"There is always a way for the right price," the Lord said. "You are exchanging your contributions. The way in which you spend your contributions is up to you."
Kyle sighed in relief. 'How is talking with the Cult always so easy and straightforward?'
"That's good," he said. "Assuming some of them accept, what can we afford?"
"As I've said, it depends on the Primary World," the Lord said. "There are a couple of kinds of Primary Worlds you can choose from. The most expensive ones belong to a Peak Organization and require reaching the Fulfilled or Unique Realms to advance. These worlds are under close supervision since they produce future Chosen. You can't afford a trip to one of these."
"The next cheaper variants are normal Primary Worlds that belong to Peak Organizations. They are still under supervision, but they're not as overbearing. If you exchange all of your contributions, you can enter one of those, but it would be just enough for you alone."
"Then, we have experimental Primary Worlds that belong to a Peak Organization."
"Experimental?" Kyle asked.
"Some of the worlds vastly differ from the usual worlds," the Lord explained. "There are worlds in which humanity doesn't exist. There are worlds where Energy is not in the atmosphere but locked away in objects. In some worlds, the Laws are hidden, and people can only rely on reforging their bodies to become stronger. There's also a world in which your Laws transform into beasts, which fight for you."
As Kyle listened, his eyes widened. "That's so weird! Why are there worlds like this?"
"We believe it's to experiment," the Lord said. "The Cosmos just tries random things to see if anything valuable emerges. It's a process similar to evolution. Different things are changed. If the quality or quantity of the ascending Seekers lowers, the Cosmos knows that this is a bad change. If any of these two parts increase, it knows it's a good change, and it will include parts of these experimental worlds in other worlds. At least, that's what we believe happens."
"We also believe that the existence of Core Sparks comes from one of these experimental worlds. The function of a Core Spark is limited when compared to the other four Aspects of Power. It holds an important position to Transcendents, but it loses its use in the following Realms."
'I can see how someone could come to that conclusion,' Kyle thought.
"Is there any reason to enter an experimental world?" Kyle asked.
"Not really, " the Lord said. "Usually, Immortals ascending from an Experimental Primary World are weaker than even the average Ascendant. While they have followed their own power system to the end, they have not engaged with any other power system."
"The Experimental Primary World that turns Laws into beasts is a good example. This is a stable world, and it regularly produces new Immortals. However, the average Immortal ascending from that world can only summon one or two Immortal Beasts and several weaker beasts."
Kyle raised a brow. "That doesn't sound that weak. Beasts can be pretty strong."
The Lord slowly shook his head. "A beast by itself can be strong, but when it has to protect a vulnerable human, its strength weakens significantly. These Immortals are not fast, strong, durable, or powerful. Any large-scale attack can kill them unless their beast fully focuses on defending them, at which point it can't focus on killing the enemy. Additionally, due to the way they fight in that world, their Momenta are usually very weak for their Realm."
"An average Ascendant already has an Infused Mind, Body, and Center Law on top of a powerful External Complex Law. At this point, every Ascendant also has their own Imposing Law. All of these Laws improve the power of one person. They all multiply with the same base. Meanwhile, an Immortal from that Experimental Primary World can only rely on their group of beasts."
"A fight between a normal Immortal and an Immortal from that world would be like a fight between a hundred False Transcendents and one True Transcendent."
Kyle nodded. "Yeah, I can see why going to an Experimental World could end badly for us," he said. "Although I have two more questions. Can the powers from the Experimental Worlds be learned by Seekers in the Supreme World, and can the Seekers from the Experimental Worlds learn the powers of the Supreme World after ascending?"
"Yes and yes," the Lord answered. "In most cases, the Immortals from Experimental Worlds try to stay true to their path, despite the constant setbacks. Over time, they will slowly change their Battle-Style, and before they know it, they will just be another random Immortal. We are not building our powers like this because we are forced to, but because this has simply proven to be the most effective path, time and time again. In the end, every successful Seeker finds themselves on the same path."
'Guess this is just the meta,' Kyle thought. 'If you want to compete with the best of the best, you have to follow the meta.'
"What other worlds can we go to?" Kyle asked.
"The next cheaper variants are unaffiliated Primary Worlds," the Lord said. "You can afford a trip for yourself and one of your friends. Unaffiliated Primary Worlds are unaffiliated primarily due to a certain weakness that makes them worse than other Primary Worlds."
"Technically, they are still affiliated since every Primary World has already been claimed by one of the Peak Organizations. We call them unaffiliated because the Peak Organization that technically owns the world doesn't care enough about it to properly defend or manage it."
"What's so bad about them?" Kyle asked.
"Most of the time, it's a lack or an abundance of Energy," the Lord explained.
"Wait, both can be bad?" Kyle asked in surprise.
The Lord nodded. "A severe lack of Energy leads to a wide disparity amongst the strongest Seekers in the world. This reduces the number of battles, leading to weaker overall Momentum. Additionally, when one person needs to consume 30% of all the Energy just to become an Advanced Crusher, it's impossible to become a Fulfilled Crusher. Even if they have the talent, they will never become Fulfilled or Unique Crushers."
"They wouldn't even be able to ascend," Kyle commented.
"That's not correct," the Lord answered. "Every world has a way to ascend. If it doesn't have enough inherent Energy, it will draw Energy from the Supreme World during, and only during, the last advancement. Essentially, it pays for your graduation ceremony but not for your studies."
"An overabundance of Energy is just as bad. If there's too much Energy, there's almost no competition. If everyone has access to enough Energy Stones to become a Unique Crusher, they do not need to fight other people for resources anymore. Their Momentum will also be weak, and while there will be many ascenders, the majority of them will have below-average Battle-Strength."
Kyle sighed when he heard that. "So, in short, we can't afford to go to useful worlds. We can only afford cheap worlds that either make it impossible to reach the Unique or Legendary Realm or make it difficult to increase our Momentum."
"I wasn't done," the Lord said. "There's one more category. Additionally, you have to remember that you can always accept one of our missions when going to one of these worlds. Not every mission requires you to exterminate an entire world. "
Kyle ignored the second half of the Lord's statement. "There's another category?"
The Lord nodded.
"Unknown worlds."
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