"I still don't understand. Although we are few in number, our battle prowess compensates for that."
Kahn stated, still baffled by his sister's insinuation that the Asgardians were stronger than them. He may be a humble Greater Celestial, but there was no way he was going to accept that his race was inferior to another.
Rosa smiled bitterly at her brother's words. She sensed the pride of a Celestial in him- pride that originated from lack of information. She turned to face him, her gaze serious as she said.
"What I am about to say is considered classified information. This kind of information is only made privy to Celestials when they enter the Heavenly Realm. No one, I repeat no one, should be informed about this. Understood?"
Kahn nodded, not yet understanding the gravity of the information he was about to receive.
"You are aware that the Celestial race is a high level race. In fact, even among the high level races, we stand at the peak. If one were to name the top ten races in the entire Cosmos, our race would be among the first five. Many think that our weakness is our small population. Yet it isn't public information that even if our population was the same as the other races, our rank would remain unchanged."
"What?!" Kahn exclaimed loudly. "How is that possible?"
Rosa paused to allow Kahn to compose himself. She didn't blame him. Every Celestial was of the mindset that their weakness was their limited population. However, no Celestial in the Heavenly Realm and above would ever say such a thing. How could they? When they were well aware of the kind of strength the three races acknowledged as their superiors had.
Seeing that Kahn had calmed down, Rosa continued.
"The Celestial race is the fourth most powerful race in the Universe. Our strength, even with our small population is miles ahead of those below us- the fifth strongest race is no different. Our combat ability allows us to take on those a few notches stronger than us, with the most talented amongst us capable of besting wielders three levels above them."
Kahn nodded his head at her words and urged her to continue.
"But you see, just like we disregard those below us, those above us show us the same disregard. Although we are fourth in terms of strength, there is no first. There is no second. There is no third. Just three races at the top who are equally matched."
Kahn had his eyes wide open in surprise. He shakily stroked his horn and asked, "So what makes them so different."
"I'm getting to that" Rosa responded with a bit of irritation, clearly not a big fan of this topic.
"Sorry. Do carry on." Kahn noticed her irritation and apologized promptly, knowing she was doing him a big favour by telling him all of this.
"Well I can't tell you about the other two. I will only talk of the Asgardians. For Celestials, we are born, we train, and we get stronger. We have a rich and long history, a history older than most. Asgardians are not the same. We have no idea how they came about. From what we know, they were one of the few races present when our ancestors explored the Universe."
Kahn was once again startled by Rosa's words.
"It is almost as if they have no history. It's almost like they were always there. Of course, that's impossible. We just weren't around to witness it. And when we were, they were already far ahead in terms of development. But their age is not the defining factor. After all, there are some races with longer history compared to us, and yet they fear us. As for the Asgardians, they are ruled by gods. I know what you are thinking. Yes, we have gods as well. But it isn't quite the same. Our 'gods' are Celestials who have become so powerful we call them so. They are different. They are gods over a particular law, with strength far exceeding even that of the Celestial Emperor."
Kahn sighed in resignation. He couldn't really be shocked anymore.
"The Celestial race prides itself as a warrior race; as soldiers trained and bred for war. But the Asgardians roam the Universe and bring the war with them! If we are trained for war, then they are the war! The battle prowess of a low ranking Asgardian is about the same as an average Lesser Celestial. With their gods included, we stand no chance at all."
"All this while I thought I was enlightened. I was merely a frog at the bottom of the well, one who can only see a small part of the sky through the well opening. You think you know how big the sky is. Then you exit the confines of your limited knowledge and realise that you knew nothing at all."
Kahn jeered at himself. He thought he knew all about the Universe- well not all but most of the relevant things. Today he found out that his knowledge was meagre.
Rosa lightly patted his head. She obviously understood how he felt. Kahn was even handling it better than she did. When she was fed this information, she refused to believe it was true. She trained intensively for several days and said she was going to challenge an Asgardian after her training. Fortunately, she didn't act on her whims.
For after her anger had dissipated and her reason finally returned, her father showed her a clip of an Asgardian troop in battle. They were less than fifty. But that didn't stop them from destroying an entire beast horde numbering over a thousand. It wasn't what they did that terrified her. No, it wasn't that. Her will was firm, her mind strong. That wasn't enough to shake her. It was how they did it that got to her. They fought like mindless animals. They showed no reaction when they lost an arm, or even a leg. As far as they could fight, they did. Anyone who witnessed such a fight scene would certainly mistake them for the beasts instead. At least she surely thought so.
Whoever recorded that video was mighty brave. That was Rosa's thought at the time. And it still was. From the way the video shook so unsteadily, it was obvious that the recorder was terrified. Yet that didn't stop him/her from capturing the very events that caused them to quake with fear.
"I think it is time for us to leave" Rosa stated, getting up to dust her dress with her hands. Kahn did the same.
"Yes. We should thank our gracious host before we leave." Kahn said, knowing full well that Rosa was very capable of leaving speedily without thanking Luis.
"Humph. Fine" With those words Rosa exited the room with Kahn in tow.