The three of them are inside a room within the Hub.
The very first question that Joker asked. 'How many realms do you think there are in existence?'
This question caught both of them off guard. They really don't know what to say for this. After all, just the realms they knew number in hundreds. So, how could they give out a number.
That made them stay silent.
After that silence, Joker led them inside.
He then continued the conversation.
"It was wise of you to not answer. Because, there are way too many realms. I have travelled to many of them and learned loads of things. The formation techniques, inscription patterns, new runes, etc, etc.
However there is just one realm that is very unique. Unique to the point that I have never seen anything like that before and I doubt that I ever will."
As he said he waved his hand and a solar system appeared on a projection in front of them.
The solar system has five planets, however instead of sharing different orbits, they share the same orbit. All the planets are at the same distance away from the sun. But the orbit is large enough that the planets are not effecting each other with their gravity.
All five planets looked similar as well.
"This realm doesn't have any name. The people in there didn't really placed a name on it, because in their opinion they didn't have to have a unique identity.
The reason behind is that they never ever leave their own realm. All the transactions happen within the five planets as each of them have their own expertise.
Of course, some external people come in and pay a shit ton to buy whatever that is made in those five realms. That is their only external trade route.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThey don't really welcome settlers or immigrants. They are very closed off and unified.
Of course, the outsiders did name them and they are called the Outcasts."
Joker paused and looked at the two audience that he has in front of him. They are intently waiting for him to continue.
"The reason why I am bringing this up is the solution to your answers will come from here.
This realm and the people in there, all have different expertise, but the common expertise they share is in the arts and crafts of formations, smithy, pill making, puppetry, etc.
They are very good. Too good to the point that the outside inventions and ties look like toys in front of their own expertise. They have their own runic system, their own form of puppetry, their own alloy making methods.
Apart from very few core principles everything else is different."
"I am guessing, the puppets we saw come from there?" Gungnir asked impatiently.
Joker nodded and continued with his story.
"To maintain the balance between themselves and have a unified front against the external forces, the five planets and their administrators always shared the critical things with each other. There are trade routes between them for the new research information and such.
Any time, any one of them came up with a revolutionary invention, most of the research except for the actual core and critical part will be shared with the remaining four. The remaining four research the data and create their own versions and interpretations of it.
For example, one of the planets created a unique puppet core that is very suitable for controlling the battle puppets for close range. They are designed for high endurance and defense.
But when the data ended up in the other's hands. One of them managed to create a puppet core suitable for exploration of precarious natural spots, which also happens to have the requirement of high endurance and defense.
It was pretty harmonious.
Until something happened."
Joker waved his hand and the screen zoomed into one of the planets. It went deeper and deeper until it showed a special valley that was glistening with white colored rocks.
They almost looked like diamonds, but not quite at the same time.
"One of the planets discovered a new type of alloy making method. The valley I am showing you is actually a mineral vein with a specific type of metal. The experts of that planet, managed to fuse it with some other mineral vein they extracted somewhere else using some unique method and converted the whole mineral vein into a new one."
Both Bloody Chariot and Gungnir were dumbfounded. It was like a thunderclap in their heads.
They do have some knowledge about the alloy making. It is not as much as the actual artisans involved in the field, but they do have a decent understanding. Even that made them feel like the alloy making process is way too complex.
But to think that someone fused to mineral veins to create a new metal. They didn't even know how to express their shock in their own words.
Joker didn't mind their shock and just continued with their story.
"This is not the first time, such a revolutionary discover came up in that realm. In fact, it happens every couple of centuries. But the previous discoveries were all shared and the power balance always remained as it was.
But for some reason, the clan that discovered this which is also the clan in charge of that planet's administration, didn't share this info. They wanted to effect the power balance and take over the whole realm.
And for that they decided to even take the help of some external forces.
The conflict intensified and that planet was destroyed. All of its forces were killed. Except for the few people who managed to stay alive and ran away with most of its core legacies. Of course, the war took away a lot from the other four planets as well.
But they wanted to erase the fifth one by all costs. Their family is being hunted down even now.
In fact, I think only a couple of people are left in that lineage. From what I heard though, they decided to spread their legacy not by lineage anymore, but by letting different people inherit it.
And those are the legacies that you are getting in those revived pocket dimensions."
There it is. The Bombshell that both Gungnir and Bloody Chariot are waiting for. They didn't expect such a turn in the story.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmJoker continued.
"I am sure, I don't have to spell out who actually attacked you and why.
From what I know, even though each puppet that they are gaining carries a legacy, none of the puppets have the complete and the core legacy of that clan. Nobody knows how to inherit it. Only the people from that realm would know how to uncover it.
And the remaining four lineages are trying to destroy the fifth one. The attack on your students is a part of that."
There is a heavy silence in the room. A million thoughts are churning in their heads. And one of them is that they regretted bring the other party with them.
Bloody Chariot in particular felt the regret the most. After all, the legacies were found in Olympian city, which means the Olympian kids were supposed to be the ones to inherit those legacies.
But with all the drama that ensued here due to the legacy inheritances given by the gods, this new story is unraveled. This made the whole thing severely complicated.
He wanted to slap himself silly to make sure that he doesn't repeat that mistake.
Of course, he can slap himself all he wants later on. Right now, he needs to focus on something else.
"Then why are your own designs so similar to the ones they used? Why do you even know so much about them? Are you part of the four lineages?"
Joker smiled.
The meaning behind the question is quite clear. Even though the other party wanted to know more and curious, but a part of them might have wished that Joker answers positively for this. Because just now like Joker mentioned, only the people in the four lineages can know how to uncover the legacy.
If Joker really is one of them…
"I was one of the external forces that used to trade with that area. I was an explorer as I said and I stumbled up on that realm with great difficulty. In fact, entering it is highly difficult. I don't even know the spatial coordinates of that place. It is that secretive.
As part of my travels, I stayed there and observed the research directions the took. I wanted to understand the reasons behind their growth and I did find some answers.
Of course, you cannot say that our designs are completely similar. I just took some inspiration and did the rest on my own.
In the Hub, you can see a lot of stuff, that their realm only wishes to make. And I even exchanged some of my techniques with them before. That is why I know all of this."