The voice disappeared from his mind, as did the presence surrounding him. The pressure was gone as suddenly as it came, leaving Liam in a dizzy trance. Space finally relaxed and time started to move forward again. At that moment, the room’s door burst open. Liam immediately woke up from his stupor and stood up, zeroing on the figure entering through the eight meters tall doorway. Throwing his thoughts to the back of his mind so he could contemplate them later, his Aura involuntarily flooded the room but was repressed in an instant by the purple counterpart rising from the creature. Its navy blue scales glistened with a purplish hue. The reptilian walked confidently into the room, sitting down on the giant plush chair in front of Liam. The youth’s eyes were sharp, anger clear within them.

“There’s no need for that. Please, sit down.”

Arimiar spoke calmly, interlocking his fingers. Myriad thoughts flashed in Liam’s mind, from attacking to acquiescing. He slowly sat down, the rage he felt not decreasing in the least. In fact, it surged. He tightened his right hand into a fist. If the enemy in front of him noticed it, it wasn’t paid any heed.

The two stared at each other wordlessly. Arimiar was the first to speak.

“You’re impressive.”

Liam frowned.

“For a specimen of such a weak species to reach a level like yours while still inside the Tutorial, it is almost unprecedented. It is an incredible achievement.”

Liam’s frown didn’t soften.

“Where are you taking me?”

The Drakkhan answered his question casually, as if it were a normal conversation between friends.

“We’re going to meet His Highness Prince Varlian. His Highness was thrilled to know of your abilities and wished to get to know you straight away. It’ll be an enriching experience for both of you, I’m sure.”

Liam scoffed.

“An enriching experience? Spare me. I’m a war prisoner.”

“A mere technicality.”

The creature’s reptilian snout contorted into what looked like a grin while Liam narrowed his eyes.

“What happened to the other humans?”

“Captured. You have to believe me when I say that none of them were killed.”

“Yet.”

The reptilian’s grin turned into a smile.

“I’m afraid we have gotten off on the wrong foot. We have no intention of antagonizing your species. In fact, all of us would greatly benefit from an alliance. His Highness will speak of you about this in further detail.”

Liam laughed loudly. An alliance? It was ridiculous. The invaders had arrived with the words “surrender or perish” and now proposed an alliance?

“How stupid do you think I am? Your species is a threat to mine. Not only that, but I heard the words you said to the smaller, black-scaled monster. You are planning to kill us. Yet you propose an alliance? Are you insane?”

The lizardman shook his head.

“It is not like that. While it is true that there are individuals who would rather kill all of you for the XP, including members of the royal family, His Highness Prince Varlian isn’t like that. Humanity is under his protection for the time being. He would much rather form a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Liam snorted.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to. The Prince will explain everything when you meet him. For now…”

The giant reptilian stood up.

“…Please stay here until we arrive. I will ensure that His Highness, the one you referred to as a ‘black-scaled monster’, does not come into this room. He was very eager to extract information from you, but that would be a problem. Rest assured. All humans are safe.”

Arimiar then left the room, leaving Liam alone once more. The moment the creature left, Liam’s Aura burst forth, making the room tremble. Like a previously suppressed beast, its unrestrained might whipped onto the walls as Liam tightly clenched his fists. He felt helpless. The possibility of an alliance with these creatures was preposterous, but it also seemed like the only way for humanity to survive. Otherwise, they would simply be exterminated for XP. Simply put, he was being forced to cooperate. He was too weak to do anything else.

Only after a long time did he contain his Aura, slowly relaxing his hands and clenched jaw.

...

“Your Highness, we are approaching Commander Arimiar’s ship. Communication has been established and the Commander has assured that the specimen has been captured without any problems. It also remained peacefully within its room.”

Slight disappointment filled Varlian’s heart. He expected it to at least fight back, even though it would be defeated in an instant by Arimiar. Had the Commander already explained the situation humanity found itself in? If so, it made sense.

The prince turned around.

“Very well. You may go.”

The bowing servant left the room, leaving Varlian to his own devices. He wordlessly stared at the void through the window in his quarters, as he always did. It helped him focus. The pressure from the other princes and princesses was mounting. Ever since the Tutorial’s opening a day ago, he had already been relayed several formal messages from the other members of the royal family. The overwhelming opinion was that humanity was weak but numerous enough for their purposes. If systematically hunted, it would provide enough XP to drastically strengthen their forces. Naturally, each royal was trying to obtain priority in the pecking order with their own selfish goals in mind.

‘Fools.’

Varlian resented the stupidity of his peers. Even in the situation the Drakkhan Empire found itself in, they still only thought of themselves. There was no mention of the good of the Empire. No mention of what would be the best course of action for the survival of their species. Instead, the idiots were preoccupied with standing out among the other royals.

He sighed. Pacing in his room, he thought about the best way to communicate with the incoming human. The greatest of their kind. Varlian had no doubt that such an individual would be outstanding, at the very least. He should prepare himself as if to meet an equal. Lesser species or not, the strongest of humanity was sure not to be a simpleton. He could not underestimate him. Steeling his determination, Varlian considered his diplomatic objective. The goal was to peacefully establish a connection with the species they had summoned without being pushed around. At the same time, he had to make sure the human didn’t feel disadvantaged. It was a delicate scenario.

He started to revise the plan he’d already formulated, as well as the knowledge that had been obtained from the humans his soldiers had interrogated. It was then that he raised his gaze. He felt Arimiar’s Aura from far away. It was time.

…

Liam watched the incoming flying ship. It had a design similar to Arimiar’s, except for its much larger size and different color palette. Instead of navy blue ornaments, the royal ship was decorated with golden colors, the hull black as the void itself. Over 100 kilometers long, 40 kilometers wide, and 30 kilometers tall, it looked like the largest galleon Liam had ever seen. However, there were no sails, while the enormous beams had windows and turrets on their sides, looking more like elaborate defense towers. The body of the ship was adorned with propulsors and alien technology Liam could not recognize. It looked like a mix between a ship and a spaceship from Sci-Fi movies.

He was on the upper part of Arimiar’s ship, alongside the Commander and the small prince Liam had seen previously. The three of them watched through a window in the control room as the larger royal ship rippled like water, a hole forming in its hull. The hole swallowed their ship and closed behind them. They were now inside it.

“Follow me, human. Your Highness, please come with us as well. His Highness has expressed his wishes to see you.”

Arimiar commanded Liam before bowing towards the prince and speaking to him. With an arrogant tone, the small black lizardman responded.

“Of course. He wouldn’t leave me waiting. Let’s go.”

Without waiting for the Commander’s response, the royal left the control room and rudely released his Aura, rushing to the upper part of the ship. With a calm grin, Arimiar followed in tow, gesturing for Liam to follow him. The youth grumbled under his breath before starting to move.

After a while, they reached the uppermost level of the ship. The opaque ceiling turned transparent and rippled as the hull previously did, washing away and creating a hole.

‘Some sort of weird alien shit. Great.’

It was technology that humanity had never even gotten close to achieving. He felt like he was in a movie. The structure of the ship flowed and changed shape as if it weren’t solid, allowing them to leave. The trio hopped down and fell to the ground, where they were awaited by several more bowing lizardmen. The prince paid them no heed and walked past them, while the Commander nodded. Even in their bowing position, Liam could feel their interested gazes wash over him. That wasn’t what surprised him, however.

‘They all have Aura.’

Every reptilian he had met so far was capable of wielding Aura. The soldiers inside Arimiar’s ship had been of a clearly higher level than these bowing figures, but that didn’t change the fact that they were also Aura users. Liam felt like he was beginning to realize the gap between humanity and this species. His despair increased by the minute.

He followed the two aliens through the ship. Inside, it was a veritable city. Buildings and pathways intertwined under the high ceiling, all following the same color palette of the ship’s hull. Thousands of soldiers with different-colored scales and armor walked to and fro in the wide pathways, all stopping to bow and greet the young prince and Arimiar. They walked past many different rooms, ranging from wide open areas with alien vegetation to full-blown armories and military quarters.

‘These must be the assistance personnel.’

The bowing figures from before followed them closely. Unlike the soldiers, they weren’t dressed in heavy armor, wearing loose clothing that looked like an overcoat, but Liam could see the light armor underneath. These people were likely responsible for the maintenance of the ship, but were also prepared enough if a fight happened to break out. It was characteristic of a species used to surprise attacks.

Liam closely analyzed every lizardman that walked past them, getting to the same conclusion as before. They were all Aura users, without exception. He could only hope that it was because this was a royal ship and not that every individual in their species was an Aura user.

It took some time, but the group finally reached a large gateway. Soldiers could be seen on either side of it, but with his Aura Sight, Liam could tell that this area was much more defended than it seemed. His Danger Sense screamed at him. The soldiers stepped forward, but quickly backed down after seeing Arimiar and the prince’s figure in front. They had conflicted expressions as Liam walked past them, as if they couldn’t find the courage to ask about him or keep him from passing.

From this point forth, Liam’s Danger Sense kept sending him signals. The number of soldiers going around in the pathways or watching over them drastically increased, while the ship’s layout changed to be more claustrophobic and streamlined, as if its only purpose was to stop a large number of enemies from passing through, but was also filled with small outposts of soldiers.

‘This is built for defensive purposes only.’

If before they were in the living and common areas of the ship, they were now reaching the core zone. The territory that could never be breached. As they walked, the security got progressively tighter. They walked past the control room, which was filled with lizardmen, and finally reached two large, ornamented doors at the very heart of the ship.

The young prince pushed them open without a care, revealing the living quarters of someone. The room was sparse in terms of furniture, mostly empty except for a meeting table much like the one in Arimiar’s ship and a single… Was that a bed? Liam wasn’t very sure. A large window of otherworldly glass consisted of the room’s back wall, showing the stars floating in the void beyond. A tall, black-scaled figure looked at it unmovingly.

“Varlian. We’re here.”