FUN
There was a vast expanse of wilderness.
The mine was located in an oasis of sorts, a small patch of forest about a hundred or so kilometers from edge to edge that also happened to have a few mountains that surrounded it.
Outside of this oasis though, the land was mostly barren. This was probably in part due to the Evolution Ore, another part due to the Godlens hogging much of the Force, and only finally due to the natural environment.
But it was within this endless expanse of dull, unkempt and dry lands that the young man kept running, and in the opposite direction of Godlen city at that.
Soon, Leonel could see the destination, probably even before the young man did, and it was mostly because of Anastasia because it was simply too well hidden.
He could have called this land a desert if not for the fact there was no sand, it was that barren. It was simply a wasteland. But within this wasteland, there was a... hatch?
It was too perfectly hidden, a one by one meter patch of perfectly covered land in the middle of nowhere. Even if you knew what you were looking for, it would be impossible to find without senses like Anastasia's. But even then, Anastasia would have overlooked it if not for the fact Leonel had told her to look closely.
Leonel simply didn't believe that this young man would run any further. Not only was he nearing his limits, but the wilderness extended tens of thousands more kilometers. Whatever he was looking for had to be here.
And he was correct.
The young man rushed up to the inconspicuous piece of land, stomped his feet in an odd rhythm, and then the hatch opened up.
He looked around, probably out of habit, then hopped inside.
The hatch closed after him and he disappeared from the world without a single word.
Leonel stopped and didn't continue.
According to Anastasia, there was an underground city down there, but he didn't have her observe it any more thoroughly.
If the young man's strength was anything to go by, there was nothing impressive about this city. However, it was his turn to be cautious.
Right now he was too weak to just hope into enemy territory just to satisfy his curiosity. Plus, if there was someone who was accidentally alerted by Anastasia's sweep, he would be pissed.
He knew that the odds there was anyone who could sense Anastasia was minimal, but since he didn't have the strength, there was no point in finding out.
After confirming where the young man went, Leonel nodded to himself then retreated.
He had no intention of getting himself into another ridiculous situation he would have to escape from, at least not until he had more strength. He might as well break his Dark Force into the Impetus State first.
After that, he'd create more training rooms using the Evolution Ore. Once that was done, he'd probably take out the Core of the mine and have Anastasia deal with it. It was a valuable resource, there was no point in leaving it here.
Leonel returned to his cozy spot and finished Crafting his Dark Force comprehension room.
With the purified Dark Evolution Ores, he could feel an insatiable desire around him, one primed for more darkness, greater darkness, seeking it and rejecting everything else.
He sunk into a state of meditation, entering the Dream Plane.
At that moment, the violent pulls were even more obvious and clear. He couldn't just feel exactly what the Evolution Ores wanted to accept, but also everything they wanted to reject.
This gave him context that he had never had before, especially when he felt the Dark Force begin its attempt to suffocate his Light Force.
It was then that he felt a flash of enlightenment and things changed around him.
In the universe, darkness was the absence of light, at least this was how he had always been taught.
However, after Leonel realized that it was his education as a human of Earth that held him back for so long when it came to his Universal Cycles, he chose to scrutinize every foundational piece of knowledge he had thoroughly.
For Dark Force, that led him down an interesting path... Dark Matter.
Even modern-day Earth didn't have a thorough understanding of it. It supposedly made up the majority of all that was, and yet he never heard talk of it.
Leonel felt that this meditation room he had created of blackened gold crystals was tugging at this fabric as well.
Dark Force wasn't just the absence of Light Force, it was its own existence, it had its own meaning, its own character.
And it was powerful.
A flash of darkness pooled in Leonel's eyes and his pale violet hair turned a deep magenta for a moment before it slowly pulled back.
He exhaled a slow breath.
His Dark Force affinity was especially high now that the Dark Northern Star Lineage Factor had been awakened within him and the fact his Scarlet Star Force Innate Node was dormant.
So, Leonel wasn't surprised that he managed to step into the Impetus State so quickly. Though he obviously had this room he forged to thank as well.
'This place's help is minimal. I have a feeling that it should only be able to help me reach the Middle Impetus State at most. Beyond that, I would need something else, or have to improve the Evolution Ores.' Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Leonel turned his attention toward the golden scaled koi fish for the first time in a long while. He wondered...
'That's right, I should try to analyze the Ability Indexes of those two in the Silver Tablet as well and see if I can help them improve.'
"Hey Allan," Leonel called as he stepped out from his training room. "How free are you?"
"I'm good," a voice came back.
Leonel was probably easily thousands of miles from Allen, but thanks to Anastasia, they could talk like they were right beside each other.
"Good, let's go have some fun."