Chapter 287: Young Woman

Leonel met King Arthur's gaze. 

It was a short interaction, hardly worth a thiing. Yet, Arthur seemed to realize that Leonel's gaze was even firmer than it had been in the past. Not only that, but he noticed that the little beast lazing around Leonel's neck had grown more active. 

'What is that beast… this boy was actually willing to spend 5 skill points and a star point to allow it to move…?'

A star point was worth 100 skill points at this juncture. It wasn't a small matter to make the choice to use it. Arthur couldn't help but grow a level more serious. 

<Second Trial Begin!>

The world warped. Suddenly, the singular square platforms of a meter in length and width lengthened, stretching into the distance. In the blink of an eye, it formed several long roads the each of them stood at the end of. 

Leonel sent a gaze toward Little Nana before looking back toward the long road ahead of him. Without another thought, he took a strong step forward. 

**

The universe was a nearly endlessly vast place. Some believed it was infinite while others believed it was infinitely expanding. There were even some schools of thought that believed there were endless copies of this impossible vastness, each telling the same story a different way. 

Still, there was only one truth. 

There was just a single universe. However, within this single universe, there were trillion upon trillions of worlds each with billions upon billions of existences of their own. 

In this universe, there were usually many names for the same thing. However, this universe only went by a single name by those who were advanced enough to realize its profundities — The Dimensional Verse. 

Though the Dimensional Verse was formed of many worlds, it was more accurate to say that these worlds simply represented a 'Fold of Reality'. Each Fold encompassed a world and could be given a Dimensional Grade. 

A single Fold could vary in size. It could be as small as a single city within a planet or as large as an entire galaxy. It is when these Folds begin to evolve that a 'world' is considered to also evolve. 

The Fold that represented Earth's world encompassed Earth and the Moon. In comparision to other Folds, it was neither too big nor too small. But, it could be said to be convenient. 

When Folds are too small, the benefit is also small. The evolution potential will be limited as there are limited gains to a small scale evolution. The smaller the scale, the less change there is to catalyze, and thus the less benefits there are to gain. 

However, at the same time, if the Fold is too large, it becomes too difficult to deal with. For a fledgling world like Earth, what could it do if its Fold of Reality encompassed its entire solar system? What if a Zone appeared on Jupiter? 

Even though Earth's advancement in technology has been vast in the past several centuries, what did it matter if it was impossible to use this technology thanks to the Metamorphosis?

This wasn't the only issue with large Folds either. The larger the Fold, the more history a Zone could encompass, and the more complex they became to clear. The more random a Zone could become, the more complex its quests become, and the more difficult it was for Zone detection treasures to calculate the quest requirements. 

Of course, a place like Jupiter wouldn't have any real history of its own. That would be nonsensical. However, its addition to a Fold of Reality could cause mutations in an otherwise normal history one would never expect…

Unfortunately, the size of Folds was destined to always grow. Though it would be nice if it remained the same until the fall of a world, such things were never meant to be. 

Due to this truth, the higher the Dimension of a world, the larger its Fold was, and the more powerful it had to be to survive to its current point. 

As though this wasn't enough, sometimes growing Folds could clash and begin to overlap, resulting in an instance of two worlds having no choice but to go to war for fear of their own world collapsing…

Still, these instances were often never reached by a world because the process of survivng a growing Fold of Reality was too much for many worlds to bear…

There were many worlds that sat at this crossroad. To the left was a road where they survived and managed to prosper. While the growing of a Fold could devastate a world, it also provided opportunities. 

The larger a Fold, the more Natural Force Arts it encompassed and the greater resources it could produce. 

However, the right was a road of immediate benefits. These worlds would choose to abandon their Folds of Reality to migrate to more stable Higher Dimensional Worlds. But, before they did so, they would wring their world dry of all the resources it had left, using it to fund their new lives…

Many worlds had a certain ratio of both types of people. Where there was population, there would always be opposing view points. 

Would it be better to build something with your own hands and leave something behind your future generations could admire you for? Or was that foolish? Why shed blood and tears for a reality you wouldn't get to enjoy yourself?

… 

The world of Terrain was at a similar crossroads. It had been 500 years since it evolved into a Fourth Dimensional World. 

Unlike Earth, it didn't sit in a Fold of Reality with much potential. According to the higher Dimensional beings, it would at most become a Fifth Dimensional World before reaching the end of its evolution. 

For worlds that reached the end of their potential, the clashing of these two ideologies would become especially tumultuous. The effort needed to have a world step into its final evolutionary stage was a lot… but just how many were able to put in this necessary effort?

That said, whether this clash was relevant to the events occurring at this very moment was very hard to tell. It could only be said that this matter should be left up to those observing…

…

At this very moment, a singular woman was the target of a large scale man hunt. 

This woman had long, flowing black hair and shining amber eyes that almost looked like shimmering gold when they reflected the sunlight. Even as she ran with all her being, her steps not leaving the slightest trace of her, her gaze didn't lose its alluring beauty. 

However, her eyes could be said to be the only beautiful thing about her. When one's eyes landed on her face, the sight would be enough to make even the most stoic of men sigh. 

It was clear to anyone that she was an impossible to find beauty, the kind that if Leonel were to witness, he would realize that Joan, Monet and Modred couldn't possibly hold a candle to. 

Unfortunatel, this beauty was completely marred by savage scars. They crisscrossed across her face, her cheeks, her lips, like enraged pinkish-purple earth worms. 

The scars seemed to pulse with her every breath, giving the impression that they were either coursing with a mysterious energy, were on the verge of becoming infected or were severely poisoned. It might even be possible that it was a combination of all three…

It was difficult to describe just how horrid the sight was. And, even for a man, let alone a young lady in her prime, it was difficult to accept having such an appearance. 

Most in this young woman's position would choose to cover it up. In fact, for most of her life, this particular woman had chosen to do exactly that. However, her reasons for doing so were very different from what another young woman would give. 

At this moment, though, these reasons hardly mattered. The life she lived on her home world was far different from the one she lived now. All she cared about was improving and tempering herself, growing powerful enough to one day seek revenge on her enemies. In fact, it was due to these ambitions that she had landed herself in so much trouble. 

The forces currently chasing her had standings in this world that would make the citizens of Terrain shiver in terror. However, this young woman had infuriated them all without hesitation. 

The young lady dashed through the mountain range. Beads of prespiration fell down her face, rolling over her unsightly scars. Every time they did, she would feel a nearly unquenchable desire to itch at her face, but she stubbornly ignored this desire, knowing that such an action would only make it all worse. 

'The beasts in this mountain range will be troublesome. They should give me some time…'

A serious expression warped the young woman's brows. 

She flipped her palm, causing a vial filled with a thick, blood red liquid to appear. It was because of this item that she was confident no beast would approach her. But, it was also because of this that she was being hunts like a criminal. Still, if she went through so much trouble fo this vial, she had to take advantage of it too.

With another flip of her palm, her opposite hand suddenly gained a familiar ax. 

If Leonel was there, despite the initial unfamiliarity he had with this young woman's face, he would immediately recognize her now. 

She was none other than the only woman in his heart, Aina Brazinger.