"… Eat slowly Little Tolly, slowly now…"
Leonel wiped off sweat that threatened to sting his eyes once more.
He never forgot that one of the hazards he learned about Metal Spirits was their propensity to overeat. If he let it happen, Tolliver could go mad and harm him.
This was the main reason Tolliver had yet to evolve into the Fourth Dimension along with Blackstar. Leonel was very careful about how much he fed him and what he fed him.
Leonel preferred to give the little fella high quality Ores that would fill him very quickly. This was much better than feeding Tolliver a lot of low-quality Ores.
The more high-quality Ores Tolliver ate, the more powerful the little guy would become in relation to its evolution stage. So, Leonel took this very seriously.
"Oh…"
Tolliver suddenly shot out of Leonel's gloved hands. The little guy's body concentrated into a single point before explosively growing.
Leonel realized that this was a sign that Little Tolly was finally crossing into the Fourth Dimensional realms.
Leonel's mind had already entered such a realm, so he was very confident that he would still be able to control and command Tolliver appropriately.
Tolliver came back to Leonel looking just that much more lustrous.
"Ready to work little guy?"
"Bloop, bloop."
Leonel smiled lightly before his expression suddenly changed.
He quickly commanded Little Tolliver to float in the air as he scanned his black gloves. After just a moment, he smiled bitterly, watching it corrode as though having been dipped in strong acid.
Leonel sighed, peeling the gloves off of his hands before it got worse.
He didn't have replacement gloves. And, though he felt he might be able to make them, how would he? He needed gloves to Craft with Little Tolliver but couldn't make the gloves he needed to Craft with Tolliver… without Little Tolliver.
Leonel grit his teeth.
'I have been avoiding this training for a long time… No time better than the present.'
One of the last lessons of his father's beginners guide was to begin to stray away from gloves.
The stronger a Metal Spirit became, the more elaborate a Force Crafter's gloves became. Eventually, they would become a hindrance to hand speed and coordination.
Honestly, Leonel thought his dad was a madman. As if calling himself Father Overlord wasn't bad enough, the old man actually wanted to kill him.
Leonel took a deep breath and activated his Bronze Runes once again, thinking back to the words his father had spoken.
[You are a Morales, the earth bows down to you, not the other way around. Gloves are for cowards]
It made Leonel wonder why his father put a hazard section in the dictionary at all. First it was forming a Fifth Dimensional Divine Armor and now it was Force Crafting without protection. Leonel couldn't help but feel that his old man was simply too irresponsible.
Leonel brought out the first catapult, steadying his beating heart.
With a flip of his palm, a familiar chain necklace appeared in Leonel's hand. Fine cracks spread across its surface, causing a flicker of rage to appear in Leonel's heart.
This chain necklace was the very first Quasi Bronze treasure Leonel ever possessed. Unfortunately, due to Miles almost blowing him to smithereens, it was heavily damaged.
The truth of the matter was that it should have been impossible for explosives of the 21st century like Miles used back then to damage a near Fifth Dimensional treasure.
The main issue is that this was an energy based treasure. As a result, it had to rely on the Force around it in order to form its defensive shields. This was exactly why it stopped working when Leonel was under the influence of the Force Disruption Towers.
Simply put, this chain necklace was using Third Dimensional Force to protect itself and as a result was far weaker than it should have been. If it was using Fourth Dimensional Force, it would likely take at least 24th century explosives and technology to damage it to this extent.
That was right. At full strength, this chain necklace could survive several blows from the crossbows that White Knight Diore couldn't survive two strikes of.
This was the power of Quasi Bronze treasures, this was their true value.
It was just a shame that this chain necklace was damaged…
For now, that is.
This was Leonel's first test for himself. If he wanted to gain enough skill to build his Divine Armor, he would need to build up his skill just as quickly as he built up his strength within Brave City. The only way he could protect himself, his friends and Aina would be if he had the strength to do so, and this was his fastest path toward that end.
Leonel smiled lightly. 'If I have my Divine Armor, I won't need this. In that case, I'll combine both necklaces into one… This should be a good birthday present.'
Leonel took out the Treading Goddess Necklace. His mind spun with thoughts. He wanted to combine three abilities into one. First the defensive abilities of the chain necklace, the teleportation abilities of the Treading Goddess Necklace, and finally, add something on the end to give Aina a sensory boost.
After half an hour of meditation, his gaze grew cold and calculating.
He outstretched a hand and allowed Little Tolly to land in his bare palm.
**
Leonel hadn't been wrong. Earth was in shambles, facing battles on all fronts. All eight Forts and even the Capital was under siege. The only difference was that the Capital was under siege by two cities with the Moon, Camelot, and the eight Forts only being under siege by one each.
However, surprisingly, at this moment, the Emperor of Earth sat in his garden, the delicate chirping of birds around him. He continued to meditate, raising a cup of tea to his mouth without opening his eyes.
He listened intently to a report, not showing any particular reaction.
"… That's should be all, Imperial Grandfather. This is the current situation of the Camelot satellite."
"Mm." Emperor Fawkes nodded his head. "You may go."
Noah hesitated. Was that all his grandfather wanted to tell him? Where were the orders? Should he continue to try and assimilate Camelot and the Demon Empire? Or should he focus on wiping out White City?
"… Grandfather…"
"Hm? Is there something else?"
"I…"
Emperor Fawkes let out a deep sigh, his eyes opening to reveal two piercing emerald gems. It felt as though he had the whole world within his purview.
"Noah, you've grown too reliant on me."
"…"
Noah didn't know what to say. He stared at the talisman in his hand at a complete loss.
"Did you know that your cousin is on that satellite right now?"
Noah's expression changed.
"The very same White Knights you came to report to me about, he's already killed one. He didn't have an army, he didn't have support, he only had himself."
Noah's heart seized. How was that possible? That…
"Do not contact me again until White City is nothing but flat earth."