Dimension Weaver: My Wife Is The Dragon Empress!

Those words carried a far deeper meaning than Talon could even fathom. Even with his superficial knowledge about the Core Dimension from what Acrypha told him about it, he still can understand why this was as shocking as it was for her.

After all, for a group of people to migrate from one place to another was already a very hard task especially if they were chased by something. Now, that difficulty would simply reach the realm of impossibility when it becomes an inter-dimensional migration.

'What's confusing me even more is that he doesn't seem to be aware of this. Is it not the same race of Azurians that perhaps migrated? But then again, Acrypha said that they only existed in the Core Dimension from the moment it appeared so the chances they also existed somewhere else in another Dimension is very highly unlikely.' He thought to himself with a difficult expression.

Things didn't seem to add up in his head, as if some kind of detail was missing. For instance, why did they have to migrate? What caused them to leave? How did they leave that place safely? And most importantly, how does that link together with what is happening now?

All those questions kept bothering Talon. He didn't know why, but he felt like this matter concerned him even though he barely just got to know about this mysterious race of water creatures.

'I need to learn more about this. My curiosity is killing me.' He thought to himself as he took a peek at Arryn. 'And he might very well be my way of doing that too.'

"Talon?" The boy looked at Talon curiously.

"Hm? It's nothing. I was just thinking for a moment." The young man shook his head. "So, what kind of abilities do you have, Arryn?"

"Abilities?"

"Yeah, like the water attack you tried to make. That one was… very interesting." As he said that, Talon's lips shook slightly. He couldn't hold his expression from changing when he remembered that weak attack.

"Oh, that's… Sigh, that's my family's battle technique that I inherited from my dad. It's called 'Waterfowl Divine Technique'." He explained with a rather dark expression.

"Sounds like a cool name. Is it strong?"

"It is! I mean, ehem, it very much is. My father and my grandfather before him have already mastered most of it and they are the strongest people I know. I have never seen my father fight with it but he did show me what it is capable of doing and it is… Scary." The boy said with a hesitant tone.

'Oh, now that makes me want to see it in person. How scary could it be?' Talon raised an eyebrow.

"Though, my father told me that he hasn't learned the entire technique yet. Some higher levels of it are so advanced that even after decades of training, he couldn't comprehend them yet. Now, he relies on me to be the first one to fully master it. But… As you can see I'm… still lacking very much."

"Oh…" With a dazed expression, Talon went silent as he stared at the sad boy. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It is fine. I know that I'm still far behind. But, I know I can definitely improve which is why I'm working very hard. I won't let my father and my people down. As the future Great Chief, I must be up to the standards and higher." Clenching his fist, Arryn said with a determined look on his face.

Talon could see the fire burning within his bright blue eyes. For some reason, he could understand the boy's struggle even without knowing much about his story. That simple desire to conquer something that you are finding a hard time with is something he had been doing basically his entire life.

It became especially prominent in the recent months since he is now working toward a ridiculously high goal that could be considered foolish by many. But, that simple ambition to get better and improve day by day… That intent focus on becoming something great against all odds, it was a universal language.

In the end, all he could do was smile at the boy. "I don't know how hard it's going to be. But, I'm certain that you will be able to achieve it one day."

"Wait… Really?!" His words made Arryn flinch visibly.

"Yeah, I can see it in your eyes. You have what it takes to reach that goal. All you have to do is keep that drive and ambition ignited and you will definitely achieve everything you want."

"... I… What? That's too sudden…" Looking away with a flattered look on his face, the boy laughed. "You are giving me way more than I deserve, haha! I'm not that talented and I'm a very slow learner. Many think I'm just not going to make it and to be honest, I think they have a point.

I mean, I'm far less talented than the rest of my family and I have a very weak build."

"..."

"I can't even seem to master the first level of the technique which is supposed to be very easy. The only reason I'm still trying to work hard is because I know the responsibility that I need to carry for the sake of my people. I cannot let this pull me down." The boy explained with a wry smile.

'I might be too foolish for that.' He added in his head as he looked away.

He couldn't count the number of times he heard people whisper behind his back that he didn't have what it takes to become the next Great Chief and lead the Azurians. Many even loathed him when they learned that at his age, he was still stuck at the first level of the battle technique.

That naturally was a very strong hit to his morale and it affected him even harder when he realized that some of his family members were a part of that group. He worked hard everyday till he couldn't move an inch and did everything within his ability to improve and yet he can't seem to succeed at all.

He started questioning whether he was really meant to even reach his father's expectations or not. It only affected him more and more with each passing day.

'Dammit, I shouldn't think about this now! I still have time!' Clenching his teeth with a frustrated look, he didn't realize that Talon had started walking toward him.

When he reached him, he stared down at him from above with an emotionless look on his face. Then, with a swift gesture, he flicked Arryn's forehead with his index finger.

"Ouch!!" The boy staggered back with a pained look on his face. "What was that for?!"

"You deserved that." Talon said with a serious tone.

"Huh? What did I do?"

"You are being a moron right now." Talon said. "Letting a bunch of nonsense get to your head. That's what you did."

"..."

"So what if some people said that you aren't going to make it? Are they going to affect what you can and can't do? Of course not. What determines your success or failure is you. Granted, failure happens, and we might fall way more times than we do stand up.

Eventually, we come to either of two conclusions… We either didn't try hard enough and we stopped at failure, or we did try hard enough and we broke our limit. There is no third choice in your case."

Arryn stared blankly at Talon with a stupefied look. He was completely taken by surprise.

"People will hate you and curse you simply because they don't have what you have. They don't have the ambition to actually succeed and so they would try to bring anyone down with them. Screw what they say!" As he said those words, his aura flared as his eyes shone with a faint blue light. However, neither of the two noticed it when it appeared.

"What do you want to do? Be on the losing side or the winning side?"

"I…" Arryn hesitated for a moment as if he didn't understand the question before he looked down. He had to admit that Talon was right. As harsh as they were, the people that tried to pull him down never actually affected his training. They simply yelled from the side and he heard them and believed them.

He was the one that let them bring him down and he felt stupid for it. 'I'm really stupid…'

Without realizing it, he teared up a little. The frustration he had within him boiled up in his chest.

"So, which one is it?" Talon asked again as he noticed the subtle changes in Arryn's mental state.

"I… I want to succeed."

"What? I don't hear you, speak louder."

"I want to succeed." The boy looked up and said as he wiped his tears and sniffed.

"Louder." Talon repeated as if he still didn't hear him.

"I want to succeed!"

"Louder!!"

"I WANT TO SUCCEED!! I WANT TO BE BETTER!!" The boy yelled at the top of his lungs. He felt all the energy come out in that yell.

"Then do it. It's that simple. If you hate that, then do it."

Arryn heaved up and down with wide eyes as if he realized what he did. Then, he nodded his head faintly. "I… I understand."

Seeing that, Talon sighed. He knew that mere words won't change how someone feels about themselves. But, he wanted to trigger a change that the boy himself will use to become better.

'I don't know why. But hearing him being pessimistic triggered me. Did I feel bad for him or was that just a coincidence?' Rubbing the back of his head, he shrugged. 'Oh well, who cares. If this helps him, then it's all go-'

Before his thought could even finish, suddenly, the earth beneath them started shaking violently as if it was hit by an earthquake.

"What?!"

A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!