Chapter 15
"Good morning, class. For the new students, I am Mr. Connery, Rebel Connery. I will be your teacher for the 'War Arts'."
Ark looks at him and sees a big, muscular man, about 2 meters tall, with a blonde beard, brown eyes, and brown hair. 'He looks like a giant bear,' thinks Ark.
"Now, who can tell me what 'War Arts' is about?"
More than half raise their hands, and some are directly giving answers without raising their hands:
"It's about 'Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy. Fighting a thousand battles, you win a thousand times.'"
"I say, knowing the enemy's strategies and acting before they even have time to prepare themselves is the sure-win strategy."
"Knowing when to advance and when to retreat."
"Thinking outside the box and having the battlefield always inside the palm of your hand."
A few still answer with their understanding of the War Arts, but no one impresses the teacher.
"Have you learned nothing until now? Then why are you all still here?"
But then Melody puts her hand up.
The teacher sees her and, thinking that she will give a wrong answer, doesn't want to pick her. However, after noticing the other students haven't answered well either, he finally says:
"You, the new girl, you can answer."
Then Melody gets up, and with a straight face, she says:
"Emerging always victorious, even against the worst odds, and being the last one standing, are the core of the War Arts for me."
"But remaining alive is the most important. Everything else doesn't matter anymore. Strategies, advancing and retreating, knowing your enemy and yourself — everything loses meaning if you are not keeping yourself alive first."
"So, War Arts for me means 'Tools' for me to use to be victorious even against the worst odds, to be the last one standing."
Melody sits down.
Then the bear-like teacher says:
"Not bad. Not a perfect answer, but not a bad one either. That's right. Everything you learn and everything you do, the powers that you have, are just 'Tools' to keep you alive, to be the last one standing."
"The War Arts are something to help you, to be a better you, to give you a better chance at coming back to your loved ones."
Then the class continues. Ark and Melody stay and listen to the lecture until the end. The teacher tells them:
"Don't forget about the test next week. It's pretty important, so study. Okay, class dismissed."
Melody gets up and starts walking, not a word said toward Ark.
"Melody, what do you want to eat for lunch?"
Melody just keeps walking, not answering. Then Ark follows behind her quietly. When they reach the next class, they see someone and walk toward her. Melody starts smiling and says:
"Hey, stranger, where have you been the past few days? You seem to have disappeared into thin air."
"Hello, Miss Melody. Hello, Master Ark."
"Hi. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Master Ark, everything is okay now."
Ark then just nods, and the girls begin to talk:
"Tell me everything. Where have you been? What have you done?"
"I was confined at home while my father explained my situation to the elders. At first, they wouldn't even listen to something this preposterous. The Drakon clan princess being someone's maid? They wanted to go to war."
"But in the end, my father convinced them to at least meet Ark at dinner and see for themselves who their princess follows."
But then something feels wrong. Ark looks up, and his eyes start to glow. He sees beyond and far, all the way to the 100th dimension. Then a look of anger appears on his face.
"Leah, it seems we will not be able to go to dinner at your place anymore. Go and tell your father to prepare for... WAR."
"Tell him that at the latest tonight, there will be great changes with the 'Earth,' and there will be invaders from other dimensions coming."
"If he wants to know more, tell him to look for me, and I will explain how things are."
Leah and Melody look shocked at Ark. But Leah recovers quickly and says:
"I understand. I will go and tell my father. Then I will come back to your side, Master Ark."
"Okay. Melody will be here. Help her in controlling the masses."
Then Leah runs outside and takes flight to her home.
"Ark, what is happening? What do you mean... war?"
"Wait a bit. I will explain everything soon."
Then Ark flares his aura just a little bit and says:
"Niobe, come here."
The next moment, Niobe appears next to them and looks around, but everything seems fine.
"Why did you call me? What is the problem?"
Then Ark tells her to wait for a bit.
"Kyle, come here."
And in the next moment, Kyle Storm lands from the sky and walks toward them.
He just nods and waits to hear what is happening.
"Elion, you need to hear what I have to say as well. It could mean the difference between the death and survival of your clan."
And the next minute, Elion appears next to them. He just looks around, pays his respects to the big shots next to him, and then waits.
Ark looks at them and starts to explain.
"Earth is going to start changing completely in a few hours. It's going to evolve forcefully or explode trying. Inside the Earth's core, some changes are taking place right now. Normally, these changes would take 100 years. But someone messed with it. Some big players from the 100th dimension. They are the 'Devils' and the 'Dark Beings' of the 99th dimension; they are working together."
"The big problem is that they have someone who could work outside 'Fate and Destiny,' and I wasn't able to see them corrupting the 'Earth's core.' So right now, I need to go and help the core expel this corrupting energy, or there won't be an Earth anymore. And while I am busy with helping the core, I won't be able to help any of you because I need to give my full attention to expelling only the corruption. Imagine working with a rocket launcher to kill a mosquito, but you are not allowed to damage anything else—only and only the mosquito. If you damage even a little bit of the surroundings, then it's game over. Of course, I will be fine, but the Earth won't."
"And during this time, they know I will be busy helping, so they are going to open portals all over the Laniakea Supercluster, especially here on Earth, where their main force will be concentrated. They found out what I want to do—that I want to conquer all the dimensions—so they are working together to stop me. They want to cause as much damage as possible, so don't expect any reinforcements anytime soon. You will have to warn and protect the people here on Earth and save as many as possible. You have to hold on until I expel the corruption."
"My little sister, Melody, will be in charge until I come back. And prepare yourselves, because it will be even worse than the hell of the 'Dark Matter Explosion.' The monsters and the devils that will come through the portals will be the weakest at the Solar levels, and the strongest will be at the Universe fighter levels, between levels 1-5. Of course, the dimension will reject them, and this rejection will make them weaker. Some will lose their reasoning. They will be worse than mindless beasts, only with a goal in mind: to kill as many Earthlings as possible."
"And during this time, the Earth will go through changes of evolution as well. That means earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, space storms, and volcanoes erupting. So be ready to fight with your lives on the line. If you underestimate what is to come, or you don't believe my words, then you won't see tomorrow."
"And one last thing: just stay alive."
Niobe is the most shocked because she didn't know anything before this. Kyle is not so shocked because he knows he only needs to stay alive until Ark comes back. Elion just watches Ark with a calm look on his face, not believing completely, but he will pass what Ark said to his master, and they will decide what should be done.
Niobe trusts Ark and thinks about what she can do. But then she hears Ark:
"Niobe, you go and level up. Here, take this, and you will be safe to make your advancement anywhere. This is a 'Dimension Ball.' Once activated, there will be a force field around you that no force, energy, or soul will pass through. Anything will be blocked, even light, so you will be safe inside."
Then Ark passes Niobe a ball of light, small like a golf ball, with swirling light inside.
"I won't let you down. I will advance as soon as possible."