Atticus fixed his gaze on both of his subordinates and didn’t say anything.
‘That was fast.’
If he had to be honest, Atticus had expected them to spend way more time traveling to wherever they were going. ‘Maybe the first location is in Sector 2?’
Atticus wondered.
He nodded in acknowledgment and started moving toward the control room.
“Where are we?” Walking through the hallway, Atticus suddenly asked.
“We’re almost at the southeast border, young master,” Dario responded.
“Border?”
“Yes, young master.”
“Between which sectors?” Atticus turned and inquired.
“Oh no, not between sectors. We’re almost at the border between the human domain and another domain.”
Atticus fell silent. The border between two domains?
‘Another race?’ Atticus’s thoughts spun. But then something else popped into his head. “Are you saying that within the span of a day, we moved from Sector One to Sector Ten?”
Dario smiled. “Yes, young master. Aren’t you underestimating this ship’s capabilities too much?”
‘Wow,’ Atticus was slightly amazed. Although he didn’t know much—nay, he didn’t know anything about the outside world—he could still remember the structure of the human domain as clear as day.
The human domain was designed in concentric rings radiating outward from Sector One, the academy, with each sector progressively more distant.
Atticus’s amazement was justifiable. He had spent a day traveling from Sector Three to One when he had been going to the academy, and now he was just finding out that it had taken the same time to move from Sector One to Ten?
“How were we even able to move this smoothly? Didn’t we cross other sector borders?” Atticus inquired. He wouldn’t have asked this question had he not learned about the tension between the Ravenstein family and some other families.
The Alverians encircled Sector Three. If they were moving outward, there was no way they wouldn’t pass through them. Surely they wouldn’t have made passing through their sectors easy.
“Ah, I understand where you’re coming from, young master, but each tier-one family has a different direct pathway cutting through each sector to Sector Ten because of its importance and the need for protection.”
“Oh? And the Nebulon family is okay with this?”
“Although our movements there would be limited, they don’t have a choice, young master. You’ll learn more about it in the military, but I’ll explain it briefly so you’ll understand.
“Sector Ten encompasses the entire human domain, its vastness is immense. At the same time, it borders multiple other domains, each at different locations.
“Because of this, each faction in the military is tasked with protecting each location. Although Sector Ten is ruled by the Nebulon family, it’s like a neutral point for each tier-one family,” Dario explained.
Yotad silently listened to the explanation as he walked behind Atticus. He already knew most of what was being discussed.
Atticus didn’t say anything after Dario’s explanation. Only one thought came to mind: he truly needed a lot of information. ‘I was supposed to learn everything in the academy, but it looks like that’s why Grandfather gave me Dario,’ he pondered.
“So this border, we’re in charge of guarding it?” Atticus inquired.
“Yes. The Ravenstein faction of the military is in charge of protecting this border,”
“And whose domain is at the other end? What race?”
“Hmm, pardon me, young master, but I think it’s best you allow Master Magnus to explain that to you. I’ve been told not to tell you about them for now, but of course, if you command it, I will have no choice,” Dario bowed as he explained.
Atticus gazed at him for a few seconds and simply looked away without saying anything.
The walk to the control room was quick and without interruptions. The trio reached the door of the control room after a few moments, the door parting open as they entered.
Atticus had already been to the control room during yesterday’s tour and didn’t bother admiring it again.
It wasn’t anything special. Just like the other locations on the ship, it maintained its simplicity. There was a large and wide screen at the front displaying the outside of the airship.
And just like the academy control room, there was an elevated platform at the back and different crew members seated in front of monitors below, in charge of the operations of the airship.
Atticus’s entrance didn’t go unnoticed. The crew members who saw him simply bowed in a show of respect without speaking.
Atticus’s gaze landed on Magnus, standing to the right on top of the elevated platform, and a few meters behind him were the figures of Amara and some other crew members. But unlike yesterday, she was standing behind a burly man who appeared to be in charge of the crew.
He turned and walked towards Magnus. Atticus reached him, acknowledged the crew members’ greetings with a nod, and stood slightly behind Magnus, bowing and greeting with a simple “Grandfather.”
Magnus turned to look at Atticus, “You’ve settled well?”
Atticus nodded.
“Good,” Magnus simply said and faced forward, not saying anything else.
Atticus turned back and saw that Dario and Yotad stood a few meters away from them.
Then he focused on the large screen at the front and simply waited.
‘It was also like this yesterday,’
Atticus couldn’t see anything clearly through the screen. He hadn’t known before, but it was simply because the airship was moving at such a fast speed that the outside was a blur.
What was even more shocking was the fact that he couldn’t even feel anything; it was as though they weren’t moving at all!
Atticus’s thoughts were interrupted by the view on the display suddenly changing. It was as though they had initially been moving at hyper speed and then abruptly stopped.
The large screen suddenly expanded and encompassed the whole room, displaying the outside of the ship from every angle.
The view cleared, and Atticus’s eyes widened in amazement at what he saw. The pathway Dario had just told him about came into full view.
