The voice came soft and gentle, yet it made James quite nervous. He vigilantly looked around, and saw none. "Show yourself," he demanded, while trying to summon his artifacts.

Yet none of them responded! And this fact startled him even more, making him more dreadful to this place.

"Don't be afraid, I mean no harm," the voice tried to reassure him, "in the dream world of the shrines, you can't bring forth any weapons."

The voice tried to explain things to him. "Where is this place? How did I come here?"

"You are chosen to be here. After all, you are the destined one."

James was puzzled and confused, afraid and skeptical towards this place and this sound. "Why don't you show yourself then? Am I that dangerous to you?"

"I can't, after all I'm just a mere soul living through all the ages and waiting for this moment."

"What moment?"

"The moment of your appearance."

James started to gain a clue or two from these words. "You mean my dark and light energy?"

"Sure, you can describe it like that. Yet for me, it's called the divine ability."

"Divine ability?"

"The ability to raise you to become in the ranks of gods," the voice said, before adding, "yet this isn't a guaranteed path for you. This path is a path of challenge and it's really hard and risky."

"Yeah, tell me about it," he sneered, "I have already tasted the risks coming with my existence. An abomination they call me."

"Because they are afraid and envious of you," the sound replied, "yet for me you are the most sacred being in this universe."

"Sacred?" he laughed, bitterly, before adding, "I'm almost killed because of this."

"No power comes without a price, no privilege is gained without risks."

"That's… indeed correct."

"Alright, let me say what I wanted to tell you about," the voice suddenly became serious as its tone deepened, "the sacred rituals of the universe are already starting. Soon, you will be called."

"By those filthy shrine elders?" he shook his head before adding, "they are such liars! How can you, how can the universe stay blind about their dirty deeds?!!"

"You got me wrong," the voice corrected, "you will be summoned by the universe itself. No one has the right to speak or decide anything for the universe's soul."

"Soul?!" James paused for a moment there, "you are speaking about the universe as if it was alive."

"He is alive, and he is waiting for his guardian to take this universe and all beings inside to another level."

James didn't fully understand these words, so he asked:

"Do you mean… me?" he pointed to himself before adding, "I can't even protect myself, or my women."

He bitterly stated the harsh truth, yet it was the truth.

"Don't belittle yourself. You are still learning your path to the true power you can hold. You need time, that's all."

"And mentors as well," he added, "I have no one here to guide me."

"No one can guide you in your path; you are unique with no equal!"

The words of this mysterious voice made him feel proud and doubtful. "If I don't have anyone to guide me, how am I supposed to learn and get stronger then?"

"Your path is yours only, you are the only one in the entire universe that can teach yourself about this. Even the universe's soul can't! I can't even!"

James stood there motionless, not knowing what to say. "So I have to discover things on my own? That… would take much time and effort."

"And price, much greater than you think. Yet, this is your path, you need to be courageous and venture it to the end."

"I need help."

"You only need to trust yourself. If the guardian doesn't know the path, none will know it!"

"Sigh," he sighed, shaking his head before adding, "so I have to try and level up my power fast, without guidance or even tips, right?"

"Indeed."

"What about my enemies then?"

"They will try to kill you all the time, that's a given fact."

He was speechless for a moment there. "Yet your strength is unique, you can't be easily killed. In fact, without all the upcoming life and death feuds, you won't be able to find your path."

"But I might lose everything I have."

"This is your path, don't blame me for this. Any path must have its own price, so accept it."

"Tsk," he was annoyed with this, yet he didn't know what to say to such logic!

"The sacred selection tournament will be held soon. It's a great thing, and don't worry; you will have enough time to grow," the voice paused before adding, "yet I didn't bring you here to tell you this."

"Then what do you want?" he coldly replied, feeling no much affection to this mysterious sound who kept telling him only bad news one after another.

"I want to give you a tip, a thing that legends said might help the chosen one."

"Finally," he heaved a sigh of relief, without highing up his expectations. "what is it?" he demanded.

"It's the queens," the voice said, before adding, "I was triggered by your acquisition of the queen. This isn't the only queen out there."

"I know," James' scalp went numb the moment he was reminded of Sirene! This girl was really hard to deal with, really dangerous to get on her bad side.

"You need to start your expedition by harvesting them all."

"All the queens?" he jokingly said, as he already had much headache dealing with one.

"Yes, as the kings will be gathered up by your enemies; this was the prophecy in the ancient scriptures."

"Kings?!" he was surprised to comment.

"Sure, anytime there are queens, kings must exist."

"So why don't I have kings then?"

"You can't," the voice decisively replied, "the kings are lethal to your energy. They will suck you dry."

"So are the queens," he sneered before adding, "yet if I met one I will acquire him for myself then. One less weapon for my enemies, even it's useless to me."

"No, if you met one," the voice paused before adding, "feed it to your artifacts."

"What?!" he was speechless there, before laughing, "do you want them to be more aggressive?"

"Sure, this was the way the queens were born after all."

He went to silence for a moment, as he realized what this voice was trying to say. "the more queen I have the more I will be secured?"

"The more your victory will be secured," the voice corrected, "you need to start soon, as your enemies also know about this prophecy."

"Tsk," he sighed, "how can I find them in all the universe?" he shook his head as he added, "if not there are a bunch of the queens already in the possession of my enemies."

"That's a fact indeed," and the voice agreed, "yet here I step in to help."

"How?"

"This place is special," the voice didn't directly answer, "no weapons are allowed here, and there is also another rule."

The voice went silent or a moment before adding, "I can summon anyone with a queen in his possession once a week."

"Summon… like me?" he asked, before his eyes shone brightly as he got what the voice was trying to convey. "My dragon form," he muttered, finally realizing the scheme of this voice. "You are bad, hehehe, but I like you," he laughed, and this time he wasn't that stressed or doubtful like before.

"Thanks master," and the answer that came made him startle again.

"Master?"

"Sure, I'm the servant of the queen holder master."

"So you are a servant to all of them as well?" he referred to all those having queen artifacts.

"No, I can only serve one master, the one."

"Me?"

"Yes, but you need first to collect all the queens."

The answer cleared many things in front of his mind. "Wait a minute, you are asking me to do that so you can serve me?" he expressed his own thoughts out, waiting for an explanation. "Why should I take all the trouble for you?" he asked, as this was the logical question in his mind right now.

"Because I'm strong," and the simple answer that came was enough for him to understand.

"You are confident."

"I'm underestimating myself."

"Not overestimating it?"

"C'mon, give me some credit master. I can already suppress those lousy artifacts, even your vulgar queen!"

This time the sound showed another face, and James was sure the voice would be such a sexy mature lady, spoiled with lust and desire.

"Alright, don't get mad," he chuckled, "I only don't know you yet."

"Soon you will," and the voice returned to its calm state once more. "Now you have the option to summon one and taste my powers; shall you?"

James didn't have anything to lose. "Let's try it out then," he sneered, as he was pretty much confident if he went one on one without any artifacts with any of those dirty bastards calling themselves elders, he would be crushing them into a pulp of meat and blood with ease.