Dimensional Descent

A Union of Light and Darkness Will Reveal the Twelve-Pointed Star...

The words came to mind for reasons that Leonel couldn’t quite understand now. But the effect was profound nonetheless. It felt as though he had suddenly grasped something fleeting, and yet powerful.

His mind seemed to whirl with thoughts of a life he might have spent as a fist expert, one where he ignored his talent with the bow and the call of the spear... maybe even one where he was too unlucky to find a weapon to make use of and had ended up having to rely on his body instead.

His Dream Force simulation whirred to life and for a moment he seemed to radiate the air of a master of the spear.

Violet Force trickled in from the surroundings, slowly, but enough for the Third Imperial Prince to sense it and feel like his heart was shaking.

This Force... just what was it?

Suddenly, Leonel began to craft, losing himself in the flow of time.

Half an hour later, he awoke with a flicker in his eyes.

Little Tolly weakly crawled back to his arm and practically pasted himself onto his skin, exhausted.

This was the very first time that Leonel had ever seen the Metal Spirit feel tired. He couldn’t even quite understand how that would be possible. Technically, for Little Tolly, just the act of Crafting replenished strength, but this time...

’I understand...’

Tolliver was suffering a bit because Leonel had just used Violet Force to complete the Craft.

Re-simulating his whole life to pretend as though he was a Fist Master for a moment was impossible without the addition of Violet Force. And bringing those simulations from thoughts to reality was even more impossible without Tolliver to act as a bridge from his mind to action.

But, becoming that bridge was a huge toll on Tolliver.

The problem with Violet Force was that Leonel was the only one in the world that could use it without consequences. To practically anyone else, it was a death sentence. Or, rather... a slow death

sentence.

It would slowly pinch off your lifespan until you had nothing more to give.

That said, Leonel wasn’t actually worried about Tolliver’s lifespan. Not to mention the fact that the fatigue wasn’t from a loss of lifespan, the fact Tolliver was a Metal Spirit and had fused with a God Beast of Creation was enough that even if Leonel did exchange his lifespan for Crafts, it would hardly leave a dent.

Tolliver would certainly have no issues living for several million years. And even that might be an understatement.

’Not bad...’

Leonel tossed the gauntlets around in his hands a few times.

These would definitely light up around 63 Runes. For a casual Craft, it wasn’t bad at all.

’A balance of light and darkness, huh...

Leonel almost forgot his uncle was even present, his mind lost in its own race.

He felt like he had touched upon a newer, higher level of Crafting. But he couldn’t just grasp it. It was

just out of his range, and his comprehension wasn’t deep enough to succeed.

But more important than that, maybe... was that he knew what he had to do.

Going with the flow had to be counterbalanced with something else. There was a balance that existed for all things in the world, and unless he knew and took proper advantage of it, he would be the one that ended up on the losing end.

Sure, being stuck in this Crafting Factory might allow him to bide his time, but from another perspective, it also allowed his grandfather to keep him within arm’s reach and under control.

By the time he was ready to act, it just might be too late. In which case...

He would have to forge his own path, one where going with the flow would force better outcomes

for him.

He needed to find a way to quickly raise his Dimension, and just sitting around on his hands waiting for that opportunity to come to him wasn’t going to cut it.

After a long while, he tossed the gauntlets back to his uncle.

”Tell the others that I’ll be resting for a couple of days.”

The Third Imperial Prince hesitated for a moment before nodding,

It was only natural. He could see how tired both Leonel and his Metal Spirit were.

After saying this, Leonel disappeared into the Segmented Cube that hovered in the Crafting Factory as though it wasn’t worried that anyone would take it.

The Third Imperial Prince gave the item a complicated glance before turning and leaving,

Leonel stood over a table with a long strip of beast leather. A Force Quill trembled in his hands as he hovered over it, his thoughts spinning.

He felt that he had made a breakthrough, so it was about time he reforged his armor. And this time... he hoped it would be the last time he ever had to.

’Metal... fire... herbs... plants...’

The ideas he bounced off of his wife came to mind in waves, but he still hesitated to begin with the first stroke.

Suddenly, Leonel burst into action. Every quiver of the Force Quill etched another piece of the blueprint. It looked as though a printer was etching into it, almost like Leonel was more machine than man.

The lines were beautiful in their curves when they had to be and sharp in their corners when not. It took Leonel an entire day just to finish the blueprint. Then, he handed it off to his wife, who studied it for a few hours before she began to make her own adjustments.

Only then did Leonel receive it once more before spending yet another day making adjustments and changes.

Finally, they were left with a result that they were both happy with. An armor to end all armors to be

sure...

However, as long as it had taken to complete its blueprint, it would take even longer to forge, and maybe even longer to find the materials he needed.

First thing on the docket...

A True God Sylvan Corpse.