Dimensional Descent

The conclusion was simple. So long as you were within the first of three steps, and you hadn't locked yourself in by entering the Sixth Dimension, everything was still negotiable.

The reason why he could rearrange the steps of Dimensional Cleanse like that without much backlash was precisely because it didn't matter which of the three steps you took first.

If he had wanted, he could have focused on his body in the Third Dimension, his mind in the Fourth, and his energy in the Fifth. Who knew, maybe there were some techniques out there that did just that.

He now also understood why he felt so depleted, why his body was so weak and why his Innate Nodes were dormant.

The real reason was because he wasn't in the Fifth Dimension at all...

He was in the Third!

The reason he felt that he was in the Fifth was because his mind was fully unshackled. It was also why his Dream Force was so absolutely powerful.

His Innate Nodes were dormant because he technically hadn't formed his Nodes, though they were very clearly in his body.

His body was weak because he had yet to form his Nodal Pathways, though technically he already had.

Everything lined up and made much more sense to him.

One might be wondering why it was that Leonel was so excited. After all, just because he understood his situation now with greater accuracy, didn't mean that anything had changed.

He still didn't know how to move forward, and if anything, he had even more questions now than answers.

But Leonel didn't see it that way.

The first thing he had thought when he realized he was in the Fifth Dimension, after he finished cursing, was that it was a shame he hadn't been returned to the Third Dimension instead.

had been laid out

didn't you say

You like to get in your own head as though you're the only one with all the answers. You should

heart skipped a beat, but then he

some closure the last time he talked to his father, or at least his AI father, but that didn't make him use the dictionary more often. If

knew, maybe his father really would know something about all of this;

in his mind was definitely something that his

been very helpful to him when his journey began, at least not in terms of the progression of his path. But now

had created such a detailed schematic to help his Crafting progress step by step. Even now, there were still more lessons in there that he could be taking

plan for his Crafting, but then leave him to

he had always planned for this day

they both liked to hold up a mirror to his face and show him how truly annoying he

didn't seem to really

take a look.

one of the almost feral surviving Betas had

a few stragglers remaining that hadn't been killed by the Alpha's Domain, and they all wanted to get at him and tear him to pieces, but they also couldn't step onto the magma without combusting and dying. So they had

a bit sad, but also another

"Hey!"

Beta, causing their heart to shake and their growls to subside. It

he your

Beta hesitated, but when he realized that the compulsion was gone because

compulsions on them, but not enough to stop him

out one of the Betas he had stored away from his first encounter, the

recognize him?"