"Looks like things are going smoothly now."

Ater's voice radiated within an immaculately furnished room, as he sat very comfortably on a sofa. Compared to the tough seat of the Giants, this one was far more preferable.

Belle and Justin-his two disciples-sat right opposite him, having a center table separating the two sides.

"Indeed."

"It's all thanks to your insights and overall plans."

As the two of them praised him, he smiled and shrugged as if all his accomplishments were not particularly meaningful.

-Like this was all just a prelude.

"I will be away for a while, so the both of you are to oversee the progress with the Dwarves and Giants-particularly the machine that they're building." As soon as he said this, surprise instantly manifested on the faces of his audience.

Ater smiled as soon as he noticed this, though he refused to address the matter.

Instead, he retreated to his thoughts.

'That machine that is currently under construction will be beneficial to Master especially, so it has to be done perfectly.' Nodding slowly to himself as he became immersed in its prospects, Ater did not stop his train of thought.

'The Dwarves are more than happy to build it, since it's new technology... especially now that they have sufficient minerals to experiment with. As for the Giants, they are simply pleased to work and serve me, since I am their Chief."

With the system he put in place, everyone ultimately got what they wanted.

'Still, even with mutual benefits, there could be some sort of discrepancy that may arise without proper supervision.' He told himself. 'Which is why I need these two here.'

Belle and Justin were more than powerful enough to take his place in the Southern Continent. They had also been with him for sufficient time to understand certain things about leadership and control that caused him to have sufficient confidence in their abilities.

'Their abilities are sufficient for the task at hand.'

"B-but... where are you going, Ater?"

"Yeah! What are you up to now?" With Belle and Justin respectively asking questions to satiate their curiosity, Ater found it pertinent to finally say something regarding the matter. "Let's just say that I'm going to a place that you can't go."

As soon as they heard this, despite Belle in particular appearing a little forlorn, the two of them nodded in perfect understanding.

"I guess that's cool." Justin shrugged with a slight smile. "Please bring me a souvenier." "Me too!" Belle added.

Ater chuckled and shrugged slightly. "I'll try my best."

He was glad to see that they had matured enough not to be too reliant on his presence to get things done. They also didn't ask so many questions anymore.

'That's good... that's good.'

"I understand that you have to do some things alone, Ater." Belle added, causing him to slightly react in a pleasantly surprised manner.

"I wish you the best."

He nodded, rising from his seat with his usual grace. "Thank you, Belle."

'But... I never intended to go alone.'

As he straightened out his suit and tightened his tie, his smile broadened even more as he thought of his destination.

'It's not a place that I think will be very conducive for humans, which is why I didn't bother considering the both of you as viable companions for the task.'

Ater had set his ights to the Eastern Continenet-to the place he was never able to explore back when Rey told him to learn more about the land.

'Things are a bit different now, though.' He smiled to himself. 'Since I have some free time on my hands, now is the perfect time to go there.'

"Farewell, then."

Before either Belle or Justin could give a proper response to this, darkness swallowed him whole and he completely vanished from where he stood.

~VWUSH!~

The two Otherworlders looked at themselves as soon as he teleported, and a just a second after, broad smiles began to form on their respective faces.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Belle asked Justin.

Of course, he was thinking exactly what she was thinking. This was something that had been bugging him for nearly a week now.

He just couldn't bring it up because of Ater. But now?

Now, things were different.

"Yeah! Let's fight to see who's better!"

*************

[Meanwhile...]

~VWUUUSH!~

Space undulated, and darkness spilled out in the form of a man-Ater.

His slick red hair danced as he landed in the simply designed room, his full black suit making him stand out in the sheer white-colored room. The entire space was colored white, which felt a little odd, considering it was made from stone and wood-all constructed by Magic, of

course.

The design was primitive too-though not on the level of the Giants.

'The Dwarves had much better architecture than this, though since this closely resembles the design of the humans, I suppose I should give it a pass.'

The room also had minimalistic designs and propeties within it.

There was a very large and soft bed, with furniture sparsely placed in various parts of the

room.

Then, the hallmark of the room greeted Ater's senses.

-The aroma.

It was enchanting-not too much for his senses, but enough for him to make a genuinely pleasant smile as he sat in the air and waited for the owner of the room to venture inside.

As soon as he sat, the door opened and someone entered.

"Ater? You startled me. What are you doing here?" The white-haired girl said the moment she spotted him a small distance from her door.

He expected this reaction, and while this would have made him smile even more, he put on a

rather grim expression instead.

His mood had completely changed to a serious one.

"Greetings, Esme." He began. "I apologize for the intrusion, but there is a certain place that I

need to get to within the Eastern Continent."

"Okay...?"

Esme raised her brows as her blue eyes glowed with slight curiosity.

Ater swiftly responded, not wasting any further time.

"I need your help."

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Thanks for reading!

Nice to see Esme again. You can only wonder what Ater is up to now...