(Moltherak’s Floating Island, Leo’s POV)
"So, since I can open the dimensional tunnel now... am I finally ready to step into it?"
Leo asked with a hint of restrained excitement, as Moltherak let out a deep, rolling chuckle, the kind that made the chamber vibrate faintly as the old dragon swiped his tail across the floor in open amusement, his expression dripping with contempt for the question itself.
"Are you ready to STEP INTO IT?"
Moltherak repeated slowly, almost savoring the words before his amusement burst out again.
"Hahahahaha!
Oh, boy... no. No you most certainly are not."
Leo frowned slightly as Moltherak leaned closer, lowering his massive head until his golden eyes were level with Leo’s own, the casual disdain in his tone so sharp that for a moment Leo wondered if the dragon was genuinely insulted.
"You still do not know how to navigate the tunnel...."
Moltherak said, his each word slow and deliberate, as though explaining the obvious to a stubborn child.
"So what in the seven forgotten hells will you even do after entering it? Float around blindly? Pray you drift in the right direction? Or do you simply wish to die a very poetic, very lonely death?"
He asked as Leo opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off again.
"No, don’t bother answering,"
Moltherak muttered with a scoff.
"Because unless you want to be ejected at a completely random point in space, or spiral straight into a void whirlpool, or get trapped in a region with no exit cracks for all eternity... then you still have MUCH to learn before you can take even a single step into that dimension."
He said, as he shook his head as if disappointed that the question had even been asked.
"Opening the tunnel is the easy part, boy. Entering it safely is an art. Surviving inside it is a masterstroke. And exiting where you intended is a miracle you achieve only with absolute precision."
Moltherak settled back slightly, crossing one wing over the other in his version of folded arms, as his voice grew softer but heavier.
"You have learned to knock on the fourth dimension. That is all. But if you jump inside without knowing how to control where you emerge..."
He flicked a claw, as if brushing an insect away.
"...then even I would not be able to retrieve whatever scraps remain of you."
He warned as he tapped one claw against the floor, causing tiny ripples of aura to scatter outward like faint echoes of a lecture he had repeated to countless warriors long before Leo had ever been born.
"Listen carefully now, boy, because this is where real space tunneling begins," he said, his tone shifting from mockery to something colder and more authoritative, as though the air itself tightened around his words.
"The tunnel you opened today was nothing but a doorway—one entrance with no defined exit—because you have not yet carved the path between Point A and Point B."
Leo blinked, trying to visualize it, but Moltherak’s gaze sharpened before he could even ask another question.
"The fourth dimension is not a corridor," Moltherak continued, "it is a sea... a vast, directionless sea with no up, no down, no left, no right, and no landmarks to guide you. If you enter without preparation, you will float endlessly, pulled around by currents you cannot see and forces you cannot fight."
He swiped his tail through the air, and Leo watched the motion distort as though passing through water, bending unnaturally before snapping back into place.
"And these currents—the cosmic tides and folds—will throw you in whichever direction they please," Moltherak said, "which means you might exit a few steps from where you intended... or you might exit on the opposite side of the universe entirely."
Leo felt his stomach tighten.
"So how do I decide... where the exit is?" he asked cautiously.
Moltherak’s lips lifted slightly, not in a smile but in the way a teacher smirked when a student finally approached the right question.
"You control the distance by controlling the entry angle," he said, raising one claw. "The direction, however, is controlled by the vector you imprint onto your aura before you strike the weak point."
Leo frowned slightly as Moltherak elaborated, his words flowing with heavy precision.
"Think of the dimensional tunnel as a slope layered behind reality. A shallow angle sends you a short distance. A steeper angle sends you farther. Too steep, and you overshoot entirely and emerge fate knows where. Too shallow, and you break the membrane only to pop out a meter away like a confused rabbit."
He tapped the ground again.
"Your job is to calculate the correct angle and imprint it onto your aura before the strike, because once the tunnel opens, there is no adjusting it. The dimensional path is forged instantly—one motion, one result, no corrections allowed."
Leo swallowed hard at the weight behind that rule.
"And the vector?" he asked softly.
"The vector determines your direction. It is carved by your mastery over your aura, where if you can control it precisely, you will move as you intended.
Whereas if you can’t...
You will have a very bumpy ride."
Moltherak said as he leaned in closer, his enormous head casting a shadow over Leo.
"This is why tunnel navigation is the most important part of the art. Even if you open the tunnel flawlessly, even if your shield holds perfectly, even if you resist the backlash, none of it matters if you cannot control your exit point. A warrior who exits five kilometers off target is useless. A warrior who exits five thousand kilometers off target is dead."
Leo took a slow breath, letting the magnitude of that truth settle in.
"So what do I learn first?"
He asked as Moltherak’s eyes brightened with approval.
"We begin with angles," he said. "You will learn to strike weak points at controlled degrees—five degrees, ten degrees, fifteen degrees—until your aura obeys you without error. After that, we begin working on vectors, because only once both are mastered will you be allowed to step into the tunnel."
His voice softened, though not kindly, merely with the gravity of reality.
"Understand this, boy. One mistake in calculation and you could emerge inside a star... or inside a planet’s crust... or in an airless vacuum that rips your lungs apart before you can even summon your shield. The universe does not forgive miscalculations."
Leo closed his eyes briefly, steadying himself.
"Alright, then teach me how to calculate the first angle."
He requested, as Moltherak grinned in approval.
"Good, at least you have the heart for it..... I’ve seen many drop their balls at this part."
He encouraged, as he began explaining the next phase of Leo’s training.