Dimensional Descent

The issue was obvious. This space was simply too small and, by the last words she spoke, Ossenna had implicitly stated an even greater problem: there was no population limit.

Why would Ossenna mention a cap on future safe zones but say nothing about this one?

If Leonel was correct, not only were there not enough safe zones for most, even the ones that existed were so small in area that very few could hope to call this place home. Ultimately, most would be squeezed out and forced to their deaths. The idea of a congratulatory message was nothing more than a method of lulling them into a false sense of security.

One might say that the Void Palace rules would protect those within this space, and such a person would be right. But, for how long would that last?

During this year, those here would have to grow strong enough to make it to the next checkpoint which was also an unknown distance away. By the time Leonel had gotten here, Tier 3 beasts were already becoming far more frequent, so who knew what Tier you'd have to be able to face just to make it?

Even if you gave up and wanted to idle for the rest of this year, realizing you were in over your head and felt that expulsion was the best path for you, you would still need to exchange for food and water, something you would need as frequently if not more so than a Third Dimensional existence due to the constrain of fighting off Anarchic Force.

To exchange for this, you would have no choice but to exit the safe zone, and then what? By then, it would be a free for all.

The worst part was that even if by some miracle just the right number of people filled in this space and no one deemed it necessary to take the risk of targeting fellow disciples to survive, there were still a limited number of resources to go around.

Take the Spatial Bristle Bush. It could only be harvested once every several days before it could be taken from again. And, that was just one example. Leonel was absolutely certain that the other resources worked the exact same way.

After this beast tide calmed, there would only be so many beasts in the region before you had to travel further out, only so many herbs to harvest, only so many precious gems and metals to mine or even find, for that matter.

Then one needed to consider that there would be many ambitious individuals. Considering what Leonel had come to understand, the standard of this year's entries were much higher than previous. There would be many unsatisfied with staying as Nominal Disciples and would do everything they could to reach higher and higher levels. For such people, even if everyone could coexist, they wouldn't care. They would demolish everything that stood in their way.

This all led to one conclusion: there would be a blood bath here, maybe one no less lethal and heart wrenching than what was waiting for Leonel during the rest of this Selection. He couldn't leave his people here, especially while still in such a vulnerable state.

He had to set them up for success.

Leonel entered a storefront he hadn't seen in Village 0012. He expected that he would find a very different experience here than he had over there, and he was found to be correct almost immediately.

This storefront didn't have a person in it at all. In fact, though it was shabby in construction and the floors creaked, all while a musty smell hung in the air, making it feel just as ancient as it was, Leonel could feel a strong and sturdy current of Force running through this place. He had no doubt that the central hub and power center of this safe zone was this place. If this location was compromised, then the whole safe zone would cease to be. But, Leonel had a feeling that even if he went all out, he wouldn't be able to leave even a single dent in this so-called 'shabby' cabin.

Leonel stepped toward an empty counter. The moment he did, his mind seemed to have warped and his vision blurred before refocusing in a land of white and panels.

Before Leonel could do anything, the panels rearranged themselves, many of the items that had been there vanishing. Leonel had a feeling that this was related to his current status. This panel would likely only show him things that Nominal Disciples could exchange for.

Leonel didn't actually plan on exchanging for anything, though. What he wanted to understand was how much wealth he had now and what it was worth. Only one he had this information could he decide what steps to take moving forward. Of course, that also required understanding what his point total could trade for as well.

'1 Void Point is worth 1000 kilograms of Sixth Dimensional Urbe Ore? That's more than I expected, so Void Points are definitely very valuable…'

Leonel had a large amount of Sixth Dimensional Urbe Ore left to him by his mother. Billions of kilograms, in fact, not to mention millions of kilograms of Seventh Dimensional Urbe Ore. Unfortunately, while you could trade Void Points for Urbe Ore, you couldn't do the vice versa.

'Void Merits?' Leonel's gaze narrowed.

It seemed that Void Points were only one part of the currency system of this place, Void Merits was another. And, unlike Void Points, there didn't seem to be a one to one exchange rate provided for Void Merits, this immediately told Leonel that they could be considered to be invaluable.

Leonel shook his head and refocused. If Void Merits were so valuable, he definitely wouldn't use it on a list restricted to Nominal Disciples. Plus, he hadn't earned even one just yet.

Finally, Leonel found what he was looking for.

'So it's like that… a one cubic meter spatial bristle ring is worth 10 Void Points, the next highest tier is worth 100, the next following is worth 500. 500 Void Points for such a small ring… But then the core of the Spatial Bristle Bush is actually worth 2500 Void Points…

'That would mean that all together I have 52 000 Void Points. The real question is, then… What can that exchange for?'