Chapter 1499 — 1499: History lesson I

Lex raised an eyebrow, but didn't immediately respond. There was a lot to take in here, not to mention the possibility of establishing good relations with a potential Dao Lord. Barring that, having the favor of a few peak Celestial Immortals wasn't bad either.

But the randomness and abruptness of this quest had Lex feeling like a particular video game character from the fifth entry in an rpg series so successful the game studio decided that they didn't like money anymore and gave up the idea of ever making a sixth one.

Lex took a deep breath - in his mind that is - to cool down. For some odd reason, he suddenly got worked up thinking he would never play Older Scrolls VI now that the Earth had basically been invaded and overrun by AI and religious fanatics. Though, to be fair, for a small period of time, even normal Earth could have accurately been described as overrun by AI and religious fanatics.

He was getting sidetracked again. The point was, he'd come to Shireen because he had his own quests he was working on, but she had suddenly presented him with another juicy quest promising long term benefits. The thing was, he had his own stuff going on and couldn't always just take off at the drop of a hat to fulfill some side quest.

"If you don't mind me asking, isn't this a little abrupt? Just a few days ago you were telling me how you had to weigh your options and didn't believe in a deal too good. Now you're sharing confidential information with me without any assurance that I won't betray you, or even if not that, without any assurance that I will even take up your request."

"Your concern is valid, but this is what you can refer to as an open conspiracy," Shireen stated. "I have not yet revealed crucial details to you. More importantly, the connection between my granddaughter and I cannot be hidden. Anyone can guess that we will try to help each other. Lastly, nothing I am doing is illegal. Whether it's asking for your help in delivering a message, or helping out my family using my own contacts, there's nothing wrong with it. Also, I find you trustworthy. Though I cannot completely use my experience to paint my conclusions, I cannot ignore it either."

Lex nodded. He did not think that was all there was to her decision - she was too pragmatic to take such a needless risk. That did not mean, however, that her request would put him in considerable danger - or at least that the danger would be targeting him specifically. He may or may not do her the favor, he hadn't decided yet.

"Let's hold off on this matter for a moment. I haven't decided yet whether or not to take you up on this offer. I'll need to know things like what's your timeline for having this completed, and what kind of danger I can expect. After all, I have my own tasks I need to work on and I cannot promise that I'll be able to make time to help you deliver your message."

Lex did not, for even a moment, consider that delivering the message would be an easy or simple task. If it were, she wouldn't need his help to do it. Any random postal service should have been enough.

"I have an alternative request for you as well in place of this, but as you said, let's hold off on that for now. Why don't you ask me the questions you had first?"

Lex saw no reason to hold back, so he simply nodded.

"The first question I have for you is a historical one. Are you familiar with the history of fairies?"

Lex didn't want to directly ask the reason for why they were so suppressed, and instead wanted to ease into the topic. Yet even just that was enough to cause Shireen, as well as all of her Valkyrie sisters, to take on a very solemn expression.

"I know some," Shireen said in a hushed tone, though Lex saw no reason why she needed to suddenly lower her volume. "I know enough to not pry into secrets that should be left alone."

That sentence took Lex by surprise, but then upon a little consideration, it made sense. Whatever force suppressed the entire race into slavery and servitude must be incredibly powerful - probably even more powerful than the entire Humanoid Alliance.

The problem Lex was facing was that without understanding the issue, he could not begin to work on it. But by now, he also understood that recklessly trying to obtain knowledge and information could also do more harm than good.

"Well, at the moment I don't know anything about it. What can you share with me?"

The Valkyries looked nervously at one another, as if deciding whether or not to share anything at all. Lex didn't say anything. He didn't want to force someone into an uncomfortable situation.

"Do you know about the history of the universe? About the phases of the universe's growth?" Shireen asked.

"History, I don't know much, though I know a little about the universe's growth. Based on what I understand, right now our universe is in its early, developmental phase, wherein it is still growing. During this phase, new realms can still reach maturity, and the overall universe can still grow. The next phase, whatever it is, will stagnate the growth of realms, fixing the total number of mature realms. But, based on my understanding, the next phase will somehow be even more prosperous than the current one."

"An oversimplification, but you are more or less correct," Shireen said. "I am not going to get too much into the life and development of a universe. Rather, I will address some of the history of our fledgling universe. Each phase of the universe's growth can be called an Era, depending on personal preference.

"But each Era is too long. There are hardly any beings left from the beginning of this first Era. Even most of the Dao Lords alive today were all born later on. As such, even this Era is considered to be divided into three phases."