Leonel's face slightly twisted in pain. No matter how used he was to injuries by now, the feeling of having his hand practically explode from the inside out left him wanting to cry out.
The other three youths looked toward him with fear evident in their eyes. It was just a simple touch, but Leonel's ending had actually been so terrible. If he held on for just a fraction of a second longer, just how much worse would his injuries be?
Leonel took several deep breaths.
Maybe the worst part about all of this was the loss of his hand. A Force Crafter's hands were the most important part of their body. With his left hand in this state, it simply wouldn't be possible to craft anything.
'… I'm too reckless…'
Leonel clenched his jaw.
"Retreat."
Leonel ordered this the moment he saw how helpless the situation was. That break in his Force Skin had shaved off more than half the remaining time the Force Skin treasure he had forged had. It wouldn't be long before it shattered completely. By then, there was no telling how horrible his ending would be.
However, just when he wanted to retreat, Leonel's expression changed.
It had been so easy to walk in, but he found that the way out made him feel as though he was walking against quicksand.
Leonel's expression immediately became ugly. What the hell was going on?
"What's going on? I feel like I can't take a step back no matter how much I want to."
Roaring Black Lion's voice held a rare instance of trepidation and fear. This was the very last thing they expected to happen. Why was it so easy to enter but not easy to leave?
"It seems I've underestimated this Force Eruption again…" Leonel smiled bitterly.
There were all sorts of natural traps in the world, even before the Metamorphosis. All of them were easy to enter but difficult to leave.
A Venus flytrap wouldn't have any qualms about allowing a fly onto its petals, but would it so easily allow one to leave? A beast wouldn't hestiate to allow its prey into its mouth, but would it so easily release it?
This trap in particular reminded Leonel of a phenomenon that could happen in rivers and dams. Anyone swimming near a dam would be asking for death. The interaction between the rushing water suddenly met by an immovable force would cause a pattern of currents that would easily allow a human in, but make it impossible for them to leave.
The number of people who had died to such a phenomenon were too many to count. Leonel had just never expected that the flow of Force here would be able to replicate such a thing.
Leonel smiled bitterly. "Sorry guys… It seems I was still a bit reckless."
Leonel sighed. He knew that once again this was a case of the dictionary being very specific with its answers. He asked about how to mature a Force Crystal Core ahead of time, but hadn't asked anything about something like this.
The three youths couldn't help but be disappointed. But, how mad could they be? It wasn't as though Leonel had sent them into this danger alone. He had stepped forward first and had even been willing to retreat when things weren't going well. This was something completely out of their expectations.
"Don't worry." Leonel said firmly after a moment. "I promise to take you all out of here."
The resolution in Leonel's voice shocked them. They hadn't expected that even now, he would still take responsibility. Usually, someone with as much power as him would definitely not have the time to care about them now.
Without another word, Leonel directly sat on the ground, entering a meditative state. He weakly supported his left hand on his lap, doing his best to ignore the pain.
'I have almost 30 coy fish scales. Each of them can provide 30 minutes of protection. Between the four of us, that's enough for a bit over three hours and a half.'
The three youths looked toward Leonel, then looked at one another. There were clear hints of despair on their faces, but what could they do?
Thunderous Clap tried to fight his way out, throwing out thunderous punches that rocked the air, but he found himself sliding back with every strike.
Flowing Wind and Roaring Black Lion tried their hands at it too. In fact, the former had the greatest shot and even almost succeeded, trying to ride the flow of Force. But in the end, just when it looked like she might succeed, she was blasted backward. Had it not been for Roaring Black Lion catching her before she landed on the Force Crystal Core, her outcome would have been even sorrier.
Leonel's mind spun. However, no matter how hard he thought, everything pointed in a singular direction: Force Strengthening Deviations.
The only way to overwhelm Force was with Force of greater quantity or quality.
Right now, he couldn't spare thoughts toward maturing the Force Crystal Core. Wasting stamina on it would just make it so that they were less likely to survive. With only a little over three hours, every small bit of stamina could decide life and death.
'I need to improve my Light Elemental Force or my Spear Force…'
Leonel's eyes flashed open. He pushed forward his only good remaining hand, stabbing out toward the edge of the Force Eruption's influence.
But, what he saw left him feeling helpless. Even with the amplification of his Spear Force, his [Call of the Wind] only traveled a meter before being shattered completely.
Taking a deep breath, Leonel attempted to fuse his Light Elemental Force into the attack. It wasn't a perfect fusion, but it was barely enough to gain a small amplification.
He pierced out once more, but the result was just as depressing. It barely passed the two and a half meter mark before being crushed. That was still almost a full eight meters from the edge they needed to escape from.
'The closer to escaping the energy fluctuations it was, the harder it is to cross. The one to two meter distance was at least twice as difficult to cross as the zero to one meter distance… I need to improve…'
Leonel could only turn his hopes back to the dictionary. It said that there were levels beyond… right?