Chapter 2228: Another

The Dream Star Gathering Beast Formation was one that used Dream Force as a Foundation to communicate deeper concepts to a beast, concepts that couldn't always be explained by word of mouth. It was akin to translating the abstract into the manageable, at least in layman's terms.

In reality, what it did was convert, extract, and transfer thoughts in their most perfect states, allowing a beast's more subtly manipulatable minds to understand things that they otherwise wouldn't be able to. It was akin to bolstering the talent of a beast in a certain aspect, and it was made easily digestible to them in the same way their talent usually allowed.

Beasts in the Dimensional Verse, or any Verse for that matter, were able to progress extremely fast. This was part of the reason why Earth's oceans were still so shockingly dangerous despite all the time that had passed. In fact, there were still beast tides from time to time that threatened the Empire. And every time Earth evolved, these beasts would get stronger much faster than their human counterparts did.

Even so, there was a price to pay for this as well. Beasts could progress extremely quickly, but their talent was decided at an early age and abstract matters like Force Manipulation were beyond them. Essentially, while humans and other humanoid Races could somewhat change their Fates based on hard work and other factors, the talent of a beast was immediately decided by their Ability Index and Beast Crystals from birth. Once they reached whatever that pre-decided limit was, progressing would be impossible for them.

Little Blackstar was extremely talented, and this only became more true after absorbing so much Void Beast blood. However, Leonel had already seen some flaws with Blackstar's progress, especially since he had someone else to compare the little guy to: Mordred.

Mordred, or Em as Leonel liked to call her, was a Shadow Sovereign just like Little Blackstar, but the flexibility and unique flair she added to her Ability Index was unlike anything Leonel had ever seen Little Blackstar perform.

Of course, there was a simple answer to why, and that was because of Camelot's Magic System. But that was precisely the point, beasts couldn't even learn techniques and magic systems in the usual sense.

This was where the Dream Star Gathering Beast Formation came into play... But this was a lengthy explanation for something that seemed entirely useless in the situation. What good was a formation like this? What would he do with it? Ask the Infinity Beast to kill him swiftly and make it painless?

The secret lay in the mechanism with which the formation worked... taking complex concepts, simplifying them... making them easily digestible.

When Leonel broke down the fundamentals in how this formation worked, he immediately realized that it could do more than he had given it credit for.

To make a complex matter simple, the formation could become a proxy through which he applied his abilities. But this wasn't the important part.

The Lineage Factor of the Fawkes had been refined across countless generations. There was even a generation of them worthy enough to have the Pluto Race owe them a favor. This simply wasn't the kind of Lineage Factor technique that could be so easily simplified, especially not by the likes of the people of the Four Great Families and the Dream Pavilion.

What was important wasn't a modification of the Lineage Factor's technique, but rather that the formation could be powered by external items, one, and secondly, whereas in the past he would have to first filter what information came from the items he was Assimilating through himself, and then pass it on to the target, now the filtering and passing on process became one and the same, lowering the energy requirements by a large factor.

In order to use [Assimilate], Leonel's Lineage Factor had to break down a target into its component Force Arts, making them easily digestible, binding them with his Dream Force, and using said Dream Force as a binder to his body, thus altering his talent, or that of his souls for a short while.

[Breathe] worked on this principle by taking it a step further, sacrificing some of the immediate strength in exchange for more permanence.

The two worked together like a pair of peas in the pod, but the more troublesome the target, the more difficult it was. Doing it to himself was the easiest, although he couldn't use [Breathe] on himself as he was a living being. Doing it to his souls was an extra layer of difficulty. Doing it to a living entity like Little Tolly with its own thoughts and will...? It was an even more difficult task.

Ultimately, this formation would be what allowed it... but the true core to it all...

'Anastasia, I need your help.'

"Of course you do. At least you said something and didn't just expect me to act, it seems you've woken up a little bit. I am a mighty World Spirit you know, more mighty than you know!"

Leonel shook his head, now wasn't the time for showing off, but luckily Anastasia had already gotten to work.

At that moment, a large amount of Vital Force surged forward, being converted to Dream Force through Anastasia's means, and then being filtered right into the formation.

The star that had just split to reveal the beautiful monstrosity within became the fuel through which Anastasia worked.

That was right. From the very beginning, as early as Leonel could remember, Anastasia had had an ability he didn't quite understand until just now. It was an ability that could only be described as one of a God's.

To be able to freely turn a Force of one kind into any other you cared to.

At that moment, the slumbering Infinity Beast felt its strength being whittled away. But it had been asleep for too long, and its mind was groggy and unresponsive.

In the end, it took this as a sign that it was still tired, not realizing that its life was being devoured by another...