Dimensional Descent

The Force Manipulation abilities of this world had been at the forefront of Leonel's mind for a long while already, and he knew that if he wanted to reach the level of power he sought after, he would definitely have to grasp such abilities.

Somehow, the further depth of comprehension one gained in this world, they seemed to be capable of displaying abilities further outside the realms their Forces were usually constrained to.

Leonel had a certain hypothesis, and he felt that it might be correct. Maybe the reason why it was possible to cross Dimensional barriers to do battle at all was because his world hadn't grasped these abilities as they should.

From the very beginning, Leonel had understood that Dimensions weren't simple power levels. They were a qualitative change of being. A Fourth Dimensional existence should be able to crush a Third Dimensional existence no matter how talented the latter was. That was what science said.

However, the likes of Leonel and Aina always seemed capable of breaking these rules.

Leonel didn't really understand why this was until something clicked.

Why was it that even when his mind was in the Seventh Dimension, everyone saw him as a Sixth Dimensional existence? What about in the past when both his mind and body had entered the Fourth Dimension, and yet everyone still thought he was in the Third Dimension? Why was it that only when his internal Force entered a new Dimension, would he be seen as being at that level?

When you asked this question, then you thought about Leonel's hypothesis, and then you connected that with the Force Manipulation abilities of this Zone, things began to slowly sink into place one by one…

Force was the most important factor in one's strength, and the degree to which you could use it was what truly dictated what state of Dimension you had reached.

Regardless of how strong Leonel's mind or his body, all of the Force he used was still firmly in the Sixth Dimension.

[Author's Note: I think I forgot to write that Leonel recovered to the Sixth Dimension after absorbing the cobra demon, so just assume that happened. Forgive me]

But when Leonel fought Thaela and his mind worked slower than it should, or when he fought the cobra demon and his Scarlet Star Force felt even weaker than normal Third Dimensional fires, why was that…?

Well, if you thought about it, was that what true suppression between the Dimensions should feel like? Wasn't that the despairing gap that should have always been there, and yet never had been?

If it wasn't for the fact that Leonel was in the same Dimension as Thaela and the cobra demon, that despairing gap would have been even wider!

It was only thanks to the fact that Leonel's soul separated from his body and thus the suppression the cobra demon could levy toward him that he was able to surpass such shackles. If he hadn't, he would have died… Well… he had died, actually.

Upon realizing this, how could Leonel's thoughts not be constantly ruled by Force Manipulation and how to make use of it? And with Leonel's speed of thought, how could he not come up with countless potential hypotheses related to it?

One of these hypotheses that he liked the most was that the secret to this Force Manipulation was tied to what this world valued the most: Star Runes.

Leonel felt that his use and comprehension of Star Runes until this point was quite artificial and it hadn't provided him as much of a boost to his prowess as he thought it should.

He had formed up to perfect Seventh Dimensional Star Runes on his Dream Force Stars, and yet his mind had still been suppressed by the likes of Thaela and the cobra demon who had far weaker minds than his own.

This made sense. Did he also have "Star Runes" in his Innate Node? In fact, he had Ninth Dimensional Star Runes in one of them, but could he use them? Not at all.

At best, Leonel could use his Star Runes to call down Scarlet Star Force and Dream Force of equivalent Dimension, something that his Stars were already capable of doing. Clearly, he was missing something extremely important.

As such, he felt that there was a 91% probability that Star Runes held the secret that he was looking for.

"This confirms something I was thinking about," Leonel suddenly said.

"Hm? What's that?"

Leonel quickly explained his thoughts before continuing.

"The Mantras should be a shortcut to understanding these secrets. Even though we can't get the full reward of this Zone any longer, I think that if we stack up on these Mantras, it'll only be a matter of time before we grasp the truth."

Even with Leonel's Dream Force Talent, he still needed the Dream Force Mantra to form his Star Runes so quickly. If these Mantras were able to focus the mind and aid in meditation to such an extent, it was likely that they were the key to connecting with Star Runes on a deeper, more meaningful level as well.

Leonel already had the Dream Force Mantra, and it only cost a few million Demon Points. Stacking up on a ton of mantras shouldn't be too expensive and should be quite easy. He could even get one of every kind so that when he passed down [Dimensional Cleanse] to everyone, they would be able to grasp these subtleties as well.

It was just unfortunate that not everyone would be able to form nine Stars like he had, but he just had to take things one step at a time.

"Is it possible to teach to beasts, though?" Aina asked.

She hadn't forgotten that this was the main reason Leonel had gone down this rabbit hole.

"Yes," Leonel nodded, "this Force Art right here, the Dream Star Gathering Beast Formation, should do the trick. It costs just under 100 billion Demon Points as well, but it allows me to set up a formation that places both myself and a target beast into a dream-like state. Through that state, I can pass on the Mantra or even cultivate it for them."