"What must I decide on?" Magnus asked in return.
"It's a good thing to see that you aren't shocked on hearing that you've ascended the lesser realms. You went to the town hall right?... I expect that you now know more about this place."
"I saw it from a book at the library at the town hall and yes, I acquired a bit of information about Moon's End. Though going there was a quite a task."
Marcus spoke enthusiastically, but he suddenly remembered something.
"You didn't tell me that I had to walk for hours, it would've at least taken me a day to actually go there if someone didn't offer me a helping hand!"
"Why did you not inform me of this? I even resorted to robbing an old man of his mount because I was desperately rushing to go here!"
"Thankfully the old man was kind and forgiving, he even knew of some tricks and now I'm here."
Magnus became angry as the thought of walking for miles came to his mind as he continued venting his anger, but he soon released all of it.
"I may be at fault there." Tris replied shortly.
"Sigh. Never mind that at least I'm here so let's get to the matter. What did you mean when you said that I had to choose?"
Magnus was helpless as he looked at the innocent-looking Tris, in the end he couldn't bring himself to be angry at Tris for a long period of time.
"You are not part of the mortal realms anymore, but if you wish to return, then I shall give you the freedom to do so." Tris explained to Marcus.
"You should already know that ever since coming here... I've already made up my mind."
"Then I give you two choices," Tris spoke solemnly.
"What is it?"
"Either you return to the blissful ignorance of a mortal that has no concerns over the fate of the universe... or you would accompany me to be a conqueror which would soon lead us to the path of dimensional sovereigns." Tris asked Magnus, giving him two choices in which he must decide on.
"This is ridiculous! Are you kidding??" Magnus was astonished. 'Dimensional Sovereigns?... fuck yeah I'm in!'
"Though I am only a candidate for now and don't have the odds at my side, I promise to you that soon with you here, we will rise to the heavens and grow a force so large enough to be reckoned with even by the Gods and Monarchs themselves." Tris continued to speak her side. But their journey would also naturally have its downsides.
"But I cannot promise that our path wouldn't be bloody should you choose to stay," She continued.
With Tris assuring him, Magnus could not help but to believe and choose what he thinks would be best for him.
"Although I do not wish to become someone's subordinate for eternity, I also do not want to continue living a life of mediocrity." Marcus replied.
"I don't know of your reasons as to why you have chosen me, but I promise that I will do my best to be of use to you in any way... I'll gladly give up my life should the situation ever arise, but for now that is all I can promise to you." Marcus had already made up his mind from the beginning, so all he had to do now was assure Tris.
"Now that I have your word, I shall not keep you in the dark anymore." Tris spoke.
"There are many things that remain unknown to me. Even if I read some books in the library, you should know that the time I spent there was limited, and I didn't get much information." Says Magnus as he tried to explain himself.
"I understand, and so I'll explain it instead." Tris decided to explain it to Magnus.
"That would really help."
"You do know that there are dimensional candidates all over the world, yes?... That you should at least know, given that you spent some time at the town hall's library." Tris then asked.
"I do know that and I also know that the selection of candidates isn't limited to our planet only, though I don't know how they are selected." Magnus knew a little information about the candidates by reading some of the everlasting books in the library.
"They are selected by chance and they too will be tested to see if they are worthy of possessing the title of a dimensional candidate."
"I must know of this please continue speaking."
"There will be spatial gates that will form and appear at given time, successors would be notified early and the gates should exist for a quite a while. But we prefer to call them 'Astral Gates'."
"Astral gates??" Marcus looked clueless.
" Yes, since they will lead to different places in which the people who wish to become a successor participates in. What are this test sites for if there were no candidates, right?"
"Makes sense..." by nodding, Marcus gave his sign of agreement.
"So you should know that candidates are obligated to participate. Although you might see this as a bad thing it is also a place for candidates to greatly expand their force."
"Is there really a need to make an army? Wouldn't the 4 of us be enough?" Marcus asked again. Things were really just too complicated, even for him.
"Of course there a need for it! We'll be overwhelmed by others if we don't have one. The astral gates are a high risk-high reward kind of situation and should a participant ever fall... that will be a chance for other people to grab their keys and become a successor."
"Survival of the fittest huh? That reminds me, have you participated in any of the selections Tris?" Magnus then asked.
""I did once, that was the first time I entered an Astral Gate, and I was even alone at the time. There was no one to help me, and so I hid until the gates opened again."
"It was good that you made it alive!" Marcus cheered.
"Fortunately, there weren't many people where I was. But when I was in there... I've also been a witness to many things." Tris answered.
"Sigh. You got us now Tris, you have me now." Magnus says as he extended his hand out and held Trista's hand, hoping he could comfort her.
Tris smiled in reply to what Magnus told her.
"I have to ask again, what happens to those participants that chose not to enter the Astral Gates, are they the unworthy ones?" Magnus asked Tris once again.
"Failure to enter the Astral Gates at the given time would deem the candidate unworthy, their keys would automatically be taken from them along with their lives and their souls forever to be stuck on Primordial Darkness." Tris explained. She showed a picture of what the primordial darkness looked like—it was dark.
"What about those who fell in battle?" Beads of sweat formed on Magnus's head, but he continued to ask.
"Those who fall in battle are also unworthy, but will be taken as a servant by the opposition. I don't wish to be one of those, that's why I need to expand my force and keep you here with me."
"What can I do to help you? Even if I'm here all I could do is to be a bait or a sacrifice and it'll be fine with me... if that would keep you safe."
"With you just being my side already brings me hope, but you would be our mage, sorcerer, elementalist or whatever you want to be."
"I get to choose what I want to be?"
"Yes, but only those I have said. Xiong Min will be our berserker, Wang Ley will be the scout, I will be the King... and you will provide firepower."
"That makes sense, so It's all balanced right?"
"Yes. Also, should a candidate ever fall in battle to me, I shall give his/her key to you so that you could become a candidate and build your force as well plus you will never be used as bait nor be sacrificed. You should know that being a subordinate is not your true calling." Tris assured Magnus.
"I'll be forever grateful to you if that were to ever occur, but even if it didn't, I will still be by your side no matter how long, that I promise you." Magnus replied. He reached for Trista's hands and held it tightly, a small smile formed on his face making his eyes shine in Trista's point-of-view.