Lake Crossing

The main base of EarthX1 underwent enormous changes in just a few days.

The chosen location was one of the only two points on the whole of the planet where the three largest rivers intersected. Due to an odd case of flow dynamics and physics, the water at these intersections was quite calm comparatively speaking. Though, the borders to this intersection were likewise extraordinarily dangerous due to the clashing waves.

This was as close to a terrain advantage as Leonel could find on the waters aside from a few waterfall formations that could be found around the planet. But, he knew that he needed something better than this, which was why he was happy to have found 'Principles of Wood Elemental Architecture'.

Though the boundaries of this intersection were especially violent, the range of the calm water had a several kilometer wide diameter. It looked so much like a lake as opposed to the clash of three rivers that this was exactly what Leonel called it—Lake Crossing.

The three main rivers—named West River, South-East River and North-East River by Leonel—met at their curves. Rather than actually crossing each other, the intersection was like a joining of three 'U' shapes at their base to form a sort of triangle with curved edges.

The locations were just to rivers met were exceptionally volatile, giving the region some cover. But, the main issue was that Lake Crossing had bodies of land as well. These bodies of land were exactly the weakness of this location and exactly the reason why Leonel wasn't confident in this terrain advantage.

However, now with 'Principles of Wood Elemental Architecture', Leonel was confident in fortifying these entry points to the water and that was exactly what he did… The result was a grand fort formation that became the result of less than a week's work.

…

Sitting right at the center of Lake Crossing an enormous fort lay. Taking inspiration from the Slayer Legion, it was like a large metal cube sitting on the calm waters. It was impossible to tell how deep into the waters it went, but the top of this cube reached up more than 20 meters.

This cube, or at least what appeared to be a cube, was connected with chains so large that its links dwarfed the size of a human body. These chains anchored to the land around it, keeping the 'cube' in place.

Upon the surface of these lands, grand wooden constructions stood. At first glance, it looked no different from a normal wide ranging and thick forest of brown and green. However, the longer you looked, the more exaggerated it all seemed to become.

Enormous tree homes, interconnected pathways, and most importantly defensive structures that took the earth itself as their foundation. The most shocking part of it all was that Wood Force continued to accumulate and grow in the surroundings. The trees absorbed this Force greedily, speeding along their evolution far faster than the rest of EarthX1Content is property © .

One after another, these trees grew thicker and wider, breaking into the Fifth Dimension one after another and showing not a single sign of slowing down.

The first day this tree fort was created its defenses could only be considered to be alright. But, come the third, fourth, fifth day and beyond, the sturdiness of it all dwarfed what Leonel could have created with his current Crafting prowess, at least not on the time crunch he was on.

It could be said that the Evergreen Goddess had truly left Leonel a great boon.

…

Leonel stood in the midst of the forest. On his lap lay a spear that seemed to be made of green vines and had a blade that looked like the closed petals of a pink rose. It radiated the aura of a Quasi Silver spear and sat docilely before Leonel, seemingly not minding at all that he didn't even have the slightest Wood Elemental affinity to speak of.

When controlling spears he didn't have an affinity for, Leonel often had to spend two, three, maybe even ten times the stamina he would normally. But, he had no other choice in this matter. Only he could comprehend the Evergreen Goddess' text and execute the completion of this Fort fast enough.

Luckily, he had the golden scaled koi fish to help him quickly replenish his stamina, or else things would have been even more troublesome.

The good news, though, was that manipulating Fourth Dimensional trees was much easier. If these trees had already become Fifth Dimensional, Leonel might not be able to accomplish this even with several months.

Comprehending the artistic conception was easy for him, though. He just had to manipulate the Fourth Dimensional trees into Fifth Dimensional levels of complexity and watch the Force do the work for him.

'I need to be fast. I need to finish all the Forts before EarthX1 and undergo a qualitative change under Earth's influence… I'm still too slow.'

Leonel suddenly looked up. "They're here, right?"

Arthur appeared in a streak of light. Whether it was Gil or Leonel himself, there was no doubt that Arthur had the fastest speed. It couldn't be helped, he could quite literally deconstruct himself into the Light Element at will.

"Seems you know already." Arthur responded.

Leonel sighed. "I wanted to take over both Lake Crossings, that way we'd always have the decisive advantage, but my wood affinity is just too weak. I couldn't finish here fast enough."

Arthur's lip twitched. Leonel had created such an elaborate fort in less than a week. It was practically impenetrable. Only a fool would attack it without several months of preparation. The fact he accomplished this was enough.

But Leonel didn't feel this to be true. He felt an anxiousness in his heart that he couldn't seem to get rid of. He needed to be faster, to be better.

They had known from the very beginning that there were two point that all three rivers met at. Unfortunately, Leonel could only choose to build one base at a time.

"There's no need to worry. They should have just arrived, it would be impossible for them to set up any sort of powerful defenses. In fact, they might very well be fighting amongst themselves for such a prime spot."

"Hm?" Leonel's gaze narrowed.

Arthur looked into the distance, his gaze also turning somewhat gloomy.

"It seems they want to test how good this Fort is too." Arthur said lightly.

"Leave this to you?" Leonel asked.

"No problem." Arthur laughed, his blade had been dry for too long. "Make sure to give those other bastards hell."

Leonel's lip curled into a smile. It seems that they really thought that Earth was ripe for the picking. It was about time they entered the grand stage and showed them all just what made Earth so talented to begin with.