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C455 - Battlefield

"How did you gather so much?" Leonel finally asked Lionus.

"These?" Lionus started. "This room didn't use to be so full. It got like this after the Merlin Trials collapsed."

Leonel's eyes widened. "You mean?"

"Mm. These used to be rewards you could spend Skill Points to buy. But, after the Trials collapsed, they were all collected up by us."

Leonel was speechless.

Back then, he had been mostly worried about gathering up the core of the trial world. Since he was taking it, he felt it would be too shameless to take anything else, so he only accepted the goddess necklace after Crakos brought it to him personally.

But, he hadn't expected that he had really missed out on so much…

Now that Leonel thought about it, when he was within the trials, he had been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items within the Special Store. So, instead of scrolling through all of them one by one, he used his voice to filter for what he wanted to look for.

In that situation, he didn't really have time to leisurely scroll through the store, so he always filtered using his voice. Due to this, he didn't have a proper understanding of the scope of items that could be found within the Special Store.

'… I was too nice…' Leonel thought to himself.

Leonel shook his head.

Most of the Ores he saw here were Tier 1 to 3 Black Grade Ores, this put them at the lower levels of the Fourth Dimension. But, the sheer volume might very well beyond anything even The Empire had managed to gather to this point.

Of course, Leonel couldn't confirm this with any sort of certainty, but he felt that he likely wasn't too far off with his assessment.

'… My Divine Armor… If I can…'

Leonel slowly shook his head.

He didn't feel he was skilled enough to complete his Divine Armor just yet, not to mention the fact he hadn't even decided just what kind of Divine Armor to build.

Still, if there was ever a place to train, this would be it. And, there was likely no better place for Leonel to find the resources he needed to build it.

'Wait…!'

Leonel's gaze swept through the massive treasure house.

At that moment, he suddenly shot forward, stunning Lionus who had been by his side.

"Wait for me!" Lionus ran after Leonel.

Lionus had unfortunately yet to reach the peak of the Third Dimension, so he hadn't broken through like his father, mother, sister and the others. So, he was obviously no match for Leonel in speed.

Luckily, this store house was only a few hundred meters in length and width. Even though Leonel was much faster, he couldn't go very far to begin with.

Lionus found Leonel amidst a pile of ores, his hand pressed flush against its side.

"Ah… Be careful, if it falls over."

Leonel nodded, acknowledging Lionus' worries. If he died beneath a pile of precious Ores he had just been greedily eyeing, wouldn't that be too pathetic?

The pile suddenly shifted, causing Lionus' heart to seize. But, Leonel didn't panic.

Soon, as though by magic, the pile separated, revealing a radiant piece of Ore.

Leonel grabbed onto the Ore as the rest of the pile settled down. Only then did Lionus feel his heart calm down once again.

He had forgotten that Leonel was a Variant Earth Mage. Something like this was within his abilities. But, the level of control that was needed was beyond Lionus' imagining.

Lionus shook his head and looked curiously at the shimmering black Ore in Leonel's hands.

"You recognize this Ore?" Lionus asked, somewhat curious.

Though they had brought all of these Ores here, the truth was that they had yet to research most of their functions. In this aspect, they were still very much in the dark compared to others.

Usually, the Merlin Trials would have a short explanation of what the Ore was before they chose it. But, obviously, with it collapsed, it couldn't provide such functionality.

"This? I recognize all the Ores." Leonel said with a smile. "This one is Black Urbe Ore, it's a foundational type metal used as a fusion agent in Crafts. It works almost like iron in that it has a base type that can be forged into all sorts of chemical structures depending on your approach and technique. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was the most important Ore in the entire universe.

"This one is special though because it was on the verge of becoming Bronze Urbe Ore before it was mined from its Core. So, the Ore Essence within it is a margin purer than regular Black Urbe Ore. This Ore might be able to help me clear a final hurdle in my Metal Body."

Lionus' brows raised in surprise.

It wasn't because of Leonel's detailed explanation, but rather because Leonel said he recognized all of these Ores.

Even though Lionus wasn't educated on the topic, he could easily tell that there were hundreds of types of Ores in this room, each with their own unique variations. To be able to recognize them all would take an absolute expert.

Leonel took a deep breath. "First, I need to organize this room. There's no order to anything."

Leonel always liked things to be neat and tidy, this was why his room was always meticulously kept after, though he cared less about his own appearance. It was just a quirk of his.

He had the compulsion to organize these ores by type and ability. It would make what he wanted to do next much more efficient.

"Things may get a bit wild, Lionus. Stay close to me if you'd like to remain here."

Lionus nodded and then shook his head.

"It's fine. I have a feeling this will take a long time, no need for me to continuously be looking over your shoulder." Lionus chuckled. "If you need anything else, just let me know. There will be another council gathering soon to strategize defensive measures, we also can't be certain of The Empire's plans now and if they've changed…"

Leonel nodded in acknowledgement. He didn't expect everyone to base plans around him to begin with. It may very well be possible that Arthur wasn't too optimistic about him from the beginning.

In the end, he was just a single Third Dimensional being. How much change could he really cause?

At the moment, it was very likely that all the Forts and the capital were being attacked. If Leonel wanted to swing his weight around, he would need more.

Leonel could already sense that there was the Evolution Ore he had been looking for, for so long hidden in these piles. It was just unfortunately more difficult to reach. There was no doubt that this Evolution Ore was the most important centerpiece of his Divine Armor and there was just enough of it to form the three portions of Essence he needed.

Leonel's gaze sharpened as he looked around.. This would be his battlefield.

To be continued