In the small area between the massive dragon and the giant corpse, was a

  crater of thirty meters of diameter. The green flames which engulfed

  the entire city like a green blanket, were keeping away from the it……

  almost as if afraid of the object that had crashed on the ground, and

  formed it.

  "Now that, was luck……" Said a hoarse and disembodied voice that came from the middle of the crater.

  The

  dust quickly settled, and at the same time, the flames backed further

  away from the area around the crater, as if trying to escape a being

  which could extinguish them in the blink of an eye.

  As the view

  of the crater became clearer, Daniel, Aeron, the dragon, and the

  necromancer, were finally able to see the individual that had suddenly

  come through a rift in space, and landed heavily within their

  battlefield.

  This person, was a man in his forties. He was

  dressed in black leather armor covered by extremely thin chainmail, and a

  steel plaque that covered the part of his chest where his heart was.

  His head was almost completely shaved, except for the hair on top, which

  were slicked back, and held in a bun. His face was marked with the

  wrinkles of middle age, and underneath his closed set eyes, and his wide

  nose, was a long beard of the same blond color as his hair.

  The

  moment the dragon was able to see this individual and feel his power, he

  immediately froze in a terror which, if compared to the fear he had

  felt when the tamer had enslaved his entire kin, was even more

  oppressive.

  This human, was the strongest being he had ever seen

  in his long existence, and a single look from him, would be able to kill

  him a hundred times over.

  Despite his stern look, the man

  behaved in an oddly casual manner. He was dusting his clothes, and

  looking around in an attempt to figure out where he had ended up. He had

  immediately felt, as well as seen, the four individuals around him……

  but to him, they were as threatening as a few weak ants which crawled

  around his feet.

  "Oh…… two young heroes, and one of the tree's

  children…… That's interesting." the man said while moving his eyes on

  Daniel, Aeron, and the necromancer. Then, as he turned to look at the

  dragon, he added "And one of them huge lizard…… I thought the zoo keeper

  girl enslaved all of you…… Well, good for you."

  Despite having

  been called huge lizard, the dragon did not show a single bit of

  discontent, and instead, looked down in submission.

  Daniel and

  Aeron also remained quiet. The dragon was extremely powerful and proud,

  and in order to cause such a reaction in him, the person which they were

  facing, must have been a monster amongst monsters.

  What made

  Daniel curious about this individual, was the fact that he possessed a

  relatively good karma which showed above his head with a green, six

  digits number.

  Noticing that none of the four were willing to

  utter a words in his presence, the man shook his head in disappointment,

  and said "…… Fine, I see I have interrupted something. I'll be on my

  way in a minute." he then looked up towards a specific point in the sky,

  and said "Judge."

  The very moment that single word left his

  mouth, a rift opened in the space in front of him, and from it, a middle

  aged woman dressed in a judge attire came out in hurry. She then

  approached the man, and bowed to him politely.

  "Explorer Tire,

  what brings you in this corner of the universe?" She asked with a tone

  that suggested that not only was she talking to someone that was not

  below her in status, but even a little higher. She then added "The

  records show that you should be exploring the depths of the sector

  B182…… Is there a reason why you are back now?"

  "That's kind of a

  pointless question." Said the man while fixing his clothes, and putting

  the two simple knives he was holding back into the sheaths. He then

  said with an irritated tone "Do you think I go around calling judges in

  whereverthehellweareville just to have a chat?"

  Daniel had seen

  more than once what Judges were capable of, and yet, the woman that was

  in front of him did not dare to behave rudely or even attack the

  Explorer. Instead, she said "Of course…… Is there something you wish to

  report?"

  The expression of the man immediately turned serious, as he said with a deep tone "Xeno Protocol……"

  The woman opened her eyes wide in surprise, and with a worried tone, she asked "What level?"

  "Over

  the fifth level…… I barely escaped with my life thanks to a random rift

  that opened in front of me, and took me here." Responded the man while

  recalling how he had spent the last couple of days.

  The face of

  the woman drained of blood, and without even saying goodbye to the

  explorer, she opened a portal, and left at the speed of light.

  The

  Explorer did not take offence for the woman's apparently rude

  behaviour, as he more than anybody else, knew how of the importance that

  the matter which he had just reported, actually had.

  Once the

  judge left, the Explorer was about to leave as well, but then, he

  noticed the massive corpse that had been built from the numerous bodies

  and ghosts of the dead. He could feel the different types of immortal

  essence which the many bodies emanated, and after entering a pensive

  state for a few moments, he approached it.

  Now in front of the giant, he slowly moved his hand towards its chest.

  The

  hand went through the solid skin of the giant like a knife through

  butter. In fact, saying a knife through water would be even more

  accurate, as there was absolutely no resistance to the man's immense

  strength.

  As the man's arm entered the large body all the way to

  his shoulder, he immediately pulled the arm back, and with it, he pulled

  the necromancer as well. He was holding her by her robe, causing her to

  hang by his hand.

  Tirah looked at the man with sheer terror……

  She did not know why this man could have had against her, or why all of

  this was happening in front of her, but just as she was about to beg for

  her life, the man said "Did you bring those people back from the dead?"

  his tone was inquisitive, but not menacing.

  "Yes……" she muttered with a feeble voice.

  "Good.

  You're coming with me." Said the man before opening a portal, and

  leaving along with the necromancer. The moment the portal closed, the

  giant corpse turned into a massive gooey clump of molten flesh.

  Daniel

  looked at the dragon with confusion. He was hoping to understand what

  was going on…… But he found a lot more information after turning to look

  at Aeron, which was standing with eyes opened wide, and a mouth covered

  by the mask opened even wider.

  "What is going on?" Daniel asked, after getting Aeron's attention with a poke to his shoulder.

  "I

  think I know what that man was talking about……" Muttered Aeron with

  horror. He was in a state of shock, and he could barely avoid

  stuttering.

  Daniel had never seen Aeron in this state. He was

  always composed, and when he wasn't, was due to the terrible effects

  caused by his gifts, which forced him to feel the pain, anger, and

  sufferings of other people…… But even then, he was usually able to

  control himself. "What did he mean?" Asked Daniel in clear confusion.

  The

  person gave Daniel a response was not Aeron, but the dragon instead,

  which after turning back to its humanoid shape, had approached him from

  the side, and said "It means first contact with a new species……"

  The

  way the universal government expanded, was by exploring the universe in

  all directions in hope to find new worlds to exploit…… But sometimes,

  along with these new galaxies, entire new species would be also found.

  Most

  of the times, these populations would be underdeveloped, and just like

  the beasts of Daniel's world of origin, they would not know anything

  outside of their own little planet…… To those forms of life, the first

  level of the xeno protocol was given.

  The civilizations which

  possessed a culture as evolved as that of an isolated planet, was

  assigned the second level, while to those who had already found out how

  to explore the space, but stayed within the boundaries of their solar

  system, was given the third level.

  To the civilizations that were

  capable of traveling through their galaxy, the fourth level was

  assigned…… And finally, to those which possessed the ability to travel

  through the empty space, between multiple galaxies, and were overall as

  powerful as the factions present within the universal government, were

  treated as encounters of the fifth level.

  Every single one of

  the factions present within the universal government, had been

  discovered by the explorers, and at first, had been evaluated as an

  encounter of the fifth level. They would then be forced to submit by the

  superior power of the government.

  There was also another level

  of the xeno protocol…… One which indicated a situation that had only

  been seen once before, and which had caused the very universal

  government to be created.

  That, was the sixth level of the xeno protocol.

  What

  the sixth level of the xeno protocol indicated, was that a domain as

  powerful as the universal government itself, had been discovered…… And

  that, was what had happened.

  The explorer which the three of them

  had just seen, had been sent to explore a sector of unexplored space

  called B182. There, he had clashed against beings which did not belong

  to the universal government. These beings were powerful enough to force

  him to flee, and since the explorers were amongst the most powerful

  beings in the entire government, that meant that the group of these

  warriors were part of, was likely to have even stronger beings.

  That was the reason why the explorer hadn't waited for even a moment before calling the judge, and give his report.

  Of

  course, the fact that a new civilization had been discovered, did not

  mean that there would be an all out war right away, but that, at least

  in the higher spheres of the universal government, the situation would

  be extremely tense for the following few years.

  "What effects

  will this cause?" Asked Daniel with curiosity. He had never heard about

  the xeno protocol, and therefore, he didn't know what the behaviour of a

  newly found civilization would tend to be.

  "The explorer was

  attacked…… Probably on sight…… There will be some long and difficult

  negotiation. In the worst case scenario…… A large scale war." Responded

  Aeron after calming himself down.

  Daniel was extremely surprised,

  and yet, he had also hoped that the karmic retribution hadn't started a

  galactic-scaled war for the sake of punishing the necromancer.

  It

  was only after listening to the story, that Daniel had understood why

  the explorer had kidnapped the girl. She had shown the ability to

  reanimate the dead, and the man had likely decided to take the girl with

  him so that he could have a way to gather information after killing one

  of the agents of the newly found civilization.

  These events had

  broadened Daniel's horizons, which until now, were locked on the fact

  that the universal government was a superior existence, and that nothing

  of a similar strength could ever possibly exit…… Now, he knew better.

  More than ever before, Daniel felt the need to become stronger, and find his friends before anything bad would happen.

  After

  a few minutes spent deep in his thoughts, Daniel was about to say a few

  words to the dragon before bidding farewell and leaving with Aeron, but

  before he could speak, the dragon turned to look at him, and said "So,

  are we going to hunt for the chosen of Iewah or not? Hehe……"