In the small area between the massive dragon and the giant corpse, was a
crater of thirty meters of diameter. The green mes which engulfed
the entire city like a green nket, were keeping away from the it..
almost as if afraid of the object that had crashed on the ground, and
formed it.
"Now that, was luck.." Said a hoarse and disembodied voice that came from the middle of the crater.
The
dust quickly settled, and at the same time, the mes backed further
away from the area around the crater, as if trying to escape a being
which could extinguish them in the blink of an eye.
As the view
of the crater became clearer, Daniel, Aeron, the dragon, and the
necromancer, were finally able to see the individual that had suddenly
e through a rift in space, andnded heavily within their
battlefield.
This person, was a man in his forties. He was
dressed in ck leather armor covered by extremely thin chainmail, and a
steel que that covered the part of his chest where his heart was.
His head was almostpletely shaved, except for the hair on top, which
were slicked back, and held in a bun. His face was marked with the
wrinkles of middle age, and underneath his closed set eyes, and his wide
nose, was a long beard of the same blond color as his hair.
The
moment the dragon was able to see this individual and feel his power, he
immediately froze in a terror which, ifpared to the fear he had
felt when the tamer had enved his entire kin, was even more
oppressive.
This human, was the strongest being he had ever seen
in his long existence, and a single look from him, would be able to kill
him a hundred times over.
Despite his stern look, the man
behaved in an oddly casual manner. He was dusting his clothes, and
looking around in an attempt to figure out where he had ended up. He had
immediately felt, as well as seen, the four individuals around him..
but to him, they were as threatening as a few weak ants which crawled
around his feet.
"Oh.. two young heroes, and one of the tree''s
children.. That''s interesting." the man said while moving his eyes on
Daniel, Aeron, and the necromancer. Then, as he turned to look at the
dragon, he added "And one of them huge lizard.. I thought the zoo keeper
girl enved all of you.. Well, good for you."
Despite having
been called huge lizard, the dragon did not show a single bit of
discontent, and instead, looked down in submission.
Daniel and
Aeron also remained quiet. The dragon was extremely powerful and proud,
and in order to cause such a reaction in him, the person which they were
facing, must have been a monster amongst monsters.
What made
Daniel curious about this individual, was the fact that he possessed a
rtively good karma which showed above his head with a green, six
digits number.
Noticing that none of the four were willing to
utter a words in his presence, the man shook his head in disappointment,
and said ".. Fine, I see I have interrupted something. I''ll be on my
way in a minute." he then looked up towards a specific point in the sky,
and said "Judge."
The very moment that single word left his
mouth, a rift opened in the space in front of him, and from it, a middle
aged woman dressed in a judge attire came out in hurry. She then
approached the man, and bowed to him politely.
"Explorer Tire,
what brings you in this corner of the universe?" She asked with a tone
that suggested that not only was she talking to someone that was not
below her in status, but even a little higher. She then added "The
records show that you should be exploring the depths of the sector
B182.. Is there a reason why you are back now?"
"That''s kind of a
pointless question." Said the man while fixing his clothes, and putting
the two simple knives he was holding back into the sheaths. He then
said with an irritated tone "Do you think I go around calling judges in
whereverthehellweareville just to have a chat?"
Daniel had seen
more than once what Judges were capable of, and yet, the woman that was
in front of him did not dare to behave rudely or even attack the
Explorer. Instead, she said "Of course.. Is there something you wish to
report?"
The expression of the man immediately turned serious, as he said with a deep tone "Xeno Protocol.."
The woman opened her eyes wide in surprise, and with a worried tone, she asked "What level?"
"Over
the fifth level.. I barely escaped with my life thanks to a random rift
that opened in front of me, and took me here." Responded the man while
recalling how he had spent thest couple of days.
The face of
the woman drained of blood, and without even saying goodbye to the
explorer, she opened a portal, and left at the speed of light.
The
Explorer did not take offence for the woman''s apparently rude
behaviour, as he more than anybody else, knew how of the importance that
the matter which he had just reported, actually had.
Once the
judge left, the Explorer was about to leave as well, but then, he
noticed the massive corpse that had been built from the numerous bodies
and ghosts of the dead. He could feel the different types of immortal
essence which the many bodies emanated, and after entering a pensive
state for a few moments, he approached it.
Now in front of the giant, he slowly moved his hand towards its chest.
The
hand went through the solid skin of the giant like a knife through
butter. In fact, saying a knife through water would be even more
urate, as there was absolutely no resistance to the man''s immense
strength.
As the man''s arm entered therge body all the way to
his shoulder, he immediately pulled the arm back, and with it, he pulled
the necromancer as well. He was holding her by her robe, causing her to
hang by his hand.
Tirah looked at the man with sheer terror..
She did not know why this man could have had against her, or why all of
this was happening in front of her, but just as she was about to beg for
her life, the man said "Did you bring those people back from the dead?"
his tone was inquisitive, but not menacing.
"Yes.." she muttered with a feeble voice.
"Good.
You''reing with me." Said the man before opening a portal, and
leaving along with the necromancer. The moment the portal closed, the
giant corpse turned into a massive gooey clump of molten flesh.
Daniel
looked at the dragon with confusion. He was hoping to understand what
was going on.. But he found a lot more information after turning to look
at Aeron, which was standing with eyes opened wide, and a mouth covered
by the mask opened even wider.
"What is going on?" Daniel asked, after getting Aeron''s attention with a poke to his shoulder.
"I
think I know what that man was talking about.." Muttered Aeron with
horror. He was in a state of shock, and he could barely avoid
stuttering.
Daniel had never seen Aeron in this state. He was
alwaysposed, and when he wasn''t, was due to the terrible effects
caused by his gifts, which forced him to feel the pain, anger, and
sufferings of other people.. But even then, he was usually able to
control himself. "What did he mean?" Asked Daniel in clear confusion.
The
person gave Daniel a response was not Aeron, but the dragon instead,
which after turning back to its humanoid shape, had approached him from
the side, and said "It means first contact with a new species.."
The
way the universal government expanded, was by exploring the universe in
all directions in hope to find new worlds to exploit.. But sometimes,
along with these new gxies, entire new species would be also found.
Most
of the times, these poptions would be underdeveloped, and just like
the beasts of Daniel''s world of origin, they would not know anything
outside of their own little.. To those forms of life, the first
level of the xeno protocol was given.
The civilizations which
possessed a culture as evolved as that of an isted, was
assigned the second level, while to those who had already found out how
to explore the space, but stayed within the boundaries of their sr
system, was given the third level.
To the civilizations that were
capable of traveling through their gxy, the fourth level was
assigned.. And finally, to those which possessed the ability to travel
through the empty space, between multiple gxies, and were overall as
powerful as the factions present within the universal government, were
treated as encounters of the fifth level.
Every single one of
the factions present within the universal government, had been
discovered by the explorers, and at first, had been evaluated as an
encounter of the fifth level. They would then be forced to submit by the
superior power of the government.
There was also another level
of the xeno protocol.. One which indicated a situation that had only
been seen once before, and which had caused the very universal
government to be created.
That, was the sixth level of the xeno protocol.
What
the sixth level of the xeno protocol indicated, was that a domain as
powerful as the universal government itself, had been discovered.. And
that, was what had happened.
The explorer which the three of them
had just seen, had been sent to explore a sector of unexplored space
called B182. There, he had shed against beings which did not belong
to the universal government. These beings were powerful enough to force
him to flee, and since the explorers were amongst the most powerful
beings in the entire government, that meant that the group of these
warriors were part of, was likely to have even stronger beings.
That was the reason why the explorer hadn''t waited for even a moment before calling the judge, and give his report.
Of
course, the fact that a new civilization had been discovered, did not
mean that there would be an all out war right away, but that, at least
in the higher spheres of the universal government, the situation would
be extremely tense for the following few years.
"What effects
will this cause?" Asked Daniel with curiosity. He had never heard about
the xeno protocol, and therefore, he didn''t know what the behaviour of a
newly found civilization would tend to be.
"The explorer was
attacked.. Probably on sight.. There will be some long and difficult
negotiation. In the worst case scenario.. Arge scale war." Responded
Aeron after calming himself down.
Daniel was extremely surprised,
and yet, he had also hoped that the karmic retribution hadn''t started a
gctic-scaled war for the sake of punishing the necromancer.
It
was only after listening to the story, that Daniel had understood why
the explorer had kidnapped the girl. She had shown the ability to
reanimate the dead, and the man had likely decided to take the girl with
him so that he could have a way to gather information after killing one
of the agents of the newly found civilization.
These events had
broadened Daniel''s horizons, which until now, were locked on the fact
that the universal government was a superior existence, and that nothing
of a simr strength could ever possibly exit.. Now, he knew better.
More than ever before, Daniel felt the need to be stronger, and find his friends before anything bad would happen.
After
a few minutes spent deep in his thoughts, Daniel was about to say a few
words to the dragon before bidding farewell and leaving with Aeron, but
before he could speak, the dragon turned to look at him, and said "So,
are we going to hunt for the chosen of Iewah or not? Hehe.."