Dimensional Descent

'This isn't working. Going through all of these treasures one by one would take forever…'

Leonel suddenly had an idea. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it wouldn't cost him anything to try. 

"Can you show me all short distance teleportation treasures with cool downs less than ten seconds."

Much to Leonel's surprise, the translucent screen before him immediately reacted. There was a few seconds of rapid scrolling before treasures disappeared one after another, leaving behind a total of five. 

Leonel's gaze brightened. There were two necklaces, one brace, one bracelet, and the last was an ankle brace. They all had short ranges of within ten meters. The highest cool down amongst them eight seconds while the lowest was three. 

Leonel focused on one of the necklaces. Though it was quite feminine, what he cared about was its ability. Worse come to worst, he could just hide it beneath his shirt or armor. 

This necklace was the overall best treasure here. It had a teleportation distance of three meters and could be used once every three seconds. It was possible to store teleportation charges for up to three attempts. After that, one would have to manually pour Force into it. 

Just when Leonel was about to get ahead of himself and purchase it, he suddenly froze. He remembered he didn't have any of the currency necessary for this Special Store. In fact, he wasn't even aware of what the currency was to begin with. 

Leonel's gaze slowly shifted to the side of the image reflecting in his gaze. When he saw the numbers beside it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. 

<Treading Goddess Necklace (Legendary Equipment) - 72 000 skill points> 

If Leonel was a weaker man, he would definitely begin to shed real tears. 

72 000 skill points? He didn't even have one. It seemed he had gotten way too ahead of himself. How could it be so easy to lay his hands on such a treasure?

This Treading Goddess Necklace was a Quasi-Bronze treasure. As long as it was a Third or Fourth Dimensional world, it wouldn't weaken in the slightest. How could it be so casually given out?

Leonel settled his breathing. It seemed he had wasted an entry ticket. He didn't have a single skill point on him. And, even if he did, he wouldn't have the heart to spend it on a piece of equipment. 72 000 skill points was enough to make it a good portion of the way up his skill tree. He couldn't casually use such an amount. His first priority was still mastering the Four Seasons Realm. 

Just as Leonel was about to resign himself to a loss, he suddenly remembered something else. Since this space could respond to his verbal command, maybe it could answer a question of his?

"Um, how do I use slaughter points?"

The translucent screen flickered and changed once again. 

<Slaughter Point Exchange>

<Current Conversion Rate>

<1 Slaughter Point - 100 Skill Points>

<1 Slaughter Point - 3 Special Store Tickets>

<1 Slaughter Point - 1 Star Point>

Leonel's gaze brightened. 

So it was like this. Slaughter Points could be traded for a myriad of things. 

'It says current exchange rate… does that mean it's subject to change?'

Leonel came to a logical conclusion. It was very likely that as the numbers dwindled, slaughter points would gain a boost in value. Who knew, in the future, it might be possible to exchange a slaughter point for thousands of skill points.

'Arthur must have benefited from these treasures from his last entry, but why is it that he hasn't used them yet…? Is it that he can't due to the restrictions, or is there another reason?'

Leonel realized that his own treasures didn't seem to have any restrictions. The only reason he hadn't been able to use his wind-lightning glove before was due to the restriction on his Force, not the treasure itself. So, he was unsure if he had an advantage others didn't…

'Forget it, we'll see how things go.'

Armed with this new information, Leonel became more confident. 

The first thing he did was spend 5 skill points and 1 star point to unlock 'A Companion for Life'. 

"Yip, yip!"

Finally feeling that he could move, Little Blackstar excitedly jumped around. The little guy had truly felt too stifled. 

Once Leonel unlocked Blackstar and Tolliver, he gained a fourth branch of his skill tree related to them. Originally, Leonel had no intention of spending any skill points on this new skill tree. After all, Blackstar's ability couldn't be restricted by this world. There was no need to give him new skills. 

However, Leonel froze when he saw a particular skill. 

'Perfect Union'. 

The moment Leonel saw it, he knew he had to have it. He understood too little about Blackstar's ability while this skill would allow him and Blackstar to essentially share one mind. Everything the little guy felt and all of its instincts would count as Leonel's. 

The best part about this skill was that it wasn't the highest skill on the tree, nor did it take much to reach it. 

'… It would take 321 skill points to unlock the branches necessary and four star points to reach it…'

Leonel hesitated. 

If he converted all of his slaughter points now, he would have 550 skill points. However, he only had three star points left now, so he would only have 450 skill points while the last slaughter point would go toward the last star point he needed… 

Leonel's gaze narrowed. At the moment, he was feeling uneasy in his heart. He felt like things would only become more dangerous from here on out, and who knew when the next Elimination Round would begin. 

Leonel was certain that he would be targeted from the beginning during the next round. It couldn't be helped, he stood out too much and had made many enemies. 

'It ultimately comes down to one question… will understanding Blackstar better give me a greater immediate boost in strength, or would using all 550 skill points on myself do so…'

Leonel sent a glance toward his own skill tree. 

Several calculations fired off in his Dream World. Eventually, he fell into a simulation, the results of which shocked him. 

It wasn't even close. Investing in Blackstar was by far the best choice.

Leonel took a deep breath and stopped hesitating. 

<5.5 Slaughter Points Exchanged>

<1 Star Point Gained>

<450 Skill Points Earned>

… 

<Bronze Skill 'Damage Share' Chosen>

<Bronze Skill 'Vision Share' Chosen>

…

<Bronze Skill 'Battle Mount'  Chosen>

…

<Silver Skill 'Perfect Union' Chosen>

The moment he clicked on this skill, Leonel's mind was suddenly flooded with a whole host of new sensory information. 

Little Blackstar, who had been playing around, suddenly turned back to Leonel and blinked with an adorable curiosity. The little guy seemed to be wondering why he felt so much closer to Leonel all of a sudden. 

It took a while for Leonel to regain his bearings, but when he did, a confident smile spread across his face. Up until now, he had still been wondering if he made the right choice. But now, he realized he had. 

Without another ounce of hesitation, he began to use his remaining hundred or so skill points on himself. 

<Basic Skill 'Triple Shot' Chosen>

<Basic Skill 'Rapid Fire' Chosen>

…

<Basic Skill 'Sprint' Chosen> 

<Basic Skill 'Roll' Chosen>

<Basic Skill 'High Jump' Chosen>

…

<Bronze Skill 'Curved Shot' Chosen>

<Bronze Skill 'Exploding Shot' Chosen>

<Bronze Skill 'Armor Pierce' Chosen>

Leonel spent 80 or so skill points on his skill tree. As for the remaining 50 or so, he spent it all on a Bronze piece of equipment - Bronze Quiver. 

Not only could it hold 25 arrows, but it could spawn another every 30 seconds. 

Feeling confident, Leonel finally left the Special Store. But, what he found when he stepped out doused him from head to toe in cold water. 

King Arthur stood majestically, his white armor glowing with a fierce light. It was as though it had been completely reborn. It alone made Leonel feel as though a mountain was weighing on his shoulders. 

How could Leonel know that King Arthur could indeed use treasures he had gained during his last entry. It was just that he had to pay an appropriate price to reactivate them. And, unfortunately… that price was far less than it cost to originally buy the equipment…

<White Lion King Armor - 60 000 skill points> 

<Reactivation Price - 300 skill points>

Another thing Leonel didn't know was that star points could also be exchange for skill points…