With Black Whirlwind's explanations, Kurosaki Rei finally gained a rough understanding of what kind of place the Terminal Space actually was.
First of all, the area they were currently in was called the Terminal Ancient Vine—a colossal vine that climbed through the void itself. Based on its branching structure, it was divided into Ten Heavens.
Or rather, Nine Heavens, because the lowest "heaven" was actually a commercial zone. Explorers usually referred to it simply as the Bottom Layer, while the place they were in now was the First Layer, the residential area for all first-rank Explorers.
The Bottom Layer's commercial district also served as the living area for a special group known as Supporters. From Black Whirlwind's description, Kurosaki Rei inferred that these were likely the cases the Terminal Space referred to as having their "treatment downgraded."
From Black Whirlwind, Kurosaki Rei learned that not every Explorer's trial world was as harsh as his. Some Explorers did not face immediate annihilation upon failure. They returned alive, but because they hadn't passed their trial, they were downgraded into Supporters and assigned to various forms of production work within the Terminal Space.
Since these people weren't suited for combat, the Space wouldn't forcibly send them into mission worlds. After all, teleportation itself consumed spacetime energy. Compared to Explorers who frequently undertook missions, Supporters might only be sent out two or three times a year—and even then, their missions were relatively simple, usually involving entering a world to gather special resources.
They were a bit like crafting or life-skill players in a game. Although their path to combat strength was effectively cut off, if they were good at production, they could still become unexpectedly wealthy.
After clarifying the locations of the various facilities within the Terminal Space, Kurosaki Rei parted ways with Black Whirlwind. Even though they hadn't signed any formal contract, Kurosaki Rei still paid the agreed-upon 50 Terminal Coins.
In Kurosaki Rei's eyes, being able to quickly obtain organized intelligence that someone else had already sorted out was well worth the price—it saved him a great deal of time.
According to the Terminal Space, Pioneers usually had a one-month stay between missions. Kurosaki Rei had already planned out his next steps.
His first stop was the Enhancement Hall.
The so-called "enhancement" facility wasn't anything like the modern buildings he'd imagined. Instead, thinner offshoots extended from the massive vine, each branch ending in a gigantic man-eating flower. Some of these flowers even slowly dripped viscous liquid from their edges.
Kurosaki Rei watched as Explorers pinched their noses and were swallowed whole by the flowers, only to be spat back out a short while later. Though they emerged covered in sticky slime, every one of them looked refreshed and energized.
That was when Kurosaki Rei knew he'd come to the right place.
Still, the Terminal Space's method of enhancement was… pretty disgusting.
After confirming he hadn't made a mistake, Kurosaki Rei didn't hesitate. He stepped straight into the maw of one of the man-eating flowers and was instantly engulfed by dense liquid.
Contrary to his expectations, soaking in the liquid caused no sense of suffocation, nor did it feel sticky or nauseating. Instead, it felt cool and refreshing.
Once he settled himself inside the flower, a floating menu appeared before his eyes, controllable by thought alone.
[Pioneer No. 008, you have 5 free attribute points. Please choose how to allocate them.]
Kurosaki Rei had already made his decision on the way here.
He directly allocated the points: +2 Constitution, +2 Strength, +1 Agility.
His Spirit stat was naturally high, and the reiatsu training methods he'd acquired in the Bleach world could further improve it effectively. Spirit was currently the least urgent stat to raise.
As for Charisma, he saw little use for it at the moment. Being handsome didn't make enemies stop slashing at him. And as for influencing natives—Kurosaki Rei felt that adding Strength worked just as well. Physical communication got the message across.
[Enhancement will now begin. The process will involve a certain degree of pain. Pioneer, please prepare yourself.]
Not long after the prompt, Kurosaki Rei felt a tearing pain ripple through his body, as though his flesh were being forcibly reshaped. But he'd weathered worse storms—this level of pain was nothing compared to being hacked apart by Captain Unohana.
After a little over an hour, the man-eating flower spat him back out.
Ignoring the slime covering his body, Kurosaki Rei eagerly checked his updated attributes.
[Pioneer No. 008 — Base Attributes (including title effects):]
Constitution: 20 (+2)Strength: 20 (+2 +1)Agility: 19 (+1)Spirit: 24Charisma: 6Luck: 1
Kurosaki Rei hadn't chosen to put two points into Agility because Prison Demon, in its Shikai state, enhanced his dynamic neural reflexes, compensating for that shortcoming.
From Black Whirlwind, he'd also learned that the degree to which one could modify their private room was far greater than he'd imagined. He could fully transform it into a training hall and continue raising his stats through actual training.
After washing up, Kurosaki Rei decided to head to the market to see if there was any equipment or techniques suitable for him at his current stage.
If he had to choose, he was far more interested in cultivation methods.
In his previous world, martial arts had declined, and much knowledge had been lost. He was eager to see techniques that could cultivate internal energy—or powerful body-refinement arts.
Before long, he arrived at the First-Rank Explorer Trading Market.
Perhaps for ease of management, the Terminal Space's trading areas weren't all located in the Bottom Layer's commercial district. Instead, they were tiered by rank.
On the Terminal Ancient Vine, aside from the Bottom Layer, Explorers could only move within the scope permitted by their Explorer Mark. Simply put, a first-rank Explorer could only remain on the First Layer and could not ascend to the Second.
Kurosaki Rei, however, could go up—because his Pioneer Mark's permissions were increased by one tier. This meant that as long as he had the money, he could visit the Second-Rank Explorer Market ahead of time to purchase better items.
Of course, the Terminal Space didn't completely block lower-rank Explorers from acquiring higher-tier gear. As long as one had the money, they could commission Supporters in the Bottom Layer's commercial district to craft equipment. It was just that custom orders were usually far more expensive.
The items in the trading market were mostly finished products obtained by Explorers in mission worlds—things of limited use to the sellers themselves, so they traded them for Terminal Coins to convert into more practical combat power.
After browsing for a while, Kurosaki Rei gained a general sense of the market prices.
Taking equipment as an example:
Fine-quality main weapons generally sold for 1,000–3,000 Terminal Coins.Rare-quality main weapons usually ranged from 3,000–10,000 Terminal Coins.
This only reinforced his earlier judgment—skipping random chests had been the right call. Even at their upper limit, those chests were only worth around ten thousand coins.
As for Inheritance Crystals (Small), he didn't see any for sale. When he asked a stall owner about them, the man looked at him as if he were an idiot. Kurosaki Rei concluded that most Explorers simply wouldn't sell such items—they were effectively priceless and unavailable.
"How much for this?"
Kurosaki Rei stopped at a stall, his attention drawn to a particular "cultivation manual."
The quotation marks were intentional—this manual didn't quite match his conventional understanding of cultivation techniques, but he still felt it could be classified as a form of body-refinement.
[Armament Haki Training Method]
Grade: RareCategory: Cultivation / SkillLearning Requirements:Constitution 15Strength 15Spirit 20
Description:
A power from the derivative world One Piece. It is a latent ability possessed by all humans—an inborn force. When one learns to control invisible sensations such as presence, killing intent, and fighting spirit, willpower itself can be forged into a weapon. This powerful force is known as Haki.
This item contains the training method for Armament Haki. When used within the Terminal Space, the Explorer may directly acquire Level 1–3 Armament Haki, depending on their comprehension.
Rating: 100+
Evaluation:
Dodging? Unnecessary. Just charge straight in.
Reading the Terminal Space's evaluation, Kurosaki Rei began to seriously suspect that the "evaluations" shown on items differed from person to person.
He was familiar with One Piece as a series, though only vaguely. His master had possessed only incomplete collections, so Kurosaki Rei didn't know the full plot. He made a mental note to catch up on it later—after all, if he was going to survive in the Terminal Space, there was a good chance he'd eventually enter the One Piece world.
As for the Haki system, he already had a basic understanding. He considered it a framework with a very respectable upper limit and tremendous growth potential.
Although this item was only rated Rare, that was likely because it merely taught the method—it didn't grant a high initial Haki level outright.
And if one actually entered the One Piece world, Haki wasn't even that difficult to obtain. In the New World, it was a fairly common ability.
Common—but that didn't mean weak.
In the end, what mattered was the person wielding it.
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