The banquet was still ongoing but Hiro had retreated to the balcony. His gaze was fixed on the night sky illuminated by two moons of varying size. The largest was soon going to be their battlefield.

  "Everything that can be prepared has already been prepared but is it enough."

  "True, but there's nothing to worry about. In my eyes you have everything for a definite victory."

  Hiro looked at B One, from where he stood he didn't see anything of the sort thus his gaze was uncertain.

  "You don't mean sacrifice, right?"

  "Of course not. Sacrifice may seem invincible but that is only if viewed from a certain threshold. Add its two flaws to this then it is very detrimental and stunts growth."

  Hiro agreed with this, which was why he suspected it wasn't it. Sacrifice was quite versatile but its cost was Hiro's life, secondly Hiro did not have full control over its effects, only giving it a general direction. He had only used it once but it was born from his will thus he understood it greatly, different from anything gained from increasing his swordsmanship rank which had to do with his will transforming.

  "Sigh, I feel like your words are a trap. I know it's not, but it makes me think that I've already won which is dangerous."

  "Who are you talking to?"

  Hiro heard before tilting his head to look behind him and saw Aleus holding a bottle and two glasses.

  "Same old haunting spirit."

  He said honestly but Aleus shrugged as he moved to one said of the balcony and also gazed at the night sky and said.

  "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

  "You mean, moons."

  Hiro corrected but Aleus shook his head as he said.

  "There's only one acknowledged moon, the second is just our calamity manifest. Our object of resentment."

  "Can't say I understand. But never say that to me or any other man for that matter."

  Hiro said suddenly, Aleus's brows became knitted, all he did was admire the scenery he wasn't used to.

  "Do I want to know what brought on such a reaction?"

  "Nope. Trust me, best be ignorant about this."

  "Forget it. I came to see if we could share a drink?"

  He said emphasizing the bottle in one hand.

  "Sure."

  Hiro gestured with his hand to receive a glass.

  "I'm curious, what do you plan to do after the subjugation ends?"

  Asked Aleus while pouring the wine for Hiro then himself.

  "After the subjugation..."

  Hiro realised he had no definitive answer. For a fact he would use the teleporter to go to his next destination, where that was even he did not know. Once again he was reminded of his misstep of not inquiring about this, but it could not be helped at this point. When he was at the reincarnation chamber he was more passive than he was willing to admit.

  "To be honest I don't know."

  Hiro continued, he had to admit he wasn't even sure if he would leave immediately after the subjugation or some time after, it was all conditional.

  "But you will leave our world, won't you?"

  "That much is obvious I guess, but I really don't know where I'll end up."

  He again he said honestly while taking another sip from his glass.

  "It makes sense our world of Runes really is small, isn't it? And you don't seem like someone who'll comfortably stay in such an environment, you want to continue growing and our world isn't ideal for that."

  "What makes you say that?"

  Hiro was intrigued, what about him had gaven off such an impression, if anything people should have thought of him as someone with arrogance stemming from his might.

  "How can I not see it this way. You who isn't from our world choosing to fight the fragment when you can simply ignore it. I just don't think you are a righteous cosmic patrolman."

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  "How are you so sure I'm not?"

  He continued to ask.

  "For starters, you fought the fragment before even interacting with our world. Second, you didn't immediately restore our world. Third, your manner of interacting with us. All cases point to your priority being the fragment from the start. If it wasn't you would have restored our dying world first likely without even a single person knowing."

  "Huh... that is how it is."

  Hiro admitted, there were many reasons things turned out this way but the primary one was that he had put his fight with the fragment first.

  (Even though I could restore the world I went ahead with the fight, but this isn't just about what I had prioritised at the time. I, Hiro, am simply not used to acting alone, with the party our duties were split, something like restoring the world would've been Rinia's task. Even though with holy swords I can do more than fight, I've never really had to use the blessings of a holy sword. My sister could do a better job than any holy sword in this regard so all I had to do most of the time was fight, fight, fight. Not taking the initiative to use some abilities I have, this has grown on me.)

  Hiro realised his shortcoming as such he made a mental note to change his current way of doing things.

  "I can't say you are correct but you are not wrong."

  "I'm fine with not being wrong. What I really want is that you take me with you when you leave. Our world of Runes has hit a wall for centuries now, since the Depression Rune era when it was realised that even our so called highest rank wasn't a rank but a state of being, our world hasn't been the same. Following this runes stagnated, aside from ruins no new significant runes have been introduced into the world. Be it through dismantling or compounding we rune finders have reached our limit. Our world is now a dried up gold mine unfit to support our progress."

  This was the current situation of the world of Runes, during the Depression Rune era the rank of rune grandmaster was finally deciphered. It had nothing to do with practice or talent for a person to attain it.

  To summarise the requirements to reach each rank were like this.

  Rune apprentice, this only required the world's acknowledgement. Rune expert this required practice, with hard work any person can reach it. Rune master this required talent, no amount of hard work would help to reach this rank, at least not in a normal life time. Rune grandmaster, talent and hard work was not enough to reach it, only those who could 'talk' with the world could reach it. And in terms of skill they weren't different from rune masters only having a significant gap in how much of the world's life force they used.

  But this was just icing on the cake, by 'talking' with the world they created new runes time and again. The world's language could not be reproduced by the tongue or sound thus runes were created, and why after the death of the last rune grandmaster the creation of runes was on the decline.

  "And you think by traveling with me you'll continue to grow."

  "That's right, there's more beyond and you are proof of it. Right now we're all frogs in a well called Akarn or the continent. But there's a bigger ocean out there, it may or may not be what I'm hoping for. Whether it's the gentle waves or death crushing waves I want to enter this ocean and find out out for myself."

  "You want to leave the comfort of home but do you have the qualifications? You are also prince and heir to the throne."

  Hiro protested, but Aleus was unresigned.

  "Prince or not, what does that have to do with what I want for my life."

  He said before chugging down the remainder of the wine in his glass then refilled it from the bottle.

  "From the moment I was born the direction of my life was decided for me. Even now no one asks what I want, my goals, my dreams they're ignored but I won't just accept it. I don't think I give up my desires for my so called duty. I'm a rune practitioner I have dreams of going beyond master rank entering the ranks rumoured to exist. But I also have nightmares, waking up in my deathbed only to realise I'm still a rune master, king of Akarn. The same as every other Rune King before me, upholding the status quo of our founding ancestor. Hehehe, in the end was the kingdom even mine."

  He said his mood becoming gloomy.

  "You might have misunderstood what I meant. Being a prince is irrelevant, it's just without knowing what you are doing you'll only be throwing your life away for nothing."

  "Then put your self in my shoes, if you were in my position what would do?"

  This question was rhetorical so Hiro chose not to answer, he didn't want his response to be used as justification.

  "The world has a simple truth. There's kingdoms and forces, those holding the reigns of either of the two have great power influencing the continent at every turn if they so wish. But both leaders have flaws because the world has a balance that isn't a balance, those with power don't have freedom and those with freedom don't have power.

  If I take the throne I gain its power but also its restrictions. With my freedom stripped from me can I continue to indulge in practicing runes, in short even in this world without any other path I would still choose to wander the world and leave the throne behind. My thoughts are not ignited by your presence, they've been with me for a very long time. But I'll leave it to you to judge if I'm qualified or not."

  After saying so Aleus left, leaving Hiro to ponder.

  "To take him with you or not it should be a simple decision."

  Said B One.

  "He's been living a comfortable life and wants to abandon it. He may be weak now but with such a resolve he'll definitely not stay weak given the right environment, but is such an environment where I'm going."

  Hiro did know, he had no way to know. This only fueled his hesitation. Someone like Aleus just needed the right environment and he would grow but if where Hiro ended up wasn't such a place wouldn't Aleus become a burden instead, but if it was the former he would also make for a great ally to have.

  There was no guarantee that what Hiro had would always be enough and Aleus delved into a path different from his own, their versatility was likely to be great when put together with little to no waste from either of their abilities.

  "Aside from his growth, there's also the matter of being subjected to a harsh world. Danger that is likely to be a common point after this world. Sigh, I'll just ask him if he's willing to die right after stepping outside his world."

  Hiro was now somber, Aleus discarding his current life despite how pleasant it seemed made him think of himself. He also pursued his own path but for him in the earlier stages it was a necessity rather than passion.

  Back then he had to be strong to survive and look after his mother and Rinia. They had lost their home and were on the run, hunted like criminals. That situation had led to him holding a sword and taking another's life, still young, too young, no more than seven years old. His fate changed that day, though he still did not remember when exactly it was around then that he first encountered B One.

  From then on he continued to use a sword, it was not the easiest weapon for the young Hiro to wield but easy enough, and he had a natural talent for it.

  "If it wasn't for that, would I have ever picked up a sword. If I lived happily with my family would I walk away from this just because it would slow my growth?"