Leonel seemed to stare into each one of their souls as he spoke. His eyes were almost entirely invisible beneath his visor, and yet just as piercing.
The Morales might have been the first to notice, but one after another, the sharp senses of the other Ancestors caught up and they also realized that Leonel was, in fact, wearing a Life Grade Divine Armor. Their pupils constricted one by one, their hearts freezing over.
He wasn't just as monstrous as his father, he was a step beyond.
No matter how big of a fuss the four Great Families made over bloodlines, it was simply impossible to guarantee the talent of an offspring.
More often, what was important was having a large pool of descendants with a similar concentration of blood. By maximizing the number of such individuals, you would always be bound to have talented disciples.
This was why, despite the fact Nana wasn't from a strong family branch of the Adurna, she was still given the treatment of one of their supreme geniuses. Even those families had a limit to their nepotism and disdain for those of lower stature, although said limit didn't extend beyond those with the same eye and hair color as them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThis was all to say that the power of the parents didn't always guarantee the power of the child. Although there was a correlation, the more powerful the parent, the less likely the child would be able to reach their level even when given sufficient time and more than enough resources.
If such a thing was guaranteed, who would have dared to look down on Leonel? They would have all treated him like a little monster they needed to veer away from. However, not only was this unlikely, Leonel's mother was an unknown variable that could very easily result in a lower bloodline overall.
There was also one more matter, the key to all of this... The Velasco line had already produced three such geniuses in quick succession. Although Montez was considered to be a tier below Velasco and Cynthia, he was still someone that wasn't to be trifled with. Then there was Velasco himself, and more importantly, the father of the two of them.
The odds that this would continue and produce another genius in Leonel should have been next to zero. Every family line went through peaks and troughs, one could just indefinitely extend into infinity. And yet... That seemed to be exactly what had happened here.
They had made a mistake.
Leonel flicked his wrist, dispersing his spear and allowing his Divine Armor to sink into his body. He looked down at the two corpses before him and his gaze flickered. With a swipe of his hand, he stored the two kills they represented but didn't use them immediately, he seemed to have other thoughts in mind. In addition, he gained an additional 1 000 points.
Unlike the Spear Domain Tribulation, after kills in the Heir Wars, Leonel gained the points or progress of his fallen enemies in this regard. These thousand points should have been from the challenge that the two had cleared, but they had stored it rather than using it on anything.
Leonel assumed that many who entered without a plan would make this sort of choice, but in his eyes, it was the epitome of foolishness. It was akin to sealing away hard cash in a safe in your basement rather than properly investing it. As the Heir Wars continued, the value of your points would only continue to plummet. The only thing that would maintain the same value were kill exchanges.
The points you had now would never be worth as much again, so hoarding them, waiting for some perfect pie in the sky moment was nothing short of foolish.
After this, Leonel shot back toward the Bronze-Grade village. He had already memorized the map and knew where all the challenges were, so returning wasn't a pressing need, or so many thoughts. But he had his own reasons.
Leonel immediately swapped in the thousand points he had just gained for more raw materials and tossed them all to Anastasia.
At that moment, Aina had displayed her own speed, already returning with three challenges completed. She appeared before Leonel in a flicker and began speaking without delay.
"Two challenges were a simple battle with a Bronze-Grade threat, both gave 1000 points each, ten times more than what you would receive for battling them in the wild and killing them there. However, they don't count for a kill so they can't be used to exchange for subordinates."
Leonel nodded and let Aina continue.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"The final challenge was a city upgrade challenge. It allows us to double the size of our territory and gain Silver-Grade walls without upgrading to the Silver-Grade first. I didn't challenge it because it would take me too long to finish on my own, not worth it unless we do it together."
Leonel nodded again. Then, he took the 2000 points Aina had come with and exchanged them for yet more raw materials.
"Let's go, that's a worthwhile challenge."
Aina was already moving. Leonel swiftly appeared by her side, the two shooting through their territory with great speed.
Soon, up ahead, the two saw a floating glass orb. Within it, there was a floating wall of what looked like concrete, a Silver-Grade upgrade. However, it was likewise a Silver-Grade difficulty challenge.
Without hesitation, the two entered together, appearing before a village with Silver-Grade walls but Bronze-Grade threats.
With a tacit understanding, Leonel leapt into the air and brandished his bow while Aina rushed forward with the ax he had created for her out of Emulation Spatial Force.
They both took a deep breath at the same time and suddenly roared, a heavenly resonance of Force forming between the two.
Leonel's gaze sharpened as he pulled his bowstring back.
One arrow to connect the earth and skies.
He released, a streaking heat piercing down and leaving a blinding pillar of golden light in its wake.