The young man's sword slightly twisted in his hand, the flat of its blade catching the blue rays of sun coming from the distance and sparkling with a translucent sheen.
He wasn't sure why it was he had looked in that direction, it was just the feeling of something familiar. As for what it was, he had no idea.
"Curious."
His robes fluttered, his steps seemingly slow but his true pace being at tens of meters a second. He seemed to effortlessly glide forward.
His sword vibrated in his hands continuously, almost eager to the point of flying out of his hand.
"Haha!" He could no longer hold back his grin. "It's been a long while since I, the Sword Deity, has met something that made my blade thirst."
Sword Deity was, of course, not his name… In fact, it wasn't even close… The truth was that even others hadn't given him this name like one might expect—he had named himself. If one went even deeper to the true root of the matter, no one even knew of him.
After the humor of it all faded away, those who understood how the strongest powers of the Dimensional Verse worked would sink into their own solemn expressions, looking toward this young man with arrogance that could poke a hole in the skies with the utmost seriousness.
To put matters into proper perspective, even if one was born into a higher Dimensional world, everyone would start at the Third Dimension. However, if one thought that made everyone equal… you would be sorely mistaken.
It seemed that Leonel was capable of punching above his weight because his individual abilities added up toward such a result, but it was far deeper than this. To put things in the simplest way possible, Leonel was a cup that could be filled to the Seventh Dimension but with only enough water in it to match up to the Third.
There was a difference between a cup filled to its brim and one with so much room to maneuver. If Leonel was fierce enough with his cup, he could cause the water that made up his strength to slosh about and reach toward a height it shouldn't be able to reach…
However, if someone with a smaller cup tried to do the same, their water would just spill over and be wasted.
Why was all of this important now? It was important because depending on the strength of a family, it required a youth to reach a certain level of strength before they could leave and begin to experience the world.
The stronger the family or organization, the stronger a youth of talent would have to be to meet their requirements…
This young man was already in the Sixth Dimension. And, yet, not only was he arrogant enough to call himself the Sword Deity, he was a complete unknown to the world.
So, the question was… How strong did his organization need to be to think that only the Sixth Dimension was decent enough to finally let him out?
It likely wouldn't be long before the name Amery, the Sword Deity, was known far and wide.
…
Leonel took deep breaths as he continued to move forward. Unfortunately, his recent breakthrough hadn't done much to alleviate his previous fatigue. But, it was gradually getting better for him.
As his battles grew more efficient and wasted less energy, the gaps between them became more and more beneficial to his recovery. If it wasn't because the battles also grew more difficult, he might have already been able to catch his breath.
Leonel didn't grow complacent, though. His battle prowess continued to grow as he integrated more and more of his comprehensions into his Spear Domain Embryo, but he was also keenly aware that this was not enough.
At this rate, if the road was really as endless as it seemed and not just an illusion to test his mental fortitude, he would practically be nothing more than a stone by the time he reached the half way point.
Leonel was already felt twice as heavy as he should be, something that effectively meant he was dealing with what felt like double gravity. In addition, it was only growing worse with every passing battle.
The good news was that Leonel felt with his progression, it shouldn't be a problem to continue for a long while. The bad news, however, was that he was certain he would eventually reach his limits again.
Leonel wouldn't make the same mistake, though. There was no need to wait until the final moment and hope and pray for another breakthrough. What he needed to do was think of a path of progression for himself that guaranteed improvement. He had to assume that he would be stuck here for years and act accordingly.
Leonel's head tilted slightly to the side, his free hand shooting up with a coating of Star Force forming a Force Skin over it. With a sturdy grip, he latched onto the spirit's spear and pierced forward with his free hand at the same time.
Moments later, Leonel's body grew a small measure heavier as he continued forward.
His steps maximized the time he would have between battles, both for recovery and so that he could continue to think.
His best options for improvement were Star Elemental Mage Arts, mastering more spears within Spear Domain, and thirdly, there was Universal Force.
If there was one Force that still functioned just fine in this place aside from Star Force, it was Universal Force. If not for this, Leonel wouldn't have been able to keep up for so long. After all, Universal Force was one of the core reasons he was able to battle above his Dimensional level.
The current Leonel used it so frequently and fluidly that he hardly even thought about it consciously anymore. But, that ironically led to it being neglected as well.
Funny enough, Leonel found it difficult to use Dream Path on himself. However, that didn't mean he had any intention of giving up so easily.
'Interesting… I haven't felt any hunger or fatigue since I've been here. Is it because of this Star Force that keeps entering my body?'
If Leonel had to lament one thing about being stuck here for so long, it would definitely be the fact that he wouldn't be able to eat or sleep. But, as time passed, he realized that he felt neither.
Once Leonel realized this, he started paying more attention to his body. He had already been doing so, but he had mostly been monitoring weight. Now, however, he was trying to find out what this mysterious Star Force was doing to him.
The conclusion he reached, though, was quite surprising. Because… The answer was nothing.
The blue Star Force didn't do anything after entering his body except for fuse into his flesh and bone. After that, there were no surprising mechanisms, no subtle changes, no hidden dangers or even benefits. It seemed like it just fused and vanished.
'Interesting…'
If there was one part of Leonel's body that was completely untouched, it was his right kidney. It sparkled like a polished, golden-red crystal, swirling about with a gaseous-like energy that looked like smoke being lit by vibrant gold and crimson light.
Whenever the blue Star Force tried to fuse with this kidney of his, it would be eradicated.
In truth, Leonel's current body was only functioning on one kidney as he didn't dare to allow his Scarlet Star Force to move about as it pleased. If it did, he might as well prepare himself an urn right this moment because nothing but ash would be left.
Even now, Leonel had no illusions toward allowing it to go throughout his body right this moment just to deal with the blue Star Force. The exchange wouldn't be worth it, especially since Leonel was no longer certain that the blue Star Force was harming him.
There was no denying that this blue Star Force was making him heavier. But, at the same time, it was also the reason he didn't need food or rest, two abilities that were all too important to actually completing this trial.
'… Maybe?'
Leonel suddenly thought of something that made his eyes narrow.
Back on Earth, especially during its less technologically advanced Eras, everything was reliant on the sun. Plants needed the sun to produce their food, herbivores consumed these plants for their energy, and then omni and carnivores would consume these herbivores. This was how the cycle of life worked.
All the most fundamental energies that allowed for life originated from the sun itself…
Even when Earth continued to evolve and began to produce some energies itself, was it really self-reliant from the sun? Even on 25th Century Earth, the greatest source of power was Nuclear Fusion, the very same process the sun relied on to produce the energy it did.
Earth, even when it began to be 'self sufficient', was still just doing its best to imitate what a Star could do innately.
When Leonel thought of Star Force, he thought of many of its abilities.
He thought of its abilities to purify and cleanse. He thought of its heft and weight. However… He never really considered what it was most fundamentally…
A power source.
At that moment, it suddenly clicked. Why was it that he wasn't feeling tired or hungry? The real question was why would he believe that he should feel those things when his body was being saturated with the purest form of energy the universe had to offer?
For the second time in just as many days, Leonel's world view had been flipped on its head.
'So I've been using Star Force all wrong… But if it's core use is as energy… Why am I still breathing so hard…?'
Leonel's eyes narrowed, seemingly having thought of something.
Maybe the creator of [Dimensional Cleanse] wasn't as much of a bastard as he thought. It was either that… Or he or she was even worse than Leonel believed.