Chapter 128: Unconditional Love

On that day, the Southern Lookout was in an uproar. It might have even been more accurate to say that a tempest of rage had swept over it, stifling them to the point that they couldn't wait to vent their anger on somebody. 

One might think that this rage was due to some actions the Empire took against them. After all, this was the mighty Slayer Legion. They were an organization created for the sake of taking down the behemoth that ruled Earth. Who else could enrage them so much if not their sworn enemy?

But, reality was cruel and usually very far from expectations. This time around, the entity that had enraged them wasn't the mighty Empire at all, but rather a little boy of barely 18 years old. In fact, this boy had only joined them for all of three days, yet managed to claim all of their ire. 

First, it was said that he was taken under the wing of Hacker Hutch, the very man who smacked the face of Supreme Mighelle in public.

If it was only this, maybe the young man could dodge the guilt by association label, however, what came next was even worse. A recording of the young man saying that he could rank first among the Promising Youths even with Hacker Hutch's training was released, leaving the young men and women of the Slayer Legion fuming. 

As though that wasn't enough, just today, the young man's alias was finally released. 

Everyone knew that all those who could list on the 'Promising Future' rankings were all youths with great potential that had caught the eye of various higher ups. 

The truth was that not everyone could appear on the list just because they wanted to. If one wanted to have their progress tracked and their feats seen by all, it was necessary to gain the acknowledgment of an official of at least the Commander rank, a step above Joseph. 

Only upon receiving this recommendation would others start paying attention to you. In addition, your name would appear at the bottom of the Promising Future rankings. 

In order to protect these youths, aliases were chosen. In addition, whenever appearing in public, each of these youths would wear specialized masks created by the Research and Technology units of the Slayer Legion. 

The name one chose was incredibly important. After all, it would follow them for a lifetime. Choosing a name was akin to branding yourself. 

However… Who could have imagined that that arrogant prick would choose the name: 'Indomitable'. 

Compared to the other names on the rankings that were usually formed of word couplets or poetic sayings, the singular word at the very bottom stood out to everyone. When this was coupled with the news they had been receiving over the last few days, it was easy to guess what the public opinion toward the young man 'Indomitable' was. 

As for the man in question, Leonel himself, he would likely want to cry tears if he was aware. But, the truth of the matter was that he wasn't. As for the name? Of course he wasn't the one who chose it. In fact, he wasn't even aware of what was happening. He was completely engrossed in his spear. 

One would think that if he was practicing, he would be testing out his movements, maybe redoing the same attack again and again. But, Leonel was actually frozen in place. 

Ever since Old Hutch performed the last move, Leonel hadn't moved a single inch. He stood there, staring into space. 

His actions caused the old man to sigh and shake his head. Sometimes, the old wanted to pass on their wisdom to the young, but would the young always listen? Unfortunately, there were some things in life that could only be learned through trial, error and continuous failure. 

He believed that Leonel's attempts were foolish and had even told the little brat as much, but Leonel obviously wasn't listening.

What he wasn't aware of, though, was that in his mind, Leonel was replaying his long battle with the old man over and over again. Then, he would replay his final demonstration of Blade Force before cycling it all back to the beginning again. 

Leonel didn't believe it. Everything he had learned about Force was so logical up until now. Even the energy itself was rooted in concepts of quantum physics. He didn't believe that something like Blade or Spear Force suddenly became so arbitrary. 

Unlike what the old man was thinking, Leonel didn't actually disregard his words. In fact, Leonel believed that the old man wasn't lying to him. Or, at the very least, he believed he wasn't lying. And, this thought alone was enough for Leonel. 

What was it? What was it that a veteran like Old Hutch could confuse for such an arbitrary feeling? What could trick him to such an extent?

'Love… That wasn't what he was talking about… He meant unconditional love… That's the kind of feeling he has for his machete.'

It was a small difference in wording, but the moment Leonel had the thought, his eyes shone like two stars. 

'Unconditional love… unconditional love… The root of unconditional love is unconditional trust, it's based in instinct. A mother or father loves their child simply because the baby is theirs. On the surface, it seems no more complicated than this. However, this 'instinct' is still rooted in logic. It's the will to see their offspring grow, to continue their bloodline, to not have their families come to an end by their hands… to continue to leave their mark on history…'

The light in Leonel's eyes grew brighter and brighter. At one point, they became like burning torches, the paleness of his eyes disappearing to give way to two flashing emerald gems that could light the night sky. 

Leonel felt like he understood something. 

What Old Hutch thought of as 'unconditional love' was just an unconscious reliance on his own talent for blade arts. He trusted his own talent to the point it could be described as instinctual, as a part of himself. This trust, this love, this unconditional love, and further, this unconditional trust, is what allowed him to comprehend Blade Force in such a poor environment. 

Leonel, too, could rely on this unconditional love. If he fell back and stopped trying to find logical reasonings at every corner, he could have relied on his Lineage Factor to comprehend Spear Force no differently than Hutch relied on his talent. In fact, by now, Leonel's Spear Force could have long since surpassed Hutch's Blade Force by leaps and bounds. All he had to do was have that same unconditional trust in his own talent, to blindly follow it and allow it to lead the way...

But this wasn't the kind of person Leonel was. He didn't like the feeling of being led by the nose, even if it was his own bloodline. He liked to understand the root of things, to comprehend them to the point of making them his own. 

By now, Leonel understood. The reason his Lineage Factor had had such a small effect on him to this point was because he wasn't trusting it as much as he should. He didn't have the blind faith in it someone else would have… At the same time, it made sense why his father had left so little about Spear Force in the dictionary. There was no need to explain Spear Force because Leonel's Lineage Factor should have told him about everything he needed to know!

This 'love' Hutch spoke about wasn't his path. He could rely on his Lineage Factor, but he didn't want to. He wanted to comprehend his Lineage Factor, to unveil all of its secrets and allow it to lay bare before him. Rather than relying on instinct, he wanted to rely on logic, on reasoning…

It might have sounded very fancy, but it boiled down to one point.

He wanted to win. He wanted to be Indomitable.