369 Hidden Forces

Sunny spent some time staring at the pile of books in front of him with a dark expression. After a while, he sighed heavily.

So, there were hidden forces out there that exerted influence over the entire human race. The authority was as invisible as it was frightening. And now, he knew their names. The Sovereigns were at least as powerful as the government, or maybe even more so.

The exact relationship between these two hegemonic powers — one official, the other secretive — was not clear, but for now, knowing the full extent of the authority resting in the hands of the Sovereigns was not that important.

However, it was important to know that the world was not at all as he had imagined. It was much more dangerous.

Why?

Because if there was one thing that all wielders of authority shared, it was the animosity toward others encroaching on their power. That was just human nature — among the strong, only one entity could be the strongest. And so, that entity was always apprehensive of others growing stronger.

Bosses of criminal gangs in the outskirts were always paranoid of their lieutenants usurping them, and tended to violently get rid of those who were too successful. In the Dark City, Gunlaug reigned with an iron fist, destroying anyone who dared to be strong without submitting to his rule.

And Sovereigns would be much the same.

Since Sunny was already powerful beyond reason, for a person of his age at least, and had an even more frightening potential, the Sovereigns would never allow him to exist outside their control.

Luckily, they did not know the true extent of his strength yet.

But since his main goal was to become stronger — as strong as he possibly could, as fast as he possibly could, to not fall behind Nephis — that… was going to be a problem.

Suddenly, some things about the Awakened society became more clear.

A long time ago, Sunny had learned that Master Jet had no chance of ever becoming a Saint. Apparently, one had to have a team of outstanding companions and a lot of support to attempt conquering the Third Nightmare, and she lacked both due to her "problematic personality".

Would Sovereigns allow someone outside their grasp to become a Saint? Most resources and knowledge about the Dream Realm belonged to the Legacy clans, especially when it came to anything having to do with higher Ranks. And the clans were controlled by the Sovereigns… which basically meant that they could prevent anyone from becoming a Saint simply by refusing their support.

How many talented Masters like Jet were being suppressed from growing more powerful because they didn't serve one of the Supremes? There were a couple of Saints serving the government, at least. Whom were they really loyal to?

'Hate it… I hate it so much…'

Of course, Sunny knew that all of this was just his conjecture. And yet, one thing was certain: the choice presented to him by Master Jet was not as straightforward as he had thought.

In truth, he wasn't deciding between the great clans, the lesser clans, the government, and independence. He was deciding between entering into the service to the Sovereigns or refusing it.

And that choice was strained even further by his connection to Changing Star.

'...Damnation!'

With a sigh, Sunny stared at the bookshelves surrounding him, and then stood up. He had to get a few more books to read…

Many hours later, he tiredly put the last one away and rubbed his face.

Now that he had absorbed a lot of knowledge about the current geography and situation of the Dream Realm, a seed of a plan began to form in his mind. However, he still needed more information. He wouldn't be able to find it here, however.

For that, he would have to visit an old acquaintance.

One thing he did find, nevertheless, was a bit more information about the Sovereigns.

Asterion, Ki Song, and Anvil of Valor.

The last one was possibly the most renowned. An heir of the great clan, he was mentioned many times in the texts describing the human expansion into the northern territories of the Dream Realm, as well as the history of Bastion — one of the three central human Citadels in the Dream Realm. In fact, he had apparently been responsible for slaying the titan whose remains were then used to create the chair Sunny was currently sitting on.

'Strong...'

Later, though, the traces of Saint Anvil disappeared. There was no mention of his death, but the reigns of clan Valor were now in the hands of his cousins… at least officially.

Ki Song was only slightly less famous. Unlike Anvil of Vale, she had come from one of the lesser Legacy clans, and it was by her hand that it was elevated to the status of a great one. The stronghold of clan Song, Ravenheart, was the second major human settlement in the Dream Realm. Its sphere of influence was separated from the other two territories by especially dreadful regions. The border with the Valor clan was especially deadly, but also rather thin.

From what Sunny was able to learn, Ki Song was still the ruler of her clan, although she rarely appeared in public. She was known as a benevolent and charitable person, but that was pretty much all the information he could find. It seemed that it was her adoptive daughters who mostly acted on her behalf. Seishan was one of them, although she was trapped on the Forgotten Shore for too long to be mentioned anywhere.

And lastly, there was a man named Asterion… he was the most mysterious of the three. No one seemed to know where he came from and where he went after the Broken Sword's cohort was disbanded. In fact, there was barely any mention of him at all.

Asterion was not connected to the third great Legacy clan, at least from the looks of it. Or any lesser clan, for that matter. Sunny couldn't even find out when and where he had been born, let alone if he was still alive.

Even in the texts describing the deeds of Broken Sword and his companions, the name Asterion was only mentioned in passing, as though he had never made any important contributions.

Sunny shook his head and scowled.

'Let me guess… he's the most terrifying of the three.'

That was an easy conclusion to make, because… it took one to know one. Sunny himself was barely mentioned and tended to hide his contributions.

'Ugh, my head hurts…'

The worst part was that this was only half of all the research he had to do. He had learned enough about the human position in the Dream Realm and the Sovereigns.

Now, he had to learn as much as he could about the gods, the daemons, and the Unknown.

…It was time to pay Teacher Julius a visit.

Of course, Sunny couldn't visit his old instructor with empty hands.

Pushing the books aside, he activated the terminal embedded into the table, lingered for a few moments, and then typed:

"...All of the Forgotten Shore is separated into three parts, one of which…"