Dimensional Descent

[We're about 200 from the goal, it'll be a few hours, probably. So, the bonus chapter won't come out until tomorrow (or the day after if I run out of time)]

Leonel coughed, another mouthful of blood coming out. But, his gaze glowed with a feverish sort of light.

The bad news was that he hadn't had time to find out anything about the Spear Domain. Unlike the Segmented Cube, the Spear Domain Heirloom had a counterpart like the Sword Domain. In fact, the Suaird family seemed to have an identical Lineage Factor to the Morales family as well.

Due to this, Leonel felt that it was more likely for information about the Spear Domain to be available as it seemed that it wasn't a unique treasure. In fact, it was very likely that there might be others of its kind. For all Leonel knew, there was a Bow Domain and a Battle Ax Domain out there somewhere.

All of this made him conclude that the Void Library would likely have information about it.

The good news, though, was that he believed he had found information on what he needed to restore the Segmented Cube.

<The Shelf-Life of a Spatial Treasure> had exactly what Leonel needed, though it wasn't exactly the same, as he had expected, it was close enough.

When the 'shelf life' of a spatial treasure ran out, it was rarely because of space itself. There were two possibilities. One was that the Force Arts had degraded and the second was that the material had degraded.

Leonel had been forced to read it all, but the most important information he gained was actually from the second where the researcher posited a method to extend the life of a spatial device, there was even a note that specified that such a method would only be worthwhile if the Force Arts that formed the spatial device were especially precious, like ones that took rare ingredients to form.

Leonel had never needed precious materials to draw his Force Arts before, he only needed his Force Quill and nothing else. However, at the highest levels, this wasn't always possible, especially since as Force Arts got more and more complex, some even needing weeks, months, to even years to finish drawing. A single person couldn't possibly have enough Force or stamina to finish such an endeavor. And, even if they had the stamina, the quality of their Force most definitely wouldn't be enough unless they had special Innate Nodes, Familiars, or Ability Indexes, or affinities that could help them cover for what would otherwise be a weakness.

When Leonel read to this point, he understood where the researcher was coming from. He had thought that the Force Art used to draw the runes of a spatial treasure couldn't possibly surpass the material used to hold the space. But, he was using his limited views to comprehend something profound.

When it came to Life Grade spatial devices in specific, they were capable of housing life. The complexity of drawing the Force Art to support such a thing practically required recreating an entire world from scratch. This was exactly why most spatial devices couldn't house life.

In that case, the materials needed to house the world weren't nearly as valuable as the Force Arts needed to create the world themselves.

In such a situation, when the material reached the end of their shelf-life, anyone would feel heart ache, unless… You were able to preserve it.

The process was complex and unfortunately even more expensive than it was complex. But, simulating it roughly in his Dream World, Leonel felt that it had about a 80-90% chance of succeeding. All of the fundamental principles that made up the theory were sound.

Unfortunately, the process wouldn't be exactly the same. But, by virtue of that, Leonel actually believed that it might be a bit simpler. The material forming the Segmented Cube was far from being worn out, making the situation Leonel was dealing with far more stable.

Leonel sighed. 'How much will this cost me? And do I even have the skill for this? My hands will need to reach a Sixth Dimensional Designation at the bare minimum. And, I'll need a Gold Grade Force Quill for sure.'

Just those two goals would take tens of millions of Void Points. And, considering their level, it would probably require quite a sum of Void Merits as well.

The worst part was that this didn't even include the material he would need for the process either. It could easily end up costing him billions. That was a sum of wealth that even Sector Ranked disciples wouldn't easily have, at least not without taking into consideration the assets of an entire Faction, likely of at least the Silver Grade.

Leonel exhaled another breath, spitting out the remaining blood that lingered in his mouth before weakly standing.

His first priority was to take a step firmly into the realms of a Silver Grade Crafter, bring his hands up to standard, and buy himself a Seventh Dimensional Force Quill, only then could he turn his attention to the materials he would need.

Then, he would have to pray that it was all worth it.

Leonel's leg wobbled beneath him. He really needed some rest, some real sleep would be helpful.

Luckily, Aina had said she would find them a home, so he just had to go and find her.

Leonel took out another pendant and began to use it to head in the direction of Aina.

The annoyance of Anarchic Force was especially bad when you were in a less than optimal state. Leonel, who could usually ignore it with ease, found himself struggling.

He realized now why it was that so many disciples died on their own. The Void Palace was a place where you weren't allowed to be weak, even for a single moment. If you were and didn't have the backing or Void Points to make up the difference, you would be ruined.

This frontier of humankind would run you into the ground if you weren't careful enough.

Suddenly, the sound of battle caught Leonel's attention and his gaze, which had been focused on the ground, looked up.

He frowned. Cross referencing with the pendant, Aina was in that direction.

Leonel tucked the pendant away and shot forward with what stamina he had left. But, what he found left him completely infuriated.

Aina stood with her back straight and her ax brandished. To her back, what looked like a small home was burned to the ground, still smoldering with flames.

Before her, three stood, two women and a man. The woman in the center brandished a whip as the two to her side seemed to be controlling a plant-like domain of vines and thorns. Every one of them was well into the Sixth Dimension, and two of them had striking green hair.

Aina's clothes were charred in many places. But, where they weren't, whip-like marks were left.

It was immediately obvious to Leonel that she had been within the home when it burned down.

There was another crack of the whip. Aina dodged, but just a margin too slow, another cut being left in her robes and a bloody mark streaking around her shoulder.

Leonel could tell that Aina's right leg was injured and she was waiting for it to heal. At the same time, she needed to wait for an opportunity to use her Blood Force, it was clear that these people had caught her off guard.

However, whatever logic and deductions Leonel was making was thrown far to the back of his mind and happened subconsciously. Right now, he was furious.