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"This is a Space Seed, a special item that generally only surfaces deep within otherdimensional space." Aldric's voice rose slowly as he explained. "The Space Seed is rather extraordinary. It can fuse into a Card Master's body and open up a dimensional space within them, and the Card Master can reshape that internal dimensional space according to their own will."
"The dimensional space is exceptionally stable. Unless the Card Master themselves opens the space's coordinates, no one can locate, much less breach, the dimensional space inside a Card Master's body."
"On top of that, card spirits can dwell and move about within the dimensional space day to day, and sustaining that requires no additional mana expenditure from the Card Master. What's more, when a Card Master summons a card spirit from within the dimensional space, the summoning speed is doubled."
"For that reason, Card Masters who possess a dimensional space generally let their card spirits live freely within it, rather than reverting them to card form."
"Hssss." Hearing Aldric's account of the Space Seed and the dimensional space, Mark and the others sucked in sharp breaths. The Space Seed's effects were downright absurd. No wonder Victor and the others had looked on with such envy. Even Luke's eyes brightened as they fell on the Space Seed.
The dimensional space opened by a Space Seed bore some resemblance to a dimensional plane, except that a dimensional plane was anchored to the Magic Card Civilization's main plane, whereas a dimensional space was anchored to the Card Master himself. Compared to a dimensional plane, the safety and stability of a dimensional space were without question higher.
That said, the upper limit of a dimensional space was constrained by the Card Master themselves, the level it could reach varying greatly from person to person. The essence of a dimensional plane, meanwhile, was the shattered fragment of a collapsed world. Fragment though it was, the incomplete rules within were enough to make the overwhelming majority of Card Masters balk. And the most important thing about a dimensional plane was the rich variety of resources within it, which was precisely what a dimensional space lacked.
"Of course, the Space Seed has a great many other special qualities besides." Taking in everyone's expressions, Aldric continued. "The dimensional space that each Card Master opens by fusing a Space Seed differs from the next, and its subsequent development is likewise impossible to predict."
"There is, however, one point worth noting." At this, Aldric offered a caution. "Nurturing a Space Seed and opening a dimensional space within the body is no easy matter. Over the course of it, the Card Master must continuously pour their own mana into the Space Seed to cultivate it. Only once the Space Seed has absorbed enough mana will it take root and sprout, then slowly grow, and at last form the dimensional space."
"And the total quantity of mana consumed in that process is enough to leave several Sovereigns drained dry in an instant."
"There's one more thing. The size of a dimensional space is finite. An ordinary dimensional space will, at the very most, expand to twenty million square kilometers. Past that point, expanding the dimensional space any further is no simple feat. It is not, after all, a true dimensional plane."
With that, the Space Seed in Aldric's hand drifted slowly toward Luke under his control, finally coming to a halt before him. "In the exam, you crushed the examinees of the other two Capitals and claimed first place in this Eastern Region exam. This is the reward you've earned."
"Though your present strength isn't yet enough to nurture the Space Seed to root and sprout, little by little accumulates into much. Perhaps by the time you ascend to the Emperor Realm, the total mana you can supply will meet the Space Seed's needs, and a dimensional space will open within you."
Although seeing Aldric produce the Space Seed had already let everyone more or less guess it would go to Luke, actually witnessing the moment still left them red-eyed, Bella Hartley and Warren Pike most of all.
Good grief. So the exam champion gets a reward like this. If we'd known, we'd have risked life and limb training ourselves half to death for a shot at it. Geoffrey and the others, for their part, knew the Capital was sure to offer no meager reward, but in all their memory, no reward in any year had ever been this lavish.
Extravagant, and even one of a kind.
If Space Seeds were so easy to come by, then the thing wouldn't be so precious, nor would it surface only deep within otherdimensional space.
Victor and Harrison, who knew more of the inside story, grasped the meaning behind Aldric's gesture all the better. Standing behind Luke, after all, was Lilith.
Of course, the two couldn't help grumbling inwardly all the same. Even if you mean to give it away, at least find a more fitting pretext. This is no street-corner trinket; it's a Space Seed. If the past exam champions who won first place for the Capital ever found out, they'd absolutely weep. But the two only dared grumble in the privacy of their hearts. To actually say it aloud, they hadn't the nerve.
"Thank you, Governor." Taking the Space Seed, Luke felt an oddly insubstantial sensation against his hand. He could tell he'd genuinely grasped the Space Seed, yet in reality there was no texture to it whatsoever. Quite marvelous.
A moment later, under everyone's watching eyes, the Space Seed slowly fused into Luke's body and vanished without a trace.
Luke could feel the Space Seed flowing gently within him, ultimately settling at the position of his right chest, resonating in turn with his heart and the mana crystals encircling it.
In that same moment, the mana within Luke's body grew active as well, surging one and all toward the Space Seed's position, pouring in and disappearing without a sign.
But compared to the violent reaction that activating the Crystallization Technique produced, the Space Seed absorbed mana at a very gentle pace, holding to a steady, constant rate of absorption however actively the mana churned.
Just as Luke was about to withdraw his gaze, the Space Seed abruptly gave off a profound, unfathomable aura, one that even spread outward through Luke to his surroundings, and at the same time, the mana within him rioted once more.
"This is!" Catching the appearance of that uncanny aura, the depths of Aldric's eyes brimmed with shock, and then his expression changed in a flash. With a sweep of his hand, his full Immortal Realm aura unfurled, his Glacial Sea-Fang Source Sync engaged, and a faint chill suffused the entire space, only to be held firmly in check within the range the group occupied, without the slightest sign of leakage. It threw Aldric's astonishing control into sharp relief.
"Governor?" Everyone felt a weight settle over them, a chill creeping in, their breathing turning briefly difficult, but the sensation passed in an instant, and they looked toward Aldric in bewilderment.
"How is this possible?" Aldric's eyes stayed fixed on Luke. "Normally, a Space Seed absorbing a Card Master's mana holds to a constant state. But the mana within Luke just rioted in an instant, which is plainly abnormal."
Hearing Aldric's explanation, Victor and the others wore blank looks. They knew of Space Seeds, but none of them had ever obtained one, so they had no idea what changes absorbing a Space Seed entailed.
There was one thing they could be sure of, though. Going by Aldric's expression, this didn't look like a favorable development.
"Then will Luke be in danger?" Worry crossed Geoffrey's face. Luke was the pride of his school; he had no wish to see anything happen to him.
"Hard to say. To be safe, let me first settle this rioting mana for him." Aldric, too, was rather on edge inside. Luke was Lilith's student, after all, and if something went wrong, that would be no small trouble.
But before Aldric could act, another aura erupted from Luke, one fierce enough to send a shudder through even him.