CHAPTER 135: CHAPTER 135 - 2 MONTHS

Two months slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Lucien looked nothing like he had before.

He’d grown taller. He’s now standing at 170 centimeters. He carried himself with a confidence that hadn’t been there before.

The wind tugged at his long hair as he stepped out of the mini castle, brushing it aside with ease.

His presence had also changed.

His eyes were sharper. His jaw was more defined. His frame was stronger and more muscular. Even his voice had deepened, marked by the clear ridge of his Adam’s apple.

He let out a slow sigh.

For two months, he had done nothing but train.

But to him, it had been much longer. Within the doors of his divine energy core where time stretched differently... he had endured more than a year of relentless discipline.

It had been worth it.

Upon reaching Level 70, both the Two-Star Door and the Intermediate Door opened. Behind them the male and female figures of light became his teachers.

Through the male figure, Lucien mastered the fundamentals of combat.

Slash, Parry, Thrust, Feint, Evade...

Each technique was sharpened under countless repetitions until they fused together as one seamless skill.

Swordsmanship.

He mirrored the figure’s every move, correcting mistakes, refining stances and learning to flow from one strike to the next.

He also picked up martial arts skills. These skills will allow him to shift fluidly between stances and adapt to different kinds of battles.

The male figure became his ultimate sparring partner. Not once did Lucien win a duel. His opponent remained undefeated. Yet every loss carved him sharper and stronger.

By the end, he had been forged like steel.

Magic had been just as demanding as the sword.

The female figure guided him through spell after spell, showing him how to channel energy cleanly and release it with precision.

Under her patient guidance he learned not only how to cast but how to wield magic efficiently.

Most important was the Space attribute, the art he needed most.

Lucien couldn’t help but smile at the memory of those training arcs.

Both the male and female figures had grown sharper and more responsive since the birth of his inner universe.

Yet he knew they weren’t truly alive since they can exist only within the divine energy core.

He shook his head, brushing the thought aside.

Also, the dungeon had changed too.

The Gargoyle Dungeon’s second floor now lay fully unlocked. The path to the third floor was quietly waiting.

This new level was teemed with unfamiliar gargoyle breeds. And of course, the drops were different too.

Lucien strolled through Lootwell.

The great Witherwood forest had been fully cleared, making way for expansion. Surprisingly, that very clearing drew monsters in.

Perhaps the trees had once shielded them but the settlement was strong now. They were strong enough not to fear the wild.

Most of the monsters were neutral and content to linger at the edges as if drawn by the settlement’s divine energy.

Just then...

A sudden rustle broke the calm.

Two figures hurtled toward Lucien.

A small dragon and a snow-white tiger.

Their eyes flashed as they leapt straight at him.

Lucien caught them effortlessly and ruffled their heads. They growled in playful protest.

Seiryu, the azure dragon.

Byakko, the white tiger.

Both had hatched from the eggs he put in the Egg Incubator.

Lucien’s other companions had grown stronger as well. They thrived in the custom habitats he created for them within the MONSTERDEX landscape.

He had researched each species carefully and combed through the MONSTERDEX to learn their preferences. He then shaped every environment to match their natural homes.

Sparkles, in particular, was ecstatic. Its loyalty reached the maximum the moment Lucien completed a sanctuary built just for it. It’s a place perfectly tailored to its wishes.

As a reward for the Max Loyalty, he copied its Skywalk skill. Now, he can walk through the air as effortlessly as a breeze.

Vyrran had recently laid an egg now resting safely in the incubator.

Peace had settled over Lootwell. Only minor issues remained. Just small things easily handled.

During the walk, Lucien arrived at Constella where new security glimmered.

To deter intruders, they had added a mana-signature barrier. Something like a biometric gate.

Only those registered could enter. Anyone else would be blocked. Should someone attempt a violent breach, the Constellation Gate Seal would shatter instantly, rendering the portal unusable.

The precaution was necessary. Someone had tried to force their way in once before and with people from every walk of life now traveling to his territories, Lucien knew he couldn’t personally oversee everything.

The unruly were swiftly dealt with. They were either blacklisted or... disciplined by Clara’s unyielding belief.

Lucien used these two months to recruit as well. To his surprise, many stepped forward.

He asked for only one qualification. A good heart.

Talent or status didn’t matter. Lucien could make the ordinary extraordinary.

Lucien’s army now numbered four thousand soldiers. It’s still small compared to the great powers but more than enough to secure the borderlands.

The airship project had reached completion as well. Under Elk’s and Seren’s supervision, the crafting division had surpassed even their own expectations. At times, Lucien thought their skill rivaled the precision of his own CRAFT feature.

He wandered through the settlement when Elk approached.

"Young Lord, I’ll trim your hair." She offered with big smiles.

He didn’t argue. Long hair might look striking but in battle it was a nuisance.

Soon the steady snip of scissors filled the quiet. Elk worked carefully as she offered quiet praises for how much he’d changed.

When she finished, Lucien studied his reflection. The man staring back was stronger and sharper. Someone new.

He smiled faintly.

He was ready.

Onward to the fourth level.

•••

The past two months had been anything but wasted.

Spatial Intuition and Astral Comprehension proved invaluable as Lucien stood before the obstacle on the dungeon’s fourth floor.

Before him shimmered a distortion. The barrier that blocks the way onwards the 4th Level.

Dimensional Lock Barrier.

Unlike a wall of stone or fire, this was not a simple blockade. It folded and bent the very fabric of space, sealing off coordinates of reality.

No brute strength could force passage. Without the proper knowledge, it was utterly impenetrable.

Lucien’s eyes narrowed. Where once it had been invisible to him, now his sixth sense traced its shape clearly.

The barrier was a lattice of folded layers, vibrating with a magical frequency. It wasn’t made of matter at all. It was the structure of reality itself. A faint vibration pulsed through the distortion. He studied it, memorizing every subtle shift.

Then he began.

Divine energy flowed into his hands, pulsing in tune with the barrier’s frequency. He visualized the pattern as a vast equation and adjusted his own resonance to match its ever-changing beat.

Sweat beaded across his brow.

Slowly and carefully, he reached forward. He carefully pinched two points of the distorted space as though gripping threads of silk. He stretched them apart, easing the folds back toward their natural position.

The barrier began to unravel and the warped fabric merged back into the natural flow of space. Layer by layer, the knots untangled as if reality knitted itself whole again.

It looked deceptively simple.

It was anything but.

Lucien’s entire focus was consumed by the effort. The mental strain was immense.

Precision was everything.

Lucien’s energy had to match the barrier’s distorted frequency exactly. Only then could he lift and untangle the folds of space.

But tampering with reality carried brutal risks.

One wrong adjustment and the compressed dimensions would snap back like a whip, tearing a body into scattered fragments of folded space.

A single misstep could fling him into the wrong coordinates, lost forever in the void.

To steady himself, he’d layered on drops that sharpened focus and deepened concentration. He became a machine.

Slowly and methodically, he worked.

Each pulse of divine energy loosened another knot in the dimensional weave. Little by little, the barrier yielded.

At last, the final fold slid into place. The Dimensional Lock Barrier unraveled.

Lucien exhaled sharply. Relief washed over him.

He had succeeded.

For the first time in a long while, he felt the raw satisfaction of overcoming something through sheer effort. His training hadn’t been wasted. His smile was real.

Then he looked ahead... and froze.

A path had revealed itself.

Not a staircase. Not a corridor.

But a portal.

It hovered where the barrier had been. It was dense with swirling energy and the surface rippled like a liquid starfield that seemed to beckon him closer.

Lucien narrowed his eyes. He could see nothing beyond the threshold yet his Spatial Intuition whispered no warning of danger.

He let out a hiss of anticipation.

"I worked too hard to stop here," he murmured.

After a brief pause to steady his breathing, he stepped forward.

The portal swallowed him whole.

And what waited on the other side left him stunned.