《Divine Bugfixing [LITRPG Gamecreation]》 Chapter 1: Getting into the game Jasper heard the knock at the door and he couldn''t help but smile. He had been waiting for this moment for quite some time, and based on the information he had access to on his screen everything was pretty much ready to go. The office he had been working in for the last 4 years was nothing special, he was pretty sure that it was an old apartment that had been refurbished, though this was based purely on what he knew about the main branch of the game company, Weird World Computing. Jasper was working for the Scandinavian branch of the company, which sounded prestigious but the branch consisted of two people, himself and Martin. While the main branch of Weird World Computing was focused on making actual games, the Nordic branch had the thankless task of creating template worlds for the next games. It wasn''t really the most interesting job in the world. Ever since Deep Dive Gaming, also known as full Virtual Reality, had become mainstream almost everything had to be generated with AI thanks to the complexity of the worlds. This approach to development always resulted in a lot of small issues, along with a couple of major errors, which would need to be fixed, something which usually took months. Though, if Jasper''s idea worked he was about to shave a lot of time off the development cycle. Jasper got up from his seat and adjusted his bright red shirt which he was wearing over a white t-shirt, it was formal enough for work, but casual enough that he didn''t stick out when he was out in public. He had his long brown hair neatly tied up in a ponytail to keep it out of his face while he was working, and he couldn''t help but think it gave him an elegant look. Opening the door he was greeted by his favourite person. Celeste was about a head shorter than Jasper and as usual, she sported her thick blonde hair in a long pixie cut, which in Jasper''s mind looked like she had just woken up, though he knew for a fact that the hair was deliberately styled. Celeste''s bright blue eyes shone with an eagerness that was infectious as she looked up at her husband. "Is it ready?" She asked while pushing into him for a hug. Jasper didn''t hesitate, returning the hug and adding a quick kiss before nodding. "Yup, it should be ready to go." He explained, pointing towards the Deep Dive gaming stations that had been set up for himself and Martin. Thanks to modern developments the setup for those stations were little more than a helmet and a beefy computer, which meant that it was expensive, but didn''t take up too much room in the office. Celeste was quick to make her way over to one of the helmets, taking a seat in a comfy chair, while Jasper took the seat opposite her. "I know that I have been vague on the details, so let me just go through the basics with you," Jasper said, knowing that if he didn''t, his wife would plug herself into the game with the neural helmet before he had a chance to explain things. Celeste looked at the helmet she had already picked up and then at her husband. "Fine... but please make it quick" She said with mock sadness, though she did put the helmet away and turned her attention to him. Jasper smiled as he explained. "Last year you told me to try and make my work fun, and I absolutely took that to heart, which is why I have created my own little game for managing the bugs that keeps popping up. In short, we will go into the game as gods and fix or flag any bugs we find. The world will be a fairly generic fantasy world, though it will be populated with NPCs." Jasper said, and Celeste did her best to listen, though she knew that her husband could get a bit caught up in his explanations, so she made sure to look out for any tangent he might get distracted by. Jasper continued after a quick sip from the water bottle he kept at his desk. "I have scaled up our stats, and we will have access to some godlike abilities. However, to make sure that it is still a game for us, we are not omnipotent. You will only have access to the divine domains you choose and you will not be equally great in all your stats, so please, try and think about what kind of character you want to build." He explained, doing his best to not skip anything major. Celeste raised a hand. "Yes?" Jasper wasn''t sure if the hand raising was a result of Celeste working as a teacher, but he appreciated the fact that she had listened enough to ask questions. "Do we level up?" She asked. Jasper nodded. "Kinda, though we will go over the specifics later." He answered, before returning to his introduction. "What we do isn''t permanent, the people over at the main branch will probably have the opportunity to delete some of the stuff that we create, but it will take time for them to do so. As such, we have a resource for making permanent changes to the world as well as one for making temporary changes. Any other questions?" Jasper didn''t want to dive too much into the names of the stats as the game would be presenting those. "How many domains do I get?" Celeste followed up, having clearly focused on the fact that she would be getting great, cosmic power. "You will be getting 3." The programmer answered with a smirk, which made Celeste grin. "Anything else I should know?" She asked, clearly eager to get going. Jasper felt her eagerness infect his mood and he gave her a smile in return. "We have about six months to fix the bugs in the game, to fix a bug try removing it or incorporating into the game world. We will only really be able to play on weekends, so around 24 sessions... Wanna do character creation together or apart?" He asked. Celeste thought about it. "I would love to do it together if we can." She said and with that, Jasper made a couple of adjustments on the Deep Dive Server, and they both put on their helmets. Loading into Deep Dive had been rough a couple of years ago, but with most of the growing pains worked out it was almost seamless. A digitized voice could be heard speaking as the world around the two players was still a void. "???????????? ?????????? ?????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ??????????????????????. ???????????? ?????????????????? ???????????????? ?????? ??????????????. ??????????????." Then Celeste and Jasper found themselves standing in the middle of a white room. Celeste looked over at her husband and smirked. "Isn''t this a bit boring?" She asked, though Jasper simply shook his head. "Maybe, but honestly, I would rather not spend more time on this project than I have to. This is still an experiment, and it is more a hack than a feature. I am basically giving us access to some world edit tools in the game." Jasper explained. With that each of them found a dropdown menu floating in front of them, they were displaying the six stats of the game. Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. Celeste cleared her throat and Jasper knew that she was about to comment on the stats, he decided to beat her to it. "The main branch decides the core concepts. It is a fantasy world and they wanted something that most Pen and Paper players could relate to. Do you need an explanation on what the stats mean?" He asked, and Celeste just shook her head. "Nah, I think I got this one. So what should I do to assign stuff?" She asked, her voice filled with mirth. "Just touch the stat you want to be the highest one, then the next highest and so on... What are you thinking about building? A rogue character?" Jasper asked, he knew it was Celeste''s usual go-to when they had pen and paper evenings, but he assumed that she would probably do something else. Celeste paused a little. "I am thinking something Hephaestus inspired. God of crafting and all that." She explained, which didn''t surprise Jasper either. Celeste was very much a person focused on skills and crafting when she played games, and the way that she managed to express her creativity through her projects was just one of the many reasons why Jasper enjoyed her company. "Well, I am guessing we are not going in as evil gods then," Jasper said, putting away the idea of playing the embodiment of death. Celeste shook her head. "We can, but honestly, I tend to feel bad for the NPCs, even these temporary ones are so real." She explained, which Jasper could definitely relate to. "I might go for Classic paladin Sun god then. Though I feel that is kind of boring." Jasper said, leaning back. There was nothing to support him, but thanks to this room having little to no programming, there was no gravity to really pull him down, and as such he simply floated. "You could try recreating one of your old Pen and Paper characters. You liked your Wall mage." Celeste proposed. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Jasper thought about it for a moment. Magic wasn''t part of the game yet, and he would be forcing it into the world if he decided to pick that Domain even though he had added it to the list of Domains, but he had liked that character that had specialized in prismatic barriers. "Huh, I could do that... Yup definitely doing that." He finally decided and picked Intelligence and Constitution as his two highest stats. Celeste grumbled. "Why are my stats so low?" She asked and Jasper moved over to look at her sheet.
Celeste
Stat Score
Strength 13
Dexterity 10
Constitution 13
Wisdom 16
Intelligence 14
Charisma 8
"Well, they are just indicators. We are not treated like players so any check based on our abilities does not use your stats as a modifier, instead, the game takes 21 and subtracts your score, which is the difficulty class. The game then ''rolls'' a twenty-sided die and if the roll meets or is above your difficulty class you succeed." Jasper explained. Celeste paused looking at her stats, clearly doing the math. "So if I get a wisdom check, the game needs to roll, what, 5 or above? That is like 75% success rate, wait, meets it beats it, so 80%?" She said, clearly looking at the stats with some surprise. Jasper nodded. "Yeah, it won''t be like that for ordinary players, but it made sense for our characters." He showed her his stats.
Jasper
Stat Score
Strength 10
Dexterity 13
Constitution 14
Wisdom 8
Intelligence 16
Charisma 13
Celeste looked at the stats and nodded. "Looks like we balance each other out pretty well. What comes next?" She asked, looking at her stats with satisfaction. Jasper smirked and swiped the stats up. "Next we get to pick our domains." He said as Celeste mimicked his motion with the stats window. A long list of domains suddenly filled both of their visions.
Domain name Domain Description
Alacrity Quick bursts of explosive speed.
Beasts Control and transformation of animals
Blood Manipulation and power through vitae
Death The undead and the final end
Deception Illusions and general lies, includes stealth.
Earth Minerals, Stone and Gems
Endurance Stamina and general fortitude
Fertility Growth in plants, people and animals
Fire Warmth of the flame
Health Healing and sickness prevention
Journey Movement over long distances
Knowledge Anything found on the wiki and beyond
Loyalty Leadership and organisation
Luck Fortune both good and bad
Madness The manipulation of a constant mental state
Magic Sorcery and spells
Melee Hitting things with weapons
Might Strength and power
Network A connection of nodes, be they trees, tech or people.
Night Darkness and visibility manipulation
Passion Feelings and inspiration
Range Bows, Guns and anything that hits at a distance
Sun Light and the burning righteousness of the day
Time Seeing iteration and looping time itself
Tinkering Engineering and creation of magical objects
Water Anything from seas to the rivers that flow
Wealth Prosperity and manipulation of goods
Wind Tornadoes and power of the sky
Celeste took a step back, though being in the white room with no physics enabled she didn''t get closer to any of the walls. Jasper laughed a bit sheepishly. "Yeah, I know, it is a long list. I have just been feeding the AI words that I would like to see as Domains, and it has sort of aggregated a lot of them." He explained Celeste cleared her throat. "Still, it is pretty overwhelming." She said, which made Jasper nod. "It is just for us, and not that player-friendly. I could trim it, but I don''t think that it will be used in the future. If it is, I will have Martin clean it up." He said with a wicked grin. Celeste gave the list another look, trying to ignore the things that didn''t relate to her character concept. "I only get to pick 3?" She asked, clearly getting inspired to build a multitude of characters with the domains in front of her. Jasper laughed at that. "I mean, I can unload this and we can start with more if you wanna do a ''Goddess of the Elements'' type of thing, but the reboot is super slow, so we will have to pause for today and start tomorrow." He explained, which made Celeste groan. "Fine! I will stick to my original concept." She grumbled analysing the list once more. "Okay, I think I have narrowed down my options." She said pulling her husband over so she didn''t stand around talking to herself. "Tinkering is probably a must-have. I get the feeling that you might have created that one directly for me." She said, raising an eyebrow, which made Jasper smirk. "What? Think of you during work? I would never." He teased. "Anyway, I am thinking Time, Wealth, Network, Knowledge, Earth and Journey," Celeste said, slowly starting to parse them out. "Time is mostly because Time manipulation sounds really cool... though might not make sense for the character... I could portray her as some kind of cosmic clockmaker?" She shook her head, clearly unsure of what to pick already. "Wealth would probably be a good idea... you know, to ensure that we have the things we need to craft stuff, I think it will help me sell my goods as well." She said slowly looking over the other options. "Network could be fun if I get to wire up terminals of various complexity." She said, which made Jasper wince. "Sorry, sweetie. The main branch wants this fantasy. They are not going to be happy if we start making sci-fi tech." He explained apologetically. Celeste seemed relieved. "Great, one off the list. Then there is Knowledge, which would be great for knowing about the world and creating massive crafting tomes. That could be quite fun." She said, having always loved those huge books that were almost the size of a person. "Earth would be great for some kind of smithing-styled character, pulling out metal and gems and forging them. Maybe I should pick Fire with that one... no... no I am not going to add to my list. Lastly, Journey will probably be fun if I wanna build vehicles or just options for us to travel." She paused again, unsure of what to pick then sighed. Finally she refocused herself. "Not gonna lie, I kinda like the idea of the clockmaker. Tinkering with things. The only question is what would fit best with Time and Tinkering. I could take Knowledge, going for that great unobtainable knowledge that drives people insane." She said, making Jasper clear his throat. "I was also kind of considering Knowledge. Not that we can''t have things that overlap, but if it helps make your decision." Celeste smiled and nudged her husband. "Guess I get to go with Journey then. Kind of a journey through time, creating my legacy through artefacts of power. So that will be Tinkering, Time and Journey for me." She said picking the three domains. Jasper nodded along. He had been looking over his own list of Domains and had boiled it down to three domains as well. "I think that mine is a lot more clear. I am going with Magic, Knowledge and Endurance. Endurance for the shield stuff." He explained though Celeste had guessed as much. With the domains picked Jasper looked at his wife. "Ready to get into the world?" He asked, she looked at him a bit confused. "Isn''t there anything else we need to do?" She asked and her husband made a noncommittal noise that she knew from experience meant that he made things sound easier than they were. "You get powers within your Domains and you have the stats I talked about before... But the game is going to prompt you for a choice when you load in, so nothing for now." He explained, very proud of what he had managed to accomplish in just six months. He just hoped that they could make up for the work that he hadn''t been doing. Chapter 2: Getting the domains and seeing the world As both Jasper and Celeste were thrown into the game they saw themselves flying over a massive continent. It was the world that the AI had created based on the parameters given to it. It was a single landmass with very few islands around it, meaning that the factions on the continent would be pushed into conflict no matter what. To the south of the continent, the dwarves were located. Jasper cringed as he spotted half a dozen bugs even from the flying overview. A massive mountain didn''t seem to end, just continuing to climb into the skybox beyond what should have been possible. He could also spot a river seemingly made from pure fire. Not lava. fire. To the east of the continent, large open plains could be seen, and Jasper knew that this would be the home turf for the orcs. Even so, he quickly spotted a massive Egyptian-styled pyramid, which he knew for a fact shouldn''t be located on the grassy fields. It felt like a tonal disconnect. To the north and northeast, he could see the empire of man. They had expanded far more rapidly than should have been possible, forcing the elven kingdom in the west to retreat deeper into their lands. That was probably something that they would have to address as well. Celeste was enjoying the preview of the world. While her husband was spotting mistakes and outlining bugs, she didn''t work with Deep Dive on a regular basis, and the feeling of being transported to another world hadn''t lost its magic to her. She could feel the wind ruffle her hair and it made her stomach jump with joy as the world zoomed away underneath them. It was an amazing feeling for sure. The couple finally landed in the middle of the continent, the earth rushing towards them at alarming speed before they came to an almost sudden halt just a meter above the ground. Before they were released the synthetic voice from the character creation could be heard speaking in a loud and clear tone of voice. "?????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???? ????????????." The couple were standing on a hill overlooking a small village down in the middle of a valley. The area they had landed in was an oak forest, the gnarly branches blocking some of the view, but the clearing that the village had been made in ensured that it was visible. Jasper and Celeste had found themselves in an open area as well, which was clearly intended as a starter zone. Jasper looked around, pondering for a moment. "I like the vibrant green that the leaves give off, but starting out in a forest might not be the best idea... Though giving us a clear view of the city will make it easier for players to see where they can go." He said, though Celeste wasn''t listening, she was taking deep long breaths, enjoying the fresh air and the soft soil underneath her feet. The sound of birds chirping and the warmth of the sun. Deep Dive gaming really provided the ultimate escapism. Her basking was interrupted by a pop-up message, filling her vision. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Tinkering! Players with the Tinkering Domain can create any non-magical object within 5 seconds as long as it can be carried by a mortal human. This process use whatever materials are at hand. Any food is inedible. The player''s crafting efforts for a day count as 100 laborers per Rank. Celeste looked at the pop-up for a solid five seconds before she realized that she was supposed to read what it said. She refocused her attention looking over the words and was incredibly surprised. "So I can create anything that someone can carry? And as long as it isn''t magical I don''t even have to use resources on it?" She asked, clearly a bit astounded by how powerful the domain was. Jasper laughed a little at the comment. "Yup, our Domains should be fairly powerful, though it is making up for the fact that we can''t use anything less than Divine level magic items." He explained as Celeste swiped away the notification only to find herself met with another one, this time it was showing the Time Domain. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Time! Players with the Time Domain get an ingame clock, and are immune to any time based slow effects, or messing with their perception of time. They may set their wisdom to 16, or 18 if it''s already 16 or higher. With the appearance of the pop-up, a clock appeared in the top right of Celeste''s vision. However, it was displayed two sets of times. She realized pretty quickly that they were running at different speeds and surmised that one must be showing the time in the real world, while the other must be showing the ingame time. Then she saw her stat increase and grinned. "I got a bump to my wisdom... huh, kinda regret that I didn''t put my 8 into wisdom now. That would have been 8 free stat points instead of 2." She said, making Jasper laugh a little. "Oh, you are usually not the powergaming sort, though I will admit that there is a difference between powergaming and not wanting to lose stats. Look on the bright side though, a 90% success rate on all wisdom checks isn''t half bad!" He said. Jasper didn''t look at his pop-ups until his wife had finished up, and as Celeste dismissed the notification in front of her she got one last pop-up. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Journeying! Players with the Journeying Domain always know exactly where they are and never lose their way to a known destination. This is accomplished by giving them access to a Map! They may treat travel as if it were as restful and nourishing to them as sound sleep and a good meal. With that, the upper left corner of Celeste''s vision was occupied with the option to view a map. She smiled and dismissed the notification before waiting just a second to see if any more appeared in front of her. When they didn''t she decided to try out her powers. Slowly she focused on her crafting ability and around her the grass seemed to disappear, only for a tight woven cloak to appear around her. While it was beige-yellow, the colour of dried grass, to begin with, it quickly became deep black and seemed to give Celeste an air of mysticism. She grinned. "Welp, it isn''t pleasant, this thing is still made from grass, but it seemed to dry it out on its own." She said, doing a little spin which made the cloak billow behind her as if she was getting ready to storm out of a room while declaring her vengeance. Jasper grinned, enjoying seeing his wife have fun. "What did you get from your last power?" He asked, having no idea what each Domain provided since they were constructed based on the game''s current mechanics. "A map" Celeste said, focusing on the tap in her vision and she found that a massive map appeared in front of her. It took up most of her vision and there didn''t seem to be any names on the map, which made sense, seeing as she could only find directions to a known location, and she didn''t know any of the names of the towns or areas. Based on the information on the map they should have been standing on grass hills, though Celeste assumed it wasn''t shown on the map as it would become almost unreadable otherwise. From the map, she could read that to the southeast some kind of grand gate along with barren land should be found, though when flying over the worlds they hadn''t spotted anything along those lines. "Jasper, I don''t think my map is correct, things seem to be kind of off on it." She finally said, which made her husband cringe ever so slightly. "Yea, it is probably pretty bugged. I will mark it for a fix." He said. "Next time we are in here it should probably be correct." He explained before turning his attention back onto his own pop-ups. As he focused on the first one the entire world seemed to freeze, even Celeste who was supposedly immune to being slowed down found herself unable to move. Birds, bees and the wind seemed to have been frozen as the entire world was locked in this very moment. Then, before the panic really could set in, everything returned to normal. "Uhm, Jasper... what was that?" Celeste asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice. Jasper cleared his throat. "Yea, sorry. Since I picked the Magic Domain, the AI had to suddenly generate a whole magic system for me to use. Don''t worry, while my magic probably isn''t really that useful at the moment, we shouldn''t get stuck like that again." He explained. Celeste gave him a look. "And what if we end up getting stuck like that in the game? Trapped in here as our bodies rot away?" She asked accusingly. Jasper laughed at the concept. "I mean, we have a completely separate system hooked up to an atomic clock. If we are stuck for more than five seconds in the real world, which should be about five minutes in here, it will pull the plug to the server and we will be booted out. It was one of the first things that the Deep Dive people ensured when they created the tech." Jasper explained, knowing that his wife probably wouldn''t be satisfied with the explanation, and the best way to get her to stop worrying was to try and get her into the game. As such he looked at what his domains granted him. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Magic! Players with the Magic Domain brush aside the spells of lesser mages. Simply spend one Energy to instantly negate any non-Domain magic being cast or destroy any non-divine artefact, magic construct or summoned entity. Jasper couldn''t help but almost cackle. He knew that the magic domain was going to be fun, but getting an almost unlimited counterspell was much better than what he had hoped for. The only problem was the fact that nobody had magic at the moment, since the mechanics for spellcasting had just been constructed. Only NPC created after this point would probably be able to have born magic, though most people could learn it from this point forward. "I got myself a Counterspell!" Jasper explained, as his wife looked at him with interest. She grinned when she heard that, she had seen that spell used a ton of times to great effect. The Domain did remind Jasper that he would have to go through what Energy was, though they could do that after getting their Domains sorted out. He dismissed the first notification and focused on the second. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Knowledge! Players with the Knowledge Domain may set their Intelligence stat to 16. If the score is already 16 or higher, they may set it to 18 instead. He grumbled a little when he saw the message, and when Celeste walked around to see what she laughed at him. Her voice not soothing his wounded pride, but it was nice that she enjoyed his misery. "Who is the powergamer now?" She asked, poking him in the ribs. Jasper just grumbled a bit more, setting his intelligence to 18 and dismissing the notification, giving him the last one. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Endurance! Players with the Endurance Domain don''t need to eat, sleep, drink or breathe, and may set their Constitution stat to 16. If the score is already 16 or higher, they may set it to 18 instead. Jasper groaned loudly this time as he got to upgrade his 14 constitution to 16, barely any progress. Celeste apparently thought it was the funniest thing that she had ever seen, having to use him as a crutch to stand, as the laughter echoed through the oak forest. Jasper couldn''t hold his laughter back as he hugged his wife and snuggled up to her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go as they laughed together. Chapter 3: Walking and mechanics With the Domains'' passive effects granted, Jasper and Celeste started to make their way towards the village. As soon as they had a destination in mind and started to make their way towards it, Celeste found herself keenly aware of what direction it was. While she had never been the best at figuring out what direction was where in the real world, in here she knew exactly where to walk, and she seemed to be able to naturally guide them towards a dirt road. It was fairly easy to talk while walking. Jasper would probably have been out of breath if he tried to talk and hike at the same time, but thanks to his Endurance Domain, he didn''t need to breathe anymore, which worried Celeste a little. She loved him, but if he started to ramble, one of the few things that could cut him off would be the lack of air, and if that wasn''t something that he had to worry about anymore, she might have to take a more active role in cutting him off. For now, though, she listened to him as he explained the mechanics of the game. "In brief, this is just a template so far. The AI will try and generate systems as we engage with them, but it isn''t something that we should be doing often. This world is still in development, I don''t even think they have an official title for this game yet, so we are just fixing bugs in the base world, then letting the AI use the chaos we bring to fix bugs that has been identified." Jasper was barely breathing between each sentence, and it made things hard to understand. Celeste just gave him a look and he instantly seemed to realize what was going on, so he made a conscious decision to take a breathe before continuing. "We should be in the primordial stage of the world, where humans have just arrived on the continent, and gods haven''t really appeared yet, but it does mean that any bugs we don''t fix while we are logged in will be iterated upon, and probably expanded into the mythos of the world." Jasper explained. He was happy to get to show his work while he talked, as it was usually just coding, which he knew was hard for most people to relate to. "Normally we let the AI try and fix its own mistakes... but this should be better. We can take a deep dive on how it fixes stuff later." He explained. It was a topic he was fairly passionate about and he could probably rant about it for ages, but Celeste decided to nudge him in the right direction. "So these god characters have the potential to change the world. Got it. But what can we do?" She asked, refocusing his attention on the mechanics that he had promised to explain to her. Jasper nodded as he realized that he had been about to go off track. "Right, so, you have a small stat screen, though you can just ignore your attributes for now, I think we have gone over those once, no need to do it twice. You should see additional stuff underneath." He said, and as he did she found what he was talking about.
Resources Value
Rank 1
Health 9
Energy 2
Impact 2
Worship 0
Wealth 0
Available Domain Power Points 6
Some of it made sense to her, but she decided to be patient and let Jasper explain. He was supposed to be the god of knowledge after all. She simply gave him a nod to indicate that she had found it and let him run through it. "So your Rank is how divine you are. You can consider it your level, but you don''t really get experience for fighting and solving quests, so ''level'' seemed like a bad word to use. If you wanna increase your rank you need to fix bugs and help create stories and mechanics in the world." Jasper explained, having seemingly put a lot more thought into this than she had assumed. Celeste couldn''t help but wonder how much work her husband had done on this and if it had affected his normal workflow. She concluded that it probably had, though now might not be the time to scold him for it. "Your health is how much life you have. If you go down to 0 you don''t really die, you are just booted from the session, meaning that projects you are working on will progress without your further input." Jasper explained, and the idea of dying and having a half-finished project just lying around made Celeste cringe a little. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Next we have Energy. Energy is how often you can use your divine abilities. Each time you use them the AI has to calculate a lot of stuff, meaning that, to begin with, you can''t use them a ton, but the more bugs we fix, the less the AI has to handle. In other words the higher rank you are, the more energy you get." Jasper said, which made some sense. "Energy is used in three ways. It is committed until the next loading screen, this mean that you probably can''t use the energy until you have left the conversation, stepped out of the room or do something that forces a game update." He tried to laugh it off, but it was definitely a bit vague, though Celeste would probably get a feel for it. "Then there is committing it for the day, meaning that you can''t use the Energy again until the next dawn. Yes, even if you use it at the break of dawn you will get it refreshed at dawn. I didn''t wanna implement another clock which might slow things down, so it is just a global function call that happens when the sun object shifts one of its variables, which so far is just its position in the sky, so if something tries to kill the sun we are in trouble." He said, his laughter now turning nervous and he tried to make it seem like no big deal. Celeste had to admit that she didn''t get much of that last part, she just focused on the first part and knew that she would get Energy back at dawn if she committed them for the day. "Last but not least, some powers allow you to commit energy for as long as you want. You can pull it back whenever you want, or you can just let it stay there, but there is usually some very specific condition that needs to be fulfilled for you to apply the effect." Jasper rounded out, as he finished up his lecture on energy. "Impact is how much processing power you have available for your character. You can set up systems where, when you log out, your character will take care of tasks for you. It will go around and fix stuff, though all this requires processing power, and you have only a certain amount allocated. I have tried to quantize it, so each unit represents a single task that your character will perform while the world progresses, but this is an easy way to ensure that you at the very least fix stuff you wanna fix, even if you are knocked out of the game for the session. This also increases with your rank." Jasper summarized though it was clear that he was taking full advantage of the fact that he didn''t have to breathe. "Worship is how many people actively see you as a deity, and no it is not a one to one number. You can spend worship on creating permanent things in the world. Let us take your Tinkering and Time domains. If you wanna construct a clock that tells the wielder when they will die, you will have to commit a certain amount of worship to this. Since the AI is controlling the NPCs, this mostly represents how much goodwill we have with the AI. The bigger the thing you wanna create the more worship it will take. If you select worship you can propose a project you wanna make to the AI, the AI will calculate the worship cost, and then ask you if you wanna spend said cost." Jasper said and Celeste tried to rephrase it so she understood it herself. "So the AI gives us worship and decides how much the worship should cost? Seems like it will make bugfixing changes cheaper." She said, slowly drawing the conclusion that Jasper had been working towards. "Yes... This is also how you increase in rank, spend your worship turning bugs into features and creating valuable items or storylines and we get more freedom." He explained. "Two more left, Wealth is pretty easy, it is how much money you have access to. It goes on a scale from one to ten, one being about a month''s wages for a skilled labourer, while ten is the gross domestic product of an empire." He said, and Celeste had to admit that was probably the easiest one so far. "And lastly, we have Domain Power. You can use this to buy powers within your domain, allowing you further control of each Domain, or you can use them to buy an additional Domain." Jasper finally concluded. Celeste was a bit stunned. "You mean that we have additional powers inside our Domains?" She asked, having almost paused midstride, though her journeying domain ensured that she kept walking. Jasper grinned. "Oh yeah, each Domain has lesser powers and greater powers. A lesser power costs one point, while a greater power costs two. A new Domain costs three points, so yes you should be able to buy two new domains if you want." He explained. "It will become much clearer when you pick your powers." He concluded. "Do you have the same stats as me?" Celeste asked, and Jasper gave a non-committal shrug. "Almost, I have 10 health, and I am assuming that you are at 8 or 9." Jasper answered. Celeste nodded along as he talked. "I am at 9." She said. "Should we start picking powers now?" She asked, feeling like she had already committed herself quite a bit to the mechanics of the world. Jasper shook his head. "Let''s get to the village first. From there we can get a feel of the world and decide what to do, then we can pick our powers." He said, smiling softly. As they walked, the topic shifted from game mechanics to how Celeste''s day had been, after all, she had gotten off work and headed over to Jasper''s office without going back home. She complained a bit about her students, but as she vented her frustration it seemed more and more irrelevant as she enjoyed the stroll through the forest, the sun gleaming through the newly blooming leaves on the trees, and the birds chirping away. It felt like paradise and it wasn''t even real. Chapter 4: The town of Marcusburg As they made their way through the forest, Jasper and Celeste continued their conversation and were only interrupted about half an hour later, when both of them received a notification. It was hanging right in front of them, clearly showing that they had discovered the city that they had seen from the spawn. Text from image: Location Discovered Welcome to Marcusburg Jasper nodded along with this, as he seemed to taking in the hovering notification. It was floating in mid-air, allowing Celeste to read it as well, and she confirmed that it was the same as hers. "Should we make these private?" Jasper finally asked, and Celeste realized that her husband was still thinking about game systems and how to adjust everything he saw. She did, however, like that he tried to pull her into the dilemma, instead of just muttering to himself. He had that habit when they first met, and it was one of the things that she encouraged him to work on. While it honestly didn''t matter to her if the notifications were visible or not, she knew that it mattered to Jasper, and as such, gave it some serious thought, if nothing else to encourage him to share his musings in the future. "I mean, I think they should be hidden at least when you are standing out in public, though it might look silly to have players touching the air, but for people that wanna play evil characters or are trying to hide quests or achievements it would be a pain to actively hide them." She said, before adding. "That being said, I do like the fact that I can see your notifications, maybe some kind of party-up system, where everyone in the same party can see their notifications?" She added trying her best to as much context as possible. Jasper seemed to mull it over for a couple of seconds before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Good points, I was thinking that it would be a pain to have them obstruct other people''s vision, I am pretty sure that someone is going to try and use it for griefing or something like that if given the chance... not only that but I think we are going to limit the notifications for visiting new places" Jasper added with a grin. Both of them dismissed their notifications as they got a good look at the town in front of them, and realized that it was probably closer to a village. It was surrounded by high palisades made from the wood that had been in the clearing. They were still fairly fresh, and some of the wooden stakes that had been used were trying to sprout leaves. The door in the palisade was very simplistic mostly focused on shifting a piece of wood that had been locked into the wall. It would be fairly easy to break down, even with the pair of simple wooden towers overlooking the door. Jasper could spot a couple of guards standing in each tower, seemingly armed with bows. The guards didn''t really look like a militia, their outfits weren''t even colour-coordinated, let alone standardized. These were some of the local hunters who took turns guarding the town entrance. Jasper looked at his wife and smiled, stepping forward and making their way into the clearing so they would be visible to the guards. As soon as the guards saw them they pulled back their bows, levelling the arrows at the two strangers. "Who are you, and are you with the empire?" One of the guards spoke. He was a young man, and clearly more on edge than the others. Jasper would have thought that the young man was barely old enough to hold a bow, estimating him to be around 14 or 15. He had a pale complexion and was sporting a leather vest that didn''t seem to fit him that well. Jasper showed the palms of his hands and cleared his throat. "I am Magnus, the wise, and this is my wife." He said, and he could practically hear Celeste rolling her eyes at the fact that he had given himself a fake name and added ''the wise'' to it. "I am Celeste, the... uhm... observer." She added, struggling with what she should call herself. She had wanted to go with tinkerer, but given her dark robes, she assumed that would probably sound like a lie. The young guardsman nodded at this declaration, clearly taking them both in. "And are you from the empire?" He tried to sound like he was in charge, but Celeste could feel how nervous he was. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "We are not. We are new arrivals from..." Jasper paused trying to figure out where he could plausibly say that he was from. Instantly, he felt Energy flow out of him as his Knowledge Domain activated, giving him knowledge about the human holdings that weren''t within the empire. "We are from the Rainbow Coast. The lands far to the west. We have travelled past hordes of orcs and we are just looking for a place to rest." He said, seeing his Energy go from two to one. As Jasper gave his explanation the young man visibly calmed. He adjusted the leather cap he was wearing, his shoulders relaxing and he calmly reset the string on his bow. "Makes sense you would seek shelter here, though I should warn you, we are not a friend of the empire, this is Marcusburg, and we have declared ourselves a sovereign nation, separate from Emperor Rivalbane''s tyrannical rule. Seeking refuge here will most likely have you branded as traitors to the throne." The guard explained. Jasper had expected this, the starting area was supposed to be neutral ground, meaning that no matter what happened, the game would not allow the human empire to conquer these lands permanently. The game would probably manufacture some kind of opposing army, or in this case, it looked like an uprising had happened. Celeste was the one to speak as her husband had spaced out thinking about what was happening in the game. "It would be an honour to visit your city. We are not a friend of the Empire and do not plan to be." She said, and with those words, another guard made their way down the tower ladder and opened the door in the palisade. Walking into the village there were about twenty-five houses for private living, an inn marked with the name "The Black Cauldron" on a neatly carved wooden sign, there was a couple of merchant shops as well, and to the left of the entrance was a carpenter mixed with logging hut. All the houses were made from oak wood, which must be from the surrounding area since the wood was plentiful around here. All the houses and shops were arranged about a round town square, which was some of the only paved areas in the entire town, though the town square had been paved with random rocks from the forest, barely hewn, making the terrain uneven, even if it was steady. Celeste couldn''t believe her eyes, this place felt medieval for sure, which made sense since that was the feel that the game had been programmed to reflect, but the people they had talked to at the gate looked real, and they felt autonomous, as if they could just go out and do their own thing. Jasper looked at his wife and smiled. "So, do you wanna upset the local economy by driving the two merchants out of business, or do you wanna try and figure out some of the problems that the town has?" He asked. He was enjoying the way his wife seemed to be amazed by every single aspect of the game, and by showing her this world he got to re-experience it, remembering how he felt the first time he tried this. "Let''s go to the inn and see what problems the town has," Celeste said determination in her voice. As they walked towards the inn, something shiny caught their eyes. At the edge of the round town square, a man was sitting wearing full-plate metal armour. It was such stark contrast to what the guards had been wearing that there was no doubt that this was the local leader of some sort. The man''s head was unprotected allowing the two gods to see his features clearly. He was handsome, clearly not from noble birth, but the rugged beauty of someone who had earned their place in the world. He had long curly brown hair with a diadem woven from young oak branches on his head. Without saying a word, Celeste and Jasper made their way over to the man, who didn''t seem to be guarded at all, simply sitting out in the open. He was talking to some locals, advising them on something that neither of the gods could hear. As the couple came closer, the man looked up. "New people. A pleasure to meet you." He said, not getting up, but his voice seemed to convey enthusiasm as he spoke. "Please, I am happy to have newcomers join us. I am Marcus, though, after last week''s battle, I believe I have earned the right to call me King as well." He said with a massive grin. Upon closer inspection, it made sense why he hadn''t gotten up. Underneath the shining metal armour, one of his legs had obviously been bandaged. Marcus must have been injured during his last fight and forced to delegate the town from a simple chair in the town square. Celeste nodded and gave a small bow. "Pleased to meet you, King Marcus, I am Celeste the Observer and this is my husband... Magnus the wise." She was absolutely struggling with the last part, especially when she looked at Jasper and he had a massive grin on his lips like he had just eaten an entire cake without getting caught. Marcus seemed to raise an eyebrow at their names. "Not a lot of people around these parts that have titles. You must be quite skilled at your jobs." He said, which made Celeste turn her attention back to the king. "Indeed, I am a skilled crafter and my husband is studying the supernatural powers of the world." She explained, knowing that the term magic wouldn''t make much sense for the king. Marcus seemed to mull over this, clearly wondering how to best put these two new people to work. "I will admit that our battle against the empire was blessed beyond anything that I could ever have expected, I also know that our hunters have had trouble with quite a few monsters. If you can help kit us out, then please, we will gladly pay you, as long as you don''t mind imperial coin." He said, making both Jasper and Celeste smile. It seemed like helping out Marcusburg would be the best way to start fixing bugs in the world, after all, without a starting location newbies would have a hard time. Chapter 5: Celeste chooses her powers With them having dedicated themselves to getting the starting area fixed up, Celeste and ''Magnus'' had decided to split up. Her husband had decided to try and teach some of the NPCs around town magic, just to get the ball rolling on that, while Celeste wondered what she could do. She thought about crafting something, but without having her powers available she wasn''t sure what she could craft. That was why she was currently looking at a notification. Text from image: You have [6] Domain Power Points left What would you like to spend them on? New Powers New Domains The first choice she had to make was if she wanted another Domain. The passive effects she got from the domains seemed powerful for sure, but she couldn''t help but feel like taking more would just spread her skills to the point where she had nothing she was truly good at. She already didn''t have the build she had been going for from the beginning, since she had wanted to be a crafter and had ended up with the Time Domain and Journey Domain. It was neat, for sure, but they didn''t synergise that well with the Tinkering Domain on their own. She decided to cement her current domains before picking a new one. As such, she chose the first option. Text from image: You have [6] Domain Power Points Left! What Domain would you like new Powers for? Tinkering Journeying Time Celeste knew that she would be looking at first. Choosing Tinkering she was met with a fairly long list of possible powers. She could of course choose to make her own powers from a little dialog box at the bottom of the screen, but she decided to pick one of the suggestions the game had given her. She looked over the long list of Lesser Powers.
Power name Summary Read more?
Faultless Repair Use energy to repair any object in a 4 x 4 x 4 meter cube. See full description
Command the Wheels Use energy to take control of any mechanism with moving parts, such as doors, vehicles or general contraptions. See full description
Hammerhand Commit energy to make any weapon in your hands deadly and magical. Damage is increased against structures, inanimate objects and living constructs. See full description
Mark the Maker Identify any crafted object and understand its purpose. Gain insight into who crafted it. See full description
Ten Thousand Tools Decrease the time it takes for your passive ability to create items. You count as 1000 skilled labourers per rank instead of 100. See full description
Transmuter Use energy to turn materials in a 4 x 4 x 4 meter cube per rank from one substance to another, limits apply on material type. See full description
Celeste looked over the options. These were all lesser powers, she could buy almost all of them if she committed herself to this single domain. It seemed incredibly strong for sure. Even so, she wanted to see what her options for Greater Powers were. Scrolling down a bit she found that the list wasn''t as long as it had been for Lesser Powers.
Power name Summary Read more?
The Maker¡¯s Eyes Instantly perceive the area around any object you''ve created as if you were there. Use energy to manipulate the object. See full description
Perpetual Perfection Everything you make is flawless and impervious to normal decay and use. Objects count as magical and capable of harming supernatural foes. See full description
Reverence of Steel Any clothing you wear counts as full-plate armour and the armour you create is always lighter than it should be. See full description
They seemed amazing as well. Celeste had to decide on how to spend her points. Suddenly six points seemed like far too few. She had seen a third of her options, and she would have to try and allocate a point budget for each domain. She considered her Tinkering Domain her primary domain, the Domain that she wanted to dedicate herself to. As such she should probably spend half her initial points in this Domain. Thinking it over she concluded that spending three points here would be a good idea. She also noticed the option to read full descriptions of the abilities, though she felt like she knew enough about the abilities to start picking some of them. She needed something that she could use for combat, though she assumed there would be something like that in other Domains, and she should probably focus on crafting for this Domain. She liked Faultless repair, it seemed like that would come in handy around town, fixing up houses and the like, and the Ten Thousand Tools power seemed like it would be insane as well. She checked her options. That would leave her with one point left to spare, and while the other abilities sounded neat, they wouldn''t be immediately useful. She did want the Perpetual Perfection power as well, magic magical items could help the citizens of Marcusburg. She could go over her Domain budget, which she had set up for herself. Celeste paused for only a second before picking Perpetual Perfection and Faultless Repair. She smiled, happy to have managed to keep herself within the bounds of her point budget. She felt powers swell into her character as she was granted the knowledge of how to use these abilities. She blinked a little, feeling a little overwhelmed for just a moment before refocusing herself and enjoying the sensation. She would have to look at the next Domain before she got too caught up in her new abilities, and she decided to look at the Time Domain next.
Power name Summary Read more?
Echoes of the Past Use Energy to observe a particular time or known event that happened at your current location. See full description
Immediate Foresight You cannot be surprised and can avoid most blows or attacks, as you see them coming. See full description
Look Forward Use Energy and have the AI generate the most likely outcome of a situation or actions of a person you have seen before. See full description
Prophetic Insight Use Energy to make a prophecy about a particular event involving a person present. It will come to pass if it is not completely improbable. See full description
Reflex of Regret Use Energy to turn time back by ten seconds. See full description
Withering Hour Use Energy to decay or age enemies, using time as a weapon. See full description
The abilities looked incredible, they seemed very powerful though most of them were using Energy in some way. Celeste''s Tinkering powers had been much cheaper for the purposes of using energy. She assumed that it made sense compared to what this Domain was capable of. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Simply dodging most attacks coming her way was definitely incredible, but the utility factor in looking back in time was insane as well, and that wasn''t even mentioning the ability to create prophecy which was definitely insane. Celeste hardly even dared to scroll down and look at the Greater Powers, knowing that she would probably want those as well. She did scroll down though hoping not to find something too good.
Power name Summary Read more?
A Hand on the Balance Use Energy and choose a single visible creature or object and define a particular outcome or event. If that outcome or event is about to occur, you can act as though you were standing next to the target for 10 seconds. See full description
Sundered Moment Use Energy and turn time back 10 seconds. After 10 seconds you can choose which time stream you prefer. See full description
Reweave Time Use Energy and choose an event in the area which has taken place in the last hour. You may reweave the past to produce a different outcome to the event. See full description
Celeste knew that she wanted all of them. The Time Domain was amazing. It provided the ultimate do-overs. She had to consider the time Domain her secondary Domain, and she allocated for that with a budget of two points. That did mean that she wouldn''t be able to get more than one lesser power from the Journey Domain, but she couldn''t go around picking everything. She looked over her current abilities, trying to decide what she was missing. She was missing something to fight with. There was a combo in Withering Hour and Immediate foresight that would be quite powerful for combat. She picked those and sighed, leaning back before she could be tempted by the greater powers within this domain. Once more she felt the powers pouring into her granting her the knowledge she needed. She realized that her withering hour was something that she could pour Energy into for as long as she wanted, and as long as she had the energy dedicated she could use her power to decay and age things within a 100-meter radius. It seemed very powerful and the fact that she could feel when things were about to hit her was a nice touch. She had one last domain, and she eagerly wondered what she could spend her last point on.
Power name Summary Read more?
Dust At Your Heels Use Energy to ensure that as long as you travel your group will travel faster than any pursuers. See full description
Know the Path You always know the safest and easiest way to go to reach any location, and those who travel with you count journeying to be food and sleep. See full description
Master of the Key Use Energy and you cannot be stopped by non-divine traps, locks, seals or bindings. See full description
Opening the Way Use Energy to create a hole in any security that you can bypass. See full description
Swift Progress Use Energy and you and all who travel with you move at double movement and are able to cross any terrain. See full description
Untroubled Passage Use Energy and while you travel you and those who travel with you will never be hindered by random creatures or bad weather. See full description
For once, Celeste felt like she had made the right choice. While Journeying was powerful, there was no doubt about it, it didn''t fit their current goals that well. In fact, it seemed like it was running counter to much of what she had intended to do with the people here. She knew that she couldn''t afford any of the Greater Powers, but she still decided to look them over.
Power name Summary Read more?
The Exodus Road Use Energy and your powers apply to any number of people, including armies, cities and nations. See full description
The Hour of Need Use Energy and a dozen allies within a week''s journey realized that you needed help just in time to arrive at this very moment. See full description
The Path of Racing Dawn Use Energy and you and those with you can fly when you travel. See full description
Celeste was almost drooling looking at the options. She couldn''t believe how powerful The Hour of Need was, and the two others felt incredibly strong as well. Applying some of the powers from this domain to entire nations would be outrageous, and she got a feeling that flight was something that would be incredibly strong. Even so, she didn''t have the points to spend on any of these, and she chose to take Know the Path. Not only did it not require Energy to use, but it would also mean that she could travel with people without them ever having to rest. Celeste felt the rush of power when she could feel the power pour into her, it was making her head spin. Her entire world felt like a blur for just a moment before she regained her senses. She was standing in the middle of the town square where Jasper had left her, she couldn''t believe how powerful she felt. While the Domains themselves granted her more power than she knew what to do with, these powers definitely brought her to a new level. Looking around she decided that she might as well start to use some of them, and she quickly realized that a lot of the houses around here needed to be fixed, which was something that she could easily do with her powerful new abilities. When she tried using her Faultless Repair she realized that she might want to read the powers before she picked them. She had expected to feel Energy flow from her body, but instead, it seemed to just be a trickle. She quickly looked over the ability and saw that she only really needed to use Energy to repair something, if the area contained a magical item. Since this village really didn''t contain enough magical items for it to be worth considering, she pretty much spammed her ability, knowing that the village would soon be repaired, one 4 x 4 x 4 cube at a time. As she worked people came out to greet her. The first couple of people who saw her working on their house would yell something at her until they realized that her hands flowed with incredible grace, fixing up everything from the cracked foundation of their homes to the doors and shudders in front of the windows. However, she got tired of constantly creating tools for fixing various objects and having to stow them away again, so with a thought Celeste created pockets on the inside of her cloak, allowing her to stow away any tools that she created. It did make the cloak heavier, but she was a goddess and a simple cloak would never be able to pin her to the ground. The more she fixed the more people seemed to approach her, some even asking her to take care of a couple of broken things. It was easy, mostly because things here were incredibly low quality. She felt like she hardly needed her Power to do this work, the inherent Domain ability that made her work like a hundred labourers felt more than enough, but she still made sure to fix everything she could. Celeste didn''t see Jasper though but she heard some magical noises that could indicate that he was working somewhere just outside of town. She found herself working along some of the village''s other crafters, showing them things that she inherently seemed to know about how to hewn some of the particularly tricky logs. Thanks to her greater power, the planks that Celeste crafted were perfect, every time she carved something it seemed perfect. She could even provide the crafters with tools made from her Domain ability, which in turn became magical and powerful even though they were made from stone instead of the crude metal that the villagers had made. Celeste could feel the magic pouring off the tools, and she assumed that these things would be the most powerful weapons in the local area, as well as being the best tools. Chapter 6: Jasper chooses his powers Jasper could see his wife was already caught up in choosing her powers. He knew that she would probably be making a budget for how to spend her points and, at the same time, not thoroughly weigh her choices. In his opinion, this kind of planned recklessness was one of her best features. Jasper knew that he would most likely need to look for someone to teach magic. He could probably make this land the foundation for all magic if he tried, though he would need some information before doing that. As the god of magic, Jasper would need to know how magic worked, and probably something about how the world worked, which would mean that he had to start looking into getting his powers. He knew that he didn''t want any new Domains, as they would take up too many of his points for mediocre benefits. Jasper decided to look at his Magic Domain first, knowing that it would probably give him the most benefits. As soon as it opened, he could feel his mind get overwhelmed with strange text. The Domain clearly wasn''t ready.
Power name Summary Read more?
Greater Pavis of Rule Use Energy to ensure that you are immune to all non-divine magic spells. See full description
Perfection of Understanding You learn magic quickly, any magic path you find will take you a week to achieve Archmage status. See full description
The Subtle Eye of Knowing You are able to determine the function and effect of any spell active or being cast in your area. See full description
E???????R?????????????????R????????????O???????????R??????????????????!???????????? ?????????????????P??????????????L???E???????????A????????S??????E???????? ?????????????C???????????????????O??????????????????N??????????????T??????????????A??????????????????C????????????????T??????? ????????????S??????????????????Y????????????S????????A????????????????D????M????????I?????????N??????????????? E???????R?????????????????R????????????O???????????R??????????????????!???????????? ?????????????????P??????????????L???E???????????A????????S??????E???????? ?????????????C???????????????????O??????????????????N??????????????T??????????????A??????????????????C????????????????T??????? ????????????S??????????????????Y????????????S????????A????????????????D????M????????I?????????N??????????????? See full description
Jasper looked at the screen, honestly a bit taken back by how much the system was struggling with implementing magic. It wasn''t even able to create a complete set of lesser powers, and when he tried to get greater powers, there was nothing. Jasper felt that messing around too much with the Magic Domain might be either an excellent idea or a terrible one. After all, this was a bug, and he could help resolve it, meaning he would be doing his job or trying to exploit it. Exploiting the system might just lead to more headaches down the line so Jasper decided to focus on fixing the system. He was reasonably sure that the reason for the errors was that the system hadn''t time to generate any magical paths. Jasper could probably help with that, but he would need to make the system relatively exciting and ensure that it could be used for plotlines whenever the real development of the game started. Before picking anything, he looked over the power called "Perfection of Understanding". It was the one he was most inclined to choose since it seemed perfect for teaching magic to others as well. Text from image: Perfection of Understanding Type: Constant effect Energy usage: Variable Full effect: You can learn non-Domain magic incredibly fast, allowing you to obtain the Archmage status in a School of Magic within one week. Any Magic School is split into four stages, from Novice to Archmage. Each stage grants unique benefits, though be warned that most gods do not benefit from the lower levels of non-Domain magics. You can dedicate Energy for as long as you want to obtain full knowledge of a non-Domain Magic School. This knowledge disappears once you pull back your dedicated Energy. Jasper could see a lot of hidden mechanics underneath the hood of those short descriptions. He felt pretty confident that he shouldn''t be picking these out with his wife, as he was a horrible backseat gamer and might ruin the experience for her. It had taken him quite a bit of self-control not to suggest various Domains to her. The god of magic decided that Perfection of Understanding was a good choice for him, and he picked it without a second thought, spending one of his six points. He wanted to look into the Knowledge Domain as well, though he was pretty sure that there wouldn''t be any harm in waiting with the Endurance domain until he needed it. There was some merit to having some points left over for reactive usage. He pulled up the list of Knowledge Domain powers and was almost instantly overwhelmed. There was a lot. He looked at the little textbox at the bottom that would allow him to craft his own Power and wondered if he could use it as a filter. Selecting the box, he found a small keyboard hovering over his right hand and quickly typed out the filter he wanted. "Please provide the top 3 powers that will be useful for me in the Knowledge Domain." Jasper noted that the box wasn''t that intuitive, and he should probably get this fixed. He sent the request, and while the AI struggled with the input, it soon became apparent that it was shrinking the list, making Jasper groan. It meant that the inputs for this textbox weren''t being sanitised. It probably wasn''t that big a problem, since only Celeste and himself would have access to it, but the fact it hadn''t been done here, absolutely indicated that it hadn''t been done elsewhere. He would have to try and fix that at some point.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Omniscient Scholar You have mastered all spheres of mortal academic knowledge. You always know the answer as long as a book has been written about the subject, and the book is correct. See full description Greater
A Word Far Off Use Energy to know whats going on in a particular community or place. See full description Lesser
Knowledge Shared Any community you build or contribute to has their tech level increased by one. This effect lasts for one year for every day you help the community. See full description Lesser
Looking over the AI''s suggestions, there were some viable picks. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. However, Jasper couldn''t help but feel that the ability Knowledge Shared would quickly bring any community he aided out of the Fantasy setting that the main branch of the studio wanted. As such, that probably couldn''t be picked. That left him with two options. A greater power and a lesser power. Both of them seemed good, and while Omniscient Scholar probably didn''t provide much information at the moment, Jasper knew that it would only get more powerful as time passed. A Word Far Off, on the other hand, would provide immediate knowledge about any location, though he hoped that it was more efficient than what he had done at the gate since he was still missing one energy. He had tried to pull it back, but it seemed to have been dedicated for the rest of the day. As such, he wanted to pick both options but knew that picking something without reading it over first was probably a bad idea, so he quickly decided to see the full details of each of the powers. Text from image: Omniscient Scholar Type: Constant effect Energy usage: None Full effect: You know anything that has been written in a book, though this is mostly limited to non-fiction books unless the fiction has roots in reality. Scrolls count as books. A book has to be stored and maintained by living beings to count as being under this effect. You are not able to obtain what is assumed to be lost knowledge through this ability. Text from image: A Word Far Off Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Until the next loading screen. Full effect: You will obtain knowledge of a place''s current challenges and various happenings. There is a wide variety of knowledge that can be gained from this and you will be provided with a top three list of topics that you get to know more about. This power cannot give you information about things that nobody is aware of. Both powers had quite a few tradeoffs, especially compared to the summarised version. Even so, they were worth picking, and Jasper took them both, leaving him only two points left. The two points weren''t something he was going to use right away; instead, he kept them around for a rainy day. To achieve this, he didn''t even look at the Endurance Domain, knowing that it would be far too tempting. Jasper walked away from the town square, knowing he could find someone and start teaching them about magic. "It is honestly fairly simple", Jasper said, though the ten people around him knew him as Magnus. "Magic is the underlying energy of the world, and it is the manifestation of the supernatural." He said, only meeting vacant glances from the people. He tried again. "So, can anyone of you name a powerful aspect we see in the world around us?" He hoped for some audience participation. None of his young students seemed to understand his question, though Jasper wasn''t that great of a teacher, and the kids that he had managed to collect were all too young to go out hunting and had been more intrigued when they had been promised hidden knowledge of the world. A young girl with bright red hair raised a hand, clearly a little nervous. Jasper nodded at her. "I saw lightning split a tree once." She said, and Jasper was about to dismiss the story out of hand before he realized that he could probably use that story as part of his lecture. "That is right. Lightning is a compelling aspect of nature around us. It is one of the elements that make up the world, and we call it Elementalism. The world consists of four elements... do you know what they are?" Jasper asked the crowd, and suddenly, a tiny army of hands were raised. While pretending to think, Jasper used his last remaining energy to dedicate it to the school of Elementalism. The knowledge that the path provided flooded into him and he suddenly seemed to know everything about it. He knew just how to manipulate the elements under his will, he knew the difference between an Elementalist and a druid, and he also knew that he had been about to say something wrong. One of the kids looked up at him, clearly eager to answer his previous question, and he nodded for the young boy to talk. "Fire is one of the elements." He said, absolutely pleased with himself as he was sure he got at least one correct answer. Jasper nodded, and with only a slight flex of his will, a burning flame appeared over the palm of his hand. It was burning with a warm glow, and he smiled. "That is right. Fire is one of the elements." He said while the pre-teens gasped in amazement, one particularly courageous girl reaching out to touch the flame from his palm before realizing that it was indeed hot. Jasper smirked, turning the flame blue and transferring it to the tip of his finger. "You see? If a flame moves quickly..." he started to explain, feeling the mastery over the flame pour through him, jumping from finger to finger, allowing him to make it blur together, making it look almost like lightning. "it will become lightning." He finished. Jasper knew that it was wrong, since there was far more complexity in creating lightning magic, but it was fine for now. The kids just needed to understand that lightning was part of the fire aspect within the school of Elementalism. The kids were much more interested now that Jasper had shown that he was actually able to manipulate the elements and the god of magic smiled, knowing that he would be able to teach them something. "What do you think the next element is?" He asked, and once more a sea of hands shot up, though this time it was followed by the kids shouting out the answer. Jasper had no idea who said wind, but he quickly showed off by letting himself hover a couple of centimetres off the ground, using only wind. Flight was pretty much impossible to achieve using wind-based Elementalism, but it was very efficient at knocking things over, which most likely would be able to kill anyone wearing heavy armour. Someone suggested Metal, which made Jasper pause, that wasn''t quite right. "I can see what you mean, but where does Metal come from?" He asked, trying to be patient, but it was slightly getting on his nerves with ten eager kids all trying to shout answers. There was a reason why he had never become a teacher. "The earth", he finally said, not having the patience to let his new students learn the lesson on their own. He pulled on the Elementalist path once more and turned the pounded dirt around them into rich soil, perfect for planting. A couple of beneficial roots and tubers could even be seen in the soil, something that Jasper realized he knew because someone wrote down what kind of alchemical components were useful. It pleased him that he was already benefiting from another one of his powers. Lastly, he heard someone say water, and he nodded, waving his hand once more and creating a localized raincloud above the children, which drenched them. Some of them, of course, started to cry, but everyone got a lot more muted. "Good, now then. Who wants to learn how to perform magic like this?" He said with a smile, of the ten pre-teens, Jasper found eight new willing students that he started to teach about Elementalism. While Jasper taught them the basics, an idea slowly started to come to mind. He had a problem. The problem was that as soon as Energy wasn''t dedicated to giving him access to Elementalism, he would lose the spells. As the god of magic, he could probably learn it faster than anyone else. An average human, like these kids, would probably be dead of old age or a stray fireball before they reached the level of Archmage, but Jasper could probably achieve that level within a year before getting his Powers, with the help of Perfection of Understand it would only take a week. However, if he could write down everything he knew about the school, he would instantly know it through the Omniscient Scholar power, which would allow him to reabsorb the knowledge lost through his Perfection of Understanding power. He would have to get his lovely wife to create a tome and some writing tools for him. Chapter 7: Spending the night at the local Inn It was evening by the time Celeste and Jasper met up. They found each other in the town square, and both of them felt kind of exhausted. Jasper looked at his wife, then kissed her before pulling back. "So what is the time?" He asked, knowing that she would know it precisely. "Right now, we are talking a bit past six, but out in the real world, it hasn''t even been a full hour. We have been in here for about ten hours, though. Time really move differently in here." She said, pretty amazed. Jasper smiled. "Yeah, and that is only because we are in here, and our brains need to process everything that is happening. However, when the game is running alone, it will be able to generate hundreds of years'' worth of time over a week." He said with a smile before turning to the inn. The Black Cauldron wasn''t really that fancy, but Celeste had made it look as good as new, which seemed to help a lot. Walking inside, Jasper found that his wife was the centre of attention. Celeste had apparently gotten quite popular with the locals, as she had repaired every house in the city and then the walls. The palisades weren''t that amazing, but it was enough to keep out most major animals. She had been teaching some of them, too. She showed them how to easily and quickly get the perfect shapes from the wood they were working with. It wasn''t long before a massive man with a giant beer belly stepped up to the couple. He had a round face with an enormous smile, even though half his head and right eye were covered in bandages. Introducing himself as Paul, it was clear that he had been part of the battle with the empire. "Ah sure, it''s about toime the two o'' ye took a break. I''ve been hearin'' a fair bit about the pair o'' ye. Celeste, ye''ve been doin'' a grand job round the town, so I''ll happily offer ye both a roof over yer heads and a bite to eat, on one condition, that yer husband quits scarin'' the poor wee children." Jasper blinked at the horrendous accent the system had generated for the innkeeper. It was some kind of Irish accent, but definitely not something believable. Jasper decided that the accent must be a bug that needed fixing. He realized that his wife had asked him something, and he refocused on her. "Sorry, what?" He asked, making her roll her eyes. "You have been scaring children?" She asked with a look on her face that showed that she wasn''t pleased with this news. "Oh, I''m just showing off a bit of magic. I got eight new students, and I think I managed to teach a couple of them how to manifest sparks from their fingers," he explained, very proud of himself. Celeste just rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked at the innkeeper. "I will gladly repair any damages that my husband is at fault for," she said, and with that, they took a seat at one of the tables. Jasper couldn''t help but notice how Celeste carefully inspected the table''s surface, seemingly unsatisfied with its roughness. Her hands moved along the surface, and as it did, it became smooth, as if her hand were sanding the surface down. She even ran her thumbs along the corners, making them rounded. Jasper simply looked at her, amazed by how well she had taken to this new life. A barmaid interrupted her by placing two large bowls of stew in front of them. Jasper didn''t need to eat, but he did so anyway, enjoying a meal with the goddess of tinkering more for the experience than because he was hungry. By the time she was done, Celeste was spent, and the two of them staggered up to a room assigned to the couple. "So, I might have a bit of a weird request for ya," Jasper said, and Celeste rolled her eyes. "I thought we couldn''t do stuff like that in here." She seemed more concerned with him losing his job than anything else. Jasper smiled. "Nope, not like that. I need a book and something to write with. I have something I wanna try while you sleep." He said, making her grumble. She disliked not sleeping beside him, and with a bit of bargaining, they agreed that Jasper could write in his book as long as he was still in bed. She manifested a ballpoint pen, which was too high-tech for a place like this, and a massive tome, having used a couple of skins that she had been given as a gift for helping out, as the materials for the book. The miniscule amount of metal used for the pen had been taken from the inside of the door''s handle, seemingly invisible. Jasper wrote the book on elementalism overnight. Well, it wasn''t perfect, but with his knowledge dedicated to the subject, he was the foremost expert on the subject. As such, there was a lot of information that he could cut out as it was irrelevant to the overall school of magic. His pen flowed rapidly, his mind never tiring, and his arms feeling fine, thanks to the Endurance Domain. When Celeste finally woke up, she was met with a notification. It honestly wasn''t the most pleasant thing to wake up to a notification that was right in her face, and she decided that she would have to talk with Jasper about that. The Goddess of Tinkering looked up at her husband, who had definitely not slept all night, which she had expected but was a little disappointed by. She told herself that she was just thinking of his mental health, but in reality, she wanted to snuggle with someone. She turned her attention to the notification, wanting to get it out of the way. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Text from image: You have helped out your local community! Thanks to your efforts a town that would have been destroyed within the next year is now a viable starting town. You have received 2 Worship. She blinked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She felt like this should be good news, but she was still tired, and she honestly couldn''t remember what Worship was. Celeste looked up at her husband and groaned. He looked down at her and smiled. "Morning sleeping beauty. How was your first night in the game?" He asked, and Celeste realized that she had been sleeping in the middle of a game. She did some quick calculations and had been out for a solid nine hours, with each hour in the game equivalent to five minutes in the real world. Celeste had just taken a power nap. She did feel completely rested, though, and she looked at her husband and waved her hand in the direction of the pop-up. Jasper looked over it and nodded. "Huh, you did really well! Two Worship is nothing to scoff at. Very impressive. Though I earned three for founding a new school of magic." He said with the smugness of someone who hadn''t just woken up. Celeste threw a pillow at him, and then she crafted another pillow and threw that at him, too. With her ability to craft pillows, she could win any pillow fight. Well, she was just using the pillow she threw as materials for crafting a new one, but that didn''t matter, she would still be winning. "What is Worship?" she asked, having found her morning energy after throwing a couple of pillows at her husband. "It is the amount of power you have to change permanent things in the world." He explained, and she nodded slowly. She got out of bed and used the bedsheets and pillows to create new outfits for them. She would have to pay Paul, the innkeeper, back, but she felt that she could simply do some manual work around the inn to make up for it. Celeste had created a new outfit for herself consisting of a tunic, belt and a skirt, which she had noticed were fairly standard around the village. She still kept her dark cloak, wanting to keep all her nifty little pockets with all her tools. For her husband, she did make a more striking outfit. A blue robe that could go over his tunic and pants, along with a long staff. She paused for a second and added a pair of glasses as well. They didn''t have any strength, and he gave her a questioning look. "I mean, I need to know what to call you, so I am making these glasses your ''Reverse Clark Kent''... when you have them on, you can be Magnus the Wise, god of magic... but if you have them off, you are my Jasper." She said with a bright grin. Jasper smiled back at her and just nodded. He could see why she might need that. "Fine, I will do just that. Now, do you want some breakfast before we get going for the day?" he asked, slowly stretching and making his way towards the pile of clothes. It didn''t take long for the two to get ready. Paul, the innkeeper, had sent up a bucket of water and some low-quality soap, which Celeste quickly turned into a much more refined product. They took a quick bath with water from the bucket, and the goddess of tinkering swore that she would have to find a way to give this village plumbing before she did anything else. "You mentioned something about setting up automated tasks when we were logged out?" Celeste asked while adjusting her hair. Jasper smiled "Yeah, your Impact... it is one plus your Rank" He said. Celeste nodded and found the stat. Focusing on it, she came face to face with a textbox asking if she wanted to input anything. She quickly typed out that she would like to keep the village of Marcusburg repaired with her powers. The AI seemed to think about it for a second before giving her a checkmark in return. She could see that this used up one of her Impact. When Celeste told Paul, the innkeeper, about the bedsheets and pillows, he gave her a look of subtle disappointment, which quickly vanished when she offered to fix up his tables and chairs. While she had made them as good as new, they were still reasonably lacklustre compared to what she could create, and she was quick to take advantage of that, upgrading the entire inn with new seating in a matter of minutes. Before Jasper had even decided on what to get for breakfast, she had finished up and was sitting in front of him. "So what are you going to do today?" Celeste asked, and Jasper smiled. "I was thinking that I should try my hand at constructing an artefact. I think my new tome might be a good project to work on. I would have to pour some worship into it, but it would probably be possible to do." He said, only to be interrupted by the same barmaid from the night before who placed some oatmeal and two cups of... well, it could be qualified as tea in front of them. Celeste and Jasper shared the oatmeal, not out of some romantic notion, but Celeste couldn''t eat that much today, and Jasper didn''t need to eat much, so they shared. The god of magic continued what he was saying. "I might teach some more kids about magic. It seems like a good way to create worship. I am sure that the AI is using these kids as an excuse for solving a lot of the bugs that it has created, and I get the feeling they will be a lot more powerful than they should be, seeing as they might have to tear down mountains or exterminate cities." He said though the idea of the snivelling kids slaughtering towns with the magic that he had provided them didn''t sit right with him. He would need to find a way to keep them under control. "Well, I was thinking that I would look into getting some upgrades for the town. They need a source of iron, though if you are going to create your first artefact, then I am going to do that as well. I can''t have you be the first to do so... honestly, I thought I was the only one able to do that." She said, and Jasper shook his head, a bit of oatmeal on the side of his face. She didn''t say anything about it, preferring to have him look at least a little dumb before the idea of him knowing everything went to his head. "Your powers are unique, though I was able to play around with the system last night. I can infuse an item with my domains. I can create objects of great power... divine artefacts. However, I can only do it within my domain. I can''t create a book that summons a flood. I would have to obtain the Water Domain first. I can''t summon fire or anything like that. All in all, I need to be able to link it to my domains, meaning that I can allow the wielder of the book to cast an unlimited number of Fireballs each day, no matter their normal magical abilities, since Fireball is within the Magic Domain, even if I don''t have fire." He explained with a smile that said he felt quite proud of himself. "Please tell me you didn''t make that kind of book," Celeste said with dawning horror. "No, no! God no... What I am saying is that your domain should be special. You are specialized in tinkering and creating things, and as such, you can probably create any divine artefact because simply creating an artefact falls within the Tinkering Domain. It might be a bit more expensive, but you can create any effect, as long as you have the worship, though there are two things that I figured out." Jasper said, only now wiping away the oatmeal from his cheek with his bright blue sleeve. With the oatmeal out of his face, he continued. "First off, Divine artefacts are not for mortal hands. You need to give the artefact a downside if it falls within mortal hands. I am not sure if you can do the same, but we are working at a level of power that will corrupt any NPC. I am assuming that the AI is doing this to ensure that it has plenty of plotlines to work with in the future. The second thing is that the more of your domains you can work into the item, the more it will reflect you and the easier it will be for you to control, though the more expensive it will become as well." Jasper explained, though Celeste had the feeling that control over Artifacts wouldn''t be a problem for her, especially not if she remembered some of the lesser powers from her Tinkering domain correctly. Celeste and Jasper talked for about half an hour before they finally made it out of the Inn, happy to get started on a new day. Chapter 8: Celeste and the Oath Celeste wandered through the village, her thoughts focused on what she could make into a Divine Artefact. She wanted to give these people something they could rally behind, and even if the artefact came with a downside, she was sure that it would still be powerful enough that nobody could take over Marcusburg. The Goddess spotted King Marcus, after whom the city had obviously been named, and as she saw his full plate, an idea came to mind. Walking up to the king, she gave a bow, making sure to appear respectful. There was no need for her to try and appear like she was gunning for his throne. He gave her a wave of his hand, indicating for her to rise, his leg still bound in bandages. "I was hoping that I could aid you, King Marcus," she said, and the rugged king instantly perked up. "Is that so? Well, please, I know you have helped the town quite a bit, especially with all your repairs, but I was told that you even fixed up Paul''s Inn for him. That was mighty kind of you, so please, anything you can do to aid us further would be much appreciated." He said, and Celeste knew that she could probably do some amazing things. "I was hoping that I would be able to improve your armour. It seems finely crafted, and yet I know that I would be able to infuse it with powers beyond anything that should be possible." She explained, and she could see that she had the king hooked. He wanted her to, at the very least, look at his equipment to make it perfect. Marcus nodded, though he seemed a little suspicious. "And in exchange for this, what would you ask of me?" He queried, clearly not expecting something like this from the good of the newcomer''s heart. Celeste knew that she had a choice. She could either simply give him the equipment and claim that she wanted to test her skills. However, the king would probably be suspicious of this, which left her with her second option. She could ask for something from the king she wanted, though it would have to be something that he already wanted to give her. Something that they both could benefit from came to mind. "I need materials for my crafting, and as such, I want you to establish a mine. I want 1 percentage of any ores and materials that you extract from this mine, and in exchange, I will help construct and upgrade it." She said. While one percentage wasn''t much, she would be able to benefit from this on a scale of aeons rather than day-to-day operations. King Marcus seemed to think the deal was almost too good, and he gave the newcomer a look. He was sizing her up, wondering what kind of benefits Celeste would get from this. Finally, he nodded, agreeing to her terms. "Fine, do what you can." He said though Celeste wasn''t satisfied with this. She looked at King Marcus and shook her head. "Swear on your soul that as long as Marcusburg stands, this bargain will be honoured, and I will do the same," Celeste said, and Marcus seemed stunned when he realized that she intended to keep this going for as long as the city was standing the deal made much more sense. He didn''t hesitate much, simply nodding. "Giving you and your descendants a reason to help protect and improve this town seems like a great idea. I will gladly swear this." He said before placing a hand over his heart. "I, Marcus, The King of A''kastin and ruler of Marcusburg, hereby swear on my soul and without being forced that while Marcusburg stands and A''kastin is a sovereign nation, this city will operate and drift a single mine on a location determined by Celeste, the observer. In exchange, she will craft superior armour and a superior weapon for me, and help maintain the town and mine... She will also help craft the mine." King Marcus said in a loud voice. It was the first time Celeste had heard the name of the kingdom that Marcus apparently was fighting for, and she got the feeling that Marcusburg made up a fairly large percentage of the kingdom''s landmass. She didn''t miss the fact that Marcus had added her to the city as well. He had probably thought that he was being clever and that he would end up with her and her descendants as labourers for the village. Celeste slowly placed a hand over her heart and simply said. "I agree to these terms". The world seemed to shift, and Celeste was suddenly prompted with a notification. Text from Image: You have been offered a Soul Oath! For a moment, Celeste thought about using Worship to create a permanent monument that would compel the people living in the town to live up to their end of the bargain, and not enforcing this oath seemed like it could come back to bite her. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Finally, she decided to simply use Energy, knowing that they would still be bound to the promise but, at the same time, could break it. She didn''t want to spend her newly gained Worship forcing the people here to obey her. Energy flowed from Celeste, and Marcus gave a grunt, and his eyes went wide. Celeste smiled, knowing that while she had spent one Energy for the entire day just to bind the King, he would understand that breaking the promise would have dire consequences. "It seems like I have made the right choice in turning you into an ally instead of having you as an enemy." King Marcus said, trying to make light of the situation, and Celeste was happy to humour him. Without a word, she tried to pull the armour off the King by using it as material for making ingots. For the first time, her powers failed. Obviously, the AI hadn''t intended for the power to be used offensively and had blocked the attempt. Celeste groaned as she realized that there were limits to her divine might. "Can you please take off your armour and give me your sword as well." She said, feeling the joy of getting to work on something more complex tinted only slightly by the fact that she couldn''t strip her enemies bare with merely a thought. King Marcus was more than happy to get out of his armour, revealing the gambeson underneath. Soon the various sheets of metal plating were neatly arranged, though Celeste didn''t really care how they were laid out, she did appreciate how well King Marcus took care of his armour. With the King out of the way, Celeste sat down in front of the armour and focused on it. She could focus on each piece individually if she wanted, but instead, she made sure to see the entire armour as one large object. The Goddess focused and hummed slightly, feeling the slowly building pressure in her head. She had to think of an effect. Celeste thought about the armour simply protecting its wielder more, but the armour seemed to reject that idea. She wanted to make it into a divine artefact, something that she could wear should she choose to. She thought about the armour making the wielder immortal, which was readily accepted. Text from Image: ???You are trying to craft a Divine Artefact??? Prompt: Effect that turns the wearer immortal. Suggested Artefact: Armour of the Everliving Reaper Divine Effect: While wearing this armour the wielder can never die, as long as a small piece of them remains. They cannot lose more Health then they have. Killing a sentient being will automatically bring the wielder back to full health, curing any problems. Mortal Benefit: Besides the divine benefits, a mortal wielder will also find that when they kill a sentient being their life is extended by 10 years. Mortal Downside: A mortal wielding this Divine Artefact will find themselves fearing death more than anything else. They will refuse to take the armour off, even as the life-extending effects slowly lose potency. After 500 years a mortal wielder will have to kill a sentient being every day to continue living and will be compelled to do so. Mortal Stats: Beyond the described effects, this counts as a +5 Greater Resilient, Heavy Fortification fullplate of Health. Cost: 35 Worship Celeste was almost brought out of her crafting trance just looking at the effect and price. It seemed insane to pay that much for an artefact, and especially something with such an extreme downside, though she was guessing that immortality was a tall order. The Goddess considered her other Domains, knowing that she should probably include some of those. She thought for a couple of seconds and tried to focus on making the Armor easier to travel in, which would improve its overall quality. Text from Image: ???You are trying to craft a Divine Artefact??? Prompt: An armour that will be great for travel. Suggested Artefact: Paladin''s Oath Divine Effect: The wielder of this armour can summon a steed for them to use at will. This steed will never be tired, hungry, or lose its way while travelling to a known destination. Mortal Benefit: Nothing beyond the Divine Effect. Mortal Downside: A mortal wielding this Divine Artefact will be compelled to keep travelling, never settling for more than a couple of weeks in the same location. Mortal Stats: Beyond the described effects, this counts as a +3 Resilient fullplate. Cost: 5 Worship The effect seemed relatively small since Celeste gained it from the passive abilities of her Domain. It really wasn''t that big a deal. Though thinking it over, she was essentially granting some inherent Divine effect to a mortal, something they never really should have access to. Looking it over, this was probably the cheapest armour she could create, and it was still out of her budget. She would have to wait until she had gained more Worship, though Celeste would also have to ensure she kept up her part of the oath. She quickly used the sword as the material for a new sword. The newest version was flawless, thanks to Celeste''s Perpetual Perfection. It was ornate, and what had been a longsword had been turned into a claymore. While a Claymore was longer than a longsword, Celeste had plenty of material to work with. The longsword had several flaws that required the original smith to add more material than it needed, and as such, it was much heavier than expected. Celeste''s result was perfect in every way. It was not only optimized for balance, but the weight was basically the same. It even glowed faintly to her eyes, as she realized that it was magical. She tried to lift it and found it was effortless, but she didn''t feel she could do more damage. Jasper had said that they wouldn''t be able to benefit from such simple mortal enchantments, but it still disappointed her a little. Celeste looked around, wondering if she could talk with someone about the weapon, only to see that the sun was high in the sky. A quick look at her clock told her that it was midday already. She had been crafting and tinkering for longer than she had expected. Celeste could suddenly see why Jasper always got caught up in his work, though there was something slightly ironic about the Goddess of Time losing track of time. Instead of thinking about it, she headed out to find a good place to set up a mine, which meant leaving the Village. She could go out alone, but she wanted to hear if Jasper would like to join her, so she tried to look for him. She walked over to the King''s house since he was living in what looked like a regular home, left the claymore at his door, and picked up the scraps of the armour, quickly converting the entire thing into ingots that would be easier to carry in her many pockets. Chapter 9: Jasper and the art of Mentalism Jasper kicked a loose pebble on the ground. He had tried to turn his Tome of Elementalism into an Artefact and found that it required more Worship than he had access to. As such, he was pondering what to do next. Jasper could feel the knowledge from the tome slowly pour into his mind, passively teaching him Elementalism. The AI was clearly doing its best to compensate for the lack of initial magic and had allowed him to spin up a whole new spell school without having to dedicate any worship to it. Jasper got the feeling that he wouldn''t be as lucky during the next iteration, meaning that he should at least establish the base spell schools while he was here. Walking through the village, he saw his students practising magic. Each of them was making progress in their own way, trying to combine various elements and manipulate them. Most of them were failing, and Jasper walked past his volunteer students and tried to instruct them on how to perform the spells more efficiently. As the god of magic, Jasper hadn''t been using any magical words or gestures when he had been casting yesterday. Still, he also knew that spells would be much easier when using those, and with the students trying to copy him, they were effectively trying to run before they could walk or even crawl. Jasper asked his pupils to gather around him, and they seemed more than eager to learn more about magic now that it was evident that they could perform the spells themselves. After all, some up-and-coming students were among them, but Jasper really hadn''t bothered learning their names. Learning their names would be pointless as, at most, he would be here a week before having to leave for 100 years. They would be long dead and gone by the time he got back. Jasper could feel his mind wandering again, and he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, looking at the boys and girls around him. "Right, so I see a lot of you trying to command the elements using your mind alone. The fact that you are able to even do that much is very impressive, though you most likely need a bit of help to get to the level I displayed yesterday." He explained. It wasn''t long before he showed them some magical gestures. Each gesture had an associated word that would help underline the intent of the gesture. One of the more popular gestures was the gesture for movement, simply a fist pushed forward as if to punch someone, while speaking the word "Kin". Combined with the gesture for fire, a hand cupped in a bowl and then moved in a pattern shaped like lightning in front of one''s chest with the word "Pyros", would force a flame to move. An archmage could achieve the same effect by simply thinking of the intent instead of speaking it out loud. However, focusing on one''s will through gestures was much more manageable. Jasper was pleased when his students seemed to be much more skilled at spellcasting when they used the gestures, though he couldn''t help but notice that he had gotten himself a bit of a crowd. Some of the pre-teens from around the village who hadn''t been part of his lectures yesterday were trying to follow along, though they seemed unable to perform the spells that their friends were performing. Jasper wondered why that might be, and he scoured his mind for a reason, pushing against the limits of the Knowledge Domain, meaning that there was no reasonable explanation since the system hadn''t made one yet. As if struck by lightning from a clear sky, a thought came to Jasper that he had written something about it in his tome. He did remember that to be able to start on a spell school, one would need to get instructions from a Mage, the rank before Archmage, or above. It was something with linking the fundamental force to one''s soul through observing a master in action. That was, without a doubt, complete rubbish and something that the system had just invented since magic was still very new to this world. It didn''t matter. Jasper got the feeling that the system was still malleable and trying to make magic fit into the world, and the rules weren''t as set in stone as the system liked to pretend. The god of knowledge would need to teach these new kids how to perform magic, though Jasper wanted to show them a new kind of spell school to create more diverse disciplines. "Yesterday, we talked about the foundational forces in nature and how they can be channelled through us and become magic," Jasper said, bringing the group to a more quiet level of internal discussion. Of course, there wasn''t complete quiet as the kids couldn''t help but poke and prod at each other whenever they felt bored, and since they weren''t doing magic, some of them were absolutely bored. "We concluded that the elements are one of the fundamental forces, does anyone else have a suggestion for what a fundamental force might be?" Jasper asked, only seeing a couple of his students pay attention. Some of them were only here because their friends were there, and Jasper had a lot more respect for his wife. Being a teacher was more challenging than he had imagined. As the thought crossed Jasper''s mind, the god of endurance couldn''t help but wonder if he could make an Elementalist Elementary school teacher. It could be a fun character for their next pen and paper session. Before he could dive deeper into his musings, he turned his attention back to the pre-teens before him, adjusting his glasses to refocus himself. Most of them had a raised hand, and he picked one at random. "Plants could be a fundamental force." The kid said, clearly proud, though Jasper considered the answer and shook his head. "You are right, though plants are the domains of the druid, and I am afraid that I can''t teach you much about that. If you want to learn druidic magic, you should contact the elves. They should know more about this." Jasper explained. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It probably wasn''t true with his powers since he could mimic any magic, but he also knew that a deeper explanation of what a druid could do would lead him down a rabbit hole that would be more akin to a bottomless pit. He quickly pointed at another one of the kids. "My dad says that nothing is stronger than loving your family." The young man said, and Jasper thought that over as well. "Well, the human spirit is a gateway to many fundamental powers, some of which are considered unnatural," he said, a little bummed that Celeste wasn''t here to catch his reference. "However, emotions and our brains have a fundamental force as well. We call that Mentalism." Jasper assigned Energy to be skilled in Mentalism, and suddenly, he understood what terrible power he was about to teach these kids. The ability to make people forget great spans of time. The ability to assign them new memories, force emotions towards you or another target, and even make them unable to fight or force them to do so. All this was within the realm of a Mentalist. Jasper had a hard choice to make. His base instinct told him that the pre-teens around him were real. They were humans, like him, with a moral compass and teaching them how to enslave other sentient beings would be wrong. However, not teaching them would mean two things. It would mean that Jasper didn''t progress with the character in the most obvious way he could. With him accessing the magic through his Perfection of Understanding power, the school was already out there, the AI had created it. The second part was that this magic could be used to resolve a lot of bugs. He could rewrite the accent of the Innkeeper using this path, and the AI might be even more creative when using it to fix the world. He could either acknowledge these people as humans or see them as lines of code. The god of magic adjusted his glasses once more, feeling like he had some kind of moral responsibility to these young kids. He drew a symbol on the ground. It was a hand, though it was pretty messed up. He didn''t have Celeste''s talent, and Jasper''s version was not perfect. It was blocky and uneven. It didn''t matter, the god simply needed a symbol for them to gather around. "As you might know, people call me Magnus the Wise. I am here to bring you magic. However, I want you to know that some kinds of magic are... forbidden. Consider this my ward. If anyone tries to mess with your mind, my symbol will protect you. There is magic out there that is much more harmful, such as Demonology or Hemolism, which is magic used for dealing with demons and using blood. I cannot prevent you from walking a path that is filled with dangers. I cannot stop you from tainting your souls. I can prevent you from doing so against your will. This is my symbol, and it protects against Mentalists." He said, surprised to see a notification appear in his vision. Text from image: You are creating something new! Requested Change: Hand of Magnus - A rune that prevents mind-altering magic. Scope: Fundamental change to reality. Worship cost: 64. Then he almost had a heart attack as he saw what the change would cost him. That was insane. There was no way he would be able to implement his plan at this cost. Before he could dismiss the notification it flickered and updated. Text from image: You are creating something new! Requested Change: Hand of Magnus - A rune that prevents mind-altering magic. Scope: Fundamental change to reality. Worship cost: 64 2 Note from AI: Magic needs a counter. Runes would be an appropriate counter. As a reward for crafting a new system, you will get a major discount on creating a new rune. Jasper got the feeling that he was getting a significant handout. The AI was clearly using him as a solution to a problem and had set the cost of this symbol within his price range. He would have 1 Worship left once he dedicated this amount of divine power to the Hand of Magnus. There wasn''t really a choice. The AI might as well have been holding a sign telling him to pick this option with the discount he was getting, and as such, he dedicated 2 Worship to the Hand of Magnus. The rune on the ground started to glow softly, shining with the light of ethereal power. Jasper honestly wasn''t sure if runes were something that he could command, being the god of magic, but simply reaching out, he found himself rebutted, as the essence of the rune felt very anti-magical. Suddenly, things started to make sense for the archmage. He had seen no evidence that a mage shouldn''t be able to wield armour, though it was cumbersome and casting would be slower. A full-plate mage should be able to cast the same spells as one in the nude. However, these runes were something else. They would ward against magic, protecting the wearer from magical effects in a limited area around them, meaning mentalism couldn''t be cast while wearing this rune. Jasper could see how this would give martial classes a fighting chance against spell-slingers if runes were reasonably commonplace. He was sure there was a hidden cost, but without someone researching the subject, he could not know what runes were out there and how they could be used. Jasper was brought out of his spiralling theory crafting when someone tugged on his sleeve. He blinked, realizing that one of the girls that he had been teaching was talking. "So sorry. I didn''t hear that. Can you repeat it?" He asked, and the girl looked a little offended but still repeated herself. "Can you still teach us some mind magic?" She asked, and Jasper smiled. With this rune in the world, teaching them about mentalism probably wouldn''t be any harm. He explained the four disciplines within the school. He went over each of them in turn, though not showing any examples this time, simply blaming it on the rune. He talked about the discipline of Offense, which was used to overwhelm the target''s mind with floods of sensory experience, from the basics of making someone simply more aggressive, all the way to the point where you could melt their brain through the intense and overwhelming bombardment of one''s senses. He then talked about the discipline of defence, something he encouraged them all to learn, though even this discipline wasn''t without its horrible possibilities. It could deconstruct a target''s mental defences, forcing them to only speak the truth or simply read people''s thoughts. The next discipline was the passive discipline, named after the way it turned people docile and compliant. Anything from forcing someone not to fight back to making them lose all calm and reason, forcing them into a frenzy, setting them in a state where they would fight even their friends. Lastly was the discipline of Control. Control could force a friendship between people, or a simple command would be enough to force someone to obey. They would have no choice in the matter. Jasper was brushing over the explanations rapidly, not wanting to delve too deeply into this, though before his students, who to his horror were paying close attention, could ask any questions Jasper was interrupted by Celeste. The god of magic adjusted his glasses, something that he was starting to make a habit of, before giving her a deep hug and kiss. He excused himself from the crowd, more than happy to help his wife with anything as long as he didn''t have to balance a moral dilemma. Chapter 10: What lurks in the forest Jasper released his dedicated Energy allocated to his mentalism knowledge. He would probably still need it later to write a new tome. However, he also knew that trying to change Energy dedication in a critical situation might prove difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, Celeste seemed very happy with how things were going, and as they left town, she explained the Oath King Marcus had given her. Jasper rolled his eyes. His wife could easily dedicate Impact to ensuring that she held up her end of the bargain, though it sounded like she would need to focus on not spending her resources too rapidly. The oak forest outside of town was nice and warm. The sun peaking through the branches made what could have been a dark and gloomy forest feel welcoming, especially with the newly sprouted oak leaves, which the sun could easily shine through. Everything felt so wonderful, especially when it was shared with someone you cared about. Celeste was still getting used to everything being so lifelike, but she was adapting quickly, treating the walk through the forest as simply going for a stroll. Just like they did in the real world. The only difference was that when they walked in the real world, they had a plan and route in mind, but thanks to Celeste''s Journey Domain they only paused after half an hour of aimless walking, none of them worries about getting lost. "So we need to find a place with iron." Jasper finally said, and Celeste nodded. "Yup, but none of us can feel it in the earth, so I was honestly hoping that you could do some knowledge magic and just know where the best place to set something up would be," Celeste said, giving her husband the biggest doe eyes that she could. Jasper rolled his eyes. Of course, he could. There were no questions about him helping her out. Jasper wondered what the best way of doing this would be. He could perform a miracle, like when he tried to get into Marcusburg, though that took a ton of Energy for the entire day. The god of Knowledge could also use his unspent Power Points to gain access to a knowledge power that could help him. However, with other options available, this didn''t feel like an emergency. Finally, Jasper could also create a permanent item that could scan for iron using his Worship, though it would likely cost a lot more points than he had. He thought about it long enough that Celeste poked him in the ribs. "Fine fine! Yes, I will help! Just give me a second. I was thinking about the best way of doing this. Either spending my unspent domain power points or just using Energy." He explained. Jasper knew he tended to get caught up in his head, and his wife had encouraged him to share more. "First off, you still have unspent domain power points? Why?" Celeste asked, and Jasper laughed sheepishly. "Well, what if I needed them for something awesome later?" Jasper countered, making Celeste''s turn to roll her eyes. "Fine, not the thing I want to discuss, but what do you mean that you can use energy?" She added. Jasper took the glasses off and put them in a pocket on the inside of his robes. He wasn''t worried that they might get destroyed. After all, Celeste could easily repair them. "Well, Powers are the best way for you to spend Energy, however, it is not the only way. Powers are just the most cost-effective way of doing things. You can spend Energy to perform a miracle as well. Essentially, you think of something that would be within one of your Domain and try to make it happen. The trade-off is, as far as I can tell, that you dedicate Energy for an entire day, even if what you are getting out of it should only have used Energy until the next loading screen." He explained. "Furthermore, there is one more way to spend Energy, though it is probably the most expensive option. You can use any power in your arsenal, though the cost is that you dedicate Energy for the day to access it, meaning that if the power also costs Energy for the day, you end up spending two Energy for the day on a single power, which is the reason why it is always better to buy the powers you want to use... but it is possible to do." He concluded. Celeste rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to wrap her mind around the hidden features of this game. She couldn''t help but notice that Jasper had barely taken time to breathe through that rant. "I would say go for the miracle, it would be a shame to waste the points," She said hoping that she could contribute at least a little to the decision-making. Jasper felt the Energy pour out of him. Knowledge flooded his mind as he became aware of the geological structure of the entire area. As his mind was filled with this knowledge, he struggled. It was almost too much to handle. He could see worry in Celeste''s eyes, a hint of fear. At that moment, they both knew that the amount of ''Fun Facts'' that Jasper could spew about the minerals and earth in the area would probably kill them both. Jasper struggled not to mention the rich clay-infused soil in which the trees grew, but he regained his senses. Without a word he simply pointed in a direction, but he still felt the urge to tell her that it was also the direction which one of the tectonicplates were moving. Celeste didn''t ask questions, knowing that something that basic might just have her husband talking about the average crust density for the next hour. It took less than an hour of walking to reach the spot Jasper had designated for the mine. As they walked, the landscape became more hilly, though it didn''t affect the density of the trees. They did spot a couple of boulders lying around, scattered between the trees, which was the only indicator that the geological terrain had changed. The gods paused when they heard voices coming from the other side of the hill. The voices were accompanied by the sounds of someone breaking the stone with iron tools. Celeste and Jasper didn''t even have to look at each other before they both started sneaking closer. This could just be villagers from Marcusburg, but it seemed unlikely as the King had sent them out to claim a mine. Sneaking closer, the gods soon spotted what was making the noise. A group of greenskins were hammering away at the stone. The rocks broke under their might before they were picked up by some much smaller green creatures and thrown into massive sacks. The sacks were thrown into a cart which was already struggling under the weight. Celeste slowly pulled back and looked at her husband. Jasper did the same, allowing them to talk quietly among themselves. "What do you think?" Celeste asked. "Good question. I am not sure if they are hostile. We haven''t heard anything along those lines from the villagers, but then again, they don''t even know that there are orks in the forest. I am sure we would have heard as much. I am fairly sure that the small guys are goblins, though without someone doing a deep dive into ork culture, I am not really able to tell you what that means. We could try and negotiate with them, but that would lose us the element of surprise, or we can try and storm them." He explained. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Celeste shook her head. "Violence begets violence. If we go in there with the intention of killing, we will not be able to gain them as a resource." She argued, and Jasper felt proud of his wife. She was greedy as hell, and wouldn''t let a potential ally pass her by. Jasper smiled and nodded. "Well, then let''s make an alliance." He said with a smirk. Celeste swallowed hard as she stepped onto the ridge of the small hill overlooking the minicamp. One of the greenskins almost instantly spotted her, the ork howling with fury and alerting the camp to her presence. Celeste prepared herself to try and turn time back but found that she had only one Energy left, the goddess had forgotten that she had spent one to create the oath, meaning that she couldn''t access the time power that allowed her to roll back time. However, instead of rushing the humans, the orks and goblins seemed to form into small groups. It didn''t take long before a massive ork stepped from a ragged tent, the only structure in the mine. The Ork was almost twice Celeste''s size, even towering over the others in the camp. He was sporting metal plating that had been knitted to leather scraps, making the entire outfit seem like it had been hastily assembled, though Celeste recognised that it would still be quite effective. The massive ork looked to her and then to Jasper, who was standing behind her. "Hu yah be and what ya want?" The ork asked, its words clipped and commanding. Celeste wasn''t sure what to answer, they were here to take over the mine, though she didn''t want to fight. "I am here to talk about sharing this area. I can help increase the amount of ore you receive from this mine, and I can help you refine it as well." She suggested, though she had no idea why she was the one talking to the orkish warlord, since she wasn''t the best at negotiations. She could almost see the shift in the ork''s face when she suggested they could share the mine. The ork grinned and shook his head. "Share, what are urz? No. Why bother?" He asked though it seemed rhetorical. Celeste had to agree. She didn''t have much claim to the mine besides that Marcusburg was nearby. It seemed vague at best, and Celeste knew that her offer of helping them increase production might not have any appeal if it meant that the overall resource would be lower. "Kill ''em" The ork''s words were casual and dismissive, and before Celeste or Jasper could react, a horde of goblins and orks were storming towards them. Most of them were ill-equipped and didn''t have armour, but the metal tools they had been using were far beyond anything Marcusburg used. Jasper was the first to react, hurling a ball of fire towards the group of orks, hoping to incinerate as many of them as possible. However, the spell went wide, hitting a tree and setting it ablaze. Jasper couldn''t help but consider that he should have trained with some of the guards in town before he got into a real fight. Celeste was quick to follow up. She dedicated her remaining Energy to Withering Hour and felt the power flow through her. She poured her will into the power, and pointing her hand at the green horde, she let her powers consume their time. Three orcs started to wither away, but one was pulled out of her temporal field, saving their life, while the other two became dust and rot. Then the orks were upon them. The weapons were hard to dodge, though thanks to Celeste''s ability to see the attacks in the future she felt her body move in a flowing motion. She dodged the attacks, feeling a couple of pickaxes graze her but nothing more. She cringed when the future showed her that she was in a no-win situation. If she didn''t dodge the next attack, the follow-up would kill her, though avoiding it would leave her open to another attack, which would simply hurt her. She didn''t have a choice in the matter. She took the non-lethal hit, and pain flowed through her, though not to the degree she had expected. It was the only reminder that she was in a game and not in real danger, as the pain was more a dull ache than mind-shattering trauma. A quick check of her health revealed that she had taken 1 point of damage. Jasper, on the other hand, was doing everything in his power to try and erect magical barriers to block out the attacks. As soon as one broke he would chant an incantation and erect another, layering them upon each other. The god of magic realized that he was fighting on the defensive, and the orks were pushing him back, putting him in a losing position. He would have to start turning some of them to dust to win the engagement. Jasper quickly decided to try another one of his spells, this time following his own advice and using hand motions and incantations to cast it, instead of just willing a fireball into existence like before. "Pyros, Presentis, Presentis, Pyros, Magus" He called out the magical words that he had been teaching just this morning, and found himself with much more control over the magic, and as any proper spellcaster, he ended the incantation by announcing the spell''s name. "OCEAN OF FLAME!" Thick fire spread from him, burning the orcs that had been trying to overrun him. Power poured into the spell, and eight of the orcs were instantly burned to a crisp. Had he been more skilled at Elementalism, he might have been able to put out the flames that ignited the forest around him in the same breath, but Jasper wasn''t at the level he had been yesterday when he had dedicated Energy. Celeste managed to dodge the flames that poured from her husband, though only due to her foresight. She got the feeling that armour wouldn''t have protected against those flames, and she would most likely have burned to a crisp. Almost half of the orc horde had been eradicated already, and they had barely taken any hits. She had expected the horde to flee, though the reason why they hadn''t became clear as the leader was running up the hill towards them. The Architect of Reality decided to target him, letting her husband focus on the horde around them. With nothing but a thought, she tried to wither him where he stood, but as she threw her power out, the massive ork jumped, and she lost her focus on him. It didn''t take long to refocus, but as she did, she saw him plummet through the air, landing a clean hit on Jasper''s face with a padded knee. As the attack didn''t target Celeste, she had no foresight of it, and she winced as she could only watch her husband get knocked down. Jasper groaned as he was pinned against the dirt and the ork. This should have hurt a lot, but thanks to the Deep Dive helmets, the pain was reduced to simple aches. Celeste tried to level another withering hour at the ork boss but was forced to pull back as she was attacked by the horde around her. None of them managed to land a hit on her, thanks to her powers, though she didn''t feel like she had as explosive attacks as Jasper. The horde didn''t show any mercy to the spellcaster as the ork boss had him pinned under a knee. The greenskins managed to hit him over and over again with pickaxes, though most of them only scored glancing blows thanks to his endurance domain. Jasper looked at his health. 7 out of 10. It wasn''t as bad as he would have expected, though it was not optimal. The ork boss pressing against his face made it hard to think, and Jasper tried to assign his remaining points to his Endurance domain, only for the notification box to spawn inside the body of the massive ork. Not only that but picking powers left him open to further attacks. The mage didn''t have a combat build, the only reason why he had been able to do as much damage was due to the Elementalist spell school. He tried casting another spell, though with his face mushed into the ground he couldn''t throw out incantations for another Ocean of Flame. Instead, Jasper focused on using a gust of wind to throw the Ork Boss back, allowing the god to get free from the pin. He groaned, feeling the effects of the beatings on his body, and as he got up, it was like he had been sleeping wrong. Celeste was quick to follow up on the ork being thrown back. Without being able to navigate in mid-air, the ork boss was an easy target for her powers. The ork crumbled under the weight of time itself. Her willpower forced him to age rapidly. The ork boss never landed, instead scattering to the wind as dust, which was consumed by the burning trees. The horde of orks seemed to realize their leader wouldn''t be backing them up and scattered. Jasper slowly walked around, using his Elementalist powers to extinguish the flames that were quickly consuming the trees around him. Once done, Celeste hugged him. "I don''t like fighting," She said, and Jasper knew what she meant. The fighting had felt real, even if the pain was minimal, the adrenaline of combat was intense. It was as if their life had depended on the fight, and for a brief moment, Jasper had feared for his life. "You know, we did well though. Even though none of us have focused on combat, we still managed to beat almost 25 orks and their leader." He said with a grin, knowing that it was important that Celeste had a positive experience with the game. Celeste gave him a soft slap on the head, only afterwards realizing that she might have been hitting the place where the ork boss had kneed him. "Sorry. But you know, I had thought that combat would be a lot easier with us being gods and everything." She said, still hugging her husband. He hugged her back now that they weren''t in danger of burning down the forest. "I know what you mean. Seems like we aren''t really that powerful yet. We might need to rank up a bit before we can show off." He said with a sigh. Celeste nodded, and they stayed in the hug for a bit longer. Chapter 11: Divine Construction Both Jasper and Celeste had been wounded during the battle, though Jasper quite a bit more than Celeste. They slowly got up, recovering from the fight with each other''s help, as it had been quite mentally taxing. Looking around the mine, it was clear this was a temporary mining camp. Fur skins and rugs of all kinds were used for bedding, and there was only one makeshift tent. The dead orks had a couple of pickaxes, but other than that, it seemed like they had been doing a lot of work around here by hand. An hour later, Jasper was looking at a finished barn over the mine. He had genuinely tried to help but had only gotten in the way. It had been quick since Celeste had complete control over building with her Tinkering Domain. Using her material consumption abilities, she had made a clearing around the barn and pulled down trees with nothing but a thought, making them into perfect planks. The planks were then easily placed in the right spots. From there, she connected them using various types of joints that Jasper didn''t even know the name of since nobody had written a book about the topic. The god of Magic considered spending his one remaining Energy on simply knowing what types of joins and methods were being used, but he decided against it, knowing that he might want to use it later. What Jasper did know was that barns could be put up rapidly. He knew the Amish back home could put up a barn in less than a day with less than a hundred people, but he hadn''t known that Celeste could be this efficient. Celeste was cheating. Well, cheating was a strong word. The goddess of Tinkering had stopped dedicating Energy to Withering Hour and was dedicated to gaining access to a power she hadn''t picked when she had levelled up last time. It was gone for the rest of the day, but she got to use the power "Ten Thousand Tools". This Power allowed her to count as 1000 skilled labourers instead of simply 100 labourers. She could feel the difference. Her hands moved in ways she had never imagined they could and allowed her to use wood joints she had never seen. She knew exactly where to place the next piece of lumber to prevent the house from collapsing. Something weird had happened when she gained the Power. Celeste could feel that this Power allowed her other domains to synergize with her building. She could use them, as long as it was for the purposes of construction. She had started by using some sap mixed with some charcoal leftover from a bonfire as wood glue. Instead of waiting for it to dry, her Time Domain had called to her, and instinctively, she had sped up time around the natural glue, hardening it in a matter of seconds. Celeste knew she would have to choose this as her next Power now that she had experienced its awesomeness. The goddess even started to abuse it slightly. Instead of mixing in charcoal, she simply contained the sap in a temporal loop, ageing it for millions of years in the span of a second. Thanks to her ability to process materials for tinkering, she could even force the environment around the sap to be completely oxygen-free. That meant that in the blink of an eye, she created amber. She started using amber for skylights, ensuring light could enter, but debris wouldn''t fall through the windows. With the barn done, Celeste stepped back from the building. It was covering the open mine that the Orks had been working on. "Great job, sweetie. I can''t believe how quickly you got that done." Jasper said, honestly deeply surprised. Celeste looked at him, confused. "Done? This is just the foundation. I will create two mineshafts on either side of the storage barn. Just wanted to check if I could find a nearby lake or something like that." She looked around, hoping to find just what she was looking for. Jasper cleared his throat. "What do you mean, the foundation?" He had assumed that this would be the entire structure. Celeste shook her head. "The orks were building an open mine, meaning that they would have only scratched the surface of any potential ore, or have some pretty heavy-duty machinery that I can''t imagine them having access to. I want to build an underground mine, which will be harder to manage but will most likely produce a much higher yield." She explained, outlining the idea for Jasper. As he nodded, she continued to outline her plan. "I am going to place two mine entrances. They will be connected below ground, allowing us to pump air through one of them and have it exit through the other. I also would love some kind of pulley system to lower and raise a pair of platforms for the miners to use for themselves and their resources. Both these elevators and the bellows for air would require some kind of mechanical energy. I could use furnaces for that, but I don''t think that is really that effective and would lead to clearing the woods. My preferred method would be a waterwheel, but that requires a lake or at least some running water." She was doing her best to try to talk through her problem. Jasper almost instantly got introspective. He thought about his Domains and how he might apply them to creating energy. The god could probably fix it by using some kind of arcane energy flow. However, that would lead the game down a path of ''Arcane-punk'', which he wasn''t sure if the main branch of Weird World Computing would appreciate. The god of knowledge was brought out of his thoughts by Celeste giving him a small poke, and he nodded. "I can see what you mean. Can I try and find a solution for that?" He asked, not wanting to take away from her project if she wanted it to be hers alone. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Celeste looked a bit surprised but nodded. "Sure, I will probably be installing three mechanical shafts that need rotational energy for you to connect with. One for each elevator and one for the bellows. I will probably have to make a break for the elevators, but that should be fine, even if I make it from wood" Celeste was already working on the next part of the hut. Even though it was only a couple of hours until sundown, Jasper knew that they would be home before the sun had a chance to set, all thanks to how fast Celeste worked and her ability to walk in the right direction. Jasper walked around the building site, trying to ignore the fact that he could swear he heard the sound of power tools coming from his wife as she worked. Usually, the solution to an engineering problem would have to be efficient, easily scalable and easy to reproduce. However, Jasper couldn''t have this lead to an industrial revolution, and as such it could only be efficient. It should be almost impossible to scale for larger projects, and reproducing it needed to be equally impossible. The god of knowledge could use some kind of divine spark to accomplish this, but that could result in some vindictive fanatics tearing the building apart simply because it had some divine energy. That was assuming that he would be getting more gods who would have cults interested in the divine. As far as he could tell, a clockwork mechanism would be the easiest way to do this, but that could be scaled or at least replicated. He thought about building a windmill, but that would be scalable. However, it would be hard to do efficiently without electromagnetism, meaning that each building would need its own windmill. The idea was dismissed since they were in an oak forest. However, that did provide an idea. Jasper knew geothermal energy sources were usually planted in open fields, primarily for two reasons. Number one was the fact that digging in a forest was a nightmare. You would most likely end up damaging the trees. However, using Elementalism, Jasper could move the earth around the roots. The second problem was that a forest floor is colder than the air, at least in the summer, though it is likely the reverse in the winter. But it was only a bad thing if he wanted to heat something. Jasper smiled, as he started working. Celeste had only been interrupted by her husband once when he asked for some paper and pencils, though this didn''t surprise her. While they enjoyed sharing things, they also saw the value in ''parallel play''. Doing different things in the same general area was often seen as rude, at least from how both of them had been raised. However, they enjoyed each other''s company, even without directly interacting. Celeste had taken some creative liberties with the building. The two mineshaft entries had been shaped into defensive towers. It didn''t mean much in the middle of the forest, but it was still better than nothing. They would be able to hit anyone entering into the clearing. The bellows had been quite an interesting project as well. They had been optimized to pull air from the top of the towers, instead of just sucking in air around them. Thanks to a lopsided cog, the bellow would be pushed in, and with the help of a rotating oval, the sides of the bellows could be spread. All in all, she was quite proud of her project. She had no idea how much weight each elevator could take, after all, bark twine could only hold so much. However, with her removing all imperfections, she was fairly sure that it could lift at least ten people, though she would have to inform the villagers about this. Jasper looked like he was ready to go home, though looking over his work, she was a little surprised. "Do you wanna share what you are building? Well, I assume I will be building this." She asked with a smirk. He shrugged. "You probably will, but I think I have an elegant and non-scalable solution to our energy problem." He said with a grin. "We will be using ground heat... that and ground cold. The important aspect is that we have a noticeable temperature differential. While stuff like that is usually used for heating up housing, it can also drive something fairly small. Don''t get me wrong, the scale I have to apply this to compared to the benefit is not worth it. It is far more efficient just to have a water heater over a bonfire. However, this has three benefits. Most of it will be underground, ensuring that it will be hard to notice and sketch out. The tubing also has to be manufactured with such precision that it is pretty much impossible to do with current levels of technology. The amount of pressure that will be running through the piping means that smelting would be the only option, and even then, sections would need to be strengthened. However, you should be able to create it with your abilities, making it into a flawless single piece. Last, but not least, it will be a closed loop, with no moving parts. I was thinking that using Tesla valves would ensure a oneway flow, and a large tank above ground would help cool or expand the liquid." He explained, pointing at the drawings. Jasper seemed to have thought of most aspects of this project, though there was still the question of how energy would be pulled out of this system. The god of knowledge smiled that wide grin that made her heart melt just a little. "I am thinking some kind of turbine, though making it a bit more complex I am thinking that using a Tesla turbine might be the best solution, and if instead of water I create something much better from some of these local plants, we will have an energy source that will never be a viable option for large scale industrial complexes!" Jasper explained. He was so excited that Celeste was sure he was going to underline the entire idea using jazzhands. He didn''t, but as they walked back to town he continued to talk about his plan. Coming back to the town, Celeste and Jasper split up, though both of them noticed that all around town, every house had the hand symbol Jasper had created painted above the door. They didn''t say anything about it, though. Jasper went around to round up his students and give them some pointers now that he had finally been in combat, while Celeste needed to talk to the king. While it was late, people hadn''t gone to bed just yet. "Ahh! Celeste! I am pleased that you have returned. We heard some commotion from the forest earlier, and we were worried for your safety. I am glad to see that you are well." The ruggedly handsome king was dressed in a grey outfit to keep him warm during the rapidly cooling evening. "Yup! We found a great place for a mine, about an hour''s walk from here, so not really that far." She explained, making the king nod with a mischievous smile. "I am assuming that you mean the orkish camp? I am assuming that you cleared out the orks." He asked, and Celeste got the feeling that the king had known about the orks when he had pledged himself to the oath. She nodded. "Yup, and I laid the foundation for a new mine. It still needs most of the interior, but the exterior should be finished." She explained. The king looked at her. "Don''t go thinking that I will let you off the hook with just a simple hut. I expect a full mining operation." He said, and Celeste wanted to slap him. The goddess reminded herself that he didn''t know that she had divine powers. All he knew was that she was proficient in tinkering. She nodded. "I don''t do things in small measures. Have your people out there tomorrow, and I will talk them through using the facility, " she said before turning away and heading towards the inn, her body aching from the fight. Jasper was already in their room. Despite not needing to sleep thanks to his Endurance domain he had passed out on the bed. Celeste smiled and snuggled into his embrace, getting the best powernap of her life. Chapter 12: The First Shrine Text from image: You have become the patron of a village! Your personal intervention has ensured that basic equipment is available to new players and the starting town of Marcusburg will prosper. Furthermore, your actions have ensured an orkish invasion and made the starting zone more viable for 1 additional race. You have gained 4 Worship. Celeste woke up to another message about getting worship. She didn''t know how she felt about this one. Well, that was a lie, she had orchestrated an invasion, which wasn''t really something she had expected to do. "Uhm, Jasper are you seeing this?" She asked. Jasper was sprawled out beside her. "Yup, though you shouldn''t worry too much about it. I am pretty sure that the game will use any excuse to try and cram all races into the starting zone, our actions are just a convenient excuse to resolve this, which is why we are here. I wouldn''t be surprised if drows and dwarves are in the tunnels underneath the mine, and as soon as we start digging they will spring up" He explained, she looked over at him and sighed. "I guess... I am assuming that you got the same message?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yup, 4 worship... Though I got it for introducing a new spell school." He said, slowly getting up and getting a quick washdown. To her surprise, Celeste could see various bruises on his body, though she didn''t feel any worse for wear. "You are still hurt?" She asked, and Jasper tried to stretch but winced. "Yeah, we only heal our rank in health every day, so it is a slow progress... not to mention that most mortal healing doesn''t work on us. I tried to make a salve, but it did absolutely nothing" Jasper explained. Celeste looked at the clocks in her Heads up display and winced. "We have 5, maybe 3 days left in here before we need to disconnect. We have already been gaming for almost 4 hours, and it seems like we might want to speed things up a little." She said. It was the weekend out in the real world, but that didn''t mean that they could simply waste away while gaming. She was pretty sure that they would be dehydrated and sore when they got out, so they would need some time to recover. Jasper agreed as they got dressed and made their way down the stairs. There was so much that needed to be done. The fact that their worst enemy was time was almost poetic. Even the goddess of time was a slave to it. They could, of course, stay longer in the game. Both of them knew that it was a slippery slope. 14 hours was already... a lot, and each day would add two more hours to that total. Celeste had allocated them 14 hours, a full week in the game, and Jasper knew that he should listen to her. Celeste preferred when there was some semblance of a plan, and having a deadline really worked for her. After breakfast, the pair split up. Jasper wouldn''t be teaching today. Instead, he would focus on crafting the ground cooling installation. He would make a prototype and have Celeste help him out later. Celeste was making her rounds in town and she came to a halt. She could see a new building slowly being constructed. Around ten were people helping out by lifting and shaping dried oak logs into a small box-like structure. Celeste examined it closer, she could see the makings of a firing pit, as well as plenty of space for movement. Combined with the fact that there was made room for air to flow through the building, the goddess of tinkering was fairly sure they were constructing a smithy. They would still need a refinery, as the ore from the mine would be rough to use directly, but it seemed to be good work. A broad-shouldered woman was clearly in charge of the operation. Her jet-black hair was neatly tugged into a braid, and she was directing people as much as she was helping. As soon as Celeste heard her talk, she thought about what Jasper had said about the innkeeper''s accent. The woman had a fairly hefty German accent, seemingly unrelated to the environment around them. "I need some stones shaped for ze firing pit. Kenneth, I vill be zere to help you vith ze crossbeam in a second, please calm down, it is not zat heavy." She turned her attention to Celeste. The massive woman smiled and waved. "Ey, you must be ze newcommer zat has been helping out around town! Please to meet you. I am Helga. If you have ze time, I could use some help." Celeste didn''t break her stride, dedicating Energy for the entire day to gain access to Ten Thousand Tools. Celeste talked with Helga as they worked. The more she talked with the woman the more it became clear that she was trying to change the world for the better, as Helga''s dream was to be remembered. The goddess really wanted to spend her worship helping the smith, but she also needed it for the King''s armour. She had promised him superior armour and weapons. However, the standard sword she had created had been considered superior thanks to her gift of making things magical. She could see a loophole that was worth exploiting. After all, the King had almost gotten them killed. It probably wasn''t his intention, but gods could be fickle, right? Thanks to Celeste''s work the smithy was done in record time. She had pretty much increased the number of labourers assigned to the construction a hundredfold. It wasn''t long before Helga and Celeste were standing in the smithy, while the others were making their way back to various other tasks. The goddess pulled out the ingots that had been the king''s armour and started to work. She poured herself into the craft, truly creating something amazing, instead of simply manifesting the object that would be perfection, she actually applied the skills that the game had given her. She was working hard, sweat pouring from her brow as she created interlocking plates that would be almost impossible to find a weak spot in. It was closer to scalemail than to plate armour, and thanks to various pieces of chainmail anything that needed to stretch would have space for doing it. It was a time-consuming project, something that would have taken most mortals ten years to produce, with perfect knowledge of how to construct the armour she managed to do it in eight hours. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Her clothes were soaked through from standing at the forge, and she could barely stand on her feet, but Celeste was done. She looked at the armour. A masterpiece. A magnum opus. It was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. At that moment, more than any other moment, even with all the time-bending she had ever done, Celeste understood what level she was working on. She was creating perfect works with a single thought, and with less than a single day''s work she had managed to create something that would not be rivalled for decades. She had spent a lot of her basic resources though, but it was done, she had not even spent worship on it. She pulled it up and looked at it, then felt disappointment. It was clear that it would not work for her in the slightest, the armour was just too simple, not reaching divine quality, but rather it was closer to peak mortal quality. She sighed. "Can I interrupt you now?" Jasper''s voice could be heard from the entrance to the smithy, and for the first time, Celeste managed to look around and realize that Helga had left, but Jasper was waiting for her. "Uhm, yeah, sorry. You needed me for the project... Are you ready for me to start constructing it?" She asked, leaning against an anvil made from polished stone. Jasper shook his head. "It is fine, looks like you might need a mental break though. That amount of concentration can''t be healthy. We can work on it another day." Jasper said with a smile. "You should be able to bring up the mortal stats for it if you want." He added pointing at the intricate armour. Celeste shook her head. It would just be even more depressing to see what she was missing out on. The couple went to hand over the armour, only to find that the king was out supervising some scouting project. Orks had been spotted at the southwestern border, and they were trying to set up a trap. Both Celeste and Jasper knew that probably wouldn''t work, seeing as the game wanted the orks in these lands. They could, of course, try and warn the populace, but doing that probably wouldn''t change anything either. After all, two mysterious newcomers talking about the fate of the lands would make a great tale, though the tale would be about how the people of the land should have listened to them since they were the gods in disguise. It was late evening, almost edging on night, when Celeste decided to return to the forge just to check everything out before getting some sleep. She looked around it and sighed. She wanted to help out Helga the Smith. Celeste sat down and focused on the environment around her, pouring her intention into it. She wanted to make this place better. She wanted to help. She was rewarded with a notification. Text from image: You have found a place that resonated with you! You can bestow your power onto people and places. Would you like to convert Marcusburg Smirthy into a shrine for "Celeste, Architect of Eternity"? Celeste blinked. She hadn''t known that she could do that, but it made sense. She desperately wanted to agree, reaching out to the notification and pouring every ounce of willpower and worship she had into confirming this. Celeste felt her worship pour out of her, as all 6 of them were consumed by the shrine, around her the world started to make impossible changes, as it was forced to bend to divine will. Celeste opened her eyes and she felt her breath get caught. What had been a log cabin with two half-open opposing walls was now made from solid stone and completely enclosed. It even had a proper vent system for the fire, ensuring that it was fed enough air, while the exhaust was pulled out through the wall. The ceiling had changed too, becoming a massive ticking clock. She could see the hands slowly rotate above her, but as she tried to reach up she found she couldn''t touch it, it seemed to be just out of reach no matter how much she stretched. Behind the massive ticking clock was a view of the stars, though Celeste knew the view wouldn''t be possible from the smithy''s location. A compass had been engraved into the stone underneath her and she had lost the ability to speak. This place was impossible. It was the only way to describe it. The anvil, which had been made from stone, was now made from metal, though it was accompanied by various other anvils, all of different metals allowing for different hardness. All around her tools could be seen, as if she simply had to think of one she needed and it would materialize. She was stunned. Finally, she looked at the notification that was trying to get her attention. Text from Image: You have created a Divine Shrine! Name: Smithy of Civilisation Description: A god created this shrine after seeing a smith wanting to be remembered forever. Restriction: The only person who can use this smithy is the Smith of Marcusburg, a title given by the people of A''kastin. Effect: This shrine functions as a smithy. While working in the Smithy of Civilisation, metal will not decrease in temperature unless the smith wishes it to do so. Once per month, a day''s work may be performed in this smithy without any time passing outside the smithy. The only person that can stay inside the smithy during this time is the Smith. This smithy can be moved to any settlement in A''kastin once per year. During the move, nobody can stay inside. Celeste grinned, proud of her hard work. This would indeed be an impressive smithy and one that would definitely be worth every bit of worship she had put into it. "AS THE CREATOR OF THIS SHRINE, I ANNOUNCE THAT HELGA SMITH WILL BE THE CURRENT SMITH OF THIS SHRINE!" She spoke loudly and with force. "SHOULD HELGA BE BANISHED WITHOUT COURSE, MY DIVINE WRATH WILL BRING DOWN THESE WALLS!" She said, having seen that even while dealing with allies, this town would always do what it believed to be best. Celeste was sure if given the opportunity, King Marcus would take this power for himself, no matter how noble his intentions were, this wasn''t something that Celeste found compelling. "THIS WILL BE TRUE UNTIL HELGA WILLINGLY AND WITHOUT COERSION WITHDRAWS FROM THIS POST!" And with this decree, the words were inscribed onto the stone wall. It wasn''t long before Celeste found herself back in the tavern room with Jasper. Jasper was working on another tome, writing out some information about a school of magic called Mentalism. "I made my first shrine," She said as if she was mentioning having been bought a new dress. Jasper looked up and clicked his ballpoint pen. "You did? I thought I sensed something." He said, paying attention to what she was saying. "Made something impressive?" He asked, and she nodded. "Yeah, it is interesting, though..." She said using the fact that she had knowledge he didn''t to intrigue him even further. "The cost was much smaller than I had expected. Compared to the artefacts that I have tried to create... the things the new smithy can do is just... wow." She explained and Jasper frowned. "It was cheaper, but it is a much bigger item?" He asked with disbelief, though as he thought about it, he could see the decision from a game system perspective. "Are there any restrictions on the smithy?" He followed up, trying to figure one more aspect out before presenting his theory. "Yeah, only one person can use it." She explained which seemed to make things click for her as well. "Sooo. You are thinking that the number of people that can use the end product impacts the cost?" Celeste asked, which made Jasper nod. "Yup! When I tried to implement a new rune... it cost 64 worship before my discount." Jasper revealed, and the idea of so much worship spent made Celeste wince. Jasper continued "Sounds like there is some standard score based on how many people it will affect, which is then probably multiplied by another score that is determined by how hard the change is to perform." Jasper said with that smugness that was kinda cute when you got to know him. It made sense to Celeste. Jasper seemed to be in his explanation mode, so he continued. "And that is why artefacts are so expensive. We benefit from artefacts, meaning that to prevent us from simply amassing more power, the artefacts are gated behind a high cost. Lightning bolts for the gods might be fun, but the feats of creating you are already performing are already impressive." Jasper said, and Celeste smiled. She felt happy in that moment as she stood up and dragged Jasper towards the bed, to ensure that he didn''t suffer from burnout and got some sleep as well. Chapter 13: The Prismatic Initiate Jasper was hammering up a piece of paper on the local noticeboard. This was their fourth day in this world, and it had started like the others. They had gained 3 worship, both of them. Celeste had been fairly miffed that she hadn''t gotten any more since she had a shrine. Jasper had reminded her that the shrine was for her benefit and that she had only really impacted one person''s life so far. She grumbled and tried to go back to sleep, but for once, Jasper was the one to get them both out of bed. Celeste had gone to work on the mine. After having looked over the schematics that Jasper had provided, she swore a bit but then agreed. To Jasper''s surprise, he hadn''t had to spend Worship on the way to power the machine. After reviewing the schematics, they agreed that the lack of Worship cost was due to Jasper exploiting the world''s natural laws instead of using divine power to craft them. Essentially, it was the same as when Celeste constructed the mine. Jasper had 8 Worship left that he needed to spend. He had thought long and hard about it and had decided that the village needed a library, though not an ordinary library. It would be a test, a challenge. The library would be for people to prove themselves worthy of his blessing. He would grant powers to anyone who wished to gain them, though they had to prove they deserved them. The first part would be to create a library. For that, he needed books, which was why he was trying to recruit books on the village''s noticeboard. He was sure there was at least one book around since he had learned about the local herbs from somewhere. However, how many books there were would be a mystery. With the notice up, The god of magic decided to look around the village to see if he would spot something interesting. He walked up to the house next to the circular city square. The house intrigued him, as it seemed much more prominent than any other, boasting multiple floors and much more fine craftsmanship. Not only that but it had a very local raincloud raining around it. Knocking on the door, Jasper was surprised to find an old man opening it. He had a bald head that reflected the early morning sun and a long beard that reached mid-belly. His eyes were leering and sharp as if he suspected Jasper of trying something. On closer inspection, Jasper could see a small medal in the shape of a hand around his neck, almost hidden under the beard. Someone had already been making jewellery of the Hand of Magnus. "What ya want?" The old man said, almost poking Jasper in the belly with a cane that he was using to walk. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping to build a library," Jasper said, trying to be polite, though the old man wasn''t looking pleased. "And you think just because I am old and about to pass away, you can take my home? Poppycock! I will tell you what I told my kids. You don''t need to worry about me. I will be going for many years yet! So pack your googlymoogly together or I will beat you senseless before you can even think of using some of those fancy spells that you have been teaching the youngsters!" He said, making Jasper cringe a little. Jasper hadn''t planned on using his house because the man was old. He had planned on using it because it was very central. He had also spent one of his knowledge powers to know that he could help the man with something. Thanks to his Power "A Word Far Off", Jasper knew the man was very lonely since his kids had decided to become settlers, and he had been even more lonely when his wife had passed away. To hear the man lash out like this and blame Jasper for his latest misfortune wasn''t pleasant. However, he assumed that one of his students had conjured the rain cloud above the house as a childish prank. Jasper sighed and nodded. He put out a hand and made all magic disappear in the area around the house using only his will and two of his Energy. The raincloud instantly disappeared. Jasper bowed deeply. "I am sorry for the misery I have caused you. Please, my name is Magnus. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know what I can help you with." He stated simply. The old man huffed a little but then seemed to change his mind and left the door open as he walked inside. "Close the door before the bugs get in." He called behind himself, and Jasper entered the home. It wasn''t long before Jasper was making some tea for the old geezer. He was heating it with a magical flame, even inside an anti-magical zone. After all, it was his anti-magic zone. "Tell me about your wife, please," Jasper said from the kitchen, hoping his divine charisma would be enough to help him out. A second went by before the old man spoke. "She was the love of my life, no doubt about that. Her name was Juniper, like the berries... That is how we met, you know. Picking berries. She was going to use them for cooking, and I had planned on using them for some Gin. We ended up picking berries from the same bush, and before you knew it, I had hit her over the head with my basket. It was at that moment I knew that she would end up being my wife since she pushed me into a nearby lake as revenge." He said grinning. "To be young again, we were, well, 15, I think? It wasn''t more than a couple of years before I started to court her properly. She was such a sweet woman." The old-timer said, making Jasper smile. The god finished up the tea and brought it to the old-timer. Then Jasper sat beside him and started listening to this old man. He talked about how he had gotten his children and some of the misadventures they had been on. Jasper couldn''t help but laugh when the old coot told him about how his kids had been training to be hunters, though one of their shots ended up going wide, and their father had not only been interrupted in his basket weaving, but they had nearly ensured that they would have no more siblings. Jasper looked at the man with newfound appreciation. He finally understood what Celeste had meant by the fact that Helga had resonated with her. "Old-timer, I would like to give you a gift," Jasper said, and the man furrowed his brow. "The name is Erik, pup. Don''t go around calling me old-timer." He said, reaching for his cane to whack Jasper across the head. "Sorry, sorry. Though I am quite serious. I have a wife, and honestly, your love for Juniper is quite inspiring." Jasper explained. He couldn''t understand how sad and overwhelmed this man must be. Even thinking about losing Celeste hurt. "I am not going to give you my home, sonny. You are still wet behind the ears, and I need a place to live." Erik said in a stern tone of voice. Jasper shook his head. "I know, after all the memories you have had here, I would never dare take this place from you, but I would like you to believe in me." He said, trying to sound as earnest as possible. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Believe in you? Lad, confidence comes from believing in yourself." He said, and Jasper smiled. "I know, but I am the god of magic. I am Magnus, and I am here because you will be my herald, my voice, my will," Magnus said, sipping his tea. "Don''t get smart with me, lad. You are no god. You just have your fancy magics. Besides I am too old to be your herald." He said, not believing a word that Jasper had said. Jasper smiled and slowly took off his glasses, folding them and laying them before Erik. "I am a divine being, and I am the god of knowledge as well. I like to see you as my voice of reason, and I know that you have nothing to lose. So, Erik, will you be my chosen one?" Jasper asked. Erik looked at Jasper and sighed. "Fine, if it will get you out of my house." He grumbled and reached out to shake Jasper''s hand. Jasper was more than happy to shake back, and as they clasped wrists, Jasper spent all 8 of his remaining worship. "ERIK! I PROCLAIM YOU TO BE MY CHOSEN ONE! DO YOU ACCEPT MY GIFTS AND PROMISE TO UPHOLD MY WISDOM?" Jasper could feel the divine power pouring from him, and he had to yell to overwhelm the sudden unnatural gale that appeared in the little living room. Erik gasped as divine energy seemed to spread out through the small room. "Yes," He said, and Jasper smiled. "IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR DEDICATION, I GRANT YOU THE GIFT OF ENDURANCE! YOU WILL REMAIN YOUNG AND YOUR BODY WILL NEVER TIRE! YOUR BONES WILL NEVER ACHE! AND YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF WITH EXCESS STAMINA! OLD AGE WILL BE YOUR COMPANION, NOT YOUR ENEMY!" Worship empowered Jasper''s shout, and Erik found himself standing a bit taller, and his body seemed to weigh him down less. "DO YOU SWEAR ONTO ME TO COLLECT STORIES AND INFORMATION IN MY NAME?" Jasper questioned, feeling like a preacher as divine forces threatened to tear the home apart. He was still rather impressed by how he made his voice boom with power and force as he spoke. "Yes" Erik answered, and Jasper smiled. "THEN I GRANT YOU THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE! AS STRONG AS THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE IS, AS STRONG IS THE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE! MAY YOUR REAL NAME NEVER BE KNOWN, BUT LET YOU BE KNOWN BY THE TITLE THAT I GRANT YOU! YOU WILL BE THE SCRIBE!" Jasper''s voice boomed through the room. This time Erik''s eyes seemed to squeeze tight together as the title was given to him. "DO YOU PROMISE TO USE YOUR ABILITIES TO NEVER GAIN PERSONAL POWER? TO BE THE OBSERVER? AND TO NEVER BRING DOWN THE SENTIENT RACES?" Jasper finally asked, doing his best to try and maintain the level of power that he was emitting. "Yes, my lord", Erik answered, and Jasper nodded. "GOOD! THEN, I GRANT YOU THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRISMATIC VEIL! MAY YOU BE THE ONLY WEILDER OF THE SEVENFOLD POWER!" he proclaimed, and Erik was filled with arcane might. As Jasper finished his announcement, he saw the pop-up in his vision. Text from image: You have gained a new chosen! You have bestowed this person the following abilities: Jasper looked at his new chosen, then walked over to the table and picked up the glasses. "Magnus... I am not sure I will enjoy a longer life." The Scribe finally said, his voice still showing his true age, but he no longer sounded old. "I know. Consider that my curse not yours. However, I will only be present in the world one week every hundred years, and I need my chosen to not be new every time I visit." Jasper said, putting on the glasses. "Though, The Scribe is a title that can be passed on. If you truly wish to no longer take on the responsibility, you can always train a replacement." The god said with a grin. "Do you want to see what your spells are capable of?" He added asked, and Erik nodded. The Scribe looked at the God of Magic as they stood in a clearing outside of town. Jasper had ensured that there wasn''t anyone around, but he still looked at the old man with hesitation. "Are you sure you wish to straight up fight? I am a god, and I will beat you." Jasper said, while taking on the role of a god, becoming his alter ego: Magnus. Magic burned behind his glasses as Manus flexed his arms. He wasn''t the strongest, but he was still divine. The Scribe simply nodded. "I think that you might underestimate your own gift." He said, taking a combat stance which left his cane behind. Clearly, he was just using it out of habit. Magnus simply nodded and picked up a small stone, and threw it at his chosen. The stone rocketed forward with power beyond anything that should be possible. Magnus wasn''t the best at dexterous actions, and there was no doubt that he would miss the intended target, but it was an excellent way to underline his power. The old man still seemed to focus and spoke clearly. "First veil - Red!" with that a sphere of red power appeared around the Scribe, and as the stone tried to pass it, the power of the barrier made it dissolve. Magnus was intrigued, his eyes focusing on the spheric barrier, and he quickly learned the spell''s effects, primarily due to this being his creation. "Wow, dissolves any missile thrown its way... oh neat it even does damage... can be dispelled with a cone of cold though." Magnus said and without hesitation he levelled his hand at the wall. The god of Magic poured the Elementalism magic into the sphere. It quickly dissipated revealing, what Magnus had assumed to be a sphere, had a hole in the back and The Scribe was gone. He expected a punch or a spell, and Magnus readied his counterspell to fix that, but looking around, he found the old man standing to his right, simply smiling. Putting two and two together, the god seemed to figure it out. "Let me guess, not much offensive potential in this school?" He asked, and The Scribe shook his head. "Nope, ultimate defence, no offence." He confirmed, and Magnus smiled, this time throwing a Cone of Cold after the geezer. Once more, The Scribe spoke, calling forth the spells that Magnus had taught him. "Sixth veil - Indigo!" Magnus smiled, his spell left the ground covered in ice crystals, though it had been blocked by an indigo wall. It was impressive, for sure. With a confident stride the god walked closer. "I think we skipped a couple... of... what..." Magnus was intrigued by the wall. "Protection from spells and spell-like effects... Am I understanding this right, if I try to cross this there is a very real chance of me going insane?" Magnus asked. He was studying the wall, no longer afraid that he might be ambushed. After all, the Initiate of the Prismatic Veil seemed purely defensive. An opponent had to run into the veils to get hurt. "Yup, that is true. I can show off a bit more, but I am about to run out of warding." The Scribe said, a bit out of breath. Magnus raised an eyebrow. "How many can you cast per day?" he asked, walking around to his chosen one. The wall was reasonably long, but not impossible to walk around. "I can cast seven per day, though I can cast the same veil multiple times if I wish. I can even layer them. Look at this. Second Veil - Orange, Fifth Veil - Blue" The Scribe called upon his powers. When he did, an orange and blue veil seemed to wrap around The Scribe. It was so close that it almost looked like armour, and Magnus gave a soft whistle. "Orange is protection against any magical missiles... huh, except magic missiles... that is... odd. Blue is protection against... mind effects... Am I correct in assuming that if I cross this I will be petrified." Magnus asked, seeing how the veils moved with The Scribe. The chosen of Magnus laughed. "Close, whippersnapper, but you get petrified and get an acid bath. Both veils pop off." The old man said, and Magnus studied the barrier closer. He sent a gust of wind against The Scribe and expected the orange barrier to fail, but it held. "Huh, guess I have to hit you with a magic missile to disable the blue veil and a gust of wind to remove the orange. That is neat." Magnus said, and The Scribe dismissed the veils. "Yup, I have the third veil, which protects me from gasses and clouds and will shock you if you try to move past it. The fourth veil is against breath weapons, not sure how useful it is, but when I need it, I bet I want it. It removes your life force permanently, not all of it... most of it, though. The last veil, the violet one... it destroys anything it comes into contact with... yes, that includes anyone trying to pass through it." The Scribe smiled as he finished up his explanation. Magnus looked impressed and nodded. "Good work... taking it that you showed off the three types of barrier. Sphere, wall, and personal shielding?" The Scribe nodded as an answer to the question that Magnus had asked. "I do have a single offensive ability. I can force a creature to walk through the veils. Depending on how many effects it is under, I can simply point at it, and then all effects are removed. However, for each effect, they will be forced to step through a veil, from first to last." The Scribe explained, knowing his abilities better than Magnus did. The god of magic smiled. "You know, I might need you to write all of this down for me." He said with a wide grin, both of them returning to the village as the sun set over the trees. Chapter 14: The problems with Fate Celeste and Jasper looked at each other. It was the fifth day in this world, and they had found themselves only getting a trickle of Worship. Both of them had gained two this morning, which was nice, but it wasn''t the numbers they had been hoping for. Jasper looked over his completed project for powering the mine. He had spent most of the morning sinking his invention into the ground. Even with earthshaping and Celeste literally 3d printing piping, as Jasper needed it, the job was still a chore. There was no hope that anyone would use this method to create power. However, as Jasper finished the work, it turned out that even he couldn''t produce power from it. While the game called him the god of knowledge, he was still limited to knowledge that had been discovered. As this was brand-new technology, he had drawn on some half-remembered knowledge from the real world. It became obvious that Jasper was not an engineer but a game designer, leaving him with a finished product that would not work. In short, the system was overengineered and Jasper was to spend two of his Worship to make the thing produce energy. It was the last two he had since he had elevated The Scribe. With the power source complete, the new mine was finished and built to Celeste''s exact specifications. The Goddess of Tinkering was honestly quite proud of herself. She had managed to work wonders with her husband''s well-intended addition to the mine. With the mine done, Celeste had instructed a couple of the villagers on how to operate the mine, but there would still be trouble refining the ore and then transporting it. The goddess sighed, knowing that she would have to use some of her Worship to try and improve the mine. Celeste knew better than simply throwing all her Worship after the project. She had done that with the smithy, resulting in her not knowing what she was spending the Worship on. Jasper told her how he had done it and stated out loud what kind of effects he wanted, and she thought that was also rather stupid. What if he didn''t have enough Worship? What would have happened then? Celeste sat down in the middle of the room, leaning back on the palms of her hands and looking up at the ceiling. She thought about it. The goddess wanted this place to refine any ore... no scratch that. Any material that was pulled up from the mineshafts. No, that could go wrong. She wanted it to refine any non-organic material. Yeah, that was better. She continued to plan it out, specifying her intentions until it was almost foolproof while still being encompassing. Text from Image: Refinement Mine Effect: You have requested the creation of a Refinement Mine. This mine will get a processing unit that will filter an purify any non-organic material deposited into it. If any organic material is added to the unit it will not be harmed and simply placed next to the unit. Anything with a strong emotional connection will not be processed by this unit. Processing will be based on the total production of the mine, ensuring it can refine all materials from a day''s work. The process takes 24 hours and does not require oversight. Cost 4 Worship. Finally, she smiled, happy with the result. It was surprisingly cheap, but then again, it was not something she could benefit from, and with the limitations that its speed was based on the output of the mine, it meant that she was still much better at refining and, as such, would not benefit from this building. She accepted the pop-up and felt the Worship seep out of her. This time around, it was a much more controlled reaction instead of the overwhelming feeling of emotions pushing for change that had been her experience with the smithy. This was structured and organized. Since Celeste was in control of the change, the Worship didn''t make sweeping alterations to the building. It simply took on her desire for refinement and crafted a neat little machine that could separate elements from each other. It used Celeste''s ability to "create" objects to create mineral bars, which would then be spat out, all ready for transport. It looked like a massive hopper into which items could be dumped. Without any mechanical parts, it would simply extract and purify the input. With that out of the way, Celeste and Jasper made their way back to Marcusburg. Both of them felt like the most important tasks had been completed for the town, and on their way back, they were discussing what to do next. Celeste wanted to create running water and plumbing for the town, which would help them in the long run. However, Jasper wanted to explore the world. He wanted to see if he could fix a couple of major bugs before he had to progress the world. Both gods stopped at the entrance to the city. They had both spotted a bloodied and beaten King Marcus who barely seemed to be able to sit on his horse outside of the town. He had taken quite a few hits, and from the looks of things he could barely stay awake. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Get me some water," Jasper said, not even hesitating for a moment before he grabbed a couple of roots from his pocket. With a flick of his free hand, Jasper summoned a gust of wind that lifted the king from his steed and helped him land softly on his back. Celeste''s powers quickly created not only water from the local well but also created pestle and mortar. "What are you planning?" She asked, and Jasper shook his head as he looked over the wounds that the king had sustained. "The locals call it Kingstooth. They chew it to alleviate toothaches. However, if ground into a paste with the red berries that can be found in the forest, you can make a fairly weak healing potion." He explained, pulling out a small woven bag labelled "Blood berries" and pouring the hard shells of the berries into the mortar. Adding in a bit of water, the resulting mixture was thick, frothy and deep red. Jasper didn''t seem to care about the consistency, pouring it into the king''s mouth, forcing him to half choke, half chew on the mixture. The potion started to work almost instantly, closing gashes and mending wounds. Jasper seemed satisfied, and the following mix he created was much more refined, instead focusing on ensuring that the mixture was consumable, not just functional. The king had passed out, but Celeste still inspected him, looking over his wounds and trying to figure out what had happened. It didn''t take long to determine that King Marcus had been in battle and one that he had lost. However, his plate was still in one piece, but it had a ton of various cuts and nicks, which, thanks to Celeste''s Power, was repaired between one second and the next. "Looks like they managed to pour something into the armour, various sharp objects perhaps? Fool should have worn his helmet." She said, looking at her husband. Jasper nodded in agreement, swallowing hard. "Yeah, it sounds like the orks are coming," he answered, knowing he would have to prepare defences for the village. With a quick movement, he gave King Marcus the last healing potion. It wasn''t easy to get the man to drink in his unconscious state, but with a bit of work, Jasper saw the last of the king''s wounds disappear. While many warriors had gone with King Marcus to ambush the orkish horde, around 100 capable people were still around, and they would defend the city to the last man standing. Jasper actually didn''t know how this battle would end. He could see the AI using the annihilation of Marcusburg as an excuse to have the Empire of Man send in armies of their own, spawning new players in the middle of a battleground. Still, he could also see the orks winning and enslaving the humans, forcing new human players to perform guerrilla warfare. Jasper knew that the orks couldn''t lose. At best, they could be driven from the city. Of course, Jasper and Celeste could sway the tide of battle. They could probably even win the battle if they used their powers correctly. However, would that benefit them? They would likely make the starting zone of the game more hostile for the players that wanted to play orks, and beyond undoing the progress they had made, the AI would likely try and rectify it in some way. Celeste looked at her husband, trying to figure out what he was thinking. It took some prodding, but finally, he shared his thoughts. "I don''t like it," Celeste said, clearly not wanting to abandon the people she had invested time, Worship and Energy into protecting. "I know what you mean. While the personality of these NPCs is still fairly simplistic, we have an interest in not seeing the growth we have given them get undone," Jasper said with a sigh. Celeste nodded, slowly improving the wall around the village, building it up to be more fortified. She had taken quite well to the tinkering aspect of her divinity, and she had found that working on something helped her think. "We have two days left, right?" She asked while fastening a heavy metal plate to the wall, making it harder to climb and penetrate. Jasper nodded. "Well, depends on when we log out on the last day, but essentially, yeah." He agreed, slowly cleaning up the mess left at the gates. "Could we ask another group to intervene on our behalf?" Celeste asked. There was a good chance that if Celeste and Jasper tried to fix things, they would probably sway the battle too much. "We could try to get the aid of the Human Empire; however, that feels like a bad idea. King Marcus fought for the independence of this nation about a week ago. We have no idea where the dwarves or droves are beyond them being underground, but the elves might be able to help. They should be located not far from here." Jasper explained, and Celeste decided to pull up her map. It was still wrong, seemingly showing elements that didn''t exist in the world, but Marcusburg was highlighted with a name. Celeste zoomed in a bit, deciding that she only wanted a local view of the area, but she found a limit to how far she could zoom in. It couldn''t pinpoint specific buildings, meaning the map was great for journeying from one place to another, but not for guiding her from building to building. It made sense since she had the Journeying word. Celeste focused on displaying the map to Jasper, and thanks to the notifications being visible to other players, Jasper could easily see it. He nodded, pointing at what looked like a desert to the west. "This will be the direction that the Orks are invading, but I absolutely see what you mean. I didn''t see the giant gate, nor the strange area behind it when we flew over the world. As far as I know, the elven kingdom is located around the grand world tree." Jasper said, and Celeste suspected that he was leaning on the knowledge from one of his powers. The goddess nodded. "So you are suggesting that the elves might help us?" Jasper slowly nodded in return as his wife spoke. "I think so, yeah. I mean, they probably want something from us, and we will probably have to spend some of our Energy in helping them. But it should be possible." They continued to talk for some time, discussing their options. However, none of them had the Worship to spend to power people up. The Scribe could probably protect the city, but Jasper wasn''t really willing to gamble the old man''s life just yet. The Scribe only had seven Veils each day, and they hadn''t explored how long each veil lasted. While powerful, he was still mortal, and he would probably be overwhelmed in some way if the orks truly wanted to rush him. Jasper and Celeste talked about kitting the entire town out with armour and weapons. Still, it seemed unlikely to work, as most of them weren''t trained warriors, and even the orkish workers were capable of harming a divine being. The gods circulated ideas for a bit before they both agreed that the elves would solve the current problem and help Jasper and Celeste progress to that starting zone and give the AI an excuse for incorporating another race into the starting zone. Chapter 15: The Elven Accord Making some rudimentary defences for the village didn''t take that long, and less than an hour later, Jasper and Celeste were making their way towards the southeast. Thanks to Celeste''s map, there was no chance of them getting lost. The oak forest made for a nice walk, and the sturdy oaks around them gave way to beech trees. Life in the forest seemed to flourish, and wildlife seemed to find easy homes among the trees. As such, birds chirping was common, while does and deers scattered through the woods whenever they spotted the not-that-stealthy couple. The rabbits that had made their homes in various burrows were just as skittish, but it was really impressive how this entire place seemed to be teeming with movement and life. Celeste''s ability to travel without pause was neat. It ensured that Jasper didn''t have to slow down for her as the early evening became evening. As the sun was about to set over the horizon, visible through the roof of branches and leaves, the beech forest was replaced with long, slender pines. Looking at the map, they could see that a trip that should have taken them two days had taken place in an evening. It was suddenly clear why the previous area hadn''t been marked as forest on the map. A dense tapestry of forestry lay in front of the couple. Thick patches of ferns alongside the dense pines ensured that you couldn''t look further than a couple of meters before the forest became too dense. The forest floor was littered with pine needles, dampening any sound and making the air itself feel dense and overwhelming. Celeste looked at her husband and Jasper shrugged. They didn''t have time to try and work around this, they would need to head through this or give up and hope their defences held. Their progress slowed to a halt, though thanks to Celeste''s Power "Know the Path", she knew the easiest way to a location, and everything told her this would be her best option. Each step took the next, and without the clock in Celeste''s user interface, they would probably have lost track of time. The forest was so dense here that they could not see the moon nor the stars. There was little movement around them, and each time something rustled or snapped a branch, the pair of gods readied themselves for combat. Celeste and Jasper were on high alert but still missed it when a figure seemed to emerge from the darkness to stand in their path. The man was a tall fellow, lanky, and wearing a thick rope that seemed to be made of multiple layers of natural cloth, giving it an earthen and dirty look. Based on the long, thin ears that reached a point and how his eyes seemed just a bit too big for his head, this was an elf. Jasper had expected him to have long, flowing golden hair, but he was bald with strange markings across his scalp, almost like tattoos. "You trespass on our land and expect to walk unharmed. Make yourself known before you will be taken to be judged by my kin." The elf''s voice was soft, gentle and commanding. It was like he was speaking with the will of the earth and the winds. Jasper knew that he should probably be the one to talk since he had the highest charisma and, as such, could make the most progress. However, Celeste was usually the outgoing one, and Jasper paused for just long enough that things grew awkward. The god coughed into his hand and nodded. "Uhm, yes. We have come to seek an alliance with you. We have a human city not far from here that will be overrun by orks if we do not get any aid." Jasper announced, and the elf seemed to look at him with curiosity. While it was not what he had wanted, it was still better than open hostility. "And what makes you think that your people are of any concern to us? The elven nation does not wish to intermingle with the humans. We are already fighting you in the east, and yet you come begging for our aid? What possible benefit would we gain from strengthening our enemies?" Jasper cursed a little under his breath, something that the elf clearly picked up based on the way his ear twitched. It shouldn''t have been surprising that the empire attacked the elves. After all, one of the primary functions of the empire was to ensure conflict. However, the god hadn''t assumed that the elves would see Marcusburg as allied with the empire. The elf was decidedly seeing all humans as one singular faction. Jasper should have known that it would happen. He viewed all the elves as a singular faction and all the orks as a singular faction. Celeste could see her husband had started to think. He was growing introspective and now wasn''t the time to try and re-evaluate their approach. "We have attained power to the point where some call us gods. Aid the human nation of A''kastin, and ensure that they do not fall to the orks, and in return, we will grant you a boon." As Celeste spoke the elf seemed to almost resent the idea that the humans might be able to gift him something. Before he could speak up, Jasper tried to butt in. "I will grant you knowledge!" He said, clearly desperate, and with trembling hands, he pulled out a thick leatherbound tome. It was his notes on Elementalism. "It can be yours if you wish..." Seeing the well-crafted tome did give the elf pause. Slowly, he stepped forward, his steps light, and he seemed to float over the pine needles. Long, slender fingers wrapped around the tome, pulling it from Jasper''s grasp, but the god of magic did not resist, allowing the mortal to gaze upon the words. The elf nodded slowly and then pointed at the other tome at Jasper''s side. "I will promise the aid of my kin, the aid of the elven nation Mek, but you will need to give me more. If your power is as vast as you claim, then provide me with the other spell school at your side and then one more. This is the price of a nation''s aid." The elf had a smug smile, knowing he had the upper hand. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Jasper decided he did not like elves. Celeste looked at her husband, surprised that he was even contemplating the idea of granting the elves the tome of Mentalism and some other spell path. However, she wasn''t about to interrupt him, and with slow hands, Jasper handed over the second tome that he had created. Overall, Jasper wasn''t losing anything on this. He would still attain knowledge of the tomes and their spells. Thanks to the elf''s long lifespan, he was probably the right person to take care of these books to ensure they never faded. But Jasper was being forced to hand out a boon that he did not wish to hand out, and it annoyed him. "Fine, though I will have to talk about the third type of magic, and you will be writing it down." He said and looked at Celeste. She rolled her eyes and pulled on the energy around her. In the blink of an eye, she crafted a third tome. The pages were thick and heavy, and it was almost impractical in its size. Each page was akin to an A3 page rather than the usual 110mm ¡Á 178mm. Thick metal clasps adorned each corner of the book, while the leather was a light blue. In the middle of the front cover, Celeste had inserted a neat rock she had found while they were making their way through the forest earlier. There was nothing magical about the rock. She had just thought that it looked nice. All of this combined made the book very heavy and annoyingly very different from the other two tomes. Jasper smiled and threw the elf his ballpoint pen and smirked. "I hope you like to take notes." The elf looked at the pen, then the book and grumbled but didn''t protest, sitting down on the forest floor as Jasper assigned Energy to learn a new spell school.
Energy 1/2
Jasper started by outlining the basic concepts of magic. It was something that was written in the other tomes as well. The idea that gestures and words would often help casting spells. The idea that a spell was a specific combination of words given intention. Jasper even explained how, if sufficiently skilled, these gestures and words were not necessary, though the intention would have to be crystal clear in one''s mind. Then, he went on to explain how the lack of movements and words theoretically allowed for instant casting, though this was practically impossible. The elf was writing it all down, taking notes more diligently than any other student Jasper had ever had. At first, the elf had been amazed by the ballpoint pen, but it was now almost forgotten as he periodically raised his hands and asked questions that Jasper had not really thought about. Finally, they reached the meat of the lecture. It was starting to grow late, but the god of endurance didn''t plan on taking a break. If anything, he was hardly breathing between his words. Jasper had decided that if the elf wanted knowledge from the gods, he would have to earn it. "This will be a thorough exploration of Arcanism. Arcanism is the study of magic. It is a lot more mathematical than other branches of magic, and its application is usually much more esoteric compared to the two paths that I have ''gifted'' you. Even so, Arcanism is incredibly powerful, especially when combined with other spells schools." Jasper explained, trying his best to sound like he knew what he was talking about and simply not parroting the words he had learned from his power. "For you see, magic is a representation, one would say a set, of all ways to manipulate the world. Such a power that contains all powers must, in its nature, contain itself. Therefore, we get Arcanism. While magic can imitate natural phenomena, for example, with the Elementalism school, it can also imitate itself. So, while magic is a set containing all sets, Arcanism is the set that contains only the intention of magic, which in its nature has no inherent intention. We can thus classify Arcanism as the empty set, while magic as a whole can be viewed as the set containing all sets. Bear in mind that this is only one way of viewing magic, and further abstraction is possible." Jasper explained, and he wasn''t sure that half of the words that he said even made sense, but it seemed like the elf was more than willing to write everything down. Jasper talked about how Arcanism could be used to modify magic. There were effects for applying magic to weapons, which was technically enchantment, though the magic would only be sustained for a couple of attacks and, as such, not viable for any warrior thinking of getting some kind of permanent weapon. He talked about the Arcanism school''s ability to drain magic, both from midair spells, which he quickly named countermagic, and from a target, meaning that you could steal mana from a target. Jasper then described how Arcananism could be used to modify spellcasting. It would allow someone to weave two spells together, though in reality, it would drain the same mana as casting three spells at once. Jasper knew that all spells had an associated manacost, but being the god of magic, he had never really figured out if he had a limit to his mana pool. Lastly, Jasper talked about rituals and the fact that a spell could be cast using multiple people, utilizing their natural and cultivated mana for the ritual. All these effects had one thing in common. They could not be used without the existence of another spell. An enchantment was simply a way of layering the magic with the material, and you would have to know the spell you wanted to layer. A counter spell required a spell to be countered, and draining magic required the build-up of magic in the target''s body. The multi-casting didn''t provide any new spells, simply a way of manifesting already known spells, and the rituals were just another way of casting these spells. All in all, the school contained nothing. It had no inherent force in on itself. It was a loose collection of techniques but nothing more. Still, it was a powerful spell school, ensuring that if it was learned in combination with one of the other schools, it would elevate someone beyond all possible competition. Finally, the elf seemed to be on the verge of passing out. He could barely sit up straight, and Jasper was pretty sure that the last few diagrams he had drawn were doodles instead of the concepts of dimensional layering that the god had tried to explain. Jasper couldn''t help but feel a self-satisfied smirk as he released his power, and he felt his "Omni scholar" Power start to feed the information that he had just explained back to him, all thanks to the massive tome. He quickly looked over his Energy to ensure that he had gained it back.
Energy 3/3
"Give me your name." The god said, and the elf was far too hazed out to even resist the interrogation. "Ewen," he said back in a meek voice. "Ewen. We are going to return to Marcusburg now. If you and your people are not coming to the aid of the humans, then we will personally ensure that you will feel the wrath of the gods. Have I made myself clear?" Jasper asked the rhetorical question and only got a groan of defeat from the elf. The gods smiled, both knowing that poor Ewen would arm himself with magic. It was a good thing that Jasper would be able to counter anything the elf could conjure. Chapter 16: The Horde of Orks They had barely stepped into the elven land of Mek before the two gods found their way back. While they had intended to interact with the elven council or whatever kind of government they had, it had become obvious that the elves would not take kindly to humans. Ewen seemed willing to help them, especially now that he had substantially increased his knowledge base. The boons that he had gained from Jasper alone would probably make him another loyal disciple of the god of magic. However, he had refused to pledge himself to any human, even though it was clear that Jasper was no mere human. The elf had been quite stubborn. The way back was almost as easy as the way to the elven lands, however, the sound of people moving through the forest was much more prominent. While there were no sounds of battle, the orks had moved into the lands over the past day, doing their best to try and isolate the human city. The hills made it almost impossible to see the orks before it was too late, and it wasn''t long before they stepped over a hill and saw the massive army. In front of them, a horde of green and armoured humanoids was eagerly fighting amongst themselves, and based on the appearance of these new orks, the ones in the mine had been enslaved and malnourished. Almost every single one of the orks was musclebound and would tower over both gods. Massive tusks protruded from their lower jaw, and each was clad in the same mismatched armour the mining camp leader had worn. It was ramshackle and pieced together, but as a whole, it created an efficient defence. The two gods were almost instantly spotted, and the green horde moved as one, quickly deciding to overpower the two stragglers. Instantly, Celeste pulled on her power, dedicating an Energy for the day to gain access to her ability to rewind time. While that also cost an Energy for the day, she didn''t care. There was no chance that they could stand against the green tide.
Energy 0/2
It felt like the world was being torn apart, and while the system didn''t allow her to feel direct pain, the discomfort was immense. It was like being pulled through a clouded room which was spinning around every one of its axes. The feeling seemed to last forever, and yet it was over before Celeste could blink. Quickly, the goddess grabbed Jasper''s sleeve, and it worried Celeste to see that her husband was surprised by this action. "What is wrong?" His voice was filled with concern. Celeste didn''t say anything. She needed to unpack this, but for now, they needed to not crest this hill, or they would face a green wave of death. "Over the ridge of this hill, we will see the orks, so lay low." She whispered urgently, Jasper looked at her, and then he got that look on his face that he always did when he was thinking. "Did you travel back in time?" He finally asked, and Celeste nodded. "Huh, I do not remember that at all. The helmets shouldn''t be interfering with my memory. How long did you travel back?" He asked. Jasper was definitely more occupied by the fact that she had turned back time rather than the fact that they were barely hidden from an army of enemies. "About ten seconds, maybe twelve?" She said, looking around to see if one of the brutes had spotted her. "Also, the orks are much stronger than we assumed. Marcusburg doesn''t stand a chance." She said, and Jasper frowned. "Sure, sure. But why can''t I remember this?" He asked. For a moment, Celeste was tempted to smack him across the head for dismissing the large mass of monsters and, more importantly, her. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Jasper, sweetie, I know that you are occupied with this puzzle, but we should start moving... and quickly." Celeste hissed, growing more and more frustrated by her husband. She tried to scramble down the sides of the hill, almost tumbling down the slopes, pulling Jasper along with her. Finally, Celeste felt like she was far enough away from the greenskins that she didn''t have to worry about it. She took a deep breath and looked over at Jasper. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Leaves were stuck in his long hair, and he didn''t seem upset that he had just been thrown down a hill. "I think I understand now. You are simply working ten seconds ahead of time. In real-time, that would be... 5 minutes is about an hour out in the real world... it would be like an eighth of a second delay. While it would mean a delay between action and observation, it would not be any greater than what is always processed by the shared server... I might have to exclude time abilities for when the game goes live. I wouldn''t want some player to get a time artefact from AI-generated loot because it has found time powers in the base code. That would probably make the game unplayable for all users." Jasper said. Celeste took a deep breath, letting it fill her lungs and she focused on the fact that she loved this dork, but she was also pretty convinced that he would never survive any kind of actual crisis. They were cut off from Marcusburg, and going over their options, it honestly didn''t look that good. "So, normally, I would probably be able to get us through with one of my powers, but after turning back time, I don''t have enough Energy to do that trick," Celeste explained, doing her best to try and focus on solving the problem before her. Jasper nodded along. "We can try to talk with them." He suggested, though as he slowly realized something, a smile appeared on his face. "We can challenge their leader to combat. It will not stop the horde, but it will be less organized, meaning it will be easier to defeat as it might die from internal power struggles." Jasper said. Celeste gave him a look. "How do you know what the orks might- oh, god of knowledge, they wrote it down, didn''t they?" She asked, and Jasper just nodded along. "They wrote it down", he confirmed. Celeste seemed unsure of that plan, though, and she let a hand run through her hair as she sighed. "I mean... Is that really our best option? We didn''t want to interfere since we might tip things in the favour of the humans too much. We need a stalemate, not an all-out victory. We could just call it for today, and end the session?" She asked, pointing out the obvious part. They would likely not have to do anything more since the help of the elves had been secured. Still, she could see in her husband''s face that logging out before maximizing the potential gains didn''t sit right with him. Jasper sighed and shook his head. "You can log out, go grab something to drink, and maybe take a quick shower. I wanna try and fight." He said, and Celeste looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. She decided not to pressure him any further. This was a game, and it didn''t feel good to leave her husband behind, but then again, that wasn''t what she was doing. She was simply getting ready for them to go home, as she usually took a bit longer. They had long ago realized that forcing Jasper to stop having fun with a game or project when Celeste needed to get ready was a bad idea. She would usually take a bit longer, and giving Jasper five to ten more minutes with whatever had him focused would usually leave him happy, and Celeste wouldn''t be stressing. She kissed him before logging out, and with a smile, she disappeared before him. Jasper refocused himself. He was going to have to try and challenge the boss of the orks, which probably wasn''t going to go that well. He slowly moved up the crest of the hill, and before the orks could see him, he called out in a loud voice. "I challenge the HORDE!" He even emphasized the words by calling down lightning around him. It got the attention of the greenskins, and instead of charging him, the orks seemed to mill around, unsure of what to do. Jasper smiled as he saw the leader spread the horde before him. The massive beast of an ork was twice the size of an ordinary ork, which was gargantuan. He was wielding an axe the size of a plough in one hand, and Jasper was sure that on any ordinary mortal, that thing would have been a two-handed weapon. The weapon had been hewned from a massive stone, creating a jagged edge. It would probably barely be able to hold an edge, but judging by the bulging muscles of the ork, it didn''t have to. Each step of the ork sent the world shaking, and as it came closer, Jasper knew that he had to stop this thing. Otherwise, Marcusburg wouldn''t stand a chance. "What this be? Feast come to me?" The ork''s voice was rough and overpowering, echoing through the trees as it called out, scaring the few birds that had decided to stick around. The gruff voice shook Jasper, and he had to swallow hard to be able to find his voice again. "I am the god of magic. The god of knowledge. The god of Endurance. Tremble before me!" Jasper put on his best booming voice, which admittedly needed some work. The voice didn''t seem to frighten the ork in the least. If anything, he seemed more excited about this than ever. The god of magic considered picking some powers from his endurance domain. However, it didn''t really feel like he had the time to look over his options. Jasper decided that looking through the various possibilities right now would be stupid. He would simply end up exposing himself even further. The leader of the orks had been stepping through his people, and any of his subordinates caught between their leader and Jasper had simply been stepped on and crushed beneath the ork''s foot. The massive ork was barely wearing armour. Thick hides hanging from his body, but little else. There was no metal, though the lack of armour didn''t seem to dissuade the creature from combat. "God? You? HAH! All you be is dead!" and with that, the creature lunged for Jasper. It was fast, beyond anything that Jasper could have expected. In a single leap, it crossed the distance and slammed into him, the massive axe going to cleave him in two. Text from image: You have died! Jasper looked at that screen for quite some time, unable to express his thoughts. He hadn''t stood a chance against that thing. He was a god, and he hadn''t been able to even touch the ork boss. Had the AI placed the ork boss in that group to try to counter both him and Celeste? It was hard to tell, but he slowly pulled off the immersion helmet and almost instantly felt like he was dying all over again. Chapter 17: Back in the real Jasper felt his body ache, and he was desperate for a leak. The neural helmet suppressed the discomfort and pain his body would normally feel, and he had been lying in the same spot for almost 14 hours. He was sore. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He was sweaty, and he had to go to the toilet as if his life depended on it. Jasper hadn''t been that much later than his wife, and Celeste was in the same situation. Thanks to Weird World Computing''s cost-cutting, the office was an old apartment. That meant that the bathroom had a shower, though thanks to EU regulations, there had to be a male and female bathroom, even though there were no women in the office. It had often been an in-joke between Martin and Jasper that more space was dedicated to the bathrooms than to office space, but right now, Jasper had never been happier to have two bathrooms. A quick shower later, the game developer had broken out the full-grain flatbread and cottage cheese that was left over in the fridge. Jasper and Celeste were sitting on the office couch, just talking about what had happened. "So... in real-time, you survived, what... 30 seconds?" She teased him, and Jasper groaned a little. "I mean, it is not like that. He was super strong. I wonder if Marcusburg will be destroyed." Jasper said, sighing a bit. "That would suck. We had put... not a lot of effort, but some effort into that place." Celeste said, snuggling up to her husband. Jasper sighed again, savouring the moment and just letting everything go. He didn''t need to worry so much, and he was focusing on something he had no control over. The two of them rested on the couch. Celeste couldn''t sleep, thanks to the constant power naps she had been taking while in the game. However, Jasper hadn''t been sleeping, but he kept himself awake to be with Celeste, if nothing else, then to enjoy her company. The following week was a blur. Celeste was mainly working. The part-time goddess was a teacher, and while she enjoyed imparting knowledge to her students, there was a reason why she hadn''t sought out the younger members of Marcusburg to teach them about crafting. The game was the ultimate escapism. Why would Celeste try to bring the real world into it? She made sure to wrap up her grading and lettering during the week so that she could have the next weekend free. On the other hand, Jasper looked over the world template and watched it generate another 100 years. "Welp, it looks like the god system is working. The AI is much more efficient with its generation. It isn''t creating as long and convoluted chain reactions, I think that it is capping at around 70 related events... What was that butter event you had last time around 273?" Jasper asked, making his colleague Martin laugh. Martin had been a farmer for most of his life until an unfortunate accident forced him to leave his family farm. He had the choice of either finding a new profession or working at one of his neighbour''s farms, and he had chosen to start learning how to code. Martin had been working with some rather old tech at the farm, and thanks to various software constantly reaching "end of service" or simply being outdated and not working in some critical situations where a technician couldn''t fix it in time, he had been forced to learn how to fix various programs and poking around Operating System architecture. Martin was one of the few people Jasper knew who was fluent in assembly code and five other obscure coding languages. While Martin''s game-making knowledge was limited, his ability to optimize code was legendary... well, as long as he had at least one beer. "Yeah, I am still not sure how the AI managed to convert a batch of butter going bad into a nationwide revolution, and in so few steps... Well, compared to this new system, it is a lot of steps." Martin said. He was a giant man, sporting a mountainous beard and often being mistaken for a rough guy thanks to the muscles built up through years of hard work. Jasper knew that Martin''s favourite party trick was ending fights by simply standing up, towering over anyone who would confront him. The pair of game developers spent most of their week adjusting the system''s parameters and waiting for it to generate the world. To ensure that they measured up to the main branch, their work was thoroughly documented through action points and daily meetings, despite the fact that there were only two of them. Jasper looked into a couple of the bugs they had discussed and discovered that the system wouldn''t fix on its own. Celeste''s game map was one of the bigger ones that required quite a bit of digging, though he realized that it was due to her Time Domain showing her the next iteration of the game world, which didn''t bode well, but he fixed that bit with some manual coding. Then Jasper looked into the weird accents some shopkeepers had and saw that they were leftovers from the previous game the AI had built, where it had identified the shopkeeper''s accent as part of the overall class of an innkeeper. Jasper also fixed this, allowing people to have whatever accent came naturally but scaled it back a bit. Lastly, Jasper also informed the company that they needed another deep-dive helmet for a third player, citing that it would if they had to show off to investors. In all honesty, it was so that Martin could join in on the weekend debugging, though for now, it would have to be just Celeste and Jasper. Finally, the weekend came. Jasper and Celeste were standing back in the office, looking at the VR setup. Jasper couldn''t help but notice that his wife wasn''t quite as bouncy and eager as she had been the week before. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "You know, you don''t have to get back into the game. It will probably end up being quite uncomfortable when we are done and there is a good chance that it will only give you more stress." Jasper said, trying to sound like he wasn''t eager to get back into things. Celeste shook her head. "It is fine. I am just a bit worried about what is going to happen if we need to reinstate some new city for the humans or something like that." She said with a deep sigh. "Let''s get to this... What was Martin''s catchphrase? Full Force?" She said, refocusing herself. The catchphrase did help a little. Celeste put on the Deep Dive helmet, and Jasper quickly followed her. The world crumbled around them, becoming a mess of impressions, a stark contrast from the previous time the game loaded. This time around, everything seemed to go by in a blur. It was impossible to make out anything but vague shapes and colours. In an instant, they were in the game. Jasper was standing on a large hill, while Celeste was just at its base. The god was stunned. A lot had happened in the last hundred years. The trees that had surrounded them were gone. While the pair of gods were technically still in a forest, the city below them had expanded quite a bit. When Jasper died, he couldn''t see the town from his current position, but that was clearly due to the trees... and probably the massive number of orks. In front of Jasper was a large town. It seemed to bustle, and the sound carried through the air. "Marcusburg definitely survived," Jasper called down, and Celeste slowly made her way up the hill to look down at the town. The walls were no longer poorly-made palisades but rather well-made stone. Celeste blinked, confused. "I thought you said that you lost. How is the city still standing?" She asked. Before Jasper could answer her, they were both bombarded with several pop-ups. Text from image: You have Ranked up! Due to your influence on the world, you have managed to Rank up 3 times, you are now Rank 4! Each Rank gives you the following: Celeste gave a soft whistle. "3 Domain Power Points seems to be the real prize in all this." She said, and without hesitation, she brought up her character sheet, though she ignored the stats since they hadn''t changed.
Resource Value
Rank 4
Health 24
Energy 5
Impact 4/5
Worship 1
Wealth 0
Available Domain Power Points 9
Celeste paused and looked at Jasper. "What does the 4/5 mean?" She asked, and to her surprise, he looked confused. "Oh yeah, I fixed the problem with the pop-ups. Simply think it towards me. That should be enough as long as we are in the same team." He explained. Jasper looked it over and smiled. "That would be your dedication to the city, though I thought also you decided to fix the mine." Jasper paused for a second, then smiled. "Welp, would you look at that! People are writing books! Looks like the mine is considered part of the city. They have expanded rather rapidly." Jasper said. As expected, Celeste''s husband searched through the information pouring into him. "I might need to sort some things out, though," Jasper mumbled, and Celeste looked over the town to try and determine what they should do first. She could see a massive tower in the middle of the city but couldn''t spot the smithy she had created. Then again, it was pretty unassuming from the outside, and she would need to try and track it down once she had dedicated her new points. She wanted to pick some of the stuff she hadn''t gotten the first time around, and she wanted to get another Domain. Celeste was considering the Death Domain, and while not something fun, it seemed like it would fit in with the rest of her motif. Before Celeste could put much more thought into it, Jasper cleared his throat. "I do think that we have bigger problems, though." He said. "It looks like we are not the only gods in the world anymore." He pointed to a building that Celeste had seen but hadn''t put into context. A large church stood in the middle of the town, proudly displaying a massive crown and the infinity symbol. "Sweetie... what is that?" Celeste slowly asked, hoping that the god of knowledge might know something. "Let me think this through... so the ork that killed me got ascended to divinity. He is apparently named Orlek, which... well, the creativity of this AI might need some adjustment. Whatever the case, to ensure that the other races weren''t left behind, the AI elevated a new god among each of them. The human god and the gods for dwarves have been melted into one due to some rather complicated events... That god is called... this can''t be right. Kelllwan... Three Ls+. That doesn''t look right at all... I am registering that as a bug... might be too late to fix, but honestly, that is just weird. The Drow god is called Daikia... Apparently, they are going for some matriarchal theme... good on them. OH! You are never guessing who the god of the elves are." Jasper said, clearly expecting Celeste to guess. "Hmmm, that elven guy we gave magic to?" She guessed. Jasper nodded. "Yup, Ewen... wow, apparently he tried to ascend under his own might, and one of his family ambushed him... turned the ritual into one big failure and set off a magical nuke," Jasper explained, which would help explain the scarred territory on Celeste''s map. "Might be a good system, though," Jasper said, looking through the knowledge he had access to. "I mean, we can''t stay around and these gods appear to be incentivising conflict. Daikia, the Drow goddess, and Ewen, the elf god, are literally creating demi gods in the hopes of eradicating the other. We should look into creating some foils for Orlek and Kelllwan as well... god, three Ls... this is wrong. But that might need to be our current objective... you know, creating something a bit more interesting." Jasper explained, and Celeste smiled. "Yeah, but I want to pick out our new abilities and then go into town and see what they have been up to, " the goddess said, and her smile turned into a grin. Jasper nodded, more than happy to go over his build. Interlude: Testament of the Void, a response to Johannes Krell In this moment, I am certain of your downfall. The name is not for any man to know, but understand this: I know the truth, for I have paid what needed to be paid. My soul is no longer my own, but the knowledge is now mine, so heed my words. In your world, there are only two forces: order and chaos. All strive to create order for the benefit of their own race, but it is futile. One day, chaos will come, and from it, no order will arise. Nothing will remain¡ªonly chaos¡ªand here the archdemons will reign supreme.
I do not write this for the followers of the archdemons to learn who they are. I write this because a Kelllwanite by the name of Johannes Krell has publicly released a book about demons, that any learned scholar has bought. If this is what is considered learned academia in this time, then the mortals are truly as learned as cows. No, I write this because he is wrong. Johannes Krell is not merely a coward but a sheepherding backwater loon unworthy of even the derision of the learned. I have paid the price for my knowledge, and he is mistaken. Let me, therefore, cast light upon the shadow of ignorance that Krell has so carelessly spread. In the forgotten echoes of creation, when Kallean and Misrush clashed to create Armandos the world saw its first Archdemon. Nobody knows how and only fools speculate on why. However, as Armandos helped gods ascend to their rightful place, it became clear that even gods could die. Even the eternals are not impervious to the touch of death and corruption. And as the gods were slain, an archdemon would take their place. Those profane and twisted lords of chaos and darkness. To slay a god is to shatter the fabric of balance. Yet death is not their end, but their desecration. Their celestial forms, unshackled by mortality, descend into the depths of the abyss, where the dark energies of the void seep into their being. Their once-hallowed names are stripped from memory, replaced with titles whispered in fear and loathing. Their virtues are turned into vices, their noble domains corrupted into instruments of torment. You should know their titles, as you will be bowing to them. However, mortal, be joyful, for there are only four archdemons that you should worship, and one you should never seek. The Demon of Hatred Total darkness and hatred, surpassed only by an all-consuming evil. A single glimpse of him, and one knows their fate. He is the lord of the demons¡¯ sphere and without a doubt the most powerful. As is the nature of the archdemons, there is always an inner brutal power struggle, but none have yet unseated this archdemon from his throne. Every hatred, every anger, every brutal act you commit is a tribute to him and a weapon he will turn into your downfall. His general, his son, his weapon, and your doom is named Ballator, and it is most likely through him that he will tread upon Kalish. No matter which archdemon or pitiful god you worship, you would do well to show this archdemon respect. This archdemon is no fallen and tormented god. This archdemon has found his place on his current throne after embracing the darkness that every god has been granted upon entering this most sacred realm. I dare not utter his former name, nor his history. This knowledge he reserves only for his highest-ranking supporters. If you are followers of the greatest of The Great Ones, remember this: Hatred and anger are not the same. Anger is a fire that consumes everything in its path¡ªa mighty weapon¡ªbut it will burn out sooner or later. Hatred, on the other hand, is a force that only grows stronger with time. The Demon of Greed This archdemon was once a god of the dwarves, and there is little more of relevance to say about his former life. After the dark elves granted him death, his twisted understanding of order and justice was stripped away, and his true nature was brought to ¡°light.¡± He is truly one of the oldest of The Great Ones, and he, more than any other archdemon, has grasped the truth: that everything in the world belongs to them. It simply has not yet reached them. His constant desire for all things valuable and precious has made him the most resource-rich of The Great Ones. He rarely shares his treasures, and always as an investment or in exchange for something greater. But I will say this to his followers: If he grants you anything, you are his. And once he has invested, he will expect returns, and he will always get his price¡ªone way or another. Worshiping this darkened god is unimaginably rewarding, but know that if you fail, it will cost you more than just your life. The Demon of Night The Queen of Night, as she is often called, remains a shadowy enigma to most. The fool Johannes Krell wrote that her domain of darkness solely concerns assassination, but believe me, my brothers and sisters, her power is far greater. Lies, deceit, and the silent violence of assassination¡ªall these are the foundation of this archdemon¡¯s influence. It is true, as Johannes claims, that she is active, for her followers are everywhere and arguably the most well-hidden of any. The only one of her followers known to the public is Longknife, undoubtedly her strongest offensive weapon. However, the majority of her triumphs arise not from direct confrontations but from whispers in the shadows, lies in the dark, and subtle manipulations that lead to daggers in backs, friends becoming enemies, and even civil wars and misguided revolutions. Some believe that the civil war in Permersland was her doing. She does not demand much from her true followers, only their unyielding loyalty and, above all, their ability to remain hidden. Even her own past was a lie. The old texts claim that Daikia had eight children, yet only seven are described and known. Only a handful of the eldest dark elves, those who still remember her and her closest confidants, know the truth. I advise you not to speak openly of this matter to anyone. Most dark elves would slaughter you for uttering ¡°falsehoods¡± about the Ilsheres, and the Queen of Night herself is known to loathe the exposure of her secrets.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. It is said that the White Ilsher was Daikia¡¯s only daughter, but this is a fabrication. Her name was Lasandra, and she was the fifth-born Ilsher, thus ranking below her elder sister yet, as a woman, placed above her brothers. She knew that Ishtar would never rest easy while another female Ilsher existed to challenge her position. Daikia, too, foresaw this potential conflict, and the three of them¡ªDaikia, Ishtar, and Lasandra¡ªagreed to keep the fifth Ilsher a secret. Lasandra understood that her brothers would not support her if it came to a confrontation between the two female Ilsheres. She relinquished any claim to a house, appearing weak and conflict-averse. She promised her siblings to assist each in their endeavors, all while secretly mastering the arts of assassination and intrigue, ever preparing for the chance to eliminate Ishtar. Yet the murder never occurred, and the reason for this remains known only to the Queen of Night herself. How Lasandra met her end is a mystery not granted to me, but evidence suggests that when the demons claimed her, she was not tortured¡ªor at least, not in the same manner as the others. In trade and treachery, she always holds the upper hand and nearly always obtains what she desires. Although Lasandra renounced her house and her family colors, Longknife has personally told me that all her followers carry something yellow upon them. The Demon of Chaos His former name was Alman, and he was the first elven god, before the upstart Ewen. However, thanks to Kelllwan colluding with Ewen, Alman was slain. I applaud Ewen for doing something with his power, and this only shows that the god of magic is a shadow of his former self. Alman''s power is, at times, greater than almost all other archdemons. However, he does not partake in the power struggle for the dark throne. This conflict is meaningless to him, as his understanding of chaos has nothing to do with any living being. As Krell writes:
¡°This archdemon delights in seeing nature destroy civilization and bring chaos to what was once order. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, avalanches¡ªthese fill the Demon of Chaos with joy and make him stronger,¡±
and for once in Krell''s miserable life, he is actually right. The Demon of Chaos may perceive chaos in its purest form: unstoppable, deadly, and an intrinsic part of nature''s order. Thus, he concerns himself with nothing else. It might be considered a legacy of snobbery from his mortal life as a high elf. The other archdemons do not fear him, as, like a dormant volcano, he can remain in slumber for decades. During this time, he shows little interest in anything beyond his disciples. He waits patiently for nature to take its course and for the timing to be right to let the world be struck by natural chaos. In these rare moments, he is unstoppable and could bring even a god to its knees¡ªif such a thing interested him. But it does not. Krell describes him as
¡°the wind within a tornado,¡±
and this pretentious quote makes me lose all hope that mortals might actually achieve any form of higher understanding. Whether there is a hidden reason for this archdemons lack of interest in the living is unknown, but he teaches his followers this: all beings, from insects to gods, are always at their most vulnerable when they do not expect the horrors that may befall them. The number of worshippers of the Demon of Chaos is small. They are most often chaos druids and elementalists, but others exist as well. Because their numbers are so few, ¡°Alman¡± is often generous with his power when it comes to his followers. They are usually isolated and passive, traits adopted from their master. Many of them can be found on the Endless Plains, where they thrive by watching and feeling how nature can destroy a landscape. If you worship this archdemon, do not shy away from participating in the events that unfold around you, nor from asking your master for help. However, his response depends on whether the timing is right. Are the pieces in place, or does the strength of the wind still need to gather? If they are, know this: your visions will be fulfilled. But if not, know that the winds of chaos¡¯s tornado may just extinguish the light of your life. The Demon of Light Also called the Demon of Justice. This archdemon is the cause of much of my existence''s despair. After Krell, the worm, spread his knowledge of the most sacred beings in the universe to a population¡ªa continent¡ªthat was unworthy of hearing such secrets without paying their soul as a price, I made it my ¡°life¡¯s¡± mission to find him and devour his soul. I spent years hunting him down, only to finally drag him into my realm when something stopped me. It was an archdemon I had never heard of, for no demon would tell me his name. He blinded me with his light and bound me with magic, so I could never harm the Kelllwanite I had longed to torture until he was no more. Many of the other archdemons were displeased or outright furious, for they all wished to have their share of Krell. But this ¡°archdemon¡± would not allow harm to come to the traitor. And no archdemon seemed willing to challenge him. Since then, I have toiled to uncover as much as I could about this archdemon, and this is what I found: He is perhaps the most hidden secret of the demons¡¯ sphere. No demons want anything to do with him, and no archdemons will acknowledge him as one of them. He seems to lack even a trace of evil, which leads me to ask: Where does he draw his strength from? For there is no doubt that this is an incredibly powerful archdemon. He draws no strength from screams, nor from death, pain, or dark emotions or thoughts. Krell claims his name is Armandos, but how could that be possible? All know that Armandos is but part of the creation myth, a story told to hide how the gods claimed power through mortal means. However, if Armandos is dead, it would explain why none can call upon his divine powers. Like most other archdemons, he fights a constant war among them, but here something is different. ¡°Armandos¡± does not seem to seek the throne of the strongest, but rather acts as a wrench in the gears of the others. And the archdemon most frustrated by his interference is undoubtedly the Demon of Hatred. Yet, even he will not banish him from this sphere, even if he could. ¡°Armandos¡± appears calm and collected in his mind, which I cannot interpret as anything but an insult. To receive the power of demons and not be consumed by darkness can only be seen as theft and blasphemy. This ¡°Demon of Light and Justice¡± does not seem to have any followers¡ªor, if he does, he hides them from our gaze, and with good reason. So, I say this to his followers, if ever there have been or will be any: Hide yourselves! And never so much as whisper your lord¡¯s name in our presence. For if you do, we will make it our life¡¯s mission to hunt you down and finish the job I never completed with Krell, for every last one of you. - Author unkonwn Chapter 18: Jasper Ranks up Having learned from his previous mistakes, Jasper opened up his menu, intending to spend all his points. With the two left over from his last session and the 9 he had just gotten, he had 11 points to work with in total, almost twice the amount he had in the beginning. With lesser powers costing one point, greater powers costing two, and new Domains costing three, he could buy many different things, though that was needed given how things ended last time. Jasper knew that he wanted at least one more Domain, but before he could choose one, he made sure to do two things. The first was to open up the Magic Domain and choose the power Greater Pavis of Rule. Text from Image:
Greater Pavis of Rule Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Dedicate Energy until the next loading screen. While this Energy is dedicated you are completely immune to all non-domain magic. Gain +4 to any check to avoid Domain magic or Ur-magic.
For a moment, Jasper was confused. He had wanted this power for some time. It was strictly better than his counterspell, though he was pretty sure an additional effect had been layered onto the power. "What is Ur-magic?" He mumbled under his breath. This power was no longer just a neat upgrade, though. With Ewen as a god, Jasper would need some way to protect against lower forms of magic. His Omniscient Scholar power was currently processing all written texts, allowing him to cast almost any spell he wanted. If Ewen had the same ability, which was very likely, then Jasper would need some kind of defence against what could be a potential enemy. Since Greater Pavis of Rule was a lesser power, Jasper was left with 10 points. Next, Jasper focused on his Endurance Domain and expanded it so he could review what powers were available to him. Instead of using the command he had used during the first iteration, he simply ticked a box that he had implemented just a couple of days ago, allowing the AI to present him with the top 5 options that it thought were relevant and interesting to him.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Amaranth Vitality Every fifteen minutes you heal one lost hit point per three character Ranks, rounded up, as long as you are still alive. (Currently 2 hitpoints per fifteen minutes.) See full description Lesser
Unbreakable Commit Energy for the day, and during the next ten seconds you have an invincible defence against any physical, tangible attack or spell effect. See full description Greater
Untiring Impact Pick one project that you have spent Impact on. Add 1 to the Impact effect. As an action, Commit Energy for as long as you wish to refresh allies around you. See full description Lesser
Elemental Scorn Pick an element. You have an invincible defence against it. You can spread this effect to allies by committing Energy. This Power can be taken multiple times. See full description Lesser
Endurance of Energy Increase your maximum Energy by one point. See full description Lesser
Jasper was an idiot. His wife didn''t tell him that enough. Why had he kept the two points in reserve? To use on a rainy day like some unspent full healing item? There was no doubt that these effects would have helped him out. They were terrific, even if the AI was basing the suggestions on what had happened during the last iteration. Jasper had sustained quite a few injuries after the fun in the mine, which would explain the suggestion of Amaranth Vitality. The fight with the ork boss, apparently named Orlek, would explain Unbreakable. It was probably the only way that Jasper could have survived the opening volley of that attack. He was unsure why Untiring Impact was on there. It was likely due to the second effect of revitalising allies. Elemental scorn took Jasper a second to figure out, but it was due to his battle with The Scribe. Plenty of the veils had given elemental damage, which would have been nice to mitigate. The last power just seemed generally useful. Endurance of Energy was something that he could always use. In Jasper''s opinion, only three of these powers would be a good idea to pick for his build. He would pick the regeneration ability and the ability to withstand any hit for ten seconds, and finally the upgrade to energy. These powers would cost him 4 points in total, which would bring him to 6 unspent points. With a new Domain costing 3 points, he would have 3 points left to spend in his new Domain. All in all, this was a good plan. However, Jasper couldn''t bring himself to pick the powers without reading them over first. Who knew? There might be some kind of hidden effect or downside that would make him change his mind. He started with the first power, pulling up the full description. Text from Image:
Amaranth Vitality Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Every fifteen minutes you heal one lost hit point per three Ranks, rounded up, as long as you are still alive.
Amaranth Vitality didn''t provide any surprises. It was essentially what Jasper had expected. After all, it was a passive ability that would slowly heal him from any wound as long as he survived. He picked it, spending a single point on getting some regeneration powers. He continued to the next ability, looking it over before picking it. Text from Image:
Unbreakable Type: Activated ability Energy usage: energy for the day Full effect: Commit Energy for the day, and during the next ten seconds, you have an invincible defence against any physical, tangible attack or spell effect. You are still vulnerable to mental or spiritual attacks, as long as they do not have a physical manifestation. For example, a rock thrown with magic will be blocked, however a spell that renders your mind not.
Jasper looked over the power. It made sense that the ability would only block physical aspects of attacks. However, combined with his Magic Domain, this was becoming incredibly powerful. He would be able to block just about any attacks thrown his way, no matter the type. He picked the ability. While Energy dedicated for the day was a heavy downside, he also knew that this effect was much stronger than it appeared. He could have taken down the ork with little to no problems with this thing. He moved on to the last power in his endurance Domain. Text from Image:
Endurance of Energy Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Increase your maximum Energy by one point.
The last power seemed to be pretty much what he had expected.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. It was a generally helpful ability that allowed him to throw his powers more often, which would be especially useful with his latest Unbreakable power. He picked Endurance of Energy, determining it would be worth the points. That left him with 6 points. Even after reading the full description of the powers he still wanted another Domain. Jasper pulled up the view of all the possible Domains he could pick from. After being overwhelmed by the long list of options, he narrowed it down to the top five Domains he thought would be a good fit.
Domain name Domain Description
Alacrity Quick bursts of explosive speed.
Loyalty Leadership and organisation
Luck Fortune both good and bad
Passion Feelings and inspiration
Wealth Prosperity and manipulation of goods
Jasper had a hard time choosing which Domain to pick next. He knew he didn''t want one of the more combat-focused Domains, since he had already picked Magic, and the various mage schools were quite a big help with his combat prowess. He also knew that while the Elements could be fun, he would want all of them if he was supposed to make an exciting build. As such, he was left with just a couple of options. Alacrity had some overlap with endurance. Often, a build would focus on either dodging attacks or blocking them, but usually not both. However, it was a contender since it would compliment Celeste''s Journey Domain nicely. There was something poetic in Celeste having long-distance travel, while Jasper focused on travelling short distances. Loyalty was neat, as it provided some much-needed organisation to people. However, they couldn''t run a country or town since they would only check in every 100 years. A leader who was only around their country every century wasn''t a leader. Luck was one of those Domains that was probably a lot of fun. Thinking about real-world examples, gods of Luck were usually fickle or tricksters. Jasper couldn''t help but wonder if it was the kind of build he wanted. Passion would be good to have. Neither Jasper nor Celeste had been focused on social interaction with some of the people around them, and it would be a good idea to get something for that. However, Passion didn''t necessarily provide any other benefits. In that way, it was like his Knowledge Domain. It was hyper-focused. Jasper wasn''t sure if he could afford to take another focused Domain. It wasn''t like Celeste''s Tinkering domain, which applied to all kinds of situations. Lastly, there was the Wealth Domain. It was one of the more versatile Domains, allowing Jasper to earn quite a bit of money. He grumbled a little and then looked over to his wife. It was one of the more fitting Domains for her as well. She could probably pick it too, and there would be too much overlap between them. It wouldn''t fit into Jasper''s original concept for his character, the shield mage, but it would make things a lot easier. Jasper sighed and cleared his throat, though Celeste was in her own little world, and didn''t pay him much attention. Jasper didn''t blame her. She was finally getting a taste of the whole analysis paralysis that plagued most of his decisions. Jasper finally just picked something, he could spend days analysing all the potential options that he had, but honestly, there was no wrong answer. He picked Luck, deciding that combined with Knowledge and Magic he could probably go for some kind of Fate theme, which would compliment Celeste''s Domains nicely. Text from Image:
Divine Domain Unlocked: Luck Whenever you fail a check, be it skill-based or in combat, you gain 1 Luck counter. When you have 5 Luck counters your next check will be successful.
Jasper had to admit that the Luck Domain seemed powerful. By default, the option to see rolls was disabled, ensuring smoother gameplay for the pair of gods. However, Jasper would have to be informed when he failed a check to ensure he knew when he was close to getting an automatic success. A quick overview of the powers within the Luck Domain also showed that they were compelling, even if Jasper was just viewing the top 5 options.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Impossible Victory Exactly once, you automatically win a conflict through blind luck. It may not be a total victory, but you obtain the main goal. You then lose this Power and you are refunded the cost. See full description Greater
Nine Lives Automatically reroll saves or enemy hit rolls that would result in your death or mortal injury. See full description Lesser
By Chance By committing Energy you can dictate an event within your presence that isn''t utterly improbable, and it happens. See full description Greater
Blighted Luck Curse a target with bad luck. See full description Lesser
A series of unfortunate events By committing Energy, target opponent is hit with a series of unfortunate events, each one creating a chain event with the intent of killing the target. See full description Lesser
These were all great. However, Jasper knew a trap when he saw one. If the last iteration had taught him anything, it was the fact that he was not good at managing limited resources, meaning that Impossible Victory would be something that he would hang on to for the subsequent ten iterations before using it at a stupid time. He sighed and decided not to pick the Impossible Victory. The next one was Nine Lives. It would give the god more sustainability, ensuring he wouldn''t go out in a fight as quickly as if he had been just blocking whatever came his way. Jasper wondered if the reroll would happen before or after he activated his Unbreakable ability. If it was before, then there would be quite the synergy, saving him energy in the long term. However, based on the wording, it was probably based on how much damage the attack dealt, meaning that activating Unbreakable would effectively nullify Nine Lives. Jasper discarded this ability as well. By Chance was actually what he had been looking for, hoping to dictate fate through random events would be quite fun. Blighted Luck and A Series of Unfortunate Events sounded pretty good, though they overlapped. Jasper picked the one that intended to kill someone, as he could probably use it in some offensive way, rather than simply cursing someone. Pulling up the descriptions of the new powers before picking them, he read them over carefully. Text from Image:
Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: You dictate an event in your presence that isn''t utterly improbable, and it happens. Damage to foes is limited. this power affects only physical objects and events, and not minds or emotions.
This power was a lot worse than Jasper had expected. Or at least that was what he assumed at first glance. The power to manipulate things in the environment might be useful. However, was it worth 2 points? He wouldn''t be able to use it to manipulate people''s thoughts and feelings, though he would be able to damage enemies to some extent. The god sighed, deciding that this wasn''t worth the two points. Instead, he looked at A Series of Unfortunate Events. Text from image:
A series of Unfortunate Events. Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: You smite a chosen foe within sight with bad luck, inflicting a 1d20 damage die per Rank. This takes the shape of various accidents with lethal intent which instantly affects the target. As a Smite power, A series of Unfortunate Events cannot be used two rounds in a row.
This was much more in line with the power that Jasper had been looking for. A series of Unfortunate Events was a lot more powerful than the spells that he had been slinging. While he couldn''t use the ability in a row, it was still one of the more insane damage potentials he had seen. It made him wonder what they would be able to do if they picked some actual combat Domains. He chose the power, though thanks to him not picking By Chance, he had two points left. Jasper wouldn''t let them sit around and not benefit him, not after last time, so he looked into his Knowledge Domain, hoping to spend them there. While the top 5 options were interesting, they weren''t really what Jasper was looking for. He dismissed them after having already reviewed them during character creation. Instead, he looked over each ability, finally finding one that fit him. Text from image:
A Truth that Burns Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a visible target. Learn the knowledge of them or their plans that they least want you to know. Worthy foes get a Spirit saving throw to resist this subtle inquisition.
It was a lesser power, meaning that it only cost one point, but it was one of the more interesting powers. It would allow him to determine what people were hiding from him. Jasper would have loved to have this with King Marcus to know what the man had been thinking. The god picked the power and decided to look over his Magic Domain as well. However, something strange had happened to the Domain. A lot of powers within the domain mentioned something called Ur-Magic. It seemed like someone had been messing with the domain, and Jasper had a feeling that Ewen might have done something he shouldn''t. The system had adapted to accommodate a power that could literally elevate a mortal to a god by creating a new type of magic. Since Jasper didn''t know anything about Ur-Magic, it meant that nobody had written anything about it, which was both infuriating and good to know. Even so, Jasper found another Lesser power that he liked in the Magic Domain. Allowing him to use his last point. Text from Image:
The Excellent Pause Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: Varies. Full effect: When you cast an Ur-spell or mortal magic, you may commit Energy just before it is triggered. The spell is then suspended and may be released as an action at any time thereafter, with the committed Energy returning at the next loading screen. You may suspend more than one spell if you''re willing to commit the Energy to each, but releasing requires your attention.
Jasper smiled. With his points spent he was ready to head out in the world. Looking around, he could see that the sun had moved quite a bit, leaving him to think that he must have spent at least three hours reviewing stats and comparing them with his current loadout. Celeste was nowhere to be seen, and Jasper couldn''t blame her. She had probably wandered down into the town, but they really shouldn''t be spending more time in Marcusburg. The town seemed self-sufficient to some degree, and they would have to fix the bugs elsewhere in the world. Chapter 19: Celeste Ranks up. Celeste had to admit that she was starting to see why her husband was such an overthinker. It was easy to get stuck in your head with the absolute metric ton of options available to her. With his tendency to dig deeper, she was surprised they had even progressed in the game so far. He was likely to have spent the first week just analysing the various powers instead of choosing something. Celeste wouldn''t be making the same mistake. Instead, she looked at her 9 available Points. Spending all of them in her current Domains would be fun, but it wouldn''t expand her play pattern. Only solidify it. She needed one more Domain before settling. She reminded herself of the costs. Lesser powers cost 1 point, Greater powers cost 2 points, and a new Domain cost 3 points. The goddess had been contemplating the Death Domain. It would give her the more ethereal march-of-time vibe that she had been leaning into, but if that was the case, her Tinkering Domain would feel a bit out of place. She could also pick the Melee Domain. The idea of creating weapons to use mid-combat appealed to her. She could be leaning into some kind of "Traveling swordsman" trope. However, it was a trope that best worked when you were alone, and as such, Celeste wouldn''t be a good fit for it. In her mind, the last option was Wealth. It would be an excellent option to ensure that they could establish trade with various people. Celeste sighed. There wasn''t a four Domain combination that matched her specific aesthetic. She noticed that Jasper was looking at her, but she ignored it, focusing instead on the choice before her. She was getting into the same trap that often pulled him in. Celeste needed to be more impulsive and be better at making decisions. She finally just picked. Text from Image:
Divine Domain Unlocked: Death You may command undead in your presence. Greater undead gets a spirit save to resist. By focusing you also know the details of what, where and how anything died or is dying within 100 meters.
She was supposedly their single target glasscanon, so she might as well beef up her potential. Being the Reaper would be fun... well, fun was a strong word, but it would be a new vibe for her. Celeste was surprised her innate power primarily functioned on the undead. Although she hadn''t seen any, the fact that the AI mentioned them meant that there would probably be some. The power to see dead or dying things within 100 meters would also be pretty handy. Even so, Celeste couldn''t wait to see the options she had for powers. With 6 points left, there would be plenty of opportunity to spend them. She paused before looking down the list. She knew that she wanted a lesser power from the Tinkering domain as well, and as such she only really had 5 points to spend here. Celeste could see the option to only see the top five powers, but she wanted to know all her options. She unfolded the list of potential lesser powers she could pick.
Power name Summary Read more?
Keeper of the Graves You learn exactly where every corpse, undead or fragment of remains are within 200 meters and their identity in life. You can tell exactly how they died as if you had observed their death personally. If you Commit Energy you have an invincible defence against lesser undead. See full description
Mantle of the Bleak Commit Energy and any lesser foe that tries to physically harm you suffers damage as an aura of death surrounds you. See full description
A Pale Crown Beckons Commit Energy to call up undead, summoning parts instantly from the nearest source if necessary. See full description
Scythe Hand Commit Energy and command necrotic energy as an innate weapon against your foes. This is particularly useful against living opponents. See full description
White Bone Harvest Commit Energy to instantly destroy any hostile undead in sight provided they are lesser foes. See full description
Withholding the Mercy Those reduced to zero hit points within 200 meters of you automatically stabilize or die as your wish. See full description
Having looked over all the lesser powers, the goddess had to admit these powers were overwhelming. Withholding the Mercy seemed incredibly powerful, ensuring she could protect the people she cared about. Effectively, nobody could die while she was around. That would make her an obvious target since she assumed her protection would stop if she stepped out of range. Without a second thought, she picked Withholding the Mercy, bringing her down to 4 remaining points. White Bone Harvest also seemed excellent. An instant kill on any undead would be very effective. However, with no undead in sight, this was unlikely to be used in the immediate future. She felt like Scythe Hand was already covered by her Time Domain and the power Withering hour, so she dismissed that as well. A Pale Crown Beckons seemed powerful if she wanted to become a lich or that type of being, but that wasn''t really what she was looking for. Mantle of the Bleak and Keeper of the Graves seemed interesting, but the question was if there was a Greater power she would like instead. She quickly pulled them up, curious as to what they were.
Power name Summary Read more?
No Release Commit Energy and choose a visible target. They simply cannot die until you reclaim the Energy. You cannot use this power on yourself. See full description
Reaping Word Commit Energy and choose a target at any range. Lesser foes drop dead , worthy foes are allowed a Hardiness saving throw to resist. See full description
Summons to Day Commit Energy to call any normal mortal creature back from death. See full description
Celeste had stopped breathing for a second. She looked at the abilities, and she couldn''t help but stare.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The goddess knew there were probably caveats and requirements beyond the short description listed, and she had the option of seeing a full description. However, that would leave her mucking about in menus for the next month. She liked all three of them. She wondered what kind of death she wanted to be. Did she want to bring people back? She had the option, but storylines in games always lost a bit of value if all the prominent characters were never in any actual danger and could just be brought back. She decided at that moment that her version of death would have something against people that had been brought back, no matter what form they might take, be it undead or resurrection. Summons to Day was out the window then. Reaping Word, on the other hand, would be good to have. An instant kill effect would probably be good. She picked it quickly and then also picked No Release. Both of them seemed promising. Once she had picked them, she hesitated. Something inside her wanted to know the restrictions, and she blamed her husband for corrupting her in this way. She couldn''t change her mind, but that little voice in the back of her mind told her it was good to know what she was working with. Text from Image:
No Release Type: Activated ability Energy usage: variable Full effect: Commit Energy and choose a visible target. They simply cannot die until you reclaim the Energy. if reduced to zero Health they will be incapacitated for an hour before reviving with one Health. If their body is destroyed or widely scattered, they will exist in a perpetual haze of blind agony until magic or restorative miracles are used to gather the corpse parts, or until the Energy is Reclaimed. You cannot use this power on your own person.
That explained quite a bit. No release wasn''t a blessing. It was a curse. It didn''t bring the target back to life if there was no body to live in, meaning that any mortal that was forced not to die would have their body crumble and effectively be tortured. That was powerful for sure, though not really what she had intended. She didn''t regret her choice, though. Her attention moved over to her next power. Text from image:
Reaping Word Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until the next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a target at any range. A gesture suffices if you can see the target, otherwise you must use a name they consider their own true name. Lesser foes drop dead and cannot be revived without your permission. Worthy foes require Energy to be committed to the end of the day and are allowed a saving throw to resist. Furthermore, worthy foes must be injured in order to let Death reach them; even a single point of damage is enough.
This also came with some rather incredible power and restrictions. Celeste wasn''t sure what a worthy foe was, or a lesser foe for that matter, but it seemed like it was the game''s way of measuring how difficult an enemy would be without having to implement a levelling system. The fact a worthy foe had to take damage for this effect to trigger was both good and bad. The goddess could have someone else take credit for the kill as long as they got a single hit in, but she wouldn''t be able to just kill powerful antagonists if she knew their names. Lastly, Celeste found the power of "Ten Thousand Tools". She had been using that quite a bit in the last iteration, even though she hadn''t picked it. She had been committing Energy just to have access to it. She had relied so much on it that she wouldn''t waste the Energy anymore. The ability to let her other Domains influence her crafting had been much stronger than she had expected. She picked up the power and was done within an hour of loading into the game, something she could tell thanks to her Time Domain. She smiled and slowly started to walk towards Marcusburg. She knew that Jasper would be messing about with his powers and Domains for some time, and she also knew better than to try and disturb him in his process. Celeste had made it halfway down the hill when she spotted a curious figure. The tall frame and slender arms and legs indicated that he was an elf, but the grey skin betrayed that he was a drow. His eyes looked at the goddess, in her great billowing cloak, staring her down, and Celeste got the feeling of being threatened by a teenager, something that she had , unfortunately, experienced a couple of times during her job. The drow had long black hair that hung over one of his eyes, a staff made from skulls, and dark robes. The one eye that Celeste could see was completely white. If the Architect of Reality had to guess, the stranger would definitely be in his emo phase. She knew better than to judge people, especially people trying to find their place in the world, based on what phase of their life they were currently in. Celeste had a lot of students who had an alternative style, and most of them were amazing. She hoped they wouldn''t be cringing too hard when they looked back on themselves in ten years. "You dare tread on my Domain." The voice of the drow was pretty much what she had expected. He clearly saw himself as some kind of agent for death and had come to assert his dominance. "A human no less, and you dare think yourself the equal of one of the Ilsher?" Celeste noted the condescending tone and the bared teeth. It felt like this guy was trying to intimidate her. "What is an Ilsher?" The goddess asked, hoping that she could find some common ground with the boy. A confrontation seemed inevitable, but she knew he was probably misguided in some way, and she would have to try to show her authority. However, he still might be someone she could talk to instead of fighting. "Rivvin!" He spat the word as if it was something filthy. "You know nothing of your betters, but still wield powers beyond your grasp. The Ilsher is the children of Daikia, yes, tremble at my mother''s name, for she is the end of all surface born. You will kneel before those who are your superior. Each of her children has been bestowed a gift of the divine, for she has been blessed by darkness itself. Now you understand that my power is not that of a demi-god, but that of a demi-ur-god. You will fall to the darkness that is within my heart, for my soul has been tainted by the corruption that is inherent to my existence." The drow kept talking, clearly expecting Celeste to keep listening to him. The teacher inside the Architect of Creation wanted to continue to listen. She really did. However, she could also see that he was not talking about himself but rather his perceived version of himself, meaning that she wouldn''t change his mind this way. "I am Celeste, by the way." Celeste budded in, startling the drow because she had dared to interrupt him. "What might your name be?" She asked, hoping being approachable might make for a more interesting conversation. The drow looked at her suspiciously for just a moment before smirking. "You willingly give your name to an agent of death? That is very unwise of you. You don''t seem to understand who I am or the power that we wield." He said with that mocking tone of voice that was starting to grate on Celeste''s nerves. "I am Mordecai, primogen and head of the black house. I am the reaper of the drows and the agent of death. My words are the final words that any drow will hear, and I condemn them to their final fate. There are no other, I am the Omega, the last will that none can defy." Mordecai spoke while dark power seemed to coil around his body and focus on the head of his staff. His eyes were wide open and had turned from pure white to completely black as he pointed a finger at Celeste. The power rushing from the staff to the tip of his digit. "And my will is that you have interfered with my Domain, and I will reap your body and mind! I command you to DIE!" A thick, coiling mass of black power rolled off his staff into a small ball at the end of his finger. With but a thought, he sent the ball towards Celeste as he threw the condensed and unavoidable version of his Domain at her. Celeste felt something strange as Mordecai unleashed his power. She knew what he was doing. He was using Reaping Word to destroy her. His powers with death were clear, but Celeste could feel her connection to the Domain as well. She spent a single point of Energy, a simple moment of focus, and as the Reaping Word left Mordecai''s hand, it disappeared. It simply seemed to vanish. That was a fascinating aspect of Domains. Apparently, you could cancel powers from your own Domain.
Health 24/24
Energy 4/5
Mordecai could probably do the same, simply dispelling any Death Domain power that Celeste threw at him. However, the drow didn''t seem to know this fact. His stunned face betrayed him, as he seemed overwhelmed by it. "I... I..." Mordecai was flabbergasted, struggling to find the words to say as Celeste moved closer. "So, Mordecai. I am willing to start over. Pleased to meet you, I am Celeste, the first god." She said, and she couldn''t help but grin. Chapter 20: Mordecai and the First God Celeste knew they were too close to the city, so instead of engaging Mordecai in a battle, she simply walked away, heading to the west as if it had been her plan all along. The goddess knew she would be able to find her way back without any problems. After all, she had her Journeying Domain, which provided her a map, and she could probably use her powers to figure out where Jasper was. Turning around and leaving after stating that she was the first god seemed to be enough of an insult to Mordecai. The greasy-haired drow quickly followed along, and his dark robes fluttered as he moved, making him look less than graceful. "You cannot be the first god. Armandos was banished by the gods. Banished by my mother!" Mordecai said as he managed to catch up with Celeste. "Armandos? I have never heard that name before." Celeste answered, forcing the demi-god to continue to move if he wanted information. "Typical, Lebb har. You have no concept of the world around you. Armandos is the name of the forgotten god, the god that came before our gods. You claim to be her? A god so powerful that they can force ascension in mortals?" Mordecai seemed to be mocking Celeste. It was an interesting quirk that Mordecai assumed the first god to be female. The fact that Celeste was female was probably one of the few reasons why the drow had started interrogating her instead of outright killing her... well... tried to kill her again. While walking, they walked around the hill and reached the forest beyond it. Celeste smiled as they got out of sight of the town, deciding she might as well humour the angsty drow. "Well, you cannot kill me, and unless you wish to claim that a drow is weaker than a mortal, then you have no other choice but to acknowledge the facts. You see, I am the first god... well, technically, I am half of the first god. I am the Architect of Creation. My workshop stands as a monument of all divine things." Mordecai looked at her as if she was mad. "You lie. You are nothing but a m''elzar that has gotten too big for her boots. You could have the help of errdegahr or the like." With a swift hand motion, Mordecai reached out for her again, pouring more death energy into his Death Domain. Instantly, Celeste understood his intention. He wanted to melt the world around him with death. She didn''t even let him unleash the power. She simply threw out her hand, spending another Energy and removing the power from existence. "Let me make this clear. I am not here to discuss who is more powerful. I am not here to fight. I am here to fix the world. Please stop throwing a tantrum right now, or you will be put in timeout." She put on her best ''we are having a serious conversation''-tone. Having stated what she intended to do and showed could nullify Mordecai''s powers. She could see the risk assessment cross Mordecai''s face. To Celeste''s disappointment, she could also see the moment he determined that his initial estimate of her was correct, and he rolled his shoulders. "Of course, you do not wish to fight. Why would an ant wish to fight a lion? You have no concept of the power I wield-" He was cut off as a left hook landed across his face, throwing him to the ground. Celeste hadn''t crossed the distance, but she looked on in stunned awe as another version of herself stood over Mordecai with a clenched fist. The clone of Celeste followed up with a swift kick to the stomach before picking the gangly drow up by the collar of his robes and throwing him to the original Celeste, who didn''t hesitate. She caught him mid-air and bodyslammed him hard, it was quickly followed up by the clone grabbing his staff and splintering it to pieces. The clone smiled at the original. "Times up, you gotta jump back and help out. My clone looked pretty bloodied, so make sure to rough him up." She said, and Celeste decided that if there was anyone you could trust, it had to be yourself. The Goddess of Time spent another energy to perform a miracle and jumped back in time just enough to help out. Mordecai was still speaking when she stepped out of the portal, and she felt her fist connect just as he started to rant properly. Her arm stung with the power behind the blow, and she quickly followed it up with a kick. She could see her own shocked face and decided that she needed to remember to close her mouth when she was surprised. It didn''t matter. To get herself into gear she threw the limp Ilsher at herself, and she was happy to see that she quickly followed up and slammed the groaning sack of drow into the ground. Celeste walked over and looked at the staff. With it in her hands, she could feel how infused it was with evil. This thing was a Divine Artefact, one meant to corrupt the people around it. Accessing her Tinkering Domain, she found its inherent weakness, and she expanded it, weakening that staff from within before slamming it into the ground. She looked up at her previous self. "You gotta jump back to keep the loop going." She saw a moment''s hesitation on her face before a portal in time opened behind her, and she jumped back. Celeste looked down at the drow and sighed. "So, Mordecai. Want to talk, or do you want a timeout?" She felt a smirk on her lips. Mordecai groaned in response, Celeste spotted something between his ropes, and with a deft hand, she pulled out the knife. "How have you gained these things?" She asked, feeling the knife in her hand was yet another Divine Artefact. Mordecai slowly managed to push himself up, his arms reaching out for the dagger. "Give that back. It does not belong to you." He groaned, but Celeste focused a bit more on it, examining its properties. Text from image: Divine Artefact: Crimson vengeance Divine effect: Every time you deal damage to a target gain 1 Energy. Attacks with this dagger never miss. Mortal Benefit: Beyond the divine effects, this dagger also allows a mortal wielder to hear the blood in other people''s veins, easily locating them through sound alone. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.Mortal Downside: Once a person has started killing with this knife they can never stop, they will attack the first person they see, forcefully compelled to gather more and more Energy within themselves until they ascend or die. Mortal starts: +5 Wounding, Vorpal Dagger of Speed. Celeste looked at the weapon, a weapon that was immensely powerful even in her hands. She could feel the pull of it, tempting her to use it. She had just spent 3 of her 5 energy on this guy, so why shouldn''t he give her that Energy back? It would be so easy to use as well, as Mordecai was pretty much defenceless on the ground. Celeste felt sick to her core, and the fury inside her started to burn. This thing had no place in the world. It was a corrupting force, and she would not stand for it. The goddess didn''t notice it, but Mordecai saw it. The world breaking around Celeste. Time and space splintered into pieces, revealing the grand clockwork behind the illusion of the world. Entropy and Chaos lie beyond what was possible to perceive. Mordecai understood. He understood that Celeste wasn''t the embodiment of death. She wasn''t some grand creator. She was the entropy of all things. She controlled the spokes and cogs of the world, and to her time and space were nothing but camouflage so that the mortal did not see what they were living in. A single word left Celeste''s lips. "CEASE!" The word echoed from the goddess rang loud and clear, her eyes burning with pain and grief for something that should never have been created. At her command, the dagger vanished. There was no loud bang, no whimper. It simply stopped existing. Her command was the ultimate command for any piece of equipment, and she had commanded it to stop. The knife had only been doing one thing. It hadn''t been attacking, it hadn''t been in action, it had been existing, and it had been told to stop. The knife had no option but to obey. As the world returned to normal, the cracks in reality slowly connecting back onto themselves, Mordecai swallowed. The Ilsher could feel his heart racing as Celeste''s attention returned to him. Celeste''s tone was ice-cold. Her eyes burned into his soul. "Where did you get your toys?" She asked, and Mordecai knew that the time for games was over. As Mordecai spoke, Celeste couldn''t believe her ears. Apparently, her forge had been overtaken. The drows had used some rather underhanded tactics to obtain the forge, as Celeste hadn''t specified who could appoint the owner of the divine site. The dark elves had essentially filled the underground with elves and had simply voted for one of their own before using the power of the forge to move it underground. It had happened a couple of years ago, and since then, one of the Ilshers has been forging some incredible weapons for his siblings. Celeste suspected that the AI significantly increased the power of artefacts, as they were meant to corrupt mortals, though this was beyond anything that she had expected. The Embodiment of Entropy couldn''t let her forge stand. If it continued to exist for the next hundred years, chaos beyond chaos would ensue. She looked down at Mordecai, and for a moment, she thought about ending the edgy drow, but she decided against it. She wasn''t about to take away such an important NPC. She assumed that the AI had a plan for him in whatever grand tapestry it was weaving. However, she couldn''t help but feel like she had been played a little. Mordecai had ambushed her as soon as she was ready, and he had been carrying two artefacts. At least one of them was far too powerful to be out in the open. Celeste could counter the drow easily, at least as long as he didn''t use any of his artefacts, and she was probably one of the only people who could destroy these things. Had the AI sent Mordecai to her, hoping to remove the Artefacts from the world? "Go and warn your siblings and mother that if your production of artefacts does not stop, then I will be coming to unmake whatever I have created for you, " she said, her voice low. Mordecai nodded quickly and scrambled towards one of the shadows, quickly disappearing into one of them. Celeste felt something as Mordecai disappeared. He had been teleported. She knew that she could follow him thanks to her Journey Domain. However, she had already spent a lot of Energy. She would probably be walking into a fight she could not win if she tried to hunt him down. As Celeste started to orientate herself, she was surprised to see a thick purple sphere spring up around her. She recognized it from what Jasper had told her. She could just barely see an old man slowly walk towards her through the prismatic wall. The old man looked incredibly fit, as if he had the body of someone half his age, and his robes barely contained his muscles. "Someone is messing with something they shouldn''t be messing with." The Scribe said, his fists clenched as he took the stance for a fight. Celeste smiled and gave the oldtimer a deep bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Erik". The old man paused when he heard the name, and he squinted a bit. "And who might you be, younging?" He asked, giving her the stink-eye. "Well, I am Celeste and I don''t believe we had the chance to formally meet. My husband Jas-I mean Magnus might be someone that you know better." As Celeste spoke, that old man''s gaze softened, and his lips turned into a bright smile. "Oh my word, yes, yes! He told me about you. Are you the one making a racket out here in these woods?" He asked, and as he walked closer, the veil shimmered away to nothing. "I am afraid so. An Ilsher named Mordecai brought me a present I had to destroy." She explained as she gave the old man a hug. The Scribe seemed surprised by the hug, though he didn''t protest. "My oh my, those are bad folks, Celeste. You shouldn''t be engaging them in direct combat. I managed to create the great barriers to seal the gods from the mortal realm, but it can''t stop their spawn." The Scribe said before turning around and calling out. "Jasmine, you can come out. She is a friend." A young girl quickly scampered out from a couple of bushes where she had been hiding. She was holding a dagger in one hand and couldn''t have been much older than 12. Celeste gave the young girl a bright smile. Jasmine didn''t return the smile, and she didn''t lower her knife. " ''urt the bleedin'' geezer, and I will wet ya." She said, clearly waving the knife in front of her. The Scribe laughed loudly but still gave the young girl a smack to the back of her head. "If she can hurt me, which she absolutely can, don''t you think that she could hurt you?" He asked, and Jasmine had the good grace to look embarrassed. She was sporting a mob of slightly dirty red hair that seemed to have more knots than curls. Her clothes were a step above a canvas bag, and she looked like she had been living a rough life on her own. Her attitude to any strangers just underlined this fact, but The Scribe seemed to like her, and that was all that mattered. Celeste turned her attention back to the old man. "You managed to separate the divine from the mortals?" She asked, and The Scribe nodded. Erik soon launched into a tale about what had happened after Celeste and Jasper had disappeared. "You see when Magnus was killed by the ork, it was forced to ascend to a godlike entity. The power released from this ascension gave me an idea. The barriers I control come from the world itself, simply splitting light into various aspects. I managed to do the same with layers of the world, though my first attempt was a bit crude. I managed to banish Orlek to a world beyond this one, though I also accidentally banished all spirits to the same world. Yes, it was a bit unfortunate, but we managed. The next god was Ewen. That oaf had no idea what he was doing. When I tried to separate him into a plane of his own, he had already been linked with magic. I ended up pulling all magic out of the word and binding it to the same plane, which means that those who get their magic after Ewen''s ascension will have to contend with a much smaller mana pool." The Scribe explained. Jasmine followed along behind him, her brown eyes darting from side to side, clearly expecting to be ambushed at any moment while at the same time toning out anything useful The Scribe might be saying. "It sounds like you have been working quite hard." Celeste said, nodding to the old man in appreciation. "Ey, it hasn''t been easy, especially since Daikia managed to kill another god before I realized that there should also be barriers between the other planes. That is why the humans and dwarves share a god since the human god died at Daikia''s hand. However, it is a bit unfortunate that none remember your names, as it has led to a couple of incidents." He explained. Celeste had the feeling that it was the AI''s doing as it didn''t want them to get a ton of Worship for being logged out. The goddess of journeying infused their steps as they walked, and they were quickly heading back to Marcusburg. The Scribe informed Celeste that he had been on his way to meet with Magnus when he had felt his barriers get punched through, something that she apologized quite a bit for, though he wasn''t as grumpy as she had expected, and she was sure that Jasper had been exaggerating. Chapter 21: Discussion with the Mayor Text from image: A Word Far Off Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Until the next loading screen. Full effect: You will obtain knowledge of a place''s current challenges and various happenings. There is a wide variety of knowledge that can be gained from this and you will be provided with a top three list of topics that you get to know more about. This power cannot give you information about things that nobody is aware of. Instantly, he felt knowledge pour into his brain and was suddenly aware of the town''s three major problems.
Health 28/28
Energy 5/6
Health 28/28
Energy 4/6
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Chapter 22: Balancing the Divine To Jasper''s dismay, he still had to pay for the ale. That was relatively easy, though, as his new Domain allowed him to see the likelihood of any event he desired. He had spotted a high probability that some money had rolled under a cupboard which was standing at the back of the inn. Summoning a small gust of wind, Jasper quickly pulled out a square piece of silver that he instinctively knew was called a Reval after Emperor Rivalbane. Technically, the silver coin was worth five Revals, while a bronze triangle coin was worth one. The round golden coin would have been worth ten, though they were much rarer. He paid the full five Revals for the ale, knowing it was highway robbery. "So, Mister Longknife. I want to make things very clear. We can do this quickly and without any problems whatsoever, or you can find yourself at the hands of some rather unfortunate accidents." Jasper said while he started to like the wordplay that he could do with his new Domain. Text from image: Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures: 1/5 Jasper saw the pop-up before Longknife answered, and it seemed like his charisma wasn''t high enough to get this guy to talk. "I don''t know what you are talking about. I am just a simple farmer here for something to drink and eat." Longknife said, sticking to his cover story. Jasper gritted his teeth. He sighed before taking a deep breath and activating one of his new powers: A Truth that Burns. Instantly, he was made aware of the thing that Longknife didn''t want him to know, and suddenly, everything seemed to make sense. "Fine. In that case, let me lay this out for you. You see, someone like you isn''t who I am after. I am looking for the mastermind behind the network. I am not interested in stopping any criminal activity in A''kastin, but I am interested in making it more accessible. Breaking up the monopoly on crime. Right now, anyone not associated with the thieves guild cannot perform any illicit dealings, which is such a shame, especially when you are so hard to reach. I also know that you can''t change this fact, which is why I would like to speak with your manager... so to speak. Point me in the right direction, and I will leave you be... you could end up making your own guild in this city." Jasper said, though he could tell that Longknife didn''t look that impressed, and the divine god of knowledge was honestly a little shaken by the fact that he didn''t get direct information about the organisation''s leader. Text from image: Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures: 2/5 Jasper sighed as he knew that he had failed to intimidate the farmer. He could try and get the information some other way, though Longknife was his only real lead at the moment. "Do you have any other conspiracy theories that you would like to explain, or can I go back to my drink?" Longknife asked, and Jasper had to admit defeat... at least for now. While he could probably force the criminal to speak through violence, there would be no point. Longknife was a critical part of the current infrastructure for the starting zone. He would be the obvious choice to become a trainer for any shady NPCs around the place. He would probably create a network that would be used for hundreds of years, which would be ruined if Jasper took him out. Jasper made his way out of the pub, and to his surprise, he spotted Celeste and The Scribe heading into town. Deciding to join them, he also spotted a young girl following them. As they got closer, Jasper smiled. "Ah, just my Luck. How fortunate that I should bump into you guys here." He said, hugging his wife, who gave him a suspicious look. "Please don''t tell me you picked the Luck Domain... I am going to make you sleep on the couch if you keep making luck-based puns." Celeste said with narrow eyes. Jasper just grinned, and his joy grew stronger when he saw her resignation. The Scribe, on the other hand, was bowing quite intensely, which was to be expected. What wasn''t expected was the look of utter horror on the young girl''s face. It was like seeing The Scribe willingly bow to someone was more shocking than having the sky turn green. "No need for formalities, Erik. You have done some quite impressive things while we were gone." Jasper said, waving at the old man, who seemed relieved that he didn''t have to bow anymore. "I am guessing that the young girl is Jasmine?" Jasper asked, looking at the child with the unruly red hair. "How''d he know?" She asked in a whisper, making The Scribe smile.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "That right there, whippersnapper, is Magnus. The god of knowledge." Instantly, the kid looked a bit more on edge. "But you said that the gods were banished, old man." The young girl tried to only talk to The Scribe, but her voice still carried. Jasper was just happy that people seemed too busy to pay them too much attention. "Oh, they are," Jasper said casually. "However, we are a special case. Consider us the ur-gods. The first gods. We are bound by some very different rules." He explained to the apprentice of his most valued, and only, disciple. "We can only visit the world once every one hundred years or so, and we can only stay here for about a week, maybe a little more." He explained, before turning his attention back to The Scribe. "Anyway, it is a great help that you have been writing down your progress, I will be honest, most of the information that I have gotten so far about the world is probably from your books. Keep up the good work." Jasper said and The Scribe gave a nod of thanks. "So what is your plan now?" He asked, before turning his attention to Celeste, looking between the two, clearly thinking. "Well, I have a couple of problems with the drows. I need to get my smithy back." She said, clearly a bit annoyed at the fact that it wasn''t around. Jasper nodded. He had assumed that either the dwarves or the drows had the smithy, claiming it for their own purposes. "I need to talk to the gods. Preferably some kind of civil talk, but my mission is to elevate two more." Jasper explained, and The Scribe looked like he had just been punched in the stomach. "Are you dense, boy? Elevating two more gods? Have you completely lost your marbles? The gods we have are already acting and squabbling more than Jasmine is." The old man said, absolutely forgetting who he was talking to. Jasmine gave a half-hearted protest when she was mentioned. "For the sake of peace, Magnus, please tell me that you will elevate someone much more responsible." The Scribe said with a stern look. Jasper shrugged. "I might. Honestly, I need someone who is the embodiment of peace to be the counter to Orlek and someone who is the manifestation of crime to counter Kelllwan." He explained, making the old man''s face fall a bit. "Magnus, why are you so focused on this balance? Why can the good not prevail?" The Scribe''s frustration was evident in his voice. Jasper could understand his frustration. He could boil things down to fate. This world was fated to have conflict. Otherwise, it would not make for an exciting experience when players got onboard. If good was allowed to prevail over evil, then it would be a very different game experience from what had been intended. He couldn''t say that to his disciple, though. "Erik, do you know what kind of trees have the strongest roots?" Jasper asked, trying to look wise and filled with worldly knowledge. "It is the trees in the rough wind that have the strongest roots. Do not see adversity and chaos as something to be avoided. The soul is not quiet, and it is not chaotic. It is transient, shifting between states. There will always be chaos, and there will always be quiet. The world should encourage harmony." The god of knowledge explained, quoting some half-forgotten tweet he had read online and a proverb he had heard in a song once. All in all, it was the kind of yoga quote meant to sound incredibly profound, but in all honesty, it was as deep as a puddle. The Scribe gave Jasper a look before nodding. "Fine. Your point is that if you create more good gods, then some of them will fall to evil, so you would rather create the evil gods to know that they are not more powerful than the existing gods." The old man said, extracting more information from Jasper''s platitudes than the god had intended. Jasper nodded before clearing his throat and changing the subject. "Indeed. So, does anyone of you know where we can sleep for the night?" It wasn''t long before Celeste suggested they slept in the mine they had created, and with no better options, they all agreed. Stepping into the mine was a surreal experience. It was located within the city. However, a new building had been added to it. A massive warehouse where a ton of ore, gems and even a couple of runes were stored. Celeste grinned, realising this was her haul for the mine over the last hundred years. The mine seemed like it had run its course and was no longer providing much, though what it had made was enough to kit out an army. The refined ingots and stacked crates of valuable objects would have been plundered had it not been for the divine might behind the soul oath, allowing people to know that this was Celeste''s claim. The Scribe and his young apprentice Jasmine didn''t seem that impressed by the creations, but Celeste quickly started to work, making box spring mattresses for all to sleep on. She even found that using some of the mithril that had been mined made for excellent springs. The goddess wasn''t wasting materials as she could quickly deconstruct the items if needed. Using a couple of strange runes formed from some natural rocks, she made a water boiler, and before the quartet knew it, they had a warm shower and actual beds to sleep on. Jasper was making a couple of ritual circles and talking with The Scribe, while Celeste tried to make everything a bit more comfortable. She had the resources and the warehouse was big enough that she could quickly build a couple of rooms, which was then furnished promptly with a couple of decorative items. Jasmine, on the other hand, was looking through the wealth on display. Just the gems alone were more wealth than she had ever seen, and this obscene wealth felt hollow or surreal to her as he looked at the booming piles of raw materials. The redhead contemplated grabbing a couple of the items, just to sell them for Revals, but she knew that wouldn''t be a popular move, and as such she stayed her hand. She heard the old man make his annoyed sound and wander over to check on him. The Scribe looked at the circles and shook his head. "You are making this more advanced than it needs to be." He complained. "You are using a ballista when an arrow would be enough." He looked at the god, giving him the stink eye. "Hey, I am just assuming that you have created multi-layered veils that are self-repairing. I don''t wanna leave them to close themselves after we open the portal," Jasper said, making the old man huff with consternation. "I may have skipped out a bit on the multi-layered aspects of the veils. It was a rush job, you twerp. You try creating a whole new plane to isolate the gods in and create something in a space so thin that it does not exist. It is not easy, you know." The old man said, and Jasper couldn''t help but laugh a little. "Well, then, I am guessing that it is my privilege to spruce up the layers." He started changing the circles, ensuring that each one was more densely packed than the latter. "See, when I am tearing a hole in them, I will also apply a fractal veil, ensuring that if you pass through it, you pass through them infinitely. Overlapping again and again." Jasper explained, pointing at a couple of lines and showing just how he had improved things. They all continued their work until the sun set outside, Jasmine, Celeste and The Scribe stopping to eat before preparing to get some sleep. Chapter 23: The Realm of Kelllwan The spell crackled unleashing streams of powerful magic into the environment, which was quickly absorbed creating wisps of power. A slowly opening hole in reality itself. Jasper stepped through, finding himself on a dusty road, surrounded by golden fields. There was nothing but thick golden grains around him, and if Jasper had to guess he would suspect that most of it was rye. The only thing that broke up the rolling fields was a massive construction in front of Jasper. It was a fortress, unlike anything he had ever seen before. Thick walls were created from what he assumed to be iron, with long chains tethering it to the ground, as if the architect had been afraid that the building might fly into the sky at any moment. Massive towers were placed all along the walls, creating the sense that the entire fortress was able to see anything approaching it. As soon as Jasper stepped through the portal a massive figure appeared before him. It was clearly a man with a long beard and wild hair, but his proportions were off. His body was too small for his arms and legs as if someone had stretched him, making him roughly human size, though the dense body and squat shoulders indicated that what Jasper was looking at had at one time been a dwarf. The dwarf was sporting thick silver armour that seemed to gleam, and a golden crown on his head, all while holding a massive two-handed hammer. "Kelllwan, I presume," Jasper said, trying to sound jovial, while the gate he had created closed behind him. The dwarf turned human grunted. "I am. Normally only my greatest warriors get to see my realm, but they don''t step into the world like you do. Tell me what you are. A spy from Daikia? A follower of Ewen? Do they truly wish me dead so badly they send only a single person for me in my realm?" The god didn''t seem to move a muscle, clearly expecting no harm to come to him. Jasper had to agree that the being before him was probably as invincible as anything could hope to be. "I am Magnus, but I believe you know me under another name. I believe that you call me Armandos." Jasper said, realizing that he was breaking in the third one of his names used in this world. This was getting ridiculous. Maybe he should drop the Magnus title and just go with Armandos. The massive dwarf took a step back, though fear didn''t show on his stony face, it was clear that he was not comfortable with the situation. "The first god. Prove it. Tell me what claim to the divine you have." He said, looking over what was just a man with glasses and a bright blue robe. "My claim? You are my claim. You were born from my death and you were moulded by faith itself." Jasper answered and instantly he felt a thick wave of power sweep over him, pouring into him. He didn''t resist as the power scoured his words for falsehoods, hidden meanings and half-truths. Kelllwan didn''t seem to find anything of the sort in Jasper''s words. "You have nothing to fear from me, however, be aware that you are banished from setting foot on Kalish. The plane of the mortals will stay that of the mortals." Jasper said, looking at the giant dwarf who waved a hand. "Yes, yes. The Scribe was kind enough to explain this. However, how are you not dead?" He asked, absolutely fascinated by the fact that something older than him was standing right there. Jasper smiled. "Would you like to find out?" He said with a cake-eating grin. "I would, but don''t bear me any ill will when I beat you." The overgrown dwarf said. Jasper nodded. He wasn''t that worried, after all, when he had passed the barriers between planes he had gotten all his energy back for some reason, which was fairly interesting. "I am not here to kill anyone, and I give you my word that while you might get harmed, you will not die by my hand," Jasper said, holding up a hand, and he felt how his soul, or at least something in the middle of his chest, pushed the words towards Kelllwan. The god seemed surprised by the fact that Jasper was willing to swear an oath. "Ey, I take your word and give you mine. Now are we going to stand around all day?" Kelllwan wasn''t fast, not like the massive ork had been. Instead, Jasper got the feeling that Kelllwan was an unstoppable force. Each stride he took felt like it had an infinite amount of weight behind it as if the former dwarf could walk through a mountain and not even notice. Jasper decided to test that idea, using Elementalism to throw up a wall of packed stone as dense as he could make it, Kelllwan hardly noticed, simply stepping through the wall of stone, leaving behind a cartoonishly shaped hole. Jasper threw a fireball at the divine bringer of justice, and as soon as he hit he saw the message. Text from image: If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures: 3/5 These messages were both a blessing and a curse, as they disturbed Jasper''s vision, they also let him know that the fireball had done as much damage as throwing a candle at the god. Kelllwan''s hammer came from seemingly nowhere. The sturdy god''s voice called out in pure joy "By Divine RIGHT! PERISH!" Jasper had no hope of dodging that, even with all the luck in the world he would have no option but to take the hit directly. Activating his Unbreakable Power he did so, but even though he suddenly had an invulnerable defence, the force behind the blow still sent him flying across the plains. The rye parted in Jasper''s wake, like waves formed by a boat. He hit the ground hard, realizing that he had been flying for more than ten seconds since he took a single point of damage from the aftermath of the hit. "That is quite the force you have behind your blows, big guy," Jasper said as he got up, Kelllwan not following up with a hit, seemingly worried that he might just have broken his oath. "Ey, I have the Might domain. I am taking you have the Endurance domain, just like me. Otherwise, there would be no way for you to survive something like that." He said, pointing at Jasper who should have been nothing but mist. Jasper could hear the god clearly even though he could barely see him, he assumed that this truly was the divine realm of Kelllwan, and he had complete control of this place. "I do. Wanna go further, or have you seen enough?" Jasper asked, feeling like he had gotten what he came for. Kelllwan was probably sporting the Loyalty, Might, Endurance and Melee Domains. That was judging by the fact that he seemed to focus on inspiring people to follow him and that he was wielding the hammer with a proficiency that couldn''t just be explained by mortal training. "I would like to see what you are capable of," Kelllwan answered, and Jasper smirked. "Fine, have it your way." Jasper took a step back and took a deep breath, his entire body trembling as he spoke loudly. "Path of the Ur-mage, first step, Way of the Deified." Jasper''s voice was strong and echoed through the world as he invoked a miracle from his Mage Domain, allowing him to cast a single Ur-spell, though from the lowest level. Kelllwan seemed impressed, or at least, Jasper assumed as much, as the dwarf had started to run towards Jasper. The first god wasn''t done though. He smiled and spoke again. "Path of the Ur-mage, second step, Way of the Supreme." Another miracle sprang into reality, as Jasper''s Ur-spell of the first level was replaced by one of the second level. Kelllwan''s eyes seemed furious, burning with a hatred that Jasper had not expected. The god of knowledge and magic couldn''t blame the former dwarf, this was the level that had nuked the central part of Kalish and had elevated Ewen to a god. However, there was one more level, and Jasper could obtain access to it with a third Miracle. He had a massive grin on his face as he spoke. "Path of the Ur-mage, final step, Way of the Unbound." As Jasper formed the last miracle, he felt how the power contained in his being was too much. He had gone too far. His body was that of a divine and he could feel himself flaking underneath his clothing as the pure and unfiltered power rolled through him. The rye around him had burst into flame, creating a sigil that no divine, let alone mortal, would be able to comprehend. He had one spell, he could feel it inside of him. It would take him a day to cast without injury, or he could do it instantly, suffering from some rather severe feedback and spending another Energy. He unleashed it. Kelllwan was hovering mid-air, clearly aiming to strike Jasper down, but at that moment he hardly seemed to move, as if frozen in time. For the first time, Jasper was seeing fear on the god''s face. He was no longer angry, he was no longer trying to win, he was simply trying to survive. As the spell left Jasper''s hands his right arm simply seemed to cease to exist and as it was taken by the magic, an intricate runic circle snapped into place around Jasper''s head, as if he was wearing a halo. He spoke the name of the spell, his lips dry as 12 of his hitpoints disappeared into nothingness. "Virtue of Heavenly Authority - Divine Awe" Jasper''s words were not loud, they were honestly barely a whisper, but with the crown placed around his head, the world listened and obeyed. Kelllwan landed hard on the ground, his body forced to kneel underneath his weight and against his better judgement. Jasper felt no pain from his missing arm, there was no blood, it was simply gone. "You understand the divine authority I wield. The forces that Ewen has been playing with are mine to command. But unlike him, I know what I am doing, because I know all." Jasper said slowly stepping over to the kneeling god. "I gave you my promise that you would not die by my hand, and I will uphold that promise. However, know that I am not your ally. I intend to raise another divine. One that is your opposite. I do not do this out of spite or hatred for you, but to preserve balance." Jasper said, feeling like having the god of justice kneeling in front of him might be the best chance he got to explain things. Jasper understood the spell he had unleashed. He understood why the AI had gated these kinds of spells behind enough locks and gates that one would have to spend more energy than what would be reasonable to simply cast it. Jasper could hold the spell for as long as he wished with little to no effort. He wasn''t expending more Energy, which was lucky, since he only had a single Energy left thanks to his newest Endurance Power. No Energy had been committed to sustaining the effect either, leaving it in place effectively permanently, if he so wished. The spell gave him a mandate beyond what gods had. If Jasper stepped onto the mortal realm with this spell, all but the most powerful creatures, would be compelled to be his loyal subjects, they would have no choice but to act in his best interest, and they would be forced to obey any order that he gave, if they heard him or not. Kelllwan was a god, and while Jasper could give him orders, anything suicidal or strictly against the god''s moral code would allow him a chance to break the compulsion. The god of knowledge knew that this was too much power to have, and he tried to adjust the glasses on his nose, only to realize that his arm wasn''t there. He sighed, releasing the spell, and feeling the exhaustion power through him. Jasper had made his point, he had used what was essentially a non-offensive spell to put Kelllwan into his place. "It was a pleasure to talk with you," Jasper said, giving a light bow, before activating the spell that he had suspended with his Magic Domain power, The Excellent Pause, and activating the second part of the magic ritual he had performed in the mortal realm, which pulled him back through the veil between planes and landing him in the middle of the warehouse, just as the sun started to rise. Chapter 24: Reality Amendment Celeste was woken up by the crackling of a portal. She was about to murder her husband if he didn''t keep the noise level down. However, seeing Jasper fall through the portal raised some concerns. The moment she noticed his arm was missing, she panicked. In that moment, she completely forgot that this was all virtual, that Jasper''s arm wasn''t really missing. Her thoughts spiralled, and she wondered if he could program with only one arm. She thanked her lucky stars he had decided to develop an approach to coding where wouldn''t have to type as much. It was a good idea that he could go into the game, and- Then she remembered that it was, in fact, their current location. Celeste slapped her husband. "Idiot," She said sternly. Jasper groaned. He didn''t feel pain as such, but rather as if he was bone tired, and his entire being was slowly wasting away. He looked up at his wife and coughed. "Wife, is that you? Please come closer. I fear that my days might be numbered." Jasper''s voice was weak and raspy, and Celeste didn''t need any divine powers to know that he was hamming it up. Jasper quickly scooted up a little as she leaned closer and kissed her. She wanted to stay mad at him, but as she had said, he was an idiot. She kissed him back, and before long, they had snuggled up in the middle of the massive magical circle. Jasper found some of his arm returning as dawn rolled around and he got his Energy back. He didn''t really feel good, but he felt better. He was still missing a ton of Hit points, and he decided that accessing his Endurance Domain to get the regeneration power, Amaranth Vitality, and spending a single Energy for the day on it, he quickly started to feel the restorative powers. By the time the others had woken up, Jasper''s arm was back, and the only sign that he had been doing something he shouldn''t was his clothes, which Celeste quickly mended. The Scribe looked over his master with a suspicious look as he stepped out of the quarters Celeste had created. "You still live?" He asked, seemingly with more disbelief than Jasper thought necessary. "Oh ye of little faith, of course I survived, I am part of Armandos, and we cannot be killed." The god of magic said. Celeste was doing her best to be supportive and tone down her snark. She managed to control herself, crushing half a dozen comments before they left her lips. "Though I did have to access the third level of the Ur-spells." He explained, which made The Scribe shake his head. "You are a terrible liar, even for a god. There are only two levels of Ur-spells. Lower Ur-spells and Greater Ur-spells." The old man said. "I have spent a lifetime studying these spells, and while powerful, and something that can and will kill gods, they are not as omnipotent as some would claim." The Scribe continued. Jasper had that smug smirk on his face that made the old-timer pause in his explanation. "You would think that, but in actuality, there are three steps on the path of the Ur-mage." Jasper started to explain the theory of these spells, and before long The Scribe was taking notes in his thick tome. Celeste quickly left to take care of her own things, though Jasmine stayed by the old man''s side, looking bored the entire time. "So, yeah. That is about it. In essence, not even a god can use the final step in combat without taking some heavy damage, and Ewen is really the only one that can access it beyond me, though I am fairly sure that he will get absolutely destroyed if he tries. I don''t think he has access to the Endurance Domain, which is honestly the only reason I was able to survive." Jasper said. "Even so, this is a fairly high level of magic, and we should probably gate it in some way. Though, I am unsure of how to do that. I did notice that I got full Energy from the trip to Kelllwan''s plane, though I didn''t get it on the way back. I am assuming that it is a side effect of breaking your version of the barrier?" Jasper asked, wondering if The Scribe had an explanation for this. "Yes, I have essentially used your power to create the barrier, so when you break one of them, the barrier tries to attack you, which is flooding you with Energy... your Energy." The old man said. This was quite interesting. Jasper would have to start making some visits to the various gods during the evenings to make sure they were locked away. "So, I am going to try and find a candidate for a scoundrel god, and I am assuming the best option for that would be looking for the leader of the Thieves Guild. Longknife wasn''t any help, but he might still have a use. I just need to be a lot sneakier than I was before." Jasper said, mulling things over. He was still in thought when Jasmine threw a pebble at him. "I AM BORED!" She shouted, and the god of knowledge had to admire her courage. He had quite literally just defeated a god in combat, and yet a small child was still brave enough to try and fight him or at least annoy him. "Well, you are in luck. How would you like to become a criminal?" Jasper said with a broad smile.
Celeste had decided to track down her forge. As far as she knew, it hadn''t been stolen, but the power level of items it was cranking out would need to be curbed. It did help that a small pop-up message was hovering around in her vision. Text from image: You have removed a threat to the world While conflict breeds plotlines and chaos is the agent of change, too much power leaves the world in ruin. You have removed two artefacts of great power that could harm the world. You have received 10 Worship based on the past day''s contribution to the world. Jasper had gotten the same amount of Worship based on what she had been talking with him about this morning. Celeste had practically doubled her Worship, gaining quite a bit of power in the process. The Architect of Reality was debating how to best reclaim the smithy. However, she did have an idea of what to do. It wouldn''t be easy, though. She would split up from Jasper for a bit, but they had done that before. Celest focused herself. She felt the harmony between her Domains. Her Time and Journey Domains seemed to harmonize, and she could feel that Teleportation was a real option for her. However, that felt like cheating. A bit like resurrection. Taking a shortcut. Circumventing one of her Domains. Celeste sighed and realized that she might have to make that one of her rules. People should not invent teleporting. It would also stop merchant caravans from being ambushed. Even so, she knew that she could spend a miracle to effectively teleport. She decided to do it with style, and with a thought, she focused on a nearby door. There was nothing fancy about the house the door belonged to. It was simply built and barely standing. It wasn''t that the house was broken since her Impact kept everything in Marcusburg in peak condition. However, the house was simply badly designed. Any kind of wear or tear and it would collapse. Was this her doing? Since the citizens here didn''t have to think about maintaining the houses, they were just slapping things together. Maybe there was something about people growing stronger when they met adversity. Celeste pulled herself from her thoughts and forced herself to ignore the symptoms of a city in decay. Instead, she pushed her will against the door.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. She was the mistress of any reality. She was the one behind the veil. She controlled time and space, and she wanted access to her smithy. Pushing Energy into the world around her, every Domain she had seemed to work as a greater whole. Then, it clicked. She pushed against the door, and without any effort she stepped through the doorway, but instead of finding herself in the slanting house, she was standing in the middle of her forge. The Architect of Creation hadn''t expected to be alone, so she wasn''t surprised when she saw someone working at the forge. He was a drow, his greyish skin and muscles on full display as he worked. His torso was naked, and a pair of loose red pants was all that preserved his modesty. His lean and slim build betrayed agility beyond human comprehension. It didn''t take long to notice the scars, especially since the sweat on his skin highlighted them. There were many, but they weren''t detrimental to his etheric beauty. Most of the scars were made by blades, but some had definitely been caused by something bigger. Something heavier. Celeste wasn''t impressed by him, even as his short white hair took on a shine in the forge. Before she could say anything, he spoke. "Rivvil. My brother told me to expect you, though your presence is a surprise since I did not hear any fighting outside." He said, looking her over. Celeste shook her head. "Let me guess. You are another Ilsher? I am assuming Red House?" She asked, pointing to his pants as evidence. "You do your kin proud, waeles. I am Ira, the warrior of the Ilshers, and I have been given the title slayer of gods." He explained, slowly breathing in before hammering red-hot metal and then breathing out. "I am to understand that you are the one to thank for this smithy. It takes a warrior to appreciate a good forge, for what other profession is so dependent on the quality of their equipment that they wager their life?" He asked, setting aside a heavy hammer and walking over to the quenching troth. He used the water to wash himself while the metal heated up once more. At least, Celeste hoped that it was water and not oil. The drow put on a shirt that had been tossed to the side. She noted that it was black and red. "I will not make the same mistake as my le''i. Underestimating you and having to crawl back to my sister is a fate that I will not have weighing me down." He said, taking a combat stance, clearly assuming that Celeste was here for a fight. As the goddess of time, Celeste would be able to detect when she was being attacked. Therefore, she didn''t even blink as a drow hidden among the various pieces of equipment in the forge sprung out, aiming a poisoned dagger at her body. The Architect of Reality remained cool, simply pointing at the poor man and letting time decay him to pieces. It was a quick process and in an instant, it was like he had never existed. "Why do you think I am here?" she asked, curiosity entering her voice. "You think that I have come to reclaim the forge? To some degree, I have. You cannot be allowed to create any divine artefacts in this place. The process is simply too... dangerous. The balance of the world is threatened by the destruction caused by this place." She explained, though before she could explain further, Ira had closed the gap. His hand-to-hand combat quickly moved to make short work of Celeste. However, the Goddess of Time was not to be trifled with. She could sense his blows coming, and with minimal movements, she simply moved out of the way. Her power, Immediate Foresight, doing a lot of the heavy lifting to ensure that she could look cool and collected. Text from image: Immediate Foresight Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You cannot be surprised. Your armor class is much better as you instinctively avoid foreseen blows. She was hardly expending any stamina dodging the attacks. Still, she could also tell that Ira wasn''t using any divine powers. He was testing her, seeing if she could stand up to him in combat alone. "I get the feeling that you and your brothers might be considered spoiled brats." The goddess commented, and the next punch Ira threw was much harder and more focused, though she dodged it all the same, she had to actually take a step back. "I mean, you take my shrine as your own. You produce weapons against my will, and yet you do not know my name." Celeste said, managing to talk calmly and steadily as attacks rained around her. "I know who you are. You are the first god. You are Armandos. You are the forgotten one." Ira said, adding a roundhouse kick to the barrage of attacks. Celeste smirked. "Good, then you should know that your actions do not impact what will happen next. I am going to tear down this smithy. There is nothing you can do about this. Then I will leave this place, and you will hope I never return. That last part is the only thing you have control over." She explained patiently, feeling the hits start to intensify. "Or maybe you would like me to gift this smithy to Kelllwan?" She asked, knowing that it would taunt the demi-god. She felt the flash of power from Ira. And she realized that taunting him might not have been the best idea. A kick to her side that she couldn''t dodge in time sent her flying. While the game didn''t allow for traditional pain, the discomfort was intense and overpowering. Looking at her health, Celeste could see she had lost 6 hitpoints just from that hit. She was sure Ira had used multiple abilities to get past her defences, and he was clearly using some kind of power to make his attacks beyond lethal. It seemed like playtime was over. Celeste didn''t have time to play around, either. With only 4 Energy left, she would have to ensure that she used the Energy wisely. She had fought against Mordecai, but she wasn''t sure that Ira would be the same kind of challenge. He was much more combat-focused. Celeste would probably have to spend Energy on using her Reaping word. However, she wasn''t sure how that would interact with everything else. Text from image:
Reaping Word Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until the next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a target at any range. A gesture suffices if you can see the target, otherwise you must use a name they consider their own true name. Lesser foes drop dead and cannot be revived without your permission. Worthy foes require Energy to be committed to the end of the day and are allowed a saving throw to resist. Furthermore, worthy foes must be injured in order to let Death reach them; even a single point of damage is enough.
After all, Mordecai had probably ensured his siblings couldn''t be killed. Celeste would have to try something else. She would have to use one of her other Domains to win this. Pouring her will into the Time Domain, she anchored it against Ira. The warrior Ilsher was getting ready for another follow-up attack. Celeste did everything in her power to try and manifest the desired outcome, and she felt her Energy start to drain as she attempted to lock Ira in a time stasis. Mid stride, the Red Ilsher stopped. A look of surprise on his face as his own personal time slowed to a crawl. Instantly, everything seemed to warp around him, and the sound of chains rang through the smithy. Celeste sighed, feeling quite a bit of relief. She instinctively knew that he wouldn''t be able to move for the next 24 hours, though nothing would be able to affect him either. He was in perfect stasis, locked in place, not even perceiving time. She probably couldn''t kill him without committing a lot more Energy, and removing a valuable NPC from the game seemed like a bad idea. Instead, she focused on tearing down the smithy and dismantling it thoroughly. She looked through what items were lying around and found that there wasn''t really anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that wasn''t a work in progress was a tablet with some elvish writing on it. Underneath the elvish writing was some writing that Celeste could actually read. This was clearly Daikia''s dogma.
Worship me, the one true god, through sacrifices, murder, rituals, and chaos. Always show that you are the strongest, perfect yourself, and spread chaos wherever you go. Accept only the strongest in your society, for only the strongest blood has the right to worship me. You are the most sovereign race; all other races are beneath you. Oppress the less worthy and show them that you are the dominant ones. Bring my name to greatness and suppress all other gods. We are made to rule, so praise my name and make all others bow.
Apparently, this was the drow equivalent of one of those ''Live, Laugh, Love'' signs that Celeste loved. The goddess destroyed the tablet with a well-placed hammerswing and enjoyed watching it shatter to pieces before starting to deconstruct the smithy. The goddess found that since it was her creation, it obeyed her command,. She simply had to focus on an aspect of the smithy for it to tear itself into atoms. To her dismay, she didn''t get the Worship back she had spent on it. It seemed like once allocated, the Worship would be lost. That was fair. As she tore down the structure, she could see that she was in the middle of a cave. However, as she removed more of the building, she felt a strange pressure on her very being. It built rapidly as more and more of the smithy was removed. Celeste''s actions were coming to a crawl as the world itself seemed to fight her presence. She didn''t recognize the feeling at first, but with a little focus, she quickly realized that this was the will of another god. She was in Daikia''s realm, and the goddess wanted the invader out. As Celeste removed the last stone of the smithy, everything turned white, and the pressure became too much. The goddess was thrown back, and to her surprise, she found herself back in Marcusburg. Daikia had quite literally thrown her out. Celeste slowly got up and looked around the place. Hoping to find a way to recover, she headed towards the warehouse. Chapter 25: Jasmine does a Crime Jasmine gave the old coot a look. She knew he was trying not to fuzz, and to an outsider, it might even look like he didn''t care about her. However, Jasmine had been with the old man for two years at this point, and he had never looked back over his shoulder more than once when they had been travelling somewhere. But, for the short travel from the warehouse to the tavern, the ancient fool had practically looked over his shoulder every 5 steps. Eric kept grumbling to himself, clearly not wanting to tell a god that what they were doing was stupid, especially not when that god had just explained that he had returned from beating one of the other gods. Jasmine didn''t mind. She wanted to help out, and if there was one thing she knew better than the old fart, it was how to interact with criminals. The redheaded girl knew she could say no, but honestly, this would be more fun than the two oldies talking about magic for the next six hours. The evening before had been dull enough, though the shower that the other god had created had been nice. As they arrived at The Black Cauldron, the God of Knowledge looked at Jasmine. "Are you ready?" He asked, adjusting his glasses and looking at her with a gaze that seemed to pierce her soul. She could feel how his gaze poured into her as if he was scouring her very being, looking into her desires and her goals. After a moment, the god seemed to smile. "Don''t worry, I will take good care of the old man." He said, which made The Scribe harumph. He lifted his hand to smack Jasper across the back of his head, purely on instinct. Eric had even gone halfway through the motion before he seemed to remember who he was about to slap and stayed his hand. "I can take care of myself, you know." He grumbled though the fact that Erik wouldn''t be left alone if things went wrong made Jasmine feel much more confident. She had found the old man wandering the streets of Salezstadt and he had looked so lonely, just like she had been. She would hate for him to end up like that again. Jasmine made her way into the tavern. She knew how to hide, and while most people seemed to think it involved lurking around in the corners, it was much easier to do in plain sight. The street urchin followed a woman inside, making it look like they were a pair, and Jasmine made sure to keep looking up at the woman as if she were a helpless child, just following her mother around for errands. As expected, nobody gave her a second glance, and she quickly broke away to follow a man, allowing her to walk slowly deeper into the well-kept tavern. She quickly spotted her target, the man was sitting pretty much directly behind what could only be the shadiest person Jasmine had ever seen. She looked over the farmer several times, ensuring that it was indeed him she was supposed to steal from. With a bit more manoeuvring, Jasmine managed to get into the farmer''s blind spot, which allowed her to get all the way to his purse. With careful hands, she slowly fished round and golden Revals out of his pouch. Jasmine did her best to stay quiet, and after five coins, she took a deep breath. This was more money than she had ever seen. The young redhead was halfway through the pouch on the man''s side, but she had gotten enough to execute the plan''s next step. She concentrated, and with a deep breath, she made sure to put her hand clumsily in the man''s pocket, making the coins jingle and clank. The farmer looked down, and Jasmine gave him a quick smile that seemed to convey smugness before she ran. The farmer was after her in a flash as she moved between patrons and waiters, hoping not to be caught. She could hear the farmer scream something at the top of his lounges, and Jasmine felt her breath get caught as she had to tumble underneath a table to make it past a couple of large men who had decided to talk in the middle of one of the aisles between the tables. Jasmine felt her heart in her throat and she quickly made it to the door, seeing the Shady-looking man and the farmer both walking across tables to get to her. She vanished from the door and hurried down one of the side streets, knowing that her two pursuers would spot her as soon as she turned the corner. She looked back and was a bit disappointed to see that they hadn''t gotten as far as she had suspected. She waited for five seconds, allowing them to get a good look at her before she moved out of the tavern and down the street. Jasmine could hear them. She knew she was leading them to an ambush, and she turned sharply into an alleyway with no exit, making sure to drop one of the shiny coins behind her. She ran down to the end, but as she reached the end, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she looked into the hood of the shady man from the tavern. Burning red eyes stared back at her from inside the hood. She swallowed hard, as he had simply stepped out from the shadows, and his vice-like grip didn''t allow her to twist free. She was trapped.
Jasper saw how the shady man seemed to melt into the shadows, and an instant later, he appeared next to Jasmine. Something funky was happening here, that wasn''t magic, and it felt more akin to a Domain power. However, unless that shady figure was Daikia, that couldn''t be true, and he assumed that the goddess of drows would never lower herself to hang around in a bar.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Things were quickly spiralling out of control. Jasper had expected the shady-looking distraction to be nothing more than a distraction, but that was apparently wrong. The way he acted when Jasper confronted Longknife made the god believe that he was nothing more than a decoy. "Time for us to get things moving. Do you think you can take Longknife?" Jasper asked The Scribe. The old man nodded, starting to run towards the alley. Their intentions had been for Jasmine to get caught mid-crime, have Longknife confront her, and offer her a part in his operations, but things were getting too heated. While it could technically still work, they couldn''t risk it, and stepping in now would be their best option. Jasper dove after The Scribe. He felt himself empowered with each step, using Elementalism to force the wind to carry him faster and further. It wasn''t as good as using the Wind Domain. However, it beat his normal running speed. The god of magic even managed to make a couple of jumps between the walls, landing in front of Jasmine and the figure, bypassing Longknife as a radiant green barrier sprang up between the walls, cutting Longknife off and forcing him to face The Scribe, who was looking at him with a menacing glare. Jasper turned his attention to the hooded figure and wondered how to best approach this. He had a couple of Domain powers ready thanks to his power, ''The Excellent Pause''. However, what he had prepared was a fireball and an antimagic field. Nothing that would be helpful now. Text from Image:
The Excellent Pause Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: Varies. Full effect: When you cast an Ur-spell or mortal magic, you may commit Energy just before it is triggered. The spell is then suspended and may be released as an action at any time thereafter, with the committed Energy returning at the next loading screen. You may suspend more than one spell if you''re willing to commit the Energy to each, but releasing requires your attention.
"I don''t think we have met," Jasper said, looking for a way to get Jasmine out of the way before it was too late. The hooded figure smirked. "Oh, but we have." His voice was dripping with venom, and he seemed to linger on each syllable as if tasting it. There is no hiding your true identity, Armandos," he continued, and Jasper felt a bit of relief that this figure didn''t know his actual name. They were at a stalemate. Jasper couldn''t cast a spell without endangering Jasmine. He could try some mental manipulation, but it felt wrong to rob someone of their free will. Even so, Jasper could feel the divine power of this being. Somehow, he hadn''t been able to feel it before. The god of magic was sure that anything that could seriously affect this person would probably threaten to destroy the entire city. "Well, I am pleased to meet you, but I don''t think I caught your name. You mortals all look the same after all." Jasper said, though that wasn''t true at all. He wanted to try and taunt the shady character into doing something foolish. Calling him a mortal might be Jasper''s best shot. While Jasper couldn''t see the man''s face, he could practically hear the smile. The sound of cracked and dry lips spreading into a wide grin was barely there, but to a god, it was like tearing up a phonebook. "The god of knowledge should not lie. It doesn''t suit you." The figure said. Jasmine gave a groan as the grip on her shoulder only grew stronger. "Please, allow me to make myself clear. You will not be coming after me, and you will stop looking into the thieves guild. It is not the business of the gods who run it. To help you keep this incentive in mind, consider this little rogue collateral." The figure said, eye blazing before Jasper felt the build-up of Divine energy around the being. Jasper hated mentalism, but it seemed to be his only way. Taking away people''s free will was like burning down a library, but he had no choice. He threw a spell called mind control. His Luck Domain had told him he would have a 99% chance of incapacitating the mortal. However, as Jasper hit the shady figure with the spell, it was like trying to break down a wall with a sponge. Then, the backlash hit him. Jasper''s mind was filled with a vision: a young, scared boy carving a symbol in his own blood, calling forth a demon to do his bidding, forcing the demon to obey him, and invoking the demon''s wrath. However, the wrath simply washed over the young boy. The young boy was a man, calling upon something greater. A being of hatred. A being made of pure chaos. Jasper saw a contract being sealed and a loophole being exploited. The god could feel the power echo from the young man as his eyes started burning, and he took dominion over the throne that belonged to demons. Jasper was knocked back from the vision and thrown clear across the alley as he activated the antimagic field that he had prepared. The man before him had a Domain that included mental manipulation. One that included trickery, for he had stolen his powers from the demons themselves. With his main weapon gone, Jasper was left to react on instinct. A fireball sprang from Jasper''s fingers as a subconscious action, unleashing the power of a small sun at the vile monster, pulling Jasmine into the shadows. The anti-magical field didn''t touch the divine magic the man was using, but it did quench the fireball. And with small and crimson burning eyes, the figure vanished into the shadows, taking Jasmine with him and disappearing. Fear and fury poured through Jasper as he turned his attention to the only two people left. He moved fast, instantly dismissing the green veil in front of him as if it had been nothing but cobwebs he brushed out of the way and not a barrier that would quite literally kill any living being passing through it. Jasper had put someone innocent in the crossfire because he had let himself be tricked. He had been so confident in his powers that he had let himself get lulled into a false sense of security. He grabbed Longknife''s throat, lifting him off the ground with little effort. The god of magic was so furious that he didn''t even see how wrecked the alley was. Multiple knives seemed to be scattered around, many of them coated in poison. Erik had clearly taken multiple cuts, and he was even missing a finger. Jasper ignored it. A young girl had been taken. A young girl that he was responsible for. "Talk" was the only word from Jasper''s lips. "I don''t know anything, I swear." The two-faced thief said, but Jasper was done asking questions. "Wrong," He said, feeling the power pour through him. Jasper was the god of knowledge, and he would pry every speck of knowledge from this lowlife. Erik had been furious at the god. He had been ready to start casting spells at the man the moment he saw Jasmine disappear. However, seeing the raw emotion on the god''s face, Erik the Scribe knew that the god was sharing his feelings. Even so, the way he dealt with Longknife... It was cruel. It had taken less than a second for the man to become a husk, though Armandos didn''t stop pulling knowledge from him, siphoning it away. It hadn''t been Longknife that had stolen away Jasmine, though Erik was still angry with the thief, he couldn''t be blamed for not betraying a man sitting beside him. As the vengeful god walked out of the alley, Erik didn''t say anything, he just followed along, knowing that they would not stop before they had gotten Jasmine back. Behind them was Longknife, technically still alive but unable to ever know anything ever again. Chapter 26: Salezstadt Celeste was barely standing, but somehow Jasper looked worse than her. She didn''t say anything. She could see that he was going through something, and she hugged him deeply. She squeezed as hard as she could, holding him tight and not letting go. She hoped it helped, at least a little. She didn''t ask what was wrong. Instead, she just waited for him to say something. He returned the hug a little while later and then took a breath. "I found my target." Jasper finally said. "Though, he took Jasmine. Erik and I are going to hunt him down. We would love for you to join us." Jasper explained, having calmed down to the point where he didn''t look visibly shaken. Celeste moved over to The Scribe, hugging him as well. He looked surprised, but he didn''t resist. They had both been shaken by what happened. "If you are okay with the fact that I am probably the number one target among all drows, then I am fine with helping you out." She said, and Jasper nodded. "That would be nice," He mumbled as he sighed softly. They didn''t sleep that night, instead packing various things they needed for the pursuit. Celeste packed a lot of raw materials, while the others simply grabbed what would be comfortable to walk with. While they were packing, Jasper spoke about what he had learned. "Apparently, this guy we are looking for is called Raffael Moordet. No, I don''t know why he consistently uses two names. I think there might be a problem with the name generation. So, just to be clear, nobody will know who you are talking about if you call him Raffael. Everyone calls him Raffael Moordet. From Longknife''s memories, I know this guy came out of nowhere and has been ruling the underworld with an iron fist. He didn''t know much, though, just that the guy is working out of Salezstadt, the empire''s capital." Jasper explained. "Nobody really knows how he got his magic, but he controls the shadows and can tell when people are lying. Based on that, I assume he has gotten access to the Night Domain and the Deception Domain in some way. Based on a vision, apparently through a demon contract. He can slink into the shadows, jumping from them as he wishes." Celeste seemed to freeze up a little as she listened to her husband. "I was hoping that we could catch up to him using my Journeying Domain, but based on what I am hearing, this guy has access to teleportation." Jasper seemed a little confused. "Well, yeah... Is that bad?" He asked, and Celeste nodded. "I have been thinking of things my character would consider an anathema to her Domains." She said, and Jasper was about to butt in with the fact that they were here to work, not to play. Celeste didn''t let him interrupt. "So, I have decided that resurrection is against my divine laws, and teleportation is basically just the Journeying version of resurrection, " she stated without making much sense to her husband. Jasper knew his wife well enough to know that questioning her logic would be a bad idea. However, making her expand upon her logic and would probably make sense. "Okay, please fill me in on this one," Jasper said. "Well, resurrection is used to prevent death. It is used in a way where you cheat death, even if it is simply another aspect of it. In reality, it gives Death less meaning because you take away the permanence and importance when it should have had an impact." She explained, and Jasper could see where she was going with this. However, instead of interrupting, he let her continue. "The same with teleportation. It is used to prevent a journey. You are essentially cheating the Journey Domain by simply stepping from one place to the other, and while it is definitely a way to make your life easier, the same can be said for resurrection." She concluded. Jasper could try and find flaws in her arguments, but that would accomplish nothing, and he decided to simply nod. "Fine, no resurrection and no teleportation." They set out after about half an hour. Jasper used his new Luck Domain to ''borrow'' some horses. Thanks to Celeste''s Journeying Domain, the horses wouldn''t get tired, and they wouldn''t need to eat or drink, allowing them to travel at a speed that, for most, would be considered blinding. The two-week trek was done in only two days, however, while they didn''t get tired or hungry, they did become sore. Jasper had to continuesly use Endurance miracles to ensure that they didn''t ride themselves into pieces and get hurt from the journey. This left him with little Energy to take on any of the gods when they finally reached night, and even less to use his Knowledge Domain to find more information about Raffael Moordet. That was if they had even stopped, as they would be riding both day and night, thanks to Celeste.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Even with the miracles, it didn''t mean that they weren''t sore beyond what both of the gods had considered possible. While the game didn''t allow pain, it was absolutely uncomfortable. The journey was rough, but they reached their destination at the dawn of the third day. Both Celeste and Jasper had gotten another 10 points of Worship. They had both been surprised by the large amount of Worship, but apparently, this was due to moving to a new location. They had dismounted at a crossroads to get a view of the capital, which was far beyond anything that Jasper had expected. The centre of the human empire was a beast of a city, though calling it a city didn''t do it justice. Thick spires and massive cranes could easily be spotted all around the city, giving a feeling of a modern metropolis rather than any kind of fantasy city. The buildings felt too large, and Jasper groaned a little to himself. The buildings were definitely too large. They were bugged. He would have to fix that. The houses were stacked upon each other, seemingly with little regard for structural integrity. The metropolis was surrounded by massive stone walls, the blocks visible even from this distance. The gigantic city was located on the edge of a lake, however, a manmade river had been made at the far end of the lake, and if Celeste''s map was worth anything, this ended up in the ocean. Five massive cranes were looming from the edge of the city and out over the lake. Jasper could see how the heavy cranes were stretching far further over the lake than they should realistically be able to while still being able to haul goods. He wasn''t an engineer, but just looking at them they felt wrong. The trio decided to walk the last stretch to the capital purely because none of them could actually bring themselves to mount the horses again. Jasper assured both of his travel companions that the horses would be able to find their way home and, being the god of knowledge, he should know. The walk wasn''t bad, though thanks to Celeste''s powers, it was a little weird seeing Erik, the old man, walking as fast as he did. While he wasn''t suffering the effects of old age, there was still some dissonance watching him. When they finally reached the gates to the city, it was clear that this place was far beyond Marcusburg. Instead of a single gate, two gates separated by a column were placed in the wall, one for people entering the capital, and one for leaving the capital. There were about sixteen guards around each of the two gates, and for a moment, Jasper couldn''t help but wonder if the gates were a bug. This led him to think that the number of gate guards might be subject to integer overflow as the assigned number of guards might be stored in some eight-bit value. Celeste pulled him out of his thoughts when she leaned in and whispered. "That is some impressive armour they are wearing." And Jasper actually looked at the guards. They were all wearing scalemail, which provided a lot of protection with a blue and white tabard underneath. Jasper knew that those were Kelllwan''s colours. It made sense, as the Empire had embraced the god as their patron. They were all wearing helmets that obscured their face, along with shields and swords. Jasper assumed that the lack of bows was due to the towers scattered along the wall, which would take care of anyone at range. The entry gate had a small tent next to it. Inside, various clerks were sitting and noting the people throughout the city and the reason for their visit. A couple of people simply showed a small wooden badge and were hurried along, which Jasper knew meant that they were citizens. With their divine charisma, it was hardly any problem convincing the administrators that the trio was here on business, which Jasper quickly reminded them was technically accurate. A quick conversation with a disinterested guard later, and they had been given permission to pass. Walking into the metropolis, they found themselves walking in shadow. Even though the sun should be high in the sky, the streetlights were on, as the supernaturally high buildings blotted out the sun unless they were at an intersection or walking east to west. The buildings had to be incredibly impractical, with little to no aid in getting from top to bottom, it was probably hard to get into one of the upper floors. Jasper groaned. He would need to find a way to level this city. Starting from scratch would probably be the best way of doing things. Celeste had noticed the same aspect, though thanks to her Tinkering Domain, she was able to get a lot more information from the world around them. "I think this is due to Mithril. While it is easy to forge and extremely light, it becomes harder than steel once it sets, allowing for these buildings. The city must have been built near a massive Mithril deposit." She said, looking over the construction around her. "If we think of this as a bug, we need to address that as well." Celeste took in the world around her as she spoke. The Scribe guided them further into the city. He had been here before, and while the gods discussed how the world was wrong and things didn''t meet their Divine standards, he was only really interested in getting Jasmine back. While wandering the world for the last one hundred years, he had seen things that most would have preferred not to experience. He knew the capital''s underbelly better than he would like to admit. As such, his steps were without hesitation. He could start to feel the exhaustion in his legs, each step making him ache just a little, though it was nothing compared to his old heart. It didn''t take them long before they reached the orphanage where Erik had found Jasmine. Well, it would be more accurate to say that it was the orphanage that he had chased her to after she had stolen his money. The orphanage was a front for one of the gangs in Salezstadt, though Erik really had no idea which one of them. All he knew was that if they wanted answers, they could find them there. Chapter 27: Raffael Moordets Sanctuary [Included poll, which is now removed] Jasper found that The Scribe had led them to a decrepit building. Everything was falling apart, and Jasper could practically feel Celeste''s desire to fix things up. The old man looked back at the divine couple and cleared his throat. "Now, what we will find in there will likely be a cover. I don''t know if the people working here know what they are hiding, but I can assure you that this is the best place to start if we want to find Jasmine," he explained, and the two gods nodded. Stepping inside, the orphanage had seen better days. The walls barely held up the roof, which gave the entire place a crooked feeling, as if the whole room was leaning towards the street. A woman clad in white and blue robes greeted them with a smile, though before she could say anything, Jasper stared her down. Using "A Truth that Burns," he instantly knew what she didn''t want him to know, and he didn''t let her speak. Text from image:
A Truth that Burns Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a visible target. Learn the knowledge of them or their plans that they least want you to know. Worthy foes get a Spirit saving throw to resist this subtle inquisition.
Instead, he gave her a light shove to the chest, making her step back with an indignant look as one of the creaky roof beams snapped. Jasper''s Luck Domain ensured that the poor woman was subjected to some rather unfortunate events, though as the beam hit her, she melted into liquid shadows. Text from image:
A series of Unfortunate Events. Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: You smite a chosen foe within sight with bad luck, inflicting a 1d20 damage die per Rank. This takes the shape of various accidents with lethal intent which instantly affects the target. As a Smite power, A series of Unfortunate Events cannot be used two rounds in a row.
Apparently, she had been a figment of the void. The Scribe and Celeste looked at Jasper, who shrugged. "I am not going to lie to you. I did not know that she wasn''t real. However, she hasn''t been kind to the kids here, so I acted." He explained, and Celeste got a grim look on her face. She didn''t say anything, though Jasper knew that if he had revealed what he had seen from his power to his wife, Celeste would have subjected the living shadows to a fate worse than he had. Jasper walked over to a section of the wall, his ability having told him that the shadow creature didn''t want him to look at this particular part of the house. With a quick knock against it with his knuckles, he concluded that there must be a hollow space behind the wall. Looking at Celeste, the goddess quickly created lumber from the wall, effectively dismantling the lock that had been placed on it to ensure that only people in the know could enter. Behind the hidden door, a long and damp corridor stretched out at a steep angle. It was winding its way down into the ground, slowly snaking deeper and deeper. The corridor walls were made from natural stone, and for some reason, algae had congealed along the sides, giving the entire place a clammy feel. The stench was horrendous, and Jasper considered for a moment whether he should implement a smell limiter on the game. Thanks to the tech behind the deep-dive gear, it could never be harmful, but this had to be on the edge. Using Elementalism, he cycled air around him slowly, ensuring it flowed between himself and his companions as they walked in single file down the corridor. It was hard to tell for how long they walked. Well, it wasn''t for Celeste, but as they walked, none of them spoke, leaving them in an eerie silence. The Scribe only really noticed that they had been walking for a long time thanks to the Goddess of Travel and her Domain ensuring that the aches that had started to build up vanished. The darkness in the corridor had been overwhelming, and while the Prismatic Initiate had tried to conjure some light, he had found that it had been snuffed out rather abruptly as if the darkness was living. It had worried him, but Celeste had managed to create a lantern that could burn away the darkness with her Tinkering Domain. She couldn''t let anyone else hold it, or it would crumble to dust. At least, that was what she claimed. Seeing as she was probably the best combatant of all of them, none of the others minded the fact that she would be walking in front. It felt like it had been ages when the trio finally came to a massive doorway. There was no door in the arched gate. However, thick darkness spilt between the frame, making it impossible to see or hear past it. Jasper looked around, hoping for a solution, though his own powers were fairly limited. He could probably use some Ur-magic, but doing so to get past a door would be a waste of resources, and based on his experience with the magic, it might put the city at risk. Celeste tried to hold out the improvised Relic. However, while it mimicked the sun''s light and was infused with her divine Energy, she might as well have tried to boil a swimming pool with a lighter for all the good it did. The trio looked at each other, none of them wanting to break the silence. Finally, Erik sighed. "I can get you through, though I imagine the backlash might not be pleasant." He said, voice hoarse from not speaking for the entire walk. Celeste seemed to think for a moment before she put a hand on The Scribe''s shoulder. The old man was silent, though his eyes went wide as divine Energy poured into him. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He felt chains snake their way through his body, slowly making their way to a place inside his chest, right above his stomach and below his heart. The chains found what they were looking for as they latched onto his soul, tethering it to his body. Celeste spoke softly. "No Release." Text from image: No Release Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: Varies. Full effect: Commit Energy and choose a visible target. They simply cannot die until you reclaim the Energy. If reduced to zero Health they will be incapacitated for an hour before reviving with one Health. If their body is destroyed or widely scattered, they will exist in a perpetual haze of blind agony until magic or restorative miracles are used to gather the corpse parts, or until they Energy is Reclaimed. You cannot use this power on your own person. Her power ensured that no matter what, the old man would not die. She just hoped that he wouldn''t end up getting disintegrated, since he would end up getting tormented and in agony if he did. The path of the Prismatic Initiate was the path of barriers and shields. The Scribe had once heard the God of Magic claim that it was his favourite path and the path that he had built himself around. While the young god was a whippersnapper and wet behind the ears, Erik felt proud that he could walk the path the ancient god would have walked. Creating two walls and a roof using planes of yellow Energy ensured that the two gods could walk into the chamber beyond, however, the dark magic threatened to overpower Erik. The darkness in the door was beyond anything that he had expected, and as he felt the yellow light of the prismatic walls start to crack and bend, he looked after the gods, seeing Jasmine on the other side. Then everything turned black as the backlash of the wall hit him in the chest, followed by the sound of chains straining as the magic tried to tear his soul out. The darkness was the only thing that Erik could see. He was sure that he screamed in pain, but he could not feel his body. The pair of gods stepped into a massive ritual hall. Massive arches with seemingly living shadows lined the walls, and it was hard to determine if the ceiling was simply far up or if it was covered in shadow as well. The air was still heavy and damp, but the darkness gave the feeling of standing in a void. Opposite Jasper and Celeste was a massive altar, and Jasper instantly recognized who the altar had been dedicated to. He was disgusted by the demonic name for the Demon of Hatred. On the top of the altar were two figures, Jasmine, bound and gagged to ensure that she couldn''t run away, and Raffael Moordet. He was no longer a Shadowy figure. Instead, his hood had been pulled back to reveal a pair of long horns, though that wasn''t what Jasper found himself focusing on. Instead, it was the burning eyes the man was sporting. "Watch out for the shadow", Jasper whispered softly, making Celeste look up at him. "The shadow?" She asked with a soft, questioning tone, and Jasper nodded. "The shadow." He confirmed. He cringed a little as he heard the sound of screaming from behind him, and he assumed that Erik must have been hit by the backlash of the collapsing magic. "That altar he is standing at... that isn''t for a god. That is for a demon. By the looks of things, the Demon of Hatred." The God of Magic explained. Celeste readied herself, about to pounce, though Jasper''s position didn''t change. The God of Knowledge had to make an active effort to suppress the knowledge that tried to fill his mind. He knew that demons were created when gods died. It was the game''s way of recycling them and bypassing any resurrection attempt. The demon would always be the opposite of the god, ensuring that their dogma was preserved in some twisted way. Jasper almost instantly had a couple of ideas about who the Demon of Hatred was, but he managed to force the theories down as he walked closer to the altar. "Ahh, uninvited guests." Raffael Moordet said with a dark snarl, his drawl seemingly tasting every syllable. "Your reign of terror ends here," Jasper said out loud, trying to take on an opposing force to the villain. Celeste nodded. "By my divine might, you shall fall." She declared, feeling herself inspired by her husband. Raffael Moordet laughed, the cackling of a madman as he reached out to the walls. "What good is your divine might when it can''t reach me!" Shadow spilt forth as the demon-worshipping god-pretender pulled it from every corner of the room. The attack was impossible to dodge, and as Celeste tried to activate her abilities, she found they cost more. She had wanted to ensure that Jasper didn''t die by using "No Release", but it would cost her two Energy instead of one. With her Energy dedicated to Erik as well as her time-based attacks and shields, she would end up without any Energy at all. Jasper''s fireball hardly seemed to scorch the living shadows as they poured in against them. Celeste groaned. "HOW DOES HE HAVE SO MUCH POWER?" She felt her body tense as the shadow missed her, but instead hit the shadow that she was casting, which in turn injured her quite a bit. Celeste had lost two hitpoints, leaving her at 22, which wasn''t too bad, but with the number of attacks coming her way, there was no way to truly block or dodge most of them.
Health 22/24
Energy 2/5
Jasper wasn''t doing much better. His body had been hammered by the shadows almost instantly, and without any of Celeste''s precognition, he found himself having to calculate the likelihood of each shadowy spike hitting him. The thing that he struggled with most, though, was the question that Celeste had asked. He wanted to answer it, but doing so would leave him focused on spouting lore instead of fighting, so while he created a flaming wall of fire, he simply answered in one word. "DEMONS!" With her power of Death, Celeste knew when someone died around her, which was the only reason she could tell that Jasmine, the girl she had come here to save, had been killed behind the wall of shadows. Celeste felt her anger rise, quickly pouring through her options. Why hadn''t her Power "Withholding the Mercy" stopped this? Text from Image: Withholding the Mercy Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Those reduced to zero hit dice or hit points within 200 meters of you automatically stabilize or die as you wish. If you desire it, willing living creatures at zero HD or hit points around you may continue to act for as many rounds as you have Ranks before they unavoidably fall dead. She took three more hits, bringing her down to 16 hitpoints. Celeste didn''t care. She pushed her focus into the power, forcing it to harmonize with "No Release". Celeste could feel Jasmine''s soul being pulled from her being, which was probably the reason why it was bypassing her powers. The Architect of Reality let her eyes flare, and she poured a point of Energy into anchoring Jasmine''s soul in her body. While the shadows increased the cost, the harmony between the two powers ensured that she only had to pay a single point of Energy to maintain the effect.
Health 16/24
Energy 1/5
However, they had to find a way to defeat Raffael Moordet before she was slain. Chapter 28: Deus ex Machina Celeste and Jasper realized that none of them had a chance. None of them had truly offensive Domains. Their divine powers were meant for building nations, not for direct combat. The assault of the shadows continued, Jasper tried to elevate his powers to unleash an Ur-spell, however, jabs to his frame meant that he couldn''t invoke the base power of the world itself. It was a relentless barrage of power, leaving both gods unable to strike back against the substantial shadows. Jasper and Celeste wouldn''t die of course, but they would lose Jasmine, which felt worse. They hadn''t accomplished what they wished to accomplish, instead, they had been lured into a trap meant to dull their powers and to ensure that they would not flee. Raffael Moordet''s voice could be heard cackling from the shadows. "The old ones told me about what happened to Orlek when he killed you... now, imagine the power that I will obtain when I kill you both." The leader of the thieves guild sounded almost hysterical. "I WILL RULE OVER THIS WORLD AS A NEW PRIMAL GOD! ALL SHALL TREMBLE IN FEAR AND MY REVENGE WILL ONLY JUST HAVE BEGUN!" Jasper felt the walls of shadow pound him into the ground, making him groan. They could not win this, though then again they had never intended to win this, they had come to create a nemesis to Kelllwan and rescue Jasmine. The idea struck Jasper like a lightning bolt. He literally needed a deus ex machina. He called out to Celeste, hoping that she could hear him. "Let go of the power on Erik!" He couldn''t see her, all around him there was only darkness. "Call forth an ally!" He continued, and Jasper hoped that she would understand what he meant. Celeste could barely hear Jasper''s words. She was isolated by the shadows though his voice was a faint whisper. She swallowed hard. She knew what he wanted her to do. The Journeying Domain allowed her to forth an ally, though she hadn''t picked it. She could use one Energy for the day to access it, though thanks to the demonic thief''s powers, it would require two Energy to activate it. Even so, she only had five available Energy. She was spending one on keeping Erik alive, another one on her ability to use time as a weapon, and a third one on precognition so she could dodge attacks. Without her combat abilities, she would probably get knocked out, and if she was knocked out, her protection would no longer ensure that Jasmine wasn''t dying. Celeste took a gamble, allowing her ability to attack to vanish, and she poured her will into one of the powers she hadn''t picked. Text from image: The Hour of Need Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Dedicated for the day Full effect: Up to a dozen allies within a week''s journey realized you''d need them there at this time and will arrive this round if they were willing to come. This may induce some problems of causality, but the power allows their arrival regardless. She could only think of one ally they had access to, though she was surprised when she found that she didn''t have to specify who she wanted to come, she simply had to activate the power. Jasper felt the wave of divine power coming from Celeste, and as she activated her ability the shadows focused on her. The God of Magic had to act quickly, his voice called out. "Path of the Ur-mage, first step, Way of the Deified." Jasper felt the ancient powers from the world''s creation flood into him. He didn''t need to go further on the path of the Ur-mage, though what he was about to do was still plenty stupid. The Path of the Ur-mage was something that should be cast over hours or days, not instantly. Doing so was a bad idea for all involved, something that he had proved last time he battled with Kelllwan. He unleashed the magic. "Starweaver''s tear - Gate of the Cosmos" Jasper felt his body wither away as he unleashed a spell from the same school that had resulted in the annihilation of a country the last time it was cast on Kalish. He didn''t lose a limb this time, but he still lost four hit points, bringing him down to six in total. The spell, however, had worked. Behind the God a portal appeared, and thanks to Celeste''s power, the person on the other side would know that the duo needed help. Instantly, the shadows seemed to be banished to the corners of the room, as a man in shining metal armour stepped out. His hands and legs were too long for his body, and his beard was supernaturally bushy and magnificent. In one hand he wielded a massive hammer inscribed with runes the like Jasper didn''t even know existed. His steely gaze fell onto the Raffael Moordet, who had plunged a knife into the heart of Jasmine as she was lying on the altar. It was the second figure that surprised Jasper the most. From the portal, another creature stepped out. Jasper was hesitant to call the being a man or a woman. Every aspect of the person seemed to be made of some sort of fractal as if an infinite loop of energy had decided to compress into the approximate shape of a person. The ear folded in upon itself, the lips spreading over and over again, and the eyes seemed to contain an eye, which contained an eyes, which... Jasper felt a bit sick, though he realized who this person was. "Ewen" He whispered, and at the mention of the name, the being made from pure mana looked at Jasper as if seeing him for the first time. "??????????, ????????????????." The voice of many spoke as one, which spoke as many.
Kelllwan had been looking forward to this. His followers weren''t malicious, though they were incompetent. He had no idea how many inquisitors he had provided with divine messages to track down Raffael Moordet. Few made it, and those that made it had been corrupted by the cur''s silky words and promises. Kelllwan had tried to intervene himself, but the ancient barriers created by The Scribe had been impossible to circumvent. He had hated Armandos, which was part of the reason why he had wanted to duel the maggot when he had stepped into Kelllwan''s holy realm. However, he knew better than the others how important these barriers were. His brother had been killed before these barriers had been erected. The God of Dwarves and humans took a deep breath, calmed his nerves and then attacked. His attack was a trio of powers all balled into one, all of them from his Melee Domain.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Text from image: Contempt of Digtance Type: Constant Energy usage: None Full effect: Your movement can take you to any point in range, provided the path is unobstructed and there''s a target to hit at the end of the move. You can dash straight to a rooftop or balcony without navigating the physical route there. Foes too far away to reach can be pursued, but they must be attacked once reached. This pursuit can even extend into the air, supporting you until they defeat your enemy or you choose to disengage, whereupon you land safely at a point below. It was one of his favourite lesser powers, the reason was clear as he almost instantly vanished from his current location, and despite his weight, he appeared right behind the rogue, his hammer already mid-swing, ready to smear the demonic traitor to humanity across the stone walls, all thanks to the combination of the other two powers. Text from image: Unerring Strike Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: Your current or next melee attack hits on anything but a natural roll of 1 and does maximum damage. This strike can penetrate any protection short of an invincible defense against the weapon being used. Text from image: Conflict through Steel Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: Any hit you land are considered critical. Your critical hit does x5 times your weapon damage, instead of x2. The combination of powers made for instant death to all that would stand in Kelllwan''s way. The former dwarf felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the smile on Raffael Moordet''s face. Kelllwan''s hammer passed right through that smile as the being melted into a shadowy goop, having never been real. The voice from the shadows being pressed against the walls could be heard echoing through the room. "You don''t seem to understand. I am more than any god could hope to become, I have been granted the gift of demonic powers." The voice echoed from the shadows. Kelllwan saw Ewen reach out, and he recognized the ability that the former elf started to use. The power was from the Sun Domain, something that the mage had picked up thanks to his followers believing that the position of the moon and the sun affected their rituals. "???????????????????? ???? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ???? ??????????. ???????? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ???????? ??????." The voice that spoke seemed to come from every corner of the room, it was overpowering and yet underwhelming. Kelllwan didn''t like Ewen, and based on the effect that the creature made of pure mana was throwing out, the feeling was apparently mutual. Text from image: Sunstrike Type: Activated effect Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: Divine light strikes a desired visible foe for 1d20 fire damage per rank of the God. This blaze will penetrate any roof or ceiling not proof against divine gifts in order to strike the target. Creatures not of this world, such as summoned entities, angels or demons, always take maximum damage. Kelllwan had to activate his Unbreakable power, ensuring that he wouldn''t be vaporized by the light that didn''t just hit the slowly shifting shadows, as the former dwarf had expected, but also Kelllwan. He only now realised that the former elf had targeted the shadow that had been slowly creeping up his body. A scream of pain echoed through the room as holy light seemed to tear through the room. Everything was growing fuzzy for just a second as Kelllwan''s shining breastplate reflected the light, making it shine in every direction. When the power slowly subsided a trembling figure was lying on the ground. It was impressive that he was still alive after the power that had just been put on display. He looked like he had been quite severely burned, though before Kelllwan could follow up with another attack long arms slowly started to emerge from the ground, wrapping around the thief and pulling him into a dark pit. Kelllwan wanted to stop this, but he heard a voice speak softly from the void underneath Raffael Moordet. "Good to see you, brother." the warrior stumbled over his legs as he was hit with an attack to which he could not become immune. Emotional damage truly was his biggest weakness.
Jasper felt like he had been hit by a truck, his body was aching, though thanks to his regeneration power he was slowly recovering from the battle. He couldn''t really feel hurt, but things weren''t pleasant. Celeste on the other hand was groaning worse than when she had decided to run a marathon. She was pretty much knocked out cold, just grumbling and mewling. "Thank... both of you," Jasper said grabbing the hand that Kelllwan reached out to pull him to his feet. It was almost enough to forget that the man had three Ls in his name. "Ey, don''t worry about it. I am sure that you have our best interest in mind... though maybe we should seal away our new god before he has a chance to escape?" Kelllwan said, and Jasper nodded. Jasper was surprised when Ewen actually helped him set up the barriers that would encompass the Demonic plane and with that Raffael Moordet. "You are sure you don''t mind the fact that I had The Scribe set up barriers around the two of you?" Jasper asked as they worked, which made Kelllwan laugh. "I did mind, though I see the wisdom of your choice. Gods are a force to be reckoned with, and we should not have free rein of the world." The Warrior said, and Ewen nodded, the fractal pattern that made up the creature''s body seemed to spill from every part of them. "?? ???????????????????? ?????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ?????????????? ????????????. ???????? ??????, ?????? ???????? ???????? ?? ???? ???????? ??????????, ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ???????????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????????????? ?????? ??????????." Jasper was so caught up in fixing the system that he forgot two important elements of the plan. He didn''t check up on Jasmine, nor did he check up on Erik. He could be reasonably sure that none of them would die as long as Celeste didn''t get booted from the game, but as they finished up the barrier creation, he still had a bad feeling in his stomach. Kelllwan placed down his runic hammer and smiled. The two-handed maul was as big as Jasper with a head that looked like it was made from a single block of granite. Jasper didn''t need his Domain to know that Kelllwan wouldn''t be taking the artefact with him back to his realm, and as such he didn''t protest, assuming that if he didn''t the two gods would return to their own planes. Seeing no protest, Kelllwan nodded and slowly left through a portal that Ewen and Jasper created together. Chapter 29: What should happen when you die? Jasmine felt like she had been floating in a void for ages. She was barely conscious, and the absence of anything tangible was overwhelming. Everything ached even though she was barely conscious. She could feel flares of pain from time to time, making her groan in discomfort. Her mind might as well have been moving through tar, as it was nothing but a heavy slog of darkness and dense thoughts. Suddenly, the world appeared around her. It was like a light had been turned on from one second to the next. She could feel herself tremble a little as she realised that she was still back in the most horrible place she knew. She had been here once before, underneath the orphanage. The room with the alcoves. She knew that each gateway would lead to another orphanage, she had heard the stories, though she had never thought that she would through seeing this place a second time. Above her was the goddess Celeste. Well, most others knew her as Armandos. Jasmine felt scared for a second, as the goddess had definitely been through a rough battle. Her cloak had been torn in multiple places. Her outfit looked like she had tried to walk through a tornado of knives. Jasmine could see the anger in the goddess''s eyes, though her smile was kind and caring. Behind her, Magnus was standing. He looked just as roughed up, but he also looked like he had been caught sneaking cookies from the kitchen. Apparently, he had gotten quite a scolding for some reason. It was the third man that made Jasmine smile. The Scribe looked like he was about to collapse on his feet, though he had tied something around his eyes. Celeste felt bad for him. She had no idea what had happened, but losing your vision was never pleasant, even if the healers might be able to restore it. She didn''t worry about him, though. She had seen him stop a horde of orks, so she was sure he would be okay. Besides, they had two gods in their corner. Surely, they would be able to aid her master. Jasmine tried to get up, but a sharp pain in her stomach made her lie back down. She groaned a little as she realised that a knife was still sticking out of her torso. Apparently, she had been stabbed. She definitely considered that a complication on how well things were going. Celeste looked down at the young girl, and Jasmine tried to smile. "I am going to remove the knife." The goddess explained, making the redhead groan a little. With a quick movement, Celeste pulled back the knife, and as they had discussed, Jasper poured an Endurance miracle into her body, allowing her to endure the bleeding that quickly followed. Neither Jasper nor Celeste really had any healing available. However, Celeste quickly sped up the local time for the wound, allowing Jasmine''s own body to knit itself back together. It was clearly a painful process as Jasmine''s cheeks were soaked with tears. Celeste hated herself for not being able to do more for the young girl, but what was done was done, and she would live. Jasmine slowly got up from her position on the altar. Her body felt sluggish and tired, and she could barely stand, but the old hand of her mentor slowly helped her get up. The young girl couldn''t help but notice a massive hammer in the centre of the room, pulsating warmth and justice. She could feel the divine Energy rolling off it, though it was the fact that the room was empty of shadows that made her feel safe. Jasmine saw the multitude of archways and the long winding paths that were connected to each of them. She let The Scribe guide her out of the room. While there was no inherent sense of danger in the room anymore, it still brought back uncomfortable memories. Celeste and Jasper followed behind them. They didn''t speak as they made their way out. Despite Celeste''s powers ensuring that they wouldn''t need to sleep while travelling, all of them still felt like they were going to pass out. Even Jasper, who quite literally could not get tired, realised that he was exhausted. The mental exhaustion of fighting against a god was intense and overwhelming. The quartet more or less passed out in the orphanage. None of the kids had stuck around after the main nun had been exposed as a shadow creature, and none of the squad wanted to walk around the city to find a place where they could sleep. For once, they all slept fully and soundly. Text from image: You have battled a self-made god and survived. You have added the first truly evil god to the pantheon of this world. By not killing him outright, you have only made him hate this world more and ensured that he will be an agent for change moving forward. You have gained 15 worship. Jasper woke up to quite a surprising message. He hadn''t expected to see such a significant bump in Worship, though he was aware that they had pretty much kicked a demon-enhanced god in the butt. It seemed like there was quite the advantage to taking on a challenge that was probably impossible to surpass. Even so, he couldn''t help but feel like they had been manipulated by the AI, forcing them to change location and ensuring that they interfered with the thieves guild. Had Raffael Moordet not taken Jasmine, they would likely have left him be. Jasper looked at the Worship available to him. He had 35. That would make some rather impressive changes to the world. With this much Worship, they could change entire nations, if not the realm. They could create some of those powerful artefacts they had been looking at. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Jasper looked over at Jasmine. The young girl had curled up against the blind man, and he held her in a protective embrace, like a grandfather protecting the last thing dear to him. The god couldn''t help but feel his heart break a little. He wanted to ensure that Erik never got into a position again where he would have to choose between assisting Jasper and Celeste or helping Jasmine. Jasper could feel Celeste''s breathing grow deep, followed by her pushing against him. It seemed like she was awake. He whispered in her ear as they came to their senses. "You know... Jasmine might be a good candidate for you... you know as a chosen." Celeste groaned as she woke up and deflected, seemingly not wanting to talk about the topic. "How long have you been up?" Jasper wouldn''t let her get away that easily. "I am being serious. She might be young, but don''t tell me you would ever want to separate the two." Celeste sighed. "But don''t you think she should be Erik''s replacement?" Erik cleared his throat. "You know... for a pair of divine, the two of you suck at being stealthy." Slowly, he stood up, letting go of Jasmine, who gave a whimper as she was woken up. "You should never give that kind of power to a child." The old man said, looking at them, even if he was blind. Jasper got up and slowly walked over to the old man, pouring some Energy into performing a small miracle. While he couldn''t heal Erik''s eyes, he could grant him Knowledge and Magic. The god did just that, pushing the knowledge of Mana sight into The Scribe''s mind. Jasper even paused for a moment and tried to add the ability to The Scribe''s powers. It was surprisingly easy, not even requiring any more Worship to do, as the ability was something so minor, apparently. Erik would still look like he was blind, but his mana sight would instantly have reached a point where it was equal, if not better, than his regular sight had been. While performing the miracle, Jasper thought over his response. "Erik, you are going to end up alone. I mean, you can pass on my gift, but as you said, you will be doing so to someone who is much less qualified." The God of Knowledge knew the counter to his argument before making it. The old man got a serious look on his face, even as his eyes were covered. "You know, for the god of knowledge, you are as dumb as a sack of dirt that has been kicked by a mule. Of course, they will be less experienced. That is the nature of human existence. You will never be as skilled as you would like to be, and you will never be as proficient as someone who has had more than one lifetime to learn. I do not wish to live forever. The burden of the divine is for the divine. I will gladly help you in any way I can, but please understand that even with your blessing, I am not eternal, and you will get someone new to take my place." Jasper sighed as he was reprimanded. "Fine, what would you have me spend my Worship on then?" While Jasper and Erik started to talk about what to spend the Worship on, Celeste knew exactly what she would like to spend her points on. She had been wondering why Raffael Moordet was able to teleport. The Goddess had to assume that it was thanks to the demonic intervention that he could slip into the shadows, which was probably done by taking a detour through the Demonic realm. She would have to block teleportation in some way, including this exploit. Celeste knew that Jasper might consider it a bug, but she thought of it more as using established mechanics in a way that hadn''t been intended and, as such, an exploit. Celeste tried a couple of different iterations, but she quickly realised that the easiest way to solve the exploit would be to completely remove transfer between planes, or at least make it so randomised that it couldn''t be done with any kind of reliability and then have some sort of system that could sort the souls of the people that died. The Architect of Reality was quite proud of her work. The plan was fairly simple. She hoped that she could implement the plane transportation randomiser for cheap since the world already seemed to resist rapidly transporting people. She would just be turning up that resistance. However, she would also implement a new element in the cosmos called "The Whirlpool of Souls". The idea was fairly simple. Souls would be sorted based on their faith and spat out at the top of the metaphysical Whirlpool. In contrast, souls without belief or who hadn''t adhered to a divine dogma would be thrown into the void... She would admit that it still needed some work, but having a consequence for the people who didn''t actively worship a god would ensure everyone could be expected to follow a religion, even if it believed in spirits. She started her work and poured her Worship into the feat, and much more slowly than she had expected, a pop-up started to crystalise in front of her eyes. Text from image: Creation of a new natural law Private message: Like everything must fall to the ground, following the natural law of gravity, something that is constantly pulling upon every living being, so have you decided to enforce one of your decrees. While Teleportation is not impossible, it will require XN power to perform, where X is the normal stamina requirement for travelling the distance on foot, and N is the distance. Please be advised that this has an impact on the death cycle and that anyone that dies will be forced to stay in spirit form on their current plane. Intent: You wish to prevent people from teleporting. This rule has already been enforced by the game system, but has been easily manipulated. Cost breakdown: Solidifying existing rule and patching all loopholes: 2. Total cost: 2 Worship. She accepted it with a smile before another one appeared. Text from image: Creation of The Whirlpool of Souls Private message: This would solve the previous problem of souls wandering the mortal plane. Intent: Creation of The Whirlpool of Souls. A vortex that is based completely on death energy, which will pull souls into it and deposit them on the correct plane depending on their life. Cost breakdown: Ignoring fundamental natural law: 8 Assigning death energy to an area outside all existence: 10 Logic that sorts souls based on pantheon dogma and how people have lived: 4 Resistance from other gods: 10 Total cost: 32 Worship. She accepted this one as well with grace as well. Chapter 30: A Draconian world view Jasper and The Scribe were brainstorming. The old man seemed completely taken aback by what Jasper could perform, the boundless miracles the god could enforce and solidify into the world. Jasper couldn''t dive too much into details about the limits, as the old orphanage wasn''t the best place for talking, but it was better than the streets. "You could create pools of magic, where anyone that bathes in them gets aligned to a specific spell school." The old man suggested though Jasper shook his head. "I want to make a fundamental change to the world. I don''t think I will get to this level of Worship again for a long time. Too many bugs in the Empire to leave any time soon, and I don''t want to battle another god again... at least not without the Ur-spells and they are too strong for this plane. The lowest tier required me and Ewen to work together to fix the rift in reality. Besides, Ewen would probably end up fighting me if I start giving out magic to anyone who wants it." He explained with a giggle, then he paused. "Though a Magical creature might be a good idea. Have you encountered a dragon?" Jasper looked at the old man who nodded slowly. "I have encountered a single dragon, though it did not call itself a dragon. It called itself a Lindworm. It was an old creature, but the people around the entrance to its lair called it a dragon. It was located far north, deep in some icy cavern, but I am not sure what you are suggesting, are you going to create more of those?" He asked, and Jasper tried to access the power that let him know everything that had been written down, while doing so, he adjusted his glasses out of habit. "A Lindworm is a different kind of creature to what I am looking for. From what you wrote, it has two heads and is more like a long snake with front legs and wings, right?" He looked over at Erik who nodded. "I am going to base their design roughly off the Lindworm, though I am also going to add some hind legs. Now, I should get myself a theme for them." Jasper said, already pulling out pen and paper to write down the brainstorm he was planning. After some back and forth Jasper finally sighed and wiped his brow. Erik looked at him with a sour look on his old face, though it was spoiled a little by the cloth covering his now black eyes. His eyes weren''t missing, they had simply been permanently infected with divine darkness, which was rather unfortunate. "Now then, I think what I have is fairly good," Jasper said, making The Scribe clear his throat. "Are you sure about that, boy?" The old man asked, having tried to talk Jasper out of this setup for quite some time. Jasper nodded. "Yes, I think it makes sense. I will create seven dragons, call them ur-dragons or elder dragons, or something to that effect. Each of them will represent one of the seven virtues: Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Patience and Humility." the god explained. Erik rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yes, and you do this because you know that at least one of them will fall to corruption, and you believe that they will contrast well with their opposite in what you call Deadly sins." The old man tried to wrap his head around the concept of planning for failure. Jasper nodded "Exactly" He concluded. It took another fifteen minutes of discussion before Erik finally decided that the god was mad, and he himself was mad for following him. The old man nodded to the pair of divine before walking over to Jasmine and picking her up, deciding that the mortals in the room could use some fresh air. Celeste seemed to be drawing spirals on the ground, so Jasper decided that he should probably start creating some dragons, and with that decision in place, he moved down into the hidden area underneath the orphanage. The maul that Kelllwan had left behind was still sitting in the middle of the room, and Jasper tried to pick it up, only to find that even with his divine strength the weapon was stuck on the ground. He sighed and walked over to the altar. With a quick movement of his magical might, he forced the ground to swallow the altar, making it crumble into pieces and get torn apart. Then he started to replace the dark stone around the room with something more neutral and homely. It wouldn''t last forever, but by the time he was done the once gloomy area was actually quite nice and warm. He had created some mage lights that were floating around the room, lighting things up, and the brown and greys worked better as walls than the black coloured stone had. With the basic things out of the way, Jasper sighed and took a deep breath. "I wish to create a dragon. A creature of myth. Let it be the embodiment of Humility." With that, he poured his Worship into the creation of the new creature and felt the world shudder. Jasper swallowed. It seemed like it was within his price range, though he was a bit worried about the way the AI interacted with him. He blamed the large language model that customized the messages and moved on. He paced out the creation of the divine beasts, making sure to take his time. The first dragon he made was the dragon of humility. In front of Jasper, a large beast appeared, a serpentine tail followed by two heavy legs that seemed to plough deep into the ground digging furrows as if the packed dirt was nothing but mud. The legs were soon connected to a heavy body where the scales truly became visible. Silvery and white, with a hint of blue, the colour of platinum or mithril. Large wings tried to spread but were confined by the narrow space of the former altar room. Then two more legs and a long neck that stretched far enough that it had to bend to be able to fit in the room. The large head at the end of the neck seemed incredibly heavy, with long horns and deep blue sapphire eyes that pierced the world before it. "I live" The words were a rumble that seemed to roll through the world, making Jasper swallow hard as the eyes turned to him, taking him in. The giant body of a dragon seemed to fold in on itself, and soon in its place was standing a fairly tall man, clearly of Dutch decent as he seemed to roll his shoulders he turned his eyes back to Jasper. It was the only thing that betrayed that he was something more than human, as they were sapphire blue and seemed to pierce the god. The dragon waited for a second before it bowed its head, and went into a kneel. "It is a great honour you have shown me, to be the first of my kind. However, I see no humility in your heart. Instead, I see pride in what you are. I hope that I will never have to fight my maker, but know that if you do not show that even gods can be humble, then I will be forced to use your gifts against you." It said, and Jasper was sure that he could see a pinch of pride in the dragon as well. He knew this one was going to end up corrupted. The platinum dragon in the shape of a man stood up, and without even telling Jasper what the god should call him, the man walked out of one of the archways, heading to another orphanage that might need a guiding hand. Jasper swallowed and adjusted his glasses as he settled on the fact, that he might just be creating more problems for himself in the future, however, he continued his work. "If it pleases the dragon of patience, then enter this world in your full glory." He said, and as he commanded a new dragon to appear, so it did. This dragon was smaller than the previous one, but not by much, the wings it was sporting seemed more jagged and rough, and the scales on its body were almost red, though they still had a metallic shine to them. On closer inspection, it was like looking a raw iron ore, jagged and harsh, while still strong and sturdy. The dragon''s eyes had a ruby-like shine to them, as long fangs the size of Jasper''s entire arm seemed to snap for him. He didn''t move, though as the dragon shifted into a human form it took the shape of an old woman with mocha skin, as if she was of South Indian descent. Jasper was surprised to see her pouting. "Aww, you are no fun. Not even a little yelp out of you." She said, in the same tone a grandmother would use.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Jasper hoped that she would not fall to corruption, as there would be nothing worse than the wrath of a grandmother. He had once experienced his grandmother cussing someone out, and the verbal smackdown was something that still haunted his memories. He realized that she was staring at him, taking his every move in as he tried to refocus. She seemed to be perfectly content on waiting however long she needed to for him to return to the conversation. She was the picture of patience. "I am sorry about that. No, I have had a couple of long days. But thank you for at least trying to cheer me up." He said, hoping that had been her intent. She shrugged, her wrinkled face smiling at him. "I wasn''t trying to, but I am glad you think the best of me. Please remember, that just because we have a virtue does not mean we are without flaws. The seven dragons, like man alone, are weak. But together they form a whole entity." She said, Jasper couldn''t believe his ears. That sounded like a reference that he knew, but the AI shouldn''t have access to any pop culture. It sounded like something that he would have to investigate. "Thank you for your advice, miss... do you have a name or should I give you one?" He asked, the old woman shook her head. "No, no... After all... Only by hiding one''s identity can one truly be known." She said, before heading off to an archway, intent on taking over one of the orphanages. Jasper was left behind with narrow eyes, adding another bug to his growing mental list of things that he needed to take care of. Jasper cleared his throat once more focused on the world around him, stating his intention to create another dragon. "I call forth the dragon of Kindness. By the word of the first god, by my word, by the word of the world itself: Exist." Jasper called out and as he did the world around him seemed to shimmer for just a second. Instead of the gradual creation that the other dragons had gone through, the dragon just appeared from a glowing orb of divine light. The dragon of kindness had a deep bronze look to it, the kind of sheen that could only be obtained with constant polishing, and yet it seemed to be no larger than the one made from iron. The tail had a wide fin, allowing the dragon to swim quite efficiently should that be needed. The spikes along the back of its neck ridge were much more defined as well, and the eyes it levelled at Jasper shone with an amber hue that made everything feel warm and cosy. "I thank you for the kindness you have shown the world. You could have bound us to your will and forced us to perform your deeds, but instead, you have shown the world the greatest kindness. Sharing is indeed caring." The rumbling of the dragon made the earth shake. Jasper swallowed hard as the creature transformed into a humanoid shape, though he was surprised to see a dwarf stand before him. It was the first real dwarf Jasper had ever seen and he couldn''t help but admire how bushy the beard was as well as the posture. The amber eyes glowed with delight as the squat little creature walked up and hugged Jasper. The god of magic was quick to return the hug, though it was rather awkward with the height difference. With that out of the way the dragon walked off, and Jasper was starting to see a pattern emerging. The dragons would probably each take over an orphanage and guard the way to the sanctum where Kelllwan''s hammer was stored. Jasper called out again, knowing that he was passing the halfway point in his dragon creation scheme, though this was still taking a lot more effort than he had expected. He didn''t quit though, as he knew that he had to finish this up. With that attitude in mind, he summoned the dragon of diligence. The dragon itself was a bright silver, and while Jasper had seen the bronze scales of the dragon of kindness and had thought them to be highly polished it was nothing compared to the almost mirror shine that the dragon of diligence was showing off. The dancing mage lights around the cavern making the dragon beam with a dazzling brightness. The dragon gave a big toothy smile at Jasper as it preened in the attention it was getting. "Isn''t that a little prideful?" Jasper asked and the dragon scoffed. Its voice was warm and hearty as it answered. "There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your work. Do not let my brother tell you otherwise." The cyan eyes levelled at Jasper made the god think of diamonds or aquamarines. The dragon transformed, and Jasper had to almost shield his eyes as the dragon became a tall woman with the most dazzling smile he had ever seen. It was like she was trying to sell him something just by smiling. Her long blonde hair had been tied up into a thick braid, something that must have taken a long time if it had been done by hand, and she gave him a pair of finger guns before heading out to another orphanage. Jasper was left a little stunned by the interaction, though he quickly composed himself and focused on creating the next dragon. He spoke once more commanding the existence of a new dragon. "World of Kalish, see that I have created four of seven. Grant me the power to create the next in line. From nothing, birth the dragon of charity." As he spoke a much smaller creature appeared. Instead of a single ridge of fins along its spine, it had two and was sporting another set of wings as well. The golden colour of the scales made Jasper smile and he bowed his head ever so slightly as shifting opal-coloured eyes met his own. "The gift of life is more than anyone expects to be given. A charitable act more than anything." The voice of the golden dragon was soft and not as filled with bass as the others had been. Jasper paused for a moment, unsure of something. "How are you different from the dragon of kindness?" He asked, unsure if that was even an appropriate question. The dragon gave a toothy smile, and its body seemed to shine for a moment before it transformed into a bald human with a Korean facial structure. The dragon in disguise was still smiling. "Charity and Kindness do overlap slightly, however, all charity does not need to be kind, giving something that is not wanted but is needed is not kind, but it is done with good intent, and as such it is charity. The other way around is true as well, kindness can be done without giving someone anything material." Jasper thought about those words as the golden dragon headed towards the orphanage where Celeste was working. The god of buff magic hoped that his wife wouldn''t do anything stupid, but it was too late to warn her. Instead, he focused on calling forth the next dragon. "The world has seen what is to come. Let the project draw to its end with the next dragon. I call forth the dragon of temperance." The dark colours of the dragon that appeared surprised Jasper quite a bit, though this wasn''t technically a dragon, but rather a drake. The lack of wings ensured that it wouldn''t be able to fly, but it still had a characteristically long neck. A massive horn sprouted from the tip of its nose, and it was only thanks to this horn that Jasper realized what colour the scales were. "Adamantine" He whispered and the dragon gave a toothy smile. "You are correct. I am the dragon of temperance, something that is directly opposite to most divine. How can one show restraint if your power is unlimited? When your very nature is that of excess, the amount of self-control and discipline needed to achieve temperance is also unlimited." The dragon rumbled, it didn''t seem angry, not hostile, it simply seemed resigned to the fact that Jasper would be in its way at some point in the future, the amethyst eyes showing just a hint of sadness. Jasper didn''t even see the dragon transform, he was too consumed by his thoughts and when he was ready to respond he found himself in an empty room. Grumbling a bit he turned his attention to the creation of the last dragon. "The last of the elder dragons are waiting in the beyond. Let it see the light of the realm. I call upon you, dragon of chastity." Instead of the blinding light that appeared all around the room with the last dragons, there was silence, and in the next instant, the dragon was simply in the room. It was a copper colour, a more chestnut brown than the deep polished darkness of the bronze the dragon of kindness. The emerald-coloured eyes found Jasper and the head bowing. "I fear that I am the lesser of my kin, but I am grateful for the fact that you still found it in your heart to create me." It spoke, the voice much akin to the dragon of charity. Light and soft, instead of deep and bass. "You are not lesser than your kin, chastity is not celibacy," Jasper said, and the dragon lit up. The world shifted as the dragon shifted form. It took on the form of an elven man. Slender and long. The dragon seemed to almost be too tall to stand, which gave it a creepy-looking feel. "You are right, chastity is respect for the self. Purity of spirit and being able to determine your own boundaries, not imposed by others, but rather the boundaries that lie within your own moral code." It said, and Jasper nodded, letting the dragon leave for one of the orphanages. Left behind Jasper created a seat from the earth. He felt exhausted, even with his Endurance Domain the mental exhaustion just seemed to build. He was starting to look forward to getting back to work. Chapter 31: How to tear down a Capital Celeste could feel the change in the world. She knew deep down that she might have made a mistake, the Whirlpool of Souls was essentially the ultimate weapon. Anchored outside of all of reality it was unlike any other force, and incredibly difficult to bring into any plane. Even then, it was the embodiment of non-existence. It wasn''t just death, it was entropy, the lack of anything. If the Whirlpool of Souls was ever used against a god it could and would kill them. She rubbed her eyes, trying not to think about it. She decided to think of it as a ''lore making''-object. She was sure that it would be part of the world''s lore. The Architect of Reality heard something move and she readied her time-based powers for a fight, only to see a bald man with a slightly oval shape, though still with prominent cheekbones. His skin tone had a slightly olive hue, making him look overall Asian, though Celeste couldn''t place where. She wondered if this world had an Asian-like country, or if it was all based on medieval fantasy with Nordic inspirations. "Who are you and what were you doing down there?" She asked, not wanting to attack someone based on her suspicion alone. The man smiled and gave a wave. "Don''t worry, I believe that I am one of your husband''s creations." He answered in a calm and melodious voice. Celeste should have guessed as much, Jasper was probably spending his Worship as well, which would make sense. She gave a nod and let a hand run through her hair trying to correct it, but she didn''t succeed. She could see that they had one maybe two days left before they needed to get out of the game, thanks to the travel they had been doing to get here. She was exhausted and was considering logging out before the hard time limit, though there was one thing she needed to fix. Stepping outside the orphanage she saw the unnaturally tall buildings. She was sure that as the god of tinkering, she could ensure that mithril wasn''t used in construction. The only question was how to do that. She couldn''t just tear everything down, since that would lead to everything being built back in much the same way. She didn''t have the worship to divinely enforce a new aspect to the world, meaning there was no easy way around this. With no obvious solution, Celeste started to wander around Salezstadt. The place seemed overcrowded, and she knew, for a fact, that her tools had already been stolen. She didn''t blame the people around here, they were poor even among the poor, having little to give and much less to lose. She knew there was an emperor, which would likely mean the presence of nobility. An idea struck Celeste as she made her way through the din of people. She had been teaching some of her students earlier this year about how French and Prussian nobility had tricked its citizens into farming potatoes. They had shown off that they had used potatoes not only for eating but for decoration as well. However, the difference was that potatoes could be cultivated, but mithril couldn''t. If she could convince the nobility to start using Mithril, then they would probably end up consuming most of it, which would lead to people starting to rip it out of the walls. Or at least she assumed so, after all, people would pull copper out of the walls and ground in the real world. With her plan in mind, she started to head much more directly towards the noble district. It was hard to do, but she made sure to try and dodge as many people as possible on her way there. The noble district was beyond anything that she had ever expected. The houses stretching far into the sky were still very prominent, but they had small balconies overlooking the streets, and most of them were sporting blue and white banners with the golden crown emblazed on them. She recognized the symbol as being that of Kelllwan. Some plants had been placed along the balconies, though the plants were mostly ferns and other greens that didn''t require a huge amount of light. The people around Celeste didn''t seem to have the same kind of rush to their gait, which was in stark contrast to the poor district. Their movements were much more measured, which was helped by the fact that people weren''t densely packed. Their clothing style had changed quite a bit as well, giving them a much more noble bearing. Instead of rags or well-used outfits, the people around Celeste were sporting some incredibly fine silks in bold and striking colours. The dresses were clearly meant to show off wealth as they were wandering around, having multiple layers in what Celeste would describe as a Victorian style. A corset, which didn''t appear tight, collecting the dress and giving the rich women wandering the streets a shapely look, which was highlighted by the large hats and jewellery they were wearing. The men, on the other hand, wore long jackets with prominent tailcoats to the point of it looking ridiculous, she could see that some of the less well-fitted jackets had tailcoats dragging along the ground. Each jacket had a floral, or at least patterned, inner lining. While the outside was colours that seemed easy to clean and maintain. On their heads, they wore wide flat-brimmed hats. Though they weren''t missing any jewellery either, with heavy-looking golden necklaces, rings and chains, which were highlighted by the prominent swords and scabbards at their side.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Celeste couldn''t help but wonder why none of the poor had made their way into the noble district, and she had barely had the thought when she saw five fully armoured guards walking down the street. Two of them were sporting swords and shields, while the other three had some of the largest crossbows that Celeste had ever seen. She was sure that those things could punch through a person and the wall behind them. There weren''t any alleys that Celeste could move to, so instead she moved to one of the shops nearby. Walking closer she could see that each of the buildings was themed, ensuring that every floor on the buildings was either living spaces or shops, whereas in the poor district, it had been much more randomized in what was placed where. Stepping inside an elderly shopkeeper gave her a look, but Celeste disappeared to the back of the shop, finding a changing room. Quickly she started to weave objects, deciding that she might as well use some of the mithril she had gotten from Marcusburg, she made a dress in the same style as the women around the city. The white metal tinted with blue seemed to reflect the sunlight even in the changing room, giving the Goddess an almost astral look, even if it was slightly uncomfortable and incredibly heavy. Had it not been for her divine powers of tinkering, she would probably have been unable to get the mithril so thin that it could be worn at all, but by the end of things, she felt she looked respectable. Celeste was affirmed in her choice of attire when she walked out of the store and nobody seemed to give her a second glance. Even though she had to politely inform the owner of the shop that it was her own dress. The Royal Palace was surprisingly easy to find, since there was some kind of zoning restriction in place, as the massive buildings became smaller and smaller until they tapered out to single-story buildings. Around the Royal Palace a large plaza had been placed, ensuring that there would be space for people gathering to celebrate the royals, but also to ensure that the towers around the palace had a clear view of people approaching. The palace itself was surprisingly bland. The thick walls were made from grey stone, while the building was made from what Celeste would assume to be some kind of concrete. The overall impression of the Royal Palace was that it was created by a depressed architect who had nothing but government buildings as their reference material. Being a teacher, Celeste wasn''t sure what else to call it but an inspiration to the brutalist movement. The walls around the palace had small towers along them, even with the white and blue colours from the banners they were sporting, they didn''t manage to cheer up the overall feeling of the structure. Celeste now needed to figure out how to get in. She could try and lie her way through the gates, though she didn''t really know much about etiquette, or what land she could pretend to be from. With her current dress, she couldn''t really sneak her way inside. As such she decided that she might as well play to her strengths. The gate at the wall was manned by four guards, though that was only the visible ones, the towers around the iron gate probably hid more people that Celeste couldn''t see. The goddess didn''t mind, simply walking up to guards and doing her best noble woman impression. The voice from the guards seemed to ring a little as he spoke through the helmet. "Halt, citizen. What is your business at the palace?" He hadn''t drawn his weapons and neither had any of the other guards, but Celeste''s divine power to dodge attacks told her to expect a ballista bolt from one of the towers if she made a wrong move. "I am the Goddess of Reality. I am the Cosmic Architect. Please, be so kind as to let me through so that I may speak with your Emperor." Her voice was calm and soft. Celeste didn''t have the best charisma stat, and she could practically hear the dice rolling from the game. It didn''t go any worse than she had expected, as the guard just scoffed at her, clearly not believing her words. Celeste wasn''t the goddess of fools, and she had fully expected her charisma to fail her when she tried to get through the gate, though she would have loved to save her Energy for a time when it actually mattered. Her body lit up with power and she took a step back dodging the two ballistas that hammered heavy bolts into the ground where she had been standing. She was honestly surprised by how easy it suddenly was to dodge the attacks. The Ranks she had gained hadn''t felt like an improvement against Raffael Moordet, but against mortals, she felt like she was pretty much untouchable. She suddenly got a better idea on how to approach this, with speed she unleashed her time powers, making guards crumble and the ballista fail, as they aged a hundred years in the blink of an eye. All around them, death reigned something that Celeste could feel as her Death Domain ensured that nobody died without her permission. Walls were crumbling, bells were ringing, and guards were storming to her position in the hopes of taking down the goddess. She looked down at the guard that had stopped her and smiled, before pulling both of their consciousness back through time. "I said: I am the Goddess of Reality. I am the Cosmic Architect. Please, be so kind as to let me through so that I may speak with your Emperor." Celeste repeated herself the guard in front of her clearly shaken, and was trying to make heads and tails of how he had ended up standing at his post once more. Celeste was surprised too, though only by the fact that the entire spectacle had only cost her a single Energy, leaving her with 4 in reserves. The jump back in time had been the culprit for her Energy consumption, though she would have thought that it would have cost her at least 2 if not 3 Energy. Apparently, the game hadn''t even considered her to be in combat with how little threat the mortals had posed to her, and it was simply counting her jump back in time as a miracle. "Y-yes, your divine worship. Please, I will advise the Emperor of your arrival." The guard managed to say, deciding that he wasn''t interested in repeating the performance. While the other guards didn''t outwardly question the keeper of the gate, their helmeted faces did turn to him, though he didn''t say a word, simply allowing Celeste through. Chapter 32: A bad workman blames his tools The court of the Emperor was something to behold. The outside of the building had been rather boring and minimalistic, but the lack of windows made sense as each wall had been decorated with tapestries showing the myths and lore that surrounded the Rivalbane family. From the ceiling heavy chandeliers in the shape of bear heads were hanging, a small fire burning in the mouths of the bears, while candles decorated their surface. The artificial light gave the feeling that the room was much darker than it actually was. Celeste had been surprised to find that the main gate from the guard station, which consisted of two massive oak doors, led directly to the throne room. She had expected there would at least be a waiting room of some sort, but Celeste found herself walking into a court in progress. At the end of the room was a massive throne, which was barely visible underneath numerous pelts, from what Celeste suspected to be mostly bears, though she wasn''t an expert. To the sides of the room, various nobles were whispering among themselves, their voices hushed and bodies tense as they took in the newcomer. However, it was the musclebound man on the throne that took Celeste''s attention. Emperor Rivalbane the Third was a man who was meant to rule from the battlefield. He had a bored expression on his face, though thanks to the wild and unkempt beard it was hard to tell. He was wearing the classic tuxedo style with long coattails. His outfit seemed almost too small for him, his muscles giving the Emperor a bulky look, like a bodybuilder wearing a suit. Instead of the wide and flat-brimmed hat that was customary, he was sporting a crown that gleamed in the light of the flickering candles. As Celeste stepped into the throne room she found herself walking along a carpeted floor, a couple of other nobles, who had been pleading with the Emperor for something, quickly moved out of her way, which made the bear of a man''s eyes fall onto Celeste. "An intruder. And here I was thinking that the entertainment would be arriving during the banquet, though I do believe we are due for a break." The massive man said, sitting up in his throne. Celeste gave him a wide smile. "Your Majesty. I will be happy to provide you some entertainment, though please know that I am a goddess, who has come to pay her respect to someone she considers worthy of that respect." She said, laying the flattery on a little thick to ensure that the Emperor knew that she wasn''t here to harm him. The gleam in the Emperor''s eye seemed to light up the entire hall as he drew a pair of longswords from the side of his throne before slowly descending the small dais. His body longed to break through the outfit he was wearing, and Celeste could see his muscles roll underneath the tight clothes. None of them bowed to each other, believing themselves better than the other, though the court itself was alive with whispers. They looked at each other, feeling out the moment. The massive mountain of a man staring down the short blonde woman. On its surface, this would be a brief fight. Celeste had to admit that she was surprised to find the Emperor willing to fight her but to be fair, she had been rather disrespectful. The two combatants started moving at the same time, Emperor Rivalbane dashing straight for her throat, intent on ending it quickly. His finely honed swords met a clang as Celeste created two elegantly engraved mithril rods. Thanks to her craftmanship the softer metal managed to hold against the attack. However, they sank into the metal quite a bit, getting stuck. Celeste used this to her advantage, trying to force the weapon out of the Emperor''s hands, but finding her strength lacking. The Emperor threw his arms back, ripping the swords free from the rods, and taking a step back. He seemed to appreciate the fact that Celeste was still standing. "You are braver than most would-be gods. I will give you that much." He said a massive smile on his bearded face.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Celeste reformed the rods, and in full view of the court, she shifted the mithril rods to become long swords, matching that of the royalty she was fighting. "You honour me with your words." She said though she was about to get just what she wanted. "It is a shame that your weapons are used from such an inferior material." The massive noble seemed surprised by this, though he didn''t let that stop his attack. The power behind the massive man''s follow-up would have been enough to shatter mortals, and Celeste was pretty sure that he was either some kind of raid boss or some overwhelming faction leader because she could feel the stone cracking under her feet as she managed to block him. Celeste knew that she would be standing in a crater unless something was done, and with a simple thought, she repaired the ground under her using her divine power, making the Emperor''s attack look incredibly underwhelming. "As I said, weak weapons make for weak men." She casually taunted while dodging a double cleave from the two swords, only to turn her swords into a pair of bucklers that had her own smiling face on the front. Three rapid attacks quickly followed, and Celeste made sure to deflect them with her small shields. However, she could see that she had struck a nerve. The gleeful look in the Emperor''s eyes was gone, his smile was just a little wider and to the point of manic as he failed to land blow after blow. "Is that so? Are you suggesting that I am weak?" His voice was rough and staggered as he was starting to run out of breath, his attacks much more intense and overwhelming. Celeste made sure to patch any damage the carpet and floor under her feet might take, making it seem like those swords could barely cut through the cloth. "Perish the thought," She said, going from wielding two mithril bucklers to a massive portable ram that she hammered into the Emperor''s stomach, sending him flying back. "It is simply a matter of equipment. You do not expect a skilled painter to create a masterwork if their only paint is horse dung, do you? The same is true for your weapons. They are, to put it plainly, not up to the same standards as your skills." She explained turning the portable ram into a pair of fans, just to hide that smug little smile that crept onto her face from the onlookers. Celeste saw the Emperor fall into the same trap as so many others did, blaming your equipment. Of course, it wasn''t his fault that he couldn''t beat a god who could see any move he made before he did so. No, it was his equipment that was lacking in power and was bringing him down. Celeste took the fans and converted them into a pair of swords, the hilts formed into bear heads, while the swords themselves showed the Emperor slaying unknown foes by the dusin. She handed them over as she performed the conversational killing blow. "I mean, Mithril is the superior metal, and I am so proud that you have decided to spend your nation''s wealth by allowing the poorest of your city to build with this superior material. You could have been wearing mithril clothes, or eating from mithril plates, but you have decided to hide it out of the way, not showing it to anyone but the lowest citizens. Truly, you are an Emperor of the people." She said with a smile. The Emperor might not do anything right away, but the seed had been planted for him or his descendants to fall to corruption. Celeste was looking forward to it. The Emperor seemed unwilling to continue the fight, and as Celeste handed over the weapons he had the good grace to appear grateful and not push his luck. After he had thanked the goddess, Celeste didn''t waste more time in the hall of the mortal Emperor, instead bowing her head ever so slightly, which of course, released a lot of whispering from the onlookers in the court, before turning around and walking out, probably breaking a lot of customs, rules and etiquette. Celeste found her way back to the orphanage where Jasper was talking with the bald Asian man that Celeste had seen before leaving. They seemed to be discussing philosophy and how to determine right from wrong. Celeste didn''t want to get caught up in the conversation. They could spend two more days in the city, but with Jasmine rescued, the goddess didn''t feel the need to do so. A lot of things had been put into the world, and she was more interested in seeing how the world would progress. A quick talk with Jasper and both agreed to call it for the day. The god of magic created a magical message for Jasmine and Erik, ensuring that they knew that the gods had decided to go back home, but that they expected to be back in a hundred years or so. With that, both of them logged out, satisfied that neither of them had died this time around. Chapter 33: The consequences of a game The real world almost felt wrong. There was pain and it was evening. Both Jasper and Celeste did their post-game routine, where they used the bathrooms and took a shower, just to ensure that they were slightly presentable. Cuddling up on the couch they talked a little, though neither of them brought up the game. They enjoyed talking about the little things. The small things that didn''t really matter. It was refreshing when they had been forced to confront world-shaping events and trauma for an entire week. They enjoyed not being divine, they enjoyed the comfort that each of them provided to the other and most of all they enjoyed that they could actually sleep. By Monday, Jasper was almost knocked over by the number of emails that he had gotten. It seemed like Weird World Computing had been experiencing some success with their current game, which didn''t surprise Jasper that much, since so many people had put their heart and soul into the game. The Nordic Branch was invited for some celebration event at the main offices next month, and the requests for talks and presentations by him had flooded in. Jasper had a hard time coping with the fact that four weeks were considered semi-short notice by the main branch since his perception of time had been almost doubled thanks to his weekend trips. Furthermore, the main branch of Weird World Computing would love to see a highlight of the current world in production, which would allow them to start brainstorming much more on some potential quests and hand-crafted locations. Jasper had gotten quite a few requests for some media coaching before the celebration event since there would be a couple of journalists attending. The lanky programmer hated this part of his job. He wasn''t good with people, something that had been highlighted again and again in the game. He had let Jasmine down, almost getting her killed because he hadn''t been able to read the most suspicious person in the room. He hadn''t even been able to talk things out with Erik before leaving. Jasper leaned back in his seat, feeling the turmoil in his stomach and chest. He had no idea what this feeling was, but if he had to guess it was a panic attack slowly rising through his body. Jasper berated himself. This was pathetic. He was the god of logic and knowledge. He wasn''t supposed to be getting a panic attack. He was supposed to be stoic and all-knowing, but he didn''t know how to present what he knew to people. He felt useless and a piece of advice he had gotten years ago came to his mind: "You only know something if you can explain it to a fifth grader.", and it made things so much worse. The self-destructive spiral only deepened underneath him as he felt like a scam artist who had made his way into the game-developing scene and was just using AI to cheat his way through everything. Martin found Jasper around 10 AM. Martin saw his friend balling his eyes out in the middle of the office. Martin had seen this before, he had experienced this, and the mountain of a man knew that there wasn''t much he could say to bring his fellow programmer out of his ''imposter syndrome''-fuelled crisis. "Want to grab a drink?" Martin didn''t know what else to say, and he felt stupid for even suggesting something like that. However, Martin knew that getting Jasper out of the room might help him recover a little. Half an hour later Jasper and Martin were sitting on a bench at the pier. Jasper was drinking tea and Martin was sipping on coffee as they watched the ships slowly sail around. They had made a quick pitstop at the local caf¨¦ though Jasper hardly said anything. It had all hit him so fast and everything had spiralled out of control. Martin looked over at him, and he managed to stop himself before throwing out a "Well...", instead the former farmer nodded slowly. "You know that we are all just doing the best that we can right?" He said, letting his gaze wander to a speedboat that was racing around on the water. Jasper nodded but didn''t say anything, which made Martin continue. "You are not alone, and I have seen the work you do. It is good... I know that you are going to rationalize what I am telling you in some way but start out by being accountable for your successes. They define you as much, if not more than any failure. You helped us ship our last world. Without you, they wouldn''t be celebrating a 9.5 out of 10 score." Martin concluded. Jasper nodded along, trying to get into the right space in his head so he could work a little on himself. He didn''t find it, but he found the courage to talk about what had happened in the game. Martin didn''t talk much, simply nodding and listening. He did his best to ask questions but simply allowed Jasper to talk things through. It was around 1 pm when they finally got back to the office, having talked things through they had agreed that Martin would have to join them in the game, even though the new deep dive equipment hadn''t arrived. Martin made sure to keep an eye on Jasper as he worked, and by the time they finished for the day, Martin made his way to the local IT store to buy some Deep Dive equipment out of pocket, in case the version from the company wouldn''t arrive on time.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Celeste had found herself with a lot more confidence in her daily life. Being a goddess allowed her to express her confidence to simulated humans, and the same confidence now shone through in her teaching. While she wasn''t hard-headed and stubborn, she often found that the students would try and push her boundaries, and she made sure to clearly tell them when they crossed a line. Jasper and Celeste made sure to talk about the impact the game had on their life, and both made sure to try and find both positive and negative ways the game had impacted them. After talking things through they decided to continue with their current gameplan. If nothing else, it would ensure that Jasper had a better world he could show off for his demonstration in a month. Two days later, Jasper had to spend almost a day figuring out where the AI had gotten the pop-culture reference from, but finally, he found it. "Martin? Did you upload a copy of The Gamers 2 to the AI server?" The lanky programmer asked his colleague. Martin had half a bread roll in his mouth, while simultaneously trying to sip on a cup of coffee, even though he was trying to edit some code. "Wuff I duffen" He answered back. Having worked together for a couple of years, Jasper knew what Martin was saying. He was claiming that he didn''t, which activated the trapcard that Jasper had set. Sending a quick screenshot of the file, Martin had the good grace to look guilty. "Wooofs." He said trying to shrug his shoulders. Apparently, Martin had uploaded the movie to the AI training server during one of their movie nights. It was Friday afternoon and Celeste had arrived a bit early. Being a little bored she decided to disturb her hubby as he worked. "I am not sure I really understand how us playing the game actually fixes bugs." She said, knowing her husband couldn''t resist the urge to explain something like that to her. Jasper smiled, knowing what his wife was trying to do, but he didn''t mind. "Well, there are generally two types of bugs. There are the programmatic bugs and then there are the generated bugs. The programmatic bugs are the problems in the initial code base which has been pulled from other projects. This is stuff like names, accents and the like where the component has been messed with in some way. You are correct that us playing around in the world doesn''t help address those, but it does help us spot them." He explained taking a sip of his water bottle before returning his attention to his wife. "The second part is generated bugs. You know these as well, those massive buildings, the missing factions in the starting locations, the lake of flames from the opening, and all that jazz. Those are elements that the AI has created based on the world''s rules and lore. To some degree the AI knows that these things it has created are wrong, so it guides us towards them, but since the world is a constant simulation it can''t directly edit things without making it seem like things change from one day to the other, and that would have the NPCs ask some questions and make up their own lore, which we don''t want. As such it has two options. Make the bug part of the world lore, and make it something interesting that future players can explore, or fix it with ''in-game'' cause and effect. You know, a small thing that thanks to the butterfly effect has an impact that changes major world elements. However the more steps that need to go into this random chain of events the more processing power is needed to calculate the cause and the effect, not to mention the side-effects. We usually limit the AI to only thinking 30 steps ahead, though in the past we had to expand that limit to fix some problems. That is where we come in. We create all kinds of small and big events. You know those dragons I created in our last session? They are currently taking care of the infinite mountain in the dwarven lands. They needed a place to meet on a regular basis, so they cut the top off and incinerated it, making a plateau that can only be reached by magical creatures. We created a seed of chaos that the AI could work from, ensuring that it fixed something that it knew was a bug, but could not fix by simply making some bread stale, or breaking a brick." Jasper concluded. Martin cleared his throat, and the couple turned their attention back to him. "I think I finally figured out what kinda god I am going to create." He said, making the other two smile. "Oh, do tell, we are on the edge of our seats!" Celeste said, a little bit desperate to find a new topic of conversation that wouldn''t have her husband rambling for twenty minutes straight. Martin grinned. "I am going to be the God of Dungeons!" He proclaimed, and there was a beat of silence as everyone seemed to need a bit of time to compose themselves. Jasper was the first to speak. "I am glad you feel like this is a safe place and all, but this game doesn''t have any pain for the players. I am unsure if that kind of stuff will have any value and if it is even what the company wants." He said, trying not to laugh. Martin gave his friend and colleague a small punch on the arm. "Idiot, not that kind of dungeon. I am talking raid dungeons and places filled with monsters." He explained. Celeste nodded. "Monsters and leather. I can see the look right now." She teased and Martin groaned in frustration. The couple burst out laughing, as Martin did his best to try and explain the idea of running dungeons. It took them far too long to stop making fun of him. Before they readied themselves for another dive, Martin looked at them. "You don''t mind if I jump on the whole: ''Armandos the First God''-wagon right? I feel like it would only create confusion about the real identity of the first god, which would help ensure that the lore is fairly hidden from players." Both Jasper and Celeste didn''t have any complaints, and as such, they loaded into the game once more. Interlude: Ewens chosen, Legend of the Grandmasters My Name is Jamir the Young I am writing this book with the help of The Scribe. This book will serve as an encyclopedia for all those worthy of my knowledge. My hope is that this book will help all races understand Kalish, and that great power is not only found in darkness. This encyclopedia contains vast knowledge, as I sense that my own end is near. Therefore, I have chosen to provide guidance to all who wish to know who the original Grandmasters are. To those new to our circles, I welcome you, and to those who do not know who we are, listen well. We are the first protectors, though by no means the last. We stood proudly as true lords of magic, never yielding to the evil that constantly threatens existence. We serve Ewen and bear the responsibility of countering the evil known as the Ilsher. However, we have a significant advantage over the Ilsher: where their powers come from their mother and father, ours are gifted. We have access to the plane of magic, and only the strongest magic wielders and those of the purest heart are allowed to join our ranks. We can replace our fallen, which the Ilsher can never do. However, it is a given that no mortal is equal to a demi-overgod, and to stand against such creatures, we often appear in quartets to be on par with our enemy. The first of us, however, could stand on equal footing with Daikia''s children. Etiquette First and foremost, there is etiquette. When one meets someone familiar with the Grandmasters'' council, the proper greeting is: Magus fallum niet, which means ¡°Magic never fades.¡± The person of the lowest rank should initiate the greeting, and the person of the highest rank should respond. The proper reply is: Ewen traf u nah, which translates to ¡°Ewen watches over you.¡± One will often find that a Grandmaster does not wish to reveal themselves. The Council of Grandmasters The Council of Grandmasters was created by Ewen Uwle while he was still mortal. Ewen started the council in what is now known as the lost kingdom of Leltho. Initially, the Council of Grandmasters was an advisory body to Ewen while he ruled Leltho, and when Ewen was elevated to godhood and granted authority over the plane of magic, he gave his advisors access to it. I was elevated to help create balance between the Ilsher and the Grandmasters, as it was Ewen¡¯s original intention for the Grandmasters to counterbalance the Ilsher, thus creating harmony in Kalish. Dranos the Strong Dranos was the first Grandmaster and Ewen¡¯s own son. He was elevated to Grandmaster before anyone else, and during his lifetime, he gave form and categories to magic, which is why we now have different schools of magic, such as necromancy and mentalism. Some claim that Ewen did this job or some other entity, but based on current records, Dranos did this. Dranos the Strong is known for his sacrifice during the Fall of Leltho. When the traitor among us fell, Dranos created a ritual that would bind him to his master. Dranos sacrificed his life, but the ritual succeeded, and Dranos¡¯ soul was lost. In anger and sorrow, Ewen forced Dranos from the maelstrom of souls into the realm of spirits and later into the plane of Magic. This makes Dranos the strongest among us. His blood is that of a god, and he has almost as much control over spirits as Orlek. However, he has relinquished his physical form, though his few followers say he often manifests as a white raven. Dranos is the only Grandmaster to have fought an Ilsher alone¡ªand won. However, this was shortly after the Ilsher was summoned and when it was most vulnerable. Warning! I have found many inconsistencies in the claims made by the ancient records. While I would never dispute the words of one of our most glorious leaders, some claim that Dranos is still alive and resides in the human lands. However, I have been barred from the lands of Kelllwan, and cannot determine this for myself. Furthermore, I have found records claiming that many magical schools had been categorised before Dranos existed. It also seems unlike Ewen to have an emotional response to even his own son''s death. I suggest that you take this story with a grain of salt, but do not doubt it, or you will bring shame to our order. Shilfe the Land-Tamer or Shilfe the Good Many believe that orcs possess no magical abilities, but this is untrue. Shilfe is a female orc who earned her place. She is known for her ability to tame and control the world around her, and she alone is responsible for turning the Endless Plains into a barren desert. She achieved this with what appeared to be a simple ritual and a measure of physical strength. She altered the course of all rivers flowing through the Endless Plains to stop the traitor¡¯s army. She also created the island in the Infinite Sea, where Frantengrim lies. Shilfe had the kindest-heart of all the Grandmasters. Her lifelong battle against prejudice led her always to see the best in all races. This also led her to sacrifice herself and her magic when a magma rift threatened to destroy Life¡¯s End, which we later learned the dwarves themselves were responsible for. Ewen has tried many times to resurrect her but without success. Shilfe is lost forever.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The Inventor Zyxiflox Zyxiflox became known for his skill in combining items with magic, creating talismans and, later, curses. He strongly influenced the dwarven runes, though they will never admit it. Zyxiflox is a dwarf and quickly became one of Ewen¡¯s closest friends. Their friendship blossomed rapidly, but when Ewen chose to keep magic to himself, Zyxiflox decided to share his knowledge with the world. This incited Ewen¡¯s anger, and in an attempt to limit the damage, the god tried to erase all knowledge of Zyxiflox, but this was not possible. This is still why new talismans and curses are discovered. Nevertheless, Zyxiflox¡¯s defiance was not taken lightly, and it is rumoured that Ewen saw it as the end of their friendship. But even so, Ewen listens when Zyxiflox speaks. Flexo the Mad The goblin Flexo is known to many as mad, though to a smaller group, he is seen as a genius. Flexo is easily distracted by anything, which is believed to be an instinct of his goblin nature, but no one can deny Flexo¡¯s skill with weapons. He is the only person I know who can pick up an unknown metal and forge it into an exceptional weapon. Flexo was Ewen¡¯s personal smith, and although goblins are not known for their forging ability, the way he combined magic and metal was unique and impossible to replicate. I am still searching for Flexo¡¯s secret, as it is said he was on the brink of a breakthrough that would make rune magic look like coloured chalk. The only problem Flexo encountered was with the energy lines in the weapons, which I have also tried to study but without success. Maltis the Evil Maltis is a cursed name among the Grandmasters. He is the fallen one among us. He was said to be Ewen¡¯s pupil, though he always showed an interest in demon magic. When Maltis was elevated to Grandmaster, he was very interested in Dranos¡¯ work on categorizing magic. Little is known about Maltis¡¯ downfall, but the scriptures show that he was lured by Raffael Moordet after Maltis discovered a new form of demon magic that he called demonology. Maltis was elevated after Dranos but is respected by few due to his betrayal. With demon power in one hand and the plane of magic in the other, many saw him as unstoppable. Only Dranos was strong enough to stop Maltis¡¯ rampage, but this also caused the fall of Leltho, as two unstoppable forces clashed. This is why Leltho remains in its current state, which the Grandmasters still mourn. Warning! Once again, I need to highlight that the scriptures are full of inconsistencies. Why would Ewen elevate Maltis to Grandmaster if he had already betrayed Ewen before the ascension? Ewen teaches us to ask questions of whatever we read, but I speak from experience and tell you that you should not voice these questions. You will be shunned by the order, and I fear that a greater conspiracy lies here. Lydos the Cursed The half-elf Lydos is not considered a Grandmaster by many, as his abilities are limited due to his inability to cast magic. His magic was taken from him by the Demon of Hatred when Lydos tried to collapse the demon¡¯s realm with the weight of the plane of magic. He did this in an attempt to defeat Maltis and prevent his return. Nonetheless, Lydos mastered the plane of magic and was only surpassed by Dranos in this discipline. Jamir the Young There is not much to say about myself, especially as I am the author. I know that my days are numbered, but fear not¡ªI have gathered enough knowledge to guide all who seek my light. I suppose I should share a little about myself. I am the most hated of the Grandmasters, save for the traitor in our midst. Ewen despises me with all his being, and he has cursed me with mortal form. The reason for Ewen¡¯s hatred is simple. I am the one who formalised the somatic components of spells and gave them to the people of Kalish. This allows all, even those not gifted with magic, to cast spells. It is I who have ensured that magic does not belong solely to Ewen. I have bitten the hand who granted me power, and I will pay with my life. So, I write this here. Good luck on your journey. Chapter 34: Martin builds his character Martin wasn''t thrown directly into the game, and he hadn''t expected to be, instead the former farmer turned programmer, found himself in a white room. All around him, endless white seemed to stretch. This was the interception room that Jasper had hacked together. It was literally a default environment, with nothing around to distract, just endless blankness. This place didn''t even let you run around, simply move in proportion to other people. Before loading in, Martin had added his own Domain to the long list that sprawled before him, the Plant Domain, though he already knew the trio he was going to pick. He wanted Beasts, Plant and Wealth. Beast and Plant would represent the creatures in the dungeons that he would create, while Wealth would represent the loot from the dungeon. That would also put him in line with being a symbol of harvesting and general farming, which wasn''t that bad. The game was bugging him to set his stats before picking his Domains, but he managed to scoot the pop-up menu with the stats to the side. Instead, he focused on his divine options. Picking the Domains was rather easy, the list was a bit cumbersome, but he still managed to figure things out. Instantly he got a couple of pop-ups informing him of the passive effects of his Domains. When he realized that he didn''t get any attributes bonuses he sighed and started assigning his stats. He picked Charisma as his best stat, having heard that both Celeste and Jasper were struggling in that department, and dexterity as his second-highest stat. Martin wanted to go for some range damage when he got the points for it, he saw it fitting nicely into the Beast, Plant and Wealth Domains as the hunting aspect of being God of the Harvest, and any dungeon that didn''t have some cheap ranged minions lurking around was hardly a dungeon at all. Martin picked Strength as his lowest stat, reasoning that he wouldn''t be doing much up close fighting if he went ranged and then picked Intelligence as his second-lowest stat, knowing that Jasper probably had that covered. That left him with Wisdom and Constitution, which would be the middle of the pack. Not something he was good at, but not something he was bad at either. Happy with his choices, Martin went to pick his powers, only to get a new pop-up. That was a lot of points. If a new Domain costs Martin 3 points, he could essentially buy out most of the Domains. Even so, he knew that it would be a bad idea. He decided to buy the Range Domain before he got overwhelmed by other inputs. The effect was quite powerful, especially for a passive ability, and Martin couldn''t wait to see what else was in store for him. He instinctively pulled up his potential powers for the Beast Domain. Yesterday he had implemented the option to show the top 5 suggested abilities for each domain properly after Jasper''s hacked-together version had been a bit unsteady, and he instantly used it to skip the long and dense list of Powers and get a summary of what he could pick.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Red in Tooth and Claw Commit Energy to manifest natural weaponry which counts as magical. When attacking beasts they do not count as having any armour. See full description Lesser
Lord of the Wild Animals instinctively serve and obey you even to the death, carrying out commands as if they had a human intellect. See full description Greater
Link of Unity You can bond with an animal, linking it as an extension of your spirit and allowing sense-sharing and communication. If it dies, it vanishes, but can be summoned back by committing Energy for the day. See full description Lesser
Conquer the Beast Within When you defeat a foe in combat using a non-lethal attack you can subdue them. Afterwards they are a subject to your Powers from the Beast domain as if they were a beast. See full description Greater
Distant Howl Commit Energy to communicate with any beast whose location you know to within a mile. Beasts who have spent at least a week in your presence can be reached wherever they are. See full description Lesser
With 18 points left, he could easily afford all of those, however, some of those options weren''t as good as he would like. Red in Tooth and Claw was good, if he had no other options. But he would be doing a ranged build, and as such the power to create claws and fangs wasn''t really that useful. However, picking Lord of the Wild was almost a necessity if he wanted to create dungeons with creatures. That would cost him 2 points. He wanted Link of Unity, though taking it wasn''t going to help him with the goal of creating dungeons. However, it did look really amazing. He saved it as a backup if he couldn''t spend all his points. The greater power, Conquer the Beast Within was a must as well, subduing powerful magical beasts out in the wild and commanding them to become dungeon bosses would be ideal. That was another two points gone. Finally, there was Distant Howl. It seemed incredible as well, allowing Martin to potentially communicate with his friends, though that one week time limit meant that he would have to be around the animal for the entire week of his game time, and there was a chance the animal would have passed away in the hundred years passing afterwards... unless he found some turtles to give to his friends. Martin decided against it, it was powerful and amazing, but wouldn''t be suitable to the time dilation they were experiencing. Maybe it was something to consider for the main game when this world shipped to the main branch. He would have to make a note of it. He decided to look over the two abilities that he wanted, realizing that it was effectively only the Greater powers. He didn''t mind, they would do nicely. Martin picked both of them having read the text fully. Then he turned his attention to the Plant Domain. With 14 points left, he knew that he could pick pretty much anything there as well. Even so, he tried to restrain himself as he looked over the top five AI picks.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Grow the Garden From a point in sight a sphere with radius of 20 meters becomes a brilliant garden filled with whichever plants, rare or otherwise, you desire. See full description Lesser
Spring of the Blood Forest Commit Energy. While committed each enemy you personally slay instantly grows into a tree offering fat, round fruits. These trees are animated and can attack nearby enemies. See full description Greater
Cornucopian Blessing Commit Energy. While energy is committed a chosen container holding a non-magical agricultural substance will never run out, no matter how much is taken from the container. See full description Greater
Healing fruits Commit Energy for the day. A tree you have personally planted springs fruits with your divine essence. All allies that eat one of them regain vigour as if well-fed and rested, while also healing mortals completely or divine 1d6 plus your rank. See full description Lesser
Ancient Bark Skin Your skin becomes that of incredibly tough bark, which not only wards off most attacks, but also gives you an invincible defence against attacks made from plants. See full description Lesser
That was some incredible powers. Grow the Garden would allow him to grow plants rapidly, ensuring that he didn''t have to scour the world for rare seeds. It was definitely a must.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Spring of the Blood Forest would be incredible as well, especially if combined with the Range Domain. Ensuring that hordes of enemies turned into forests that would pummel their allies seemed incredible. The Cornucopian Blessing could feed nations on its own, allowing Martin to simply ensure that there was always enough to eat, however, it didn''t help his current build, and as such he skipped it. Healing Fruits was nice, but it wasn''t what he was looking for, since Jasper already had his auto-healing, and Celeste seemed to be able to dodge most attacks. He skipped that as well. Lastly Ancient Bark Skin. It was probably the plant version of Celeste''s dodge ability. Martin assumed that he would need something along those lines, just to make sure that he didn''t need the healing fruit. He looked over his powers. That was powers for 4 points, leaving Martin at 10 remaining points. Next up was the Wealth Domain. He went through the usual spiel, knowing that he wouldn''t want to look over every possible power, but only the ones that could be relevant.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Flawless Reproduction Commit Energy and touch a non-magical object. Every minute, a perfect duplicate of the thing appears somewhere near the original until the Energy is reclaimed. See full description Lesser
Prosperity''s Abundance Spend the Wealth necessary to purchase a generally-available object or service and have it appear instantly. See full description Lesser
The Golden God''s Hand Commit Energy and curse or bless a faction. You may either grant them a benefit having to do with prosperity or wealth, or you may suppress an existing feature they have that relies on money or large amounts of resources. See full description Greater
Thieves¡¯ Bane Foes are utterly unable to successfully rob you or your companions by stealth or fraudulent bargaining. See full description Greater
Wither the Purse Commit Energy until next loading screen and target a victim in sight. Their finances suffer immediate and drastic loss, whether from thieves, arson, misfortune, or bad trade. See full description Lesser
Martin was honestly a bit disappointed with the options for wealth. They were nice for punishing large factions or building up communities, but most of them would suck up his Energy almost indefinitely. Flawless Reproduction was good, the ability to duplicate objects, even if they had to be non-magical, was great and something that he could absolutely use. Prosperity''s Abundance was good too, though it was reliant on Martin getting a buttload of money before it would be worth anything. The Golden God''s Hand was overwhelmingly powerful. He could tear away entire faction benefits, such as the Mithril deposit underneath the Empire''s capital. Or he could create that benefit for another faction. It was basically a world edit. But he could already see the trap in that power. He would bet his bottom dollar that the blessing or curse would only last for as long as the Energy was committed. He would in general have less to work with, but given the fact that he would be gone for hundreds of years, it would crush factions or skyrocket them depending on his mood. Thieves'' Bane was powerful as well, allowing nobody to steal from them or trick them during deals. However, Celeste could already create most mundane items out of thin air, so it wasn''t really worth the two points in Martin''s opinion. Lastly, Wither the Purse was good but not amazing. It would probably help Martin with revenge on people, but it was the kind of petty revenge that he hated. Finally, he made a decision, looking over Flawless Reproduction, Prosperity''s Abundance and The Golden God''s Hand before picking them. With that out of the way, and having spent 4 more points it left him with 6 points for his last Domain: Range. He hoped that he would find something so he could compete in combat with the other divines.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Omnipresent Reach Your ranged weapons have a maximum range as far as your natural line of sight. Your missile weapons always do at least 1d20 damage and are treated as magical weapons. See full description Lesser
Lord of That Which Falls Commit Energy. Redirect any ranged weapon attacks in your presence to a new target. See full description Greater
Rain of Sorrow Commit Energy. Against mobs of creatures, the damage of your ranged weapon attacks are automatic critical hits and add your Rank. See full description Greater
None Beyond Reach Your ranged attacks have no maximum range provided you can see what you¡¯re shooting at with your natural sight or know its location to within ten feet. See full description Lesser
The Seeking Flight Choose a visible target and Commit Energy until next loading screen. Your ranged attacks seek them out regardless of range, treat them as having no armour, and completely ignore cover provided there is at least some path for your projectile to reach them. See full description Lesser
Martin wanted all of those powers, but he couldn''t afford them, even if he wanted them so badly. He more or less had to take Omnipresent Reach, simply for the fact that it was his primary damage output. Lord of that which Falls would be amazing, allowing him to redirect ranged attacks from entire armies, while Rain of Sorrow allowed him to essentially obliterate entire armies. None Beyond Reach was probably a sniping ability, and he realized that if he had picked the sense-sharing ability from Beast Domain, Link of Unity, he could essentially target anything in the world. With that combo, he would be unstoppable. The Seeking flight was nice, but probably not something that he wanted to use right away. Martin looked back through his powers, wondering if there was any he could drop so that he could pick None Beyond Reach and Link of Unity, along with the other powers from Range. He couldn''t find any that he could justify dropping. He sighed, picking Omnipresent Reach, Lord of That Which Falls, The Seeking Flight. He had 2 points left. He could either take Rain of Sorrow or the combo. He chose the combo, not only picking None Beyond Reach, but also going back and taking Link of Unity. As always, he read through the powers before dedicating himself to them. With his powers done and out of the way, he leaned back and smiled. Martin was honestly pretty satisfied with his build, and while he knew that he was going to forget something, he was also pretty sure that there would be plenty of opportunities for having a lot of fun. Before continuing into the game he decided to customize his character a little. It was purely visual, but he still wanted to go with something other than the standard Human race. He looked through the options, seeing a lot of interesting aspects, and slowly an idea came to him. He picked ork. The visual aspects of his body transformed into a hulking green beast and thick tusks sprouted from his bottom teeth. It was uncomfortable for a moment until the system helped him adjust. With that done he laid a couple of plans, knowing that the Range word would technically apply to siege weapons. He was sure that Kalish was going to enjoy the God of Dungeons, Harvest and Siege weapons, especially as an ork. Nobody expected the orkish engineer. Chapter 35: Orkward encounter [Includes poll] As Martin loaded into the game he expected to see a city, just like Celeste and Jasper had described, however, instead he saw a massive beast pounce towards him. At first, he assumed that the beast was some kind of bear, however on closer inspection it was some bizarre amalgamation of creatures. The head of the beast was definitely that of a shark, the razor-sharp teeth were dripping with saliva as it went to clamp down on Martin''s arm. The main body of the creature was that of a bear, though the tail was long and had the fin of a shark. Martin lifted his arm and let the sharkbear chomp down on it. He barely felt a thing. His skin was green, but it was also made from living bark, allowing him to ignore that vicious teeth. He looked down at the bearshark and shook his head before speaking in a soft but firm voice. "Please stop". His throat was rough and he had a lot more bass than what he usually had. The bearshark looked up at him and let go. "Sorry," It said, and for a moment Martin was surprised that it spoke until he remembered that he had made a character for that exact purpose less than a second ago. There was nothing like a massive predator pouncing on you to bring you out of character-building mode. The creature slowly let go of Martin''s arm, long strands of spit still linking the vicious maw to Martin, before a long tongue slipped out and liked up the saliva, breaking the strings. "Don''t worry about it," Martin said, whipping his arm free of saliva. He assumed that the bearshark was weaker than him, based on the fact that it was obeying him so readily. He hadn''t even defeated it in combat. "So what are you?" He asked the bearshark. The massive creature sat down on its hindquarters, the long tail sprawling around it before it scratched itself right behind the gills. "I thought that would be obvious... I am a bearshark... or sharkbear... Nobody has really given me a proper name" It answered, which made Martin feel a little bit dumb. "Not like that. I mean, as far as I can tell I am standing in a forest, and while I am sure that there might be bears around, I feel like sharks are much rarer, not to mention that the chances of a shark and a bear ''doing the do'' is highly unlikely." He clarified. The sharkbear nodded along, the human level of intelligence really shining through. "Oh, I get what you mean! No I am an absolute freak of nature. I grew up a good while east from here in a place saturated with magic. I used to be a bear, but after eating too many magic tainted fish I got some new chompers." It said showing off the multiple rows of teeth that had been trying to tear Martin apart just moments ago. The god of dungeons nodded. "Those are very nice... Welp, it seems like I have found myself in the beginner zone, so I am guessing that I should take care of the magical wasteland that is located right next to the newbie area. I feel like it would be a major complaint if people kept dying to mutated bears." He said. For a moment he considered making the bear into his linked creature. However, he needed a fast and agile creature, preferably something that he had to take down with some effort. He decided against it. However, making the bearshark into a dungeon boss might not be a bad idea. He decided to go for it, but as soon as he tried to create a dungeon he got a message from the AI. He sighed, that made sense that he would have to earn his dungeons. It seemed like he would have to eat his veggies before he could have ice cream. "I am going to go fix that nuclear hellscape. Wanna come?" He looked at the bear which got back up and nodded. With that out of the way, the massive orc and bearshark started to wander east.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It had been less than an hour of walking before Martin was complaining. "I hate walking. This game needs fast travel. Celeste needs to implement some teleportation because my feet already hurt." He exclaimed making the bearshark look up at him. "I mean... I have no idea what you are talking about, but even I know that Teleportation is forbidden. Teleportation and resurrection. Can''t do those." It said, which made Martin blink. "I am sorry... You cannot teleport... and wait wait wait, you can''t resurrect people? How do you know this?" He asked, feeling like he was being taken for a ride. "Oh, I have been breathing magic my whole life. These gills filter magic from the air to my body, which allows me to do cool stuff. It is only after I met you that I can think clearly though, so a lot of this is just instincts... the same instincts that are telling me that the tree coming up on your right will be the best scratching tree in the entire forest." It said and wandered over to a tree which did indeed look like it would be perfect for scratching those hard-to-reach spots. Martin shrugged and joined the bearshark, and before long they were both scratching themselves against the tree. The orc had to continue thinking out loud though. "That is probably the two worst rules that could ever be implemented. That will mean that players can''t resurrect their characters and they will have to spend days wandering from one place to the other. So not only will you be forced to play as cautiously as possible because you are on hardcore mode..." Martin paused a little as a branch on the tree found just the right spot between his shoulder blades. "But you will never want to leave any area because you are forced to wander through high-level areas... Wait, nobody is going to want to go into my dungeons." He said realization dawning on his face. Martin finally pulled back from the tree before using a bit of Energy, a resource he had more than enough of, and gave the tree a boost to its growth as a thanks for scratching his back. He smirked a little and looked at the visibly growing tree. "Keep the change... you know... I don''t mind giving a little back, since you scratch my back I scratch yours." Martin said, and the bearshark groaned before trying to chew his leg off. They were back to walking again, and Martin had decided that he would have to talk with his fellow primordial gods about these laws that were being implemented. Before they had reached the border to the magical wasteland evening had started to slowly darken the forest. Martin decided that they might as well get some rest since he could see the bearshark getting more and more hangry, snapping at falling leaves and scarring squirrels, and Martin was getting tired too, even though he shouldn''t have. He wondered where they could find something to eat, but as they sat down Martin''s Wealth Domain kicked in. Simply by sitting in a clearing Martin felt his Domain work on his surrounding. It had clearly harmonized with his other domains as a small bush started to grow in the middle. It instantly died and burst into flames, creating a warm bonfire for them to sit at. Martin would have expected the bush to burn out quickly, but the bush seemed to continue to grow while burning, providing continuous fuel for the fire. Thick vines had sprouted from the ground in the meantime, giving a seat for Martin to sit in and a nice bed for the bearshark to settle on. However, it was the four chicken-like fowls that seemed to wander directly up to the bearshark, that truly surprised the god. Martin assumed that was his Beast Domain doing a lot of work, calling some of the wildlife over so that his mutated companion could eat. The bearshark didn''t seem to have a problem with an easy meal, gladly comping down on the fowls as they practically tried to throw themselves into the predator''s maw. Martin himself didn''t really need to eat, as he had been wandering on soil his Plant Domain provided him with nutrients allowing him to stay refreshed, though for some reason he still felt tired. Based on the passive ability of the Plant Domain he shouldn''t have to sleep. He blamed the fact that the game was a new experience and his mind was simply being overwhelmed. It wasn''t long before he was drifting off to sleep next to a new friend, while a burning bush kept away predators. While drifting up he looked over his stats just to get an idea of what his character had.
Resources Value
Rank 6
Health 34
Energy 7
Impact 7
Worship 0
Wealth 0 (1)
Available Domain Power Points 0
He smiled, enjoying the fact that he could take a nap while working without getting in trouble. Chapter 36: Obtaining true Godhood Jasper and Celeste slowly slipped into the game, which was becoming a rather familiar experience, and they realized that they weren''t standing in the rundown area they had expected. Having logged out inside the orphanage they both expected to find themselves in something similar. However, they were standing in a small church. Martin looked around and saw pews upon pews all pointing towards an altar. The altar showed a figure, who could only really be Kelllwan, handing out bread to the people, at the altar a smiling priest was standing, and Jasper recognized him instantly. "I did not suspect you to be around." The god of magic said, but the priest just shook his head. "A rare event should be witnessed, it is not every day that I get to see my creator." It was the golden dragon of charity in his human guise, and he had clearly been working on the orphanage. The church was made from stone and was fairly squat. Jasper couldn''t see any tower where a bell could ring from, indicating that it was still a fairly small church, which was supported by the stone which made up the walls, they were barely hewn, most likely collected from the surrounding area instead of made in a quarry. Celeste inspected the handiwork with a frown on her face. "I could fix this." She said then she shook her head. "I am going to fix this. I mean, it is going to annoy me if I don''t." Jasper laughed a little and nodded. "Sure, we have to wait for Martin anyway, you can do a bit of handiwork." He saw the notification in his vision just as he had spoken. Text from image: 2 ranks gained Message: You have gained two ranks, ensuring that your divine power is mightier than ever. You have 6 Divine Power Points to use. While Celeste worked, Jasper looked over his options. It seemed like they were really making progress in the world. After all, they had been shooting up through the ranks rather quickly. He suspected that their progress would probably stagnate fairly soon, but if that happened they could always make a new character to try a different build. He liked his magic build, but since the world already had a magic god in the form of Ewen, Jasper wasn''t sure if he could change things that much. He still needed to reinforce the barriers between the planes as well. There was a lot he needed to do. Jasper refocused himself, he could look over his powers, or find a new Domain. However, there was something that he at least wanted to try. Since the AI didn''t have to perform as much work fixing bugs through cause and effect, he had been investigating if the system could create any powers based on his previous actions, and he decided to test it out, allowing the system to generate him 3.
Name Why you get this Effect Type
Dragon Overlord Since you are the creator of dragons you can take on some of their features, as they have taken on some of yours. You gain wings that can be used to fly through the sky. These wings allow for perfect flight and rapid manoeuvres and on uninterrupted stretches you can reach speeds of up to Mach 2 (2470 kilometres per hour). Lesser
Loss of Knowledge For tearing every aspect of a man''s knowledge from his very being and making him forget even the most essential aspects of himself. You pick a particular event, person, or relationship. Everyone in your presence forgets about the matter. Furthermore, every affected person becomes a node for this memory loss, causing others who see them to also forget about the topic. This continues to spread until you reclaim your Energy. Greater
Lord of Wards You have granted someone the path of the Prismatic Initiate. You may bypass any magical shield or ward as if it is not there. If a ward or shield has been created with Ur-magic you will need to commit Energy until the next loading screen. Greater
Jasper was honestly impressed by the fact that the system had created such amazingly detailed powers based on what he had done. He had honestly expected it to come up with three dragon-themed powers, but these were varied. He wasn''t too proud of the second power option, but the ability seemed great. Dragon Overlord would be useful, with his ability to hold magic and release it, it would essentially turn him into a bomber, streaking overhead and bombing anything in his way. He kept it in mind but didn''t pick it up right away. Loss of Knowledge was good too, though he wasn''t really trying to prevent anyone from knowing his nature, it sorta just happened over time, with no real worshippers, Armandos was destined to be forgotten, especially since their clerics would only really be able to cast magic when they were logged in. Who would want to worship a god that granted them benefits for 7 days every 100 years? Lord of Wards was probably very powerful as well. However, it wasn''t something that he had needed. There was, however, something that Jasper had needed more times than he would have liked. He had needed Ur-magic to go toe to toe with the other gods. Even Ewen couldn''t control Ur-magic... yet. Jasper looked through his Magic Domain and found what he was looking for. The three powers that would let him cast Ur-Magic. Text from image: Deified Ur-mage Type: constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the Way of the Deified Ur-mage, the humblest level of Ur-magic, albeit still one beyond all but the mightiest mortal wizards. You may choose four spells to master as part of this learning and may learn more as you find them. You do not need to spend Energy to remember these four spells, however, if you want to cast any the other spells of the Deified Ur-mage, then you need to spend one Energy to learn it temporarily and one Energy to cast it. Text from Image: Supreme Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the way of the Supreme Ur-mage, the second tier of Ur-magic. You master three spells of this tier as part of this learning, which you do not need to spend Energy to remember. You may learn more as you find them. When casting Ur-magic you may spend a day to cast the spell without spending any Energy. Text from image: Unbound Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the way of the Unbound Ur-mage, the deepest degree of Ur-magic. You master two spells of this tier as part of this learning, which you do not need to spend Energy to remember. You may learn more as your find them. When casting Ur-magic you may spend a minute to cast the spell without taking any damage. He picked them, knowing that he would have to study Ur-magic closer to know what it was able to do, last he had used it, not only had he been burning himself up to the point of scorching a realm, but he had also used it more instinctively. Not thinking through his options, but just unleashing his divine will. As Jasper picked the powers he saved picking the spells for another time, not really wanting to spend the rest of the day in menus. He knew that he would end up focusing on building his character when he needed to spend time with the people around him.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. It did leave him with a single Divine Power Point. He thought about what he could use it for. He could get wings, but he could also get something that would protect him further. It was honestly a tough choice. He was going to fly. He picked the Dragon Overlord power he had been offered. Text from Image: Dragon Overlord Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You gain wings that can be used to fly through the sky. These wings allow for perfect flight and rapid manoeuvres and on uninterrupted stretches you can reach speeds of up to Mach 2. Your body will be able to resist any wind pressure or lack of oxygen you may be exposed to while flying. As he picked the power he felt thick wings sprout from his back, spreading wide for just a moment, before folding in and taking on the appearance of a cape. The inside of the cape had a metallic hue for sure, but seemed to shift colours constantly like diesel spilled on the ground or bismuth. The outside of the cape was a light blue, matching the rest of his outfit quite nicely. The golden dragon dressed as a priest cleared his throat. "That is indeed very impressive, and though you wield our strength your aura has changed, telling me that even combined the dragons might have difficulty defeating you." He said and Jasper nodded at those words. "Indeed, I decided to investigate the Ur-magic, though I am unaware of what spells I have access to. I believe that the type of magic will either destroy us or elevate us to new heights." Jasper explained and he could see the disgust on the human face that the dragon was wielding. Jasper didn''t let that touch him, instead, he looked around the church to find it a work of art. The walls seemed to be made from a single block of stone, though all around there were carvings of people giving to each other. The display of charity was definitely something that would enhance the dragon''s image. Even the rafters had been upgraded to show acts of charity, and they seemed a lot sturdier. Jasper gave a soft little whistle. Celeste grinned at him and couldn''t help but twirl a hammer in her hand like it was a revolver that she had just used. Jasper could swear that he even saw the tip of it smoking slightly. "There we go, much better for sure." She said with a satisfied smile. "Did you see that we got more points to spend on powers?" She asked, and Jasper nodded. He had seen that for sure. "I have been toying with a new feature where the game creates abilities based on what you have accomplished. It is a bit wonky, but if you wanna try it, then you might find something good. Especially since it gave me these here wings." He explained, before letting his wings flap a single time, sending dust through the church. Celeste thought about it and nodded. "Sure, I will give it a try, though I have some things that I need to take care of. For one, I can feel that Marcusburg has broken their contract with me. It took longer than I expected, but I still think that I need to go take care of that." She explained, opening her options and making the AI generate some new powers.
Name Why you get this Effect Type
Heart of the Metropolis You created a city from essentially nothing. Marcusburg stands because you have deemed it so. As the divine architect, you gain the power to create cities. Buildings and infrastructure of your choosing gradually grow up around you, forming out of the bedrock of the surrounding area or any natural material available, however, it is as strong as any stone. One day''s growth provides housing, commercial space, defensive walls, sewer, water, and paved roads for up to five hundred residents, conjuring up deep springs of fresh water where needed. Greater
Royal Bearing Due to beating down the local Emperor in full view of his court. You exude flawless perfection and have an invulnerable defence against appearing dirty, awkward, or incapable. As an Instant action, you may Commit Energy for the day to succeed at an attribute check. Lesser
Entropy Beyond All For tearing down the Smithy of Civilisations, a magical building designed to last for aeons. Target a visible object no larger than a house. The object immediately decays as if aged a thousand years. Lesser
Celeste''s eyes were almost falling out of her head. She couldn''t believe what she was seeing. This was, to her surprise, some of the more thematic abilities that she had ever seen. "You should have the AI generate abilities like this for anyone who wishes them in the game. It would be a massive feature." She said, trying not to drool too badly at her options. The Royal Bearing would probably help her with that. Jasper snorted, then laughed so hard that Celeste had to look up from the powers and over at him. He wiped a tear away from his eye before snorting a little again. "Oooh! That is fun. This game will, without a doubt be Player versus Player, or PvP, to some degree, and imagining the hardcore fanbase complaining about how unbalanced things are... oh man, that really made my day, thank you, love." He said before pulling her into a hug and kissing her on the cheek. Celeste didn''t really know much about the gaming world, but she knew that people would probably argue a lot about how to get special abilities, so that might not be the best idea. With that thought out of the way, she looked over what she was being offered. She liked Heart of the Metropolis, however it would require her to stay in the same place for an entire day, which wasn''t really that appealing. Royal Bearing was probably really good as well, it might even help her out when convincing people, but it felt a little cheaty. She felt like she was picking it thanks to how it worked rather than what made sense for her character. She didn''t consider her character to be one of grace and elegance, but much more tomboyish. Royal Bearing simply wouldn''t fit what she wanted, though it was definitely good. Entropy Beyond All seemed like it would be really useful as well. She could speed time up for things, but she didn''t really have anything that properly fit her entropy theme at the moment. She decided only to pick Entropy Beyond All, before turning her attention to what else she could pick. Behind her Jasper cleared his throat. "Aren''t you going to see what that power does?" He asked, which made Celeste roll her eyes. Her husband did have a point though. It might be nice to read it out fully instead of just reading the brief description. Text from image: Entropy Beyond All Type: Constant Energy usage: Energy for the day. Full effect: Target a visible object no larger than a house. The object immediately decays as if aged a thousand years. It wasn''t as good as she had expected, the power consuming Energy for the entire day, instead of just until the next loading screen, as she had assumed. She shrugged and moved on, it would probably be useful at some point. Looking over the powers available to her, she was surprised to see that a couple of new ones had appeared. One for Time caught her attention. Text from image: Timed Acceleration Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Your own time is just slightly faster than everyone else''s, allowing your actions to be more fluid and gracious, effectively setting your dexterity to 18. It was a lesser power as well, which seemed really powerful. She picked it and she couldn''t really feel any difference, then it hit her. It wasn''t something major, well, at least not what she could tell, but the world seemed to become a little more stable. As if she had been viewing something in 20 frames per second and it had jumped up to 60. Everything was much more smooth and the world seemed easier to react to. She cleared her throat and felt her dexterous movements be complimented perfectly by the ability to see future attacks coming. She would actually be able to dodge anything at this point. She had four points left, and she wondered what she should spend them on. She paused and really thought it through before deciding to pick another Domain. She already knew what she wanted, since she had taken the Death Domain, her perception of the character had been unbalanced. She had been leaning more towards the destruction and disruption of things. That was fun and all, but she needed something for bringing life to the world. She had considered taking Fertility, but hearing that Martin was going to be some kind of Dungeon god, she suspected that he would be picking that instead. So instead, she took the Health Divine Domain. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Health You have an invincible defense against diseases and poisons, and can diagnose them instantly. You may set your constitution to 16, or to 18 if it''s already 16 or higher. Celeste was quite happy with the constitution boost. She was practically a tank at this point. She didn''t need to look too far through her options, after all, she could only afford a lesser Power, however, she knew what she wanted as soon as she saw it. Text from image: Flesh Made True Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You are able to cure a target''s maimings, blindings, poisons, mutilations, and birth defects by simply looking at them. This does not restore any HP. Having picked what she wanted and not having any more Domain Power Points, Celeste closed the menus and turned her attention to her husband. He was talking with the priestess and she took the opportunity to interrupt the two slightly. "So what do you wanna do?" She asked. Chapter 37: The land of Leltho Martin woke up before his new companion. The Bearshark snoozed away on the provided bedding while Martin worked. He wasn''t really sure how he wanted to do this. However, he knew what the end result should be. The interesting thing about the Wealth Domain seemed to be that it was much akin to the Tinkering Domain in many ways, and he was basically pulling stuff out of thin air whenever he needed it. If he thought of a tool that he would want, it simply materialized in his hands, while the same was true for materials. However, they seemed to disappear whenever he put any of them away, as if they had never existed. It took him only an hour to cobble his device together, but he was pretty satisfied with the result when it was done. He had no idea if it was even something that already existed, but Martin liked it. He had managed to create a sizable pauldron, or shoulder armour, as Martin had called it for the longest time, which seemed to almost parody the fantasy genre with its size. It was massive and heavy and made from a mix of plants and leather. It was, in fact, so huge that it was like a small tower. The top of the tower had a plateau where Martin could easily place objects since the plateau was about the size of a basketball. With the pauldron done, Martin had constructed a makeshift catapult. Even though he believed trebuchets to be superior, he needed more time to balance it properly. He mounted it to the pauldron, giving him a shoulder-mounted mini siege weapon, which made him grin, a tusk-filled grin filled with pride at his accomplishment. With that done, he made something to eat. Even though he didn''t really need it, he still wanted to see if the system could faithfully emulate the taste of bacon and eggs. It did so without problems. The only downside was that the scent of the meal woke up the Bearshark, and Jasper found his meal interrupted as the hungry mutant gulped down the rest of the food. In less than an hour, they were walking again, though the Bearshark seemed rather tired and overwhelmed by the walk the previous day. It grumbled a little. However, one look at Martin was enough to make the beast fall in line. It would be another two hours before they reached a massive gate. The divine ork gave a soft whistle as he beheld the sheer scope of the gate. The gate was four separate winding bridges that would open into the magical wasteland on the other side. They were held up by thick towers with sentries on either side, and a small village had formed on the non-toxic side of the wall, probably to sustain the people manning the gate. As soon as Martin was spotted, he heard shouting and people moving around. It wasn''t long before a squad of soldiers moved out. Their armour seemed light and easy to move in, though it was still made from metal. Judging by the metal hue, they were sporting full Mithril armour and weapons for some reason. The squad leader stepped forward; his helmet was open, though it had a wide, flat brim that gave him more cover than a standard helmet. Martin couldn''t help but notice that the brim went all the way around, almost as if it was modelled after a hat. The guards'' leader was a mature man, and Martin would have assumed that he would be pushing for retirement in about ten years or so. He was sporting a massive moustache that kept wiggling as he scrunched up his upper lip, clearly in thought. "Well, aren''t you something to be seen? Not only haven''t I seen a lone ork in a long time, but hot diggidy dog if you aren''t a lone ork trying to get into Leltho. Not just that, but you seem to have tamed a mutant, and not just any mutant, seems like you found yourself the great Leviabear itself. I will be honest; I''d reckoned that the scouts done told me some stories when they informed me, which is why I came out here to see myself." He said, the lip brush so big that Martin didn''t even see the man open his mouth. Martin was honestly surprised to hear that the bearshark was some mythical creature and to learn that orks weren''t known for striking out on their own. He did his best to be kind and nodded his head in greeting.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "Glad to surprise you. I am on my way to bring this lost little pup home after it has managed to get lost in the woods." He lied, and he could feel his Charisma starting to work on the squad leader. The captain looked him over and snorted. "Pup? Well, you speak good human for an ork, and I am not about to stop an enemy combatant from walking into the wastelands on their own. So please, if you don''t make any trouble, you can pass," he said, though the other guards seemed to look at their leader with scepticism. Martin just smiled, nodded, and headed towards one of the gates. He gave the bearshark a look. "Don''t bite anyone here... We are not going to make more enemies." The bearshark looked up, sniffing in the direction of one of the guards, its sharp teeth already slightly on display. It clamped up real fast and grumbled, "I wasn''t going to. I just wanted to make sure they didn''t hurt you." It mumbled, which was clearly a lie. The height of the gate was akin to that of skyscrapers out in the real world, towering over Martin as he pulled his Bearshark along, trying his best to ignore the fact that it was throwing hungry looks in the direction of any guard that came too close. However, it didn''t disobey Martin, which surprised him until he remembered that he literally had the power to ensure that the beast was compliant. Martin was worried that the gate would have to drop down for him to walk over it, but he could have told himself that there would probably be small doors in the base. As one of the guards opened it for him, the lord of beasts felt more like a housecat than a divine authority. Nevertheless, he stepped out into the land the humans had called Leltho. The change in the air was palpable; it was like breathing honey. Each breath infused with magic beyond what should have been possible. It was the spiritual equivalent of high humidity. It was intense and overwhelming. The ground was dust, showing no plants, and it had been dried out to a delicate crisp. Looking back at the gate, Martin saw why this area of magical destruction hadn''t spread. Thick runes the size of people had been carved into the gate. Thick mithril rods were lining the gates, apparently... doing something. Martin wasn''t an expert in magic, so he really had no idea. Martin looked back over the desolate wasteland, seeing no real plantation or creatures around. A cold wind swept over him, and yet it was like breathing in a sauna. His lungs struggled to contain the magic, and he was sure that if he had not been divine, he would have perished. Even so, this place had been exposed to some incredible magic. Seeing the result of a spell gone wrong, Martin agreed with Jasper that Ur-magic was far too strong to be left in the game. A single spell of the lowest tier would be enough to spawn an entire DLC for the game. He tried slowly planting a couple of seeds where he walked, though any ordinary seeds instantly turned to mutated vines that tried to strangle anything living. With an invulnerable defence against plants, they couldn''t hurt Martin, and they soon crumbled to dust. Martin sighed, forcing himself to stop and focus on his power, "Grow the Garden". Planting seeds that would be much better suited to soaking up mana and cleaning it. It took less than a minute after Martin stopped channelling his power for the plants to start withering. It made sense in some way. Just because a plants needed sunlight didn''t mean they could grow on the sun. Likewise there had never been place that was so dense with mana before, at least not to Martin''s knowledge, and no plant had really had the opportunity to evolve to it, or rather, the AI hadn''t allowed it, since this was probably the late game zone of the game. Martin knew that trying to fix this place might be harder than he thought, though the massive gate did provide a clear distinction between the zones. Creatures like the sharkbear that snuck through it would cause problems. The god of beasts looked at his companion, who was practically vibrating as it took deep breaths repeatedly, savouring the dense mana in the air. "How did you manage to get past the gate?" He asked. The bearshark looked over at Martin, each of its eyes seeming to blink separately as it tried to process what was being said. "Oh? Get past the gate? Uhm..." It tried to ponder the question as if what Martin had asked was the hardest riddle it had ever heard. "Ooooh! I know, someone threw me over," it said. Martin tried to process that information. "Threw you over... How are you not dead? A fall like that, or just the impact. That must have been monstrous." He said, and the bearshark shrugged a little. "I mean, when I have mana in my system, I can take and deal a lot more punishment than my size indicates," it said, and Martin looked it over. He could almost feel how, with every breath the bearshark took, it became stronger and stronger, slowly reaching the point where even he could not command it anymore. Chapter 38: When do we reach end-game? Martin had to admit that the more he learned about this zone, the more it seemed to be in order. It was isolated from the starting zone by literal guards, and the only breach he had seen was due to something bigger punting the Sharkbear over the walls. "Okay, I think we might need to plan what will happen to this world," Martin said, sitting down in the dry dirt. As soon as he did, flowers started to sprout underneath him, trying to support his weight, but they quickly turned into flesh-eating plants that withered away. The Bearshark looked at the display and sat down as well, though it double-checked that nothing sprouted underneath its butt. "What is the purpose of an endgame zone? It should provide a challenge to the players and something they can repeatedly do when they have reached the level cap." Martin said he wasn''t a game designer by nature, having spent more time around a combine harvester than reading books on game development. Martin had played a couple of classic MMOs in his time, though he had never really reached the endgame in any of them. As such, he felt like he was out of his depth with this task. Jasper was more suited to this task, but as always, Martin took this as an opportunity to learn. "We need to figure out why players would do this. Since it is endgame, we can''t reward them with XP, and Gear might be redundant. After all, then this wouldn''t be endgame, just... late game? So what do people want?" Martin was getting frustrated trying to think out loud, but he knew this would be better for problem-solving. The bearshark seemed confused, and a massive paw pointed to itself. "I am not sure what we are talking about," it said in a gruff voice. Martin looked up, feeling a little embarrassed that he hadn''t clued the bearshark into what he was doing. "Sorry, I am just talking to you to have my thoughts out there. Just... try and ignore me; I think Jasper called this Rubberducking..." Martin said before returning to his thoughts. "Cosmetics are always fun, and we can definitely do something along those lines. Things you can only find in here... Maybe new game plus? How do you do that in an MMO? Uuuuh..." Martin''s thick tusk ground against his nose scratching an itch without him having to lift a hand. Martin''s eyes blazed as he thought of an idea. "I KNOW IT!" He stood up, or rather, a vine filled with spines and spikes pushed him to a standing position. "We make it a world event! Each month, some unknowing evil threatens to erupt from this hellhole of the world, and it will march on the civilized world!" He was pacing back and forth as he spoke the bearshark, trying to keep up with the movements. "We will have players who contribute the most to dealing with this threat get a reward. I am thinking the top 100 get some cosmetic item, while the other top 3 get to dual-class, simply layering a new class onto their existing skill set. Of course, there needs to be a limit saying that you can''t be in the top 3 more than once, or things would be unfair." Martin said, and from the expression on the bearshark''s face, it was struggling to keep up. Martin smiled. "So the carrot will be rewards for those who participate, and essentially doubling people''s power if they do really well. The stick will be that if people don''t do something about this, the entire server will be demolished. That might be too intense. Let''s call it a temporary punishment... I am sure the main branch guys might come up with something better" Martin said, looking at his companion with glee. The bearshark seemed happy that Martin was delighted, but it did not understand much of what was happening. "So what do we do next?" it asked. Martin''s face was on the verge of manic as he giggled, which was especially disturbing as Orkish vocal cords weren''t designed for giggling. "We are going to find something that can destroy the world." With that Martin started to walk deeper into Leltho, happy with having found what he believed to be a solution to the endgame problem.
Jasper and Celeste were making their way out of the now-renovated church. Jasper had notifications blinking in his vision, trying to make him pick the spells that belonged to his Ur-magic. However, he had more important things to do.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "I need to go check on Martin to see that he hasn''t been booted out of the game or something like that. He could be trapped in the character creation room or something like that." The god of magic said, adjusting his glasses. Celeste nodded slowly. She understood why Jasper felt he needed to check up on Martin. However, the time distortion meant that even a short trip outside the game would leave her about half a day of doing nothing. "That is fine, but I need to go fix Marcusburg. They are definitely doing something dumb, and I need to fix that," Celeste said, and Jasper nodded. "I know that. I will be fine. I just gotta-" Jasper paused mid-sentence. He had finally gotten a look at the city around him. Construction was going on with a speed of which Jasper had never seen before, however, it wasn''t building, but rather tearing down. The massive houses were being disassembled with abandon, work crews shouting at each other as they tore out mithril all around them. Celeste swallowed, having seen the same thing. The houses were being torn to pieces as massive wagons had been stationed around the streets, each of them barely able to contain the mithril that was being throw into them. As soon as one had been filled to the brim, they started to ride off, only to be replaced with a new one. Jasper gave a whistle. "Seems like the nobles have gotten greedy enough to start tearing down houses. I am assuming that the mithril in the mines has had time to run out." He said, and Celeste nodded. She turned to him and gave him a look. "Can you please try to fix things here? I need to go to the starting zone, but this is just... wrong. Please fix it." She pleaded, her eyes reflecting her determination, and Jasper nodded, equally resolved. "I will look into it," he said before kissing her and logging out of the game.
Jasper logged out and found himself back in the real world. He groaned a little as he quickly took a toilet break before returning to his desk and going through the character creation setup. He determined that Martin wasn''t stuck in the sup-world, and Jasper fixed up some minor bugs he had spotted only for his own sanity. As always, a quick fix always took longer than expected, and he had lost himself to the project before he knew it. With a titanic force of will, Jasper pulled himself from a particularly tricky part of some code he had written and focused on the game. He knew that Martin was fine. The only real problem that could have happened was him being stuck in the makeshift character creator that Jasper had hacked together. Since he wasn''t there, Martin must have gotten into the game fine, and Jasper had honestly assumed that his colleague had found himself in the starting location, though he hadn''t checked before now. Having checked up on that, Jasper groaned. "I missed a whole day? That is insane. I wasn''t checking code for that long." He grumbled and pulled up a view of both Celeste and Martin. Something struck Jasper as he watched Martin walk through the magical nuclear wasteland that Ewen had created. He paused for a second, knowing full well that what he was about to do was a bad idea, but this was much easier than actually having to pull both of them out of the system. Jasper logged in with the "Break-glass" account. The emergency account should only be used if nothing else is an option. It was a standard non-deepdive account, controlled using the classic WASD system, but most importantly, it had console access.
Martin was walking through the wasteland looking for something that he could make into an eldritch abomination when a soft voice spoke to him from nowhere. It was mechanical and synthetic, and Martin groaned.
@?????? ??????????????: ?????? ?????? ??????, ?? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???? ????????, ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ??????????. ???????????? ?????????????????? ???????????? ????.
"Jasper, please don''t tell me you used the admin account for just an ingame chat with both of us... This is not an emergency." Martin grumbled. He was the one who would need to set up a new break-glass account, as well as defuse the alarms that would be set off in the main branch. Their security systems would be giving them plenty of warning about this.
Celeste had reached the edge of the forest that marked the country A''kastin. Travelling was easier when she didn''t have to drag people along, and her trip had only taken her a day when she heard the strange voice. She assumed Jasper must be talking to them from outside the game, but she didn''t mind. It sounded like he had a plan.
@?????? ??????????????: ?????? ?????? ???????????????? ???????????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ??????????, ?????? ?? ?????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ???????????????? ????????, ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ??????????????, ?????? ?? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ??????-????????. ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ????????????.
Celeste nodded along. That seemed to make sense, and she wasn''t sure how to get that across to Jasper, so she simply spoke out loud. "Works for me."
When they both agreed, Jasper logged out of the account and answered a couple of messages from the security department from Weird World Computing, explaining why he needed to perform the login. They weren''t happy with him and didn''t say anything else. With that out of the way, Jasper smiled and logged back into the game. Chapter 39: The Deified path of the Ur-mage Jasper found himself back in the game world, and he couldn''t help but sigh as he felt much more relaxed. He had promised his partners that they should stick together, but knowing they were out there, moulding essential parts of the game was important. It was true that they were just building the world and not the gameplay mechanics, though they were generating the world lore and the world itself. The different gameplay loops should be included as part of the world. It wouldn''t be a dealbreaker, but it would create much higher immersion for the players. Before Jasper got into fixing more things around the city, he knew that he would need to pick some of those Ur-spells that he had picked from his new powers. He opened the Deified spells list, knowing he could only pick four of them.
Name Effect
Barred Gates of Forbiddance A designated target cannot enter a particular location for one year and a day. The location can be as small as a room or as large as a nation.
Beacon of Celestial Purity Bathe yourself in holy magic. The light stretches to everything within 100 meters and cleanses everything for diseases and poison. It does not cure afflicted people. Any lies spoken within the light become visible as black smoke.
The Excision of Days Consume the lifeforce of a human to extend your own life. Extension of your own lifeforce depends on how much life was in your target.
Gate of the Planes Break the fabric between realms and open a gate to another plane. You do not control where in the other realm this gate opens. You tie your life to this portal, and every ten minutes this is open there is a 10% cumulative chance the Whirlpool of Souls patches the hole by removing you.
Kiss of the Crane Bathe a blade in the target''s blood or establish an arcane connection to the target. The blade will then pursue the target no matter the distance or obstacles, always hitting the target for 1d12 damage per Rank the Ur-mage has.
Misrush''s psalm While the Ur-mage sing, others are not able to acknowledge their presence or anyone they travel with. People are aware of the Ur-mage but cannot act on the information.
Pore of the Nether Set a sigil on a flat surface. At your command the sigil start to spew out fire and molten rocks at anything within ten meters of the sigil. This can be set to activate automatically whenever someone get close. This deals 1d12 damage per Rank of the Ur-mage.
Ranks of Pale Bone The Ur-mage can raise 1d12 undeads per Rank, assuming enough raw materials are available. Undeads that have been destroyed once cannot be used. They will be loyal to the Ur-mage. If the Ur-mage is slain, the undead will run rampant.
Seal of Regal Dominion The Ur-mage dominates the will of a target by placing a sigil upon their forehead. The target will be completely obedient to the Ur-mage, obeying commands that are even outside their normal nature. The Ur-mage can have a number of thralls to this magic equal to their Rank.
The Tireless Iron Cavalcade The Ur-mage summons metals steeds to ride for up to 10 people. These steeds are able to pass over 30 kilometers in an hour and does not tire or panic. They are, however, easy to track as their hoofs soak up the vitality of the earth underneath them.
The Trumpet of Far Utterance If the Ur-mage has an arcane connection to the target or is close friends with the target, the Ur-mage can summon a faint image of the target and their immediate surroundings. A similar effect happens to the target. The target and the Ur-mage can talk with each other, and a single object no bigger than a cart can be passed between the two, with a 50% chance of the item being lost to the void. This connection lasts for an hour.
He looked at the list and realized these were worse versions of some of the Domain powers. It made sense, since these were still within the realm of mortals. Jasper could see how these would be useful to mortals. Getting to live forever and creating armies, these were, without a doubt, archmage level spells that bordered on what a new divine would be able to accomplish. Jasper wanted to pick The Trumpet of Far utterance to communicate with his friends, but the cast time would be long. He still needed to pay Energy even if he cast the spells slowly... well, he could spend a day casting the spell, which would probably not be optimal for a conversation lasting only an hour. He kept the spell in mind if there was nothing else he wanted.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Getting metal steeds that he could ride was good, too, but with his new wings, it wasn''t really necessary. So he skipped The Tireless Iron Cavalcade. Seal of Regal Dominion was cruel. He didn''t use much mental manipulation despite having access to Mentalism, since he really didn''t like the idea of forcing people to think a certain way. He could see why it was needed for some evil advisor to the emperor, but as a god he really should be better. Jasper didn''t even consider Ranks of Pale Bone. Celeste had said no resurrections, and creating undeads might not be popular with her. As such, it was out of the window as well. Pore of the Nether was perfect, though. It allowed for some much better attacks, especially since Jasper could just store it up for later use. It would be some incredible traps, and he was pretty sure that he would pick that one. Misrush''s Psalm was interesting. Not because Jasper was going to sing. Jasper didn''t have a lyrical bone in his body. In fact, it was so bad that in his younger days, he had played bass and had never really learned how to play a proper instrument. What was interesting was the name. With his Omniscient Scholar power, Jasper knew it was part of the world''s creation myth. Apparently, according to highly academic religious scholars, Misrush was a being entirely created from darkness, which had clashed with a being created from pure light called Kallean, and the first god had been a product of this clash, which then elevated all other gods, except the Drow goddess Daikia. Jasper had never heard about Misrush and Kallean in his life, and he assumed that it was simply names created by the scholars in effort to produce a thesis. Gods knew that Jasper had been in that position when he was taking his masters degree. Returning his focus to the spells before him, he decided not to pick the spell that required him to sing constantly. Kiss of the Crane was really good too, allowing Jasper some much needed range whenever he was fighting, even though it wasn''t a ton of damage, it was still enough that he would be able to kill almost anything if he wished to do so. Gate of the Planes was probably a must if he wanted to continue his work with closing the walls between his planes, however picking it wasn''t really his first choice. But he had a task he needed to do so it went on the must have list. The Excision of Days wasn''t something he needed. Jasper was effectively immortal, so he didn''t really need this to extend his life. Beacon of Celestial Purity was probably good too, however, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to detect if a Divine lied to him, and the other effects were essentially something the he didn''t need. Barred Gates of Forbiddance, on the other hand, was something Jasper could definitely use. It was powerful and intense. Pretty much sending people away for long periods of time was something that could be useful whenever he didn''t want to kill someone. The fact that it had a set time for the banishment was probably the biggest downside. Essentially, it didn''t allow him to choose between what crimes had been committed. He didn''t care. Once done, Jasper picked the following four Ur-spells for the Deified path.
Name Effect
Barred Gates of Forbiddance A designated target cannot enter a particular location for one year and a day. The location can be as small as a room or as large as a nation.
Gate of the Planes Break the fabric between realms and open a gate to another plane. You do not control where in the other realm this gate opens. You tie your life to this portal, and every ten minutes this is open there is a 10% cumulative chance the Whirlpool of Souls patches the hole by removing you.
Kiss of the Crane Bathe a blade in the target''s blood or establish an arcane connection to the target. The blade will then pursue the target no matter the distance or obstacles, always hitting the target for 1d12 damage per Rank the Ur-mage has.
Pore of the Nether Set a sigil on a flat surface. At your command the sigil start to spew out fire and molten rocks at anything within ten meters of the sigil. This can be set to activate automatically whenever someone get close. This deals 1d12 damage per Rank of the Ur-mage.
Jasper felt spent picking the spells, and he had only done the weakest of the Ur-spells he could. He hated himself for having to analyse every choice he took. It felt like he was diving much too deeply into this, and had he been as carefree as Celeste, he might have picked the one he liked without having to turn each one over in his head. The god of magic took a deep breath and decided that he had done enough internal monologuing for one day and might as well get some midgame activities up and running. Jasper thought about what kind of activities he could create from world-building. He should be creating loops, but rather foundations for what the main branch would be coming up with. As such, creating various guilds for the players to join during the midgame might be a good start. With that in mind, Jasper headed into the human Capital to start beefing up the guilds. Chapter 40: Guildy pleasure Jasper rubbed the bridge of his nose. His glasses were sitting on his head, pushed up from his exasperation. "Fine... Fine... I won''t force any rules on you," he said, looking to the source of his frustration. The burly smith nodded and smirked. "Good!" He said before going back to his work. Jasper couldn''t help but try to convince the smith. "All I am saying is that I think you haven''t really gotten to the same level as the dwarves since you are not even smithing you are weaving. I will admit that it is impressive that you have managed to get mithril that thin, but is making normal clothes really that efficient? It seems very hard to bend," Jasper tried to reason with the smith as the man sat at a loom weaving the thin metal. The smith scoffed and looked at Jasper. "I told you. This is the pinnacle of smithing. Creating clothes from mithril is what my father did and what his father did. We have been working on creating the perfect mithril clothes for about a hundred years," he said in a gruff voice. Jasper''s face fell. He was pretty sure he knew why the humans were trying to achieve something that was effectively impossible. Just like Celeste had made clothes from Mithril, she had made her cloak from grass. Her divine ability let her use whatever material she had at hand, no matter how suitable they were. "Okay, I can see why you might want to create something like that... but are you sure that it is an achievable goal? Or even if it is possible, do you have any idea how good it is?" Jasper asked, hoping that he could help convince the smith that trying to copy a god might not be the best plan. Text from Image: Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures 4/5 The pop-up was like a slap to the face. Jasper knew he had failed to convince the smith of anything before the man opened his mouth. "My grandfather saw a dress like that with his own eyes. He saw a travelling noble fight against the Emperor himself wearing a dress made from mithril. He said that the noble was able to mitigate damage from the Emperor''s attacks, and it is the belief of the smiths around Salezstadt that this was due to the mithril absorbing vibrations since not even the floor got a scratch." The smith said with the conviction of a true believer. Jasper made his way out of the smithy, contemplating if he should just use Mentalism to convince the smith that he was wrong, but it would explain why the smiths seemed to have stagnated. That might be a good thing, as it would allow the dwarves to get the reputation for being excellent smiths. Jasper went down his list of guilds with which he had been in contact. The list was a quite literal list, since he had started to lose track halfway through.
Warrior guild Not talked to
Mage guild Not talked to
Thieves guild Raffael Moordet has created this
Crafting guild Convinced them to band together under the name "The Celestial Loom".
Hunters guild Already exist, ensured they continue to exist.
Smiths guild Talk to the dwarves
Alchemy guild Created "The Coven"
Cooking guild Created a Michelin like star system for restaurants.
Mining guild Talk to the dwarves
Hero guild Not created
Jasper was satisfied with his work. Besides the Smiths guild everything had gone as expected so far. The Crafting guild had been a pain, but convincing them to band together and start placing hidden symbols in their craft had been surprisingly easy. Overseeing the rules being written for "The Celestial Loom" had been tiring even for the god of endurance. They had spent six hours debating the name of the guild since crafting was almost everything from jewellery to weaving to leatherworking. Some had even argued that smiths should join them, which Jasper had just understood when he had talked to the smiths and seen that all of them were weaving clothes from mithril.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Hunters guild had been easy. They were a guild of nature-loving people, not just hunters but lumberjacks and druids as well. They didn''t have a guild name, but Jasper had ensured that their guild rules were magically binding using some of his Energy. It wasn''t anything fancy, something that he could probably have achieved with regular magic, but he had been so happy that they didn''t wanna debate for hours on end that he had just thrown Energy after them. The Smiths guild and Minning guild weren''t something humans had. They had made the dwarves mine the mithril underneath the city, and the smiths in the empire were more interested in creating mithril clothes to the point where armour was modelled on clothes rather than what gave the best defence. The Alchemy guild had been rather fun, as the closest thing to alchemy in the empire was either medicine or brewing, and the two had a significant overlap. To help them out, Jasper created a tome of knowledge for them, nothing magical, simply writing down some of his knowledge. It had been a quick and dirty job, but he had suggested that they added to it themselves. The Coven had been created from that interaction, which was interesting. Then there was the Cooking Guild. The cooks had no preexisting infrastructure, so instead, Jasper had approached five of the best restaurants and cooks in the city and asked them to judge the others. They had been fairly easy to convince, and while not explicitly a guild, Jasper knew that it was only a matter of time before the judges'' grading would be something to aspire to. That left Jasper with three guilds that he hadn''t looked into. The Warrior guild, the Mage guild, and the Hero guild. He knew that the Warrior guild should probably be created by talking to some veteran warrior, but he didn''t know where to look. Pausing for a second, Jasper slapped himself on the forehead, almost cracking his glasses still resting there. He was the god of knowledge. Jasper knew everything. He just had to think.
Allan Wells was known as The Crimson Blade, though he hadn''t used that name for years. He had settled down in the capital of the empire, hoping to become a guard captain or something easy like that, but he had found himself in a slight disagreement with the rules that he couldn''t put his men in danger. Allan couldn''t see the point in training his men if he couldn''t put them in realistic situations. The mature man was sitting in his apartment taking care of his armour when he heard a knock at the door. Allan was surprised as he hadn''t expected anyone, but he still got up, though not before giving himself a once-over. His salt and pepper hair and beard were wild, and he ran a hand through both to get himself looking presentable. The patch over the eye he had lost in one of his many battles was a little off, and he adjusted that as well before he opened the door. On the other side of the door stood a man of his best age, smiling softly. Allan could tell from his outfit that he was a mage, probably a water Elementalist based on the blue color, though the outfit was in a weird style. Old, and out of date. The man wasn''t from the college, that much was for sure, no high ranking noble would come themselves, or have servants dressed that badly. "G''day, and who might ya be, eh? Come to hassle an old bloke, have ya?" Allan said with a smile, but to his surprise, the man winced as if he had been hit in the face. "Not a fan of me accent, eh? Is it that tough to suss out? Not too many folks from the Lost Isles ''round these parts, so I s''pose I can''t blame ya." Allan said, which only seemed to cause the man more discomfort.
Jasper was stunned. He couldn''t believe that his nemesis had made another appearance: The accent generator. The warrior had a thick Australian, and while he wasn''t difficult to understand, this was definitely not what he had expected. "Sorry, no, I came to you with a proposal. I am trying to create a warriors guild and I need a guild master." Jasper said trying to ignore the accent for just a moment. "Guild master, ya reckon? I could give that a crack. But a guild''s gonna need more than just a boss to keep it goin''. What''re ya thinkin''?" Allan said with a smirk before showing Jasper inside. Stepping inside, the god decided to introduce himself, though he hesitated for a moment, not sure which of his many names he should go with. Finally, he decided to simply use his real name. After all, he was pretending to be mortal. "I am Jasper, it is a pleasure to meet you. And if my sources are right then you are Allan Wells, or should I call you The Crimson Blade?" Jasper said with a smile. "Just call me Allan, mate. But what sorta scheme are ya cookin'' up for this warrior guild, eh?" Allan asked, walking over to the first set of real armour Jasper had seen that wasn''t worn by a guard. "The idea is honestly fairly simple. I can provide you with a list of people who are likely to be interested in joining the guild. It is not a sure thing... You might need a little luck to convince them, but they will be willing to hear you out. With them, you can create a guild." Jasper explained, having premade a list of people who were statistically likely to join Allan in a warriors guild, all thanks to the Luck Domain he had warped into a Statistics Domain. The old warrior looked at Jasper for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, fair dinkum. It''s not like I''ve got anything better to do. But what''s in it for you, eh?" Jasper cleared his throat, trying not to look suspicious. "Oh, well, that is actually pretty simple. I get to have someone defend the empire that isn''t beholden to the Emperor." He said, and Allan gave him a grin before grabbing the list. Leaving the home, Jasper couldn''t help but smile, crossing the Warrior Guild from his to-do list. Chapter 41: The Forgotten Academy Jasper was considering going directly to what he had heard was a magical college. After all, it was already a guild. He just needed to ensure they would welcome other people. As the god of knowledge, Jasper knew they wouldn''t. It wasn''t as much a guild as it was an aristocrat club, Which wasn''t necessarily wrong, However, it wasn''t really what was needed from a guild. With that in mind, Jasper decided he would need some rest before heading to the college. He was low on Energy from his miracles throughout the day, meaning that he only really had two Energy left, even with his expanded pool. Since Jasper didn''t need to sleep, he wondered what he could spend his time on. Usually, he would be writing in his tome, but he didn''t have a new tome that he could write in, and he didn''t have Celeste to make him a new one or something to write with, for that matter. Jasper sighed and made his way to an inn where he settled down. It only took a couple of rounds of gambling for Jasper to have enough Revals to stay the night. He was, after all, the god of luck, but he made sure not to outstay his welcome. Jasper even lost a couple of games just for the show. Getting to his room, he considered visiting some of the gods to strengthen the barriers between the mortal world and their plane. However, the gods that were left would be hostile no matter what, Daikia and Orlek both leaning towards the more evil side of the divine scale. As such, he decided to look over his options for the second tier of Ur-magic: Supreme Ur-magic.
Name Short effect description
Ascending the Empty Throne Target a plane that has no clear owner. You ascend and assert yourself to take control of that plane becoming its default owner and controller. By doing this you give up any claim to mortal morality and take on the responsibility of the divine.
Curse of the Blighted Strand Curse a victim with any non-lethal deformity, sickness or misfortune. You must be able to see the victim or have an arcane connection to them. Any sickness or curse cannot be spread.
The Deafening Word of Truth Speak a word that is so true that it breaks the world. Everything in a 100 meter cone, with a 50 meter base diameter, is knocked back and hit with tremendous force. Foes are deafened for an hour and knocked down, taking 1d20 damage per caster Rank.
Delaying the Coming of Dawn Freeze time in place for a limited number of game ticks. The duration is randomized but can never be less than 20 seconds. While time is frozen you cannot damage anything or take possessions from someone, or move living creatures.
The Far-Distant Lance You must have an arcane connection to the target. The target makes a check or dies instantly. If the target survives they take 1d20 damage per caster Rank.
Glyph of Crowned Impunity Place a sigil upon your brow. You are immune from any legal action that might be taken against you. You may offend any law that you wish and nobody will recognize this as a crime. People you attack will defend themselves and their loved ones. This effect will last for a month. When it is dropped people who witnessed it will be aware of the crime.
Mirrored Wheel of the Seasons Change the weather in the local area to any weather that might be expected within the next year. The change is instantaneous. This spell can be held for up to 1 week per caster Rank. Anything beyond that and the caster will take 1d6 damage per week, that cannot be healed or mitigated until the spell is released.
Path of the Bright Sanctum If you do not control a plane, then this creates a sub-plane that will be no larger than a house, which you have control over. Once created the plane will be consistent with every cast. Create a portal to your personal plane and step through. The portal stays open for exactly eleven minutes.
Sign of Avulsive Banishment Smite a creature not of this world. Instantly dealing them 1d20 damage per caster Rank and returning them to the realm from which they originated. Beings stronger than you gets a check to resist the effect of being sent back. This can target up to one small army, as long as none of its members are stronger than you.
Tumulus of Sanctified Night By blessing a burial mound and performing a ritual that takes at least one week to cast, and cannot be sped up. This will create a necromantic fortress that will protect against Domain powers and empower undead inside and around it.
Jasper was more impressed with these second-tier magics, as they seemed much stronger than the deified tier. They weren''t just weaker versions of the Powers, but actually had some trade-offs in exchange for substantial effects.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. With the options in front of him, he spent the night thinking over what he could pick and how he could combine it with his existing abilities. He allowed himself to go into deep analysis mode, which he would usually be broken out of either due to discomfort or because someone wanted his attention. But now, he just thought things through. When Jasper finally surfaced from the sea of thoughts, it was just in time to see the sun dawn from his window. Since he could only pick three spells, he had picked what he believed to be a good trio.
Name Short effect description
Delaying the Coming of Dawn Freeze time in place for a limited number of game ticks. The duration is randomized but can never be less than 20 seconds. While time is frozen you cannot damage anything or take possessions from someone, or move living creatures.
Mirrored Wheel of the Seasons Change the weather in the local area to any weather that might be expected within the next year. The change is instantaneous. This spell can be held for up to 1 week per caster Rank. Anything beyond that and the caster will take 1d6 damage per week, that cannot be healed or mitigated until the spell is released.
Sign of Avulsive Banishment Smite a creature not of this world. Instantly dealing them 1d20 damage per caster Rank and returning them to the realm from which they originated. Beings stronger than you gets a check to resist the effect of being sent back. This can target up to one small army, as long as none of its members are stronger than you.
He had liked the ability to pause time, since he could remember Celeste being immune to those kinds of effects. That would provide them both time to perform actions, when they met up again. None of the gods was able to mimic weather, and while it was an intense process, it would probably come in handy... maybe. Lastly, the banishment was quite good as well, especially since Jasper would probably need to punch some creatures that didn''t belong in this world. With his choices done, Jasper got up and used a couple of spells to clean himself up before heading out and walking towards the Forgotten Academy, which was locally known as the magical college.
The Forgotten Academy was an impressive group of buildings. The main building was one of the few outside the noble district that reached high into the sky. The college was a collection of buildings, most of them quite ordinary, though the centrepiece was a high tower in the middle. Jasper wouldn''t really call it a tower, though, not in the traditional fantasy sense. It felt like it had more in common with the Seattle space needle than a classic fantasy tower, as it was a long, thin body that bloomed into a flat disk top, where a couple of floors had been located for administrative work. Jasper considered just flying up and hammering through the building''s wall, but his Luck Domain told him that he would end up in conflict if he did that... or maybe that was just common sense. Going up the traditional way would be a lot more hassle, but it could have a peaceful resolution. Jasper activated his Greater Pavis of Rule, pouring one Energy into the ability that quite literally gave him immunity to any magic not from the Ur-magic list. Ensuring that he was well protected from what he assumed would be an inevitable battle. Walking inside, Jasper found himself face to face with winding paths of robes held up by simple metal poles. There was quite the queue system, though nobody was lining up to talk with the secretary who controlled admissions to the building. Jasper made his way through the labyrinth of robes while looking over the woman at the counter. She was human and was sipping on something. The god of endurance realized that he was probably the first person to arrive for the day since it was incredibly early, and this woman was just waking up. When he finally made his way to the counter, Jasper smiled as brightly as possible and greeted the woman. "Good morning. I was hoping that I could talk to the-" He was cut off as the woman looked up and pointed at something behind Jasper. "Did you pick a number? Please take a number and wait for me to call you." She said in an incredibly nasal voice. Jasper looked to the back of the room and saw that there was indeed a tiny tome where you could tear a page from it to receive a number. He wanted to argue that the point of the line was that he wouldn''t have to pick a number, but he cleared his throat and pulled his magic together. "I don''t need a number since we are great friends, and you will let me up to speak to the leader of the college." Jasper said, using his mentalism magic to make the woman think they had always been great friends. Using sign-less and chant-less magic was something that would have required some serious dedication from even an archmage, but thankfully, Jasper was the god of magic, and he wasn''t really in combat, so he could perform the task with no problem. The woman''s face lit up, and she smiled before she nodded. "Oh! Yes, sorry. I didn''t recognize you. Please, here. Take the lift system up." She reached for something, pulling out a small wooden disk with an intricate carving on it, before pointing Jasper towards a door next to her. Jasper didn''t like to use his mentalism spells, but if it were to defeat bureaucracy, then he would willingly do it. Walking through the door, Jasper found himself in a small circular room, about three meters in diameter, and he realized that the system would levitate him up through the tower, which was quite sophisticated for the level of magic that Jasper had suspected them to be at. Of course, his defence against magic ensured that he was standing still in the middle of the room, but thanks to his new draconian wings, he could still make his way up. Chapter 42: The price of Knowledge Jasper passed through a thin membrane of solidified mana as he reached the top of the tower. He decided to land on the stonework around it to ensure he didn''t fall back in. Looking around, he saw that he was standing in a fairly large round room with multiple doors on all sides. Each door had a small metal plate with a name and title on it. Thanks to his Knowledge Domain, Jasper knew that these were the professors with tenure and the administrators. A young man looked up from a book he had been reading through and smiled, though his eyes lingered on Jasper''s cape that had been wings moments ago. "Good morning, sir. Can I direct you to anyone?" He said, very enthusiastic to show that he was ready to help and hadn''t been slacking on the job. Jasper smiled back and appreciated the welcome. "The headmaster, or principal, or whatever you call your leader. I need to speak with them." The god said, not trying to be intimidating, but his frustration was building, and he had difficulty keeping it out of his voice. For once, the god''s abysmal charisma didn''t seem to be a problem, and the young man nodded and pointed to a door that had been firmly locked with various magical sigils. "Thank you," Jasper said curtly before making his way over to the door. Jasper looked at the sigils and protections on the door. He could bust it down, but if he did that, he might as well have skipped the detour around the secretary. As such, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was a moment of complete silence, and then the door swung open, letting Jasper step inside. For a moment, he was unsure if his command over magic had forced the door open with a single knock, but he concluded that he hadn''t spent any Energy, and as such, he must be welcome. The inside of the office was empty of most conventional furniture. However, it was filled to the brim with strange devices and ongoing experiments that seemed to be running simultaneously. A quick glance across them told the god of knowledge that most of them were simply for show, not really performing any tasks, and the lack of notes around the devices showed the same. The room''s furniture consisted of a desk and a trio of comfy chairs. Behind the desk, an elf was sitting. His eyes looked ancient, though they had lost any spark of knowledge. He had long silver hair, though plenty of curls gave it quite a bit of volume. He looked much older than an elf was supposed to be. His skin was slightly baggy, and his posture made him look almost feeble. Jasper wondered if elves could even age, and simply by looking at the man, Jasper''s Domains knew why the man looked the way that he did. "Principal Dranos, a pleasure," Jasper said, knowing that what he was looking at was a living legend. This was Ewen''s own son, one of the grandmasters that the god of magic appointed himself, and the aged look was actually due to the grand ritual that had elevated Ewen to a god. Jasper had to assume that this man had experience with Ur-magic and probably knew a couple of spells himself since he had survived a cataclysmic explosion. "I don''t believe I have anyone on my schedule this early in the morning." The old elf said. His long, wrinkly ears had begun to sag ever so slightly, though they still gave a twitch of annoyance from being disturbed. "Please tell me why I should not throw you out." Jasper was confused. Did Dranos not know who was standing before him? Jasper had assumed that he was on a level equal to that of The Scribe, and the thought of the old man brought a pang of regret to Jasper''s heart. He turned his attention back to the elf and cleared his throat. "I am a friend of your father''s, and I have come to make an agreement," Jasper said, hoping that talking things out would work. Dranos scoffed. The golden chains symbolizing his office as headmaster of the college, making quite a rattle as he moved. "So another priest from dear old dad, thinking they can get information from me." He said, having obviously been bombarded with question upon question, seeing as he had been the closest person to Ewen. It was no wonder that Ewen''s clerics wanted to talk with him. Jasper shook his head. "I am not a priest. I am one of the divine. I granted your father the knowledge of magic." Jasper said, realizing that he should make things clear before a misunderstanding could escalate the tension in the room. To prove his point, he adjusted his glasses with one hand and let fiery serpents appear around his arm. They moved in an impossible pattern, finally converging into an infinity symbol, which Jasper knew was something that Ewen had taken for himself.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The old elf simply scoffed again, not even pretending to be impressed. Jasper sighed, doing his best to try and avoid a conflict, but the more he saw of the old elf, the more disappointed he was. Dranos had no intention of promoting magic or exploring its boundaries. Instead, he focused on keeping the world stale and magic at a level that didn''t exceed his own. For a moment, Jasper considered removing the headmaster out of pure disgust. However, that was based on him being the god of knowledge and not on what was best for the game. From a developer''s point of view, Dranos was doing what was best for the game. Stagnating magical growth in the human lands ensured that the other nations would be better at magic, or at least the elven civilization. Jasper sighed, adjusting his glasses once more despite having just done so. He nodded slowly. He would have to find a way around this without killing Dranos. "Look, believe that I am a god or not. It doesn''t matter. I am not going to force you into anything." Jasper ignored the sound that came from Dranos and continued, "But I need to think in the long term here. I need to ensure that moving forward, people can join the Forgotten Academy." He said, raising a hand. "Without having to pay some insane amount of wealth... yes, wealth, I know that if I say Revals, you will have people pay with something else." Dranos scoffed again, looking down his nose at Jasper before shaking his head. "You believe yourself some mighty mage or god. I can see as much, but you have no idea what it takes to keep a place like this running." Jasper sighed and took a deep breath. He could see that Dranos wanted to see himself as superior, though maybe there was an opportunity here. Dranos didn''t appear to be a good leader, scorned by his peers and standing in his father''s shadow. It would take very little to push him towards evil. He was, without a doubt, the best candidate for the ''archmage that takes over the world''-plotline that seemed to be in every fantasy game. "Fine, I will pay the tuition for every future scholar then, though not with money, since I have none, but with knowledge," Jasper said. With his Knowledge Domain, he poured four points of energy into obtaining forbidden lore on where to find three specific Ur-mage spells. The swirl of divine power made Dranos'' eyebrow shoot up, though he didn''t say anything, simply allowing Jasper to perform whatever magic he wanted. Jasper could see the arrogance on his face. He thought himself under the protection of Ewen, which was probably right, but Jasper knew something that the Headmaster didn''t. Jasper knew that Ewen would not protect someone from making a mistake when they should have known better. "I will present you with the location of three spells. Three Ur-spells. These spells will have you rival any power, and while your father failed in casting and claiming the throne as a divine, you can become the greatest mortal that ever lived." Jasper said. The god grabbed some of the papers that Dranos had on his desk, along with a quill. Jasper noted down the three locations, though to make it a challenge, he wrote it in verse before using a cypher and included a couple of lines about being pure of heart and finding true friendship. He didn''t really need to do that, but he considered that it was expected from a quest given by a divine. If he told Dranos just straight where to find the spells, Jasper was sure that the headmaster would be much more suspicious. Dranos looked at the incoherent jumbled words and then back at the god. "If these are true locations to Ur-magic, then I am willing to take that bargain. However, why should I believe that these are instructions?" the Headmaster asked, looking at Jasper with suspicion. The god of magic smiled and nodded. "That is fair. Let me ensure that you believe that there is no trickery then. I swear on my soul that these three pieces of paper present the location of three different Ur-spells. Be advised that I do not claim these spells are unguarded or easy to get to, even if you have the right knowledge and wits to decipher them. However, I will hand these over to you, Dranos, in exchange for free membership to the Forgotten Academy for all future adventurers, no matter their background or deeds." Jasper said, and he felt a strange pull in his chest as he offered a soul oath. Dranos seemed surprised. He had not expected a soul oath, but Jasper''s eyes caught the slight twitch of his lip as he nodded. "On my soul, as the current administrator of Forgotten Academy, I swear that this school will never charge or discriminate against anyone who wishes to attend." Almost instantly, a pop-up appeared in front of Jasper, though he had honestly expected as much. Jasper didn''t need to think about which option he wanted. He had 7 Worship left to use, and he was more than happy to commit one of them to ensure that this oath was upheld. "As the embodiment of knowledge in this world, I accept this agreement and bind you and I to this." He said. Jasper felt himself not only being forced to hand over the papers but also being compelled to restore them if they were ever broken. Apparently, pouring Worship into an agreement meant that he would be following the spirit of the agreement rather than the letter of the agreement. Jasper didn''t mind. Quickly, he committed one Impact, the points that would allow his character to perform actions while he wasn''t logged into the game, to maintain the knowledge. Without a second thought, he also created a small tapestry depicting Dranos making a deal with a hooded figure and exchanging the three pieces of paper for a pair of broken shackles. He thought it looked good, and he was more than happy to leave it as the monument to remind Dranos, and anyone who inherited the position as Headmaster, of the oath. "I look forward to seeing your progress," Jasper said, walking out without another word. He couldn''t help but smile as the three locations that he had handed out would lead Dranos to the three Ur-spells that would create a lich. Jasper was looking forward to seeing how easily Celeste would be able to take the elf down whenever he messed up. Chapter 43: Calamity in all its forms Celeste looked over Marcusburg. Compared to vast expanse of Salezstad, the city was rather diminutive. However, it had still expanded quite a bit from the last time she had seen it, and the reason for the broken contract became obvious. The mine she had created and the warehouses where her share had been stored were gone, cleared out for other buildings. The goddess sighed, feeling a bit overwhelmed, though she could feel how her Domains were prodding her to call down calamities onto the land, and she had even gotten a pop-up informing her of the various effects. She wasn''t really interested in performing such severe actions against Marcusburg. In part, because she had no idea why they had torn her storage down, and in part because this was supposed to the starting town for most of the game, and as such she would have to build up a new city. Had she picked the power to build an entire city, it might be something she could do. There was no use mulling it over now, she would simply have to find another solution. Making her way into the town, Celeste found herself looking around the place. It had changed quite a bit since she last saw it, and Celeste knew things should have changed from the last time she was here, but she had expected it to be much more active. The few people she could see were hungry, and some of them were even slightly malnourished, sporting hollow cheeks and gaunt looks as they took her in. Something had happened that she wasn''t aware of, and she was pretty sure it had something to do with why her storage had been removed. Celeste felt compelled to try and fix the people she saw around her, but she would be treating a symptom of an underlying problem. She knew that her Health Domain could fix the malnutrition, but the people wouldn''t be full. They would not be suffering the ill effects of their starvation, but that would only last so long, and they would still be starving. Celeste moved on, trying not to look anyone in the eye, but she had no idea where she was going. She assumed that she might as well try walking inside the most impressive building around and hope that she could find someone in charge. It wasn''t hard to find the most impressive building. The buildings around the place weren''t damaged due to Celeste dedicating her offline time to constantly fixing them. However, she could see that the town had been under attack, mainly from the number of injuries she saw the guards sporting, and none of the buildings seemed to crest the walls, indicating that they otherwise might be the target for artillery. Even the most impressive building didn''t peak over the wall. Instead, it was a large circular construction made of stone that took up most of the town square. It had multiple entrances, but a fairly flat sloped roof, making it look almost like a cylinder. Celeste decided that if she could get any answers the circular building would be it, and made her way to one of the doors. There weren''t any guards at the doors, but as she stepped inside, she saw that some kind of meeting was underway between four leaders, each one had their own guards. The first person Celeste noticed was a drow. She could feel the power oozing from him as if his mere presence in this realm conflicted with the plane''s mortal nature. He was sporting a heavy black full-plate with an impractical number of spikes, which seemed to be more for aesthetics purposes than practical. Over this spiky fullplate a purple tabard had been draped, secured with a belt, showing various drowish acts of glory. His calm gaze seemed to sweep around the gathering of people with a bored expression, though as his eyes landed on Celeste his hand grazed the hilt of the shortsword at his side on reflex. There was no doubt in Celeste''s mind, she was looking at another one of the Ilshers, the chosen of the drow, and children of the goddess Daikia. Based on this, the other people at the table were incredibly unexpected. Celeste was under the understanding that dwarves and drows were mortal enemies, so she could hardly believe that a dwarf was also attending the meeting, though with the way that they were looking at the drow, it was probably not the sturdiest alliance. The dwarf was sporting a helmet adorned with a crown, though the face of the helmet was open. She could see how intricate and impressive the armour was. It looked like chainmail, but each link was no larger than a grain of rice, creating some incredibly dense armour that would move with the dwarf. On one hip, the dwarf was sporting an axe, while on the other, he was sporting a hammer. Both were made with attention to the smallest detail, and as the Goddess of Tinkering, Celeste could feel the power radiating from the items. While she wasn''t sure if the dwarf could go toe-to-toe with someone sporting Domain powers like the Ilsher, these were high-tier magical items that would let him attempt it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Celeste could see that the dwarf was sporting a serious face, a long braided beard with some rather heavy metal rings at the end to tie up the beard. The other two people were much less impressive. One was an elven woman standing in a long robe with various celestial symbols all over it. Her hair was tied up in a bun, though it had an auburn colour as if made from autumn leaves. She had a dignified look, but she kept giving looks to the drow, clearly uncomfortable with him in the room. The last person was a human woman. She seemed pretty ordinary, and Celeste got the feeling that she might be the mayor of Marcusburg. She didn''t look old, her raven hair cut short, much like Celeste kept her hair, though a pair of bright green eyes stared at the other members at the meeting. "I believe we have a guest that might help us with our predicament." The drow said, drawing the other people''s eyes to Celeste. The goddess smiled and nodded to them all as a greeting. "Is something wrong? Do you need me on the battlements?" The human woman asked. She had already pointed directions to the five guards behind her and was about to leave herself. The drow scoffed at the display. "Mayor Selma, this is not one of your people, even with her human appearance." He said, in a voice that made Celeste wonder if speaking in a condescending tone was part of being an Ilsher. "Gods blast it, you infuriating piece of rocksludge. Have you been corrupting the people of this town to your course? I swear to Kelllwan that I am going to turn your face into a crater if you make a powerplay for Marcusburg" The gruff voice of the dwarf seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Celeste got the feeling that this wasn''t the first time that such a threat had been made. Celeste could see the drow''s smug smile, as none of the other people seemed to recognize her. His attention was on Celeste, and he gestured for her to stand with them at the table. Celeste did so and saw a large map of the local area, though her Journeying Domain screamed that it was filled with inaccuracies. "Please, let me do the honour of introducing myself. I am Marcel, commander of the underworld legions and the greatest strategist to ever live, though among my brothers and sister, I am known as the Purple Ilsher." He said, making a light bow. This seemed to make the other people around the table hesitate, seemingly not expecting any amount of deference from the drow, least of all, towards a human. The dwarf was quick to follow up, clearing his throat and looking Celeste dead in the eyes. "I am Thane ¨¹lwrick. Uniter of the Hammer Crack and Axe Crack." He said as if all that made sense. Celeste had no idea what a Crack was or how many there were. Jasper might have been able to tell her, but that was something to worry about another time. The elven woman spoke next, a smile on her lips as she bowed her head to Celeste. "I am Esselaia. Representative of the elven kingdom Mek." There didn''t seem to be any grand titles for the elf, and Celeste didn''t ask for further clarification. Selma cleared her throat, and Celeste couldn''t help but feel that the woman had been slightly overlooked by the others. "I am Selma Kingborn, descendent of King Marcus. I am the mayor of this city... and the rightful owner of this land by divine right." The woman said, clearly airing out some of the disputes the council had no doubt been discussing. Celeste nodded, and for a moment, she considered introducing herself as the goddess she was. However, that might not be that good an idea, after all, gods weren''t supposed to walk on this plane. She might need a disguise just so she could meddle in mortal affairs without having too much of an impact. "I am the Traveller, chosen of Armandos. However, you are free to call me Celeste." She said, and the look of shock on Selma''s, Esselaia''s and ¨¹lwrick''s faces was only overshadowed by the massive grin on the drow''s face. Marcel seemed like he had just pulled the greatest prank in history and gotten away with it. Before the others could say anything, Celeste continued. "I am pleased to be of assistance as Armandos has previously been very happy with the town of Marcusburg until they decided to go back on a deal made." She said, giving Selma a look, which she seemed to wither under. However, it seemed like she had been spending a lot of time among high-powered individuals, so she didn''t let herself get cowed by the attention too much. "Oh, yes. That was, unfortunately, one of the first places that were raided." She explained, and Celeste blinked. "Raided?" She hadn''t seen any attacks from outside the walls. Then again, she had been dedicating her time to fixing the town, so it might be hard to notice. The dwarven Thane interrupted, clearly not happy with being even slightly ignored. "Yes, the darn greenskins. They have created a wartribe, and are assaulting anyone moving in the forest. The only way to get rations to the city is by the help of the noble dwarven tunnels." He said proudly, only for Marcel to clear his throat. "Oh, we would be happy to give you rations as needed. It only requires a couple of concessions on your part, nothing too major. I am sure we can be of aid," Marcel said with that smug smile. Celeste couldn''t help but wonder if his face had been genetically engineered to be as punchable as it was. The elven woman smiled and shook her head. "A''kastin is a proud nation and should not seek help from places like this. We simply ask that you become a vassal for the elven nation of Mek and we will help you with the wartribe. I am sure that we can find common ground and achieve peace." Celeste started to get the picture of what was going on. It seemed like Selma was put in an impossible situation where her people were being hurt and starving, while three factions tried to become the new ruler of A''kastin. The goddess might just have to perform a bit of divine intervention. Chapter 44: Spaf and Spif [Includes poll] Celeste made her way out of the city, feeling her cloak billow behind her as she walked. Jasper had told her that the game was trying to make the starting zone a melting pot for every faction in the game. Apparently, this was the optimal configuration for the area, as the orks needed a place to raid, while the other factions needed some political intrigues to fight over. However, Celeste couldn''t help but feel for the people living in the area. The conflict was hurting them more than it should. She could still see their eyes resting on her, feeling their hungry looks. She shivered. It wasn''t just that. She still felt partially responsible for creating the wartribe. If she hadn''t let the orks flee from the first combat she had been in, maybe the orks wouldn''t have invaded as hard as they did. Whatever the case, Celeste knew that she would have to find a way to solve three problems: 1) Ensure that the people were fed and wouldn''t starve. 2) Ensure that the political battle had another objective than taking over Marcusburg. 3) Ensure the orks had something other than the humans to raid. Celeste looked over her options. She didn''t have an obvious solution to the first problem, and the second problem could easily be solved by creating an artefact that she could have them fight over. However, that would require Worship, and the goddess currently had two. Essentially, she didn''t have much to work with. Lastly, there was the option of getting the orcs to raid something other than humans. She could do that without spending too many resources. She knew she had the power to eliminate the wartribe''s leader if necessary. All she needed was their name, after all, and her Death Domain would eliminate them. As she navigated the woods, she found her steps were confident, guided by her unique control over time. It was a comforting experience, as her perception of time had been adjusted to give her much more dexterous movements. It wasn''t long before she heard movement from around her, and to her surprise, she realized just a little too late that she had found herself in an ambush. Twenty mean-looking orks surrounded her as they moved out from behind various foliage. Their glares were intense, and for a moment, Celeste thought back to her first fight in the game. She smiled. The goddess had grown so much since then. Back then, she had tried to bargain with them, talk things over, and gain the orks as an ally, but they had wanted to fight. She would be sure to return the favour... It was a favour three hundred years in the making, but from Celeste''s perspective, it was less than four weeks ago. To Celeste''s surprise, a small goblin wearing a shiny knight helmet, one of those with the strange wide brim on their head, stepped out with a broad smile that took up most of their face. "RIGHT! You have stepped into the area belonging to great warleader Spaf! Give us all your thingies, and we will kill you!" The goblin spoke in a commanding tone, and it spoke much better common than any of the orks that Celeste had ever met. "Sorry, isn''t it supposed to be you will not kill me if I give you my stuff?" The goddess asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Are you this Spaf?" She added, trying to figure out if the town had been harassed by this small number of orks. The goblin paused, looking at Celeste, and then laughed. "No! I am not Spaf! The great warleader does not go hunting. And now you give me all the thingies you are carrying!" It said with eagerness. Celeste''s smile became a grin. It seemed like she would get to blow off some steam. After all, it wouldn''t do to go out and murder the leader of the wartribe without talking. That would just give her problems down the line. But getting revenge for the awful experience she had during her first combat sounded somewhat therapeutic. Celeste''s eyes glowed with the power of time itself, while her Death Domain was pushed into action. She decided to splurge a little, dedicating one Energy for the day to gain access to a power that she hadn''t picked, and in doing so, she gained access to the power that would deal damage to anyone who tried to attack her. That also meant committing one more Energy until the next loading screen, but she was sure that she could handle that.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. She smiled as death was oozing off her cloak, and with time as a weapon, she engaged in combat. The last time she had fought against orks, there had been twenty-five, and the pair of gods had barely scraped by. Now, however, Celeste was in complete control of the fight. The feeling highlighted to her just how powerful she had become. She could feel someone attack her, and as they did, they collapsed. Their attacks were avoided as Celeste had already predicted where they would land and stepped away. The billowing cloak of death consumed their life for daring to attack a divine being. Reaching out and controlling time, The goddess crushed one of the orks, trying to fire a bow at her, his entire being crumbling to dust in less than the splitsecond it took for him to release the shot. All the while, she stepped to the side, dodging a sharp blade that simply plunged into the ground. The shadows of her cloak tearing into the ork that had wielded the weapon, and he perished before Celeste actually saw him. It wasn''t as much a battle as it was a massacre, and Celeste wondered if she should have taken the power to harm anyone who tried to attack her instead of some of her other powers. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the goblin trying to run away, its body scurrying through the ferns that made up much of the undergrowth. It didn''t take much to finish off the last couple of orks that had been pulled into a frenzy. Once they had crumbled, she relinquished the hold of her death aura and used her Journeying Domain to follow the goblin. To Celeste''s surprise, walking through the forest and following the goblin was quite a nice walk. She knew that the little creature was probably running for its life, but she couldn''t help but take in the trees and the feeling of comfort that wrapped around her as she walked. The forest didn''t feel like it had been the home of an invasion, but it was like there was something she was missing. None of the trees had been scorched, and she didn''t hear the thunder of warmachines. Celeste assumed that the orks weren''t high in the techtree, but she would still have expected them to be present and milling around the forest, instead of just setting up various ambushes. It took her about half an hour of relaxed walking until she started to hear yelling and screaming. It was barely audible, but the sound carried quite a bit as she got closer. The voices screaming were almost identical, making them hard to distinguish. With a slightly high pitch, it indicated that the speakers weren''t orks, even though their language skills would suggest otherwise. "GIVE ME HAT! I NEED HAT! I AM LEADER!" One voice said, and the sound of tugging and struggling could be heard following the voice. "NO! ME BE LEADER! ONLY THING SPAF LEAD IS SPLAT SOUND WHEN HIT WALL!" The other voice said, and the sound of laughter could be heard from what Celeste was sure was the Orkish camp. "HAH! ME NOT BE SPAF! ME BE SPIF!" The first voice retorted as if it had made some clever counterargument. "NUHUH! ME BE SPIF! YOU BE SPAF!" The second voice retorted. Celeste was starting to understand why the orkish horde had not killed the entire village. Apparently, even the orks were suffering from management issues. The goddess wasn''t trying to be stealthy, but thanks to her enhanced time perception and her natural abilities, she still managed to get into the ork camp undetected. It wasn''t really hard since there weren''t any guards, and the orks around the camp were focused on the fight between the two would-be leaders. The ork camp wasn''t really what Celeste had expected either. Between a quartet of hills, the orks had been digging and sculpting a massive amphitheatre bordering on a sunken stadium. Orks were sitting around the edge, eating, drinking and laughing while watching the fight in the centre of the pit. Dark caves had been hollowed out along the walls, making it look more like a permanent base of operations rather than a simple war camp. Down in the pit, two goblins were fighting. They looked identical, and based on their confused looks even they couldn''t tell each other apart, as the screaming had been replaced with an actual discussion about which one of them was Spif and which one was Spaf. "No no no! Spaf got scar down left leg, while Spif got scar on right." One of them said, and in unison, they both looked down. "But we both have scar on left leg!" The other said, and Celeste rubbed the bridge of her nose. Since the goblins were facing each other they were experiencing the mirror effect. "Huh... But both can''t be Spif." The first goblin said, reasonably certain in its case, that one of them had to be Spaf. "Dum dum! Spif got scar on right leg, not left leg!" "That is what me said! Spif got scar on left leg, and Spaf got scar on right." Celeste could already hear that they had mixed up their method of remembering who was who, and she understood why the two goblins had become the leaders of a wartribe. While they were useless at ordinary army delegation, she was sure that anything they could agree on would be carried out with a dogmatic dedication. The goddess could deduce what had happened from there. The wartribe had invaded Akastin and crashed against Marcusburg. While the city had taken a beating, it withstood the initial wave, and Celeste assumed that the city might have used her resources to reconstruct what they had lost. Celeste had been suspicious when Selma, the mayor of Marcusburg, had mentioned that they had lost the stores to a raid. The goddess was fairly certain that she wouldn''t be able to call down calamities onto the city, unless they had broken the oath in some way, and they weren''t forced to protect the building. However, when the orks had discovered that they couldn''t get into Marcusburg their wartribe had fallen apart, leaving them to infighting and ambushing caravans that made it to the city. Celeste would have to convince them to ease up on the locals, but how to do that seemed to be a little more complicated than she had first assumed. She saw the small goblin that had escaped her, making its way into the centre of the pit, where Spif and Spaf were standing. Celeste would have to introduce herself before she was called out. Chapter 45: The Crown and the Tree Celeste decided that she couldn''t prolong things any further. The goddess stepped forward before the little goblin she had been hunting could interrupt the two leaders down in the pit. Using some of her divine might, she cleared her throat, and all around her, the amphitheatre of greenskins quieted down. Celeste was suddenly very aware of how many orks and goblins were along the pit''s edge. Not only that, but she could also see some monstrous forms with thick grey skin and deformed bodies. She assumed that those were trolls, which didn''t bode well for any combat she might end up in. The architect of creation smiled to her audience as she slowly made her way down towards Spif and Spaf. Had it not been for her new and enhanced dexterity, she felt like she would have stumbled at least once, thanks to all the clutter around the pit''s edge. Celeste smiled and started to speak as she walked. "Honoured wartribe and glorious leaders." She addressed both the crowd and the squabbling goblins. "I am sorry to disturb your important debate. However, I find myself in a dire situation where I must seek the counsel of the noble leaders of your people." She said, hoping that buttering up Spif and Spaf would help her chances of winning their favour. As she passed a particularly muscular ork down to the pit, she heard it grumble. Instantly, Celeste knew that if she continued to walk, she would get slapped across the small stadium, as her precognition warned her about the danger. "Hummie not worth words!" The ork bellowed, and its long arm hammered towards where her face would have been. She had stopped in her stride, letting the ork hit nothing but air, and she watched as its momentum carried it out of its seat. There must have been quite the power behind the blow as the ork continued stumbling down a couple of steps before landing as a groaning heap. Celeste used this to her advantage, stepping on the massive green beast as she continued her way down. As the goddess approached, she spotted what the goblins had been fighting over. She felt a tug on her heart as she recognized the headwear. The small crumbled piece of metal between them was, without a doubt, the crown of King Marcus. When she saw the thing during the first iteration, Celeste wasn''t impressed by the small crown, and time had not done it any favours. It was bent and dirty, though from what she could see, there was no rust or erosion on it. She finally reached the pair of goblins, smiled widely, and gave them a slight bow. "Spif and Spaf... I am pleased that you are willing to hear me out. I am the first god, Armandos. I am the bringer of life and death." She said, but realised that as soon as she had started to introduce herself, the goblins'' eyes had begun to glaze over, and they started to focus on other things. She cleared her throat again, realizing that if she weren''t jingling some proverbial keys in front of them, they would lose any and all interest in the conversation. She decided to use some of her powers to entertain the goblins, and with a swift motion, she created two crowns, which, to the untrained eye, would look much like the crown of King Marcus. Though more importantly, they were brand new and shiny. Celeste had sacrificed the metal from one of her hammers to create the pair, but she had no use for the hammer right now, so it was, without a doubt, worth the sacrifice. As soon as she manifested the pair of crowns, both goblins'' full attention was on the shiny metal. "OOOOOOOh! Me get best crown!" One of the goblins said, and it reached out to grab both crowns in a single swift movement. However, its counterpart quickly snatched one of the crowns before both of the crowns could go to one goblin. While Spif and Spaf argued over who should get both crowns, Celeste moved over and picked up the old one. It seemed like she had found the thing the town could fight over. Turning back to the two goblins fighting, Celeste saw they had stopped. One of them was wearing both crowns, clearly very pleased with itself that it had managed to get both crowns, while the other was wearing the first goblin, or rather carrying giving it a shoulder ride, clearly pretending that the first goblin was a hat with two more hats on it.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Celeste tried to keep a straight face, and for a moment, she considered slowing down time to ensure that she didn''t laugh. She managed just barely to keep her composure, and through deep breaths, she calmed herself. "You have given", "us some great treasure", "Stranger", the goblins said, switching sentences between each other. Instantly, Celeste''s mirth vanished. She couldn''t help but narrow her eyes. The kind of synchronization they were showing off was almost scary. And they weren''t speaking in choppy sentences anymore. She decided to tread with caution. "Thank you, your goblinship. However, I actually came with a request." Celeste said, painfully aware that the orks around the sunken stadium were looking at her with disgust, as if she was the mandatory ad-break in a soap opera. "We will kill anyone!" "Just point us in the right direction." "And we will fix your problem, " they said, and Celeste could see how their intelligence had increased from being in sync. It was like watching a weapon coming together. Celeste paused, suddenly feeling like she might be out of her depth. She could probably kill the two goblins in front of her if she needed to, but the rest of the horde would presumably end up trampling her. "I need you to..." She paused, thinking for a moment. If Celeste had learned anything from the classroom management course she had taken, it was that having students stop doing things was hard. Having them do something else instead of the thing they weren''t supposed to do was much easier. "I need you to... protect the tree of life." She said with some hesitance. A quiet fell over the stadium filled with orks, goblins and trolls for the first time. Celeste could hear a pin drop as they all looked at her. The crowd erupted as the goblin leaders tumbled over, both of them standing up rapidly. "Life tree be in Elf land!" One of the goblins said, though thanks to the fall, both of the crowns had fallen onto the ground. Celeste noted that they were already losing their cohesion and their speech was already becoming choppy again. However, she was surprised that they knew about the First Tree, also known as the World Tree, which was in the elven kingdoms. The goddess had seen it the first time she had swooped over the world. That wasn''t what she was interested in, though, so she tried to fix the misunderstanding. "No, no. The Tree of Life is here in A''kastin, and the World Tree is in Mek. I can show you the place, " she said, a smile spreading on her lips. While she talked, the goblins scrambled for the crowns, and each of them was wearing one of the ornaments at this point. She slowly turned around and walked out of the amphitheatre, only to realize the goblins weren''t following her, though that wasn''t for a lack of interest. "ME BE LEADER SO ME GO FIRST!" One of the goblins screamed as it pushed against its presumed sibling. "NO ME BE SPIF! SPIF BE LEADER! SPIF WALK FIRST!" The other screamed at the top of its lounges. Celeste groaned, knowing that she would have to do some conflict resolution if she ever wanted to progress.
It had taken almost two hours for the goblins to agree that they could walk side by side. They were actively trying to ignore each other. Celeste preferred it this way. Though, halfway through the conflict resolution, the goblins had forgotten who was who again, and in an effort to fix this, they had both scrawled their initials into their respective crowns. It meant that both goblins were currently sporting a big "S" in the middle of their crowns. They claimed this would undoubtedly let them know which was Spif and which was Spaf. Celeste knew for a fact that it wasn''t the case, as they had already changed names five times since they got the idea of having their initials carved into their headwear. The walk to the ''Tree of Life'' was very short¡ªless than fifty meters. Celeste had decided that she would simply point at a random tree, claim that it was the tree of life, and have the orks defend it. That plan hadn''t considered the sheer amount of chaos and stupidity that the pair of goblins could generate from just being near each other. Ignoring the goblins as they started to argue over who had stepped on the "more giant" leaf, Celeste pointed at a tree just barely outside the Amphitheater. "That is the tree of life!" She said in her best divine tone of voice. The goblins almost instantly started to gasp and walk closer. The oak was pretty ordinary, though it did have a hollow in the trunk, allowing someone to climb through the entire tree. The hollow had probably formed when the tree was hit with lightning, splitting the trunk down the middle. However, it had reformed, creating a surprisingly smooth, oval hole. Celeste knew for a fact that the tree was not magical. On the other hand, the goblins would see the hollow and probably think of it as some portal or gateway. The Architect of Creation smiled. "Are you, Spaf and Spif, willing to protect the tree of life with all your might? Are you willing to be my protectors?" She said, smiling, as this would at least constrain the orks to one area. Before Spif or Spaf could answer, the world seemed to rumble, and a thick tear appeared in mid-air. Lightning crackled from the world-rendering gap in the very fabric of reality. A massive axe appeared from the rip, followed by a pair of enormous green hands, ripping the world apart even further. A voice seemed to boom from the torn part of reality. "WHO DARES STEAL MY CHOSEN?!" the voice echoed with divine energy. Celeste swallowed hard. It seemed like she had stepped on Orlek''s toes. Chapter 46: Orlek round 2 Orlek was massive. Celeste wasn''t sure if he had been this big when Jasper had fought against him almost three hundred years ago. However, the goddess of creation felt herself dwarfed underneath the massive ork god. Orlek''s axe seemed to split the earth underneath itself, even when its sharp edge was nowhere near touching the ground. It was as if the earth itself was slashed just from knowing how sharp the axe was. The head of the weapon was about the size of Celeste''s body. The haft of the axe seemed to be the size of some of the trees located in the forest. Indeed, it was a weapon worthy of a god. Celeste''s eyes moved to Orlek. The bulging muscles on the ork god''s body could only be described as excessive. The goddess was sure she could see muscles that shouldn''t exist, as if the ork was a parody of a bodybuilder. Power surged through the divine ork as he rolled his shoulders. He was sporting some mismatched armour. It was mainly leather, though it had patches of chain-link sheets and even a couple of plate armour pieces scattered around. What was more interesting, though, was the tear in the world, which hadn''t closed. Behind Orlek, spectral arms could be seen, reaching out and slowly wrapping around the god''s limbs and body. The ork didn''t seem to even notice them, and as he stepped forward, his movements weren''t hindered. But the spirit world was definitely calling to him. "You dare take my chosen for yourself? I know your stench. I killed you before, worm." The Orlek looked down at Celeste. The goddess didn''t answer since she was still trying to figure out what to do. From this angle, Celeste could see that the ork god had a nasal ring between his nostrils. It was thick and heavy and would probably be hard to lift, even if it wasn''t attached to the angriest god around. However, it still seemed to move as the angry god flared his nostrils. Celeste tried to remain calm. However, standing before this massive god, she felt tiny and weak. Orlek was, without a doubt, one of the oldest gods. Before Celeste could respond, Orlek pointed his axe at her, and a torrent of spirits sprung from the hole in reality. "I am the god of Orks and Spirits. Do you know how I got these Domains? Do you know how I, without magic, claimed the throne in the spirit realm? The very thing most necromancers and shamans seek?" Orlek bellowed. The spirits hammered into Celeste, and despite her control over the Death Domain, they still hit her hard and fast, making her fly back into the crowd of orks. She could feel how the spectators died around her as they were graced by the spirits. She was unsure of just how many of them were possessed by the spirits that Orlek spewed forth. But she flexed her Death Domain to ensure that they wouldn''t rise again. "I defeated them. Nothing can be slain in the realm of the spirits, but I went to each one and beat them into submission because I AM THE STRONGEST!" Orlek screamed the last part. Spit and bile flew from his tusk-filled mouth as he asserted his superiority. Celeste took in the situation.
Health 38/40
Energy 5/7
The attack hadn''t taken too much out of her, but it was surprising that she had taken any damage. Her Death Domain seemed to not render her immune to any death effects, but she probably took reduced damage from those sources. Her missing energy was partly due to the miracle she had performed to temporarily access the death shroud ability and use time as a weapon. She slowly stood up, realising that the corpses of the orks she had been blasted through had formed almost a corridor between herself and Orlek. She could see Spif and Spaf standing guard next to the tree they believed was the Tree of Life. There was a blatant solution to defeat the orkish god. Celeste could simply name Orlek with her Reaping Word, instantly killing the god. However, she quickly pulled up the description of the power. Celeste knew that Orlek would be considered a worthy foe. So she would have to damage the ork to even attempt it, and even then, she would be wasting Energy for the entire day for it to potentially fail. That wasn''t even accounting for the fact that Orlek seemed to have some control over spirits and might even have a Death Domain himself, meaning that he might counter any Death power she threw at him. The goddess of tinkering realised that she might be completely out of her depth at this point. She wasn''t built for combat, at least not without having access to her Death Domain. Celeste had been thinking for too long. The massive ork was charging towards her, the ground shaking with each step of those gigantic feet. The axe came from nowhere, and even with her precognition, it seemed to be everywhere at once. It hammered into Celeste, biting into her body, and while it was unpleasant, she could not feel pain, ensuring that she could still think.
Health 28/40
That single attack had taken 25% of her maximum health. Celeste could feel how her divine body struggled to keep itself together. Remembering what Jasper had told her about most people having a single hit point, she was sure that a blow like that would be able to wipe out armies.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. She took a more defensive position, trying not to let her Domain dodge for her, and instead trying to think of a plan. What domains could she use? The first option was the Goddess''s Journeying Domain. She considered what had worked against Raffael Moordet, where she had called Kelllwan and Ewen to help take down the Demon-infused mortal, now turned god. Celeste had to break up her thoughts as Orlek''s axe threatened to split her in two. The world shivered around it, as the sharpness threatened to pierce reality again. However, Celeste knew she couldn''t trust her precognition. This time, she dove out of the way before her divine powers told her to do so. The tree behind her was halved. There wasn''t a loud bang or a crash, but a thin line ran down the trunk of the massive oak tree. Sap already leaking from the wound as if it was blood. Turning her thoughts back to her options with the Journeying Domain, it was clear that she could call upon any allies. She might pull on Jasper and Martin, but she couldn''t have any other gods appear from different planes without Jasper''s help, and any mortal army would be torn to pieces by the orkish god. Calling upon her friends would have to be plan b, as they were in the middle of their own tasks. Another swing, and Celeste couldn''t help but notice that Orlek wasn''t tiring. If anything, he was getting faster, as if the brutish ork was just limbering up from the attacks. A vicious smile spread on the ork''s face. She still managed to dodge the attack and could hear the wind splitting from the swing. This time, it was followed by the crashing sound of trees falling over. "You are fast, and you can take punishment. You are much more fun than the spirits of my realm." Orlek grumbled and readied himself for another attack. Then there was Celeste''s newest Domain: Health. She hadn''t had time to look it over, but it felt more for healing and aiding than anything else, and she really didn''t have time to look over every single option in the middle of the fight. Another slash, though as Celeste dodged it, Orlek let the momentum of his swing carry him through, striking her across the face with a fist, which sent Celeste flying through the forest until she hit a tree sturdy enough to make her stop.
Health 22/40
It didn''t do as much damage as the weapon had. Still, Celeste felt that the axe wasn''t aiding Orlek''s combat ability but was more for aesthetic purposes. However, the axe was clearly what had let Orlek enter this world. That realisation slowly made a plan come together in Celeste''s head. After all, she was the goddess of tinkering. She couldn''t defeat Orlek outright, not only because the god was stronger than her in battle, but also because Orlek was an integral part of the game, and the AI probably wouldn''t allow it. So, she would have to trick the brute instead. The first task was getting that massive axe away from the ork, and Celeste only really saw one way. She would have to touch it. She steeled herself, knowing that one wrong move could end her current session. She prepared to try and catch the blade of the axe as Orlek swung it at her, the thrill of the risk sending a shiver down her spine.
Health 6/40
The discomfort that the Full Virtual Reality system generated was bordering on pain. She could see her life plummet, which surprised her. She had caught the blade between her palms and stopped it before it had reached her body, but even then, the divine artefact still hurt her, as if she had been hit by a straight blow. Orlek grinned. His tusks made the gesture look feral on his face. "Not long now, false god." He spat out, and Celeste felt his warm breath over her, which made her gag. She focused and realised she could feel the artefact and its powers just from touching it. This weapon was powerful, and Celeste couldn''t imagine how much Worship Orlek must have poured into the axe. She had been right, though. Oathbreaker didn''t really enhance the Ork''s strength but simply allowed him some much-needed utility for his power set. Celeste gritted her teeth and tried to will the axe out of existence. However, she found that she couldn''t, no matter what she did. This magical item had become self-aware, and unlike the dagger she had removed from Mordecai, it fought against her might. However, Celeste was still the Goddess of Tinkering, and by spending two Energy, she forced the Oathbreaker to become dormant for a year and a day. The magical artefact became heavy, and instead of being a divine instrument of conquering, it was simply a lump of metal. It had taken more Energy than she had expected. Still, as the brute of an ork pulled the axe from her grasp, it did mean that her precognition could suddenly easily follow every single one of Orlek''s movements. She realised that the Oathbreaker was no longer cutting through time itself, which had been messing with the Time Domain. With the advantage gone, Celeste started to dodge the attacks consistently. It wasn''t easy. Orlek was still fast and strong, and she barely had any health left. In his frustration, Orlek threw the axe after her, screaming incoherently like a spoiled brat who had been told that playtime was over. "YOU TAKE WHAT IS MINE! I OWN IT! I OWN THEM! I AM STRONG!" The bellowing voice of the ork seemed to echo through the woods, along with the sound of trees getting split apart from the thrown weapon. Celeste didn''t engage in the taunting. She hadn''t spoken to the ork during the entire fight, simply allowing him to wear himself out, which hadn''t worked. With his weapon gone, it was time to finish things up. Celeste started to dodge in more deliberate ways, slowly moving towards the rift in reality, as she knew that she couldn''t take Orlek in a straight fight. Each dodge brought her a little closer until, finally, she was in front of it. It was time to end this, and with a gleam in her eyes, the wounded Goddess smirked. "I will take all that is yours and make it mine. Your weapon, your chosen, and now it is time to take your throne," she said, stepping into the Spirit plane through the rift in the fabric of space. Chapter 47: Restoration The spirit plane felt raw. In Celeste''s opinion, this was the only accurate description. It was like the plane was trying to push her out, which made sense since she wasn''t a spirit, and the feeling of static electricity could be felt all over her skin. Surprisingly, the spirit world mirrored the real one in many ways. Celeste could discern the faint outlines of Spif and Spaf and the solid figure of Orlek charging towards her. Yet, all her senses seemed muffled, as if she were perceiving the world through a thick veil. The goddess didn''t have time to dwell on it as Orlek made his way towards the rift, an angry look on his face. Without hesitation, Celeste sprinted, channelling her will into a rapid escape before finding refuge among the towering ferns that speckled the forest floor. Orlek''s below echoed throughout the plane as he stepped through the rift, but Celeste was already enacting the next step of her plan. She felt her Domains synergise as she journeyed back through time, rewinding her own personal clock while keeping the world around her the same. She stood outside the portal, and she was a mid-dodge. Thanks to the overlap between her Domains, she only had to spend a single Energy to rewind her own personal time, though she hadn''t healed from the damage she had taken. She tried to ignore the small voice in her head that told her that she had essentially teleported and looked at her resources.
Health 6/40
Energy 2/7
With a push of Divine Energy she accessed her Journeying Domain, pouring her will into wanting the rift in space to be closed. She felt her husband''s magic aid her as the veil the Scribe had created slowly tried to stitch itself back together. The sound of the portal collapsing reminded Celeste of a heavy metal plate hitting concrete. An echoing boom accompanied by the sound of air being forced away. The goddess groaned before sitting down on the ground. Celeste was fairly sure this was the closest she could come to being in pain. She had been forced to use two points of Energy to wrap the tear in reality.
Energy 0/7
The rift wasn''t mended but pushed together like closing a piece of pastry. The might of the Axe had forced it apart, and the rift could never be mended, but Celeste had ensured that only a scar would be present. The veil between world would never be completely closed here. It seemed like there would really be a portal in the Tree of Life. Spif and Spaf looked at Celeste with awe in their eyes. "You defeat Orlek!" One of them said, and Celeste was too tired to even pretend to know which one of them had spoken. "Very great warrior! Orlek be strongest ork." The other said before they looked at each other. "But you defeat strongest ork, means you be strongest ork." The first one said again with a wide grin. Celeste didn''t really have the heart to tell them that she hadn''t defeated anything. If she had done something, she had just prevented herself from being defeated, but it had been a close call. "Yea, so are you going to defend the tree?" She asked, opening her menus with her free hand and slowly dedicating Impact, the resource that determined what her character would be doing while she was logged out, to ensure that the portal was closed and inside the Tree of Life.
Impact 6/7
Doing that cost her two Impact leaving her with four, though that was assuming that she would still keep Marcusburg fully repaired at all times. She dedicated a single Impact to keeping Oathbreaker dormant, since she didn''t want something like that in mortal hands. To her frustration this cost her two more Impact instead of just one, leaving her with only two.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Impact 2/7
Celeste sighed and leaned back, deciding that she might as well take a small nap on the forest floor. It had been a very long day already.
The world felt almost fuzzy as Celeste woke up to an exciting message. Celeste smiled, pleasantly surprised by the amount of Worship she gained. She quickly checked her vitals as well.
Health 13/40
Energy 6/7
She only healed her Rank, which meant that she wasn''t really ready for any fighting, not unless she wanted to spend a lot of Energy to get fully restored. She still had one Energy dedicated to using time as her weapon, which she almost always left on. With slight grunt she sat up, looking around to see if anything had happened while she had passed out from exhaustion. Her body was aching, and she was sure that she would have been in pain had it been possible. "SHE UP!" A scream of glee echoed out over the battlefield, and Celeste could feel the discomfort rise. "ME SAW HER FIRST! ME GET REWARD FIRST!" Another voice said. The words were quickly followed by the sound of a punch. "HAHA! YOU ONLY HIT HEAD! NOT EVEN HURT!" The first voice said. Celeste considered using her Death Domain on the pair but decided she would be better off keeping them around. She got up and looked at the pair of goblins. Spif and Spaf were currently rolling around on the forest floor, hitting each other and kicking each other whenever possible. Celeste didn''t say anything and decided that she might as well leave them to their squabbles. The goddess started her walk back to Marcusburg without disturbing the goblins. She felt exhausted and overwhelmed, but the fact that nobody was arguing and screaming made the trip through the forest much more pleasant. While walking, she could actually think, and Celeste started to wonder what she should do with Spif and Spaf. They were so inefficient that they could only really focus on one thing. Before, that thing had been raiding, but as she had asked them to protect the tree, she was sure that most caravans could make their way to A''kastin, even if the land wouldn''t be considered safe. The more Celeste thought about it, the more she realized she would have to make Spif and Spaf immortal. They might just be sharing a single braincell between them, but if a more competent leader stepped up, things might get out of hand. Celeste had to think it over a bit more before cursing the world with a pair of immortal annoying goblins. The goddess was still contemplating the conundrum as she reached the town. It looked unchanged from the day before. Even though Celeste felt worn out from her fight, she still felt the pang of discomfort from seeing the hungry looks of the malnourished townspeople. The Architect of Creation flexed her Health Domain and let power surge through her, pouring all over the town. She willed them to be healed, for them to be fixed, and she saw her Energy start to drop.
Energy 4/7
The miracle of health seemed to want to stop, as it cured everyone from their malnutrition and the effects of starvation. Celeste, on the other hand, kept pouring the miracle into the world around her. Divine winds started to whirl around her, and as she stood before the town, she began to glow with holy light. The goddess wasn''t going to let this town suffer. She commanded reality, just like when she had destroyed an artefact not far from this place. Around her, cracks in the fabric of space and time started to appear, revealing the hidden mechanisms behind the world itself. She spoke her command out loud, and the world obeyed. "Mend". As she spoke her command, the world shifted. The divine power that had initially healed malnourishment surged in strength, and every person felt the transformative touch. Limbs were restored, and muscles ceased their aching. All was healed. All was mended. The pure divine power that Celeste had poured from her body would undoubtedly reveal that she was more than she appeared, but her fight with Orlek had probably already blown that cover.
Energy 2/7
Celeste sighed and slowly started to walk inside the town, looking around and seeing people examine themselves and their healed bodies. Checking everything from their aching bellies to teeth that had been missing. Celeste''s command had restored all. Chapter 48: Meeting new old friends Martin slid down the side of a crater in the warped wasteland that made up Leltho. While his body looked like an ork, it was divine in nature and much more easily withstood the corrupting powers of the desolate area. Even so, he could feel the mana in the air with every breath he took. It felt dense and overwhelming, like the world itself was trying to smother him. It wasn''t just due to the thick mana in the air that Martin was uncomfortable. It was hard moving around, as Martin''s heavy pauldrons acted as sentry towers to the point where his left pauldron had been outfitted with a mini-catapult. The mini-catapult wasn''t a good weapon. However, as a god, Martin believed his primary duty was aesthetic. There was a severe lack of gods of siege weapons throughout real-world history, and the game developer wasn''t about to let the same fate befall his fantasy world. Behind the ork, the massive bearshark was eagerly following, its eyes scanning the environment. It wasn''t alone in doing so. Martin had spotted something he had thought impossible out here. This place could best be equated to a magical nuclear wasteland, which was supposed to be an endgame zone. So when Jasper saw signs of an intelligent life, it made him curious. While there was life around Leltho, most of it was ravenous and corrupt, driven to the brink by the area''s intense magical nature. Martin first spotted the signs of a campfire about a day ago. Tracking down the person who had made the campfire had been easy, thanks to Martin''s skills, which allowed him to simply communicate with the bearshark and make it track the target for him. Less than an hour ago, he had spotted a humanoid form in the distance moving towards the bottom of the pit Martin was careening down. The pit was clearly not some natural rock formation but rather a crater left by a pair of massive beasts clashing. Their immense power had torn up the natural terrain. As Martin made his way down the sides, letting gravity do all the work, he could see that the figure he had spotted earlier that day was slowly starting to set up camp in the crater''s centre. Now that he was closer, he could see that it was a woman and a human woman to boot. Long red hair flowed down her shoulders, and Martin almost considered her a bug. Her beauty was astounding, impossibly so, thanks to the wasteland around them. The stranger''s body seemed to be sculpted with a care that didn''t align with the built-in flaws the AI should assign to every NPC. Martin made a note to look into this when he returned to his pc. The woman was wearing a long robe, seemingly made from the cheapest material, maybe a canvas bag, and tied at the waist with a belt seemingly made from every colour of the rainbow. From her wide hips hung the symbol of every god that Martin knew of. The orkish god could see the crown that indicated Kelllwan and the infinity symbol that signified Ewen. Those were reasonably common. After all, they were considered to be the ''Good gods''. However, a pair of crossed red triangles were also hanging from the belt. Martin knew those symbolized Orlek, the orkish god, and was more akin to a neutral god, but the two last symbols were a surprise. A black plate with three eyes symbolized Raffael Moordet, who wasn''t quite a god but was considered to represent all demons. The last symbol was a strange one. It took Martin a moment to recognize. It was almost a cross, but with a sharp arrow-like base and a rhombus around the top, all in white. That would have to be the symbol for Daikia, the goddess of drows and drow-supremacy. Most people considered both of these last two gods evil, and worship had been outlawed in most places. At least, that was what the iteration summary Martin had read said. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As Martin moved closer, the woman looked up from the camp she had been halfway through constructing and gave him a weary look. Martin couldn''t sense any magic from her, but then again, he was currently being bathed in mana, and he wasn''t the god of mages, so he was unsure if he could sense it in anyone. "It ain''t often ya spot an ork ''round these parts. Got lost from yor tribe, wee mate?" The woman spoke, and Martin had to hold back laughter. It was quite the accent she had. Martin had always loved accents in games. "No, no. I know where I am, and I don''t have a tribe. I am out in these lands looking for a worthy foe." He said, smiling before stretching out his hand in a greeting. "The name is Armandos." The ginger woman had gone to shake his hand but had frozen in place when he told her his name. Her hand started to glow faintly, and while cheery, there was a certain venom in her words as she spoke. "Ain''t no chance yor Armandos. I know Armandos, and you''re not them. Want to give it another go before I erase yer from existence, eh, luv?" She seemed to be casting some kind of spell. Being a master of deduction, this told Martin that he couldn''t sense if people had magic... at least not in this environment. "I''m The Scribe, mate. Chosen of Armandos, I am. That dragon dung might fool others, but not me. So, tell me how ya know that name and introduce yerself proper, then we can be all polite-like, yeah?" She said with a piercing stare. Martin was confused for a second. Then things started to click: the robes, which seemed a step up from a canvas bag, and the red hair, which represented multiple gods. "Jasmine?" He finally asked. The spell in Jasmine''s hand faltered as her true name was spoken, and she stumbled to a halt. "''Ow do yer know that name?" She asked, her eyes looking intently at Martin. The ork god of artillery laughed with joy and pleasure. "It is you! My gods! I thought you would be gone by now, and Erik would still wander the world." Jasmine''s face fell a little, and she sighed. "Nah... ''Bout 80 years ago, he gave me the title o'' The Scribe and passed on. He was old, even before that, and he couldn''t bear losin'' the people around ''im. I''m startin'' to understand the wisdom he ''ad but never spoke about." The redhead said, sitting down at the camp. "You really are Armandos, ain''t ya? Blimey, I didn''t think you''d come track me down. You gonna kill me, then?" Martin was taken aback by the question, looking at her with surprise and worry. "Why would I kill you?" The god sat down and had to suppress the divine Domain that would spawn plants to care for him. He couldn''t be hurt, but he got the feeling that Jasmine might not have the same protection. Jasmine sighed and seemed to unload everything that had built up inside of her. "At first, I was fumin''. Proper angry at meself. Why should I live when it meant Erik ''ad to die? Then, I got it... he''d been trainin'' me to take ''is place all along. The moment he took me in, he knew he''d pass the title on. Then I was angry at ya... well, at Magnus. Why''d he give such a title to that kind old man? Givin'' ''im eternal life was a curse beyond curses. I thought I''d let go of the anger, but now I know Magnus is back. I know he''s out there, and I''ve been avoidin'' goin'' to him. Been hidin'', not even tellin'' ''im what''s happened. I think... I think I''m scared. Not of what he might say, but scared I won''t be able to look Magnus in the eyes without clockin'' him one. Fightin'' the god that gave Erik''s life meaning... that''d be a sad end to the old man''s legacy. But ya lot left me. Magnus left us. Yus all buggered off from that massive city... no goodbye, no nothin''. Just a note sayin'' ya''d come back, but there wasn''t no choice, was there? Either Erik wouldn''t see ya return, or I wouldn''t... the old man made that choice for me." As Jasmine spoke, tears ran down her cheeks. Martin didn''t know what to do. He didn''t know what to say. Logically, he knew that this woman wasn''t real, but the pain she felt was so incredibly real in the moment. Martin had felt it himself. Being left alone with nothing, and wishing that those with more knowledge, who had passed on, could answer all these new questions. These are questions that you had never even been aware of. Martin sighed, as the bearshark slowly curled up to him. "I am not going to sit here and say that what Magnus did was the right thing, and you owe neither him nor me anything. However, what would his alternative be? He can only know things that have been written down. Creating someone who can write the information down for you is simply the best solution to a bad situation. As such, you either need to accept the current system, or propose a better one." He explained while petting the bearshark slowly. There was silence between them for a couple of heartbeats before Martin continued. "Whatever the case, you don''t have to go see him. You can help me instead." He said with a smile, conjuring some food for them and crushing the plants from which the fruits sprouted. Martin happily shared his meal with Jasmine. As the woman took the fruit, she smiled as well and cleared her throat before asking, "Right, so what d''ya need my help with, then?" Martin turned his smile into a wide grin. "I need to find a monster." Chapter 49: The Mana Muncher [Includes Poll] The following night hadn''t been as comfortable as Martin would have liked. The ork had to manipulate his Domains to ensure that corrupted creatures and plants didn''t swarm them, but even so, he had managed to sleep. A quick snack of some rations that Jasmine had in the morning and the trio was ready to head out. Apparently, Jasmine had heard of a creature that would be fitting for Martin''s end-game boss, and the ork was more than happy to take a look at it. Over the next day of walking, Martin saw grand castles that had been torn to pieces by violent storms and crumbling ruins of once grand towers where the stones it had been built from had turned to sand. All while the mana dense air seemed to practically choke him with every breath. It wasn''t pleasant by any stretch of the imagination, but even so, they slowly moved towards the centre of Leltho, the spot where Ewen had performed his ascension spell, which had failed so horribly that it had nuked a decent size of the world. It was late into the evening when Martin finally saw what they had been heading towards. In the centre of the country was a massive pillar of crystalized mana, it was glowing with a soft blue colour. However, tinges of reds and yellows could be seen all over the monument to magical failure. The inlaid colours ensured that the entire pillar had every colour possible inside, though the orange groupings were far fewer than the greens and purple. The entire thing was about 300 meters tall, and ended in a distinctive mushroom cloud shape, really hammering in that this place was a wasteland of some sort. Martin sighed. He wondered if heavy-handed symbolism should be considered a bug. Then again, he might assign a low-level ticket to this and throw it to the Public Relations department in the main branch. They would probably shoot it down, allowing Martin to justify spending time on removing it. They camped not far from the massive sign of doom, and Martin wondered if radiation was a thing, but he came to the conclusion that the mana was supposed to symbolize that particular aspect of the cloud. However, did that mean that every mage was nuclear-powered? That kind of thoughts ran through Martin''s mind as he drifted off, sleeping soundly while forcing his Domains to not generate any of the comforts he would have wanted. Once more, the night passed without incident, and as morning dawned, and the sun struck the blue crystalized nuclear mushroom cloud, their camp was bathed in multicoloured lights that gave it a strangely fey-like look. Martin looked over at Jasmine and cleared his throat. They hadn''t really talked much during the last day, as he assumed Jasmine had some things she needed to work through. "So, where is that monster you wanted to show off?" The orkish god of dungeons asked. "Oi, ain''t ya got eyes in yer ''ead? It''s right there, innit! Inside that big ol'' crystal tree!" Jasmine''s grin was wide... too wide. She was clearly putting on a good show hiding her pain. She nodded towards the massive crystal mushroom cloud. Martin took a closer look at the enormous crystal structure, and it wasn''t long before he thought he could make out something in the middle of it. "Do you have any idea what that thing is?" Martin asked. It didn''t look that big, about the size of a person, which was practically dwarfed by the massive crystal structure. Even up close, it would have been hard to tell what it was thanks to the solid mana''s distorting effect. Jasmine shrugged a bit before pulling out a tattered tome. Martin caught a glimpse of the first page and he was pretty sure it was a crayon drawing of a little girl holding an old man''s hand. Before Martin could say anything the page was gone, as Jasmine flipped through the tome, clearly trying to get to some notes on what was inside the crystal. "There''s no real way o'' knowin'' what it is without bustin'' the thing open, but the current thinkin'' is that Ewen didn''t put no upper or lower limit on the ritual. So, when he did his ascendin'' ritual, everythin'' above and below ''im got zapped with divine power too. Now, Old man Erik reckons the critters up top and down below ended up melted together. From what the early readings show, it sounds like a mosquito and an earthworm got mashed up and soaked in divine energy, so Erik went an'' called it the Mana Muncher." Jasmine explained.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Martin nodded along as they packed up their belongings. "Why hasn''t it broken free?" He asked, before picking up a small piece of their rations and chugging it towards the crystal pillar. The god of artillery instantly felt his Domain take hold, and he could easily throw the piece of meat with pinpoint accuracy. However, he threw it high and at an angle, ensuring that the Bearshark had something to run after. The beast did just that, hammering over the dusty plains after the ration. It jumped a solid 7 meters into the air, catching the snack before landing with no problem. Martin gave a low whistle at the impressive jump of the bearshark, and before long they were on their way once more. When they finally reached the base of the massive pillar made from pure mana, the god could feel the power radiating off it. "This is something else. How are we going to get that beast out? I need to defeat it some way if I want to have control over it." Martin said, looking for a way to break the pillar. Jasmine gave him a look. "You wanna ''ave control over the Mana Muncher, do ya? And what are you the god of, eh?" Martin smiled. "I am the God of Dungeons and Artillery. So I have the Domains of Plant, Wealth, Beasts and Range." Jasmine gave him a look but didn''t say anything. The orkish god shifted his jaw a little, grinding his tusks against his upper lip, while looking over his domains to try and find a way to remove the massive piece of crystalized mana. There weren''t many good options, and he wasn''t really geared to handling this kind of problem. He was better at taking down beasties, but one of his powers still caught his eye. From the Wealth Domain he pulled up the great power he had taken on a whim. Text from image: The Golden God''s Hand Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Variable Full effect: Commit Energy and curse or bless a faction or community. You may either grant them a beneficial feature having to do with prosperity or wealth, or you may suppress an existing feature they have that relies on money or large amounts of resources. The curse or blessing manifests very rapidly in the course of a day, and lasts for as long as the Energy remains Committed. Martin grinned as he got an idea. Accessing the power he saw a long list of beneficial features, and as expected, a giant tower made of almost pure mana crystalized into form was considered an economic benefit. The ork was sure that any nation that could mine literal mana would have some sort of economic boon. The God looked over at The Scribe. "So... is there any country you actually like? I am thinking that someone might enjoy some economic wealth over the next 100 years." Jasmine paused for a second, unsure of what to say, but finally just shrugged. "Dunno what I actually fancy, but either A''kastin or Mek. Whichever one you reckon would be more fun." Martin smiled and decided that Celeste could use a spontaneous gift. He started by dedicating Energy to removing the massive crystal structure from Leltho and then dedicating Energy to adding it to A''kastin.
Energy 5/7
As soon as the Energy was dedicated the massive tower in front of Martin started to dissolve. Slowly the entire thing crumbled into pieces as the resources seemed to vanish into thin air. Jasmine gave the god a look of pure astonishment. "I didn''t feel no mana from ya. What''d you do then?" The ork shrugged. "I decided that it would make for a nice gift to my friend. No magic, just divinity." They sat back and slowly watched as the massive crystal tower disappeared into nothing. It would take hours, if not an entire day before the gigantic crystalline structure would be gone, and Martin couldn''t help but wonder if the mana density in the area would go down and the density in A''kastin would go up. Martin didn''t assume it would, as his power didn''t remove anything other than the resource, and the structure would be back when he stopped dedicating the Energy. The comfortable silence between Jasmine and Martin was only interrupted whenever the Bearshark found a monster to pounce on, before chewing loudly. It was late into the evening, bordering on the dead of night, when the trio was woken up by a massive Crystal shard hitting the ground and a bone chilling scream echoed over the planes. Martin groaned as he woke up, having just managed to fall asleep. He looked towards the top of the pillar and saw that the Mana Muncher had gotten free from the structure. The ork limbered up his muscles with a groan, adjusted the catapult on his shoulder and nodded. "Full force" He said under his breath to get motivated for the upcoming fight. The Mana Muncher was a beast if Martin had ever seen one. It was much bigger than he had expected. Instead of being the size of a person, it was the size of a small house, making the ork painfully aware that it had been much further up than he had expected. The creature itself was a mix of a mosquito and probably multiple earthworms. Martin didn''t know what to call the creature, as it had a fairly large body with a massive Abdomen that seemed to glow blue with mana. It had enormous wings that gave off a droning sound as it moved through the air. However, instead of a head, the beast had five, reminding Martin more of a hydra than a mosquito, as each head was attached to long and thick necks. The necks each had the texture and look of an earthworm, wiggling around and giving the heads quite the mobility. Each head had its own set of massive eyes and a stinger, which Martin idly remembered was called a proboscis, attached, ready to suck out any mana that it came into contact with. Martin readied himself for battle, grabbing hold of the catapult he wondered just how much of a beating the beast could take before it would submit to him. There was only one way to find out. Chapter 50: Fighting the Hydra Mosquito[Includes Poll] Martin looked at his UI. This was probably going to be a rough fight, but he hadn''t had the opportunity to test out his abilities since he got here.
Health 34/34
Energy 5/7
Since the creature was attacking him so openly, he assumed that it had overcome his Lord of the Wild power. He jumped in place a little to limber up and reached up to the catapult on his right shoulder. He pressed down the wooden mini siege engine with his hand, and it became obvious how impractical it was to shoot with it mounted on his shoulder. Before letting go, Martin activated his power: "The Seeking Flight" targeting the Mana Muncher. As he did, he had the power open to read over it. Martin smiled as he was more than happy to dedicate Energy to targeting the Mana Muncher.
Energy 4/7
With that, he let his first attack fly. It wasn''t a good shot. In fact, Martin was barely able to aim the catapult. Still, with his Domains powering his attacks, it flew easy and true, hitting the massive hydra mosquito dead on. The attack took off one of the five heads without any trouble, and Martin grinned. The Mana Muncher was fast, though, and with a furious buzz, it dove for the god, only to be interrupted by a determined voice. "Oh no, ya don¡¯t". Before the massive beast could reach Martin, a black barrier sprang up in front of it. Martin recognized the description of the spells used by the seven folded veil, and if he remembered correctly, the barrier would mean instant death to the creature. That wasn''t what he was looking for, and he was about to tell Jasmine to hold the spell back, but the massive mosquito hydra pushed one of its face-needles into the barrier and with a greedy SLURP, the magic winked out. The sound reminded Martin of someone drinking the last bit of liquid in a cup through a straw as dark mana poured into the creature''s abdomen and the stump where the head had been shot off instantly grew two new heads. Then the Mana Muncher reached Martin, and its attack was vicious. Each head tried to pierce Martin, hammering against his steel-wood skin. Most of them glanced off, hammering into the ground around the ork, though two hit him hard and deep, before starting to draw Energy from him.
Health 28/34
Energy 2/7
The Mana Muncher was too close for Martin to fire his ranged attacks. However, he wasn''t out of ideas or options, far from it. Pulling upon his Plant Domain, he used his Grow the Garden power. Thick vines shot up from the ground, threatening to wrap around the Mana Muncher and tie it down. Thorns and hungry mouths were all over the vines, tearing into the massive beast. However, before it could be tied down, the Mana Muncher took to the sky with a heavy buzzing sound. The Bearshark jumped after the flying creature but only managed to tear off a leg, which didn''t really seem to bother the newly freed Mana Muncher. Martin moved. He was coming to the conclusion that standing still wasn''t going to help him fight off the creature, and as he narrowly missed the massive mosquito hydra''s follow-up dive, he looked over at Jasmine, who was readying another spell. "STOP CASTING! YOU ARE JUST FEEDING IT MANA!" He yelled at the top of his lounges while the Bearshark managed to distract the boss monster.Stolen story; please report. Jasmine paused, clearly frustrated that she wasn''t much help, but she didn''t cast any more spells. Martin readied another shot from his shoulder-mounted catapult. Even with the awkward weapon and while dodging, he found that his projectiles practically homed in on his target thanks to his power. He didn''t have to worry about range thanks to his other power, "None Beyond Reach." Martin was impressed by how much damage each of his shots dealt, slowly chipping away at what he suspected was considered a creature that would win against most gods. Finally, it seemed that the Mana Muncher realized that no matter what it did, it was being outmanoeuvred. It flew high, though since Martin could still see it, he could continue to pepper it with damage. The beast was regenerating whenever it could, using the stores in its abdomen to heal any wound that Martin made. Each time it regenerated a head, it would create two. The Mana muncher was sporting 15 heads at this point, but its abdomen seemed almost empty of mana. Martin''s Beast Domain told him that the hydra mosquito was running out of options and getting desperate. Using the muscles in its abdomen, the Mana Muncher unleashed the last of its stored mana in heavy glops. Spraying them over the battlefield. To any mortal, the overload of mana would probably fry them. However, not only wasn''t Martin mortal, he was also the Lord of All Which Falls. The glops of mana stopped mid-air as Martin dedicated Energy to the power.
Health 28/34
Energy 1/7
Instead of directing the mana droplets back at the Mana Muncher, the orkish god of artillery made them scatter far and wide, throwing them even from the continent''s mainland since he had no restrictions on range. With Martin''s combat-leaning build, defeating the Mana Muncher had been reasonably easy. With the last of its weapons nullified by the god literally controlling any ranged attacks, it was clear that the battle was over. The multiheaded mosquito soon drifted to the ground, landing in a cloud of dust before the ork moved over to it and placed a heavy foot on its back. "I am in control now." He stated simply. The hiss of the Mana Muncher could be heard through the multitude of mouths. Still, it was coherent and speaking with an intelligence that befitted someone with so many heads. "Yes, Master. We will serve." The beast said, not fighting against the foot that pinned it down, despite being much larger than Martin. All thanks to the "Conquer the Beast Within" power, the boss monster would now fall under Martin''s command as if it were a critter. With a nod, Martin let it go and leaned back. He felt incredibly spent. He had no idea that people could get this tired from using a Virtual Reality system, but then again, it was running at a far higher rate than was technically legally allowed. The Mana Muncher didn''t rise. Instead, it was just lying on the ground, trying to recover from the fight. Martin looked at it, honestly a little confused. "How could you have been trapped in mana? You live off the stuff." He asked, trying to see how much havoc the fight had caused, though it wasn''t too bad. The boss monster gave an annoyed buzz with its massive wings. "I was full of mana. The solid mana is very rich, and without anything to spend it on, I had no choice but to wait until I was hungry. I would have been out in due time, but not for years upon years." Martin nodded along, though it was pretty hard to understand the beast as its multiple heads, with no mouths, communicated simultaneously. Martin was sure that the only reason he could understand the oversized bug was due to some Divine shenanigans. "Welp, I have some good news for you... You are going to be conquering the world." He said with a wide grin. "But first we need a rest." Martin looked around for Jasmine but couldn''t find her anywhere. She must have left in the middle of the chaos. The god didn''t mind. He knew that she had issues that she needed to deal with. The sun was starting to break through the sky. The fight had taken up most of the night, and what had felt like a couple of moments of fighting had apparently been hours of intense combat. Divine combat truly did function on another scale than mortal combat. As the sun crested the horizon, the god felt his body renewed. A quick look at his stats showed that he had healed his level, and all spent Energy had returned, except the three he had dedicated to controlling all ranged attacks around him and manipulating global wealth.
Health 34/34
Energy 4/7
Martin cursed a little under his breath. "Jasper, I swear that I am going to kick your butt for tying something this important to the movement of the sun." However, before Martin could plan his revenge further, a new pop-up appeared in his vision. Martin had never seen anything so magnificent before, and he almost cried just staring at the beautiful message. 20 Worship was nothing to sneeze at. It would definitely let him create a dungeon for his new friend. With a long look at his improvised bed, Martin sighed and slowly started to flex his divine powers. He could feel the harmony thrum between his powers and with little hesitation he started to pour his will into creating a dungeon. Chapter 51: The First Dungeon Around Martin, the earth started to reshape to his divine will, a pit opening at a thought. The pit was big enough to house a skyscraper. With a wave of his hand, Martin carved a long spiral staircase along the lines of the pit, slowly creating multiple rooms along the way. This would give any player who wanted to challenge the dungeon a way to slowly descend into the pit, and the rooms would be great for various challenges. It was an excellent start, though Martin could feel how his Worship was slowly draining. At the same time, it wasn''t dedicated. Martin could instinctively tell that pulling back the Worship would return the area to how it had looked just moments ago. Martin paused for a second, considering whether he could use this power in combat. By simply focusing, I tried to create a cavernous hole underneath the Bearshark. It didn''t work, and Martin realised that it was probably a good thing it didn''t. However, the experiment showed that the system wouldn''t allow Worship to be used for combat. The limits of sculpting were probably determined by the AI, and Martin knew not to push the software. Otherwise, it was likely to have a meltdown. Instead of contemplating the limits of what the system would allow, Martin made sure to stick to his dungeon-making project. He started sculpting and changing the world around him, walking deeper and deeper into the pit. He would outfit rooms with various challenges that could be completed to increase the reward. The developer knew that the players would probably have guides for most of these within days, but it was still fun to do a couple of jumping puzzles and the classic ''Rotate the stones until it matches the set on the back wall''-puzzles. There even were a couple of combat puzzles. Martin couldn''t really create any complex puzzles since he wasn''t sure what mechanics would be in place to support them. Even the jumping puzzles were a stretch, but he still made sure that each room had something to do. Martin had lost track of time almost instantly, but the sun was still up by the time he made it halfway down the stair. The orkish god was sure this was an awesome place to have the dungeon''s first boss. Looking to the Bearshark, he called his friend down. "So, it looks like I might be able to use you as part of the dungeon if you are up for it," Martin said, giving the beast a smile. The massive beast seemed to lick all its teeth at once in anticipation and then looked around. "Anything specific you want me to do, boss?" It said, and for a moment, Martin almost felt bad about leaving it in this dungeon. "Nah, just maul anyone that tries to get past you." He said, trying to connect the beast to the dungeon. At first, he felt some resistance, but as the pressure built, Martin felt his Beast Domain aid him and assert control over the Bearshark. A bright whisp of light appeared just above the creature''s head. The ork slowly reached out and grabbed hold of it. A warm feeling engulfed his hand, and Martin could guide a tether of light from the whisp to any point in his new dungeon. He looked around, then created a large circular platform that would clearly indicate a bossbattle. It was a massive plateau with a slight guardrail, just so people didn''t fall off the side by stepping too close to the edge. It almost looked like an enormous balcony, and Martin was quite satisfied with the result. It was fairly easy to tie the bearshark to the middle of the dungeon. A few enchantments from the Range Domain and Martin ensured that no projectile or beam could enter the platform if someone was standing outside the guardrail. That way, people wouldn''t be sniping the boss from the top of the stairs. That was only true for the platform, though. He didn''t mind people pulling aggro from a group of mobs all the way down the stairs. It would probably lead to some good wipes. Returning his attention to the bearshark, Martin grinned. All around it, mutated creatures were spawning, already filling the dungeon with creatures to fight. It was a good thing that the ork would have to go into the system and assign what mobs needed to spawn all the time. The creatures themselves were definitely a mixed bunch. Most of them looked like two animals smashed together with no regard for what was possible. However, that did mean that they would have a wide selection of skills that would be hard to plan around, and defeating them would require game knowledge and not just having a strategy guide up. The creatures quickly took their place, some even going to the rooms and starting to rest. "Right, need anything here?" Martin asked the bearshark, thinking that the area was done at this point. The beast looked at the ork with eyes that told Martin that the ork probably wasn''t as done as he would like. "Where am I supposed to sleep? What about when I am done eating? I need a place to live, oh and what will you do with loot?" The bearshark asked when the god didn''t get the hint. Martin slapped his forehead. "Of course. Let me fix that up for you."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. His will created a new room in the cliff connected to the boss arena, and with a little effort, the god managed to craft some living spaces and, next to it, a treasure room. He would have to let the main branch decide on what to do for loot. There was no sense in creating rewards for players when there weren''t any systems that could be improved. The bearshark was spiritually tethered to the room, and with a few mental commands, Martin told the dungeon to remake any boss monster 30 minutes after it had been slain. This workflow quickly repeated itself, Martin creating rooms and small challenges that could be modified and improved by the main branch, all while working his way down the massive stairs. Finally, Martin reached the bottom of the pit. The base was massive and flat, perfect for a nest. He filled it with liquid mana, which should have been much harder than it was. The area was so dense in mana that liquifying it probably happened naturally. With liquid mana at the bottom of the pit, Martin raised several large stone platforms, allowing players to move from platform to platform. Martin then removed the platforms'' connection to the ground, ensuring that they could rise as the level of liquid mana rose. It took some slight manipulation, but he finally managed to have the mana be the same density as tungsten while still liquid, ensuring that the stone disks would never sink. He whistled, and the sound of buzzing wings could be heard as the multiheaded Mana Muncher landed at the bottom. Without hesitation, it landed in the liquid mana, but it didn''t seem to take any damage. It looked around, clearly confused. "What have you made for me? A nest? A prison? What is this?" It spoke while observing the area, and its multiple heads seemed to linger on the pool of mana. "This will be your home, your nest and your feeding ground," Martin explained. "I give you this with only one other requirement. You must come when I call for you. Your speed is immense, and you will prove a valiant steed." While it was a slightly humiliating task, the hydra mosquito didn''t argue. It nodded most of its heads and settled in. Martin didn''t even have to link the Mana Muncher like he had with the Bearshark. As soon as it took a seat, the dungeon filled with mosquitos the size of a husky. The critters started to swarm around the dungeon, never touching the mutants that were moving around but clearly on the hunt for mana to suck. Large burrowing worms started to move around inside the wall, ready to pop out and push any tank that got too far from their party into the centre pit. Right into the awaiting Mana Muncher''s nest. Jasper added the same kind of range protection to prevent players from sniping the boss before he took stock of everything. This was the most horrendous dungeon that Martin had ever seen. It was absolutely not well-designed, and it seemed incredibly unfair. However, it was the first iteration that could be improved by the main branch. With a flex of his divine will, he slowly looked around. He talked himself through the plan for the dungeon, just to see if he had missed something. "So! This is an endgame dungeon. It isn''t meant to be a dungeon but rather a threat to the world that needs to be dealt with. So, here is what is going to happen. This dungeon will overflow with monsters, spilling them out into the lands above, probably into the world around Leltho as well. Players are incentivised to build structures to keep the creatures inside... maybe some tower-defence kinda game, but that is up to the main branch. The magic in the area will probably mean that any permanent structures will be torn apart over time. That should provide a money sink for the game as well. The mana will continue to rise to ensure that there isn''t a solved state to the defence part, ensuring that the main boss is closer to reach, but the spawns happen more frequently." Martin checked that the mana could rise, and the Mana Muncher would follow with the surface. "Perfect. If the boss reaches the surface, it will rain havoc down upon... probably everywhere but the noob area... just to be sure. We should never reach that point unless the players fall to infighting, but I think that is all of it." It seemed like a bargain, though Martin had a hard time seeing how a dungeon could cost anything less than 16 Worship. He would have to try and make quality dungeons over a large quantity of dungeons. He accepted the cost, and Worship streamed out of him. It was a strange feeling as if something from the pit of his stomach left his body in heavy waves. As it did, the framework he had been building solidified, becoming a bigger part of reality. It seemed like everything got more intense, vibrant, and alive. Then everything snapped into place. Martin smiled and sighed. Turning his head to the Mana Muncher, he focused on wanting to be able to call it from anywhere, and he got another pop-up. He accepted this cost as well, and he felt the bond between them strengthen. Martin groaned, feeling just how tired he was. He could probably sleep for days. With tired legs, he walked up the pit, reaching the halfway point before just calling the massive boss monster and jumping on top of it, letting it fly him to the top. Jasmine was waiting for him, and the morning light had turned to dusk. The dungeon had been faster to create than what Martin would normally be able to do from behind his screen, but it had still taken an entire day. He sighed and decided to call the sessions for now. He had achieved his goal. "Where have you been?" He asked the Prismatic initiate. Jasmine looked more tired than he felt, but her clothes were clean and her body whole. In fact, there didn''t seem to be a single wound on her. The god quickly spotted that she was sporting a new symbol on her belt. It was a snake eating its own tail, and in the centre were the four elements. Did that mean that there was a new god? Martin was too tired, and he decided that he would have to ask the others when they left the game. Jasmine just shook her head. "You gods are somethin'' else, ain''t ya? Honestly, I''m lookin'' forward to things goin'' quiet again." She muttered before just sliding down on her butt against a massive rock. Looking from Jasmine and to the Mana Muncher, quickly joined by the Bearshark, he grinned. "Well, It is time for me to leave. I hope to see you in the future. However..." He paused, looking at the beasts. "No swarming the world while I am gone. At least not yet. The world doesn''t have the defences it needs to keep up with you guys, so be careful." Martin then turned to Jasmine and smiled. "If you begin to feel tired, remember to get yourself someone that you can work with and teach. Maybe not a replacement, but you will be surprised how much perspective you get when you need to be a role model." He said and nodded. With that, he gave them all a wave before logging out and instantly feeling the pain and discomfort of his real body. Chapter 52: Uneasy lies the head that wears the Crown Celeste walked through Marcusburg and was amazed to see people healed for anything that had ailed them. However, it wasn''t just people. Items, buildings, and anything that could be mended were mended. Her command had called for the world to be fixed, and by her divine word, it had been. Even her own body had been restored.
Health 40/40
Energy 2/7
She was met with a relieved-looking Selma, who was making her way towards the burst of divine Energy, her sword in hand and ready to fight whatever threatened her home. Behind the human, the smug-looking Drow and the battle-ready dwarf followed, and behind them, the serene elf seemed to almost slide across the ground. The full council appeared to have arrived, ready to show that they weren''t just part of the bureaucracy. Celeste wasn''t in the mood for their games, so she nodded to them all before speaking curtly. "I have taken care of your ork problem. As far as I can tell, the orks will still be in the lands, but they will be busy in the southwestern part of A''kastin. They won''t disturb you as long as you don''t disturb them." She spoke softly, but her tone was clipped. She knew she had a tired look on her face. The trio of diplomats behind Selma gave each other a look. With that they seemed to scatter to each part of the city, saying nothing, not even a polite goodbye. Celeste smiled, she assumed that the trio would be trying to find a new way to put pressure on Marcusburg, but that really couldn''t be her problem right now. "Thank you for your help." Selma''s voice was warm and earnest. She was clearly relieved that her people would be able to accept trade once more. The goddess gave her a look. Celeste hadn''t forgotten that the mayor owned her a great debt. After all, the whole warehouse of crafting materials had been raided to protect the city. Crafting materials that belonged to Celeste. "You will have to do better than just a thank you. We will have to talk." The Architect of Reality said with a firm voice. With that, Celeste walked towards the building where the council normally held its meetings. When she got there, she quickly deconstructed a table and a couple of chairs to instantly reconstruct the most comfortable recliner her divine powers would allow her to create, and she dumped herself in it. The goddess sighed a long and deep sigh, her body seemingly melting under the much-needed comfort of just having proper lumbar support. The human leader had probably been rationing her supply for a while, but somehow, she still managed to find some spiced wine to present to Celeste. The goddess could not have been happier as she gracefully took the cup and drank. Maybe punishing Selma directly was a bad idea. "So, do you want to tell me what happened out there?" Selma Kingborn asked, not taking a seat but just standing there, looking at the person who had annihilated her furniture to make herself a new seat. Celeste told an abridged version of what had happened. She didn''t go into too much detail, and she didn''t mention the fact that Orlek had appeared in the realm. If Selma didn''t know that, she didn''t need to. "Anyway, I convinced the leaders of the orkish tribe that they needed to protect a random tree. Since they are occupied with that, you will probably see a couple of skirmishes, but nothing too intense." She finished up with a sigh, downing the last of the spiced wine. Selma seemed to be nodding along, and as the story dragged on, she ended up taking a seat on one of the benches left. Celeste finally smiled and pulled out the old crown. However, it had been restored completely thanks to her dumping most of her power all over the area. Any dents and damage were completely gone, and thanks to being so close to the epicentre of the divine command, all imperfections had been fixed. Celeste was sure that she could not have done a better job if she had to craft it herself. The crown itself wasn''t impressive like some crowns Celeste had seen in the real world, but it was still made from some silver alloy and inlaid with nail-sized gems along the edge. It was clear that it had been forged before Kelllwan became a god, as it bore no resemblance to the god''s holy symbol, looking more like a diadem than a crown. The goddess handed over the crown to Selma and smiled. "Selma Kingborn. I grant you this gift. By my divine hand, I proclaim that anyone who wields this crown shall be recognized by the heavens as the owner of A''kastin." Celeste said in a proud voice.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Celeste cursed the other gods under her breath, but then again, she might try to put up a challenge if a mortal should be considered higher than her. She idly wondered if Jasper and Martin would gain a pop-up asking them if they wanted to oppose the new rule to reality or if, since they were all known as Armandos, they would count as having consented because it was her idea. It was a high price, but she was willing to pay it. Not because she had any love for Selma, quite the opposite in fact. The crown would become a curse for whoever wore it. Recognized as the true leader of the country; not wearing it would mean that you could lose legitimacy at any point, but wearing it would mean that people could steal it from you. Celeste smiled politely as Selma took it and put it on her head. A halo sprang up behind her, shining brightly as all the gods acknowledged her as the true leader of A''kastin. It wasn''t long before metal armour rustling could be heard against the newly minted cobblestone. Celeste instinctively repaired the stone. She didn''t have to spend Energy to use her power Faultless Repair, which had quite a wide range now. Celeste could recognize the person wearing the armour from their steps. That, and there was only really one person she had seen wear full-plate armour in Marcusburg. Marcel, the Purple Ilsher, and apparently the greatest strategist among all the drows, stepped inside. However, the moment he found himself in the presence of Selma Kingborn, the drow knelt. The heavy sound of armour hitting the ground echoed through the sparsely furnished building. Celeste could swear that she heard Selma''s jaw hit the floor a second later. "Valsharess, what is the meaning of this?" The Purple Ilsher spit between his teeth as if the words stung. "Valsharess... that is a new word. What is it you normally call me? Rivvil?" She asked, just as confused as Celeste was, though Selma was clearly basking in her power. The sound of the stone breaking underneath Marcel was audible as he struggled against an invisible force. No matter how much he struggled, he was forced into the kneeling position. Just to spite the arrogant drow, Celeste made sure to fix the ground underneath him. "It is not appropriate for me to educate you on simple matters, Valsharess" The Purple Ilsher said, still struggling to break free from the bonds that held him. The sound of heavy boots hammering against the ground could be heard not far from the council''s hall, and Marcel''s look of frustration was quickly replaced with one of terror. "Please! My Queen, do not make me beg. Let me rise, before the dwarf can-" He was cut off by roaring laughter as ¨¹lwrick entered the room. The dwarf had pulled the axe and hammer from his belt, clearly ready to fight, and his face had a massive grin as if he was delighted to fight something. However, he did not drop to his knees like Marcel, but he grew tense when he saw the drow on his knees. Had he been expecting a fight without knowing what was happening in here? Something must be wrong. Celeste should do something, but she felt exhausted and let the farce continue. "Who did this to you? Where is the enemy?" ¨¹lwrick said with complete sincerity. Clearly, believing that the only way that the drow would be brought to his knees was through combat. Selma had an almost predatory smile on her lips as she cleared her throat. Instead of addressing ¨¹lwrick she instead focused on Marcel. "Please, my advisor and trusted ally, rise." Her words seemed kind, but it was clearly a display of her power. Marcel shot up from the floor. The power that he had been straining against just moments ago lifted. His face was purple, and Celeste was sure that he had to make last-moment adjustments to his body to prevent him from shooting through the roof of the building. ¨¹lwrick''s jaw dropped, and his attention slowly turned to Selma. "Lass, did you do something stupid?" His voice was stern and hesitant, and Celeste couldn''t help but notice the complete lack of mirth that had been there just moments ago. She would have thought that the dwarf would have been happy to see his rival humiliated in such a way. Mayor Kingborn shook her head. "I have not. The Traveller granted me this gift." She pointed to her head, where the crown was shinning brightly, and it was like ¨¹lwrick had only now discovered the halo radiating from her. "What is that?" He asked, eyes piercing. Selma was nothing but joy. "It is my birthright. My divine recognition. Every god in existence now acknowledges me as the true ruler of this land, " she said, and Marcel''s gasp made everything click for Celeste. She felt rather stupid for not putting the pieces together before. Why Marcel had been forced to kneel while ¨¹lwrick could remain standing. The Purple Ilsher was part of Daikia''s pantheon. What had Mordekai called them when she met him the first time around? She could swear that she almost had a flashback as the game was happy to provide the information. Apparently, she had passed some kind of hidden stat check.
"[...]Each of her children has been bestowed a gift of the divine, for she has been blessed by darkness itself. Now you understand that my power is not that of a demi-god, but that of a demi-ur-god.[...]"
The Ilshers gained power through Daikia and were forced to uphold their mother''s commitments. ¨¹lwrick, on the other hand, did not have any Divine Domains, and his power came from his weapons. Celeste was reasonably sure that the closer someone was to a god, the more the crown compelled them to acknowledge them as the rightful ruler of A''kastin and act accordingly. ¨¹lwrick looked concerned, but recognizing that the power dynamic had changed, so he didn''t say anything. "Now, my loyal advisor, why did you come to check up on me?" She asked Marcel, and judging by the Purple Ilsher''s facial expression, Celeste would be surprised if Selma lived through the week. The crown was already doing its job. "A massive crystal structure was seen in the lands where the orks are from. As the ruler of this land, I planned on holding you accountable for this development, Valsharess," He said through clenched teeth. However, this time, it was clearly to bite back any inappropriate words. Selma paused and looked at the two advisors, and things seemed to click for her as well. "Where is Esselaia?" She asked, noticing the one person lacking from the council. Before anyone could speak up, a cry came from the town guard outside the council hall. Only one word seemed to carry on the wind as more cries joined the first. "DRAGONS!" Chapter 53: Esselaias Ascend Hurrying outside, Celeste regretted that she was almost out of Energy. As she stepped out of the council hall, she saw the massive shadow of a dragon flying overhead. She wasn''t fast enough to spot its colours. However, she felt that the people in the town were overreacting. After all, Jasper had modelled the dragons on divine virtues. While Jasper had expected some of them to be corrupted, she hadn''t heard that any of them should have turned evil. The ground shook, and trees were pulverised in the distance as something massive made its way through the forest without a care for what was in the way. Selma followed Celeste, and as she stepped out of the council hall, her halo blazed even in the early afternoon sun. Celeste looked around at all the people who were much healthier but clearly still hungry. She wished she could help them more, but she had done what she could... or had she? The Architect of Reality sighed and committed two more Impact to keep the people living in Marcusburg in perfect health. She liked the idea of the starting zone having a place where people could be fully healed.
Impact 0/7
With that done, she sighed and nodded. She was almost out of resources now. Even so, she needed to see what the commotion was about. If the dragons had come to defeat Orlek, things might not be as complicated as she thought. Moving through the woods, she could hear Selma command her people behind her. At the same time, Marcel and ¨¹lwrick quickly followed in Celeste''s wake. The drow and dwarf could easily follow the goddess despite her Journeying Domain. That was a little concerning. Finally, a goblin''s screams could be heard through the woods. "I GOTS HIM! I GOTS HIM!" The voice was shrill, and Celeste swore that she could hear the goblin''s jubilant glee. Which one it was, she wasn''t sure. "SPIF PINNED THE DRAGON! SPIF MIGHTY WARRIOR!" Another voice exclaimed as Celeste entered the clearing with the Tree of Life. The chaos was intense to the point that Celeste instinctively tried to pause time to get an idea of what was going on.
Health 40/40
Energy 1/7
It was a simple miracle, but it still took one of her Energy. It wasn''t as obvious a display of divine might as one of her powers since she couldn''t move either, even despite the passive ability of the Time Domain. However, she could get an overview of what was going on. The first thing she noted was that there were seven dragons present. She knew that it was every dragon that Jasper had created, and as such, they must have been gathered here for a reason. Most of them were flying. However, one without wings was standing in the middle of the clearing. It was the size of a city block. Two small goblins were hanging from it, clearly trying to choke the beast. The dragon was not concerned at all. It didn''t appear angry, rather self-restrained and... That had to be the dragon of temperance. Otherwise, it wouldn''t let the goblins crawl all over it. Celeste turned her attention to the Tree of Life. Its roots had crystalized, and so had its leaves. It was like the tree was made from pure diamond. However, it couldn''t be any kind of gemstone, as the bright blue leaves seemed to buzz with Energy. The leaves seemed to be falling from the tree. Celeste had no idea how fast they were falling, but they clearly fell with a purpose. Swirling around the long-limbed figure in the middle of the chaos. She was levitating about two meters off the ground, leaves apparently spinning around her, but it was hard to see due to the lack of movement in the frozen time. Esselaia seemed to be beaming with untold Energy beyond anything that a mortal body could contain. Every dragon, even the one with Spif and Spaf hanging onto its neck, was staring at Esselaia, bowing their heads ever so slightly. At the same time, a soft glow appeared in their chests as if they were lending the elf the divine power that Jasper had granted them. Celeste was unsure what she should do. It seemed like Esselaia was stealing the dragons from Jasper, but they didn''t look like they were being forced to help her.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. In reality, with only one Energy, Celeste didn''t have a choice. She couldn''t interfere any further, not if she wanted to be able to fight afterwards. She could kill Esselaia or one of the dragons, but that could lead to an explosion. It would be big enough to create a new land like Leltho. The goddess was still dedicating Energy to using time as a weapon. She could remove that dedication, but that would leave her without a weapon... or a magical weapon at the very least, as she could construct something on the fly. Time slowly started to pick back up in speed, and it was like watching the world move in slow motion, slowly spinning up. The leaves started to swirl around Esselaia, moving so fast that they appeared as a solid ring of crackling blue Energy around the elf. At the same time, pulses of power seemed to erupt from each dragon, pushing any Energy trying to escape the clearing back into the hovering mortal. None of this was helped by the screaming nonsense from the goblins. Even when she fully understood the situation, the chaos seemed total, and Celeste recognized the feeling of stepping into a completely chaotic environment. She had experienced it once before when she had to substitute for a Kindergarten class, and the feeling was uncannily similar. Like then, Celeste had no real idea how to gain control over the situation, but the difference was that now, it wasn''t really her problem. The goddess quickly moved over and grabbed Spif and Spaf. After all, the goblins would only worsen things if they were in the middle of things. Thanks to her enhanced dexterity, moving up the back of the massive drake was incredibly easy, and she quickly scooped up the two goblins. The Dragon of Temperance gave her a grateful look but didn''t say anything as she pulled the goblins away. Celeste just took everything in as she was joined by the army of humans led by Selma. The pulsating nature of the Energy seemed to continue, and it was only when the two goblins started to struggle in Celeste''s arms that she realised that she was still carrying them. She let them go with an embarrassed smile, hoping she hadn''t offended them too much. "GREAT WARRIOR BE HERE!" One of them said. "WE WIN! WE WIN!" The other chanted. The world had reached equilibrium, wrapping itself around the building divine Energy. Celeste could swear she heard the veils that The Scribe had set up strain against the ascending god. Selma looked nervously from her advisors to Esselaia to Celeste. Celeste settled down, determined not to intervene unless she had to. She didn''t have the power to spare, and she thought that it might be somebody else''s turn to try to defend the land. Energy kept streaming into Esselaia. Before long, light started to appear from the heavens. Seven bands of multicoloured light slowly moved down, wrapping around the elf. The dragons snarled at the light, but they were so busy focusing the divine power back at Esselaia that they couldn''t intervene further. "OOOOH! Pretty! Me want!" One of the goblins said, and Celeste looked down at it with a look that made the tiny green creature back off. The seven veils seemed to try to pull Esselaia into the sky, but crystal-like tree roots shot up from the ground and started to pull the elf down. The two powers reached a stalemate, and time marched on. The goblins quickly grew bored and hurried to their burrows to play around. Thanks to her Time Domain, Celeste could tell that seven hours had passed when things finally changed. It was around midnight when the world seemed to erupt. The ring of leaves narrowed in on Esselaia while the roots were absorbed into her body. The elf tried to contain the Energy while the dragons forced any that escaped to occupy her body. Reality itself shuttered under the weight, as cracks like the one Orlek had created started to appear all around the clearing. The world was trying to contain the newly born divinity, and it was being torn apart. None of the others seemed to try to stop this, but Esselaia couldn''t be allowed to remain in this world. Celeste noticed that the dragons seemed to contain the cracks in reality and the Energy, which was good, but it was not sustainable. The goddess felt powerless to stop this as massive dragon wings spread from Esselaia''s back, and the elements seemed to shift around her. Celeste had no choice. She took a deep breath, then let go of her dedication to Withering Hour. Then, she spent one Energy to access the power ''The Hour of Need'', and her last Energy was spent activating the power. Celeste knew only one person who might be able to help her contain a god. She called upon The Scribe. Thanks to the synergy between her Time Domain and Journeying Domain, the power manifested as a portal. It opened behind Celeste, and the sound of combat could be heard through it. The goddess didn''t look back at the portal. Her focus was completely on Esselaia. But she did call back to the old man she knew was waiting on the other side of the portal. "ERIK! We have a new god, and the veils between planes are not strong enough to segregate her. I need you to give her the last push." The cloaked goddess said. To her surprise, it wasn''t the old man that answered her call. From the portal stepped a woman dressed in tattered clothes, covered with dust. The dust itself was strange. As she stepped into A''kastin it seemed to almost try to ignite the air with how much power was contained in every grain of it. The dust was even packed into The Scribe''s red hair so tightly that it seemed to burst into bright purple flames. Celeste was sure that Jasper would have pondered the nature of power exchange and how fascinating it was that The Scribe''s red hair wasn''t burning while still technically on fire. Celeste didn''t. She was just surprised to see Jasmine. The former street rat turned apprentice had clearly grown up, but the goddess recognised her all the same. She even recognised the look on her face. She had seen it before. The very first day, she met Jasmine. The day the little orphan had threatened her with a knife if she dared hurt the ones she loved. Jasmine didn''t spare Celeste more than a look, yet the goddess could see pain, anger, fear and joy mixed into a weird ball of emotion in those eyes. Then, the moment passed, and Jasmine charged forward. Chapter 54: The Scribe Vs seven Elder Dragons The crackling power surrounding Jasmine seemed to make the world echo with power. As she stepped forward, the seven strands from the heavens, each in a unique colour, grew taught, trying to force Esselaia to ascend with even more force than before. The seven dragons turned their attention towards Jasmine. Celeste wished she could protect the chosen, but she was out of Energy. Jasmine struck at Esselaia, but instead of hitting her directly, The Scribe hit the red veil that bound the elf. The veil strengthened, and Jasmine''s shabby outfit went from a dusty, off-colour white to proud red. A note also seemed to ring from the veil, and Celeste couldn''t help but think of it as a string on an instrument, with the heavens on one side and Esselaia on the other. One of the dragons, its scales like mithril, tried to move to interfere with Jasmine. However, The Scribe quickly threw out a hand and the red veil sprang forth, tying itself around the offending dragon, connecting the virtuous beast to the goddess and the celestial realm. The veil resonated once more, this time much louder like the world itself had become an amplifier for an instrument beyond this very plane. All the dragons, except the bound mithril dragon, seemed to move simultaneously. Breath weapons pouring from them, targeting the interloper. Instead of throwing up a barrier, Jasmine plucked the green veil, and as it tightened and resonated, the breath weapons died mid-air. As the power dispersed, another note rang out, this one with a slightly higher pitch than the first. The green veil was tied to the Adamantine drake that the goblins had been crawling on, locking it in place. Seeing how their special weapons had been disrupted, the other dragons moved in for close combat. However, abandoning their posts meant they could no longer help Esselaia contain the Energy, and slowly the veils started to pull her into the sky. Jasmine''s outfit had shifted to a red and green mix, the colours seemingly dancing across her clothes. The Scribe was focused on strengthening the veils. She couldn''t put up a fight against five unbound dragons. However, she managed to dodge one attack from a dragon in a coppery colour, which was followed up by a bite from a bronze dragon that Jasmine barely managed to move underneath. One of the dragons seemed to hold back, slowly strafing around The Scribe before it pounced. The scales were red, while still metallic, and Jasmine didn''t have time to react. She had been blocked in, and the beast was faster than anything Celeste had ever seen. The dragon hit Jasmine, tearing off her arm and making the woman with bright, burning hair scream in pain. It would have been a lethal hit had it not been for Jasmine''s ability to dodge and defend herself. It was clear that Jasmine would lose if Celeste didn''t help. But the goddess couldn''t. She hadn''t picked abilities that lend themselves well to combat, and she was out of Energy. She could try and throw herself at the dragons. However, would mortal weapons even work against dragons? More importantly, why were the dragons trying to contain Esselaia on this plane? Celeste didn''t get her answer before another dragon, this one bright silver, that seemed almost polished to a mirror shine, got close to Jasmine, ready to end everything. The Scribe couldn''t dodge five elder dragons at once. And in that moment, The Scribe saw her own demise as the Silver dragon''s claw threatened to slice her to pieces. The massive claw was stopped mid-strike by a heavy hammer that thrummed with power and pushed back by the axe that quickly followed. "The Scribe is protected by all!" ¨¹lwrick''s voice was strained as he struggled against the attack from the dragon, though he was gaining ground. His weapons and armour seemed to glow, but to a skilled crafter like Celeste, she could see the thousands of tiny runes all carved on the dwarf''s equipment, infusing the wielder with untold power. With a monumental groan of effort, ¨¹lwrick pushed back the silver dragon and started to battle it in a one-on-one duel. The dragon was fast, but it might as well have tried to outmanoeuvre a rock since no matter where it tried to hit, the dwarf was armoured and ready for the attack. ¨¹lwrick had given Jasmine space to breathe. She was clearly losing a lot of blood from her wound, but a golden dragon quickly followed up before she could address it. Its body was lithe and small compared to its fellows, and Celeste could swear she had seen it before. It was still going towards the bleeding Jasmine, trying to stop her from sealing away Esselaia. "Guards! Seize that dragon!" The voice was commanding, and Celeste could feel divine power in the words as the purple Ilsher invoked his Domain. As the goddess of travel and journeys, Celeste felt the teleportation magic, as figures appeared all around the trees. In a blink, an army of drows seemed to slip from the forest around them. They weren''t quick enough, and the golden dragon quickly wrapped itself around Jasmine. Sharp fangs were poised to strike and end the forced accession. "ME GOT HIM!" The scream could be heard over the sound of battle as one of the goblins jumped from one of the branches on the Tree of Life.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Spif had clearly been sneaking up on the battle for quite some time, and if Spif was here, Spaf wasn''t far behind. Just as expected, the other goblin jumped from the tree''s roots, grabbing hold of the gold dragon''s tail. Spif clung to the dragon''s face, hammering against it with tiny green fists, while Spaf tried to unwrap the tail. The dragon flicked its head, sending the little green bugger flying into the air. The goblin did a couple of cartwheels mid-air before falling downward to the golden dragon''s open and waiting maw. Spaf screamed, but there was nothing they could do. The dragon''s jaws closed, slamming around Spif''s head. As the bite came down, the world froze. Not in the ''What is going on''-kind of freeze, and even Celeste was powerless to move. She recognized the feeling. It was just like when Jasper opened the Magic Domain for the first time. Something had happened to the AI, some kind of bug that it had to resolve. Then, as soon as it had happened, the world continued. Neither Spif nor Spaf seemed hurt as the tiny goblin wriggled itself from the golden dragon''s mouth. The golden dragon looked just as confused as Celeste felt, but Spaf had pulled on the virtuous beast''s tail enough that Jasmine could slip free. The Scribe used her one arm to pluck the violet veil, which called out a note and wrapped itself around the golden dragon. Jasmine''s outfit changing to include the new colour, as she moved much slower. Blood streaming down her side, mixing with the red of her outfit. Celeste realized that she was being an idiot. She literally had the power to heal, and she hadn''t moved to help Jasmine. Even without any divine Energy, Celeste still had her power Flesh Made True. Text from Image: Flesh Made True Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You are able to cure a target''s maimings, blindings, poisons, mutilations, and birth defects by simply looking at them. This does not restore any HP. Jasmine''s arm instantly regenerated. Appearing from her stump as it grew rapidly, leaving no scar or marks from the lethal wound. The power didn''t heal, but the ease on Jasmine''s face was obvious, even as she was still exhausted from the massive amount of blood she had lost. The drows soon swarmed in, starting to hold the dragons off, and with a yell, the sound of Selma''s army could be heard. The Mayor wearing the crown with pride as she charged in with her people, all trying to hold back the dragons. Marcel called out orders, directing the battle. Despite none of the mortals being able to harm the elder dragons, the dragons were driven back, thanks to the ferocity of ¨¹lwrick, the charisma of Selma Kingborn, and the strategic prowess of Marcel the Purple Ilsher. Marcel''s words woke something in the people he was directing, and even Selma''s fighters followed the drow''s orders. They stood a bit taller and fought a little harder when they did. Jasmine''s dodging and weaving had turned into stumbling as she went from dragon to dragon, barely able to walk. The humans and drows functionally pinned the dragons before The Scribe could bind them with a veil. She was exhausted and had lost a lot of blood, but Celeste wasn''t worried for her. The Architect of Reality was the commander of the Death Domain, and her power, Withholding the Mercy, ensured that nobody could die unless she said so. Even so, if Jasmine fell, nobody could end this fight, meaning that Celeste would be forced to retreat or perish. Text from Image: Withholding the Mercy Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Those reduced to zero hit dice or hit points within 200 meters of you automatically stabilize or die as you wish. If you desire it, willing living creatures at zero HD or hit points around you may continue to act for as many rounds as you have Ranks before they unavoidably fall dead. It was, without a doubt, a powerful ability, but it couldn''t have saved the day on its own. Another note rang out, and Jasmine''s outfit got a blue colour mixed in with all its other colours. Celeste couldn''t help but wonder why the veils rang like that. It sounded like they were part of some musical scale. But that was usually an octave, wasn''t it? An octave had to mean eight, and there were only seven veils. Something must be... Celeste felt like an idiot. She didn''t play an instrument, but she had attended a couple of music theory lessons while attending her normal college. She remembered that an octave was bookended by the same note, essentially making it seven unique notes in total. Another dragon was bound, and Celeste had to dodge a wild-breathe weapon that threatened to crisp her. Jasmine didn''t have the stamina to call upon the defensive powers of the veils any more, but almost every one of the dragons had been restrained at this point. It wasn''t long before the last one was tied up, leaving them struggling against the supernatural bonds. As the last dragon was tied up, Esselaia was finally forced to ascend. A pulse of divine Energy poured from her body, splintering the roots of the Tree of Life, and she was flung to a new plane that was created to her liking. Celeste hoped that the elf would be a kind god. She wouldn''t want to have another enemy. A new symbol formed around Jasmine''s hip. It looked like a snake eating its own tail, and in the middle of it was a representation of the four elements. It didn''t take a genius to guess that Esselaia was connected to dragons and the elements. A lot of mortals had been knocked out and down. However, thanks to Celeste''s power, none of them were killed. Even so, when they were in dire need of healing, something that Celeste couldn''t give them. However, if they were brought back to town, the Impact she had dedicated would be able to restore them. However, getting them back to town would have them tracking outside of Celeste''s range. The obvious choice was to follow them back, but the goddess couldn''t leave the dragons behind. Doing so would mean she wouldn''t hear why they had attacked the world. With a sigh, she patched up as many mortals as she could. However, it was without using any magic, simply bandaging and treating them. Once she was done, she sighed again and sent them off. Selma, ¨¹lwrick, and Marcel did not say anything. Instead, they just followed the armies back to Marcusburg. There would be losses, but not as great as they should have been. With that out the way, Celeste turned her attention to the dragons. Chapter 55: Dragon Betrayal The dragons were subdued. Their bodies bound and restrained by the veils. Celeste looked at them, none of them struggled at this point. The goddess quickly dismissed the two goblins, sending them to check on the tree, which actually needed protectors at this point, since it was infused with crystalized Mana. Celeste had to investigate how something like that had happened with no warning, but she was willing to bet it had something to do with the dragons. Jasmine slowly sat down on a log that seemed only slightly singed from the battle. She didn''t look at Celeste, and the goddess knew that there probably was some kind of unresolved issue between them. But Jasmine simply didn''t have the spirit to take a social confrontation right after fighting for her life, and with less blood in her body than what was probably healthy. Celeste turned her attention to the dragons, thinking that she might be able to get some information from them. Moving over to the adamantine drake she stood in front of its snout. It was massive. Its mouth alone was as tall as she was, and she could see bits of amour from some of the human armies. Celeste knew that nobody had died, she hadn''t allowed it, but had she not been here, they would have passed. "I am Armandos." She said softly, and instantly every pair of draconic eyes shifted to her... except for the golden dragons which suddenly exuded a smug aura. "Some call me the god of gods. Some call me the Architect of Reality. I know that you call my other half Father. Why did you go against the mortals, if you knew that it was against the will of your creator?" She asked softly. The rumble from the adamantine dragon seemed to echo through the ground itself. And as it spoke the veil that had tied it up gave off that one singular note, like a bow moving over a single string on a violin. "We are not obedient dogs that follow the wishes of our creator. We are the protectors of this world. We are the virtues of mortals. Why did you stop the world from healing?" The dragon asked, and Celeste could almost feel the pins and needles in her hands and feet from the vibrations of those words. "Stop the world from healing? A god walking on this plane can lead to nothing but destruction." Celeste said, and a hiss from the dragons as a whole could be heard. As every single one of them hissed, it was like an orchestra tuning their instruments, as the veils vibrated. "You do not understand then" The adamantine dragon said. "You have fallen, and no longer do what is best for the world." Celeste took a breath. She was making enemies of what was supposed to be friends. "Why don''t you start from the beginning. Why did you come here?" She asked, trying to make sense of things. This time is was a copper dragon that spoke. Its voice wasn''t as deep as the massive adamantine drake, but it was still big enough to swallow Celeste whole. "We sensed something that was our anthema. Our direct opposite. A creature filled with lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, and pride. We came to restrain and annihilate it." Celeste paused, her mind going through who or what might be the cause of these emotions. There was only one creature that she was aware of that could even begin to fill that description. "I believe that was Orlek. He manifested himself in this world a little over a day ago. Though I did not sense any lust from him... however, he is the only ork I have thought of having a gender." The copper dragon seemed to wince a little at the mention of the sin. Celeste knew that it was probably afraid of it in some way. The redish dragon was the next to speak, its maw barely restrained by the veil, but even so, it didn''t seem to fight. "We did not find the target that caused our very existence grief. However, we did find this tree. Its leaves crystalized mana and its roots slowly digging deeper into the earth. However, underneath it we found the elven woman." Celeste looked at the dragon. It didn''t take a genius to know that they were talking about Esselaia. However, it was a surprise that the dragons weren''t the ones responsible for what had happened to the tree. Was it a bug then? The game had been a little weird around the goblins, maybe this was related. The platinum dragon continued, and The goddess listened. "She was tending to the tree, while the green children were running all over it, both of them claiming responsibility for what had happened to it. However, the elf saw something that the young ones did not. She saw that the tree was a gift. A sign. That she could ascend to the heavens. That she could become a god. In that tree was more magic than we have ever seen in our lifetimes." That made sense. The dragons were relatively young. Only a hundred years... almost to the day in fact. The incredibly shiny dragon spoke next. Its body almost cocooned in the veil. "We were hesitant at first. Curious to what she would do with such power. However, she claimed she wanted to be a goddess of the elements and of pacifism. We asked her to accept a soul oath from us, and in exchange she would become the goddess of dragons and we would help her. What better goddess of dragons than one who knew our strength, but also had the dedication not to use violence." Celeste couldn''t help but wonder. Was this the game regulating itself? A goddess of pacifism would be the exact opposite to Orlek. With Orlek being the antithesis of the dragons, it would also make sense to have them pledge their loyalty his counterpart. But why had the dragon tried to keep her on Kalish? The golden dragon was the next to speak. Celeste realizing that it had been the dragon that had joined her in the orphanage during the last iteration.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "We poured our will into the goddess and we saw what she could do. Her power was overwhelming, so we contained it to ensure that the world would come to no harm, but we also understood that if she could remain on this plane for just a day, the world would know peace." Celeste was starting to see where this was going. Martin, Jasper and she wanted different things than what the world wanted. They needed a world of conflict and inequality. Playing in a world that was inherently peaceful would not make sense, or at least, Celeste assumed that it wouldn''t. A bronze dragon spoke next. "So you see, we were defending what might be the peace of the realm, while you fought for conflict and misery. You fight to stop the world from healing itself. We see what you cannot or what you refuse, we know our creator to be of a good heart, and yet here you are, invoking the same name as him, and you stand with the side of war." Celeste sighed a little. She felt like she had been scolded by her students. It was a strange feeling, but she also knew that what they said was true. They couldn''t allow the gods to stay in this world. Even with the seven elder dragons containing the power of the goddess to ensure that the world would not shatter, things would not make a good game. Esselaia could probably be used to enforce that there would be no PvP in the game, but stopping all conflicts during world creation wouldn''t lead to anything positive. How could Celeste explain this to the dragons without sounding like she wanted nothing but war? The goddess opened her mouth and slowly started to talk. Hoping that she could convince the dragons that their logic was flawed in some way. "You are all ignoring the fundamental nature of free will. If you enforce peace, damming all to live a life of virtue, then that is not a virtue. Good does not exist without evil. You would essentially condemn all to a life of pain and misery, as peace will no longer be something that is celebrated. Free will for all is what matters. That is why the mind control prevention rune exists. So rejoice in the nature of your virtue, and welcome those that embrace, but do not force it on the people that cannot see its merit." Celeste wasn''t sure if she believed what she was saying. It had the air of the religious arguments that she had heard before. That god could not intervene with mortal affairs as it would tramble over free will. It felt wrong in some way to parrot that kind of logic, when she knew full well that wasn''t the reason why she was making this argument. The goddess could feel her existential dread slowly start to set in, as she couldn''t help but draw parallels to the real world. The dragons still snarled. Their lips curled back and their fangs showing. It was clear that they had not been convinced that letting people run free was the best cause of action. Celeste sighed and looked to Jasmine. The Scribe was barely staying awake, and the goddess couldn''t blame her. She was tired too. Dawn was starting to colour the sky a bright pink, and none of them had gotten any sleep. Having not travelled much and enjoying the benefit of her Journey Domain, Celeste''s body was screaming for her to take nap. Text from Image:
You have prevented world peace! It t akes a special kind of person to put work above bettering the world. Congratulations! You are that kind of person! You have ensured that peace is not an option. You gain 10 worship.
10 Worship was a massive gain. But then again, she hadn''t received any while travelling. She was probably slightly behind the curve but there was no telling at this point. What was more important was that she regained her Energy with the dawn.
Health 40/40
Energy 7/7
She dedicated one of her Energy to use Time as a weapon once more. It made her feel much more comfortable to have something that could actually do to harm the dragons before her. Text from Image:
Withering Hour Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Committed Full effect: As long as Energy has been committed, you may use time as a weapon. How this manifest is dependent on the target. The attacks have a range of 200 meters and bypass any damage resistance. Even immortals will find themselves withering away under your attacks. This deals 1d20 damage per hit.
Next she went over to Jasmine and spent one Energy to perform a Health miracle, restoring Jasmine completely. Celeste also restored her outfit, which returned into to its dull colours.
Health 40/40
Energy 5/7
Jasmine still looked exhausted. Her exhaustion was deeper than something physical that Celeste could mend. The goddess considered taking the Passion Domain next time, just so she could help heal people''s emotion. Her attention then turned back to the dragons. With her powers restored she looked at Jasmine and gave her a nod. WIth a relieved look on her face, Jasmine released the veils and the dragons scrambled to their feet. The chorus of hisses from the dragons only increased as they acted much in the same way that cats did. Really big cats. That could spew various flavours of elemental death. "What is done is done. You can believe me or ignore me. It does not matter. The plane of mortals belong to mortals. That is why we are only here for a limited time and only to clean up the mess that other gods make." It was another lie, but Celeste could not justify why she should be allowed to roam the world when the other gods were not allowed, beyond that she was supposed to fix the game, something that she hadn''t really been doing that much. The dragons paused for a moment, looking between each other and considering if they should attack Celeste and Jasmine. However it was obvious that the power dynamic had shifted. Each of them quickly took flight, while the adamantine drake power through the forest, leaving a trail of destruction before it vanished. Celeste didn''t detect any teleportation shenanigans so she assumed that it had changed its shape. She sighed and looked at Jasmine. "Do you want to talk?" Jasmine shook her head. "I would like to sleep." Celeste nodded. She could get behind that, and in the early rays of the dawn, The Traveller and The Scribe took a well earned nap on the forest floor. Chapter 56: The starting zone [Includes Poll] When Celeste woke again, it was midday. The sun was doing its darndest to keep her from snoozing any more, and it was winning. The goddess slowly sat up and sighed, looking at Jasmine, still sleeping. Celeste couldn''t help but wonder when Erik had passed away. She knew that The Scribe was a heredical title, but she had honestly expected Erik to be the one who showed up. The Architect of Reality had a lot to process, but she would have plenty of time to rationalize things when she got out of the game. Everything was too real here. It was like she couldn''t distinguish between who was a player and who was just a program. She stood up, dusting herself off for a moment, before realizing that reconstructing her entire outfit was easier than trying to get clean. With a quick flash of divine power, Celeste cleaned up and decided to check if Jasmine was still alive. The Scribe was absolutely alive, after all, Celeste could feel it if she wasn''t, but the woman still looked like she had been hit by a bus. She was tired beyond tired, but she didn''t look harmed. Jasmine slowly opened her eyes when she felt Celeste''s gaze on her. It seemed that she had been awake for some time, trying to fall back asleep, but the sun ensured that the Prismatic Initiate wouldn''t be getting any more rest. Beyond that, Jasmine''s hair wasn''t on fire anymore, which Celeste considered a positive. The mana in the dust had clearly burned out. "We don''t have to talk if you don''t want to talk. But I am sorry that we left you." Celeste said, taking a moment to think through her words. Jasmine didn''t respond, but she clearly heard what Celeste had said. The goddess decided to continue. "We won''t be around for much longer. A day or two at most. I broke my own rules to bring you here, and I am not sure how I feel about that, but you saved the world... again. For that, I am thankful. For now, I need to send you back." Celeste said. Standing over Jasmine, Celeste offered her hand to help The Scribe to get up. Jasmine paused momentarily, looking at the hand, before getting up on her own. Celeste nodded and decided that if Jasmine wasn''t in the mood for talking, then there was nothing else to say. She invoked her Journey and Time domains, trying to perform a minor miracle of teleportation. The goddess could feel the world strain against her power. She was just teleporting a single person, a person who did not resist, and yet, she had to spend 3 Energy just to perform this minor miracle. It was interesting that despite her rules, she could still teleport people. It made sense to some degree. Gods were expected to break the natural laws, and Celeste implementing a teleportation ban through the world, would simply mean it would be expensive. That being the case, teleportation was extraordinarily hard to perform. Celeste was sure no mortal would ever achieve it, especially not for large groups. However, having 3 Energy to spare, The Ruler of Entropy still managed it. In a flash of bright multicoloured light, Jasmine disappeared, sent back to wherever she had been when she had been called. With an empty feeling inside her, Celeste turned her attention to the Tree of Life. She wanted to lay out a timeline, then paused. She didn''t need to do that. She had the Time domain. She could actually relive what had happened here. A quick look through her menus and she found the relevant power. Text from image: Echoes of the Past Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a particular time or known event in the past that occurred at this location and witness it as if you were present. She smiled, dedicating 1 Energy for the day to access the ability and 1 Energy until the next loading screen to use it.
Energy 0/7
The world swirled around her as she suddenly stood over herself, looking down at a version of herself, quickly sealing Orlek in the spirit plane. For a moment, it was like her past self met her own eyes before passing out, unconscious. It was clearly this that had triggered everything in some way, and as her old self slept, the world fast-forwarded. Celeste considered that she might have to apologize to Jasper. Apparently, she did snore. She decided that it was a bug in the game. She watched herself wake up, give the goblins instructions, and move the closed rift in the world into the tree before heading out. Less than an hour later, something happened. The world seemed to shutter as thick mana started to pour into the tree from nowhere. With nothing but a thought, Celeste paused the moment. After all, this was just a vision, and she could pause, reverse and speed it up as she wished. She closely examined the flow, and her initial hunch that this was due to the rift she had anchored in the tree was wrong. No mana was coming from the rift, nor was it going into the rift. This was an outside force. For someone to do something like this would require divine levels of power. This was not something a mortal could ever hope to perform. That boiled the list down quite a bit. In all actuality, there were only two real options for who could have done something like this: Ewen and her husband. This was manipulation of pure magic, and that was well within the domain of a god of magic. Why Ewen would do this was... unknown, and as such Ewen was likely not the culprit. However, her husband had probably just vented a ton of magic from some project he was doing and dismissed it. That would mean that the AI would have to find a good spot for it, and it had clearly sensed an opportunity to fix the pantheon in some way. The magic had been dumped here, creating an actual Tree of Life. This was at least Celeste''s assumption. She would have to check once she got out of the game. When the tree had been created, she felt a slight ping of power run through the forest, clearly alerting anyone sensitive to nature''s harmony of the trees arrival. She saw the dragons in the distance, nothing more than a couple of dots in the sky, as Esselaia entered the clearing. The elf seemed to move with an eerie grace that defied all logic. It was like she was floating over the ground as her soft movements never got caught in the underbrush. On closer inspection, Celeste realized that the plants were moving out of her way and bending slightly so as not to touch her. Ewen had the same grace to some degree when he had been mortal. Apparently, elves were just in complete harmony with nature. Esselaia moved over to the tree, and with a gasp, she started to sing. Her song was soft and kind, and it was only now that Celeste realized the tree had not been unharmed by the influx of mana. The mana had been focused on the tree''s crown and roots, essentially creating a massive mana magnet.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. That also meant the tree was tearing itself apart, leaving thin cracks in the trunk. Esselaia seemed to be healing these cracks, drawing the connections between crown and root, ensuring that the tree could live. The goddess of time could feel how thankful the tree was, how grateful it was, and as Esselaia had healed it, it gave her power. It didn''t take long before Esselaia sat down, slowly exchanging her own power with the tree''s power. Soon, the elf''s long hair billowed in an invisible wind, and it became clear that she was heightening her power. The tree was happy to provide from its new power source, and had it not been for the intervention of the dragons, the elf would have ascended then and there. Four of the dragons landed around Esselaia, ready to attack, however one held them back, asking her what she planned to do with this power. From there, it was as the dragons had told. Esselaia claimed she wanted peace in this realm, and the dragons seemed... happy. They offered to help her, in exchange for making a soul oath that she would always stand for peace. Esselaia did so, and they started to contain the power seeping off the elf, and keep her on this plane as she started to achieve godhood. Celeste saw herself, Marcel and ¨¹lwrick arrive at the clearing, and she stopped the vision. She had been here for this part. Things weren''t as clear as she would have liked. She would have to ask Jasper why Esselaia had been able to get power from the tree. Was that what druids did? How was it different from Elementalism. She couldn''t tell. She wasn''t even sure if it really mattered. Whatever the case, she had work to do here. Shaking her head as if she had just woken up from a dream, Celeste groaned a little and moved around the area to try and find Orlek''s axe. She spotted it not that far away. The beastly weapon was still sharp beyond belief, but its divine properties were dormant. With a soft swing, she let it bite into the trunk of the Tree of Life and then spent another Energy to heal the plant. Apparently the vision counted as a loading screen, which was a little misleading, since it essentially made the the power free. She might have to get that one.
Energy 0/7
There was so much to do, and she didn''t have enough resources. She was already low on Energy. Celeste poured her will into binding the axe to the tree and Worship slowly coalesced around her, emulating her wish for it to be stuck in the wood. Text from image: The Axe in the Tree Only those worthy will be able to pull the axe from the tree. A person is worthy if they adhere to all the following criteria:
  • They have been chosen by three or more of the gods.
  • They are not divine themselves.
  • They have chosen to fight against a threat to the world.
Cost: 2 Worship Celeste nodded. She was happy with her work. And she made sure to dedicate her Worship.
Total Worship 69
Spent Worship 59
Remaining Worship 10
Celeste still had a good amount of Worship left. She would still have resources for the next miracle. She needed to ensure that this place had a guardian... or two. The Architect of Reality made her way down to the ork den. The orks must have scattered when they heard the noise up top. Not only that, but Orlek''s attack had killed a lot of orks, literally ripping their spirits from their bodies. Something that not even Celeste could have stopped. In the centre of the amphitheatre, the goddess could see a small shrine. She hadn''t noticed it the first time around because it was an Orkish shrine with a mess of various offerings. However, the two crossed triangles above the small surface showed that it was a shrine for Orlek. Celeste was surprised to see writing around the shrine. It took her a moment to realise that what she was reading was Orlek''s dogma.
???????? ????????, ?????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ???? ????????. ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ?????? ??????????????????, ?????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ????????????. ?? ???????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ?????????? ???? ???????????? ?????? ?? ?????????? ?????? ???????????? ????????????. ?? ???????? ???????????? ???? ?????? ?? ????????????, ?????? ????????. ?????? ???????????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ????????????, ?????? ?????????? ?????????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ?? ??????????. ???? ?????? ??????????, ???????? ??????, ?????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????? ?????????? ?????????????? ???????? ??????. ???????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ??????????????????, ?????????? ?????? ???????? ???????????? ??????. ?????????????? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????? ??????????, ?????? ??????????.
Yeah. That seemed in line with what she had seen from the orks. Celeste should probably take the time to read the dogma for every god, just to know their attitudes to the world. Orlek didn''t seem outright evil. It was simply the ''Might makes right''-mentality taken to a logical and extreme conclusion. It did diminish Celeste''s hope that they might talk things out. After all, Celeste had defeated Orlek... or at least in his perception, she had, and that meant that to not be seen as a weak leader, Celeste had to be defeated in turn. She sighed and finally spotted the goblins she was looking for. They were exceptionally quiet, which should have been her first warning. Like with children, you only really knew if something was wrong if they weren''t making noise. Spif and Spaf were trying to choke each other out. Their hands wrapped around each other''s throats as they groaned. The two of them were obviously testing if they really could die, but judging from the look on their faces, they would pass out at the same time, collapsing on the dirt before getting up and trying again. They were identical, even down to how long they could hold their breath. Celeste just watched as the goblins groaned and collapsed on the floor from trying to choke each other. She wondered if she should say something, but she decided against it. Instead, she focused on genuinely making the two goblins immortal, wanting the guardians of the tree to stick around. Text from Image: Immortal guardian E?R?R?O?R?!? ? 1 Entity found, 2 Entities targeted. Elevating to admin bugfixing list. Effect: You wish to apply the following effects to the creature: Spof.
  • Immortality - If killed, the creature will revive at the Tree of Life at dawn.
  • Eternal youth - The creature will not die of old age and will always be in peak condition.
  • Disease immunity - The creature will die of any illness within 1 day or not be affected at all.
  • Sterile - The creature will not be able to reproduce.
Cost: 4 Worship Celeste paused. There was something weird going on with the two goblins. They were, without a doubt, a bug in some way. For one, neither of them were named Spof. Celeste sighed and still spent the Worship. She had thought of the sterility feature at the last moment. If they were supposed to be immortal, she couldn''t have them replicating. Especially not since she wasn''t sure how goblins replicated. Maybe they grew from fungus or something like that, and she would have essentially created infinite goblins. That wouldn''t do. With that done, she started to make her way back to Marcusburg, aware that it was time for her to pack things up and head out of the game. Even so, she wanted to ensure that she could leave this zone without worrying if everything she had built would collapse. Celeste took her time getting back to Marcusburg. She could have made the trip in an hour or two, but she enjoyed travelling since it counted as a meal and sleep. All thanks to the neat passive feature of her Journeying Domain. It was evening when she reached the town, but she felt much better than when she had woken up. The goddess could hear people with raised voices and arguments flying. Apparently, the citizens of Marcusburg weren''t happy about the drow army invading their city. Walking inside, the Architect of Reality saw that a lot of postings had been created on the noticeboard. Most of the quests were fairly simple: ''Collect 5 boar meat.'' or ''Gather 10 herbs''. The normal quest stuff that she would expect from a starting zone. Since the citizens were hungry and desperate, they had created the perfect starting zone. Selma was arguing with Marcel, and it was clear that the mayor of the town was trying not just to command the drow out and force him to apologise by using the crown. Celeste smiled. Things were perfect. Conflict was brewing, and no matter what, the starting zone would be an interesting experience for any new player. Seeing that her work was done, she logged out. Happy to leave things like this for another 100 years. Chapter 57: Finding the leader of the Heroes Guild. [Includes Poll] Jasper was standing in Kelllwan''s cathedral. A long-haired priest wielding a hammer had a kind smile on his face as he listened to what the mage had to say. The Father of Magic had tried his best to explain how he needed mighty warriors from the church to help protect the world. He was still trying to get the core group of people that would make up the Heroes Guild. He had even tried to preach Kelllwan''s dogma in the hopes that the priest would change his mind.
"P?????? ???? ??????, ???? ????? ???s, ??? ????? ??? ???? ???! Us? ???? ????????s ??? ????, ??? ??????? ???s? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ???. B? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ???????? ?? ?????? ???? ?????, ???? ???? ??? ???s? ?x???? ??. S????? ?? ????s ?? ???? ??? ??s? ??????????? ????s ?? K???s?. A?? ??? s??? ??????? ??s???? ? ?????? ?? ?? s????, ?????????, ??? ?????. A?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??s???? ?? ?? ??????, ????????, ??? ????s???. F???? ???? ???????, ??? ???? ?????!"
It had been no use. The old man had simply shook his head and told him a parable about how one man had spent his life building flood protection, while another had invested his money in his family and prayed to the gods. It had been an infuriating conversation, especially since Kelllwan was probably one of the best gods to have represented in the heroes guild. As Jasper left, something did pop up on his screen. Text from image: Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures 5/5 Your next skill check will be a success. Jasper grinned. He finally had what he needed. A get-out-of-jail-free card. The only problem was that he had to spend it wisely, and it would be his next check. He could just walk back into the church and convince the priest to lend him aid, but doing that would probably fail. While his Luck Domain was powerful, he also knew that the AI didn''t like repetition. He had tried juggling until he messed up just to increase the counter. It had not worked. He had almost felt the frown on the AI''s face when it inspected his actions the first time, and when he had done it a second time, the counter had decreased, bringing him back to 4. Jasper cleared his mind. He needed to find someone that could help him establish a heroes guild. Focusing, he spent a single point of Energy to determine who might be a good option for a guild leader, all thanks to his Knowledge Domain.
Health 47/47
Energy 7/8
Jasper froze slightly in his steps as the knowledge of who to ask flowed into his mind. He frowned a little as the knowledge of a man named Fabian Cremeheart came to his mind. Fabian Cremeheart was one of his old students who had taken up residency in Salezstadt... well, a small town outside of it called Ytruplund. He was old, especially for a human, but somehow, he was still alive. If nothing else, Jasper had to see this man just to catch up. He pulled out some parchment, and as Omniscient Scholar fed the information of where Ytruplund was located into his brain, Jasper made a map to ensure that if Martin ever got to the area, he wouldn''t be lost. He might not get a minimap, but having something to navigate by was nice. The map was relatively sparse. Of course, Jasper could have populated it with all manner of hidden knowledge and forbidden areas, but it was a map to show the major roads along with any major settlements. He headed north, following the road. He took in a deep breath and enjoyed the sights around him. Working with this technology daily meant that much of the magic became incredibly dull to him. However, something about simply strolling through the countryside made things feel almost magical. Jasper sighed as he took in the world around him. The Developer tried to ignore his thoughts, which informed him there were several bugs all around him, the large fields of wheat might be just a bit too large, and the cow pens might have too few cows. Thoughts and ideas flowed into Jasper''s mind as the Knowledge Domain helpfully informed him that there, indeed, were too few cows in the pens. The fact that his Knowledge Domain informed him of this told Jasper that maybe it wasn''t a bug but something the system intended. The God of Magic felt his eyes drawn to the deep furrows in the cow pens. Something was not right, though no explanation came to mind. Jasper sighed and looked around. He could continue towards his former student, but it would be worth looking into if the countryside was being plagued by something. Jasper sighed. He slowly walked over to the pen, and as he got closer, he could see how the pen had been torn apart. Not only were there furrows, but a large barn had clearly been burned to the ground, leaving behind not even coal. The god needed to know what was capable of this, and with a thought, he accessed one of the powers he had not picked from his Knowledge Domain. Text from Image: Irresistible Query Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: For the day. Full effect: Attain knowledge about one topic or element. This power cannot be used more than once on a given topic until the situation changes significantly. It was, without a doubt, a good power. However, not only did it take up Jasper''s Energy for the entire day, which had been a problem when he started, but it was also a greater power from the knowledge domain, requiring two points to buy. Even so, Jasper used it, which drained him of two Energy for the rest of the day.
Health 47/47
Energy 5/8
Instantly, the knowledge poured into Jasper again, something he was becoming used to now. However, he didn''t like what he was being told. This was the work of dragons. Jasper groaned a little as he didn''t get any further information. He sighed, knowing that he would need to spend two more Energy for the rest of the day if he wanted to know why the dragons had attacked this place. Jasper grumbled a little but dedicated the Energy, leaving him with only 3 for the rest of the day.
Health 47/47
Energy 3/8
Once more, knowledge flooded into his mind, and Jasper was suddenly an expert on dragons.
There are seven elder dragons. Nobody knows where these came from, but rumours say they were formed when the gods collided on this plane. As such, most believe this happened at the dawn of time when gods could walk the world freely. The first thing these elder dragons did was create their spawn.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. People believe the dragons were tasked with protecting the city of Salezstadt and could not leave the city. For this reason, they created their children. Each dragon pair created a new child, for a total of 21 dragons. These dragons were a combination of their parents'' virtues. However, the Demon God, Raffael Moordet, has managed to corrupt most of these dragons through trickery. Thanks to their virtuous hearts, the dragons cannot bring themselves to stop their own children. The source of destruction before you was caused by the spawn of Charity and Kindness, who went by the name Graceful Benevolence. However, since the dragon''s downfall, they go by Cruel Avarice.
Jasper felt a headache coming along. He would need to talk with the dragons, and he would need to hurry up if he wanted to do that before his time ran out. Instead of the leisurely walk he had been doing, Jasper spread out his cloak into mighty dragon wings, and he took off with a speed that almost instantly broke the sound barrier. The Father of Dragons would have to cull his grandchildren if they threatened the world. Jasper also knew that he would have to do something about Raffael Moordet. Apparently, he was still making trouble for the world, which was his role, but there was too much chaos, and things would collapse. Jasper was heading towards Ytruplund, but the flight would take some time, even at this speed. He would be there by nightfall as long as he wasn''t attacked. Since Jasper couldn''t grow tired, thanks to his Endurance Domain, he effectively sprinted the entire way. While doing so, he reviewed his options from the last Ur-Magic tier. Text from image: Unbound Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the way of the Unbound Ur-mage, the deepest degree of Ur-magic. You master two spells of this tier as part of this learning, which you do not need to spend Energy to remember. You may learn more as your find them. When casting Ur-magic you may spend a minute to cast the spell without taking any damage. He would need to pick two of these powers, despite knowing that even invoking one of these would threaten to burn down this plane if invoked without some serious protections.
Name Effect
A Heart''s Desire Bring about anything you wish to happen, assuming it is not utterly impossible. The effects may take more or less time to play out depending on the probability and complexity of the request, but events that require only natural chance or the cooperation of lesser foes will automatically happen as you desires. Unfortunately, this meddling with natural law gouges a deep wound in the your fate. At one critical point in a future you will automatically fail a check.
Directed Convulsion of Law The processes of natural law bow to you. Once cast, you can immunize yourself and up to a half-dozen allies from particular natural laws, material objects, or natural phenomena. You could absolve yourself of gravity, for example, and fly or exempt yourself from acknowledging a stone wall and walk through it. This lasts for up to an hour.
Gifts of Spring and Winter Years are taken or added to your age, granting you whatever physical age you choose. The change is permanent and cannot be dispelled, though you age normally afterwards. Unfortunately, this immortality does require a power source to complete the spell. The use of a divine miracle of some appropriate kind, such as Endurance, or Health, or Fertility, could all be used to fuel the spell, as could certain powerful artifacts. Lacking these, human sacrifice will do in a pinch, albeit at a great cost. One human must be sacrificed for every year of your true age to return you to your chosen physical condition, and all these sacrifices must be made during the course of a single casting.
The Grinding Teeth of God You drag the fabric of reality into the teeth of the celestial gears that support it, churning every solid object in the area of effect into a fine powder. The spell affects an area up to thirty meters in diameter centred on a point within the caster¡¯s sight. Living creatures that keep moving can pull away from the grinding gears and suffer only 33% of their max life in damage for each round they remain in the area of effect. Immobile objects are chewed to dust within ten rounds, whereupon the spell ends. Only the very strongest supernatural substances are capable of resisting this spell. If such an artifact or object gets caught in the area of effect, the celestial engines will bind up and shatter.
Legion of Marching Clay You can call up automatons the way lesser sorcerers raise undead husks. This spell conjures golems from clay, stone, wood, metal, or whatever other inanimate material you have convenient. One minion is called up per Rank. These automatons are not normally sentient, but they are intelligent as a human being in executing their duties and are utterly loyal to you or their chosen lieutenants. If made from metal or stone, they are immune to non-magical weapon attacks, and if made from clay or softer substances they can develop individual identities and self-will within the boundaries of their obedience.
Palace of the Sorcerer-Prince With but a single use of this invocation, you call forth a luxuriantly-appointed tower or similar structure, one capable of housing up to a hundred inhabitants in comfort. The palace is appointed with dozens of conjured servitors, concubines, and laborers, albeit none are capable of fighting. The tower is sealed against entry by anyone, save you and your chosen guests. However, siege weapons or powerful magic can break through the walls and steel-hard windows of tinted glass. The tower naturally creates sufficient food, drink, and other common necessities to serve a hundred guests indefinitely. If taken from the tower, however, these amenities crumble away in moments. So too, the servitors, if they are forced to leave its walls. The palace may be dispelled at the caster¡¯s whim. Any foreign objects or persons left within the tower when dispelled will appear on the ground where it once stood. However, the caster¡¯s personal possessions may be left stored within whatever timeless pocket realm the tower goes to when it is dispelled. You may have only one palace standing at any one time.
Summon the Black Iron Servitor You use deep secrets of creation to fabricate a powerful servitor. The creature you create may be formed of any inanimate material you wish or grown from living flesh, and will have twice as many HP as you have Ranks, up to a maximum of 20. It is intelligent, utterly loyal to you, and has three Powers related to its purpose. The creature has 5 points of Energy to fuel them. The servitor is immune to non-magical weapon attacks, and strikes once per round with an attack that always hits and inflicts 1d20 damage. Creating these servitors takes a week of work, and you may not have more than one of them active at any one time.
Virtue of Heavenly Authority The aura of universal kingship clings to you. All lesser foes on the plane will instinctively defer to you as their rightful ruler and will obey in any way they might normally obey a king. Worthy foes are allowed a Spirit saving throw to resist, one which may be repeated after each offensive or unnatural order the caster may give them. The spell lasts for as long as you wish to maintain it. Dispelling effects can free individual subjects, but to end the spell itself it must be dispelled by you. You do become exceptionally vulnerable to the propaganda from rebellion. However, while the spell is in effect, any damage dice rolled against leaders of rebellion made by you automatically do maximum damage.
Jasper swallowed. That was a massive list, and while these spells were powerful, he had actually expected... more. That may be the wrong way of putting it. He had forced himself to access the Virtue of Heavenly Authority when fighting Kelllwan the first time, which was indeed a powerful spell. However, most of the others were surprisingly just utility. They were world-bending powers, such as ''A heart''s desire'', which was essentially just the Wish spell. It was even stronger than Jasper''s Luck Domain, although it did come with a downside. But the Luck Domain wasn''t half as expensive as this spell was. The "Directed Convulsion of Law" seemed incredible though, but it wasn''t really something that would affect the entire plane. It was probably one of the spells he was going to end up picking. "Gifts of Spring and Winter" promised immortality, but Jasper dismissed it. He did not even have to consider it since it wasn''t worth his time. He was already functionally immortal already. Much more interesting was "The Grinding Teeth of God". It was percentile damage to creatures, and it promised to destroy anything within 30 meters of whatever spot he could see. Jasper considered it since it would probably help with some of the toughest bosses around. However, he didn''t like the sound of the engines breaking. That sounded like he would have to do actual backend coding to fix it. "Legion of Marching Clay" was interesting, though. It wasn''t really something that Jasper had been looking for. There was no need to create legions of automatons for him. If he had wanted an army, he would have set up a church. However, "Palace of the Sorcerer-Prince" seemed right in his wheelhouse. It was definitely something that he could use. Jasper would have to go slow and set up appropriate protections, but having a palace whenever he wanted it was nice, and an incredible party trick to pull off. Then there was "Summon the Black Iron Servitor". It was an exciting spell, though probably not one that he would take. Had Jasper had access to this when he met Erik, he probably wouldn''t have forced the old man to live forever. This thing might even be stronger than The Scribe had been initially. However, with hundreds of years of experience, Jasper was pretty sure that his old friend could fight against gods and win. Lastly, there was "Virtue of Heavenly Authority". It was a good power, especially when fighting everyone else, but it was honestly too powerful and not something that he would ever use on this plane. Jasper sighed and picked "Directed Convulsion of Law" and "Palace of the Sorcerer-Prince" just as he landed in Ytruplund. Chapter 58: Donagus Jasper landed with a heavy thud, his body screaming at him as he didn''t really brace for the impact. Thanks to the Endurance Domain, the god wasn''t tired, despite it being in the middle of the night, and he had effectively been sprinting for hours on end. Behind him, his wings transformed into a cloak as he took in the town he had landed in. Ytruplund was a quiet town. It was nestled at the bottom of a large chain of mountains that isolated the Empire from the howling winds of the north. Jasper knew that there were a lot of hidden treasures further north, but that would be something for the players to find and use. That did mean that the view from the town was amazing, with high looming mountains where a couple of flying silhouettes could be seen. The Father of Dragons was sure that the ones he saw in the distance were his grandchildren, but there would be no use in trying to defeat them outright. Instead, he would need to cull them in some way. It would probably be a job for the heroes guild. Maybe slaying a dragon could be part of the initiation ritual. A dangerous quest to truly be considered a hero. Jasper pulled himself from his thoughts. Getting lost in them was becoming much more frequent as his attention drifted more and more. Around him, lights slowly started to appear from small, cosy houses. They weren''t built just to provide shelter, as many of the stacked slum houses had been in Salezstadt. Ytruplund was definitely much better maintained. Underneath Jasper was hard cobblestone roads that provided as smooth a ride as anyone would expect. An aqueduct brought water down from the mountains and gave the town citizens fresh water to collect. The town itself had almost a thousand houses, making it quite big overall. There was a town hall and a church showing the symbols of Ewen and Kelllwan. And all around the town was a dirt mound but no real wall. The sound of people talking gradually became louder as people noticed the stranger standing in the middle of the street. He hadn''t landed with grace, and it had probably woken people up. Jasper didn''t care. He didn''t really have time to rest or talk with people. He would need to find his old student before he was pulled into something else. A quick miracle before sunrise told Jasper that his student owned a small manor just outside of town, which was producing almost 5% of all wine for the Empire.
Health 47/47
Energy 2/8
As the god made his way out towards the border of the city, a squat of guards came running towards him. He noticed their distinct blue and white colours. The crown was proudly displayed on leather badges signifying them as the townguard. He even noted a couple of mages in the back of the squat. All in all, Jasper wasn''t impressed with them. Not only did they seem haggard and kinda overwhelmed, but they also lacked any true cohesion. Jasper assumed that he had just woken them up or pulled them from a night of drinking. He felt a little bad about that. It was a shame that he had to pull them out like this. Jasper froze for a moment. He couldn''t try to talk his way out of this or fight them since that would waste his guaranteed success. It would be like using diplomatic immunity to get out of a parking fine. Instead of talking to them, he manifested a spell, pulling on the school of mentalism. He forced their brains to think they couldn''t see. As Jasper cast the spell, large sections on the houses around him lit up, creating The Hand of Magnus, the rune that he had made so long ago. The spell still went off, but he actually had to put a point of Energy into casting it instead of just allowing it to pour from his hand. It was as expensive as casting an Ur-spell, and yet nowhere near as effective. Jasper grumbled. He would have to consider the fact that using mentalism wasn''t as effective in the empire.
Health 47/47
Energy 1/8
The bright side was that the guards were blinded and were suddenly screaming for help. Maybe that last part wasn''t as positive, but it gave Jasper the option of taking flight once more. From the air, he quickly spotted the house he was looking for. It was a kilometre from the town, located among some very beautiful fields. Underneath Jasper, he could hear people screaming about dragon attacks, and Jasper did his best to ignore them, at least for now. Landing outside his old student''s home, he knocked on the door. Only for a young man, barely out of his teen years, to open the door with a smile. "I will be right there to help with the dra-" The smile seemed to freeze on the man''s face when he saw Jasper.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Jasper didn''t have to be the god of knowledge to know that he didn''t recognize this man. Not only was he younger, but he had the bearing of someone who was used to hard work and not spellcasting. However, the man clearly knew Jasper. The most realistic explanation was that this was Jasper''s old student. Jasper ran through the options:
  • Necromancer - The boy was a lich in disguise.
  • Ur-magic - The boy had used Ur-magic to prolong his life.
  • Mentalism - Transfering a mind from one person to another was technically possible, though dangerous.
Jasper eliminated them one by one. There was no indication that what was standing before him was a dead man in any way. Clearly, it couldn''t be a lich. There wasn''t the sense that this man had any sort of great mana generation that would allow him to cast ur-spells, which left Jasper with one option. To confirm his thoughts, he allowed his eyes to look deeply into the man''s eyes and used A Truth That Burns. Text from image:
A Truth that Burns Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a visible target. Learn the knowledge of them or their plans that they least want you to know. Worthy foes get a Spirit saving throw to resist this subtle inquisition.
Jasper instantly knew what the man didn''t want him to know, and the god felt disgust. Jasper''s former student had been seeking out unfortunate young men who could not pay their bills or support their families, offering them riches beyond anything they could earn in exchange for their bodies. He would then transfer his mind from his old body to this new one and then introduce himself as his own son before becoming a renowned hero for the locals. "I-i am sorry, sir. My father isn''t here." The young boy said, clearly trying to hide his true identity. The god''s eyes felt like they were burning, looking at the wretched soul before him that had been pulled from body to body, all in the hopes of avoiding what was natural. The gust of wind that Jasper produced would have been enough to knock over a cart. He even heard the sound of pottery hitting the ground. The young man''s magical defences sprang up, defending him from taking too much damage, even as he hit the brick wall behind him. The sound of the wall breaking could be heard loudly through the room. "Talk," Jasper said, his anger threatening to boil over. He could take away this man''s knowledge and force him to forget every spell. Leave him a husk, just like he had left Longknife. He would never hurt anyone ever again. However, that would just leave him with no options for guildmaster of the heroes guild. Why had his Knowledge Domain pointed to this filth as a potential guildmaster? As the young lad slowly got up from the fall, Jasper realized how stupid he was. For being the god of knowledge, he really was dumb. Jasper''s student had been willing to throw himself at a dragon with little hesitation. If he had lived for hundreds of years, it was obvious that with that attitude, he would have performed more heroic deeds than most. "You know, I am not going to pretend to be the saviour of these people, but honestly, would you trade one person''s life to save a hundred?" The young man said with a weariness that seemed far too deep-rooted to be natural. He was slowly getting on his feet but wasn''t taking a combat stance. The god of magic knew where the man was going with this. He might remove one person every hundred years or so, and to boot that would be a willing person, all so he could fight monsters and save those around him. Jasper sighed, slowly walking inside, letting the earth burst from the floor and holding the new guildmaster in place. They had a lot to discuss. It turned out Jasper''s student had gone by Fabian Cremeheart. However, in this body, he went by the name Donagus Lysvalen. Over the last few centuries, he had been making a name for his family. Once it became clear that Donagus wouldn''t try to fight a god, Jasper eased up on him a bit more. The process that Donagus used to transfer his mind apparently wasn''t perfect. He would usually lose some of the knowledge he had obtained, and his manapool would effectively start at a novice level again. He would still remember the life of the young man whose body he inhabited, but at the same time, he could remember his original life. Jasper couldn''t help but wonder if he truly was taking over the boy''s body or if he was just giving him a ton of memories and lessons learned that essentially coalesced into the same lived experience, resulting in effectively the same person with only a slightly modified moral compass. The question, however, was whether it mattered. Donagus truly believed that he was doing something morally corrupt. Otherwise, that wouldn''t be the vision that Jasper had seen when he looked at Donagus'' soul. They talked a bit more through the night, only as the sun rose did Jasper feel like he knew what was going on. "Fine, I will not bring down divine punishment on you." The god finally said. "But do not think that you have been absolved of guilt just because I have chosen not to smite you. Other gods might take offense to your unnatural acts... including my wife. If other gods do not deem this a crime, then know that the kingdoms of mortals certainly will. Anyone who lives forever is a threat to both kings and gods." Jasper concluded. Donagus nodded. "That is understood." He said before looking at his old teacher. "So what now?" Jasper pushed up his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "How would you like a job as the guildmaster for the heroes guild?" He finally asked and smiled slightly when he saw the notification before him. Text from image: Divine Domain Message: Luck Failures: 0/5 Donagus nodded. "Fine. If you think I am fit for that role, I will take it, " he said, his voice trembling with emotion. As the sun hit the wooden floor of the foyer, Jasper could hear people moving outside the house. Apparently, Donagus had guests. Jasper checked his reserves before smiling and turning his attention to the door.
Health 47/47
Energy 8/8
"Let us go and calm down the cityguard. I think they might believe you are under attack from a dragon," Jasper said with a smirk, releasing Donagus and walking out of the house. Chapter 59: Wizard Match Jasper walked out of the home and was met with the expected cityguard. However, what he had not expected was the pompous-looking mage. The man had a thin and slender frame, though clearly human. His narrow face was accented by a pair of spindly glasses that sat on top of a surprisingly pig-like nose. He was dressed in bright ropes with every colour incorporated, seemingly just to claim that it was every colour. It was someone had laid out a colour wheel, and simply lifted it up into a bright wizard robe. There was no rhyme or reason, but it was large, poofy and absolutely pompous. Behind the man were six other mages, all well-dressed but nowhere near as extravagant as the leader of the group. They seemed to hold themselves to a single colour each, and Jasper remembered seeing at least one of their faces before. His heightened intelligence was more than happy to provide him with the necessary information. These were the department heads and the vice-principals of the magical academy. On either side of them stood two twelve-man squats of pikemen. The pikemen wore black and white, with a sword at their sides. Each of them also had a wide-brimmed hat with a large white feather. Apparently, the wizards had managed to get the royal guard, known as the White Feathers, involved in whatever was going on. Two squats of cityguards were also present, but next to the elite guards, the townsfolk looked more like rioting peasants than an actual fighting force. Behind the entire procession was three large carriages. They were covered in dirt and dust, as were the White Feathers, indicating hard travel. The god looked at the man in front. "And what can I do for you then? I don''t think that we have had the pleasure of actually talking." The pompous vice-principal gave a harrumph and pulled out a long scroll that unfolded with a flourish. The scroll was long. Long enough that when it hit the ground, it bounced a couple of times and rolled out even further. "Magnus of A''kastin." The wizard spoke in a haughty tone of voice. "You have been charged with numerous crimes against the Empire and its institutions. The crimes levelled against you include, but are not limited to, the following: Extortion of a public figure. Entering the capital by illegal means. Casting unauthorised spells. Gathering people under false pretences. Forming illegal institutions. Forcing a Soul Oath. Providing illegal and dangerous knowledge. Threatening a clergyman dur-" Jasper cut him off with a cough. "Is it safe to say that you are unsatisfied with how I have intervened in mortal affairs?" He asked, but the pompous man quickly returned to the speech, though he gave Jasper a look of annoyance and repeating the last crime much louder. "THREATENING A CLERGYMAN DURING A SERMON! Consorting with demons. Planning to overthrow the Emperor. Providing false information based on a legally binding agreement. Burning down an orphanage." Jasper cut off the man again. "That one is not something I would have ever done." The vice principal smirked. "AHA! You admit to all other wrongdoing! All other crimes have been confessed to!" He said as if he were having some great intellectual debate. Jasper rubbed the bridge of his nose again, lifting up his glasses slightly. "Great? And what is the punishment for this crime?" He asked, feeling like he was being dragged into something that he wasn''t really interested in participating in. Behind Jasper, Donagus gasped. "Really? You did all those things?" The god shook his head. "They are exaggerating. I am assuming that they have trouble actually figuring out the riddle that I gave them. And judging by the timing, you must have followed me as soon as I left the city. You didn''t even wait to hear from the guards in this town before you hunted me down." The leader of the small army made an offended noise. "We are the finest minds in Kalish. If we cannot figure out what the riddle means, then you have not provided the information at all! And to answer your question, if you are not able to provide us with recompense, then we will be forced to take you in and extract this data from you by force. Of course, we have been tracking a known criminal since. Guards!" The man lifted a thin hand, and the pikemen got ready, pointing their sharp sticks at Jasper. The god was done finding peaceful solutions. He had spent all his game time mailing between people, offering literally divine power to mortals who did nothing but squabble over political issues. Jasper was done. He looked at one of the squads of White Feathers, and he felt how they acted as a single foe. That would have to do. With a thought, the Father of Dragons activated the power "A Series of Unfortunate Events". Text from image:
A series of Unfortunate Events. Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: You smite a chosen foe within sight with bad luck, inflicting a 1d20 damage die per Rank. This takes the shape of various accidents with lethal intent which instantly affects the target. As a Smite power, A series of Unfortunate Events cannot be used two rounds in a row.
A sharp gust of wind suddenly picked up, which was unlikely but not impossible. It was even more unlikely for the wind to pick up a shard from one of the pots Jasper had broken the night before. The shard from the pot hitting every single one of the guards in the squat that Jasper had designated had a statistically insignificant chance of happening... but it wasn''t impossible. When the same gust of wind also loosened several roof tiles on the manor, sending sheets of clay hammering down on the group of soldiers, Jasper almost felt bad for them. The noise scared some of Donagus''s horses, making them sprint from their pens and trample over the knocked-down and unconscious royal guard, which was... well, that was just plain bad luck. The other squat of guards looked at Jasper and then at the vice principal. For a moment, everyone was frozen, as a squat of elite soldiers had been eradicated by seemingly nothing but bad luck. "Anyway... What were you saying? That you would take me in? Do you truly think of me as nothing but another mortal? Did you not see the tapestry I created? Your institution is bound to that Soul Oath, whether you like it or not." Jasper said. The god''s contempt was seeping through his voice at this point. He was hamming it up a bit, too, but grandstanding was fun if you could back up your words. Another pause. The city guards seemed ready to run while the White Feathers were ready to charge. On the other hand, the group of wizards leaned in against each other and whispered about something. The leader of the little Wizard group turned his attention back to the god and then smiled. "Well, if you claim to have divine powers, then I challenge you to a Wizard match." The voice was dripping with venom, and Jasper sighed. He activated "A Truth That Burns" and looked into the vice principal''s eyes. Text from image:
A Truth that Burns Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a visible target. Learn the knowledge of them or their plans that they least want you to know. Worthy foes get a Spirit saving throw to resist this subtle inquisition.
The god saw the trap. The trap that had been so cleverly devised by seven wizards. A trap that would doom anyone. They intended to fight him at the same time. Seven of them against him. The father of dragons smiled as a visible shiver ran down the pompous wizard''s back. Then he nodded. "Please. I would love to contend with you. However, I believe I get to set the terms... If you lose, you will not be allowed to cast magic." He said firmly. Jasper would not have these fools come for him again. "If you lose, you will tell how to interpret the riddle you gave the headmaster." The vice principal said. Jasper nodded and made his way out to an empty field. As he moved outside the manor, he crossed one of the invisible loading screens, and thanks to his powers only taking up Energy temporarily, Jasper was fully recharged. He would have to start relying on these kinds of powers instead of just burning through his Energy.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As the god found himself standing on a field, which was lying fallow, he looked at the seven other wizards. As the vice principal moved forward with a creepy smile, he spoke loudly: "No Magical school is forbidden. The battle goes on until we are either incapacitated or yield. Do you still wish to participate in the match?" Jasper noted that the man was clearly trying to hide that the entire faculty would gang up on him. The god shook his head in disbelief but still spoke. "Sure. Let us get this over with." And with that, the vice principal grinned. "Great. In that case, let me be the first to announce the first Wizard match in living memory. Magnus of A''kastin versus The University Departments." The sadistic joy could be heard in his voice, and Jasper was honestly impressed. That was more malice in one sentence than most people produced in their lives. The god tried to pretend to be surprised, and since his Luck Domain didn''t give him a failure, it must have succeeded. "YES! You see! Your intellect does not match those of the Empire''s finest. Plead for your life, and it might yet be spared. Simply provide the necessary information, and your execution shall be quick." The vice principal said. It struck Jasper that he hadn''t bothered looking into the man''s name, but it didn''t matter. The god rolled his shoulders and prepared for combat. "That is fine." He said softly, though thanks to a small appliance of elementalism, he knew his voice would carry on the wind. "I will be taking all of your magic now." With that, he took off into the air. For now, he was just using elementalism to fly. He didn''t want to give the mortals the impression that he might be a demon by using his wings. He was honestly surprised when he felt a fairly strong anti-magic field spring up around him, trying to cancel the magic that was making him float. Jasper committed an Energy to counter the anti-magic field. There was something satisfying about cancelling countermagic. A mage in a blue rope looked confused since this was probably his spell, which Jasper had countered without uttering a word. The god couldn''t help but notice that none of the masters seemed to be casting spells using somatic or verbal components. That meant that they were either underestimating him, doing it to save face, or simply stupid. As a lane of fire and a ball of lightning headed towards Jasper, he concluded they were holding back. That was impressive magic without components. As he let himself drop to avoid the spells, he reasoned that he might have underestimated them slightly. He would have to make up for this and end things quickly. Even so, he could win this. If nothing else, he would simply use his Luck Domain. Seeing that Jasper wouldn''t be defeated by a couple of offensive spells, the septet spread out. None of them seemed to have the skills required to fly, which was understandable. While they were probably considered archmages within their fields, Jasper was on another level. He counted out the department heads. One was an elementalist, and a skilled one at that. He had been the one to throw two powerful spells in quick succession. Performing a trick required effort, even for a god of magic. Then there was the mage that had cast the anti-magic field. Jasper surmised that it had to be the Arcanist. That left four more department heads, not counting the vice principal. One of them was probably a Mentalist, and judging by how the slain squat of White Feathers was stirring, one was definitely a necromancer. That left two more. Jasper''s high intelligence stat was quick to point out that one of the men was hiding some demonic features, so he must be a Demonologist. The last opponent was an enigma, though. Or at least until the god casually threw a fireball at the group of mages after dodging more lightning balls. He didn''t think the attack would eliminate any of his opponents. Still, he needed to create some space for himself, putting them on the back foot. As the roaring ball of flames headed towards the group, the last mage threw up a shield. Jasper paused. Was this someone who had specialized in shield magic? Did Erik know about this? Jasper let the shield catch the fireball while he took in the situation. The squat of slain White Feathers were staggering to their feet in the most stereotypical undead Fashion Jasper had ever seen. However, they were still inside the manor courtyard while Jasper and the wizards were in one of the many fields. They wouldn''t be a problem for a while. The fireball was slowly dying out, but the shield mage looked like he had just run a marathon. Had it really been that difficult to block? Oh well, With the shield mage in place, Jasper would learn the path of shields at some point, when they wrote things down. Jasper smiled. While these wizards were powerful, they were also mortal. So maybe he hadn''t underestimated them after all. For a moment, he considered granting himself access to an Ur-spell that could take them all out in one swoop, but that was probably overkill. Instead, he started unleashing spells. Thick bands of magical light started to glow around the floating god, and one of the glyphs glowed a bright red before vanishing. Apparently the Mentalist had tried to mess with Jasper''s mind. That would have to be rectified. After a quick wave of his hand, the god restored the ward, and with another, he pointed at the Mentalist and invoked the Arcane spell of ''Drain Mana''. Drain Mana was one of the fundamental spells of the Arcane school of magic. An ordinary wizard would be limited to draining people they could touch, but Jasper wasn''t an ordinary Wizard. Furthermore, the spell wasn''t really effective since it was limited by two things.
  1. How much mana the target had.
  2. How much mana the caster could take in.
You could not take in more mana than your mana pool or drain more mana than your opponent''s mana pool. All in all, it made the spell seem weak as you would never use it at the beginning of a fight, but you would never use it at the end of a fight either, as it required someone to get up close. Jasper could bypass the range restriction since he was the god of magic and could practically bend any spell to his will. The restriction of his mana pool wasn''t a problem either. Jasper''s character had literally been created before magic existed in the world, and he had wondered why his spells didn''t use mana. It turns out they did. He just had a mana value of Null. It wasn''t zero since zero was a number that could be used for calculations. Any calculations involving a null value would either throw an error or return null. As such, whenever Jasper used magic, he subtracted mana from his character, which was null. That did mean that when Jasper pulled on the mana inside the Mentalist, he was drained completely. Every single point of mana pouring out of him. The man slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, as it was probably the first time in ages he had been truly mana starved. A quick look told Jasper that the man was passed out, not dead. That was fine, at least for now. The god was still considering taking away their magic by taking away their lives. With the mental mage gone, what followed wasn''t really a match. The wizards were skilled. There was no doubt about that, and had they ganged up on Jasper during the first iteration, the god would have been done for. But now? He was more powerful than he could ever have imagined. His wards were strong, and anything they could not handle could be dispelled. Jasper''s own spells were almost impossible to dispel, apparently. With the first mage out of the loop, he quickly disabled each one in turn, using various methods, just so he wouldn''t grow bored. The Arcanist was the next person to get knocked out of the match. Since the Arcanist didn''t really function on anything other than magic, that had been fairly easy. Jasper hadn''t even used magic to take him out. Thanks to his flight the god of magic had reached speeds that no mortal could ever match, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself in front of the Arcanist. A single punch from a god was apparently enough to knock the man''s lights out. The Elementalist was taken out by layering mental effects upon him, making him believe that he was back in his office, and had a lot of paperwork to do. The man even conjured up his own chair and started to look through documents that weren''t there. The Necromancer was a little more difficult, but only barely. With the most offensive spellcasters taken care of, Jasper had to spend a single point of Energy to dismiss the squat of White Feathers that was coming his way, though it was easily done thanks to the passive ability of his Magic Domain. Text from image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Magic! Players with the Magic Domain brush aside the spells of lesser mages. Simply spend one Energy to instantly negate any non-Domain magic being cast or destroy any non-divine artefact, magic construct or summoned entity. This was quickly followed by encasing the Necromancer in stone and locking him inside. Unable to see any targets, he simply didn''t have the power to break through the stone. Jasper turned his attention towards the last two. The demonologist and the shield mage. None of them had been doing much, but the reason quickly became clear. The Demonology wizard was casting an Ur-spell. Judging by the roiling power underneath his palms and the way flakes of skin were being torn off him, this was clearly not something he was doing willingly. Jasper took a second to analyze the spell and realized that it was Pore of the Nether
Text from image: Pore of the Nether Tier: 1st tier - The Deified path of the Ur-mage Effect: Set a sigil on a flat surface. At your command the sigil start to spew out fire and molten rocks at anything within ten meters of the sigil. This can be set to activate automatically whenever someone get close. This deals 1d12 damage per Rank of the Ur-mage. The shield mage seemed to be conjuring not only a flat surface for the sigil to be placed on but also the spell to ensure that the demonologist didn''t get consumed by the power of the Ur-spell. Jasper sighed, and with a flick of his wrist, he let a small rock fly towards the demonologist, which, with a flex of his magical will, flew through a protective barrier and hit the spell, destabilising it. The god hadn''t been aware of just how desperate the mages were, and as the Ur-spell was unleashed, its power backlashed. The intense magical power pouring from it and threatening to consume the town. Quickly, Jasper poured two points of divine Energy into the shield that the barrier mage had put up, strengthening them to a ludicrous level, before pouring a point of Energy into ensuring that the demonologist wasn''t killed by his own foolishness.
Health 47/47
Energy 3/8
The Ur-magic was contained, barely, and Jasper felt lucky that he didn''t have to try and stop any higher tier of Ur-magic. It was also fortunate that the defences had already been in place since he couldn''t dispel Ur-magic out-right. The feedback of the explosion did throw the two other mages to the ground leaving behind the vice principal, leader of the administrative branch. The arrogant man looked shocked as the god had taken out every one of his men, seemingly with little difficulty. Jasper hovered before the man, looking down at him and nodded, "Do you yield?" The administrator looked at the god before falling to his knees and gasping. "Yes... I yield." Chapter 60: Founding the Future Jasper''s glee at getting to punish those that got in his way was gone. The fight had been too easy. It had been like trying to fight puppies. The worst they had done was try and invoke powers beyond their understanding. That, however, would stop now. "You have tried to ambush me. All because I gave you knowledge that you could not understand. You have bargained with demons for power you cannot wield. All because you think yourself superior to all." Jasper said in a hollow voice. He manipulated the wind just right so it would carry through the air. The pompous man looked up at Jasper with pleading eyes. He had fallen to his knees on his own volition, but this was over, there was no doubt about that. Jasper decided to spend a point of Energy to gain the name of the grand wizard just so he knew who he was punishing.
Health 47/47
Energy 2/8
"Urial Starborn. As the god of gods, know my name and despair. I am Armandos, the forgotten god, for I have no priests to worship me and no temples to my name. Your master bargained for power that he could not understand, and when he turned to you, you sought vengeance on a being you cannot hope to comprehend." Jasper declared in his most divine tone of voice. Urial didn''t say anything. Jasper was pretty sure he was weeping, which didn''t soften the god''s heart. These men had still come after him when they had power. Even then, they had ganged up on him. However, the grand wizard didn''t beg for his life. He had clearly accepted what would happen, and Jasper saw the opportunity to drive the world forward. Magic needed a counter. That much was sure. These men were proof of this. The fact that they could cast Ur-magic through demonic means was a problem. Did that mean that Raffael Moordet also had access to this kind of magic? Jasper took a deep breath and realised what he had to do. With six points of Worship left, he had an idea that would be fitting as a punishment. "As promised, I shall take away your magic. You will not be able to cast spells. However, as you were a beacon of corruption in your order, so shall you become a beacon of anti-magic," He proclaimed and poured his Worship into creating his will. Text from image Curse of Nullification Input: A curse that nullifies all magic within 200 meters and dampens Divine Powers, increasing their cost by 1. The curse needs to be bestowed on someone new upon the target''s death. Calculated cost: 4 Worship Jasper accepted the cost, and instantly, Worship flowed out of him and into the men before him. The intense feeling of power leaving him was quickly replaced with a thick blanket that left his mouth dry. The world was dampened to the point where the world almost seemed hollow and drained of any magic.
Total Worship 47
Spent Worship 47
Remaining Worship 0
To check if it had worked, the god threw a fireball and realised that he couldn''t even build up the mana inside of him. That was good. He then tried to slam the leader of the group with the power "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Text from image:
A series of Unfortunate Events. Type: Activated ability. Energy usage: Until next loading screen. Full effect: You smite a chosen foe within sight with bad luck, inflicting a 1d20 damage die per Rank. This takes the shape of various accidents with lethal intent which instantly affects the target. As a Smite power, A series of Unfortunate Events cannot be used two rounds in a row.
The divine power failed, and a quick check of the HUD logs showed that Jasper would have to spend 8 Energy to cast the power, 7 of them dedicated for the entire day, while 1 was until the next loading screen. He gave a soft whistle. They stacked rather effectively, though he wondered if he could do it better. He reached out to his gift to try and make the cost scale exponentially, only to find that while standing among all seven of them, his powers might as well be nonexistent. The god of magic had just created the most effective tool for defeating any god. Well, effective was a strong word. Since they were human and mortals, conflict and corruption would soon follow, just like with the dragons. This brought Jasper''s mind back to what was actually important. He looked Urial and cleared his throat. "My will is done. However, in my curse, you shall find salvation. I have given you a new purpose, and through this purpose, you will come to see my curse as a blessing. No mage shall be able to harm you. Even gods will find it impossible to stand against all seven of you at once, and this shall be your option for redemption. Become the shield that the Empire needs to protect against magical threats. I name you as the founding members of the Inquisition. The shield against magic." Jasper proclaimed in his most divine tone of voice.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Urial was clearly struck dumb by everything that had just happened, but Jasper knew he would soon recover. With that in mind, he simply turned on his heel and returned to Donagus''s manor. The old man in a young man''s body was serving refreshments to the cityguard and the White Feathers. When Jasper returned, the squad of elite fighters gave him a look, but the scent of honeyed herbs was wafting from their cups, and none of them seemed willing to throw the mixture away to confront a potential threat. The god walked inside the manor and looked around. From his quick spout with Donagus, the floor had been torn, and a brick wall had been crushed. Jasper would have loved to help the man, but he didn''t have the power to repair things that way. Celeste was the one with that Domain. Taking a seat in a torn-up padded chair, the god sighed. With a flourish of his power, a gust of wind pushed a small table in front of him so he could rest his feet. While the god couldn''t get tired, dealing with people was mentally taxing. Maybe he should just spend the next iteration fixing various plants. However, with his luck there would be some kind of nature goddess who had created a whole council of dryads that he would need to get the aid of. About an hour later, Jasper could hear Urial bark some orders to the White Feathers before the sound of marching boots and rolling carts indicated that the warriors were heading out. Once they were gone, the god heard Donagus slowly enter his home, finding the First God sitting in his living room. "Can I get you something?" The mentalist asked. Jasper shook his head. "I am fine. Please, take a seat. We need to talk about what I expect from you." Donagus did as he was asked, sitting on a barely ruined couch. Jasper cleared his throat. "I need someone to manage a guild designed for all the biggest heroes in Kalish. That includes orks, goblins, elves, halflings, drows, whatever might just be intelligent enough to sign on the roster and strong enough to pass your trials. I honestly don''t care if you let an alarmingly competent sparrow inside as long as it is able and willing to join. Are you with me so far?" The mentalist nodded. "Good! It is not going to be easy to manage whatever egos that will be drummed up by this, but honestly, that can''t really be my problem. In around one thousand years or so, there will be a massive influx of heroes. You will need to provide these people with a prestigious community and a place to pick up quests. Do you get me?" Once more, the mentalist nodded. "Perfect! Last but not least, I highly suggest that one of the first tasks of the heroes guild will be to do something about the elder dragon spawn. The Elder Dragons should be fine. However, their children have been corrupted. I am sure that they have even created their own warped spawn already. If you don''t want this whole world burned to the ground, you will need to fix this. If you are smart, you make it part of the initiation process. Kill a dragon to join... something like that." The god said, slowly rubbing the bridge of his nose and pushing up his glasses. Donagus raised a hand, and Jasper gave him a look. "What?" "So, uhm... Are you really Armandos?" Jasper rolled his eyes at the question. "Does it matter? I gave you magic, I gave you protection, and I did not force you to obey any creed. Whatever you choose to call me doesn''t really matter to me." Donagus lowered his hand as he leaned back into the couch, clearly trying to connect the dots. Jasper wasn''t really in the mood for this and continued to talk. "I have some tasks that I need to take care of before things get out of hand, so better get to collecting heroes. Try and forget whatever happened here today. I am not looking for followers, and I am not looking for churches." Jasper explained, and with that, he nodded and stepped outside. His wings spread behind him, and in a single powerful motion, Jasper took off, leaving behind a cloud of dust. He was soaring over the world, heading towards the area where he wanted to start the next session. He was heading to the southeastern part of the Empire, known as Southland. While he flew, he looked over his character sheet and sighed. He still had quite a bit of Impact left that he could spend. The points could be spent to hold up various miracles in areas and sustain their effects. It was the middle ground between Worship that created permanent and hard-to-remove effects and Energy that created one-time miracles. Jasper thought momentarily and decided that he might as well do something with his remaining Impact. He wondered what he could do, and then an idea came to his mind. The world needed Leylines. They were always a good excuse to have a ritual happen at a specific location or have a bad guy go somewhere to try and amplify their powers. With his speed and magical power, he could maintain a network of Leylines.
Text from image: Leylines of the World Input: Invisible magical pathways that naturally amplify spells and improve mana regeneration. If used correctly, they can be used to harness and amplify giant rituals or let mortals cast divine spells known as Ur-magic. Calculated cost: 4 Impact At the cost of 4 Impact, that seemed like a fair price. Jasper committed his unspent Impact and smiled.
Impact 2/7
He was still spending Impact on maintaining the information he had provided to the Academy, and he couldn''t stop committing that since a soul oath bound him to ensure that it was in proper condition. As Jasper flew, he passed over what he knew was the Area of the Empire called Permersland. The land was responsible for most of the food generated in the Empire, and vast fields of wheat and other types of grain were more common than actual settlements. However, the land was also in almost constant civil war. It wasn''t Jasper''s target, but he knew he would have to look into it. A civil war could be an interesting hook for players, so if there were any bugs in the area, they would have to be fixed. However, that was a job for later. His target remained. Southland was located on the other side of Leltho compared to A''kastin. It would be an ideal location for players to stock up before heading into the endgame zone. However, there were some obvious bugs in Southland, as massive monopolies had sprouted in the area. Since the land was the trading hub of the entire world, they were much more welcoming to all types of humanoids in Southland. However, large trading guilds also started to take over any trade, pushing out anyone not associated with them. If Jasper had any hope of creating a functional player economy for the game, then he would need to break up those monopolies so players had the option of getting a bad reputation with some of the trading guilds and still being able to sell their goods. The trip to Southland took one and a half days of constant flight. The only real break was a message he got at dawn on the first day. Text from image:
You have helped the world Message: By creating Leylines and a heroes guild, you have ensured that the world becomes more magical. Thanks to the foundation of the Inquisition, you have also ensured that any magician will be hunted down if they break the rules of the Empire. Reward: 18 Worship When Jasper finally reached Southland, a sprawling country with many well-crafted structures, he realised he was probably already late for waking up from the game. He sighed, and with a strain, he logged out while staring at the area ripe for exploration. Chapter 61: Team building The world was painful. Fortunately, Jasper had chosen to stay in the world for a day more than the others, giving Celeste and Martin a couple of hours to get cleaned up and ready so there wouldn''t be a rush on the bathrooms. Martin and Celeste had been taking micro-naps throughout their sessions. Still, their brains had been working overtime, so neither of them really said anything. They were sitting in a recliner and lying on a couch, respectively, while staring at a TV that was barely playing any audio. Jasper joined them later, snuggling up to Celeste on the couch and quickly falling asleep. None of them had the energy to talk about the game or their experience. The next day was a workday, so Jasper managed to convince Celeste to come into the office after she had finished teaching. Jasper and Martin got to sleep in since only the two of them were in the Nordic branch. Jasper was painfully aware of the countdown to the conference with the main branch. Three weeks until they had to go, which meant effectively two weeks until he would have to put everything on pause. While waiting for his wife, he worked on a quick little presentation to help him show their process. When Celeste arrived, Jasper ordered some food for all of them. As they sat down and got a little distance from the events, Jasper decided that it might be a good time to gather some information. "So, we can just talk through our experience fast and loose, and I am sure that we are going to do that, but HR from the main branch actually sent us a handbook last year, and while it has been gathering dust, there were some good evaluation methods in there. I think that we can use them. So why don''t we go around the table and talk about 5 positive things that happened in your session, 5 negative things that happened, and 5 annoying things that happened you could not have prevented." Jasper said, trying to actually fulfill his role as team lead. Celeste smiled before cupping her hands around her mouth as if she was about to yell something loudly before speaking in her normal tone of voice: "Neeeerd". Martin laughed, and Jasper rolled his eyes. "Sounds like you get to go first, then". Celeste cupped her hands again before giving a "Buuuu!" but then got serious. "Fine. There were... events. I am not going to lie. It will be hard to fill in five positive things on my end. For one, I like my powers. The system for divine powers is actually pretty smooth. They are fun to use, and I feel very powerful at this point. I honestly tried to smite one of my students today because he kept talking during my class." Jasper gave his wife a look and wondered how long it would be before she tried to smite him. He shook his head softly with a wistful smile. He knew better than that. She had probably tried that already. "You might actually want to look into making the game about having divine powers like this," Celeste said, only for Jasper to shake his head. "The main branch was pretty clear that they wanted this to be multiplayer. These powers just break that far too easily." Celeste shrugged and nodded. "Anyway, beyond that, I helped a lot of starving people. I think the empathy level is too high. Things are almost lifelike, which means that I cannot see them as programs, they are real people, and I have a hard time letting things go... That was two things, right? Uhm... We got a new goddess, which is positive. It was kind of a sausage party." Jasper nodded and then frowned. "Who is the new goddess?" "Elf woman named Esselaia. I investigated how she could gain powers like that, and I am honestly a bit stumped. As far as I can tell, she gave herself these powers through connections to a tree... A tree that I had somehow turned into crystal mana after beating Orlek. Oh! That is a positive one as well. I beat up Orlek." Celeste said with some cheer. Martin cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry. That wasn''t you. I uhm... I gave you a Mana Crystal deposit I needed to remove. Since I just threw it into A''kastin, I think the AI decided to put it somewhere where other characters could use it. Sorry about that." He said with the usual grumbling voice. Celeste shrugged. "It worked out. I was just very confused about what was even going on. The last positive thing... I got two new followers. Spif and Spaf. However, there was something weird about them. Apparently, they counted as one entity named Spof." Jasper moved over to the computer and did a quick entity search. He groaned a little. "Yeah, I see them here. Apparently, they were spawned with the same entity ID, which should be unique. They are the faction leader of the orks, and their stats are... high... but thanks to them having to share them, they literally have to split the three meagre intelligence that the goblins already have... I will try and fix them." Celeste laughed at hearing that. "You should fix the bug, but I like them like this. I think it is more of a feature. When they work together, they become actually smart, which is fun." Jasper nodded and made a task on his virtual taskboard. "And that was 5 positives from me, I think. Do you guys have any you want to share before I get to the bad?" She looked around, and Martin groaned.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Yeah, I guess I can take it. Got a dungeon. Got a pet. Got to pick powers. Talked with people. Met that chosen one of yours." He said, keeping it short as always. Martin could have gone into details, but he knew how this worked, and there was no need to deep dive into the positives. Jasper was quick to pick things up. "Sounds good. I got most of the guilds down. I think that the smithing guild might be a challenge, and I didn''t really get to it, so that is a problem, but I will look into that later. Maybe since the other guilds have been created, the smithing guild will start naturally. I don''t know. Anyway, I also ensured that a future iteration will have a villain that will be used. He will be spawning undeads." He said, looking over at Celeste. Celeste gave her husband a look and then shrugged. "That is fine. As long as it is clear that they are the bad guy." Jasper nodded at that before he continued. "Honestly, I didn''t do that much else. I have been fairly busy picking Ur-magic, and I had to go fix things out here." He explained before a ball of paper hit him in the head. The paper projectile hadn''t hurt, but when Jasper noted that it had been thrown by Martin, the team leader clutched his head as if he had been struck with a great force. Martin didn''t buy it. "You used a break-glass account for ingame chatting? You will definitely be the one doing beer runs from now on." "Sorry, I think I got a concussion all of a sudden," Jasper said, knowing Martin had to fix the account. They laughed a little before Jasper continued. "Anyway, the handbook said that we should acknowledge that good things have happened and there have been positive elements to our experience." He looked at the two other people. Celeste laughed a little while Martin rolled his eyes. Jasper continued. "So let us talk about the negative things that happened. I can start us off this time around. Beware that these are things that you had a hand in, and it had a negative outcome. I don''t really think I can find five here, either. I had a meeting with an old pupil that I could have handled better, and in general, I have been a bit stand-offish with people this time around. I have met a lot of people that have been programmed to be... less than friendly, and I acknowledge that I might not have handled that for the best." He said and took a deep breath. Martin waited for Jasper to continue, but when nothing else came, he took over. "Yeah, I haven''t had those problems. With a fairly high charisma I think that I have had an easy time getting people to like me and engage with me. As for bad decisions I made, I think that I should have informed you, Celeste, about the mana crystal before I sent it your way, and I think that I could have done... more. I know it sounds weird, but most of my time has been travel, and I was so focused on getting to a place that I didn''t really do much." Jasper and Celeste murmured in agreement, and Celeste quickly picked up. "Yeah, I have been sorta vengeful as well. Whenever people slight me, I tend to inconvenience them in some way. I gave Selma, the leader of Marcusburg, a crown that would make the gods see her as the leader of that land. Something like that just asks for her to be assassinated. Beyond that, I have been spending my Energy performing pointless miracles. At least miracles where I should just use other resources to accomplish the same thing. I have been helping the downtrodden quite a bit, which reminds me, I think that A''kastin is in a state where it is ready for players, so maybe you can note that to the AI or something like that? Make it so it won''t change any more of that area?" She explained, and Jasper nodded, making another task for himself on the taskboard. "Good, now that we have acknowledged the bad, it is worth noting that we did more good than bad," Jasper said, again giving everyone a look. Celeste nodded a little, and even Martin seemed a bit more upbeat. It helped to lay it out like this, but there was still the last category. "So, the last thing we gotta do is talk about the annoying things that happened that we couldn''t do anything about. Martin, it''s your turn to start us off." Jasper said, and Martin nodded. "Yeah, I have a couple of things here we need to talk about. For one, Jasmine is the new Scribe, and she is kinda hurt about how you left things last time. Not really sure what happened there, but she felt abandoned." The massive man said. Jasper was a little sad but nodded nonetheless. To his surprise he found it much easier to deal with Erik''s demise out here. He didn''t dwell on it, simply responding. "Yeah, we left without saying goodbye, and it was after a rather intense traumatic event for her. I should talk to her if I get the chance." Martin was happy to have gotten that out there. "I feel like I wasted a lot of my time on travelling. The ban on teleportation isn''t going to be fun for players. I understand gatekeeping it in the game and maybe keeping it out of the world-building, but we need to have it in the game when that time comes. The same with resurrections. We can''t have this place be some kind of hardcore one-life MMO. That will have the players leaving in droves." He explained. Celeste nodded along. "I haven''t been making decisions based on what would be a good game, just what would make sense for my character, so if you need to adjust things, please do that. But I still think those should be banned during world creation." She said, and the pair of developers quickly agreed. Even so, Jasper followed up. "It is a good point that Martin is bringing up, though. Maybe we should have a location choice when we log into the game. That way, we don''t have to spend two days travelling like I just did." That was another task on the taskboard, and Martin then shrugged. "Leltho is... interesting. I don''t think the zone is complete, but the dungeon is done. I would like to go somewhere else for a time and fix up dungeons there, but that might just be me." He explained. With that, Celeste was the next person. "Uhm, I met Orlek, which was a bit annoying, and I didn''t really feel in control when I had to deal with Esselaia. That was annoying as well. But those choices could come down to my own risk assessment when I made some of my other choices." Jasper nodded. He could understand that. "For me, it was mostly the dragons. Apparently, the seven main dragons I created got children, and they have turned evil. I mean, I get how they can turn evil, especially in a 100-year span, but I don''t really feel like we had any agency in that." He sighed, and Martin nodded. "Yeah, I get that... Anyway, let''s call this meeting for now. I can''t next weekend, so you two will have to take it alone." The bulky man said. Celeste frowned. "Sorry, we can''t do it there either. Jasper''s sister is doing this birthday thing, so we will spend the weekend at their house." Jasper sighed. "I guess we can have the world run for two hundred years then." The others quickly agreed, and while they talked and had fun for the rest of the evening, they didn''t discuss the game any further. Interlude: Gods and Teleportation
The following is an excerpt from the book "Gods and You - How to Become a God?" written by Johannes Krell, also known as The Drunken Priest. This is the third volume in the renowned series The Drunken Priest Tells.
Gods can be difficult to define, and if you ask a priest, they will explain who the gods are. I want to ask the question behind the question: What are the gods in Kalish? Gods have not always existed in the world, and not everything we might label as gods are truly gods. To help define what gods are, I¡¯ve distilled it into four elements. Therefore, I would say that a god is:
  1. A being that was once alive.
  2. A being that grows stronger the more worshippers it has.
  3. Unable to tread on the mortal plane.
  4. Possesses its own sphere.
Let¡¯s go over what each of these points means.

A Being That Was Once Alive

All gods have existed on Kalish at some point. They have helped shape the course of history and ensured the world is forever changed. They have represented values seen as fundamental to the world''s definition. For instance, Esselaia represents peace, which is one reason she was elevated to godhood.

A Being That Grows Stronger the More Worshippers It Has

Simply put, a god grows stronger and stronger the more people worship them. This is what sets them apart from other beings like spirits or demons. A god without worshippers won¡¯t die or lose all their power, but they will exist at the absolute minimum level of power they can sustain. Furthermore, a god with many worshippers will have more power than a god with few worshippers. Therefore, gods strive to gather as many followers as possible.

Unable to Tread on the Mortal Plane

Gods cannot directly walk on Kalish. This is yet another aspect distinguishing them from other beings. However, they still try to influence the world using various tools. The most common tool is priests. Priests can use their god¡¯s power to cast magic. This is either used to help convert other mortals or aid those who already believe in the god. The most extreme method is an incarnation of the god, also known as an avatar, representing a fragment of the god¡¯s will. This incarnation requires mortal assistance to manifest, often by empowering or possessing an already existing body. An avatar, however, cannot exist on the mortal plane for long and will often perish or find another way back to their god.

Possesses Its Own Sphere

This point is a bit more open to interpretation. It is known that most gods have their own realm of reality, or sphere, that they control. This sphere can be influenced by the god, whether they wish it or not. However, some choose to take over an already existing sphere that lacks a god. In a god¡¯s sphere, one might often find deceased believers who died in the god''s name or other followers. It is important to understand that a god¡¯s sphere is not necessarily obvious, as in the case of Orlek, who chose to take over the sphere of spirits. Furthermore, one of my colleagues, Professor Emeritus Fluffybush and his colleague Professor Cremeheart, has formulated an intriguing theory about sphere structure that has implications for the nature of teleportation. I¡¯ve included this as an annex to this book.

Common Misconceptions

There are many beings that one might mistake for gods but are not truly gods. For example, one might think spirits could be considered gods since they were once alive, have a sort of priesthood (if one considers shamans as priests), and have their own sphere. However, spirits can tread the mortal plane without necessarily disappearing after a set amount of time. This is one reason why the Inquisition is such an important part of the Kelllwan Church, as they help spirits leave the mortal plane. Mother Nature is often confused with Esselaia, but it¡¯s crucial to understand that they represent two different things. Esselaia is the goddess of peace and harmony, which many life druids find wise, and therefore follow her. Esselaia was also a life druid herself, which naturally has significant influence. Mother Nature, on the other hand, is the physical incarnation of nature itself¡ªshe is the mortal plane but does not govern it. The Ilshers are also technically not gods. This may be hard to believe since the Ilshers have priests like other gods, but it¡¯s essential to understand they were created by a personification of darkness itself and a god. They are therefore more than gods, almost impossible to kill, whereas gods can die. This also means they can walk the mortal sphere without suffering harm. This is why many gods see the Ilshers as unnatural and a threat, as even a single one can rival an established god.
Much of the book then starts recommending spiritual cleansing and how one might achieve godhood. One of the more notable recommendations is to float constantly to ensure "You never step foot on this plane". Johannes Krell has been ridiculed by his peers for much of this book, but some of the assertions that are made have been cited by most known theological papers, as it is one of the first written works that specified these aspects.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The Annex for the book titled: A short investigation into teleportation and its consequence along with a deep dive into Sphere structure and the Celestial engines - What we understand of Gods, Magic and Mathematics (Shortened to the name: Sphere Structure), has been included as well.

Annex 1: Sphere Structure

Over the past decades, we have gathered as much knowledge as possible from Ewen''s time. We now believe we are ready to present a solid model of how spheres interact with each other. It has long been known that our world is infinite. This was proven by Kirk Bench. Professor Bench demonstrated that, given a straight line passing through two other straight lines where the total angle between all three lines is not 180 degrees, the two adjacent lines will intersect on the side of the first line where their angle is smallest. This led to the first theory that the world is flat, which has been well-understood for many years. From this assumption, we deduce that our sphere is a plane¡ªand an infinite plane. Based on writings found by Ewen¡¯s ancient Grandmasters, we have been able to assume that there is also an infinite number of spheres. This implies we have four dimensions, not including time, in which we can exist. In other words, a point in our world can be projected via a function to a point in any other sphere. This function, however, requires extreme amounts of mana to execute, especially if we do not wish to project toward a sphere''s natural (0,0,0) point, also known as the sphere¡¯s source. If there are infinitely many spheres, what makes ours special? Why is it our sphere where all the battles occur? This is an excellent question, and one we will attempt to answer. However, to provide a proper insight, we must assume that energy flows between spheres. This is not a difficult assumption, as many of our magic users draw energy from various spheres. Both priests, who derive their power from their gods, and wizards and shamans, who draw their energy from other spheres. It is therefore evident that energy flows between spheres. We also see energy flowing out of our sphere, albeit always toward the Whirlpool of Souls. Through this whirlpool of souls we also see it convert energy to worship, which is then flowing towards the gods'' spheres. If we construct this as a maximum flow diagram, where we assume an inexhaustible source of energy, each sphere as a node, and the Whirlpool of souls as our sink, and use the Ford-Fulkerson method, we can thus demonstrate that the energy passing through our sphere is always constant. This means that when a god is no longer worshipped through our sphere, each prayer from another god''s follower contains more worship. At the same time, we know that if all beings and life were to die, the amount of energy passing through this node would go directly to the Soul Maelstrom. This is likely why many entities seek to destroy us. We should, however, be able to use this energy flow to transport ourselves between spheres. Given an element that produces energy toward another sphere (prayer/death/object), magic could follow this and transport an entity with it. It¡¯s important to emphasize that rites, which are the most commonly used somatic components in any spell, are the exact opposite of this, where energy is instead drawn from the sphere of magic, and teleportation via rites would be like climbing up a waterfall. Thus, it is assumed that teleportation via rites is impossible. This leaves this form of transport to divine means. Since our flow diagram demonstrates that the natural flow goes toward the sink through our realm, the energy required for this transport would exceed the natural flow from the sphere. Thus, we can conclude that a teleportation would impact a god to the extent that they would lose enough energy to be permanently set back compared to other followers. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that teleportation is theoretically possible but practically impossible.
This Annex was used to prove that teleportation is theoretically possible, but practically impossible, and anyone looking into teleportation was seen as wasting their time by any scholar. Throughout the thesis, the only reference made is to the works by the mortal Ewen Uwle, before he ascended to godhood. To show full transparency, an excerpt of that work has also been included here.
Symmetry - Why Some Laws Cannot Be Broken, Only Bent By Ewen Uwle (Excerpt from the Twelve Magical Commandments - Holy text of the Grandmasters) A change in location or position that preserves the properties of a system is sometimes called spatial symmetry (or often translational symmetry). Another form of symmetry is replacement symmetry, which occurs when one part of a system can be replaced by another part without altering the system itself. When a symmetrical situation at high energy collapses into a system with a lower or inefficient base state that is asymmetrical, we call this "Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking." This is observed when we cast a spell, where the otherwise symmetrical nature of the system is lost if the magic travels too far. Here, we often see that this occurs at around five meters, beyond which the symmetry of the magic system collapses into an asymmetrical base state with lower energy, rendering the magic ineffective. Theoretically, this limit can be surpassed if sufficient energy is supplied to the initial system. It can therefore be assumed that despite the five-meter limit that mortals are subject to, a divine being would be capable of producing systems that maintain symmetry at much higher energy signatures. Furthermore, a vibration through the magic can help stabilize the symmetrical system but will also cause the magic to obey normal physical laws (such as gravity, air resistance, etc.). This is known from the spell Fireball. However, this also demonstrates that the rules of magic can be bent with the proper means. Geometric symmetry is utilized by all magic users. This can be proven with simple, sustained magic, where even if the subject moves, the magic remains effective. Most ritual magic, however, does not exhibit geometric symmetry. Internal symmetry is observed in differences between rites. Wizards are the only ones unable to utilize internal symmetry, as they cannot replace words in their incantations without their magic becoming asymmetrical. Chapter 62: Coming to America "What?" Celeste asked in disbelief. Jasper shrugged. "Yeah, we had to do a full rollback. Not much we could." His wife looked at him with quite a bit of disappointment in her eyes. "But I waited two weeks for this..." The developer had to shrug again. "Not sure what to tell you. Apparently, the world was overrun with zombies and the undead." Celeste huffed. "What? That doesn''t mean you have to roll back!" Jasper sighed. "I know, but the two major heroes of the war were a pair of brothers. One in red and one in green... Yeah, overalls, too, for some reason. While not carbon copies of any known IPs, they were close enough that we decided it wasn''t worth the risk. So we have to perform a rollback. It is unfortunate, but this situation was much more prevalent when we didn''t go into the game. Martin has a theory that it might be due to the long run times. It forces the AI to artificially seed the world. While it isn''t publicly stated by the company that invented the AI, we suspect it was trained on some known IPs, meaning that the longer it gets to run, the more prominent those IPs become." Celeste grumbled a little again but then sighed. "Does that mean we don''t get to go into the game again before you go to that conference?" Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I am afraid it does. Did you figure out if you could join me?" She shook her head. That was to be expected. One of the many downsides of being a teacher was that you couldn''t really take vacation whenever you wanted. Jasper kissed her before going to make dinner for them. Four days later, Jasper and Martin were boarding a flight to the United States. The flight was horrible, mainly because they had to fly using some of the cheapest tickets they could find, thanks to company policy. The jetlag was intense. Both of the programmers were barely standing when they exited the gate of the flight. Customs were a mess as well, with Martin being pulled aside for a random inspection, which Jasper suspected wasn''t random. Ultimately, they managed to get through with only twenty minutes of delay. They entered the airport baggage claim just as dawn hit and found that Weird World Computing had sent a driver. The woman was short, with orange hair. Not red, but long bright orange hair. She had a bright smile on her lips as she spotted the two programmers. She had to wave a sign with the company logo over her head, as she was incredibly short. "Morning, gents. And welcome to the States." She said with an accent that Jasper couldn''t place. He instinctively tried to mark the accent as a bug, and when he failed to do so, he blamed his jetlagged brain for making him forget that he wasn''t inside a digital world. "Thank you," Martin said as Jasper tried to comprehend her accent. He ended up chucking it down to ''American'' since he had no idea what else it could be. "The name is Riez. I am an intern at WWC, but I have been assigned to help you while you are here. If you need anything, just call me, and I can point you in the right direction or figure out who to ask for more information. Though, if you ever need a gaming session, I can definitely set that up as well." She continued talking as they walked out of the airport, with Riez talking about her current score in various games that WWC had made. Jasper and Martin wanted to match her energy, but they were exhausted from the flight. They managed to keep some polite conversation as they drove to the hotel the company had paid for. The hotel was a novelty. While not extraordinary in any way, it was definitely professional and clean. The two programmers took a quick power nap before they got ready to take on the day. Riez was waiting for them with a bright, smug smile as she looked them over. "So, what are you going to show us tomorrow?"The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Jasper gave her a return smile and wiggled his eyebrows. "Wouldn''t you like to know? I think that we will be spending the day setting things up. Can you take us to the headquarters?" Riez nodded and led them to the car. Jasper was really missing his Endurance Domain, which allowed him to forego sleep, but the power nap helped quite a bit. It allowed him to focus more, and he took in the car that Riez was driving them in. The car was probably expensive, but it was one of those things that Jasper had never really learned. To Jasper, the vehicle was bigger than most cars he had ever seen and a shiny black. It definitely had a logo, and four wheels as well. He missed the effects of the omniscient scholar power that would let him know just about anything. Martin seemed excited about the car, actually walking around it before getting in to see it in its full glory. The drive to the corporate building was fairly long. Riez talked for most of the trip. Jasper was more than happy to indulge her. However, Martin just made a couple of grunts whenever he was asked something, more interested in studying the car. Weird World Computing Headquarters was a sight to behold. The building was shaped like a torus, with an arched gate so cars could drive into the centre. The headquarters was mostly made of glass, showing various offices and meeting rooms filled most of it. Jasper couldn''t imagine that the work environment would be good, as the glass would mean that the building might as well have been a greenhouse. Riez didn''t park in front of the entrance, instead driving into an underground parking garage that had been set up for employee parking. "Great, so when we get in, all you need to do is look over the setup and pull your current build from the N-drive. Oh, and remember to have your access cards visible at all times." The intern said with a bright smile. Jasper looked at Martin as the big man pulled out a small card with an image of him and his employee ID. They never used that card in their own offices, so Jasper had, of course, forgotten to pack his. "Yeah, we might have to take a quick detour and get me a temporary card", He said. Riez got this absolutely smug look on her face and grinned. "A temporary card? What are you, a tourist?" Jasper grumbled a little as he had to make the walk of shame. Any employee using the company garage could use an elevator to get directly to their office. However, to activate the elevator you needed an employee ID card. So Jasper had to walk up the ramp to the underground garage and head into the company foyer. The young man behind the desk was very helpful. It did remind Jasper of the time he tried to talk with the mayor of Marcusburg, which felt like ages ago but, in reality, was less than a month. A temporary card was quickly established, and the developer could join his colleague and the intern in a large slice of the torus-like building set up as an assembly hall. The room had clearly been designed to hold a great many people and even had a permanent scene set up. The walls and ceiling were made from glass, with vents on the floor to give some air whenever the assembly room was filled with people. Since the assembly hall filled the entire torus section, the walls were dome-like except at the ends. One end was clearly the intended way for people to enter the room, while the other end housed the scene. Thanks to all the glass, the room had the feeling of being outside, but Jasper noted that the windows had outside-mounted roller blinds that would allow large sections of tarp to cover the glass. That was probably useful for visual presentation. Speaking of presentations, Jasper was supposed to be a keynote speaker, so while Martin wandered over to a deep-dive setup where he loaded in the latest version of Kalish, Jasper went to the scene. With a couple of quick adjustments, Martin set it up to loop a single day and set up a character that had every single Domain and infinite Energy. No need to limit everyone else. Celeste, Martin, and Jasper were really only putting limits on themselves to keep things fun and gamify their work. Jasper, on the other hand, found a computer at the scene, where he logged into his Virtual Desktop. Here, he found the presentation and added it to a shared local drive. Checking that his presentation would run, Jasper had to spend thirty minutes battling with the local antivirus system that had instantly isolated his file. He went through his presentation several times, not speaking loudly but simply going slide by slide, thinking through what he would like to present. With that done, Jasper rolled his shoulders and turned his attention to Riez. The intern had been in the system, and her eyes were wide as the helmet slipped off her head. "Quick question, Martin... how much trouble would you get in if I, let''s say, borrowed access to the early build of this world? Purely for, you know, ''research'' purposes." Riez said, clearly already pulling out her phone to request access to the drive that contained the game world. Martin shook his head, and Jasper answered. "Can''t do that, I am afraid. I am pretty sure this would impact your productivity." Riez sighed and then nodded. They finished a couple of other details before going on a tour of the office. It was definitely impressive, much more impressive than the apartment that Jasper and Martin used for their office. However, both of the developers were tired, so after the tour, they went out to grab a bite to eat and then headed back to their hotels for the evening, falling asleep rapidly. Chapter 63: Presentation Jasper adjusted his tie as he got into the car. "I hate wearing these things. It feels like a leash." He grumbled. Martin rolled his eyes, though Jasper couldn''t help but notice that he had gone for the developer look, where he was sporting a blazer over an ironic and nerdy T-shirt, meaning that the big man wasn''t wearing a tie. Riez was more than happy to weigh in on the conversation. "Tell me if you need anything. I could probably get you a real leash." She said it in the same cheerful tone she always seemed to use. Jasper just shook his head and turned his attention back to Martin. "Can you be the Deep Dive guide for the demo? Having you on the system would be great to help the suites get into the world." Martin just nodded, so Jasper continued, "Did you set up multiplayer or just single-player?" Martin was about to respond when Riez budded in. "Technically, you are one of the suites." That was technically true. Jasper wore a dark blue suit that made him look quite good if he had to say so himself. However, the last time he wore it was at a wedding, though not his own. He was sure he still had rice in his pockets from that occasion. Jasper adjusted his glasses and was about to answer when he realised he wasn''t wearing any. Martin was quick to answer Jasper''s question before the car ride would end up with a bickering back and forth. "I set up two stations, each single player. We might want more, but for now, that will have to be done. And yeah, I can help those unfamiliar with the system. I am thinking 10 minutes max per person... so that would be two hours or so in the world, and then reset the instance." Jasper nodded in approval, though he still asked questions to which he already knew the answers, just to double and triple-check that everything was as it should be. Arriving at Weird World Computing Headquarters this time around was slightly different. Not only did Jasper see a literal red carpet had been rolled out at the entrance, but Riez also dropped them off at the main entrance instead of taking them into the garage. A couple of company directors, who Jasper and Martin had never seen before, were greeting people. The developers got the same treatment as everyone else: a firm handshake and some quick small talk as if they were working in the building on a daily basis. Jasper moved to the assembly hall, seeing that there were a lot of people already gathering at various tables that had been set up. People were talking around the deep dive setup, making Martin groan. "Security will have to escort me from the premises if any suites have touched the setup." The man said more to himself than anyone else. Jasper left his colleague to punch some people from management while he moved to the scene. "Jasper! Man, am I glad to see you! How has your stay been? Have Riez been treating you well? Did you see the city?" The voice came from a man who was in a bright purple suit with the Weird World Computing logo embroidered on his breast pocket. His greying hair had been slicked back, and his teeth had been visibly whitened. It was in sharp contrast to the fake tan he had exposed his skin to, as it was just a shade too dark, making it look like leather. Jasper didn''t recognise him at all. Still, the developer decided to be polite. "Good, a pleasure to meet you." The man smiled. "Good! Good! Frank Costanza. Head of event planning. I will be the director for today. You will get on as the first speaker, though that will be after we have bid everyone welcome." Jasper nodded and talked with Frank as everyone found a place to sit. Frank seemed like an enthusiastic man who was easy to talk to. He oozed that natural charisma. Jasper couldn''t help but think of his appearance as metaphorical ankle weights for his charisma, allowing the man to overcome people''s first impression. However, it was more likely that he thought he looked good. A couple of people were already trying out the Deep Dive setup that Martin was administrating, but it was quickly cut off when Frank took the stage. What followed was four straight hours of welcome speeches. First, Frank talked for half an hour. Then Rachel Misfour, the CEO of Weird World Computing, spoke for an hour, which was followed up by half an hour from not just the CTO but the CFO, CCO, CHRO and CAO, all wanted to talk about their specific fields and thank everyone for joining. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jasper''s head was spinning, as they had essentially all said the same thing, that they wanted more synergy and growth in the company with the hopes of leading the way for a brighter future. Jasper had no idea what some of their titles actually were. He knew that the CEO was the company''s leader, and the CTO, Chief Technology Officer, was the one that Jasper reported to... well, he reported to a manager who reported to the CTO. Then there was the Chief Finance Officer, or CFO, though Jasper had no idea what the difference between them and the CEO was. The CHRO made sense as well, HR being one of the more prominent departments in the company, but the rest were not roles Jasper knew anything about. Finally, it was his turn to present. He walked onto the stage with a microphone in one hand and a clicker to control his slide in the other, only to see a crowd of bored faces barely paying attention. A lot of them even had their phones or laptops out. "Hi everyone! So glad to see all of you. I am Jasper Lauritsen, and I am technically the lead developer of the Nordic branch. I say technically since, for those of you who don''t know, we are only two people... We work hard, but it makes for boring office parties." A dull laughter came from the crowd. None of them really found the joke funny, but it was more of an acknowledgement that it was an attempt at humour. "We are usually working on the worlds that you get handed over. You can all get a tour of the latest world we have created, the world of Kalish, over at my colleague, Martin" Jasper pointed to the back of the room and enjoyed the discomfort on his friend''s face as everyone turned to look at him. "We have done something unique this time. We have gamified our work. We set up some fairly basic systems that are more akin to editing tools. Then, we limited these tools with a resource we call Energy. There are other elements to this, but the short version is that we are planting the seeds of chaos the AI can work from while making the experience more fun for us." Jasper took in the crowd. Most had turned off their phones, but some were still on their laptops. "Before we talk about how we have managed to half the development time for the world thanks to this method, I would like to talk a bit about the world. I would like to talk about the gods." That seemed to grab the attention of the entire crowd, and Jasper redoubled his efforts to keep them engaged. Not every presentation would be talking about divine matters, after all. "We entered the world as the first gods, creating our characters and wandering around the world looking for bugs. This led us to creating a very unique world that will be done at the end of the month." Jasper didn''t mention that he had been using company equipment to have a getaway with his wife. That was probably something best left unsaid. "The world itself is based around a faction system with associated gods. Each god also represents some kind of ascension type. I will go over them quickly so you know what I mean. Kelllwan, yes, three Ls, is the most straightforward. Representing Law and Order, he was elevated by the system for his virtuous heart... at least based on the system logs we have found. In reality, he was elevated by the system so people would have a ''good'' god to worship. Not a lot of those around." The slide of the elongated dwarf displayed him from Jasper''s view when the developer had travelled to the god''s plane and had to unleash one of the Ur-spells. Kelllwan was in mid-air, about to bring his hammer down on the viewer. "Next, we have his opposite, Raffael Moordet. While, of course, elevated to divine status to provide an evil counterpart to Kelllwan, Raffael Moordet struck a deal with the archdemon of hatred. However, the deal had a loophole of some kind, and the mortal managed to achieve godhood through trickery, becoming the god of lies and deceit. This is in sharp contrast to our next god." The slide of Raffael Moordet was him standing over Jasmine, clearly having a monologue. "Daikia. This is, by the world''s lore, the first god. This is wrong. We will get to the first NPC god later. However, it is worth noting that she also made a bargain, this time with darkness itself. Apparently, the contract was so dense and overwhelming that when it was written on her skin, it turned her skin black." Martin could see a couple of people in the crowd''s Public Relations and Communications whisper to each other, furiously taking notes. He would have to talk with Jasper about that later. "She is apparently the strongest god, but here we see a bargain struck with powers beyond mortal comprehension that elevates them to godhood. Now let us go to the true first god." The slide of the drow woman in a regal white outfit was quickly replaced with the next god. "Orlek. The god of orks and strength. Now, why isn''t he remembered as the true first god? Probably because the orks are very big on oral tradition and are not taken seriously by the other races. However, Orlek achieved godhood when he killed... well, me. An achievement the AI thought so significant that it elevated the brutish ork to godhood." The image of Orlek stepping out of the portal when Celeste confronted him after she had converted Spif and Spaf was replaced with the next god. "To mellow out Orlek, we have Esselaia. The goddess is the embodiment of peace. She obtained her powers through communication with the world... with a little help from our developers, but nevertheless through harmony." The image of Esselaia surrounded by dragons, power streaming into her from the Tree of Life, was replaced with an image of the multi-limbed and iterative version of Ewen. "Last but not least, we have Ewen. Someone who achieved godhood through their own merit. Done through magic, this elf is our god of... well, some of you clever people might have guessed it already... magic. So all in all, we have various ways that the gods have been created, making a high fantasy setting with various plotlines to draw from." From that point, Jasper talked about temperature, seeds, and chaos in the AI system and how the process had been optimised. At the same time, the gamified elements provided a shift to the mindset with which they approached development. Chapter 64: Quitting Jasper didn''t feel so good. The conference ended with free drinks, and a lot of the engineers wanted to talk with him about the changes he had made over drinks. That had led to the programmer getting a bit too much of the good stuff before Martin and Riez practically dragged him back to the hotel. The developer wanted nothing more than to just stick his head under his pillows and sleep until room service woke him up, but the CTO, who was apparently named James Thomson, had insisted on meeting with Jasper and Martin today. Riez was helpful, having some kind of fizzy drink ready that she swore would help. Jasper didn''t question it, drinking from the offered glass while they made their way back to the Headquarters. It really did help with his headache, and as they drove into the employee garage, Jasper could think again. The elevator from the employee garage quickly arrived, and the trio beeped themselves in. Jasper had his temporary card, while the others provided their actual card. A short elevator ride later, Jasper and Martin made their way towards the room that had been in the meeting invitation. They weren''t late, but the sound of people talking could still be heard from the room, even with the door closed. Opening the door, the duo stepped into a long room. The entire right side of the room was made from glass with only a slight curve, indicating they weren''t as high in the torus as Jasper had expected. A large oval table had been placed in the middle, with chairs all around it, and on the opposite wall of the door was a large screen. James, the CTO, was sitting sitting on one of the sides, and the man visibly brightened when he spotted Jasper and Martin. He was a middled aged man who had definitely had some work done, his face just a little too symmetrical and his cheeks just a little too shallow compared to his facial structure. His hair was cut short and deep black. He wasn''t tall, but his build was that of a man who did a lot of cardio. "Jasper! Martin! Am I glad to see you? How you been, boys? Hope you weren''t hit too hard by the drinks last night." He gave Jasper a wink, and the developer wanted to be anywhere but here, but he still smiled in return and gave a polite greeting. There were four other people in the room. James introduced them with the energy of someone who hadn''t touched a drop of alcohol last night. "I thought we needed to talk about what to do with your game world since it is pretty much done, right? So I called in this crack team of experts. First off, we have Louise from our AI department. He is the one that has been working on your current version of the AI." Louise stood up and shook Martin and Jasper''s hand in turn. He had a broad smile as he gave them both a nod. "Next, I thought we needed some input on how best to communicate and publish this game, so Hannah from marketing and Fred from communication are joining us." They greeted the pair of developers in the same way Louise had. "Last but not least, we have our project manager Clara. She will be the one running the game development and managing the team. We might be joined by some other people later, but for now, let us get this show on the road." Clara was happy to greet Jasper and Martin as well, giving them both a bright smile. "So why don''t you start us out by talking about the world you have set up? And please, we are not here for the sales pitch, we are here to hear what is really going on." James said, waving a hand for Jasper and Martin to sit. Jasper nodded and started to talk about the world they had created. He explained that it was still relatively barren since they had not gotten any input about the game but had been fixing some basic bugs around the place. Louise, the AI engineer, was the first one to interrupt. "You are running a localised model, right?" Jasper nodded. "Yeah, Gen 12, if I remember right. Running on a local server on an isolated network that can only be accessed through a jumphost." Louise nodded, writing something in a notebook. "Yeah, we need to move away from that. At this point, that thing is considered legacy." Jasper blinked at hearing that. "What? I know we have been using it for a couple of years, but it works as intended, and with it isolated, there isn''t a security risk." James cleared his throat. "We are moving to cloud native solution. We have gotten some competitive pricing to run it as a service rather than host it ourselves. That way, we can run projects the same way, and we will be more agile." Louise didn''t say anything. Clearly, this wasn''t a decision that he had taken. Jasper nodded slowly, realising that this wasn''t up for discussion and bringing it up would only prolong this meeting. Instead, he gave Martin a look, and the big man pulled out a small notepad, writing down that they would need an exception to prevent disruptions from their workflow. Jasper collected himself and continued his explanation of the world. He talked about how they had various sections of the map that they needed to fix, but at the moment they had around 5 locations that still needed to be addressed. Hannah from marketing smiled brightly at hearing about the layout. "This is just perfect. We have seen a resurgence of battle royal types of games. I think this world would lend itself very well to this." Jasper opened his mouth, though he wasn''t sure what to say. As far as he knew, this would be a steep departure from what the company normally did. But then again, it could probably still work. Players rushing through the world to collect items... Clara, the project manager, nodded along with Hannah. "Agree. Though, I have some concerns. You might not want to add too many elements to the world. We want this to run on mobile devices after all." The comment hit Jasper like a hammer, and Martin looked visibly sick. "You... what?" Jasper''s mouth felt like it was full of wool. James, the CTO, gave the developer a look. "Yes, we have decided to expand our approach to game development. And while we normally make Deep Dive games, we have found that mobile games are an unexplored market by our company, and with your world ready before expected, we decided that we can use it for a more experimental project." "No" The word was a deep rumble, and even Jasper was surprised by the forceful nature as it spilt from Martin. "No?" James asked with obvious confusion written on his face. "I am not making this into a mobile game," Martin said, with no further explanation. Fred from Communication smiled a placating smile. "Martin, I can understand that you might not agree with a project like this, but the live service features in a mobile game like this will be able to drive the development of the next many game titles." Jasper cringed when he heard that the game already had plans for live service elements. The world wasn''t even done yet, and they were already talking about monetisation.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. James, the CTO, nodded along. "That is correct. The cost of our titles has become increasingly prohibitive. Despite utilising AI-driven world generation, our expenditure on man hours exceeds that of our competitors. To remain competitive, we must either evolve our approach or adopt a more streamlined and lean business structure, which would mean reducing headcount. As a result, we have identified a new market opportunity where we can leverage the expertise of our existing teams." Jasper looked at Martin. Martin wasn''t satisfied with the explanation. They both knew that Weird World Computing wasn''t in danger of shutting down, they just hadn''t achieved the expected growth for shareholders. The mobile game was clearly a way to show that the company was trying to diversify, and with a lucrative price structure, the game might even earn money. Jasper stood up and smiled, Martin quickly following. "Thank you for your honesty. However, this is not a project we wish to participate in. We will be sure to hand in our resignation within the end of the week, that way you do not need to maintain an branch in the Nordics, and you will have two less developers to look after." Martin gave an affirmative nod. The former farm had tried restarting his life once already, and he knew that it was more than possible. With that, Jasper and Martin left the meeting, leaving behind five stunned people.
The elevator ride down was awkward. "So... are we really gonna quit over this?" Jasper asked. "Yup" "And we are going to do this despite actually having fun doing our job?" "Yup" Jasper sighed deeply "Are you gonna help me explain this to my wife?" Martin smirked "Nope" Jasper just nodded. "I need to hand in my badge." Martin gave a groan. "You know, that really takes dampens the whole, storming out the building part." "Hey, we still need to coordinate with Riez anyway. We don''t even have the keys to a car." Jasper noted. "Good point, I will try and catch her. You hand in that card." Martin said with a grumble. Jasper got off at the foyer and moved to the reception only to find Frank the event manager talking to the receptionist. Upon spotting Jasper the tanned man smiled. "If it isn''t the programming cannon! Sorry that I didn''t get to you yesterday, but it was absolutely amazing! I can''t wait to see what you have up your sleeve with that new world." The man seemed to be an unending beacon of enthusiasm as he looked over Jasper. The programmer gave a polite smile and shook his head. "Sorry, I think you will have to wait for some time. Sounds like the Nordic branch just got closed." Frank gave Jasper a pained look. "Sorry to hear that. Are you being relocated?" Jasper sighed. "No. Martin and I quit. Turns out the world we have been pouring our time into would go to a mobile game with a focus on selling players as much as possible. So we decided to quit." Frank looked Jasper over. "Huh. That is... stupid." Jasper laughed at that and nodded. "Yea, probably, but honestly, we have some new tech and if nothing else we can probably launch our own game in less than a year, even if we are starting over." "That fast? That is impressive. Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I think I might have a solution for you." Frank said with a smile that showed of his far too white teeth. Jasper sighed and shrugged. "I don''t know. We pretty much just stormed out. I don''t think that it is a good idea to linger." Frank shook his head. "At least hear me out." Ten minutes later, Martin, Jasper, and Frank was sitting in the lounge area of Weird World Computing. Each one of them had a cup of coffee, while Riez was bringing around the car. Frank was more than happy to break the tension. "Listen, you need someone to back you up. Someone to be in your corner, and honestly, I am seeing potential in what you have presented. I don''t doubt that you could make a game in a year with this new setup." Martin gave Jasper a look, and Jasper decided to ignore it. Frank ignored the look or didn''t notice. "In short, I think you have two options here. You can walk away from this, if that is what you want. That is stupid, but fighting for what you have made isn''t for everyone. Or I can pitch your project as a stand alone game. You will be developing the entire game, essentially allowing us to increase our content production, while keeping costs the same... essentially the same. You will have more responsibility and more tasks you need to do, but I am willing to back this project." Frank said with a smile. Martin grumbled a little, while Jasper nodded along slowly. "And you can do this... how?" He asked. Frank smiled. "Nepotism. I am only really hired here to run a couple of yearly events and coordinate with various teams. Rachel Misfour, our CEO, is my sister in law. I am sure that I can convince her to at least give it a shot. If nothing else to avoid the perception of the two of you leaving the moment you come up with an interesting idea." Jasper smiled and Martin gave a curt nod. "We are in. What resources can you give us?" Frank laughed. "Not really that much. I can speed up that new Deep Dive equipment you have asked for... and maybe you would like a remote intern?" The developers grinned and agreed, both willing to fight for the world they had invested so much time into.
The elevator ride down was awkward. "So... are we really gonna quit over this?" Jasper asked. "Yup" "And we are going to do this despite actually having fun doing our job?" "Yup" Jasper sighed deeply. "Are you gonna help me explain this to my wife?" Martin smirked. "Nope" Jasper just nodded. "I need to hand in my badge." Martin gave a groan. "You know, that really dampens the whole, storming out the building part." "Hey, we still need to coordinate with Riez anyway. We don''t even have the keys to a car." Jasper noted. "Good point, I will try and catch her. You hand in that card." Martin said with a grumble. Jasper got off at the foyer and moved to the reception only to find Frank, the event manager, talking to the receptionist. Upon spotting Jasper, the tanned man smiled. "If it isn''t the programming cannon! Sorry I didn''t get to you yesterday after the presentation, but it was amazing! I can''t wait to see what you have up your sleeve with that new world." The man seemed to be an unending beacon of enthusiasm as he looked over Jasper. The programmer gave a polite smile and shook his head. "Sorry, I think you will have to wait for some time. Sounds like the Nordic branch just got closed." Frank gave Jasper a pained look. "Sorry to hear that. Are you being relocated?" Jasper sighed. "No. Martin and I quit. Turns out the world we have been pouring our time into would go to a mobile game focusing on squeezing as much money from the players as possible. So we decided to quit." Frank looked Jasper over. "Huh. That is... stupid." Jasper laughed at that and nodded. "Yeah, probably, but honestly, we have some new tech, and if nothing else, we can probably launch our own game in less than a year, even if we are starting over." "That fast? That is impressive. Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I think I might have a solution for you." Frank said with a smile that showed off his far too white teeth. Jasper sighed and shrugged. "I don''t know. We pretty much just stormed out. I don''t think that it is a good idea to linger." Frank shook his head. "At least hear me out." Ten minutes later, Martin, Jasper, and Frank were sitting in the lounge area of Weird World Computing. Each one of them had a cup of coffee while Riez was bringing around the car. Frank was more than happy to break the tension. "Listen, you need someone to back you up. Someone to be in your corner. Honestly, I see potential in what you have presented. I don''t doubt that you could make a game in a year with this new setup." Martin gave Jasper a look, and Jasper decided to ignore it. Frank also ignored the look or didn''t notice. "In short, I think you have two options here. You can walk away from this if that is what you want. That is stupid. You will have to start over and not have the resources you think you have. Your development platform right now is based on Weird World Computing. You would have nothing. The other option is that I pitch your project as a stand-alone game. You will be developing the entire game, essentially allowing us to increase our content production while keeping costs the same. You will have more responsibility and more tasks you need to do, but I am willing to back this project." Frank said with a smile. Martin grumbled a little, while Jasper nodded along slowly. "And you can do this... how?" He asked. Frank smiled. "Nepotism. I am only hired here to run a couple of yearly events and coordinate with various teams. Rachel Misfour, our CEO, is my sister-in-law. I am sure I can convince her to at least give it a shot. If nothing else to avoid the perception of the two of you leaving the moment you come up with an interesting idea." Jasper smiled, and Martin gave a curt nod. "We are in. What resources can you give us?" Frank laughed. "Not really that much. I can speed up that new Deep Dive equipment you have asked for... and maybe you would like a remote intern?" The developers grinned and agreed, willing to fight for the world they had invested so much time into. There was still more of the conference, though Jasper and Martin didn''t get to experience much more of it. They ended up in planning meetings with Frank and various people that they quickly forgot the names of. Things went back and forth, but after three days of negotiation and strategising, they reached a conclusion. The Nordic branch would persist, but it would be much more independent. Through it all, Frank was more than happy to help the pair of developers navigate the corporate politics and intrigues. While Jasper and Martin did get what they wanted, the mandate to develop the game themselves, they also had to live up to a new level of corporate standards and policies. It was a sacrifice they were both willing to make and as such, they were in high spirits when they said farewell to Riez, and boarded their flight back home. "Are you ready to try and do this on our own?" Martin asked, as they landed back in Europe. Jasper smiled. "Yeah... I am definitely looking forward to doing a deeper dive into things and not just clean up the world. I was starting to feel like a janitor." Afterword A thank you from the author I was once told that everyone had at least one good story in them. I wrote this book to prove those people wrong. I thank you all for joining me on this journey, and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. As you may know, this book draws heavy inspiration from the tabletop game Godbound. I cannot recommend the system enough to anyone who wish to try their hand at a free form of play with divine powers. The world itself is something I have been working on for years in collaboration with many of my friends. It has been used and abused during an LARP where I used to GM. During this time much lore was reworked by me, and this is where some of the interludes are coming from. I am still part of the group, though I mostly work with the boardgames at this point.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Much of the lore written in my younger days, and it is probably the fantasy world I have invested the most time into. If you wish to see some of the world in the form of a LARP I urge you to take a look at A''kastin.dk. I have of course cleared it with my friends that I was able to use this world for my book, and much of the new lore has been excluded as to not steal from other people''s work. While the story itself has been left with the option of further writing, I am unsure if I will continue with a second book. This is mostly due to the amount of work I have needed to put into this. I hope that I will be able to continue but for now I will simply be adjusting the current version to the best of my ability. I wish you all the best of luck, and I thank you for the journey that you have been taking with me. I hope that I get to do this again with you all for the next book I am writing. If you have the time please review this book to let me know if there is any interest for further writing. Chapter 3: How do you make a character? [Includes Poll]
Domain name Domain Description
Alacrity Quick bursts of explosive speed
Blood Manipulation and power through vitae
Contracts Making binding oaths and agreements that are magically enforced
Deception Illusions and general lies, including stealth
Dragon Become the embodiment of dragons and their ferocity
Earth Minerals, Stone and Gems
Echoes Resonance, reverberation, and the persistence of things past
Fertility Growth in plants, people and animals
Fire Warmth of the flame
Gravity Attraction, weight, and force
Lich Commanding the undead and eternal life
Living Phoenix Rebirth and fire combined into elegance
Loyalty Leadership and organisation
Madness The manipulation of a constant mental state Melee Hitting things with weapons
Might Strength and power
Network A connection of nodes, be they trees, tech or people
Night Darkness and visibility manipulation
Passion Feelings and inspiration
Radiance Blinding light, glory, and overwhelming presence
Sun Light and the burning righteousness of the day
Theft Walking into forbidden places and taking away guarded things
Vengeance Inflicting pain and punishment on those who have first committed a crime
Voidborn That which lies beyond the planes and does not exist yet must be there
War Combat against formations of armed foes and being an unstoppable agent of tactical destruction
Water Anything from seas to the rivers that flow
Wind Tornadoes and power of the sky
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Text from Image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Alacrity! Players with the Alacrity Domain can never be surprised, and may set their Dexterity to 16, or if it is already 16, they may set it to 18. Text from Image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Deception! Players with the Deception Domain may set their Dexterity OR Charisma to 16, depending on if they favour lies or stealth. If the score is already 16, they may set it to 18 instead. Text from Image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Loyalty! Players with the Loyalty Domain may set their Charisma to 16, or 18 if it is already 16 or higher. They may communicate with any intelligent creature, understanding them and being understood in turn. Their commands are always correctly understood, though obedience will depend on their eloquence or the use of their powers.
Riez
Stat Score
Strength 10
Dexterity 18
Constitution 14
Wisdom 13
Intelligence 13
Charisma 18
Text from Image: Players with the Contract Domain instantly know whenever somebody makes a deal with them in bad faith, or decides to break a deal with them. They learn the reason the target chose to break the deal. They also set their Wisdom to 16, or 18 if it''s already 16 or better Chapter 4: Riez builds her character Riez took a deep breath and looked over at Jasper. However, before she could ask any questions, a pop-up appeared. Text from image You are loading into a world with existing players Message: You have been advanced to Rank [4]. This will mean gaining the following benefits:
  • Base Energy: 4
  • Base Impact: 4
  • Worship spent: 10
  • Unspent Power Points: 15
Do you want this boost? Y/N? "Seems like I can start at a higher level like you said, but I can also choose to start at a normal level?" The questioning tone in Riez''s voice made Jasper smile. "Yeah, I decided that we wouldn''t force it. So you can choose to start underlevelled, " he answered, though Riez had already pressed Yes to the question. She did pause after that, as she realised she hadn''t really understood all the information. "What does Worship Spent mean?" Jasper couldn''t help but giggle a little at the fact that she had just clicked. "Since your rank is determined by how much worship you spend, you are starting out with having already spent some of it. Just to ensure that we don''t get any funny business where you can gain multiple Ranks for Worship you already have gotten credit for." She looked at Jasper with a raised eyebrow. "We are going to talk about what Impact and Worship is later, right?" And Jasper nodded before they both delved into their powers.
Riez considered her options. Her build was unorthodox. She would be happy to admit that much, but as a potential prankster god, she needed the power to move quickly and the power to lie about what she was doing. The Loyalty Domain had been to ensure that she could create a team of pranksters who could help her out and remain loyal to her. After all, a clown was better with a circus. She probably wanted another Domain but couldn''t decide what to pick. Riez considered the Theft Domain. It was probably the one that aligned most with her trickster nature, but was there something in that Domain that she didn''t already have access to? She wasn''t sure if she wanted to steal from people, as much as she really just wanted to annoy them. Madness could be fun. However, that might be a bit too extreme compared to what she was looking for. The Trickster was looking for pranks and chaos, not outright lunacy. There was another option that did appeal to her, though. Vengeance. Her goal was really only to prank those who deserved it, so maybe, just maybe, that was the right Domain. Punish those who had done her wrong the first time around. Before taking the plunge into looking over her Powers, Riez looked over at Jasper. "So, how much does each power cost?" Jasper was clearly taken off guard by the question, having already started reviewing his own character. "Huh?" Riez repeated the question and then had to repeat it again as Jasper had started to look through the options halfway through her speaking. "Well, a new Domain is 3 points, Greater powers are 2 points, and Lesser powers are 1 point." He explained before almost instantly diving back into the character-building. Riez took a deep breath and decided not to pick a new Domain until she had looked at what powers were available to her. Thinking that it was her main Domain, she started looking at Deception. As she pulled up the list of powers, she could see that while she had the ability to create her own powers, the default was simply presenting her with a top 5 list of powers based on what she wanted. Riez saw no need to change the default and looked over what the system suggested for her.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Liar¡¯s Flawless Grace Your lies can never be detected as such by magic or other special abilities, including those of the Deception Word. Lesser foes will always believe them unless they are completely implausible or emotionally intolerable. See full description Lesser
Conviction of Error Commit Energy. All chosen targets present become convinced that one of their beliefs of your choice is actually a terrible lie that has been imposed upon them. Worthy foes get a saving throw. See full description Greater
A Familiar Face Commit Energy to blend in with a populace or group. This blending works even with entities who look nothing like humans. See full description Lesser
Deceiver¡¯s Unblinking Eye You can always tell when someone¡¯s trying to lie to you or deceive you. You can see through mortal illusions and disguises. See full description Lesser
Impenetrable Deceit You state something you believe to be false and Commit Energy. Everyone who hears you speak at that moment will believe it, though worthy foes get a saving throw. See full description Greater
Riez couldn''t help but note that each of those powers were definitely incredibly powerful. While she had tried the game once before during a demonstration, this was beyond anything she had ever expected. She also noted that each of the powers had a full description attached, meaning that even with the brief summary, some of these powers would probably have conditions and limitations attached. With 15 points, she considered buying all of them. However, she paused and took a deep breath and looked over her options. "Liar''s Flawless Grace", which allowed her to lie to anyone and never really get detected, was practically the opposite of "Deceiver''s Unblinking Eye", which would allow her to determine whenever someone was lying to her. With them both being Lesser powers they were an easy pick. 13 points left. While the two greater powers seemed incredible, allowing her to practically manipulate anyone, they would probably take some of the fun out of pranking people. The last Lesser power, "A Familiar Face", which allowed her to blend in with anyone, was probably the funniest thing she had ever seen. It would be absolutely hilarious to gaslight someone into thinking that she was a troll or something like that. She picked that one as well, leaving her at 12 points. With her picks in mind, she looked over their full descriptions to ensure that she wasn''t picking something that wouldn''t be useful due to the limitation. Text from Image: Liar¡¯s Flawless Grace Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Your lies can never be detected as such by magic or other special abilities, including those of the Deception Domain. Lesser foes will always believe them unless they are completely implausible, emotionally intolerable, or would oblige them to self-harm. Text from Image: Deceiver¡¯s Unblinking Eye Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You can always tell when someone¡¯s trying to lie to you or deceive you. You can see through mortal illusions and disguises. This power does not affect others with the Deception Domain. Text from Image: A Familiar Face Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Varies Full effect: Blend in with a populace or group. Assuming they¡¯re not actively vigilant for intruders, no one will bother you unless you wish otherwise, and you will intuitively know how to act, speak, and conduct business so as to avoid drawing attention. This blending works even with entities who look nothing like humans. Happy with what she had picked, she moved on to her Loyalty Domain. Here, she chose to see the top five as well.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Invincible Iron General All NPCs serving under you double their health and mana, gain a hit bonus equal to your Rank, and will never flee in fear. Your will is automatically known by all your lieutenants and you always know the location, condition, and general activities of all units that accept your command. See full description Greater
A Thousand Loyal Troops Commit Energy. A visible NPC immediately becomes cooperative toward you, doing for you all they¡¯d do for a superior or employer. Those who are worthy foes get a save to resist this effect. See full description Lesser
Guards! Seize him! Up to a Small Mob worth of minions or a half-dozen individual retainers can be made to appear in the current location, provided they''re within fifty kilometres of you. See full description Lesser
The Soldier''s Faithful Heart A visible Lesser creature who freely pledges loyalty to you finds their oath totally binding. See full description Lesser
The Lines of Rule You can spot the true leader in any group or social context. In addition, you may Commit Energy; a group of NPCs who are lesser foes will instinctively obey you as if you were their superior or employer. See full description Lesser
All of these powers were definitely interesting and, without a doubt, something she could use. She could probably conquer entire worlds with the boost from "Invincible Iron General". The fact that it seemed to be a flat boost to anyone she commanded was insane. However, it was the second part that appealed to Riez. Not having to give orders to her second-in-command would make coordinating pranks so much easier! For two points, it was quite a good power, too! Riez picked it, leaving her with 10 points and looking over the other options. There were a few she liked "A Thousand Loyal Troops" and "The Lines of Rule" seemed very similar, the only difference being that one would allow her to take command of pretty much any one person, while the other allowed her to take command of groups of lesser foes, and let her see who was in charge. It only took her a minute of weighing the pros and cons before she decided on The Lines of Rule, as it would allow her to find good targets to prank, and pretend that she was in charge. It was really a two-for-one package deal.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. That left her at 9 points. The two last powers were interesting but didn''t seem good with her build. She really wanted to spend her points on something else, and with that, she looked over her choices. Text from image: Invincible Iron General Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: All NPCs serving under you double their health and mana, gain a hit bonus equal to your Rank, and will never flee in fear. Your will is automatically known by all your lieutenants, and you always know the location, condition, and general activities of all units that accept your command. Text from image: The Lines of Rule Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Varies Full effect: You can spot the true leader in any group or social context. In addition, you may Commit Energy; a group of NPCs who are lesser foes will instinctively obey you as if you were their superior or employer. If the strangeness of this is brought to their attention by circumstances or those unaffected, they get a saving throw. Happy, she moved on to her Alacrity Domain. The top five powers appeared once more, and she almost gasped.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
Untouchable Commit Energy to the next loading screen to become tremendously difficult to hit until the start of your next turn. See full description Greater
All Directions as One You can navigate vertical or overhanging surfaces as if they were flat ground. You can pass through rough terrain effortlessly. You have an invulnerable defence against being pushed or made to fall. See full description Lesser
Walk Between the Rain Your armour is heightened dramatically. You cannot be hit by anything not driven by a purpose unless you allow it. See full description Lesser
Flickering Advance Commit Energy to the next loading screen. Instantly reach any location you can see with your unaided sight out to the horizon. See full description Lesser
Time in a bottle Commit Energy to the next loading screen end when anyone visible declares an action. You get a free round of action and movement before they can perform their act. See full description Greater
She wanted them ALL! Alacrity was the best Domain ever! It would effectively allow her to be a roadrunner! Or whatever cartoon character she wanted! She took a deep breath, realising she was hyperventilating a little and practically drooling. Picking all the powers would cost her 7 points, which was something she could afford... unless she wanted another Domain. She would have to at least sort one of these options out... maybe two. She took another deep breath and skimmed over the options again. All Directions as One and Flickering Advance seemed to be the biggest edge cases. They were probably fine, but with her other powers, they probably weren''t that good. As such, she picked everything else. Riez looked over the powers just to be sure that she liked the abilities that she had picked. Text from image Untouchable Type: Instant ability Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: Become tremendously difficult to hit until the start of your next turn. Physical attacks hit you only on a natural 20, even those attacks from foes that would normally hit automatically. As an Instant power, you may use it after an attack roll. Riez''s eyes went wide. This was even better than what she had expected. Being able to use this power after people had attacked her was almost perfect. Text from image: Walk Between the Rain Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Your armour is heightened dramatically. You cannot be hit by anything not driven by a purpose unless you allow it; falling objects will never strike you unless some will to harm you set them in motion. Traps meant to hit an intruder have a chance to hit you. Armor and shields don''t benefit you. Text from image: Time in a bottle Type: Instant ability (Smite) Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: You can only activate this when someone performs an action. You get a free round¡¯s action and movement before they can perform their act. If their desired action is rendered impossible by yours, their action is wasted. As a Smite gift, this can''t be used two rounds in a row. She had 4 points left. That would be enough for the Vengeance Domain and one Lesser power. She picked Vengeance Domain and looked at the passive power she got from it. Text from Image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Vengeance! Players with the Vengeance Domain repay what is owed. Your normal attacks always hit against a target who has inflicted health damage on you within the past round. That was definitely good! Vengeance was a perfect choice, as it would allow her to be a bit more offensive. With only 1 point left, she looked at the list and then filtered it to show the top 3 and only lesser powers.
Power name Summary Read more?
Conditional Forgiveness Commit Energy for the day and target a visible creature, naming an offense they have committed. If they ever perform a substantially similar act again, they immediately perish or suffer some lesser curse at your discretion. See full description
Sanctified Violence Even your words scourge those who incur your wrath. Your weapon or unarmed attacks count as a 1d20 magical weapon with a range of up to 200 meters. As long as you do not strike first, you cannot be faulted for any murder with this power. See full description
Corona of Vengeance If brought to zero health, you may choose to enact your vengeance. You immediately gain health equal to half your maximum, rounded up, and bonus Energy equal to your Rank. You are immediately freed from any magical effect that is binding or constraining you, whether mental or physical, and for the duration of the Corona, you cannot be controlled or bound by magic. See full description
Riez gave a soft whistle. Vengeance seemed to be much more focused on fighting, which made sense. She did need something to take down people, and while Conditional Forgiveness and Corona of Vengeance were both great, they wouldn''t really improve any combat she got into. She chose Sanctified Violence and looked over the power in full. Text from image: Sanctified Violence Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Even your words scourge those who incur your wrath. Your weapon or unarmed attacks count as a 1d20 magical weapon with a range of up to 200 feet. If you kill a target who first initiated violence against you, either with this gift or another power, lesser foes who see it or learn of it will be unable to consider the death as unlawful, unfair, or socially inappropriate. With that done, she looked over at Jasper, who seemed consumed by his own dive into his powers.
Jasper looked over his options. He could do so many great things, and- Riez asked him a question. He tried to answer her without being pulled out of his stream of thought. Then she asked him something again, and he realised it had been the same question as the first time around. He pulled himself out of the menus, only to realise that he had misread one of the powers in front of him and- Riez asked the same question a third time, and Jasper made a herculean effort to answer the question to the best of his abilities. With that done, he could dive back into the Contract Domain. With 7 points to spend, he didn''t want to expand into another Domain. Jasper rolled his shoulders, adjusted his glasses and dove into the top 5 powers recommended by the system for the Contract Domain.
Power name Summary Read more? Type
God of Oaths Soul Oaths no longer require you to spend Energy or Worship to achieve high levels. Spend 1 Worship to break any Soul Oath where you are not an active participant. See full description Lesser
Witness of the Pact You can retroactively bind any deal or agreement as if it were a Soul Oath. Doing so will enforce divine will upon all participants. The agreement must be considered valid by all parties involved. See full description Lesser
Market of Souls You can trade or barter metaphysical aspects (e.g., memories, years of life, divine power) with another creature. Any bargain struck for metaphysical aspects must be in the form of a Soal Oath. See full description Greater
Ledger of Obligation You mentally catalogue all promises, debts, and agreements made with or near you. You always know the status of these obligations, even if the parties involved forget or deny them. See full description Lesser
Divine Escrow Store the rewards or costs of a deal outside time and space in a divine escrow. Neither party can claim or lose their stake until the deal¡¯s terms are fully honoured. Once fulfilled, payment and rewards are automatically given to the proper parties. See full description Greater
Jasper sighed. All of these were good. He tinkered with them, looking through his other powers, weighed them with his other options and tried to compare the impact. He wasn''t sure how long he had been at it, but Riez was looking at him, so he finally picked all of them. Text from image: God of Oaths Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Soul Oaths no longer require you to spend Energy or Worship to achieve high levels. Spend 1 Worship to break any Soul Oath where you are not an active participant. Text from image: Witness of the Pact Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: You can retroactively bind any deal or agreement as if it were a Soul Oath. Doing so will enforce divine will upon all participants. The agreement must be considered valid by all parties involved and must not be under dispute in any way. You can choose the level that this Soul Oath is bound to, paying any cost that this will incur. Text from image: Market of Souls Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You can trade or barter metaphysical aspects (e.g., memories, years of life, divine power) with another creature. Any bargain struck for metaphysical aspects must be in the form of a Soal Oath. Text from image: Ledger of Obligation Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You mentally catalogue all promises, debts, and agreements made with or near you. You always know the status of these obligations, even if the parties involved forget or deny them. Text from image: Divine Escrow Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Store the rewards or costs of a deal outside time and space in a divine escrow. Neither party can claim or lose their stake until the deal¡¯s terms are fully honoured. Once fulfilled, payment and rewards are automatically given to the proper parties. With the powers picked, he smiled and turned to Riez. "I am ready. Are you ready?" Riez nodded with a grin, and they were pulled into the game. Chapter 5: Preparing for Adventure Jasper was a little surprised when he saw the list of options before him. The long list showed every area in the world, allowing Jasper and Riez to teleport to whatever location they needed. Text from image: Where do you wish to start? Northland It was a good feature for sure, and something he had been working on during the past week. However, Jasper wasn''t really happy with how it looked. He sighed and picked The Infinite Plains. That would be the area where the orks roamed. With Celeste and Martin taking care of the Dwarves and Drows, the developers only had a few more places to fix before they were done with the first iteration of bugfixing. A''kastin had been locked in since Celeste had brought it to a point where it was a great starting location. It was still being iterated upon, but the AI would always bring it back to its current state with a ruler that had some power but was under pressure from all sides, while the people did not have enough resources. That left Jasper and Riez to fix the orkish culture and ensure there weren''t any bugs on The Infinite Plains. To no surprise, Riez and Jasper landed on what could only be described as open plains. However, what was surprising was the colour of the world around them. Large swaths of grass surrounded them, but the grass was a crimson red, yellow, and orange, as if it was autumn and the whole world was just waiting for the grass to shed its leaves, as if it were some kind of tree. Jasper felt his Ominscholar power pour information into his brain, and the relief of being told what was happening was immense. Text from image: Omniscient Scholar Type: Constant effect Energy usage: None Full effect: You know anything that has been written in a book, though this is mostly limited to non-fiction books unless the fiction has roots in reality. Scrolls count as books. A book has to be stored and maintained by living beings to count as being under this effect. You are not able to obtain what is assumed to be lost knowledge through this ability. Instantly, Jasper knew that this was a special type of grass that populated the plains and that it was known as Firegrass, mostly due to its spicy nature and not because it was actually especially flammable. It was a surprisingly rare alchemical component, not because it was hard to find but because any major caravans harvesting the resource would often end up accosted by orks. Riez gave a whistle, and Jasper looked over at her, seeing that she wasn''t in her gremlin form but rather resembling her real-world self. Her shirt and vest highlighted her long orange hair and baggy pants, all in white or brown, making her almost blend into the environment. She was also wearing gloves despite the shirt having short sleeves. "This place is amazing. I swear, the realism of these Deep Dive games always catches me off-guard," Riez said with a gasp. Jasper barely recognised the feeling anymore, but as Riez enjoyed the experience, he savoured her glee as she kicked up a tuft of grass, and then he savoured the sight of her falling over when the grass didn''t budge. He knew that she was being silly. Her divine body would have allowed her to keep her balance if she wanted to. But it was good that she was enjoying the experience. "I need to set some things up before we get going. I realised that I have been an idiot and not prepared myself in any way when going into this world. I will not make the same mistake. We have 10 days, and I intend to spend the first day setting up some Ur-spells." Jasper explained while rolling each shoulder in turn as if he was warming up for some major athletic exercise. Riez groaned loudly. "I know that as the God of knowledge, you are bound to be a dum-dum, but why do you have to spend the first day just doing boring stuff? Don''t be a dum-dum-dum." Her eyes were pleading. Jasper sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and pushing up his glasses in the same motion. It was a very familiar, calming action that he had missed when he was out of the game. The God of magic waited for her to act like an adult, but that seemed like a lost cause, so he just dismissed her. "I don''t expect you to stay around here. I expect you to scout things out while I prep. You have the sneaky deception powers, so you can definitely use them as you see fit. Find any bugs so we can annihilate them, and if you see the opportunity for a good game mechanic, note it down in the virtual pad you have access to through your HUD." He wandered through the grass as he talked, trying to find a good place to begin the rituals. When Jasper didn''t hear a response from Riez, he turned around and burst out laughing. A smoke cloud shaped like the trickster started dissipating as soon as he looked at it. It didn''t take his Knowledge Domain to inform Jasper that Riez had used her Alacrity Domain to slip away quickly and her Deception Domain to create the illusion of smoke particles dispersing. With the intern occupied, Jasper let a flame inferno scorch the ground around him, burning away the grass so that he could start his rituals. The God''s plan was actually fairly simple. He needed Ur-spells to be able to go toe-to-toe with most other gods, and casting those was expensive and hurt if done during combat. However, that was due to him trying to cast them instantly every time. He had other options. He just hadn''t had the time to set things up properly, at least not until now. The problem with the Ur-spells was that they were designed to be too powerful for this world. They effectively damaged the world around them and forced changes to the entire realm. It shouldn''t have been something that was cast at all. However, they simply proved too powerful not to have access to it. He was going to stack his Magic Domain powers to such a degree that what he was about to do was probably considered a bug on its own. The first step of his plan was his power, "The Excellent Pause". It allowed him to commit Energy to pause the casting of a spell, and while he had restricted it to fireballs and other powerful combat spells, there wasn''t any limit as far as he could tell, meaning that he could push Ur-spells into it. That would allow him to cast prepared Ur-spells without invoking the rituals that would tear the world apart. Text from Image:
The Excellent Pause Type: Activated Ability Energy usage: Varies. Full effect: When you cast an Ur-spell or mortal magic, you may commit Energy just before it is triggered. The spell is then suspended and may be released as an action at any time thereafter, with the committed Energy returning at the next loading screen. You may suspend more than one spell if you''re willing to commit the Energy to each, but releasing requires your attention.
The downside was obvious, though. He would be limiting his overall Energy, something that he only had 7 of, thanks to giving up the Endurance Domain. However, the idea was to combine this power with the powers that allowed him to cast Ur-spells. The first one was particularly important. Text from image: Deified Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the Way of the Deified Ur-mage, the humblest level of Ur-magic, albeit still one beyond all but the mightiest mortal wizards. You may choose four spells to master as part of this learning and may learn more as you find them. You do not need to spend Energy to remember these four spells, however, if you want to cast any other spells of the Deified Ur-mage, then you need to spend one Energy to learn it temporarily and one Energy to cast it. Here, the most crucial part was that he would be allowed to access any other spells that he wanted from the Ur-spell list. All of them were very powerful, and if he prepared them, he could have an arsenal of mighty magic that he wouldn''t normally have access to. The price of 1 Energy for just knowing the spell was fair, and to mitigate it, he would have to combine it with his other powers. The next piece of the puzzle was the power granted to him through the Supreme Ur-mage. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Text from Image: Supreme Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the way of the Supreme Ur-mage, the second tier of Ur-magic. You master three spells of this tier as part of this learning, which you do not need to spend Energy to remember. You may learn more as you find them. When casting Ur-magic you may spend a day to cast the spell without spending any Energy. While this was definitely a good idea, he would need to spend a week if he wanted to have seven spells ready for whatever opponent came for him. However, that would leave him with none left. As such, he would have to use the last power in the line of Ur-magic powers. The Unbound Ur-mage power. Text from image: Unbound Ur-mage Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: You have been initiated into the way of the Unbound Ur-mage, the deepest degree of Ur-magic. You master two spells of this tier as part of this learning, which you do not need to spend Energy to remember. You may learn more as you find them. When casting Ur-magic you may spend a minute to cast the spell without taking any damage. Now, this was where things got spicy. The true limit of the Ur-magic was the damage that they caused to cast. With this last power, which had required the previous two tiers, he could now stack them all. He had given himself a single day, mostly to ensure he still got something from the session. Jasper took a deep breath and invoked his divine powers. Sigils sprawled underneath him, being carved into the ground, but Jasper''s Energy ensured that the slow spread of the ancient power was contained and any strands of wild mana were looped back into the spell. It was strange to cast the spell without being torn apart. It was still deeply uncomfortable as Energy poured in and out of him following the spell diagram, but it wasn''t as bad as having to cast the spell in combat. The game wouldn''t and couldn''t emulate pain, but it could and regularly did emulate great discomfort, and one of the biggest discomforts Jasper had experienced so far was being torn apart on the atomic level, all thanks to casting an ur-spell Jasper unleashed the first ring of Ur-magic, and the sigils that made up the engine of the world appeared on the ground, shaking the world, or maybe it was just Jasper. However, nothing broke, which was already a success. It was like Jasper was trapped in a heat haze. All around him, the air shimmered as it tried to collide with something so fundamental that it was repulsed. The second ring was unleashed, allowing Jasper to feel the power course through him. The veils of the world parted, and a glimpse between planes would have sent mortals screaming. It was only thanks to Jasper''s powers and divine Energy, that the parting of the veils didn''t become a tear in reality. An achievement he was quite proud of. As the third ring unfurled, something in the darkness beyond moved. Jasper recognised it as if it were trying to link to the plane. It was something his wife had created. The Whirlpool of Souls was a system that sorted dead souls, and it was a construction made from pure death. It had the power to kill a god, and by the looks of things, an ur-spell from the unbound tier had caught its attention. If it was cast in combat without these preparations, the link probably couldn''t be prevented and the structure of death would likely kill the entire world. Before the Whirlpool of Souls could connect to the rift that Jasper had created, he unleashed his spell. Text from image: Directed Convulsion of Law Tier: Unbound Ur-magic (3rd tier) Full effect: The processes of natural law bow to you. Once cast, you can immunize yourself and up to a half-dozen allies from particular natural laws, material objects, or natural phenomena. You could absolve yourself of gravity, for example, and fly or exempt yourself from acknowledging a stone wall and walk through it. This lasts for up to an hour. With his power to store it, the spell compressed, becoming a small sphere of constantly changing power that hovered behind Jasper''s head. In front of Jasper, the rift closed, and he saw the strand from the Whirlpool retract back into the main construct. Around him, the earth was crisp as if it had been burning, but everything seemed to be fine.
Energy 5/7
He had lost two Energy for preparing that spell. He had lost one for the day for casting it in only an hour without taking any damage. And he had dedicated one to keep it stored. He would recover the lost Energy in time, and he would regain the Energy when he used the Ur-spell. Jasper continued, this time only going to tier two. While scorched by his fire earlier, the ground underneath him might as well have been salted at this point as he poured divine Energy through it to a point where nothing could live. Soon, he invoked a new ur-spell Sign of Avulsive Banishment. It condensed into a small pearl behind his head, shifting hues as the light hit it. Text from image: Sign of Avulsive Banishment Tier: Supreme Ur-magic (2nd tier) Full effect: Smite a creature not of this world. Instantly dealing them 1d20 damage per caster Rank and returning them to the realm from which they originated. Beings stronger than you gets a check to resist the effect of being sent back. This can target up to one small army, as long as none of its members are stronger than you. Again, he lost Energy, though it was to be expected, and this time, things weren''t being strained in the same way since he didn''t go to the unbound tier, but only the supreme tier. It still cost the same amount of Energy as before, though.
Energy 3/7
Jasper took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. He invested one point into knowing a new Ur-spell, at least for a short while, and then one more point into casting it without having to damage himself or the world. When he finally finished casting The Grinding Teeth of God, he dedicated one more Energy to pausing the casting, and the spell solidified into a pearl behind his head, though this one had multitudes of mouths and maws all over it, clearly craving to devour whatever was put in front of it. Jasper inspected the spell he had considered too extreme to use last time. He thought that this was a good middle-ground. Text from image: The Grinding Teeth of God Tier: Unbound Ur-magic (3rd tier) Full effect: You drag the fabric of reality into the teeth of the celestial gears that support it, churning every solid object in the area of effect into a fine powder. The spell affects an area up to thirty meters in diameter centred on a point within the caster¡¯s sight. Living creatures that keep moving can pull away from the grinding gears and suffer only 33% of their max life in damage for each round they remain in the area of effect. Immobile objects are chewed to dust within ten rounds, whereupon the spell ends. Only the very strongest supernatural substances are capable of resisting this spell. If such an artifact or object gets caught in the area of effect, the celestial engines will bind up and shatter. That did leave him with no Energy for the rest of the day, but that was fine, he would be spending the rest of the day, casting a fourth spell, this time for free, only using his concentration. The day turned to night, and the heavens shifted above Jasper. As dawn came, he was trembling with exhaustion, not something he was used to, thanks to the previous Endurance Domain. But he got 4 Energy back as the sun crested the horizon. The remaining 3 were still bound in his divine power, holding back the spells. He would get that back when he unleashed them. A couple of hours later he finished the spell, allowing him to cast Palace of the Sorcerer-Prince. Text from image: Palace of the Sorcerer-Prince Tier: Unbound Ur-magic (3rd tier) Full effect: With but a single use of this invocation, you call forth a luxuriantly-appointed tower or similar structure, one capable of housing up to a hundred inhabitants in comfort. The palace is appointed with dozens of conjured servitors, concubines, and laborers, albeit none are capable of fighting. The tower is sealed against entry by anyone, save you and your chosen guests. However, siege weapons or powerful magic can break through the walls and steel-hard windows of tinted glass. The tower naturally creates sufficient food, drink, and other common necessities to serve a hundred guests indefinitely. If taken from the tower, however, these amenities crumble away in moments. So too, the servitors, if they are forced to leave its walls. The palace may be dispelled at the caster¡¯s whim. Any foreign objects or persons left within the tower when dispelled will appear on the ground where it once stood. However, the caster¡¯s personal possessions may be left stored within whatever timeless pocket realm the tower goes to when it is dispelled. You may have only one palace standing at any one time. The magic turned into a pearl, though this one had a small castle on top of it. This left him with three Energy for the rest of the nine days he had left. He smiled and was about to find out where Riez had gone, but as soon as he tried to take a step, his body screamed in exhaustion, and he collapsed, snoozing before he even hit the ground. Chapter 6: The Pink Goblin Riez was sprinting as fast as she could. Her speed was unmatched, wind hammering against her body, and she could barely see the world around her as she moved faster than should be humanly possible. She might as well have been a racecar, reaching speeds so fast that she could annihilate anything she hit. She had left an illusion of a smoke-cloud behind when Jasper had started planning and moving around. The trickster god had made it about a kilometre before her speed seemed to vanish, and she started to heave for breath. Her Alacrity domain clearly didn''t allow her to travel far before her constitution told her to stop. While gasping for air, she pulled up her special notepad and made a note of the first potential game mechanic she had come across.
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Satisfied, she quickly realised that the game wouldn''t allow her to sprint again before she could effectively have travelled the distance normally. That made sense. Otherwise, her Alacrity Domain would definitely be much more powerful compared to the Journeying Domain. She continued to travel, enjoying the feeling of the grass around her and the earth underneath her feet. It was an interesting experience for sure, and Riez couldn''t believe that anyone would have sacrificed this world to make a mobile game. This experience was amazing! She could feel the sun baking on her skin and the soft winds that cooled her down. Riez was simply enjoying the world, savouring every movement she made and every moment she got to experience this wonderful creation. She couldn''t get the smile off her lips, which always seemed to take on quite a smug look. However, she was starting to grow a little tired from the walking when she finally spotted what had to be a camp of some kind. It looked slightly primitive, and there were definitely a lot of people moving around despite it not being larger than ten to twenty tents. Riez rolled her shoulders and activated A Familiar Face, allowing her to blend in with the creatures up ahead. Text from Image: A Familiar Face Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Varies Full effect: Blend in with a populace or group. Assuming they¡¯re not actively vigilant for intruders, no one will bother you unless you wish otherwise, and you will intuitively know how to act, speak, and conduct business so as to avoid drawing attention. This blending works even with entities who look nothing like humans.
Energy 4/5
As she got close, she discovered that she was heading into an encampment of orks and goblins, and for a moment, Riez hesitated. However, her divine power pushed her forward, telling her to walk with confidence so she would not stand out. She slipped among the orks as if she had been with them her whole life, none of them even blinking as she made her way through the camp. It was an interesting atmosphere as the greenskins yelled at one another, and most arguments were settled through violence rather than discussions. Riez walked past what she estimated to be the only shopkeeper in the camp. The massive ork shopkeeper stood in an open tent where many different wares had been laid out. The shopkeeper''s massive fist was wrapped around the throat of a struggling ''customer'' while it was talking to another customer as if it was a totally normal way of doing business. The items on display were various pieces of armour. Some of it was crudely made, while what seemed to be of higher quality was clearly something looted from other races. There was also an assortment of weapons, though none of those appeared to be anything other than Orkish craftmanship. None of the people, however, seemed to even give a second glance to Riez as she moved among the tents. She walked between them for a solid hour, counting around a hundred orks and around twice that for goblins. She even noticed a pair of trolls outside the camp. This number of greenskins combined with how few tents there were, was a clear indication that the tents all served a purpose other than sleeping. All the tents had been ''arranged'' around a pile of loot. They are set up with little regard for walking paths, but they have been set up from the pile and moving outwards. The heap seemed to be made mostly of trash. However, on top of it, a goblin was sitting, directing anyone who came near to throw more stuff on the pile. Riez instinctively knew that by getting too close, she would be asked to throw her tribute on the pile, which she had no intention of doing. So she circled it while exploring the camp. The goblin in the centre was clearly the camp''s leader, and based on snippets of conversation, they went by the name Money Gobz. The greedy little goblin clearly seemed to have a knack for getting valuable items, though primarily from others in the camp. Having seen this display of wealth and power, Riez couldn''t help but feel like messing with the goblin leader. After all, getting some of the massive loot pile the goblin was sitting on would come in handy... probably... She might be a tiny bit jealous of the massive heap of goodies. Leaning on the power of A Familiar Face, she made the leader goblin notice her just as she made her way towards the pile of loot. The goblin was clearly about to speak, but Riez gave the leader a deep bow. The sight of someone willingly showing respect to the goblin was definitely an anomaly, making the pale green creature blink. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Riez smiled a mischievous smile, getting a proper look at the goblin for the first time. It was buried halfway down to the waist in various shiny metals and trinkets. Many of the items had bitemarks, the source becoming clear when the goblin picked up a random item and bit into it as if the taste of something valuable calmed it. The goblin itself was clad in what might be considered a noble outfit, made from cloth with long coattails that would be dragged through any mud or dirt when the goblin walked. Chains upon chains of shiny valuables were wrapped around the goblin while a small pair of spectacles were placed on the long green nose. All in all, it was supposed to give the goblin a dignified look, but it gave the impression of it all being just a tad too much, more than anything. "Who you be?" The goblin leader didn''t seem surprised that Riez had suddenly appeared, but it was obvious that it hadn''t seen the goddess of trickery before. If anything, it had been surprised by the gesture of deference. Riez paused for a second, unsure of what to say. However, she remembered one of her new powers... The power to lie. Text from Image: Liar¡¯s Flawless Grace Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Your lies can never be detected as such by magic or other special abilities, including those of the Deception Domain. Lesser foes will always believe them unless they are completely implausible, emotionally intolerable, or would oblige them to self-harm. "Me be new goblins!" She said with an eagerness that she found surprisingly natural. The goblin leader gave her a look, but apparently, it wasn''t considered a worthy foe since the ostentatiously dressed goblin just nodded as if accepting this claim as normal, meaning that her power had worked on it. Money Gobz picked up some shiny trinket from the pile it was standing on and examined it. It was pretending not to be interested in Riez, but still continued to talk to her. "New goblin is rare. And you not be dead, extra rare. You gotz name yet?" Riez felt how "A Familiar Face" tugged on her, telling her that it would be highly unusual for her to have a name as a new goblin. If she wanted to blend in, she would have to say no. "No!" The goblin leader threw the trinket it had been examining over its shoulder and let it clatter to the ground. "Great! You be Pink Gob from now on. Me needs some helps with camp, and Pink Gob going to help!" Riez couldn''t really decide if she was being punished for interrupting the goblin or if the leader just wanted to avoid doing some of the tasks that were clearly its responsibility. She finally just gave in and nodded. "What cans me helps you with?" Her voice fell naturally into a more nasal tone. Money Gobz grinned and started to list out a lot of tasks. Many of them clearly something the leader invented right there in the moment, but the rest indicated that the camp was preparing to move out soon. Based on rumours, it sounded like this place was moving towards A''kastin to join up with the legendary guardians protecting the Tree of Life. Riez paused for a moment, wondering how best to prank the leader, but decided that betrayal could be fun, too. As such, she got started on the tasks, pretending to be an invaluable new member of the camp. She found herself exceptionally skilled at managing the orks. In part because she could lie to essentially all of them, and none of them would be able to call her out on it, but also because of her high charisma. It seemed that she could catch the ear of any ork willing to listen, and any goblin that saw her was more than happy to obey. The more Riez worked on gathering people around the camp, the more she let her power slip, allowing people to see her. It took her less than three hours to get completely ingrained into the ork society to the point where she was accepted without having to use her "A Familiar Face". She was honestly quite proud of herself. The only point where she met any difficulty was when she had to wrangle the trolls that were associated with the camp. The two of them were currently tearing up the land in some misguided attempt to build some trenches. However, the circle they were making didn''t have the camp in the middle, or inside the circle at all for that matter, making the whole exercise futile. Riez got the feeling that they had been put to this task not because they were exceptional at digging but because they wouldn''t be in the way of anyone else. The trolls were massive beings, at least twice the size of the biggest ork that Riez had seen, and it was unclear if they understood language at all or if they were even able to comprehend instructions. Had it not been for Riez''s passive power to allow her instructions to be understood no matter what, she would have been nervous. Even so, she instructed them both to return to camp and gather the pile of valuables that Money Gobz had been standing on. They didn''t seem to react much at first, though with lumbering steps, they started to move. Their grey skin was pale in the fading light and especially when contrasted by the red grass that made up The Endless Plaines. The feet and hands of the trolls seemed oversized beyond parody, each hand and each food at least twice the size of their heads. Riez went around to the various tents and instructed them that they needed to start to wrap things up, and as she finished up the last of the tasks and the sun began to set, the camp was slowly getting ready to move on in the morning. Everywhere she went, she could hear the orks and goblins talk about the new Pink Gob. She sensed an opportunity. She was quickly becoming the most influential greenskin in the camp, despite her skin not being green. She could challenge Money Gobz for the position as leader of the camp. She considered her opportunity. Riez had wanted a small crew that she could use to prank people with, but it would be hard to find appropriate people out here in the middle of nowhere. But did she really want a whole tribe of orks, goblins and trolls to command? Riez sighed and shook her head. She might as well try. What was the worst that could happen? So, as the camp was slowly getting ready to travel the next day, the human goblin made her way towards the camp centre, where the goblin leader was trying to guide the trolls in how to pack the massive amounts of ''riches'' in the right order. Riez grinned and pointed at the goblin before loudly proclaiming her intentions. "You no longer strong. Me be strongest goblin. ME new leader!" The cracked speech was a vital component in appealing to the other greenskins. She had to appear as one of them, otherwise her claim as the new leader would never be taken seriously. Money Gobz turned around. Its eyes narrowed as it took in what it had expected to be a friend but turned out to be a traitor. The fancy goblin spat to the side as if it had tasted something bitter before speaking. "You no be strongest. You be weakest! You be dumbest too. Me be leader, and me be smarterest!" Riez put on a smile and laughed loudly at this proclamation. "Smarterest? You be smarterest in only one thing! You be smarterest in being dumberest!" The sound of sharp intakes could be heard around the camp, as the verbal smackdown Riez had just delivered was apparently so severe that it might as well have been a physical blow. Money Gobz even stumbled back a couple of steps, as if it had been wounded by those words. It avoided stumbling over some of the junk it had collected by sheer luck. "Well, me be..." It was clear that the goblin was fishing for something, and having no comeback for what Riez had considered a fairly mild burn, there was only one thing to do. "ME BE IN CHARGE! TROLL! KILLS PINK GOB!" The trolls turned their attention towards Riez. They had seemingly been the only ones who hadn''t been listening to what was happening around them. However, the order to kill something had pulled their attention far quicker than anything else. Riez swallowed hard, and in the setting sun, two massive trolls started to lumber towards her. Chapter 7: Pranking is an art. As the two trolls charged Riez, she couldn''t help but feel like she might have made a wrong decision at some point. The massive creatures were more than happy to beat her to a pulp as if they had been waiting for violence for weeks. She had hoped that she might use some of her Command Domain powers on them to make them go against Money Gobz, but that ship had sailed, as they saw nothing but red at that moment. However, to Riez''s surprise, it was like the two massive beasts were moving through malaise. As soon as they entered the combat, the system helpfully took over and activated the various powers that allowed her to fight effectively. It was a strange feeling, though it didn''t feel like she was being forced to move in a specific way, instead it felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. As the world slowed around her, Riez found herself more aware of her surroundings and more focused on how to move. The first massive fist was about to hit her, and she simply side-stepped. She could feel her body was more than happy to follow her commands, and it required little to no effort to simply avoid the attack. She could feel how everything flowed naturally, as if she had been doing this for years, and she hardly had to think about performing a movement before her body was already acting. It was like she was in tune with her body in a way she had never experienced before. The feeling was definitely addictive. Another attack threatened to try and take off her head, but a simple crouch made the massive foot fly above her. She wondered if she could use her power of Sanctified Violence without having a weapon, and she decided to try it. Text from image: Sanctified Violence Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Even your words scourge those who incur your wrath. Your weapon or unarmed attacks count as a 1d20 magical weapon with a range of up to 200 feet. If you kill a target who first initiated violence against you, either with this gift or another power, lesser foes who see it or learn of it will be unable to consider the death as unlawful, unfair, or socially inappropriate. With a push, she quickly tried to redirect the kick above her at towards the other troll, hoping that the system would register that she had chosen to use her opponents as her weapon of choice. It was a struggle. The foot was heavy, far heavier than it should have been, and even with a divine body, Riez was not specialised in strength. However, she focused on the foot, projecting the idea of it being her weapon, and before it had completely passed over her, she felt a surge of power pour through her. In a moment, it was like the world sped up once more, and the kick from one of the trolls erupted with a speed far greater and a force far more intense than what had initially been pushed into it. The attack hammered into the face of the other troll, smacking it clean across the ugly features and throwing it to the ground. Riez laughed, almost doubling over as the sight brought mirth to her very being. Seeing someone get smacked that hard was definitely a joy to watch. The troll that had been hit seemed to pick up on this mockery and quickly scrambled to its feet, at the same time tearing up the earth and using the momentum to hurl a stone at Pink Gob. The massive boulder was big enough that it would be hard to dodge, even to the point where it would hit Riez no matter what. She took a breath and activated Time in Bottle. The greater Alacrity power allowed her to act even before the attack would hit her. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Text from image: Time in a bottle Type: Instant ability (Smite) Energy usage: Until next loading screen Full effect: You can only activate this when someone performs an action. You get a free round¡¯s action and movement before they can perform their act. If their desired action is rendered impossible by yours, their action is wasted. As a Smite gift, this can''t be used two rounds in a row. The world slowed to a crawl as if her perception of time became much greater than anything that should be possible. She moved, and with ease, she made it out of the way of the boulder. However, she slowly pushed against the massive rock, guiding it towards the troll that hadn''t taken any hits. This time, her Vengeance Domain understood her intention, and with ease, she managed to use what had been intended to be a weapon for her into a weapon against her foe. When the world sped up again, the boulder seemed to change direction at a 75-degree angle before hammering into the other troll. "Ooooh! That must have hurt!" Riez said, having changed position to stand beside the troll that had thrown the boulder, clearly pretending that she had always been standing there. The troll that was hit by the boulder had been knocked deep into the ground, and if the massive creature had anything between its ears, Riez might have been afraid that it had been suffering from severe concussion. The troll that had thrown the boulder just nodded. "Ye" it said, as if they really had just been talking. Riez couldn''t believe that had worked. These creatures really were as stupid as they looked. It was the first words that Riez had heard come from the massive beasts, but she grinned. The troll that had been knocked down by the massive piece of rock was slowly getting to its oversized feet and struggling to stand, each step making it stagger. However, instead of focusing its fury on Pink Gob, the hatred in its beady little eyes fell on its comrade. The charge was legendary, though not very graceful, as the trolls started to fight among each other. Riez cheered them on before turning her attention to Money Gobz and smiled. "Me wins. Bye bye!" She said with a mischievous grin. The goblin seemed completely stunned by this turn of events, though it didn''t get to say anything before Riez had moved into close range and with a firm grasp on those fine clothes, she threw the goblin squarely into the brawl between the two trolls. The screams of pain lasted for less than a minute. Having established herself as the actual leader of the new ork camp, she felt like her entire was rolled out over the camp as her Loyalty Domain took control. It was like getting to stretch her legs after a long drive or letting out a breath she had been holding. She finally found herself in charge of an area, and her powers went to work. The power of her Invincible Iron General instantly took effect, as the entire camp seemed to swell with new muscles and vigor. Text from image: Invincible Iron General Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: All NPCs serving under you double their health and mana, gain a hit bonus equal to your Rank, and will never flee in fear. Your will is automatically known by all your lieutenants, and you always know the location, condition, and general activities of all units that accept your command. Not only that, but the Trolls stopped fighting, and without missing a heartbeat, they started to gather up the wealth in the middle of the camp once more. Four other orks started giving directions, as they all knew what their new leader wished, without Riez having to give explicit instructions. Riez smiled and saw that one of her stats had increased.
Wealth 2
Pink Gob cursed a little under her breath as she realized that she hadn''t asked Jasper about that special kind of stats. She had no idea what Wealth was or how she could use it, but she expected it had something to do with the treasure she had just taken into custody. With the camp on the move, Riez decided that it was getting late, and without a second thought, she headed towards one of the tents she knew was used to store food and decided to make it her tent for the night. No matter how much her powers told her that was the customary way of doing things, she wouldn''t be sleeping out in the open. Riez slept soundly through the night, dreaming of all the amazing pranks that she would be pulling with her new crew of orkish pranksters. Chapter 8: Guest of the Dwarves Celeste was hurled into the world with a force that might as well have cast her through every plane of existence at once. It was uncomfortable, and she felt her cape fluttered behind her, almost acting like a parachute. Suddenly, everything stopped, and she realized that she was lying on some kind of stone floor. She groaned as she sat up and found her massive Orkish friend sitting beside her, looking just as confused. The goddess couldn''t help but feel incredibly small compared to the massive ork, though the goofy grin that Martin had on his face helped a lot. Looking around, Celeste noticed a lot of things in quick succession. For one, they were underground, though the tunnel they were inside was definitely not natural. Her Tinkering Domain pointed out the otherwise invisible markings of the tools that had been used to carve the tunnel. A tiled floor made from natural rocks was visible thanks to glowing runes placed on reinforcement columns every five meters. The tunnel wasn''t large; that much became clear when both Celeste and Martin stood up. Martin had to crouch ever so slightly to ensure that his head wasn''t pushing against the carved and engraved ceiling. "Welp, this is Life''s End then?" The goddess asked, trying to start a conversation with the normally almost mute man beside her. Martin just nodded as he let his green digits run over the carved stone wall. Celeste was about to say something, but she felt a tug from her divine powers. Being the Goddess of Death, she was able to tell when people were dying around her, as well as decide if she truly would allow them to die. All thanks to a neat mix between the passive power of her Domain and the power Withholding the Mercy. Text from Image: Divine Domain Unlocked: Death You may command undead in your presence. Greater undead gets a spirit save to resist. By focusing, you also know the details of what, where and how anything died or is dying within 100 meters. Text from Image: Withholding the Mercy Type: Constant Energy usage: N/A Full effect: Those reduced to zero hit dice or hit points within 200 meters of you automatically stabilize or die as you wish. If you desire it, willing living creatures at zero HD or hit points around you may continue to act for as many rounds as you have Ranks before they unavoidably fall dead. She could feel people dying below her, fairly deep below her, as if they were barely within range of her powers. She could tell that some kind of battle was going on, and without knowing the purpose, she let the people dying during the battle die, as was the natural order of things. As they started to make their way down the hallway, both groaned as they found themselves assaulted by pop-ups informing them they had both levelled up. Celeste and Martin gave each other a look, and without pause, they dismissed the messages, wanting to explore the world before they got to level up. The hallway was slowly making its way down into the ground, and in any normal situation, Celeste would have assumed that they were going down the wrong path since any normal settlement would be located close to the surface. However, seeing as they were making their way towards a dwarven settlement, going down was probably the right call. She could, of course, use her Journeying Domain to find the right way. Celeste looked over her minimap and was surprised to find it up to date, though it showed the surface of the world, not the underground, which was a problem. She would have to talk with Jasper about fixing that. She paused and realized she didn''t need to talk with her husband about this when she had Martin right by her side. "My minimap isn''t showing the underground tunnels properly," She said as they walked. Martin grumbled a little but then nodded. "Yeah, figures. We haven''t really made anything underground, as far as I know, and we will probably have to rework how the minimap even functions. I mean, last time I saw the code, it was just taking snapshots from above the world. You know the Google Maps approach. We would have to anchor the origin point to the player, which might provide some trouble down the line, but I guess we could make it kinda like tremor sense or maybe some echolocation. Even if we do that, it might be easier to try to make a snapshot user that doesn''t have collision and is able to move through solid objects. Whatever the case, we should probably try and make it some kind of generic function that we can just call depending on the tags on the player." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Celeste was stunned. In all the time she had known Martin, he had barely said a thing, despite her husband insisting he could be quite talkative. The man had just doubled the number of words that Celeste had ever heard him say. However, the message was loud and clear. If she wanted to talk with Martin, she would have to talk shop. "As far as I can tell, we are moving towards the westernmost town located on the map, though I have no idea what to expect, " she said, trying to keep up the conversation. Martin just nodded, not really responding to what he clearly considered small talk. With that, they walked in silence, making their way down the tunnel. Thanks to Celeste''s Journeying Domain, she would not only get nourishment from travelling, but it would also count as a full night''s sleep, meaning that when the tunnel finally came to an end, she had barely noticed how much time had passed. They stepped out into what could only be classified as a killbox. All around them, walls had been set up with slits and round holes for projectiles, while above them, glowing pipes were situated. A gate was set in the wall in front of them, meaning that this was definitely some kind of checkpoint. A quick inspection showed that everything was covered in various runes, and while Celeste wasn''t an expert in what runes were, she recognized how they reinforced the walls and structures around her. What was the most interesting was the runes around the pipes over their heads. They were made to make the metal resistant to heat while keeping it warm. Putting two and two together, the goddess realized that if all else failed, the room was made to douse any attacker in magma... yea, they were underground, so it would still be magma. Martin didn''t have the same insight, and before Celeste could tell him what was going on, he had wandered over to the gate and knocked on it. The gate was in the shape of two giant dwarven heads, side by side, looking with stern eyes at the people approaching. Martin decided to bang his large green fist right between the eyes of the left-most dwarven face. The knocking rang loudly through the room as the echo of vibrating metal made its way down the tunnel behind the pair of gods. The sound of scrambling could be heard from the other side of the wall, and Celeste sighed. They probably shouldn''t be flexing divine powers already, but this situation reminded her a lot of the time she had slaughtered a squadron of guards just to rewind time and ask the leader of the squad to think again before stopping her. "Whose there?!" A voice asked from the other side of the metal door, pulling Celeste out of her memories. Martin cleared his throat and answered the question. "Just friendly travellers" "Well, I''ll be a goblin''s uncle. It is an ork, and it even looks civilized. No screaming or anything." The voice said from the other side. The source was definitely able to observe the duo. Celeste decided that she might just be able to contribute, but a look from Martin reminded her that he had the bigger charisma score of the two of them, so he continued to talk. "Yup, civilized folk here, wanting to do business... and kills some drows." The Architect of Reality could almost see how the game pulled on Martin''s consciousness. The way he subtly added the last part was as if he had passed some kind of check and found himself, including what was probably the best argument possible. The dwarf on the other side paused. "Well, if it is killing drows you want, then you have come to the right place. But one wrong move, stranger, and I will be putting a bullet between your eyes." Celeste''s eyes shot up. Bullet? Did that mean that the dwarves had access to guns? The question was immediately answered when the doors opened, and five dwarves, all with incredibly bushy beards, met the two strangers, muskets raised and pointed at the newcomers. Celeste instantly saw what nobody else would see. The amazing craftsmanship that had been poured into every single gun. The way they had been obsessed over and adjusted until there was not a scratch out of place. Then she winced when she saw that some of the musket-like weapons hadn''t been properly taken care of, grime building up between the fittings, and one even had a small dent. Being a Dane, Celeste didn''t know much about guns. She had no interest in them, and the term rifle might as well refer to any gun that you couldn''t hold in one hand. However, it was like the game was trying to inform her of just how amazing the creation was in front of her, and it was consistently meeting a wall of ignorance. However, something told her that the guns were a mix of rifles and a blunderbuss. The barrel tapered out in a wide cone-like shape, essentially giving the impression that the dwarves were pointing modified trumpets at the two gods. Yet, she could see that the inside had grooves that would allow any projectile to spill, clearly hand-carved based on the ever so slight imperfections. The barrel was attached to a flint-lock system where a miniature hammer would pull back on a spring only to lock it in place. It was obvious that pulling the trigger would make the hammer move forward and hit what looked like a miniature anvil. As the Goddess of Tinkering, Celeste instantly realized that while powerful, there were several things that held the guns back. They could only be loaded with a single shot before they needed to be reloaded, though judging by the packets of cloth around the waist of the dwarves, the compact people had managed to find a solution to this problem. Martin had also been fixated on the weapons, and Celeste remembered that he had Range as one of his Domains, meaning that he had probably been going through the same analysis. He seemed to finally have snapped out of the trance and gave the dwarves a big smile, which only made them move their fingers to the triggers of their weapons as the massive ork showed his sharp teeth and massive tusks. The orkish god seemed to realize his mistake and pulled back the smile. "Sorry to disturb you. But we are not here to fight you. We are here to make friends. To that, I am willing to give a soul oath." The front dwarf didn''t say anything to this but simply nodded, prompting Martin to continue. "I swear, on my soul, that I will not intentionally harm any dwarves, and I will not break any dwarven laws while I am welcome in their society. I give this oath under the assumption that they will not treat me unfairly nor attack me." Martin stated. Satisfied, the dwarf shifted their weapons to target Celeste. The goddess cleared her throat. "On my soul, I swear the same." She got the pop-up asking if she wanted to compel herself to obey this oath, but she simply accepted the oath as a mortal. The lead dwarf nodded, and everyone lowered their weapons. "Well," He said, and Celeste recognized the voice as the one that had spoken behind the door. "I accept your oath, and I welcome you as guests of the Hammer Clan". Chapter 9: Forge Lily The squad of dwarves parted ways and allowed them to pass through. Behind the door was small carved rooms inset into the walls that would allow for the guards to relax and still be within reach, if someone was at the gate. However, based on the number of tankards and trash, there wasn''t a lot of activity at this entrance, which suited Celeste. It was less than a fifteen-minute walk until they finally reached the main city. The massive underground metropolis had been constructed inside the base of a volcano, as shown on Celeste''s map. However, it wasn''t as hot as she had expected. Celeste knew that they called these massive cities for "Cracks", and that they were able to be sustained thanks to the metal tubes that would manipulate the molten rock bubbling up from the core of the earth. It would be taken to where ever it was needed and was used for everything, from heating to defences to crafting. The runic inscriptions on the tubes ensured that heat leakage was minimized, ensuring that the temperature was nice and mild. Celeste saw the opportunity to try and bait Jasper into more conversation, and she decided to ask an innocent question. "Do you think they will ever run out of magma?" Martin blinked. "Well, it is technically lava as the top of the volcano is exposed, but no. The entire game world is effectively a plane, not a sphere, as you might expect. Underneath is a huge ball of molten rock. Its content is constantly pumped to what we have labelled as eruption points. It does mean that we can''t work with plate tectonics, which is a shame, but unless we wanted some truly insane spaghetti code, this was the best option. Anyway, the pool of... magma is constantly refreshing itself. Well, your husband tied the refresh to the sun as well... I am gonna kill him one day, I hope you know that. It is bad practice to keep tying functions to some celestial object when you could make a generic function that runs on game tics, and while I know that means you will have to map out the calendar year for the world, and potential leap seconds, it does ensure that we do not have a single point of failure." Martin was clearly ranting at this point, which was a new side that Celeste had never seen from him. She laughed along with him. "Well, you might just have to get in line for the killing my husband part. His intentions are good, but he keeps making dumb decisions here. Did you see that he made anti-mages? He made the inquisition." Celeste and Martin both looked at each other and at that moment, it became clear that they were both holding back the obvious joke that neither of them had expected to see the Inquisition. This made them both howl with laughter, and unseen tension between them seemed to lift. They walked down a long, winding path along the side of the volcano, allowing them to see stone buildings that had been carved from the earth. The sounds of metal being pounded was coming from a particular section of the metropolis, allowing the two pair of gods to know where the crafting was happening. The duo of gods stopped halfway down the ramp when they saw what could be described as a legion of dwarven warriors move towards them through the streets. Their short legs marched in unison as they were heading directly towards the newcomers. Each dwarf was clad in thick metal armour, heavily modified to have protection runes. Each one of them carried one of those blunderbuss weapons on their backs, as well as a maul and an axe at the hips. "Maybe they are just trying to get out the way that we got in?" Martin suggested, and Celeste gave him a look. She bit back a retort since Martin had just tried to do a bit of small talk with her. She wanted to encourage that. The legion of dwarves slowly parted and an old man slowly moved forward between the warriors. It took Celeste a moment to recognize him. His grey hair wasn''t as lusterious as it had been earlier, and his eyes didn''t shine with the same brightness as it had before. However, there was no mistaking him. Celeste walked forward with a smile. "Thane ¨¹lwrick! It has been too long!" She proclaimed. The thane of the dwarven Cracks, the self-proclaimed uniter of the Hammer Crack and Axe Crack, had been there almost two hundred years ago when Esselaia had ascended. It had been the time when the humans, dwarves and drows fought together to prevent world peace. If she remembered correctly the thane had even gone toe to toe with an elder dragon, which was impressive. The old dwarf smiled and gave a light bow to the goddess. "You bring an old thane much honour, divine one. Why have you come to this fair city of ours?" He was clearly trying to be cordial, but Celeste could understand the problem. You never wanted to have a god enter your territory. Especially unannounced. It would usually mean that something unexpected was about to happen. "Thane of the dwarfs. Such a delightful welcome party that you have arranged for us. The matters of the divine are not for everyone to hear. Do you have somewhere we could talk in private?" Celeste asked, looking at the massive number of dwarven warriors, who didn''t seem to ease up just because she knew their leader. ¨¹lwrick contemplated it for a moment before he nodded, turning his back on the two gods and walking towards the centre of the metropolis. Celeste wasn''t sure that she should be offended by the lack of respect that she was shown, but Martin was already moving, clearly not too caught up in formalities. They walked through the paved streets, seeing how the town was mostly filled with women and children. While some dwarven men were left behind, they seemed to be focused on the military effort. Celeste was sure that there probably was some long and rich tradition for the way the people had been split, and based on what she was seeing from the rest of the city, the dwarves had a theme heavily inspired by Sparta mixed with Nordic elements. That probably meant that they had the same kind of wealth structure as the Spartans, which would make most of these dwarven women incredibly rich. However, that was just an assumption. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Every house they passed was made from stone, carved in some way to ensure that it was not only a work of art and incredibly beautiful, but also defensible. It turned out that they were walking towards a smithy that was located in the centre of the city. It looked more industrial than Celeste had expected, and she considered that they might have to put a cap on how far they would be allowed to industrialize. The runes probably allowed for things to be pushed to their absolute limit. Finally, the guards seemed to leave them as the trio entered the building. Its walls were carved from much darker stone, and it took Celeste a moment to realize that it wasn''t dark due to the nature of the stone but rather due to engraved runes that all looked dormant. They were clearly still maintained, but there was no doubt that they weren''t active at the moment. The building itself was no bigger than what Celeste would consider an ordinary house, around 100 square meters at most. It consisted of one massive room, with a sloped roof that seemed to be part of the same material as the walls, which meant it was covered in runes. All around the room, massive machines powered by magma were set up and hooked up to piping that glowed with the molten rock. Martin gave a low whistle as he looked around, and Celeste had to agree. This place really was something else. "This is impressive" " she finally said, and a smile came to ¨¹lwrick''s lips. As he smiled it became obvious how old he truly was, as it showed the wrinkles that had not been there two hundred years ago, how thin he actually was. The thane had looked imposing among his men and in his armour. In the light of the glowing pipes, he looked too small to wear the armour, and the soft sway of his frame told a story of someone who could barely stand. "Thank ye," He said softly, starting to take off the armour. "When I was a lad this place was built to try and counter the drow forge. It was a work of the gods, the Smithy of Civilisation." He lingered a little as he struggled to get his breastplate off, but after a moment, it fell to the ground with a loud clang. As the metal rang out multiple runes in the walls and ceiling lit up. The runes activated in rings, and Celeste got the impression that she could almost see how the soundwave travelled through the room. Celeste nodded. "Yes. That smithy was supposed to be my gift to the humans of A''kastin, but the drows took it and made it their own. It has since been dismantled." ¨¹lwrick smirked and sat back. As he was about to land on the floor a seat shot up from the ground, catching his weight and adjusting to his position. The seat was made from the same stone as the floor as if it had just grown at the slightest thought from the Thane. "We know. The attacks on our tunnels increased quite a bit after that. Though it is hard to believe that the Traveller is responsible for a forge like what our intel suggested." Celeste and Martin shared a look. She discovered that the ork had been looking at the runes that had been lighting up, clearly studying them, and after they shared the unspoken words, he went back to investigate. Celeste didn''t comment on it and moved on with her conversation. "Well, while you are free to call me the Traveller, I am part of Armandos. The god of gods." The dwarven thane didn''t appear surprised, so Celeste continued. "Currently, Armandos are split into four parts. I am the Traveller, part of Armandos. My great green friend is the Ranger, and is also part of Armandos." To this, ¨¹lwrick had to do a double take. "An ork? As Armandos? Truly you do not mean to jest with such a thing. I can see that he is no ordinary greenskin, but the orks do not possess the integrity and will to be divine for anything but violence. I was fairly certain of your identity, which mean that the other part must be the Scribe. The last part, I am unsure of, but you must be pulling my leg to have me think that an Ork can be part of the first god?" Celeste shook her head and looked over at Martin. "Do you want to show ¨¹lwrick your might?" Martin shrugged and then smirked as an idea came to him. He accessed his divine might. He looked at how much worship he had left.
Total Worship 58
Spent Worship 50
Remaining Worship 8
With 8 Worship, he could do a lot of things, and he had been saving them to create a new dungeon, but he was pretty sure that he could do something more interesting now. The god walked over to the forge and found it to be a cauldron of lava covered with a grate. The grate must have been made with some metal that could resist the heat or have been enchanted to not melt because the air seemed to shimmer above the cauldron. Martin felt his Wealth and Plant Domain combine as he willed a new plant into existence. Text from image: You are trying to create: Forge Lily Effect This flower can only grow in the heat of the forge and if it is ever exposed to to temperatures that isn''t hot enough to melt iron it will die instantly. Whenever something is smithed near this lily, it will produce a flower that, in the centre, will contain metal. The bigger the item crafter and the more finely crafted it is, the larger the deposit and the more value the metal will have. Worship cost: 3 He was happy to spend 3 Worship on the flower, mostly because he would be able to create them again at will thanks to his Plant Domain. Instantly, the flower shot up from the bottom of the cauldron, the stalks pushing between the holes in the grate, and then a large bud appeared just above the metal grate. ¨¹lwrick looked puzzled as he took in the flower, and Martin just nodded. "Keep the forge running, and you will find yourself wealthy from the work that you do." He stated. As the dwarven thane registered what the flower did, he clearly seemed impressed, not just that a flower could grow from the molten rock, and yet he also seemed hesitant about praising it. After all, it was a plant, something the elves were usually known for using. He turned to the gods. "Fine, I guess that you have proven your divine status. Now, why have two of the mightiest beings in existence come to my town?" Chapter 10: Celeste found herself sinking back into a chair that had appeared from nowhere. She looked at the dwarf and nodded. "We have come to find any oddities that might be happening in your realm. I know that you have a lake made of fire that no divine has created." She tried to explain. ¨¹lwrick nodded. "That is true. Ildfloden is a testament to the might of the dwarves. That we can live not only close to such a monsterous phenomanon, but that we are able to tame it as well. Truly, it is proof that we are the strongest of races." His pride was visible with each word he spoke. The Architect of Reality could see that she would not be able to find any bugs by asking the dwarf. He would simply see it as a natural part of the world. "Fine. We will take a look for ourselves. However, we would like to use this forge to prepare for our journey. In exchange, I will grant you a boon." The dwarf looked at her and then at the massive ork that had gifted his people a plant of divine nature. "Fine. You can use the Forge of Solitude." He said, clearly moving to get up. Celeste smiled and invoked a Health miracle as her boon. Instantly, the dwarven leader''s health started to be replenished. It had been intended as a simple gesture, but she could feel how her Domains could do more for him than just healing. The Architect of Reality was in a uniquie position. While revitalising someone was definitely within the Health Domain, she also had access to Time and Death Domains. She could literally rewind time for the dwarf''s age. The goddess started reverting his age by 200 years as thanks for his help. Normally, this action would require Worship for anyone who didn''t possess these three specific Domains. However, the overlapping Domains complimented each other to such a degree that, while not effortless, it was easier than some of the other miracles she had performed. It was like when she found that she could use her Time Domain while crafting to create Amber windows. However, this feeling was much stronger and more intense. When her Miracle slowly subsided, Thane ¨¹lwrick looked just like he had 200 years ago. His eyes were piercing, his jaw was strong, and his hair was long and dark instead of grey. Sturdy muscles were barely hidden under his clothing, threatening to rip his outfit apart in an almost comical way. He looked down at himself, surprised by his new vigour and strength. He flexed his muscles slightly, and the seams of the shirt burst so hard that he was standing in among ribbons of his former clothing. He was looking down at his body, restored to his youth, but with the wisdom of an old king. His hands flexed, and he saw his muscles bulge up his arms. "A god''s boon truly is beyond belief, so the god of gods must command reality itself. You are both welcome among my people and clan for as long as you need." And then he bowed, a gesture so unnatural for the dwarf that Celeste could see how he had to focus on moving his muscles so that he would lower himself into the position of deference. Thane ¨¹lwrick held the pose for a full second before he stood and took his leave. He didn''t even give the gods a second look as he moved out of the Forge of Solitude, his body moving with new purpose and determination. Before the door closed the forge, a cheer could be heard from the other side. However, as the room was sealed, any noise from the outside disappeared, as if they truly were in complete solitude. Martin looked at Celeste with a smile. "So what is the plan now?" He asked, voice rumbling a little. Celeste shook her head a little, bemused by the antics of the dwarves. "Well, that is a good question. I know that drow versus dwarf is going to be a major theme of this area, but I also really wanna beat up some of those Ilsher that keeps getting in my way. So I was thinking of fixing bugs around town, getting some worship, and then making some ultra-mega cannon for you instead of that catapult thing on your shoulder. Heck, I could probably make something right now that wasn''t magical." She paused momentarily, pulling out various items from her cloak and moving to the forge. The Forge Lily was a little in the way, but it wasn''t too bad, as Celeste focused on wanting to craft a cannon for Martin. The goddess felt something tug on her as if the very idea of a normal cannon was just... wrong. She was making this for her friend... for a fellow god. She stepped away, and instead, she conjured pen and paper to write down. Instantly, a small dwarven-sized desk appeared in front of her, and Celeste was reminded of the desks the younger classes had at the school. She shook her head a little and sat down on the floor to start engineering the weapon. It would be too uncomfortable to write on the table if she had to sit on the dwarven-sized chair, so the floor was the best option. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. She poured her will into the schematics, and as she did, she didn''t even notice that Martin joined her. Together, they made what could possibly be the mightiest weapon on Kalish. Text from image:
You have created the schematics for: The Reaping Ouroboros Description: A weapon forged by two mad gods in the heart of the dwarven kingdoms, The Reaping Ouroboros is a shoulder-mounted cannon. Along its barrel is a snake that seems to coil over and over while eating its own tail. Energy in Weapon: 3 Cost: 20 Worship Mortal Downside: Every shot a mortal fires permanently ages them by 100 years. If they reach the end of their natural lifespan, their body crumbles into dust, and the Ouroboros absorbs their remaining soul-energy, never allowing them to join any god for an immortal life. Powers:

Devour the Past, Rewrite the Future (On Turn)

Commit Energy for the day to fire a blast of temporal annihilation. Those struck must make a save or be erased from history, as though they had never existed. This affects not only their physical form, but memories and records as well. Beings of sufficient power may resist total deletion, but can still perish.

The Ouroboros Hungers Eternally (Instant)

This cannon is not merely a weapon. It is a living entity that tracks and hunts those who defy their fate. Commit Energy to mark a target. If the target should be dead, but is not, The Reaping Ouroboros will not miss an attack and hits count as critical hits. Once hit, the wielder of The Reaping Ouroboros will always know the location of their target.

Hitting through the Weave (Constant)

If The Reaping Ouroboros should miss an attack, the shot will instead punch through time itself and hit its target at a later date. If it cannot hit the target at a later date, it will hit the target in the past. The weapon was really something else. It combined Celeste''s Domains of Time, Death and, to some degree, Journeying along with Martin''s Domain of Range. The power "Devour the Past, Rewrite the Future" was like Celeste''s instant kill power, Reaping Word... just stronger. Text from image:
Reaping Word Type: Activated ability Energy usage: Until the next loading screen. Full effect: Choose a target at any range. A gesture suffices if you can see the target, otherwise you must use a name they consider their own true name. Lesser foes drop dead and cannot be revived without your permission. Worthy foes require Energy to be committed to the end of the day and are allowed a saving throw to resist. Furthermore, worthy foes must be injured in order to let Death reach them; even a single point of damage is enough.
"This is insane. It can effectively retcon anything. I can see why the AI might want this since it would make solving problems much easier if you can just make people forget about something stupid that has happened." Celeste said, letting her fingers run over the pages of what was rapidly becoming her favourite creation. It even had a description, giving the impression that this item couldn''t be created any other place. Martin nodded. "We could call it the Ret-gun... you know... since it retcons things." Celeste had to restrain herself from throwing one of her tools at Martin. She instead gave him a scowl. "I will curse you to always have a pebble in your shoe if you call it that. I have the Journeying Domain... I am pretty sure I can do that, you know." The massive ork chuckled a little, and smiled. "You are the engineer of this beast. You will be the one naming it in the end." The Architect of Reality also seemed to realise this and looked relieved. "Then it will definitely keep the name... I like The Reaping Ouroboros. Sounds intense." Martin seemed satisfied with this answer and walked around to the Forge Lily. His power over plants instantly meant that it started to grow rapidly as he cradled the flower bud. "A cost of 20 Worship is quite a bit more than anything I have access to, though. I have like 5. We could really change the world a lot with just 20 Worship. I mean, you and Jasper created the dragons for around that price, right?" Celeste shrugged. "Not sure what the dragons cost. The last time I had that much Worship, I used it to enforce the Anti-teleport system and soul separation upon death. It seemed like the best way of doing things at the moment. But I think that we might not survive the upcoming battles if we don''t create something this big. I have fought against the Ilsher before, and while I have survived, they are no joke." The ork had practically turned the Forge Lily into a tree at this point, his powers making it expand over and over until it took up the entire cauldron, thirty-six massive flower buds shooting up through the grate, making it hard to forge anything in that particular cauldron. Finally, Martin looked at Celeste. "If you really think that is for the best, then we can try and earn the Worship. You talked about fixing bugs? I haven''t seen a lot of bugs lately. The AI is slowly adjusting to what we desire. When we use our chaos-seed method, where we actively scatter chaos around the game it can build from, it seems to fix most bugs on its own, like there have been no hitbox collisions as far as I can tell. The simulation hasn''t thrown out something outright silly at us. So we will have to look hard for bugs to fix." Celeste nodded. "Then let''s go look for them."