Dimensional Descent

"Yes, yes, yes. Excellent. Bring it out, I need to see it now. I mean, I'd like to see it."

Iselan was truly too excited. He reacted almost like a child on Christmas day.

It wasn't that he had never seen a Sixth Dimensional metal before. It was rather that he had never seen one that he would have the liberty of using and experimenting with. However, when he saw the metal Leonel brought out, he almost directly fainted from happiness.

"Is this… Is this…Refined? No, it's not just refined, it's perfectly refined…"

Iselan's hands trembled.

He had expected to be given a Sixth Dimensional Ore rife with impurities. Usually, the higher the Dimension, the more difficult it was to deal with such things. Iselan was already prepared to lose at least half the Ore's value due to his inadequate skill. However, this Ore was actually perfectly refined…

The Refinement of Ores worked just like it did for Forces, not in practice but at least in theory. That was to say that Ores became more powerful the purer their refined result was. In addition, the purer the resulting metal, the more powerful the subsequent Craft would be as well.

Most only had a single Refinement Technique they poured their heart and soul into for all their lives. However, Leonel had dozens at his finger tips and he usually decided which to use depending on the metal he was working with. It could be said that this first step of Crafting was among the absolute most important.

That said, it had to be remembered that this Ore was already partially refined by Rotsan, though not perfectly. Leonel had only re-refined it after breaking it down into its individual parts and separating them out.

Ultimately, Rotsan had had 10 kilograms of Sixth Dimensional metals in his body, of which there was just one kind. This metal was an Foundation Type Ore like Urbe Ore, except rather than solidifying foundation like Urbe Ore did, it instead increased explosive and penetrative power. It was exactly this Ore that allowed Rotsan to take his Bronze Crafts and make them no less lethal than many Silver Crafts.

While it might sound odd that Rotsan only had a single type of this Ore, it made perfect sense. After all, Rotsan was ultimately in the Fifth Dimension. Even if his knowledge extended into the limits of Silver Crafting, there was a limit to what his Bronze Force would accomplish since it was in the Fifth Dimension.

Rotsan focusing on a single, optimal Ore that could guarantee him a huge boost in strength was definitely the smartest decision. And, it was a decision that also benefited Leonel greatly.

This Ore was known as Shearing Ore. It was incredibly stable, stable enough for Rotsan to trust it within his own body, and it also only needed small quantities to qualitatively change the strength of even lower Dimensional Ores.

For a Bronze Crafter like Iselan who didn't yet have the skill to form Silver Crafts, this Ore felt like the most valuable thing he had ever seen in his life. It represented not just research potential, but also a windfall of funds to help him reach the next level.

The problem with Silver Crafts is that those from lower Dimensions have problems using them properly. They often take too much skill or energy which is why people usually stick to their own Dimensions in many cases.

However, with this Shearing Ore, Iselan could make Fifth Dimensional constructions with the power of Sixth Dimensional ones. If he found the right buyer, likely a rich family wanting to pamper a weaker youth, the amount of money he could make would be enough to support him until he entered the legendary ranks of Silver Crafter!

Iselan was so excited that he wanted to kiss Leonel on the face.

"Your price! Name it! Name it!"

Leonel laughed beside himself. The childish eagerness of Iselan grew on him almost immediately. He had half expected for him to have to show off some of his own strength to ensure that he wasn't scammed or strong armed, but he had never expected the Head Crafter of this Guild to be so straight forward.

"I'm willing to exchange this five kilogram piece of Shearing Ore for ten billion contribution points. What do you say?"

Leonel had chosen to keep five kilograms for him and chose to give Iselan the other portion. However, he felt that this was more than enough to meet his needs.

"DEAL!"

"Iselan!"

The middle-aged woman who had initially met with Leonel, Aluniya, was shocked. Ten billion merit points wasn't enough to empty their treasure store, but it was damn near close to that.

"What are you screaming about, woman? Is ten billion merit points not worth five kilograms of a Sixth Dimensional perfectly purified metal?! This isn't an Ore!"

Iselan was usually fairly easy going, but having his expertise questioned wasn't something he was willing to tolerate. He was just a step from the Quasi Silver rankings, but that didn't mean he had gone blind by greed!

In, there was a reason he didn't even try to strong arm Leonel, and that was because he wasn't a fool. Such a young Bronze Crafter even holding such a perfectly purified metal… Wouldn't he be asking for death if he actually dared to slight such a young man? Even if he was beaten to death he wouldn't believe that there wasn't an absolute expert backing Leonel.

Plus, beyond that, the price was fair.

Usually, no matter the proposed exchange rate, no one would ever trade in a Sixth Dimensional metal for any number of Fifth Dimensional ones. But, Leonel's ask for merit points, knowing full well there weren't Sixth Dimensional Force Metal or Herbs here, was essentially doing exactly that.

If anything, he was the one taking advantage of Leonel right now. It felt like a godsend was brought straight to his door.

"But…"

Aluniya wasn't trying to question the dollar amount, the problem was that this transaction would stall the work of the Guild branch as a whole. And, if that happened, it might offend some of their more powerful backers… After all, those individuals in the shadows were why they had come to this backwater galaxy to begin with. This might spell trouble…

[At least two more chapters coming later today, I'll try for three, but at least two for sure]