Chapter 171 - Red

Many hours later, one could find Leonel in a familiar position. His hands were pressed flush against a wall as Force slowly flowed out from his hands.

Though this seemed simple for him, it was actually quite difficult. Since he forewent placing Force Nodes in his hands, it was a bit more difficult for him in comparison to another to achieve this result. But, with how high his spirit was, how could his Force control not also be great?

Soon, another ore had manifested. This time, it radiated a dirty gold light. It was quite similar to the fur coat of the bear king, albeit much less resplendent.

'Black Tempered Vein Ore...' Leonel smiled happily.

Vein Ores were another family of metals. They could be considered another ore type that was almost as important as Urbe Ores. However, they were just barely lacking.

In truth, the value of Vein Ores was above Urbe Ores. However, the reason Urbe Ores could be considered a step above in usefulness was because it had an impossibly wide variety of applications. One could use Urbe Ores in practically every Force Craft imaginable. It was for this reason that the universal currency of the universe were Urbe Coins.

However, Vein Ores were used in particularly intricate creations. They had characteristics very similar to Force pathways that linked one's Force Nodes. When they were used in crafts, they allowed Force to flow more freely.

That said, this wasn't the most important use of Vein Ores. Their greatest use was in drawing more permanent Force Arts.

Take for example Leonel's pistol craft. He had to draw the Force Arts directly onto the alloys he fused with his Black Urbe Ore. However, had he liquefied a compatible Vein Ore first, and then used it to inscribe the Force Arts, their power would gain a great boost. In addition, it would greatly strengthen the nozzles as well, allowing them to withstand many more shots.

There was a final more secretive use of Vein Ores as well. In fact, Leonel wouldn't even be aware of this had it not been for the words of the creator of [Dimensional Cleanse].

Leonel was hesitant to do this. He didn't know what the situation was outside. If he left, he would probably expose everyone to danger again. Even if he set everyone else apart, he still needed to worry about himself. After all, he would still need a while longer to recover to his peak.

'Forget it, forget it. I've harvested enough for now and have all the materials I need. Even though I didn't find a Dual Water-Earth Elemental Vessel ore, I did find an Earth one. If I combined that with the Rushing River Vein Ore I found, it would still be possible to combine the two Beast Crystal abilities...'

Much like Elemental Vessels, there were different types of Vein Ores as well. Rushing River Vein Ores were especially good at inscribing for Water Elemental Force Arts. So, if Leonel was careful with his planning, it would be possible to combine the two without much issue.

Just like before, Leonel took his time to dig the entire vein out. He knew that if he kept the core of the vein intact, it might be possible for the vein to grow more ores for him in the future. Who knows, maybe the Segmented Cube had this ability as well. Even if it didn't, Leonel would still do this.

Just when Leonel was content with his gains and about to return to the cave to get started on the blueprints, his steps suddenly froze.

There, on the wall he just extracted the vein from, there were faint cracks.

It was incredibly difficult to spot, but there seemed to be a faint light coming from the other side. If it wasn't for the fact most of the hive was so dark, it wouldn't have been so hard for Leonel to spot the cracks because even if his side was dark, the other side would be flooded with light.

'This part of the wall is so thin...? I can probably pass my Internal Sight through then to see if it's worth getting Little Tolly's help to knock it away. It might not necessarily be a good thing to have a path to another network of tunnels...'

After having this thought, Leonel snaked his Internal Sight forward, passing through the gaps to see what was on the other side. But, the result left him stunned speechless.

Not only was the other side almost like an entire separate world, what shocked him the most was that there were actually other people there. Not just the fact they were other people, but the fact they were other people with characteristics Leonel was all too familiar with.

'Red hair... red eyes... The Brazinger Clan?'