Black Wall

Leonel closed his eyes, taking a small breath. When he opened them once more, he had regained his focus.

He was at least 90% certain now that one of the main tasks he had to accomplish in Village 0012 was to earn a uniform. But, he not only had to do this for himself, but also another more than dozen individuals. However, if there was one hidden pitfall, Leonel would be foolish to believe that there wouldn't be another, especially after spending so much time with Wise Star Order.

With a sharp eye, Leonel proceeded to visit every shop. Soon, he found out just how correct he was. There were pitfalls to be found in every one of them.

The second and most obvious issue was water and food in general. The food stores were clearly the only way to guarantee healthy sources of nutrition. Much the same way geniuses brought resources to the smithy in exchange for what Leonel assumed was clothing or weapons, so too did they bring resources to the storefronts in exchange for what Leonel assumed was food and water.

Then there were the herb shops. This store, in Leonel's estimation, was probably a bit different. It wasn't just about nutrition or clothing, it was about finding a path to strengthen yourself and slow the deterioration of your strength. Spending such a long time in this environment ate away at not only one's psyche, but also, in a much more literal sense, one's Force.

The process was once more unchanged. A secret exchange between worker and disciple followed by a dash away by the latter.

Finally, there was the final storefront, the healer. By the time Leonel got here, there was a familiar young man barely holding himself together as he dragged himself in. But, even outside of him, the line here was even longer than all the other lines combined.

Leonel had gotten quite used to seeing gruesome injuries, but this was truly on another level entirely. Promising youths had entire arms and legs lost, some had their guts spilling out of their stomachs, and Leonel even saw one with a bite taken out of their skull, just barely sparing the tender flesh of their now exposed brain.

When Leonel was finished, he realized a few things.

First, there was nothing on the outside of these buildings that described what their function was. There were no signs, no exchange rates, no friendly smile waiting to explain, nothing.

Leonel realized that the only reason he had been able to tell what purpose these buildings served was by observing, process of elimination and deduction. It was something that all humans could do, but something he most definitely did on a far higher level than most. Of course, it was also a great help that everyone else had already figured these things out in his stead. Even if he wasn't even a tenth as intelligent, he would be able to guess.

The second thing he realized was that all of these matters were practically the bare minimum an organization should provide. A treasury, health, food and healing… If an organization couldn't provide these things, then there was really no need for its existence. And yet, it was precisely these foundational things that the Void Palace forced them all to scratch and claw for.

Leonel could easily imagine a scene where these geniuses came to this place, feeling high and mighty about their acceptance into the Human Domain's greatest power, only to get slapped in the face repeatedly by a cruel reality.

They didn't end up being treated like kings and queens like they hoped. Instead, they were stripped of their clothing, forced to find that the treasures and resources they had brought with them to flaunt their wealth was useless, and then humiliated to the point they could only scurry around like rats and mice in the place they should have held their heads up the highest.

Leonel could even imagine situations where food they had brought was poisoned by the Anarchic Force, their water becoming laced with impurities that forced them to rush to these healers, only for them to come to the understanding that nothing in this place was free.

They had probably begged and pleaded, some of them had probably even thrown a fit and become enraged, only to realize that the 'store workers' were behemoths with strength capable of crushing them all with nothing more than a single finger.

A Dream Simulation of what must have happened formulated in Leonel's mind, becoming clearer and clearer until it all snapped into place, filling him with understanding.

'So what do I do about it…?' Leonel's mind flashed. He already deduced the answer.

With a spin of his heel, his body flashed, appearing to the outskirts of the village on the direct opposing side of where he had entered. While the front of the village had nothing, the back was walled off by a wall of thick black logs connected as one.

There were no doorways or gates, something that left Leonel confused for a moment, until he spotted a poor soul leaping over from the other side and falling nearly a hundred meters in a frantic getaway.

Despite their best efforts, a tendril of what looked like a beast Leonel had simply never seen before lashed out, slapping against the leg of the falling victim before they could get all the way over.

A cry of pain resounded as the individual found their leg bursting into a misty rain of crimson. Their body spiraled off to the side, causing their fall to accelerate at a downward angle.

BANG! Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

A hundred meter fall in a Seventh Dimensional world was no joke, especially for a Fifth Dimensional existence, no matter how much of a genius you were. Just from his vantage point, Leonel could tell that the young man had broken practically every bone in his body just now.

'I guess that answers where they're all going to get hurt.'

Leonel looked up. Just scaling this hundred-meter wall of logs was a feat. After all, they were planted vertically, not horizontally. To have to do so while being chased by something that could kill you with a single slap…

Well, Leonel had a feeling that there were a ton of corpses on the other side of this wall.

'… No time to waste.'

Leonel activated the Second Awakening of his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor's Speed Branch. A road of white-gold appeared beneath his feet.

With a step, he shot into the skies with a deft control, his toes stamping down hard on the log wall and jetting himself upward.

Soon, he vanished over its height.