Leonel's eyes narrowed. He suddenly felt that his entire body was being chained down by something. He had a feeling that if he tried to cast a Mage Art, it would fall flat. He was even having a difficult time communicating with his Lineage Factors. In fact, of all his Lineage Factors, his Spear Domain Lineage Factor was the only one he could sense clearly.

After some thought, Leonel realized that the only reason he could sense his Lineage Factors at all was likely due to King's Might. If it wasn't for the will of King's Might, it might have been possible that all of his strength would have been locked away.

As for why he could sense his Spear Domain Lineage Factor the clearest, it was definitely because he currently held a spear in his hands. The combination of King's Might and this was likely why…

These were only speculations in the end. Leonel had no way of being certain that his deductions were correct. What he did know, though, was that his body suddenly felt heavy without his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. He hadn't realized just how much he had relied on it.

Due to the heaviness of his Metal Body, he was meant to be inherently slow and lumbering, especially at Tier 9. Of course, this problem was mostly mitigated because the Metal Synergy Lineage Factor was so high level, so the drawbacks weren't as obvious as other defensive Lineage Factors. However, that didn't mean there wasn't any trouble at all.

Unfortunately, while these invisible chains could seal away much of his strength, it couldn't change the heaviness of his Tier 9 Metal Body. Now, not only did he have the drawbacks of a heavy body, he couldn't even activate his Runes to maximize its usage.

'Fantastic…' Leonel smiled bitterly as the illusory spirit before him finally formed.

The spirit became a semi-transparent blue that looked like a paler shade of the star in the far off distance. It didn't have a face, but it wore an elaborate armor. Whether by coincidence or intention, it too wielded a spear as it faced Leonel.

Without warning, the spirit shot forward, its spear whistling.

No, it wasn't whistling, at least not in the normal, slicing through wind sense. From what Leonel could tell, the spirit and its weapon was unobstructed by wind as though they had become one with it. What was causing the whistling was the spiraling Star Force that accumulated at the spear's very tip.

However, even when the spear was just half a foot from his face, Leonel had yet to move. It wasn't because he was frozen stiff… But rather because…

It was too easy.

If there was one opponent Leonel feared the least in going against, it was a spearman. Especially a pure spearman who didn't seem to have any other abilities.

Leonel had seen so many styles of the spear and used just as many of them. His Dream World was filled with a countless range of techniques, each with their unique quirks, triggers and weaknesses immaculately marked down.

Even though his Spear Domain Ring didn't seem to activate against an illusory spear… It didn't matter.

Leonel's spear shot forward in an almost casual arc. The spirit couldn't react before it was bisected from the shoulder to the opposite hip, its spear completely losing its momentum.

As it fell, it turned into motes of light that entered Leonel's body. But, this only cause Leonel to frown all the more.

One would have thought that defeating the spirit should come with a reward? So why was it that his body felt even heavier instead?

It was just a small change, maybe only as small as a fraction of a gram, not even heavy enough to match up to a feather. But, how could Leonel miss something like this, even if it was so subtle?

The moment he had noticed that he was being suppressed, he had focused many of his minds onto monitoring every change in his body from now on. He wouldn't miss this even if he was absentminded, let alone now that he was intentionally looking out for such a thing.

If this trial only added more chains to you as more and more powerful enemies came and went… It would be troublesome indeed.

But, none of this explained where that overwhelming feeling of danger came from.

**

There were, indeed, multiple other roads of light leading to the same star. The moment Leonel's feet had touched down, it was as though something numerous had been waiting for finally began. Leonel seemed to be the only one unaware that he was not alone.

With how swiftly and almost without caution the other youths were moving, it was easy to tell that they were racing against an enemy they couldn't see, bringing out as much speed as they could to try and widen the gap between themselves and the others.

Unfortunately, the roads were simply too far apart. Just how massive was a star even in the Third Dimension? Even if there were thousands, tens of thousands of roads even, with how long they were and with how large the blue star was, it would be a long while before any of them set sights on one another.

Still, that didn't mean there weren't a few among the group who were just as 'leisurely' as Leonel. The unfortunate part was that even though they were moving forward as though they were taking a stroll, they were still moving along much faster than Leonel was…

It seemed that rather than taking things casually, these few young men and women were instead pacing themselves. Even with their measured speed, they were keenly aware that their swiftness would soon begin to matter.

But it was difficult to tell if this was because their placement was important… Or if there was a time limit.

The trouble was that this ignorance was the least of Leonel's worries… copyrighted © content.

Even the weakest of these participants were in the Fifth Dimension.

As for the strongest…?

They had long since entered the Sixth.