A new sector!? We must check it out!

Hiro’s POV:

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We left our birthplace and moved towards a new beginning. “Hey, Poirlion, I have a question. Do you have a way to communicate with others even if your targets are possibly very far from you?” I questioned him with raised brows after failing to contact Ellery, Max, and Rose. I didn’t manage to contact either of them. Radcliff was a failure as well.

“Hmm- I have a stele, but I’m sure that you have those as well. Since they work by using the wavelengths of the universe, mine is probably wrong as well. We’ll have to get new ones since the universe has changed,” He answered my question by saying so as he turned his head back to look at me.

After traveling for another two days, which meant billions of kilometers and many light years, we finally arrived at the next star system and left behind Eridani Star System. There were six suns with ten planets among them, which caused those planets to be filled with light eternally.

Although most of them were a world of lava and hell thanks to the scorching heat of the suns, but there were two planets which had hot climates. One of them was a two stars planet, while the other was six stars one. We landed on the second one and flew towards a nearby city, which was on a tropical island with beaches and lush jungles at the center, while the city itself was built along the coasts.

Since the planets weren’t separated by realms, like in our old universe, they rated the planets by stars. A two stars planet was equal to a planet in the second realm, while a six stars planet was equal to a planet in the sixth realm.

After entering the city, we searched for an information house, but it turned out that this planet was originating from our universe, so we didn’t learn too many new things, but there was still a worthwhile one! This planet had something called, Star Formation, which had the ability to teleport its targets to its pair!

Teleportation was an ability above the fifth level, which meant that this was indeed a planet at the sixth level. It had a circumference of two hundred and fifty-two million kilometers! We flew towards the Star Formation with Poirlion in tow. He was following us without saying a word.

As we arrived in front of the formation, we saw a huge clearing in front of us. There was a circular stone tile, which was as smooth as a mirror, except where the grooves of the formation ran. A beautiful pink haired woman at the third stage of World Realm was there, fiddling with the grooves. After going closer, we realized that she was only maintaining them.

Poirlion was in his humanoid form by now. She stood up upon noticing us and measured us up. After seeing our scale-covered bodies, she put on a smile and spoke politely. “Hello, would you like to travel?”

“Yes,” I answered positively with a small nod.

“Ehm. That’s alright, but you know, we have no idea where exactly the other end of this formation is. Originally it was supposed to be at a quite popular place, but this planet was at such a place as well, yet now it’s at the far edge of the galaxy… I haven’t seen anyone come or go through this formation since coming here, so its other side might be at a similarly abandoned place…”

She explained the truth honestly about this Star Formation with a small frown. We would have to travel for at least a week before arriving at a slightly more popular place. Although this planet was at the sixth level when it came to natural energies and size, but the cultivators we sensed on it were only at the second or third level, so it was nothing big.

“Wait, I should make a clone and send it to the other side. If it’s a good place, then we can go, but if it’s a bad one, then we better continue on traveling like before,” I advised - like an idiot, forgetting my own boundaries - with an enlightened face…

“Hiro, but your clones are going to dissolve after being further from you than twenty kilometers…” Alice made me remember my boundaries as she started caressing my back to soothe me. I’m not a child… but I like it!

“Ugh. Sorry, I forgot about that. Although the range of my ability has increased as I’ve become stronger, but I’ve forgotten that we are talking about big numbers…” I said while looking downwards and then I started hitting my forehead as I said - “ARGH! What should we do? If we leave, we might arrive at an even more desolated place, but if we continue to travel like before, then it might take a whole week before we would reach a good place!

“So? Have you decided on it yet?” The pink haired woman questioned us with a small smile as she tilted her head to the side. After some thinking and talking it over, the three of us decided to risk it and go through this formation. “Alright, we’ll go!” I shouted as all of us stepped on the formation.

We started channeling our energies into the formation under our feet. Swirling energies appeared out of space and flowed into the formation below us. The formation lit up and a lightning-like swirling light crashed into us from above. Everything turned dark for a few seconds and we felt empty, then the feeling in our bodies returned, along with our eyesights.

In front of us appeared a planet, which was similarly at the sixth level. Since these were originating from our universe, it was nothing surprising because the universe was divided into realms… After using our mind powers, we covered the whole planet with it, only to sense, that there were many holes on this planet and something which was stronger than we, was creeping inside those holes.

It was eating up the whole planet. “Quickly! RUN! This is a high-level Harbinger! This planet is done for!!!” Poirlion anxiously shouted in our mind. We quickly left the planet behind, jumped on his back and flew away from this terrible place. A Harbinger was about as powerful as a three-star divine beast, which means that Poirlion would have no chance to beat this Harbinger. Using the Star Formation would take too long of a time as well.

“It was at the first stage of the sixth level! It’s good that it didn’t notice us because it could have easily teleported after us!” Poirlion anxiously thought when we finally left behind that planet without any trouble.

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A month later we were nearing a planet, which had space stations around it and it was probably quite a popular planet, I think… I was fuming in anger after realizing that we could have probably reached a good place in at most a week if not for us, deciding to use that Star Formation…

At least in this month, we were able to advance further and reach the middle of the first stage, which meant fifty-nine Crypt in our human forms. Considering that we had nothing to rely on, such a speed was heaven shaking. We were probably even quicker than normal True Divine Beasts because of our parallel minds and because of our bond. Of course, the other races also had such abilities, but not as many as we had.

I’ve never seen a two-headed Bear, Phoenix, or any other kind of such divine beings… Of course, they still had the possibility to have more minds, but surely not as much as me. Alice wouldn’t grow four heads either. Three were her maximum, but she would still gain another heart and mind at the sixth level.

We flew close to the planet in our humanoid forms. After finding a city, we searched for an information building, where we learned that we were finally being closer to a good place! This planet also had a low-level clan. The cultivators were quite weak here, but this planet was originating from the other universe and it had a Star Formation on it as well, which would take us to a planet called Hebluna, which was a Seven Stars planet!

The higher star a planet was, the better its natural energies were and the bigger it was. It also had more treasures, and better metals, herbs, etc. We quickly went towards the Star Formation, but unexpectedly, we found a long line.

Cultivators were entering it one by one or some of them in groups. What the hell… this would take everyone to the same place, why would anyone bother with things as lines? We stood in line, for now, and questioned the last person who was before us. “Hello, can I ask you something? Why is there a line, when all of us could go at the same time? This is so ineffective…”

I said with a small frown, followed by a low grunt. He turned around to measure us up. He was only at the second stage, so upon seeing Poirlion and feeling our powerful auras, his face became startled for a second, but he quickly regained composure as he said - “Ah, hello. It’s like that usually, but this time it’s different. A new sector is being formed at the other side of this Star Formation. I’ve heard that it’s going to be a seven stars sector, which means that it’s going to contain many treasures!”

“Now everyone is fighting to get over there and be the first to enter the new sector. We fought a little battle to make this line, but I’m at a too low stage to beat those at the front…” He said ashamedly while scratching the back of his head, with a tint of red on his face. Telling that you are too weak in front of a beauty like Alice? I too would feel slightly ashamed… but even without a woman’s presence of Alice’s caliber.

What kind of male would like to admit that he was weaker than the others in this blood-filled world of cultivation!? Poirlion, upon hearing this, used his mind power to sense the strength of these cultivators. Although our target planet was seven stars one, but this one wasn’t. This was only a five stars planet and only two groups were at the front, who were at the ninth stage of World Realm.

Just as they left, an evil smile appeared on Poirlion’s face as he unconsciously started rubbing his palms together. He cracked his knuckles as he coiled his tail around us and jumped forward. In his humanoid form, he had a fork-like tail. He landed right in front of the guy who was about to step onto the formation, while we were being taken around like two babies.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry at such an occurrence, so I did both… Poirlion stuck out his chest proudly as he released his powerful and tyrannical draconic aura, which pressed on everyone who stood in line. The people at the back fell to their knees, while the people at the front started slightly shaking, but they were alright. Of course, this was still more than enough for them.

They didn’t say a word as Poirlion entered the Star Formation with us. We were looking at each other with our arms under our chins, while we were leaning on them with a not so happy and helpless face. [Fuck this shit.] I said annoyedly, which to Alice answered by saying. [I think so…] I bet that we looked hilarious from the outsiders’ perspective…

The darkness fell on us and then we appeared on the other side of the formation. Poirlion finally put us down as we quickly left the formation. All of these were built by cultivators at, or above the sixth level. They were able to create temporary laws in those formations. Like that, we, weaker cultivators, only had to fill it with our energies to work. Upon doing so, the portal would naturally teleport us to its pair.

A sixth level cultivator can’t teleport huge ranges, endlessly either, but by the help of these formations, they can! On the other hand, although we can’t control our destination with these, but they can! As long as they stand in one of these formations, they could teleport to any other Star Formation in the whole galaxy or even universe at the higher levels!

As we’ve got to know, these teleportations usually cost money, but since the authorities from before haven’t settled down yet, we could travel freely. Once the real clans, schools, and families at or above the sixth level settle down, that’ll be the time when we will have to pay taxes to use these formations.

Such was the case in front of us. As we left the formation, a cultivator at the sixth stage appeared in front of us with his right hand held out as he said - “Hello, since we had heavy losses to get in control, the prices are higher than usually, so it’ll cost ten world crystals.” Eh? But we don’t have such crystals yet! Instead of gold, which no one wanted here, high-level cultivators used world crystals, which contained energy.

It would help us in progressing in our cultivation. Luckily for us, Poirlion pulled out our parts as well and paid for us, without even looking back. I can’t thank him enough, but this is also hurting me, in a way… [Don’t cry about it. We can still pay him back in the future once we outgrow him.] Alice said through our bond as we followed after Poirlion.

There were huge groups of humans, beastmen, elves, demons, and even halflings. All of them were talking loudly, so this whole place was a mess! We quickly left towards a place which had fewer people. It was a small restaurant with a few people and nice women in it, who were below the fifth level. Poirlion sat down at a table and we followed after him, only to see the menu on the table with the prices.

World Crystals were necessary here as well… Damn it! Both of us looked up at him, with a probably sorry face as we said - “Ah… we can’t eat here, so sorry but you’ll have to eat alone hahaha-” We laughed awkwardly after explaining it to him with stiff faces. I feel like smashing my head into a table!

What’s the worst is that I know that he IS going to take care of our expenses, which is only going to make it even worse! Indeed, he answered with a small laugh as he said. “Hahaha, What are you talking about? You’ve just reached the fifth level, it’s normal that you don’t have World Crystals. As your elders and as your family, I’ll gladly help the both of you in anything. Don’t underestimate my loyalty to her highness! Even if another Dragon God were to appear, I’d still stay as Alice’s subject!”

He explained proudly as he started beating his chest. I’m glad that he is thinking like that, but it still feels wrong. I don’t like being taken care of. Poirlion after looking at our still not so happy faces, looked at us with a helpless face as he continued. “Listen, you don’t have to feel so down. You can hoard tons of World Crystals in the Abyss and you have many other ways as well. If there is truly a new sector in birth, then you can also get tons of it there, depending on your performance.”

Hearing his words, we immediately became happier. That’s what we needed, a way to collect World Crystals! Not being fed and protected by others. [I’m so excited to go!] Alice shouted in my mind as she grabbed onto my right hand and squeezed it strongly. She looked at me with visibly excited eyes as she sat close enough to me so that our bodies touched each other.

“That! I like words like those much better! I’m very happy that you consider us as your family and we’ll do the same from now on, but we’d still rather take care of ourselves than to rely so much on you. You have to understand, that we are still True Divine Beasts and our pride would never allow us such a thing,” Alice explained calmly, while she kept shaking her hands in her explanation.

Poirlion was nodding continuously as he put his fingers on his chin and then scratched it. “Fumu, fumu, I get your point, Alice. If that’s your wish, then I’ll try to help the both of you as much as I can with constructive ideas. Of course, whenever I can or I have to - like now - I’m going to help you out!” He answered Alice with a rarely seen composure and he didn’t say ‘her highness’ this time!

Ah~ Such a good goddess! I have to take care of them as much as I can! I’m very lucky that I was able to meet with them! I not only gained two friends, or more like family members but I was even able to gain enlightenment! I- I should cultivate! I’m sure that I can break through to the next stage!

While he thought so, his face turned slightly anxious. I guess he wanted to leave. I’ll have to admit our crime, that we have read his mind numerous times… He is a good guy. To us, at least. Alice smiled at him as she said. “Go and cultivate, we’ll talk about it later.” Hearing Alice’s words, he realized that we knew about his thoughts, so he opened his eyes widely.

He nodded as he handed over a small bag of World Crystals, which would be enough for us to pay for the food. After doing so, he disappeared from where he stood as he entered his own world. We ordered two dishes and ate it slowly. The aura which was left in front of us in Poirlion’s place started surging just as we finished eating.

We sat there while embracing each other in a good mood. Alice leaned her head on my right shoulder and put her left hand on my right thigh as she started caressing it. Not in an erotic but in a loving way. I kissed her head lovingly, as I felt my awakening love stir my heartstrings. Soon the aura in front of us exploded and then collapsed back. The people in the restaurant naturally noticed it as well.

A few seconds later, Poirlion returned from his own world and appeared in front of us with a happy smile on his face. “Hahaha! Thanks to your highness I was able to break through to the ninth stage!” He said loudly without any reservation. The others in the restaurant quickly looked the other way and pulled back their necks, fearing offending him.

“Congratulations!” We said with a small smile. Under this month, he has also reached the peak of the eighth stage thanks to feeling Alice’s perfect aura, which helped him in correcting his as well to advance further. Since he is a three-star divine beast, he probably had a hundred and fifty-six Crypt in his dragon form and about a hundred and thirty-seven in his humanoid form. (AN: Monster: *1,2 -- Humanoid: *1,05 ---- for three star divine beasts)

He sat down and used his world energy to cover our voices as he asked the expected question. “So… I- I don’t want to question you, but I’m truly curious about how did you know?” I didn’t intend to play the dumb, so I told him the truth.

“I’ll be honest with you. We’ve taken a treasure when we were at the third level. It was a white pill and other than being immune to mind attacks, we also gained the ability to read others’ minds. Of course, we can do so only for five seconds at most and we have to wait five hours for a single second to recover. We have used that on you when we met numerous times and this time as well out of curiosity… I’d lie if I’d say that we feel sorry about it.”

He opened his eyes widely upon hearing my explanation as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms in front of him. He sat there for a few seconds and then looked up into our eyes. “Did you read my mind this time as well?” He said as he asked calmly. He wasn’t angry, that was clear. He asked this curiously with his brows raised.

“Nah, not. We use it only when we meet with someone to make sure that person is not going to threaten our safety, or when we are too curious about a person’s thoughts. I know that this knowledge probably hurt you, but that’s how we are-” I explained, but upon reaching that point, he cut into my words with a small chuckle.

“Haha, no, no! You are misunderstanding it. I was only thinking how good it would be for me to gain such an ability. Please forgive my words, but don’t be an idiot… Who the hell, wouldn’t use such an ability in this world? It feels slightly weird knowing that you’ve heard those thoughts of mine, but since you are so honest, I might as well tell you, that I’d have used it on the both of you as well...”

“I respect and love Alice as I do my family and I can’t help but look at you like a family member as well considering that you are her mate and husband. Right? Brother-in-law! Hahaha!” He finished his explanation with a small laugh as he slapped my shoulder. He didn’t lie. Not even once. I saw it through his eyes.

“Eh- Ehm… Alright, brother-in-law… This feels so weird. But you can’t call her your sister!” I said with a frown as I felt slightly weird in my heart. I was happy, I think. Hearing my words, Poirlion, the Massacrer raised his arms in front of himself as he kept looking at Alice with a nervous face and said.

“N- No, no, no! That’s completely out of the question! I’d never dare to call her highness as my s- sister!? No one among our race is mighty enough to call her like that! I wouldn’t dare either! Calling her A- Alice is a big enough offense. Other dragons would probably attack me upon hearing me calling her so disrespectfully.”

Hearing his words, Alice chimed in with a frown - “My name isn’t ‘disrespectful’, alright? But I don’t care anymore… call me as you want.” She finished her sentence with a sigh as she waved her hand in front of her.

“Y- Yes! Her Highness.” “*sigh*” “...Alice…” Hearing her sigh, he quickly corrected himself. “Alright, we’ve chatted for long enough! We should go and check that new sector out before everyone takes away the good things!” I said as I stood up from our table and with a slightly red face, threw over the World Crystal to the manager of the restaurant.

It just feels so wrong to pay with other people’s money… Alice and Poirlion followed after me and left the building. We went back to that noisy place where were hundreds of thousands of people if not millions. Quite a big competition… We heard their shouting all over the place as they were talking loudly. Why is it that it doesn’t matter what kind of intelligent race we are talking about, all of them want to talk louder than the others?

We weren’t hurrying before because we couldn’t enter the new sector anyway. Although the realms are no more, but there are still sectors, though it seems like they are called star systems or such things, depending on their size. When a new sector is born, it has a strong barrier preventing others from entering them. We can enter those new sectors only after they are completely born and those barriers disappear.

A new sector comes with many treasures which have yet to be taken. That’s the reason why everyone is rushing to enter a new sector and be the first to gain the treasures. The time for the barrier to be released was nearing, which meant that we can soon enter it. The cultivators, along with us, flew into the air, towards the new sector. Since Hebluna planet was close to the border, we didn’t have to fly for long.

After ten minutes, we saw a thick white wall of energy in front of us. Cultivators at the sixth level can teleport only in the range of their mind powers reach. Since it can’t go through this barrier, not even they were able to enter before the others. We were there, hand in hand in front of the barrier, with millions of other cultivators. There were a few at the sixth level as well. At this place, there weren’t too many high-level cultivators, so we haven’t met with anyone above the sixth level.

Of course, most of them were at the fifth level. We looked at our newly gained ‘family member’. After being together continuously for more than a month and clearing out even such a secret as our mind reading ability, which not even Rose, Ellery or the others knew, we felt that our feelings for each other grew stronger and we had a more mutual understanding of the other’s personality. Even though he was a male, I felt completely at ease even if he were to stay alone with Alice. Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve never feared Alice cheating on me...

We were more… connected? No, that’s not the right word. United, that’s it!

Seeing the barrier in front of us start flickering and dimming, Poirlion looked back with a smile as he coiled his forked tail around us. Not again…

The barrier disappeared, and while leaning on our arms with deadpan eyes and dead fish faces, we were pulled into the new sector by Poirlion.

[Seriously… Fuck this shit!] We thought at the same time and then couldn’t help but laugh.

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Teaser title of chapter sixty-one ---- Finding Symbiotic pieces of Equipment!