Earth's Alpha Prime

Silence prevailed within the wind barrier as everyone in it waited for Jay to shed light on those two choices.

When the tension there reached its peak, Jay unveiled the first one to the Rock Magmoids.

"By selecting the first choice, I will grant your team the strength that will assure your place in Top-25, but in return, you all will have to swear loyalty to me. Not just as individuals but as an entire team.

Through this, your trial zone would become a subsidiary of the Earth trial zone. From following my orders to paying taxes, everything will be included.

Keep in mind that even if one of you refuses to accept this, then the first choice will be off the table for the rest of the team as well. So, think it through before giving a reply."

The Rock Magmoids discussed the pros and cons among themselves. Although the power they could receive from Jay was tempting, having to follow Jay's every single order made them hesitate.

A Rock Magmoid named Hart, who stood beside Halbor, mustered up his courage and asked Jay, "Great Sir, cou…could we hear about this second choice?"

After Jay crippled Holt, he came to be the second strongest in their team and with Halbor deciding to step down from his position, he became the de facto Leader.

But that didn't get over his head. When talking to Jay, he showed utmost respect.

Jay found it quite funny when he looked at the Rock Magmoid, whose feet trembled whilst talking to him.

Without showing it on his face, Jay continued, "Alright, but if you all find restrictions in the first choice to be extreme, then hearing the second one will clear your hesitation.

Because the power you shall receive by going for the second choice will place your team at least among Top-10, if not on Top-5, by the end of the Tournament. However, the price for this will be your very lives themselves. Once you select this choice, I will practically own you."

That brought out gasps not only among the Rock Magmoids but also from everyone within the wind barrier.

Among the Earth's Alpha Chosen, Olivia and Dante were the only ones who didn't show exaggerated reactions since they were well aware of the 'power' Jay just mentioned.

Brandon was shaken up from learning of Jay's ability to make an entire team stronger to the point they could skip so many ranks to being among the Top-5.

Noticing Jay be casual about making an entire team powerful in a short period, he roughly guessed Jay's ability to make others stronger wasn't limited to just a handful.

Brandon's imagination grew wilder the more he thought about it. Then his eyes widened as realisation dawned upon him, 'If Jay could grant such power to a hundred or even a thousand? Wouldn't that mean he could create his own army? At that point, who could even challenge his authority?!'

The way he looked at Jay once again changed substantially, and this time, fear and respect were more evident on his face.

Meanwhile, the Rock Magmoids talked among themselves and finally came to a decision.

The de facto Leader of the Rock Magmoids, Hart, stepped forward and spoke representing his team, "Great Sir, after careful consideration, we decided to opt for the First Choice. Please don't take this against us."

Hart stepped back after bowing to Jay and anxiously waited for Jay's reply along with the remaining Rock Magmoids.

They found it hard to believe Jay could even make them as strong as he mentioned. After all, to make their seven-member team reach the Top-10 seemed like a pipe dream to them.

Moreover, the price they had to pay in return was the same as selling their soul, which didn't sit well with them.

After learning of the second choice, the first one appealed a lot better to them. Although they would have to follow Jay's every order, becoming a subsidiary has its perks.

Under the protection of the Earth trial zone, the Rock Magmoids wouldn't have to fear other trial zones. Such was the reputation of the top-ranking trial zone team.

They just hoped not to fall off Jay's good books for not selecting the second choice. With Jay standing in silence, the atmosphere grew tense.

When their hearts were about to burst from anxiety, Jay's voice sounded, "Halbor, What about you?

Everyone there turned to look at whom those words were intended.

Halbor was taken aback. He didn't expect Jay to ask him, especially? He just lowered his head and hinted at his decision instead of outright rejecting Jay in front of everyone.

As someone who could read the thoughts of others, Jay could see that Halbor didn't find the price needed to pay in return to be worth the power he would gain from selecting the second choice.

Jay maintained a poker face as he concluded, "So be it."

But deep inside, he felt it was a pity. Because by 'Second Choice', Jay meant to give six out of 1000 Rudimentary ORIGIN SIGILS to the Rock Magmoids and one of the 100 Minor ORIGIN SIGILS to Halbor.

When the other Rock Magmoids rejected it, he didn't even bat an eye, but when Halbor did the same, Jay found it to be a waste of talent.

After all, by becoming a holder of Minor ORIGIN SIGIL, Halbor's Innate Talent, <CRAFT> would have stepped into Grade-9 and further enhanced his abilities.

Moreover, that would let Jay use <CRAFT> as well, turning his arsenal of Innate Talents into a well-rounded one.

Alas, that didn't go as he had hoped for. But in no way did Jay pressure Halbor.

He invited Halbor and the remaining six Rock Magmoids to his Party. Once they accepted, Jay transferred them his stacked Life Energy and upheld his end of the 'First Choice Deal'.

Since Jay didn't plan on evolving to Tier-3 anytime soon, transferring his stacked Life Energy wasn't a big deal for him.

Meanwhile, those Rock Magmoids were ecstatic from finding that they had reached Lv.25.

Before that, even half of them weren't at Lv.20. But after that, they were on the verge of the next evolution. How could they not be joyous?

Halbor was the only one who stood in silence. He found it hard to believe his own eyes because the Lv.26 in his <STATUS> was replaced by Lv.44.

In an instant, he went from Tier-3 Low-Phase to Tier-3 High-Phase. It was a whole 18 Levels of increment!!

With that, his Undistributed Stats count went from 'o' to '270'.

Then, Halbor suddenly thought of something and clicked on the <Trial World Leaderboard> section with trembling palms.

Upon finding his ranking, Halbor was flagstabbered to the point he forgot to breathe. Never did he dare to expect that one day he would be ranked first in the entire Trial World.

He then looked at Jay and wondered, 'If this is just the power received from selecting the First Choice, just what would have become of me if I selected the second one?'

Jay ignored the onlookers and checked the top portion of his <STATUS>.

[STATUS] (Primary)

Name - Jay

Age - 23

Race - Greater Human

Life Energy - 32500/32500 (2480 Life Energy stacked till next evolution.)

Level - 25 (Tier-2 High-Phase)

Estimated Level - 50 (Tier-3 High-Phase)

Almost all his stacked Life Energy was depleted. But with the continuous killing spree of MJ's corpse integrated monsters, more Life Energy continued to stack up every passing second.

It would take a day or two before Jay could regain all the Life Energy he transferred to Rock Magmoids.

The reason for Jay raising Halbor to such a high level has to do with the other six Rock Magmoids being at Tier-2.

If Jay instead had distributed his stacked Life Energy equally among them, then all those in Tier-2 couldn't make use of it until they completed their Tier-3 Evolution.

By the time they complete their evolution, the Tournament would be long over. Therefore, to make up for their overall team strength, Jay sent most of his stacked Life Energy to Halbor.

He stopped caring about the Alpha Rankings long ago, so Halbor ranking first in the Alpha Rankings didn't mean much to him.