Book 5: Chapter 221: Clara, Ri and Madeleine (1)

Far outside of the Epistemic Tower, within a universe of peace and tranquility, an innumerable amount of craftsmen gathered. This was known, aptly, as The Sapientia Quadrant and was ranked 10th among all quadrants in existence.

This quadrant was truly a hub of knowledge. Every notable secondary profession in existence found its home here, but there was no doubt that the most central anchor of this quadrant was the Sapientia Tower where the grandest Library in existence was found.

Although this quadrant was only ranked tenth, it wasn’t necessarily weaker than those ranked above it. In truth, aside from the top three quadrants, there wasn’t a great difference between those ranked fourth through ninth, however, the tenth rank was special.

Unlike the other quadrants within those rankings, The Sapientia Quadrant didn’t have to fight for its spot within the Epistemic Tower, instead, it was an unwritten rule that it would always remain there regardless of its martial prowess.

This may seem odd, but there was a good reason for it.

The Sapientia family was in quite a difficult situation. They were in the pursuit of knowledge, and thus avoided conflicts. In fact, even if a war occurred in a universe or on a planet where they housed one of their branches, they wouldn’t interfere. This was the case even if one of their own was accidentally caught in the cross fire. Even in such a case, the matter would be brushed over.

Over the years, the Sapientia have slowly proved not only their worth, but also their sincerity. Being a family as ancient as those found in the top three quadrants, they’ve had plenty of time to prove their worth, and although some old foxes still keep a skeptic eye on them, for the most part, they’re allowed to conduct the research they want to.

With this, though, also comes many unwritten rules. For example, when Connery Sapientia spoke out against Madeleine leaving the Sapientia family to aid Dyon in the war, he was speaking the truth. If a Sapientia could just leave their family, and join others, there was the risk of the Sapientia bringing undo heat to themselves. This was because some might think that the Sapientia were slowly infiltrating secular families in preparation for a big movement. For this reason, those who marry Sapientias are also tied to follow the rules of the Sapientias. Even further, if the Sapientia in question is from a high enough branch, their lover is forced to marry into the Sapientia family.

There were, of course, many other unwritten and written rules like this, however those were best saved for another time. The most important point here was that the Sapientia had struggles of their own, and many were bound to follow these rules forever.

So, what did this have to do with the perpetual tenth position they held? Well, often times in the martial world, the best way for geniuses to achieve great things was to fight for them. For example, the greatest chances in the cosmos were often found in the Epistemic Tower. However, within that tower, not only did you need to have enough talent to be recognized by your quadrant, and thus be allowed to enter, even once you entered the tower, the benefits inside would be limited unless you could then fight within it.

Why was this a problem? Well, as a family stout in its will to remain neutral, how could the Sapientia allow its geniuses to fight benefits?

The Sapientia had to remain neutral, but within that also meant it was necessary for them to not anger the future generation leaders of the various clans their branches would reside in. If this happened, tensions would rise, and eventually, the system they had spent so many years building up would crumble.

The ancestors of the Sapientia understood this very well, so they knew they needed a solution.

On one hand, they didn’t want to draw rifts between their younger generation and that of other clans and sects. But, on the other hand, if they didn’t allow their talent to fight for their own benefits, their clan would definitely decline.

No matter what kind of research one was doing, it was only possible to reach the highest levels once one truly understood the martial way and climbed to the top of it.

How could you research cultivation techniques without understanding them? How could you research weapons without being able to forge at the highest level? How could you tame the best beasts without having the power to force them to yield?

As such, the 99 quadrants and the Sapientia Quadrant came to an agreement. The other quadrants would allow the Sapientia’s young geniuses to fight to their heart’s content without any retaliation. However, during all of the most important competitions and most poignant Epistemic Tower events, the Sapientia would always accept the tenth position, never fighting for a higher position.

Of course, we aren’t mentioning this quadrant for no reason at all. A person Dyon cares for very much happens to be in this very quadrant right now, counting the days until he returns to her.

In fact, the older generation of this quadrant happen to be quite interested in her, not able to understand how such a mind could be found within a young woman of barely 20 years of age.

However, what this older generation didn’t know was that this other worldly beauty hardly cared for their praise at all. In fact, if Dyon didn’t exist in this universe, she might very well be the most arrogant person in existence.