"My secret." Varian winked and snapped his fingers with the other hand.
The space inside shrunk in the blink of an eye and Sarah found herself in front of a window.
Looking through the window, she saw the smoke and flames as hundreds of battle ships clashed high in the air.
Looking down, she got a bird view of the ongoing war.
"Spaceship…" she muttered and looked at Varian with wide eyes. "So…why are you showing me this?"
Her first question wasn't how they directly appeared at this height. No. She was more interested in knowing why he decided to share this secret with her.
Varian tightened the grip on her hand and said. "You're worrying too much. With this, even if I encounter a high awakener, I can escape."
Sarah's figure trembled as it took her a few minutes to process the seemingly ridiculous answer.
Varian continued with a confused look on his face. "When I asked you about my Space path, I wasn't implying you would reveal it. I trust you."
Sarah's figure shook. Thinking back to the pain she felt when he uttered those hurtful words and now realizing his original intention, it was like a dam burst.
Before she knew it, she was grabbing his color and glaring into his eyes. "Then why don't you finish everything at once, you idiot!"
Varian smiled wryly. "My bad."
Sarah wasn't done as she shook him saying. "So I was the one worrying about your safety while you know you're going to be safe all along. I must have made a fool of myself."
"You are the only person in the academy that worries about me. Thank you." Varian said with a sincere smile.
Every other relationship he had was based on his potential or talent. Sarah…even though it went from normal teammate to a friend because he saved her, it didn't end there.
Sarah didn't look at him differently after knowing that he was no longer level 2 but level 5.
She treated him the same.
If there was one person he deemed important in the academy, it would be her.
"W-What…" Sarah's face flushed as she was caught off guard. She hurriedly composed herself and glared at him. "Your sweet talks won't work."
She removed her grip from his collar and saw that he was still holding her other hand.
Shaking her head, a question suddenly struck her mind. She looked at him with hesitation but asked anyway. "So…when you helped us out in the dungeon…when you saved me, you knew you would survive?"
Varian was dumbfounded by her question. Her brain was working differently from his.
If it was him in her position, he would ask about the space ship first. But she, she didn't ask a thing about it.
Still, it was better not to piss her off after what just happened. Misunderstandings were dangerous.
"I did't know." Varian said honestly. "I didn't have ghost ship back then. I found myself in lost dungeon and had to fight…"
He explained the secret he never told anyone.
Lost Dungeon. Abyssal Clones. Ghostship. Boo.
Varian was holding all these secrets within himself. He thought he'd never reveal them to anyone.
Not even Kyle and Maya. Because they were not combatants and knowing this would put them in danger.
The thought of revealing this to Seth or Evander never crossed his mind either.
But here he was, revealing a secret that could potentially bite him back in the future, no, bite him back in the very instant.
Sarah was stronger than him. If she decided to attack him and take the ship for herself, he'd not be able to stop her. At least in theory.
But even though the thought crossed his mind, he striked it off. From everything he saw about her till now, he could trust her.
So even when Sarah covered her mouth in shock, he continued with a smile.
With another snap, the internal space expanded and they sat down on a couch facing each other.
Boo appeared, serving tea.
Sarah's eyes lit up and she said. "Boo, you are cute."
Boo blushed in front of her while it looked at Varian with a smirk.
'Master, even you are not called cute. But I am. Hehe.' Boo said through their mental link.
'…you sure have a brain problem.' Varian responded while maintaining an outward smile.
"Phew. If you can be safe while you're out, then I'm relieved." Sarah smiled brightly. It was truly a beautiful smile.
Varian turned his head and coughed. "Yeah. So just don't worry. Unless you see my corpse, never believe any news about my death. My life is tougher than a cockroach."
Even though comparing himself with a cockroach cringed him, it was as accurate it got.
"Heh. You are the first to call themselves that way." Sarah covered her mouth and chuckled before a solemn expression appeared on her face.
Varian was sweating before he knew it. 'Don't tell there's another misunderstanding?!'
Thankfully, it was not.
She looked at him and said seriously. "Varian, I will never reveal about this to anyone under any circumstances. Not even to my father."
She meant what she said. Even if she was threatened with her life, she would not utter a word.
Varian could tell by looking at her expression. He smiled and nodded. "I trust you."
"Y-You! Can you not say it!" Sarah's face flushed and she stuttered.
Why was he saying those embarrassing words with a straight face?
Revealing a secret that could easily endanger them because of trust.
Sarah found her previous thoughts were wrong. He didn't see her as a distrustful person. Instead, he literally trusted her with his life.
The previous coldness on her face had long faded, only to be replaced with a cheerful and sunny expression.
Varian spaced out a couple of times looking at her smile.
After a moment, Sarah looked at him in surprise. "You are 'The Dreamer'?"
Varian shrugged. "Yeah. Even though Boo's half brain dead, still has some merits."
"Master, I'm not brain dead. You are!"
"Tsk. No half brain dead would agree they're half brain dead." Varian snorted.
"Display the cadets' situation." He ordered.
Boo looked at him with a pout. Varian sighed and patted its head. "Alright. You're a good ghost with full brain."
Boo still pouted.
"And a cute ghost."
"Hehe." Boo finally smiled and displayed the holograms.
Charles had just defeated his assassins and was heading off in Williamson's direction.
A few cadets died while most were alive.
Even though she was told of Boo's capabilities, Sarah was still shocked. After taking a look at Charles' opponents, she realized the reason they didn't send a high level 6 for her.
Sarah shared her opinion. "In a way, his existence saved all our lives."
Varian nodded. "Not like I hate him less for it."
"Well." Sarah shrugged and switched the topic. "So…did you see me before you called me?"
Varian looked at her with a strange expression and nodded. "I was keeping track of your safety. In case something goes wrong, I can take you out with Boo."
Sarah's expression was as ripe as a tomato and inwardly she muttered. 'I want to die. It's so embarrassing.'
There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask.
Abyss Emperor. The Clones. The Devas. How he orchestrated his 'rescue event' in the dungeon.
But all of them took a back seat as she tried hard not bury herself under the ground.
So he saw her crying and shouting his name? Waah!
"Sarah. Sarah?" Varian called her.
"Eh? What?!" Sarah snapped out her daze and glanced at him cautiously. Her heart couldn't take any more news.
Today, she had too many surprises.
Varian had a super advanced ghost ship with an equally advanced AI.
Varian was the Dreamer who was single handedly responsible for the destruction of all Abyss hideouts.
Varian could escape even from a high awakener.
He also had the ability to interfere with almost all technology due to Boo.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to eat you." He chuckled.
"Y-You pervert!" Sarah muttered.
"...I'm sure you are the real pervert." Shaking his head, Varian snapped his fingers and in the next instant, they were back on the ground.
He turned to Sarah. She was still amazed by the speed and stealth of ghost ship. He coughed and explained. "I informed Master about the situation and asked for help."
Sarah's expression suddenly turned serious. "If Abyssals send a Level 7, army will detect the aura and send a level 7 themselves. The conflict will only escalate."
Varian nodded but raised a finger. "But the first mover can launch one attack before they're engaged with their enemy. Even though the second mover can block the attack, part of the first mover's attack would still have to be faced by the target."
If an Abyssal level 8 attacked the planetoid, the human level 8 would stop them. But because they moved second, the human level 8 would not be able to completely protect the planetoid.
A part of the power would leak out.
"So…" Sarah understood the implications and gasped.
"Yeah. This planetoid is too small and doesn't have a high awakener to protect it. If they send a few level 7 or level 8 to assassinate geniuses, even if army sends reinforcements, the leaked power from the first attacks are enough to kill us." Varian explained.
Sarah shuddered as her expression turned bitter. "Blocking an entire planetoid is too expensive. Since they paid so much already, sending a couple of high awakeners to ensure the job is done is no big deal."
Varian nodded. The question was would they send a level 7 or level 8 or level 9?
He asked Evander to come anyway.
"Even if we are targeted by a high awakener, we can escape with ghost ship. But that would expose Boo to the world." Varian said.
"Since you informed my father, I'm sure he would come." Sarah said with confidence. "You don't know how much he wants to nurture a Sovereign…" She paused and looked at him with resentment and bitterness. "But you are a dual awakener like me and would never reach Sovereign state. I feel bad for keeping silent and not telling him about this."
Even though she felt bad, she wouldn't reveal the truth. For one, Varian wasn't harming anyone. Two, if she did, he would be in conflict with both Xanders and her father.
"I trust you'll not leak it out." Varian said while he pondered over her previous words.
He sensed something other than bitterness in her words.
Inferiority.
She felt inferior about never being able to reach Sovereign state. Understandably so.
With her personality, perhaps she was always blaming herself, no?
At the thought of this, Varian pitied her.
When he didn't awaken in the eighteen years of his life, who did he blame?
He always blamed himself.
It was him who didn't put in enough effort. It was him who was not lucky. It always came down to him.
Once she realized she could never be the Sovereign her father wanted, Sarah must have also started blaming herself.
'Why am I born this way?'
'If only I was…'
'I'm sorry. It's all my fault.'
Just like him. He wished someone knocked it into his head that it was not his fault.
No one did. But for Sarah who was facing the same situation, he would be the person he wished to have.
Varian grabbed her by the shoulders, startling her and stared into her eyes. "Sarah."
"Yes?" She responded stiffly.
"I'm a man with secrets. I am revealing another secret to you. Dual Awakeners can also reach Sovereign state."
His words were like a thunder bolt to her ears.
Sarah paled and her lips quivered. She looked at him with a weak smile. "D-Don't joke around."
Varian shook his head and said word by word. "Soon, I'll prove it to you. Until then, never blame yourself that you're a dual awakener. It's not your fault."
Saying that, he released his grip on her shoulders and turned around as he watched the sky. Boo showed the holograms depicting the outer space, searching for any potential threats.
Sarah stood dumbly as she stared at his back.
'It's not your fault.' His voice played itself again and again in her mind.
Her heart raced and she felt a myriad of emotions washing over her.
As she was about to open her mouth, a huge pressure descended on the planetoid.
Every creature, including the Level 6 were suffocated under the massive pressure.
The hologram in front of Varian showed a figure rapidly approaching the planetoid.
He was eight meters tall. Each of his muscles were chiseled to perfection and he looked like the Abyssal version of a greek god.
He collided with the asteroids on the way, pulverizing them as he continued unhindered.
A space patrol unit far away had the highest alarms going off.
"Request the highest support!"
"Energy readings exceed Level 8!"
A Level 9 human power house was rushing to the planetoid at the fastest speed.
But he would still be a moment late.
Varian recognized the face of the incoming Abyssal. He played against his clone back in the lost dungeon.
Demon King!