Chapter 16: Rewards (2) (1/2)

Leonel was overwhelmed. How could he possibly sift through so many treasures?

”What do you suggest, Uncle Montez?”

Montez smiled. ”First, I don't suggest you trade in your five Tier 4 Black rewards for a Tier 5 one. In your current state, you can't afford to be picky. If you have to rely on 'treasures' you pick up in the Zones you enter, you won't last very long.

”In addition, as I said before, the things you picked up from there will disappear once you leave this place. In this present state, not only are Zones dangerous, but your world itself is dangerous too. You might have run into the Invalids already…”

Leonel opened his mouth to answer but only nodded in the end. He had almost forgotten about the weird changes in his white pupil'd peers… So they were called Invalids. He didn't have to think much to understand why that was.

Unfortunately, he was running out of time, so he knew he couldn't ask Montez about it. It also seemed that Montez was purposely not answering as well.

”Do you have the ability to narrow these down by my needs?” Leonel asked.

After seeing Montez nod, he immediately organized his thoughts.

”How would you categorize these treasures?”

”Hm. There are defensive treasures that range from armors to one time use tokens. There are offensive treasures that range from weapons to, again, one time use tokens. There are techniques that touch on anything from improving your strength to your defense to your offense.

”You can trade for Sub-Dimension Zone analyzing treasures to get a more accurate read on the Zones you enter. These are categorized as detection treasures, the best ones can be used outside of Zones as well.

”You can also trade for information. It can be information about where Zones will appear in your world, or even information about other worlds. It's also possible to buy a ticket to another world, though it would cost you your Tier 9 Black reward.”

Leonel's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

”Can you show me your Tier 9 Black techniques? Preferably the ones that teach how to use the same energy as the Priest I just fought.”

”Hohoho.” Montez smiled a smile that wasn't a smile, but his eyes seemed to give away that he was extremely satisfied with Leonel's choice.

The counter magically shrunk down, leaving a pile of hundreds of booklets. It was clear at a glance that though a Tier 9 Black technique was valuable to Leonel now, it definitely didn't mean much to Montez.

Though the options were narrowed down, Leonel still felt lost. If only his sensory type abilities were able to seek out what he needed.

At this thought, Leonel raised an internal eyebrow. What if it could? He didn't know anything about his abilities currently and he was actually tempted to ask for a treasure that could tell him about it. But, he subconsciously felt that this wasn't the best idea.

One thing that was clear to him about these treasures is that none of them were perfect. He most certainly couldn't expect a Black grade treasure to be so. If he found such a 'helpful' treasure, it might lead him down the wrong path. And, even if it was correct, it might limit him by boxing in his thinking.

Leonel closed his eyes, trying to tap into the same sixth sense he used to battle the Priest. Once he locked onto that feeling once more, his eyes flashed opened. In that moment, the seemingly ordinary piles of books became a violent storm of raging colors.

No. Once again, they weren't truly colors. Leonel's mind only interpreted them as such, almost like an odd form of synesthesia.

Leonel realized now that compared to these books, the Priest had been a joke. But this made sense, he was only the 'Boss' of a Tier 4 Black Zone, while these were Tier 9 Black techniques.

However, he soon found differences between them. Among even these high tier techniques, there were separations. Leonel immediately discarded the worst of them and focused on the five that shone so brightly that even while being buried beneath the pile, they exposed themselves.

He stepped forward and pushed all the other away, leaving five.

'Shit… I can't read what —'

Just as Leonel was thinking this, the words on the five thin booklets rearranged themselves, becoming legible English.

”There's still a small bit of fairness in the world.” Montez laughed, hiding his shock. ”Anything you take out of this world will remain translated for you.”

Leonel nodded, thankful.

”I pick this one.”

At this point, even Montez was stunned to the point of no longer being able to hide his reactions. Leonel hadn't deliberated for more than a split second before he put his hand over a booklet, taking it from the counter.

Leonel shrugged. ”I felt this one could help improve my ability. I had already chosen before I knew its name.”

”[Dimensional Cleanse]… It can indeed improve one's ability. But how did you know that?”

”I dunno. Just felt it.”

Montez's eyes narrowed. He could tell that Leonel wasn't lying. But, even if he was, Montez wouldn't press him regardless.

”The others are powerful as well, so why this one in particular?”

”They gave me auxiliary abilities I didn't need. Before I think of gaining extra stuff, I want to focus on my own. I feel that it's very powerful.”

Montez couldn't refute. He had never seen someone with a Pseudo Fourth Dimensional Constitution do what Leonel just did.

”For my two Tier 5 Black rewards, can you show me some flexible armors?”

Leonel wanted to look through [Dimensional Cleanse] now, but he refrained. He felt that Montez had reminded him about the time for a reason. He likely couldn't stay here forever.

Montez clapped his hands once more, causing the counter to shift. This time, there were even more items to display. Not only were there more, but they also took up a larger space individually than small booklets did. In addition, it was a lower tier of treasure, so it made sense that there were so many.

Leonel narrowed down the options in the same fashion. He eventually settled on a skin-tight armor not much different from his compression shirt. It was a sleek black and the only difference was the fact it was dotted with small hexagons that flashed an imperceptible black light every so often.

For his second Tier 5 treasure, Leonel chose a pair of shoes that had the ability to camouflage themselves into his chosen design. Not only did it have a small bit of defense, but it could increase his speed and agility by 0.1 each.

When Leonel got to his Tier 4 treasures, he realized why Montez advised him not to trade them in. He could think of so many things he needed that he almost felt depressed that there were just five choices left.

First, he chose a container. It was shaped like box forged of steel, but it had thick leather straps. Its height was about a meter and its width about half of one. From the outside, it seemed to have less carrying capacity than the wooden box Leonel used in the Mayan Temple. But one would be shocked to find that it could house 200 long-form darts compared to 50 from the Mayan container. In addition, as long as Leonel hovered his hand over it, a dart would immediately enter his palm.

The best part about this treasure was that it could produce darts itself. It came pre-made with 200, but as long as Leonel fed it materials, it could make more. Leonel was extremely happy finding such a perfect treasure for him.

The second Tier 4 Black treasure he took was another technique. This one was called [Call of the Wind]. It was a throwing technique that taught the use of wind negating abilities to increase the speed of one's spears or darts.

The third Leonel chose was a sturdier atlatl. The combination of these higher tech darts and this technique would completely shatter the atlatls the Mayans built. Plus, everything he got from the temple would disappear once he left this place anyway.