10 Chapter 9

Stepping in the headquarters, Adam barely attracts any attention. The only people paying attention to him are those who spotted the owl symbol on Sylvia's armor. While likely curious about the reason an attendant of a Grand Magus is shadowing a seemingly normal human, none of them approached him. Adam, on the other hand, is feeling pressured by the presence of so many magi. He knows that it is due to so many magi present and the way mana reacts to their presence. Ignoring their gazes and the uncomfortable pressure, he walks to one of the free tellers. The teller herself was a blonde rabbit beastman, though she was a bit different from the ones he saw in the teleportation hall. Instead of a regular human nose, she had a rabbit nose with whiskers. Ignoring how weird it looked to him he greets her "Hi, I have a few things I would like done today. First of which is to pick up my factional badge. I am under the sponsorship of Grand Magus Fay."

The rabbit lady, although a bit surprised by the name, answers back professionally "Certainly sir. Unfortunately, Grand Magus Fay rarely accepts anyone under her sponsorship, so we don't have a badge ready. You will have to come back tomorrow after we have confirmed your status. You will have to go to my colleague for confirmation." She points at one of the tellers with the hanging crystal appendage over them. "Anything else you would like done?"

"Yes, I would like to look at what estates are available for purchase. The ones in the business district to be precise. And can you tell me what are the restrictions for someone to live there? I will be building a laboratory and would rather live there than travel back and forth from the residential area."

The teller nods at his request and takes out a thin booklet "Of course sir. There are no requirements that force magi to decide their living arrangements. Those rules are there for the regular people. For the lab, on the other hand, you will need to fulfill a few criteria before building one. You will have to build it underground, which will limit it to somewhere closer to the center of the business district if that's where you wish to be. We don't want any potential accidents affecting the structural integrity of the walls and their surroundings. You will also have to use either enchanted walls or vibranium walls to build your laboratory, to contain any potential mishaps." She pushes the thin booklet towards him "You may find the properties that match your requirements on the third page." Stepping back, she allows him to peruse the booklet at his leisure.

Adam nodding at her picks up the booklet and waives Sylvia over "Come, tell me what do you think is good. I don't know yet how the city functions. I am looking for something close to the headquarters with some privacy. I need it to be close to a magus marketplace as well." The magi have their own meeting places throughout the city, to ensure that the headquarters doesn't get too crowded.

The marketplaces are typically separated into two types,low-tier for the tier 1-3 magi and high-tier for the tier 4-6 magi. Tier 7 magi rarely need lower-tier resources, and if they do, they have people to go fetch them. The same can be said for tier 6 magi, but their subordinates are typically tier 4 and lower, having them fetch resources precious to them isn't recommended. While any crime is prohibited in the marketplace, outside the area is not as watched as inside. Even if the council punishes murder, they don't care much for theft between magi. Magi have a certain leeway when it comes to certain crimes, except murder, as opposed to the regular people, who would get punished severely for most crimes. This is to prevent the regular citizens from trying to reach higher than their stations allow them. The Council has no need for any kind of underground ring made from regular people, and magi don't need such things because of the abundance of resources available. Why the need to smuggle something readily available when you can simply purchase it from the council or their fellow magi. If something is rare enough that they can't find it with the help of the council, the chances that some mafia built from regular people can find it are even lower.

Sylvia nodding to Adam approaches and peeks over at what's available. Finding something suitable, she points at it "This right here sir. It's in the warehouse district, and there's a low-tier as well as a high-tier marketplace a few minutes away by carriage. There's even an employment agency near the marketplace if you need to hire additional people at any time." Adam doesn't bother looking the property over. It's either square or rectangular shaped, like all the other buildings. He only reads its history. Before being sold, the property was used by a trading company as a security office to watch over their warehouses. Despite the severe consequences, you can always trust people to be stupid enough to break the law, hence the need for a security office to watch over their goods. The trading company, for some reason that Adam does not care for, decided to sell the building along with two neighboring warehouses.

Satisfied, Adam looks at the teller, who has been waiting for him and gestures "I want this building along with the two warehouses near it. Can you set up an appointment for someone to build my laboratory?"

The teller while answering Adam, proceeds to take out a sheet of paper to write down some administrative nonsense "You will have to ask my colleague for that sir. She has access to the magus job board, she will be able to find someone to take care of any modification needs you may have for your property." She hands him over the sheet she was writing on "You will need to hand this to my colleague to have the property assigned under you after purchase. Anything else I may help you with today?"

Adam takes the sheet from her and shakes his head "No that will be all. You have been very helpful, thank you." He walks away with Sylvia behind him as the teller says "Have a good day sir."

Approaching the previously mentioned colleague, this one a human, he hands over the sheet and explains what he needs. The teller nods "Certainly sir just give me a few minutes". He reaches over to touch the crystal tendril floating above him. A few minutes later, he opens his eyes "Sir Adam, I have confirmed your status under Grand Magus Fay, you may pick up the badge or have someone with a confirmed identity pick it up for you. As for the properties, I will need you to pay for them, with either credits or regular currency. Which do you prefer?"

Regular people use normal currency, which in this case is copper, silver, gold, and platinum. 100 copper is one silver and so on so forth. Platinum is usually used by the regular populace to show off more than anything else. Prices rarely fluctuate, fruits and vegetables can be grown indoors or outdoors with the help of the immortal tree that constitutes the city and every building in it. So money is used for either meat, random sundries, to buy additional property (in the business district), or other unneeded luxuries.

Every family is provided a house appropriate to them which includes a moderately sized backyard. If they need more, they may add additional floors. They have a height limit they need to respect. If they need a bigger lot, they may apply for it, and if the request is accepted by the city administrators, they will have to pay a fee. For single people, they will be provided an apartment in one of the designated buildings. Said buildings have six apartments each, two at the bottom, middle and top.

Due to a lack of need for farming, most people either turn to raising livestock outside the city, scouring the forests outside for resources, or hire themselves to the magi for anything the magi may need them for, which is typically housekeeping or other mundane things. If they've refined themselves enough, they may help the magi with more serious things, which will get them paid handsomely. Everyone can refine their bodies with dedicated work.

All this information and the ones previously mentioned are things Adam is ignorant of. He may have a general idea of how the regular people are treated compared to the magi but he has not bothered to look into it more than necessary or rather he has not thought of it and Zero would have only recommended said information if his life was in any sort of danger or if it would help him achieve his goal. This miscommunication creates a scenario where Adam is ignorant of how this world functions on a more intricate level. He knows how the council runs and from there assumed the why of it, but he has not confirmed his assumptions, something which would have provided him a clearer picture of the wider omniverse had he bothered to check.

Not bothering to check the prices of the estates, he waves Sylvia over "Sylvia if you would". The attendant nods and steps up, only to be stopped by a strangely happy aged voice "Young man, give them what they want, I will take care of it." The teller looks behind Adam and Sylvia, only to give a short bow "Yes head manager. It shall be done." Adam and Sylvia turn around and see an old man standing behind them. Dressed in a long fiery red robe with a similarly colored pointed wizard's hat, he looked like a picture definition of an old mage. With licks of fire moving along his robe, shoulder-length salt and pepper hair, and long beard, the man was looking at Adam with amusement in his gaze behind his rimmed glasses.

Sylvia, as opposed to Adam who was observing the old man, bowed at the waist as soon as she spotted the old man "Greetings, Principal!".

Adam hearing the appellation cocks an eyebrow. He now has an idea of the identity of the old man in front of him. The principal of the campus dedicated to the advanced studies of the magi, who with the way the teller addressed him, is also responsible for the headquarters of this city or maybe all cities above a certain tier? He also has a nagging suspicion that this old man is also an avatar of the peak-tier existences present in this world. The old man as if sensing his thought winks at Adam.

This almost confirmed his thoughts, along with further reinforcing his belief that something fishy was going on. To meet two of the six tier 9s so fast and to see one of them in direct charge of education and a headquarter, possibly all of them, proves that something is going on. Something not known to people with tier 6 clearance. The only reason for them to be interested in him would be his origins, but even then, according to Olivia, in the grand scheme of things his origins don't really mean much.

Regardless of his thoughts, he greets the old man, "Greetings sir...? Thank you for your generosity. How may I help you?" The old man, still strangely excited, responds "You can call me Principal Blue". Adam gives him an odd gaze as he looks him up and down, dressed fully in red. The old man understanding his gaze, chuckles slightly and continues "That's the point huhuhuhu. I would like you to accompany me for a while. You don't need to learn from the elemental spires. I will provide you with accommodations you can use at the campus where you can learn at your leisure until you are ready to leave." He then turns to the teller "I would like you to remove his status from Grand Magus Fay's sponsorship." The teller accepts the order without question while Sylvia seemed hesitant.

Sensing her hesitation the old man smiles at her "Little lass don't worry, I will speak to Fay myself". Resigned, Sylvia could only nod and accept the situation. Adam, on the other hand, does not care for the status, but for the resources that come with it "Principal Blue sir, I need resources at my disposal. Something Grand Magus Fay could provide me. I assume you have another solution for me?". The fiery-dressed principal Blue nods at him "You don't have to worry young Adam, once we reach the campus we will have an in-depth conversation. I will explain to you a few things you need to know. Things that little Fay may not know or forgot to mention but are necessary for you to be aware of. As for your need for resources, that will be taken care of once we're done speaking."

Adam satisfied at the answer, nods at the old man "Lead the way, sir." The old man, still happy, turns to Sylvia "Little lass, you can go back to Fay. Tell her I will take care of Adam, and that she won't lose out". Sylvia, unable to refuse, could only nod in resignation. Bowing to the old man and Adam, she leaves the headquarters under the gaze of both men. The old man, chuckling turns to Adam "Ahhh so loyal to her master. Anyways, are you ready to leave? The sooner we get this over, the better for both of us." Adam, reigning in his curiosity, nods and pats his backpack "Yes, I have everything on my person." Satisfied the old man turns back at the teller "Make sure the lab gets built properly. Use the highest grade materials and make it as big as possible. Have its size spread under all three buildings." The teller nods while taking notes "It shall be done, sir."

Adam on the side is still unsure why he's receiving this treatment. While more and more sure that something is wrong, he will not look a gift horse in the mouth. He has not asked for any of this. In his opinion, this is a gift he does not need to repay since he has not asked for it. While not morally right, morals were only useful if you were to gain something from them. The debt he owed Fay was something he believed he owed due to her giving him the knowledge he sought. To him, knowledge equates to power, if used properly. Something he greatly values, hence he felt he owed her for it. While he owed her, he would not risk himself to pay her back. At most, he would mildly inconvenience himself if he has to. That does not mean he would not give her what he feels she deserves. He would not antagonize anyone needlessly. If Fay believed she was owed more than what he felt was right, he could only offend her. He's the only one who decides the value of what he receives, even if he's judging wrongly. Allowing someone else to dictate the value of a favor would only open yourself to being taken advantage of, unless you deeply trust the other party. He does not trust Fay, he trusts benefits, and he would rather decide the value of something he's received. Whether he overpays or not is up to his discretion, as long as he was comfortable with his decision, that's all that matters.

The old man, unaware of Adam's deep introspection of his morality, leads him towards the back of the headquarters, where the teleportation pads are located. "So young Adam, what do you think of our world? Maybe you've been told this before, but you really are lucky to have landed here. Many wish to live here but are unable to get permission or are simply unlucky. Most people we choose to bring over are peasants and commoners from different worlds as well as those from dying worlds. The ones from the dying worlds do not understand their luck." the old man sighs "While they are forced to stay here, few of them see it for the opportunity it is. Most consider it a prison of some sort."

Adam shoots the old man a puzzled glance "What do you mean? Are you lacking in population? Why do you need to bring people over? As for the refugees, what reason are you keeping them here if they don't wish to stay?" The old man, upon hearing Adam's questions, looks at him oddly for a second "Has Fay's mother not told you those things? You have tier 6 clearance, most of the information should be available to you."

Hearing what the principal said, Adam communicates with Zero ' Zero, do you have the information mentioned?'. Zero responds to Adam 'Yes sir, do you wish to hear them or have them transferred to you?'. Adam, hearing Zero's answer, curses himself for the lack of foresight, or rather he didn't believe the information to hold any value other than understanding how normal people lived their lives, something he did not care for. In hindsight, he should've noticed a few abnormalities. If he wasn't so focused on the things out of his reach, he probably would've noticed what's in front of him, but it does not matter now.

Now that he's aware that said information holds things that could potentially be useful for him, he orders Zero 'Transfer the information to me. Do it in short spurts so as to not inconvenience me.' 'Yes sir'. The old man, seeing Adam going silent, leaves him to his own devices while still leading him to the teleportation pads. Adam on the other hand, expecting a lot of information to suddenly be transferred to him, only receives the equivalent of a single paragraph. Mentally going over it, he is surprised by what he's learned.

Every few years, generally two to three hundred sometimes less but never below one hundred; the citizens get transferred to a different world, only to get replaced by a new batch. This event happens regularly. They usually only bring over young adults or adolescents. Adam shoots the old man a questioning gaze "Why would you replace the people regularly?".

The old man hearing his question doesn't stop walking, "It's because living for so long under the council's rules can be suffocating and may create problems the longer they feel oppressed, no matter how much money we throw at them. We don't care much for who is here, as long as there are people available. I will explain to you why later when we reach the campus."

Adam, discovering that his understanding of this world is once again subverted, mentally reaches out to Zero 'Zero, if in the future you come across information deemed important according to my or the world's standards, inform me.' Zero acknowledges his order 'Yes sir.'

Adam, in his previous world, did not need Zero's suggestions, already fully aware of everything he needed to know relative to his station. Zero, being a representation of his subconscious, felt the same way, that Adam did not need help. Understating that this mistake was made due to his arrogance, he will need to reflect on himself, in case he misses anything crucial while exploring this new world, or any other world he may come across in the future.

Reaching the teleportation hall, under the greetings of various magi who recognize Principal Blue, they step inside. Everyone gives way when they see the old man, who only gives them a genial smile as if he's praising his grandchildren for a deed well done. Stepping on the platform, they disappear shortly after. Adam, gathering his bearing, finds himself in an empty teleportation room along with the old man. Waving him over, the old man speaks to Adam "Follow me, we shall go to my office."

Responding with a nod, Adam follows the principal out of the room. He assumed this teleportation room was either for his personal use or meant for him and the other instructors. Regardless, he follows the magus outside the room. Paying attention to his surroundings, he just noticed that the building he's in seemed to be built using the same material used for the previous tower where he met Fay. "Principal, why do you use this material so often? what makes it so useful, other than physically manifesting your thoughts I mean."

Without losing his stride, the principal answer back "It's exactly because of that aspect that it's so useful. I'm sure Fay's mother explained to you the basics of our transformation or ascendance. Those crystals are the equivalent of a blank thought. Using mana or mental power depending on your chosen path, you can connect to those crystals easily. Because they are basically our thoughts given form, even if they're blank, they are constantly connected to our mindscapes. We have assigned mental constructs in our mindscape that ensure that each crystal functions according to its intended design. For the Overseer towers, they are used as a mental boost for the overseer present in the city, to allow them to properly control the city when needed. Your identification works using the same principle. With but a thought, when you build your core, of course, you can connect to it to contact anyone with a similar card, as long as the world you're in has a trace of our presence, in the form of those towers."

The old man pauses, to open a door and enter a fully furnished office followed by Adam. Once both men are seated across a large wooden desk, the principal continues "Our mental constructs, in our mindscape, will connect you to whoever you wish to speak to. The same goes for the pillar in the headquarter, only it is used to post notices and jobs instead. Our mental constructs ensure everything works as it should in our mindscape. Of course, the only downside is that we can't have multiple ascendants build what's needed. While we may connect to each other if we wish to, the same cannot be said for those constructs. You can't use a card built by me to contact someone who has a card built by a different ascendant. All the constructs presently used are something I provided. Other ascendants don't care to involve themselves as deeply as I am. As long as one of us is here, the rest can do as they please. I quite enjoy interacting with the younger generation." The old man smiles at Adam.

Adam processing this new information, only now pays attention to the room he's in. It seemed like the typical office used by someone in a position of authority related to education. The room wasn't that large. A few bookshelves filled with books. A single-seater in front of a three-seat couch separated by a coffee table. And the desk he's currently at. It had the equivalent of a globe from his previous planet, but instead of the typically seen sphere, it looked more like a plate, which was the shape of this world.

While he had seen a map of this region, he has not bothered to check the world map. Looking at this 3d representation, he can see the whole world seemed to only have one giant landmass, surrounded by water. Past the water are raised stone cliffs or walls that circle the whole world. The landmass itself seemed to be roughly separated into three.

One part is filled with verdant forests with valleys spread throughout accompanied by the occasional mountain; Another part is full of deserts with the occasional oasis and smoking volcanoes, and the last part is filled with vast plains with the occasional mountains spread around.

This seems to represent the elements somewhat. Earth for the forests, fire for the desert, water for the surrounding ocean, and wind for the plains. While he's sure he can find all the elements, even in the different biodomes, he assumes that these regions each hold specialties unique to themselves.

Hearing the old man clearing his throat, Adam glances at him "Well, will you tell me what's going on now?". The old man smiles at him "Of course, while you were gazing at Aurora" pointing at the world "I was contacting Fay's mother. I needed to know what you've been told. And I must say, she's just as sloppy as usual" He sighs, removing his glasses, he wipes them clean, while fire is still jumping to and fro from his body. "I always knew she was not suited to teach, and Fay herself is unaware of a few things. But given your status, you should not have been left in the dark."

Adam stares at the magus questioningly "Status, what do you mean?"

The old man as if waiting for this question puts his glasses back on and stares Adam dead in the eyes "Yes, Adam, status. You are who we have been waiting for. The chosen one. Our prophesied savior. The one to lead us into the light!". Adam, holding his gaze, responds with disdain "Do you believe me young and foolish? I may sometimes be obsessed or rash when something catches my attention but I am in no way gullible. Quit the nonsense and tell me what's going on."

The principal, seeing Adam not playing along, or not understanding the joke, sighs "Ahhh you need a sense of humor. Anyways, I was not lying about your status. While not the first time, people who end up in our world the same way you do are relatively rare. It is usually only mindless beasts or random objects that wash over so to speak. You see this world is special. It is constantly on the prowl, moving, making it hard for peak-tier existences to find it if they don't have a part of themselves on it, a beacon of some sort." Adam, understanding what he means asks him "And why are people like me special?"

The old man scoffs "Special? no, just worthy of our attention. Because throughout the years, we found that most of those who find themselves here, through the outside, like you, have the potential to reach tier 8 and 9. Why do we believe so? because of the ones that survive long enough, all of them have reached peak tier 7. Of course, that is not to say that the magi born here are incompetent, quite a few of them have the same achievements. The only difference is that for those born here, it is a gamble. An educated gamble in our case, since we can roughly predict how talented one is. But for the outsiders? it is almost a guarantee. The other reason is that they bring innovation. They bring in a different mentality, a different way to perceive the world or interpret our knowledge. Something the magi who grow here have a hard time doing, given that all their life, they've been taught things according to what we know." The old man pauses for a second, searching for something on his desk.

Grabbing what looks like a regular bell, the old man rings it and continues "You, outsiders, on the other hand, bring in new ways to look at the world. Every time that's happened, it helps up perfect our teaching material, ensuring we're one step closer to our goal: producing new ascendants." A knock on the door interrupts the principal. "Enter".

The door opens to reveal a middle-aged man wearing a grey robe. The man himself was not impressive, regular shaggy brown hair, unshaved stubble with a glazed look in his eyes. Said man greets the principal "Yes master, how can I help you?"

The principal, spotting the state of his disciple, sighs "Denis, I would like you to prepare some refreshments for me and my guest. And while you're doing that, I want you to head over to the administrative building and get him the status of a special student. Make sure his accommodations come with a fully furnished laboratory and is far away from others. He prefers his privacy. Also, tell them to assign to him two attendants. One tier 9 knight, and the other to whoever is available and willing." The man, Denis, stayed stoic the whole time, silently listening. Once the principal finished speaking he simply answered with a short bow "Yes master" and walked away, closing the door behind him.

The principal sighing once more, brings his gaze back to Adam, "Where were we? hmmmm, right getting new ascendants. Yeah, Fay's mother, Olivia I believe you called her, was quite vague when it comes to how we ascended. By all rights, we should have failed. We have the proper method, we just don't know what the requirements are to initiate said method. We believe we aren't looking at the problem with the right angle. This is where you outsiders come in. Unlike people from this world, you don't idolize us. This makes it so you don't have any problems questioning our methods, add to that the almost guarantee of you reaching peak tier 7, makes you a talent worth watching. Of course, you are not alone in that list, we have various people who we consider talents under our watch but more talents is never a bad thing so we make sure to pay attention to them."

Adam, understanding what the old man said, still has a few doubts "My situation, albeit rare according to you, is not special. The world I come from should not be that rare technologically speaking. It should be easy for you to find similar or more advanced worlds with people a lot smarter than me. Why don't you do that?"

The old man ignores Adam's doubtful gaze and proceeds to explain "You need to first understand why this world is special. And how it has attracted a troublesome party, preventing us from actively exploring outwards, forcing us to stay here, excluding worlds already under our control of course."

Trying to find the right way to explain without sounding like the defeated party, the principal continues "I know Olivia sealed some parts of your memories, but you should remember what she said about the omniverse expanding by converting entropy to negentropy, correct?" Adam nods at him, "Great, so this world of ours, ever since we ascended as if it fulfilled some type of requirements, started targeting worlds touched by entropy. Regardless of distance, it seems to be able to travel anywhere it senses entropy encroaching, seeking to devour any world touched by it. While troublesome in some way, because we don't know how strong those worlds are, it is still considered an opportunity, allowing us to come into contact with different worlds with their own civilizations as well as different universes and multiverses. Of course, once we find a world that is too strong for our magi, we drop an avatar then we close the connecting portal and move the world away. We are still peak-tier existences after all. Directly involving our main bodies is not really a possibility since there's a chance for the world to be destroyed, preventing us from gaining anything."

Hearing a knock on the door, the principal pauses "Come in Denis". The door opens to reveal the previous man, carrying with him a tray filled with various beverages and snacks. Placing the tray on the desk, Denis fishes a badge from his front pocket and hands it over to Adam, "This is your student identification. Your attendants are waiting for you outside this tower. One is male while the other is female, both are wearing leather armor. They will be seated on a bench not far from the entrance, you should be able to spot them. They have been briefed, they will be able to lead you to your residence." Adam takes the badge, he pockets it without checking it. He nods at Denis "Thank you." Denis, ignoring him, turns around and steps out of the office. Adam, not caring about the lack of response from the man, turns back to the principal, who is looking back and forth between Adam and the tray of refreshments.

Adam, ignoring the hint, tells the principal "The distraction is gone, you may continue Principal." The old man, huffing and puffing, finally pours himself a beverage, which reminded Adam of coffee from his previous world. Muttering to himself about disrespectful youngsters, he finally continues.

"It is extremely rare for Aurora to lock on to worlds who have a high ceiling of power. The highest we found were tier 8s, which forced us to disconnect the world and move it away. This time was the same, except the world's highest tier was pseudo tier 9. That was good because it allowed us to manifest our main bodies to a certain degree."

He pauses to take a sip and continues " Something Olivia failed to mention was, due to the composition of our bodies, anything below our tier of existence, that touches us, dissolves itself. I mean literally anything, including space itself. Once something dissolves itself, inside a world, the empty space will refill itself, creating a cycle where the world will spend its vital resources to plug that hole, only in our case it would be a never-ending cycle. Of course, that only happens inside worlds, not outside of it. We can stop that from happening, but it would be similar to a human holding his breath. You can do it, but only for a short while. You may extend that time with practice, but being how young we are, relative to others at our levels, we lack such practice. A world with pseudo tier 9s means that there's the presence of independent dimensions spread around the world, universe, and multiverse if applicable. So deciding to station ourselves in this universe for a while, to see what we can gain from it, we started observing it."

Getting to this point, the old man seemed to be simultaneously embarrassed and in a bad mood "Observing this world, we found out that the people in power were called ninjas. They seemed to be focused on using mana, or chakra as they called it, to enhance their bodies and control the elements, to a limited degree. They seemed to use hand signs to either communicate or control the surrounding mana, ehum, chakra I mean. Anyways, believing we understood what was going on, we decided to observe a little while longer before taking action and sending our troops. Doing a last check-up, we found an abnormality. Someone was stamping people, influencing their souls, to serve him. Curious about the phenomenon, we grabbed said anomaly, fully intending on dissecting him to see how he ticked. Surprisingly, his powers seemed to work differently from how the local people did. But unlike the local people, his powers were not earned, they were given. For anyone below our level, they would not be able to see it, but it was clear as day for us."

The man, getting angrier the more he spoke, pours himself another cup of coffee. This time, he takes a flask from a drawer and adds it to his coffee. "Once we were done dissecting him, we imprisoned him hoping to see if we can replicate whatever was done to him. The problems occurred when we started dissecting the stamp he was using to subvert others. As soon as we tampered with it, some accursed devil appeared. Claiming to be some sort of company manager, he asked us to hand over the stamp along with compensation for damage caused to his agent, the person we imprisoned before. The devil wasn't much himself, only tier 7, so we imprisoned him along with his agent. As we were about to fully deconstruct the stamp, another devil shows up, this one a peak-tier existence. Once he appeared, he was about to accost us, only to decide that something else was more interesting. Aurora."

Reaching the point, Adam didn't dare cut him off. The old man was panting, face red. His beard and hair fully transformed into fire. "He didn't mention anything about the stamp, manager, or agent. He decided that we can keep all that, and even offered more, in exchange for Aurora. Of course, although young, we are not stupid, we knew that Aurora was valuable, just not how much. We sent over two of our ascendants to pretend to negotiate. While they were talking with him, keeping him occupied, we threw out the agent, manager, stamp and randomly moved Aurora away. We knew that our fellow ascendants were not in danger, it is almost impossible to kill a peak tier existence, and they had some of their avatars spread in Aurora. Using those avatars, we connected to their mindscape, and sent over some avatars of our own to their side, to keep an eye on our first contact with others of our level. This is where the problems started."

At this point the principal was pacing around, ignoring Adam, completely engrossed in his past trauma "This accursed company, would just not leave us alone! Our fellow ascendants were unable to come back, afraid of being followed, so they decided to stay over there and observe the company. The problem is that..is that....THOSE DAMNED SHAMELESS OLD THINGS." The old man started screaming "THEY JOINED THE COMPANY AND TOLD US THEY SOLD THE PLANET TO THEM. WHO THE F*** DO THEY THINK THEY ARE?!? SELLING IT FOR SOME DIVISION AND OTHER NONSENSE?!?!"

Huffing and puffing, the old man takes a deep breath and continues "Although we had our avatars accompany them, they made a so-called backroom deal then tried to have us bring them back. Of course, we only understood what happened when another company owner, from division B, came to give us a 'better offer than those lying division A devils". Realizing that those shameless fools decided to sell the world without our input, we went to find that accursed devil. Once confronted, he had the gal to wave a piece of paper in front of us claiming 'it's all in the contract, The company always wins. Welcome to the company' as if that was all that was needed. The worst of it all is the other two traitors, standing behind the accursed devil, like cheerleaders parroting him. Of course, the devil knew that it would lead to nowhere. So he decided to meet somewhere 'neutral' according to him, where we can bring our main bodies, to negotiate something we can all agree to."

The old man blushed, in embarrassment. "We got tricked. The so-called neutral territory was smackdab in the middle of their headquarters. We had to fight back to be able to leave and had to leave behind another one of our fellows....who also joined them in the end." The old man deflated like a balloon out of air. He sat back down, grabbed the flask he previously used, and started chugging like a thirsty traveler tasting water for the first time in years.

Taking a deep breath he continued "Ever since then, we've been trying to sabotage them. Messing with their agents and managers, trying to plunder some of their resources to send back. We barely managed to get a few things, like vibranium for example. Every other time we managed to gain something useful to send back, that accursed devil seemed to be waiting, somehow knowing when and where the drop-off points were. Do you know how many times we found him waiting, with that smug smile of his, for us to make contact with our main bodies?!? TWELVE TIMES. TWELVE F******G TIMES. I almost suspected myself of being a traitor. And those other fools, always waiting in the background, as if they were watching a show. ARRGHHH?!??!?! THE COMPANY ALWAYS WINS HE SAYS!!!! I'LL SHOW YOU WINNING!!! YOU WELL COOKED HORNED MOTHERF****R" He started throwing random stuff around for a few minutes.

Calming himself down, he started staring into empty space, like a veteran lost in his memories of bloodshed. Adam, gulping, decided to ask him something that's been on his mind "Ehum, principal sir?" The old man looks at him, without moving. Adam, taking that as his cue, continues "This company sounds efficient in how they operate. Wouldn't it be beneficial for you to join them?". The old man's lips twitch a few times, then sighs, and looks away.

"You are right. The only issue is, we want to do it on our own terms. I refuse to bend to the will of that accursed devil. Always acting so smug, as if he knows something I don't. I don't care that you're older. I don't care that you're richer. F**k off with that bullsh*t"

Adam, stunned by the reply, took a full minute to get back to his senses "That's it? You are basically waging guerilla warfare, across a few multiverses, because you're not happy?! That's your reason? spite?"

The old man shoots Adam a look that says 'Are you dumb'. "Do we need another reason?". Adam stunned once again, agrees "I guess you don't. I mean if you are as powerful and long-lived as you are...spite would be as good as any reason to.....do whatever it is you are doing...." Even finishing that thought was hard, something the old man knew given the glare he's giving Adam. Deciding to change the subject, Adam asks him "So what is the reason you need more ascended?"

The principal looks at him like he's an idiot "Didn't I just tell you. 3 of our fellows have joined the enemy camp. We need reinforcements. You never know when one of us might have to stay back and..." Remembering how every single one of them who stayed back joined the company, his face goes black.

"Ehm sir. What if the next ascendants decide not to help, or join the company?". The old man glares at him as if daring him to do just that, before answering him "We'll just kick them out. There's a reason the accursed devil wants this world so badly. It is useful for peak-tier ascendants, to help them build their forces. This applies even more to an organization like that damned company. Something we wish to emulate using this world as the foundation. It is technically newly-born now. Once a few million years of devouring continues, it will be able to produce all kinds of different paths to power. As it devours dying worlds, or rather worlds corrupted by entropy, whatever untouched part of that world remains, get assimilated along with the world's way of empowerment. Granted it's only fragments at a time but it adds up. For example, that ninja world, where we met the accursed devil, had we devoured it alongside other similar worlds, we would eventually be able to produce ninjas in Aurora. This applies to other worlds as well. The reason we insist on having people present here, is just in case the worlds under our control get found out by the company. We will be able to abandon them and still have a growing population available. If that happens, we will establish a new way of governance. Until then we just throw money at them for menial work so when they get back more are eager to replace them."

Adam finally understood the value of this world and the reason it functioned the way it did. They did not care how people feel because they will eventually get replaced and are getting richer during their stay here. If the previously mentioned situation occurs, they will switch the way they run things to a more sustainable way, ensuring a stable growth with a low-risk factor to make sure people don't try to rebel. Not like they would succeed, with peak-tier existences watching over them.

Meanwhile, the world itself basically has the potential to be its own omniverse, not in size but in diversity. As long as it continued to devour other dying worlds it would open the way for different paths to the top. Of course, that's only if the dying worlds are high-tier themselves, but with the size of the omniverse, and the almost infinite lifespan of the ascendants, it would more likely than not happen a few times.

This would help them create more powerhouses, maybe even future peak-tier existences, which will enable them to spread themselves in the omniverse, with this world as a foundation. If he's understanding this correctly, the ascendants wish to create their own company. He internally rolls his eyes, the old man calls them shameless and whatnot, but seeks to emulate them. As if sensing his thoughts, the principal glares at him, forcing Adam to look away.

The principal, mentally exhausted, waves Adam away "I've sent all the information you need to your residence. I'll call you back in a few days to finish our conversation. I haven't explained what I need from you. You are officially on the list of special students. The benefits are explained in the information I've given you. You may contact me if you need anything you can't get from the campus. I have some items that may interest you, you'll be able to trade for them for whatever information you could provide us that will help in producing future peak-tiers."

Taking that as his cue, Adam gives a short bow and steps out of the office. Exhaling slightly, Adam curses to himself "Those damn old farts, I was thinking there was a conspiracy, it turns out they just want more players in their little prank wars. Just sell the damn world and join them. So petty..." Hearing the sound of an object crashing, Adam nods to himself satisfied, happy the old man heard him and walks away.

*****

Author's notes: Here you go ladies and gents. I was always planning to introduce The company before the sequel. They are useful to introduce random elements when needed. They are very diverse after all. There's no real animosity between the two parties. It's more like the Ascendants took an L and wanted payback. Of course, the agents, the managers, and the magi, stuck in the middle, don't see it that way. A small spat at the top equal loss of lives at the bottom. You don't care for ants when you are at the peak after all. In the case of Adam, he doesn't care which side he's on, his goal is to reach the top and explore the omniverse. He still prefers the company, but that's only because he's viewing it from the P.O.V of a top dog. If he joined them with how weak he is, the chances for him to reach the top are slim to none. The company always wins after all. hahaha. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Let me know how you feel.

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Lazy, out.