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"Good thing I slipped away fast. Those people just now really were out of their minds." Listening to the clamor gradually receding behind him, Luke couldn't help wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
After Aldric departed, Victor, Harrison, and the others had only lingered a short while before taking their leave as well, the three principals included.
As these big shots cleared out, the entire closing-ceremony grounds gradually grew more fervent still, the crowd plunging into revelry.
And in the midst of it, Luke was without question the one to bear the brunt. Almost the overwhelming majority immediately sought out this Eastern Region exam champion, the scene even more terrifying than during the unified exam back then, the crowd's attitude all the more frenzied.
The unified exam, after all, had only been a contest among Ashenvale's three academies, whereas the high-school exam encompassed the Capital's twelve cities, and Farhaven and Mistral besides, a contest and trial of strength among all the examinees across the entire Eastern Region, one that had risen to a rivalry between city and city, between Capital and Capital.
Luke claiming first place in this exam amounted to winning glory for the whole of Ashenvale, and his dominance in the exam had genuinely won everyone over, even the graduates of First High and Second High, who'd originally stood opposed to Third High, were thoroughly convinced by him.
It was just that this, in turn, made Luke himself the one to suffer for it.
Recalling how he'd come within a hair of losing his dignity and dying of social mortification several times over a moment ago, Luke couldn't suppress a cold shiver, and his departing steps quickened more than a little.
A boy really must look out for himself when he's out and about. In this moment, Luke arrived at an even deeper appreciation of that saying.
"A dimensional plane, the Eternal Sun, a World Pillar, and the source-bond with Celestine. It's about time I took a proper look at what exactly went abnormal when I absorbed that Space Seed." Back home, Luke finally had the time to properly sort through the changes that had been thrust upon him.
*「 Ancient Spirit Tree tree-spirit Celestine has forged a source-bond with the dimensional space. Congratulations, host. You have obtained a World Pillar, Phantom. The dimensional space expands into a dimensional plane. 」*
*「 World Pillar, Phantom 」*
Description: That which is born after the dimensional space evolved from a World Seed forges a source-bond with the Ancient Spirit Tree tree-spirit Celestine. It breaks through the dimensional space's growth limitations and elevates it into a dimensional plane, possessing the property of supporting the dimensional plane's infinite expansion.
"It broke through the dimensional space's growth limitations, which is why it grew into a dimensional plane, and once grown, the dimensional plane can even expand without limit?" Reading the description of the World Pillar, Phantom, Luke felt his eyes light up.
By Aldric's account, the dimensional space evolved from a Space Seed could grow to twenty million square kilometers at the very most. That area was a fair bit larger than the largest country of Luke's past life, but a cap on its area existed all the same, and there were limits to a dimensional space's capacity for growth.
But now, the dimensional space had been elevated into a dimensional plane, breaking the original ceiling on area expansion and, in the same stroke, breaking the ceiling on its growth. A dimensional plane could expand without limit, and as time went on, Luke might even come to form a world of his own within his body.
This single point alone already surpassed Aldric's description and characterization of the dimensional space.
"Still, Celestine mentioned before that she needed the World Seed, so why did it form a dimensional space within my body all the same, and even get elevated into a dimensional plane?" Obtaining a dimensional plane was naturally a good thing for Luke, but it still couldn't resolve the doubt in his heart.
"Luke?" Mid-thought, Celestine's gentle voice rang out within Luke's heart once more. "May I come to your side now?"
Ever since that mutation a moment ago, the Spirit-Value Aegis blessing seemed to have developed more functions, allowing Luke and Celestine to converse directly through it.
"You want to come over?" Drawing his thoughts back, Luke activated the Spirit-Value Aegis blessing. A door of the void brimmed with the aura of life, and in the next moment, Celestine's figure stepped across the threshold and fell into Luke's embrace.
Warm jade settling against him, Luke was a touch surprised, but he steadied her quite naturally all the same, drawn in the same moment to Celestine's present appearance.
The wreath of plants and flowers she'd worn atop her head had vanished, replaced by a head-veil much like a bride's, her emerald eyes obscured behind a band of black cloth, leaving an endless space for the imagination.
The pure-white ceremonial robe had transformed into an archbishop's vestment carved with blue trim, several ornate gold ornaments inlaid with rubies hanging upon it, and at that slender waist, she bore the Libra Holy Sword, the symbol of justice and law.
The drastically altered attire on the newly reappeared Celestine had Luke raising an eyebrow. But the same as with her original garb, the two outfits shared one enormous thing in common: even as they had Celestine radiating a sacred aura, they added a thread of allure besides.
The sacred and the profane, two auras carrying a conflict between them, converged upon Celestine, rendering her all the more alluring.
In that same moment, the information regarding the changed Celestine flickered past before Luke's eyes.
*「 Celestine Lucullus 」*
Race: Ancient Tree Sprite · Reincarnated Goddess
Class: Sword Saintess Form
Equipment: Libra Holy Sword Core
Exclusive Contract Target: Luke
Note: The level gap is too great. No further information can be viewed.
Compared to the information at the very start, Celestine's panel had gained the Sword Saintess class form, along with the special equipment of the Libra Holy Sword Core. Connecting it with her present attire and the holy sword hanging at her waist, a thread of understanding surfaced in Luke's eyes.
There was one more thing too, the addition of himself as an exclusive contract target. It was just a pity that, beyond this, Luke hadn't obtained any further information or data regarding Celestine.
"Is it because of the source-bond with the dimensional space?" Having reviewed the changes to Celestine's panel, Luke quietly conjectured. "Still, that doesn't explain the earlier mutation."
"Celestine, could you explain it for me?" The data he had a grasp of at present was genuinely limited, so Luke asked the tree-spirit in his arms directly. "As I recall, you mentioned needing that Space Seed, but why did it form a dimensional space within my body all the same, and even get elevated into a dimensional plane?"
This was the doubt most in need of resolving at the moment. Although it appeared to do him no harm, this concerned changes to his own person in the end, and Luke had to take full command of it and understand it clearly.
"I did indeed need the World Seed, but that doesn't mean I had to claim the World Seed for my own." Hearing Luke's question, Celestine lifted her head, the band of black cloth that had obscured her eyes fading away to reveal emerald eyes still as clear as nature itself. "To put it precisely, what I needed was to exist as the World Pillar within the dimensional space the World Seed grows into."