Leonel's pupils constricted when he heard this. What sense did this make?
"You mean that it's a God-level challenge?"
"Not exactly... but unlike the normal Zones here... I wouldn't trust that only Races of this world would appear."
"Show me their objectives."
"Okay."
[Name: Fleeting Cloud]
[Entry Limit: -]
[Clear Requirements: Resurrect the Cloud Race]
[Side Quest: Raise Cloud Race to the standard of True Mortal Race]
[Side Quest: Find mutated issue with Cloud Figure and fix it]
[Hidden Quest: Create new race of the Demi-God standard]
[Objective: The history of the Cloud Race is a long and storied one. However, under mysterious circumstances, they were destroyed by the people of this world. Time tells of a hidden force that obstructed their hope and blinded their light. Eradicate this blight on their history and help them to recover to their previous peak]
Leonel blinked after reading the first.
He was used to the first few lines. Entry limit, the quests and hidden quests were all normal. But this objective was something different and must have been something that Anastasia added herself.
While the words were shocking themselves, what annoyed Leonel the most was that these "objectives" would have been very useful back in the days he actually needed them.
Unfortunately, Anastasia was mostly asleep during those days. She couldn't have helped him, even if she wanted to.
Regardless, the words themselves were shocking.
The Cloud Race? Raising to the standard of a true Mortal Race? Creating a new Race?
What kind of objectives were these?
The words about a hidden force in the objective also should have been what Anastasia wanted him to be wary about. There was no doubt that this was related to the danger of the Zone and also why she said it was dangerous.
Leonel was inclined to believe her.
He also didn't think that the name "Fleeting Cloud" was a coincidence at all. Wasn't that also the name of the last surviving human Empire? At least because he saved the Human Domain, that is.
Leonel moved on to the next.
[Name: Third Eye]
[Entry Limit: -]
[Clear Requirements: Awaken the Third Eye]
[Side Quest: Illuminate the path of the Oryx, push them into a state of Hyper Evolution]
[Side Quest: The Pheromones of the Oryx aren't as simple as they seem. Find a path for them to thrive that exists beyond just the Third Eye]
[Hidden Quest: Create new race of the Demi-God standard]
[Objective: The Oryx have always been a Race with a small population. Their fertility rates are low and their infant mortality is exceptionally high. It is said that this is because they hold a great amount of power in their bodies, power that cannot be withstood by their mortal shells. Other tales tell of a mysterious force pressing them down and using them as guinea pigs for their experiments. Be wary.]
Leonel's brow creased, feeling that this was becoming harder and harder to get a read on... and yet at the same time, he felt that the image in his mind could have been brighter even if it tried. It might as well have been calling out to him, telling him exactly what he wanted to see while whispering and obfuscating the secrets of the world.
The last only seemed to confirm the thoughts swimming about in his mind.
[Name: Wise Sea Order]
[Entry Limit: -]
[Clear Requirements: Break the shackles of the Sea Gods]
[Side Quest: Improve the weakness of the Sea Gods to freshwater]
[Side Quest: Grasp the secrets to the omnipotence of the Sea Gods]
[Hidden Quest: Create new race of the Demi-God standard]
[Objective: The Sea Gods are a mysterious Race that has never existed before and may never exist again. Legends say that they were once part of a mighty Race, distilled down and mutated to the point of non-recognition. Be wary, as the power lurking in the depths of their soul is not to be trifled with. They are existences that rule the Seas, and might one day rule the lands as well.]
After reading through the last, Leonel received exactly the confirmation he was looking for.
One after another, it painted the picture clear as day.
Weren't these three Zones representing the three Races that the Barbarians were using to break into Godhood? And in that case, were they using these Zones much like the Zones of the Void Palace had been used in the Dimensional Verse? As places to harvest and test out their gains?
Leonel was slowly starting to get a picture of what was happening.
Experimenting on the current Races was good, but it was hard to test and retest your results.
However, if you set a standard in a world, and then slowly tweaked the initial conditions to your liking... and then you allowed Zones to be formed that acted almost like a freeze frame of time...
How much more progress could you make like this?
It was just like the Dwarven Zone back in the Void Palace. They were able to clear it over and over and over again, using it for training. Leonel had even been able to get an understanding of the Dwarven Race's Force Arts by entering that Zone.
If he had wanted to use it for experimentation, couldn't he had done exactly that?
"Anastasia, show me an image of the correct situation of those three Zones."
"Okay."
The images were projected into Leonel's mind, and he nodded. It was as he expected.
Anastasia had left out some key details, like the fact those three locations were all being heavily guarded.
It seemed to be under the supervision of multiple different Races, but Leonel wasn't a fool. He bet that there were several disguised Barbarians among them, and they had a vested interest in ensuring that not a single person entered.
Leonel suddenly grinning ear to ear.
Of course, that wasn't because his task had suddenly gotten so much more difficult. It was because the Rapax were wrong.
They would have to clash with the Barbarians whether they wanted to or not.