Dimensional Descent

The moment Leonel swallowed, he began to circulate his Force through his Nodes in full force. This was precisely why he had chosen the particular locations he had for his Force Nodes, only with this configuration could he maximize his body's ability to absorb energy.

The pill hit his stomach like a boulder hitting the ocean. He hadn't eaten anything substantial in weeks, but it still felt as though he was immediately full… too full.

His body tried to fight back, wanting him to throw it all back up. But even beneath his closed eyelids, his irises flashed with a wild light.

Right now, if he circulated his Scarlet Star Force, this would all end in an instant. But if he did that, he would be destroying the medicinal essence of the pill. What he needed now wasn't destruction, he needed assimilation.

Leonel took control of his Vital Star Force and forced his three blue Stars to revolve. He flooded his body, and especially his blood, with this energy. And then, he locked away his two Innate Nodes and allowed Vital Star Force to take over.

The wellspring of Vital Star Force clashed with the vitality of the pill. Leonel forced them to fuse into one, something that happened seamlessly since they were greatly compatible. And then, he began to use them to rush through his body.

He forced his Bronze Runes to widen and his muscles to accommodate more strength.

He could feel his Bronze Runes quickly expanding. Before, when they appeared on his skin, they did so in lines about half the width of his finger and went either straight up and down, or straight left and right. But now, they had increased at least 10% in size, something that felt marginal, but when before Leonel felt that he had reached the limits of his Fifth Dimensional Metal Body, he suddenly felt now that he had more room to grow.

In fact, Leonel's Metal Body fell somewhat in Tier, from a perfect Tier 9, it fell by a half and almost slipped back down to Tier 8. And yet, rather than feeling as though he had grown weaker, Leonel actually felt like it was the direct opposite. In fact, he felt even stronger now than he did before!

The gates of his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor rattled, a radiant halo appearing atop his head and a crown shining brightly across his forehead.

The lingering crimson aura he had gained when he almost deviated also reacted quite oddly.

A small strand of Anarchic Force appeared in Leoenl's body. It was inescapable, just as Aina had said. As great of a Force Pill Crafter as she was, it was simply impossible to create a 100% pure pill, at least not as she was. Maybe only if she was refining a Fifth Dimensional demon could she do so.

However, in a corner of his body that even Leonel's Tier 4 Control Ability Index couldn't see, this crimson strand swallowed up the lingering Anarchic Force, even growing subtly in size before calming once again.

Leonel's pale violet eyes radiated with a bright crimson light once again before it calmed.

Right then, Leonel's eyes snapped open, his body feeling as though he had steel cords running through it. The power rolling through him was so oppressive that he was surprised that it was himself for a moment.

This increase was more than Aina said it would be. She said 10%, but from what Leonel could tell, he had improved by at least 15%. It was a seemingly small difference, but in the grand scheme, such a difference was enormous. The pill was 50% more effective that Aina thought it would be and he couldn't quite understand why that was.

Aina tilted her head, seemingly realizing that this was the case as well. However, she only had confusion in her eyes. She didn't seem to understand the reason either.

Leonel rose to his feet and punched outward. The wind whistled and air collapsed. He had put everything into that strike and he felt that it wasn't bad. It was at least as powerful as when he used Swift to amplify his Spear Force. Well, if he was comparing it to before he ate the pill, that is.

This meant that if he used Swift now, the results should be even more exaggerated.

"How long did I take?" Leonel asked.

"About 15 minutes," Aina replied. She was actually surprised that Leonel was so fast, but she had come to understand that Vital Star Force was very useful in this situation, albeit not as useful as her Blood Force.

Leonel nodded. "There's no use in lingering on something we can't understand. We don't have a chance at the Top Prize here, so our main goal should just be to make it to an exchange and trade for what we need. If we can become stronger while doing so, that would be for the best."

Aina nodded in agreement.

This had just been a lower Fiend Class demon. If they wanted a chance at the Top Prize, they would have to be able to defeat pinnacle Fiend Class demons, and that just felt too far away.

It was especially bad since this demon was just at Tier 1 as well. Even with their rapid improvement, the gap was simply too large.

Part of growing was also about understanding your limits and when to stop. This was just a Zone, not their world, and they had just started their journey in comparison to the geniuses who were likely fighting here.

Luckily, they had accumulated more than enough Demon Points in the Human Class Sector. Leonel had thought that something like this might happen, so he went out of his way to kill far more than just 10% to ensure that they didn't meet any pitfalls.

It seemed that his caution had paid off.

"I'll lead the way," Leonel said. "We'll avoid all the demons we can't defeat and only target the ones we can. Even if we won't benefit from absorbing all of them, if we find one compatible with our friends, we should take it down anyway."

Leonel hadn't forgotten that the Morales Heir Wars were coming up. His own power was progressing well, but he still had to care about his brothers, especially the ones that had yet to enter the Void Palace.