"Maxi, you really need to check yourself. So, I'll ask you something."
Maxi sat there, stunned, not quite sure if he should feel surprised, happy, or both.
He shook his head, snapping himself out of it.
"Hy, Tengen," Maxi said, still a little dazed.
Tengen grinned wider. "How's my favorite—and only—student doing?"
"I'm fine..." Maxi hesitated, then asked, "Did... did you just come from the Astroplane Dimension?"
Tengen smirked cockily, crossing his arms. "Yeah, I did. Learned that little trick a few days ago. How'd you know?"
Maxi shrugged. "Just guessed. You know, you appeared from a bunch of stars, 'astro' means stars, and your whole room's filled with them. I just figured you'd already known how to do that a long time ago."
Tengen's smirk flickered slightly at Maxi's simple explanation, making him feel a little foolish. But the grin quickly returned, wider than ever.
As Tengen shifted his stance, Maxi noticed the changes: his bandages looked newer, thicker, more compact. Either he's bulked up, Maxi thought, or he just wrapped an extra layer on.
Actually, now that he looked closer, Tengen had bulked up quite a bit.
Tengen wore a black shirt emblazoned with a massive red star across the chest, tucked into black leather pants. His classic black cape was still perched jauntily on his head.
"And who in the 1000 spiraling hells told you about the Astroplanes?" Tengen demanded, pointing a playful teasing yet accusing finger.
"My brother Colen," Maxi answered easily.
Tengen shrugged to himself and muttered, "figures."
"So..." Maxi said carefully, "what does the Astroplane Dimension look like?"
Tengen's face twisted into a dramatic expression of horror. "You want me to die?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Maxi stammered.
Tengen threw up his hands. "Then why, in the 1000 spiraling hells, do you want me to tell you about the Astroplanes?!"
"What's wrong with telling me what it looks like?" Maxi asked, baffled.
Tengen leaned closer, voice lowering into a serious tone. "Listen, young master Maxi. If I explain the Astroplanes—even vaguely—either you or I might die. And I don't wanna die. Plus, if you die while under my tutelage and protection, guess what? I die too. It's a package deal if you didn't know."
Maxi's mouth fell open slightly.
"So no talking about the Astroplanes. Period."
Maxi then thought disgusting almost instinctively as soon as Tengen said Period
Maxi didn't know why but he felt like the world alone bright back memories but he shook his head before he could wonder what bad memories could Period bring back
"Aw, come on," Maxi said, half-joking. "Can't you just describe it... vaguely? Like, I don't know, breathing muscles or something?"
Tengen threw his head back and laughed.
"Breathing muscles—seriously?! No, Maxi. The Astroplanes can't be described using three-dimensional shapes patterns or concepts. The best I can say without us getting both executed by cosmic law or the cosmos themselves is... it's like space, but liquid."
Maxi blinked a few times, struggling to even imagine it.
Tengen chuckled at his expression and shrugged.
"Sorry, young master Maxi. Can't explain more. It's a rule amongst every realm—you may not describe or explain how other dimensions work unless given permission by the Supreme Ruler of that dimension... or unless you discover it yourself."
Maxi frowned. "And the Supreme Ruler of the Astroplanes is...?"
Tengen scratched his head. "I think it's the Ancient Sun God? I don't really know. What I do know is that the rule was placed by one of the oldest gods. It's called the Rule of Secret Experiences."
Maxi paused, thinking hard.
If one of the oldest gods made this rule, it must be really important... They must be trying to stop people from getting too strong just by hearing about it.
Smart.
Tengen snapped his fingers to get his attention.
"But anyway, enough of that. You ready to learn about this planet's history?"
Maxi stayed quiet, debating whether he should confess he'd already been learning from Colen.
But Tengen steamrolled ahead. "As I told you before, I don't really know or remember the first two parts of history—the New Age of Blessings and the Journey through the Realm of the Earthly Gods. So I'll be skimming right through them."
He clapped his hands once, eager.
"I'm going to focus on the part I really remember: The War of Betrayal and Blood."
Maxi winced a little, remembering Colen's warning:
"Maxi, you really need to check yourself. So, I'll ask you something. Do you like your useless tutor? Or do you like the fact that he's teaching you? Also, is he even a good teacher?"
Maxi sighed internally, remembering his own response:
"No. He's not a good teacher. But he's all I've got. So what can I do?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but Tengen didn't even give him a chance.
"Okay, let's get started," Tengen declared, raising his hands dramatically like an actor on stage.
"The War of Betrayal and Blood"
Maxi quickly cut Tengen off just as he was about to dive into the story.
"Wait, wait, wait, Tengen! I need to tell you something first," Maxi said, holding out his hand.
He wasn't about to sit through a long explanation he already knew bits of, pretending like nothing had happened. Not after all the messes he'd had to clean up in his past life, when staying silent always came back to bite him.
Tengen raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
Maxi hesitated, but forced himself to continue. "Okay, while you were... sick..." he paused for a moment, wondering if Tengen had actually been sick or if it was all some stupid ploy. Shaking the thought away, he pressed on "I went to my brother Colen to teach me about Peladys' history."
Tengen's face shifted into mild shock. "Why did you do that? You couldn't wait a few days?"
Maxi shrugged a little awkwardly. "Yeah. I could have. But... to be honest—please don't take offense—I kinda prefer his teaching style over yours."
For a second, there was silence. Then Tengen threw his head back and laughed.
"Young Master, you don't think I already know that?" he said, still chuckling. "Listen, I'm not a good storyteller. My friends tell me that all the time. I'm a fighter, not some historian who can paint pictures with words. So it's fine, kid—" he caught himself, clearing his throat awkwardly. "It's fine, Young Master. Also, I'm really not that scary, so feel free to speak your mind."
Maxi blinked a few times at him.
Yes you are, he thought. You just haven't seen yourself in your Blessing Master form. If you had, you'd know.
But out loud, he only sighed and said, "Okay."
Tengen leaned forward slightly. "So, what now?"
Maxi explained, "Colen taught me up to the part about the Journey through the Realm of the Earthly Gods. So all that's left is the War of Betrayal and Blood. You can just teach me that... then I'll probably go over it again with Colen afterward, just to be sure."
Probably, Maxi muttered to himself internally, shaking his head.
Man, I really gotta stop doing that.
Tengen gave a satisfied nod. "Alright then. It all works out. Let's begin."
Without waiting another second, Tengen extended his right hand — the one wrapped tightly in new purple bandages.
Suddenly, brilliant red stars began bursting into existence, one after another, spinning wildly around his hand. With a casual flick of his wrist, Tengen threw them upward. The stars rushed to the ceiling, swirling together into chaotic, living galaxies. The entire room lit up with their soft, red glow.
Tengen smirked.
"The War of Betrayal and Blood," he said, his voice low and adding a somewhat serious tone to Tengen's voice but Tengen cocky smile brakes the immersion.
Maxi then thought to himself Colen please save me