Dimensional Descent

Seeing that Leonel didn't seem to be off put by their gazes and even seemed to be sizing them up, the three looked toward one another. Maybe this world wouldn't be as boring as they originally thought. 

"Alright." The female took the lead, stepping forward. Her voice alone grabbed all of their attention, causing them to almost forget everything else. "Most of you have participated before and are aware of the process. 

"Those who haven't, step forward. The registration process will be the same. Age, affinity, and rank will all be taken down before proceeding to the next step."

The central platform flashed with a small light. When it faded, an alter had appeared before the female with a small indent within it. 

No one dared to test the patience of the three figures. So, those who had already participated in the past took several steps back, making way for the newbies. Among these new participants there were, of course, Leonel and Aina. But, there were other easily recognizable figures. 

There was Young Miss Swan, Syl, Jerach, and even Zilar. 

These four kept sweeping glances toward Leonel, but it was as though there was nothing else worth his attention after Leonel appeared. In fact, he seemed to be smiling more, leaving a curtain of warmth around him. It was hard to believe that this was the same young man that fear inducing aura had just come from. 

Syl and Qiyra kept looking between Leonel and Aina. As for Zilar, he had a complicated look in his eye. He still couldn't believe that Leonel had been the one to save him. Finally, Jerach didn't dare to look again after the first time. His chest still weighed heavily with guilt. 

The truth was that Leonel had long since forgotten about Jerach. But, maybe it was exactly this that left the latter feeling so uncomfortable. It wasn't as though the two were the best of friends, but Jerach still felt like he was losing something. 

But… how could his loyalty to Leonel already be greater than his loyalty to his own family? 

Though this sounded logical, Jerach knew the real reason he felt guilty. It was precisely because his actions were tantamount to going back on his own word. Since he said his life was now Leonel's, that should have been the end of the story. The fact he was still holding back only meant that he never took his word as seriously as he claimed to. 

"Jerach Black. 31 years old. Medial Grade Four Wind Elemental affinity."

Jerach took his palm away from the groove in the alter. The female nodded slightly.

"Um…" Jerach hesitated. 

"Is something the matter?" The female asked, slightly impatient.

Jerach smile sheepishly. Usually, this grin of his worked four out of five times on the ladies. But the female continued to glare at him, causing him to retract it just as quickly as he had deployed it. 

Coughing slightly, Jerach cleared his throat. 

"What does a Grade Four affinity mean?"

The female didn't really want to answer. But, unfortunately, this was part of her job description. 

"Affinity is a comparison of your skill with a type of Force in comparison to your Dimensional stage. The higher your affinity in comparison to your stage, the higher the score. Inferior Grade Four is the average for someone within the Fourth Dimension. If you had the equivalent of this affinity within the Third Dimension, your affinity would be marked out at Grade Five. A Grade Five affinity is enough to skip the preliminary rounds."

Of course, what the female didn't bother to say was the fact that an Inferior Grade Four evaluation was only average in terms of the standards of their organization's new recruits. On a Fourth Dimension world like Terrain, especially one reaching the end of its potential, Grade Four was considered to be an elite amongst elites, let alone Medial Grade Four. 

"Oh, I see." 

Jerach stepped down feeling somewhat dejected. 

"Qiyra Snow. 29 years old. Inferior Grade Four Variant Water affinity."

"Syl Keafir. 30 years old. Medial Grade Four Empty Sword Embryo."

"Zilar Qanif. 35 years old. Quasi Grade Four Empty Spear Embryo."

Zilar calmly accepted his evaluation, his gaze still blazing with determination. For the first time, a curious glint lit in the eyes of the female. It was quite baffling, though, that this glint would appear for the worst evaluation yet. 

At that moment, with the start of the third phase, the audience had already chosen their seats. 

Of course, it was impossible for them to enter the tower. But, they were now allowed to enter the city and reach the central region around the Tower. There, they found a stadium of sorts where the matters occurring inside the were projected out for the viewing pleasure. 

Unfortunately for them, due to the fact these images only appeared at the start of the third phase, these spectators had no idea what happened between Leonel and the others previously. 

"Sister-in-law, who's that ugly girl beside that mean guy? Is he two-timing big sis?" 

Rie didn't seem very happy with what she was seeing. While others were focused on the registration, she was paying attention to something completely different. 

Heira remained silent, keeping her elegant posture. Many in the crowd couldn't help but gravitate toward her, but the banner of the Keafir family was too strong of  a barrier. 

Hearing Rie's words, a middle-aged man sitting beside Zimo frowned. 

"What is this all about?"

This man was Syl's father, City Lord Keafir. Hearing that his daughter was being two-timed was definitely news to him. Since when had his daughter been dating in the first place and why didn't he know anything about it?

Heira smiled lightly. "It's nothing, father-in-law. Rie just has an overactive imagination."

Rie pouted after hearing this, but didn't go against Heira. Though City Lord Keafir raised an eyebrow, he didn't say anything more. Rie's little mental lapses were the last thing on his mind. His son needed to perform well this time. They had much more riding on this. 

Of course, there was someone else who needed Anared to perform well, and that was his very own wife. But, her reason for wanting this was very much different from her father-in-law…

…

"Do you want to go first?" Leonel asked with a smile. 

Aina nodded lightly and walked forward, climbing to the platform and placing her delicate palm upon the alter. 

The female's eyes glowed. Of all those here, she was most curious about Aina's performance since she had a good impression of the young girl. But, when she read them, her eyes couldn't help but widen, her breath hitching slightly.