Dimensional Descent

It seemed impossible, and yet Leonel’s fingers only became faster and faster. The striking melody of his digits was so great that the air pressure rebounded against the tough ground, causing two hardy sounds to follow every single downstroke.

Every movement he made was another unique and perfectly executed command to Little Tolly. Their synergy reached another level and the little Metal Spirit moved about so quickly that it seemed as though it didn’t have any limits.

Little Tolly had felt the final moment of the Crafter’s Quill as well. Fueled by some unknown power and strength, the little guy went all out, its silvery body flickering with a subtle bluish hue that gave it all the more depth and character.

The sewing needle Little Tolly had concentrated itself into and the thin line of Force String Leonel had formed fused into one, the latter becoming the tail of the former. With this connection secured, Little Tolly whizzed in and out of the fabric, sewing pieces together and formulating clothing of perfect proportions.

Every time one finished, it would shoot out toward the person it was meant for, landing perfectly in their laps without the slightest issue.

was a tailoring technique that stood above others. Using Little Tolly as a guide and his own Force String as the fuser, fabrics could be seamlessly combined as though they were always one. It completely eliminated weak points in a Craft and, if the Crafter was skilled enough, could even make it a strong point.

The technique could be used on more than just fabrics as well. It could weld together metals and any inorganic materials Leonel might have to work with. Of course, it could only do this thanks to Little Tolly’s intrinsic propertied and would be much weaker in the hands of someone who didn’t have a Metal Spirit… But this wasn’t exactly something Leonel had to worry about in the slightest.

A rectangular strip of fabric bent around itself and formed the shape of a tube top. Little Tolly shot out from its bottom, winding up through it like a corkscrew and sewing both halves together.

Blazing trails of blue were left in every which direction, numerous corkscrew-like formations being left hovering in the air long after Little Tolly had long since left.

BANG!

The final strip completed. Still in a state of hyperactivity, Leonel began to put his own on. Every piece that touched his body seemed to carry an enigmatic air to it, making his blood rush. He felt that without a doubt, this was his greatest Craft completed to this point despite the poor materials he had on hand.

First came the bottoms. Leonel didn’t seem to care in the slightest as he took his original beast skirt off, slipping on a new pair. Then, he put on the ankle braces and the wrist braces, before finally slipping on a thin band that wrapped about his torso just below his chest.

The fur was all was a deep grey to black and didn’t cover much skin at all. But, a pulsing sort of power seemed to rise when all the pieces were put together as one.

And that was when it happened.

A rushing Black Force surged out from the clothing. What sounded like the clink of armor resounded, alternating between a foggy blackness and the corporeal.

Leonel’s hair and face were enveloped by this black fog, the former seeming to grow out like a dancing river. His hands grew a size, becoming demonic claws and his back suddenly began to grow out long tendrils of darkness, eerily similar to the preferred method of attack used by a particular Cursed Beast...

Deep within the fog that now covered Leonel’s hair and face, two orbs of red now hovered, seeming to pierce through any and everything before it.

Power rushed through Leonel’s as he raised his leg, stomping down hard.

Slowly but surely, walls of earth began to rise, forming two protected sections.

”Change here.”

Beneath the black fog, Leonel’s voice sounded several octaves too low as though he was truly reaching out from the depths of hell. But, just as he said this, the cloak vanished beneath his command, revealing the figure of a young man wrapped in beast cloth as though what happened previously had never happened.

The youths looked from Leonel to the beast clothing in their hands. Did these really produce that? That strength, where had it come from? How had he done it? Was such a thing even possible?

No, maybe that wasn’t what they should be focusing on at all. Let alone possible, how had it been done in such a short amount of time…?

Four minutes… He had used just Four Minutes…

Leonel slowly walked back into village 0012. Despite the short amount of time he had left, it didn’t seem like his steps were hurried in the slightest, almost as though he had all the time in the world remaining.

The eyes that were on him now had changed drastically from just five minutes ago.

Fear. Apprehension. Wariness.

These emotions suffused the air, and Leonel’s indifference wasn’t doing anything to help it in the slightest.

Little Tolly bobbed above Leonel’s shoulder, changing shape as it pleased and picking forms that only seemed more sinister with every passing moment. First the little one was a wolf, then a tiger, then a menacing grizzly bear, before finally becoming a silver dragon, coiling about Leonel’s body before resting its head on his shoulders.

No one seemed to understand what Leonel wanted to do, but that only made them more apprehensive. With how cruel this place was, couldn’t he just snatch whatever he wanted from any one of them passing by? Even if the store clerks acted to stop him, there was only so far they would be allowed to take this. This was supposed to be a challenge for rookies, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge if upper year students could just act as they pleased.

It was then that Leonel’s body vanished. But, what happened next was something that no one could have possibly guessed. Even Cornelius rose a palm to his forehead, closing his eyes and sighing.

BANG!

Leonel landed on top of the Smithy, his heavy weight causing the shoddy construction to wave back and forth.

He rose an arm into the air that instantly became enveloped by black fog, forming an enormous demonic claw as Little Tolly snaked forward.

BANG!

Leonel’s claws shot and clamped down, pulling at the highest log that formed the Smithy’s roof and ripping it from its seams.

He cast a gaze down, finding many pairs of eyes looking up from within the Smithy with incredulous expressions on their faces. None of them could believe what they were seeing with their own eyes, however, rubbing them didn’t seem to change what was taking place in the slightest.

Leonel’s gaze met the very Craftsman who had told him to roll out, his gaze filled with a dense coldness as he hoisted the log onto his shoulder before reaching down again and ripping out another thick log from the ceiling of the Smithy.

”These materials. I’ll be taking them.”

Anarchic Force rushed into the Smithy and down into the protective curtains, ruining the Crafts they had been working on.