Dimensional Descent

'0.10 Bloodline Density?' Leonel's gaze narrowed.

He wasn't familiar with this form of measurement. But, since things were like this, he had no choice but to hope he met the mark. He should be fine, but there was no real certainty.

If things worked like they did on Earth, then Leonel would probably have 25% of whatever DNA would make a Luxnix be considered to be 'purebred'. But, something told Leonel that the Lineage Factors of the Dimensional Verse functioned differently. At the very least, he hoped Noah could meet the mark and claim a few rooms for them.

The moment the youth spoke these words, several had ugly expressions, and this even included the two Tier 5 youths who had been the loudest of the bunch. Soon, those who knew they would never make it began to move away from the red ropes, knowing their place.

'They don't meet the mark? Hm, but it seems they aren't moving away. Are they going to try their luck?'

This told Leonel one very simple thing: this Bloodline Density could be changed. If they were certain that it couldn't, they wouldn't even bother.

"You guys can take a step back as well. Noah and I've got this."

Leonel gave the youths of Earth a reassuring grin. Even if it was hopeless, he would have to find a way to make it hopeful. He was only Tier 1 now, a far cry from the other participants, but he didn't have much of a choice but to make sure this worked out.

Soon, there were only a few dozen people left of the thousands that had been at the ropes. Everyone else had given them a wide space at the base of the first hotel. There were hundreds of meters worth of perfectly paved stones in every which direction, making a single person seem particularly small.

The Tier 4 youth representing the Luxnix took out a crystal ball he was forced to hold with two hands. It was a size larger than a normal human head and perfectly rounded. It was quite a beautiful construction.

Its appearance seemed to remind Leonel of Camelot's crystal balls as well. It had been a long time since he thought of them, but he remembered being fascinated about just how they stored information.

'Maybe there's a lot more to Camelot's magic system that I've been ignoring… I wonder if it's possible to deduce the path of evolution their technology would have taken over time as well…'

As Leonel was lost in thought, the Tier 5 Nypso Branch member stepped forward, seemingly wanting to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Compared to his previously rambunctious self, he seemed to become especially timid after crossing the red ropes to the other side. It was almost as though the difference between himself and the youths before him was palpable despite the fact he was technically a Tier above the young man before him.

The Tier 5 youth pressed his hand down on the sphere and took a deep breath. Then, his body erupted with a white-gold Force, filling the crystal ball to the brim in the blink of an eye.

The youth quickly removed his hand and took a step back, watching the crystal ball with anticipation and his fists clenched.

Soon, a pillar of light rose out from the crystal ball.

It shot past one and two feet quickly, blasting through five feet and soon crossing seven. However, the moment it reached that height, it began to slow considerably, barely crossing past eight as it struggled forward.

The forehead of the youth became covered in sweat, his hands clutching so tightly that even the blood he drew couldn't find a path to drip to the ground.

The pillar rose past nine feet finally, but every subsequent inch felt like scratching and clawing. Eventually, after rising up just eight more inches, four from the ten foot mark, it came to a grinding halt and released a pulse of light.

"0.0967. Failed."

The youth deflated in an instant, but he didn't protest. He knew better than to do something so foolish. At the very least, so long as his companions won an extra room, he would be priority in claiming it.

"0.0963. Failed."

The Tier 5 Conlon youth failed soon afterward. One after another, youths just barely missed the mark, whittling down the few dozen that had stayed behind to less than even a single dozen total. It was quite depressing to see one individual after another just barely miss the mark, but this was only to be expected. Only those who were close to begin with would even dare to take this test.

At that moment, one of the Tier 6 Nypso Branch youths stepped forward, carrying a level of confidence the others hadn't had. He bowed lightly in greeting to the three main branch youths.

"Clyde Luxnix." He introduced himself.

Not wasting anymore time, he placed his hand on the crystal ball and his Force surged.

Before he even got a chance to step back, the pillar of light shot upward, beginning to climb faster and faster. This time, unlike it had with the others, the pillar didn't seem to slow in the slightest, bursting through eight, nine and even ten feet in the blink of an eye!

Eleven feet. Twelve.

The pillar didn't begin to slow until the light crossed 15 feet. Soon, it crossed 16 before it slowed to a crawl and finally came to a grinding halt.

"0.1623. Pass."

Clyde's face lit up. Clearly, he was very much impressed with his own performance and felt like he was on cloud nine. However, he was soon hit with the reality that the youths before him didn't seem to care about his performance in the slightest. In fact, one of them, seeing how excited he was, couldn't help but turn a look of disdain his way.

Clyde's excitement very quickly became embarrassment. Without a choice, he scurried back, unwilling to humiliate himself any further.

Soon, the second Tier 6 member of the Nypso Branch stepped forward, their expression much more reserved after seeing what happened to their companion.

All of them became keenly aware at that moment that they were nothing more than ants in the eyes of the main branch youths.