Leonel released a steam laden breath.
He slipped his backfoot further backward, anchoring himself with power, strength and leverage as he pierced forward.
The moment he released the attack, he knew that his trajectory was off. This wasn't because he had aimed incorrectly, but rather because the spirits were becoming smarter and more skilled. It was maybe the world's greatest irony that on the day Leonel faced the most spearman he had in his lifetime, that his Spear Domain Heirloom which was supposedly invincible against them, had become completely useless.
Of course, he knew that this was likely because these were energy spears rather than real, tangible ones. But, that didn't mean he didn't feel aggrieved.
Leonel knew that it was too late to change his spear's path. Shifting his momentum had been easy in the past, but his current self was too slow and lacking in agility.
His mind spun through several calculations before he made a choice.
His body's momentum continued forward while falling slightly to the side. The anchor that had been his feet wavered, weakening his strike. But, he also managed to just barely survive with just a graze to his shoulder.
He used his fall to turn his pierce into a downward sweeping motion, raking his spear across the chest of the spirit.
'Dammit… not deep enough…'
The good news was that Leonel's Quasi Silver spear was still very much effective against his enemies. Usually, as long as he could land a strike, it would be enough to end the battle.
The bad news, however, was that the spirits were becoming sturdy to the point that even his Quasi Silver Spear didn't seem to have as great of an affect as it had once had.
Leonel knew how dangerous this journey would be, that was why he hadn't even bothered to try to use his Quasi Bronze spears, trying to gain as much of an edge as he could. But, he had never expected for his once reliable trump card to become neutered before he even made a dent in his journey.
At that moment, the spirit reacted as Leonel fell to the ground. Its illusory spear spun in its hands before piercing downward with stifling momentum.
Leonel's pupils constricted. His mind had already thought of numerous counter measures, but his body wasn't fast enough to execute even a single one of them.
His hairs stood on end, his muscles constricting and his nerves firing.
Death wafted about his neck and whispered into his ear as though it was ready to descend, coaxing him toward the 'other' side… Whatever it is that was…
Leonel knew that if this spear struck true, he was finished. Not to mention the fact he didn't have access to his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor to heal himself, even if he did, he had just used it to bring him back from the brink of death just a few weeks ago. It hadn't been nearly enough time for that life saving measure to replenish itself.
At that moment, Leonel's mind went blank.
His silver spear vanished, replaced by a jet black Quasi Bronze spear in an instant.
He reached out a palm as he fell to the ground. The instant it made contact and not a moment sooner or later, a mighty Chain Domain appeared around him.
A chain hooked around his ankle, whipping his body to the side with his singular palm as an anchor.
The illusory blue spear missed Leonel by a hair, clanging against the light road as Leonel was spun to its back. The spirit couldn't react in time before a spear was suddenly jetted through its chest, its body becoming another cluster of light that entered Leonel.
Leonel collapsed to the ground, his breathing heavy. He really thought for a second there that he was finished. This trial was truly something else. He didn't even have the luxury of lying here to rest. He had already tried to do that before, but after a few minutes of not moving forward, the same spirit would manifest again and the penalty for defeating it was the same.
That meant that if Leonel wanted rest, he also had to accumulate more weight to himself. Whoever made this trial was definitely a sadistic bastard. Why couldn't they go back to doing puzzles? That had been fun.
Leonel was pushing himself up when he suddenly sensed something odd.
His Chain Domain felt different at the moment. In fact, now that he thought about it, it wasn't his mind that had come up with a plan to avoid that deadly strike. Rather… It was more like his Chain Domain Spear had… called out to him?
Called out to him was what it felt like if he tried to attach some logic to it. But, in practice, it was more like he instinctually knew what to do.
The issue was that this instinct hadn't come from the primitive consciousnesses that he had absorbed, but had rather come from…
Leonel frowned, turning his senses toward his Ethereal Glabella to gaze upon a silently floating spear embryo.
This was all too confusing. Was he right about the reason his Spear Domain Lineage Factor felt so clear to him right now? Or was there another reason that had nothing to do with him holding spears or his King's Might?
If his King's Might could keep his Spear Domain active, why not do so for the more useful Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor? Was there another purpose for this? Or was he overthinking things?
Maybe this space was able to suppress Lineage Factors that gave direct boosts to the body but allowed more ethereal Lineage Factors like King's Might or Spear Domain to thrive? That was possible… After all, [Dimensional Cleanse] gave the most benefits to the mind not the body, so it would make sense…
But none of that explained the odd feeling Leonel had just experienced.
Of his Lineage Factors, it would be accurate to say that his Spear Domain was the most neglected. Could it be that that neglect had caused him to miss something so life changing?