grandfather wasn't simple long ago. After all, he had known for a very long time that his grandfather, despite not knowing who he was, had had his mother with a woman from the Luxnix family. This family had a Sixth Dimension Lineage Factor and was, as such, most definitely at least in that Realm.
But, now that he knew who his grandfather was, it only raised more questions. How had his grandfather managed to interact with such a person as a human of the Third Dimension? Was this related to why his own father was on Earth? And what about his mother? Was her disappearance related to matters of this story?
"Hm? Your grandfather doesn't have the World Spirit. Your mother does."
Leonel, who had practically been mumbling to himself, suddenly snapped his head upward.
"What?"
At first Leonel was shocked by the news, then the fact Coach Owen knew this at all.
Then, Leonel remembered how much Coach Owen knew about himself, even down to the true origins of his father. If Leonel recalled correctly, Coach Owen had even commented on his father's vomit brew more than once before, clearly pointing toward something quite important about it in hindsight.
In a lot of ways, knowing these things was just as if not more impressive than knowing his mother had the World Spirit. Clearly, Coach Owen's standing on Earth was not small. Or, it could be that his relationship with his father was truly very close.
Now Leonel realized he truly never had a chance at it. If his mother gained the World Spirit even before he was born, how could he ever had had a chance at a piece of it? And, he was definitely not going to snatch it from the woman who gave birth to him.
Leonel took a deep breath and organized his thoughts. It was fine, it just meant that he had no fate with Earth's World Spirit. It didn't matter. He didn't need it.
When Leonel recollected his focus, he spoke to his Coach for an hour more before finally sending him back to Earth.
**
"You're insane."
Leonel listened with a smile as Aina practically talked his ear off. Ever since he had revealed his plans to her, she had reacted like this.
He didn't blame her. After all, they had gone from having the Abode Setting all to themselves to suddenly having to share it with two not particularly mentally stable people.
At that moment, the couple walked hand in hand, soon reaching the depths of Founding Peak. Today was the day they were meant to set off for the Gathering. Yet, while everyone else seemed tense, the two of them were still chatting as though the world wasn't collapsing around them.
"It's just called a calculated risk."
Aina rolled her eyes. "Candle and Vice were helping me in the kitchen yesterday and do you know what happened?"
Leonel coughed awkwardly. "The meal came out … great?"
It did indeed come out great. He practically inhaled it all like he always did with Aina's cooking. She was simply too good and was even getting better everyday, something he hadn't thought would be possible.
Aina gave him a sidelong glare.
"Candle was shocked by the beast corpse and ended up stabbing it with a knife a few dozen times before we even got a chance to clean the carcass. There was blood and guts everywhere."
Leonel blinked innocently. "Sounds like she did a good job tenderizing the meat."
Aina's glare became sharper.
"That's just the start of it. I told Vice to boil some water, I even told him how much water to use, which pot to pick, and what temperature to put it on. But, the moment the water started bubbling, he panicked and froze everything."
"No harm, no foul… right?" Leonel forced a grin, unfortunately, Aina's glare only became more intense.
"I shattered the spatial lock around myself on instinct, but that only made him panic more. He ended up sending the boiling water flying toward Candle.
"And of course, Candle reflected it back, making the scolding water go everywhere."
Leonel coughed. He had been focusing on training and hadn't been anywhere near the kitchen. He knew that if something went wrong, Aina was more than strong enough to handle it especially since the two Savants had yet to properly mature.
Usually, boiling water wouldn't be an issue. After all, it was just a hundred degrees Celsius. But… That was only in the Third Dimension.
The kind of water Aina was talking about now was the Cleansing Waters that ran all throughout the Segmented Cube. If it had been brought to boiling, it was practically bubbling lava.
"… Did the steel table survive…?" Leonel asked.
"No." Aina replied shortly. "All the food that had been on it fell to the ground too."
"… You want a foot massage?"
Aina's harsh gaze vanished into a brilliant smile that seemed to illuminate the world around them.
"At least you know."
"Yes ma'am!"
The two laughed, oblivious to the heavy atmosphere around them.
Soon, they entered a clearing. Before them, the familiar youths they had gone into the Valiant Zone with came into view alongside a cohort of five elders, of which… Leonel only recognized one, Head Hutchin.
The others tried to hide it, but Leonel's senses were too sharp. Each and every one of them was more powerful than Head Hutchin by a large margin.
It seemed that Valiant Heart Mountain was going all out. For them, this was a matter of life and death.