Dimensional Descent

The young woman might not understand the magnitude of what they were seeing, but how could these older women now? In order to control the ice slide like Leonel had, he not only had to be able to control Force outside of himself. In this world, this was something so rare that they didn't know how to put it into words.

Leonel was oblivious to this, only doing what he needed to do to survive. But, he had already shocked the oldest women of them to such an extent that not only had her killing intent vanished, she looked toward Leonel with quite some interest.

Of course, this interest had nothing to do with Leonel's looks, she was long past that age. And, even if she wasn't, she was trained enough not to show it on her face. No, this interest was something entirely different, and it only grew further when the butter knife began to glow.

The older woman sat up, perched toward the edge of her seat. And then, Leonel's hands began to move.

It felt like watching poetry in motion. Though, it mostly lacked substance. Leonel didn't have the skill to add Artistic Conception into something so complex, but what he did have was his Dream World projection.

When it came to copying, Leonel was even better than a computer.

A camera would be limited by its lens and the number of pixels it could capture, how could it compare to the human eye? And, beyond that, how could the human eye possibly compare to Internal Sight? And, even a step beyond that, how could Internal Sight compare to Leonel's Starry Spirit Domain?!

In just a few elegant strokes, the cube had already become a head. In a few more, it gained delicate feminine features. And, in just a few more, it was so obvious what the results would be that the young woman began clapping her hands excitedly, the pinkish hue of her irises dancing with life and vitality.

Just a few minutes later, Leonel scooped up an empty plate and slid the head onto it, the gorgeous portrayal of a beautiful young lady being left behind.

"I hope you've enjoyed, I don't wish to intrude on your meal any longer so I will be leaving now. Take this as a parting gift."

Leonel bowed and stepped back, his hand already on the handle. He had no intention of pushing his luck any further, these women were far too dangerous.

He was relieved that he had managed to get so far and thanked himself for his quick thinking. But, considering his style of dress, things could quickly get ambiguous if he stayed any longer. Plus, these women probably wanted him to leave sooner rather than later in order to avoid misunderstandings. He could be considered to have done his job.

The young woman pouted, but she didn't say much. It seemed that she also knew that she had pushed this prank of hers a little too far this time, and since Leonel had already done his job and given her such a nice show, she might as well let him go.

However, what Leonel didn't expect was for him to be stopped.

"Hold on a moment, lad."

The old woman had quite a soothing voice, though hints of age and hoarseness could be heard within. Just looking at her, it wasn't difficult to accept that she had once been an astounding beauty in her youth, and she retained much of that even now though she looked to be in her 50's.

"Yes, ma'am?" Leonel asked politely.

"Have a seat. This old woman would like to ask you some questions."

Leonel coughed lightly. Had he heard correctly? Him? Have a seat? What was going on here, exactly? He didn't sense any killing intent, but quite frankly, he would prefer if he could just leave now. He wouldn't be able to relax around these people and his senses were constantly primed.

Still, without much of a choice, Leonel could only pull up a chair and sit, lamenting for the hundredth time about his lack of a shirt. But, by this point, the old woman didn't seem to care. The others, though, also seemed to be curious about what was happening.

"What is your name?"

"Leonel Morales."

"Oh? You have a last name?"

Leonel inwardly swore, did this world have such customs?

In some cultures he had studied, a last name was mostly something the nobility had. Usually, the commoners would only have their first name and nothing else. In such a society, last names were either bestowed by royalty or passed down through the lineage.

This was why, often, being stricken from a family record had such a heavy negative connotation. It was akin to stripping your name from you.

Of course, Leonel had always had the Morales name, so he didn't care much for the Luxnix name. But, the picture was clear enough.

Leonel's mind jumped into overdrive, trying to figure a way out of this situation. But, he knew that this old woman's thinking speed might very well be beyond his own, so he could wait too long or his lie would seem obvious.

Luckily, the old woman had likely already gauged his strength and would give a small grace to him for his assumed weakness.

It wasn't long before Leonel made a decision and his gaze flashed with a cold light the old woman easily caught. From what he had observed in this world, there was a lot of butting heads and strife. He also felt that the secret to the abyss was deeper than he knew. In that case…

"Yes."

That was Leonel's response, simple and to the point. And yet, it seemed to be exactly what the old woman wanted to see and hear.

She nodded in understanding, her gaze seeming to soften somewhat. However, this reaction only made her next words all the more hypocritical.

"I see. Then what I'm asking of you now might be difficult for you to accept, but in your current situation, it's the only out I will allow you.

"Join my Oliidark family or die. Which path do you choose?"