Chapter 73: Prank

[Bonus chapters for 1000 powerstones. THAT'S ENOUGH.]

After Leonel stopped chuckling, a wave of fatigue hit him. He felt as though his mind was completely drained, even his control over his Force was severely weakened.

'My spirit dropped…'

Leonel looked up toward the ceiling and frowned. He could vaguely feel that it wasn't a permanent drop, but was rather temporary. He could probably recover it after taking a nap as he didn't have a quicker method.

[Dimensional Cleanse] resulted in his spirit growing, this was especially after he formed his First Star. However, Leonel knew that it was more of a byproduct rather than a direct influence.

Practicing [Dimensional Cleanse] strengthened his ability, and his ability seemed to influence his spirit. This was the link between the two occurrences. [Dimensional Cleanse] had no direct impact on his spirit, so the only method he had to deal with this problem was time.

Leonel knew now that his spirit was obscenely high. Aina had formed her seventh Force Node now, yet her spirit wasn't even 10% of his own. The gap was massive.

In addition, from Leonel's observations, Aina's spirit hadn't improved when moving from six Force Nodes to seven, unlike Leonel's which experienced a leap every time he formed one.

But, this once again proved his conjecture. Forming Force Nodes strengthened his ability which in turn strengthened his spirit. Unless someone else had a similar ability to his own, he likely had the highest spirit stat on Earth currently, and by a large margin, at that.

Leonel was so weak and lost in his thoughts that it took him several moments to realize that there was a spear in his hand, and even a few seconds more to realize that this was the very same spear he had tried to use to steady himself in that hell world.

'This… Isn't this too crude…'

Leonel weakly sat up, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

To call the spear in his hand primitive was an understatement. It was made of wood that had a natural and slight curve to it, completely unlike the perfect straight spears Leonel had become used to. Its blade, if one could even call it that, consisted of a sharpened grey stone wrapped to the tip by twine. And, if all this wasn't enough, it was caked with a dried brownish red substance it took Leonel a while to realize was blood…

At that moment, Leonel suddenly remembered that Montez had told him he would soon have more spears than he knew what to do with. Is this what that stingy man meant by that? These were the spears he was meant to be bathing in? Where was the joke? He was still waiting.

After observing the spear for a while, Leonel sighed. At this point, might as well just keep using that D-grade spear. It wasn't as though it was treating him wrong. If it came to it, he could just use some Ascension Points for a better spear.

'Damned old man, you really left me something so useless. Is this supposed to be a practical joke? Haha, you got me.' Leonel scolded in his mind and rolled his eyes.

If it was just one spear, it wouldn't be a big deal. The problem was Leonel had been in that world. For the first several hundred meters, there was nothing but wooden and broken spears. As for beyond that, the world was too dark for him to see clearly.

Considering how hard it was to take just one step, who knew how long it would take him to travel far enough to get something decent?

Leonel ginger stood up, bitterly smiling as he stared at the primitive spear.

'Maybe I'm judging a book by its cover?'

Thinking to this point, Leonel communicated with his spatial bracelet to bring out a familiar spear and raised it up to slash it against the wooden spear. Who knew, maybe he would get a surprise?

Unfortunately, reality was cruel… He did get a surprise… It just wasn't the one he was looking for.

Before the D-grade spear could even make contact, the unpolished ring on Leonel's ring vibrated and emitted a searing heat.

Leonel blinked in shock, not only due to the sudden change, but because he didn't remember putting this ring on his finger. How had it gotten there?

Leonel couldn't even react before his D-grade spear burst into a rain of ash, rendering him speechless.

His spear… It was gone just like that… And it wasn't due to the fact he had gotten some OP spear… but rather because this damned unpolished ring had thrown a tantrum…

Where was the justice?

"Pft…"

Aina's light giggling caught Leonel's attention, but when he looked over, her eyes had closed once more. It was as though the sound hadn't come from her at all.

Leonel could only leave her be, trying every method he had to pull the ring from his finger, but it was to no avail.

He could only give up, his teeth grinding away. That old man really did play a prank on him.

'Dammit…'

There was nothing he could do. Without another choice, he stepped toward the center pedestal, feeling incomparably aggrieved.

'These other things you left better not be so useless…'

Of course, Leonel wasn't foolish enough to think that the ring really was useless. But, he still felt the need to vent his grievances.

Leonel reached forward and grabbed toward the silver plate. However, this time he failed to do so. Or, more accurately, he didn't get the chance to.

The silver plate suddenly vibrated and a hologram projection suddenly manifested itself.

The image was of a handsome man with rich olive skin and a strong jaw. He wore a pair of glasses and he seemed quite scholarly. He was the kind of man who made immature women swoon and mature women choose as their ideal lover.

However, when Leonel saw him, the grinding of his teeth only grew fiercer.

The hologram opened its eyes and seemed to see Leonel before it looked at the spear in his hand and burst out into a fit of laughter. When it saw the pile of ash behind Leonel, its laughter grew fiercer to the point it might have begun to leak tears had it not been a hologram.

The handsome and cool demeanor of the hologram completely vanished as he laughed without restraint. It seemed to be having the time of its life.

"Idiot." The hologram said. "Normally people go for the middle first, who asked you to start with the left pedestal. I even put it a few steps ahead of the other two."

"Don't patronize me, old man. Everyone reads left to right, why wouldn't I start with the left? Plus, you have to leave the best for last, I just didn't know that this 'best' was you."

"Don't blame me for your stupid mistakes, blame yourself."

"You're just a cheap sci-fi rip off. A first generation hologram projection, really? Is this the 22nd century?"

Suddenly the hologram began laughing again, leaving Leonel confused.

"You idiot, I can imagine it now, you're probably talking to me like I have a real consciousness. I'm a recording. Damn, I really have a fool for a son."

If it was up to Leonel, after hearing these words, he would tackle this hologram to the ground. Though, he'd probably get beaten just like all the other times, he would have definitely taken down the old man with him.

He had really fallen for such a simple trick, dammit. He remembered the old man telling him about prank voicemail messages he used to leave in the past, he also remembered brushing it off saying that only an idiot would fall for such a thing. Yet, here he was.

Aina's light giggling could be heard in the undercurrents, but the hologram didn't react. Clearly, it wasn't lying, this really was a recording.

Leonel really didn't know why his father was obsessed with all this old tech. First paper, now holograms? This sort of technology had been phased out a long time ago. No one wanted to look at a transparent image all day. It was cool in movies, but in practice, it was an annoyance.

"Whew, that was a good laugh. And if you're thinking of pretending you didn't fall for it when you meet me next, don't worry. I've already recorded this moment and saved it well."

Leonel, seeing that his last spark of hope was gone, could only sigh. He really had thoroughly lost this time. He vowed to get the old man back one day.

"Anyway, we can get down to some more serious stuff now." Leonel's father's expression grew more serious. Even as a projection, he radiated a unique, suffocating aura.

"The ring on your finger is an heirloom of our Morales Clan. It's simply known as Spear Domain and it is thanks to it that our Morales Clan awakened our Spear Domain Lineage Factor. There are only three other treasures like it, or rather, only three others that have owners.

"With it, all spears are useless before you. Only spears recognized by the Spear Domain ring can survive beneath its presence, all others will become a pile of ash. However, in return, you can only use spears that you have earned the acknowledgment of.

"That said, I hope the Spear Domain Lineage Factor isn't the first you awaken. If it is, I promise you I'll disown you as my son."

Leonel coughed awkwardly, suddenly thinking back to Montez's uproarious laughter.