Are You?

The beauty of Leonel's choice was that up until this point, he had spent practically nothing. All the cabins weren't even worth 5 Void Points while all the food and water were picked up by him. The water, of course, came from his Cleansing Water stores. He had downgraded it back to the Fourth Dimension as he didn't want its specialness to become common knowledge, but that would be more than enough. As for the food, it was Cursed Beast meat cleansed by Sixth Dimensional Cleansing Waters. It might become boring to eat after a week, but at least they wouldn't starve.

This was the main reason why Leonel chose this route. Like this, he would be able to use all more than 50 000 Void Points he had remaining toward improving the odds of them all surviving.

The beast armor he had left them, so long as they acclimated to Anarchic Force, would provide them a huge boost to their strength. The moment the power of the armor could be diverted from protecting them to just attacking and defending, there would be a qualitative change in them all.

By Leonel's estimations, this boost in strength in conjunction with their own raw power would raise them to a level where they would have been able to easily clear their way to this safe zone from Village 0012. This would put them at or above the level of many of the Nominal Disciples that remained. However, this wouldn't be enough.

That was where the real training would come in.

Leonel poured everything else into resources. For those he could tailor the experience of, he did so, picking out a perfect complimentary technique for them. For those he couldn't, he focused on buying things that could accelerate their growth, whether that was in Force or bodily strength.

When Leonel was finished, everyone understood what they had to focus on for at least the next months. If they took advantage of this, not only would the gap between them and everyone else close, but they would even gain a leg up.

They all gazed toward Leonel. They didn't know how much he had to sacrifice to allow them this chance, but they knew it couldn't have been cheap. How could they not feel grateful?

"Well, it's time for us to go." Leonel smiled lightly. "I hope the next time I see you all, you'll not only still have your lives, but you'll be much stronger as well."

Leonel took his responsibility to these people very seriously. It wasn't just about his guilt or his morality. Everyone here represented his foundation. They were the backbone of what he was building and they were all he had.

Years from now, he would have to face off against six of his distant cousins, each of whom were likely monsters in their own right, and each of whom had roots deeply entrenched into the Void Palace long ago. He was already several steps behind. So, every one he took forward had to be meticulous, purposeful and perfect. He couldn't afford to leave any stone unturned and he couldn't allow himself to waste any more time.

"Noah."

Leonel called out. Though there was a three hour limit, he wouldn't be wasting any of that time here. Ossenna had made it clear how much of a time crunch they were on, if he really spent three hours here, he would be an idiot.

"Leonel, I think—"

Leonel smiled. "You want to go your own way too, right?"

"Yes." Noah nodded seriously.

If he kept following behind Leonel, he wouldn't never be able to improve like he wanted. Plus… He was a Fawkes. Behind his stoic face and expressionless gaze, there was his own Emperor's Might lurking. Just like Leonel, whenever he got serious, an oppressive pressure would stifle the air, and that wasn't a coincidence by any stretch.

He had Royal Blood flowing through his veins.

"Here." Little Blackstar tossed over a vial of greyish liquid after feeling Leonel's intent. "This will help you adjust to Anarchic Force fully within a few hours, by then you'll be able to show your true strength. Keep in mind, though, that there will be side effects. So…"

Little Blackstar moved again, passing off another vial to Noah.

"… After you adjust to Anarchic Force fully, drink this and it will get rid of the impurities for you."

Noah held onto the two vials tightly, not sure of what to say for a long while. However, Leonel only grinned.

"Don't get sentimental on me now, we're family, aren't we?"

"Yes." Noah nodded.

Noah had never really had brothers. There were too many people trying to use him everyday. The only person he trusted within his generation was Jessica. But, ultimately, their relationship was between man and woman, it wasn't the same, especially not when they had unresolved emotions for one another. Content is property © .

This just… felt different.

"No more time to waste. I'll go that direction."

Noah nodded. "I'll go in that one, then."

With a smile, Leonel's figure flickered and vanished, hitting his top speed in the blink of an eye.

…

Leonel adjusted Aina into a position on his back, using some more beast fur he had gained to tie her down firmly. Somehow, this situation felt oddly familiar, but his thoughts didn't linger on this as he secured her.

Once he was finished, Leonel took a breath of fresh air, or, a breath of air about as fresh as you could get in a place like this one. He finally felt like he could go all out.

A road of stars appeared beneath his feet as he shuttled over the now slowly waning beast tide. Despite the fact they were slowing, though, Leonel didn't place his guard down. It wasn't a coincidence that the beast tide was finally showing signs of weakening just as the first wave of people reached the first safe zones. Clearly, the beast tide was a challenge for the first part of the True Selection. That meant there would likely be a new challenge coming up very soon…

Leonel leapt up, landing on the branch of a tree. With a flicker of his finger, a strand of Bow Force split a beast that leapt up with him in two.

"Are you all going to continue following me for an entire day like you did the first time again? Or can we skip that nonsense?"