Chapter 114
But how long does it take for a Tier Five Sky-rank powerhouse to appear? How many hardships must a prodigy endure before becoming a Tier Five Sky-rank powerhouse?
With these Arcane Battleships, if running at full capacity, it takes just over a month to build one. Including testing and adjustments, in three months, you could create another Arcane Battleship identical to the one before you!
And as long as there are materials, production can continue indefinitely, with limitless development. Besides, these are just the first batch of Arcane Battleships—future models will surely be even stronger.
Even Fantasi and Pinocchio were flushed with excitement. They’d devoted their lives to alchemy—if they personally took down a Void Beast, it might not mean much to them. But if something they crafted could tear apart a Void Beast with ease, the sense of achievement and satisfaction would make their whole lives worthwhile...
The crew aboard the three Arcane Battleships now acted as if they’d downed several bottles of Frenzy Potion—each with flushed cheeks, diving back into their research. The alchemists piloting the ships treated their task as something sacred, even though flying these ships was so simple it barely required attention.
After seven or eight hours of slow travel, the USS Dauntless and the three Arcane Battleships finally reached a vast, empty stretch of space. Not even asteroids passed through here—this was the entrance to another plane, where the dimensional barrier was at its thinnest.
In the world of Northend, places like this are natural Plane Paths. As long as an alchemical array is set up and the Plane Path is opened, safe passage is possible.
There’s an area here only a few kilometers wide—that’s the dimensional barrier of this plane. Nothing exists around it. Although the plane’s power can’t leak out, there’s a natural repulsive force here. Ordinary asteroids or other objects simply can’t pass through.
This was how new planes were discovered during the Plane Colonization Era—especially those that were relatively complete.
When the dimensional barriers of two planes resonate or overlap, that’s how a natural Plane Path appears. Without any overlap or resonance, there won’t be a Plane Path. If you have fixed coordinates, though, you can use an alchemical array to open one.
But if no new planes are discovered, it becomes extremely difficult to find another...
In the future, most new planes will be found by sending Arcane Battleships searching through the endless void. Once you find the coordinates, you can build a Plane Path and easily enter the new plane.
The three Arcane Battleships stopped around the unstable space, while the USS Dauntless slowly approached. Its massive prow gently touched the unstable region, sending ripples of spatial distortion outward. A black void several kilometers wide appeared, its diameter fluctuating between four or five kilometers and two or three.
Leon led Hubert, Reina, Perry, Lord Shaun, and Hughes across the deck of the USS Dauntless and into the fluctuating black void. The dimensional barrier had already been pierced by the Dauntless; now, anyone could enter freely. If you couldn’t tear open the barrier, you’d have to rely on brute force, then use an alchemical array to stabilize the breach.
But there wasn’t time for all that now. Besides, the barrier was so unstable—clearly, someone had already been here. If you tried to tear it open with magic, you’d be detected. Using the Dauntless’s raw power to force a passage was much simpler.
But realizing someone had already gone in, Leon’s expression soured. The original plan had to be abandoned—he’d just have to take a few people in and see what was going on.
In a pale blue sky, the space shattered like broken glass—cracks spread, then everything ruptured. A void a kilometer wide appeared, and as the spatial ripples spread, they were suppressed by the cold, biting winds above.
Leon led Hubert, Reina, and Perry out of the void. The rift behind them slowly closed, leaving only faint, barely visible black cracks that flickered now and then.
"It's freezing here..."
Hubert let out a dazed breath, and in an instant, it crystallized into ice, drifting down as shards. Even the winds he controlled hovered in midair, their power tinged white by frost.
Thin clouds floated over a thousand meters below their feet. Through gaps in the clouds, the battered earth could be seen—its surface covered in countless blossoms, vivid from above. Towering trees glowed with a gentle radiance.
On the eastern horizon, an orange sun was about to set, while in the west, a blue sun rose. This plane not only had two suns, but their rising and setting were completely different from Northend—or, really, from most planes.
Standing high in the sky, Leon couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise at the rising blue sun. The orange sun was nothing special—just like any ordinary sun, nurturing plants and warming the land.
But the blue sun, radiating pale blue light, seemed to shower the world in magical brilliance. As it rose, it was as if the entire plane was submerged in a sea of mana. Everything was bathed in that glow—even standing in the sky, you could feel your spent mana slowly recovering, all on its own, without any need for meditation!
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Except in places with extremely dense mana, even in Northend, you’d never see anything like this.
Leon gazed at the slowly rising blue sun. He’d known this plane had a special blue sun, but seeing it for himself was still awe-inspiring.
In the endless planes, those with a sun that could bathe the world in limitless mana were few and far between. Especially among planes suitable for human life—there was only one with a blue sun like this.
This meant that nearly everything in this plane was infused with mana—even the most ordinary weeds here could be used as low-grade mana herbs in Northend.
"Merlin, this plane feels strange. I think my abilities are somehow limited. The whole world is flooded with mana, and I feel uncomfortable—there’s a real sense of danger here..."
Lord Shaun shrank to the size of a fist, crouching on Leon’s shoulder, his brows furrowed as he gazed at the plane, looking conflicted.
Leon shook his head.
"It’s fine. Just be careful—don’t bring too many people or make too much noise. This plane is very safe, not much danger at all."
Anderson floated to Leon’s right, all three faces turned toward the blue sun, greedily soaking up its brilliance. Hearing Lord Shaun’s words, all three faces nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, this plane is pretty odd—two suns, and one of them showers the world in mana. A place like this could easily spawn terrifying creatures. We should be careful."
Leon shook his head again.
"Relax. The strongest creatures this plane can produce top out around level forty-one or forty-two—nothing higher. What we really need to worry about are the people who came in before us."
They drifted slowly toward the ground, passing through the thin clouds. The closer they got, the denser the mana became. As the blue sun rose, the whole land seemed to glow, and nearly every plant was absorbing the magical light.
Mana waves surged gently across the plane. Here, any spell cast would be much more powerful—but at the same time, all weaker mana fluctuations would be completely hidden by the ambient flow.
Before they reached the ground, a giant tree—over three hundred meters tall—began to shake. From its crown, a swarm of dragonfly-like creatures, each with wings spanning seven or eight meters, burst forth.
The sky filled with giant dragonflies, forming a cloud of pale blue light that swept toward the group. The tides of mana were almost visible—waves of pale blue magical energy surged with the dragonflies, making the mana fluctuations in the surrounding dozens of kilometers even more intense.
Countless giant dragonflies gathered, their combined strength—plus the plane’s dense mana—instantly reached Sky Rank levels. Worse, as more dragonflies poured out from the tree’s crown, their power kept rising.
Leon remained calm. Hubert hefted Slaughter, grinning and itching for action, but Reina struck first—a vivid blue rune flashed from her fingertip, and in an instant, countless ice crystals spread like a plague, blanketing several kilometers in snow and frost.
The snow and ice, like shards of broken crystal, fell on the giant dragonflies. The moment they touched, the frenzied insects froze into ice sculptures and tumbled toward the ground.
After falling dozens of meters, the frozen dragonflies were shredded by the surging mana currents they’d created. Every second, hundreds or thousands turned to ice shards, expanding the snowy reach even further.
In less than three minutes, the cloud-like swarm of dragonflies had vanished. Snow and ice drifted down, turning at least seven or eight kilometers around into a frozen world.
Leon led the group to the giant tree’s crown, where traces of fire damage were still visible—clearly the work of whoever came before. Each leaf was massive, seven or eight meters across, and each served as a nest for the giant dragonflies. After a few minutes searching, Leon found a hollow in the main trunk, seven or eight meters wide, filled with shimmering, golden liquid.
"This is Golden Nectar—it can be used to make several Sky Rank alchemical potions. Not only does it heal wounds, it treats hidden injuries and even regulates mana. It’s rare to find so much at once; we’re lucky..."
Leon tasted the Golden Nectar. It was sweet, and as he swallowed, he felt as if his body were soaking in a hot spring—warm energy flowed through him, cleansing impurities and nourishing his mana. It was a rare treasure that could unlock latent potential.
These giant dragonfly-like creatures are mostly around level twenty; those reaching level thirty are considered leaders. Their numbers are huge—so long as there's enough Golden Nectar, their population keeps expanding. But Golden Nectar is scarce; without it, they die off quickly despite their rapid reproduction.
Leon took eighty percent of the Golden Nectar from the trunk, leaving the rest behind for the giant dragonfly larvae—enough for them to grow.
"Merlin, how do you know about these things? Have you been here before?"
Anderson’s three faces crowded around Leon, asking the question almost offhandedly—but all three were nearly nose-to-nose with him.
Leon ignored Anderson. These things are well documented—the uniqueness of this plane means its entrance can’t be hidden. Anyone coming in must enter from the endless void, through a fixed gateway that no one can change.
In the future, this place—known as the Munster Plane—would be fought over by many great powers. But in the end, no one could exploit it freely. All they could do was build a massive fortress in the endless void, splitting Munster’s riches among those qualified to intervene.
By then, every faction had the ability to fight and travel in the endless void—Arcane Battleships had become widespread, so no one could monopolize all the plane’s resources.
Combined with the Munster Plane’s own peculiarities, compromise was inevitable.
Besides Golden Nectar, this place has plenty of other treasures. Even in Northend’s golden age, when Sky Rank titles were everywhere, Golden Nectar remained priceless. Its value rivals the magic crystals of level forty-five magical beasts, and the very best nectar is useful even to those who’ve kindled Soul Fire.
"Merlin, this place... it’s strange. The souls of these creatures are all broken, especially the larvae—their souls are just tiny fragments..."