Planet Master

196- Requirement

Dian felt that this was an impossible mission.The Outer Beings were not acting alone; they were acting in groups of four. One Commander and three Soldiers. That was why whenever they appeared, they were at least formed into this group. Or worse, they formed a battle formation that used transcendent energy to bolster the collective.

Dian thought to himself.

The Frontline was a place where the troops from the civilization of the Ten Venerables were located.

Then he received a prompt that had to be replied with.

[Tritis: Have you finished with the Assessment Star Battle?]

The Assessment Star Battle was the first Star Battle of the Third Rank to determine the Planet Master’s performance and their requirements for rising higher in rank.

Dian thought about it and that was the only viable reason why Tritis contacted him at this time.

[Dian: I just finished with it. But the requirement…is a bit troublesome.]

[Tritis: How troublesome?]

[Dian: The kind that needs to go to the Frontline.]

[Tritis: Hmm, that sounds troublesome indeed.]

Dian did not dare to tell Tritis everything. After all, this trial was for himself to prove that he could rise in rank. Furthermore, rising from Rank 3 to Rank 4 was a watershed. That was why the requirement became harsher than usual.

Even so, he had to receive help when necessary and could divide matters between private and public.

[Dian: So can we talk about this in more detail?]

Dian sent the message but he had not received any reply yet, as if Tritis had wavered between going with him or just refusing.

If she refused, Dian had to do it within his own means, and that was fine. He did not want to rely on her to accomplish the requirement.

But the problem was that he knew no details about the Outer Being, which made him wary.

“Is the requirement out?” Frie asked Dian.

Dian blinked and realized that Frie and the others should receive a general outline of his requirement. But it was not disclosed to them yet.

“Yes. Do you want to know how to make sure that our plan is as good as possible?” Dian suggested this because he trusted those who were under him.

“It’d better be revealed so we can coordinate it.” Frie understood and nodded to Dian.

Then Dian revealed the requirement, which made everyone exclaim in surprise.

“What is this requirement!? So challenging.” Arowana let out a loud voice.

“Outer Being…that sounds hard to kill.” Smirth commented.

“Kill them? Isn’t that hard to do?” Ghylea asked.

“Are you alright?” Chikara asked Dian instead.

“Hahaha, I am fine. Just that the requirement for my advancement is a bit hard to do, but I am fine.” Dian even had to calm Chikara down. Although she had an air of naïve individuality she excelled in battle.

Actually, that was her only quality. In other aspects, she fell short, even requiring others to give her guidance.

“Our Star Children are also growing stronger at any moment. But it still needs time so that they reach the peak of Rank 2 Transcendent. I believe that now is the time for the Federation to expand beyond its own star system.” Dian said.

“It’s good that you can still be optimistic. I heard that whenever an Outer Being appeared on the rear, a large destruction and casualties occur.” Frie said with a serious face.

“Frie, please know that I am prepared for this. Ever since Her Excellency Tritis has said that my path will be intertwined with the Outer Being, I am prepared to eliminate them. It is just that it is so soon.” Dian had to raise his hand and calm Frie down.

Despite her serious face, Dian saw a fleeting worry in her eyes.

“What’s your plan?” Leif asked the most important thing.

“I initially contacted Tritis, but she still hasn’t responded yet. So I thought that we should do this on our own initiative.” Dian had a heavy tone when he said this.

Of course, there was a way for him to go to the Frontline but it was to become a logistic and the chance of being attacked was low. But once attacked, it was usually a fairly high rank Outer Being from his perspective.

That was why he needed some sort of safety net. By requesting this through Tritis, one of the Ten Venerables, he would at least be able to accomplish his requirement more easily.

“At worst, I just have to be part of logistics for some time.” Dian sighed while the others discussed things on how to do the requirement.

Even Cisor, Halden, Olza and Asta joined in as if they were already familiar with each other.

Of course, Frie reminded them not to do anything extreme to their races any longer, and they obeyed. Otherwise, Dian would be more than glad to just devour them.

“Looks like we have no choice but to go to the Frontline.” Dian looked at the Message option and still did not receive Tritis’ reply so he planned to go to the Frontline.

“Wait a minute. Did you communicate with Her Excellency Tritis?” Cisor asked.

“Yes, but she still hasn’t replied yet.” Dian replied.

“You need to wait. We have time so perhaps she might do something for you.” Frie realized that Dian became a bit impatient and said this as a subtle reminder.

“Ah, did I just…rushing?” Dian realized the issue and decided to go to his throne to sit and calm his mind.

Like Frie said, he just needed to wait. Tritis might be held back by something but she had never disappointed him. She even gave precious intelligence regarding the Outer Being so he should at least trust her.

“I am sorry. I might be a little bit impatient. Should’ve known not to rush like some people.” Dian placed his hand on his forehead, wondering why he had a feeling of rushing.

He did not ignore that feeling. Instead, he wanted to know how that feeling came to be.

Dian thought.

Then his wait was rewarded.

[Tritis: I can allow you to go with me to the Frontline.]

Dian’s eyes widened at the unexpected agreement from Tritis.

But before he could reply, another message was sent.

[Tritis: Regarding your talk, we can talk about it in the usual place.]

Dian was glad that he waited. He was as glad as discovering that his race was doing well even without his direct intervention.

“Well, looks like I need to go out for some time. Who wants to go with me?” Dian asked.

This time, most of them did not want to go as they were digesting their gains from the Star Battle.

“Me, me.” Asta said while raising his claw.

“Looks like we newcomer will go with you.” Cisor said helplessly.

Dian nodded and sighed. The matter of his promotion should not be delayed any longer.

After finalizing the individuals who would follow him, Dian and the four newcomers got closer together like a bunch of people surrounding the superstar.

Then white light enveloped them before their presence were gone from the Planet Master Space.

-

Arriving at the Universe Market was something Dian and the other four had prepared so they were not disoriented. But the four did not know where exactly they were in the wide Universe Market.

Dian blinked and saw that numerous half-beast Planet Masters were moving, and some Lizardfolk were bargaining while there was little presence of the other Planet Masters.

Dian then glanced at the dark corner where he could see the Undead Planet Masters, looking pitiful.

But Dian did not stare at them long before he knew where he was.

“Looks like this place is a bit far from our destination.” Dian said as he felt a bit frustrated as he and the four had to walk.

“Master, where are we going? The other Senior did not tell us, just smiling while letting us follow you. They said that we will know once you get there.” Cisor said with an gratifying smile. Submitting to the strong was never a mistake but Dian felt that was too basic.

Sadly, it was a prevalent truth that the strong were respected.

“We are going to the Don Restaurant. Do you know that place?” Dian answered in the most ordinary tone as if he had become a loyal customer there.

“Wow, I have seen the place but entering it? No, never.” Cisor shook his head. His small, furless tail was moving slightly with his emotions.

“I also have never been there.” Halden, the male Elf, said with a helpless smile he could muster when Dian looked at him.

“Me too.” Olza said.

“I only heard about that place.” Asta timidly replied.

“Okay, the result is that you never go inside there.” Dian concluded.

He could not blame them. That place was for higher rank Planet Master. Someone of his rank could not possibly pay the price of the things sold there yet.

He believed that the price for things there was equally high since the food and beverages there could increase the existence power of the Planet Master.

Existence power helped Planet Master manifest their power. It meant that the effect of the change in the planet by the Planet Master’s modification was proportional to their existence power.

Furthermore, the Personal Manifestation was also affected by Planet Master’s existence power as the main fuel.

“Alright, let’s walk around until we find a familiar sign.” Dian said before he added, “Stick close to me.”

“Ok.” The four then stuck close to Dian.

Dian and the four walked in a certain direction. That direction was out of the place they had been in.

When they reached the other direction, they found that they were previously inside the western market where half-beasts Planet Masters were heavily located.

“So the place we appear in is the western part of the Universe Market.” Dian and the other four realized.

“You don’t even know this?” Dian asked while looking at Olza.

“I…was defeated quite early and the place I appear in is the center where you can see the entire large area of the Universe Market.” Olza said with a resigned tone.

“Okay, I am just asking. Don’t feel pressured.” Dian said to Olza.

From here on, Dian led the four toward the familiar places he had been, through some moving other Planet Master, through the familiar stele where the races in the Planet Master System was registered as having potential.

“We’ve arrived.” Dian stopped his step right in front of Don Restaurant.

At the same time, Dian and the four felt something behind them. When they turned around, they could practically see that the crowd parted sideways, giving way to someone.

Dian felt familiar with this while the other four were surprised; their mouths opened slightly.

As expected, the familiar figure that Dian often saw like this had appeared.

“Did you time your arrival?” Dian was the first one to ask.

After he asked, the others, including the four were surprised to hear that Dian had asked such a question to such a figure.

Tritis indeed timed her arrival. But this was achieved with some difficulty, since the stronger Dian was, the harder it became for her and her race to calculate his fate. But still, she successfully knew about Dian’s arrival in the Universe Market.

“Yes. Did you wait here long?” Tritis said.

Dian swore that he could see that Tritis was smiling slightly. It was as if she saw something amazing about him.

“It is as usual so you don’t need to worry. Or are you too proud to admit that you still leeching out of me?” Tritis hit the sore spot in Dian’s heart.

“I really want to repay you but I am still just a nascent existence compared to your excellency.” Dian smiled like a salesman and saluted in a respectful way. The four also followed his move as they paid respect to Tritis.

‘Is that who I think that was?’ Cisor thought nervously.

‘Is this the reason why the others only smiled when we wanted to go with Master?’ Halden realized something.

‘I see. This is why…’ Olza thought.

‘Ah...ah.’ Asta’s mind was unable to bear the weight of the sight in front of him and went blank.

“Looks like you managed to get some new individuals. Are you planning to collect those whom you meet?” Tritis asked.

“Your Excellency, you jest. Let’s go inside and talk. This is no place for deep talk.” Dian reminded and Tritis nodded.

“Hey, you need to stick close to me, remember?” Dian then tugged the four’s hands and the four suddenly jolted awake.

“Yes, you’re right.”

Then they entered the Don Restaurant and as usual, the one who greeted Tritis was the usual crab.

“Oh, it’s you. Please follow Her Excellency.” The crab said to Dian which Dian politely nodded.

The four also followed, respectfully nodding to the crab before they followed Dian.

At the usual room, Tritis sat on one side of the table while Dian sat right opposite her.

The four also sat next to Dian.

Tritis then opened the discussion, “Do you still remember? That if you want to help with the Outer Beings, you will have my support?”

Dian remembered Tritis said something to that effect but he was surprised to hear that Tritis knew about his current situation.

But then again, she and her Core Race specialized in Causal calculation and karmic connection.

Dian’s surprised look was still visible to Tritis but her face, which was behind a veil, showed signs of being serious.

“Yes, I remember something to that effect. You even helped with the Scientific Inheritance and the Transcendent Heritage sent to me through the meteor. Thank you for that. Thanks to that, my civilization advanced leaps and bounds.” Dian had to say this directly since what he had seen when his races had found the thing to develop faster.

“No need for that. I just chose the most direct way your Core Race could develop. It is the shortcut, actually, which is like answering the examinee in a test.” Tritis said with a slightly forced tone.

But to Dian, the result of that was positive without any negative effect since the humans believed that the things that came from the meteor were a blessing from the Father God and Dian did not correct them either.

“But how do you plan to move me to the Frontline?” Dian asked the most important question here.

“That is simple. I just need to register you within my authority.” Tritis answered simply.

“Do I need to bring humanity’s strongest transcendent to do this?” Dian knew that to slay an Outer Being, he needed to bring some people with him.

“Oh, it is actually better to do so. A small elite force that can face an Outer Being is recommended.” Tritis said while nodding.

“Ah, is that right?” Dian exclaimed. He did not expect that his hands-off question to end up right.

Dian’s thought churned faster than he had anticipated.

The candidates he had thought of actually consisted of several people.

Tatsumi, Charlene, Ame, and Long Wu were the main forces that formed the core of the group. But as for the others, Dian planned not to send any more than those he had thought of.

It was because being a burden was far more dangerous to the whole group than having none. Dian’s thoughts were adamant on selecting those four.

A small but elite group that could handle the situation at the Frontline.

“Yes. Your requirement is harsh for a low rank Planet Master but it is actually a comprehensive test from the System to you.” Tritis explained something that Dian did not expect.

“Comprehensive test? Does that include my relationship?” Dian realized that the requirement for him was actually testing his relationship with others.

“That is right. This is actually something that set up without even the Universe Council’s involvement. Meaning, this is the System’s judgment of you.” Tritis explained.

“Looks like I need to interact with more individuals on the Forum.” Dian sighed. He thought that just reading it like a ghost should be enough. How wrong he was.

“You come this far without forming a relationship with those outside? That’s a miracle in itself.” Tritis said.

Dian was embarrassed and the four who followed him could see that. But the fact that someone of Tritis status would be here caused them to stiffen on their seat.

“Sorry. I am a shy individual, you know.” Dian said.

“I know that.” Tritis stated.

“Is Master a shy individual? But I can’t seem to see it?” Halden tilted his head, wondering where the contrast came from.

“Please, be silent.” Dian hoped that the four would not unnecessarily interject with his discussion.

“Uhm, Your Excellency. Do you know our Master?” Asta asked.

Hearing that, Tritis’s mouth could be seen lifting up, smiling.

“Of course. At least, we can be said to be acquaintances.” Tritis confidently said

“Acquaintances?” The four had a face of disbelief.

They, of course, knew that Tritis was one of the Ten Venerables. But to be able to become someone worth remembering by the Venerable, that was something that Cisor, Halden, Olza and Asta did not expect at all.

“Yes, you could say that.” Dian scratched his cheek while saying this. That made the four look at Dian and Tritis interchangeably.