Leonel fell from the skies rapidly, falling through the clouds at a gradually increasing pace.
It should have probably felt quite refreshing to plunge through what was effectively a plume of mist like this. However, for most of the geniuses, it was impossible to enjoy this sensation with the whipping winds threatening to throw them off into the distance.
Leonel, however, didn't seem to have this problem. The winds hardly tickled him and he found the sprits of water quite invigorating. However, he didn't bask in this sensation for long as he had already focused on the figures below.
BANG!
Leonel landed heavily on the ground, his body causing no small amount of commotion. He didn't seem to care about breaking his fall in the slightest. And, aside from a slight bending of his knees, he didn't seem to be affected by it at all.
Aina descended to Leonel's side. She held the polearm of her battle ax in one hand, placing a foot in the hook of its blade at the same time. Controlled by some mysterious force, her descent was as gentle as a feather's and as graceful as a swan's. It would have been easy to believe that she was a delicate young lady if not for the size of her weapon.
One after another, the youths descended from the skies. Sael used her petals, Raylion used his telekinesis, and Aphestus rolled the moment he hit the ground, dispelling the impact with the deftness of a prowling creature.
The five elders looked back toward Leonel, taking keen notice of the cracked stone beneath his feet. Even a strength based ability user shouldn't have been able to do that. 50 meters in a Third Dimensional world and a Fifth Dimensional one were most definitely not created equal, and neither was stone capable of withstanding this sort of perpetual storm.
Leonel didn't seem to notice their looks as a particularly naughty little mink hopped out from his spatial ring and onto his shoulders.
Little Blackstar jumped to Leonel's head, his little nose wrinkling. Clearly, he hadn't taken a liking to the atmosphere. Though his body glowed with the dark green of the ability he had stolen, he eventually abandoned using it entirely and simply entered his incorporeal form.
Leonel smiled, scratching the little guy's head. It seemed that Little Blackstar had outgrown the wind affinity ability he had snatched from the Puppet Master's lacky. In this sort of environment, it wasn't very helpful at all despite this being a wind-based Disaster Rated world.
"It seems that the mighty Valiant Heart has finally decided to appear."
Leonel looked up, only to find a man wearing a blade twice the height of his body on his back.
The blade was almost three feet thick and had not a single spot on it that wasn't covered by a rustic, brownish-red rust. Though it had some taper to it, the blade edge itself was most definitely blunt, or at least it seemed to be.
In any other setting, especially if it was set up alone, this would be quite a dignified weapon, albeit old and more of an antique. However, on the back of a man clearly two meters too short to be wielding it, it looked more comical than anything else.
Leonel couldn't hold back a small laugh. Even though he rolled his lips over each other, holding the rest of it back, how could a Fifth Dimensional existence miss such a thing?
The man who was clearly from the Rusted Blade Organization frowned, looking toward Leonel. But, he couldn't quite figure out what was so funny. Still, he somehow felt irritated by the way Leonel avoided his gaze.
Usually, a brat like that would dodge his eyes out of fear. But, this was clearly something much different from that.
In an atmosphere that had fallen silent after the man's taunt, Leonel's snicker was all too obvious. Several eyes all fell toward him at once. Even through the partial fog, who here wasn't an expert capable of dealing with such a minor matter?
Leonel cleared his throat. "Sorry, sorry. You were saying?"
Aina, who understood Leonel quite well, smiled beneath her mask. With his near obsession with 'cool' outfits and uniforms, he was especially in tune with what was very much not cool. Carrying around a four meter long sword that made you look like a walking crucifix? Definitely not cool.
However, this was only the surface level. In a single action, Leonel seemed to dispel all the tension in the air. Whether on purpose or by coincidence of his charm, the youths following behind them all let out a collective breath, their backs standing just a bit straighter.
Head Hutchin gave Leonel a deep look.
They had been late on purpose. The ship had been filled to the brim with a healing agent that could be inhaled. They wanted to delay for as long as possible so their youths could heal up as much as possible. Toward that end, they were willing to withstand just a bit more pressure.
However, what Hutchin hadn't expected was for Leonel to deal with it all for them.
Without a word, Hutchin turned toward the other groups.
At the moment, they all stood on a tall stone pillar that was easily 500 meters across. There seemed to be ancient patterns etched into it that caused even the cracks Leonel had created with his fall to quickly mend.
This pillar was the roof of one of the few bases the Third Party the four Organizations had contracted had on this planet. However, it was very clear that no one was intent on entering this base. It seemed that the first round would start now.
"I think we can drop the pleasantries, correct?" Hutchin said coolly.
The man with the crucifix sword still felt irritated for reasons he couldn't even explain. It was clear that no one had ever laughed at his sword before, so how could he possibly guess that that was what Leonel found to be so ridiculous?
Before he realized what was happening, Hutchin had already taken control of the narrative and was forcing things forward.
The man's expression darkened, but he could only let it slide after sweeping a dark glance toward Leonel.
"The rules for the first round will be as we've agreed upon. As for the later rounds, they will be handled by our trusted Third Party." An older woman who seemed to already have a foot in the grave spoke up from the side of Misty Woods. "The youths who cannot pass this round won't be allowed to participate when it really counts. You can each choose three seeded geniuses to skip this."
Hutchin didn't flinch at these requirements.
"Aina. Raylion. Sael. You three will be Seeded."
Hutchin waited for the other three organizations to call out their own seeded geniuses, but none of them spoke a single word.
The elders of Valiant Heart all narrowed their eyes. They could all see the Head Students Hutchin had mentioned earlier amongst their crowd of geniuses. Yet, none of them were called out.
The wrinkled older woman smiled. "You do not need to worry, our Seeded Geniuses have already been chosen and set aside."