Keith silently walked towards the meeting room which Rebecca had created, and as soon as he entered, he found everyone surrounding a large round table, looking at a holographic map with which he was not familiar.
There was a metallic ball hovering in the air above their heads, projecting a map onto the table.
Venessa, Rebecca, Amelia, and Qingyue were standing a little away from everyone else, discussing some things, and by the looks of it, they all seemed very serious.
"You killed them?" he curiously asked Avriel when he came to stand by her side, and his wife smiled at him.
"Mother taught me how to bypass those Memory Seals, and we gathered all the useful information. We also found this map in one of the Storage Rings." She nodded and informed him. "This world is called Amaya."
Keith glanced at his mother before looking at the map, and just like everyone else, he too was entranced by it.
This world was simply huge, and just looking at all those terrains and layouts, his heart grew excited.
Even if one lived in this world for hundreds of years, they still would not be able to explore every place, not to mention that each world in Lower Heaven was connected to several Secret Realms which were not highlighted on this map.
"The three Commanders, like most of the platoon, were orphans who had been cultivated by the Elysian Empire. They were nothing more than slaves, and the information they possessed about the Empire as well as the world was very limited," the White Princess told him, then waved her hand, rotating the holographic map and focusing it on the continent they were currently on.
"Westesia alone is larger than Gaia's eight continents combined," Kiara lightly smiled. "And the Elysian Empire is the fifteenth most powerful empire on Amaya, and the third most powerful on this continent."
"The Elysian Royal Family are vassals of a Central Heaven Force, the Tower of Bliss," Ingrid added, and Keith raised his brow at her words.
As if guessing what was running through his mind, Avriel smiled.
"Amaya is special. It is one of the Arcane Worlds. There are hardly any humans here. And even Ashaya only constitute about forty per cent of the population."
"Is that so?" He smiled and looked at the map, examining the continent of Westesia.
First, he figured out the position of the wasteland where the battle had taken place.
It was right on the border of the Elysian Empire, close to the territory of the Isthmus of Sin.
"We should be here right now." He pointed at the Forest of Dreams, and even Rebecca glanced at the map after hearing his words.
"We are close to the City of Sin." She walked over and focused on the Isthmus of Sin, where the City of Sin existed.
The layout of the city was not visible as it was covered by a large spherical dome, hiding it from prying eyes.
Almost all the cities and towns on the maps were covered in such domes, which represented the Formations that protected them, and only the layout of a few villages or settlements was visible.
"The Isthmus of Sin separates Elysia and Sylvania, two powerful empires in Westesia. The Forest of Dreams is right on its edge and it is counted as the city's territory. This is one of the Seven Cities of Sin on Amaya, called the City of Azensday, named after the fifth day of the week in this world and the Heavens."
"Alephsday, Deusday, Edensday, Mordsday, Azensday, Sethesday, Zayinsday," Helena happily revised the names of the seven days, and Keith smiled at her.
"Do you know what they mean?" he curiously asked, and she excitedly nodded.
"Alephsday is the day of Beginning, Deusday is the day of Laws, Edensday is the day of Life, Mordsday is the day of Death, Azensday is the day of Spirit, Sethesday is the Timeless Day, and Zayinsday is the End."
"Impressive." He nodded to her, and she giggled at the praise.
"The Sylvanian Royal Family are Lesser Elves, and they are linked to the Central Heaven's Elyndore, the Garden of Elves," Rebecca meaningfully said, catching his attention, and Keith looked at her with surprise before turning to the map.
"Sylvania? Named after Sylvanus? The Elven God of Nature?"
"Yes." She nodded with a smile. "Sylvania and Elysia are enemies, and they have tens of thousands of years of enmity between them. The people of the two empires are forbidden from entering the other Empire, and the City of Sin is the only land link between them." She informed him, then moved the map up a little, focusing on the body of water that lay between the Isthmus of Sin, the Elysian Empire, the Sylvanian Empire, and the Solarian Empire. This sea was called the Crescent Sea. "The Solaris Royal Family are linked to the Central Heaven's Flame Temple. They are a magical family of Wizards and Witches."
Keith looked at the empire that was bordered by the Elysian Empire and the Sylvanian Empire on the eastern and western fronts, and by the Crescent Sea on the southern border.
"How are their relationships with the two empires?"
"Neutral. They have not been part of any wars for thousands of years now. Solaris is also the ninth most powerful empire on Amaya, and it is ranked second in Westesia. To the north, they are bordered by the Frozen Wasteland."
She moved the map to the Frozen Wasteland, which did not belong to any empire or kingdom. It was home to some of the tallest mountains, cold deserts, and areas that were marked black on the map.
The Frozen Wasteland covered more than a quarter of Westesia, and it was the land that divided the civilisation on the continent into northern and southern lands.
Keith carefully looked at the map of Westesia, and his eyes settled on an island nation called the Aventine, which was, in fact, a peninsula, connected to Westesia, with several islands surrounding it.
"One of the ten Supreme Forces on Amaya," Rebecca smiled when she caught him looking at Aventine.
She quickly enlarged the map of the island city, and though the entire peninsula was covered in a large Formation, the names of the places were still visible.
"The Aventine Academy was created by Minerva herself," she smiled. "It is the branch of the Central Heaven's Aventine Academy."
"Athena."
"Yes." The blonde nodded. "I am going to attend the Academy."
He curiously looked at her and smiled when he saw through her intentions.
The Aventine Academy owned all the unclaimed land of Westesia.
Though the southern lands were all taken by the Solarian, Elysian, and Sylvanian empires, the northern part of the continent only had one empire, Ciria, which was the third most powerful empire in the world.
Other than Ciria, there were nine kingdoms and seventeen independent cities in the northern lands.
Nearly thirty per cent of the northern land was unclaimed, and his dear wife was surely intent on claiming it for herself. She was also likely thinking about absorbing all these independent cities and nine kingdoms to form the strongest empire on the continent.
"The Academy is the best place to make a name for yourself, and I can even earn my own land, form my own independent city, or take charge of one of these seventeen cities by passing the Trials or challenging the City Lords." She did not hide her plans, and Kiara giggled at her words.
"How long do you think you will need to form your own empire?"
"Ten years, at most," Rebecca confidently said, and everyone could not help but stare at her.
Even Kiara was a little surprised by her answer. She had not expected a serious response.
"Seriously? Only ten years?"
"At most, yes." The blonde nodded again, and Keith clearly saw how her confidence put pressure on all his wives.
It was especially the case with a certain grey-eyed girl.
Meeting his eyes, his grey-eyed daughter and wife felt a little unnerved.
"Have you decided what you want to do?" he knowingly asked, and Qingyue nodded.
"I will go to the Central Continent to attend the Academy of Sirona, Sirius, to learn more about Medicine and Alchemy."
Hearing her answer, he curiously raised his brow, and she smiled at him.
"It is the best place in this world to learn these subjects, and I also want to form my own Alchemy Organisation." She revealed her plans, which were relatively very simple.
"You want to help people and earn money." He smiled, and she nodded, happy that he understood her intentions. "Alright." He agreed.
"I am going to become an Adventurer!" Kiara declared, and the Carmilla sisters grinned at her words. "We want to explore the world, create our own Guild, earn lots of money and collect treasures." She announced, and listening to her words, Helena, Amira, and Reina were tempted to tag along with her.
However, someone beat them to it.
"May I come with you?"
"Of course! We can register a Guild in the City of Sin, and we will gain access to all the cities of Westesia." Kiara brightly smiled at Alana, and the latter gratefully nodded before looking at Keith for his approval.
"It's your call." He gently told her with a smile, then looked at Amelia, who was standing on the side with Venessa, listening to their conversation.
"I am going to the Land of Wonders, the Sky Academy, also called Archon Imperos." She said as she walked over to the table and showed him a nation situated on the smallest continent on Amaya, Northheim, which was only slightly larger than the largest continent of Gaia.
Funnily enough, there was a nation called Netheria on this continent, and right above it was an Academy that was built on top of clouds, high in the sky.
It was a floating Academy, and it could be anywhere in the skies of Netheria.
"There's an Academy on top of the clouds?!" Helena exclaimed in surprise, and the same was true for everyone else.
However, Keith's focus was on the emblem that was next to the Sky Academy's name.
It contained the symbol of two hands and a source of light, a sun hovering above those hands.
He knew whom this symbol belonged to, and he could not help but recall the Plan of Destiny that he had read.
It seemed like Amelia was destined to be associated with the Temple of Light.
"Archon Imperos is one of the most resourceful places in the Heavens and the home to the brightest Architects as well as the best Formations, Seals, and Runes Masters." She informed him and then smiled at the little Mourntale. "You can go with Kiara if you want. I will not mind."
"I will come with you! I want to visit the Academy in the sky." Helena immediately shook her head, and Zoey also nodded to Amelia when the former looked her way.
"Nana?"
"Of course, I will come." Her secretary smiled as well, agreeing to stay by her side.
"Your call." When all four of them looked his way, he shrugged with a smile and looked back at the map.
Among the ten Supreme Forces, five were Academies, and the rest were Sects linked to powers that normal people could not even fathom.
All ten of these Supreme Forces were directly linked to the powerhouses of the Central Heaven.
Additionally, there were also some Forces operating in the world which were even more powerful but did not claim any territories except the cities they operated in. The Cities of Sin were one such example.
Keith knew that he did not want to stay in Westesia or go to Aventine.
Since Qingyue had decided to go to Sirius, he did not want to go there either. She needed to grow on her own, and staying in his shadow was not going to help her in the least.
Imperos was out of the question. He did not want to be associated with the Righteous Way.
The Sects were out of the question too, as he refused to be treated as a subject.
He was quite keen on doing what Kiara planned on doing. However, he would have to deal with the Children of Destiny from time to time, so, to be able to move around freely and unhindered was necessary.
Being an Adventurer or a Mercenary came with its own complications.
Inadvertently, he glanced at the centre of the Central Continent, where Noxville was situated, but then his eyes drifted to the location of the remaining two Supreme Forces.
Ayrongard, another Academy linked to the Central Continent, a Central Heaven Powerhouse and one of the most prestigious Academies in existence. And the other was Arcadia Archonos, the Academy linked to Orenesia, the eastern and second largest continent on Amaya.
Keith could not help but stare at the name of the place where Arcadia Archonos was situated, and following his eyes, Rebecca found what he was looking at.
"The Isles of Solomon. I wanted to go to the Academy created by Solomon himself," she said as she rubbed the ring on her finger, the one which Solomon had created for his wife and the one Keith had gifted to her as their engagement ring. "But Aventine is better for me. It will feel like home. I might transfer to Arcadia Archonos when we go to the Heavens."
He understandingly nodded and made up his mind.
"Arcadia it is." As soon as he made his decision, he heard an amused voice in his mind.
{It will be fun, Host.} The System commented and then continued, {Please keep in mind that the Steele of Time and Space will soon start the Cataclysm. You need to find a place to take everyone out. The process will take a fortnight to finish.}
"How much time do I have?"
{Three days, Amaya's time. Nine days, Aerzar's time.}