But how long does it take for a Sky Rank Level 5 powerhouse to appear? How many trials must a peerless genius endure before becoming a Sky Rank Level 5 mage?
With these Arcane Battleships before us, if we go all out, it would take just over a month to manufacture one. Including the time needed for adjustments, in three months we could create another Arcane Battleship identical to the one in front of us!
And as long as we have the materials, we can keep making them, developing without limit. Besides, these are only the first batch of Arcane Battleships. Future models will undoubtedly be even stronger.
Even Francis and Percival were flushed with excitement. A lifetime devoted to alchemy—if they personally slew a Void Behemoth, it might mean little. But if a product they created could effortlessly tear apart a Void Behemoth, that sense of achievement and satisfaction would make life truly worth it...
Now, every crew member aboard the three Arcane Battleships seemed as if they'd downed several bottles of Frenzy Potion—eyes red, furiously continuing their research. The alchemists responsible for piloting the Arcane Battleships acted as though performing a sacred duty, even though the flight controls were so simple they barely needed attention.
After a slow voyage of seven or eight hours, the USS Dauntless and the three Arcane Battleships finally arrived at a vast, empty stretch of void. Not even a meteor would pass through here—this was the entrance to that plane, the weakest point reflected in the spatial barrier.
If this were the Northend World, a place like this would be a natural plane passage. All it would take is an alchemical array, open up the path, and you could safely cross over.
Here, there's a zone only a few kilometers across—that's the spatial barrier of the plane. Nothing else exists nearby. Though the plane's power can't leak out, there's a natural repelling force here. Ordinary meteors or other objects simply can't pass through.
This was how, during the Great Plane Colonization Era, new planes were discovered—especially those that were relatively complete.
When the spatial barriers of two planes resonate or overlap, even if only in a minuscule area, a natural planar pathway can emerge. If there’s no overlap or resonance at all, then a planar pathway simply won’t form. With fixed coordinates, however, an alchemical array can be used to forcibly open such a path.
But if no new plane is discovered, then it becomes exceedingly difficult to find another...
In the future, searching for new planes will mostly rely on Arcane Battleships traversing the endless void. Once a planar coordinate is found, constructing a planar pathway becomes far easier, granting access to new worlds.
Three Arcane Battleships hovered around this unstable pocket of space. The USS Dauntless slowly approached, its massive prow nudging the turbulent region. Ripples of spatial distortion spread outward, and a kilometers-wide black void appeared, its size wavering from four or five kilometers in diameter down to just two or three.
Leon led Hubert, Reina, Pabbet, Lord Shaun, and Hughes onto the deck of the Dauntless, stepping into the ever-shifting black void. The spatial barrier had been forcibly pierced by the Dauntless; now, entering was as simple as walking through a doorway. Had the barrier not been torn open, brute force would have been required to rip it apart, followed by an alchemical array to stabilize the breach.
But time was running short, and the spatial barrier here was so unstable—it was obvious someone had already passed through. If magic were used to tear open the barrier, the intruders would surely notice. The Dauntless, with its sheer power, could simply punch a tunnel through, making things much simpler.
Realizing someone had entered ahead of them, Leon’s expression soured. The original plan was scrapped; now, all he could do was take a few people inside to assess the situation.
In the pale blue sky, space fractured like shattered glass, splitting into jagged cracks before collapsing with a thunderous roar. A kilometer-wide void opened up, but as the spatial ripples spread, they were quickly suppressed by the frigid winds high above.
Leon stepped through the void alongside Hubert and Reina, with Pabbet following close behind. The darkness behind them slowly sealed shut, leaving only faint, barely noticeable black fissures flickering in and out of existence.
"It's freezing here..."