MY 10,000× DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM

Jenny

Jenny woke up in a cold sweat, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her eyes darted around the room, and she was about to sit up when a firm hand was pushed against her chest.

"Calm down, Mistress, you're safe." The familiar voice caused her to relax, and her tensed muscles slowly loosened.

"Uncle Auro..." She said softly. She then grimaced as she became aware of the pain in her body.

Her entire body ached, but the worst of the pain came from her arms. Moreover, she noticed that they felt constricted, and when she tried to bend them at her elbows, she failed.

She lifted them to see both her arms covered in a strange blue gauze. A strong medicinal smell coming off them.

"The frost from that blizzard was truly remarkable as it was deadly. If not for Riri, you might have lost your arms." Her gaze shifted to her uncle, who looked like your standard handsome individual with a well-kept dark blue beard and low-cut style.

On his shoulder was a green salamander, which looked at Jenny with intelligent eyes.

"....Thank you..." She said softly, dropped her arms, and closed her eyes.

Uncle Auro was silent for a moment, and then he sighed.

"Jenny, I won't yell at you for being reckless, but I need to know, why did you do that. You knew the risks, and you knew that employing the help of your people would make the journey easier. That's why they are here in the first place to help you. What you did back there just made it redundant." When he said this, Jenny covered her eyes with one of her bandaged arms.

"... I could handle it." She retorted, but it was weak, and she knew it.

"Yeah, and you've sustained an injury that will make your journey in this Hidden realm more difficult than it should be," Auro said a little bluntly, and Jenny sighed.

"I'm a summoner anyway. It's not like I have to fight using my arms." Auro closed his eyes when he heard that and took a deep breath.

"That's not the point. The point is that you could have easily avoided being in this situation, but you acted on your emotions rather than logic." He explained calmly, and Jenny was silent.

She knew this. In fact, she wholly agreed with his words and knew what she did was stupid. After all, this entire expedition was to let her grow stronger. Everything else was secondary. If she died due to her poor decisions, then what would be the point of everything?

She acknowledged that, and yet she couldn't bring herself to be practical.

"... I can't let anyone get harmed because of me." She said after a while, her voice devoid of its usual bravado.

When he heard this, a bit of grief flashed in Auro's eyes, but he hid it quickly.

"Jenny... what happened was a mistake. Yes, saying that won't get rid of the past, but dwelling on it won't either. You don't want your actions to hurt anyone, and I understand that. But if things keep going the way they are, then more people will get hurt." He reasoned, and Jenny sighed. Again, she knew what he was saying and agreed, but her heart was against it.

Still, in situations like this, her feelings weren't what was needed, as clearly shown before.

"What's the situation?" She decided to change the subject.

Auro sighed but decided not to call her out for it.

"Everyone is safe thankfully. Titan only suffered some superficial damage to his shell. Honestly, you're the only one that needed treatment after the ordeal." Hearing this, Jenny felt a sense of relief in her heart. That's what she had been going for.

Still, judging by the slightly troubled look on his face, Jenny knew that there was more to it.

"What else?" She asked and Auro was silent for a moment before saying a but carefully.

"One of our Vassal clans reported a strange situation?" At this, Jenny arched a brow. The Vassal clans, or their vassal clans usually acted on their own. Sometimes their assistance would be required, but such situations were rare.

While the clans submitted reports regularly about things they found. It was usually inconsequential and deemed unnecessary to pay attention to.

But judging by the look on Auro's face, it was clear that whatever they reported wasn't inconsequential.

"It would seem that there is another, unregistered force within the hidden realm. One that isn't a member of any of the clans, and isn't native to the hidden realm." Hearing this, Jenny blinked before sitting up slightly, her gaze grave.

"But that's impossible. Father and some of the other Sovereigns made sure that no one entered the hidden realm before us, and we were together when it opened." She said and Auro sighed.

"It's possible that they didn't enter before us, but at a similar time, and were transported to a different region of the hidden realm just like everyone else. Which is why we didn't detect them until now. As for how the Sovereigns weren't able to detect them, that's a different story. But the point is that we don't know these individuals and their motives." Hearing this, Jenny frowned.

"The Vassal clan that discovered them. Have they made contact?" She asked and Auro shook his head, this time though, his expression was a bit strange.

"No, but from what they told us, this force knows that they are being watched. But they haven't done anything to interact with them in any way." Hearing this, Jenny tilted her head.

'That's strange. If they went through the effort of entering the hidden realm undetected, they'd do what they could to make sure they weren't discovered, right?' The thought rang in her mind, but she decided to focus on the matter at hand.

"So now what?" Hearing this, Auro pursed his lips.

"I have a few ideas, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter when you woke up." Hearing this, Jenny thought for a moment before saying.

"I think we should establish contact and see what happens. Strictly non-violent. If they can get past Father and the others, then they definitely have some powerful methods. Unless we are sure we can defeat them in a fight, I'd like to avoid conflict unless they initiate it." Hearing this, Auro nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his gaze.

"I was thinking of the same thing. Their origins, abilities, and methods are mysterious. But they don't seem hostile. It would be wise to establish contact and see what we're dealing with before we try anything drastic." He said in agreement, and Jenny laid back down and exhaled.

The ache in her damaged arms didn't feel good, but she welcomed the pain. It helped her think.

"With that settled, what about us? Should we continue to rest and recuperate? Or should we continue our journey?" Auro asked, and Jenny was silent for a moment. Then she replied.

"Let's wait for my Mana to recover. After that, we'll proceed, but at a slower pace. I want us to be able to reach this strange force should any unforeseen circumstances occur." She said, and Auro nodded slightly.

"Alright, I'll issue the the order." He stood up to leave but paused, then he turned around and put his hand on her forehead and said softly.

"Rest well, Jen." Then he left the room.

Jenny stayed there for a bit before sighing and opening her eyes. However, the tired and hesitant look in her eyes was replaced with the usual stubborn pride everyone was used to.

"Tch, my arms are injured, and there's an unregistered force? So what? I'll just crush everything in my way. As always." She huffed and sat up and started to circulate her Mana.

***

Inside the Primordial Expanse, on top of a tall building within the Haven of the Enlightened, a figure wearing a green robe that hid their face could be seen sitting down cross-legged, their hands dancing through the air like a conductor at an Orchestra.

If someone was able to see fate though, they'd see how hundreds of fate threads were being manipulated and woven at incredible speeds every second.

The figure looked extremely mysterious and gave off an unfathomable and vague Aura that would cause a normal person to question themselves if they saw them.

At that moment though, the figure paused for a moment and turned their head, the action causing their hood to fall back, revealing the beautiful face of Aisha.

Behind her was Sylvaris, her mother.

"Mother? What's wrong?" She asked calmly, her hands still weaving fate threads at dazzling speeds.

Sylvaris didn't say anything and just came to sit next to her and looked up at the black and blue moon that hung high in the sky of the Primordial Expanse, Nihilheim looming in the distance.

"How has your new work been treating you?" She finally asked and Aisha smiled.

"Well enough."