Beyond that

Taylor brought Jayce to the location, which is also a base for the Roderick family's guards who supervise the surrounding areas.

It was a large building with 3 floors. As Jayce was looking around the surroundings, Taylor's voice sounded,

"Follow me."

'Can't he just teleport me to that place?'

Jayce thought, but he decided not to ask, as questioning about what you aren't sure of with half-baked information and a narrow perspective in a situation that is not dangerous is not a good choice. It's something he understood from experience when he tried to do trial and error with the knowledge he obtained.

Then, the pair of grandfather and grandson walked around the place. Yes, they walked around. Taylor cast an illusion magic spell to hide them, so none of the others were aware of their presence. As they slowly walked around, Jayce got a better understanding of the place layout and what and how they do things here.

He also found that something important seemed to be happening as everyone was extremely alert, yet even as they passed around those people, none of them found anything odd. It was a surreal experience for Jayce.

'Maybe it's related to the incident that was mentioned in the letter too?'

After roaming around the entire building for about half an hour, the pair of two just stopped in front of the statue of 'symbol of awakeners' which is placed on the lawn of the building. There are almost no people in the surrounding few dozen meters, as if people abandoned this place.

The symbol of awakeners is also the symbol of human federation. It's a bronze statue of a human rasing his left-hand palm towards the sky as if trying to grab it while his right hand is tightly clenched. It had no facial features except for its eyes, which seemed to be blazing with desire. Its figure was adorned in a cloak.

'So, he decided not to teleport me directly so that I could see and learn about things.'

Jayce thought to himself. Well, he's half right. Taylor decided not to teleport him for two reasons. One is to let him experience some fresh air with this new surrounding. And the second being,

"Jayce."

"Mm?"

Jayce looked at his grandfather and tilted his head as if asking him 'what?'.

"How was the celebration? Be honest."

"....tiring?"

Jayce answered after some thought with an exasperated expression, resulting in Taylor chuckling at this scene.

"Hahaha. I see."

"I know. By now, you must've already heard about everything you have to do. So, I really don't have anything extra to add. But, before you go on making a decision. I just want to ask you something."

Taylor said as he looked at him with a serious face.

"Shall I ask?"

"....OK"

Taylor smiled.

"Jay, I know that you're very intelligent. Intelligent enough not to showcase it to others but trying to hide it. So, I want to ask you. What were your plans for the future before you were announced as a candidate?"

Jayce creased his eyebrows at this unusual question. He wasn't even remotely shocked at his early words, as he was now sure that almost everyone in the family was aware of it. Instead, he spent quite some time pondering over the answer to that question.

"I... just planned to train and get strong. Except in a low profile manner as much as possible."

"Oh, how strong?"

"Strong enough to protect myself and others important to me."

Taylor smiled but this time it seemed to be containing self-mockery.

"I see. But, you know, your grandmother and I are strong. Especially Clara, calling her the strongest woman in the human domain at present is not an exaggeration."

"But still, neither of us were able to stop it. Stop your name from being announced as a candidate. We could only watch and co-operate helplessly even though we really don't wish to."

Jayce listened intently. He could already guess where his grandfather was going with it.

"A Monarch and a King. Hah, but what of it? In the end, we were just some disposable pieces. Not that I do not understand it. After all, how many people who are weaker than us have been used as pieces by us in all this time?"

"But, you get it. Right? The core meaning, right, Jay?"

Taylor asked with a face that was helpless yet filled with expectation and hope.

Jayce looked at his grandfather, for some reason it made him melancholic. After all, he knew how strong his grandfather actually was.

'It was mentioned in the letter that grandma used a Monarch level barrier to seal the room. Yet, he was able to enter and exit pretty easily. Sure, maybe grandma just let him or the information was not right, but what if that's not the case?'

This is the question that was bugging him ever since Taylor entered the room and took him out forcefully.

Both Taylor and Clara missed this part because of the communication gap between them. Only Clara knew about what was written in those letters. Taylor wasn't aware, so he didn't think much of the barrier and entered forcefully. Clara, if she wanted to, could've stopped him. But, she just let him go, as she realized she might be at fault. Causing this doubt to arise in Jayce's mind.

"Yes, I do get it, grandpa. Only by becoming a Transcendent, can one truly protect themselves and the ones that are important to them."

At his answer, Taylor seemed to be a little disappointed in his answer as he shook his head.

"No, Jayce. I mean, sure, you can do that. That works too. But, I'm afraid that alone.. might not be enough."

"What???"

Jayce's eyes widened at his answer. Transcendents, ever since he heard about those eccentric godlike beings he thought it would be enough if he could become one. After all, they have tens of thousands of years as lifespan and are the strongest of this era.

Though there were times when he thought, maybe trying to reach beyond that might be possible. And he should try to research it, if possible. It was just a passing thought, as he hadn't even taken the first step so far. But now, hearing his grandpa saying that even that won't be enough. He was shocked at this blatant revelation.

'Does that mean there are people who went beyond that? A realm beyond the Transcendence?'

'Did they hide it from me? Or is it a secret or just a conspiracy?'

His heart raced as he thought of many possibilities in his mind. But, most of them were all very crude. So, in the end, he decided to ask his grandfather directly about it.

"Is there a realm beyond the Transcendence?"

----

A.N.

Hello!

Hope you all liked the chapter. If there are any issues, leave them in the comment box.

A chapter from here will have some action sequences. But not MCs one though.

If you have liked the series so far, add it to your collection or if you find this good, just leave behind a review or use powerstones which help more people read this.

Thank you!