In a tent that looked much grander than the rest lay the eldest princess of the empire.
She kept thinking of what happened in the forest.
"Your Highness, I have checked with the physicians, and they said Darius would be fine after some rest."
A maid came in and excitedly announced.
"Alright, Zoe. " Ariana replied, her face unknowingly contained a smile.
She looked at Zoe who stood behind her gracefully.
Zoe was an abandoned child whom she found when she had gone out traveling when she was a child.
She was of the same age as Ariana and thus she felt pity for her.
As the eldest princess, she needed her own maids and thus Ariana's mother arranged for her as Ariana's maid at her request.
Since then she has been following her and slowly became her confidant.
Zoe was currently a rank 2 warrior and would have lost her life if an accident happened in the forest since it was an area where rank 5 monsters were present. So Ariana had not taken her on her small adventure.
However upon learning that Ariana was was in danger, she had accompanied the reinforcements.
"Your Highness I heard outside that he had reached the peak of rank 5 and would soon become a rank 6 warrior!"
Zoe knew Ariana paid special attention to everything that Darius did and so she always looked out for news related to him.
As for why she paid special attention to him? That was none of her business. She was grateful to the princess for granting her a better life and was willing to do whatever she wanted.
"Rank 6 huh, so he will become a colonel soon."
Ariana was dazed for a moment.
Everyone in the army was given ranks according to their strengths.
Rank 4 warriors in the army would become captains.
Rank 5 warriors would become Lieutenants.
Rank 6 warriors would become colonels.
Then came a general, a major and a Brigadier. These 3 positions were relatively important since rank 7, rank 8 and rank 9 warriors were known as the backbone of any empire.
Finally, there was the rank of Field Marshal, the highest authority of the army who only took orders from the emperor. There were currently 4 Field Marshals in their empire and all of them were Transcendents.
Transcendents were said to have a lifespan of around 500 years!
"Your....Your Highness!?"
"Hm? What happened? " Ariana was confused. She saw her maid's eyes go wide for a while.
Zoe, with her hands shaking uncontrollably, pointed towards Ariana's hands.
When Ariana looked towards her hands, she was shocked.
Black substances were coming out slowly from her hands!
She looked down towards her feet and she saw the same black substances.
She hurriedly said to her maid, " Don't let anyone else enter, guard outside."
"Yes yes, your Highness!" Zoe hurriedly went outside.
Black substance!
When a warrior reaches the peak of a rank, the new energy that enters helps in changing the body structure to make it more powerful.
This is how a warrior increases their rank.
This change in the body makes the body release black substances which are basically waste substances present in the human body.
The eldest princess was going to become a rank 4 warrior soon!
Rank 3 to rank 4 is an important transformation for every warrior.
A rank 4 warrior had a life span of around 150 years!
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The tent of the eldest princess contained an attached bathroom. Ariana lay in the bathtub.
She had successfully become a rank 4 warrior and now had a life span of around 150 years! She could feel it in herself that her vitality had increased.
However, instead of joy, there was only confusion on her face.
She knew herself best and knew she still had around half a year or even a year before she could become a rank 4 warrior.
This wasn't her only source of confusion.
She looked around herself. She could feel small threads. Threads present all around the air.
She didn't know why but her intuition was telling her that they were the energy floating around in the air.
This was absurd. Extremely absurd.
She was the princess of an empire, she knew certain things ordinary people didn't know.
High-rank warriors like rank 8 and rank 9 warriors could feel the energy surrounding us.
Transcendents could also feel the energy even more clearly. They could even determine the location of precious mines and treasures by feeling the energy in the surrounding area.
However, they could only ' feel ' the surrounding energy.
She had absolutely never heard of anyone being able to see thread-like structures in the surrounding air.
'Why can I see something that even a Transcendent cannot?!'
She then remembered the dream she had in the cave.
'Could it be real?'
At first, she thought she was imagining things.
The things she heard in that dream were absurd!
She could still remember that feeling. That strange feeling she felt from that being.
It was as if she was standing in the presence of God!
She could feel that her very existence could be directly wiped out by a single thought from that being.
The words he said were even more outrageous.
She knew different people had different physiques which made them absorb energy differently which caused different people to have different talents.
However, she had never heard of a physique loved by the world.
She was the eldest princess of an empire, a candidate for the throne!
If she didn't know something then it's either not known by anyone else or something very secretive.
'And even if such a physique existed, what did he mean by loved by the 'world'? Does the world have a consciousness? '
As far as she knew, it was said that the world they lived in was mysterious and endless.
However, if you keep going further and further, the surroundings become chaotic and only transcendents can pass through those places safely.
And even the Transcendents do not know if there's an end.
Or perhaps somebody did discover but the information was suppressed by the higher-ups.
She knew that although her father was the emperor of the empire, the actual power lay in the hands of the ancestors and elders. They were all Transcendents and did not interfere in the empire's actions. They were extremely secretive.
If they wanted something done then they would tell the emperor who would have it done for them.
In fact, other empires also were such.
Even in wars, Transcendents rarely fought.
The last battle between the Transcendents of two empires occurred thousands of years ago.
'Maybe, just maybe, the dream might have been real!' She thought to herself excitedly.
Because if it was, then there's hope! Hope to become strong enough to suppress everyone!!
Hope to stay with the one she loves!