843 Curse
Far outside of the Epistemic Tower, within a universe of peace and tranquility, an innumerable amount of craftsmen gathered. This was known, aptly, as The Sapientia Quadrant and was ranked 10th among all quadrants in existence.
This quadrant was truly a hub of knowledge. Every notable secondary profession in existence found its home here, but there was no doubt that the most central anchor of this quadrant was the Sapientia Tower where the grandest Library in existence was found.
Although this quadrant was only ranked tenth, it wasn’t necessarily weaker than those ranked above it. In truth, aside from the top three quadrants, there wasn’t a great difference between those ranked fourth through ninth, however, the tenth rank was special.
Unlike the other quadrants within those rankings, The Sapientia Quadrant didn’t have to fight for its spot within the Epistemic Tower, instead, it was an unwritten rule that it would always remain there regardless of its martial prowess.
This may seem odd, but there was a good reason for it.
The Sapientia family was in quite a difficult situation. They were in the pursuit of knowledge, and thus avoided conflicts. In fact, even if a war occurred in a universe or on a planet where they housed one of their branches, they wouldn’t interfere. This was the case even if one of their own was accidentally caught in the cross fire. Even in such a case, the matter would be brushed over.
Over the years, the Sapientia have slowly proved not only their worth, but also their sincerity. Being a family as ancient as those found in the top three quadrants, they’ve had plenty of time to prove their worth, and although some old foxes still keep a skeptic eye on them, for the most part, they’re allowed to conduct the research they want to.
With this, though, also comes many unwritten rules. For example, when Connery Sapientia spoke out against Madeleine leaving the Sapientia family to aid Dyon in the war, he was speaking the truth. If a Sapientia could just leave their family, and join others, there was the risk of the Sapientia bringing undo heat to themselves. This was because some might think that the Sapientia were slowly infiltrating secular families in preparation for a big movement. For this reason, those who marry Sapientias are also tied to follow the rules of the Sapientias. Even further, if the Sapientia in question is from a high enough branch, their lover is forced to marry into the Sapientia family.
There were, of course, many other unwritten and written rules like this, however those were best saved for another time. The most important point here was that the Sapientia had struggles of their own, and many were bound to follow these rules forever.
So, what did this have to do with the perpetual tenth position they held? Well, often times in the martial world, the best way for geniuses to achieve great things was to fight for them. For example, the greatest chances in the cosmos were often found in the Epistemic Tower. However, within that tower, not only did you need to have enough talent to be recognized by your quadrant, and thus be allowed to enter, even once you entered the tower, the benefits inside would be limited unless you could then fight within it.
Why was this a problem? Well, as a family stout in its will to remain neutral, how could the Sapientia allow its geniuses to fight benefits?
The Sapientia had to remain neutral, but within that also meant it was necessary for them to not anger the future generation leaders of the various clans their branches would reside in. If this happened, tensions would rise, and eventually, the system they had spent so many years building up would crumble.
The ancestors of the Sapientia understood this very well, so they knew they needed a solution.
On one hand, they didn’t want to draw rifts between their younger generation and that of other clans and sects. But, on the other hand, if they didn’t allow their talent to fight for their own benefits, their clan would definitely decline.
No matter what kind of research one was doing, it was only possible to reach the highest levels once one truly understood the martial way and climbed to the top of it.
How could you research cultivation techniques without understanding them? How could you research weapons without being able to forge at the highest level? How could you tame the best beasts without having the power to force them to yield?
As such, the 99 quadrants and the Sapientia Quadrant came to an agreement. The other quadrants would allow the Sapientia’s young geniuses to fight to their heart’s content without any retaliation. However, during all of the most important competitions and most poignant Epistemic Tower events, the Sapientia would always accept the tenth position, never fighting for a higher position.
Of course, we aren’t mentioning this quadrant for no reason at all. A person Dyon cares for very much happens to be in this very quadrant right now, counting the days until he returns to her.
In fact, the older generation of this quadrant happen to be quite interested in her, not able to understand how such a mind could be found within a young woman of barely over 20 years of age.
However, what this older generation didn’t know was that this other worldly beauty hardly cared for their praise at all. In fact, if Dyon didn’t exist in this universe, she might very well be the most arrogant person in existence.
**
Within The Sapientia Quadrant, there weren’t only the Sapientias. There were, in fact, many other family’s who installed themselves within this quadrant in order to focus on their crafts. In fact, many of them gathered during this current meeting.
“Old Man Baker, that grin on your face hasn’t faded for almost a year now. You old lecher, you’re not doing anything indecent, are you?” An elder wearing robes red berated another wearing a silver robe who seemed to be absentmindedly smiling.
The one called Old Man Baker awoke from his thoughts, but didn’t seem to disappointed. Instead, his grin grew more perfuse. “If you had a disciple as unquestionably spectacular as mine, you would be smiling all the time too. And for someone who visits Violet’s Bloom Pavilion so often, you sure are quick to call others, lechers.”
The red robed elder nearly choked on his tea, glaring at old man Baker for being so unbridled with his words. But, that only make the silver robed Old Man Baker laugh louder.
“Aiyah,” Another elder chimed in, wearing golden robes, “For such a beautiful young lady to join your faction, the heavens must be blind.”
Another silver robed elder, sitting behind Old Man Baker responded, clearly displeased. “What is that supposed to mean?”
The golden robed elder was actually a beautiful middle-aged woman who looked no more than 40 years old despite the fact the reality was far from that. In truth, for her to look even that old meant that she must have lived the majority of her current lifespan, or else she would look no older than 25.
However, because of her beauty and the clear brutish nature of the silver robed elder, she thought her meaning was quite clear and only giggled like a teenage girl instead of answering.
Old Man Baker harrumphed, “Who said that beauties can’t join our Weapon’s Master faction? Do you think they’re all destined for your Magic’s Master faction? Don’t be ridiculous.”
The golden robed elder sighed, “Just the idea of such a delicate girl spending all day in front of a burning furnace fills me with pain. She deserves better. With her soul talent, she could join almost any of us. How did you manage to snatch her up?”
Although energy control talent, and not soul talent, was necessary to join the Magic’s Master faction, the golden robed elder’s statement was still true. This beauty could have joined almost anyone, but it was especially rare for women to join the Weapon’s Master faction. In fact, it was almost an oddity for it to occur.
Usually, the women who joined the silver robed, or Weapon’s Master faction, were women born with what the golden robed elder looked at as cursed constitutions. The truth was that they weren’t really cursed, they just forced the delicate female body into a giantess state where they had much more muscle mass than the typical woman. However, to the golden robed elder, this was definitely a type of curse.