Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

"…Are you Lyra?" Max muttered out loud, his voice barely more than a whisper. A wave of shock surged through him as he stared at the girl standing before him. It had been so long, so many events had passed, and yet… he remembered.

It was vague—like a dream slipping through his fingers—but he could recall meeting a girl with that exact face, those same piercing eyes, during the recruitment assessment for the Phoenix Order Guild.

Back then, she had caught his eye, not for her beauty, but for her strength. She had ranked second in talent—just below him. A quiet, promising genius who disappeared from his life just as quickly as she entered.

He had assumed she was one of the many talented people he had left behind in his rapid rise through the Lower Domain. People who, despite their gifts, couldn't keep up with the abnormal pace at which he climbed. But now, here she was—standing before him in the Middle Domain, her aura calm yet undeniably powerful.

The lady gave a graceful smile, her eyes soft yet knowing. "You've got that right."

Max took a step back, completely stunned. "But how is that possible…!?" His voice carried a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "You were just… one of the promising recruits in that assessment. I never heard about you after that."

He couldn't wrap his head around it. Lyra had shown promise, sure, but so had many others. And yet they had all faded into obscurity as he continued to grow stronger, faster than anyone could have predicted.

He had assumed Lyra had stayed behind with the others—too slow, too normal. After all, his rise wasn't just a climb, it was a break from the very boundaries that held geniuses back in the Lower Domain. So how? How was she here now… and stronger than ever?

Lyra smiled knowingly, her expression calm and almost teasing. "Of course, you wouldn't have heard about me—because I didn't want to stand out back then. I chose to keep a low profile. But that doesn't mean I wasn't around… or that I didn't help you."

"Help?" Max frowned, completely puzzled. "How?" He searched his memory, trying to recall any interaction beyond that fleeting encounter during the Phoenix Order Guild's recruitment.

As far as he remembered, they hadn't spoken since. He hadn't even seen her. There was nothing that stood out, nothing that could be called help. Just a name and a face—buried beneath the avalanche of events that had shaped his life since then.

"I was the one who messaged you, informed you about your sister," Lyra said, her voice soft but firm, "when you were still in the Phoenix Order Guild. The one who told you your sister was last seen in the Lost Continent."

The words struck Max like a lightning bolt. His eyes widened, his breath caught in his throat. That memory… he had buried it deep. Back then, he had been desperate—searching for any information about his sister, clinging to any hope.

And one day, a mysterious message had arrived. No name. No face. Just a few lines of information that changed everything. At the time, he hadn't cared who it was from. He had acted on it immediately. But now—now he knew. It had been her.

"You… it was you all along…" Max murmured, his voice low with disbelief. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked at her with new eyes, trying to piece together the gap between the quiet girl he once saw and the calm, powerful woman standing before him now.

But Lyra wasn't finished. Her eyes sparkled with quiet pride as she continued, her tone unwavering. "I was also the one who asked the Black Lotus Guild to help you during the dungeon outbreak incident caused by the Monarch. Don't you remember? Those two members who showed up to protect you—didn't they say someone had paid them a large sum of money and ordered them to keep you safe at all costs? That someone… was me."

Max froze. His mind immediately went back to that chaotic day—the sky cracking open, monsters pouring out of the dungeon, the sheer panic in the air.

Amidst it all, two powerful members of the Black Lotus Guild had arrived just in time, their arrival turning the tide of the battle. Back then, they mentioned they had been hired to protect him, that someone had paid handsomely for his safety.

Max remembered brushing it off, too overwhelmed by the crisis to think about it.

He had assumed some hidden hand, perhaps the Black Lotus guild intentionally interfering after knowing my bloodline and so he hadn't paid too much attention to that. But to hear now, directly from Lyra, that it had been her all along—he was stunned.

His lips parted, but no words came out. His thoughts spun in all directions.

"Who are you?" Max finally asked, his voice low, heavy with the weight of realization pressing down on him. He might have been a little slow to catch on sometimes—he could admit that much—but he wasn't a fool. Far from it.

The signs were clear now. Someone like her… someone who had known about his connection to his sister, someone who had managed to contact him during such critical moments, someone who could arrive in the Middle Domain not just alongside him but likely long before he did—there was no way she was from the Lower Domain. No chance at all.

Lyra's lips curved into a soft, knowing smile as if she'd been waiting for this moment. "Let me introduce myself again," she said, her voice calm yet commanding, like royalty in disguise. "I am Lyra Shade, the princess of the Great Ruler Empire."

"What?!" Max staggered back a half-step as the words hit him like a thunderclap. His mind reeled. Princess? Of the Great Ruler Empire? The most powerful of the first-class forces in the Middle Domain? His breath caught for a second, and his eyes scanned her again—as if seeing her for the first time.

That grace, that confidence, that sense of hidden authority she carried—it all made sense now. How else could she know so much? How else could she influence people, organizations, and events from the shadows with such ease?

He would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked. No—he was flabbergasted. Most people would be. He had thought she was just another genius from the Lower Domain like him, someone he had briefly crossed paths with. But she was royalty. And not just any royalty—royalty from a force that could bend the will of most of the Middle Domain.

Max took a deep breath and calmed himself down quickly, forcing the surprise and confusion to settle. Now that he knew the Lyra from his past was actually the princess of the Great Ruler Empire, he also realized something else—no one from a force that powerful did anything without purpose.

She hadn't helped him from the shadows out of kindness or sentiment. She had to want something. There was always a cost. Always a price.

"What do you want?" Max asked directly, his voice composed, but firm.

Lyra raised an eyebrow, her expression shifting into one of exaggerated disappointment. "I just revealed I'm the princess of the Great Ruler Empire, and you won't even invite me inside? How rude," she said, her lips pursed, as if genuinely offended.

Max clicked his tongue in his mind, cursing her silently for the dramatics, but his face remained indifferent. With a sigh, he turned toward the door. "Come on in," he said, gesturing casually.

He led her into the drawing hall of the suite. It wasn't much by royal standards—just a spacious room with three modest sofas arranged around a low, dark-glass table. Some dry snacks—biscuits, fruit slices, and sealed drinks—had already been placed there by the hotel's automated service. The lighting was soft, the mood calm, but the tension between them was unmistakable.

"Have a seat," Max said politely. "I'll prepare some coffee."

Just as he started walking toward the kitchen unit, Lyra's voice chimed in from behind him. "By the way, I like the Genisan flavor coffee."

Max flinched. His steps paused mid-stride. 'What kind of guest makes specific demands like that?' he thought, biting back his irritation. But again, he kept it to himself. She was royalty—and more importantly, someone who knew way too much about him.

"Alright," he muttered, continuing on to the kitchen, muttering under his breath about veiled princesses and their high-maintenance tastes.