While he does feel confident that he can take on the Shadow Warriors and even if he has to face Kahayag again, there is still this certain feeling of uneasiness with him.

"I know that. That is why I came here thinking that you might offer me some pointers."

"What you did is indeed the right choice." The Head Elder said as he smiled confidently before standing up and walked towards the wall behind him.

He smiled calmly to the rest of the Elders and as if understanding his intention, they all stood up and left the room without any hesitation, leaving only Elric and the Head Elder behind.

Then a moment later, the plain white wall suddenly moved and revealed a pa.s.sage to a certain brighter area. Curious Elric walked closer to the newly opened pa.s.sage just before the Head Elder.

By the time Elric arrived what he saw inside gave him an unexpected shock and amazement.

Inside the small pa.s.sageway revealed a vast area that stretches to an unknown horizon. He could see weird looking plants of various sizes, mysterious gigantic animals that looked liked winged whales are moving across the yellowish skies, there are different bodies of waters and mountains. 

The only question that Elric has is how did such a vast s.p.a.ce can fit inside the Guardian Aircraft that is not even wider than two hundred meters in radius?

"What is this place?" Elric mumbled his question while his eyes remained puzzled and in awe at the same time.

"It is my offer. A dimensional portal to another realm." The Head Elder said with a confident smile.

Elric, now bound with curiosity, raised his hand and touched the s.p.a.ce inside the pa.s.sage only to feel like as if he was being pulled in.

Seeing this, the Head Elder's eye revealed an unexpected shock. As if it was his first time seeing it.

"But just to let you in on the bigger picture on my offer, I just want to ask. Do you ever feel like everything that is happening so far in your life has been under the influence of someone aside from you? As if there is someone pulling the strings from the dark?" The Elder asked after calming himself as if nothing happened.

Hearing the question, Elric gazed at the Head Elder with an interesting look. 

"I already know who is behind it," Elric replied with a cold expression in his eyes. Every time he remembers about Kahayag and the Great Seer Mhata, he could not help but feel an intense surge of resentment and curiosity.

"Is it perhaps an Elemental with a foretelling ability?" The Head Guardian asked with his deduction. Elric nodded in reply as confirmation.

"So that explains all of my unknown variables..." The Head Guardian said with sudden enlightenment in his eyes.

And as if having a sudden information breakthrough, he swiftly sat down and crossed his legs before closing his eyes with unfathomable focus.

"Please excuse me for the next 30 seconds."

The Guardian said as his head started to glow. Elric was taken aback at the sudden brightness of the Head Guardian's head.

Woooooong~

In the next moment, holographic images of numbers, lines, mathematical figures, and symbols of unknown variety whizzed out of the Head Guardian's temple. His eyes were closed but Elric could see the eyeball moving rapidly inside the lids, while his glowing head continued to project the complex holographic rendering before him- it was their so-called 'calculating'.

~Whooosh~

~Wiiing~

~Whooosh~

~whooosh~

Elric watched as the numbers and symbols flickered into different values and presentation.

The holographic lines created graphics, percentages, numerical values that were unbelievably long and hard to follow. Everything dashes, flicker, disappear and reappear somewhere at a pace more than Elric could keep up.

Before Elric is a being capable of defeating all the supercomputers in the world when it comes to extremely complex calculations and processes.

For some reason, Elric had the urge to touch the tall man before him but he resisted the idea. Who knows it might result in a mental backlash as the man before he seems to be completely immersed in his calculation.

Ten seconds later, the rapid eye movement inside the lids hasten. Bluish blood started to fall out of their small nostrils, mouth, and even in their ears. The head-on the other hand started to emit hot steam as if a boiling pot of water.

However, despite all the painful moan and sight, the Head Elder pushed on.

Exactly 30 seconds later, the so-called calculation finished.

The numerical values finally stopped moving and a highlighted number floated in bold before the Head Guardian's face. 

The numerical value is one hundred percent.

"Ten thousand and five hundred sixty-three years." The Head Guardian suddenly said as his eyes finally opened.

The moment Elric saw the eyes, he was shocked to see the extreme bloodshot and the pale white pace almost reaching a ghastly level. 

Keeping his composure, Elric asked, "What do you mean about the ten-thousand-"

"If you enter the dimensional realm before you, you will have an exact ten thousand and five hundred sixty-three years to train before you reach one hundred percent complete control of the Ancestral Black Dragon essence."

The Head Guardian said while gasping in complete exhaustion.

"That long!? Am I even alive after that such time?" Elric replied with a stupefied face.

"It is possible if you get inside the Kaora's realm." replied the Head Guardian as he finally stood up while wiping the bluish blood with a subtle wave of his hand, leaving no traces even from a single drop.

"Kaora's realm..." Elric mumbled the name of the dimensional door before him. For some reason, he gave a faint familiar feeling from such a name. Though he could not clearly trace it back, for some reason, he could feel his soul being called by the mysterious world before him.

Is this still part of their trap? Or could this be actually fate?

"But even if I go inside. A lot could happen here on earth within ten thousand years." Elric said, asking for clarification.

"That's what makes the dimension before us right now special. And to tell you the truth, it seems you are fated to this place." The Head Guardian said while his eyes glowed with the utmost admiration.

Elric continued to listen, waiting for the explanation.

"You see, just like the elemental realm where the flow of time is completely different from the Earth's, ten thousand years of staying in the Kaora's realm is only three months and ten days here on Earth. I am pretty sure you know what those days mean." The Head Guardians said, turning his head to Elric with a confident smile.

"The Total Lunar Eclipse... the time when the gate to the Realm of Darkness will be opened. The time when I will get the chance to the Realm of Darkness and meet the Emperor." Elric replied with a resolute gaze.

"However, I doubt you will find the Emperor on the Realm of Darkness." The Head Guardian interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Elric asked, confused.

"I had been observing them from the past thousands of years. Unfortunately for them, their secretive movements will never be able to escape our eyes. All their actions and motives, we are always ten steps ahead of them, that is why they never get the chance to fully take over as many humans as they wanted. However..." Then the Head Guardian's face switched from confident to full urgency.

"We made a miscalculation on our part. You mentioned the one who made everything possible. The confirmation itself is proof of our miscalculation. A being that can foresee the future and model it the way they want to be not a part of our calculations since we never accepted such fact without evidence. But now that you mentioned it, things are now completely different."

Now facing Elric with traces of anxiety in his eyes, the Head Guardian said,

"You obtaining the Ancestral Dragon's blood, Taken to the Elemental Realm, Obtaining the Elemental abilities of destruction and healing, coming back to the human realm and wiping out the Arkhans and the Dragon clans. My calculations had reached a perfect solution that it was all according to their meticulous planning!"

"Their? Do you mean..." 

"The Outsiders are coming." The Head Elder replied with a fearful look in its pale face before adding. "Now that the Dragons and Arkhans, who happens to have a great interest in the human realm and in another way helping us protect it from the invaders from the other realm are gone, our overall defensive capacity against an unknown invasion had plummeted to the b.u.t.ton. The human weapons are far too outdated against the supernatural enemies."

"Then why did you not warned me about it?!" Elric asked, irritated.

"We have our own reason." The head Guardian replied with a resolute face. Elric did not pry further. As beings of logic and the human interest always in their book, he gave up questioning further.

"What happens when I get inside? How do I know you are not lying to me?" Elric asked.

"We guardians are not allowed to get inside

The risk for him is just too much. What if the realm before him is just a trap to isolate him and holding him off while the invasion happens? Will he be able to save his family? The Eastern Dragons?

What if? There were just too many doubts for him. However, Elric knew pretty much more about the Guardians when it comes to trust.

"We Guardians do not lie. We value honesty and factual information. What I am doing is trying to help you overcome your limitation. It is up to you if you will believe me or not. Whatever your choice you will make has consequences that are yours to handle. Don't blame me for not giving you the opportunity." He said as he glanced to the side. Elric felt it too, an incoming aura from a familiar friend.

"Your Elemental Turtle friend will arrive in this spot in the next minute. He seems to be in a hurry. It seems the invasion is starting real soon."