When Nikolaos heard Dyon’s title, and felt the Presence he released, his eyes widened as he trembled in fear.
He had just been acting aloof, staying a fair distance away along with Violet, not wanting to appear so as to give the illusion that he couldn’t be bothered to. In fact, he was pissed off that his clan’s elders appeared just because of a family name. However, now he realized that this was bigger than even he was prepared to admit it was.
To be from such a large and powerful family was one thing… To then have a mother from such a powerful quadrant was yet another… And to still yet be a Duke level character!? Nikolaos felt that his world was falling apart.
No one doubted for a moment that Dyon was telling the truth. That was because his Presence was too high level to not be a Duke! In addition, the fact he didn’t appear on the 98th quadrant’s rankings made sense as well because he had a mother from a much more powerful Corner. Why would he associate himself with the 98th ranked environment, when he could have the lofty 74th ranked?
Even further, Bol Jafari, a man who was actually Zabia’s father, was a man whose name resounded like thunder. Although they knew who Bol’s main wife was, what powerful man didn’t have multiple wives? Everyone assumed that this mysterious woman from the 74th quadrant was simply another wife Bol had taken.
Dyon’s lie was simply too perfect. His home quadrant was adjacent to the 30th and 98th ranked quadrant, however the 98th quadrant, was adjacent to the 30th, 51st, 74th and a mysterious quadrant too high ranked for them to dare to investigate. Obviously, the 51st ranked quadrant was Dyon’s home which had shot up the rankings, while the 30th was the legendary Kitsune-Shruti quadrant. So, for one, it made perfect sense for the Jafari to have chosen this quadrant while leaving their own.
Secondly, the Jafari was a family of dark-skinned individuals and Dyon happened to be partially in line with their gene pool. If his father was Bol, and one assumed his mother was of a lighter race of people, Dyon’s current countenance made perfect sense.
Thirdly, power spoke over everything! The fact Dyon was a Duke made many not dare to doubt his words. Since he was so powerful, what did he need to lie to them for?
Everyone was clear on why Dyon was back: Revenge!
The old man shook his head after Dyon’s confirmation. “The young are truly the future. We’ll allow you to be our 6th participant. There isn’t actually a cap. As long as you are a core disciple, you can participate, and clearly, you have the qualifications.”
“Much appreciated.” However, after saying this, Dyon didn’t head to the core disciple courtyards. Instead, before the eyes of everyone, he scanned the working disciple cabins, picked an empty one, and disappeared into it.
At first, everyone was stunned. You’re a core disciple now, but you’re sleeping in working disciple cabins?!
However, they couldn’t help but cough up mouthfuls of blood when they heard snoring resound through their now quiet sect.
The elders could only look at each other helplessly before flying away.
**
“What do you all think?”
The old men of the Unseen Peak had converged, clearly to speak about Dyon’s appearance.
“He’s either incredibly intelligent, more intelligent than anyone I’ve ever met, or he’s incomparably stupid.” A middle-aged woman snorted.
“If he’s a member of the Jafari family, he knows of the struggles of this quadrant. Although the Jafari and their sub-clans have suffered, they’re among those who ended up better off after opposing The Cathedral.”
“Maybe we’re the stupid ones for having this discussion in the first place. I have no doubt that The Cathedral has long since planted spies within our peaks and among every family. Knowing this, we can’t do anything to change the situation anyway, so why do we bother?”
“Even though there is a 100% certainty that there is a Cathedral member among us, if they were so stupid as to report back for such a petty reason, they wouldn’t have lasted so long anyway.” Another elder shrugged.
“True.”
“Either way, I believe this child is quite interesting. He knows that The Cathedral cares about their outward appearance, so they would never act against him in open. At most, they would need to find or fabricate something to make him seem worthy of punishing.”
“You believe that he’s doing this to put pressure on The Cathedral? After all, the more people know about him, and the brighter he shines, the more air-tight The Cathedral’s reasoning for wiping him need to be.”
“Exactly right. Our quadrant used to be rife with glory, but we’ve been supressed again and again, for the sake of what? Instead of being among the prestigious top ranked quadrants, now were muddling about at the very bottom. It won’t be long before we’re ranked 100th and stuck there like the celestial deer quadrant was.”
An elder laughed, “How interesting life is. The former 100th ranked quadrant found themselves a Dyon to cause their meteoric rise, maybe the Gods have sent us our own Dyon to raise us up.”
The elders got a good laugh out of that. What a coincidence indeed.
“Either way,” An elder replied seriously. “We can do nothing to help him, but we also don’t need to hinder him. Simply let nature take its course. The Cathedral won’t dare to so blatantly kill off a Duke, lest the earn public outrage.”