Leonel was shocked by how easy it was for him to return to Earth. He had been looking over his shoulder the whole way, yet not only did no one stop him, but the experience was surprisingly pleasant.
Compared to what he experienced when he was branded like a slave, the difference was like night and day. He easily found the closest city by following the roads and avoiding danger using his vastly improved Internal Strength. Then, after paying a hefty fee, he was able to buy a ticket to use a teleportation platform.
Leonel didn't have Urbe Coins, but, he did have a large amount of Urbe Ore. This was what he relied on to constantly refine his body toward the Perfection Stage. Thankfully, the process of trading in Urbe Ores for Urbe Coins was exceptionally easy, there were a few government trade posts he could find within any city.
Leonel was a bit surprised to find that Urbe Ore was actually more valuable that Urbe Coins. But, after some thought, this made sense.
Urbe Coins were usually only used by low level worlds to make things convenient for their weaker citizens. In higher level worlds, and especially in high profile markets, auctions and the like, most trades were completed with unrefined Urbe Ores. In these cases, rather than using individual coins, the denominations were in kilograms of Urbe Ore.
Thankfully, in regards to those of Third and Fourth Dimensional worlds, Leonel was considered semi wealthy. So, buying a single ticket to Earth wasn't a problem and also didn't even make much of a dent into his financial situation. If anything, refining his Metal Body was by far the largest expenditure.
At Leonel's current level, even absorbing ten kilograms worth of Urbe Essence hardly budged the needle anymore. It seemed that reaching the Perfection Stage wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.
Leonel wondered if he should try and trade up to Bronze Grade Urbe Ore to try and make a final breakthrough. But, in the end, he decided against it. His recklessness had already almost killed him once this year, he didn't want to give the fates a chance to take him to the next world again. Not so soon after the last time, anyway.
Of course, if others heard Leonel's thoughts, they would think he was a madman. If he really thought he had only tempted fate just once, he was crazier than even he knew.
…
Leonel disappeared into the teleportation formation with no one realizing that he was a wanted criminal. The process for leaving a world was obviously much less involved than coming to it. Whatever problems he posed would be the issue of that world to deal with.
Unfortunately, Leonel's good mood didn't last very long. He had forgotten one very important thing in all his excitement…
Earth didn't have any teleportation pads.
When Leonel appeared, he blankly stared at his surroundings.
Wild winds whipped around him, black clouds rumbled above, thunderous booms and crackling lightning shook the skies. And…
He was falling from the skies.
Leonel hardly reacted. He simply looked toward the black ocean waters he was hurtling toward at inconceivable speeds.
This was the look of a defeated man. A man who was so used to his bad luck by now that he could only sigh.
What were the odds that he would appear in the skies above the ocean? If Leonel thought about it, the likelihood was actually quite high. After all, 70% of Earth was nothing but vast waters. But, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do to tell a man down on his luck that his situation made sense.
Luckily…
Leonel reached out toward his spatial ring with a thought. In the blink of an eye, a black object appeared beneath his feet like a floating surfboard.
Leonel smiled wildly. He had been waiting for an opportunity to use this treasure. Unfortunately, he didn't dare to use it on Terrain for fear that he would be the subject of someone's greed. After all, this treasure was of the SSS-grade and happened to be the ride Leonel had asked Uncle Montez for.
The treasure had two modes, but both were only built for a single person to use.
The surf mode, which Leonel was currently in, had the greatest degree of freedom for movement. It was nimble and shifty, but it sacrificed topline speed in return.
The second mode…
Leonel poured his Force into the surfboard as his fall slowed to a floating hover.
Soon, the black board shifted, becoming a one person shuttle. Leonel sat down, reaching out his hands and grabbing onto a butterfly steering wheel. Even if he wanted to, he didn't think he'd be able to stop the grin from spreading across his face.
The shuttle mode was where the real speed lay. It took a minimal amount of Force to output tremendous speed. If Leonel used normal Force, he could probably round Earth in six hours at most. If he used Light Elemental Force, that time plummeted to half of that.
Of course, the shuttle lost nimbleness as a result. But… in return it was blazingly fast.
Leonel pressed down on the pedal. The instant he did, a strong G-force tried to rip him apart, but his smile didn't fade. With the strength of his body, he could still handle it.
A black-gold light streaked across Earth's water as the laughter of a teenage boy sounded beneath the rumbling clouds.
**
Leonel easily made it to Earth's main continent. Aside from being a transportation vehicle, the shuttle could project a rough map of the world. Though it didn't have anything as detailed as city locations, it had enough about the geography.
With Leonel's education, the geography was all he needed to find his way back to Royal Blue Province in just over an hour. In fact, he was a bit disappointed that the trip was so short.
Leonel found a secluded region away from Invalids. Due to the speed of the shuttle, any that sensed the Force he used to propel his shuttle had long since been left behind, but he was still cautious.
After burying himself deep underground, Leonel entered the Segmented Cube.
"Aina?"
Leonel didn't find Aina where he thought he would. But, his sharp senses soon caught the sound of moving water.
'She's in the bathhouse?'
Leonel's heart skipped a beat.