Jason was right in-between his masters, Till and Old Drake, which made him extremely uncomfortable until he heard Till exclaiming overjoyed.
"Aunt Dalia, your still alive!!!" Hearing this, visibly confused Jason, as he lifted his eyebrows.
'Aunt?' Looking between the four around him, he couldn't help but feel negligible, as Dalia approached him in order to look if he was fine.
Noticing how much mana was left in the unique mana sphere, she stared daggers at him, lecturing.
"What did you do to use up so much mana in less than three weeks?!", which caused him to sweat heavily….
Not knowing what to say, he looked pleading at Shane, who approached him too, and sensing the remaining mana within the unique mana sphere, he said reassuringly.
"At least you're alive, huh? I would hunt you down if you died within the four-star rift!!" He added, and it sounded like a threat, which caused Jason to shudder, as Shane turned to Old Drake and Till, he said.
"I think you guys need my help again, or am I wrong? We listened to what Jason said and even a single Shadow walker would be enough to cause a calamity on Astrix, even more, multiple race envoys trying to save their new toys…"
Jason knew almost nothing about the combat prowess of foreign races, only that they were extremely strong compared to humans, but hearing that a single individual would be enough to cause a calamity on Astrix, was still shocking.
'Does that mean, a single Shadow walker is already at the Lord rank?' He wondered, but he didn't dare to ask, as he turned to Shane.
"Master, can you tell me what Old Drake meant with the reason for the other races to not annihilate us, in order to habitat Canir or the Archipelago?"
Shane was about to turn around when Dalia answered Jason's question, instead of Shane.
"To put it simply, it's because of humanity's peculiar soul-awakening, at least we think so. We have never seen other races summoning or binding beasts and our theory is that other races want to learn more about humans by letting us live on Canir and the Archipelago.
They envy our soul world and what benefits they bring us, whether it is a companion, our soul world's amplification, or our affinities, we can obtain by contracting beasts..
We think the foreign races made some sort of treaty with each other to let us in peace, well... partially, while only interfering by luring over promising youths, as it apparently happened with Lux.
In the end, these foreign races are still fighting against each other, while we're only seen as onlookers, nothing more or less.
Maybe they see Canir and the Archipelago as some sort of breeding ground, while they pick out our prodigies for their own gains? Who knows?
In the end, we know almost nothing about these foreign races and it is impossible to figure out their true goal, without asking them, which is quite problematic, because we basically can't understand their language."
Dalia said and Jason tried to understand everything, while all pieces slowly gathered together creating a greater picture.
"So these foreign races use advanced soul contracts to slave promising humans in order to make them into some sort of super soldiers? But why did Lux for example remain on Canir or the Archipelago even after he performed the advanced soul contract?..... Is that some sort of plan to search for more potential human super soldiers while staying hidden?"
Jason wasn't even sure what he said, but after thinking about it, he was shocked, as Old Drake affirmed his suspicion.
"That's exactly what we think is happening. Whether it is good or bad, we are still alive and humanity could be said to have some freedom, at least to a certain degree. The only advantageous aspect is that the big clans and their descendants were disregarded by most foreign races because they never send a stronger being than someone at the sovereign rank to be a envoy.
There might as well be a different reason for that, but if there is, I don't know it.
This also indicates that beings above the sovereign rank are either not common in these races or that they're probably occupied with fighting against others on the mainlands or on their own side of the permanent rift.
In the end, like Dalia already said, we know almost nothing about the foreign races, if they came from the same place or if the rifts brought them together."
Shocked about the revealed information he got to know, Jason sighed deeply, before he mumbled "So....we are only livestock for the foreign races?... Not even worth their higher authorities' attention...Canir is our breeding place, huh?"
Jason felt suddenly extremely enraged, useless and his eyes gleamed lightly, calming him down, as he took a deep breath.
Looking at his Masters, he asked resolutely.
"Is there a way for us to fight against the Shadow walker in order to capture Lux? I guess claiming and researching the resurrection crystal is the government's priority, and after that capturing the traitors?" Pondering for a moment, Jason added.
"Does anyone know what happens if more than one foreign race comes to Cyro-City? Will the City even overcome such a threat?"
If multiple sovereign ranks were to save their human subordinates, Jason didn't doubt for a second, that a massacre would happen, because the foreign races were hostile to each other which caused him to frown.
On one side it was definitely an advantage that the foreign races were hostile to each other but on the other side, this hostility could also be the cause for Cyro-City to end up eradicated after today.
Old Drake and Till looked extremely bad and the gravity of their problem slowly approached everyone, while Dalia looked at Shane.
Shane noticed that and sighed before he hesitantly said.
"In the end, the government has to forget about the resurrection crystal, because stronger Shadow walkers would come if they're unable to retrieve it.
If only a single foreign race, at the Sovereign rank were to appear, I might be able to protect the city to a certain degree, but killing the Shadow walker would result in us obtaining the resurrection crystal which is not something we can handle.
As such, I can't kill the Shadow walker either way and in the end, the shadow walker might even protect Lux with its life, because it is seen as less valuable as Lux. This means that I have to let Lux and the Shadow walker leave, without obstructing them.
In the end, if they don't attack the city, everything should be fine…"
Taking a deep breath, the main issue came now into play
"The only problem is, the possibility of multiple races appearing and them trying to obstruct each other. They don't care about us at all and only the humans they contracted are barely worthy enough for them to look at. In the end, they would most likely fight with each other and devastate the whole City…"
Looking at Old Drake, he seriously said.
"Cyro-City should have an underground shelter as a capital, right? Send the citizens down...There is no need to cover this issue and saving their lives is more important than anything else!"
Old Drake had already his holographic screen opened and messaged his subordinates, who immediately took actions, as a loud siren voiced through the whole city
**Attention please, attention, please…
Due to some unforeseen reasons, every citizen is requested to immediately search for the next entrance towards the underground shelter.
Please stay calm and follow the soldiers' instructions!
This is not a test! **
Turning to Jason, Shane looked at him, as if he was about to give Jason a beating, which caused him to tremble for a second.
"And you! Why are you always so reckless? You ventured through the four-star rift alone, huh? Almost killed multiple times and barely surviving the explosion caused by your 'trustworthy' expedition member, Lux? That was definitely a 'magnificent' choice your expedition team made by choosing this traitor.."
Before a faint smile emerged on his face, calming him down.
"At least you're still alive...But look what happens here again… your youth is more exciting than mine was… You'll already see a foreign race and sovereign's fighting...haha"
Trying to ease up everyone's tension, Shane tried to be funny, but the heavy atmosphere remained, causing the situation to turn awkward.
The atmosphere within the tent turned awkward with everyone feeling weird, as Jason couldn't help as he chuckled lightly, saying.
"Master, you're really bad at changing the atmosphere… You should improve that after you brought everyone alive out of this situation!"