Chapter 123 – Gathering

As they approached the Mountain, the three could see huge crowds of people attempting to go through the gates.

"The biggest meeting anyone has ever seen. I guess it would be rather popular."

Riddick spoke as he overlooked the city. They had been here only 4 or 5 months ago.

"Oh, that reminds me. I'm 21 now."

Dream suddenly thought of his birthday. He had been asleep for it. Well, suffering through hell was more like it. He had also missed Christmas, his favorite holiday.

[It's almost Valentine's day.]

'I guess you're right.'

Hearing that, Dream wasn't so downtrodden. Though the other two were surprised to hear that Dream's birthday was recently.

"You recently had your birthday?"

"You guys have that here?"

"We do."

"Then yes. Mine was about a month ago, when I was recovering."

"Oh. Well, happy birthday."

"Thanks."

Dream smiled to Idona. It was always nice hearing it.

"Anyway, where am I supposed to land?"

"Go straight to the castle. That's where the meeting is being held."

"Will they let us fly straight there?"

"Can they stop us anyway? Today's special. They'll let us through."

"Alright."

Dream steered the ship over to the floating castle. He was actually really excited. It was a place he hadn't been yet, and a cool one at that.

"Halt! Identify yourselves!"

As they approached the airspace, they were stopped by a class 3. 

"My name is Magus Idona. I'm here with the Spire."

"Why aren't you with your group?"

"Because we had matters to attend to and couldn't come until now. In fact, you can take us to them right now."

When she said that, the black plane opened its hatch and out walked the three. Dream sent the plane on its way as they approached the class 3.

"Is my face enough for you?"

Idona spoke with the aura of a class 4. The guard was visibly shaken a bit.

"My apologies. I'll guide you to them."

"Thank you."

Turning, the class 3 began flying. The three followed as they approached the castle.

"Oooh! This is cool!"

As they got closer, Dream put on a wide, excited smile. The castle was huge and its design was exquisite. He had never been anywhere like this before.

They flew through a huge set of gates and entered a plaza. In it were hundreds of people, all conversing and networking.

The floors were marble, the ceilings were gold, paintings hung on the walls and statues filled the gaps between them. Everything here was expensive and majestic without being overly extravagant.

The guide led them out of the plaza and they entered another large hallway. Even the hallways had fancy doors and high ceilings, and they walked through it towards a large set of doors that stood out from the others.

"The Magi are in here. The meeting begins in 3 hours, and someone will stop by in 1 to guide everyone to the main hall."

"Thanks."

Idona nodded and pushed open the doors. The guide left and the three walked in.

"Idona?"

"Magus Idona."

Inside the room were a few dozen class 2's, over 100 class 3's, and 4 class 4's. Everyone here wore robes, capes, or other magician outfits. They were all mages from the Spire and they sat in seats around a large table.

"Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late. And actually, I have an important announcement to make to everyone, if I could get your attention."

Idona walked over to the table, as did Riddick and Dream. Both knew what she was going to announce.

Everyone quieted down and faced them.

"The reason I'm late is actually because of Riddick here. And while it would be better to have the official ceremony back at the Spire, we'll have to settle for here. Everyone, I present to you, Magus Riddick, the 8th class 4 of the Spire."

Riddick walked up and released his class 4 aura. Everyone had wide eyes as they felt it.

"A new class 4!"

"The 8th!"

"Magus Riddick, congratulations!"

Everyone got excited at the birth of a new class 4. It was an incredibly rare occasion and most people would never experience it in their lives. So for it to happen today, right as a grand meeting was taking place, it could only be described as a miraculous coincidence. Today was truly a day for the books in the Spire.

"Congratulations, Magus Riddick. This is a very pleasant surprise."

The 4 class 4's who had come walked over to them. Dream looked at each one.

'That big dude is Keeba, but I don't recognize the other 3.'

Dream watched as each Magus came and shook Riddick's hand. All of them were friendly to this new member of their circle.

Idona walked over to him as he was standing outside the group.

"I think you know Keeba. He was at that meeting. The other three are Asden, the man with the goggles, Fayne, the woman with the tattoos, and Jalil, the pale one with the hood over his head."

"So them plus you make 5, not counting the Old Man. Weren't there 7?"

"Two of them have stayed back. Those two are the old monsters that I spoke of. Both of them are old men who are over 1000 years old and have been at the Spire longer than anyone. They don't concern themselves with this kind of stuff."

"Stuff that can end the world?"

"If those demons do eventually march on the Spire, they'll come out. But only if that happens. They're the guardians, but that means they don't leave either."

"I see."

"Plus there needs to be someone protecting the place. Can't leave it undefended. Although the Empires are in an alliance, there's still a bit of infighting that can't be avoided."

"Of course."

Dream nodded. There's always going to be infighting among humans. It was almost part of their nature. 

The class 4's and Riddick spoke merrily for the next hour until they were interrupted. It was time to head over to the meeting.

All 200 mages stood from their seats and began walking over to the main hall. It wasn't long before they all walked through two massive doors.

"...Holy crap."

A voice of astonishment came from Dream as they walked into the hall. To say it was big was an understatement. 

The area had a similar design to a theater. Chairs and platforms lined the walls and rose into the air. This place could fit thousands just in those chairs, and in the very center of it all was a massive table. Or tables.

The table that would seat all the diplomats looked like its own mini theater. There was one big table in the center and strips of table outside of it. The most important people, or the class 4's, would sit in the center while the class 3's would sit outside them. Everything could be seen from the rows of seating around them, and everyone in the center would be under many eyes.

"Uhh, am I okay to be here?"

Dream spoke in a low voice to Idona. He felt so out of place as he had never been anywhere like this before. The closest he came was when he toured a congress building in junior high. 

"It wouldn't be okay if you weren't. You're going to be up with me."

"Like, all the way up?"

"Yes."

"Oh god."

"Don't worry. You're only going to have the most powerful eyes in the world on you all at once."

"Not helping."

"Hehehe."

Idona chuckled at his nervousness.

"Maybe if you hadn't played such a big role you wouldn't be in the center of attention."

"But I've been asleep all this time! My intelligence was passed around without my consent!"

"I apologize, my lord."

"It's fine, Aegis. I was mostly joking. *sigh* Let's just get this over with."

Dream sighed as everyone was led to their seats. Each person found the seat with their name on it, and sure enough, Dream found a seat with his name on it up with all the other class 4's. The people next to him were Idona and surprisingly Ciroc.

An extra seat was also grabbed for the newly ascended Riddick and he was placed next to them as well. They couldn't have a class 4 sit in the back.

After all the mages were seated, another group walked into hall. Their number was lesser than the mages, and they looked very different. 

"Idona. And...Dream?"

At the forefront of this group was Ciroc, who came and took his seat beside Dream. Turns out this group was from the Mercenary Empire.

"Hello Ciroc."

"Hello. I'm surprised you're actually here. I thought you had died."

"Nope. I almost did though."

"He was asleep for two months."

"Two months? That's actually impressive. To be blasted into pieces and still come back perfectly healthy. Though it seems you've done more than just recover..."

Ciroc scanned Dream, who seemed much more powerful than before. This was a far cry from the dead man he saw two months ago.

"I actually had my class advancement."

"Advancement? To class 4?"

"No, class 3."

"Wait, only 3?!"

Ciroc couldn't help but shout. Though he quickly caught himself and settled down.

"That means all that time you were only class 2?"

"Kind of, yea."

"...You're a monster."

"I feel like you fit that description more."

Dream laughed as he looked at Ciroc's shocked face.

As they spoke, more people entered the hall. One group of 200 that were sharply dressed took their seats while another group of 400 came in who were dressed in varied clothes. Though one thing was consistent about this group of 40o, and that was that all of them had their weapons out of their inventories and sheathed on their bodies.

"The Sword School." (Ciroc)

"Them? I've never been there before, so I couldn't recognize them."

Dream spoke as he watched all the swordsmen, archers, and fighters take their seats. 

"You'll recognize them by their weapons. Everyone from there always keeps their weapons out and ready. It's a matter of principle, though it can also be considered showing off. Good thing is though that most of them are relatively humble, unlike those from the Spire."

"Hehe."

"What?"

Idona chuckled at his last statement.

"Nothing, it's just that I agree with you."

"Oh. I mean, it's true. I don't know what's with mages and being so arrogant."

"I think it's because they think they know everything. You only really see that in the class 3's though. Everyone else is pretty good."

"True."

"Now, why does the Sword School have so many more people?"

Dream asked as he counted their numbers which was more than everyone else, almost combined.

"The Sword School is by far the most popular combat-centered Empire. Though we would also have around 300 here if not for the fact that we have threats on our borders. But even then, they have the most class 4's, 3's, and so on. But in terms of overall power, the Spire is considered the top, despite having lesser class 4's than everyone else."

"Really? How many do they have?"

"The School has 17, we have 14, the Mountain has 13, and your Spire has 7."

"That number is actually 8 now."

"Hm?"

Ciroc faced Idona.

"8?"

"Yes. Riddick over here just recently advanced, becoming the 8th."

"Wow. Well congratulations, Magus."

"Thanks."

Riddick, who was next to them, nodded in thanks. 

"Anyway, you can see the disparity in numbers. Being a mage is just too difficult for normal people. So going to the School is the next best thing."

"I see. But even with double the class 4's, the School still isn't stronger?"

"It's close, but it's generally accepted that a mage will beat a swordsman in a 1v1. Plus, mages can use many more tools and objects for combat than fighters can. So their overall combat ability is higher. Not that fighters can't use more tools, just that they don't usually know how or have the expertise to."

"Interesting."

Dream nodded while taking in all the information. It was very useful stuff to know. 

After all the representatives from the Empires were seated, more ordinary individuals flooded inside and took their seats all over the platforms. Everyone was shocked as they felt the mana density in the hall, which had skyrocketed due to the presence of the class 3's and 4's. Every seat was eventually filled, making the hall very noisy.

With everyone situated, the designated start time quickly approached.

"Ahem! Can I have everyone's attention!"

A booming shout echoed through the theater. Everyone quieted down and looked to a tall bearded man at the front of the table.

"I would like to thank everyone for coming. My name is Shane, and I will be leading this meeting today. We will begin in 15 minutes and the first part of the meeting will last 3 hours before intermission. Over these 3 hours, we will discuss the new demon threat, what we know about them, and general plans of action."

"...Huuuhh."

Dream let out a deep breath knowing that he really was going to speak.

"The second part will take place after a 3 hour intermission. And while there are only two parts today, this meeting will extend over the next 2 days as well. There will be plenty of time to answer everyone's questions and go over many details. Now please make any final preparations, we will begin soon."

With that, the man sat down. Everyone did what he said and wrapped up conversations, making last-minute preparations.

"Ready?"

Idona spoke, looking over to him. Dream sighed and put his head back.

"No clue. I can only answer what I can as best I can."

"And we'll be here to help. You've got people on your side and you're arguing for a good cause. This is something everyone needs to be behind and the threat is real. Be confident about that. And be confident in yourself."

Idona put her hand on his shoulder, comforting him. He turned his head and looked at her.

"...Thanks."

"Sure. Just be as confident as you tried to be in front of me and you'll do fine."

"Hehe."

Dream chuckled as he remembered that meeting. He had indeed tried to appear as confident as possible. And hey, it worked.

"Hmph. Lovebirds."

"Shut up, Ciroc."

"Hehehehe..."

Ciroc chuckled as he teased Idona. Dream just closed his eyes and looked inward as if trying to achieve zen.

'Everything prepared?'

[Yup. Isn't it nice to have such a supportive girl by your side?]

'Yup. You're fantastic.'

[Don't be dense now. You're totally into her.]

'She's cool but I'm also totally into my two magical fox princesses at browsers castle. While disappointing for Idona, they're the ones I've set my sights on.'

[There's always room for more.]

'You really want me to get with her. I'm already flabbergasted by the fact that I have two girlfriends. 3 would be a miracle that I can't yet comprehend. But I'm not going to try that and jeopardize what I have. She'll have to remain as a good friend.'

[Friendzoning a class 4. Ouch.]

'Oh well. Either way, let's not focus on that now. We've got the meeting right now.'

Dream opened his eyes and calmed himself. It was time to start.