Karl was slowly accepting that things were getting bad for his personal situation, but there were other concerns as well.
"So, what will we do? I know that you have the ability to Portal, and that should be enough for our purposes. If I'm sent away somewhere like the Neia Continent, what happens to the rest of my teammates? Are they going to become a target of the other nations thanks to all the damage that we did as a group?" He asked.
Ahmad sighed. "I can't guarantee that. I can put them under my protection, but I know that the Giants have a vendetta against them. The other nations don't view them as nearly as high of a threat level as they do you, but that might only be because you're there to dim their light. If you weren't around, then Dana, and likely both the Clerics, would be viewed as shocking prodigies for the speed that they are growing.
But if I'm right, they probably wouldn't be growing as quickly if you weren't there, so it might be a moot point."
Karl nodded. That made sense, as a lot of their combat power was the beasts, and the System seemed to reward acts of massive excess to a greater extent than the average soldiers.
"If I asked, and they agreed, would it be possible for us all to go into exile together? I know it would be a lot to ask of them, but we do work very well as a team."
Ahmad frowned. "It might be possible, but asking an entire team to give up their lives to join you in an indeterminate exile is big. It's not a year or two. You may never be able to return, and the only likely scenario that involves you coming back is one of the nations losing their Totem Rank Guardian, and you being the first one back with the ability to claim it.
Now, those odds aren't zero, as you would have me on your side supporting you. But there are likely to be other exiled geniuses who might have reached Totem Rank, with the desire to return.
I don't really know. There are countless details that I haven't caught up on yet since I advanced.
But there is also the matter of where you will be sent. Neia is a possibility. There are more than enough Overlords and Totems there to not cause a major disturbance when you advance. However, there is also a push to have you sent to the Dragon Isles. It's actually four subcontinents grouped together, but the danger level there is immense, to put it kindly.
The Dragon Isles have the highest mana concentration of anywhere on the planet, and I am not aware of any human nations at all. It's all monsters, dragons and subdragons.
There will likely be humans, but as slaves. I don't know how your team will handle that, or if they will be in danger of slavers during their stay. In fact, we don't really know much about the Dragon Isles at all. They're not particularly welcoming to outsiders of the power level to safely travel around them.
The Dragon Clerics might be alright, as they are slowly becoming dragonkin. But you do have two humans in your team."
That could definitely change the plans. He wouldn't want to put them in that sort of danger, and needing to rescue the Princess from slave caravans was a bit too cliché.
On the other hand, Karl felt like he had always been with his group, and he was reluctant to leave them behind, even if he knew that he should, and that his selfish desire for companionship was likely to ruin everyone's life.
"Would you have time to explain the dangers to them for me? I have never even heard of the Dragon Isles before, and I know precisely zero about them. If it is Neia, I do know a bit about how it was ten thousand years ago, but nothing current." Karl asked.
Ahmad nodded. "I don't have a problem with that. After all, you did give me that most wonderful meteor swarm skill plus the bracelet.
That skill might seem like a trivial thing to you, just a modified meteor spell. But when it's used by a Totem Rank Mage, it can wipe an entire city off the map in a matter of seconds. Something like mutually assured destruction in spell form, as I can cast it through a portal anywhere on the Continent."
When he planned to use it that way, the [Meteor Swarm] spell was absolutely terrifying. Threaten Ahmad, and he could just take three seconds to wipe your capital off the map out of annoyance? That should keep anyone from seriously challenging his leadership of the Golden Dragon Nation.
But that sort of thinking was probably a large part of the reason that Karl was being exiled in the first place.
There was a disturbance in the energy of the area, and Karl preventatively prepared [Nullify], while Ahmad frowned at the attempt to intrude through his barriers.
"It seems that the other leaders are impatient. I will call your teammates to us, and you can decide as a group. But you might have to do it quickly if we're going to avoid a fight."
Karl nodded. "Let them in. Unless they're willing to go all out in an enclosed space, I'm not particularly concerned about a few eavesdroppers."
In his mind, Cara laughed. Between the two of them, they could just spam [Nullify] while the Golem Cat slapped the intruders around like disobedient children.
The thought made Remi laugh, but Thor agreed with Ahmad. They enjoyed causing trouble far too much. Letting them be humbled a bit might be good for his sisters.
Ahmad let down his barriers, and a group of six Spellblades in different coloured robes, plus the General from Newbon appeared through a portal.
Karl waved to the one Totem that he knew, and the Naga General smiled back before shaking Ahmad's hand. "Totem Lord Ahmad, have you made your nation's prodigy aware of the situation?" One of the Spellblades asked.
"Indeed I have. We are just waiting for a few others to arrive. They may wish to enter exile together."
The foreign mage gave a vicious chuckle. "Oh, I don't think that they will be so enthusiastic when they hear the verdict."
Ahmad nodded at Karl. That was what he had expected. It would have been better if there was time for them to discuss in more detail, but the others appeared impatient to send the young prodigy away.