Dimensional Descent

"That's too reckless, we can't do that!"

"And what are we going to do if not? Wait here for death?"

"He's right. What are we going to eat and drink? We won't last even half a week in this state."

The raging debate of the youths went back and forth. It had already been two hours since Leonel's dictionary last spoke, yet they still hadn't come to any sort of consensus. 

Leonel leaned against a wall, not saying much of anything as he watched on. He had already made his decision. He would most definitely be traveling down to find the Force Crystal Mine Core. The only reason he hadn't yet was because he was allowing his body to recover. 

He had drawn too deeply into his reserves. Even before he battled the coy fish, that Dark Elemental beast had put him in a sorry state. His battle with the spider king and bear king only made an already bad situation worse. As if that wasn't enough, it took him another few hours to kill all the beasts that entered the same tunnel they had. 

For now, he needed sleep and rest. After that, he would think of a plan. 

He didn't know enough about how this hive was constructed. It was very possible that it was separated into segments that couldn't be accessed from one another no matter how much one walked through them. In that case, it might be necessary to exit this network of tunnels and enter again through another entrance. 

Thinking to this point, Leonel couldn't help but sigh to himself. Why was nothing ever easy?

Unfortunately, he had learned long ago in the Mayan tomb that his Internal Sight couldn't penetrate walls. At best, he could snake it through the paths and look ahead. 

Leonel suddenly looked up, feeling that someone had suddenly sat by his side. It didn't take him long to realize that it was Roaring Black Lion even in the dim lights. 

"It's funny to watch them, don't you think?"

Leonel chuckled slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

"They're separated into two groups. One group is too cowardly to go and wouldn't dare risk themselves. The other is also too cowardly even though they're pushing for us to go. They have no intention of putting themselves in the line of danger at all. They're only so adamant because they think we'll take on the brunt of the troubles for them.

"Which one do you think is worse?"

Roaring Black Lion did find this clown show to be quite funny. All of those powerful enough to actually make a difference weren't even speaking. Those like Leonel, him, Thunderous Clap and even King of Seas' group, were all in their own little corners of the cave. It was like they were allowing the weak to make the decision for them. 

The truth was that since they were the most powerful, they suffered the most to get them here. How could they have the energy to mind this argument? Most of them already made their own decision. 

"Which is the worst?" Leonel thoughtfully smiled for moment. "Probably the seven of us who aren't speaking at all."

Roaring Black Lion was shocked by Leonel's response for a moment before he broke out into laughter. 

"Interesting, interesting."

Though Roaring Black Lion's laughter caught some attention, it wasn't long before the heated discussion continued. 

He felt that Leonel wasn't wrong. All seven of them were sitting back, watching those far weaker than them debate back and forth as though their opinions meant anything. It was almost like watching the truth of the world play out before them. 

How often did the weak argue their points, hoping to make their voices heard, only for those at the top to completely ignore them and move along as they pleased? The common people probably lamented this about their politicians all the time. 

Leonel sighed. He couldn't help but think of the deaths of all those commoners on the Paradise Islands. Was that really the only way to do things? If his father wasn't from a higher world, would he also be so unlucky?

Sometimes he couldn't help but think he wasn't very special. Maybe one could say he worked hard, but he definitely wasn't the hardest worker. There were probably those out there working ten times, even a hundred times, harder than him. Yet, they probably didn't have even half of his results. 

What should he tell these people? Too bad? Be born with better parents in your next life?

Seemingly sensing the heavy thoughts his innocent question brought down upon Leonel, Roaring Black Lion patted his shoulder. 

"I wanted to tell you thank you, I didn't get a chance to before."

Leonel blinked. "Thank you? For what?"

"For covering my face after our battle. And, I guess for also clearing a path for all of us to get this far. I know you didn't have to."

Leonel's brows raised. He didn't expect such a simple action of his to elicit such thankfulness from Roaring Black Lion. He hadn't even really thought about it much back then. He only thought that since they were all obviously hiding their faces for a reason, he should help them out with that. 

Leonel himself didn't really care much about the mask he wore either. He only wore it for the sake of blending in. The Empire definitely knew everything about him already. At this point, there wasn't much of a need to hide himself in this way. 

"Though that brute over there doesn't say it, he's thankful too." Roaring Black Lion said with a laugh, pointing toward Thunderous Clap.

Leonel smiled. "There's no need to thank me, it didn't take much effort on my part at all."

Roaring Black Lion looked Leonel up and down as though trying to figure something out. 

"What, is there something on my face?"

"You're too easy to talk to, sir Indomitable." Roaring Black Lion said in an overly servile manner. 

Leonel laughed. "I didn't even pick that name, didn't you guys pick it for me?"

"Who the hell would give you that name? Stop bullshitting."

The laughter of the two men seemed to ease the tension they were feeling. However, Leonel didn't expect that another would sit beside him at this point, and it would actually be Flowing Wind.