Dimensional Descent

[Previous chapter has already been updated. It's been brought to my attention that for those that can't see the update, you can go to >> Profile >> Setting >> Clear Cache. Then the chapter will refresh. Thanks to Horst for enlightening me to this method]

Leonel and Aina returned to the Senate Branch, finding that the young man had yet to leave.

"You two again? I already warned you, you know. You can't return missions you've already taken. You're going to have to bite the bullet. If you fail to complete a mission, you not only fall in debt for ten times what the reward would be, but you also get assigned manual labor. The time scope of the manual labor is fairly harsh, though it can sometimes be lenient. It all depends since you'll be on duty until the mission you failed is completed."

Leonel's expression flickered. He could think of a ton of ways to abuse rules like that, especially if he was the head of a powerful Faction. But, he also didn't plan on failing any missions, so he ignored those thoughts for now.

These days, his mind worked faster than he even wanted to, so he winded down paths others wouldn't even consider before said individual could even begin deducing much of anything.

"We know, we just thought we'd pick out another mission to save on some time so that we can complete them all at once."

The young man, who Leonel knew by name now as Dmitry, raised an eyebrow. But, he didn't question it.

After Leonel and Aina had left, he looked into them to see what he had missed and he learned that these two were two of this year's only three Amethyst Token wielders. Aina's performance was shocking enough, but Leonel's was especially… well, eye catching.

Though many felt that Leonel's performance was definitely fake, some more analytical individuals felt that there was more to this than met the eye.

The reason was quite simple: the Void Senate and the Void Elders never attempted to close down the Void Tower.

If there was something wrong with the Void Tower, wouldn't they at least close it down for a while to see what could have gone wrong? And yet right before Leonel's run and right after, everything was business as usual. It made one wonder… Did he really climb to the 74th floor?

No matter how Dmitry scanned Leonel, he could find nothing special about him. He couldn't fathom how a Fifth Dimensional kid could climb to even the 20's, let alone the 70's. It just didn't make any sense.

Of course, this was one of the other odd changes Leonel had undergone. The more time he spent in this "new" body of his, the more subtle changes he noticed. For example, his aura and his temperament seemed to have been greatly refined, not even the tiniest bit of his aura leaked anymore.

In the past, when he focused, he used to leak out King's Might, causing everyone around him to feel strained and heavy. But now, he focused and nothing at all happened.

He hadn't noticed earlier because Aina had always been unbothered by his King's Might. But, with Dmitry here, he should have sensed or felt something. But, Leonel could tell that he hadn't.

"We will take the goblin Sub-Dimensional Zone Void Mission."

Dmitry was speechless as he had flashbacks to just before Leonel and Aina had left the first time.

They had already had this talk once before, but Dmitry never thought that these two would come back only to ignore everything he had said the first time. He almost felt like banging his head against the wall, had he been talking to air?

Void Missions could appear at all ranks from Quadrant to Domain. They were essentially missions that hadn't been completed within a ten year span.

Usual missions were ranked 1 to 9. Level 1 Galaxy missions were designed for Level 1 Galaxy Ranked disciples, so on and so forth.

A One Star Void Mission was one that hadn't been completed in ten years of activity. A Two Star Void Mission hadn't been completed in a hundred years. A Three Star Void Mission hadn't been completed in a thousand. And a Death Void Mission was anything beyond that.

The goblin mission wasn't yet a Death Void Mission, but it wasn't far from that. And, even before it became a One Star Void Mission, it had been a Level 3 Galaxy Ranked Mission. That level was already suicide for the likes of Leonel and Aina, leaderboard prodigies or not.

For reference, a Level 1 Galaxy Ranked Mission was already designed for Sixth Dimensional existences. In fact, the only current Fifth Dimensional existence that could be considered Galaxy Ranked was Aina herself, with Leonel being unranked.

"… Didn't we already agree that…"

"We changed our minds." Leonel smiled.

"And you're aware that…"

"We know." Leonel smiled brighter.

"Fine, fine."

Dmitry tossed over the mission plate and shook his head, watching the two of them leave once again. If they couldn't complete both missions they had taken within a week, they would be off to do labor.

"Wait."

Dmitry shot up from his chair, finding the specific pendant he was looking for, he poured his Internal Sight into it. When he read what was on the other end, he laughed and shook his head.

"Ha… what a loophole…"

Leonel had been certain to claim the mission himself, Aina never even touched the mission plate. The trouble was that as an unranked disciple, there was nothing for the mission to be registered to.

The penalties for completing a mission weren't universal, they were decided by the rank of the disciple and the rank of the mission in question.

If a Galaxy Ranked disciple wanted to claim a Sector Ranked mission, they would not only need to pass the test, but if they failed, the punishment was actually doubled.

In fact, not only were the punishments tied to your rank as a disciple, but even the location of our menial labor would be tied to it as well! After all, if they sent Galaxy Ranked and Sector Ranked disciples to the same place, all of the former would likely die.

This meant one thing: as an unranked disciple, Leonel couldn't be punished even if he failed a mission.

"A sly brat indeed… Well, good luck. Most who take on Void Missions don't even get to return to be punished in the first place…"