Chapter 338 Anxiety.
"I see he is as obnoxious as ever," Giza stared at Sol, refraining from attacking him like she did earlier and instead just passing the time watching him until she grew irritated once more and turned to go back to Umbra. "I will make an example of you yet, Sol Vestic," She commented, exiting the parrallel and entering the plain of the living once again.
"You will learn where it is beneath me that you stand, just as your clone is a tool I will use, so too are you; my goals lay far beyond either of you and the little piece of totality that your small minds can process."
"Cleared your head yet?" Umbra looked at her as soon as she appeared again.
"Of course, my King," Giza smiled and weightlessly stopped at his side staring at the insignificant bit of the stellar object he was trying to seize. "I was merely overwhelmed by the constant prodding, I will be sure to keep them at bay in the future," She assured him and he nodded and looked to his task again. "How long do you suppose this will take?" Giza spoke once more.
"By the size and how long it took to get this much in my possession, I think I will easily be here for several months, I will depend on you to keep the flies off my back, we can't afford to start again, I have just enough mana to capture all of it and nothing more," Umbra looked at her, and for a moment Giza held a stare of indifference towards him that caused wariness to swell in his heart as he could no longer sense a shred of thought coming from her, as if she was emptying her head per thought that manifested.
"Are you listening to me?" Umbra narrowed his eyes at the woman with his brows raised, silently expressing his discomfort and waking her from her thoughtless state.
"I apologise, may I leave?" Giza blinked several more times and then looked at him properly again. "There is something I wish to take care of in confidence."
"Do whatever you want, just make sure that you are there whenever I call, that is all I require of you, Giza," Umbra turned to his task again with a disturbed mind, she was acting weird all of a sudden and considering what she was and what he thought she could do that was dangerous.
"Then... I will return at your call my king," She smiled and vanished into the dark once more.
***
"You want to fight me?" Dina stared at Cosmo incredulously. "Why?"
"I simply wish to test my strength, Milady, I have already been warned and would never try to-"
"Do not flatter yourself, I wouldn't assume you had such an intention in the first place unless you were tired of living," Dina scoffed and looked to the side at Arla who was watching their interaction after the man had approached her while they were eating in the cafeteria of a small ship traversing the void.
"Why me though?" She asked and the man huffed and flexed his large hand to which she hummed unimpressed, Sol's muscles in comparison were many times more superior.
"I want to see where my power now many times greater compares to yours, that is my goal," Cosmo responded flexing his hand again.
"Do you mind?" Dina huffed annoyed at him and his antics. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you would lose even faster," She answered his request with a rejection. "My power is a lot like Dr'ul and Master's," She explained.
"You also possess the Godslayer's fist?" Cosmo looked at his hands, balling his fists with his eyes shimmering full of hope.
"No," Dina shook her head. "They are two of a kind," She continued shaking her head while she popped another piece of food in her mouth.
"What I mean is that fighting me is an uphill battle you will never win or feel satisfied about because I am almost twice as powerful as I was three months ago, my similarity to Dr'ul, Ikaris and Master come from my ability to passively gain strength even when I am not engaged in battle or training," She stuck her spoon in her mouth again. "It serves you no purpose,"
"Then-"
"I absolutely refuse," Arla rejected him as soon as he turned his sights on her. "Amongst the allies here, I sit in an uncomfortable seat, nobody below my strength stacks even close to me, and I cannot hold a candle against anyone stronger than I am," She explained. "I still seek unique strength unlike anything ever seen before, I refuse to take part in pointless fights," She shook her head.
"Then, how strong are you exactly, I have only seen you healing the injured after battles and teaching those who have the patience to sit through a lecture on mana, I have never seen you raise your hand once in combat." Cosmo insistently spoke to the elf, much to her displeasure.
"I am second after Dina in power, I am her teacher, but she has long surpassed my reaches into godhood, while she is a True Divine, I remain A cosmic Deity, the gap is not a small one," She answered him patiently.
"I still fail to comprehend these systems, Cosmic, Divine, and otherwise, they confuse me, Cosmo shook and scratched his head. "How do I tell the difference?" He asked causing Arla to sigh and place her fork on her plate while Dina chuckled and stood leaving them to converse since she knew Arla found it hard to pass up on an opportunity to educate someone.
"Dina was very thorough in her explanations previously, were you not paying attention?"
"I was, but I have a hard time remembering such details."
"... Are you, an idiot?" Arla asked, and Zara on the other side of the cafeteria burst out laughing at the very serious question while Hudor shook his head in disappointment. "I will explain it all, come, all of you," She gestured to the others as well causing Hudor to shake his head once more as he obediently stood and sulked over while the others formed an arc before her with their chairs.
"I was half expecting you to accept his challenge," Ikaris spoke, glancing over her shoulder at Dina and watching her take the seat next to her in the Pilot's cockpit. "They need to be made fully aware of the differences between the mana they possess and Divine mana," She added, crossing her legs in the Pilot's seat and Sighing while Alpha placed a small beverage in her hand.
"He is stubborn, if I fight him again he will never stop," Dina chuckled, but slowly that humor went away as she glanced behind them and then accepted a similar drink from the System, nodding to her in thanks. "Did you feel it earlier?" She queried seriously, and Ikaris hummed while drinking and nodded afterwards.
"He is alright, it was probably something getting on his nerve, you have to remember that Sol has a dark temper and a short fuse for bulllshit," Ikaris smiled warmly whilst speaking vulgarly.
"I know he does, but didn't it feel a little... different?" Dina pressed beyond the short response, seeing the warmth of Ikaris's smile slowly fade away after she had spoken. "What is the point of reassuring yourself with a lie when you're just as worried as me and Arla?" She sipped her drink and crossed her legs as well. "You know you don't need to put on a brave face for us, right?"
"Naturally, you two are everything to me, we share in everything and live harmoniously, I cannot hide my feelings from either of you, but they are not the same," Ikaris gestured to the others who Arla was preaching to.
"They do not know the true dangers that lie beyond the veils of the known, they have barely come to understand the simplest things that are inside of it, they have no knowledge of emissaries, dark and light, of the fates and their opposition; the Dark Emissary, they are little fledgling birds that have yet to grow strong enough feathers to fly."
"I may not have to be strong for you, but I need to be strong for them, right now they are all weak, the massive amounts of mana which they possess mean nothing when faced against someone like you or Arla who possess true divine and true cosmic levels of power, let alone myself, the difference is too great, so the only option is rapid growth, this is why I intend to start a fight, and force them into their first steps of evolution," She explained.
"But you said that-"
"I know what I said, Dina," Ikaris rested her cheek on her fist staring at the mage with a lazy expression blinking slowly and sighing for good measure.
"Things like this have to change to meet our requirements and adapt to the situations we find ourselves in, Sol was attacked by the Dark emissary and mere moments later she nearly entered Khalla-Nova, we need more allies, stronger allies, she collapsed a journey that took her three months and shortened it into a few minutes, the power she wields is literally not of any dimension we know of, it is more obscure than the [Nightmare Prism] and more dangerous than anything known to the Grand Collective, Dina, forgive him for being a little anxious."
"We all are."