Dimensional Descent

Slowly, the odd aura around Leonel seemed to recede. Eventually, even the natural color of his skin returned. It was obvious at a glance that this wasn't because his issues had been resolved, but rather because, for some odd reason, his Ability Index had returned to Tier 4, allowing him control over his body again.

Val stood up and stretched. With a flick of his finger, he sent the dictionary back into the Segmented Cube and yawned.

"Welp, I'm going to go and see my wife now. Ba-bye."

Val began to stroll away without a care in the world. But, such casual actions left Aina baffled. That was it? He was just going to leave just like that?

"W-wait!"

"Hm?"

Val turned back, looking down curiously.

"Leonel… What's wrong with him?"

Val blinked, looking toward his son. "His mind is imbalanced. It's not entirely his fault, it could be said to be mostly mine. But, due to certain reasons, things need to stay this way for now or else the consequences will be even worse."

Aina's expression sank. "Then… Nothing's changed?"

From what Val said, it sounded like it was Aina's words and not her actions that had caused this. This didn't change the guilt she felt much at all. If it wasn't for Val's appearance, Leonel would have very likely died here and she was having a hard time reconciling with that fact.

But, if nothing had changed and Leonel had only gone back to his baseline, that made things even worse. That meant that he had suffered like that for nothing. Even though Val's previous words seemed to imply that he would grow stronger, that wasn't something Aina cared about. She was more worried about Leonel's mind and his psyche from here on. What would she do?

"Mm…" Val hummed. "… That would depend. Anyway, try not to die."

Val tried to leave again but he was once again stopped by words Aina spoke. Given his usual temperament, he would have likely dashed away and pretended not to hear anything. But, given Aina's unique status, he guessed that he should probably be a bit more patient. He had heard his son talk about this girl for years and this was the first time he was meeting her.

"Why… If you're so powerful… Why put him through this…"

"…"

Val scratched his chin, pursing his lips a bit. Truthfully, he wasn't very much of a fan of explaining himself. He was usually right anyway, what was the point in getting the opinions of other people? Well, there was one woman who always forced him to explain himself anyway, would he really get a daughter-in-law like that too? How much had he sinned in a previous life to deserve this?

"The world isn't as simple as you think it is, little girl. My real body isn't so free to do as it pleases. Though, I wasted 17 years raising this brat who keeps giving me more trouble every other day it seems.

"You know, that's not how the script is supposed to go. I was supposed to be the father that vanished after his birth but a certain annoying family actually deemed to… Forget it, there's no point in talking about all this.

"All you need to know is that these matters aren't so simple and if I don't do certain things, you two wouldn't get the chance to be two snotty nosed brats making out in a Rapax Nest."

Aina's face turned a furious shade of red. Making out? She had been clearly performing CPR, how had it been twisted under the words of this man like this?

Thinking back to all the things Leonel had told her about his father, Aina realized that he hadn't exaggerated at all. This man really didn't act his age, and apparently, he also didn't act in line with the power he had.

Still, seeing that he was being so vague and not answering much of anything, Aina also understood that there wasn't much of a point in pressing. If Val had wanted to explain, he would have.

Seeing Aina lower her head and fall into silence, Val sighed. He had grown soft it seemed, feeling bad about such meaningless things. This was what happened when you had a wife and kids, your edge vanished. Eventually, this would come back to bite him.

"Alright, alright."

Val waved his hand and a strong suction force formed.

The Segmented Cube, still in its finger-wrap form, flew into his hands.

"I know you're awake, stop throwing a temper tantrum."

"Leave me alone. You son and father pair are just the same."

"Me? The same as this brat? Can't you see how much more handsome and suave I am? If he gained 10% of my skill it would be his blessing."

Aina's lip twitched.

"Bah! Leave me alone! I need to rest!"

"Yes, yes. You can rest, just give me a run down of what's been happening. Skip anything too unseemly, I don't want images of my son's poor performance in bed running through my mind. I have enough bullshit to deal with."

Aina suddenly wanted to find a hole to bury herself in. Couldn't this man be more subtle?! Where was the sense of propriety!?

Her face became like a shimmering lantern of red. She fixed her gaze to the floor, biting her lip.

Val's gaze went blank for a moment as a subtle pulse of energy wafted out from the Segmented Cube. But, just as quickly he snapped back to reality.

"I see. Alright, easy fix then. Anastasia, siphon away some of my strength. Make a barrier of about… Level 2 strength around Lab 1."

"Fine."

Val flicked a finger and the Segmented Cube zipped back onto Leonel's finger. Finally, he looked at Aina.

"You want to fix him, right? Simple. When he wakes up, tell him that he can forget about his little King roleplaying game until he can break that barrier. Oh, and tell him that I have enough power in a single cell to shatter that barrier ten times over."

Val waved a hand and strode away, his laughter causing the Rapax Nest to quake.

"A King? What a joke! Your old man's still alive. At best, you can be a little Prince."