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The thought of being happy to see colors again was sothing Cedric never thought he'd experience, yet here he was...
Returning from the bleak, colorless, desolate, and extrely dangerous place such as the Void made him cherish his life. That place is truly sothing that no living being should go to. If it weren't for the sake of defending the realm, nobody would do this bland and almost work.
For his first Void Walk, it truly couldn't get any worse than this. Matter of fact, Cedric was starting to see a the here. He had experienced the worst first day at work here, and now this... it's as if fate was telling him that it didn't want him anywhere near this place.
On normal occasions, Cedric would've followed this instinct. Hell, forget about paying back what he owes to Hunyo and Silas; he's sure that he could sohow pay them back in another way. Spending the boring days with his family was way better than being constantly exposed to the dangers of the void.
In fact, he even started thinking that maybe becoming a civil servant wasn't so bad after all. He thinks that he'd much prefer playing mind gas and politics with 'The Six' instead of staying here.
Unfortunately, it's a little too late for that. He's already here, and he couldn't easily back out, or else he'd face punishnt.
The very first thing that Cedric did after returning, aside from eating and taking a long bath, was to reunite with his family through the virtual universe.
He didn't tell them what happened. He didn't feel the need to. What's important is that he returned and could spend more ti with them even in this way.
Seeing their faces reminded him that he needs to be more careful. He simply has too much to lose, so he couldn't take too many risks, especially for the sake of his curiosity.
Cedric was still willing to believe that it was a freak accident this ti. Nobody could've predicted the early occurrence of the Void Shift. Even if soone were to have ten tis their normal audacity, they still wouldn't dare ss with the equipnt of the Border Patrol Guardians. And even if they do, there's no way they'd be able to do it without anybody knowing.
That's why he believed that it's a coincidence this ti. It wasn't so sort of secretive plot or devious sche from so mysterious person behind the scenes. That's simply impossible to happen in this place.
After all, every living being detests the existence of the void, and there is no exception to this.
If the Void Shift occurred during the calculated ti, then all Void Walking missions will only be banned for 3 months, at most. Just until the experts have drawn a new stable patrol route for future missions.
However, since the Void Shift happened a whole month earlier than their predictions, a deeper inspection was necessary.
Rumors said that the ban for Void Walking missions will last for five months, possibly even longer.
Cedric didn't think too much of it. Where it's three months or longer doesn't really matter to him. He had no desire to go back to the void anyti soon. Even if that ans delaying his promotion opportunities.
He decided that, unless he experienced his first transition, aning that if he broke through the Transitional Realm, he wouldn't apply for any void walking missions in the an ti.
Being a 5-star Grand Solar Sage is nowhere near enough to give him security out there. He's simply too weak to guarantee his safety.
This made Cedric crave more strength. And with his current rit accumulations and the expertise he had shown so far, he wouldn't have problems eting the quota, so he could afford to increase his training intensity.
He thought that it's about ti for him to speed up his practice and gain sufficient mastery over all refining thods that are required by the cosmic furnace to make his breakthrough. He couldn't afford to slow down anymore. His lacking strength woke up his survival instincts, especially considering how accident-prone this place was.
In the end, only his personal strength matters. If he's stronger, he wouldn't have to cower in fear when he encounters a crisis.
[Alert! You have an important ssage!]
Cedric raised a brow after seeing the system's notification. He opened his inbox and saw that the ssage ca from the commander's office. It bore the official seal of the Border Patrol Guardians, so he couldn't and wouldn't dare to ignore it.
"I see..." Cedric humd to himself after reading its contents.
The ssage was a summons from the office. Which, in itself, wasn't surprising to Cedric. They hinted at the cause of this summons briefly into the ssage, but as cryptic as it was, Cedric already had a solid idea why they wanted him there.
Since he was sufficiently rested and full, Cedric didn't delay.
He went out and made his way to the commander's office. He went through several checkpoints before finally arriving just outside the room. He was about to enter when the door suddenly opened before him, as if expecting him to arrive and giving way to him imdiately.
Behind the door was a long and narrow hallway. As he arrived at the end, he was greeted with a spacious room, sothing that is obviously caused by the manipulation of Space Laws because this place was way bigger than one could imagine, and it simply wouldn't make sense for a simple office to be this huge.
As soon as he appeared, Cedric felt nurous stares landing on his body. He expertly traced and filtered these signatures back to where they ca from, making a profile of them in his mind. Obviously, his actions were as discreet as they could be; he didn't want to provoke everyone here, after all.
"Is this him?"
A pitchy yet pleasant voice echoed in his ears. Cedric imdiately recognized that these words weren't spoken in the common language of the alliance. He guessed that the speaker must've been speaking using his native tongue.
"I believe so. I've never seen such a hairless creature before."
"He looks cute, not gonna lie."
"Weak, more like. A strong breeze could easily knock him down. Are you sure we got the right person?"
"He doesn't look nor sll like a warrior at all. Is he using a disguise or sothing?"
"No claws, extra appendages...no traces of evolution, nothing visible, at least. Such a creature doesn't seem ready to be exposed to the allaince, yet he's already here, serving. Is he courting death?"
Cedric fought hard to now show any visible changes in his expression. He remained stoic and indifferent despite literally understanding every word that they're saying, even though he only heard these languages for the first ti.
"Order, please."
This one was spoken using the common language of the alliance. The sound ca from sowhere above Cedric, but even after scanning the place, he couldn't accurately determine where it's coming from exactly. But he sure knows that they're here as well. Probably just hidden really well.
"Good day to you, Officer Dawnbringer. We apologize for the rather abrupt summons. We know that you're still recovering from the accident; however, this takes precedence. I hope you understand."
"It's quite alright, sir. I have rested well enough," Cedric replied with a salute.
He recognized the voice. It's the sa person who led the search and rescue team that escorted them back to the camp. That deep and gravelly voice left a deep impression on him. Especially the strength this person has.
"Very well." The titan cleared his throat, still speaking using the common language of the alliance.
"As you have probably guessed by now, we summoned you because of your very descriptive and surprising report about your journey. Seeing one of the entries got us really curious, therefore we summoned you to verify a few things for us."
"Is it true that you can understand the language of the Void Creatures?"
There it is. The real reason why they summoned him here. Your journey continues with empire
It wasn't a surprise to Cedric. If anything, he was anticipating this already.
In the end, he still decided to include this matter in his reports. 'Call it a gut feeling.' Cedric says to himself.
Of course, so people would think that he's being delirious. The void generally does that to people, so it wouldn't be too surprising.
However, Cedric wasn't having a delirious episode. The titan himself personally confird that he wasn't infected or anything. He was sane and just as sharp as the day they entered the void.
No sane person would make up an official report, especially wild claims like this. Therefore, the titan took his ssage seriously.
But if that was all, then a one-on-one eting could've sufficed for this. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Cedric's interpretations turned out to be correct. The titan confird this himself. In fact, even Scribes were impressed by it.
And that's what led to this very mont.
Cedric maintained a strict yet honest look in front of his superiors before saying:
"Yes, sir. I was able to understand what those creatures were saying back then."
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