~A year ago~

Aina stood from her seated position, power she had never felt before coursing through her veins. She had already expected that the blood of a Fifth Dimensional creature would give her a massive boost to her strength, but she was still somewhat surprised that it allowed her to directly shatter the barrier to the Fourth Dimension.

The Fourth Dimension was different from the Third. It could be said that both Planes of Existence laid a foundation, but the method in which they did so was much different.

In order to understand what this difference was, it had to be known that the minimum requirement for passing down a Lineage Factor was being an existence at the Fourth Dimension. Only upon gaining some mastery of this Dimension would one reach the necessary threshold.

The Third Dimension formed one's Force Nodes. The number one managed to form would remain unchanged, at least for the time being. This made one's success within the Third Dimension a direct predictor of one's success in the future.

The Fourth Dimension built upon this foundation. Not only did one transition for Third Dimensional to Fourth Dimensional Force, but one also began the process of body refinement.

Though it seemed like Dimensions were just 'power levels', this wasn't the case at all. When transitioning between Dimensions, one was quite literally ascending to a new plane of existence. This was why the gap between Dimensions was impossible to cross.

The Third Dimension allowed one to create Fourth Dimensional constructs within one's body: the Force Nodes. While the Fourth Dimension was the process of dispelling what impurities remained of the Third and Fourth Dimensions to allow a smooth transition into the Fifth Dimension.

At the Fifth Dimension, this was where the true powerful existences of the Dimensional Verse began to appear.

As such, there was one main goal of the Fourth Dimension: to purify.

Whether that be the blood, the bones, the organs. Everything needed to be cleansed of filth lingering from lesser Dimensions. Only by doing this would it be possible to ascend to a higher level of being.

However, unlike the Third Dimension, there wasn't just one method of completing this requirement. In fact, the Fourth Dimension was where the numerous diverging paths of the Dimensional Verse truly began to shine.

For someone like Aina, the path she would choose was very simple. With her ability, it only made sense to focus on her blood.

The blood was the life liquid the remainder of the body relied on. There wasn't a single crevice one could find in the body where it wasn't a major player. And, thanks to Aina's affinities and her ability, this was also among the easiest paths for her to take.

As for how the power level of the Fourth Dimension worked, this was much more straightforward.

In order to transition from the use of Third Dimensional Force to Fourth Dimensional Force, the body had to be properly primed. Only by ridding oneself of these impurities would one be able to truly begin to use Fourth Dimensional Force.

Upon reaching the First Tier, one would be able to fill one of their Force Nodes with Fourth Dimensional Force. Upon reaching the Second Tier, one would be able to withstand the filling of two Force Nodes with Fourth Dimensional Force. So on and so forth.

However, one can easily see from this how divisions might be caused due to one's level of success within the Third Dimension.

Not only were the sizes of everyone's Force Nodes different, but even the amount of Force Nodes one formed weren't all consistently the same. This meant that two individuals who could be considered Tier One Fourth Dimensional existences could be of vastly different strengths. And, the effort they had to put in to reach this level would definitely vastly differ as well.

But, only upon reaching Tier One would one truly be considered a Fourth Dimensional existence.

As though all of this wasn't complicated enough, the universe seemed to hate making things neat and tidy.

By now, those with sharp minds would have realized that though forming large Force Nodes and reaching the maximum level of Nine gave one an advantage, it would also be easy to realize that this didn't restrict one from continuing to purify one's body.

Even if you only formed three Force Nodes and could already sustain Fourth Dimensional Force in them all, what was stopping you from continuing to refine and purify your body?

For example, compared to Leonel, Aina's Force Nodes were much smaller, not even close to Leonel's 100 cell size. And, though she had managed to form nine of them, her talent in energy manipulation was low due to her lack of talent with Internal Sight. Unfortunately, both of these things would be linked.

However… Compared to others Aina's talent in refining her body were leagues beyond. Leonel could only rely on his Lineage Factor to match her in this regard.

What did all of this mean? It meant that technically, one could have a poor showing and set a terrible foundation within the Third Dimension, yet still become an undefeatable existence within the Fourth Dimension.

Aina was one such person. Though her foundation within the Third Dimension couldn't be considered to be bad, it wasn't among the very best either. However, her talent for growth within the Fourth Dimension was beyond what most could fathom.

In fact, without having spent even a single minute within the Fourth Dimension, Aina had already cleared the requirements to be considered a Tier Two Fourth Dimensional existence.

Of course, this was mostly in thanks due to the Abyssal Panther blood she just ingested. That said, how many others could ingest Fifth Dimensional blood in the Third and live to tell about it?

Aina flexed her body, basking beneath the popping of her joints. Other than the discomfort her inflamed scars were bringing her, she had never felt more at ease in her life. Her blood thrummed and her heart gave out long and steady beats. She felt as though she could shatter the world with a single fist.

'It's time for me to find a path out of here. Though Tier Two Fourth Dimensional strength is good, they were at least at Tier Four or Five in strength…'

Aina's Tier Two strength was likely worth more than a usual Tier Three existence on Terrain due to the size of her Force Nodes. Though she couldn't compare to Leonel, that didn't mean she lost out to those with such poor talent. But, leaping over any more would be troublesome, at least when she was facing so many of them at once.

Plus, there were other factors to strength than just one's base powerful level like Styles and Embryos. Aina still needed to train herself more.

So, she traveled deeper into the cave, not knowing a thing about the horrible experience that lied in wait for her.