Archive Of Potentialities.

Short Story: Dreamer [12]

Chapter 12: Motion.

I would like to believe I'm special, trust me, I would. But I know what I am, and since arriving here, I like to think I know where my limits lie... truthfully, I do not see greatness.

......

Alendi had become an island, such was his view of himself.

Around him, people moved. Humans and monsters alike bustled about, their feet hastened by the eagerness to fulfill their Regent’s commands.

Or by fear, Alendi couldn’t be sure.

He was the only one standing still, the odd one out. He received a few nervous glances by the others in the Command Center, short looks that didn’t linger. He could recognize the anxiety and the reason for its existence—- Why is he just standing still, does he have no sense of urgency?

And truthfully, they could not be blamed. After all, what man remains static during the potential end of the world?

Alendi’s fists clenched. Only he was privy to his thoughts, only he knew why he could not bring himself to move. It wasn’t nonchalance.

It was anticipation.

The Regent had taken a hasty departure shortly after the Titan broke free of its seal. Oddly enough, the obviously foreseen development had seemed to be completely beyond her expectations, but she didn’t seem to be in a panic, only resigned.

Of course, to her loyal subjects, the distinction between the two was negligible.

But to Alendi, it was simply a sign. This was the time.

Presently, military forces were flowing out of Tempest like names from the Chaos Creator, notably excessive.

The city would remain safe, cradled within the confines of its nigh faultless barriers.

Barriers Alendi had the keys to.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, tapping the fingers of his right against his left ring as he pondered, Thought Acceleration taking him.

As an Empire that had stood strong for the good part of a millennium, Tempest expectedly had checks and balances in place to foil what he was about to attempt, but as all things made by mortal hands, they were fallible.

And as one who held power over “boundaries” with his Unique Skill, Divider, such faults were easy to exploit.

The foundation for his treachery had been laid, the decision ready to be made, yet, he considered.

Considered the choices that had led him here, considered the principles that guided him, considered that, in truth, said principles might just be madness. He shook his head. overthinking had led him here in the first place, it was time to act.

And he did.

His skill allowed him to set boundaries between parties he could fully understand and interact with. It was the manifestation of his admittedly extremist views that things only worked better in isolation. The lethargic peace of the Cardinal World, guaranteed and symbolized by this sickeningly put together empire, brought out feelings of disappointment and hatred in him. He brushed off the urge to reminisce on how he came to think this way, getting to work.

Using the skill, he had set a boundary between the barriers around the city of Rimuru and the mechanisms that managed them. It was difficult, as he only had a surface level understanding of the barrier itself—- unsurprising, given its suspected origins —-but he was second to none in his comprehension of the mechanisms themselves. He was the Boundsmaster, after all.