Dimensional Descent

'He won't be an easy opponent…'

Leonel flipped his palm, causing a pistol to appear in his hand. As Simeon disappeared through the path toward the valley, he fired off several shots. However, these shots weren't for Simeon at all. Rather, they mowed down several of his subordinates. By the time they disappeared completely, the more than 30 number Simeon had come with had shrunk to barely half of that. 

Though he could see Simeon's furious gaze, Leonel didn't bat an eye. After they truly disappeared, he turned back, entering the Force geyser once again. This time, he didn't hold the Segmented Cube back any longer and directly allowed it to begin speeding up the growth of the Force Crystal Core. 

After he came out once again, his first instinct was to begin exploring the other tunnels connected to this mine. The tunnel Simeon went through only led to the valley outside, but the others had a high likelihood of having precious natural treasures. 

However, he stopped when he crossed over the bleeding figure of the little mink once more. At this point, he was left speechless. 

Wasn't this little guy supposed to be terribly wounded? Why was it that it seemed like it was just taking a nap?

Leonel shook his head. He couldn't allow anymore variables to occur. So, he coated his hands with Light Elemental Force, scooped up the little mink, and tossed it into one of the Segmented Cube's snowglobes. 

He really didn't know what to do with that little mink. Maybe in the future when he grew powerful enough to be confident in easily subduing it, he could let it go free. 

After dealing with these matters, Leonel's smile returned. 

There were 12 hours until the Segmented Cube accomplished its task. And, this wasn't necessarily a deadline for him either. 

Leonel grinned. 'Consider this as a bit of payback, old man. Who asked you to bully me for so long?'

Leonel wouldn't feel the slightest bit bad about robbing the Slayer Legion blind. Old Hutch could only blame himself. 

Leoenl dashed toward the closest tunnel, having stored numerous snowglobes within the spatial bracelet. 

He followed the tunnel's winding paths, relying on the dictionary to detect precious ores. It wasn't very long before he gained rewards for his efforts. 

'Evolution Ore!'

Urbe Ore was an important foundational ore and provided the basic network of strength most Force Crafts needed. Evolution Ore worked similarly in that it strengthened ores, but its use was more miraculous. 

Depending on the Ore kind, it could serve all sorts of functions. It could fuse two separate ores to create a new ore sharing both characteristics, it could be applied to a single ore and boost its effects compared to others of its ore family, and it could even be used as a catalyst to speed up ore growth. 

Much like Urbe Ore, Evolution Ore was one of a kind. There was only one kind of it, but it was separated into many different stages. The Evolution Ore Leonel found was Black Evolution Ore. So, it could provide such effects on any Black Grade Ore and below. In translation, this meant any ore within the Fourth Dimension and below!

Leonel was happy with this harvest. This vein of Evolution Ore had enough Essence for seven pieces. 

'Essence' was a unique concept that only applied to certain rare natural treasures. It was a method of calculation. Essentially, for an Evolution Ore to achieve its basic effects, it had to have a certain amount of this Essence. 

The reason why this was important was because of the fourth ability of Evolution Ore. If ten pieces of Black Evolution Ore were fused together, they could form Bronze Evolution Ore! If a hundred pieces of Bronze Evolution Ore were fused together, they could form Silver Evolution Ore!  In order for a piece of ore to count as 'one', it had to have enough Essence.

There were very few things that could combine things of lesser quality to form treasures of higher quality, but Evolution Ore was one of them. 

'If I could find more Evolution Ore, just enough Essence for three more, I would be able to use a Fifth Dimension Ore as the foundation for my Divine Armor…'

Leonel's eyes lit as though they had caught on fire. 

The two core abilities of his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor were Divine Metal Absorption and Divine Armor Deity. The second was the very reason why the Morales family had evolved to become such good Force Crafters as well as warriors. 

Divine Metal Absorption allowed one who had awakened their Lineage Factor to absorb metals to strengthen themselves. This wasn't a foreign concept. After all, Leonel had been looking for the special Vein Ore [Dimensional Cleanse] mentioned. That Vein Ore would have allowed him to strengthen his Force Pathways. 

However, whereas a normal person would only be able to absorb these very special and niche ores, the Morales family wasn't limited by this at all! 

The special Vein Ore, known as Force Vein Ore, and specifically Black Force Vein Ore for Leonel's current needs, could only be considered normal in strength. The only reason it was so sought after was because its special properties allowed normal Force cultivators to absorb some of its Essence. 

However, Leonel could absorb much stronger ores and strengthen his Force Pathways with metals others couldn't even imagine using!

This ability was already enough to explain why the Morales family could stand so tall. If someone's body was as strong as metal, was it even possible to harm them? This was completely unlike the A-grade Invalid Leonel had met before because this would also encompass Leonel's inner organs!

However, what was most shocking was that this wasn't the Morales family's only earth shattering ability. It could even be argued that Divine Armor Deity was more exaggerated. 

As long as one opened the fourth door of the Metal Synergy Lineage Factor, it would be possible to absorb metals to strengthen one's self. However, one needed to open the seventh to gain the right to build one's own Divine Armor. 

This ability could be considered the fusion of a Force Crafter and a warrior's dream. It allowed one to forge one's own Divine Armor and make it a part of one's body. This meant that even without a spatial treasure, one could summon their Divine Armor to protect their body as they pleased. 

What made this even more exaggerated than the metal absorption ability was that Divine Armors allowed a Morales family member who had opened the seventh door the power to share abilities with the ores they formed their Divine Armor with. 

If they absorbed a Wind Elemental Vessel Ore, depending on the quality, they would just as easily gain Wind Elemental Force Strengthening Deviations. The more exaggerated the abilities of the ore, the more powerful the Divine Armor would become!

Of course, one had to be exceptionally careful with what they chose to make their Divine Armor out of. After all, it was impossible to be a master of all. If one made their Divine Armor a hodgepodge of ores with no clear direction, you'll only end up being a jack of all trades without any sort of real power. 

The reason Leonel was so excited was because opening the ninth door gave him the right to attempt to absorb and use Quasi Fifth Dimensional metals into his Divine Armor. But, his father had left him behind a note that made his thoughts run wild. 

If he used Evolution Ore as the core of his Divine Armor, it might be possible for him to form a Fifth Dimensional Divine Armor while his body was still in the Third Dimension. After all, one mustn't forget that Leonel was still currently forming his foundations to enter the Fourth Dimension. 

Leonel's heartbeat quickened. 

Though Divine Armor could easily be discarded and reformed. It was best to pour one's heart and soul into one for each major tier of power. If Leonel managed to have such a good starting position, it wouldn't be necessary for him to discard his Divine Armor until he entered the Fifth Dimension. 

However, he was getting ahead of himself. He still needed to design his armor and he still hadn't decided what ores he would use either. Plus, just because he found seven Evolution Ores here, didn't mean he would definitely find another three. Who knew how long it would take?

There was one last problem as well. According to his father, this was all just a theory, even he hadn't tried it out yet. He hadn't had the computational abilities to think of it when he was young, and by the time he realized it was feasible, the Evolution Ores he needed for his tier of power were simply too rare. 

Who was to say his old man wasn't screwing him over again?