[BONUS] ONE YEAR

[Bonus chappy thanks to Mr. Ham <3 (3/6)

The previous words of his wife echoed in Vivak's ears again.

"The problem isn't that it's too cruel, the problem is that it's too cruel and yet there's little return on the investment."

Looking at the spatial ring, holding it in his hands, and finally sending his senses in, he finally understood what she meant by that.

Being cruel wasn't the problem... being needlessly cruel and not getting enough out of it was.

"This is..."

"You know what it is, there's no need to ask me."

Vivak took a breath and exhaled. "Is this everything?"

"I thought about keeping some talents alive because they could truly thrive in this sort of environment, but the risk was not worth it."

Vivak nodded.

"How long will this take?"

"So long as the method is followed, only as long as it takes to inject everyone. It would be easy to form an army of billions if need be in just a few days. What will take some time is them getting in tune with their Constellations and learning to use them as one. There might be some slight regressions in their strength for a few weeks, but there should be explosive growth afterward."

"You've really planned everything out."

Amynta nodded. "This is why I went to the Incomplete World in the first place. Resurrecting the bloodlines of the Constellation families took many generations, and easily hundreds of thousands of years. Without them, it wouldn't have been possible. But I eventually succeeded. No... we succeeded."

Vivak finally calmed down completely and his eyes began to sparkle with a fire of confidence once again.

"Thank you, Amynta."

"Why are you thanking me? Are we not husband and wife?"

Vivak smiled, taking Amynta into his arms and kissing her forehead.

"I withstood a lot of pressure to marry you, at least that's what the outside world says. But in my view, there isn't any other woman who is your equal. Compared to that so-called Imperatress Anselma, you are leagues beyond."

Vivak meant every word he spoke. Anselma was a woman who was arrogant and might have entered the Ninth Dimension, but she wasn't worthy of his respect. She couldn't control her temper, she wasn't very intelligent, and her only redeeming quality was her strength and maybe her beauty.

If not for how much focus Amynta had placed on this, how could she not also be in the Ninth Dimension by now?

Amynta smiled and didn't say anything else.

From this day forth, the Godlens would rise. So long as they withstood this buffer period, they would surpass all the other factions.

** Dream Pavilion.

The location was a place that fit the name quite well, or more accurately, fit the layman definition of the world rather than its truest definition, that of the Force it represented.

The entire Pavilion was in the air, riding on clouds that ranged from a delicate blue, to pink to violet. The buildings themselves were representative of an Ancient Chinese air and aura, the architecture reminiscent of olden style Confucian Temples.

The number of individuals, though, given the sheer size and span of the Pavilion was minimal. It practically looked like for every one of these awe-inspiring temples, there was just one person to live in and manage them.

This was the Dream Pavilion, a place where the Dream Force experts of the world gathered. And yet, their number was pitifully few, counted in the several dozens quite comfortably. One would be hard-pressed to say that they surpassed a population of 100 by anything that could be described as "far".

If Leonel could see this, he would be able to understand quite well that "sneaking" into this place was nigh impossible. How could you sneak in when everyone knew everyone else by first and last name? It was too ridiculous. Even if they weren't Dream Force experts, it would be difficult, let alone the fact that they were.

It was in this place that Clarence sat. His expression seemed to be undergoing a number of changes, at least that was what it seemed like at first. But if one looked closely, it was more like ghosts trapped within his body were trying to force their way out. Every time one was suppressed, another one would appear.

In the brief instances of time ghosts weren't trying to rip their way out of Clarence's face, you could catch a glimpse of the calm man underneath.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he looked down.

He sat on a prayer mat at the bottom of a wide set of stairs embroidered in complex gold and red. At the top of this set of stairs, a treasure box lay, but it looked almost as though no one had ever opened it to see what was inside.

A hint of wariness flashed in Clarence's gaze before he sighed. He knew that this day was coming, he couldn't hide this matter for very long. They would eventually find out.

The treasure box shook for a moment before it settled back down. Its many runes began to light up one after another until the silhouette of a figure painted in violet fog appeared. Judging by the shape of their head, it was clear this person wore the same turbans as the other members of the Dream Pavilion. However, likewise judging by the situation... it didn't seem that this person was a physical member of the Dream Pavilion either...

At least not in the most obvious sense. © content.

"I've sensed the death of Arrelious Regalis. A countdown sequence has been initiated. A new Pavilion Head will be appointed within a year. If there is no new Life State expert created by your Pavilion in that time, its rights will be revoked, its ranking will be revoked, and its connection with the Dream Pavilion will be shattered."

The voice spoke and didn't seem to really look at Clarence himself even a single time.

Then, without the slightest word, it vanished.

Clarence clenched his fists, sitting in silence.