Planet Master

“I see. I will face those who even diametrically opposite of what I have done. Is that what you’re implying, Your Excellency?” Dian replied.

“Yes. So far, you have only faced those with similar characteristics to you. It is actually your care for the races under you." Tritis revealed something that Dian had suspected.

In every encounter with another Planet Master before Third Rank, Dian had faced those who all had a care for their races and could give up if their races faced extinction.

But Dian heard directly from Tritis that from this point onward, there would be Planet Masters who treated their races as expendables. Meaning that those kinds of Planet Masters became the most dangerous foe that Dian would face.

The others, Leif, Ghylea, Frie, Chikara, Arowana, Goliath, Mazdari and Smirth.

Especially Mazdari who was actually enjoying one dish, her eyes widened at the mention of the similar characteristics.

He had the appearance of a human with the head of an eagle and with its wings behind on his back.

But he could eat as much as the other Planet Master because her form did not restrict his true capability.

“Mazdari, what do you think of this?” Dian asked Mazdari.

“Eh, Master, that is the hard truth for this place.” Mazdari said that statement with all his honesty.

But Dian was thinking about something.

It was the knowledge he had received from Tatsumi, specifically about the Planet Master System and what he concluded to be a Sovereign Race.

‘‘The Planet Master System is the byproduct of your race. Don’t you even know about this!?’

That was what he remembered. Then there was also…the thing that defines Sovereign Race. But Dian did not know any of that since it was blocked promptly.

He did not know what kind of knowledge Smagenrog wanted to convey but since it was censored, it was not the time for him to know.

As he came out of his thought, he was faced with Fern’s face right in front of him.

“Well, we will face it sooner or later. I hope that we can talk things out before bringing in the weapons.” Dian said in a daze.

“You’re not replying properly,” Mazdari said before slapping Dian with his hand. But Dian only felt a touch as soft as a baby's. Truly, Mazdari was being considerate.

“Sorry. I just thought of something but it turned out to be a dead end. We will develop our strength since it is our foundation for everything. But we also need to be able to talk things out first.” Dian suggested.

“I agree.” Mazdari nodded his head and his brown feathers slightly raised up and down.

“That’s what we will do as always.” Leif said while cleaning his beard from the crumbs of the cake that he had eaten.

“Let me guess. You are still thinking about what happened in your Star Child’s mindscape.” Frie was the most observant one among the group and she knew this since she had been paying attention to whatever Dian had been doing.

“Of course. Even when asked in the Library of Consciousness, Smagenrog said that there are censored information that only higher rank Planet Masters can access. But he had already sown karma by saying it to me and from the looks of it, there are only two hints. The creation of the Planet Master System and the Sovereign Race.” Dian said.

After all of pondering, that was all he could come up with.

“Oh, that.” Ghylea reacted as if it were not important.

“Sovereign Race, huh. I can only think about a race that is superior to every other race in all aspects, from hearing it. But to produce so much Dragon Slayer in that race…too hard.” Smirth said while wagging his tail, he scratched his snout.

“Why do you think about it at this time, though?” Chikara asked.

Dian was also wondering why he thought like that but since it came to this, he needed to ask the most experienced individual here.

So all of them except Tritis looked at her, demanding an answer.

Tritis understood their curiosity but still, some rules were made so that the Planet Master would not think too much.

"I don’t know the full story of the creation of the Planet Master System. Even the Dragons in the Dragon Domain retain the knowledge through bloodline inheritance rather than memory. I know that you have managed to become the top of the most promising newcomers but you still need to be careful.” Tritis said after some consideration.

She continued, “Furthermore, you also wanted to know about the Sovereign Race. Let me tell you, almost all the Planet Masters can't become a Sovereign Race.”

Dian frowned. He did not understand why Tritis said all of this. She had known that his civilization had acquired the Dragon Slayer achievement and that would reflect on the resume.

“And why is that?” Dian asked for some clarity.

“Because…the Sovereign Race is the one who unifies the whole Lower Dimension. Hmm…is this actually not censored? Why let him know this, though?” Tritis tried answering and did not expect that her answer would not be censored.

Usually, when she met with a lower-ranked Planet Master, some of the information she had shared was censored by the Planet Master System. But this time, the censor was not acting and Tritis wondered about the reason.

“Ah.” Dian let out a gasp. To the current him, that was like a vague concept that suddenly became concrete and could be measured.

“I see. Of course, it is going to be hard.” Dian even had to agree that the current him could not become the Planet Master of the Sovereign Race.

It was because becoming the one who was acknowledged across the Lower Dimension was harder than reaching T10 in Technology and Transcendent Tree.

Dian first needed to surpass the Ten Venerables, meaning he had to surpass the Universe Field within which he was. Every Universe Field was inside a Void Domain in the Void Sea and the Seven Void Domains formed what was known in reality as a Lower Dimension.

But that concept was so distant and scarce that he only heard about it in the [Forum] and the very rare mention at the Planet Master Service Center.

This knowledge was for all the Planet Masters to realize that they were just a small grain of sand in the vast reality.

If Dian felt that, then the others would fare similarly, if not worse than Dian. Dian let out a breath as he needed to modify his grand plan once more.

I am not sure what mystery awaits me but as my strength and rank increase, the truth will be revealed. Dian thought while processing all of the information.

“If you know that it is going to be hard, then at least strive to become something closer to or surpassing the objective. At least when you fail, you have climbed higher than most.” Tritis advised Dian.

“Thank you for your kind words. I will definitely grow and help you in your matter.” Dian said while cupping his hand.

“There is no need for that. We are acquaintances, so at least just be comfortable with me.” Tritis said.

After that, the group talked about their races and how they tried to integrate into the ecosystem of the Cerulean Planet. The discussion took extra time which was allowed by Tritis.

After that, Tritis had to go and the meeting was adjourned. Dian and the others then went out from the Private Room Number Four and was escorted by the crab waiter.

-

“Now, let’s go see where we can find a Star Chart.” Dian said as the others had to be close in proximity to Dian lest they would be forced to go back to his side and nobody wanted that.

Along the way in the Universe Market, they had to go through a crowded square filled with old and new Planet Masters.

At this point, one discussion made Dian’s interest grow along with the others who followed him.

“Look at the Third Rank Planet Master ranking stele there!” one of the older Planet Masters pointed toward a large stele.

Although it was called large, it was the smallest compared to the other eight steles beside it. It recorded the rankings of the Planet Master in the Third to Ninth Rank. Of course, the biggest stele recorded the ten apex Planet Masters.

“Look at the first potential position! Do any of you know what is the Human Race?”

Dian looked at the position at the top and could definitely see the ranking of the potential race for the Third Rank Planet Master.

-Rankings-

1. Human Race – Cerulean Planet
2. Goblin Race – Grokbog Planet
3. Dwarf Race – Hemegeton Planet

Dian was astonished to see that his race was recorded as the top race with the most potential. But he also felt a certain sense of crisis since now his race was becoming known to the Planet Master community.

Although I expected it at some point but to think that this was the hidden part that I could not perceive before. No wonder so many Planet Masters go here. Dian’s emotions were a bit jumbled as he tried to form some sort of countermeasure against another Planet Master.

“Wow, you are at the top of the potential ranking. Congratulations.” Chikara was the first one to congratulate Dian.

Some Planet Masters turned their head to look at the one whom Chikara talked about and realized that his appearance was similar to a half-beast they had seen, but without the beast characteristics.

“Is he a human Planet Master?”

“His clothes look good on him.”

“How did he achieve that position?”

“What kind of potential do you think a human has to be able to be placed first in potential at the Third Rank…”

Dian heard the crowd was looking and commenting on his achievement. Dian did not feel happy being placed first in potential since it meant a harder challenge would welcome him.

But the look of the other Planet Master was that of yearning. They wanted to become someone like Dian. Dian did not understand that he was being admired by someone else.

No, he assumed the worst and treated them with prejudiced thought. He was actually scared that the human race would face something that they could not handle. That was why he did not like being pushed into the limelight.

He’d rather develop lowkey and increase his strength steadily. This stele which showed the potential Third Rank Planet Master’s race, ruined most of Dian’s plan.

But since it had already come to this point, he should use it to his advantage.

“Let’s go. We still need to do something important.” Dian gestured for the others to follow him.

They continued their walk while the other Planet Masters pointed at Dian to signal that he was the Planet Master of the Human Race.

Then Dian arrived at the Encharter of Reality. This was the place that Tritis had said would allow him to buy the Star Chart that revealed his current location in the Universe and the surroundings.

It was a brick building that looked sturdy but Dian was not sure about its integrity. But he was sure that the building was hundreds of times stronger than the buildings built by his civilization through transcendent or technological means.

The board read “Encharter of Reality” was written in a way that Dian and the others with him understood in the instant they caught it with their eyes.

Dian then pushed the steel door and was met with some Planet Masters who queued up in front of several desks used for service.

Dian chose the shortest queue since he wanted to go to the Auxiliary Pagoda after this and was in a bit of a hurry. The others looked at the interior and realized that it was filled with the starfield which let out starlights from almost all directions.

When Dian arrived in front of the half-beast mouse with his ears on top while wearing glasses, the latter squinted at Dian since his appearance was like a half-beast like him but without any animal characteristics.

“Ah…you are newly promoted to the Third Rank, right? What’s your race?” The little mouse was sitting and processing several documents and also electronic ones on his desk when Dian arrived.

“Yes. I want to buy the Star Chart for my location first. How much does it cost?” Dian asked without minding the second question asked.

“For your home planet and its surroundings, it is just 1.000 energy points. Cheap, don’t you think?”

Dian had to admit that was indeed the case. He thought that the cost would be in the tens of thousands but it turned out to be in the thousands instead.

But the word of the mouse half-beast stunned him even more.

“This is the discount price for the newly promoted Third Rank Planet Master. The usual price would be in the tens of thousands or more. The Universe Council sure is lenient toward those who strive to go up in ranks. But don’t be mistaken, climbing up the ranks is still difficult even with the grace of the Universe Council.”

Dian went silent. He knew that the mouse was right. Just his promotion condition was harsh enough that if not for his Star Children acting out to solve it, he would not have been able to clear it so well.

That was why Dian knew to cherish the Star Children well since they were the sharpest tool in the shed, so to speak.

“Thank you. Your words may be harsh but they are helpful.” Dian chuckled as he said this. He meant it since he could see that the mouse half-beast receptionist was speaking for his sake.

“Bah, no need for that. Most of the new children would not listen to my speech anyway.” The mouse lifted the glasses with his finger.

“How do I pay up?” Dian asked since he was not sure about the procedure for buying a Star Chart.

“Easy, just place your hand on this!” The mouse then let out a bronze plate which Dian could see at a glance was just that, a plate.

The mouse then placed the bronze plate to the position where it was convenient for Dian to place his hand. Dian, without hesitation, placed his hand on the laid bronze plate.

The moment his hand surface touched the plate, a system notification appeared in front of his eyes.

[“Encharter of Reality” wanted to initiate a trade which consisted of ‘Star Chart (Home Planet)’, required to pay 1.000 energy points. Do you accept?]

Dian looked at the notification and realized that the bronze plate was a specific item that the Encharter of Reality offered to new Third Rank Planet Master.

Dian willed it and the transaction went smoothly.

[Yes]

[Your energy point has been deducted by the specified amount and you have acquired ‘Star Chart (Home Planet)’]

The mouse also had access to the transaction and realized that Dian had done it smoothly.

“Alright, you can lift your hand. There is no need to keep placing it on the plate.” The mouse said, his tone became a bit softer.

Dian wanted to check the Star Chart immediately but was stopped by the situation. He thanked the mouse half-beast since the service he had received was quite good.

“Go, I still have many younglings to serve. This time period is really full of new Planet Masters, so get out if you are done with your business.”

Dian nodded in understanding before he went outside. The stars that covered the entire area of the reception area slowly dimmed as Dian left the place and met with the others.

The mouse half-beast receptionist and the other receptionists noticed this change and were searching for the one who had gone out but only the mouse noticed that it was caused by Dian.

No wonder the starlight became brighter during his stay. So he is the Planet Master of the number one potential race in the Third Rank. The mouse let out a sigh as he finally realized that.

Dian noticed the change but could not associate it with himself. After all, he had already been noticed by several people, influential or not. That was why his first thought was that an important event had been going on in the reception area of the Encharter of Reality.

That was why he wanted to go far away from that place, the sooner the better.

“You look like a rodent scurrying around. What made you like this?” Frie had no choice but to speak up since everyone was looking at Dian like that.

“I don’t want any additional attention so I quickly go away from any place that can cause a commotion. I swear on my existence that is all I do.” Dian said this so quickly that everyone thought he was rapping.

“Alright, alright. We believe you, for now.” Mazdari said while placing his hands on his hips while floating.

“Next is the Auxiliary Pagoda, right? Should we go to the second story?” Smirth said as it was a perfect moment to divert the topic.

“Right. We all want to see the second story of the pagoda. We have never been there and it is said that only the Third Rank Planet Master and above could enter.” Arowana added.

Dian nodded in agreement. The first story of the pagoda was for the First and Second Rank Planet Masters and it was specifically spatially manipulated so that it could accommodate the numerous Planet Masters.

“Yes. But first, we need to go through a crowd that has been forming in the plaza. Who wants to be in front now?” Leif asked.

“Definitely me again. Let’s go, everyone. We have things to do and information to gather.” Dian said as he sighed before he gestured for them to follow him.

The others liked it more when Dian was the one who led. Dian had something that he acquired from his race, a presence like a ruler.