MY 10,000× DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM

Conspiracy?

'Alright, you bastards are really starting to get on my nerves.' Christopher thought with an annoyed smirk.

Relying on his Rune attuned senses, Christopher was able to see the cause of the faint and elusive sensation he had gotten earlier.

There were a group of hooded and masked individuals standing on the water several dozen Mike's away from the island.

From the number of runes surrounding each of them, Christopher could tell that they were all very strong. Still.

'What are they doing? They couldn't possibly be here for me? Right? The most powerful people in the world are all gathered in one place. There's no water that… wait.' Christopher frowned.

From what he had observed from these people, it was that they were very cautious. Despite following him a lot for the past month, they never once made a move as he could tell they were observing him and trying to gauge just how much he was truly capable of.

They learnt from the previous mistake and made sure that they absolutely wouldn't underestimate him.

As such, it was clear they were very prudent in their movements and never did anything they weren't sure about. As such, why were they suddenly near this place? Especially with the sort of powerhouses that filled the place.

'They are planning something.' Christopher concluded. But what?

As far as he could tell, none of them were doing anything, and the surrounding runes were calm. However, he doubted that was going to remain the same for long.

'There's no way these influential characters would leave their respective territories undefended while they participated in this Auction. They must all have measures in place in case they are attacked, either strong defensive Artifacts, people that can stand in for them, or a way to return back immediately. And most definitely, they have a way of being alerted if something happens so that they can respond in time.' Christopher pondered.

'The fact that none of them have reacted means that everything back in their territories is fine… for now. So what is their goal?' Christopher thought.

'If I were in their shoes, I'd get something, an artifact maybe that would completely isolate the island, turn it into a cage if you will and prevent anyone from leaving or getting out. Then I'd have someone deal with whatever it is they wanna do. But why wait?' Christopher already knew that answer.

'They are probably preparing something in the meantime. To trap us? Probably. But what is their aim? After all, antagonising everyone here, including the Dragons, is not wise at all. So whatever it is, it's more important than the possible fallout that could occur from their actions.' As he had that thought, he suddenly remembered the night he had saved Titus and how the boy told him that he was transporting something important.

'If they are bold enough to attack the son of one of the most influential families in the Human Empire to obtain that item, it isn't impossible for them to risk offending everyone to obtain whatever it is they want to obtain.' Christopher analysed but found something strange.

'Actually, on that note, is it possible that there is more of the stuff Titus was transporting? After all, his attackers weren't particularly strong. Just enough to take him down. Sending their weaker soldiers to take something important wouldn't Make sense unless there was multiple of it, forcing them to split their resources instead of just sending one powerful force that would obtain the item without losing it.' As he thought, he realised his previous thought process had been wrong.

He thought they sent those weaker guys to obtain the item because they didn't want to expose their hands by sending someone strong, however, the fact they were bold enough to attack Titus in the first place spoke volumes about how much they really cared about how they were perceived.

So it was more appropriate to assume that they didn't send someone strong simply because they lacked a large amount of Quality. These stronger ones were probably A, busy, or B, on standby for something.

And sensing the strong presences through the runes, he was inclined to say B.

'So now that all these leaders are here, they can trap everyone and have an easier time obtaining the items they are after. Still, if the items are so important, I doubt everyone who has said items would leave them unsupervised. So I wouldn't be surprised if some of them had whatever it is on them. And I'm sure these guys know that as well. So what plan do they have that would allow them to snatch the items?' Christopher thought as he looked around.

By now, the third item had been sold and the fourth one was being brought on. And even though everyone could keep their composure, the sight of four incredible items was already making a few agitated.

Still, Christopher didn't pay attention to any of this as he was searching for something using his Runic Insight. And it wasn't long before he spotted it.

'Gotcha.' Christopher smiled behind his mask as his gaze fell on the first Prince.

He looked perfectly fine, and not just at a glance. Besides the runes surrounding him which were black and red, he looked fine. However, due to his Runic Insight, Christopher could see something else.

Past the runes, inside his chest and near his heart, there was something… dark.

Christopher frowned when he focused on it. It was strange, very, very strange.

'That thing… has no runes around it?' He thought with confusion.

Indeed, whatever the thing was, there were no runes making it up.

One needed to understand that runes, made up everything. That's why the book Christopher read was called the Art of Creation, and runes made up reality and everything within.

And with his Runic Insight, Christopher could see these runes clearly. It wasn't just the air or elements, everything was made up of runes. Even him, if he looked at his hands using his Insight, he could see Compactt runes that made up his atoms and the like.

So seeing something without runes was incredibly strange since, without the runes, that thing… didn't exist. And yet, here it was, seated next to the heart of the Prince.

Because it had no runes, Christopher couldn't see it clearly, but he could make out its general shape from the runes around it, and it seemed to be some sort of cube.

Christopher hummed slightly and shifted his gaze elsewhere. He saw a similar scene within the chest of the Female Vampire that had beef with him and his group, inside one of the Dragons, and inside a member of a race that resembled rock people. Golems.

'Interesting. The Dragon will be problematic.' He thought.

It's clear now that there were insiders who would assist in claiming the items. Whatever those runeless cubes were would be the biggest issue it seemed.

'The fact that they managed to get such powerful people on their side aside, those cubes must be able to either, be able to snatch the items seamlessly, or incapacitate everyone here. Or both. Which is terrifying to say the least.' And with that, Christopher now knew what he was going to do.

***

Paul felt like something was off. No, he knew something was off.

He'd come to this auction more than once, and while it was normal for incredible items to appear each time, the volume at which they were appearing this time was staggering.

They were on their 7 purple rank item and this time, it was a powerful Talisman which created a very simple but very powerful area of effect buff which boosted the strength of everyone deemed as an ally by 500% and it could be used as many times as possible as long as it had the required Mana charge.

The range also depended on just how much Mana was put inside and such a thing was simply mind blowing since that meant that theoretically, and entire Army could be buffed as long as the energy supplied was sufficient.

Even in an Auction as high profile as this, items like that rarely appeared even after multiple auctions. So the fact that he had already seen seven of such in a row was incredible. But also slightly worrying.

It didn't take a genius to know that these items weren't procured by Sinestra himself but by someone who had put them up for sale. And that's what was worrying.

Each item had been utterly incredible and worth fighting very bitter battles over, but the fact that someone sold all of them willingly presented two theories.

One, the person couldn't use them, either due to attribute incompatibility or simply because they weren't strong enough. Or second, they simply didn't need the items.

The first one sounded more plausible on the surface, but upon closer inspection, it really wasn't.

In the case of the person selling them having incompatible attributes, some of the things sold didn't require a specific attribute to be used, for instance, the talisman that was currently being bid on.

And the person being too weak wasn't exactly plausible either as, if they were too weak, then how on earth were they able to procure such items? And it isn't just combat strength that mattered. For instance, 9/10 times, a blacksmith needed to be at the same rank of the equipment they were forging, and even if they weren't and could Forge higher ranking items than themselves, they'd still be able to use it because it was within their capacity to create.

In short, the one who procured these items not being able to use them was highly unlikely. Not to mention it would be wiser to just wait until they were strong enough to use them.

This left the second, more terrifying possibility that the person selling these simply had no use for them.

After all, that would mean they had better equipment that these ones couldn't compare to, and as such, selling them was the easiest way to get rid of them.

However, who could do such a thing? Paul knew the people that usually attended these Auctions, and he had a fair idea of their strength, even if it wasn't completely accurate. And while some of them were utterly terrifying like any one of the Dragons or the Elven Queen, or his leader the Emperor. They wouldn't just throw away the chance at obtaining such powerful items. This was made even more clear when those monsters bid for the said items.

Except for one person.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

There were usually two groups in these types of bids. The ones who could afford and the ones who couldn't. Those who couldn't sat looking dejected, the body language obvious.

Those who could bid were doing just that, bidding.

But there was a single group that hadn't made any move to bid, nor had they shown any form of dissatisfaction or rejection at their inability to buy anything.

Paul noticed that the subordinates of the Dreamer were sitting and chatting idly, like the bid war happening in front of them was of no consequence. And their leader kept looking around like he was looking for something. But there was no tension in his shoulders. No fidgeting, no head shakes of defeat, or any of that.

At some point, he just leaned back in his chair and seemed to fall into deep thought and Paul frowned ever so slightly.

This person is the only person that has never attended the Auction before. And while that terrifying attack he'd released around a month ago gave an insight into his abilities, it was clear that he was capable of much, much more.

And so Paul got suspicious. What if this enigma of a being they were trying to impress and get him to join their side, was the one procuring these incredible items?

After all, he had given him and the other family heads branches from a tree that could be used to create very high grade Artifacts without batting an eye. And he seemed to have an amicable relationship with the Elven Royalty.

So was it truly improbable to make such an assumption?

'Just who are you, Sir Dreamer?' Paul thought in his heart