Dimensional Descent

Leonel focused entirely on hunting the spatial bushes, or what he soon learned were called Spatial Bristle Bushes.

Spatial Bristle Bushes were known for their thorn-like protrusions forming bony structures around its tender leaves and branches. These bony structures would form into tight circles enveloped by sharp spikes. When connected to the Spatial Bristle Bush, these spikes would be very sharp, slicing through flesh as though it was nothing more than butter. In addition, when the bush sensed danger, these invisible spikes would lengthen, skewering everything in its surroundings.

Once the defenses of the Spatial Bristle Bush were activated, it would take several days to weeks for it to calm. In fact, as Leonel rushed around, many of the bushes he came across he had no choice but to leave be and abandon because they had already been harassed once, making it more difficult for him to do what he needed to do.

However, this didn't deter Leonel very much. These bushes weren't very rare and due to his spatial affinity, he could sense them from further away than his Internal Sight and eyes could. Just rushing around for a few hours, Leonel found four bushes in a relaxed state. Though, he was obstructed by almost ten that were very much not relaxed.

If others saw what Leonel was doing, they would be shocked. Most had to scratch and claw for just a single spatial device, but Leonel had almost 150 now, each of various degrees of rarity. However, to Leonel, his process was quite simple, especially with the increase to computational ability.

The first thing he had done was form an Artistic Conception around the Spatial Bristle Bush using Camelot's Magic System. This sort of formation was a step deeper than even a Dream Sculpt would be as it dove into the very foundation of the bush's being.

Once this construct was finished, Leonel had a practically infallible representation of how the bush would read and react in any sort of situation. With this in mind, he formed a perfect counter, relying on his Dark Ice Divine Armor to draw the Force Art around it.

Leonel was very much used to using clashing concepts of space to get what he wanted. Back when he fought the Puppet Master, he had used the teleportation formations of White City and Kaefir City. By using the push and pull effect of both teleportation formations working against and with one another, he had been able to freeze the region between the two cities and even kept White City suspended in the air long enough for him to stroll out as he pleased.

Leonel had accomplished that feat with less spatial affinity, less experience and far less intelligence and computational ability than he had now, not to mention all while fighting an existence that was far beyond himself in strength…

So what could he accomplish now?

The answer was quite simple: A lot more.

Leonel used the strength of the Spatial Bristle Bush against itself. His own spatial affinity was far less than that of the bush so he couldn't possibly expect to do anything outstanding. But, what he could do was slow it down just a little bit.

In its lulled state, the bushes were in enough of a calm that Leonel's petty tricks worked on it. Using a Force Art, he slowed the movement of space around the bush just to the point where it practically froze over, causing cracks of glass to appear in the air.

The bush would immediately recognize this as a threat to its safety. But, due to the fact it was reacting on instinct and not intelligence, it wouldn't realize that it was actually pushing and pulling against itself.

This would set off an enormous chain reaction that would overextend the Spatial Bristle Bush, causing its more fragile leaves and branches to be torn apart by its own strength.

In an irony of all ironies, the only part of it that would survive the destruction were the only parts of its designed to be its defenses in the first place: the spatial bristles.

Without its core and essentially losing its life, the spatial bristles would become harmless, looking like bone shards fashioned into makeshift rings like some sort of arts and crafts project result.

Along the way, Leonel ran into many more beasts. But, as he hadn't traveled very far into the forest, they remained relatively weak and easy to handle. After just two hours, he returned to the wall of black logs, exhaling an even breath.

'320 spatial bristle rings. This should be enough to trade for what I need.'

Leonel didn't like the idea of relying on just a single plan, though. He had invested two hours into this and could have invested more, but putting your eggs in one basket was foolhardy no matter how certain he was. Plus, he was sure there would be more opportunities to exploit those bushes in the future.

Leonel once again placed a palm on the trees that lined the outer reaches of the forest. The ones here were the shortest and weakest of them all. If one wanted to cut any of them down, this would definitely be the best choice.

There were only two options Leonel thought he had here. One was to use something sharper than this tree could withstand. Two was to rely on his Scarlet Star Force.

The issue was that he didn't know if either was viable. First, he didn't have a weapon sharp enough. Even if he took the risk to claim a Quasi Gold Peak Spear right now, it probably still wouldn't be enough alone. And second, if he was only planning on using a passive comprehension of Destruction, it wouldn't nearly be enough either, and he had no intention of injuring himself so severely by using it actively.

'It seems like the only option is a combination of both… There's an hour left, let's see how far these spatial bristle rings get me first.'

Leonel's figure flickered, a road of white gold appearing beneath his feet as he shot into the skies, running up the side of the black log.

When he got to the other side, though, landing much more softly after learning his lesson, he immediately felt the weird shift in the atmosphere.