The youths were absolutely stunned.
A flying treasure? What kind of joke was this?
Of all the ways they expected things to end, this was the very last. This wasn't because they were too stupid to consider it a possibility but rather because wasting time considering such a thing would have been exactly that… a waste of time.
One had to understand that everything changed when one rose in the Dimensions. Just like there were some airplanes that couldn't rise above a certain altitude without stalling, the same logic applied to the flying treasures of the Dimensional Verse.
The flying treasures these youths were used to were only Tier 4 or 5 Black Grade treasures at best. These kind of flying treasures would hardly rise ten meters into the air in a Fifth Dimensional world.
Knowing this, why would they even consider this to be a problem? They had no way of knowing that Leonel had a Tier 9 Black Grade treasure. He was easily able to rise up 20 meters before he even began to feel some resistance.
The young man who headed their mission, a youth who went by the name of Emrel, was just as shocked as everyone else. But, he also reacted quickly.
"Shoot them down!"
Unfortunately, by the time the words had come out, Leonel and Aina were already 25 meters above the ground.
'Hm… Not enough…'
Using the trees as cover, Leonel weaved in and out of the foliage, making use of the terrain to protect both himself and Aina. However, in the back of his mind, he was already planning to improve this surfboard. He could feel that it was working hard just to keep him this high off the ground, any higher and it might collapse entirely.
Luckily, the forest landscape was in Leonel's favor. Getting out of range of the youths below was a simple matter of planning a path and following suit.
Not only was Leonel able to pick out those with long ranged abilities, he was also able to project their lines of sight in his mind as well. After that, avoiding them was as easy as breathing.
Not having expected such a result, Emrel hadn't even prepared a large core of ranged units. He could only watch as Leonel shot through the skies and disappeared.
"Dammit!" Emrel stomped punched a thick tree hard. Yet, despite his strength, barely a dent was made. He looked no different from a mortal of the Third Dimension completing the same exact action.
Henorin's eyes narrowed as Leonel disappeared over the horizon. But, she didn't pursue. She could tell that these matters were already as good as over.
…
Aina wheezed and dry heaved under the chorus of Leonel's laughter.
"Karma is a beautiful thing."
Aina glared at him through her mask, but dry heaved again just as she was about to come back with a smart reply.
"You know, you should probably take your mask off if you want to vomit, just saying." Leonel grinned. But in response, he only got another glare.
The two landed in the same mountain pass they had been in when they were first teleported to this planet. Truthfully, Leonel had just wanted to teleport to Valiant Heart Mountain immediately, but Aina insisted that being baptized by the pressure of the pillars was good training.
…
The elder of Valiant Heart Mountain had been in a good mood. Though he had said that he wouldn't accept any youths who could cross these gates and that they would have three years to do so or be kicked out… The truth was that he said that every year.
These pillars were actually a portal to Valiant Heart Mountain's Sacred Land and only disciples of the highest standing even had a chance to enter that place.
Of course, at the moment, this portal wasn't active. So, even if these youths managed to cross it, it wouldn't be much more than a symbolic victory. But, the elder was also aware that the earlier these youths crossed this trial, the more benefit they would gain from it in the future.
So, during every acceptance ceremony, he would tease the youths in this exact way, forcing them to walk up the mountains. Those who were able to make it even half way were rewarded by him. Not only would they gain his favor, but he would personally kill the beasts the held the golden tags and hand them over as a reward.
The truth was that the beasts were just a bait, especially the golden tag ones.
For one, amongst the beasts, there were many without tags at all. The smart youths who were more confident in their strength would think of targeting the more powerful beasts. It made sense, the more powerful a beast, the more likely it would have a golden tag.
Though this might be true, the reality was much harsher. Though the elder had followed these rules, he had also left behind several dummies. Some of these dummies didn't have tags at all, while most only had normal tags.
The elder thought himself to be quite clever. He believed that only youths with the greatest courage would choose to challenge the mountain pass while the others weren't worth considering at all.
Of course, he didn't even consider the fact that battling beasts and putting your life on the line against the most powerful of them was also a form of courage.
But, given his age, he had long since been set in his ways. And, it especially didn't help in changing his mind that the youths from this year seemed to be far more talented than the norm, it couldn't help but bring a bright smile to his face.
Ingkath had crossed the 80% mark already and was just 60 or so meters from the pillar.
Ironla was not far behind, being less than five meters from the back of the hulking giant. And, this was most likely due to the fact she had started a step later.
Balthorn was struggling the worst of the four of them. Droplets of sweats beaded down her pretty face and blood leaked from her lips as her every step seemed to cause her no small amount of damage. But, she continued to trudge forward.
"… Just be my girlfriend and I'll carry you up! Come on!"
Radlis almost seemed unaffected. If it wasn't for the fact his back was hunched just a little bit more, others would think he really was immune.
But, at the moment, Balthorn wanted nothing more than to cut off his tongue.
"Hm?"
The elder suddenly looked up to find Leonel and Aina landing in the opening, his brow furrowed with confusion.
"You stay here, you're still injured." Aina said strictly. "I'll go. This isn't very important to you anyway."
"You just want to get away from the stink, don't you?"
"Yes." Aina held nothing back.
"… No love in this world."
Aina felt glad she was wearing a mask at that moment. If not for it, she wouldn't be able to hide her smile.
"Alright, I'm going."
Under the stunned gazes of everyone, Aina suddenly began to sprint up the mountain pass.