Dimensional Descent

Leonel's body looked as though it might crack itself. Wild and raging red veins pulsed beneath his skin as his bones seemed to glow as though they were metals rising in temperature.

Upon his chest, every beat of his heart was met by a pulse of red-gold. It looked as though even his heart itself was overheating, filling up with lines of fire and magma. But, there was no more prominent light than the one coming from his right hip.

Surging tides of Force rippled out again and again, the devastation only growing fiercer.

The truth was that Leonel was a bit worried about things happening like this. But, he had never expected to enter Tier 3 so quickly. By his previous progress, it should have taken over a year, at the very least.

However, Leonel could have never imagined just the kind of impact <Dragon's Might> would have on his progress, especially <Dragon's Might> when combined with the secrets of his Innate Force Node.

When Leonel first learned he had an Innate Force Node, he had randomly stumbled onto it. According to his calculations he completed, his body would only be perfectly whole if he completed a Tenth Node, despite the fact the cap the universe placed on everyone was Nine.

Being foolish and naïve, Leonel went ahead and tried to form a Tenth anyway, not having any idea that he would almost get himself killed. If not for the preparations his father had made and the plentiful nutrients hidden within his body from all of those vomit smoothies he was forced to chug, Leonel would have never made it so far in his journey.

Back then, Leonel had been all alone on Terrain and could only ask the dictionary about his Innate Node. The trouble was that… The dictionary had always been extremely specific with its answers. It never answered anything outside the scope of the questions Leonel posed to it, no matter how useful those answers would be.

Leonel had asked the dictionary a very simple question…

"What abilities is Scarlet Star Force known for?"

And the dictionary had given him a very simple one word answer…

[ Destruction. ]

Soon after that, Leonel realized that there was someone driving a carriage over his hiding spot and he was forced to go out and check on what was happening. But, even if he hadn't been distracted, he could have never known just what kind of profound truths were hidden within this answer.

Leonel had learned a lot about artistic conception and how they could breathe life into techniques and bolster one's strength. One of the most powerful abilities a person could have, the Universal Cycles, relied on a comprehension of artistic conception to draw in Universal Force to supplement your strength.

Ultimately, the Artistic Conception that the Universal Cycles were embodying was exactly that, the power of Cycles and beauty of the Dimensional Verse's karma. One thing would lead to the next and a perpetual cyclical construct could be formed.

In the end, these cycles would give birth to Universal Force, one of the highest forms of Force in all of existence and among one of the most enigmatic.

How exactly did all of this relate to Scarlet Star Force? Well, it too represented a high form of energy. In fact, at least in human history, the importance of fire and the symbolism it carried was undeniable. Among all the Elements, it wouldn't' be an exaggeration to say that Fire stood out amongst the rest. Through the lens of the Human Domain, there was no denying this.

When things are put into this sort of perspective, just what sort of weight did the first Ranked Fire Elemental Force hold?

Destruction.

Ironically, it was the antithesis of what human legends painted it out to be. So many painted it out to be a harbinger of life, a candle of innovation, a breath to a refreshing future…

But Scarlet Star Force was anything but this. It was a Force that embodied chaos, an Elemental Power that would burn all things to ash.

The Fifth Dimension was all about loosening the shackles the mind had on the body. In order to do this, techniques relied on Visualization techniques to allow one to shed the mundane limits one subconsciously placed on themselves.

Whether it was King's Might, <Dragon's Might>, and their fusion into the manifestation of Leonel's Innate Node, all of them were aspects of Leonel's consciousness. By choosing himself as the root Artistic Conception of his <Dragon's Might>, Leonel had inadvertently added an indelible characteristic of Destruction to his King's Might.

In the vice versa, the implementation of Leonel's King's Might to project the will of his Innate Node had resulted in him subconsciously beginning to comprehend this Scarlet Star Force which took his body on as a host.

The result of these series of events were the preconceptions and misunderstandings in Leonel's mind being cleared one after another. The more he began to embody his true abilities and his true talents, the looser the chains that bound him became.

At the same time, Leonel had no idea how lucky he was for two reasons in specific.

First, if Leonel had completed this breakthrough on a Fifth Dimensional world… Not only he, but everyone on the planet would have died. Scarlet Star Force was something that even Seith, a Tier 7 Sixth Dimensional expert couldn't reliably counter for an extended period of time, how could a Fifth Dimensional world possibly stand a chance?

And second… Had Leonel used the Visualization of <Dimensional Cleanse> to reach Tier 3 instead of relying on his comprehension of his Innate Node to release the shackles on himself instead…

There was a 0% probability that he would have survived the formation of his Seventh Star. Without first grasping the Artistic Conception of Destruction, how could his body, which couldn't even survive a split second usage of Scarlet Star Force, possibly survive the formation of an entire Star?

Now…

Leonel had a 10% probability of surviving.