The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

Damien and Fiona flew through the skies, and this time around, Fiona was in her Phoenix form, chasing after Damien's figure.

Boom~

Her speed shattered the sound barrier, and she managed to keep up with him. Yet that was so, because Damien was moving at a speed that could match hers.

And the two flew in silence until a moment later, about a few minutes after flight, when Fiona whispered to the wind. "Thank you..." She softly said.

"Don't mind it. There's more I will do, and I wouldn't want to hear a thank you everytime." Damien said, and Fiona nodded her head in understanding.

'Probably every other King candidate will receive similar treatment, if not even better than mine.' She thought, convincing herself with those words.

The duo then flew in silence once more, for a few more minutes, until Fiona, who couldn't bare the awkward silence, spoke up once more.

"By the way, lord Damien..."

"..."

And Damien could not help but let out an internal sigh to himself. 'Why am I always associated with chatter boxes? And it's always the fire type ones.' He thought to himself.

But Fiona was unaware of his thoughts, and continued her words. "...strange. I feel like the distance between the Strongholds are growing larger by the day."

"I remember as a child, my father took me to a Grand Ball where all kings and queens would meet. I think it was twelve years ago, and it didn't take us over two months on sky hogs."

She said, and Damien understood her confusion. Sky hogs were a special breed of eagle-like beasts, with Inhuman stamina and speed that could rival even sports car, but strangely obedient.

They could fly at 260 miles per hour, yet even they took two months to reach the Central Zone, where the first generational humans reside.

It showed how vast each Stronghold was from each other, yet that number should never reach a hundred billion miles. It shouldn't even come close, so what was the matter? She thought.

"It's The Primordial Source. It is mostly the culprit of any changes that occur throughout this world. Blaming it would reduce stress levels and confusion rates.." Damien said, and Fiona nodded.

[ ... ]

"So this entity... how did it do it?" She inquired, and Damien explained. It felt like he was with Flint again, and teaching a child knowledge about the world.

"When it awakened, the world expanded. It was subtle, and almost unnoticeable, as it occurred overnight. And when the world became a Realm, it expanded once more."

"The same occurred when it became a Stage 2 Realm as well. And it would probably expand even more, the more it evolves into a Realm." He said, dropping words that had her shocked.

"...So, to simply understand this, the world is expanding..?" She asked, and Damien affirmed "Indeed, and would still continue to expand."

"But why? Won't it be nigh impossible for people to explore the world at that point?"

"Why would that be of importance to The Primordial Source? A Realm is mostly inhabited by deities or other unique races, which, in essence, are extremely fast by nature."

"Oh? How fast are gods? Are they faster than you?"

"...Most are faster than me in base stats."

"In base?'

"It simply means that without my wings, I can mostly match up to a minority of gods. But with them, then the number heavily decreases."

"Oh, I understand. How about strength? Are you stronger than the gods? Wait, are you a god yourself? How powerful are you by the way? How..."

"..."

Damien sighed once more, and really wondered how it was possible for a person to be so talkative and yet so hyperactive.

'Flint, I've got you a little friend that you might like.' He thought, and with those thoughts, they continued with their flight.

~~~

Meanwhile, within a small forest in the Shade Stronghold's influence, a man stood atop a large rock, and cleared his throat.

The man wore neat clothes, and covered himself in a clean white and red robe. He also had long red hair, that was currently wild and unkempt. His skin was smooth and his eyes also red.

He presented a beautiful smile and said in the most gentlest tone possible for a men, "Listen up guys, I know this situation is a bit dire–"

"What do you mean a bit? This situation is completely out of hand!!" Another man said in frustration, cutting off the former's words.

This man was below the first man, and he was sorounded by a group of young teens around fifteen and sixteen years of age. Besides him was a woman of similar age to him.

They all wore robes as well, yet not as flamboyant and luxurious as that of the first, who responded with a bitter chuckle, "Hehe, okay, maybe a bit too dire for us."

"What do you mean us? We have nothing to do with this, Harold." The woman spoke up this time around, pushing her glasses up, with murderous intent within.

"Come on guys, you can't di to this to me." The first man, Harold, said in dejection. "It's not like I told the princess to escape from us you know."

He said, defending himself, but the teens below him threw pebbles and twigs at him, booing and calling him names in denial of his words. 'You guys...' He thought in disbelief.

He was the younger brother of Gregory Vermillion, and uncle to Fiona, Harold Vermillion. One of the few men who could challenge Gregory in terms of schemes and tactics.

He was the most knowledgeable within Romania, and had chosen to take this expedition out for a practical session with his own expenses.

But little did he know that when they entered a forest near Romania, they would not be able to get out for two whole months.

'Acrually, who would have thought that seeing a forest within a dessert region was out of the ordinary. Yeah, probably not me.' He thought, sighing in despair.

'Not only have I lost the smartest and promising batch of our future warriors and scholars, I've lost my precious niece... Oh lord, my brother will have my neck.' He dreaded his future.

"It's been two months now. Do you guys think she has passed on?" He asked, and the woman with glasses immediately retorted. "Passed on my ass!! Go die!!"

"Kiara, watch your words. Get ahold of your manners, it's not okay for a lady to be so uncivilized." He said matter-of-factly.

"And whose fault do you think that is?!"

"Who elses? You can't blame someone for your own upbringing."

"Ha.ro.ld!!!" She roared out his name, anger dripping off her tongue, with clenched her fists so tight, they could grip through the souls of gods and devils.

But Harold wasn't focused on her at this point, instead he pointed at a random direction and said. "Okay guys, let's go this direction today. My senses are telling me it's the right direction."

"Your senses have been lying to you for two months now, give it up." The other man said, his name being Lloyd.

"...Why are you guys so weak willed?"

"...Harold, come here." Lloyd said out of the blue, his expression calm, but anyone could feel his rate from a mile away. Including Harold.

And as much as he didn't fear both of them, he had to understand that they had the entire class behind them. After all, the reason he was up here was for safety precautions.

"Haha, I was just joking, good men, beautiful ladies. How about we all calm down, and forget any of this happened?"

"Get down first."

"..."

Harold kept quiet, and chose to remain still. He was not stupid. Everyone else also realized this, and just sighed without forcing him.

But just as nobody dared to force him, someone did. "You are still as infuriating as ever, uncle. And for that... why don't you pay for your sins."

Fiona's voice rang out behind Harold, and when he was about to turn around, he was kicked down towards the people below.

Fiona them revealed herself, a smile of accomplishment on her face. "You can all beat him up now. Don't worry, he deserves it."

"Ah, thank you princess. You're truly a blessing in disguise." Kiara said, cracking her knuckles. "Indeed, she is." Lloyd added.

And since they were his friends, they did not hold back in pummeling him down. "Wait, wait, you guys can not be serious, are you? I'm a delicate young man!!"

"Guess." They replied together, and did a number on him without a care. Meanwhile, her classmates chose to stay out of it, and just looked up at Fiona.

"Princess Fiona, you're okay?" A friend of hers said, and she nodded with a smile. "Yes. I was lucky to be saved by a... special friend of mine."

"Special friend?" The girl asked, her eyes sparkling in desire for gossip. All her other female classmates were also curious about this special friend of hers.

'You guys don't understand.' Fiona thought.