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Chapter 173 Hostages

Leonel looked down toward two unconscious men. He had already guessed that taking them down wouldn't have been a problem, but even he hadn't expected it to be so easy. In fact, it could be said that he was a bit too heavy handed.

However, Leonel hadn't had a choice. This whole knocking people out and taking hostages things was completely new to him. TV shows always made it look so easy. Just a simple karate chop to the back of the neck, right? So why had it given him such a headache?

'Forget it. I'll use those vines to tie them up in the Segmented Cube and bring them back.'

"How do I harvest these plants?" Leonel asked.

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed, the best choice is to make use of the Segmented Cube's Suspended Animation ability. ]

'Suspended Animation?' Leonel was confused for a second before he understood. 'Oh… It must mean the snowglobes.'

The snowglobes of the Lab Setting had always been a mystery to Leonel. At first, he had thought there was a finite number. But, after he had collected the corpses of a couple hundred beasts, he realized that the 'snowglobes' multiplied without end. It seemed there would always be enough for his needs.

Also, he realized that corpses weren't the only thing he could hold in them. All of the ores he had collected had been taken in by them as well.

"What exactly does the Suspended Animation ability do?" Leonel asked.

[ *Ping* ]

[ Suspended Animation: Phase One ability of the Segmented Cube's Lab Setting. It is able to house the living and the dead in the exact state they entered as no matter how much time has passed, evading the harshness of the passage of time. ]

Leonel nodded. This was about what he had expected. His spatial bracelet could somewhat replicate this feat, but it wasn't the exact same.

The reason why things in his spatial bracelet were non-perishable was because living things couldn't exist within it. As a result, there was no bacteria or fungi, so how could things go 'bad'?

But, from the explanation of the dictionary, it seemed that the ability of the snowglobes was far more profound than this. It also didn't seem like it restricted the living either.

'This is perfect. I was worrying

about how I would store all these plants, but if this is the case there shouldn't be a problem.'

Though everything seemed to be going smoothly initially, Leonel was soon lamenting his plight. Unfortunately, the space within each snowglobe was limited. So, he had to uproot each plant individually before moving on.

How could this not leave him feeling aggrieved? If the Lab Setting could produce these snowglobes endlessly, why couldn't it make one with more space in it?

Soon, Leonel realized that it wasn't a matter of space. Despite the bear king being over five meters tall, it still fit in one. Yet, these plants, root and all, were barely a foot tall in most cases, but they took up an entire snowglobe to themselves.

It seemed that the ability of the Suspended Animation wasn't as simple as Leonel thought. It was likely that the snowglobe was capable of perfectly adapting to the object it took in, adjusting its settings appropriately depending on the item.

Unsurprisingly, it took Leonel several hours to take in every plant. It would have been faster, but he didn't want to accidentally harm them. So, he could only move slowly.

Soon, the garden had fallen into darkness, the only hint of light coming from the shimmering stalactites above.

Leonel gasped for breath, stretching out his back.

'Plundering treasures is actually such hard work…'

Though he said this, he looked around the garden with a sigh. Who knew how many years it had taken for it to reach this state?

He wanted to take away the soil beneath his feet and the stalactite on the ceiling of the space, but he really had no means to. It had already taken him so long just to uproot the plants, how could he shovel all this soil into the Segmented Cube? Even aside from that, he had no idea where to even begin with the stalactites. They were easily 20 meters above him and each the size of a tall human man.

Just when Leonel felt that he could only leave such treasures behind, the Segmented Cube appeared on its own again. It separated into its jigsaw-like puzzles and shot across the room, enveloping it completely.

Leonel blinked and by the time his vision cleared, the once beautiful garden had become just as bland as every other cave in this place. The only hint that it was once something more were the vines and lush patches of moss that covered the walls.

'…'

Leonel was speechless. If it could do this, why the hell had it let him waste so many hours here?

'Forget it, forget it…'

All the things his father left him were too mischievous. He couldn't help but feel that they were making fun of him at every corner.

'Let's clear out the ores in this network of tunnels then return to the group. I shouldn't leave them for so long…'

Leonel didn't hesitate any longer. He didn't know how long it would take for the rest of the Brazinger Clan to notice the absence of their two family members, so he worked quickly, exploring the new network of tunnels.

His luck was great. He managed to find a Water Elemental Vessel. Though it would have been better to find a Dual Water-Earth Elemental Vessel, having a Water and an Earth Elemental Vessel was definitely the second best option.

He also found more Vein Ores that would give him greater flexibility in the Force Arts he could draw and even found a few large deposits of Urbe Ores. It was clear that this network of tunnels was more greatly influenced by the Force Eruption and thus had more treasures.

As expected from this conclusion, Leonel found that this network of tunnels had several paths leading several tens of meters downward.

'Since this is the case, it'll be easier to make it to the Force Crystal Mine if this is our starting point…'

Leonel quickly made his way back to where the garden once was. Then, making use of the vines and bits of moss that remained, he cleverly covered up the hole he had come from. Afterward, he made his way back to the cave the youths had taken as their base.

Chapter 174 Interrogation (1)

"Wake up."

Leonel spoke coldly, pouring a bucket of frigid water he had gotten from Pisces over the heads of the two Brazinger Clan members.

In truth, Leonel had no need to get his water from Pisces, he only did it as a show. Since he had the Black Grade Soothing Waters pool, he was much better off than those drinking normal water.

Still, he made a show of politely asking Pisces for water everyday to try and smooth her attitude out a bit. Like this, it was much easier to maintain the balance of the group and it made her feel more comfortable thinking she had a modicum of power over him.

Though, if Pisces knew that the 'precious' water she so 'graciously' bestowed to Leonel was being used in this way, it could be imagined how she would react.

The two Brazinger Clan men were startled awake.

Their first attempt was to move, but upon realizing their hands and feet were bound, a tinge of fear colored their hearts.

Leonel wasn't worried that one of their abilities could help them escape. Before he woke them up, he had the dictionary scan them. The one with the more square jaw had an auxiliary type ability that made his neurons fire faster, thus giving him greater reaction time and greater thinking speed. The one with the slightly thinner face had a vibration type ability. This one was a greater threat, but Leonel had already crafted the cuffs on his hands to be beyond his ability to vibrate out of.

After realizing that the two of them had been captured, the two clan members glared toward Leonel. But, inwardly they were feeling confused. There were others here? How was this possible?

"First, tell me your names." Leonel asked simply.

After a while, it became obvious to Leonel that they had no intention of responding to him. But, seemingly having expected this result, he only nonchalantly nodded.

With a wave of his hand, the poisoned corpse of the bear king appeared, causing the two men to pale.

"This poison is pretty tyrannical, don't you think?" Leonel said casually.

After a few moments, he stood and pulled the thinner man away. At such a sight, the square jawed man trembled violently, the fear evident in his eyes.

"No! No! I'll tell you my

name, I'll tell you my name!"

Unforunately, no matter how hard he struggled, he and Leonel still vanished, leaving the square jawed man in a sorry state. He was so scared that he directly fainted, unable to maintain his consciousness. However, he had no idea that Leonel and the thin faced man had simply gone to the Abode Setting, letting his fear stew.

"Oh, you'll tell me your name now?" Leonel asked.

"Yes! Yes! My name is Cheri!"

A weird expression coated Leonel's visage at these words. Cheri? That meant darling in French… The man sure had quite the… unique name.

"Alright then Cheri, I have a few questions to ask you, you'll answer them honestly, right?"

"Right, right!"

"Good." Leonel nodded in satisfaction. "It would be a shame if the stories of you and your partner didn't add up, right?"

Hearing this, Cheri's trembling became several times more violent. He had indeed only planned to tell Leonel part of the truth. But, what if his partner didn't tell the same lie he did? Then, wouldn't he be asking for his own death?

This kid was so sinister!

He suddenly understood why it was Leonel had separated them. It wasn't so that he could kill him, but rather so that they would have no idea what story the other told. Like this, if they wanted to live, they would have no choice but to say the truth because the truth was the only thing they could guarantee the other would know.

Having thought this far, any thoughts of struggle the man had suddenly crumbled.

He was a member of the Brazinger Clan, how could his will really be so fragile? Unlike those who grew up in Earth's common society, they from hidden families had completely different upbringings. They had been ready for the descent of the Metamorphosis since long ago and had begun training since their birth. That included him despite the fact he was only from a branch family.

Much of his fear had just been an act to get Leonel to lower his guard, maybe then he could find a chance to escape. But, who knew this teenage boy would be so cunning?

Seeing Cheri's flickering gaze, Leonel grinned, causing the former to shudder.

"My name is Jian, my name is Jian. Please forgive me."

Leonel laughed at this. So this Jian was trying to make fun of him by having him call him Cheri? What a conniving fellow indeed.

Jian shivered. He had no idea if his partner would expose his name as a lie, so how could he continue to hold back?

"Good."

Leonel walked to the bath house that held the Soothing Waters Pool and threw Jian against the tiles. Then, he found a stool and sat down.

Jian's shivering grew fiercer. This time, he didn't have to fake it. What place could be more convenient for clearing up a dead body in comparison to a bathroom?

"Since we're both on the same page, there's really no problem, right? I can see that you're not a useless person, so you already know that everything I ask you, I will ask your partner. Be sure to be honest with me. After all, I may not have a great ability, but the one thing I do have is a great memory."

Jian nodded outwardly, but inwardly, he was cursing. Didn't have a great ability? He took them both down before they even knew what was happening. They didn't even have a chance to use their abilities before their worlds went black. How was this not having a great ability?

"Alright, first question. Did that monocle wearing bastard come here with you?"

Jian's eyes widened. The killing intent coming from Leonel enveloped him completely, causing his heart to shudder.

This young man knew about their Young Lord? What relationship did he have with him? Could he be from one of the other hidden families? Did they catch onto their Young Lord's plans?

According to the agreement, only the younger generation of their families' main branches could interact with the world until the Fourth Dimensional Metamorphosis was complete, so could this kid be a Young Lord from another hidden family?

Chapter 175 Interrogation (2)

"I'll take that as a yes."

Leonel's icy voice woke Jian from his thoughts. He could only shut his mouth, keeping his mumbling to himself. He didn't know what his Young Lord had done to piss this young man off so much, but he could tell that he should refrain from asking.

"What did you come here for?"

Jian gulped. "Our Young Lord didn't tell us much. All we know is that there's a Force Crystal Mine and that the Young Lord needs it for some reason."

"How did you get in here through the beasts? Is there another entrance to the hive?"

Jian's gaze flashed with a peculiar light. But, remembering that Leonel would ask this same question to his partner, he could only throw all thoughts of lying to the back of his mind.

"… Those beasts are under the control of Young Lord."

"What?"

Leonel couldn't hide his shock. At the same time, a cold sweat permeated his back. That monocle wearing bastard actually had such an ability? That's impossible. Leonel remembered very clearly that he had already asked the dictionary to read out his ability.

From what Leonel remembered, their Young Lord's ability was of the SS-grade. He had the ability to change the genetic information of a target. Judging by the fact his subordinates were weremen, Leonel assumed that in order to change this genetic information, he needed to take it from another source.

But, none of this had anything to do with controlling beasts. Could it be that his ability evolved? Or could it be part of his original ability? Or maybe it was someone under his command who had such an ability?

Leonel's mind was spinning.

The level of danger such a fact brought was unimaginable. With the control of six, now five, Elite S-grade threats, Simeon was practically invincible. And, there was no telling if he had other beasts following along with him now. Leonel didn't believe that he would really enter without the slightest hint of protection.

While Leonel was thinking, Jian didn't dare to even breathe too loudly. The aura coming off the boy in front of him made

him shiver to his core.

"He has the ability to control beasts? How long has he had this ability for?"

Leonel's question didn't make sense on the surface, but while his mind was wandering, he caught onto the faint inkling of something. If his thoughts were correct, a lot of things would suddenly make sense.

"This… It should be recent. The Young Lord has been running a lot of experiments lately, trying to iron out the kinks in this ability. He only perfected it a few weeks ago…"

Leonel's eyes narrowed. "The gorilla man who attacked the Slayer Legion at the shore that day… That was him, right?"

Jian was shocked. Seeing this, Leonel didn't need him to answer, he knew it was the truth.

The matters of that day hadn't made any sense to him before. Why would a man with an A-grade threat level throw his life away so randomly? He attacked Damian's unit seemingly without cause or purpose, leading to his eventual death.

But, after that, they couldn't find any clues about him. Not only was there not a shred of anything on his person, he wasn't recognized as having a grudge with anyone in the Slayer Legion either.

None of it made any sense…

But… What if one looked at it from a different angle? What if that man was just a guinea pig? What if he was Simeon's way of testing whether or not he could force others to throw their lives away at his command?

The more Leonel thought, the colder the chill in his heart became. This Simeon… Really deserved death.

At the same time, there was a hint of fear that blossomed in Leonel. Such an ability, it was too treacherous. If Simeon could really manipulate one's genes such that they had to obey his every command… just what kind of power could he wield if he was allowed to run amock? What would happen if Aina had really landed in his hands?

'He needs to die.'

A frigid aura permeated the bathhouse. Leonel had already sentenced Simeon to death. He wouldn't allow that bastard to leave this hive alive.

"How close are you all to finding the path to the Force Eruption?"

Jian coughed, clearing his throat.

"We've only explored about 30% of the entrances, but the deepest one only goes about 50 meters below the surface. The Young Lord told us to mark down any unique caverns we found and report to him in a week…"

Leonel's sneer deepened. "What kind of protection does that bastard have?"

"The Young Lord has his elite guards with him, they've all been genetically enhanced. Not a single one is weaker than an S-grade threat. There are nine of them and they follow him around everywhere. Even when we split up, it was only us ordinary guards that left the group. The rest remained with him."

Leonel's eyes narrowed. So many S-grade threats was definitely beyond his means. And, from what Jian said, that was their floor. Who was to say there weren't a few beyond that?

For the first time, Leonel felt frustrated with his ability. He was maybe the only person on Earth with an ability that surpassed the SSS-grade, but because it was only auxiliary, the amount of strength it provided him was limited. If his ability was of the same grade but of the offensive nature instead, just how much power would he have?

Leonel really didn't want to let that bastard go, but the more he grilled Jian about the protection his Young Lord had, the more he realized that he couldn't take Simeon lightly.

The most ironic part was that this was likely his fault. A couple months ago, when he first met Simeon, he hadn't had this kind of protection around him. That bullet Leonel almost put through his skull is probably precisely the reason he was so cautious now.

Chapter 176 Resolve

Leonel grilled Jian with several more questions then knocked him out and dragged him back into the Lab Setting. Without a word to his partner, he threw him into one of the snowglobes, causing no small shock to the square jawed man.

Not wanting to end up like Jian, how could he not go all out in an attempt to satisfy Leonel? But the truth remained the same. In the end, he too was knocked out once more and thrown into a snowglobe.

Leonel took a deep breath and sat down, his mind running.

Though he could have asked the two about Aina's past, he decided against it. This was something he wanted Aina to tell him herself. It just wouldn't feel the same if someone else had to tell him. Plus, he wanted to respect her boundaries.

That said, even aside from that, the heavy pressure Simeon brought him was beyond his imagination.

What a joke he was. He had a Tier 3 Bronze ability, but he was being pushed into a corner by a Tier 8 Black ability. He was sure that if his father knew he would never hear the end of it.

Leonel shook his head, staring blankly into space. After a while, his vacant eyes gained a steely coldness.

'I'm certain that Simeon's ability didn't originally have anything related to control. The reason he can now is because he's mastered his ability to the point of squeezing out all of its potential, eventually allowing him to gain this new branch ability. I don't believe for a second that he can do something that I can't.'

The 'branch' abilities of Leonel's main ability seemed to have awoken randomly. First it was Dream World, then it was Dream Sculpt.

On the surface, both appeared without rhyme or reason, but was this really the case?

Dream World appeared to him when he really wanted to calculate the best orientation of his Force Nodes. This will eventually allowed him to gain his ability to simulate matters in his mind.

Dream Sculpt appeared when he wanted to find a way to make use of the treasures he wasn't allowed to take outside of the Zone. This will eventually allowed him the ability to ingrain perfect and permanent thoughts into

his Dream World.

There was even the third ability he only recently named, Dream Clone. That ability was birthed when he really wanted to learn the primitive man's combat style as quickly as possible. This allowed him to split his mind and learn the same technique many times faster.

Every time he needed an ability within his means, it felt as though he could produce it as long as these things fell within the purview of his Dream World.

Simeon's ability was a wakeup call to Leonel. He realized now that abilities weren't immutable things. They were made to grow and evolve along with their host. Why else would Leonel's ability still be growing even now? It was likely that it would still grow into the future.

Leonel took a deep breath. 'That's right, I need to open myself up to more possibilities…'

Leonel shook his head furiously. To think that he really almost had thoughts of letting that bastard off for now.

Absolutely not. He would make this hive Simeon's grave.

After a while, Leonel stood.

"I have so many materials and even more Beast Crystals. If I can't make something to get out of this situation, I might as well not go and find Aina at all."

Leonel had already decided. There would be three keys to his success.

First, he would definitely find the path to the Force Eruption faster. There was most definitely an even greater treasure trove waiting for him.

Second, he wouldn't hesitate any longer. He would form his Seventh and Eighth Node. Continually doubting himself wouldn't get him anywhere. Maybe after doing this, he would find some clues about his Ninth Node.

If worse came to worst, he would just abandon all of his Force Nodes. Though there was a massive taboo against doing so, the price was comparatively shallow for those in the lowest Third Dimension, only after stepping into the Fourth or higher would abandoning one's Force Nodes become akin to a death sentence without incredibly special circumstances.

And third…

Leonel's mind drifted toward the first Dream Sculpt he ever made. It seemed like a simple golden staff, missing its flag. But, Leonel knew quite well the kind of devastation this thing could cause.

Leonel knew better than to use this staff to control humans. He had seen how badly Joan ended up with his own two eyes. And, back then, she had only been controlling normal humans.

By extension, Leonel also knew that controlling high ranking beasts with it would be foolish as well. Those beast kings had already awoken their intelligence and thus had strong wills of their own. If Leonel tried to take control of them, his ending would be just like Joans.

However… what about those weaker beasts who were only following the beast kings out of fear for their power? Just how quickly had the bear beasts beneath the bear king abandoned him after he died?

According to Jian and his partner, Quinn, Simeon should have only taken control of the beast kings then used them as a proxy to control the other beast hordes.

Plus, those beast kings definitely had their hands full holding off the tide of beasts coming from the ocean even as Leonel stood here. In that case…

Leonel smiled coldly. If Simeon thought of using the beast hordes against him, he would be in for a rude awakening.

Out on the sea, the Commanders of the Eastern and Southern Lookout were still fighting for their lives. Though, those with Commander Violet Rain were definitely fairing much better.

"I did it! I managed to get a message through!" Mellow Trees roared with happiness he never thought he would have over such a simple matter.

Violet Rain's smile bloomed. Though they didn't get a response because the link was swiftly cut off again, this much was enough. Now, they just had to wait.

What they forgot to consider was the fact the one in charge of their Southern Lookout now was Hacker Hutch… Who knew what maddening ways that senile old man would respond to such a call for help…

Chapter 177 Little Bastard

A week later, Leonel stepped out from the Segmented Cube. His features seemed quite haggard, an unkempt beard 'gracing' his jaw and his messy dirty blond hair sweeping across his shoulders. But, his eyes remained as sharp as swords.

When the youths noticed Leonel's appearance, they all perked up, traces of anticipation painted on their faces.

Leonel smiled lightly. "I've succeeded."

They were simple words, but they alone made the youths feel that a massive burden had been lifted from their chests.

"There's no time to waste." Leonel said with a confident air. "We've already long since decided who would go and who would stay. Let's move out if you're all prepared."

The lineup that chose to follow Leonel was quite interesting. Thunderous Clap, Roaring Black Lion and Flowing Wind all stood to move with him.

Thunderous Clap's ability was similar to Jian's vibration ability, but much stronger by several levels. The mysterious Quake Force he used could be considered a Force Strengthening Deviation, so he would be joining.

In addition, Flowing Wind, despite being from the Eastern Lookout, was also willing to help. Her Wind Elemental Force output was a level beyond Chasing Wind's. In addition, she had much more auxiliary applications to her ability like the power to use wind to scout out her surroundings. So, she was an ideal choice.

Finally, there was Roaring Black Lion. Among the remaining youths, he had the strongest defenses. In addition, there was no guarantee they wouldn't run into beasts on their journey. His ability to dampen their strength would be greatly useful.

As for the rest of the top rankers, they stayed behind to protect the group from any unforeseen circumstances. It was simply impossible for them to take so many with them.

With that, the group of four set off.

"We're going to cross over into another network of tunnels. I found this place while I was looking for ores previously." Leonel explained as he quickly made his way toward the hole he had created a week prior.

He knew that he was running out of time. Much of the reason he left Pisces and the others behind was because he was afraid of this hole being found.

According to Jian and Quinn, they were meant to report in a week. When they didn't report as they were meant to, Simeon would most definitely check in on the network of tunnels they were assigned to. By then, there was no guarantee that this hole wouldn't be found.

It wasn't long before Leonel had led their group of four to the hole, crossed to the other side, and diligently covered it back up again.

After he was done, he dashed forward again, snaking through the tunnels as though the map of their pathways was tattooed to the back of his hand. Soon, he made it to his destination: the point with the most direct path to the Force Crystal Mine.

Leonel came to a sudden stop at a seemingly ordinary wall and turned back toward Thunderous Clap, Roaring Black Lion and Flowing Wind.

"Before we go, I have something to tell you three. I didn't tell the others because I didn't want them to panic, but it's best you three know in advance."

The three looked toward Leonel. Seeing his serious

expression, they too became serious. Would things not be so simple?

"There is another group of people in here aside from us. In fact, earlier, I had captured and interrogated two of them. It's very possible that we could run into them.

"I believe that we're ahead of them, but it's best to be cautious. I suspect that there might be another path toward the Force Crystal Mine, I'm just not entirely certain. I just have a feeling that the valleys weren't created without reason…"

The three youths frowned.

The complex network of valleys was precisely the reason they could only enter the center of the island through one passageway. They wrapped around the center of the island such that there was only one path forward.

Even beyond that, Flowing Wind actually had no ability to fly over it. She felt that the Force was incredibly volatile in that area, making it difficult for her to steady her ability properly. When she realized this, she hadn't dared to continue forward, lest she fall to her death.

If the valleys were the result of some odd phenomenon related to the Force Crystal Mine… their odd attributes would be much easier to accept.

Only when the three nodded seriously did Leonel flip his palm, causing many things to appear.

"First, each one of you take these."

Leonel handed each of them silvery-green mouthpieces that looked somewhat like a cross between a flute and a whistle.

"These are my creations. I made them out of Whispering Breeze Ore. They're only Tier 1 Black Grade treasures, but they allow you to breathe under water and earth for three hours. After that, you'll need to allow it to recharge for half an hour before you can use it again."

The three nodded in understanding, watching as Leonel continued to take out nine total resplendent blue scales.

"These are another set of my creations, three to the each of you. They're refined from the coy fish's scales, they could be able to form an artificial Force Skin that melds and amplifies with your own. By my calculations, they should each be able to last half an hour under the full pressure of the Force Eruption. I'm not sure how long it will take us to stop the Force Eruption… we'll have to play it by ear."

Leonel took a deep breath and turned back to face the wall, putting the silver mouthpiece between his lips.

"Stick close to me." Though his words had come out in a mumble, they still managed to understand him.

Leonel could only roll his eyes when he felt two soft mounds of flesh press against his back. Who else could it be if not Flowing Wind? Could this be considered sexual harassment?

Leonel didn't have time to spend on the matter as an intricate ring on his finger glowed. Just like this, the seemingly solid wall before him became akin to a curtain of mud.

He pushed through it with slightly more difficulty than it would take to walk underwater. Still, it wasn't too bad. The only disadvantage was that he couldn't see anything and his Internal Sight was severely restricted in this kind of environment. However, he could rely on his obscene calculation abilities to maintain his sense of direction with relative ease.

Like this, the four youths formed a train, the three to Leonel's back closely following by linking their arms. What was especially magical, though, was that the wall of earth they left the range of reverted back to their original states soon after.

Though Leonel could see nothing but a vast darkness before him, he could feel himself getting closer.

He kept his hand in the lead, ready for it to enter clear air once again. And, a moment later, that was exactly what happened.

Leonel felt the resistance against his hand suddenly vanish and came to a grinding halt.

'Argh…'

Leonel wanted to groan, but he kept it in. He felt a sharp pain in his hand as though it could be lacerated to minced meat in but another few moments.

Without hesitation, he pressed his first coy fish scale against his body, causing a radiant blue to cover him like a thin layer of skin. He had already long since taken off his chain necklace, saving it for a critical moment.

After this, using his hand, he extended his Soul Force forward, stretching his Internal Sight outward.

What he saw made him grind his teeth in anger.

There was a vast underground space. Its ceilings were at least 100 meters tall and it was over a kilometer from end to end. It was filled with shimmering crystals so bright that had Leonel been looking at them with his eyes, he was sure he would have to squint.

Of course, all of these dimensions were just Leonel's approximate guesses. The Force was so volatile that his Internal Sight was incredibly fuzzy. The sharp range was severely reduced, causing his calculations to be lacking.

What had made him angry, though, was the fact that there was someone who had gotten here before him. More accurately, there was a beast that had gotten here before him.

Leonel's hand had appeared near the ceiling of the wide space. So, if he stepped out now, he would fall 100 meters to his death. Down below, there was an adorable creature, taking a nap without a care in the world.

Its fur was a lustrous black, its whiskers and small nose twitching as though it was having a particularly good dream.

Its body was long in considered of its proportions. It had such a small head, but it was easily a foot and a half from head to toe.

This adorable creature was actually a little black furred mink. But, despite having never seen it in its true form before, Leonel couldn't help but grind his teeth.

This little bastard was definitely the beast that had been harassing him for so long.

Chapter 178 Shadow World

Leonel suppressed his annoyance in his heart. He would definitely deal with that annoying little mink, but he also had to be cautious.

For one, that little mink could somehow sleep within that torrent of energy without any problems while he had simply stretched out a hand into it yet almost couldn't withstand the pain.

Secondly, after so many days of battle with the little mink, Leonel knew that it most definitely wasn't simple to deal with. He even felt that its danger level was a level beyond the beast kings outside. He was thankful that all of their exchanges had lasted for a short time, or else maybe he would have been on the losing end far more times than he wanted to admit.

'Why can it just sleep there so easily? Didn't the dictionary say the only way to survive in this environment was Force Skin? It doesn't look like that little bastard is using it…'

The little mink seemed to have a cloud of black fog perpetually hanging around its body, but this wasn't exactly like Force Skin at all.

'It must be its innate ability… That means its Dark Element Force Strengthening Deviation might also comes from its innate ability…'

Leonel took a deep breath. He couldn't consider this any longer.

Now that he knew there was this beast guarding the Force Crystal Mine, he knew that he had to take it out. He didn't know why, but this little mink loved to attack him. Maybe the little guy thought it was a joke, but Leonel's life had been on the line every time. He couldn't take any chances.

After making a decision, Leonel started slowly descending. He had appeared too high, if he stepped out now, he would just fall to his death. But, if he went too low, his treasure would likely stop working.

The entire floor and much of the sides of the open space were covered with Force Crystals radiating resplendent lights. All the way here, Leonel had to navigate around ore veins because he knew his treasure wouldn't work against high level minerals. Obviously, the same went for Force Crystals.

Unable to communicate with the others, Leonel had no choice but to make an explosive move. With Flowing Wind positioned right behind him, he

believed that she would be able to stop their fall with her ability, albeit shakily considered how volatile the Force here was.

Leonel leapt out from the wall. Force and sharp winds whipped against his body as he fell down toward the sleeping black-furred mink.

With a flip of his palms, two pistols appeared, both outfitted with harpoons. This time, he had no intention of holding back. If he could kill this beast before it woke up, that would be for the best.

BANG! BANG!

Leonel's gaze lit up. He knew his shots hit the mark. And, from start to finish, the little mink hadn't moved. In fact, it seemed that his shots were so powerful that it directly blasted apart the platform of Force Crystals the little mink had been sleeping on too. But, this made sense. After all, compared to those massive beasts outside, this little guy was really small. It was no surprise Leonel's attack went right through it like that.

Leonel landed heavily on the ground, a jolt of pain shooting through his legs as his blueish Force Skin fluctuated wildly beneath the pressure of the Force Eruption.

He shook the stinging sensation out of his lower half. It seemed that his fall had quite an impact on him, he should have definitely used his treasure shoes. But, he had been saving them in case the little mink woke up in time and made a move on him. If that happened, he would have needed his shoes to dodge, or else he would have been a sitting duck in the air.

However, Leonel could have never expected what he witnessed next.

When he looked up, he was stunned silent. The little mink was still there, sleeping its time away as though nothing had happened.

The two darts Leonel had shot out were still there as well. One went through the little mink's head and the other went through its body. However…

It was like the little mink was an illusion or in a completely different reality. Its body seemed corporeal, but Leonel attack went through it as though it had no substance at all, almost as though this was just a projection and not a living creature.

'What the hell…'

Leonel's heart tightened.

At that moment, Flowing Wind unsteadily dropped to the ground, carrying Roaring Black Lion and Thunderous Clap along with her. Her control over her ability was extremely poor in this place, but it was at least enough to slow their descent. Either way, Leonel hadn't brought her here for her combat prowess, but rather to help in quickening the maturity of the Force Crystal Core.

"You… why'd you kill such an adorable little guy?"

Flowing Wind reprimanded Leonel without the slightest hint of her previous lusty personality. In the blink of an eye, she had suddenly become a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Leonel almost couldn't refrain from lashing out. Adorable? This little bastard had almost killed him who knows how many times?

After a while, Flowing Wind and the others also noticed the oddity. If such a small creature was hit with such force, shouldn't it be a rain of blood and guts by now? Why did it seem like Leonel's darts had been embedded into its body?

"It's incorporeal? Is it fake?" Thunderous Clap muttered.

"I don't think it's fake…" Leonel said slowly. "… But don't be fooled by its appearance. This little thing almost killed me several times."

The eyes of the three youths widened. Almost killed Leonel? Which of them didn't know how powerful Leonel was? Yet, such a small beast was a danger to him?

Hearing such words, they could only put their guards up.

"I didn't get a chance to do this before because it was too fast, but maybe now…? Tell me about its abilities." The dictionary appeared in Leonel's palm as his eyes narrowed with seriousness.

[ *Ping* Evolved life form detected. ]

[Simplified Title: Mink]

[State: Evolved … Evolving]

[ Abilities: … *Ping* Generating nomenclature… ]

[ Shadow World: An ability that takes control of the world hidden from the stars. ]

[ Evaluating power… *Ping* ]

[ Evolution Stage: Elite Tier 9 Black ]

Chapter 179 Euphoric Death

Leonel involuntarily held his breath.

This description… It was the simplest he had ever seen. It was also the most vague he had ever seen. The only description he had seen that carried this level of vagueness was his own. His own only became more detailed after he began using the dictionary to document his ability, which is why it now had a breakdown of all his abilities from Dream World to Dream Clone. But initially…

[ Calcualtive Mind: An ability capable of simplifying the complex. ]

This was what the dictionary had first told him about his ability. It never said anything about his Dream World, Dream Sculpt or Dream Clone ability. Aside from himself, he had never seen an ability as simply explained as the little mink's Shadow World.

But, what also shocked Leonel was the 'state' of the little mink. Not only did it say 'Evolved' but it also said 'Evolving'.

The little mink's ability was already classified with the Elite Tier 9 Black level. If it evolved, wouldn't it cross over into the Bronze level just like Leonel?

Leonel took a deep breath to steady his beating heart.

Unlike him, the Little Mink's ability seemed exceptional for combat. Leonel couldn't even touch it despite the fact it was sleeping right in front of him. How was it even possible to do anything to this little guy?

Just with this ability alone, the little mink was untouchable in Fourth Dimensional Worlds. Only under the suppression of a Fifth Dimensional World would its ability begin to show some weaknesses. But, considering it was currently evolving into the Bronze tiers, it seemed that this wouldn't be true for long…

Leonel decided to leave his darts in place. He didn't dare to approach the little mink too closely anymore. But, he also knew that it was simply impossible for them to just leave now. Their success would decide the life and death of tens of people.

"How long will it take this little thing to finish evolving?" Leonel asked.

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed, 3:21:51:05 ]

'3 days, 21 hours, 51 minutes and 5 seconds huh… Hopefully that's enough.'

Leonel chose to go with the assumption that the little mink would stay asleep for as long as it was evolving. In that case, maybe they would

have enough time to help the Force Crystal Mine mature.

"Let's hurry." Leonel said, receiving the agreement of the others.

The four youths turned their attention toward the raging tempest of white, gushing Force toward the center of the wide space.

The mine was over a kilometer in width and length. Of that space, the geyser took up barely 20 meters of width. But, its presence was imposing.

It was an odd feeling. Unlike geysers of water, this Force Eruption hadn't made a single sound after its initial burst. It bore a hole through the network of tunnels above it and remained completely silent, even to the point the youths could easily chat.

"Alright, Roaring Black Lion, you'll have to protect Flowing Wind. You all know what to do, right?"

The youths nodded.

Thunderous Clap had a Force cultivating technique and had formed four Nodes. So, his ability to keep up his Force Skin was relatively better. But, Flowing Wind had yet to do so for whatever reason, so she needed the protection of Roaring Black Lion. This was definitely a testament to how great her ability was.

"We just pour our Force Strengthening Deviations in, right? Sounds simple enough…" Flowing Wind mumbled. But, it was clear that she wasn't very confident.

Steeling their wills, the youths moved forward, approaching the geyser of white from different angles.

The moment they crossed the barrier, they realized that things were completely out of their expectations. Let alone the towering danger they expected, it almost felt as though they were walking through a spray of sparkling water on the hottest of summer days.

However, instead of making him feel more relaxed, Leonel's heart clenched as he pushed his way toward the Core.

Though he disparaged the dictionary sometimes, how could he not trust something his father had left for him? His father was the one person who he trusted with his everything. Even if the things he left behind would sometimes tease him in unexpected ways, they wouldn't ever truly put him in danger.

Since his father's dictionary put so much emphasis on how dangerous Force Eruptions were, how could Leonel ever take them lightly? The fact things seemed so calm and even relaxing made his hair stand on end.

They say that there were forms of death where one would feel incomparably relaxed near the end. Some said that there was no better euphoria than drowning…

Something about this Force Eruption reminded Leonel of such things…

Soon, Leonel had made it to the Force Crystal Core. Without a better descriptor, he could only say that it was beautiful.

It was the most perfect sphere Leonel had ever seen. It stood amidst an array of Force Crystals that looked like the petals of a blooming flower. Despite the fact it was the cause of such a shocking event, it was completely still. It was almost impossible to tell that it was the source of all of this at all.

It radiated an assortment of colors, shimmering a resplendent rainbow. However, if one looked closely, it was possible to see golden lines being slowly drawn just beneath its surface. These lines seemed to exude an ancient mystery and were even somewhat more resplendent than even the rainbow colors of the Force Crystal Core. If it wasn't hidden beneath the Core's surface, it would definitely easily outshine its radiance.

'Those must be the Natural Force Arts…'

Leonel looked up to see three pairs of eyes looking toward him solemnly. It seemed that they felt this matter shouldn't be so simple either.

Leonel narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, lightly touching the core with a finger.

Immediately, his expression changed as he quickly retracted his hand. But, it was still too late.

The Force Skin protecting his hand burst. Soon after it, the skin on his left hand splintered and shattered into a rain of blood. Even the bones of his fingers were visible to see.

Leonel's Force quickly surged, pushing the torrent of Force rampaging around within him out with brute force.

By the time his heart settled down and he looked toward the Force Crystal Core with a solemn expression, all he could feel was a spine tingling pain from his hand.

Chapter 180 Trapped

Leonel's face slightly twisted in pain. No matter how used he was to injuries by now, the feeling of having his hand practically explode from the inside out left him wanting to cry out.

The other three youths looked toward him with fear evident in their eyes. It was just a simple touch, but Leonel's ending had actually been so terrible. If he held on for just a fraction of a second longer, just how much worse would his injuries be?

Leonel took several deep breaths.

Maybe the worst part about all of this was the loss of his hand. A Force Crafter's hands were the most important part of their body. With his left hand in this state, it simply wouldn't be possible to craft anything.

'… I'm too reckless…'

Leonel clenched his jaw.

"Retreat."

Leonel ordered this the moment he saw how helpless the situation was. That break in his Force Skin had shaved off more than half the remaining time the Force Skin treasure he had forged had. It wouldn't be long before it shattered completely. By then, there was no telling how horrible his ending would be.

However, just when he wanted to retreat, Leonel's expression changed.

It had been so easy to walk in, but he found that the way out made him feel as though he was walking against quicksand.

Leonel's expression immediately became ugly. What the hell was going on?

"What's going on? I feel like I can't take a step back no matter how much I want to."

Roaring Black Lion's voice held a rare instance of trepidation and fear. This was the very last thing they expected to happen. Why was it so easy to enter but not easy to leave?

"It seems I've underestimated this Force Eruption again…" Leonel smiled bitterly.

There were all sorts of natural traps in the world, even before the Metamorphosis. All of them were easy to enter but difficult to leave.

A Venus flytrap wouldn't have any qualms about allowing a fly onto its petals, but would it so easily allow one to leave? A beast wouldn't hestiate to allow its prey into its mouth, but would it so easily release it?

This trap in particular reminded Leonel of a phenomenon that could happen in rivers and

dams. Anyone swimming near a dam would be asking for death. The interaction between the rushing water suddenly met by an immovable force would cause a pattern of currents that would easily allow a human in, but make it impossible for them to leave.

The number of people who had died to such a phenomenon were too many to count. Leonel had just never expected that the flow of Force here would be able to replicate such a thing.

Leonel smiled bitterly. "Sorry guys… It seems I was still a bit reckless."

Leonel sighed. He knew that once again this was a case of the dictionary being very specific with its answers. He asked about how to mature a Force Crystal Core ahead of time, but hadn't asked anything about something like this.

The three youths couldn't help but be disappointed. But, how mad could they be? It wasn't as though Leonel had sent them into this danger alone. He had stepped forward first and had even been willing to retreat when things weren't going well. This was something completely out of their expectations.

"Don't worry." Leonel said firmly after a moment. "I promise to take you all out of here."

The resolution in Leonel's voice shocked them. They hadn't expected that even now, he would still take responsibility. Usually, someone with as much power as him would definitely not have the time to care about them now.

Without another word, Leonel directly sat on the ground, entering a meditative state. He weakly supported his left hand on his lap, doing his best to ignore the pain.

'I have almost 30 coy fish scales. Each of them can provide 30 minutes of protection. Between the four of us, that's enough for a bit over three hours and a half.'

The three youths looked toward Leonel, then looked at one another. There were clear hints of despair on their faces, but what could they do?

Thunderous Clap tried to fight his way out, throwing out thunderous punches that rocked the air, but he found himself sliding back with every strike.

Flowing Wind and Roaring Black Lion tried their hands at it too. In fact, the former had the greatest shot and even almost succeeded, trying to ride the flow of Force. But in the end, just when it looked like she might succeed, she was blasted backward. Had it not been for Roaring Black Lion catching her before she landed on the Force Crystal Core, her outcome would have been even sorrier.

Leonel's mind spun. However, no matter how hard he thought, everything pointed in a singular direction: Force Strengthening Deviations.

The only way to overwhelm Force was with Force of greater quantity or quality.

Right now, he couldn't spare thoughts toward maturing the Force Crystal Core. Wasting stamina on it would just make it so that they were less likely to survive. With only a little over three hours, every small bit of stamina could decide life and death.

'I need to improve my Light Elemental Force or my Spear Force…'

Leonel's eyes flashed open. He pushed forward his only good remaining hand, stabbing out toward the edge of the Force Eruption's influence.

But, what he saw left him feeling helpless. Even with the amplification of his Spear Force, his [Call of the Wind] only traveled a meter before being shattered completely.

Taking a deep breath, Leonel attempted to fuse his Light Elemental Force into the attack. It wasn't a perfect fusion, but it was barely enough to gain a small amplification.

He pierced out once more, but the result was just as depressing. It barely passed the two and a half meter mark before being crushed. That was still almost a full eight meters from the edge they needed to escape from.

'The closer to escaping the energy fluctuations it was, the harder it is to cross. The one to two meter distance was at least twice as difficult to cross as the zero to one meter distance… I need to improve…'

Leonel could only turn his hopes back to the dictionary. It said that there were levels beyond… right?

Chapter 181 Snowy Star Owl

Leonel turned a complicated glance toward the dictionary in his hands.

"Tell me about the levels of Force Strengthening Deviations."

[ *Ping* ]

[ Force Strengthening Deviations are divided by quality and type. Type can range from Weapon Types to Elemental Types, while quality is decided by Evolution Potential and range of ability, also known as Evolution Branches. ]

[ Evolution Potential: The potential for improvement. This is decided by the amplification ability of a Force Strengthening Deviation. All Force Strengthening Deviations have the ability to reach the pinnacle, but the amount of amplification they provide varies. ]

[ Evolution Branches: These are the number of routes a Force Strengthening Deviation can take. Not all of the same type and sub-type are born equal. There are differences in strength between Spear Forces and even Light Elemental Forces. ]

Leonel's brow furrowed. There was so much information. He didn't know if it was worth it to know all of it. After all, he only had three hours left. He had to make a decision. Sitting here listening to a history lesson on Force Strengthening Deviations would just be asking for death.

"Tell me about my Light Elemental Force specifically."

[ *Ping* ]

[ The Light Elemental Force Seed has comprehended comes from a Lineage Factor. This is somewhat different from a Force Strengthening Deviation comprehended naturally or awakened through and ability. ]

[ A naturally comprehended Force Strengthening Deviation is limited by either one's comprehension or the source one has used to comprehend it. ]

Leonel was confused by this for a moment, but after a while he understood. By 'source' the dictionary was referring to natural sources of Force Strengthening Deviations. For example, if one found a battle ground and there were many Spear Force scars along the ground, it would be possible to comprehend Spear Force from them. But, one would be limited by the expertise of the expert that carved the scars in the first place.

Of course, one could also naturally comprehend Spear Force on their own much like Hutch comprehended Blade Force. In that case, it was on one's own shoulders to improve and evolve one's Spear Force.

[ A Force Strengthening Deviation awakened through an ability would be limited by the Evolution Stage of one's ability. But, Seed's Force Strengthening Deviation is limited by the Lineage Factors of your Lineage Factor. ]

[ The origin of Seed's Light Elemental Force is the Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. ]

Leonel's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Time dilated and he could feel that his breathing had slowed to a crawl. In that moment, his eyes became dim as though

he had been trapped in an illusion.

In the beginning, all he saw was darkness. But, after a while, he could faintly see a small dot in the distance that radiated a bright light.

He blinked just a single time, but the moment his vision cleared, the light had completely covered the range he could see.

The sight was incomparably beautiful. A bird with eyes radiating with wisdom and feathers as white as snow looked down toward him. Its golden irises didn't have a hint of disdain or loftiness. Rather, it looked down as though a senior appreciating a junior. The gentleness touched Leonel's heart.

COOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A mighty call left the owl's beak as it flapped its wings once more, vanishing from Leonel's sight. But even still, the image continued to replay in his mind. And, as time began to regain its previous pace, Leonel's heart followed and quickened many times over.

When Leonel's dull gaze regained its light, he found that his breathing had quickened and he was drenched from head to toe in sweat.

'Wow…'

Snowy Star Owl… What kind of creature was that? Leonel had no idea. But he somehow felt that it was incomparably majestic. Leonel wasn't sure how his Lineage Factor stacked up to other Light Elemental Lineage Factors, but what he did know was that this Lineage Factor made him feel extremely comfortable.

[ The Snowy Star Owl is known especially for its speed, wisdom, and miracle healing. As such, Seed's Light Elemental Lineage Factor can be considered to have three main Branches of Evolution. ]

[ The first branch is simply known as the Movement Evolution. Among Force Strengthening Deviation, Light Elemental Force only loses to Space Elemental Force in this regard. However, within the Speed sub-branch of the Movement Evolution Branch, the Light Element is unmatched. ]

[ The second branch is known as the Support Evolution Branch. The Wisdom sub-branch and the Healing sub-branch both fall under this category. ]

[ Both sub-branches can only be effectively used when combined with one's other Lineage Factors. Meaning one's level of Light Elemental Force can thus unlock Lineage Factor abilities and techniques to be used as one. ]

Wisdom? Healing?

Leonel didn't know what these sub-branches were, but this Evolution Branch concept really reminded him the evolution trees of a role playing game. Was that how Lineage Factors worked as well?

He had thought that his Light Elemental Force had exceptionally good penetrative abilities, but judging by the words of the dictionary, this wasn't its main ability.

"Why do I feel that my Light Elemental Force had good penetrative ability?"

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed, this is a result of Seed's Spear Domain Lineage Factor. ]

Leonel furrowed his brows. "Isn't my Spear Domain Lineage Factor much weaker than my Light Element Lineage Factor?"

[ *Ping* ]

[ Replying to Seed: You're an idiot. ]

Hearing these words, not only did Leonel's face darken, but so did the other three youths who happened to be nearby him. Even in the situation, the sudden odd words almost made them burst into laughter.

Leonel could tell that the 'You're an idiot' part was very lifelike. It seemed that it was yet another recording left by his father, but this time, it was just a short message.

[ The strength of the Spear Domain Lineage Factor is in its ability to combine countless disciplines into one. This is why the Spear Domain Heirloom is filled with spears, each tied to a different consciousness and each with a completely different style. Only by combining many disciplines into one will the Spear Domain Lineage Factor truly show its might. ]

[ The reason Seed's Light Elemental Force seems to have great penetrative abilities is because of the effect of Seed's Spear Domain Lineage Factor. It has integrated Seed's Light Elemental Force somewhat, giving it such an ability. ]

[ Also, though attacking is not a main ability of the Snowy Star Owl, it is still an Elite Sixth Dimensional Mythical Beast. It would not be too weak in this regard. To lower Dimensions, its attack ability can be considered godly. ]

After hearing all of this, Leonel finally understood. The penetrative ability of his Light Elemental Force occurred due to the influence of his Spear Domain Lineage Factor. But, since he had looked down on his Spear Domain Lineage Factor, he never actively tried to look into its secrets, thus inadvertently suppressing it.

"If that's the case…"

Leonel's blood rumbled, a spear appearing in his hand.

Without even getting up, his eyes flashed as he pierced forward. This time, he felt that the integration of his Spear Force and Light Elemental Force had risen by several degrees.

PUUUUU

Leonel's eyes glowed with a fierce light. "Four meters!"

It wasn't only him who was excited, but Flowing Wind practically pounced into his arms and gave him a kiss.

There really was hope.

Chapter 182 Inadequate

After the initial bout of excitement, Leonel immediately calmed himself.

What was there to be proud about? He had only touched four meters, there were still six more to go. And, it had now become even more obvious to him that the difficulty of crossing that distance doubled with every meter he passed. The fact he had directly jumped from two and a half meters to four was a testament to just how great his Spear Domain Lineage Factor was, but that was all. Was it even possible to improve enough to cross the remaining distance?

The other youths seemed to realize this as well. So, their smiling expressions soon faded.

"Handsome, hurry up and improve some more. I'm too young and beautiful to die." Flowing Wind said this as though joking around, but there was a well hidden fear in her tone. It wasn't something that Leonel would miss.

Leonel took a deep breath.

"You three enter my spatial treasure. It should buy us more time."

Leonel wasn't confident in the Segmented Cube's defensive ability. This wasn't because he was doubting its peak prowess, but rather because it was still in Phase One. In Phase One, it was essentially still limited to Third Dimensional Abilities. So, it was impossible for its abilities to be too grand.

However, if these three youths entered the Segmented Cube and he placed it in his spatial bracelet, then he only needed to activate one Force Skin to protect them all. Like this, his less than four hour time limit would be over thirteen hours.

The three youths looked at each other and nodded.

Here, they were only a burden to Leonel. It would be good if they could help in some way.

Leonel sighed a breath of relief and took out the Segmented Cube.

He found that it was frenziedly absorbing the Force in the surroundings. At this pace, it might only be a few days before it could accumulate enough to evolve into Phase Two. But, Leonel obviously didn't have this long to wait.

Just when Leonel was about to allow the youths in, he suddenly made a pleasant discovery.

'The Segmented Cube can't leave this place, but

it's still a natural Force barrier…'

Leonel's eyes glowed with excitement. He hadn't put too much hope in the Segmented Cube. In fact, he had covered it with his Force Skin when he pulled it out just now. But, what he never expected was that it would actually be capable of forcefully absorbing any Force he gave it.

'It can take volatile Force, absorb it, and make it docile!'

In that case, didn't that mean that Leonel's time limit wasn't limited to 13 or so hours anymore?!

Leonel grinned as the three youths looked toward him in confusion.

"It seems we don't need to die here today."

Before the three could ask Leonel what he meant, the Segmented Cube expanded and enveloped the three of them.

On the outside, the Segmented Cube expanded to a ten meter diameter, hovering in the air above the Force Crystal Core.

It shuddered and trembled, bouncing back and forth between the two opposing edges of the Force geyser, but it eventually managed to reach an equilibrium.

Within the Abode Setting, the four youths watched on nervously as a violent earthquake took hold of the world within the Segmented Cube. They only managed to sigh a breath of relief after everything finally settled into a low rumble.

Leonel wasn't any different from them. He too had been worried about the result, but luckily it had all paid off.

"There are a few rooms here. Feel free to pick one. There's also plenty of food and water. I'll definitely get us out of here."

Leonel nodded to the youths. But when they saw the sadness on his expression, they couldn't help but be stunned.

This should have been a happy change of events. Why was it that Leonel didn't seem the slightest bit happy?

Leonel turned to leave.

Flowing Wind wanted to step out and stop him, maybe even try to cheer him up, but she found that two sturdy hands had landed on her shoulders, stopping her from moving forward.

She was completely stunned to find that both Roaring Black Lion and Thunderous Clap had tacitly agreed to stop her as one. She couldn't even react before Leonel had disappeared from her sight.

"Why the hell did you two stop me? He's our savior, shouldn't we at least say thank you? There's no reason for him to be feeling like that."

"You don't get it." Roaring Black Lion said with a snort. "Even if things worked out in the end, his pride is still wounded."

"Pride?" Flowing Wind's brows furrowed. Though it was blocked beneath her mask, one could imagine that it was quite a lovely sight to see.

"It's ultimately his fault that things turned out this way." Thunderous Clap spoke. "There's even an argument to be made here that we're only alive by a fluke. Even stumbling into the ability of this abode type treasure was a mistake."

"What the hell are you saying? We made our own choice to come here with him. Plus, he was in just as much danger as us. Only a bastard would blame him for information we all lacked equally."

"You still don't get it. I don't know what's weighing on Indom… Leonel's mind, but whatever it is, he definitely feels like his performance makes him unworthy of meeting those goals.

"He takes himself to be responsible for our lives. Whether it was coming to this hive or accelerating the maturity of the Force Crystal Core, they were all his ideas. But, he's seemingly made one mistake after another.

"For a man like him, he definitely feels inadequate."

Flowing WInd snorted. "If it was just garbage male pride, you should have just said so from the beginning. But he's so handsome and caring at the same time, this lady definitely likes him."

Roaring Black Lion and Thunderous Clap looked at one another helplessly. This Flowing Wind girl was definitely too far gone.

Chapter 183 Never Again

Leonel sat on a chair in the Lab Setting, staring out blankly into space.

In truth, in the beginning, even he wasn't fully aware of why he was feeling like this. It could even be said that Thunderous Clap and Roaring Black LIon understood before even he had. It could only be said that the objectivity of a third party was great.

He had come here with every intention of instantly getting to work, diving into training until he could barge his way out. But, instead of doing any of that, he found himself frozen in time.

After a long while, he finally understood the emotion he was feeling…

Shame.

He had made too many mistakes. Initially, he kept brushing them off as though they were nothing more than jokes. But it seemed that as time passed, the 'mistakes' he made continued to have more and more serious consequences. It came to the point where even though this most recent mistake of his had no real consequences yet, he simply couldn't put up with himself anymore.

What truly baffled him was that he wasn't immediately certain of how to fix this. Wasn't it only natural that someone as young and uninformed as him make so many mistakes?

But, the more Leonel thought about it, the more he felt that this excuse was exactly that… an excuse. In a world like this, who cared if he needed time to mature? Would the spider king's venom wait for him? Would the Force Crystal Core let him go on account of his youth? Would Simeon leave him be until he matured?

The answer to all of this was obviously no. No one owed him such a thing.

Compared to others, how much better was his starting position? Whether it was his talent, the treasures his father left for him, or the Lineage Factor his mother left for him… How many times luckier was he than another?

To this day, he still had no idea how well his teammates were doing. Did James fall out with them after being snubbed by him? What about Yuri? She was one of Aina's only two friends. How was she doing with them? Was she okay?

Compared to these people, wasn't he considered to be lucky?Was this what those psychologists deemed as survivor's guilt?

Maybe that was exactly what it was. Leonel

felt undeserving. He made so many life altering mistakes, yet managed to survive every time by the skin of his teeth. Sometimes it might be due to his own wit, but how many more times had it just been luck?

Memories were constantly pulled up from the depths of Leonel's mind, each one striking a cord with him.

When he first exited the Mayan Tomb and Aina killed Conrad with a single strike. During their journey to the Fort, he had even had thoughts of being unwilling to live anymore.

How ridiculous had his actions been back then? He even went out and fought seven A-grade Invalids back to back. Maybe that had been under the guise of protecting his friends, but wasn't the truth that he was just seeking death?

How lucky had he been to survive that? Did he even deserve to survive that? His abilities back then couldn't even compare to the current him. A single A-grade threat was more than enough to threaten his life…

Then there was the time within the Joan of Arc Zone. Due to his own selfishness, he forced both him and Aina into a corner. Instead of waiting until both armies had whittled their strength down, he stupidly charged in.

Back then, without a word, Aina had still chosen to follow him. But, had he not found Joan's weakness at the last minute, wouldn't they have both died?

How lucky had he been to survive that? How could he eve think of blaming Aina for lying to him about the entry quota when he, himself, was so selfish?

Then there was the battle at the Royal Blue Fort. He had foolishly traveled back to the Fort, thinking that everything would be over as long as he made his way back. But, that ended up in Aina almost dying, and now she was in a world he knew next to nothing about. Who knew what kind of hardships she was undergoing now?

How lucky had he been to survive that? If he hadn't been so naive, wouldn't Aina still be by his side right now?

Leonel continued to blankly stare at the wall, his heart beat slowing to eerie speeds.

What a joke. Even with Aina by his side right now, would he even be capable of protecting her?

Here he was again. Another stupid mistake. He was suffering here because of his own foolishness, his own naiveté.

How lucky had he been to survive this?

He could have avoided it. Had he just been more cautious, had he just asked more questions, had he just not gotten ahead of himself...

This all ultimately stemmed from his own personality. Nothing ever entered his sights, nothing ever caught his attention. The only exception to this was Aina, and other than knowing that he appreciated her demeanor, Leonel couldn't quite explain his infatuation either. He only knew it existed.

But, what right did he have to have such a disposition if those things he always put beneath his notice always became roadblocks he could only rely on luck to surpass? What right did he have to be arrogant?

His father always said the two most important things in life were Respect and Persistence. But had he ever truly engraved these words into his heart? Or had he only ever taken them perfunctorily?

How could he claim to have Respect and Persistence in all things if he was constantly placing himself above everything?

Leonel suddenly thought of the kind eyes of the Snowy Star Owl. Such a beautiful majestic creature. To it.. He was nothing more than an ant. Yet, it looked toward him with such fondness and love.

'Never again.'

Leonel's heart thrummed.

He didn't mean that he would never make a mistake again. If he dared to think such a thing, wouldn't he have learned nothing? This would just be the same conceit packaged in a different way.

Rather, he was acknowledging that his character needed to be tempered. This feeling of shame… he didn't want to feel it again.

WENG!

A bright golden glow shot from Leonel's eyes. He inadvertently sunk into a state of contemplation. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice his Spirit improving by leaps and bounds…

Chapter 184 Spirit

Within Leonel's Ethereal Glabella, a striking change was occurring.

In the beginning, it had been a world of white fog. It could be said that the only tangible existences within it were the two white stars hanging in the air. However, now, everything began to slowly change.

After comprehending Spear Force and Light Elemental Force, two new objects appeared in Leonel's Ethereal Glabella. The first was a 12 sided star. It was very small, barely being about a foot in diameter, but it glowed with a resplendent light. The second was a transparent Spear Soul. It had a fuzzy body one had to squint to make out and its blade seemed very dull. But, it still gave off a bit of the sharpness one would expect from a spear.

At that moment, however, a violent trembling took hold of the world.

First, the 12 sided star began to vibrate. With each tremor, it grew a fold in size.

After several moments, its size even dwarfed the round white stars in the sky to the point that they even began to orbit about it.

WENG! WENG! WENG!

The moment that transformation was complete, the white fog of the realm began to recede. No, it was inaccurate to say that it was receding and far better to say that it was being compressed.

The more the fog was compressed, the less white it seemed and the more golden it became. It wasn't just the white fog itself, but even the Stars of the [Dimensional Cleanse] technique seemed to be gaining tinges of gold along their fiery surfaces.

[Spirit: 2.32]

…

[Spirit: 3.00]

…

[Spirit: 3.89]

…

[Spirit: 5.23]

…

Leonel's spirit didn't stop growing until it rammed up against the 6.00 barrier, stopping just shy of it at 5.98.

One had to remember that Leonel's stats had always been arbitrary. For example, he always set his Force stat at 0.10 per Force Node he had, then stat'd out everyone else accordingly. His physical stats were somewhat less arbitrary, but still only based on estimations. However, his spirit stat was just like his Force stat and completely based on his own prowess.

As a

result of this, a number like 5.98 was hard to put into perspective. However, due to his sudden awakening, Leonel had gained memories that seemed to both have always been his, yet were somehow new at the same time.

Thanks to this, he came to understand something.

Spirit between 0.01 and 3.00 could be considered to be within the Fourth Dimensional Realms. Having just 0.01 and even 0.001 was enough to represent the awakening of Internal Sight. Anyone who could do this was able to cultivate a Force Node creation technique.

So what did this mean? Spirit between 3.01 and 6.00 could be considered to be within the Fifth Dimension!

The numbers weren't pretty since Leonel had formulated the system on his own. But this was already enough to shock one completely.

Leonel still couldn't be considered to have formed a Fourth Dimensional Body yet. He would need to perfect the part of [Dimensional Cleanse] he had first before he could do that.

Yet, despite this, his spirit had already crossed into the Fifth Dimension and even seemed a hair's breadth from the Sixth. It was simply inconceivable.

Spirit wasn't like physical stats. Those kind of stats would need a massive increase before undergoing a qualitative change. But, Spirit was so hard to gain in the first place. Leonel had never even met a person aside from himself that was even close to the 1.00 barrier, let alone approaching the 6.00 barrier like him.

The difference was too striking!

Leonel's eyes flashed open, a beam shooting out from within them against his will. It was a long while before his eyes dimmed from a bright green back down to its usual pale ivory color.

A slow breath left his lips.

His mind felt so fresh and clear, yet he didn't have the self satisfied attitude one would expect. He knew well that this improvement was all in thanks to a Lineage Factor he didn't earn himself. What use was there in being proud?

He had made such a big show of wanting to 'comprehend' his Lineage Factors on his own, but hadn't he relied on his talent in the end anyway?

But the current Leonel wasn't the same Leonel of the past. He wouldn't allow such things to hold him back.

He wouldn't completely rely on his talent, but there was no need to directly ignore it either. There was no need for him to be hypocrite, on one hand ignoring the god given gifts he had been handed, and on the other, still relying on them to escape dangerous situations by a hair. He didn't want to be that kind of person.

"What stage is my ability at now?" Leonel asked.

[ *Ping* ]

[ Evolution Stage: Elite Tier 9 Bronze ]

Leonel sucked in a cold breath. It seemed his conjecture was correct. His ability and his spirit work in a feedback loop. If he could use [Dimensional Cleanse] to nurture his ability and by extension raise his spirit, then raising his spirit should by extension increase his ability's cap.

Leonel's aura blossomed with confidence. However, this wasn't a confidence borne of arrogance, but rather a confidence borne of ability — a striking difference to the version of himself just a day ago.

Leonel looked toward his injured left hand. He had just unlocked the first Wisdom Branch of his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. It was known as Northern Twelve Stars according to the memories that had appeared in his mind.

If he wanted a chance to heal his left hand quickly, he would need to awaken the first Healing Branch. However, after a moment of thought, he directly decided against this.

His mind seemed to be working on a different gear entirely. He immediately thought of several possible solutions and disregarded all but the best.

"Of the Pseudo and True Fourth Dimensional plants I collected earlier, list all those that have healing properties and tell me about all of their effects."

[ *Ping* ]

Chapter 185 Passage Out

At that moment, within the Southern Lookout, Old Hutch could actually be found within his office. Or, more accurately, the office he had snatched from the previous Supreme.

Though he was here, it seemed he was only so physically. By the way he put his wrinkled feet up and was snoring away with a box of pizza sliding around his chest, he most deifinitely wasn't here mentally.

BANG!

At that moment, a young lady slammed her small palm on the table, causing it to directly split in two. She couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 years old, but she didn't give Old Hutch the slightest bit of face as she startled him awake.

"Damn perverted old man. You called us here for something urgent yet you're sleeping without a care in the world?!"

To the young lady's side, there was a quiet young man who was seemingly used to all of this. He kicked at one of the falling wooden pieces of the once whole desk, just barely allowing it to catch a piece of falling pizza before it stained the expensive carpets.

Old Hutch and the young lady looked toward the young man.

"Clean freak."

They snapped as one, causing the young man to roll his eyes.

"Why did you call us here old man?" The young man asked.

"Oh… Why did I call you here? I forget…"

Old Hutch smacked his lips. Who knows what he was dreaming about for his eyes to be so misty.

"Damn old pervert…" The young woman spit out through gritted teeth.

"Ah, that's right. There's a Force Eruption on the B Sector Project Hunt Island. Go help them out."

The brows of the two youths furrowed.

"Just the two of us? Are you crazy?" The young woman snapped.

"What? Aren't you supposed to be geniuses?"

"Don't joke around, old man." The young man's frown deepened. "We're supposed to be getting ready for the SS-grade Zone. If we get injured in a beast tide, how will we go?"

"I'm sure we've got plenty of Healing Type ability users in this place." Old Hutch said lazily.

Judging by the look of the young man and woman, they wanted nothing more than to tear Old Hutch apart. But, they knew they weren't a match for this old man. Causing him to lose a small bit of face every so often was the best they could do.

"Fine, fine. Things aren't so simple as they seem. I received an intelligence report a while ago that the Brazinger Clan is involved."

"Weeks ago? And you still let those kids go?"

This time, it was the young man and Old Hutch's turn to look at the young lady weirdly. Her 18th birthday was still a couple months away. Many of those 'kids' she was talking about were older than she was.

The young lady, though, didn't seem to notice their weird gazes and kept glaring at Old Hutch.

"They needed to be tempered a

bit." Old Hutch said with a yawn. "Plus, I thought it would be a while more until the Force Eruption occurred. Those Brazinger family brats probably got caught off guard as well or else they wouldn't have come either."

"Fine, fine. But that still doesn't explain why you're only sending the two of us."

"Those hidden families like to find excuses to bend the rules all the time. If I send someone better, they'll move in under the guise of 'protecting' their young brats then directly take whatever it is they want. This Force Crystal Mine is too good to give to them."

Seeing that the two were still frowning, Old Hutch got up and patted their shoulders with a grin on his face.

"You two don't have much of a choice."

The expressions of the two darkened.

"While you're out there, look out for a brat who goes by Leonel. You three should probably work together to get out of there. Off you go."

The two youths looked at each other.

That Project Hunt Island was one of the weaker ones. It could only be considered somewhat special due to the fact it had a Force Crystal Mine. But since the Slayer Legion was waiting for it to mature, they still hadn't touched it.

As for them, they obviously went to Project Hunt Islands with greater challenges. They felt no need to waste time on this island.

But, this said, they weren't blindly arrogant. If they were, why would they feel so apprehensive about going to an island with an ongoing Force Eruption? They knew exactly how dangerous such a thing would be. If they blindly went, they'd be asking for death.

Of course, this didn't mean they weren't confident. They both believed that if they were cautious, no harm would come to them. It was just that it would be impossible to save the 80 or so youths that went with just the two of them alone.

This was all to say that they were a bit baffled that Old Hutch would be talking about this 'Leonel' as though he was their equal. If he was, wouldn't he be rubbing elbows with them? Why would he be over there?

"Don't underestimate that kid, he's quite arrogant and awakened Light Elemental Force."

The two youths finally raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Light Elemental Force? That was exceptionally rare. At least, there was no one in their Slayer Legion with such an ability. From what they knew, there was only that person currently in the Capital with it…

"Either way, you'll be entering the SS-grade Zone with that brat soon. So, you might as well get used to teaming up."

This time, Old Hutch didn't play any games. If this was just a normal encounter, he might have tricked these two into hating Leonel first. But at a time like this, even he couldn't be careless. It would really be a pity if those youths all died.

But, there was something even more important to grasp from this… Old Hutch was still willing to risk these lives just so that the Brazinger Clan wouldn't have an excuse to claim the Force Crystal Mine…

"Young Lord, we've completely lost track of Jian and Quinn. Should we check the tunnels they were assigned?"

Simeon's brow furrowed deeply.

If they wasted time doing this, they would lose at least a few more days. But, what if they didn't and the reason the two disappeared or died was as a result of encountering the Force Eruption? In that case, wouldn't they be missing out?

Just when Simeon was about to make a decision, another group suddenly converged on them. Of course, they were also part of the Brazinger family.

"Young Lord, we have good news."

A man with red hair and eyes, similar to the rest of them, stepped forward with a happy expression.

"You found the Force Crystal Mine?" Simeon's eyes brightened, already forgetting about the disappearance of his two subordinates. Who cared if they died if the mine was found?

"We can't be certain, but we have found something good." The man quickly explained, not willing to allow Simeon to become disappointed. "We found a passage out of the hive."

Simeon frowned. He had already felt unhappy when the answer was no, now this fool was telling him about a passage out of the hive? There were hundreds of those. If it wasn't for this, how would they have so many tunnels to explore?

"No, no, no. Sorry Young Lord, I'm a fool who's terrible with words. What I mean is that this passage out of the hive leads to the valleys. We stepped out and found that the Force Concentration was many times higher there. It's possible that there's a more direct path to the mine through the valleys."

It was only after hearing this that Simeon's expression brightened once more. They had tried many ways to descend the valleys, but they all ended in failure. A few of his subordinates had even died in the attempt. If there was another path, this was perfect.

The likelihood that there was a direct path to mine through the valleys was exceptionally high, especially since it was theorized that the valleys themselves were caused by the mine to begin with!

"Excellent! Lead the way."

Chapter 186 Shackles

Leonel looked at his left hand, flexing it slowly and testing each of his fingers one by one.

'It's a little weaker than it has been in the past. It will probably take me a few weeks to recover completely back to the Advanced Grade One Designation. For now, I'll have to do with Grade One Designation.'

There had been plants among the few Leonel took out that could return him back to the Advanced Grade One Designation immediately, but they all had lingering side effects. The only way to perfectly recover so quickly — in the case of such low level herbs, anyway — was by drawing on his life force. But, this was a path with many lingering problems.

The herb Leonel chose was actually a Pseudo Fourth Dimensional healing type herb known as Three-Vein Mending Weed. It was quite a common healing herb and was perfect for a body still within the Third Dimension like Leonel's. If he wanted to heal the same injury while he had a Fourth Dimensional body, it would take a much stronger herb like Four-Vein Mending Weed.

Instead of overdrawing his life force, Mending Weed used its Natural Force Art to nurture flesh wounds and supplement their healing. These Natural Force Arts were drawn directly from the 'veins' that were within their namesake.

Their healing abilities were less exaggerated, but due to their way of doing things, the lingering issues were much more acceptable.

'I have to be careful.' Leonel thought seriously.

Wounds like his could have easily crippled him for life. Without godly medicine, one's path to grow stronger could easily be completely impeded by a single severe injury.

Luckily, the Leonel of now felt that he was far steadier than he had been in the past. Though it couldn't be said that he had completely changed, he at least felt that he was on the right path now. He hopefully wouldn't make such rash decisions again.

'I still can't believe it took me two days to complete a Dream Sculpt of the Three-Vein Mending Weed…'

When Leonel learned the secrets of the Mending Weed, he had been very interested in its Natural Force Arts. But, he could have never expected that even with the evolution of his ability and the fact his spirit had entered the peak of the

Fifth Dimension that it would still take him so long to perfectly copy it.

One had to remember that it only took him about a day to Dream Sculpt Joan's flag pole. That treasure could only be counted as being within the Third Dimension but Leonel's spirit was just at the beginning stages of the Fourth Dimension back then.

But now, his soul was in the Fifth Dimension and this Three-Vein Mending Weed was in the Third, but it still took him two days!

This experience taught Leonel something very important… Natural Force Arts were not a joke. If he really thought it would be so simple to speed up the maturation of the Force Crystal Core… he was sorely mistaken.

Toward such a conclusion, Leonel could only smile bitterly. Just how naive had he been?

He struggled so much to etch a Third Dimensional Natural Force Art into his memories, but the Force Crystal Core was now trying to complete a Fourth Dimensional Natural Force Art. How could these things even be compared?

'I need more strength.'

Leonel no longer felt the need to rush. He would go at his own pace. Rushing everything and being headstrong was how he constantly got into trouble.

He knew that the little mink would wake up just one more day and a bit. He also knew that it was very likely Simeon might find the Force Crystal Mine any time now. But, if he was always rashly doing things, wouldn't he just be rushing himself to death?

Only by being steady in his every step and earning his conceit and arrogance would he be able to safely weather this storm.

Even though this was Leonel's new mindstate, he wouldn't just waste two days as he had just done without reason. Everything needed to be done in moderation.

The reason he saw fit to waste these two days was precisely so that he could have a better understanding of what he was facing. Now, he was aware of just how domineering Natural Force Arts were. By his estimation, compared to Force Arts created by humans, they were a Dimensional Tier higher.

In that case, Leonel knew that what he needed to do now was grow more powerful.

'So what should I do? Form my Force Nodes? Or comprehend my Metal Synergy Lineage Factor?'

After a moment of calculation, Leonel landed on the second option. His thoughts now were incomparably quick. Compared to before, he could complete the same train of thought that might have taken him an hour before in just a few moments.

Leonel sunk into a state of contemplation. Compared to the past, his ability to see through his Lineage Factors with the help of his Soul Force was several levels more potent. It wasn't long before he sensed the last dormant Lineage Factor within his blood.

Before, it was only a vague feeling he had to meditate on for several days. But now, he could practically see their visualizations. It looked like several shackles binding tightly to his blood vessels.

Leonel could see it all, as though several small and intricate Natural Force Arts were floating around his body. He could easily follow them all, it was as though he had shrunk and entered his body, following the paths his blood flowed through.

Leonel got lost in the feeling. He had almost completely forgotten that he was here to unlock these shackles, not observe them. But, his body felt like a universe unto itself. Its depth and complexity seemed to be no less… it was mesmerizing.

Before Leonel realized what was happening, he had followed his blood into his kidneys, passively observing as the crimson liquid went through a cycle of purification. No, it couldn't be said to be crimson, his blood seemed to carry a tinge of holiness from his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor…

The cycle of purification left Leonel in another daze. The human body really was a beautiful thing. Everything worked together like a well oiled machine.

Suddenly, Leonel startled awake as though his mind had been struck my lightning.

'My kidneys!'

Leonel understood why he had never been able to find his Ninth Node. It was because his 'ninth' was actually his Ninth and Tenth!

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