TREE OF AEONS 6

The rest sighed. - Young ones should know better than to charge into a party of demons. -

Lumoof watched, and he felt it. The thread of magic in the air was something he could sense innately, so he activated his invisibility and walked closer to the group.

The teleportation formation activated, and the group all vanished, pulled into the floating fortress above the mountain.

Metteria

- YouÆre fine. Eyes appear normal, and thereÆs no unusual mana presence along your mind or your spirit, - the healer said. Healer, life mage. The distinction hardly existed in the Gorfort Tower.

The rest of her team was already in the barracks dropping off their harvest for the day.

- I am? - Metteria muttered, but a second later, she realized how ridiculous it all sounded. - Of course. Of course I am fine. -

The healer and life mage promptly discharged her, and Metteria decided it was time to go visit her own master. Her masterÆs tower wasnÆt far from the place, so she stepped out of the infirmary and into the streets of Gorfort TowerÆs fourth floor.

She glanced around, her feet sensing the vibrations of the stone used around Gorfort Tower, and noticed? -

- Am I being followed? -

It couldnÆt be. She looked again, and there was nothing there. Her stone sense was a strange skill, but itÆd saved her life a few times. But why? Who would follow her?

She walked anyway and went into her masterÆs research tower. It was a small, cramped space. Space was very expensive in all the safe havens of Magisar.

- Did you manage to find what I asked? - an older voice said once Metteria stepped into the third floor of the tiny tower. It belonged to a small, petite woman with not much muscles. Her appearance was tired; wrinkles were all over her body.

- Yes. I did. - Metteria checked her pouch and took out a piece of rock with stripes. - The vein remains untouched for now. -

The older woman frowned as she also picked up the same rock, and then she began to examine it with a strange, copper - colored contraption. - This is no good. -

- No good? It looks fine to me. - Metteria didnÆt want to believe it.

- Stupid disciple. Come closer. Look at the stripes. ItÆs starting to show dark - reddish spots. -

MetteriaÆs face was one of horror once she, too, noticed the presence of the tiny spots in the stripes, made visible through the copper contraption. - The demons magic is seeping into our usual mineral veins. The tower masters must? -

- They know. -

Metteria was about to protest, but then she stopped. - What? They know? -

- They know, disciple. TheyÆre just trying to figure out how bad it is and what can be done. They are not fools, despite all the arrogance they portray around the rest of you. -

The younger mage frowned. - How much time do we have? -

- ThatÆs why I sent you. - The older woman pulled down a paper map suspended off a ceiling. The map was one of the wider surroundings with the tower in the center. Around the tower were marked locations, each with a date.

She snapped a finger, and a wooden, five - stepped ladder came over. She climbed up to the map. She began to write dates and then, with a wooden abacus, began to calculate. It was a relatively simple mathematical extrapolation based on the distance and dates of corruption based on the last corrupted vein and the newest corruption vein and then extrapolated to their current location.

- Think we have somewhere around seventeen to twenty - five years before the ley lines underneath Gorfort experience the demonic taint. -

- ThatÆs not a lot of time, - Metteria countered.

- Not much, but not little, either. - The old woman sat down and then took out another copper bowl. She placed the rock into the copper bowl and then set it down. - Well, letÆs go see Ol Junker and see whether heÆs got a different data set. -

Metteria stared at the old woman. - HeÆs also looking into this? -

- Of course he is. You think he spends his time flirting with his two beautiful disciples? No! He works them like hell! -

Metteria chuckled lightly. - Do you need me to go with you, Master? -

- Come. Magister Junker would spill a lot more secrets if you are around. HeÆs not interested in old hags like me anymore. -

The younger disciple watched as her master climbed down the stairs. It still made her marvel every time she saw her move about as if she was still a spry young woman.

The two of them moved down, but then Metteria paused and looked back. She thought she saw one of the books on the floor move. The vibrations on the rock and wooden floor seemed strange, as if there was someone else in the room with them.

Invisibility was impossible. Metteria was not aware of such magic. She looked around, tried to feel for the presence of magic, but the entire place was filled with so many little magical trinkets that it was hard to be sure.

She turned back and followed her master out of the door.

The alleys and streets of Gorfort were all tiny. Space was expensive in a - safe haven - like Gorfort, and every inch mattered. It was someoneÆs home. An extra few bits of space could fit a shelf or a cabinet or even a tiny bed for their skinny bodies. They were not fat. Not at all.

Lumoof

Lumoof and Kafa looked around and immediately felt it was hard to move about. The entire place was so tiny that they were bound to bump into things. The humans of this world were skinny, thin. Not a single one of them had bulky muscles, and instead, they all seemed more attuned to magic.

The entire structure was a series of floors, built on top of one another. Each layer was largely self - sufficient, and movement between the layers was regulated by the guards and mages that controlled the tower. It wasnÆt hard for Lumoof to notice that those located in the middle were all the unwanted, lower - class people, while those who had some skills and talents were located along the sides of the floating castle, where there was sunlight and some fresh air.

They followed the two mages through the small streets, trying their best to dodge where they could, and eventually, they passed through what was an actual, really crowded market. There were not actually that many people; they passed through the tiny stalls, packed with all the goods they tried to sell.

Kafa looked at the stalls. It was separated into segments and labeled with signs. Equipment. Tools. And Food.

- They use a lot of wood, gems, and copper for tools, - Kafa spoke telepathically as they observed the crowd. The two mages were still walking up ahead.

- Do they not have mines? - Lumoof wondered as they then passed the tools and equipment section. It was so cramped that it was just a few steps away, and they reached the food section. There were only three stalls, one with vegetables, another with baked breads, and another with fruits.

- ThereÆs nothing for me to eat here, - Kafa said as a joke. - Seems like a good place for the non - meat eaters, though. -

Lumoof felt like a candle lit up in his mind. - Is their skinny build due to a lack of meat? -

Kafa shrugged. - Sounds like itÆs worth exploring. LetÆs follow these two. They seem to be talking about important stuff. -

Metteria

- Ol Junker! - her master shouted as she pushed the wooden door open and stepped into a small workshop on one of the corners of Gorfort TowerÆs many, many floors. The old man inside was tinkering with some contraption while his two female assistants were also trying to replicate his contraption.

Her voice shocked all three of them, and the old man immediately looked up. - What brings the grumpy old Kerifa to my workshop? CanÆt you see IÆm trying to teach these two girls how to tune a magical seekerÆs compass? -

- ThatÆs a stupid thing to learn in this time and age! I got my latest data on the taint. I want to compare notes, - her master, Kerifa Gundhert, shouted. Metteria wasnÆt sure when her master wrote the scroll in her hands, but somehow she did.

- First, no magic is stupid. - Junker Quartz, one of the leading bronzemages, immediately glared at Kerifa hatefully. - Second, if you are here to depress me, IÆll kick you out. -

- ItÆs depressing, all right, - Kerifa said. - Do you want to know or not? Or should I take it to the older farts upstairs? -

- Fine. Disciples. LetÆs head upstairs and see what this ol woman has for us. - The two girls bowed.

Above the workshop was a relatively airy room, with a view of the skies. The corner units of the Gorfort Tower were highly prized, and it was only with Junker QuartzÆs stellar record as a master bronzemage that he won the right to use them.

On one set of walls were three empty boards. Kerifa tapped her scroll, and the scrollÆs contents were transferred to one of the magical boards.

Junker stared at it and looked at his two disciples. - Bring our set of reports. - One of the girls nodded, ran down and back up again in a minute, and he tapped the scroll.

Kerifa frowned. - Looks like yours is more optimistic. -

- Our samples were collected, - one of the girls ran to the board and pointed, - there. -

- We donÆt know which of the taint would reach us first. -

- Our usual copper mines would be under threat and farms would be under threat. -

- The tower masters should be calling for a culling of the demonic vegetation, - Kerifa said.

Junker shook his head. - I donÆt think that would work. Ninefort tried that with their surroundings, and their ley lines were still corrupted. -

Kerifa frowned. - Is that supposed to be a secret? -

- Yes. But IÆm telling you anyway. Are you going to report me? -

- No. So it wonÆt. WhatÆs our solution? -

Junker looked at the map, took a deep breath, and then said, - Energy filtration. We need to purify the demonic taint so that we can continue to use the energy. Our entire existence depends on it. -

This made both Metteria and Kerifa glare at the old man suspiciously. - Use of demonic mana from harvested demonic trees has caused mutations. Do you have a workaround? -

- No. -

Lumoof and Kafa listened in the room, and the rest of the conversation shifted to politics. At that point, the two retreated to a quiet area and looked at each other.

- Our goal is to fully survey all fifteen worlds before we decide how to and what to deploy, - Kafa repeated. - But I cannot help but feel we should help all of them. All of these worlds are in trouble in one way or form. -

The very reason Gawa asked for assistance was simply because these worlds were in trouble.

- Fifteen worlds. Even if one of us is in each of these peripheral worlds, and A/ leaves a clone on the rest, that still leaves us four short, - Lumoof said. - And A/ will not risk all the clones. -

- We have node trees. -

- Or if we select one of the options you are given, - Kafa said.

- That should help. But look beyond their immediate troubles, and think beyond it. A/ Æs goal is to bring these worlds into our wider campaign. Which of these worlds will contribute the most to our war effort? Which of these worlds will be strategically useful and contribute to our war? -

Kafa looked away and sighed. - I wish we could just help them all. -

- We will help them all. But there is a choice for us to make, beyond the immediate assistance. A question of permanence. A question of adding strength to our whole. Which of these worlds is worth an investment? Which of these worlds can be made into a Core world? -

- Landas has it easy. They have a node. -

- A node doesnÆt mean we will invest our resources there. The Valthorns ability to invest on a planetary scale is limited. Even now we can only fully occupy one world at a time. -

Just the mere act of controlling the human kingdoms on Threeworlds took a significant amount of Valthorn personnel. Rebuilding Tropicsworld still continued to require a significant amount of imported resources.

- The choice we make adds to our overall resources, - Lumoof said as he recalled how A/ once described the problem as an optimization issue. Clones were limited, but clones bestowed benefits on their host worlds.

The various auras of A/ enhanced their citizens health, development, productivity, and even made them level up faster. Each of these worlds would benefit from A/ Æs aura, but which one would benefit the most?

Lumoof looked back at the Gorfort Tower. TheyÆd visited five worlds. There were ten more to go.

SIXTH WORLD

The Great Steppes

Edna and Stella landed together on a vast field. The fields of green and gold seemed to go on forever, over the rolling hills to the horizon.

- This is quite the view. - Stella smiled and stretched. It reminded her of the farmlands back home or the great open plains where horses and wild bulls used to roam. She took in the air. It was windy. The grass was colorful, and on closer observation, it was as if someone made a field of grass and added a palette of colors just for variety. There were spots of red, pink, and even purple grasses. - I wouldnÆt say I dislike this. -

They were likely slightly magical, but at this point, all the void holder wanted to do was take the view in and appreciate a rare moment of peace. The wind blew, and the blades of grass rustled. It was pleasant.

Edna tapped the woman on her shoulder. - A nice welcome, and I believe this world has potential to be a tourist spot someday. -

Stella shook her head. She probably imagined beetlebuses of tourists, shuffled from viewing point to viewing point. - The tourists would probably ruin it. -

Edna laughed. Stella once warned extensively on the problems of overtourism, though none of her fears actually played out in the Central Continent. For now, tourism remained largely the realm of the wealthy, and even though middle - income folks could afford to travel regionally, it was still not in large enough numbers that places experienced overtourism.

It helped A/ Æs natural energies meant damage to nature was fairly easy to mend. It didnÆt take hundreds of years to restore a damaged forest.

- Well, letÆs look for the natives and find out what kind of demons plague this world. -

They found a group of traveling centaurs a relatively large distance away.

- Greetings. - Both Edna and Stella arrived, and the centaurs immediately kneeled once they arrived in front of them.

- Oh the holy ones blessed us! The two - legged heroes have arrived! - Stella from a few decades ago would have blushed, but she was now quite comfortable in her position of authority that she didnÆt flinch. Up close, they noticed the sheen of natural armor around the centaurs chest, as if they were some blend of a suit of armor and a horse, rather than the usual centaur form of a man and a horse.

Edna and Stella looked at each other and regretted their approach. Stella pinged Edna through magic. - Did we just fuck it up? -

- I think we did. We should know better. Remind me to use invisibility and spy on the natives before we even attempt to talk to them. I suppose we should exploit this opportunity to learn what we can. After all, if they think we are heroes, we should be able to get information. -

Edna nodded at the centaurs. - Hello. Can you tell us about this world? -

The centaurs rose from their awkward kneeling position. Centaurs were not really designed for kneeling, their four legs more suited for running. - Certainly, blessed ones. We will guide you to the nearest encampment. -

The world was known as the Great Steppes and was a land filled with mostly rolling hills and vast grasslands. The Great Steppes didnÆt have much vegetation beyond bushes and grasses, and large trees were almost altogether nonexistent.

Still, Great Steppes was mainly populated by two types of - centaurs - that were so different that they might as well be entirely different races. One was the Armored Centaurs, and they were referred to as the Armataurs. These were centaurs with naturally built armor and helmets. Their bodies somehow - created - hard plates over their chest, arms, shoulders, and body.

The other centaur race was the Lancias. They were centaurs but with natural weapons and retractable spears, lances, and spikes throughout their body. Despite an ancient tradition where both of the two centaur races lived apart, the two centaurian races were generally cordial with each other and frequently cooperated for special occasions.

The Armataurs worshiped Gawa , while the Lancias worshiped a god called Zulfa.

The demons were the usual fire - breathing demons wielding a flaming weapon of some kind, and their elites were a variant of the demon knights. The demon king was slain about eleven years ago, and the previous hero died with it. The new demon king just arrived not long ago and seemed to be waiting for the heroÆs arrival.

It was a world that seemed relatively stable now. In the vast grasslands and shrublands of the Great Steppes, there were now areas that were regularly known as the Demonic Highlands.

For Edna and Stella, the contact went fairly standard. The two centaurian subspecies waited for the blessed ones, and the blessed ones would slay the demon king.

With enough data collected, it was time to get moving.

A/

Roon, Johann, and Ezar returned home briefly, and then they were off again to visit the Seventh World. In the meantime, I was given their collected samples from the world of Capra.

- Drakefruit. - The plants went into my biolabs, and I immediately unlocked the ability to replicate the drakefruits at scale. I noticed that they were also surprisingly compatible with my existing class seeds and skill seeds, and in short, it would be possible to fuse the drakefruit with my skill seeds and class seeds to create skill fruits for drakes.

This was a fascinating thing, and I didnÆt know why it never occurred to me to create powerful skills for various pets and mounts.

I watched, and from my central vantage point, Landas had mostly stabilized.

Landas was the first world where I truly tested what were the limits of the Node Tree.

My node tree didnÆt have my aura, and although I could still spawn subsidiary trees through my node trees, trees that were linked through my node trees did not share my higher - tier abilities.

So node trees had some constraints. One, I couldnÆt use my giant attendant trees through them.

Everything that was connected through the Node Tree was restricted. I could see through them, but only at a basic level, not my full breadth of spiritual sight. Even my listening and observational abilities were severely limited. The mana output and extraction at each of these worlds were also a fraction of my tree.

Node trees also didnÆt share any of my auras, and the subsidiary trees of Landas were the - basic - version. This meant the number of beetles they could host per subsidiary tree was three beetles per subsidiary tree, and the beetles were inferior to those spawned by subsidiary trees linked through my clones or main body.

Still, the teleportation ability of the Node Tree meant it was possible to - send - my titans like Hytreerion to Landas.

Stella, while traveling through Landas and then later to the Sarlpi, began hammering on the need to use my titans, especially given my new expanded limits.

I could deploy up to ten additional titans, and each of these Titans would be a strong supporting force in any of these peripheral worlds, or even Delvegard.

Or I could use them to augment my resource restrictions back home.

In many ways, my high Level 100s were a - limited - resource, especially when distributed over the planned fifteen worlds. So they needed a force multiplier, and titans should be that sort of force multiplier.

- LetÆs see what sort of Titan choices I have now. - With my cloneÆs new ability to support titans, I could now support up to fifteen titans and a total of thirteen additional. I currently had two active titans in service. Hytreerion and PatreeckÆs presence in Threeworlds was likely to be unnecessary soon, and I would like to redeploy him to one of the other worlds soon.

So as my domain holders gathered data on the peripheral worlds, I began to consider the tools I had at our disposal to enhance my Valthorns performance in these peripheral worlds.

Ever since my Greater Titans upgrade, my choices had changed. They started with a base power level of about Level 125, a decent increase from their prior Level 70 to 90 power levels.

The Great Storm Bird - A greater storm titan that takes the form of a flying thunderbird and has the ability to summon up to 3,000 flying eagles of relatively strong combat power. Has shared vision and senses, and many lesser abilities.

Carapace Demonhunter Worm - A greater variant of the depth worm, with immense earth abilities and very high resistance to demonic damage. Has the ability to summon 2,000 worms with similar resistances and abilities. Can significantly improve ground fertility and plant yields, and also undo demonic corruption for earth.

The Greater Leveling Dungeon - Dungeon with higher levels and more rewards. Will cause its surroundings to be tainted by pollution and magical miasma, and the spawn rate of high - level monsters outside of the dungeonÆs vicinity will be significantly increased. Certain blessings and auras will be nullified in the Greater Leveling DungeonÆs presence, but experience gain will be significantly increased. Skills gained below Level 149 will likely be of a stronger variant.

Fusion with any Court of the Deitree - The Treant King. Significantly improve the hostÆs abilities and endurance. Host will no longer age and will be immune to non - divine sickness and poisons. Host will also now enjoy domain - level mental protections and will be able to resist divine laws. Also grants the ability to summon and control up to 300 treants.

Gantreethor Beetle Carrier - A flying beetle commander transformed into a Greater Titan. Each Gantreethor functions as a mobile command center for beetles, allowing all beetles to operate significantly further from an existing subsidiary tree. Each Gantreethor also carries within its spatial body an army of 8,000 greater beetles. Each greater beetle is around Level 30 to 35 and possesses flight abilities. Each Gantreethor can also self - destruct to deal explosive damage.

The Void Treant - Fusion with a familiar granted to a void - attuned treefolk - A treant meant to thrive in the void layers. Resistant to void turbulence and can move about. Can use void mana, use void magic, and also open void portals.

Fusion with Treechikomas - The Gigantic Spidertree - A Giant Walking Laboratory and Hospital with the ability to deploy smaller about 1,000 treechikomas, treants, and beetles. Provides a strong mobile blessing aura and healing presence to restore friendly parties. Living beings in its presence will not grow hungry or thirsty.

Fusion with Hamadryad Body (only one available) - The Primordial Elemental - A significantly powerful dryad mage specializing in elemental spells of around Level 140. Can regenerate even after destruction and is able to summon 500 fire, water, or earth elementals.

Fusion with Underground Living Crystal Labs - The Primordial Foundry - A tree that attached itself to a ley line and converts magical energy into crystals or metals. Produces a large quantity of crystals or metals based on a System - defined ratio.

- ThatÆs a fairly good selection, - Lumoof commented while he was elsewhere. A world away, but we were always together. That was life as an avatar. - But I think what you need is utility in these peripheral worlds. The ability to provide low - level suppressing force while the Valthorns deal with any stronger threats. -

- We could pick one of each and send them - Edna commented, also in a different world. - But I suppose there is a matching problem, since not all titans are designed for each of the worlds. -

But I thought of the titans as a second - best choice, for worlds without my clone. I had three clones, one on cooldown after I used one on Gawa Æs world of Satrya, but ultimately I was only prepared to deploy two clones.

IÆd like to keep one or perhaps two in reserve if we did stumble on more worlds.

The peripheral worlds are not the only worlds. Beyond these fifteen worlds there will be many more worlds that need our help, so to artificially limit my choices to these fifteen worlds because of Gawa Æs request would be silly.

I did not make a choice. Not yet. I thought itÆd be fairer to optimize once the domain holders came back with the detailed reports. There were still a few more worlds to go.

The Fifth World, Magisar

- Eighteen surviving magical academies, all conveniently located in levitating cities, - Lumoof said as he surveyed the documents stolen from one of the mages. Unlike the mages of Magisar, who did not stray far from their homes, Lumoof and Kafa found the world no threat at all, so they camped in the wilderness in a cocoon of roots.

Despite the initially impressive veneer of the levitating cities, what they saw did not impress them. The levitating cities of Magisar were pretty much something copied out of a despotic magical universe, with the tower masters ruling as oppressive kings, while the lower classes were all just nothing more than flesh that was thrown away once they were not useful.

Because the tower masters controlled the levitating cities, everyone else was pretty much at their mercy.

There were a few fortresses on land that were made by those who didnÆt want to endure the tower masterÆs oppression, but these fortresses did not have better living conditions. In fact, because of the lack of generational resources and legacy magical items, these fortresses were often at a subsistence level, and their rulers were also pretty much dictatorial, if for no reason beyond maintaining order.

It was hard to be happy and well behaved when everyone was perpetually underfed and in a terrible living environment.

- I must say this doesnÆt seem to be the worst world, - Kafa said. - They still have functional government, even if itÆs teetering on collapse. -

- Really? - Lumoof asked. - I wouldÆve thought this is one of the worst ones. -

- Worse than Landas that is holed up in their artifact cities with much smaller populations? - Kafa countered. - Or the world of Sarlpi where almost nine out of ten lavapeople have died? Or the deadworld with no one left? -

Lumoof looked back at the map. - Well, I suppose on a sheer numerical survivor basis, this is pretty decent. -

- It is, - Kafa repeated. - I would rank this in a similar capacity to the world of Capra - Terban. -

- Would you save them? -

- Yes. That doesnÆt need to be asked, - Kafa said. - It is our duty. -

Lumoof chuckled at the term - duty. - Some of them viewed helping these worlds as a duty of those with strength. As wardens, they were here to reset the damage caused by an extraordinary force, something outside of the normal nature of these worlds.

Should a warden also engage in repopulation? Ecosystem restoration? Was there a line between restoration and meddling with natural selection? It was a thought I entertained briefly. It was a dangerous loop to go down, and I decided to prioritize life. Save lives, and deal with balancing issues later.

It was a good thing to do, politically. It enhanced our reputation, it gave reason and purpose to maintain a large Valthorn army and infrastructure, and the Valthorns often truly believed in it.

Only Lumoof felt my own inner conflict with the duty of safeguarding the worldÆs natural state and whether we would go too far and believe in ourselves as - saviors. - A savior complex would be troublesome, and that made me uncomfortable.

Then Lumoof looked at Kafa. - From what youÆve seen of the mage societies, would you want to bring them into the fold? -

That was a tough one. I didnÆt have the answer for it, either. A magically proficient species would be a great help to offset our magical needs, but we would have to significantly usurp the ruling mages in order to gain access to the talent we need.

- I would rank them the best of the worlds weÆve seen so far, in terms of potential contribution to the coming days, - Kafa said.

Lumoof smiled. - Fair. But letÆs keep it aside, because itÆs time to go. We have more worlds to see. LetÆs leave the demons for now. WeÆll leave it to the Valthorns to come in and sweep. -

The demon king of Magisar appeared to be some kind of demonic golem, and even now, more demons appeared through the demonic rifts overhead. One of the key problems faced by Magisar was the demonic corruption. The demon champions of this world were similar to the corrupting demons of Sabnoc. They were gigantic demonic walkers that planted themselves near sources of magic such as ley lines and then used that demonic energy to spawn more demonic golems.

In the process of doing so, they corrupted their environment and also caused the demons energies to spread into the world around them. This created the demonic hybrids that we saw across the terrain, and incredibly, the demonic hybrids themselves carried demonic spores that spread even more demonic corruption.

What we learned of the demons methods did not really surprise it. It was just some variation of existing demon tactics, and should be fairly easy to deal with.

We later deployed a small batch of Valthorns on Magisar, mainly to support the information gathering once Lumoof and Kafa ensured that there was minimal divine - level meddling, and my Valthorns began scouring the terrain looking for refugees and those not living in the giant towers.

There were more than we expected. We rescued a few groups of small refugees fleeing their land - based encampments, and it explained most of their unusual behavior.

One, they did not have iron tools or hard metals in large quantities. Instead, all their people primarily used variants of some kind of copper or tin element, or in the more powerful mages gold or silver.

Iron was truly a rarity, and it reflected in the nature of the humans themselves. They resembled humans in many ways, but their blood was made of a different elemental metal altogether. Unlike our knowledge of humans that had iron in our blood, the humans of Magisar instead had something else that we had not encountered in the rest of the peripheral worlds.

A quasi - iron, and it was something I would like to examine in greater detail. It was likely Magisar humans could not interbreed with regular humans due to blood incompatibility.

The blood samples and biological samples we collected through aiding some of the refugees suggested that this elemental difference in their blood resulted in Magisarian humans being biased to magic, as their bodies did not - bulk - and did not gain much muscle.

Overall, we did have a relatively high rating for the world of Magisar, but we needed more time to shape the form of our contact. We had not yet decided on how to engage with these magical towers, whether we would take over, or whether we would be a little more diplomatic. Outside of the natural magical talents of the natives, the world itself was of no use, and I wondered whether we could offer a choice to the locals and then relocate the natives to a safer world, once we verified that their physique could survive on otherworld foods.

A massive breeding program could offset our challenges in training wizards and mages.

With a high - level understanding of the world of Magisar, it was time to move to the next world.

Seventh World

- Now this is something. - Lumoof sat as he watched the winds blow from top to bottom, and there was no horizon. Instead, the horizon curved upward, as if the world was looped. - Another ringworld, but not one of the demons. -

- Mayhaps the inspiration source of the demons Sun Rings ? - Kafa looked in another direction and then up into the sky to see two gigantic rings that rotated around the sun. That meant there were a total of three rings, and they were on the outermost ring. - There seems to be multiple rings. -

Lumoof nodded and noticed this world was physically quite big. - I do wonder, where is the Core of a ringworld? -

- Core? - Kafa laughed and pointed into the skies. The layered rings around the surprisingly small sun seemed strange. - Maybe that moon? ThatÆs the only thing that resembles a Core from this distance. -

The avatar shrugged as his eyes traced the demonic rifts above them. Strangely enough, this world had two active demonic rift paths. Kafa couldnÆt see it, but the news made Stella curious, so both Stella and Edna left the Great Steppes to join them in the Layered Ringworlds.

There were three rings surrounding their small sun, and the innermost ring was the smallest and thinnest. The middle ring was a bit wider, while the furthest ring was the widest. Closest to the sun was a strange glowing purple moon that overlooked all of the three rings.

The three rings orbited around the sun like the three axes of a gyroscope, each moving in its own direction.

The demonic rift paths through the void sea were then each connected to outermost and middle layers.

- Well, we have evidence that the demons can actually attack with two demon kings at the same time, - Stella said as she studied the demonic rifts. - ThereÆs no actual rule against it, merely a convenience from the way the demons arrange their attack pattern. -

- Two demon kings doesnÆt mean we have to face both of them together. - Edna shrugged. - Some operational difficulties, but if the two donÆt stick together, it isnÆt that different. -

- Agreed, but it does lend credence to Gawa Æs claim that the demons have measures we donÆt see yet. -

Lumoof then looked around. - Maybe we should ask Gawa about this world. Make use of that artifact he gave us. -

- First, we should find the natives, - Stella countered. So far, in the few days they had been busy studying the magical energies of the world, they had not located any natives.

It was not hard to find them once the four started to look. They were hibernating humans living in underground caves, and it seemed the world experienced what was called the regular weeks of - darkness. -

There was no concept of a day - night cycle in this world, because the sun was always overhead in a ringworld. Instead, they had a period when the sun dimmed significantly for two weeks at a stretch.

The - Purple Darkness. -

The domain holders were on the surface when the darkness happened. The sun abruptly transformed and changed color, as if the bright yellow sun itself was turned into a dim, dark blue sun.

The light vanished. The sun in the sky was still there but was difficult to see with regular sight, because now the dominant object was the purple moon. Everything turned purple, and then the monsters appeared.

They were no threat.

But the monsters were powerful. Level 60 to 80 monsters, seemingly empowered by the purple moon.

It was this worldÆs natural defenses, and the domain holders saw these monsters slaying the demonic beasts as well. Only the demon champions could hold them off.

- Huh, - Lumoof realized. - Why do they need heroes if the native beasts are so powerful? -

- LetÆs ask the natives. -

The native humans were few, but they created entire societies underground. Their underground tunnels were fortifications, layers of layers of walls, and none of them wanted to be outside during the Purple Darkness. They were very good at constructing defenses, simply because the monsters were all really powerful, so they concentrated their resources on building multiple layers of walls.

The domain holders continued to spy on the natives for a bit, using invisibility to sneak through their defenses and into their underground societies.

There, we saw the natives living fairly decent lives. They grew crops under the glow of unique light - emitting metals, and we watched their society operate.

There were two main activities for their society, the Wall Builders, and the Planters. The Wall Builders was just the overarching title given to those who constructed their fortifications and structures. They dug new rooms underground. There was a subgroup, called the venturers, that traveled along the surface to find new places to build a home.

Each of these labyrinthian homes were called a - Chamber. - This one was called the White Ringed Chamber. Each of these chambers could be home to five thousand to twenty thousand people, and throughout the Three Rings, there were thousands of these chambers.

Each of the rings, in terms of actual surface area, was likely much, much bigger than the surface area of Threeworlds or Treehome.

In some ways, these three rings potentially had the highest population potential. If the threat of the Purple Darkness was nullified and the demons solved, each of these three rings could house ten billion, maybe even twenty billion on the outer rings due to the sheer size of the surface area.

So, after two to three weeks of observation, we finally made the move to contact the natives. The humans were surprised to see us, but ultimately they were all very welcoming of guests.

Because in this world, all humans fought against the demons and the monsters outside. The surface of the ringworlds was a dangerous place at the wrong place and the wrong time, and the odds of surviving in the Purple Darkness were thoroughly low.

So the world developed a norm to house guests in their outer rooms. For venturers who ventured too far. For harvesters and herbal collectors that lost their way.

- You come from the world of the heroes? Those summoned by the Three - Ringed GodÆs will? - Lumoof, Kafa, Stella, and Edna stood as they approached one of these native fortifications. They only exited their fortifications once the Purple Darkness came to an end.

Still, as a wary kind, they created special holding zones near the entrances of their underground societies. Their fortifications were similar to the lairs of an evil mastermind and were comprised of layers and layers of doors, each fortified to keep unwanted people out.

- I canÆt help but wonder how this society even developed, - Kafa said as the humans escorted Lumoof and Kafa to their guest zones. - How did a society come from nothing to this? -

Luckily, the natives were more than happy to explain their own origin story. It seemed to be a story that each child learned when they turned two or three years old.

- We were created by the Three - Ringed Gods, - the humanÆs spiritual leader explained. - Each of the rings are the bodies of our god, the Three - Ringed God, and the god fought against the devourer of the sun. The battle ended in a stalemate, with both sides dying. The evil god became the remnant moon, while the Three - Ringed God became the rings that we live on. -

Lumoof and Kafa looked at each other and knew their creation myths were probably wrong, but they didnÆt want to correct them. It would be highly improper to correct their hosts. It was not yet the time. Such things had to be handled gently.

- We came to this world as refugees, brought over by the Three - Ringed God from an older world. The Three - Ringed GodÆs voice sent us into the underground homes and gave us talents to thrive in this world. -

The native spiritual leader then demonstrated the ability. The seemingly normal humans created fists made of steel, as if their flesh had the ability to transform into steel. WeÆd seen it in operation, but still we feigned surprise.

Internally, the Valthorns classified these humans as the Steelblooded. They were naturally tougher and more resistant, but even that wasnÆt enough.

- We use our gifts to build these steel walls, form our homes out of the body of the Three - Ringed Gods, and manipulate the Ringsteel into these fortified doors. They keep the demons out. -

- I see, - Lumoof answered. - Your Three - Ringed God is wise. -

- Kind, - the native human answered. At this point, they were not really - native - humans, but some of us wanted to call them the - Ringmen. -

- Are the strongest among you able to defeat the monsters during the Purple Darkness? - Kafa asked.

- A few of us, yes, - the ring - leader answered. - But there are more beasts out in the Purple Darkness than we ever could. Only those blessed by the Three - Ringed God can walk under the Purple Darkness and face the darkness. -

The interactions and discussions over the next few weeks with the natives went fairly well. We learned that the locals were not the type to battle the demons or the monsters of the Purple Darkness. They only engaged and hunted monsters during the Months of Sun, as they needed their flesh and parts for tools. Under the influence of the purple moon, they avoided contact and focused on hiding in their bunkers.

The domain holders learned what they could, but there were no true bombshells, just things that the rest of the Valthorns could gather in due time.

So StellaÆs attention turned skyward.

They all looked at the thing that floated so close to the sun. A massive celestial object that was the true master of this realm.

- LetÆs go to the purple moon. -

THE PURPLE MOON OF THE THREE - RINGED WORLD

The four domain holders landed on the purple moon, and the sensation was immediate.

- Core, - Lumoof said, but he didnÆt really need to say it. All the domain holders knew; it was similar to the time when they reached the Core of Tropicsworld. There was no doubt, no uncertainty.

Just merely stepping on it, they felt the Core attempt to make a connection. For the rest of them, their domains blocked it, but Lumoof allowed it through so that I could speak to it.

The feeling of a million thoughts seeping through his feet and somehow the million voices coalesced into three distinct voices, yet they spoke as one. The mere contact flooded me with visions of the Three Rings, of a world once without the plague of the demons.

Of a world when the purple moon did not release bursts of energy to cause the monsters to run amok.

Visitors. How. strange.

The voice spoke through my mind immediately, and by now, I was quite used to the presence of such ancient things. - Hello. I am A/ , from another world. -

We have not had visitors since the long drift apart.

There was a long pause, but I said nothing, because I felt its probing senses. Cores, from what I could tell, were not evil. It was looking for things around me, and its energies moved.

I can sense the vague remnants of my fellow Cores in your being, their power subsumed into yours.

I wondered then whether those were my clones.

Are you here to claim us? Like the foul constructs?

- No, - I answered through the avatar form. With things like the Core, I decided honesty was the best policy. They were, in some ways, sentient machines. - I come to destroy them, as requested by one of the gods. -

So you are a claimant either way. A less - destructive one.

I could feel LumoofÆs intention to respond negatively, but again, IÆd talked to enough Cores to understand that their statements tended to be more pointed.

- If that counts as claiming, then yes. I will establish a presence in your ringworlds and then use it to mount a counterattack on the demons, - I said plainly through our mental link. The domain holders stood on the purple rock, and the entirety of the rock was this realmÆs planetary Core.

It just didnÆt take the form of a planetary Core but instead placed itself out of reach of the demons by existing as a moon.

What will you do to our children?

The Cores created and took care of each of their inhabitants. In that way, each native was a - child - of their Core. Still, I was not sure how to answer them. - They will live. Prosper, perhaps. But live. -

I felt a probing sense, as if it tried to understand where and what I had done. It somehow traced my flesh across all the worlds, yet not through me, but as if it were droplets of rain flowing down the leaves and barks of a tree.

Yet. Protectiveness. This was a protective Core. A world that wanted to keep its children alive.

Altered forever, but alive. Our voice, if our children believe.

I felt a sense of acceptance, that my presence would be tolerable. Acceptable. The CoreÆs voice vanished.

We were still standing on the core. The Core refused to entertain us further, as I felt the Will retreat back into the depths of the Core. I could force it if I planted a clone here.

But would I be better than the demons that way?

I thought of planet Cores, or actually, these - realm Cores, - as the center of each world. It was not the - sun - like our old worlds, but instead, these worlds were as if medieval beliefs where Earth was the center of the universe was true. Well, almost every one, except for this one. I had many questions about the design and creation of this world.

We looked back at the Three Rings. From this vantage point, it was as if they moved around us. We glanced at the sections where the Three Rings intersected one another. There were six intersection points, and at each of these intersection points were beams of light that connected one ring to another, a place referred to as the - ladder. -

It allowed the natives to move from one ring to another, and it was how all three rings were connected, even if one didnÆt have magic.

- I suppose we should just move on, - Stella said. - Or step into the demon worlds linked through the rift gates. -

- This world has two demon kings, - Edna countered. From the purple moon it was surprisingly easy to find the demon king, because its presence was not obstructed by other things, and there was a straight line from the purple moon to the sun - facing side of the rings.

- And this world is a long way from being captured, - Stella countered. - Its only issue is that Gawa canÆt send anyone over anymore, and anyone Gawa sends need to send enough to deal with two demon kings. -

Lumoof looked at the rifts and the paths through the stars. - Let us hit the other worlds. We have a mission. This world can wait. The locals look very cozy, and the demon kings seem content to wait. -

- Why donÆt we just take a tour, pay a visit to the demon kings, and see what it was up to? - Edna smirked, and it made all the other three domain holders stare at her.

- YouÆre serious. -

- Yes. Why is it not doing anything? DonÆt you want to get more data points? -

And it was strange. We stood near it and watched the demon king remain as if it was in a hibernating state, or at least in a state where all it did was reproduce. The demon king did not move, as if waiting for something to happen.

- Does this count as a stable state? - Edna asked. We were wary that there were vulnerabilities, like what happened to KeiÆs demon king. If we attacked a living but ultimately harmless demon king, we could invite the presence of a far stronger demon king that would not just sit idly around.

As weird as it sounded, when demon kings didnÆt act and remained passive, our immediate thought was to consider whether it would be less harmful overall to suppress the rest of the demons and leave the demon king as it was.

A sort of - fantasy - version of - harm mitigation. -

- I think we should ask Gawa . This sounds like something Gawa would know, - Edna said.

Lumoof nodded. - Well, another thing to add to our growing list of questions. -

- Probably easier to just visit Satrya again, - Edna said, but she knew we could not do so.

Our mere presence created doubt and shook the faith of their followers. In a world where a god wass present and that god said it was the only god, the mere presence of someone outside that godÆs rule was heretical.

- I bet thereÆs more to ask after this, - Kafa said. - Every single one of these peripheral worlds is about to be abandoned by Gawa . Might as well just move ahead and get on with it. We can compile our questions later. -

- Is that artifact time limited or with limited use? -

- Not really, it just takes a long time to charge between uses. The divine energies contained within it takes a while to accumulate, - Lumoof said.

- Then letÆs keep going. LetÆs split up again. You are with me this time. - Lumoof pointed at Stella. Stella grinned.

- Sure, old man. -

This time, Edna would go with Kafa to the Ninth, while Stella and Lumoof would go together to the Eighth.

Eight World - Triotuga

The eighth world started with Lumoof landing on what seemed like an alley. That was a good sign. Stella followed a brief moment after, since she did have to open the portals for everyone.

- An alley. A narrow street. A good sign, - Lumoof said as his senses fanned out into the surroundings. There were people. Humans, just typical humans. They were both cloaked in illusions made to hide their presences, so they walked out of the alley to find a vibrant market. For once, this human city was not at war.

Not yet, at least.

This worldÆs human society resembled the typical human - magical medieval one. There were kings, knights in armor, guards in chainmail, and mages in robes walking around the main street.

- This is one of those copy - pasted worlds, - Stella said. - Kinda lazy when they designed worlds like that. -

Lumoof chuckled. - You make it sound like creating worlds and societies is an easy thing. -

- I would think the natural evolution of? -

- One of those the heroes cause the spread of humans across the worlds theory? - Lumoof looked around and felt calm. Relaxed. - At least, for one, I like how familiar everything is. -

- Familiar yet different? - Stella laughed as the humans argued. As with all medieval societies, there existed a noble class, a priest class, a tradesmen class, the soldier class, and then the peasant class. A priest wearing typical Gawa outfits walked by, but he looked like the most corrupt, fat priest she had ever seen. - Correction. Familiar, and extremely disgusting. -

- From one priest to another, let us not judge too hastily. - My avatar smiled and walked about. The pair explored the human kingdoms and found that this world was a tripartite state similar to Threeworlds.

The humans, the forestfolk, and the demon-users.

Humanity and corruption were almost inseparable. The humans were incredibly typical. It was a wide number of small - and medium - sized human - dominant monarchies that were spread over one third of the land.

Unlike Treehome, they didnÆt have dominant bodies, so the alliance of the human nations was motivated by a need to stick together to counter the incursions of the others. There was no set of central authority, and overtaking it would be fairly easy.

The forest folks were made of two great subspecies: the winged faeries and the earthbound dryads. Unlike the myth of our own world, these faeries were all large, almost human - sized, and possessed sharp claws and teeth. In some ways, these winged fairies were more like winged goblins than actual faeries, and the faeries were more like the lower class and seemed to be bred in gigantic hives that looked like an oversized beeÆs nest.

The dryads were the usual rulers, twice the size of humans, and the largest were the size of full trees. They took the form of humans with bark skin but could shapeshift into trees or even animals. They also possessed a variety of earth magic. It reminded me of the dryad body I once possessed, and I wondered whether that would be one way to infiltrate them. Or I could use my parasite, Ally, the former demon champion.

From what we gathered, the forestfolk were also made for a collection of kingdoms, each a gigantic forest of its own.

With the existence of such a place, naturally I wondered whether their kingdoms were anchored by spiritual trees, but despite the large amount of magic coursing through their forests, Lumoof did not detect any spiritual trees.

The forest folks used a kind of light camouflage and illusion ability, similar to my dark forest , in order to hide their presence from others, but around domain holders, it was fairly easy to unmask.

The border areas between the forest folks and the humans were outright battlegrounds. The forest folks tolerated no humans and killed them with their control over the trees. The humans of the border practiced extensive culling of trees and permitted no shrub or bush higher than a child. Every single large plant along the border and a large buffer zone was effectively purged of all large plants. The humans were just as brutal, and the humans of the border used magical nets and harpoons with a kind of iron string.

The priests of Gawa , despite their corruption, also possessed a set of Purge and Banish abilities that seemed extensively effective against the forest folks. The forest folks, on the other hand, were able to regenerate and recover from damage by draining their nearby trees of their life forces. Their weakness was iron, and so, in a defensive battle, the forest folks could fight with extremely high toughness. The dryads, on top of their passives, also had good ranged abilities and had the ability to control their environment.

I suspected that the dryads had a hostile relationship with spirit trees and potentially, given the forest folks ability to drain life force from spirit trees, it was likely that any spirit trees that spawned in their magical forests were sucked to death.

The third faction, the demon users, were a kind of boar - faced people with strong hides, and it was walking into their lands that we realized what was wrong with them. They controlled demons, and I could feel their spiritual tendrils extend beyond their body. Young boarfolk could extend one or two spiritual tendrils out of their bodies, and they would link this to the demons. This would allow the boarfolk to control them.

But this link was not a one - way link, and in older boarfolk that controlled more demons, the demons influence also corrupted them and turned them into almost demon-like creatures.

- This is like A/ Æs mana overwhelming, but far more specific, - Lumoof observed from our hidden location. The tendrils were visible to me because of our spiritual vision, but to normal mana - sensitive folk, they would feel as if there was a haze of magic emitted out of the boarfolk.

The boarfolk created a society of sorts, small cities made of boarfolk and their enthralled demons. They were able to control weaker demons, but from what I could see, not a single demon champion.

Instead, we followed the footsteps of the stronger boarfolk and observed that their base abilities were similar to animal tamers. They controlled the demons as their pets and empowered their - pets - to do the fighting. Maybe they even were beast tamers at one point but then turned their talents toward the demons.

Unfortunately, this link would be supercharged whenever there was a demon king present - a link that would corrupt them.

In short, when a demon king arrived into this world, the entirety of the Boarfolk suffered from demonic corruption and transformed into a demon. This process would strangely reverse itself once the demon king died.

Not all boarfolk transformed into the demons, like the children, and the boarfolk constructed special locations to house their young boarlings during the demon years, supported by a group of boarfolk that did not control any single demon.

They essentially sold themselves to the demons. The demons spared the boarfolk because of the demonic corruption through their mental link. I would love to capture them and study how their mental link worked.

It should be possible for me to create more powerful versions of the boarfolkÆs demonic control and turn the demons against themselves. Though, looking at how the demons mana worked, it was likely such a thing would be outright rejected by my domain holders, unless the circumstances truly demanded it.

As of now, the world was still relatively stable. The rifts had not yet opened, but there was a glowing path in the skies above. The demon king was coming soon, and war would break out.

The boarfolk always invaded the rest of them, so the other two races erected massive fortifications along the border.

But weÆd seen enough. We would send Valthorns here to understand them in detail. It was time for the domain holders to keep moving.

Ninth Peripheral World

The Tale of the Two Continents

The portals opened, and Edna landed on the roof of what seemed to be a heavily populated city. Kafa followed.

Crowds. They saw crowds, and everyone lived their lives. It almost seemed like none of them worried about the demons.

- Well. This doesnÆt look like a demon world. - Kafa laughed after a week of traveling. It was just more and more people. It was just a world with a lot of humanoids. Humans, lizardfolk, dwarves, elves, centaurs. It had most of the types of people, and yet they were all trapped on this massive, continent - sized island.

An island that clearly didnÆt have enough resources to meet everyoneÆs desires, so they fought each other over what little they had. The land was mediocre, the metals were mediocre, and the magic in the air was thin.

It was a massive continental island, home to hundreds of millions, and not a single demon in sight. There were few forests in this world; instead, everyone lived in cities or, in the case of the elves and dwarves, turned forests into cities.

Farmland was also plenty, but unlike the other worlds, the farms here were heavily worked. They could feel the presence of many effects and abilities trying to force more output out of their limited farmlands.

A large, heavily populated world with a scarcity issue.

But only on this continent. Edna and Kafa knew the world was much bigger, so they used magic and traveled.

Then they discovered a few more islands, with more resources, but infested with monsters.

And even further away, another full - sized continent overrun with demons.

It was as if imagining Treehome, in a situation where a demon king stuck to one continent and never left it. The humanoids claimed one continent for themselves, and the demons claimed another. The continent of demons was densely covered with demons of varying strength, and the demon king was a gigantic, three - headed, demonic elephant that was already digging into the ground.

In a decade or two, it would completely dig into the core, and this worldÆs way of life would change forever.

The rest of the smaller islands were just overrun with magical creatures, and this was where the humanoids ventured for wealth and resources.

But the great demon continent remained forever a land none dared touch. A land of death and destruction.

They referred to it as the Cursed Continent.

I couldnÆt help but feel a tinge affected. That was what they called the Central Continent, once.

- Well. - Kafa and Edna landed on the island, and Kafa looked at his fellow warrior. - This worldÆs not in trouble. Not yet, anyway. -

- Seen enough? - Edna smiled after about a month of travel.

Kafa sighed. TheyÆd largely formed an assessment in that month. - The great part of this world is its population. If our goal as an institution is to truly collect talent, then a significantly larger surviving population is more likely to produce the talent we need. -

- Outside of the population, I suppose you are right. LetÆs go to the next. -

Each world had their own demon kings, and each had their own ticking timer. Some had more time, some had less.

We would likely need to do a full sweep of all the worlds, clean it up for demon kings, and then decide where to properly set up base. There were six more worlds to go.

TENTH

THE HUMAN KINGDOM LANDS OF CAVAL

Aland of knights. A land of warriors. EdnaÆs stint on the ninth world was short, so she and Kafa landed on the tenth world to find one filled with knights and demons. It was something like Satrya and yet not.

It was too familiar, and yet that familiarity also evoked a sensation within the lizardfolk.

- IÆm starting to feel a little sick of traveling, - Kafa mused as a joke. It was only partly one.

Edna agreed. - Traveling too much does weigh on oneÆs soul. -

- I think I understand why Gawa Æs just eager to let go of worlds. At some point, I think I wouldnÆt be able to care. -

Edna stared and wondered how that escalated quickly. The lines between a stare and a glare were so thin. - You shouldnÆt be like that. That will be our slow death. -

Kafa looked back. - YouÆre made of stronger stuff that I am, Lady Edna. I see these new worlds, and I realize at some point, why should I care? A part of me speaks to return to my familiar lands. Lands that are safe. As long as our homes are safe? -

- Death, - Edna answered. - We cannot be the only island in a sea flooded with demons. Death comes to us eventually. Together, with a coalition of the living, we can create a wall. -

Kafa sighed. That was true. - I know. I know. But this has been a lot more tiring than I expected. I thought the worlds would be interesting, but now we are in the tenth peripheral world, and even if they are interesting, I wonder to myself whether I should care anymore. -

Edna tapped the lizard warrior on his armored scales. - Because we must. Because we are the only ones that can care for these worlds that are no longer cared for. -

- I know you are right, - Kafa said, but he looked at the world and felt a little blank. - This is the burden of our existence, and we may have traveled a little too much. -

Edna nodded. - LetÆs get a break. We can return home and rest. I suppose we do need it. I will continue on with the others. -

Kafa nodded. - I certainly do need some time back home. -

It was so tempting to relegate the world to something of a copy - paste of another world. Even when none of the worlds theyÆd been to were actually proper mono - human societies.

This was a world with only humans, and they fought demons.

Naturally, in mono - race societies, anything or anyone that didnÆt resemble that mono - race was automatically assumed to be a monster. Or a demon. Both, if the demons had possession and corruption abilities, and that race had inherited trauma from past parasitic demons.

We still saw this in the Southern Continent, where some humans still experienced micro - flinches at the sight of non - humans. Perhaps not outright hostile, but a reaction nonetheless.

- Well, to be fair, this human world fits your powers like a glove. - Kafa laughed a few days later as they explored the world of Caval.

- On the other hand, I could think of about a hundred or two other Valthorns and allies that would benefit from this world, - Edna countered. There were also many others who could exploit a world of multiple city states.

- Maybe the next one is a sandworld. -

- I donÆt like sand. -

- I know. Some lizardfolk claim it gets between our scales and makes everything nasty, - Kafa answered, and Edna chuckled.

- I thought some lizardfolk are native to the sands. -

- Some, - Kafa said. - IÆm not one of those. IÆm the swamp kind, and sand irritates me. -

- Then we should visit a swampworld. I bet thereÆs one. Maybe not the peripheral worlds, but beyond that. -

The tenth peripheral world of Caval was one of not many gimmicks. It was just humans and demons. Its population was fairly large, and in the past, the city - states that received heroes from the old gods prospered. But somehow, the cities never quite formed up into large empires.

Its social structure was also fairly similar to the humans of the eighth peripheral world, and even the old human empires of Treehome. The feudal aspects naturally reoccurred throughout the multiverse, and that was a fairly sad thing to think about.

I believed it was a product of the power - and combat - based systems. Societies where the powerful could exert power much more easily over the weak would naturally be more feudal, simply because there was no check or balance on the authority of the strong.

- Well? Any views? - Edna asked.

Kafa just sighed. - If what we want is gaming the odds of getting talent, I suppose this isnÆt a bad place. It has most of the basic resources and resources, and with A/ Æs influence, it should be possible to turn this world into a farm for soldiers over a few decades. -

- Overall, where would you place it? -

- Below the mageworld and that overpopulated world. Or even the Three - Ringed World. Hell, at least Landas has a magic tree. This world of humans is a little ordinary to be worth a clone. -

- Ordinary could be good. Mountainworld is fairly ordinary as it goes, and it is now our Core world. -

- Then why choose? We could just roll the dice, - Kafa said. - Each world has a ceiling for population size it can comfortably absorb, a ceiling to its mana output. I suppose given this worldÆs ordinary design, it should have a fairly balanced mix of resources, so thatÆs one thing going for it. -

Edna laughed. - YouÆre perfectly right. All right, IÆm not going to tease you more. We should keep going. -

The seemingly ordinary world of Caval wasnÆt totally ordinary once they started to investigate the heroes and defenses of the various city - states of it. There were segments of uniqueness to it, such as the many magical swords on the world.

The heroes of Caval, when they were summoned long ago, would also arrive with something called the Seed of the Hero Sword . Each hero would then, through their own growth journey, grow this Sword Seed into a magical weapon worthy of them, and throughout the world of Caval, there were hundreds of remnant hero swords left by earlier heroes.

Completed hero swords were extremely powerful; they contained a large fragment of the heroÆs power that grew as the hero developed over time. Even incomplete hero swords, left by the heroes that died too young or early, were still decently powerful artifacts.

Interestingly, the journey of the heroes of Caval also took them through the path of gathering the swords made by previous heroes to add the power of the old hero swords to their arsenal of abilities.

Naturally, I began to wonder why these worlds were this way.

Did the planetary core influence how a worldÆs heroes worked?

Lumoof held up the strange object in his hands and willed it to activate. We could feel the power of a divine artifact; it twisted the world so viscerally that anyone nearby wouldÆve felt as if the world itself was torn apart to create the small tunnel.

It linked the world, and Gawa , if only momentarily, for us to speak. It felt like a sheer waste of divine energy, but then again, what could be more important than the exchange of information between two multiworld powers?

A part of me was repulsed by that sort of overbearing thoughts, but a large part of me embraced the reality long ago.

- I was wondering when you would have more questions? -

- Well, then I finally have them. Why do heroes seem different from world to world? How exactly does the hero class work? -

- It is not too much of a stretch to say that it is a trade made with the System. We petition the System for heroes that are adapted to defeat the demon kings. The hero classes themselves are created through the System. Think of it as visiting a merchant, and you tell the merchant that you wish to purchase a weapon with a certain set of attributes and a certain set of skills. The merchant would then go to the back of its room, and after searching and cobbling things together, it would then offer you a selection. -

I paused. - Then the mental controls on the heroes? -

- Our earliest attempts to summon heroes cost us too much of our faith points. We gave heroes all the power at the very start, only to find that they misused our gifts. Rather than deal with the demons, the heroes summoned did everything else. In quite a few worlds, the heroes ended up destroying everything. They were a medicine that killed its patients. A cure worse than the disease. -

This was something I long suspected.

- So, as a whole, we imposed conditions on the heroes. Many of the gods came together, back when the world was much smaller, to collectively control heroes. The heroes were a very sharp knife, and we wanted it directed specifically at the demons. -

- Then the worlds? -

- Each hero class, offered to us to choose, is a combination of our parameters and the restrictions imposed by each world. We cannot summon a Dragon ling hero to a world without Dragon lings . We cannot summon a lizardman hero to a world with only humans. These conditions are within each worldÆs inherent conditions. In worlds where everyone uses magic, working with the worldÆs restrictions and conditions reduces our faith point cost. Think of each core as a micro world with its own rules. Overcoming the rules costs faith points. Working with the rules reduces our faith points. It already costs us too much to pluck heroes from the source worlds and then send them over to these demon-attacked worlds. -

We listened. - But. why do the core worlds have these rules? Where do they come from? -

- At the heart of that question is a question of our origin. That is something I do not know the answer for. Even we wonder what truly is our origin story. Where we came from remains a mystery to even the most ancient of us. -

- But surely worlds and rules come from. somewhere? -

- In the early years, there was an idea that we are all creations of dreams. The unused radiant thoughts of the source worlds. It remains to be proven. But I digress. Each world has its own rules. Overcoming them has a price. -

There were questions.

- For my Core worlds, I am able to alter the CoreÆs rules directly, because I exert control over their Core. I can weave my divine laws into them and change how each of these different worlds function. There are limitations imposed by the System, but ultimately, it is all a matter of faith points. -

- Then can the heroes gain divinity? -

- IÆm afraid not. It is an inherent restriction of the hero class. The hero class is a borrowed power. A god cannot borrow its power from another. -

- Even those freed? -

- Freed? -

- Those that escaped from the mental restrictions and altered the hero class. -

- That is not supposed to happen. But no. The power remains borrowed. The hero class is linked to a store of divine power from the System. -

I see. ColetteÆs chances of having a domain was nil. Unless she gave it up for - But they can trade their hero class for other classes? -

- Yes. But there is a cap. There is a distance they will have to climb on their own merit. -

I see. But then I look at the heroes and remembered there was a question I really wanted to ask. - Why the heroes? Why pick them from the source worlds? -

- Because they have the best souls. -

- Really? - I found that hard to believe.

- What you see is after the SystemÆs meddling. But the souls of those from the source worlds are most suited for the perils of interdimensional travel. -

I thought about the question that the heroes asked. - Do they. do they really return to their source worlds after they die? Can they go home? -

- I have no ability to send them back, so I am not certain. But the System claims they will, so they will. -

- How? Is it really a lie? What is the System? -

- I have no answer to that. Know that what is created across many worlds are often random. Worlds that cannot self - sustain simply collapse, and those that can are all that remain. Unusual and different, but they have reached a point where they can function as self - sufficient worlds. At least, until the demons threatened to consume us all. -

At this point, I felt the powers of the divine artifact wane. It would need some time to recharge.

- There is no need to worry. We will speak again. -

We had answers, but we still had more to do.

Fifth World - Magisar

Lozanna and Ebon looked at each other during a short break. Just a while ago, they helped the Magisarian humans out of the rubble. Some of these humans, who didnÆt want to live under the rule of the tower masters, left the tower and decided to strike it out in the vast wilderness.

The wilderness, filled with monsters and the demon golems, plants and demonic hybrid plants, was a hostile environment, but these refugees decided rolling the dice was worth it, at least compared to the cramped and slum - like living standards of the Towers.

This group of refugees was not that big. Just about one hundred people.

- Are you really from another world? - The leader of the refugees was a relatively strong mage at about Level 52. He was supported by a group of thirteen Level 40 mages.

- Yes. - HoyiaÆs calming presence worked like a charm. To the refugees, she was the presence of the divine itself, a woman of tremendous holiness that even the mages could not help but believe. The man stared. - But I am not the hero. -

The heroes of Magisar, at least, some time ago, used to arrive once every two to three decades. Not enough to quell the demon kingÆs reign, but enough to buy time.

The hundred or so were fed and given food. The food provided had to be plant based, because the differences in blood type were then immediately noticeable. They vomited when given meat from other worlds. It was alien meat to them, and their bodies, though similar in appearance, were not able to tolerate the meats from the other worlds.

At least they responded to the healing energies, and that sort of energy transfer still worked.

There would be a lot of things to study. The interactions of the Magisarian humans with all the different types of materials available would be something they needed to check. Despite the natural magical aptitude of the Magisarians, if the side effects of their body were serious, it may seriously hinder their ability to operate off - world.

Lozanna snuck into Gorfort Tower. It wasnÆt difficult, aligning oneÆs mana to the frequencies of the teleportation spell was fairly simple, compared to the mana attunement required to travel through demonic rifts.

Every single Level 125 Valthorn was familiar with the basics, even advanced versions of a few other major disciplines. They had to be, because out in the fields, it was really hard to know what the other worlds could throw at them. Even if they didnÆt receive a class in those unrelated class trees, the skills and knowledge still helped their overall performance.

- How is it in there? - Ebon asked via their message network. He was located a distance away, clearing out the demonic hives. It was quite easy to locate more refugees, once they figured the patterns. The refugees generally preferred wide - open spaces where it was hard for the golems to surprise them.

So, rather than look for easily defended places, the mages exploited wide - open spaces where they had range and it was easy for them to use spells.

- ItÆs surprisingly sad. - Lozanna found the living conditions terrible. Due to the space scarcity in the Towers, everyone was crammed into a small space. Ultimately, LumoofÆs information guided them to one of the mages they stalked.

The mage Metteria Hudrot lived in a small room just big enough for a bed and four shelves. There were no bathrooms, and instead, for their level, the bathrooms were shared by a few units together, similar to a dorm.

She lived in a less - pleasing place when she was lower leveled. Under Level 30, a mage was pretty much just a peon and would only have a bed and a small box as their personal living space. Even children were centrally managed. For the low - level mage - parents, they were pretty much living in tiny rooms with stacked beds.

- WhoÆs there? - Metteria Hudrot looked around, and Lozanna smiled. - Who - who are you? -

It was easy to tell they were different. Their skin tones were different. Their build was different. Lozanna had dense, lean muscles throughout her body, while Metteria was thin, almost bony. Unlike Lozanna Æs rounded joints, the Magisarian humans lacked the muscle mass, and their joints protruded from their skinny frames.

Lozanna knew it wasnÆt the diet. She knew of humans that strictly consumed vegetables that still had muscle mass. This difference was in their blood and genes. Their stick - thin appearance was a norm.

- Hello. IÆd like to talk. -

- . what? -

- IÆm sent by the man you saw during your mission a few weeks ago. The man that vanished. -

MetteriaÆs eyes immediately widened. - It wasnÆt an illusion! -

- Of course. Now, will you come with me? - Lozanna approached her, and suddenly a magical portal appeared right next to Lozanna .

Metteria gulped. - Where are we going? -

- Somewhere we can talk in greater detail. -

There were probably a million questions going through the mageÆs mind, but it was important to learn more about the tower masters of the various Towers before making contact. So they had to infiltrate and learn about their society from the middle, where they had enough knowledge and access to see the bigger picture.

Lozanna would try to contact MetteriaÆs master next. It would be easier if Metteria could do the introductions.

They would slowly find potential allies, learn about the various tower masters pain points and weaknesses, and see how they could absorb these Towers into the fold peacefully.

By Lozanna Æs own estimates, A/ had much to offer these Magisarians. She only hoped that they were wise enough to accept the deal.

YEAR 274

A/

ItÆd been a year since we started exploring the peripheral worlds, and we were now in our eleventh world. I began to feel the strain of the expanding world. The Valtorn Order now stretched across more worlds, and each of them required resources. Shipment of goods. Even mana.

Stella and her growing team of void mages worked overtime to send people over, but ultimately, we had to decide on the placement on the node trees. Without node trees, the void mages would be fully tasked with the movement of people and resources, and this strained our void mages.

Our void mages were a fairly limited group in the first place. There were about two thousand void mages, but most of them were relatively mid - levels around Level 60 to 90. Then there were about one to two hundred void mages that we considered to be - deployable, - a decent number, but for movements to these faraway places, it was mainly the void archmages and their peers that did the work.

With my domain holders leading the exploration, I directed my own attention on the industry growth. I needed the drain on resources by some of the worlds in repair, such as Tropicsworld, to taper off.

But luckily, it was not bad news.

Because for the world of Treehome, the reality bubble expanded, and then I felt something exceptional happen.

In the faraway distance, at the edge of space itself, I could somehow see past the bubble that separated TreehomeÆs reality and the endless void sea. Using the vision of the void layers granted and shared with me, it was as if there was a world birthed within the void itself.

At that moment, I saw thousands of worlds, floating as if suspended in a dormant state. Each world was encased in a package of void energies. The void sea was the spawning pool of the world. It was the primordial soup, and from my point of view, I believed, it was only something I could see.

Because through my domain, through my empowerment of TreehomeÆs Core, I could see the energy of the Core stretch into the void itself, and then it searched. I didnÆt know how or what it did. But it searched through the void sea, as if looking for something that matched.

Then it found one, a world somehow with land and water encased in a strange liquid sac within the void sea. I felt the CoreÆs authority spread into that liquid sac, and it pulled.

It pulled and pulled.

It felt like forever, it felt like just a moment, and the reality bubble of Treehome suddenly bulged as that new world in the sac made contact with the wall. It was as if a larger soap bubble joined with a smaller soap bubble, and then a new world entered into TreehomeÆs reality.

It drifted, then drifted and settled in an outer orbit around TreehomeÆs sun.

And so Treehome now had a sister planet.

My forces arrived on the sister planet to find it already populated with plants and people.

A dream from the Core of Treehome filled in the blanks.

A world that existed entirely within the void sea in a state of limbo. It existed, but imperfectly. The void sea was the cradle of worlds.

I strangely found it similar to something from my past life. This new world was like a program that was in development but never went - live. - It ran in a test environment all this while, but when it was pushed to the - live - environment, it inherited all the history it created during the test environment.

The sister world of Treehome, which I now called Shrubhome, shared the same racial mix as Treehome, and it came already present with a decently sized population.

- How? - Most of my forces didnÆt understand. Or maybe they did, but it was a reality that was hard to swallow. For us from Earth or the source worlds, it was hard to grasp whether we were dealing with reality. How was a world that didnÆt exist before suddenly existing with its own history in what felt like a few days? In a way, it was simpler to think of this new world as one that existed in a realm separate from ours, and now it moved across the realms to join us.

Because the implications of a world created out of scratch meant we were all simulations. That our existence could be created out of the blue by the void sea.

The mages were surprisingly more willing to accept it. To them, if summons were real, then creations of a world with its own history could be real.

For me personally, I found it easier to think of this sister world as a world that was teleported in to be our celestial neighbor.

Shrubhome was a smaller world. Smaller, but still had seas and continents, similar to Treehome. It had three large continents, and my forces arrived to find existing kingdoms and nations already squabbling.

There were no domain holders here. Not a single one, and the strongest person we sensed was only in the Level 50s.

We spoke to some of the leaders of Shrubhome, and it seemed, from their point of view, they were always there, and when they looked up to the skies and the sun, Treehome was always in their star maps.

Again, if magic could do so much, creating worlds out of thin air should be doable. But damn, it was hard to truly accept. Somehow, the flow of energies on Shrubhome was also the same as Treehome.

This was a world where the Core was actually linked to TreehomeÆs core.

I sensed the same energy from ShrubhomeÆs core. The core was a physical object, but in TreehomeÆs case, now it was split into two.

I wondered whether this was a form of defense mechanism. A demon king needed to capture both cores in order to fully control the world.

Eleventh World - Shasan Land of Sands and Floods - Demons are Gigantic Fire Demons But Expansion Curtailed by the Sands

- Sand. - Johann picked up a handful of sand, and the sand was blown away by the wind. It was fine sand, high quality, even. But sand. The sun was bright, and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

The sand, the heat, the cloudless sky all reminded them of the Scorpionoid lands of Zhaanpu.

- Well, looks like we found the world to fulfill our promise to Zhaanpu. - Roon smiled. - Khefri would enjoy this place. -

- Is something going on with you and Khefri? - Ezar asked.

Roon shook his head. - Nothing. There was nothing, and thereÆs still nothing. At one point, Chung was pursuing her. -

- HeÆs dying soon. You have a chance. -

Roon made an exaggerated retching expression. - Please. At some point IÆm going to prefer to be partnerless. -

- I have a partner, - Ezar admitted. - And sheÆs cute. I hope to have many babies with her. -

Roon paused as he looked into the distance. There was a very faint scent of some kind of human presence. - I didnÆt know that. Is it a fairly recent thing? -

Ezar nodded. - Yeah. We got together recently. At least, before this whole peripheral worlds thing. I kinda miss her already. -

The ranger pointed in a direction, and the three began to move. - Well, maybe you should head back and go make some babies. I think thereÆs really no need for three of us in a single world. -

Ezar shrugged. - The three of us are meant to offset Lumoof and EdnaÆs significantly higher levels. But yeah, I should make babies. -

- I know I know. - Roon laughed. - But yeah - look, humans. Again. -

- ThatÆs good. - Johann joined in, and the three activated their illusionary spells. They needed to stalk the natives and learn more about them before making the first contact. - A/ would love to have a look at your kids. -

Ezar nodded. - A/ Æs medical care would be indispensable. -

- I mean? -

- I know what you mean, - Ezar said. - IÆm curious, too. I just hope thereÆs no complications for the mother. -

- Is she human? WhereÆs she from? - Roon asked.

- Yeah. SheÆs an enchanter working for the Valthorns. She helped make one of the pieces of my gauntlets. -

- Oh. Sweet. At least she isnÆt an outsider. That hardly works well, - Roon said. - ThereÆs Valthorns married to folks outside the Order, and that can get a little messy if things get leaked. -

Ezar squirmed. - That? -

- What usually happens is the outsider gets absorbed in, but that can be a little traumatic for the partner, - Roon explained.

There were information - access tiers to the Order, and for domain holders, they pretty much had full access. As one went down the OrderÆs ranks, the access tiers decreased. It was monitored by the artificial minds to ensure key information remained secure.

There wasnÆt one hundred percent security. Not with the various kinds of espionage skills and surveillance spells, but we had been fairly successful in controlling data leakages with a huge network of artificial minds and PatreeckÆs perpetual mind - scanning abilities.

- You need to tell me more. Later, - Ezar said as the three snuck close and followed the human caravan traveling through the sands.

The trio didnÆt take long to start noticing the unusual creatures of this desert world. One, there were sandbirds. They were part sandûpart spiritual creatures that were more like elementals than actual animals.

There were many other larger creatures, like a gigantic sandfish that resembled a transparent fish but with sand as its skin. They were just native animals made of sand.

Then the vegetation was also different. Despite the strong sunlight, the plants they had were skinny, brown - colored things. Instead, these plants were drawn to magic and seemed to derive sustenance from the natural magical energies.

As a result, they tended to be brownish or sand - colored and were mostly camouflaged in order to hide from the animals that preyed on them. The plants were also able to move to an extent, because their roots seemed to be able to extend to reach the magical ley lines.

In a way, they were pretty much some kind of plant - animal blend that didnÆt need water or sunlight and instead used sand and magic for its sustenance.

- The great rain is in fifteen days. - The trio listened to the local humans talk. - The sands will flood, and we must reach Norgan. Make haste, everyone. -

They whipped the strange, armored beasts, and they roared. The armored beasts were also sand - like creatures similar to the sandbirds and the sandworms. They were fed a collection of brown plant leaves harvested from the various magical plant patches. The locals called them the Brown Trees.

The trio followed the human caravans and reached it in thirteen. Norgan was the first human settlement they encountered in the world of Shasan, and it was located on a rare rock outcropping, a mesa in what appeared to be a sea of sand.

The people of Shasan made things out of sand and rock, and they did so through a class known as the Sand Sculptors . We also soon noticed the presence of an Altar made of Sand that we were pretty sure was a magical object.

It granted the class Sand Sculptor to anyone who prayed to it. All cities had one of these Sand Altars.

They were magical existences, a kind of spiritual object similar to a spiritual tree, but one of sand.

It reminded me of Zhaanpu, and I wondered what Zhaanpu wouldÆve done to a world like this.

Then we experienced ShasanÆs unique weather.

The Great Flood. A seasonal rain that happened almost like clockwork. The skies were charged with a kind of magic, similar to ley lines, but different.

The people of Shasan were ready. Their homes, all located on top of the mesas, were built with large walkways, and then it poured. The skies poured more water than weÆd ever seen anywhere. It was just a constant torrent of rain that flooded everything.

The sea of sands became an actual sea, complete with monsters and creatures. The sand creatures we saw previously now took new forms, and they shed their body of sand for a body of water.

The actual constant rain lasted for two weeks, but the Great Flood itself would last for about two more months, followed by two weeks of - the great draining. -

The world alternated between sand and water in about three - month cycles. During the great rain, the Shasan humans would fish and harvest the various creatures that spawn in the sea. During the great sands, they would hunt certain types of plants and beasts, such as the magically sustained Sandplants.

Yet, so far, the demons presence was minimal. There was a demon king here, so it was strange to us. Eventually, my domain holders spent months moving through the vast sands and seas and eventually found it.

We soon found the demon king in a flooded pit. It wasnÆt dead. Water wouldnÆt kill the creature that didnÆt need to breathe. Instead, it was headed toward the depths of the Core. We also learned there were no surviving heroes. The last of the demon slayers died about twenty years ago.

Despite this, the demons did not take over the world. The environment significantly hindered the demons ability to expand, just as how the oceans of Treehome often constrained the demons to a particular continent.

Even when the demons did attack, the demons were also clustered around a few corrupted mesas, islands of demonic forces. The lesser demons didnÆt take well to water, and the sand creatures were brutal.

In some ways, this wasnÆt a horrible state. The demons hardly bothered the locals.

This world didnÆt really need us.

Metteria Hudrot, The Stone Mage of Magisar

There were only three of them and three of these visitors. They were not the strange person she saw, but she trembled. Her senses screamed to take at least a few step backs, so they did.

It was the man in armor. Ebon. He emitted a keen, cutting presence that made her feel as if her skin and head would be sliced open. Next to him was Lozanna , the woman that invited her and spoke to her a few days ago. Then next to her was another man that felt every bit like a Tower Master, and more.

- Greetings. Thank you for coming, - Lozanna said with a smile. MetteriaÆs brief meetup with her was punctuated by teleportation portals, skills that only tower masters could use.

Junker Quartz and Kerifa Gundhert were both master mages and were in the high Level 60s. The true masters were in the Level 80s, yet Metteria watched the two of them sweat. Magisarians all had a keen sense of magic and mana, and some magisarians could even see magic flows in the air around them.

Junker Quartz was one of those unique individuals with the power to see magic in the air, and it was why he became a great bronze mage.

Lozanna led them to a meeting area carved out of the rocks of the ground. The entire area shouldÆve been infested with demonic golems, and yet MetteriaÆs senses were clear. There wasnÆt any.

Kerifa sat first, and she naturally took the position as if she was in charge. - Who are you three, and what do you want? -

Lozanna smiled. - LetÆs start with what we want. I was told that the tower masters position as the tower masters can be challenged directly through a magical duel. -

Kerifa, Junker, and Metteria stared at each other. Her immediate suspicion was the other Towers. During an earlier, much less demon-infested time, tower masters frequently sent mages to other Towers and tried to usurp power and claim the other Towers by way of a duel.

- Who - who do you work for? Which Tower? - Kerifa asked.

- None of that. - Lozanna laughed. - But can it be done, and is it still recognized today? -

- I doubt it. The tower masters wonÆt let go of their positions. Not in our current environment. - Kerifa frowned, but at that point, a portal opened and a man Kerifa and Metteria recognized stepped out. MetteriaÆs fellow disciple.

- Good to see you again, Master Kerifa. - Lezzan was one of the refugee mages rescued in the Valthorns recent tour of the Magisarian lands. - ItÆs been. eight years? -

Kerifa rubbed her eyes. - Have I gone blind? I thought you were dead! -

- ItÆs quite hard for a bug like me to die. - The refugee mage was one of the assistants. - Well, we had enough of the tower masterÆs selfishness! -

- ThatÆs a death sentence. -

- Now, we have enough to finally think of challenging the TowerÆs whims, - Lezzan said proudly.

Lozanna coughed. Lezzan immediately paled and changed his words.

- My apologies. I certainly wouldnÆt dare to claim credit for the visitors achievements. -

EbonÆs helmet turned and stared. At that moment, they all felt the manÆs overwhelming presence on their shoulders. Metteria didnÆt notice it before, but now that she did, she noticed the manÆs armor and helmet were not made with their common bronze alloys.

Instead, it looked like a metal that was exceptionally rare on Magisar. So much so that Metteria blurted it out. - Is that a suit of armor made of steel? -

- Yes, - Ebon said and then turned to face Lezzan. His voice was heavy and strong, and Lezzan cowered in his presence. - And you. We invited you to repeat what you said to us. -

Lezzan gulped. - I - I - said that it is possible to formally take the position as a tower master if a challenger is endorsed by at least three resident Level 50 mages. -

Kerifa and Junker then looked at each other. Kerifa scratched her chin once she recovered from EbonÆs presence. - The old TowerÆs Challenge remains within the Gorfort TowerÆs code, but it has not been invoked in the past forty or so years. Will the challenger be one of you, Lezzan? Your leader? -

Lezzan shook his head. - I - I doubt our leader could even last against the great tower masters. -

- Can it be done? - Lozanna asked. Metteria noticed she was already a little annoyed with the mages constant diversions.

Kerifa nodded. - Possible. -

Junker looked at Kerifa and then at the man standing next to Lozanna . - Will it be you? -

MetteriaÆs eyes and senses focused on the man with a strange hat, and he shrugged. - Much depends on our central command. -

Lozanna frowned. - The two of you, can you find someone willing to endorse a foreign mage for the position. -

The two shook their heads. - We wonÆt endorse an outsider. -

The woman sighed. - Well, this has been a waste of time. What level is the tower master? -

- They say the few tower masters are all Level 80 or so. -

- Should we really play their political games just to formally claim to rule? LetÆs just abduct them and haul them back here. - The man who was clearly a mage sighed. - I bet we can make them see reason with some good ol A/ Æs Perspective. -

Ebon nodded. - We will discuss this further. What is the current formal way to be accepted back into the Tower? -

- A written endorsement and sponsorship by a Resident Mage, - Kerifa said.

- Issue one, - Lozanna declared. - No, issue three. -

- Why should we? -

Lozanna then took out a small crystal of tremendous luster. It was soaked in mana and seemed to shine. MetteriaÆs eyes stared at it greedily, and she noticed her two senior mages making similar expressions. - LetÆs make a deal. -

Kerifa straightened up, and her posture changed into one Metteria knew. It was the one when she wanted to do business. - Well, I wouldÆve preferred if we started off this way. What are we dealing in, and is that thing for trade? -

Lozanna smiled. - Why, yes. -

Metteria stared at the crystal and realized she couldnÆt miss out, too. - Can I be part of the deal, as well? -

Lozanna nodded and took out two more equally sized crystals. - Would you be interested, Junker? -

The old manÆs posture transformed in the same manner as Kerifa. - What do you want us to part with? -

Lezzan looked betrayed. - Why wasnÆt that? -

Ebon stared at him, and he instantly realize he had no place here. The mage flicked a finger, and a portal opened. - Please leave. This part of the discussion does not involve you. But if you behave and cooperate, there may be other deals we can make with you. -

Lezzan nodded and ran through the portal.

Lozanna laughed.

MetteriaÆs eyes never left the shining crystal of magic. Greed truly was universal.

YEAR 274 (PART 2)

There were still a few more worlds to explore, but back home, I tried to consider my options with the eleven worlds we have visited so far. I decided it was a good idea to pool all my domain holders and get some preliminary assessments.

It was likely that the four worlds wouldnÆt be too far off.

A group back home started to work on our expected response to the demons. Some of these worlds were in a stable state.

It made me wonder, of course. Despite the peripheral worldÆs distance to the demon king, not all of them had folded. So why?

IÆd been thinking about the nature of the peripheral worlds and had concluded that the peripheral worlds usually had some kind of - defensibility. - It was this defensibility that made them into contested zones. Worlds that were hard for the demons to fully capture. Worlds that were also hard for the gods to properly reinforce.

In short, peripheral worlds were not peripheral worlds by distance, even if it was one of the factors, but by sheer survivorship bias. Faraway worlds that could not be defended and lacked inherent defensibility meant they would easily fold to the demons.

That meant they were not the gods problem any more, since they were then demon worlds.

Worlds that were close to the gods could be easily defended and reinforced, so they remained as normal worlds.

So peripheral worlds were those that were in limbo, worlds that were hard for the demons to conquer due to their design and those that the gods found hard to reinforce. If these two were true, it was likely that these sorts of worlds would become - peripheral - worlds, because they would survive the drift.

- Could it just be a fluke, that the heroes old artifacts and items give the natives some fighting chance to hang on? - Lumoof countered.

- Of course. But itÆs just something IÆve been thinking about. - It was just a hypothesis, that peripheral worlds become battlegrounds, because they experienced longer periods of struggle against the demons.

Worlds that couldnÆt put up a fight died or fell to the demons and thus drifted out of the gods influence anyway.

Lavaworld

- How do you feel? - Khefri said as Samuel, or Samahiro the elf hero, gained levels battling the demons of Lavaworld.

- Better. Stronger, - Samuel said while he rested. HeÆd gained a level that day. The demon champion was hardly a threat. With more power, they would have the ability to retake Landas from the demon king. The goal was to get Samuel at least into the Level 100s, one they achieved fairly easily.

But each new hero had their own style of battle, and Kei, as the new hero - manager, decided that all the heroes needed to have - practice - sessions. It was something copied from the Valthorns, since the Valthorns had battle simulations in order to form their battle tactics. The heroes, even with their natural gifts, still needed practice.

Samuel also needed to get used to his new abilities, even if the divine gifts of the hero class helped tremendously.

But the demon champions were too weak to be a challenge. Without really pushing it, it was hard for the heroes to really know how well they worked together. Teamwork was one of the few things that the hero class wasnÆt very good at.

- It is good to have another close combat fighter in our team, - Adrian said.

Colette, Prabu, Adrian, Khefri. Four heroes. And now they were five once more.

- IÆm just happy thereÆs more of us. - Prabu sighed. - I hope they find more heroes on the other worlds. -

Samuel looked around. It was better than being alone, for sure. - I hope so, too. -

The Valthorns concluded it was best to decide which world to clear out its demon king only after weÆd explored all fifteen worlds. In some states, it was likely there were stable worlds.

So for now, Samuel and the other heroes prepared for war. They repaired old hero items, restored magical defenses.

Twelveth

Gigant dragon - The Planetary Dragon

Stella and Lumoof opened the portal and instantly knew this was one of those unusual worlds. A world that existed on the surface of a gigantic planetary dragon that was forever chasing a sun. The world was constantly moving; it wasnÆt moving in the void sea, but after staring at the edge of its reality bubble for a moment, we concluded it was likely to only appear as if it was always moving. Maybe it was like a marble spinning in place as water flowed around it.

- Well. A giant dragon. - Lumoof looked around. TheyÆd landed on what appeared to be the middle part of the dragonÆs body. The part that looked like the head was the brightest, and yet, even on the surface of this gigantic planetary dragonÆs body, there was running water, plants, trees, and mountains. - ThatÆs a first. -

- I wonder whether A/ Æs clone could link to the dragonÆs will, then we could possibly gain control or communicate with it. -

- YouÆre concluding that a planetary - sized worldÆs Core is a sentient dragon. -

- Yes. I suppose, - Stella said. - A creature of this size? -

- I think we have to let go of some of our assumptions. It may only possess the physical form of a dragon, but nothing actually requires it to be sentient. Its movements, its mannerisms may just be a set of instructions imprinted to its being. -

- A machine. - Stella sighed as she scanned around. - I suppose in a world of magic, nothing really requires planets to be, well, planets. -

Lumoof nodded, and through him, our senses expanded. I could feel it, and they could, too. Heroes. There were still heroes here. And at the same time, we also felt the presence of a demon king. A strong one.

We knew because its demonic energies were intense, as if amplified by the natural energies of the land itself.

- ThatÆs not good, - Stella said as her hands got to work. A portal whirled open, and the two stepped through and found a battlefield with strong demons.

Demons that glowed with lines of magic, and they were strong. Champions littered the skies as if they didnÆt cost energy. Because they didnÆt.

StellaÆs magical senses expanded as she sent magical probes all around.

But here, around the - waist - of the planet - sized dragon, was a battleground between the land controlled by the demons and the lands controlled by the natives.

Two heroes, two humans with magical wings, surrounded by smaller drakes, fought back against the demons. They were strong, but the demon king, a giant two - headed, armored lizard, breathed magic that glowed with the same strange lines.

- IÆm not totally certain, but it seems this demon king left parts of itself on ley lines and that ley line energy fed the demon king, - Stella said as she landed behind Lumoof. It seemed like the demon king was going to fire a weapon their way as well.

One of the heads opened fire, and a magical blast smashed into LumoofÆs shields. It burned through three layers of shields but didnÆt reach Lumoof. It did make him sweat a little, so he prepared to activate his shields again. - Well, thatÆs something. -

The other head of the demon king fired, and the heroes dodged the energy blast. It was considerably more powerful than the average demon king, and its energies were a blend of demonic energy and the unusual ley lines energies. They couldnÆt take the hit directly.

- Think we should help them? - Lumoof looked at Stella, but that question was partly directed at me. I could feel LumoofÆs presence.

The demon king charged at the heroes at a surreal speed, and the two heroes countered with attacks of their own. They were fairly powerful, and their own energy attacks left large scars on the demon king, but those wounds regenerated quickly, its health supported by the ley lines.

Stella could feel the demon kingÆs energies were linked to other places. There were fragments of the demon king spread throughout the tail of this planetary - sized dragon. - We should help to destroy those ley line sources if we want that to happen. -

But we couldnÆt do that. The demon king closed in on the heroes and fired an energy blast at point blank. A shot that wouldÆve killed the heroes.

Lumoof seemingly blinked in front of the two humanoid heroes and created a massive wooden shield and blocked the attack from the demon king. The blast tore through layers of wooden shields, and the shockwave of the attack sent Lumoof and the two heroes backward.

I could feel the two heroes were tired and had not much strength to continue this fight. - LetÆs rescue the heroes and we can talk strategy later. Taking out the demons fragments on the ley lines should be quite easy. -

Stella nodded. - YouÆll have to carry them out. My void portals wonÆt work with the heroes. -

Lumoof approached the two humanoid heroes. They were battered. They didnÆt have many wounds on them, but they spent quite a lot of their energy on the demon king.

- Hello, heroes. I think this battle is lost. Let us retreat and we can discuss details later? -

The two looked at each other and back at Lumoof. - Sure. -

The demon king didnÆt give chase, while we followed the heroes away from the battlefield and arrived at a Dragon ling city, filled with flying drakes and the humanoid Dragon lings .

It was a border town, one closest to the creeping demonic corruption, and the home base of the two heroes, for now. TheyÆd been trying to push back against the demon king for a while, but with just the two of them, they hadnÆt been able to overwhelm the demon king.

- IÆm Lumoof, and this is my friend, Stella. - The two heroes, Rajah and Wira, were summoned about a year ago. But the demon king and the demons arrived about six years before that, so they got a five - year head start.

- The demon king advances slowly, - the two heroes explained. - Each time it creeps forward, it tries to capture the ley lines within the ground, and it goes stronger with each captured magical ley line. The two of us couldnÆt really beat it, even though we gained levels after each battle. It almost seems as if weÆre fighting against a monster we canÆt win. Each time we hurt it, it just regenerates. -

- Demon kings have exceptional regeneration ability, - Stella said. - What you experienced isnÆt unusual. Does it have minions? I didnÆt see any lesser demons beyond the usual hellhounds and critters. -

- A few. TheyÆre not that weak, though, - the heroes said.

- Why didnÆt you sneak past it and attack the ley lines? -

- It wouldnÆt let us, - Rajah countered. - You know how this world is like one long dragon. Any time we try to get past that line, it knows we are coming. It can tell we are headed there. -

Ah. The demons had hero - vision. So for the heroes, they would not be able to sneak past the demon king. Stella looked at Lumoof. - But we could. -

The two heroes looked at each other. - Yes. Yes, you totally can. -

- Teleportation? - Lumoof asked.

- Jammed, - Rajah added. - The demon kingÆs energies spread throughout the demon lands, and any teleportation spell into that area gets shredded. We canÆt maintain a stable portal. -

- But what defenses do they have? -

- Mostly the demon lords, - Rajah added

- Demon lords? - Lumoof asked.

- Demons empowered by the ley lines. They are quite powerful, but nothing like the demon king. We could take one down, but the ley lines are all protected by these demon lords. -

- Ah. Demon champions. Just terminology differences. - Lumoof breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasnÆt an unusual class of demon, most likely just a demon champion that had a similar energy - absorption mechanism as its parent demon king.

This demon king seemed to rely on capturing ley lines to make itself stronger and also spawn more powerful demons.

- So, actually, we kinda got ahead of ourselves by diving right into the demon problem. What is this world? - Lumoof said. The Dragon lings of this world, Gigant , looked at us with interest but ultimately left us alone.

The heroes were more than happy to explain it to us.

The world of Gigant dragon was a long, dragon - shaped planet that was perpetually chasing the golden sun. The day - night cycle was determined by the position of the dragonÆs head and the long shadow the head cast over the rest of its body as it moved in a rotational pattern through space, blocking out the sun. It twirled and moved as the stars around the world warped and shifted, as if it was forever chasing the sun, but we knew this was an illusion. Nothing was moving.

The land itself was separated into fifteen large segments, each representing like a chunk or segment of the body, as if the body of the dragon was some sort of gigantic centipede of stone and earth, and on those segments were rather normal features such as mountains, seas, lakes, farmlands, and so on. Between the segments was a part called the dragonÆs skin, essentially an unstable part of the land that frequently experienced fissures due to how two linked segments of the planet - sized dragon moved about as it rotated around the sun.

The tail end was significantly colder than the parts closer to the head, where it was warmer. The magical energies of the ley lines were also stronger closer to the dragonÆs head, but there were ley lines throughout GigantÆs body.

The locals referred to the ley lines as the - dragonÆs veins, - because they were the energies of the gigantic dragon.

It was inhabited by a mixture of Dragon lings , drakes, and humanoids, and the Dragon lings worship a mix of Gawa and Gaya.

The Dragon lings and drakes had elemental biases that were reflected in their skin. The green - shaded Dragon lings and drakes generally had powers of the wood and earth, the reddish, orange Dragon lings were fire, and the blue - white Dragon lings and drakes were of the water, ice, and wind elements.

These three were the main subgroups of Dragon lings , and the fire element Dragon lings were clustered closer to the head of Gigant and the areas where there were volcanoes and rivers of lava, while the water and earth element Dragon lings were more spread out.

Rajah and Wira, as heroes, were the union of the three Dragon ling subgroups, and they had powers of all three Dragon lings and could empower their drakes. The drakes of Capra or JohannÆs Dragon would be fascinating to introduce to the Dragon lings of this world, and vice versa, but that would be a later problem.

For now, it was the heroes that would do the moving.

- So when are you two going to sneak past the gates? Are you two like world travelers? Like some hero that finished their quest and now could travel from world to world? -

Stella shook her head. - Nothing like that. WeÆre not even heroes, but letÆs say we have an organization behind us. -

- I donÆt see it. Is it like some kind of starship flying overhead? - Rajah and Wira looked overhead. The sky was somehow filled with stars, even if it was not a real thing, and the stars looked like they moved in a particular direction.

- No. I suppose if we deploy a node here, we can introduce you to the rest of us. -

- Wait, wait, wait. What about defenses? WeÆll have to hold the demon king back. If it senses us disappearing, it may decide to attack! WeÆre what stands between the demon king and total annihilation of the Dragon lings ! -

That doesnÆt always happen, - Lumoof countered.

- It doesnÆt? No. We canÆt desert our post here. Not even for a bit, - the two heroes said with certainty.

Their reaction made Lumoof pause for a while before he said, - I see. Then we need to discuss our plans before we go ahead. -

The two domain holders left the heroes to their own affairs.

- WhatÆd you think? - Stella and Lumoof met somewhere away from the heroes. - Their hero class compulsions seem a little strong there. -

- They are fairly high level; that sort of meddling is expected. - Lumoof frowned. - We wouldnÆt be able to move them, and weÆll have to bring the rest of the heroes here. -

Stella merely nodded and waited for Lumoof to continue.

- Or we do whatÆs sensible. We sneak past the demons battle lines and hit the ley lines. That would ensure that the heroes can survive the next conflict with the demon king. Then we bring the heroes. If we leave as it is, itÆs likely they wonÆt survive an encounter with the demon king. I think we should call for some reinforcement, give them some breathing room, then decide later. -

The void domain holder nodded. - Yeah. ThatÆs probably our best choice. We should figure out whatÆs up with this demon king anyway. -

INTERLUDE

THE A/ IC LANDAS ERA

Landas

Commander Argo looked and noticed unusual expressions in his fellow elves.

They didnÆt have the old expressions of exhaustion, or anger, or joy.

Stress.

His fellow elves struggled to keep up with the demands of their new rulers. Fortifications were constructed at breakneck pace, the old farms rebuilt quickly. The visitors. The divine guides. Argo, in his heart, thought of them as the messengers of heaven.

It was hard.

His people were so used to subsistence, so used to existing scraping by, that the messengers of the Tree God had to teach and reintroduce many new skills. Even the art of building better homes, or processing tools, or recording information.

Landas lost so much of its old administrative abilities and knowledge. But the change brought by the messengers had been swift, so swift that his people, now no longer existing under the threat of the demons, struggled to adapt.

Stress.

They were all listening to the centaur, talking about recording information, city design, and city administration. Things they never thought about. It didnÆt matter when things could get destroyed.

But now, they had to design for permanence. They had to rebuild their military ability, and they were all, truly stressed.

The old elven soldiers were now trained by the messengers. They were veterans of war. Many of them were old, too, and survivors of many demonic attacks.

But they survived without regimented training. They gained their levels, often learning from the older soldiers and from each other. Their methods and styles all contained habits that didnÆt always work.

Now the Valthorns came, and truly, they were a thorn in their backside.

Yet it was not defiance. His people were not defiant. They knew how different the power level were.

Every single messenger Argo met was Level 100 and more. They were stronger, their equipment and tactics well honed. In some ways, they were truly anti - demonic specialists, and they wanted to train them to be like them.

The Valthorn lord present came with a small army of expertly built golems, a Golem Master of some sort, and somehow, the laborers worked to rebuild the city.

- Nunarnusk must be rebuilt quickly and better, - the man said. - And unfortunately, many of you lost the skills to do it. We will have to bridge the gap. But first, we need all the old designs out of your old archives! -

Nunarnusk was an ancient city, and the druids magical roots pierced the ground and revealed many such old structures hidden after centuries of war. Many of them were hidden under debris and, over time, forgotten. Their people were too busy surviving war after war that the brief periods of peace didnÆt grant them much respite to even think of archaeology.

Stress.

The elders squinted and cracked their heads, trying to decipher text from the old days that they struggled. Some of them were written in old White Elven that none of them truly could say they still understood.

Even though the System naturally bridged the speaking language, and often granted knowledge of the current lingua franca, the written system drifted over the centuries, and that drift meant old text started to lose legibility after sufficient amount of drift.

But the messengers insisted that they dig anyway.

The messengers were not all warriors. Some were clearly mage - scholars, fascinated to pour over new text and subjects never before seen by their kind.

Commander Argo was nearby when he saw a group of them discuss. They spoke fairly audibly that Argo heard them loud and clear. - Our goals for the excavation are to locate old maps and find old spells. From those old maps, we then locate places of magical study. If we are lucky, we may be able to learn new spells that were previously unique to the White Elves. We will have to leave the originals here with the White Elves as per our caretaking agreement, but what we learn, we take and add to our library of spells. We will also extend our coverage outside of Nunarnusk, if there are any strong leads. Understood? -

The rest of them nodded.

Old spells. Argo wondered to himself what old spells the White Elves knew. A part of him wondered whether he should consider it sacred and sacrilegious to let these newcomers go through their history.

But the locals had no strength to resist them.

Nunarnusk and the many capitals were all home to great elven mages during the pre - demonic age.

Though the messengers clearly came to help, it seemed that they also had ulterior motives of their own.

Roskor was a hive of activity, as new areas for housing were built seemingly overnight. Gigantic trees turned into homes littered the outer ring of RoskorÆs original fort, all meant to house the tens of thousands of refugees that now called Roskor home.

Refugees.

- How much food do we have? Do we have enough to feed everyone? - Novorosk stared at crowds waiting outside their newly constructed canteens.

- Yes, yes. - One of the blood elves nodded with a bit of frustration. - Warleader, donÆt worry about us. Food will take some time, but there is enough. -

- Enough? Sure? - It was so strange that the word - enough - still seemed weird to him. It was hard to change from a mindset of scarcity.

For some, it was easier. For Novorosk, it was hard. He didnÆt know what to say. He felt a little lost. The refugees all came to collect and eat food. The Valthorn druids blessed their farms and spawned new fruit trees. There were many new farms, and with more new produce there should be enough for everyone to keep their hunger away.

It wouldnÆt be enough for luxury. Not yet. The druids and builders that came to Roskor focused on the staple foods and, together with the refugees, constructed new farms and plantations that would feed them all. It was enough to feed twice their current population, but the variety was still almost nonexistent.

They would have to develop more farms with more interesting food varieties in the future.

Novorosk watched and wondered what heÆd miss in Roskor if he blinked.

- IÆve summoned everyone here to discuss a key topic for the future of Landas, - Druid Falin of the Valthorns stated as a treefolk man appeared. TheyÆd never seen a man made out of a tree and wondered whether he was some kind of mythical creature written in their ancient text. - This is Lord Kraveik, a senior noble lord from our world. He is visiting temporarily to assist with the economic aspects of Landas. -

There were old elves from every surviving city of Landas. Many of the surviving towns quickly consolidated, as most were barely surviving and eager to rejoin a larger society. In time, some would wander out again, but for now, the centuries of war left most elves eager to reconnect with their fellow elves.

- Coinage was lost from your old era, - Kraveik declared after what appeared to be weeks and months of pouring through ancient texts with a small army of assistants and translators. - Most cities and Landasian settlements now function without coinage, everything through a pooled set of resources allocated by the elders. This is familiar to all of you, but that was not how things were in the old era, and your current favors and allocation system will not work once you become proper nation - states. -

What followed was KraveikÆs highly summarized brief on the economic history of the old elven empire era.

- On behalf of the Valthorns, we intend to restore the coinage system, and for now, we hope that all the different elves adopt a single - coin system until your world regains sufficient scale and industrial output. We will then use this coinage to trade with your cities for the resources each of your cities will then produce. -

The elders glanced at each other. They would have to produce something to trade with each other, because the Valthorn force concentrated on defenses and basic needs. The Valthorns expansion also quickly flagged many potential resource sites, some containing the usual metals, some containing magical resources such as crystals and gems.

There were some rather basic questions from the elders. They asked why trade was needed when each of them were currently self - sufficient.

- Two main reasons. Quality and levels. Specialization allows the creation of higher - tier goods, which improves quality. It also raises levels, which allow for an individual to create even better tools and equipment. Trade is necessary to allow each individual to have sufficient production volume. With sufficient production volume, the System recognizes their specialization and awards levels. Trade creates volume, volume creates improvements and experience, and the maker then gains levels. This is how our worldÆs industrial base gained power. We hope to replicate it to yours. -

Kraviek naturally omitted the part where this was only applicable to the lower Level 100s, because the level gains from non - combat activities quickly plateaued past Level 70 to 90, depending on the type of non - combat class.

They werenÆt there yet. Not with their current subsistence level industry.

It would take a decade or two to restore some decent level of trade. It was as much a - mindset - and - habit - issue than just knowing the means.

- Warleader Novorosk, please, show me the old shield structures. - The hero Samahiro or Samuel finally visited their home. He was healthy, handsome as hell, and all the elven females watched him walk by.

Novorosk nodded, pleased to be useful. He hardly recognized Roskor now, with all the new structures added and old structures cleaned up.

- How are things? - Samuel asked. - The last time I saw you was on Treehome, my apologies for not visiting sooner. I had to gain some levels. -

- It is nothing. ItÆs not like the shields were used at all, - Novorosk said.

Samuel nodded as they finally reached the shield structure. There used to be at least three to four mages here, all feeding their magical energies to support the shield structure. It was an ornate, historical object, made with a blend of metals and crystals, and left by a hero many, many centuries ago.

It was once their lifeline, and Novorosk swore to protect it with his life. Little did he expect to ever see a day that here it stood, unattended, unprotected.

He sighed. - If this era lasts, this thing will no longer be needed. -

Samuel shook his head as he touched it. His star mana pool was larger now, much, much larger than it originally was. He easily fed his star mana to the thirsty object, and the two felt the energies of the shield regain strength. - The wider world is an unforgiving place. Very, unforgiving place. -

- It is, - Novorosk said. - How many such structures have you fixed? -

- A lot. I lost count. I was told to create new ones, just in case. - Samuel sat. - So, will you keep me company, Warleader? -

Novorosk nodded. - There is nothing much for a warleader like me to do. Other than train and spar with my fellow soldiers. -

For a moment, the two sat in peace.

- You should join them, - Samuel spoke after working for a bit, and a magical ball emerged before him. SamuelÆs Hero Forge would create an additional set of defensive equipment, complete with instructions of use. Most defensive equipment also had a passive charging ability, but often the ambient energies were so thin that they took a while to charge.

Novorosk looked out of a small door. It was normally closed, but these days, there was no risk. The view was of a Roskor that was changing.

A warrior would have no place in a time of peace.

- I want to, - Novorosk said.

Samuel nodded. - You worry for your team. -

Novorosk wanted to say no but then nodded. - Yes. I - I still wonder whether my place is here or there. Or whether I should even? -

- You should join the Valthorns. IÆve seen what they want to do, and they still need more soldiers. They need far more than you can fathom. -

- Why? -

Samuel looked up; there was a ceiling on top. There were fading paintings made by the old White Elves from an older time. - There are thousands of worlds out there, many of them like ours, struggling to hold on. They all need help. You received help, Warleader Novorosk. It is time to do your part and help those who are in need. -

Novorosk looked at Samuel. He heard of the same briefing and understood what it meant. - I know. I - I just need some time to tell my team. -

- They will understand, just as how the rest of the heroes understood I needed time. I, too, was not ready to face the demon king again. - The two exchanged glances, and Novorosk understood that Samuel was still afraid of the demon king. The demon king cursed him in their first confrontation, and even though he successfully fled, the curse deteriorated and left him in a near - comatose state, with the Cherry spirit tree trying its best to keep him alive.

The warleader sighed. To the hero, the hero must think his own fears as just something small. - I will. -

- Good. IÆm done. I will have to speak to the mages. Can you call them? - Samuel took out a crystal spherical object that quickly made itself at home.

Novorosk felt its magical energies spread out, and another magical protective layer emerged over their fortress. It wouldnÆt be enough to cover all of Roskor. Not with all the new settlements outside its old walls.

But it was just an additional layer of security. An insurance.

- IÆll call them in, Hero Samahiro. Please wait. -

- Good. I hope the next time I see you, itÆs when you are in a different set of uniforms. -

Novorosk chuckled at how quickly the elven hero switched allegiances. But he was right. The world was much bigger than he thought. HeÆd speak to the Druid Falin later and see whether he could be a new member of the Valthorns.

- IÆve been wondering when you would ask. - Druid Falin had a schedule where he visited each of the different elven cities. There were only about thirty large surviving elven cities, and Roskor was one of them.

- You know? -

- YouÆre not the first, Warleader Novorosk. The Valthorns are already vetting those who wish to join. -

- How - how many asked? -

- About a hundred for now. We expect more to join, eventually. - Falin patted Novorosk on the shoulder. - I canÆt give you any special benefits, but youÆll have to join the training system. Once youÆre sufficiently trained, you will be sent to where A/ sees fit. -

Novorosk shuddered. - I see. -

- Many will fail. Being around A/ is a difficult thing, and minds need to be made of sterner stuff. -

Novorosk remembered the sensation of having his mind assaulted. It was something that still lingered until today.

- But many of you are warriors who lived a life of protecting your homes. If you do it for the right reasons, I think you will find it easier, - Falin said.

- I do? -

- Those that put themselves out there must be willing to burn a bit of themselves, - the druid said.

Novorosk didnÆt understand. - Why? -

Falin smiled. - Because you will be digging deeper into yourself, all the time. You will try to be more, do more. We burn a little bit of ourselves so that together, we shine brighter. -

Novorosk thought that sounded familiar. It was a sensation he remembered. He nodded. - I look forward to it. -

Falin tapped him on the shoulder again. - I hope to see you soon, Warleader Novorosk. Be prepared for transport. -

Treehome

- It is damned good to be back. -

Kafa was happy to be back in Freshka. He took a shower, followed by a long, long dip in a slimy tub filled with fragrances that most humans would find appalling. But lizardfolk enjoyed certain types of scents, scents that reminded them of the village or city they came from. The rivers they played in. Non - lizardfolk visiting their homes often had to use some scent - nullification artifact to mitigate the nausea it tended to create.

It was time to hit Gigant dragon soon, and JohannÆs party also took a short break.

The domain holders decided it was a good idea to meet up to discuss strategy and tactics.

- Well, I think given itÆs stronger magical nature, it should be somewhat vulnerable to anti - magical attacks. At least, the stronger anti - magical weapons could disrupt the ley lines enough to temporarily weaken the demon king. -

- We could test it out, - Edna said. They would have to draw up a revised list of equipment and inventory for the coming battle. - But taking that many anti - magic weapons will drain our store. -

- WeÆve been using them a lot, - Ezar noted. - ProductionÆs not keeping up. -

Kafa shook his head and sipped his drink. - Why not? -

- Access to that world is seasonal. We donÆt have a clone or a node on it. - Johann quickly looked up some reports. - You think, I think we should put a node there, at least. -

The five domain holders looked at each other. - Yeah. LetÆs do that. -

Roon frowned and then looked at Kafa. - I think our thinking about these sets of worlds need to be adjusted. I think the anti - magic sand world needs to be turned into one of our Core Worlds. -

- It has no population. If the entire idea is to strip - mine that world for the anti - magic sands, a node tree will be sufficient, - Kafa countered. - IÆd rather put a clone on this dragon - world. Or that heavily populated world. -

- Does A/ want to place a clone on this dragon world? - Johann asked. - We seem to be encountering a streak of dragon - type worlds. -

- ThatÆs good for you, isnÆt it? - Kafa countered cheerfully, in a much better mood. He had a glass of his favorite juice.

- In some convoluted way, not really. My dragon seems easily jealous, and IÆm not exactly sure how itÆll react to it. -

- There should be some kind of group - benefit from controlling all the dragon - drake worlds together, - Edna countered. - The drakefruits of Capra could be used to help the drakes of Gigant dragon. This mutual assistance could result in a powerful force. -

- Does he want the Dragon lings ? -

Kafa shrugged. - I think all the differences between the world and their special qualities is just a distraction. I think itÆs all a little silly in the end. -

- Why? - That made Roon and Johann turn.

- In the end, thereÆs only three things that really matter, at least when we try to fit them in the way we work. Domain holders, crystals, and the craftsmen that produce the equipment and items to support us. Worlds that can create domain holders, worlds that help produce crystals so we can blow the demons up, and the worlds that can create all the craftsmen we need, so that we can turn resources into weapons. -

- That relies on the assumption that our bombs continue to work on demon kings. There will be demon kings resistant to bombs. -

- Resistant, but not immune, - Kafa countered and took a big sip of his juice. - Now, really, if we look at the bigger picture, creating domain holders is really a game of numbers. If the odds of finding someone who can be a domain holder is one in a billion, then we need to get billions on our side. A/ should therefore claim the worlds that have the highest populations, convert them to our side, and from this large pool, there will be some talents. -

That made Edna shift a little uncomfortably. - I donÆt generally view it as a game of numbers. Domain holders can emerge from anywhere, and what matters more is the institution designed to support that growth. - Edna, in her heart, believed that the ability to reach the domain was actually a lot more common, but it was the institutions around them that encouraged that sort of excellence.

- But they must have the talent. The special thing that pushes them beyond that last step, - Kafa said. - We have it, somehow. But we need more domain holders, and I say it is not something that can be manufactured. Yes, the infrastructure is important, but we are ultimately looking for gems in a wheatfield. -

Edna and Kafa glanced at each other. - So you advocate for the heavily populated worlds? -

- Yes, - Kafa stated. - There will be talent. They can be trained into craftsmen. I would choose worlds with large existing populations that can be redirected into other causes. Either as potential domain holders or as the craftsmen and all that needed for the rest of us. Gimmicks like drakes are unnecessary. I donÆt see how they can contribute against the demon king, even if they were stronger. TheyÆd have to be domain holders to even have the right to stand up there with us. -

The rest of the four waited for him to continue.

- So, if it was up to me, IÆd take Delvegard, Magisar, and Twin - Continents as my three clone locations. Delvegard because it fits with the second and third goal of supplying equipment, Magisar because it also provides a supply of craftsmen, and Twin - Continents because it has the numbers to create domain holders and also craftsmen. The rest can be nodes. -

- We donÆt even have enough nodes, - Edna countered. - Let me flip the question around. Which world would you give up on? -

- How many do we need to give up on? -

- Three. We have fifteen, - Edna said. - Three clone slots, and ten node trees. Two of them are already on Delvegard and Landas, but we can count the one deployed on Landas as something we can move around. If we deploy a node on the anti - magic sand world to boost our anti - magical weaponry, weÆd be down to nine nodes, so we have to leave four worlds. -

- DeadworldÆs a clear choice for the first world to give up on, - Kafa continued, but he hesitated with the remaining two. - Maybe - Maybe Landas. -

- What? - That made Roon squirm. - I thought Landas was a good world. Elves! -

Kafa stretched, his views colored by his little stint on Delvegard. He wasnÆt impressed by the giant colossus fielded by the Delvegardian Dwarves. In his mind, he could crush them singlehandedly. What use were these things before the demon kings? - The huge mountains we have to climb to repopulate it means it wouldnÆt be useful to us so soon. Elves also take a lot longer to reproduce compared to the other races. In a game of numbers, we must churn through recruits to find the gems. -

So, even lesser dragons or unique types of races. Sure, they had some value, but in the end, it was the domain holders that made the difference.

Edna shook her head slightly, as she remembered their own talks much earlier. The domain holders had to advocate for their worlds, and this was Kafa doing his part.

- Talking about Delvegard is a good point. - Johann touched his chin. - Does A/ intend to keep one of his nodes as a spare? Nodes can be thrown across the void sea, and that has some value. LetÆs assume A/ keeps one as a spare. So there will be five worlds where we wouldnÆt have A/ Æs direct presence, and our presence there will depend on the void mages. -

The knight stated her view then. - These five worlds without A/ Æs presence should be those that are still the strongest. Worlds that are in least need of our assistance. They can somewhat fend for themselves. -

- That means the Three - Ringed World and the hero - sword world of Caval? - Kafa thought. - Maybe this new Gigant dragon world, too, once we slay the demon king. -

- The rest of them are in pretty bad shape, - Edna said. There were pockets of resistance in all worlds, but there were not many structural factors in their favor. Only Caval with all their scattered anti - demon hero - swords, the Three - Ringed World with their Purple Darkness, and maybe Shasan, the flooded world, had some natural anti - demon advantages.

Roon then asked, - The world of Twin - Continents appears to be stable. -

- For now, - the lizardfolk countered. - To achieve Gawa Æs objective, we still have to free up the demon continent. I doubt they actually have the strength to do anything if the demon king lands on their continent, instead of where it currently is. -

- We need a full dossier on the strength of these worlds, - Johann said. - Something we can only conclude once the rest of the Valthorns enter them and start gathering information. -

- I quite like Delvegard, and I do agree with KafaÆs assessment partially. Our goal for doing this really is to build strength quickly, and yes, numbers help. But we donÆt have to dominate worlds like the Twin - Continents. If what we need is resources and talent, that can be through a strong recruitment presence. -

- I think a clone is a damned good statement to their population, - Kafa said.

Roon shook his head. - We are not sure if thatÆs what impresses them. A large show of force may be counterproductive. Some races are like that. -

That made Kafa pause. - I guess that is fair. -

- But the Three - Ringed World is unique. Maybe A/ would unlock something unique through his presence there? - Ezar suddenly asked. - He does get unique blessings and soul forge abilities when he has access to unique worlds. -

The other four domain holders looked at each other. - I kinda forgot he got that. -

- It happens so rarely. - Edna laughed as she recalled some old facts. - But yes. A/ also needs a clone presence on a particular world to get hero fragments when their heroes die. -

- So if we want fragments, then A/ must place a clone on Gigant dragon. -

- SnekÆs also petitioning for a node to be placed on Ulara, - Ezar added.

- So six worlds without A/ Æs presence, - Edna said. - Can our void mages support that much troop movements? -

- People, probably. Resources, no. Our forces there will have to source a lot of native resources. IÆll need to get Central to do the numbers, - Roon clarified as it dawned on the five domain holders that they would all be working with fairly limited resources. Void mages spent days to recharge their void mana, and opening portals through the void sea from one world to another consumed a large amount. - By my guess, weÆd have to deploy almost all our void mages if we want to maintain near - constant communication and troop movement. -

- ThatÆll be hard. -

- Do we have information on their demon kingÆs invasion frequency? - Edna asked. - I think that should also be something we need to consider for our next battle. WeÆve known for a while that itÆs exceptionally hard to move large quantities of weaponry through void magic alone. Our experiences on the demons comet? -

- Fifteen worldÆs demonic invasion frequency - I thought we were supposed to collect that somewhere! -

- On everyone. Again, suitable for a recruitment - type presence where we donÆt have to exert control or continuous presence, - Roon said while rubbing his head. - All right, all right. Maybe we stop this for a bit and prepare for our next trip. -

12th World, Gigant dragon

StellaÆs void portals brought both Lumoof and Stella to the furthest end of the gigantic dragonÆs tail. There were areas that experienced massive magical interference, which Stella soon concluded to be related to the magical ley lines that flowed through this odd - shaped world.

The ley line took the form of a massive demonic spire, and it thrummed loudly, as if it was a mountain - sized demonic factory, churning out demons by the hundreds. Each of the demons that appeared were large demonic creatures, some resembling regular demons, some looking as if they were cobbled together from a pile of unwanted designs.

- Well. - LumoofÆs spiritual eyes zoomed into the mountain, and we saw the way the magic of the ley lines was entangled with the demonic energies seen throughout the mountain. At the very heart of the artificial demonic mountain, there was a glowing fragment, and we knew immediately what it was.

A fragment of the demon king, in both flesh and spirit.

Lumoof glanced at Stella and shook his head. - The demon king left a part of him here to tap into the ley line. -

- Well, then letÆs destroy it. -

Lumoof nodded, and he activated avatar mode. Power surged through him, as his Fury brought a torrent of magically empowered roots through the mountain. I felt it as the roots he summoned slammed through the demonic spires; it crushed everything in its path and then abruptly slammed into something hard.

We focused and saw a gigantic floating scale of a dragon but with demonic features. It was charged with demonic energy, similar to that of the demon king.

- We got company, - Stella said. - Look up. -

The skies above us seemed as if it was torn apart by the void, and within it, the head of the twin - headed demon king popped out.

- Teleportation. The ley lines are also markers. - Stella laughed. - It seems the demons are learning from us. -

Lumoof rolled his eyes as the demon kingÆs two heads charged with magical energy. - A coincidence. Think we should bail? -

Stella nodded. - We should hit the demons with numbers. The demon king certainly canÆt be everywhere. -

The demon kingÆs energy blast poured out of its two mouths like water from a powerful fountain. It slammed right into a wall of wood, and like a powerful jet of water, it cut through the wall of wood. But the wall of wood was much thicker and regenerated.

- Well, get us out of here, - Lumoof said as his energies charged his shields.

The demon kingÆs second energy blast also slammed into the shields. We were fairly certain that this demon kingÆs power was up there, because of its energy - draining mechanic. Once weakened, it was likely fairly weak.

Stella shook her head. - Think weÆll have to run. The demon kingÆs presence is bending void space. -

- Was that supposed to happen? - Lumoof looked at the void domain holder, even though there were two magical jets of energy slamming into the shield.

- Well, the demon kingÆs distortion of the void wasnÆt that pronounced normally. IÆm guessing itÆs simply because this demon king has a higher power level. I can manage short - ranged teleportation, though. Think this is the strongest demon king weÆve seen on the peripheral worlds so far. -

- A part of me actually wants to see how much stronger it could get, if it has control of even more ley lines, - Lumoof mused idly. A little of my tendency to consider wild outcomes infected my avatar.

- Well, can you push back with your shields, and weÆll buy some room to run? Once weÆre back with the cavalry, we can hit it with a multi - pronged attack. -

- What makes you think it doesnÆt have countermeasures? - Lumoof laughed as he channeled more of his mana into the multiple layers of wooden shields . The wooden shields regenerated rapidly, and then the floating wooden shields pushed in the direction of the demon kingÆs two jets of power.

Stella shrugged at his question, but she charged up a large spear imbued with void energies anyway. - IÆll hit it with this, and then we run, got it? -

- Sure. -

The two - headed demon king landed on the ground, and Lumoof began to sweat. - ItÆs been a while since we had a workout. -

- YouÆre doing great! Now push that attack back and let me stun it for a bit. -

- Got it. - Lumoof called on the full power of the avatar and amplified it by the fury of the avatar state. The shields grew massively, even as the demon kingÆs two heads poured its magical power into the blast.

Bit by bit, the wall of wood pushed back.

A small moment of vulnerability opened, and StellaÆs spear of void energies flew toward the demon king like a reality - distorting bullet. It slammed into the body of the demon king, its explosion sending a messy mix of void energies through its body. For a moment, the demon king staggered from the blow.

Lumoof followed with his own attack as gigantic roots just as large as the demon king appeared from the ground and wrapped around the demon king. It wouldnÆt be enough to hold the demon king for long, but the few seconds was enough for the two domain holders to flee far enough and activate a portal.

- We knew that didnÆt work. - Wira and Rajah listened as we updated them on our attempt to attack the ley line. - The demon king has some kind of teleportation or beacon ability that allows it to move to its captured ley lines. -

- Oh. Then we will have to split up and attack together? - The heroes were now in a much better state of health, and in the small moment of peace, they worked to repair the hero items scattered throughout Gigant dragonÆs defensive lines.

- Well, yes. But letÆs wait for the cavalry, - Lumoof said.

- Cavalry? -

YEAR 274 (PART 3)

Gigant dragon

Lumoof stopped at an uninhabited part of the - frontier. - Gigant dragonÆs frontier was all battle - scarred battlegrounds; the slender, twisting, cylindrical nature of the long serpent dragonÆs meant the demons path, in some ways, were fairly constrained.

The demons controlled from the middle half onward, all the way down to the end, or as the locals called it, the tail of the dragon.

All this while, the heroes held the line in the middle. They tried to stop the demon king from gaining control of more ley lines. It did, but the heroes also leveled, so the two forces were in a fairly fragile stalemate.

ItÆd been over a year since we started the exploration of the peripheral worlds, and as we drew closer to the end of the peripheral scouting campaign, it was also time to flex our strength.

Partly, that desire was also our own self - interest. Gigant dragon was home to two living heroes, and we wanted to add them into our fold. Two additional heroes would bring the total to seven, and that was a really respectable strength.

Lumoof looked around and kneeled, and his palm touched the ground. A magical seed emerged from it and immediately sank into the ground below. It was a deep greenish object that shone even though there was land and soil.

The node tree emerged out of the basketball - sized seed and spawned outward into a giant tree. Even though it was just a node, this was the moment when my roots connected with the soil of Gigant dragon.

It knew, and so I saw visions.

A land of dragons and monsters. Giants. A rough, untamed land with powerful terrain. Volcanoes, and huge tsunamis. Towering mountains. Raw fury. Creation, and destruction. Power.

It was a relief to me. Gigant dragon only took the form of a dragon, but not the mind of one.

Through the node tree, the rest of my domain holders and the rest of the heroes came over.

- I feel a little bad for Alka. HeÆs missing out on so much, - Edna said as she stepped through.

- HeÆll catch up. - Lumoof shrugged. - But you know, Edna, I made up my mind. -

- Oh? Let me guess, Towering Avatar ? - Edna smiled, as if she already predicted it.

- Exactly, - Lumoof agreed as we felt the attention of the demon king on us. The presence of so many heroes must have drawn its attention. The demon king could - see - heroes. It had a mental link to sense those with star mana.

Edna stretched as she prepared for what was next. - I, too, intend to go for Martial Paragon . WeÆve seen twelve worlds, and from what IÆve seen in these worlds, our job is to go tall, not wide. The Valthorns and future new domain holders can cover and compensate for the weaknesses of not selecting the wide option, but they cannot compensate for what only we can do. They cannot compensate for raw power against the demon kings. For us two, I believe tall is the way. -

- Unless youÆre A/ , or maybe Stella. - Lumoof smiled. For utility - type domain holders, wide had its advantages. But at this point, both Level 200s stretched and made their choice. - Well, then letÆs greet our demonic foe with our new powers. -

- Gladly. IÆd love to see how I fare. - The entirety of Gigant dragon felt it, as if the air itself thrummed with power. Their choice was like a shockwave that rippled throughout the fabric of reality.

EdnaÆs physique form did not change, but from then on, we knew she was on par with a hero. In some ways, maybe she was even more.

I suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia. This had been a really long journey, and I thought of the little elven girl that grew up with me, and Yura , who died in my service. Edna was living proof that the people, too, could match the heroes.

LumoofÆs choice, the Towering Avatar , was an experience for me, as well as for him. We were already connected, but there was always an opportunity to be even more connected.

- Do you not fear for your sense of self, Lumoof? - I asked. I feared for the man.

Lumoof stood on that hill, his eyes staring into the demon-controlled half of Gigant dragon. - That choice was gone the day I chose your subdomain. A/ , it is time to go. -

The rest of them could feel the tangible difference in Edna and Lumoof. Roon clapped his hand. - Well, Edna, leave some scraps for us, will ya? -

Edna smiled. - Each of us will split up. IÆll be the bait and handle one spot by myself. Lumoof too. The rest of you will strike other ley lines in pairs. Stella will stay back to give us a path out, just in case. -

Kafa, Ezar, Roon, and Johann nodded. - I kinda wish AlkaÆs here. His self - detonation would make things pretty easy. -

- HeÆll have his chance, - Edna said. - There are many, many more demon kings to go. -

- True. -

Edna went first. - Send me to the demon king. -

Stella smiled. - Got it. -

Edna stepped through the portal, as close as Stella could send her. She arrived at another part of the frontier, where the two heroes waited. The demon king was just over the hill.

It was getting closer. - YouÆre the cavalry? - Rajah and Wira looked at the female knight.

- Part of it. Now, my two heroes, I think you better spend your time destroying whatever demonic structures the demon king put on the ley lines. Get out of here. -

- But -

- IÆll keep the demon king occupied. -

- You? Alone? -

- Yes. - EdnaÆs Quest Swords emerged, and her summoned magical knights appeared around her. - I am enough to keep him occupied. Make haste, heroes. There are ley lines to be destroyed, and we donÆt know how long the demon king will fall for the trick. -

Edna and LumoofÆs role was to be the - bait. - Edna would first attempt to hold the demon king and prevent it from hitting the other locations. With her Duty Beyond Life and Death and her various buffs, she would be able to frustrate the demon king significantly.

Lumoof would be the second - bait - or - harpoon. - If the demon king moved elsewhere, Stella would move Lumoof to that location, where if needed, he would summon my image, and IÆd then hold the demon king back with my abilities. That, in theory, should also buy quite a bit of time for the rest of them to destroy even more ley lines.

Between us, we were fairly confident we could destroy multiple ley lines. If the plan went well, the demon king should be significantly weakened, and we would then have everyone converge on the demon king and destroy it together.

Or, if we were confident, Edna, Lumoof, and I would take on the demon king ourselves.

I hoped we could replicate that first victory on Lavaworld against the demon king, this time with only domain holders without the spawn bombs.

We wanted this strategy to work. We wanted to know that we were ready.

A success would be all the evidence we needed.

And it went swimmingly.

There was something beautiful about watching a plan work perfectly well.

The battle - scarred lands saw battle once more, as the fury of a war goddess descended on the empowered demon king. Edna struck first; she attacked with multiple anti - magical spears that disrupted teleportation and left a few quest weapons that created some kind of anti - teleportation field.

Her quest weapons were all incredibly powerful weapons, collected over her many journeys into her strange pocket dimensions.

The demon king staggered as EdnaÆs weapons now packed a punch comparable to the heroes, and it was something I could feel in her presence.

Joy.

She was always frustrated that she lacked the ability to deal substantive, - real - damage.

Not anymore.

Her quest weapons shimmered with her domainÆs power, the aura of a blade that was no longer in the mortal realms. The demon king was torn; it clearly sensed something was wrong elsewhere as the rest of my domain holders and heroes swept through the demon-controlled lands and easily destroyed the demons structures.

The demon kingÆs other head kept looking elsewhere, as if trying to pull it toward other things. It knew it was needed elsewhere. It wanted to leave, while its first head bombarded Edna with attacks.

But EdnaÆs series of anti - magical weapons prevented it from going too far, and the army of magical summons created by the knight ensured its every movement was not without obstacles.

- Your opponent is here! - Edna roared as the demon king attempted to create a portal. It crumbled when EdnaÆs anti - magical spear slammed into the rift and interfered with the demon kingÆs attempt to open a portal.

Her spears and swords struck the demon king and pierced through its regenerating skin.

The creature was confused for a moment. A few strikes from Edna later, the demon king realized it wouldnÆt be able to reinforce its back lines, and now both heads focused on the knight.

It rained a set of attacks weÆd seen it use against the heroes. The demon kingÆs attacks were intensely powerful, but she shrugged them off. Its attacks were useless before Duty Before Life and Death .

She traded blows with the demon king and came out ahead every time.

- Is that all you got? - Edna said with a laugh. The blast vaporized some of her summons, but they respawned soon enough. - Come on. -

Fun.

And slowly, we felt the demon kingÆs connection to its supporting ley lines fade.

- I feel like weÆre cheating, - Roon said as the ley lines were crushed without much resistance. There were demon champions, and even champions that had additional power from the ley lines that put them as - stronger - champions.

But stronger toys were still toys.

We crushed them. Each of the domain holders swept through ley lines and destroyed them easily.

Tens of ley line spires. Hundreds within half a day. The two heroes could not believe how they managed to waltz through the demons battlelines without the demon kingÆs disturbance.

- Will. will your friend be all right? - The hero powers worked really well against the demonic spires, but the heroes were worried.

Lumoof shrugged. - SheÆll be fine. Come, letÆs keep going. ItÆll help her, too. -

- But sheÆs alone. -

- Oh, sheÆs not alone. How much time does she have left? -

Stella, who was far away and facilitating the movement of people, nodded. - About six days left. -

- See? - Lumoof. - SheÆd last a battle of endurance and attrition for a week. WeÆll get back to her in time. -

- What are you guys? - Rajah said with utmost disbelief.

Lumoof said, - ItÆs kind of hard to explain while weÆre destroying demons. ItÆs much, much easier if you visit us. YouÆll know once we kick this demon kingÆs backside. After that, you two will go with us to our home world. And right now, your vacation ticket is held by that two - headed giant lizard. -

Edna and the demon king traded blows, and progressively, the demon king weakened. EdnaÆs Duty now lasted for a week thanks to her Level 190 upgrade, and now with her Level 200 power - up, her ability to dish damage.

A full day passed, and yet Edna wasnÆt done. She was tired, and her stored magical abilities were spent. It was not the first time she fought without rest or sleep, but fatigue was still ever present.

- You know, - Stella said from afar. - It almost seems like you can win this alone. -

- Not really, - Edna said. - ItÆs regenerating almost as fast as I can deal damage. I think IÆve barely cut through half of its current form. -

- You think thereÆs a second form? -

- I expect it to, - Edna said. - ThereÆs a reason why solo heroes rarely win against the demon king. -

- True, true, - Stella said as she coordinated the magical portals for the domain holders. Unfortunately, Rajah and Wira had to run really quickly since they couldnÆt use her portals.

- Now if Lumoof gets his ass here, weÆd have a chance, - Edna said with a grunt. Her sword just made a deep gash in the demon kingÆs neck, but it was already regenerating. - I could use A/ Æs spiritual interference. -

- Hang in there for a bit. WeÆre getting rid of the demonic spires, - Lumoof countered through the shared messaging network.

Gigant dragon was a large place, and even if it was just a constant set of explosions and battles at every single location, there were still a lot of spires and corrupted ley lines that it would still take a while.

- Oh well. -

On average, it took the team just about half an hour, per team, to fully destroy one single corrupted ley line. There were hundreds of these corrupted ley lines all over Gigant dragon. Just locating the ley lines without the demonic interruptions took some time, too.

- Well, we missed it, - Lumoof said as Edna retreated on the sixth day. The demon king was weakened considerably, as weÆd managed to remove about two thirds of the ley lines. It was enough that the demon king lost a third of its strength. - But I think weÆve achieved what we needed. All we need to do is recharge for a week or two, then this time, we hit it with everything we got. -

Edna shrugged, but it truly impressed the two heroes.

- You were flat - out amazing, milady, - Wira said, his eyes seeming to outright shine in admiration as they returned to see.

- I need to rest for a bit. -

- How many times can you do that? -

- Five times a year. Which is a little too much, I think. -

- Which is plenty, - Lumoof said. - ItÆs so damned overpowered. -

- Not as overpowered as being able to respawn and split yourself where I canÆt find you. - Edna smiled.

After the attack on the ley lines, there was finally time to properly introduce the two heroes to the rest of them. We introduced the two heroes to their new peers.

The heroes met and mingled. What happened was similar to what used to happen. Surprise, joy, and a sense of comradeship. It helped Samuel to feel like he wasnÆt alone. From five heroes, now there were seven.

Seven heroes would definitely help. So, while the heroes rested, mingled, and swapped war stories, the domain holders readied for a second strike at the twin - headed dragon demon king.

Edna and Lumoof wanted a shot at the demon king by themselves. A battle, only with all the domain holders. A chance to prove that we could do it without the heroes, even without the beneficial terrain.

The seven domain holders gathered and prepared to strike. The demon king lost a third of its strength, and with my domain holders fully healed, it was time to put our strength to the test.

Were we ready to fight a demon king without our beneficial advantages?

The two - headed demon king stood waiting, and Lumoof grinned at the already weakening king. - A/ , are you ready? -

- Yes. - IÆd fought demon kings over the years, and just like my domain holders, it was now a chore. With LumoofÆs new powers, I expected the creature to be fairly easy to defeat. As it was now, it was not much stronger than an average demon king. - LetÆs go. -

Lumoof moved first. His first act was close in, as close as he could get, and immediately summon my presence. I emerged almost instantaneously, an experience similar to a clone .

A/ Æs Spirit .

But I wasnÆt real. Not the way a clone was. Instead, it was a magical replica, and my form was clearly magical, because it was somewhat transparent. An outline of magic, like a shadow. Despite the appearance, it carried the full weight of my presence, as my all of my aura spread throughout the land. My presence was like a heavy blanket that coated everything around us; all the lesser demons were rendered immobile.

But my attention was on the demon king, and instead, I felt pity. It didnÆt feel that strong. Not with its weakened state. One of its heads blasted a beam of energy at my trunk, but my wooden shields blocked it easily.

My powers were stronger thanks to all my levels and LumoofÆs newer buffs, and my roots surged out of the ground. My roots were massive things, as if a gigantic tree far larger than the demon king had somehow transformed into the tentacled limbs of a wooden kraken. So my roots wrapped around the demon king and drained its mana.

The demon king struggled and found itself losing the exchange of both strength and magic.

At that point, Lumoof looked at Edna. - I think weÆre probably going to be unnecessary very soon. -

But EdnaÆs face was one of utmost happiness. She was delighted to see how my spiritual roots easily overpowered the demon king and how I drained the demon king of its energies. - I consider this a part of the journey. If A/ canÆt even do this, how do the rest of us hope to face whatÆs on the demon sun? Come, letÆs make this swift. WeÆve got more worlds to clear. -

I felt the demon king attempt various things to free itself, but I knew for certain now that I was strong.

My spiritual energies tampered with its ability to regenerate. My roots drained it of its mana. My roots punched holes in its flesh.

And my domain holders killed the helpless demon king without much of a scratch.

It was easy. So incredibly easy.

We won.

I gained two levels.

You are now Level 267.

But I didnÆt mind. Trivializing demon kings was what I should do as the leading god of my growing pantheon. It would be a battle weÆd have to fight on more worlds.

But this was a boost of confidence.

We now knew we could do it ourselves.

Gigant DRAGON

Gigant dragon was freed from its demon king, and it was the beginning of our - occupation - of the peripheral worlds. We would need to hold off the demon kings until Gawa could fulfill his end of the bargain, so Lumoof wanted to take our battle to the demon kings. We would now plan to remove the rest of the demon kings and gain levels in the process.

From this battle, Lumoof and Edna gained one or two levels, too. Their experience gain was slow, and at this point, they needed the hero fragments. The subject of hero fragments did feel a little sensitive. I didnÆt want the heroes to die; they were a force I could deploy quite easily with Lumoof functioning as a mobile warp gate.

- YÆknow, I never quite realized how overpowered you two are, - Roon said. His contribution in the final battle against the demon king was decent, but largely, the battle was fought by myself, Lumoof, and Edna.

Lumoof laughed. - It was the right set of enemies. A/ did the bulk of the work. -

- I genuinely thought the demon king looked quite pitiful when it struggled against A/ Æs big - ass roots. It felt like the demon king was a whale struggling against a gigantic kraken, - Stella quipped, easily amused. - But boys, letÆs clean this up, and we have more to do. -

With the demon king out of the way, the domain holders and heroes quickly swept through the rest of Gigant dragon and eliminated all the remnant demons. There were still demonic spires all over the place, and this process took them about six weeks.

But the demons were gone, and we saw the pathway through the void sea linked to a demon world crumble. These days, with StellaÆs upgraded abilities, she could get a - code - on the demons rift, so we could still locate these worlds.

- How many more levels before you get your Level 200 ability? - Lumoof looked at Stella.

- A lot more. IÆm about to hit Level 180. Hopefully I will get a decently strong domain ability then, - the void mage continued. I knew we needed her at Level 200. Given how strong Level 200 abilities were, it was likely some of the drawbacks of the void mage classes could be mitigated with her higher levels.

Gigant dragon was beautiful. Without the demons presence, the natural weather of the tail half of the planetary dragon returned. The demonic spires no longer drained away the magical ley lines, and instead, those ley lines returned to their natural state and transformed into gigantic magical sculptures. The ground beneath them transformed just as quickly, as the space around the ley lines were warped into doorways that led into dungeons.

The tail half was the - frontier - for the Dragon lings of Gigant dragon, at least, before the demons conquered it. Now, there were a few ancient cities buried under the demonic sludge from a time long before the demons.

The domain holders had to keep moving. There were three more worlds to go.

A switch flipped in the minds of both Wira and Rajah when the demon king died, and suddenly, they seemed normal. What was an almost crazy obsession with the demons vanished, and instead, both of them looked thoroughly exhausted. As if their minds were forced to maintain a high level of performance for so long that now the sudden emptiness just made them unsure what to do. In a way, we contributed to that. We defeated the demon king, not the heroes, so they lacked the sense of achievement.

They were now willing to travel with us back to Treehome to visit the old hero journals and, for once, have a normal life.

They actually seemed keen.

So, now that Lumoof could function as a mobile teleportation pad, all he needed to do was touch them, and I could send them to Treehome.

Their visit went pretty much as expected. The heroes experienced a little culture shock to see Treehome now resembling a solarpunk version of their human cities. It made me feel happy to see how excited the existing heroes were to introduce the two newcomers to Freshka.

Freshka was pretty much the most advanced city we knew of, with many magical equivalents of facilities known to man.

Freshka was the central node for transport between the worlds and also the political headquarters of everything related to the Valtorn Order. Naturally, this meant a need for embassies and various support staff associated with such diplomatic events.

The confluence of diplomacy and the high amounts of youths receiving education in the multiple colleges throughout the greater Freshka region led to the rise in entertainment and consumer options similar to the heroes own home worlds and a vice network that we controlled.

It was a guided development, primarily driven by our intelligence department. Such entertainment and vices meant these officials and embassies were lulled into a sense of familiarity and comfort. It loosened up their guards. It was easier to obtain a favorable agreement when it was whispered to their ears by a charming companion. Theaters, plays, concerts, bars, and clubs, forums. Nobles everywhere were mortal, after all, and we used both carrot and stick to get what we wanted.

The heroes were wined - and - dined and treated to entertainment options that reminded them of home.

The change happened so slowly over the years that the existing heroes didnÆt notice how they were now sucked into the entertainment culture and lifestyle.

Even Kei didnÆt notice until Rajah and Wira both looked at her and asked, - Is this - is this all really okay? ItÆs fine for us to get free entry and reserved seats at these entertainment areas? -

Since most of the entertainment options in Freshka were indirectly controlled by the Valtorn Order, we set up special rooms meant for - unique situations. - This meant private viewing balconies, special guest rooms, and all that sort of thing for my domain holders and also for the heroes.

Kei paused, and that was when it hit her that we were now doing what the churches did to her peer, Alvin. She gulped. - Yes. It is. -

Thirteenth - Khubor

The World Where the Dead Do Not Move On

Roon, Johann, and Ezar frowned when the portal placed them right in the center of a mountain of bones.

- Man. -

There were bones everywhere, and they watched as the magical gray clouds rained bones of different shapes and sizes around them.

Roon stared at Johann, and Johann stared at Ezar. - Who was it that said worlds canÆt get any weirder after LumoofÆs giant dragon? Here, exhibit one. A world that rained bones. -

- Where do they come from? - Ezar looked at the rain of bones smashed into his magical artifact. The bones were surprisingly hard and smashed into the ground. The ground itself was covered in bones.

- Magic, I bet. Or some Core shenanigans, - Roon said.

The ranger picked up some of the bones that rained and noticed they werenÆt actually animal bones. They were just shaped like bones and made of the same stuff. There was a kind of magical cloud above them that produced these bones.

- It is probably more appropriate to call them bone - stones than actual bones, since they are just bone - like, but not actually the bones of an animal or monster, - Roon said as he examined them in greater detail.

- Fair, fair. ThatÆs probably a better way to wrap our heads around it, - his fellow domain holder said as they kept exploring. The clouds of the world were a storm of magic; they could feel the intense magics coming from their bonestone - creating clouds. - Well, think we have living beings to see? -

That was when a spirit, a wight, appeared before our very eyes.

- You three are far from the lands of the living. Return to the lands of the living. The Deathlands are not for you. - The spiritÆs voice was like the whisper of the wind.

Roon looked at the wight. There were a million things he wanted to ask but decided not to. - Could you point us the way? -

The spirit pointed. - That way. If you walk at the normal living pace, you will reach the Kingdom of Murklands in six days. -

- Very well. What lies in the Deathlands? - Roon continued with his question.

- The nations of the departed spirits. It is the land where creatures like me form our nation. -

- Heck, - Roon said, a little surprised. - Well, I suppose we should go that way, though. I think this world would probably interest Lumoof. -

Roon, Johann, and Ezar eventually did encounter the Kingdom of Murklands, which was not a special kingdom. It was only one of many humanoid kingdoms, and throughout the area, all the - living - kingdoms came to be known as the Kingdoms of the Living. The land of the living were kingdoms of faith, where the priests of Gawa and Gaya roamed.

When the folks of the living lands died, they shipped their corpses over to the Deathlands. This was organized by a group that existed with the support of the Gawa and Gaya temples, the Deathmen. The Deathmen would ship the corpses to the Deathlands, and the Deathlands would pay for their services in goods from the Deathlands.

- They trade with the dead, - Roon explained over our communication network.

- IÆm headed there now. - We both had a million and one questions, so my avatar quickly headed over.

The Living kingdoms were fairly normal, they were mainly humans, but there were some slightly longer lived dwarves and halflings, organized around kings and supported by priesthoods.

But as Lumoof arrived, he could see something different about this world. It was something only obvious to Lumoof, and yet he wondered whether the local priests knew.

- Not all souls escape this world. Instead, for the corpses that were shipped to the Deathlands, their souls, still partly bound to their flesh, are turned into these spirits, - Lumoof theorized. Their corpses were linked to their souls. Though the soul may have - separated, - if someone meddled, it was possible to pull the soul back into the corpse.

It was a feature that worked both ways, just like how we were able to restore souls from old personal items of a person, because there were fragments of that personÆs soul in them.

- I believe there is a domain - level individual deep in the Deathlands, - Lumoof said, and so, for once, our suspicions were true. Once we paid attention, we could sense it, the small ripples of space of a domain holder. Deep in the Deathlands, there was clearly something, or someone, that could tamper with souls to create these wights and deathlings.

- Could it be friendly? - Roon said.

- I donÆt know, - Lumoof said. - The only way to know is to go and see it. And IÆll only do so when I am at full strength. Just in case. -

Fighting another domain holder is an iffy thing, and we are not exactly sure what kind of powers this other domain holder had.

Domain holders, at least those weÆd met, were all slightly eccentric existences that didnÆt like to be surprised. So we knew from experience that I couldnÆt just barge into the depth of the Deathlands and be well received. We needed to figure out a way to send a message, one that would be favorably received by the other side, and we could then meet to truly understand them.

- Okay, IÆll come back in a while, - Lumoof said. - IÆve got other places to go, but for now, the three of you maybe help to figure out whatÆs up with the heroes and do research on past alliances, discussions, and communications with the Kingdoms of the Dead. The goal is to establish communication. Peacefully. Without scaring them. -

- Got it, boss, - Roon said.

My avatar rolled his eyes, but we knew it was in jest.

The kingdom of the living occupied two thirds of this world, while the remaining third was the kingdoms of the dead. The demon king, occasionally, would spawn in the Deathlands, and those in the Deathlands would band together to destroy it.

When this happened, it was called the - Week of the Waking Nightmares. - For a week, people all over the world would have nightmares, and it almost seemed as if spirits appeared all over the world.

This was a fact that worried me, because it suggested that the Deathlands had a weapon powerful enough to destroy demon kings, though, from what weÆd seen so far, the Deathlands stuck to itself. If it could take on demon kings, then it could definitely take on domain holders.

Maybe it was something like the blood sacrifices and the hex bombs of the blood mages, because whatever was in the Deathlands clearly knew how to manipulate souls and turn them into wandering spirits that couldnÆt move on in their cycle of reincarnation.

It was possible this domain holder got further along the path of weaponizing the incredible powers of the soul. If so, maybe the power of the soul was what we needed to destroy the demon sun.

Anyway, information from the living nations was scarce. They didnÆt have insights into the nature of the Deathlands, and all their interactions with the Dead Spirits were for trade and commerce. The Dead Spirits didnÆt reveal about the intricacies and inner workings of the Deathlands, though communication was clearly possible with these Dead Spirits.

The heroes, if summoned, would arrive at the kingdoms of the Living, and the Dead Spirits were usually not hostile. Their first instinct was to chase the living out of the Deadlands and only raise their weapons if such actions were repeated and their attempts to remove the living were stopped.

There was, to our surprise, still one hero surviving and living in this world. He defeated the last demon king that arrived about twenty years ago with the aid of the Deathlands and since then retired to the countryside.

A man who clearly wanted to live and have a family.

Roon, Johann, and Ezar discovered the hero living in a quiet, picture - perfect valley surrounded by a farm. There were cows, chickens, fields of vegetables and wheat. There were three beautiful children running about. The oldest one looked like he was in his teens.

When they knocked on the door, a tall, well - built man greeted them. He was dressed like a farmer.

- Greetings. You are the hero, Gideon? -

- IÆm Gideon, yes. - The hero and the three exchanged looks, and the hero eventually added, - But no, IÆm no longer an active hero. -

- No longer? -

- Well, no. -

Roon looked around. - Can we come in and talk? We donÆt mean your family any harm. -

Gideon looked around and back at them and shrugged. - Well. No weapons, but sure. Come on in. -

The home was fairly simple as hero - homes went. It didnÆt have the common features of hero homes seen elsewhere. It was something Roon immediately noticed, at least compared to the homes of Colette and Prabu, or Khefri or Adrian.

Instead, it was clearly designed to resemble a picturesque farmhouse. It had large glass windows that allowed plenty of sunlight in and a view of the valleys. It was functional and almost entirely made of wood.

- A beautiful place, - Roon said. - Certainly unlike the homes of the other heroes. -

- Thank you. Come, there isnÆt much, but you can sit. - GideonÆs kids noticed and looked worried. They came over, but the hero patted their head. - Go to your rooms, kids. DaddyÆs gotta talk to some visitors. -

The three nodded, and GideonÆs wife, a beautiful mature lady with golden - blond hair, followed their kids into their room.

- YouÆre not from here, are you? - Gideon said frankly.

- Yes. - Roon sat and nodded. - ThereÆs sort of two reasons why we came, so weÆll get right down to it. -

Gideon sipped his mug of water. - Well, sure. -

- One, weÆre recruiting heroes. WeÆve formed a coalition of heroes to fight the demon kings across worlds, and weÆd like you to join us. -

Gideon stared at Roon and sipped his mug again. - So there are worlds other than this one that also have demon kings? -

- Yes. -

- How many have you recruited? -

- Seven. Well, five, but twoÆs new and maybe theyÆll join us. -

- ThatÆs a lot of power in one team, - Gideon said.

- True. But there are even more worlds, - Roon said.

Gideon paused and then sighed. - Honestly, you came a little bit too late. IÆll tell you why, but whatÆs the other one? -

- YouÆve been to the Deathlands? -

The hero stared at Roon, this time seriously. As if judging him. - What is it? -

- WhatÆs in the Deathlands? -

Gideon paused and shook his head. - Why? -

- We sense something unusual in the Deathlands. It is as if souls were captured and unable to move on. ThereÆs a strange emptiness in their lands. -

- I see you already have an inkling. What is in there is an undead demigod. The Osroids. -

Roon leaned forward. Both Johann and Ezar looked around, as if anticipating a sudden strike. - What else do you know about them? We hear some really fascinating tales about the Deathlands, and we want to know what we are dealing with and whether it is friendly. -

Gideon frowned. - Friendly? ItÆs an undead god that turns corpses into spirits, vampires, and zombies. -

- And yet its undead seem well behaved, - Roon said, a little puzzled.

- The dead need the living to replenish its souls and spirits. This is the balance of the world. If they didnÆt need the living, they would have invaded us and killed us all. This peace exists entirely due to the ancient agreement by the church and the Deathlands to sell corpses to the Deathlands, - the hero said with a sigh.

- What about the demons? -

- Just an enemy of my enemy. -

Roon, Ezar, and Johann glanced at each other. - Well, I suppose only Lumoof can handle such a thing. - Roon then turned back to face the hero. - Well, last question: why wonÆt you join us? -

- Simple. The Osroids gave a simple way to destroy the demon king. It ripped a portion of the hero class out of my spirit and used it to make a bomb. -

All three domain holders were stunned. It took a good thirty seconds before RoonÆs shocked face turned into a smirk. - Oh boy, LumoofÆs gonna have a field day with this one. -

- Why? -

- I think our patron god probably has a lot of similarities to these Osroids. And so you have an incomplete hero class? -

- Yes. -

The three met outside.

- What the fuckÆs going on here? - Ezar cursed. - That dudeÆs a half - hero or some shit? -

Roon nodded. - Not what I expected, but I suppose so. -

Johann looked around. - I think whatÆs really important to know is whether the Osroids are some kind of threat to us. -

Ezar looked a bit bewildered. - I am guessing itÆll be yes. ItÆs some death - manipulating domain holder with some soul - type shenanigans. -

- LetÆs - letÆs not pass judgment so quickly. Just because itÆs using death power doesnÆt make it bad. What itÆs doing now seems fairly proper. It trades for corpses, uses souls from corpses to create its people, and uses the heroÆs class somehow as a weapon, - Roon countered. - I - I think we should let A/ decide on this. -

- I donÆt get it. Gawa clearly considers this world to be a peripheral world, and it loses faith points sustaining this world. Yet it clearly doesnÆt seem like it needs help, if this Osroid can use the hero class to destroy demons. -

- It still needs the hero class to make the weapon, and that costs faith points. I reckon the act of summoning is what drains most of the faith points, - Roon countered.

- So the way to save Gawa Æs faith points is to blow up demon kings before new heroes are summoned. -

- Yeah. Pretty much. -

- Then weÆll need to make an agreement with this death - god in the Deathlands. -

THE FOURTEENTH WORLD

THE FLOATING ISLANDS

Terras

The land of the floating islands immediately evoked a sense of wonder when both Stella and Lumoof arrived. It was a world where it was a set of massive floating islands, and the land below was an infinitely dense and thick layer of white, fluffy clouds.

- You know, when I was a child, I used to imagine worlds like this where everything is a floating island, and itÆs just a sea of white clouds. Each of us have our own islands, and weÆd visit each other on flying ships, - Stella said.

Lumoof didnÆt relate. His childhood wasnÆt that vibrant. As a native of Treehome, his childhood was mainly trying to be useful to his parents. When they still lived. - I canÆt say I understand, but it is quite beautiful. -

The sun was bright and somehow floated overhead, and they noticed a strange contraption around the sun. It was always visible, a large screen that orbited around the sun. Strangely, there was a gigantic, steel - like structure that connected the screen to the sun. When I saw it, my first thoughts were those planetary models commonly found in schools.

Stella stared at it, as if trying to make sense of it. - In a way, thatÆs somewhat similar to the Three - Ringed World. This worldÆs day - night cycle is controlled by that screen thing. It moves to block the sun. -

Lumoof found it funny. - As if this world is a toy. -

- I mean, I suppose you could say that. - Stella looked around and found bridges made of clouds that linked the island to other islands. Magical clouds. - Man, this world is a fairytale. -

I felt my avatarÆs sense expand, but because as a tree our senses mostly propagated through the ground, it ended where the island itself ended. I tried to grapple with what I felt and studied how the large islands floated, only to discover they were not exactly floating.

They were suspended. I felt a strange, divine - law type of string, and they bound each at every single island. They were commanded to float where they were, so they did. In short, divine power commanded the islands to float in the sky, and the world obeyed.

- Could you do something like that someday? - Stella asked, once she realized the presence of divine power.

- I think itÆs not that simple. Such a command must have been woven into the world when it was created. - The idea of commanding the islands to do so now seemed silly and wasteful. It was likely that there was some kind of - foundational law - that made it happen, which was why it persisted even when these worlds theoretically drifted away from the range of gods.

- That sounds like thereÆs a god - commanded divine laws, such as those commanded by Gawa , and a set of neutral or core - bound divine laws, that are specific to each worldÆs creation. Right? -

- ThatÆs my guess. -

Stella nodded. - And I found living folk. -

Humans. Regular, normal humans living almost idyllic, peaceful lives. They were farmers, farming on incredibly fertile lands. The crops they planted were familiar, though it was more of a mixed farm, with small patches of everything.

There was magic in the land itself; it almost seemed as if the plants were growing before our very eyes, as if they were spurred on by the blessings of a Level 70 to 80 druid.

- Oh, hey there, itÆs been a while since we had visitors, but how did you arrive? I didnÆt see any flying ships or balloons. -

- We walked, - Stella answered.

- Oh, through the cloud bridges? IÆm surprised people still do that, - the farmer said. - So, whatÆs up? -

- WeÆre lost. Could you help us out? -

There were thousands, or even tens of thousands, of floating islands, some larger, some much smaller. There was a set of larger floating islands known as the Main Islands, and these housed most of the humans in this world.

The Main Islands were rich in all sorts of magical resources and metals, while lands further away lacked most natural resources and metals.

Humans were the only population, but there were monsters on some of the islands, and these islands became known as the magic islands or dungeon islands, because these islands were the locations that spawned monsters. Monsters generally stuck to their own islands, though occasionally, flying monsters did attack their surrounding islands.

The Main Islands were home to a series of kingdoms and empires, and wars were frequently fought between them. The further islands, like the one that they visited, were generally those that escaped the constant warfare of the Main Islands.

Farming was somehow easy in all the islands, and each island usually had a series of naturally occurring springs that created lakes and rivers.

- Some of these worlds just absolutely defy understanding. How does the water cycle work in a world where everythingÆs on floating islands? - Stella rubbed her hair in her guestroom. The farmers were friendly and were more than happy to let them use the guestroom once it was clear they were not hostile.

Lumoof didnÆt answer her. He knew her long enough to know that she just needed to vent when things didnÆt match how she understood reality.

Stella slapped herself gently. - All right, all right, I know, each world has their own rules. Each world, own magic. Got it. Quirks of their reality. This is just how this world works. -

My avatar nodded. - I do foresee all these different rules of different worlds will make it hard for the Valthorns to swiftly adapt to each world. They will have to spend some time to acclimatize themselves to how each world behaves. I might forget, if IÆm suddenly sent back to say Landas, or say Gigant dragon or that hex - grid world where everything is controlled by divine laws. -

- So cultural familiarity is going to be a big issue? -

- Not just that, I could easily imagine representatives from each of these worlds are unfamiliar with the quirks of other worlds, and their well - meaning suggestions thus come off as weird or unhelpful to others. -

Stella paused. - Oh. So youÆre talking about the OrderÆs structure across all these peripheral worlds. -

- Yeah. ItÆs been on my mind. Knowing A/ , the structure of how the Order will function is highly likely to be delegated to a person that will be based long term in that world. That warps our preferences, our understanding, especially nonûdomain holders who are not protected from the divine laws of each world. I imagine that anyone who spends a few years full time at any of these peripheral worlds will get used to the local laws and lose touch with how things work elsewhere. -

- So the Order expansion is dead underwater. -

- Not exactly. I mean, not all of these changes are that dramatic. The System and our powers still work on them. Just - I suppose there will be some expectation and cultural differences that will emerge. -

- We already have those differences, - Stella said. - ThatÆs why Branchhold recruits and Treehome recruits have slightly different attitudes. -

- ItÆll be worse with these peripheral worlds. -

- Eh. ItÆs just the urban - rural gap with even more skin. IÆm sure it can be solved. WeÆll just need our own internal diplomats. -

Lumoof gave Stella a look of disapproval, and she eventually sighed. She rolled on her own little bed. - I know, weÆre building even more bureaucracy into the System. WeÆll use A/ Æs dream academy and work around it. Frequent trips to Treehome to soak up our culture. ThatÆs what large guilds, corporations, and governments do. I think itÆs too early to tell. Branchhold seems to integrate well, so far. -

- So far, - Lumoof said as he looked out the window of the guestroom. The gigantic screen was starting to cover a part of the sun, creating a strange dimming of the world. - Which is why I fear for worlds that wonÆt be linked via a node or a clone. They will stray from TreehomeÆs supervision. Even with us present, we canÆt hope to match A/ Æs trees. -

Stella decided to hop off the bed and walked to the window. - Huh, thatÆs quite a view. -

- It is. ItÆs like an eclipse. - The seemingly white clouds now glowed, as if the world around us turned into darkness. Yet it wasnÆt total darkness. The clouds themselves glowed.

- Imagine it happening every day, - Stella said in a rare moment of wonder. - Must feel pretty normal to the people here. The clouds are pretty. -

- A sea of clouds that glowed. - My avatar also took the time to bask in the beauty. - I think IÆd like to see it from the edge. -

The farmers didnÆt stop them, but the two walked uninterrupted to the edge.

Demon kings, at least in the past, used to land in special islands. It seemed that every time the demon king was about to arrive, a new island would appear. That island was known as the - demons island, - and it was a magical creation, a dark - red glowing island that floated above all the other islands.

Then, when the hero arrived, a chain of smaller islands would appear that allowed the hero to go and meet the demons.

The demons were unable to use the cloud bridges, so they were often trapped on their own islands. It was only when flying demons appeared that they could expand to the other islands. When that happened, it was a huge disaster that caused a lot of deaths.

- These islands protect them. -

- In the same way the oceans protected us, - Stella said. - Look at these clouds. They feel like they are partly magic. -

- They probably are. - Lumoof nodded as he observed the clouds floating from place to place. Some of them were fluffy, and some took the shape of streaks.

- The winds are pretty constant. They have a defined direction, - Stella suddenly noticed. - They all move in the same direction, at the same speed. -

- Worldly magic, - Lumoof said. - I wonder what the last world would be like. -

Stella decided to just sit down at the edge. She wasnÆt afraid of heights, and somehow, she knew she wouldnÆt fall. There was a fundamental divine law that operated in this world, a kind of specific force unique to this world. - I never thought IÆd actually see a sight like this. -

- There was the stormworld with a floating island, remember? - Lumoof said.