Dimensional Descent

A ship docking station wasn’t a simple operation. From the inside, it looked more like a honeycomb with several hexagonal compartments. From the outside, it looked like a massive glass dome one could watch the chaos from a distance thanks to.

The honeycomb like parking stations came in various shapes and sizes depending on, obviously, the size of the ship that needed them. Some were permanent and bought out by frequent travellers, merchants or various other companies. But, most were temporary stations that were rented out based on need.

If one was from a family with a decent background, it was more likely than not that that someone would park their ship within their own estate. However, only those of a superior noble standing were allowed to do this.

With so much traffic coming in and out, how could a world like this not have its own laws?

These glass domes that were dotted around the planet at various popular locations weren’t just for show. One couldn’t just land your ship wherever you pleased. If one wanted to travel around the planet, there were very specific and very few lanes you could take with a spaceship. Should you want more freedom, you would need different permits and also a different kind of vessel to take you as well.

Only the very rich and influential could have exclusive lanes of their own that allowed for more private and less regulated travel.

Unsurprisingly, Yuri allowed the ship’s autopilot to follow along with everyone else and toward one of the many honeycomb parking stations. This was the number and location her adoptive father had told her to go toward. And, as expected, before the ship even docked, the three women caught sight of the man.

Aina’s heart stopped beating for a moment, her eyes reddening beneath her mask. Even though she thought she had squeezed all the tears her body had left out, seeing her father for the first time in such a long time placed her on the verge of breaking down once again.

Even within the hustle and bustle of the docking station, this man seemed to have carved out a piece of space all to his own. The hem of his robes were unaffected by the whipping winds and ships subconsciously took the long way around him.

He had a head of fiery red hair with such volume that it almost looked like the mane of a lion. It was only accented all the more by his full face of crimson facial hair.

He had a back as broad as a bear’s and a chest as wide as a gorilla’s. He stood at over seven feet tall, and yet it didn’t seem out of place or awkward. He filled out his frame with power and strength that made the wind around him slow by several measures.

His pair of ruby red eyes almost seemed lazy. But given the rest of his appearance, it was like he was giving the world a chance to breathe. If even they had been sharp… Maybe the whole of the docking station would have been frozen in place, unable to go about their day with any sort of ease.

However, what Aina saw wasn’t the scary sort of projection, or a stifling, grueling portrayal of what a man could be…

She just saw her father.

She leapt out from the spaceship before it could even settle down.

**

When Leonel’s vision cleared, he found himself still in his small ship, but the surroundings felt completely different.

‘What…’

Were Memory Ores meant to be capable of teleporting individuals? From Leonel’s understanding, the answer to that question was no. But, if he thought about it a step further than this… Maybe?

The resonance of the Memory Ore when it entered that perfect state was quite resounding. What was a Force Art if not resonance of energy?

Force Arts used various languages written with Force in order to induce specific and practiced reactions in the world at large. Who was to say that a Force Art cleverly hidden within a Memory Ore couldn’t produce the same affect?

In fact, in order to draw more permanent Force Arts like Leonel did when he created treasures, didn’t he have to use precious ores and materials? What was a Memory Ore if not a precious material? In fact, using it to draw in Force to accomplish this feat may very well have been overkill.

May have been, anyway. Leonel wasn’t certain if it was because he had no idea where he was. What he did know, though, was that this was the heaviest pressure he had ever experienced.

Even when Leonel entered a Fifth Dimensional world as a Third Dimensional existence, it had felt no different from a spring breeze. But, the moment his body became aware that it had reappeared in wherever this place was… he had actually had trouble breathing for a moment.

Unlike other ships, Leonel’s didn’t have windows. He had built it with speed, escape and defense in mind, so how could he leave such an obvious weakness? He had instead used his Internal Sight and the dictionary to make up for this deficiency.

But at the moment, that choice left him blind for the first few seconds he had spent in this mysterious place.

Taking a deep breath, Leonel steeled himself. He couldn’t just stay in here forever, right?

Somewhere deep inside, he felt like he needed to see what was out there with his own two eyes. His instinct told him that this was a feeling that had to be experienced in the rawest of forms.

The hatch slowly opened, the compressed air sizzling out in a low, drawn out steam. Leonel couldn’t help but take a breath when he saw what was before him.

It was a road. However, this road was formed of sparkling, white motes of light and extended toward what felt like infinity.

It was about ten meters in width and was surrounded by nothing but endless darkness. Leonel didn’t need to be a genius to know that if he took one step off, his life would be forfeit.

In the far off distance, a blue star hovered in silence. It was maybe the most gorgeous blue Leonel had ever seen. A wide expanse of skies or a cool, transparent ocean didn’t seem capable of measuring up. Maybe only a delicately sculpted and polished sapphire gem could even begin to compare.

The star was caged by an enormous Dyson Sphere Leonel assumed his road of light connected to. It was the sort of picture Leonel could have never thought he would ever see just five years ago…

And with it came a spine tingling alert of danger Leonel had never experienced before.