Chapter 574: Grin

Leonel and Aina soared through the skies. Though it would have been faster if the surfboard entered its shuttle mode, Leonel decided against it.

For one, the cockpit was too small for two people and he didn't feel alright leaving Aina alone at this moment. And, secondly, even though they might be able to squeeze in with how small Aina was, he wasn't confident in driving that monstrosity with just a single arm.

With its speed, even a half degree of deviation would fling them off course by tens of miles.

So, Leonel sat cross legged on the surfboard, gliding through the air with Aina balled up in his lap. Even now, she hadn't said a single word.

Leonel gripped an Urbe Ore in his good remaining hand, greedily absorbing its Essence.

The good news about his Metal Body was that he could heal himself even more effectively now just by absorbing the Essence of metals.

Since the foundation of his body had been built upon Urbe Ore according to his father's instructions, for now, only Urbe Essence had this healing effect on him. But now that he could branch out, whatever metals he used to build himself up from now on would expand his repertoire of healing Ores.

It had to be remembered that the most powerful ability of Metal Body wasn't in the astounding defense it provided to the user, but rather in the boost to affinity.

Members of the Morales Clan were able to absorb various Ores and fuse them with their very being. Essentially, if Leonel really wanted a Wind Affinity, he only needed to absorb enough Wind Elemental Ores.

Usually, humans could only accomplish this feat with a very select number of extraordinarily rare Ores, but Leonel and those with his Lineage Factor didn't have this restriction.

In fact, as mentioned previously, [Dimensional Cleanse] spoke of one such Vein Type Ore to use in strengthening Nodes and Nodal Passageways. But, Leonel could take his own path in this regard. In fact, his current Nodal System was far beyond the strength of what was theoretically mentioned in [Dimensional Cleanse].

Of course, there were still weaknesses to this ability. For example, if Leonel only absorbed Fourth Dimensional Wind Elemental Ores, his abilities would be capped at that level. In addition, he couldn't just skip levels and absorb a Ninth Dimensional Ore unless he wanted to die an early death.

If he wanted to build an affinity, he had to slowly and steadily absorb Essence of increasing rarity and strength.

This, however, was where the Morales Clan Divine Armor ability came into play...

Unlike with Metal Body where one had to steadily build a foundation, the Divine Armor didn't need such forward thought. Leonel could build an armor of darkness now and just as easily build one of light at another time. The only restriction was in his bodily strength.

It was these two abilities in tandem that made the Morales Clan so powerful.

Leonel had already settled on his first Divine Armor. It would be centered around his Spatial Type Domain Ore. As for the forward progress of his Metal Body, Leonel had no intention of doing something as silly as building a new affinity for himself.

According to his father, the best use of Metal Body wasn't in creating new affinities, but rather in leaning into the ones you already had.

Leonel suddenly coughed lightly, wisps of black smoke coming out from his lips again.

Aina's eyes reddened at this sight, her lips moving with a sound beneath her mask.

Eventually, she finally squeezed out a word.

"... Idiot..."

Leonel was stunned for a moment before he began to laugh uproariously. Unfortunately, that laughter soon followed with coughing so harsh it seemed like he might cough out a lung at any moment.

"A very cool idiot though, right?"

Leonel grinned, his usually white teeth covered in soot. Considering that such blackness could only come from his charred inner organs, the sight alone was enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine.

"... A little." Aina finally whispered.

Leonel smiled so hard it seemed his skin might splinter.

"Still... don't do it again."

"Aiya, I can't even show off a little bit without getting reprimanded? Is this what that old man called married life?"

Aina blushed profusely, but it was all hidden beneath her mask before rolling her eyes.

"Where's my husband, exactly? I can't seem to find him anywhere."

"Agh... My heart..."

Leonel grabbed at his chest. This blow, it was far more fatal than anything the Puppet Master landed.

Aina giggled.

At some unknown time, her mask slipped off an she planted a kiss on Leonel's cheek.

Seeing it come off, one could finally lay eyes on her face. Though they had long since dried, one could still see the salty streaks her tears had left behind.

She hadn't said a word during Leonel's battle, but that didn't mean it hadn't felt like every blow that landed on him had instead landed on herself.

As much as she wanted to, she couldnt move. All she could do was watch.

Maybe that was the Puppet Master's way of playing a sick joke. Even in those final moments, he never released his control over her.

Leonel's pain faded into another smile. But, when he wanted to dive in for more, Aina dodged, causing his attempts to also land on her cheek.

"We're in public. Have some propriety." Aina reprimanded.

Leonel coughed on his own breath, looking down at the expanse of empty land beneath them. When had his Aina become so cruel?

Aina's laughter filled his ears. She snuggled into his arms, a content smile on her face.

However, before she could get comfortable, she realized that there were some uncomfortable bumps on what should have been Leonel's bare chest.

She looked, only to find that odd breast plate still there.

"What is this?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, this?" Leonel snapped out of his second bout of hurt. "This is the skeleton for my Divine Armor. It's actually pretty fragile, I probably should have put it away, but it was so comfortable I almost forgot it was there."

Aina raised an eyebrow. What about that looked comfortable?

Leonel smiled meaningfully. If it wasn't for this armor, he would have never locked space like that using the pull and repulsion of two teleportation arrays. If he didn't have it, he would have been just as helpless to move.

That was just one of the weaknesses of his plan. The second weakness was the five minutes it took to implement. If White City didn't appear in the perfect location, the spatial lock would have never come into effect.

The calculations were so complex that even for Leonel, they took five minutes to accomplish and he had to experience Hargrove City personally.

Well, technically it took closer to seven minutes, but he had fought those giants first.

"I'll show you the finished product in a few weeks." Leonel said, his eyes lighting up with anticipation.

Just as Aina wanted to respond, her head snapped toward the distance.

Leonel's gaze narrowed, the sound of battle drifting to his ears.