Leonel continued to walk forward, his steps steady, his breathing deep and even. He seemed to forget that there were other people around him completely; he didn't have eyes for them.

His own goal was to make it from one statue to the next, conserving as much energy as he could while accomplishing his objectives.

His path forward wasn't something anyone else could understand, nor did he need them to.

The heaviness of his steps and the weight his shoulders bore; he would use it to make his spear heavier.

Leonel faced off against a man who used lightness to counter heaviness. Every time his spear seemed to strike once, it would actually do so three times over, layering the power on top of one another, countering his force, and then capitalizing.

It wasn't long before Leonel realized that he was making use of not speed, per se, but instead exceptionally good technique.

Ile wasn't attacking and then pulling his arm back for another attack. No matter how fast he was, he wasn't fast enough to do such a thing.

Instead, he was using a drumming technique Leonel had seen once on Earth before.

When a drummer wanted to speed roll, rather than tightening their grips on their sticks, they would actually loosen them, allowing the drumstick to almost vibrate in their palms. This would give the illusion that they were drumming much faster than they were.

It was a loose sort of control, but it was control nonetheless. Doing so in battle like this was incredibly difficult and also required incredible wrist and finger strength as well.

After all, holding a spear so loosely in the middle of battle was a recipe to lose it. But the man managed to use the technique in such a way that every strike made Leonel feel as though he was the one keeping it in his head with the angle of his strikes.

But to Leonel... it was yet another faulty path.

Why use such a technique when he could layer his spear strikes through time, combining causal paths to strengthen his blow?

There was no need to hold his spear so lightly, giving up a great deal of power in exchange for speed.

However, he didn't abandon or change the man's path completely. If he did that, it would defeat the purpose.

So instead, he began to slowly tweak it.

The man used his backhand as the guide, while it was his forehand that executed much of the technique. However, Leonel began to experiment with using both.

The man's spear was incredibly flexible, so Leonel messed around with the strengths of his holds, tweaking them until...

DING! DING! DING! DING!

Four rings echoed out, and the man's spear almost flew from his hand.

Before, every one of the strikes only had three layered strikes.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

It only took another exchange before Leonel's became layered with five, and then another before it was six.

By the time there were seven layered strikes, the man's spear flew out of his hands, and Leonel cut his neck in eight fluid strikes so fast they seemed to layer into one.

The man's eyes only had time to open wide once before he collapsed.

The next opponent. Leonel faced used an illusory blade that left trails of afterimages in its wake. It was an application of Light Force that Leonel hadn't used in a very long time, and Leonel was tempted to see if he could apply the temporal abilities of a certain Great Family Bow to his spear. But he didn't, sticking with the path of the man in front of him until he crushed it like all the rest.

The opponent following this was a woman whose speed was just as good as her ability to attack blind spots. She seemed particularly good at setting up her attacks like a chess match, distracting Leonel from one side before overwhelming him from another.

Although this path seemed even simpler than the others, it was far more effective. Leonel felt his life flash before his eyes three times, and he accumulated his first wounds.

It took several exchanges before he grasped the pattern of the woman's steps, and it was that there was no pattern at all.

She was mirroring his steps, using his movements to dictate her own. It made sense. If not for this, how could she possibly target his weaknesses?

When Leonel noticed this, he began to mirror her steps as well, and the two entered a stalemate of clashing blades, their bodies flashing around.

However, Leonel was still at a great disadvantage. She was too much faster than him. Unless he used Time Force or his own Path of the Spear to accelerate his blade, something he refused to do, he would lose.

As the wounds continued to accumulate along his body, he began to slowly make her footwork more efficient. Taking shortcuts as though he was leapfrogging pieces on a checkerboard, he began to corner her more and more often until his spear almost pierced her chest.

Although he could have killed her, Leonel chose not to. He didn't believe he had mastered her path enough. He was relying too much on his computational abilities and not enough on a comprehension of Spear Force.

When he was certain that he could protect his life, he entered the battle with the now irritated woman again. She could clearly tell she was being used as a whetstone, and her attacks became more furious as a result.

However, Leonel calmly met her pointed blade. Sparks flew between their edges, and the two became akin to phantoms as their blood began to dye the ground.

BANG! BANG! CHIIII!

Leonel's gaze met the woman's as there was a brief pause before they separated.

The woman stomped a foot and accelerated forward instantly, but Leonel, who looked like he was going to do the same, suddenly changed his footwork, twisting his hips to the side at the perfect.

moment.

The woman's speed was used against her as she blasted by Leonel. By the time she realized he had entered her blind spot, it was too late.

Her head flew through the air.