ADVANTAGE
These were the Dream Creatures of the True Dream Plane.
Upon entering, they were all sent to random locations, and even Clarence wasn't by his side any longer. The purpose of these Dream Creatures was both as a challenge and an opportunity.
You were meant to kill them and take the bundle of Dream Force they left behind. This Dream Force was unique in that it gave you access to two paths.
The first path was the path of the creature itself and the second was your own.
To make a complicated matter simple, you could either use the kernel of Dream Force as a conduit to use the abilities of the creature in question, or to access one of your own.
However, there were obviously tradeoffs.
If you chose the first path, you might not be used to the abilities of the Starry Tailed Fox.
However, if you chose the latter, the Starry Tailed Fox might not be used to your abilities, and as a result, it would be limited in how much of said abilities it could help you to access.
Without these creatures, the only Force one could use here was Dream Force.
Manipulating Dream Force in this world was akin to manipulating Wind Force or any other ambient Force in the outside world. You could quite literally use it like a bludgeon, a blade, or anything of the sort. In fact, maybe the best way to think about it was akin to a telekinetic ability that only worked in this place.
The higher your Dream Force comprehension, the more Dream Force you could mobilize in a single instant of time, and as a result the stronger you would be in this world.
The problem, then, was obvious.
No one used Dream Force like this in the real world.
Even Lionel, who had a rare ability to project his Dream Force out of his body, used it to create things and manipulate the world; using Dream Force so crudely wasn't something most were used to.
As such, even if one had a high Force Manipulation, it would take a hit in this world.
Obviously, much like everything else, Ability Indexes were useless in this world as well, as were Lineage Factors.
It could be said that you were stripped down of almost everything but what you could take.
And that was why Leonel felt he had a chance to make it out of here even amidst all these godlike beings.
Not only did he have a chance, he had a huge advantage.
First, as a Dream Sovereign, his natural ability to wield Dream Force was beyond just his comprehension of it, it was almost an ingrained instinct. As such, he felt no awkwardness using Dream Force like he just had.
Second, his Life Tablet allowed him a far more solid connection with his original body, but that was only the least beneficial thing it could do for him. The most important was that every one of these creatures he killed would have a larger well of Dream Force to pull from as less of it would dissipate after its death. Well, that and one other thing...
"Hey, little guy. Be obedient."
Yip... Yip...
Leonel flipped his palm and he went from holding the little fox by its tail to it balancing on his forearm and looking into his eyes.
The little creature was quite adorable, and under the influence of the Life Tablet, it was completely suppressed.
The Life Tablets were originally meant to control and trap the God Beast Envoys. Well, the Tablets in general, that is. Under its influence, it could only listen.
This wasn't extremely useful in the normal sense. Every second he controlled the creature was another huge drain on his Dream Force, especially since it was using his real body. So, unfortunately, using an army of creatures like this wasn't in the cards.
But what was in the cards was...
"Where's all the good stuff?" Leonel asked with a grin.
There was one goal more important than anything else here. This Challenge obviously wouldn't just end with the death of all but one group; that would be too bloody. In fact, a death here wouldn't be a true death unless someone was exceptionally sinister and wiped out every drop of your Dream Force.
Of course, Leonel wouldn't be banking on the kindness of his enemies to save his life. Considering the angst everyone had against humans, how could they not kill him? That aside, how would they get the Life Tablet that had fused with him if not by killing him? It could be said that everyone could live but him.
This was all to say that the goal of this Challenge wasn't killing.
Those mountains in the distance, all child's play. There was only one mountain they needed to pay real attention to, at least when it came to victory: and that was Dream Mountain.
It was the largest, located on the highest cloud and disappearing into the skies above.
The goal was to be the first to reach it, but doing so was easier said than done. If one casually stepped onto it, your Dream Force could be snuffed out instantaneously and you would suffer a true death.
The main goal was to gather enough treasures that you could force your own anchor, sacrificing those anchors instead of your true body.
It sounded complicated but the short of it was that they needed to create a shield that would weather the storm for them.
Creatures like this Starry Tailed Fox were one way, but there were also various treasures hidden in mountains.
It would usually take time to find these treasures, and the creatures themselves weren't exactly easy to find either. Leonel had just gotten a bit lucky that one attacked him immediately.
However, if Leonel could use these creatures to point him in the direction instead, these creatures that spent year 'round in this True Dream Plane, wouldn't his advantage be huge?
Yip! Yip!Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.