MY 10,000× DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM

Dilemma

Titus closed his eyes and stabilized his mental state.

Aisha had shared her desire for them to take in the members of the other clans who didn't have bad intentions, and unlike Kim, the seer for Titus' stronghold informed him that there would be three different clans coming to their stronghold.

He was, admittedly, a little nervous but also curious.

They had heard a lot about the clans along with the Scions and the lesser clans, but Titus hadn't encountered any of them in person, so he was curious to see what they would be like. What would their race be? What would their characteristics and unique traits be? Things like that.

"You're thinking a lot." Titus was snapped out of his thoughts and looked down. Below him was Umbra, who had surprisingly allowed Titus to ride him.

He didn't understand the purpose of the offer and tried to refuse, but Umbra didn't let that happen and simply tied him up with darkness and set the boy on his back before flying into the sky.

"Ah, I'm just thinking about the clans," Titus admitted.

"Not surprised, your thoughts were as clear as day." Umbra laughed, and Titus felt slightly embarrassed.

"So... why did you bring me up here?" Titus finally asked. The view from up here was incredible, though it was slightly tarnished by the terrifying blizzard in the distance. Still, he could see a lot from this height.

"It's nothing serious. It's just that you probably have the most shallow relationship with everyone in our cohort. Even Aisha has more influence than you, and she's known master for a shorter time." The realization made Titus pause. He had a point.

"I... never thought about that. I always subconsciously kept my distance because I thought I was too weak to interact with you guys properly outside of training." Titus admitted, and Umbra nodded slightly.

"I thought as much, it's natural you'd think that way. After all, everyone grew up in a world where we are taught that strength is the ultimate decider. And to an extent, it is." Umbra said calmly, and Titus remained silent.

"But I think, and this is just my opinion, but I think that with you, the capacity to interact with others of a higher level comes by default. Well, within the Primordial Expanse anyway, because you have potential. After all, not everyone is capable of rank jumping like you." Titus tilted his head, but Umbra continued.@@novelbin@@

"I mean, yeah, strength is paramount. There are a lot of things that require strength to be made possible. For instance, I'm not so sure that you would have been made a commander in the army if not for your strength. Those two that follow you around most likely wouldn't be as nice to you if you weren't as strong as you were, many things are determined by strength, whether it's the resources we acquire or the relationships we create. You aren't an exception to this, but you also have an advantage." Umbra said before suddenly chuckling.

"Master places great importance on you. In fact, that sword of yours is probably one of the greatest artifacts within the Primordial Expanse. Though, he hasn't taught you anything personally in a good minute." The statement made Titus blink.

'He... has a point.' He scratched the back of his head. Indeed, Christopher hadn't actually taught Titus anything in a good while. Sure, he was letting him do his own thing by sending him to the hidden realm to participate in the expedition, and he had Veylthar, who proved to be an incredible helper. But despite being called his disciple, Titus hadn't actually learned anything from Christopher in a while.

'Though, I did learn that I should follow my desires no matter what, just like he is doing.' That was something Titus held on to.

"But that's besides the point. There's this saying, 'There are countless geniuses out there, but very few reach their peaks.' There's a large number of geniuses within the Primordial Expanse, but I wonder how many of them will reach their full potential. In your case, you have the support of the most powerful person there, so you have all the resources at your disposal, and by extension, all the connections." Umbra paused.

"I'm rambling. The point is that you are a part of the cohort. You may not be as strong as everyone else, but you have the capacity to reach that point. Moreover, Master has ordained it as such, so that is how it will be. We will welcome you, and no one is going to treat you badly simply because you are weaker because we all recognize your potential. We won't baby you... maybe Belladonna will, but the rest of us won't, but we also won't bully you. You are one of us, so you can be comfortable around us. If you need something, then ask. Being in the same cohort means that we are teammates, and teammates don't ignore each other when the other person needs something." Titus eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself as he didn't know what to say. Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Umbra's tail moved and patted Titus' shoulder.

"So stop being so uptight. You can call me and everyone else by our names, no more of that elder disciple nonsense. It's weird." Titus felt a bit warm.

"... Thank you, Umbra." Umbra smiled slightly and laughed.

"No problem." With everything that was said, many would forget that Titus was more than a few years older than Umbra, yet it seemed as though he was the younger one. Which wasn't odd, considering that Umbra was wiser despite being younger.

"Oh? It seems like our guests have finally arrived." Umvra suddenly turned his head to a certain direction, and Titus followed his gaze and his brows furrowed.

He couldn't see what Umbra was seeing, but he noticed that the space there seemed out of place,so they were certainly using some sort of stealth technology.

"Well, no point in wasting then." Titus mumbled, and Umbra nodded before diving down.

***

Constella wouldn't show it, nor would she admit it, but she was concerned.

By now, the entourage had proceeded into the blizzard and were moving at maximum speed. Each ship was fitted with an item that created a small localized zone around it that prevented it from being affected by the existence erasure caused by the blizzard. However, each of these items required an absurd amount of energy to function, as such, they couldn't operate for an extended period.

Which is what worried her.

She had a vague idea for a backup plan in case the current one failed, but it was only vague, which she didn't like.

She wasn't the only one that was concerned either. All the Handlers were currently thinking of ways to increase their travel time, that or ways to extend the lifespan of their protection as much as possible.

Herta and the other seers had also joined this brainstorming session as they tried to come up with viable ways to do this.

Constella sighed in her heart. Why did everything have to be so complicated.

But that wasn't the only reason for her worry. The truth was that, she was scared. That alone didn't alarm her, her father taught her that it was alright to be scared, what mattered was what one did with that fear.

But the idea of an Arbiter being in the same place as her... that was a degree of terror she didn't think she'd experience again.

It was strange. She'd encountered all sorts of things in the past, and there wasno shortage of entities that gave her the 'Yeah fighting that is probably a bad idea.' Feeling.

Hell, the fact that she was currently treading upon the hidden realm of a Paeagon who possessed power beyond her comprehension didn't scare her that much.

Yet tor some reason, the idea of encountering a Primordial Arbiter filled her with such existential dread that she found it difficult to keep her emotions under control. Which was insane considering the fact that she hadn't even seen the person that caused her such dread. For all she knew what she felt could have simply been a remnant Aura released by the being that was in fact long gone.

But she counted ghat.

'Ugh, these aren't the things I should be thinking about right now.' She rubbed the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. However, she suddenly noticed everyone fall silent. Slightly perplexed, she opened her eyes to see everyone silently looking ahead through the viewing glass.

"What's wrong..." The words died down in her throat when she saw the reason for their silence.

Just ahead of them, a star sized crater sat in the ice. That in itself was terrifying as again, the durability of this hidden realm was unlike anything one would encounter in other worlds.

However, had that been all, Constella would have simply been concerned.

However, what made her tremble visibly, was the remnant authority left behind.

'... They were here...' The thought nearly made her fall to her knees.