Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was finally time for the Eastern Academy to begin their journey to the Central Continent.

It was morning, and the first rays of sunlight covered the academy grounds. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

At the entrance, dozens of young students had gathered, divided into three groups.

The juniors , like Calus and the rest ranged from twelve to eighteen years old.

The senior students, in their final years, ranged from twenty to twenty-five.

Then there were the graduated seniors, ranging from thirty to one hundred years old.

The atmosphere was thick with powerful auras, and Calus immediately noticed the stronger ones among them.

At least everything seemed to be aligning with the past this time.

But the question remained ,

would the upcoming battles also align?

The trip to the Central Continent was one of the events Calus had been looking forward to the most.

"I hope everyone is present and gathered. I won't speak much because I believe you have all been briefed. Once again, our rule is simple ,

perform well and do not disgrace the Eastern Academy," an elderly man said as he stroked his beard.

"Yes, Elder!" Calus and the others replied in unison.

The elder nodded.

He was a Peak Platinum Fighter and was responsible for the trip

and their protection.

Just as Fre had mentioned earlier, Lisa had returned and was among them.

"Climb aboard. We leave in five minutes," the elder waved his arm.

A massive ship, hundreds of meters long, appeared before them.

Unlike the Beastman Fighter who relied on his beast

for travel, this was a normal

human fighter of the Fighter Realm. Humans possessed special equipment, and this was one of them , a transport vessel. It was fast, stable, and capable of moving through space at incredible speed.

The distance between the Eastern and Central Continents spanned tens of thousands of miles, but with this vessel, they would arrive within a few days.

Calus and the others climbed aboard as fellow students gathered to see them off.

Calus radiated both confidence and fear.

Confident

because in his category, the strongest participants would likely be stuck at the peak of the Silver Realm. In fact, he should realistically be competing among the seniors, who were Gold Realm fighters. The graduated seniors were already at the Platinum Realm.

But he was fearful of the organization.

Because of what they had done.

Because of their ability to seemingly alter destiny itself.

It left him stunned.

Fre and Calus quickly met up and began chatting as the five minutes passed.

The ship trembled and slowly lifted into the air.

Within seconds, it soared thousands of feet upward.

Then

Boom.

It disappeared into the distance, as another major event was about to unfold.

********

Trul felt as though he couldn't breathe as he stared at the bishop piece the leader of Dreadborne had placed on the board.

There was no doubt ,

it would trigger something terrifying.

Even now, Trul wondered if this was an illusion.

But no.

Every time he moved a chess piece, he felt the laws of a universe wrap around his hand.

It was real.

He and the leader of the Dreadborne Organization were playing with an actual universe.

A real one.

The question was simple:

What happens when one of them wins?

Trul already knew that if he won, then Calus would win. Perhaps he could finally disrupt the organization that had taken his life in the past.

But what if the leader of Dreadborne won?

What would happen to this universe?

What would happen to Calus?

"Your mind isn't calm," Alayot's voice echoed as he observed Trul's trembling body.

Trul swallowed hard.

How could he be calm?

He was here because he disobeyed orders. His fate was now in Alayot's hands.

Ironically, he and Calus were quite similar.

Neither of them truly controlled their own fate.

Perhaps that was why they resonated with each other.

"Y-yes…" Trul forced a faint smile.

"Good. You are still a cub. There is much you are unaware of ,

fate, destiny, order. You see things from the minority's perspective," Alayot said, his crimson eyes ominous.

"Minority? Am a minority? A weakling compared to beings like you?" Trul asked, lowering his head and clenching his fists.

"Maybe. And perhaps that is why you remain a minority because you see the world that way. The stronger fist, the greater the power

that is the majority. Laws and rules follow strength," Alayot replied calmly.

They were not speaking about population.

They were speaking about power.

The majority were the strong.

The minority were the weak.

"But… one can still change their fate," Trul argued.

"Change is constant. As for fate, it depends on what you mean by changing it," Alayot said.

"For example ,

take Calus. He is nothing more than a pawn to you. And to me, what do you think you are?"

Trul froze.

"Even if Calus changes his fate and defeats the secret organization, does that make him anything other than your pawn? Or the universe's pawn? If he survives, he has 'changed' his fate, yes

but he remains under your control. Realistically, he is still a piece on your board."

Each word struck Trul's heart.

Was Calus truly changing his fate?

Or had he never once done so.

merely becoming another plaything in Trul's hands?

Wasn't this the same for him?

Even if he claimed he would change his destiny, he knew how terrifying the leaders of Dreadborne were. Worse was his fellow members were stronger than him..

Dared.

Darius.

Caius.

Lydia.

Theron.

And many others.

He was at the bottom ,

like a frog in a well.

Even with the system, he wasn't as strong as them.

Was he simply deceiving himself?

"What if he leaves this universe… grows stronger… wouldn't he eventually surpass me?" Trul asked.

Alayot responded instantly, his voice detached and emotionless.

"You assume you will not continue improving as well. If you grow, he will never escape you. For someone like Calus, their fate is tied to those behind them. If you stop growing, he will likely stagnate. If he grows, you grow. He depends on you

but you do not depend on him."

"That is the equity of life."