Dimensional Descent

[Bonus Chapter for reaching 50 powerstones. Next at 100. 7 more reviews till next bonus chapter]

Leonel breathed hard. The fog of his breath under the chilly night sky reflected like crystals within the moonlight.

Below him, yet another A-grade Invalid had fallen, and though Leonel remained uninjured, he could feel himself reaching his limits.

It wasn't the first time Leonel had felt like that. During those months in the Mayan temple, he experienced it all the time. It was just that he had underestimated the pressure A-grade Invalids could put on him.

Though his life was constantly on the line in the temple, it had to be remembered that the Spaniards were barely considered D-grade threats, and that was only when their weapons were factored in. Alone, they were normal mortals, not even of the F-grade. Their only real threat to Leonel were their numbers, especially after his battle experience deepened.

'Still not good enough. I'm wasting too much energy… One more left…'

Leonel pedaled hard to the next spot. This Invalid had originally been over 400 meters away, but by now, it was within 50 of their base. There was no doubt that it had already caught their scent.

By the time Leonel made it there, panting, he came face to face with an Invalid that seemed painted in silver. Its skin had become a flexible metal and judging by the heavy sounds its normal footsteps caused, maybe it wasn't just its skin that followed this pattern.

Across the board, its stats were completely normal. Nothing was above 0.70. But Leonel knew his senses would not lie to him. This was most definitely an A-grade threat.

Now more than ever Leonel realized just how flawed his self-created stat system was. He still didn't have the ability to account for everything. He couldn't even begin to posit how he would perfectly account for all of these abilities properly.

From just about 20 meters away, Leonel launched a dart, immediately catching the attention of the metal Invalid. Just as he hoped, it diverted its attention away from his sleeping friends. However, aside from that, the results were less than pleasing.

The dart's tip completely shattered against the Invalids body. Its reactions were far too slow to dodge, and its agility was even worse, but it didn't seem to matter. There wasn't even a single scratch on its body.

'… Dammit…'

Leonel quickly loaded another dart, this time aiming for its eye as he continued to pedal. But the dart was shattered once more with a simple blink.

'Did it blink just on reflex? Or are its eyes truly vulnerable?'

There wasn't much time left to think. Leonel hopped off his bike once more, charging with his shoulder and ramming into the Invalid's chest.

A grunt escaped Leonel's lips as the Invalid was sent tumbling backward.

'Only 5'10, lean body type, yet weighs over 400 pounds…'

Realizing the ramifications of this Leonel retreated a few steps, nursing the numbness of his shoulder. He had thought that the defensive abilities of his flexible armor would protect him enough to do some damage, but it was very clear that this metal ability of this Invalid was several levels more durable.

'I was wrong. I was using the specifications of a normal human to measure out his stats, but that's foolish. In order for a normal human to exert the kind of force it can while being at less than half the body weight…'

[Metal Invalid]

[Strength: 1.02; Speed: 1.05; Agility: 1.00; Coordination: 0.50; Stamina: 1.05; Reactions: 0.50; Spirit: 0.00]

Leonel sucked in a cold breath. The adjusted stats were mind numbing. These were the stats a normal human of about 5'10 160 pounds would need to move around with the ability of this Invalid.

this Invalid had more time to adjust to its ability and reached an equilibrium point where it was no longer impeded by its heavy body… Just what kind of monster would it be? S-grade? SSS-grade? Something beyond even that? He had simply never seen a stat

there with this level of potential danger attached to

its white

was happening a long sharp blade suddenly appeared between his

eyes widened. He pulled his head back as fast as he could, withstanding the whiplash

slit across his forehead, the breath of death kissing his cheek. If it wasn't for his obscene reaction time, his skull would have already been split into

covered in metal, but it could shape this metal as it pleased. In that moment, even with Leonel completely focused on it, its

At least 0.90. I have to adjust his base

Invalid's stats like this, then its adjusted agility

his silver rod to block a second blade. But though the metals his rod was formed of managed to withstand the sharp edge, the weight

back

luxury of slowly recovering. Without pause, yet another blade tore through the

ground before it reached him. Thinking quickly, he hooked

paper. It continued to follow through, chasing after Leonel while

silver rod back into a bike and pedalling

his body it is. He isn't producing more metal, he's just diluting what he has to

flashed, his thoughts

His bike sped up.

it is! Ten meters is his

cut a hard turn, driving up the side of a tilted building and back toward the the Invalid with

no longer any room to maneuver. He fell in an

emotion. It simply brandished its second arm, sending out a blade that was impossible for Leonel to

body, a sharp spike of pain ripping through his left shoulder as the blade went through him and his flexible armor with ease. However, his gaze remained

into a rod he gripped tightly. Using it like a spear, with his only good remaining arm, he stabbed

his body fell under gravity's influence, the blade tore further and further into his shoulder. There were several times in those split seconds that Leonel thought

had already expected this. He wouldn't lay his life on the line for

to a ten meter length. In his hurry to attack Leonel who was streaking through the air, he had yet to retract it, just as expected.

of his legs slamming

a sharp SNAP, its arm broke right at

becoming a bloody mess as he

Leonel's eyes remained focused. He had used advantage of the Invalid stretching itself too thin to break off one of its arms. But in the process, he

at the same time. This was why he dared to take on such a terrible injury. Even if his left arm was now all but useless, blood loss wouldn't be a problem. In fact, due to the amount of pressure his armor was placing on his wound

Leonel's pupils

see it. From the split in the Invalid's shoulder, a coarse, metal infused liquid

there are some other methods I can use. His coordination stat is too poor to extend blades from anywhere other than

sections away, leaving it at a manageable length for his one arm. It took some teeth grinding to use his left arm to pin it in place

with just a single arm was too difficult. To make matters worse, its only remaining arm was still in the form of the

to get to its knees when Leonel appeared before it, swinging down

of metal bashing against metal sounded under

actions seemed foolish. It was impossible for his blunt weapon to kill the Invalid in this way, and with its metal skin, he couldn't injure it either. However, something shocking

From its position on its knees, it wobbled as though dizzy. By the time it reoriented itself, another strike had come downward, bashing its head

brace itself, its head rebounded against the