BLOWN INTO THE WIND
The moment Leonel's Dream Force progressed, his foundational strength rose from Tier One to Tier Two. At the same time, he went from having barely entered Tier Three to already being a large part of the way toward Tier Four.
The Life Tablet rumbled and wisps of the Snowy Star Owl condensed and rushed into Leonel's body. In that instant, Leonel was over 70% of the way to Tier Four. Another two or three creatures on this level and he would definitely reach that point. However, he wasn't thinking about that for the moment, or even the boots that the owl had been protecting. It was instead that he had forgotten the most valuable part of this Challenge.
Why was it that Clarence, when his back was against the wall, had chosen to do this? Well, it was in one part a "fuck you" to all the masterminds in the background trying to suppress the last bastion of the Human Race, but there was a deeper reason.
He wanted to use this as a chance to reach the Life State. He felt that it was his last chance to do so, and it was his last opportunity to save the Pavilion from falling into the hands of another race. This was a low tier Challenge Zone. However, even the lowest tier, which this wasn't, gave one help toward the insights of Dream Force that no other place could. If there was any place to use to progress your Dream Force, it was, without a doubt, this place.
From Leonel's calculations, someone at the Higher Impetus State like him should have been Tier Zero. He was Tier One because of the boost of his Dream Sovereignty. Up the ladder, there was the woman who was probably at the Peak Life State and thus Tier Five. Now that he was at the Peak Impetus State, he would have been Tier One, but he was Tier Two instead.
As for why he felt that Clarence was Tier Two despite not being in the Life State, it was because he felt the man was very close and was probably already at the Half-Step. If they could take advantage of this situation, it might be possible for the Human Race to come out with two Life State users, where in the past they had had just one.
Well, Leonel was already one thanks to his Scarlet Star Force. He just couldn't maximize its strength. But Clarence would be able to. That would be a huge stabilizing force. He still wasn't sure if Clarence was trustworthy or not, but what he did know was that he had some backbone. And that was worth something.
'Let's leave this mountain range. But first...' Leonel shot forward and grabbed the boots. '40%... Worth it. Leonel thought for a moment and chose to keep wearing the cloak and necklace though they had just become useless.
Under the suppression of the boots, they fell to 0%, while the scepter and belt fell to 10%. However, overall, it was still 60%, which was 10% larger than it had been before. As for why he was still carrying the now 0% treasures around, it was because even he couldn't tell the strength of these treasures without touching them. Though there was a possibility that someone with the skill of that woman could, Leonel was confident that he could shroud her chances at doing so.
This way, Leonel would appear to be much more powerful than he was just by virtue of the items he was wearing. Luckily, due to the fog of white and gold, not to mention the crown hovering above his head, the combination of treasures looked less ridiculous than they would have otherwise.
Leonel shot down the mountain. He didn't choose to climb up its side any further because he knew there would be dangers beyond him. There were likely at least Tier Five and Tier Six threats up there if the owl chose to stay here.
He made a move toward another mountain range, his Internal Sight spread out far and wide. He wasn't in fear of being found anymore. In fact, just following the odds, he hoped that he would be found. His speed of progress was definitely far beyond everyone else's. That meant that the only threats to him right now, logically speaking, were probably those Owlans and the Pavilion Heads of the other two Pavilions as well as a few of the top brass.
It was a numbers game, and he felt that he would benefit from eliminating some competition right now. Although it seemed smarter to bide his time and wait until he was Tier Seven or higher to rush and kill everyone, this challenge had too many variables. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
While it was true anyone else would need ten times more resources to advance as far as him, they could also challenge much stronger beasts and claim much stronger treasures as well. Right now, they were still getting used to the lay of the land and trying to find those advantages. If just say back, they could make up for their deficit against him just based on pure strength.
He couldn't allow that. However, what Leonel found first was completely out of his expectations. He froze, standing in place. Looking up, he found a haggard figure impaled by several small tree branches. These miniature crystalline trees became like barbed wires in the man's flesh.
This was a world where they hadn't even entered with their real bodies, they were just projections. To go through all this trouble to not directly kill a person, but to instead make them suffer such long, grueling, and agonizing pain... Just why?
He had just been thinking about this man, just been thinking about how close the Human Race was to ascending if they could just survive this one plight, if they could make it over this one hill. And yet, here he was now, breathing his last breaths. Clarence's Dream Force formed wisps in the air, disappearing like smoke blown into the wind.
Leonel stood in silence.