Chapter 1697: Thanks

The two shot forward. As for the third non-Suiard family member, he seemed to know his limits and stayed behind, at least that's what it seemed like at first. But what happened afterward seemed to change that narrative entirely.

The third swordsman tossed his sword into the air. One after another, swords began to appear in the air, a surging aura coating around them as they zipped about in a controlled formation.

Leonel's eyes flashed with a hidden light. It looked like a telekinesis Ability Index, but not at the same time. It was just slightly different.

This third individual was from the Sina famiy. They were a family of swordsmen as well, but they were a tier below the likes of the Morales and Suiard family and could be considered to be on par with the weaker Constellation families.

Their Lineage Factor was unique in that they likewise as a sword related Lineage Factor, but theirs was a unique Sword Force and Soul Force fusion that allowed them to manipulate swords in particular.

This Lineage Factor allowed them to form formations of swords and made them quite good at battling large numbers of opponents or restraining opponents with area control.

When you fused the Kinetic Sword Lineage Factor with the Sword Domain Lineage Factor, you gained a powerful stacking effect that probably made this third swordsmen the strongest of the trio.

Leonel's brows couldn't help but raise with a hint of surprise as he tapped the ground with his foot, retreated for a moment and parried the two Suiard family members with a single thrust.

Leonel found his wrist vibrating slightly at the impact.

'Oh?'

The strikes were far more powerful than he had anticipated. Another drawback of splitting his attack was the effect of doubling the rebound. After all, he was facing two strikes at once and not just a single one. He wasn't sure what kind of changes these Lineage Factors caused, but after just a single exchange, he realized that it boosted not only their speed a great deal, but their strength more than doubled in a single instant as well.

As Leonel was thinking, the formation of swords had already surrounded him and he couldn't help but probe it with his Internal Sight. He found it fascinating because there seemed to be a unique cadence to the way the swords moved as though they were in resonance with one another.

It was definitely beyond just controlling each sword to move individually. It seemed to Leonel that there was a unique tether between them. The movement of one followed the movement of them all like the ring of a chime.

Leonel saw through this in a single glance because it reminded him of something even more profound... Force Arts.

'So this is possible as well.'

Leonel's first instinct was to try and replicate it. Even fighting such a battle, being hounded from the front by two seemingly rabid Suiard family members, and from the sides and back by this formation, he still had more than enough mental capacity to spread around.

He parried and defended, gliding backward with every collision, but to the ignorant, it only looked like he was being forward to retreat again and again, causing the members of the Sword Faction to cheer their seniors on.

Within Leonel's Dream World, he formed several spears and controlled them.

With his Variant Earth Force affinity, taking control of metal objects was easy. So, theoretically, wasn't it also possibly for him to replicate the feat of the Sina family member?

Unfortunately, he quickly found that this was impossible, and why wouldn't it be? The uniqueness of the method lied in the combination use of Soul Force.

The assimilation abilities of the Spear Domain Lineage Factor could potentially do this. After all, it was designed to absorb Forces and assimilate them. This was something that Leonel ahd learned long before he even stepped into the Spear Pagoda, it was just that he had always assumed that it could only be done with his own Force.

But doing things this way also felt off.

That was when Leonel realized the problem. It wasn't just that Soul Force was needed, but the method by which it was used as well. Essentially, he needed the unique Force Art methods of the Sina family, a language that he had never learned before.

'Fascinating...'

Leonel's vision cleared somewhat in the real world. When he looked around, he was about to be forced out of the Sword Faction again, but the smile on his face only grew brighter.

All this time, he had known exactly how to improve his grandfather's way of the spear.

The first step was resonating with calligraphy and words, the second was resonating with music and sound, and the last was resonating with painting and visualization.

If he wanted to take it beyond this, Leonel had always believed that the answer lay with Force Arts but he didn't know how he would do it. He had yet to walk forward because he lacked a method.

Who would have thought that he would find this method on his first day on the job as a villain. It seemed that crime really did pay.

The Sina family had suddenly opened a door for him. The key that he needed was right before him. Now that he knew such a method existed, it was only a matter of time before he built his own.

Leonel's bright smile caught the three off guard, but they didn't waver in the slightest. Despite this, they couldn't help but be shocked by the words he spoke next.

"Thanks." Leonel grinned.

At that moment, a Bronze Aura radiated out from Leonel, a halo taking shape above his head.

He pierced forward, his spear seemingly splitting into two and colliding against the swords of the two Suiard family members.

They tried to fight back, but Leonel, who they had been beating back before, suddenly became like an endless abyss. No matter how much strength they put in, it seemed to sink into an unknown depth, never to return again.

They held on for just a moment before they were sent flying backward.