Ketis might not have stumbled upon the Blue Dimension if she and Ves followed the original plan. If they were able to exchange 1000 AP for Level 1 Observation Search, they would have used this new functionality to search for phasewater, hyper materials or other goodies. The thought of searching for superdimensional matter likely wouldn’t have crossed their mind! Yet instead of relying on the System’s expensive functions to find a good dimension to harvest resources from, Ketis had instead opted to save herself this enormous expense and rely on more traditional means of information gathering. Red humanity did not really play around with dimensions all that much. It was a different story for original humanity. Over the course of thousands of years, a huge amount of scientists and mavericks experimented with FTL drives. Most bold attempts to innovate on the tech or develop radical new applications from them ended up in disaster. That did not mean that the experiments had been for nothing. Even failures produced valuable data, some more valuable than others. The collective body of human science therefore gained a gradual understanding of what might be going on in different dimensions. Above the 10 or 11 dimensions that encompassed the ones that most people who never traveled to other planets could come in touch with, the dimensions higher than that all possessed weird and even life-threatening phenomena! For example, there was one dimension that appeared to be perpetually filled with thunderstorms. It was never a good idea for a starship to engage in FTL travel that included this dimension, or else the vessel would begin to incur light but persistent electrical damage. There was also another dimension that was filled with a jelly-like substance. Starships that happened to partially move into this band would encounter much greater resistance, causing their forward progress to slow or maybe suffer even worse consequences. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚 All of it was rather weird, but modern FTL drives possesses enough safety instructions to bypass these troubles. The Blue Dimension was special in that it was one of the few dimensions where starships engaged in FTL travel tended to converge towards when their FTL drives were operating within a specific range. The scientists who puzzled over this phenomenon came up with many possible answers, of which superdimensional materials happened to rank fairly high on the list! This was enough for Ketis to bet on this choice. She could have invested just 10 AP at the start in order to quickly explore and confirm whether the sources were accurate. However, she was already running short on AP and wanted to make the greatest possible impact. Creating a dimension breach that lasted just 10 minutes was nowhere near as impressive as one that lasted for an entire day! Now, Ketis became forever known as the Swordmaster who could open up entrances to rich and incredibly valuable higher dimensions. The swordmaster continued to float in space just before the active breach. "There are multiple points of data that indicate that the Blue Dimension contains significant quantities of superdimensional materials. However, that is not an immediate cause for celebration. The superdimensional matter may be in a volatile state and threaten anything that comes close. The Blue Dimension may also be difficult or dangerous to navigate. We do not understand the properties of the blue fog and whether they can corrode metals and other materials. Finally, there is one final threat that everyone who enters this breach must take into account." Ketis took a deep breath. "The Blue Dimension may not be as lifeless as we assumed. My teacher has always told me that life finds a way. We have encountered the strangest life forms inhabiting the corona of a star. It is not far-fetched to assume that dimensional beasts could also exist in this strange and exotic dimension." The enthusiasm of many would-be explorers dimmed a bit. The superdimensional materials may have their own protectors, ones that would be willing to fight to the death to preserve any quantity of their ’treasures!’. Still, danger or not, there were still plenty of people who were willing to try their luck! "I created this dimension breach for every group to enjoy." She continued to say. "We will not keep all of the spoils to ourselves. We are more than willing to let shuttles belonging to any of the Red Three to travel freely through the breach in exchange for cooperation and protection. As for other third parties, I will permit your shuttles to enter on a case by case basis." That did not sound good for groups that did not maintain close relations with their partner. Ketis’ expression grew harsher. "The breach will only allow for the entry of shuttles that can cafely pass through the breach. It is not large enough to comfortably transfer a large amount of mechs… for now." The inability for most mechs to pass through the entrance was an incredible inconvenience. Not every shuttle could fit through. Even if they rolled at a 45 degree angle, parts of their vehicle would still collide against the side of the breach! The point was that the first breach would not allow mechs to play a role on the other side. It would be shuttles, people and mining equipment at most. The mechers, fleeters and collies were already scrambling to start their mining operations as soon as possible. In fact, because Ketis also blindsided her own Larkinson Clan, precious minutes passed by until the Larkinsons and their allies in the Golden Skull Alliance gathered so many small shuttles that were suitable for mining missions. Soon enough, an expedition had formed. No expert pilot or ace pilot would enter the other side as it was stupid to remove them from their cockpits at this time. Saint Commander Casella Ingvar was thoughtful enough to put Avatar Commander Melkor in charge of this first wave of exploration. "Why?" "Because you are stronger than other people who have engaged in qi cultivation." Caslla privately explained to Melkor over a private communication channel. "If the Blue Dimension is populated by dangerous beings, then you should be able to lead our men to safety." "I shall do my best then, Saint Commander. Thank you for giving me this opportunity" The shuttles had already sorted out their entry order and many other factors that Ketis did not even think of. She still floated out in space in just her combat armor at this time. Your next read is at freewebnovel As much as her fellow Larkinsons urged her to retreat to the Spirit of Bentheim where she wouldn’t be directly exposed to potential threats anymore, Ketis did not feel like retreating from this historic event. "I will lead the way." "But ma’am, your safety—" Ketis swung the Heavensword in a sharp and cutting motion. The relic responded by letting loose an arc of sharp and lethal blade light! "I can defend myself. I need to see what I have wrought for myself." She did not tolerate any objections. She used her combat armor’s maneuvering system to fly towards the forward-most shuttle and planted her feet onto its roof. A simple application of electromagnetism caused her boots to remain secure onto the metal surface. "Proceed." She commanded. The shuttle was small and short enough that Ketis did not have to duck when the fairly slim scouting vehicle passed through the breach. For a moment, Ketis felt as if she had been torn inside and out, but that illusion faded quickly once she successfully entered a new and completely different space. An unknown source of pressure lightly brushed against her steely mind. She was able to ignore it easily enough, but the same could not be said for the crew manning the scouting shuttle. "Swordmaster, we are being affected by an unknown energy field that is inducing noise, nausea and other debilitating effects on us all! Not a single of us is spared from this hazard!" Ketis frowned. She actively resonated with the Heavensword. The weapon automatically began to unfold a protective energy field that possessed exceptional qualities. The new energy field expanded until it encompassed the entire scout shuttle. "Have I managed to relieve the symptoms." "Yes… Ah… that is a relief. I can still feel the droning in the back of my head, but it is only a fraction as strong as before. We can work bear with this remaining pressure." "How long do you think you will last if I was not around to provide relief?" "40 minutes. Maybe shorter depending on how well we can endure the pressure and pain in our heads." That was not much time! "Please send back a probe detailing all of this information." Ketis briskly commanded. "Tell our fleet to set up a rotation of personnel. They must be cycled fairly regularly. No Larkinson should stay here for longer than 30 or 35 minutes at most. Also tell our fellow Larkinsons to prepare more automated systems. Our probes and other technological products do not appear to be suffering from any form of degradation." Once the scout shuttle sent a probe back to the other side of the breach, the vessel slowly began to boost forward. Meanwhile, more shuttles entered the Blue Dimension from behind. As more and more humans entered and experienced the same painful droning in their heads, they weren’t able to enjoy Ketis’ protection, so staying here was pure torture! If not for the fact that they were all professional soldiers who had experienced warfare and hardships over the course of at least several years, they wouldn’t have been able to last so long! Ketis was not here to babysit them. She had a more important goal in mind. As the scout shuttle approached the direction where the nearest source of strong energy readings could be found, her anticipation began to rise. She gripped her Heavensword tighter in her greaves. She would have preferred to wield the Bloodsinger, but her true life sword was simply not strong or useful enough to perform at this level. She also needed to maintain the charade that the Heavensword was responsible for creating an entrance to a dimension that was potentially filled with strategic materials. Eventually, the headlights of the scout shuttle managed to pierce through the blue mist and shine a light on what appeared to be soil. Blue soil. "What the…?" As more and more of the source became visible, Ketis and the crew realized that they had just stumbled upon a fairly small floating ’island’ of sort! All of the dirt and ground on the surface layer was remarkably flat, but not in a disturbingly unnatural fashion. The bottom of the floating island was roughly shaped like a cone. The geometric shape was quite obvious! None of this seemed natural to Ketis. What was this place? Why did it look like this? Why was everything in blue?" "Have you discovered any superdimensional materials yet?" Ketis asked. "Our initial scans have returned with frankly baffling data, ma’am. We had to manually check whether the AIs made the right judgment and whether there is anything amiss with our sensors. So far, we have not found any signs of malfunctions or glitches. If the data is to be believed, this entire island… is superdimensional." "WHAT?!" Ketis lost her composure when she heard that. Was it truly possible for this strange blue island to consist entirely out of superdimensional matter?! "Ah, before you get too excited ma’am, this is far from the best variation of superdimensional materials that can theoretically exist. The superdimensional version of dirt is only useful for building or expanding large fortifications. What we need is weapon-grade and armor-grade superdimensional materials, which should mostly come in the form of metallic ores. Due to the huge interference produced by the entire island, we are unable to scan for the more strategically valuable variations of superdimensional matter." "Are you telling me… that we have to dig up this island to search for ore?" "Yes, ma’am. We are not quite sure whether our digging equipment can even dig through superdimensional matter. Our tools may break." "Great."