Dimensional Descent

Leonel still wasn’t sure even until this moment. But if he had to describe it... it was akin to a beacon that lit his path, a guiding principle that made his journey smoother. His Forces listened to his call with greater ease, his comprehension flowed with greater speed, and everything about the world felt clearer and sharper.

This should be the penultimate requirement of this Zone, but he had already completed it. As for the ultimate requirement... it was likely showing that his Valiant Heart was superior to all other Spearmen... and bowmen for that matter.

He hadn’t forgotten what the Regulator had done to him earlier. It had certainly registered him as both a Spearman and Bowman. That meant that he would have to prove himself twice over.

But that wasn’t something that he feared in the slightest. It wasn’t something that was capable of moving him in the slightest.

He pressed a hand to his chest.

’A Valiant Heart... It feels a lot like an Idol... and yet not...’

What Leonel didn’t know was that a Valiant Heart was the foundation needed to form an Idol. It was just that it was such a vague conception that most didn’t know it by name or even know how to separate the existence of an Idol from it.

As such, the Title of ”Idol” ended up swallowing it up when there was actually a line of division between the two.

However, whether Leonel could slowly tease apart this reality and understand the dividing line between Valiant Heart and Idol would be dependent on him.

Leonel took a breath.

”This air smells sweet.”

A smile graced his lips.

A sound caught his attention from the back, and he found his wife pulling out a rocking chair from the inside.

A look of horror crossed his expression and he rushed inside, taking it from her.

’No straining!”

Aina smiled. ”I’m not so fragile!

’Shh, Leonel would have no talk back. He held the rocking chair in one hand and Aina in the other. He placed the rocking chair on a bit of flat land outside and helped her sit.

The two had their souls connected, so she already knew what Leonel was going to do next.

As expected, Leonel walked to the first line of trees after helping her settle in.

Rather than going on an adventure into the surroundings, wouldn’t he first need a weapon? The question was... how would he make one?

There were no weapons around, just a single cottage. His body was as weak as a mortal’s, so he couldn’t just knock down trees with a palm like he would normally be able to. And unlike Aina, who had been forcefully brought in, he had lost his connection with Tolliver. He couldn’t sense his World Spirit at all right now.

Leonel pressed a palm to the tree, his gaze flickering.

He could think of many ways to cut down a tree. He could make a few stone tools, he could try making use of friction, or he could just use his hands to dig up one of the much smaller trees by their roots-the soil was certainly soft enough to make an attempt.

But then what?

How could he forge a weapon from that alone? This hurdle would probably be the largest to leap

over.

The easiest solution would probably be to make a journey away from this cottage.

If he was correct, everyone probably started in a similar location. There was almost certainly a denser population of people somewhere down this mountain.

The first challenge was to survive the trek downward, then maybe find a way to get a weapon from a blacksmith. Then they would begin refining their Weapon Forces.

However, wouldn’t it be too embarrassing to need the help of a blacksmith when he was a Crafter? It was just that he was a Crafter without tools.

’There are two possibilities. Either I put some effort into learning some rudimentary Fist, Palm, or Finger Force that I can use to cut these trees down. Or...

The first possibility wasn’t impossible. Leonel had grasped Fist Force before, though it was a very long time ago. Of course, time meant nothing to Leonel given his memory and the fact he could access timelines he hadn’t even personally lived through now.

However, Leonel couldn’t help but wonder if it was worth it.

Was there a better way?

After some thought, Leonel found a rock and then bashed it against the side of a medium-sized tree

a few times until there was an unbarked, smooth patch of decent size.

Then, his fingers flickered.

His control over his body was exceptional, and although he needed to use all of his strength to carve into this tree, the lines he formed were still steady and perfectly neat.

Soon, a Force Art had taken shape.

Leonel had a simple thought. Since the entire world was formed of Dream Force, then that meant that whatever he carved would be treated as a Force Art.

SHILING! PA. PA. PA.

A line of energy suddenly cut into the tree before splitting it into several pieces. All of a sudden, there was a pile of perfectly straight, two-and-a-half-meter-long spear bodies laying on the ground. The rest of the wasted material just fell harmlessly to the ground, and in a flash of flames, they turned to ash.

’Nice.’

”BOOOOO!” Aina’s voice came from behind him.

”What? You didn’t like that?” Leonel turned back to her with a chuckle.

’Not at all. I was expecting a lumberjack, stripper show, and I got a little magic trick instead!

Leonel couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe the Regulator wasn’t so bad after all. It was much less monotonous if he had his wife by his side.

This Zone would almost certainly last a long while, and danger would be around every corner. Although he feared for his wife’s life, if he was strong enough...

Would it matter?

His gaze flashed with determination.