Dimensional Descent

Leonel followed behind Sael, casually looking through the city at the feet of the seven peaks.

Though he had previously described this city as small, the truth was that this was only an illusion. It felt quite quaint due to all the nature in the surroundings. But, for a city to be at the base of seven separate Peaks, its size didn't need to be explained.

This space was taken over by the youths of Valiant Heart. Since a single round of recruitment brought in over a thousand, it wasn't a surprise that they managed to fill in all this space. But, Leonel could also tell that there were quite a number here that weren't members of Valiant Heart.

Though the city didn't have tourists, what it did have were many traders.

It only took a silent walk around the city for Leonel to understand what was happening.

Valiant Heart was likely only one protected corner of this Fifth Dimensional world. Beyond it, he was sure that there were countless resources. It was at this very city that these resources could be traded.

It seemed that Valiant Heart gave quite a bit of freedom to its disciples and students. But, Leonel was also sure that they took their fair share of taxes from these transactions.

'So that's how these factions are competing, huh?'

Sael and the others had no idea how much Leonel had picked up on a single pass through of the city. He could clearly see that the shops and various establishments he passed through were separated into six avenues. There was no doubt that these six represented the six Peaks.

It seemed that there was a lot of tension in the underbelly of this organization. But, this also bred a competitive fire that could fuel later generations.

The question was… could this fire be turned off in the face of a common enemy? Or would Valiant Heart eat itself alive?

"This is Valiant Hall." Sael finally led the group to the core of the city.

Before them, there was an ancient building that seemed to be the cross of a world center and Roman architecture. Leonel thought it was a shame that they didn't have pyramids considering their style of dress, but he doubted that anyone here would even understand what he was saying if he brought it up.

He found it curious though. Though this large building had quirks that existed outside of what one would expect from Roman architecture, it was still eerily similar. Leonel wondered which came first… was Earth influenced by outside powers?

"This is where you will register yourselves and become official warriors of Valiant Heart."

'So that's what they call themselves?'

Sael led them to be registered one by one.

It turned out that the spatial rings they were given, not only acted as the life saving treasure Sael once mentioned, but also acted as their form of identification. Leonel found the number of functions they could pack into such a small device to be quite fascinating.

Though he had always said that the more parts a Craft had, the more complex it was. There was also another second direction of complexity. And this was incredibly small and miniature Crafts that managed to pack a lot of things into a small volume.

Leonel wasn't certain which was more complex as a whole. But, what he did know was that he had already built a Craft with many parts, but he had yet to do the opposite. This left his mind spinning with a lot of untapped potential.

Leonel was absentmindedly registered, barely paying attention as Sael led them around the city once again.

"… This is the location of the Valiant Vault. Usually there are only three methods of entry. The first is the golden tags you all should have gotten during the entrance exam. The second is by any number of Peak Rivalry events that happen over the course of the year. And, the third is by breaking Peak Records.

"Of  these methods, the easiest is definitely the entrance exam, so I hope you all took advantage. I hear that if you accumulate ten golden tags, you can even trade for a Tier 9 weapon. 100 golden tags will get you a Quasi Bronze weapon. And though it's nearly impossible, there is a rewards of a Tier 1 Bronze treasure if you accumulate 1000 golden tags."

Sael thought that her words would excite the group, but when she looked back, she only saw that they were all gazing toward Leonel with weird faces.

"… Though I say this, I advise that you all take advantage of the golden tickets you all have now. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. You're all currently too weak to even think of earning golden tickets by other means. It's better to improve yourselves now."

The more Sael spoke, the more odd she felt that none of them were moving.

Radlis finally cleared his throat. "… Um, beautiful big sister, we don't have any golden tickets."

Sael frowned. "How's that possible? That old man always gives those who …"

Her words paused, finally following everyone's gaze back to Leonel.

Finally realizing that something was off, Leonel looked around. Seeing Valiant Vault proudly displayed in front of him, he just shrugged.

"Sorry, I gave all my golden tags to someone else."

Sael's lip twitched.

Without a choice, Sael could only move on, introducing the other locations of Valiant City before dropping them off at their designated residences.

"Stay put here for as long as you can." She said sternly. "And don't cause any trouble."

Though she seemed to be speaking to them all, her gaze never left Leonel.

Sael grit her teeth and walked away after realizing that Leonel didn't seem to pick up on her hints. She had managed to stop any trouble by being by his side, but she couldn't exactly do this all the time, right?

'… I'll have to assign a mission in Valiant Hall and have someone keep an eye on the situation so it doesn't get too out of hand…'

Sael rushed away as Leonel prepared to walk into his abode.

What they were both unaware of was the fact that news had finally drifted to Aphestus' ears.