Dimensional Descent

Leonel suddenly felt immense regret about not asking Montez for an abode type treasure. The feeling of having your body split apart out of your control, yet only being able to lie on hard, stone floors was really too unbearable. If he had a tent treasure like Yuri had, this would be much more convenient.

'Yuri… I wonder if she'll be okay…'

Leonel frowned at this thought. The only reason why he was able to escape the outer city was because he only had to worry about himself. He knew that going back to get Yuri was impossible. If he had, they both would have died.

He was worried about more than just Yuri. He had no idea if Miles would try to make use of his teammates against him or not.

Leonel shook his head. He knew there was no point in thinking about these things. He just had to grow stronger.

'Since I can't move, what can I do?'

"Hey, do you know why the Segmented Cube took in the corpse of that sniper?"

[ *Ping* The corpse is useful ]

Leonel frowned. "Why is it useful?"

[ *Ping* The abilities of existences at and above the TIer 7 Black grade condense within the Ethereal Glabella Evolution Crystals. Force Crafters can refine these into limited use items. ]

Leonel was speechless. Though this was better than having to eat the corpse, was it that much better? Something about using a human body to refine items made him feel uncomfortable.

"Wait…" Leonel suddenly thought of something. "… Does that mean that the octopus was taken for that reason as well?"

[ *Ping* Replying to Seed, yes. ]

Leonel's lip twitched. The sniper's ability might really be useful to him, but wouldn't he have to grow tentacles in order to make use of the octopus' ability? Where was the cool factor? How could he show his face to Aina again if he did such a thing?

"Hold on a second, the Segmented Cube is a lab, right? Doesn't that mean I should be able to enter it?"

[ *Ping* Yes. ]

"Then why the hell am I still here? It can activate on its own to take that pervert's corpse but can't see that I'm struggling out here?"

Leonel took out the Segmented Cube, fuming. He didn't know if there was anywhere comfortable to rest in the lab, but it should at least be cleaner than this dusty place, right? How could it treat him like this? What kind of weird fetish did this cube have to have to like corpses more than the living?

"Hey, little guy." Leonel knocked on the cube with a knuckle. "Can you let me in?"

The Segmented Cube vibrated, then separated into its pieces once more. Leonel felt his vision go black and, a moment later, he found himself in a small ten by ten by ten meter space.

On the outside, out of Leonel's vision, the pieces of the Segmented Cube floated around where Leonel had just been sitting. Its jigsaw-like pieces were connected by a faint white light, taking up the same amount of space as Leonel could see from the inside.

"This is the lab?" Leonel blinked, unaware of what was going on outside.

Leonel struggled to stand and looked around.

'The Force concentration in this place is a lot higher.' Leonel's brow raised.

On one side of the lab, there was a silver rack filled with what looked like snowglobes. But, Leonel's eyes widened when his gaze landed on them.

Within two of the snowglobes, he could see the corpse of the octopus and that sniper floating. It seemed that they had been compressed and placed inside. Leonel guessed that this must be the lab's method of preservation.

Other than the silver rack, Leonel found the bookshelves and cubicles filled with scrolls his dad left behind on another side of the room. In the middle, that odd table with half-spherical wells that was in the basement was here as well. Though, Leonel wasn't certain of what it could be used for.

Thinking of something else, Leonel reached into one of the large pockets of the tactical gear he had stolen from the Fort and brought out the Metal Spirit.

The little guy bounced around like an elastic ball, pinging around the confines of its cube as though still trying to escape. But, Leonel could tell that it was just excited.

"Why is this little guy so excited to be here?" Leonel asked.

He thought he would find some great treasure here, but aside from the rack of snowglobes, there really wasn't anything else special.

[ *Ping* Replying to Seed, Spirits need high concentrations of Force and their preferred element to grow and evolve. The half Metamorphosed Earth is akin to a barren wasteland for it. In comparison, the Segmented Cube's inner space is much better. ]

"The Segmented Cube can generate Force?" Leonel asked expectantly.

[ *Ping* No. ]

Leonel frowned. It can't generate Force? Then why is the concentration so high? At a moment like this, he really hated that the dictionary only ever answered his questions directly and hardly embellished.

"Why is the Force concentration so much higher here, then?"

[ *Ping* The Segmented Cube has a sterilization ability. ]

"Explain this ability to me."

[ *Ping* Replying to Seed ]

[Sterilization: The refinement and purification of Force. ]

"So the concentration of Force here is dependent on the outside world? What Dimensional grade has it reached?"

[ *Ping* Yes. The current concentration is about equal to a Mid-level Fourth Dimensional World. ]

"Mid-level? Worlds of the same Dimension are separated as well, huh…"

Leonel forgot his pain in all his curiosity. He only wanted to learn more and know more. He found all of this fascinating.

"… Wait! The concentration of Force… If I use the lab, wouldn't that make Invalids come after me? Crap!"

Leonel panicked for a moment. He had already been in here for several minutes. This was more than enough time for Invalids to close in on him.

[ *Ping* No. The lab is able to hide its Force activity. ]

Leonel's eyes widened before he began to laugh wildly. He was only forced to stop after he felt his lung might come flying out from his throat. This pain was really too unbearable.

His progress had always been limited by those damned Invalids. Even if he was still in the Fort, it wouldn't make a difference due to those Force disrupting towers. But now, with the lab, he could practice [Dimensional Cleanse] without worry. Wasn't this fantastic?

'I'll have to wait for my body to recover before I can do any Force cultivating. But, in the meantime, I can do other things…'

Aina said he would feel weak for three days. So, during those three days, his healing would be exceptionally slow. After those three days passed, though, his body would be able to slowly recover at a more normal pace.

As for how long it would take him to recover after that? Leonel didn't know. But, regardless, since the lab could hide him from Invalids, there was no need to move from this place for now.

Leonel's mind ran wild for a moment. What was the best use of his time?

After a while, Leonel made a decision.

He walked to the odd table and took out two ores, a pair of gloves, a quill, and finally, the Metal Spirit.

"How do I make this little guy my official Familiar?"