TREE OF AEONS 6

- Not even Raph or the White Statue? - I countered.

- No. -

- Are you being biased? -

From a net gain to the world, linking the others worlds should lead to net savings of life. It meant demon-attacked worlds had an exit path. That in itself should save many lives.

- Have you not seen the people? EveryoneÆs a warmonger. People will be killed, and I cannot trust any of them to treat those beneath them with more care than the Order. Not yet. Maybe someday there will be a truly good society that is worthy of this, but right now, no. The angels and the White Statue have potential, but I want to see how they behave, without our threat before IÆd even trust them. -

- ItÆs not something you can hide forever, - I countered. Void magic could be learned.

- I know, but I will stop it as long as I can. I want to be able to pull the plug on this experiment if they misbehave. As the void domain holder, let me have this right. -

- Very well. -

Lumoof landed on the world of Khubor.

We knew that we were the ones that should face it. We walked to the very edges of the KhuborÆs land and wondered whether this was a hostile domain holder. Even at this distance, we could subtly feel its presence.

I hoped that we could come to an agreement, like Lillies. At the border between the land of the living and the land of the dead, there was a trading post. This was where the humans of Khubor traded with the undead. So we approached the undead and requested an audience with the Osroids.

We declared we were coming. The undead at the border didnÆt respond to us immediately, but eventually, one of the undead actually spoke with magic.

- Please wait. -

We did.

A wraith appeared about half a day later; it probably flew from really far away. It glanced at Lumoof with its glowing yellow eyes and nodded. - Follow me. -

We followed the wraith on a path that headed for the center of the land of the dead.

The land of the dead was surprisingly productive, filled with mines and quarries and factories. The undead worked, and they worked with only a little bit of rest.

As we escorted deeper into the land of the dead, we noticed the presence of large black crystalline towers that radiated magical energy.

It was familiar. It reminded me of that dungeon core that spawned undead from my earlier days. LumoofÆs magical senses focused, and we realized these were magical ley lines that were corrupted by the black crystal. These crystals then drew on that energy to create some kind of - undead nourishing aura. -

The undead consumed magical energy in their day - to - day activities, and the aura replenished the undeadÆs magical energy. In short, these were what kept dead going.

As we moved deeper into the Deathlands, we noticed more of these black crystals, clustered around where the undead worked. We did notice some undead were different from others; there were large, heavily armed black knights that had a series of magical gems within their bodies.

They drew from that undead aura but likely were able to operate without it.

It was around that time that we began to sense the eyes of a domain holder. It was just a sensation of someone looking back at us, whenever we looked or passed by one of those black crystals. The wraith that escorted us clearly noticed that we noticed, but it said nothing.

I still found them fascinating. They were, in a somewhat twisted way, a post - death society. People whose souls were given a second chance to live again here, even if they were just doing more work. But they did not tire or feel pain, and they were permitted to interact with themselves.

Even from afar we could listen to them talk to each other. Some of the undead talked to each other about their day - to - day life or talked about their past. Some missed their families, but some of these undeads were family when they lived.

I wondered whether they gained levels and skills or if they lost the ability to gain levels.

We traveled for about a day, and then we stopped in one of the - cities - of the dead. A city for the undead, built around one of these black crystal obelisks. This was a city of crafts, where undead and wraiths worked in workshops to build tools and weapons. Things that they used, but also things they traded with the humans.

- You will rest here tonight. We will continue our journey tomorrow. -

- All right. - I could feel the Osroids presence in the gigantic black crystal at the heart of the city. We were getting quite good and experienced at sensing the presence of these domain holders. Bitu, White Statue, and now the Osroids all employed tools to maintain control and oversight of their territories.

The city was clearly built to accommodate human visitors. Maybe the heroes, like the hero Gideon. We didnÆt need sleep, and it was easy to notice how the undead didnÆt need sleep, either. The workshops continued to work even at night, though the rarely used inn had really thick walls to drown out the noise.

The next day, a gigantic bone dragon arrived in this undead city, and the wraith waited next to it. - Visitor, we will now take you to meet the Osroids. -

- All right. LetÆs go. - The bone dragon flew quickly, and I rated its power somewhere in the high Level 80s - a creature able to give even demon champions a run for their money. Amazingly, it wasnÆt a reanimated bone construct but instead also possessed the soul. Multiple souls that were linked together. The wraith stood next to us and observed us.

Lumoof grinned.

- We should be there quickly with this dragon. Perhaps a day. -

- Yes, - the wraith answered.

We flew over surprisingly fertile fields, mines, workshops, cities, and barren land. In parts of the land of the dead, bones rained. Magic woven into the land itself caused bone - like materials to appear out of nowhere. As we flew closer, I could feel it, the familiar presence of another domain holder.

The OsroidsÆs home was an easily fortified valley, with a small gap.

The dragon landed at the door to the valley, and the wraith led us along the road. The valley walls on both sides were filled with carvings.

People. Creatures. Artwork made of gray stone, all intricately made from the valleyÆs natural gray colors. It was a temple, and the whole journey walking through the carvings felt serene, quiet, and even holy.

Maybe it was once a holy place.

There were many small doors that were carved into the valleyÆs walls, and they all led to underground passageways and rooms.

The wraith eventually stopped at one of the doors, where another undead awaited us. The undead was a heavy knight; its bones were larger and magically reinforced to be stronger, covered in enough magical armor and weaponry to be on par with the elite White Guards of the White Statue.

It was the right direction. The presence of the Osroids was all over the valley at first, but as we focused, I could triangulate its location.

The knight pointed at the door and walked in first. We followed.

We walked on a path covered with magical traps and weapons, but somehow, not a single one of them activated. Eventually, after we went through multiple passageways and underground rooms, I saw three creatures, all physically separate yet magically intertwined. I knew they were a single being.

- Greetings, - I answered on LumoofÆs behalf, and I felt the presence of a being pushed back against us.

The three undead bodies spoke at once, and it felt like I was talking to a magical twin of Lillies. Lillies underground roots and had the same sensation. - Greetings. Why have you asked for an audience with us? -

It clearly knew we were something. Our aura and presence as a domain holder was clear, and at this distance, I knew the Osroids was a peer of similar strength as the White Statue, though its power set was likely less combat focused. Just seeing it and being here answered ninety percent of the questions we had, but we asked the two main questions on my mind.

- We are travelers, expanding through other worlds and are here to help deal with the demon kings. Are you willing to coexist peacefully with us? -

The three Osroids answered differently. - No. Maybe. Yes. -

Lumoof smiled and answered sternly. - We would appreciate honesty, Osroids. You three are one, your soul is to one, even if you share three flesh. There is no need to play such tricks on us. -

The Osroid at the center paused, and then the other two merged into it. The three boney bodies fused together into a single larger bone creature, with three faces.

- Greetings, my fellow Soul Shaper. - It spoke as one.

Lumoof nodded. - Greetings. IÆve come for two real purposes and one goal. One, to know whether we can coexist with you, and two, to inform you of the fading hero summons. The hero summons will end soon. -

The Osroids paused. - We are as we always were. If you leave me be, I will leave you be. -

- Great. That solves the first problem. Two, the demon king is a continuing problem, but the hero summons will be over soon. Are you able to deal with it? -

In my mind, I believed the answer was yes.

The Osroids stopped, and its undead face transformed into one of displeasure. - Yes. But not without a great sacrifice. Without the heroes, we would have to rely on the powers of shaping the soul into a weapon. We would need many sacrifices from the living to create a weapon strong enough to defeat it. -

I had a sense that the Osroids could win without it, but it was unlikely to sacrifice itself to do so. It would prefer to win the easy way.

Lumoof frowned. - I see. What would you do if it landed in the Deathlands? -

Its answer was also unappealing. - I would chase it to the lands of the living, until I collected enough sacrifices for the weapon. That would be our plan. -

The end of the hero summon would greatly destabilize the current balance and prosperity of Khubor. So, in my mind, I considered offering a deal. We would deal with the demon king in exchange for continued peace and non - interference. We gained the experience, and the world stayed as it was.

- When will the hero summons end? - it asked.

- Soon. I am not certain. We were asked by Gawa to deliver the message. - I was fairly certain itÆd end the moment we informed Gawa . I could hold it off, but that would delay my access into the inner demon worlds. Play off the time difference and Gawa Æs limited information.

There was silence, but I felt the buzz of the Osroids mind. Its presence fluctuated like a turbulent ocean. It was in thought.

- You are strong. Stronger, - the Osroids said. - You seem familiar with the ways of the invaders and can fight them. We have no interest in the invaders; they are something to deal with because we have to. -

Lumoof listened. The room was fairly small. Constrained. It was quite different from most of the large, airy chambers favored by other domain holders.

- So we will trade weapons and magic for security. Knowledge of necromancy. We are interested in maintaining the status quo and will trade for it, - the Osroids offered. - The land of the dead will remain off - limits, but we can construct a new undead city to accommodate your people. If you wish to have undead servants, we are happy to supply it. We are also capable of constructing custom souls that meet any of your more exotic desires. -

Lumoof squirmed at the last item but decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he redirected the question. - What did you do with the heroes? -

- If the heroes are willing to fight the demons, we let them. If they are not, we use what is in their souls to make a powerful creature to battle the demon king instead. If that fails, we use the power of the heroes souls as a weapon. -

Lumoof frowned. - In the past, have you ever harmed a hero? -

- Yes, - the Osroids answered, as if explaining itself. - Those who are aggressive get what they deserve. -

At that moment, I felt the Osroids split a portion of itself, and that portion snuck away. Maybe it anticipated a fight. Lumoof merely smiled. - It is not necessary to do so. We mean no harm. -

Lumoof and the Osroids didnÆt move, and yet at that moment, we felt our two domains graze each other. The Osroids may have realized we could sense its soul movement, but it decided the risk was worth it.

- We will accept your offer, Osroids, with two exceptions. We will require full access to your Deathlands to do battle with the demon king. Two, we do not know for certain how long the hero summons will remain, but we ask that if you find these heroes, you send them to the land of the living. -

The Osroids didnÆt move, but I felt the chattering shifts of bone. I wondered whether I emit such a sensation when I was deep in thought. It spoke. - Acceptable, but my wraiths will accompany your forces. -

- Fair. That is all. We will be in touch, and we hope our peace remains. -

The Osroids seemed suspicious but ultimately answered diplomatically. - The peace will hold as long as it is upheld. -

Lumoof smiled and said some nice words to end it. - It is good to meet a necromancer that isnÆt immediately hostile. This has been pleasant. We will be in touch, Osroids, hopefully in more cordial terms. -

The Osroids didnÆt respond immediately and instead just watched us leave.

The wraith escorted us back to the valleyÆs entrance where the bone dragon waited for us, and we left the world of Khubor.

A deal was made.

INTERLUDE

EDNA ON CAVAL

Edna returned this time to Caval with a purpose to place a node tree, preferably somewhere friendly. Caval was a land of knights and a land of small, feudal kingdoms. These feudal kingdoms laid claim to hero sword , and that served as the foundation of that kingdomÆs power.

How this actually worked was an interesting mechanic at play in this world, and it was something she wanted to see more of.

The descendant swords.

- So, Ebon, how many more levels? - Edna asked as they both approached the small fortified town. They could feel the magic that leaked out of the city, but Caval was a fairly safe world, so they were both in rather ordinary village wear - a tough outer tunic and pants, though they both had much more comfortable inner clothing.

- One, - Ebon said. - Level 149. -

Edna nodded. She knew heÆd been at the very edge of the path for a long time, though the exact details often eluded her. EbonÆs service to the Order was probably a hundred years long. Edna nodded; she remembered many years ago, he was just a young A/ ic Battle Knight . - YouÆve come a long way, my disciple. ThereÆs but a few more steps to take. -

Ebon nodded with a brief sigh, a mix of frustration and exhaustion. Ebon was not the only one.

Many Valthorns reached Level 149 and never moved for years, even decades, like Ebon. His service was almost a century long, even with all the breaks heÆd taken in between service. Even Roon and Johann stared at that final level for years before they made it. - This last step feels a lot further than all the ones before. -

Edna tapped the man that was once her disciple on the shoulder. - Keep at it. WeÆre almost there. -

It was a small fortified town, and six guards stood at the gates, decked out in polished steel armor. They wore the liveries of a nearby lord. Knights and Squires , perhaps with the ability Clean Armor or some variant thereof. EdnaÆs eyes, in particular, noticed one of the guards who stood nearby wielding a magical blade. A blade that had a faint presence of the hero sword.

- Visitors? -

- Yes. - Edna and Ebon both smiled. - Can we come in? -

- Bags? -

Edna and Ebon both handed over their bags, which were briefly checked. One of the knights whispered to the other, - I keep getting nothing. -

The other knight guard replied, - Really? Let me try. Security Inspection . -

Edna and Ebon glanced at each other, and immediately, they both activated small rings on their hands, an illusionary object meant to throw off Inspect .

- What are you talking about? I get Villager and Traveler for both of them. - The other knight tapped the man. - You mustÆve drained your magical energy. -

- Oh. -

- Anyway, you two are free to go. If youÆre here to live permanently, youÆll need to speak to the town lord, but other than that, the laws of our town are similar to all others. DonÆt cause trouble. If youÆre here to watch the Seed Drawing Ceremony, itÆll be in four days. -

They were exactly here for the Seed Drawing Ceremony, and they entered the fortified town.

At first glance, it seemed just like any other town. In fact, that was what the scouts thought at first. They didnÆt have much time to dive deep into how they worked back then, but now that there was only one real demon-king - infested world to deal with, time was quite plentiful.

This town had one hero sword, and unlike most other towns, it had its hero sword out on full display. It stood at the townÆs center, a gleaming golden sword embedded into a large stone. Its presence wasnÆt really that great; for both Edna and Ebon, it didnÆt seem particularly interesting.

TheyÆd built a small water fountain around it, and there were at least two knights present, standing guard. The sword itself had a massive steel chain that tied it to the ground. At this distance, they could feel the subtle pulse of the hero swords and, strangely enough, a voice.

Well, only Ebon could hear it, and that was partly why she brought him along. - You could hear it? - Edna asked. Edna as a domain holder couldnÆt interact with this aspect of the hero sword. Strangely enough, Edna didnÆt detect her domain blocking anything.

It was as if whatever - feelers - the sword had knew it couldnÆt reach her.

Ebon paused as he focused, and then he nodded. - ItÆs - itÆs whispering. ItÆs saying something, but I canÆt quite make out what it is. -

- I see. - Edna nodded. The Valthorn agents claimed theyÆd heard strange voices when they were around the cities and towns, but most of the hero swords were hidden in secluded courtyards and spaces. Edna checked her dates again. - Well, donÆt think too much about it. We still have time. LetÆs rest. -

The fortified town didnÆt get many visitors normally, but there were slightly more than normal. So, at the inn, the two managed to talk to some other slightly drunk villagers to find out more about the Seed Drawing Ceremony.

- IÆm still amused that every year or two thereÆs still visitors that want to see the ceremony. ItÆs nothing much, really, - the visitor said. - Nothing much for us to see, at least, but itÆs a lot of work for the swordsmiths. -

- WeÆre travelers, and weÆve not seen a seed drawing ceremony. What is it about? -

- ItÆs when the swordsmiths offer their blades to the divine blades, and the divine blades share fragments with the blades. It happens every year or so, when the divine blade is ready. The swordsmith with the best blades gets to work with the fragment. -

Ebon couldnÆt help but ask, - How is it judged? -

- Judged? ItÆs no eating contest! The divine blade chooses whichever blade it wants. Sometimes it chooses none at all and the swordsmiths will be in trouble with the town lord. -

- The sword chooses? - Edna found that strange. - Do the swordsmiths hear the sword talk? -

- Oh! Those that hear the swordÆs words are the sword whisperers! They have a destiny to be great swordsmiths! -

Ebon frowned. He was nowhere near a swordsmith, but he knew he heard the sword. - DoesnÆt it just say weird things? -

- No one knows. Swordsmiths are very secretive about that sort of thing, - the slightly drunk villager said. The town was a little more crowded as the day of ceremony got closer, and Ebon noticed the voices from the sword began to sound more like a chaotic mess.

There just wasnÆt much in the townfolkÆs lives such that even supposedly boring Seed Drawing Ceremonies became an event.

The town square was converted into a podium as the fountainÆs water was drained and replaced with temporary wooden floors.

A priest appeared, but he was different from the normal priests. He looked like a priest and yet also a swordsmith. He was large, muscular, and filled with scars from years of work in the workshops. Even though he wore the deep brown robes of the priesthood, they could tell he was once a swordsmith.

The priest seemed like a fairly mid - level individual. He was likely around Level 60 to 70. In one cordoned - off area, a group of swordsmiths looked nervous, and they all held a set of weapons wrapped in thick cloth. All of them had done it before.

So Edna focused her observation on the gossip and rumors from the travelers. Merchants who had seen more places.

- I heard this isnÆt a powerful hero sword, - one of those in the crowd whispered to the others.

- ItÆs not. ThatÆs why the town lordÆs only a town lord, - another one whispered back.

The priest - smith walked to the hero sword and began to chant.

Edna felt him channel priestly powers - holy powers common in priests and those who had a leg in these sort of classes. The sword glowed and emitted a powerful magical presence, as if it was a sword in its prime, as if its original creator still lived.

For a moment, this was a hero sword as if a hero still held it.

The priest turned and roared at the swordsmiths. - Present your seedling candidates to the Holy Sword. -

The swordsmiths were ready. Each of them held a finely crafted sword in their hand, and they all walked toward the platform. Once they approached, the hero sword seemed to glow, and it had wisps of light that reached out. The wisps touched the swords presented by the swordsmiths briefly.

The priest continued to chant, as if continuing to supply magical energy to the hero sword, and then the hero sword pulsed.

- The Sword has chosen, - the priest said.

The hero sword pulsed once more, and then two of the swordsmiths creations floated up. The hero sword shot a beam of light into each of them, and those swords glowed.

- Two of the crafted blades are worthy! - the priest said, and the crowd cheered. Those that failed looked dejected, but some looked relieved. The floating, glowing swords landed back in the hands of the swordsmith, and they looked nervous.

The priest said a prayer and then turned to face the crowd.

- And so, it is now the duty of the swordsmith to forge the greatest blades with the seedlings granted to them. -

Ebon looked at Edna. - IsnÆt the sword already done? -

- I thought so, too. - Edna nodded as she then tried to ask a villager, - What happens now? -

- Oh? The swordsmiths are supposed to refine the blades some more. Usually they do some polishing, some engraving and all that kind of stuff to make the sword worthy of a hero - descended sword, - the villager said, clearly faking a level of expertise. Edna didnÆt buy it.

The details of what exactly happened with the hero swords and these - descendant - swords were unclear, though Edna and Ebon both knew that most of these weapons were in the hands of the town lords and his chosen knights. So the two decided to watch.

Secretly.

They infiltrated one of the victorious swordsmithÆs workshops that very day. The swordsmith, a relatively middle - aged man, probably around Levels 40 to 50 in some blacksmith - related class was greeted by his apprentice, a younger boy that was about Level 15 to 20. Edna and Ebon, both shrouded by magic, hid in the corners and watched how the Swordsmiths did their work.

From what Edna knew, it was exceptionally hard to work on hero items, due to the presence of star mana within them. Only A/ could attempt to replicate and work with them, but the powers of the HeroÆs Forge were in a league of its own.

- Master, I have the things ready, - the apprentice said nervously. The apprentice looked nervous, but from what Edna understood, this swordsmith made a few descendant swords in the past few years, so this wasnÆt their first run.

- Good, - the swordsmith said. - LetÆs get started. -

The actual space where the sword would be forged wasnÆt like any other part of the workshop. It was clean and almost seemed like an altar rather than a workshop. The swordsmith placed the sword with the hero swordÆs seed on the altar, and then the smith knelt before it.

He started to pray. The glow of the sword began to spread and then touched the swordsmith itself. The glow spread, and for a moment, both the swordsmith and the sword were connected by a glow of light.

Holy power allowed the smith to reach into the sword and change it.

The swordsmith began muttering some prayers, and the apprentice placed a tray of items next to the swordsmith. The tray contained a rather random selection of items. A few types of metals, a few types of wood, flowers, pens, paper, some food, some drinks, a small cup of blood, and a cup of water.

He picked up some metals, some items, and then somehow offered it to the sword.

The sword seemed to change ever so slightly. The swordsmith offered some more steel, but some of the items were then suddenly rejected and flung far away.

- Okay, not that one, - the swordsmith said. - Something else. Faster. -

The apprentice quickly offered some flowers. The flowers were strangely taken, as they vanished into the sword.

The apprentice handed a pen to the swordsmith, but then he stopped. - Wait. ItÆs saying something. Wait. ItÆs ready. Apprentice, wait. -

The swordsmith turned to face the sword and bowed to it. He began to mutter certain words of prayer, and the glowing between the two brightened slightly.

At that moment, the swordsmith picked up a hammer that was on his belt. - I am ready. -

Edna and Ebon watched as the swordsmithÆs eyes began to glow, as if he was having an out - of - body experience. They felt some magic flow between the swordsmith and the descendant sword, and the swordsmith just knelt for the rest of the evening, his eyes glowing but his mind clearly not present.

The apprentice held the swordsmith and kept him supported during the rest of the evening. Edna and Ebon watched, and Edna felt the subtle shifts in the sword during this entire time. Sometimes it got stronger; sometimes it turned weaker.

Maybe it wasnÆt the perfect outcome, but in the depths of night, the glow between the two vanished, and the swordsmith returned to his body thoroughly exhausted. The sword landed back on the altar. - Water. -

The apprentice ran with two large mugs that the swordsmith finished in two big gulps. At that point, the apprentice asked, - How did it go, Master? -

- I - I think I did decently. LetÆs check the sword. Help me up. - The swordsmithÆs body was kneeling the entire evening, so the apprentice helped him up. The two walked to the sword to inspect it.

The swordsmith looked at it, a little frustrated.

- Ah. ItÆs not much different from what it was. I thought I did better. -

The man took a deep breath and prayed anyway.

- LetÆs make a scabbard for the sword tomorrow. - The man left the blade on the altar and took a good rest.

The next few days, the man made a relatively elaborate scabbard, and then Edna and Ebon watched the two swordsmiths present their completed weapons to the town lord.

The town lord inspected the weapons and didnÆt seem too impressed.

Despite that, he said nothing of it and just thanked the two swordsmith for their work. One of the lordÆs treasurers paid the two for their services and sent them away.

The two infiltrators didnÆt just leave it as that and stayed back to listen to their honest assessment.

- ItÆs average. Good enough for knights, but not something that could replace this. - The town lord tapped a sword on his belt, also a hero - descendant sword. Edna noticed almost everyone in the lordÆs personal knights possessed a sword of similar category.

The lordÆs knight commander nodded, as it was now his turn to inspect the weapon. - ItÆll be good enough for the newly promoted knights, but this does mean we can only promote two new knights this year. -

- Two will have to do, then, - the lhe lord declared to his men. - Let the remaining squires compete for the post. -

Ebon and Edna left the two to explore another bigger town.

CavalÆs towns were all spread far apart, and the farms were fairly clustered. One of the primary causes of the high density and clustering was because of the hero swords.

A town without a hero sword was no town.

There were smaller villages, but these were often linked to a larger town that regularly sent knights to protect them from the monsters. In between all the towns and cities were plenty of untamed forests and mountains and monster lairs.

On a macro level, this fed into the myth of the Knights of Caval. Knight would set out to slay the monsters, defend their cities from the dark creatures.

According to the reports, the largest towns generally correlated to the strength of their hero swords. Stronger hero swords attracted more people to live under its protection, since the powerful hero swords created stronger descendant swords and stronger knights.

The hero swords were like fruit trees. Each hero summoned to Caval started with a sword seed, which grew into his personal sword. It was this sword that became a hero sword when he died or when he gave it away. It was said that a hero could create a new hero sword if he gave one away, but there was some kind of price to be paid. Details were fairly scarce, since most of the drunk knights only regurgitated tales from their travels, the stories brought by travelers and merchants or whatever their lords told them.

The next city they arrived at didnÆt display the hero sword out in the open. Instead, it was hidden deep in the cityÆs keep. The city lord styled himself a king, though it seemed that no one dared to speak up to the king, since he didnÆt have the King class, and instead only had a Lord class. The city never had a King in its history, but at some point, the System could recognize it as true and would convert the city lordÆs title into a King .

Edna and Ebon werenÆt particularly interested in the cityÆs politics, as their focus was learning about the details of the hero sword and how they worked.

The world of knights and their glorious accomplishments didnÆt spread on their own, and instead, it was the traveling bards and songstresses who amplified the knightÆs glories.

The relative ratio of armed warriors to non - warriors was quite low compared to the other worlds, simply because a knight that had a descendant sword could do the work of ten soldiers against the monsters. Due to the limited nature of these swords, CavalÆs towns and cities valued quality over quantity. The largest amount in any city were the squires. Squires who were soldiers in training but had yet to receive their descendant swords.

Even in a city with twenty thousand to fifty thousand people, there were only about two thousand actual squires, and about one hundred to two hundred knights. On the other worlds, the militaryÆs strength was at least three to five times the number.

High - leveled knights who were Level 60 to 80 and outfitted with the descendant swords could slay demon champions. It was a virtuous feedback loop, where a small number of strong warriors slaying demons and monsters meant less sharing of experience, which created even stronger warriors.

This specialization also meant there was more resources and manpower for more artistic pursuits and specializations. Bards, woodworkers who made a range of instruments, farmers, brewers, the priest - smiths, and many other kinds of frivolous entertainment.

Here in one such larger city, that was in full display.

Taverns with beers, dancers, singers, and bards were all over the main street. It was common in Caval that the temples and the workshops were often located next to each other. The priests of this world prayed to a range of gods, and unlike the other worlds, CavalÆs temples worshiped a pantheon of gods. Gawa , Neira, and Gaya. The Cavalians referred to these gods as the Three Swords of Gods, and they often prayed to all three together as Three.

- SheÆs around here. - Ebon reached a quiet home located in the workshop district of the city. It was a small, slender home that was probably once a workshop, but the workshop was now replaced with a small garden of flowers. Walls replaced with open windows for the sun.

Their goal was an old priestess and a great sword whisperer. In her youth, the rumors claimed she made powerful descendant swords. But mainly, because she was really old, and thus knew things many didnÆt.

Ebon checked. - SheÆs inside. -

- Got it. - Edna knocked on the door. - LetÆs go. -

- Hello, weÆre looking for Priestess Shuwan. -

- IÆm not a priestess anymore, - the old woman responded.

Edna grinned. - Then weÆre looking for Shuwan. We wish to speak to her. -

- Come in. - The former priestessÆs home was clean, and well - lit with ample sunlight from the large windows. The living room was fairly narrow, but it didnÆt feel that way. Two of the walls were decorated with scabbards, their swords nowhere to be found. - Sit, sit. Do you want some tea? What can this old woman do for you? -

Edna and Ebon smiled, and Edna started. - That would be nice, but weÆre here to learn about the past and the hero swords that are all over our world. -

Shuwan smiled, brewed a pot of hot tea, and sat down on the table with three cups. Ebon quickly helped her pour the tea.

- Oh? You want my story? -

- Yes, - Edna said.

- ThatÆs probably the third time someone ever asked, and in the first two times, it was a hero. Are you a hero? - Shuwan smiled.

Edna smiled back and shook her head. - No. - Most of these worlds didnÆt have an appreciation of the truth and history. They were busy surviving year over year, and even when they did create documents about history, it often spoke about the glories and achievements of their cities, kings, lords, and knights. Things about the nature of hero swords would be mentioned in passing, but not much attention was given to them. The swords were how things had been, and how things were, and how things would be.

Someone like Shuwan with her long history knew and had seen a lot of things, and interestingly, it was only people like heroes that would think about speaking to someone like her.

The woman was old, and at almost three hundred years old, it was probably the limit of her level - extended lifespan.

- And if youÆre not the hero, why should I tell you? - Shuwan said.

Edna smiled. - What would it take for us to hear the truth? -

Shuwan found that funny and nodded. - I jest. IÆm an old woman happy to talk about my past. Too bad few want to listen and many have long forgotten who I once was. Where should we start? -

- What are the hero swords? -

- It is what you know. They are the remains of the heroes journey. Each hero arrives in our world with a seed, which with their nurturing grows into a powerful weapon. Depending on the Three Swords blessings, the swords gain different types of powers. When I traveled with the hero Yoru so many, many years ago, he would visit each old hero sword and he would then imprint a memory of that hero sword into his own. The old heroes gain a wide variety of powers, because they can summon the swords they have met during their journey to aid them. -

- You traveled with the hero? - Edna asked.

- Yes! I traveled with two heroes, actually. Yoru, when I was a young woman, and later Zahar, when I was an older priestess of the sword, - Shuwan said proudly. - But itÆs an old story, that was. maybe two hundred years ago. Back when the three or four heroes arrived and I was the one chosen by the lord to accompany the hero and provide my wisdom. -

- But why? - Edna asked. She knew why, but she wanted to hear it from her.

- Heroes need knowledge. They need company. They need someone to be there for them, care for them, and love them, - Shuwan said frankly. - They are fragile men and women, and even if they have strong powers, the temples know they must be cared for, and the temple. Well, the temple wanted children from the heroes. -

- Oh. Did you have any? -

Shuwan smiled. - Yes! My grandsonÆs now the knight commander of the city! Of course, the heroÆs blood is a little diluted, but still! -

- But why? -

The former priestess laughed. - Why else? Our children can draw more out of the heroes descendant swords. -

- Ah. - Edna chuckled. - So these hero swords, what else do you know about them? WhatÆs something we donÆt know? -

- Hah. Such a hero - way of asking questions, IÆd almost think you came from their world. - Shuwan laughed but talked anyway. - The heroes - well, Zahar - gave away one of his hero swords when he was Level 90 or so, just because he saw a village that was really vulnerable and wanted to protect them. So he planted his hero sword there and then. -

- Must a hero plant the sword? -

- Not always. ThatÆs what IÆm for, as well. If the hero falls in battle, IÆll retrieve his hero sword. The hero swords actually contain a fragment of their being, a part of their soul, and it resonates better with me than anyone else because I was their companion on the journey. The companion is always a priest - smith, because we can work with the sword he left behind. We can speak to it, better than anyone else. -

But eventually, they too died, and so lesser smiths must learn to pick up the slack.

- Is it always a girl? - Edna wondered.

- Not always. A man is fine, as long as the two have a strong friendship. Sending a woman to be a heroÆs companion has its challenges, since a woman may find the hero less appealing and thereÆs a lot of complicated feelings that donÆt make us a good companion. I was lucky that I liked the two heroes I was assigned to, but itÆs not always the case. Romance and love arenÆt necessary. All that is needed is a strong connection that the hero sword inherits. Are you two trying to be the next hero companion? There should be a demon king in another five or so years, but itÆs hard to say whether there will be a hero. -

Edna just nodded. - You can say that. -

- Ah. Hopefully they send more than one. It rarely ends well with only one hero, - Shuwan said with a sigh.

- So a hero can create a second hero sword? - Edna tried to redirect the discussion back to the earlier question. - Why not create more? The world clearly has space for many more. -

- Each new hero seed costs levels - five to ten levels of the heroÆs Hero class, and the new hero sword starts from scratch, - Shuwan said.

- Starting from scratch? - Edna asked. - Do the hero swords have levels? -

- Yes! - The old woman smiled. - They are special like that. They are a part of the hero, and so each hero gains two sets of levels. One for himself, and one for his sword. Once given away, they stopped growing, the swords transformed into the objects you see out there, but they gained some other abilities to protect their new home. -

EdnaÆs mind immediately thought of A/ Æs idea of creating a living weapon. That was possible with a titan soul, but here, the heroÆs sword was doing something else altogether.

- Do you think we can do something similar? A living weapon thatÆs so powerful that we could use it on the demon Sun Rings ? - Edna asked. - Something that outlasts even the heroes. -

If the hero swords were living weapons, then the natural idea was for a hero from Caval to gain power across many, many worlds to create a super - hero sword. Or whether they could make something with a titan soul, and push the living aspect to its limits by cobbling multiple titan soulûlike weapons together.

- This makes this world a dilemma for us. If we stop hero summons, weÆre fulfilling our end of the bargain, but we wouldnÆt be able to experiment with the heroes, - Edna said. - IÆm being a little selfish, but I really want to see what itÆs like to have these living swords pushed to the limits. Could they be more powerful than the heroes themselves? -

- Then we should let A/ know to just hold off on this world. I think we could afford a delay to our plans? - Ebon wondered. - Skipping one cycle is what, ten or twenty years? A/ could wait that long, no problem. -

Edna agreed. - A/ wonÆt be the problem. Time is hardly a concern for him, and waiting a decade more or two is indeed nothing. I am more concerned with my peers. Would my peers be willing to hold off for twice as long? Alka may be on my side, since heÆs willing to experiment, but will Stella let me do this? Are we playing with the lives of my fellow warriors? -

- We could let the demon king appear but donÆt kill it? Leave it incapacitated and allow the summoning of heroes to trigger? -

- Agreed. ThatÆs possible with LumoofÆs powers and my swords. Now, IÆll have to convince the rest of my domain holders to hold on for a little longer. -

YEAR 280

- Gawa , how long do we have to wait if we plan to hold off on rescuing one of the worlds? - Lumoof asked the object in his hand. EdnaÆs encounters with the hero swords made me wonder whether we could replace it with another world.

There was silence at first.

- If itÆs one world, perhaps another five years, so all in, you may have to wait and hold these worlds for up to thirty - five years before I gather enough faith points. -

Thirty - five years. In a way, that wasnÆt a bad amount of time, since we could reinforce our hold on these peripheral worlds and replenish the strength of the Valtorn Order and Valthorns. Thirty - five years was enough for one to two generations of new warriors to join our ranks.

Though a part of me wondered whether it was enough to attack the demons, I realized that at this moment, it didnÆt matter. WeÆd just have to get ready. If we were not, we would take a step back and rebuild.

- Do you have domain holders under you? - Lumoof asked.

- Yes. A few, they care for some of my Core worlds. They serve as my voice to my people. -

- What do you do if they get too strong? -

- Why would they? It gets progressively harder to get stronger under the old system, and they would have to constantly seek out battles. My Core worlds are safe. They do not get invaded by the demons frequently. -

Ah. It was so easy to plateau, and I noticed this, too, even in my domain holders. There was always a point where progress seemed incredibly slow. Years passed by without a level gained.

Even for me, my level gains had been so slow that I hadnÆt expected more levels unless I did something big. The last significant gain I had was during the demons comet. So far, our expeditions to the peripheral worlds hadnÆt led to many levels for me.

- Have you started to save up some faith points? -

- Yes. It will take some time, but faith points accumulate slowly over the years. -

- Yet you do not want to send your priests and prophets to these worlds to convert them to your faith? -

- Distant worlds generate the least amount of faith points. I much prefer to create new planets in my Core realms and populate them with even more believers. There is more progress that way. -

- Wait. How big are your Core worlds? -

- Compared to some of the peripheral worlds, perhaps ten or twenty times larger? Some of my realms have thirty planets filled with my believers, in the billions. -

That explained the sheer scale and why the gods were so unwilling to entertain distant worlds. Its Core worlds were so big, and just managing that should take up most of its time. - Ah. But how does the Will of the World work in such a situation? -

- There isnÆt one. I have merged with the old Will of the Worlds for those where I have claimed as my Core worlds. These worlds and I are one and the same, and it is why my existence is calculated as a blend of the worlds where I rule. -

- But - Wait, donÆt you die if you lose your followers? -

- Yes, but the worlds will have to die first, and so long as I rule them, I wonÆt. -

Ah. Interesting. So since the World Faith System allowed them to supplant the worldÆs existing will and make it their own.

- Wait. Then how do the demons capture a god if you are merged with your Core world? -

- They must have defeated all of that godÆs worlds and forced it to its last controlled world. And there, it captured its last controlled world, effectively claiming control over its faith. -

- But a god can draw power from further away than its Core world. -

- Yes. But the Core worlds are where we tie our presence. Call it an anchor of our reality. -

- But why donÆt the gods just keep merging with the Will of the Worlds? -

- Each merger costs faith points, and the less world we control, the harder it is to generate the necessary faith points. -

- Why donÆt you keep merging with more worlds? At some point you control so many worlds that you can keep merging with more? -

- ThereÆs a distance penalty for each merger. Each merger shifts my center of faith ever slightly, making some worlds further away from that center and diluting the faith point generated from that world. In other words, there is an optimal arrangement of worlds based on the current density of worlds in the void. -

- But you can move worlds as the Will of the World. Can you not just move it closer to the center of your mass such that each world is optimally arranged within your center of faith? -

There was an odd silence. A really, really long, odd silence. - It can be done, at some faith point cost. There is a size restriction of the number of realms in the same space in the void sea, but no real limit on the number of worlds within a single realm, but? -

Again, a weird, long silence, as if it was in thought.

- Maybe that belief is also flawed. I will experiment on this. -

- Ah. - Even the old gods worked with fairly constrained information. The System worked the way it did, but not all the tricks to optimize its performance were known.

At that point, I wondered how my clones interacted with the Will of the World.

- What sort of powers do you get with the Will of the World? I mean, other than the power to move worlds. -

- Fairly wide. I can create and alter race compositions, alter species, create divine and magical laws that permeate the world, move worlds, alter its Core concepts, subject to the System Æs limits. -

- Can you shape portals? -

- Yes. -

I wondered, - Are you able to block people from coming, then? -

- I have not tried, but maybe. At least, I can block a worldÆs Core from interacting with a person. Like, I can weave rules into the world to prevent certain things from happening, such as dragons canÆt fly, or trees canÆt grow bigger than a certain size. Some rules will need to go through the SystemÆs implied voting process and can take a while. -

Could it even stop me from deploying my clones? - Can you stop the movement of souls, too? -

- A limited yes. I can create mechanisms that slow the movement of souls and recycle them, but over a long period of time, no. -

This lent credence to the idea that souls were one of the foundational forces of the world, but I wondered what the demons could do with worlds where it had fully - possessed - the will of the world and weaponized that ability. It had not done so with the demon worlds weÆd seen so far, but there was no reason to believe the demon worlds within the bubble were similar.

- Are you able to prepare a force to fight with us, as we make our way to the demons sun? - I asked. - Join us, support us in our fight. -

A long silence later, it agreed. - Very well. I will have one thousand high - quality warriors ready within forty years. -

- Any domain holders? -

- No. My domain holders are far too precious. -

Three decades of relative peace should be achievable, though we were left with a few more worlds where we intended to see a little more happen.

- We are largely ready for the next phase of our movements. The rest of the Valthorns will focus their efforts on restoring the health of the peripheral worlds, but for us, we have other things to do. - Lumoof gathered the domain holders for a talk. They were connected through dream academy .

The dream version of Alka nodded. - IÆll spend another few years here in Delvegard. I think I can get a deeper grip into their society, but weÆll need a big deployment of staff to build a new space for these guys. In a safer world. Do we intend to use the world next to the Sun Rings as a staging post? If so, thatÆs where we should go. ItÆll make it much easier to send over the war machines to the Sun Rings . -

- Is attacking the Sun Rings with war machines even necessary? -

- Well, maybe not, but the Sun Rings is where we are closest to the demons barrier. Once it breaks, it will lead to the inner worlds, and I expect a lot of war. -

- Fair. -

- What sort of crack are we expecting in the demons barrier? - Johann asked.

Stella then elaborated, - IÆm not exactly sure of what sort of power Gawa Æs weapon has, but letÆs assume the barrier will either have a hole in it, or fall completely. We should be able to move closer toward the demonic worlds that are on the other side. I believe we should be seeing demon worlds. -

- So a whole lot of battle. -

- Yes, and the domain holders will be the tip of the spear, - Alka explained. The rest of the Valthorns would need to hold on to a set of worlds that form a path for us to retreat, if needed. - The likelihood of that sort of path being necessary probably isnÆt high if we can have A/ Æs clone deployed somewhere along the way, but we donÆt really know whether there are restrictions of A/ Æs deployment. We know so far during our first attack on the Sun Rings that A/ cannot deploy on places without sufficient soil. We are highly likely entering worlds that have been heavily warped by the demons presence, quite like the core worlds of the old gods. -

- So more divine law stuff. -

- Yes, exactly. Which is why we are the tip of the spear, - Alka said. - WeÆll need more firepower. Way more firepower. -

Somehow, Johann, Roon, Kafa, and Ezar looked at Lumoof at the same time.

Lumoof blinked. - What? -

- WeÆll need to get more allies. -

- Ah yes. -

- It is the avatarÆs role as the primary representative, - Johann said. - If we need more domain holders, weÆll have to recruit some of these others to fight on our side. -

- Or we find more allies, - Stella said. - We should resume the Void Layers exploration. -

- Or reach for the other gods, - Roon poked in, and this time, he looked at Stella. - If we can get Gawa to give us some guys, Aiva probably could, too. We should reach Aiva, somehow. -

Stella frowned. - Aww, man. I already have two void explorers headed in different directions. If we find something, weÆll know. -

Roon and Johann looked at each other. - But if weÆre venturing to worlds where there are divine laws, weÆll need a void domain holder. -

- Unless if we can somehow share the protections of a domain holder with any of five other void archmages, - Alka said.

- Is there? - Stella asked.

- Not that I know of. -

Lumoof shook his head. - If we can locate more gods, that is ideal. But our efforts should be on the basis that we donÆt find any more gods, so we need to improve the strength of our forces. The peripheral worlds are mostly connected to a demon world. We should make use of that, - Lumoof said. - ThatÆs a good way to give our new recruits some additional knowledge and experience. -

Then Edna brought up her observations on the hero mechanic on Caval. The matter was circulated to the domain holders earlier, so most of them knew about it on a relatively high - level basis.

- IÆd like to experiment on the hero class. -

That made Stella squirm slightly. - The rest of the heroes wonÆt agree on that. -

- Why wonÆt they? They have another friend to fight with, - Johann asked.

- ItÆs taking people away from their homes. Away from their current lives. ItÆs allowing the gods to kidnap them, - Stella countered.

- Not if you believe what happens to heroes when they die, - Alka said. - They get placed back as if it never happened. Nothing really was lost. ItÆs like a dream. -

- We have no way of proving whether that is true, - Stella countered. - I donÆt like this. WeÆre allowing the System to take one. -

Alka looked at Stella and frowned. - Just one, Stella. Think of the lives we can save, if thereÆs a way to make a super powerful living weapon. Something that we can then use on other worlds as well. -

- ThereÆs ways to do that without the heroes, - Stella insisted. - Edna already has her quest swords. Why canÆt her quest swords do something similar once she gains more levels? -

- Stella, it will end on its own. ItÆs a matter of time, - Alka countered. - The more we can learn how the world works and how some worlds integrate the hero summons into their natural ecosystems, the better equipped we are to deal with the consequences. Caval will have its end of summons eventually, and I think Edna has a point. One hero. One summons. ThatÆs it. -

- No. -

- Do you want some time to think about this? - Alka tried to brush off her rejection.

- A/ , we have to stop this cycle of pulling people from our worlds, - Stella said. - Stopping hero summons is a good thing! -

But I wasnÆt so sure.

Twinspace

Land of the plenty. Land of the overpopulated.

Kafa, Roon, and Johann arrived and found the chaos even more overwhelming than the overpopulated cities of the Central Continent. Somehow, the population here was just bigger. People here just had more children, and children grew up faster. Fertility levels were high in every race, and it seemed the minds of the people were very much inclined to have children, and we discovered they were indeed wired differently.

The souls of humans, lizardpeople, elves, dwarves. All slightly different. Their minds favored children, even though as a society, they didnÆt seem to treat their young very well. Instead, they generally were left to fend for themselves, though crimes on young hungry children were rarely punished, unless severe.

But there was a price to such a different mindset. A price paid, in another form.

The level caps on everyone were lower. No one got above Level 75 in this world. Ten levels of difference, and in return, a land slightly smaller than the Central Continent housed ten, if not fifteen times as many individuals.

Maybe even twenty.

Kafa found the place pleasant. He was always fond of crowds. Lizardfolks generally were comfortable with crowds. It didnÆt bother them, and their minds were able to shut out the unnecessary noise.

- The demon continent is the promised land! - Matriarch Hoyia stood on top of the podium. A crowd surrounded her. - Our divine God A/ has a vision, a task for us all. Once we reclaim the demon continent, it will be transformed into a land of plenty. Enough to feed your family. Your friends. Everyone! -

The crowd listened as HoyiaÆs A Seed for the Masses spread throughout the entire plaza.

- A/ Æs warriors await us on our journey. Our path, my fellow brethren. Our divine god calls on us to prepare for this journey. A crusade of our own to purge the unholy from our world! The reward is a new promised land. A land that is fertile, where minerals and resources are plentiful, and our godÆs men will be there to help us. So, my brethren, we must make the journey. Our crusade awaits! -

Roon and Johann kept watch, just in case anyone tried something. But Hoyia had enough artifacts on her to block a demon kingÆs attack. - The crowdÆs buying it. -

- A lot more than I expected, - Johann said and realized a lot were nodding. Some were swayed. A few walked up. Hoyia bought a building later that day and officially set up the first Temple of A/ on the world of Twinspace.

A total of three matriarchs and patriarchs of the Treeology came to Twinspace. The act of converting these masses into believers, zealots, was the first step. Once they gained scale, they would convert even the nobles, and from there, the preparations for the crusades would be on the way.

The first Twinspace Temple of A/ was located on a harbor city; it was ruled by a local king. There were soldiers, but anyone could tell that they were hardly loyal. They were only doing it because the king paid them.

How easy it was to sway the hearts of these lost sheep.

An offering of food, a blessing from a priestess, and a light touch of borrowed divinity, and Hoyia turned a group of lazy, unmotivated guards into her own private army of eager zealots.

- ItÆs quite scary what sheÆs doing, - Roon said as each of the matriarch and patriarch somehow converted hundreds and thousands of regular civilians into believers of the A/ ic faith.

Similar to Alka, Hoyia and the priesthood went down to the people and converted them first. The ruling institutions would fall on their own, once the legs they stood on collapsed. The powerful may have higher levels, and were stronger, but in the end, the benefits of that level only mattered if they had someone to lord it over.

With the Temple of A/ , and the power of the matriarchs, it would be easy to resist their attempts.

In two months, the Temple of A/ on the shoreline cities had grown to thousands, winning over soldiers and citizens alike.

The nobility began to notice, but by then the Temple of A/ was already sizable, and some began to whisper directly into the nobles ears.

In that shoreline city itself, the fire now reached the cityÆs lord.

- The demons continent is actually our promised land, - a zealous converted officer explained to that very townÆs lord. The lord was furious. - We must join the Temple of A/ on the crusade to the demonic continent! Our suffering all this while was because we allowed the demonic continent to remain corrupted! -

- What ridiculous claim is this? How are the other temples not crushing this fake priestess? - The lord stared at the converted officer. The rest of the guards looked tense. They were friends, but the officer had been thoroughly mesmerized.

The zealous converted officer stood and drew his sword. - City Lord, the powers of the matriarch are real, and her divine blessing is true. You doubt it, but see this. -

His entire body radiated power for a matriarchÆs blessing.

- Are you dabbling in demonic energy? - The lord didnÆt believe it, incredulous. - Haul him up and throw him in prison. -

- City Lord, you may throw me in prison, but I beg you, go see the priestess for yourself. Matriarch HoyiaÆs faith is true, and her vision of god is real! -

The lord looked at his guards. - Throw the man in jail, and summon this false priestess to my office. IÆll see what this succubus is doing to my officers! -

YEAR 280 (CONTINUED)

Hoyia was not a young woman. She took the appearance of a regal, mature woman, and the very moment she walked into the lordÆs mansion it was clear to everyone.

Maids, butlers, soldiers, guards. They all could feel it in their souls when someone who possessed the air of holiness, and for the lord of that town, his opinions shifted the moment she walked through her door.

Holy.

A thousand words could not describe standing before one who spoke with the weight of divinity.

Hoyia and the priests were normal for the rest of the Valthorns. But for these folks of Twinspace, they could not even begin to explain how unique the sensation was. The local Lord stood in the presence of a high - leveled priestess with her powers in full swing.

Though fleeting, or momentary, a priest was an extension of their god. A priest was the conduit between reality and the powers of god as written in the System.

The lord blinked as the sensation hit him. For a lord who had never met a true holy man in a world with few holy existences, it was akin to seeing for the first time. - . how? -

Hoyia did not bow or kneel, her words divine, but she may as well have been a succubus. There really was no difference at their level of power. The Lord wasnÆt very strong, likely only Level 30 to 40, and so his resistance crumbled.

- Greetings, Town Lord. It seems A/ saw it fit to arrange an opportunity for me to convince you of our truth. Would you like to join us in our crusade? There is a promised land for us, but it is not free. It is one that we have to earn ourselves. -

The lord was enraptured and, in a single meeting, converted. Hoyia made it look easy, and some Lords were ever weaker than others.

One lord done. Hundreds more to go.

A crusade for the demonic continent would now stir the world into a frenzy. New ships would be constructed, aided by the Valtorn OrderÆs craftsmen.

Perhaps Magisar shouldÆve used the priests to speak to the mages. The faith was far more potent and infectious than they expected.

YEAR 281

The Order purged all of MagisarÆs demonic hives. What was left were just small patches of demons and corrupted land. A matter of time before the world was truly devoid of demons.

The Magisarian economy hinged on food harvesting and mineral collection. Due to a lack of hard metals in their world, most of their goods were constructed and reinforced with magic. The hero - created floating towers were the primary exception.

With peace, that meant old harvesting locations and mining spots could be restored and trade routes resurrected. Most of this didnÆt need her involvement.

A great thing, and so the Order focused its efforts on recruitment. Training mages for the next batch. New schools. Lozanna and the Order recruited some of the friendly mages, thankfully not all were stupid enough to side with the tower masters, and a few new schools were constructed.

Children of Magisar did not have the old biases of their parents, and they did not inherit a - fear - of the land.

Like the lizardfolk, the children would experience a world so different from their parents that it was hard for them to understand. The OrderÆs priests would have to heavily step in to manage this generational transition.

The Order set up a total of ten new magic schools across Magisar, and unlike the Tower, the new schools were large academy style buildings replicated after the various magic schools of Treehome but staffed with a joint team from both the Order and also the local mages. The Order didnÆt have that many mages to spare, so each of the schools could only have about five to ten Level 70 to 80 mages, and the rest would be Magisarian local mages.

The Magisarians used to have magical carnivals, tournaments as recorded in their historical documents, so she revived old tournaments and events between the Towers and added these new academies into the mix as competitors.

Now that the demons were exterminated, in theory, the Order should gradually cut off the Towers and let them return to their old ways, similar to Treehome. But A/ Æs mercy left a mark on the old leadership, and none of the successors dared to lay claim to the respective leadership roles. So the OrderÆs mages continued to rule in place of the tower masters.

To make the best of what was already done, Lozanna and Blackthorn replicated the council of representatives of the Central Continent and made each of the Towers nominate a group of five representatives to represent their interests to the newly established Magisar Council, housed in the new city.

Delvegard

Crafters vanished. Tens. Hundreds.

Entire workshops somehow robbed overnight with not a sound or witness. Vaults filled with Sunsteel, Sunmetal and void weapons were all gone somehow.

A great theft of people, weapons, and resources.

The kings and rulers of Delvegard were in panic. Many wanted to comprehend what in the world happened to their nations.

Even in the greatest of DelvegardÆs war machine academies, multiple masters just vanished overnight, along with all their gear.

There was a noticeable sense of dread in the Yards, that even the forge master of the Yards, the former king, patrolled the place extensively, along with his best warriors.

But even full security didnÆt help when powerful Order operatives placed everyone in the Yards to sleep.

Those that vanished were housed in a series of secret new homes in new cities, in a series of new cities throughout Delvegard. Built into old Sunmetal and Sunsteel Mines, the crafters and builders from the Order had quickly constructed new, fortified, and heavily magic - reinforced cities hidden from view and in places normally inaccessible.

We called these the New Delvegardian Cities.

They were carved out of old mines or dead mines. An underground path was constructed that connected these New Delvegardian Cities to the regular dwarven towns ruled and managed by Lord Sundus and his peers.

These cities were basic but functional, but what truly made them realize that they were now working with crafters who were from other worlds were the singular object placed in their heart, along with the strange crystals that surrounded them.

The Rift Gates at the heart of the Delvegardian Cities. These oval - shaped gates were massive objects of otherworldly origin, and the dwarves could tell these were not made by dwarves.

- Stolen, - the void mages explained to the dwarves. - We took them from the demon worlds. The demons used them to invade our worlds. -

An object of tremendous void magic. It was something all the Delvegardians admired. Many of the crafters often walked around it and kept trying to figure out how it was made.

Even my crafters had not figured it out, and actually, it made me wonder how did the demons even reach the point of having such powerful technology? Were the demons some kind of technological creation by a powerful being from the past, and the rift gates were also one of their creations?

If so, their creator must have been some kind of truly powerful crafting god.

But no matter, the reason why we placed the rift gate at the heart of these cities was simple.

Alka promised them the glory of war, and we intended to deliver.

Delvegard would face its own demonic attack in a decade or so, but the pathways between the two worlds grew stronger day by day. Our void mages could amplify that connection and travel to the other side.

And so, as a small battalion of the dwarven war machines prepared, the void mages activated the rift gates.

- You will be the first Delvegardian dwarves to ever set foot on demonic worlds, - Alka encouraged them. - Now, go and fight the demons! -

There was a roar from the first dwarven force, and they walked through the rift gates riding their war machines.

The demons on the other side were small and resembled hellhounds and dog - headed monsters, and the larger creatures were gigantic versions of these hellhounds and had three heads. They breathed fire, and that fire smashed into the magical shields of the war machines.

Alka watched, a little amused how out of shape they were. The dwarves panicked, unsure how to fight the demons. The Order stepped in to help calm their nerves briefly, while a few of the Order folks quickly reminded them what they needed to do.

This was the first trip, of many, many more to come. They fought for a while, for what was half a day, and then the rift gates opened again, this time to bring them back.

Alka gave them a mission to establish a foothold on the demonic world, and the dwarves accepted. Groups of Delvegardian Dwarves from all over the world came together and somehow formed into cliques, and rather than fight each other for real, Alka merely gave out rewards for those who slaughtered the most demons.

- Had a good time? - Alka smiled at the block master. He was among the first group that rode their war machines to the other side.

- No. Not really. It was bad, - the block master conceded as he reviewed his own performance. - We were out of shape. -

Alka nodded. - A lot of room for improvement. Fighting demons is quite different from fighting each other. ItÆs quite chaotic, and there are many types of demons. -

- Hah. - The former block master looked at Alka. - You seem exceptionally used to this. -

- Me? Not really. I spent most of my years in a workshop building stuff. ItÆs only in the recent decades IÆve ventured onto the battlefield. -

- Recent decades? - The Delvegardian looked at Alka, and then Alka undid his disguise and transformed into his older, usual self.

- IÆm much older, Block Master. - The domain holder sat with the dwarves as they rested back in their home.

- Ah. That explains it. And here I was wondering whether the new generation are truly so impressive. -

- They are. - Alka laughed. - With the regimen we put my fellow warriors through, they come out as strong as you within a decade or less. -

That was something that was met with an uncomfortable silence.

- How are things back in the Yards? - the block master asked as he, too, decided to redirect the topic of conversation.

- Tense. The king and the yardmaster are still trying to hunt down the culprits. ThatÆs not going so well for them. -

- Have you not been able to sway them? -

- No. They tried to kill me, - Alka said and laughed. - At some point, itÆs not worth it. IÆve got most of the good people I wanted, and weÆve stolen quite a few of their war machines. -

Throughout the entire Delvegard, there was a rumor of what was known as a - mass disappearance - of alchemists, crafters, and mages, along with multiple war machines. Even the Delvegardian Yards saw half of their largest war machines stolen, and most of their void weapons as well. Most of them were swayed by Alka and the Valthorns appeal to fight for a better cause.

They referred to it as The Delvegardian Disappearance.

Alka did make an attempt to convince the forge master. The disguised form of Alka offered the deal to the forge master, and the proud dwarven man attacked him instead for lying. Somehow, he was too proud, or perhaps he was too high up the pole, to see the drawbacks of the society he ruled over.

The order didnÆt see the need to continue engaging the kings that refused. Instead, he would continue stealing talent and resources from the Delvegardian nations, so the kidnapping would continue.

It caused the entire war economy of Delvegard to grind to a halt. Lords didnÆt want to invest in new war machines only for it to be stolen.

Alka returned to Delvegardian Yards discreetly and found it exceptionally quiet.

The place that once hummed with the hammering of Sunsteel and the clattering of war machines in battle now seemed like it was abandoned.

There were patrols, actual, heavy patrols, and many of them started to look at each student as if they were a suspect. The king himself was almost delirious, but the news that almost all workshops were targeted made them feel better. War machines were rigged with spells and artifacts to ensure they could be located. But it was trivially easy to remove them.

Across Delvegard, some cities were badly hit. They lost almost all their war machines and crafters. These were usually towns and cities that had wars in their recent history.

War didnÆt leave people happy, and dwarves were often torn between pride, loyalty, and a sense of duty to family and friends. So the Order now provided a real alternative.

A possibility to live a different way, there was no reason to hold onto that cause, so many of these crafters decided to leave. The Order took everyone who joined them, and their family, and set them up in the various New Delvegardian Cities.

Back in the Yards, AlkaÆs little spy machines were everywhere, and he found ways to sneak into the doors of many craftsmen and talented men to speak to them.

Each day, Alka convinced a little more to leave.

- Another three disappeared today? -

As the king turned mad and paranoid, that only pushed more of their valuable crafters toward AlkaÆs offer. Not every approach was successful, but Alka got better at understanding the types that would fold. For those where he felt it was a little risky, he approached with a disguise.

There were those he approached that did not join him.

Instead, they all confessed to the authorities and said how they were approached by a strange man, who spoke of joining a war on other worlds, where dwarves did not fight each other but fought demons.

The king was furious. The king knew, of course. Alka already approached the dwarven royal, but the king ignored his approach.

But his citizens were fascinated. Kings and royalty rarely faced the consequences of their pointless wars. They had the best war machines. The best equipment. The best healers and potions. Fighting for their country was thus seen as a must. A proud thing, a duty. Fights were the dwarven way of proving their strength. No Delvegardian king earned their place on the throne without war, and expansions were glorious things.

An achievement in their rule turned into stories to be told in taverns and sung around as hymns by drunk dwarves.

The middle and lower classes didnÆt see it that way, but the world wouldnÆt change just because they disagreed. They lacked the means to cause that change, and so the cycle of war perpetuated.

But as the dwarves who rejected the OrderÆs offer shared their experiences and explained what was said, rather than inspire horror, instead, it only amplified them.

The promise of the big war came to be known as the - Great War. - An inspiration.

A part of me wondered whether this was a rehashed version of Valhalla and Ragnarok.

Maybe that was why the tales seemed to sell so well. Stories of wars that spanned worlds inspired grandeur and glory in the minds of young, impressionable dwarves. AlkaÆs attempts to kidnap and sway crafters, pilots, and alchemists to join the real - Great War - was like the song and purpose many waited for, and so, throughout Delvegard, many smaller, independent movements emerged in support of the disappeared dwarves.

- The tales grow more crazy by the week, - Lord Sundus explained as the tales spread far and wide and to the smaller Delvegardian towns. Thus far, Alka and the OrderÆs great kidnapping mainly targeted the large workshops, academies, and crafting institutions.

Then Lord SundusÆs spies reported of a planned execution of a crafter.

The tales of one such craftsman spread so much among the populace that it caused great distress and fear to the ruling class of one of these affected Dwarven City.

The craftsman was decently talented, at around Level 50, and because of family concerns he rejected the offer. But somehow, rather than rewarding the crafter for remaining loyal and rejecting the offer, the townÆs lord grew increasingly suspicious of his explanations.

- This fool is spreading false stories! - The town lord hauled the crafter dwarf to the townÆs square and intended to publicly execute him. - There is no Great War out there. These are lies spread by those who deserted their post and town. -

The crowd watched in horror as the town lord picked up the executionerÆs ax. The craftsdwarf was chained to a platform, his dwarven body trapped.

- I didnÆt lie, Town Lord! It was real! I really met a man and he told me about this story! He really wanted me to join him! -

The Dwarven lord was frustrated and turned to his people. - Shut your lying mouth. Now, I intend to set an example for all dwarven crafters everywhere! There is no Great War, and there is no war in the heavens. All these people who joined them are being sold a lie. They are liars! These people were consumed by the very demons that seek to destroy us! -

The people listened in fear. The crafter struggled and wept. - My lord! I did not lie! I have chosen to remain in the town out of loyalty to you, my lord! Please, do not punish me for my loyalty! -

But the Dwarven lord did not buy it. - Speak no more, liar. These evil words merely convinced the town folks of your lie. There is no Great War. This is a plot to weaken us all! -

He lifted the ax, and then a voice boomed in the entire town plaza. Somehow, the town lord found himself unable to move. A kind of paralysis or stasis magic had locked everyone in place.

- Crafter. If you are given a choice again, would you choose differently? - the voice asked.

The crafter stared at the town lordÆs ax. There, on the execution platform, surrounded by a crowd of spectators, the choice was clear. Anything else was death. In the Dwarven lordÆs eyes was madness. Paranoia. Fear.

His loyalty was not rewarded. And so he chose differently. - Yes. Yes! I will join the Great War! -

The Dwarven lord struggled against the magic that bound him, and by sheer will, the dwarven lord broke free of the magical bindings. He quickly swung his ax downward, toward the crafterÆs neck. - Shut your lying mouth! -

The ax came down with force, a dwarven lordÆs strength behind it, and it smashed into the wooden platform. But the crafter had vanished. Instead, they saw the remnant swirl of a teleportation portal.

The town lord looked around in shock. He blinked before he screamed, - Guards! They must be around here! Find them! -

A roar erupted in the plaza. The Dwarven lordÆs guards and soldiers scrambled and searched the plaza. They found nothing.

The spectating crowd were frozen, but they talked. The rumors raged like an inferno, and throughout the world, more Delvegardians saw how the ruling class was weakened by the severe disappearance of their crafters and their war machines.

DelvegardÆs Demonic World - Darkgard

One of the great benefits of the dwarven crafters was that they were all skilled builders, and they could easily work with whatever materials available to them. On the demonic world that was linked to Delvegard, which we now referred to as Darkgard, the dwarves were quick to build fortifications from natural rocks, stone, and steel.

DarkgardÆs demons would invade Delvegard in a decade or two, and they were sold on a dream. A mission to stop the demons before they reached Delvegard.

The Order could handle it for them, but the dwarves would not learn. An easy win would not satisfy their inherent need for challenge and a well - earned victory.

Materials were shipped through the rift gates, and it was hard work.

But the Delvegardian dwarves were an industrious bunch and found joy in work. There was a palpable sense of excitement in them, as dwarves from all over Delvegard now united to attack the demon world.

Once the loyalties and capabilities of these war machines were decently tested, we would start incorporating the weapons of Treehome. We had a range of weapons such as our anti - magic weaponry, our own set of crystal - based weapons and wood - based weapons that could enhance their anti - demonic capabilities.

YEAR 282

Shasan. The Land of Switching Sands and Seas

Lumoof dropped in and watched Emperor ErranuelÆs men work. The emperor and his group of followers had quickly fought with some local rulers, taken control of one of the towns, and declared it as the new Gawa Capital of Shasan. He had even styled it the Holy City of Gawa .

TheyÆd worked quickly to gain one town. It was their first year on a foreign world, and for them, they did not have the systems or processes on how to set up a new outpost on another world. Interestingly, we found both Michael of Museo and Olivia of Olpash, both on Shasan.

- ItÆs interesting that both of you are here. - Lumoof smiled as he visited the emperorÆs new office. The void mage that helped send them here did provide a list of people he had transported over, but Lumoof thought it strange and wanted to see for himself.

- It is only right that we stand to support our fellow brother in faith in his quest to expand Gawa Æs reach, - Michael answered.

- That is so, that is so. How have you found the experience so far? -

- Different, - Olivia answered. - The people of this world seem unsure of their faith, as if Gawa does not exist to them. -

- I donÆt blame them. Gawa really doesnÆt exist here. IÆm sure you have noticed when you attempt to tap into your godÆs power. -

Olivia frowned. There was an imprint that existed in the System, and priests could tap into that. But that connection was stronger in worlds where the godÆs presence was stronger. By the same measure, Hoyia and my other priests connection to me was stronger in worlds where I had a node and weaker in worlds where I had none. But not defenseless, because they could also tap into the System, and the System was everywhere. It was quite like connecting through a rootnet versus speaking through message .

- We both intend to spread Gawa Æs faith and strengthen Gawa Æs presence. In time, this drawback will fade. - Michael supported his compatriot.

- Then good luck with that. -

I wondered whether Michael and Olivia would find a weakness in the ShasanianÆs psyche and tap into a vulnerability in their hearts. If they could, maybe they would be able to sweep through Shasan like Hoyia as well.

Twinspace

The new converts were zealots. Those new to the faith were driven and eager to prove their faith, and it was frightening. Did I really want to use this power?

That was something I asked myself as I watched the Treeology priests whip the population of about ten towns into something not too different from a passionate bunch of looters. The promise of a bountiful land, salvation from their current suffering, and the gospel of prosperity made me think of my own interactions of similar religious institutions. Was this what I had in mind?

The town lord stood obediently as Matriarch Hoyia took the stand, and she swayed even more nobles to her side.

- Matriarch Hoyia, the king now wants to raise an army against us! - a passionate zealot reported. A convert. Spies. It was surreal that Hoyia had built an entirely new structure of zealots centered around her and her closest advisors.

Johann and Roon stared at each other and even asked her, - You sure you didnÆt use some kind of mind control on them? -

Hoyia chuckled at the domain holderÆs suggestion, but TwinspaceÆs expansion would be led by Hoyia, just like how Lozanna controlled Magisar. We needed to give the Level 140s greater responsibilities and hopefully push them toward a domain. - Oh, not at all. They believe in the promise. A crusade. A cause. Now this is the moment we must guide the fire. -

- WeÆre playing with fire, - Johann observed. - This could very easily turn against us. -

- Oh, it can. Which is why we must tend to it carefully, feed it. And clamp down on those who do not fit in our faith, - Hoyia said as she heard the reports from the various zealots. - If the king wants an army to fight us, then we will have one. Now, my fellow faithful of A/ , we have nothing to fear! What do we, those gifted and blessed by A/ itself, have to fear from these faithless men? -

Johann and Roon were a little uncomfortable. - I think using priests offensively might be a mistake. -

But its effectiveness was incredible. The various nations of Twinspace were dumbfounded by how quickly the Temple of A/ spread and how these priests of A/ appeared out of nowhere and converted thousands in mere weeks. Some kings immediately launched purges against A/ ic believers, which somehow only emboldened those faithful that they were right.

- They fear us because we are right! - Hoyia roared in a fiery sermon to the new zealots as she recited a verse from an invented book of A/ . - Even in A/ Æs homeworld, there are those who do not believe. And just like us today, those faithless men waged not one, but two crusades against A/ ! But we do not fear them, because just like A/ , we will prevail. They attacked us. They will stop us from trading. But they will eventually give in. Because they lack faith! -

The crowds everywhere bought it, and the fires of zealotry formed into an army, an army Hoyia called - The Defenders of the Faith. -

Twinspace was no stranger to occult faiths. Over the centuries, there had been many charismatic individuals, who had used their powers of persuasion to create a cult. The difference between a cult and a faith was thin, and the only difference was whether a faith had a link to real power.

- I feel bad that we are manipulating them into this shit, - Johann admitted to Hoyia after the sermon.

- But what is the alternative? A status quo where they are aimless, purposeless, and do not contribute to the security of the realm? - Hoyia said. - Not all people have the same potential to rise and think for themselves. But that doesnÆt mean they cannot contribute. With faith, we can tell them what to do. -

- This isnÆt far off from what the White Statue is doing, - Johann said.

- Oh. I was actually inspired by what the White Statue did and believe that A/ can do it, too. It is why we should. The masses of Twinspace and its massive population are wasted in their current state. Reproducing in large quantities but not amounting to much. The wider worlds would benefit from their increased productivity. It isnÆt really that different from what Alka did on Delvegard. I am giving them a purpose, packaged in the form of faith, and they have accepted it into their hearts and minds. -

- Damn, - Johann said. - I still think itÆll bite us in the back someday. -

- Consequences that A/ can deal with. - Hoyia smiled sweetly. - You should head over to your dragonworlds and get back to work. WeÆll need an army of drakes and dragons. -

Religious ceremonies were common throughout Treehome and Branchhold, and often they were used to provide small - scale blessings that lasted a long time. A blessing to a young child to grow up healthy, a blessing to somehow recover from injuries, a blessing for clarity when studying, and so on.

The power of a priest was mainly manifested through blessings . They could replicate the blessings of their patron god, often to a lesser degree. A power of the System .

It was the equivalent of tapping into the SystemÆs concept that an entity like A/ existed.

My general conceptual understanding was that a personÆs faith, a personÆs soul, these were the two things that powered the System as a whole. The World Faith System, this offshoot and variant of the existing system, merely tapped into that faith directly, rather than through the entire System as an intermediary.

An army, raised by a threatened neighboring king, marched on the converted towns, and the towns raised an army to match them. Though there were actual soldiers among them, in the end, it was mainly an army of peasants armed with sticks and simple tools that walked to the field of battle.

Hoyia couldÆve called on the Order to act. But she didnÆt. A part of me thought this was crazy, but then Matriarch Hoyia, as the lead Valthorn member of the Twinspace expedition, had full decision - making authority.

As the worlds grew, I must delegate. And I must allow them to make mistakes.

I could feel HoyiaÆs loyalty, and I knew she did not doubt.

- Sacrifice. Participation. They are all necessary for real faith. To experience fear, and to be saved, - she said gently, as there were about ten other lower - leveled priests around her. She held in her hand, a broken branch that she collected from my main body.

The opposing army was thirty thousand strong and comprised mainly of actual soldiers. The converted zealot army was about the same size, but only a third of it was actual soldiers.

Hoyia watched and prepared a ritual. Over the decades, the Treeology priests developed rituals and abilities, and they were most effective on the weakest segments of society. A blessing was an additional wind of strength behind an already strong warrior, but for the weakest soldiers, it was transformative.

The priests began to sing. A hymn. A chant. A call on me. A call on the System. A prayer to me. A prayer to Edna. If Edna was here to witness it, maybe she would feel crazy embarrassed about it.

Yet Hoyia could say it with a straight face. With full faith. Commitment. Seriousness. Perhaps it was the nature of priests in our world, that they must believe in those that were their friends. Their reporting officers. And the stick vibrated with holy power. A priest tapped into the System, and through the System, it channeled a memory of my power.

- Charge! - the enemy general roared. - Slay these heretics! Slay those who seek to venture to the demon continent and go against our old traditions! -

The generals activated a range of abilities that supported their army. The peasant army looked afraid, but there were a few generals who converted over to HoyiaÆs faith, and they too activated skills to counter the enemy generalÆs abilities.

But Hoyia had planned this. The priests wanted this. In a way, manipulative.

- DonÆt let them get too close, - Hoyia said to the generals. She couldÆve started the blessing earlier. - Protect us as we call on the powers of A/ . -

The zealots immediately shouted in defiance, - Protect the matriarch! -

It was not necessary. An army of thirty thousand couldnÆt get past Matriarch HoyiaÆs shields even if they all attacked together. The two armies met. Blood stained the fields as the peasant army struggled to hold back the forces of the enemy.

She wanted this.

She was prepared to let some of them die.

She wanted the peasants to feel they contributed.

She wanted their devotion. She wanted them to truly buy in. She wanted them to put their lives on the line and feel rewarded for it.

She dragged it on slightly, fully aware of what was happening. Was it really necessary to convert people to the faith this way?

But I must trust my generals. She waited, as the enemy army, a group of heavily armed cavalry, forced through the zealotÆs defensive lines. They were getting nearer.

- Matriarch Hoyia, you must retreat. They are getting nearer! - the zealot general said, eager to protect the leader of the faith.

- No, - Hoyia said. She feared nothing, her acting perfectly on point. - There is nothing to fear when we are right. -

At this distance, the enemy cavalry roared. They could even hear them curse her. - Charge! LetÆs grab that succubusÆs head! Kill her and destroy this heretic cult! -

Hoyia smiled. The zealots on her side tried their best to protect her. - Protect the matriarch! - they roared, and a few of her loyalists died as the enemyÆs spears pierced through their flesh.

- Let it be known that I do not fear them, - Hoyia commanded. Her voice somehow could be heard everywhere. It was a priestly ability to give sermons even to a large army. - Zealots of A/ ! Your faith will be rewarded! - She finally triggered the blessings she dragged forever. It was a form of dramatic timing, to make it seem as if it was a perilous battle with real danger.

The enemyÆs army wanted to punch through the defending zealots and claim their heads.

Then a large - scale blessing spread throughout the army of peasants and soldiers. The zealots suddenly felt a surge of strength. For those under Level 30, this surge felt like it added a good fifteen levels to their strength. For those under Level 50, it still was a respectable ten levels of extra strength.

The enemy cavalryÆs charge slammed into a wall of magic. - There is nothing to fear! - Hoyia roared. - Our god has answered our prayers! Crush them all! - The blessed army turned into a frenzy as the sudden surge in strength heavily flipped the balance.

The war that the zealots shouldÆve lost on paper turned into a decisive victory. Then Hoyia fanned the flames of fear as she held the heads of the slain enemy generals and declared to a listening army of peasants and soldiers.

- My fellow zealots, our cause is true. They will claim we are heretics. They will claim we are evil. They will claim everything is wrong. But are we afraid? -

Amplified by the moment. The death. The slaughter. The adrenaline and high of a victory. They roared and answered their shepherd. The peasants and soldiers present all roared - NO! - as I somehow sensed many of them experienced a conversion of their classes.

At least a thousand of those present gained an A/ ic class variant that day, because I could suddenly feel the presence of many new believers. Hoyia turned the army of zealots into an army that would put their life on the line for her. They would cut their flesh off, sever their limbs, and kill their family if she asked.

I watched in equal parts awe and horror.

The Order, traditionally, used faith defensively. On Treehome, on Branchhold, and on Threeworlds, my faith had so far been to maintain order in my controlled territories, to ensure loyalty among my subjects, and to support our domestic policies.

This was because of the faithÆs origins. We initially used the faith to counter the four temples of Gawa , Gaya, Neira, and AivaÆs crusade, so we needed agents on our side.

Hoyia turned that faith into a weapon.

A tool to turn the masses into my subjects. She crafted a bloody war where thousands died, to convert those who survived into an army of true zealots.

- Can we reconcile this? - Centrally, on Treehome, my lords and administrators wondered how to reconcile the different directions taken by various arms of the Order.

On Delvegard, we went through appealing to the dwarven pride, loyalty to their kind, and a desire for war. On Magisar, we inadvertently used fear and overwhelming power. On Landas, we rescued the people and won their loyalty. Now, on Twinspace, HoyiaÆs direction took them toward religious fervor.

These were all different ways of creating loyalty, and my followers from each of these worlds would view me differently.

The strength we needed to take the war back to the demons would require all kinds of strength from all over the multiple worlds. A part of me suspected that this cobbled order would fracture when the demons were finally destroyed. At least, at the lower parts of society.

But another part of me found it beautiful.

It was the part that found beauty in chaos. That it was only normal for loyalty and faith to take many different forms.

This messy, incompatible nature of everything was perfectly natural.

YEAR 283

Hoyia was the voice of god in the eyes of men, and when she spoke, the people listened, entranced. It was as if she held their hearts and wielded the masses as her limbs. The first victory sparked fear. An army that gained levels from battle, even if it was from the blessings of a higher power, was a threat. Each victory added to their strength, and the nations of Twinspace feared her rise.

Assassins were sent her way, but as if to prove her divinity, she allowed an assassin to stab her with poisons while she gave a sermon to the masses.

The power of A/ flowed through her, and through it, there was no poison that could match the Tree GodÆs restorative powers. Each attempt on her life only magnified her position amongst the eager believers. Miracles entrenched her place, and her powers, even if they were executed through the might of the OrderÆs machinery, only made her seem more godly.

Hoyia and her group of priests traveled from city to city, preaching along the way. An army walked with her, but cities that received her had already lost the moment she was allowed through the doors. It meant their propaganda had spread so strongly that a city wanted her there. It meant the populace wanted to see god in the flesh, merely to confirm what already lingered in their minds. Faith was insidious as the stories spread; they turned into a thought in the hearts of regular folk. And when that thought was confirmed with acts that seemed miraculous, that thought turned into faith. Loyalty. Zealotry.

Armies rose at the sound of her voice. Hoyia spoke with the weight of the Order.

- I feel like we as domain holders are thoroughly outclassed by how HoyiaÆs just bulldozing through the resistance. - Roon watched in a fair bit of amusement.

- ItÆs not that simple. The power of priests is more effective in such places. Dense and unhappy. Radicalization is often a response to a perceived oppression, and this world has always had the ingredients for such a cultish explosion. -

The reason why Treehome hadnÆt experienced a surge in cultish behavior was because the old Lords and Kings had powers that tipped the balance of power. A world with a System was inherently unequal, and it was in favor of those on top.

A cult movement from the grassroots, comprising a mass of peasants and serfs, would never be able to overpower the might of even mid - leveled Lords and Kings and their higher - leveled soldiers. It was why feudalism persisted despite centuries or millennia of civilization. I wondered whether Lumoof and Kafa felt it subconsciously, that this world was ready and that was why they felt so strongly about it.

Just like Delvegard was receptive to a Ragnarok - type mythology, TwinspaceÆs population was sold on the promised land.

The nearby nations raised four more armies, but as expected, Hoyia crushed them, and her army of zealots gained levels along the way. Her stronger army of loyalists was good for us. They added to our strength. Yet a part of me felt it was so wasteful.

Unlike Delvegard where the amount of blood actually shed was minimal, Hoyia decided to use the other nations refusal to join and convert to the faith, and their subsequent declarations of war, as a way to hone her men and solidify their loyalty.

There was camaraderie in fighting together. Friendship forged on the battlefield. Loyalty and awe earned by achieving greatness together.

It was her tool, her weapon, and she took the playbook straight out of our own history.

Our past.

FreshkaÆs expansion became the inspiration for her war, and her small council of priests worked extra hard to produce propaganda. That era, when we came to take over the Central Continent about one to two centuries ago, came to be referred to as the First A/ ic Revolution.

Propaganda was the whip, the masses her workhorses. This was HoyiaÆs moment.

Her army of zealots came to be known as the Undefeated Army as more and more zealots were sucked into the cult of the tree. Merchants carried the propaganda far and wide, and the constant string of victories amplified the insecurities of even faraway nations.

In just two years, she had managed to gain control of a quarter of the overpopulated continent. Kings and lords surrendered quickly, many overwhelmed by her zealots. Some kings and lords were dragged out to the streets by bloodthirsty zealots, captured and treated as criminals.

The strength of HoyiaÆs followers grew with each successful expedition, and soon she was surrounded and supported by a fairly large number of Level 50 to 60 individuals native to Twinspace.

Hoyia doled out special blessings to those who acted as her champions. Generals, captains, administrators, lords, and even kings.

Further away, Hoyia was referred to by those against their expansion as the Temptress of A/ . Seductress. Succubus. The false prophet of a false god. It was really familiar. I remembered being accused in a similar manner, and it was partly why Treeology priests emerged. Back then, I did it out of spite. If the four temples accused me as a false god, I might as well live up to my name and build a faith around me.

Parallels.

In life. In time.

My past struggles with the first crusades was now her inspiration to start a new crusade.

Life was surely fond of rhymes, even if the verses and words changed.

Caval

Ebon and Edna decided to take a leaf out of AlkaÆs experience, and both decided to try a hand at the art of making swords, the Caval way. The creation of these descendant swords on Caval was a spiritual affair, and surprisingly, it wasnÆt really that hard to walk up to one of these swordsmiths and ask.

Though the actual access to the hero swords itself was heavily guarded and the actual master sword smiths were treated as a member of the faiths of Caval, most individuals were granted fairly easy access to learn the basics.

- They teach everyone. - Ebon listened to a fairly drunk apprentice. - They say they never know who actually has the art of whispering to the sword, to create weapons that the world hasnÆt seen before. -

In the larger cities of Caval, the great hero swords and the knights were given titles, and they were often known as the inheritors of the descendant blades. The swords themselves did not choose their masters, and so the best weapons were in the hands of the kings and lords.

But descendant swords ultimately lost their blessings, and so the great kings and lords perpetually needed to replenish their treasury with new blades. But the priest - smiths struggled to forge better blades than what theyÆd already made.

For Edna and Ebon, the basic courses in making these descendant blades were pretty much standard steelworking, but with an additional step of prayers. The temples and all the priest - smiths advocated praying extensively and creating altars in the workspace itself to encourage - holy - weapons.

It was an affair so deeply intertwined with superstition and unusual traditions that didnÆt really lead anywhere, that the two generally concluded that the Caval swordsmiths were pretty much attacking the issue with mainly luck. Each city essentially built their own superstitions on what worked, but because there was no attempt to share how descendant weapons were made, the locals didnÆt really know what worked and what didnÆt. Most assumed their current methods worked well.

For Ebon and Edna, they were both already highly leveled, but making weapons was not their strength. So Edna approached the former hero companion of Caval, Shuwan, and asked her to accompany them in their journey throughout Caval.

The former hero companion Shuwan had a whole list of superstitions of what to do, and copying them didnÆt seem to work.

Edna wanted to somehow replicate a large quantity of these hero descendant swords and hopefully use them as an alternative means of creating strong weapons. The knights of Caval were also a decently leveled force.

- Actually, - Ebon stopped Edna about a year into their exploration, - IÆm starting to have second thoughts about the merits of this world. -

- Really? Elaborate them, - Edna said. Edna believed that having a wider variety of weapons was helpful.

- Caval is a strong world thanks to the presence of the descendant swords and highly leveled knights, but outside of the growing hero weapon, I think IÆve exhausted any potential avenues to any improvements here, - Ebon said. - I recommend swapping for a group of high - level blacksmiths to learn the localÆs way of making these hero descendant weapons and then opening a recruitment center to recruit talented squires who were passed on from receiving their hero swords. -

Edna thought about it for a few days and realized Ebon was right. CavalÆs knights had overlapped with EdnaÆs own knight - boosting abilities, but ultimately, it wasnÆt all that different.

Then the demonic invasion occurred. Demonic rifts opened by the hundreds across the vast uninhabited lands around Caval, and we saw the various Caval knights in action.

They handled it well, with the senior knights all about Level 80 or so, and augmented with powerful descendant swords, it gave the senior knights the ability to match up with the demon champions and win. We did notice one area where they were weak.

Armor.

The hero swords and their descendant swords gave their users tremendous offensive power, but the knights were frail, relying solely on their levels and what little armor they had. Even the swordsmith - priests focused primarily on creating new swords, and so the development of physical armor for their knights was still fairly basic.

They had metal armor, plate armor, and all that sort, sufficient for regular non - magic combat, but once their opponents were demonic champions with elemental abilities, the knights died very quickly. This meant the knights themselves and squires would often run into the battlefield itself and try to get hold of the fallen descendant blades.

For Cavalians, there was a myth that descendant blades significantly boosted their level gains.

But for Edna and Ebon, the demonic attack was the best time to get their hands on a descendant blade for their own studies.

They retrieved two such descendant blades from fallen knights and brought it to a lab for studies.

- Took you guys long enough to get one, - the mages and smiths joked as they quickly got hold of one. The two descendant blades were brought to a makeshift laboratory located in the mountains. Caval was a relatively large world with vast uninhabited lands, as the cities clustered around old hero swords. So there was plenty of space for a temporary site or even a node tree.

- We donÆt steal. Not where we can help it, - the A/ ic knight answered.

- ShouldÆve just sent some spies or thieves and be done with it. But never mind, letÆs look at this. -

With a descendant blade in our hands, we were finally able to dissect their components. It took the mages and smiths a few weeks, but eventually we had a single point of reference.

The descendant blades were actually similar to my familiars . They were offshoots of the main hero sword, and each of the blades contained a single mote that linked the descendant blades to their main blade. In fact, it was even possible for someone with star mana to trace the connection to its parent blade.

Like familiars, they could gain strength over time, because even my familiars were able to accumulate levels, though they were capped at a fairly low level. For my Valtorn Order operatives, this meant my familiars were always this additional source of strength since each familiar had skills they could tap into.

The discovery of the Artificial Souls and later the Titans had increased the level cap much further.

That partly explained the spiritual and ceremonial aspects of the creation of the descendant blades.

It needed a ceremony. A - contract. -

It was also likely that each city had their own different superstition because familiar contracts varied widely. A familiar from A/ had different requirements as compared to a familiar from the Lillies of the Lake or Aria and Aispeng of the frozen islands.

- So how do we exploit this? - the mage wondered to himself as they tinkered with the descendant blade. - We should get a hero from our world here and see what it does. A hero should be able to form a direct connection with the hero swords, even if they are not from Caval. -

It could also mess with the current native cityÆs defenses. Right now, every town and city relied on their hero swords to ensure that they were protected.

- Everything is finely balanced at this point, - Ebon said. - I believe we should leave it as it is. Just keep recruiting, while we independently figure out how to exploit these descendant swords. It does make me wonder whether we could have multiple such swords at the same time. -

- I believe not. Ten Level 30 to 50 familiars are still not much use compared to a single Level 100, - Edna said. - For the Order, at its current state, it is likely not too useful. -

The mage interjected, - But there are Titan - class familiars, even if A/ hasnÆt used it yet. These hero swords are an alternative path to achieve that. That said, its heroic origin may mean there are differences in its level cap that we do not yet fully understand. -

- But can we tell what level these weapons are? Or are they user specific? - Edna asked.

- Conventional appraise and inspect doesnÆt seem to indicate much information, but perhaps something powered by star mana could pierce through its heroic origins to tell us what it is, - the mage - researcher speculated.

- So we need the heroes here. - Edna frowned. - Let me get this cleared with the rest of the domain holders, and weÆll revisit this issue. For now, letÆs do as Ebon intended and have some blacksmiths and recruitment offices set up. -

- A/ , there are two things IÆd like to have to improve our expansion on Twinspace. One, please bestow on us a special weapon. A divine relic, so to speak. One that contains your presence and aura to the extent possible. A staff, or a weapon that feels as if it is divinity encased in a weapon. Two, IÆd like to request for a Titan to be deployed on Twinspace, as part of a ritual spectacle. Make it seem as if it is a summon. - Hoyia made a request.

- Is there a need for that? - I countered. - Just say it is your petition to me, and I answered your call. -

- Spectacle and ceremony is important, A/ . It is rituals to cement faith as something real, something part of their lives, something that they can then say they are a part of. -

- Very well. Which Titan? -

Forging an item that represented my being was a harder task than I initially expected, as the first few items I made through my normal growing process were decent, but not at the level that my operatives wanted.

HoyiaÆs request required an item that would be a relic. A holy object that was revered and prayed to.

So, with PatreeckÆs help, I went through all the items IÆd seen so far and narrowed it down to only the ones from Gawa on his Core world of Satrya and Lillies death staff, which felt like divine items, or close to divine items.

- Soul Forge feels like a good place to start. Or the Titans. -

A titan in a weapon was a little bit strange, and even if the titan - in - a - weapon would be very powerful, I doubted it would be a - holy - object. I still felt titans and artificial souls as less complete souls, and it didnÆt fit the idea of a holy object.

So soul forge it was.

I then spoke to Lillies on how to create such an object.

- It is not hard. One merely needs to cut off oneÆs self and shape it into something else, - Lilies answered. - It is like making seedlings. You should soak it, tie up its loose ends. Our bodies all contain a little bit of us. Our things, too. When they are separated from us, whatÆs left of us within those things decay, but you can stop it. -

Lilies answer was not too clear, but I supposed that was a way to start.

Lumoof naturally walked to one of my big branches and snapped one of my larger branches. It was a gigantic segment, and I felt a tiny bit of pain when he broke it off. He then immediately carried it over to my soul forge and threw it into the gigantic lightning - struck tree.

My broken branch was somehow transported into that soul space, where then I could see what Lillies spoke of.

Fraying ends, strands within the branch that were quickly decaying. It was as if I stared at a bundle of rope, and now the little threads that made up the rope were rapidly untangling. Left alone, there would be nothing left of my soul.

With my soul forge , it was fairly easy for me to reach out into the branch and meddle with it.

It was then that I realized the branch was malleable. As long as I reshaped the remnants of my soul within, here in the spiritual paste of the soul forge, the wood would follow whatever shape its - spirit - took.

Over long periods of time, the soul was like a slow, flowing liquid and took the shape of its container. It remembered an image of its body. But in the short term, the body took after and was guided by the soul. Healing, growth, all of that was the will of the soul and its soul spring.

I reached into the store of soul remnants IÆd collected over the centuries and stitched some of that soul remnants into the freshly broken branch. I meddled into the remaining spirit, and I could insert - skill seeds - just like how crafters blessed their weapons.

Interestingly enough, because this was forged from a broken piece of me, the spirit of the branch could hold a few of my own non - domain skills. A true copy linked to my power, a bit like a crystal that was used to store spells and abilities.

Since Hoyia intended for this to be a weapon of some sort, I added my root - strike ability, Fields of Death , Demonic Suppression Aura , and some poison abilities. I could feel this branch as if it was still a part of me and realized I probably could not make too many. These isolated spiritual fragments of me were linked to me, and overuse would be a possible drain on my own existence.

After what felt like two to three months of experimenting, Hoyia finally had an object worthy of a holy relic.

The Greatstaff of A/ Æs Fury was finally ready to be wielded, and next year, it was finally time to launch the first sea expedition to the demonic continent of Twinspace.

YEAR 284

Twinspace

The shipyards and drydocks of Port Tarfa were almost entirely new, and yet in the past six months, the twenty new shipyards each made a new warship every month. Each warship was able to ferry one hundred to one hundred fifty battle - ready warriors, along with all the new supplies. The warships were modifications of an existing design, aided by a few of the OrderÆs shipwrights.

The new yards, piers, drydocks, and structures made Port Tarfa the single largest port on this side of the main inhabited continent of Twinspace. The first of many more to come, but the first thirty or so warships would set sail for the islands located along the path would form the First Exploratory Fleet, while the remaining ships would undergo more preparations.

They would set sail for the smaller islands that existed between the two continents and reclaim the string of volcanic islands from their native monsters. The fleet would then spend some time there and build those islands up, if they found a suitable location, and transform them into one of A/ Æs outposts.

The sea - facing frontage of the port city was crowded, as tens of thousands wanted to watch the great sendoff.

Three sea commanders would receive blessings today, from Hoyia herself, and through Hoyia, they would all receive a Class Seed . The War Admiral class would elevate their existing Captain variant classes and make them more effective for their assigned mission.

On the largest pier, Hoyia stood on a platform specially constructed for her, as she revealed her relic for the first time. Even if it was just a fragment, a fragment of god was still a fragment of god.

The entire city could feel it as Hoyia channeled her priestly powers and stood in front of the three seafarers. She commanded them to consume the class seed, encased and fused into a fruit. The priests began to sing, and the three dug in and ate the fruit, unsure of why they were told to do so. But it was then that all three of them felt their classes change.

The surprise in their eyes was all the answer anyone needed. They were chosen as they were part of the loyalists. One of them was probably a skeptical believer, while the other two were zealots.

The true zealots wept openly as they felt their Captain classes evolve, and they openly praised their god. They screamed, and one of them turned to face his ship.

- Sailors, warriors! Today we are blessed. Today he has made me an Admiral . And today, we set sail for the Cursed Continent and drive away the demons! -

The crowds went wild, and the rumors flew.

- Did you hear that? The captain has an Admiral class! - merchants said as the stories spread.

- This god claims to have the ability to evolve our classes? - The tales began to spread. They were whispered in the taverns and crowded inns of Twinspace. Rumors regurgitated by merchants as they walked the busy trading routes.

- I saw it happen! - the merchant answered. - I was there at Port Tarfa, and I couldnÆt believe it! ItÆs real! -

- You know there are abilities that can deceive your eyes! - The other merchant was skeptical.

- But the Saintess Hoyia, I cannot imagine it. If youÆve seen her, you will know! -

- YouÆre really smitten with that woman. -

- YouÆve just never seen her. -

Back on the main continent of Twinspace, Hoyia continued to add more cities and nations into her growing holy empire, where she and her high council of priests existed as a ruling cabal.

A holy empire, and again, in another year, she now controlled half of the continent. The other half raised an army against her and promised to brutally slaughter anyone who spread her dangerous ideology.

But they couldnÆt stop ideas whispered secretly. Kings and lords themselves met Hoyia and found themselves impressed by her presence, some charmed, some smitten. The competition for her attention only drove up the desire to prove their use.

Her army grew, and her priests continued to spread. Hoyia had to call on a few of her peers back from the School of Treeology to set up a small school in Twinspace to train the next generation of priests and to continue carrying the ideology to even more places.

Meanwhile, the journey to the islands took about three months, and the ships were about a third of the way to the Cursed Continent.

The three newly promoted Admirals crushed the monsters along the path easily. The sailors and soldiers they brought were all around Level 25 to 40, but the presence of a few Order operatives and priests ensured victory.

The archipelago was located somewhere close to the middle of the ocean. The ocean that separated the two large continents was generally known as the Middle Ocean. The islands of the archipelago emerged from the oceans from layers and layers of underwater vegetation and corals. So the surface of the island itself wasnÆt sand, but instead small, disintegrated chunks of corals and other forms of decayed vegetation.

The largest of these had risen over the years into a small hill. It didnÆt have regular trees found on the main continent; instead, a land - adapted variant of the underwater corals were the primary form of vegetation on the largest islands.

An actual forest of land - based corals made for an island filled with bright colors and unusual shapes.

It was fascinating, and the few priests quickly ordered that samples be collected for further study. The place itself was magically quite dense, so the monsters that spawned in the area were magically strong.

In a different world, this unique place would likely be preserved as some kind of national park or place of interest.

- We could raise the earth and create artificial islands, like we did on Treehome, - one of the priests suggested to Hoyia. - It may not be necessary to tamper with the surreal beauty of this island just yet. A/ would prefer to have such beauty remain untouched, as we did on the other worlds. -

Hoyia thought about it and realized raising the earth in a place where the seabed wasnÆt so deep was feasible.

So a few Valthorn Earth mages warped in and found a patch that wasnÆt that deep. The unique corals were quite spread out, untouched for centuries if not millennia because no one actually came here, so we selected a patch of soil and raised it up to serve as an outpost. We would need it in the future to supply ships and patrol the seas.

The artificial island amazed the sailors, but they had to quickly get to work. The druids and mages quickly used magic to form structures, and the few builders also got to work setting up housing. It would be sufficient to house about ten thousand people once fully developed, but for now, all it needed to do was to provide anchor and shelter for the thirty ships.

Void Layers

Stella and Lumoof

Meanwhile, Stella and Lumoof took the opportunity to revisit the void layers, and we returned to find a place different from what we visited originally.

- This place looks different. -

- I thought we went to the same place. - Stella double checked her magical calculations. - Strange. -

- IÆm guessing our rules and magic donÆt apply anymore? - Lumoof laughed as the pair wandered around the different places. The realm around us twisted before our eyes. The skies shifted, as if changing to be the land, and the land became the skies. There were rivers of color that seemed to stretch and then later compress into veins that flowed in the sky.

Stella looked around. - Was it like this the last time weÆre here? -

Lumoof shrugged as he began to walk. Though he walked forward, somehow he went upward, as if the reality itself shifted him higher.

Stella blinked, a little amused to watch Lumoof float upward, entirely caused by the world itself reacting to his movements.

But just as suddenly, it stopped, and then he walked forward normally again. That made Lumoof stop, take a step forward, and find himself moving normally.

- Wild, - Lumoof said. Through our senses, it was hard to know what was changing, but we could feel it was. Our domains could assert our hold on the realm, but it was like trying to hold sand. A wave would just wash it away.

Lesser beings, those who were not protected by the domain, or close to it, might experience rapid deconstruction.

The last time we came to the void layers, we left a small artifact here, which we hoped to use to measure the void layers and what it was. The small artifact would collect magical readings and record it within a set of crystals located within.

We couldnÆt find it at first, until we suddenly recognized a massive, unusual object that was warped beyond its original shape. It was twisted and transformed into a gigantic crystal filled with strange twists and turns to its shape. It was as if the crystal was a living octopus.

The only thing that made us realize it was the artifact we left behind was the small logo carved onto its being. The twisted object lunged at him, clearly corrupted and twisted by the powers of the void layers.

Lumoof could easily still activate his abilities, but then we immediately noticed something. Our attacks changed when they interacted with the energies of the void layers. Our roots turned into something else and then crumbled.

We felt it again, a sudden shift in the void layers, as if a new set of commands or rules swept through the land. The crystalline octopus froze and exploded.

It transformed into a frog and jumped.

- You know, - Stella said, - I recognize this sort of thing. ItÆs like those cartoons where things get deconstructed. -

- I do not understand - Lumoof said briefly before he took in a bit of my memories and understood. - Oh. ooh. This place is the factory of worlds, and so it is anything and everything, but nothing is permanent. -

- Unless our domains exert our will over it, - Stella said. Our objects resisted the effects of the void layer slightly, but the longer they remained here, the more they changed. - It is wise that we erred on the side of caution. -

It was a different form of divine law. Just as some worlds had divine laws weaved into their entire world and forced things to operate in a certain way, the void layers were the primordial soup, and those without domains could not walk this space.

Lumoof paused and looked at Stella. There were weird puffs of smoke and clouds. They popped out of nowhere. - A/ theorized there could be a way back home, through these void layers. -

- Ah. Yes. I thought about that as well. - Stella looked at the crystal frog, which suddenly transformed again, as if agitated by our presence. - But I donÆt really want to go back. -

Lumoof said nothing and merely nodded. How deep did this place go? - Well, letÆs keep exploring. -

- There should be a way to use these void layers as a way to skip the regular distances of the void sea. - She tried to meddle with the space, as if trying to command the environment to change for her.

It didnÆt work.

Or more like there were too many other things for it to work. The void layers were layered with multiple changing energies. Different strands of fundamental laws of reality that imposed itself on the void layers. Some of those laws vanished, and new ones took their place.

There was no air to breathe.

The two could walk the space because they were domain holders, and their existences could be sustained by magic. Both knew that their abilities allowed them to operate without air or water.

- LetÆs just follow the pulses. - Stella pointed, but even that direction was not a good guide. Direction was strange in the void layers; they could walk left and move right. The pulses came from the front, and suddenly theyÆd walk into each other.

It felt like months. But it was only for a few days. The void layers. My senses through Lumoof were strained when he was in the void layers. It was as if I was dipped in a dark, pitch - black pool, and I could sense nothing beyond the thin barrier created by our domains.

We arrived at a gaping hole, where the only thing we could sense was more unusual energies. It wasnÆt really a hole. Not always. It looked like a rift in space, and then its shape kept changing. But in all forms, it took the shape of a door. A hole. A gate. A crack in space. A small valley. Even the size changed all the time.

From that gap, I could feel something constantly pushing against us. It sought to impose its will on us, but it couldnÆt.

Strangely enough, the System gave us a title.

They Who Saw The Void Layer Gates

- You got that? - Stella said.

- Yeah. -

- IÆm going in. -

- YouÆre not worried youÆll be sent back home? -

- I donÆt think so. Come with me, Lumoof, - Stella said, and we went in.

We were in another place, but it was the same. Well, different, same. For reasons I couldnÆt understand, it felt like it was both at the same time.

The Void Layer Gates sent us through instantly.

We were now in a place with strands, strings made of things I did not understand everywhere, and we were floating. It felt like being in the middle of a constant flow of strings moving around us. Though there was no light around us whatsoever and our senses were limited, somehow, we just knew they were there.

We floated, and here, we moved with thought.

Strands. It was as if they spoke of their presence to our souls directly, and thus their appearance took this strange form.

These strands were everywhere. Stella used a small light glowing from her hands, because the spell collapsed the moment it left outside the protection of her domain.

But the light from her hand allowed us to see, and the strands were all of a different set of colors. Some were rainbow colored. Some were pitch black. We were trapped in the middle of a constantly flowing river of strings, but there were little gaps here and there. Through the gaps, and through the little holes created as the strands stitched together, we could see little bubbles of worlds, and when we tried to walk toward them, or reach out to them, we couldnÆt.

It wasnÆt real. It was as if we were touching projections of light.

- So what do you think weÆre looking at? - Stella said as we kept walking. The path mustÆve led somewhere, even if there was no reason for it to.

Lumoof now wanted to touch the strands that were in front of him. They were so close, but they somehow instinctively moved out of the way. As if space itself bent to create space for us. We couldnÆt touch them. Even if they felt like they were in front of us, no matter how far we reached, it was always outside of the way.

But even observing the strands themselves, we noticed they were only sometimes real.

They flickered. Turning on and off. Randomly. Sometimes for long stretches of time, they remained real, the others, some of these strands withered away like dry sand in the wind.

- I have no idea what weÆre looking at, - Lumoof said.

- LetÆs go. It should lead somewhere. Somewhere the void layers want us to be. - Stella sighed as she floated. I wasnÆt sure if we were moving.

- Now youÆre saying the void layers want us to be somewhere? - Lumoof looked at the woman. The woman seemed sure. Suddenly. As if she felt something. - Are you hearing something? -

- Maybe, - Stella said. - Like, there is a voice somewhere. LetÆs go. -

- Where? - We had no sense of direction. I couldnÆt feel much beyond the boundaries of my domain, and what we saw changed all the time. The strands rotated, moved, and fluctuated. The only clue that we were moving was that the things just flowed out of the way.

- LetÆs just follow me, - Stella said as she held LumoofÆs hand. It was like swimming in an infinitely deep and wide ocean, filled with strings. Stella led us through the strands all around us. But we didnÆt know how far we were. There was no frame of reference, while the strands surely changed, but what and where were we going?

They continued for days. And then the days turned to months. From afar, I was unsure whether we were moving.

But Stella assured us we were. The void layers had a waypoint somewhere. It had a marker that she could feel, and we were getting close.

YEAR 284 (PART II)

Void Layers - 2nd Layer?

Lumoof thought it felt like years, but it wasnÆt. It was just the sameness of it all that made time seem to stretch out.

- How many days have we been moving? - Lumoof asked Stella. If he didnÆt regularly check in through our mutual connection, it almost felt like he was lost in the ocean of strings. At times, the strings looked fat, like gigantic, long earthworms. Sometimes they resembled colorful eels, wriggling and wobbling just out of reach around them, never quite touching them.

- I donÆt know, - Stella said, but she soldiered on. - Keep going. WeÆre almost there. IÆve been thinking about it for a while, but actually, this is a familiar feeling. -

- A familiar feeling? - Lumoof asked.

- I couldnÆt pin it down and kept wondering where I felt this feeling before. But you know, I learned void magic from the Zaratans, and the Zaratans have a mind - state where the void forest feels like something similar. Rather than strings, instead it was like a constant slurry of mud. -

- Oh. ItÆs different, then. - The avatar wasnÆt sure where Stella was going with it but humored her.

- It is, - Stella said, and then she stopped. - I think weÆre here. -

The strings just stopped moving, and without us fully coming to the realization, we were suddenly not in that part of the void layers anymore.

The layer below felt normal. There was soil, albeit blue soil. There was a sky, albeit a brown sky. There was a sun, albeit a black sun. But it was somewhat normal. Compared to an ocean of strings, this was normal.

- So, why are we here? - Lumoof looked around and touched some of the soil. The world didnÆt feel magical. Instead, it felt thoroughly devoid of magic, and all their magic would have to come from within them. This would be a dangerous world to be stuck in, if they didnÆt have their own internal ways of generating magical energy.

- I have no idea, - Stella said. - But it is a different layer. My senses tell me that much. Let me just lock this layer in? -

Lumoof gave the woman some space and so spent some time walking about the clearly lifeless place. It was as if it was a failed world. After a while, Stella looked like she was done registering the place into her own record of the void layers. - At least weÆre out of there. - Lumoof looked around. - Does your gut feel tell us where we need to go now? -

Stella blinked as she stared accusingly at the avatar. - My gut feeling is not a compass. -

- But you do know where we need to go. DonÆt you? -

The woman made a rare blush. - Well, yes. Yes, I do. Come. -

The vast lands eventually gave way to a single hole in the ground. Stella seemed to be able to feel the unusual flows of the void layers. - ItÆs like thereÆs a flowing layer in the background. ItÆs like water moving in a particular direction, and so all I do is follow it. -

Lumoof looked at her. - Will this actually go anywhere? Like weÆre trying to find a way to reach parts of the world we couldnÆt do normally. Does this actually help? -

- I donÆt know, - Stella answered. - But we have to understand it. At least, somewhat understand it. Then we can start using it. As it is, we know nothing. Something is still infinitely better than nothing. -

- That something is knowing that thereÆs a layer made of eels, strings, and elongated stretched objects is not exactly useful. -

- Yes, but they must exist to do something. The void layers donÆt feel purposeless. They have a purpose. Either as a failed state, a graveyard of worlds, or just as a nursery for something. They exist as a result of a creation process, - Stella said, but weÆd known her long enough to know this was part of her theorizing. - LetÆs go. -

We did, and we entered a tunnel. A vast, massive tunnel. But there were walls here. Walls that were invisible, its presence written into our souls. Yet we could see what happened beyond the tunnelÆs walls. In a distance imperceptibly far away, we both saw an egg form before our eyes.

A black egg, as massive as the world and more.

We walked and kept walking along that tunnel, fully able to see what was around us and what was ahead. As we walked further, we could see further, deeper into a giant, swirling black object.

Then we couldnÆt proceed any more.

There was a barrier, made of a tremendous amount of void energy, blocking our path. It was transparent and yet visible to our souls. A gigantic puzzle in the shape of an ever - changing door. A door that we could not open, no matter how much force or energy we exerted on it.

It was a mechanism present within the void layer. Perhaps a protection from things that the void layer didnÆt want others to touch.

- What in the world? -

Stella frowned as she tried to get past it. She looked at Lumoof. - Use A/ Æs power and try to hit it. -

Lumoof did, and with the full strength of my powers, we attacked this invisible barrier. The sensation was unusually clean, as if my powers smashed into a perfectly repelling rubber wall, and the recoil was just as perfect.

- Ouch. ItÆs not going to work. - From the recoil, it answered everything I wanted to know and realized how poorly made the demons void barrier was. Whatever it was that the demons used to block the rest of the worlds away from our eyes, it was nothing compared to this. This was incredible, and from that single hit, I knew I was dealing with something that was created out of the very laws of the multiverse. This was the System itself saying no to us. - I donÆt think IÆll break it with more power, no matter the number of times I hit it. -

Stella frowned, and yet she felt a connection to this mechanism. - ItÆs a lock. And I will need enough void mana to get through it. I have an inkling how to get past it, but IÆm - IÆm not ready yet. -

She just knew.

No. The very interaction with the mechanism and barrier fed the knowledge to her. It spoke to her and imprinted into her being that she wasnÆt ready.

She stopped and looked at Lumoof. - WeÆll return when IÆm stronger. I think I need to reach Level 250 to get past this layered lock. Whatever this is, it is made as a fundamental law of this layer, and we wonÆt get past it without fulfilling its requirements. -

- That is a very high bar to reach. - Lumoof looked further, and it was clear that there were other mechanisms in the way. - And it wonÆt be the last barrier. -

- If one wants to pursue the truth, it lies beyond this thing. LetÆs go home. - Stella looked back at the black swirling object that stood at the very end of the transparent tunnel. It wasnÆt black anymore. Instead, it started to change color. There were more eggs around us, each a nascent world preparing for birth.

Lumoof looked at it and back. Was this really something to the demons? This felt like one of those hidden stories that went far off course from our goals. - It may not be worth it. Our goal is to stop the demons. -

- I know. But I think, just maybe, this is something for me to chase after all of that is over. - Stella looked, and she created a portal to bring them out of the void layers.

YEAR 285

Mountainworld

The arrival of the demon king was long overdue. In the past three years, the demons rifts were a minor affair, since our Valthorns ensured that none of these demon rifts ever caused any significant damage.

After the last attack on Mountainworld about seventeen years ago, it would finally be time for Mountainworld to face its regular, scheduled disaster.

It was slightly late. WeÆd been monitoring the connected demonworld for the past three years and hadnÆt detected much movement, and on our end, we didnÆt want to trigger another demon comet by attacking the demonworld world directly. So we allowed it to play out as usual.

Over the next few years, there were quite a few demon kings that would spawn.

The world of Caval, with the hero swords, would face a new demon king in a few years. Whether we followed EdnaÆs plan and allowed for a hero to be summoned or deferred to Stella and destroyed the demon king upfront was still open. I personally leaned toward EdnaÆs plan, since, if what the gods said was true, heroes really did return to that moment in time where they - died - or a version where they didnÆt die.

Yes, it would be traumatic for the hero, but with the right support system and a community of fellow heroes, we could minimize the pain while we got a chance to fully explore the powers of a growing hero sword and try to push that to the limits.

There was quite an interesting overlap between the nature of these hero swords and the nature of my artificial souls and titans. I thought that the learnings from this experience could lead to stronger artificial souls.

It really could not be understated how useful artificial souls were in administering my vast empire. It was the artificial souls that controlled the movement of beetles throughout the empire. Without the artificial souls ensuring that my beetles moved where they were supposed to, the logistic network of the Order would grind to a halt. They were pretty much the trucks and cargo ships of my empire, the red blood cells ferrying crucial cargo everywhere.

Better artificial souls would only allow me to handle more beetles and deploy even more resources.

There was also the world of Triotuga. When we visited that world, the demon king was already dead, but in the next few years, they should have a demon king as well. It was also one where we would live to observe the Boarpeople and how their powers interacted with the demon kingÆs presence.

Then there was Twinspace and Ulara, where the demon king still reigned unchallenged.

All in, there were about four to five demon kings over the next five years to defeat.

We would use these battles as a chance to elevate people like Lozanna , Ebon, and Hoyia to be the next generation of domain holders.

A few others like them all asked for a chance to face the demon king without assistance. We roughly concluded that it was quite difficult to be domain holders if they fought demon kings with too much help. They needed the experience, the entire experience. The Level 140s would battle the coming demon kings entirely on their own, until they were spent and totally unable to. Only then would our domain holders step in.

It was risky, but no one became domain holders without taking on some risk.

WeÆd grown large. Large enough that there was going to be some world, somewhere, that was going to be invaded by demons and a demon king.

We could handle it.

Ulara was a world we were quite torn on.

They were a low priority world. The peripheral worlds and their perilous conditions meant IÆd need to maintain my node trees for convenience of access to the peripheral worlds and to facilitate smoother movement of traffic.

If I gained an increase in my number of node trees, I was still hesitant to place a node on the little snakeworld of Ulara, partly because the locals didnÆt really want me there. But if Snek insisted, I would spawn a node tree just so that they could have an exit route, if that day ever came to pass.

Meanwhile, I spent some time checking on the city of New Ulara.

The new group of Ularan migrants, who made a home on Tropicsworld, did well. The past decade of expansion and growth meant the hard part of migrating had mostly passed. Most of the Ularans now settled down, and the new generation of Ularans adapted to their new way of living. Snek hoped that New Ulara would take after the practices of the older, pre - demon Ularans, before the demonic conquest, but those records were still back on Ulara.

The old den lords were not keen to allow those who left a chance to return. Their reasons were entirely understandable. They didnÆt want their ideology to spread amongst the Ularans that remained behind.

So, without access to the ancient records, Snek shared stories as much as he could remember and the builders of New Ulara tried to recreate the old cities of Ulara to the best they could.

But it was a struggle. Even after so many years, the Ularan migrants were so used to the subterranean life that life on the surface was awkward, and even after a decade, there were still some parts where their behavior was strange.

They were getting better. Day by day, there was improvement.

From what I could see, this was probably one of the better stages to be in. The pioneer era was the time when great chances were made, new norms were formed, and society experienced a period of genuine, well - distributed growth.

New Ulara was meant to be the new symbol of the UlaranÆs desire for change, and in some ways, it was. The younger Ularans grew up without fear of the demons, even if it would take a generation or two to fully change their ways.

Just like many others, they would grow up different from their parents.

The early mature and developed stage would usually be the golden era. The post - pioneer era where some structure and order would emerge, but not still not overwhelming. Resources would be abundant, everyone would have opportunities to make something for themselves, ancient norms and rules would still not be so rigid, and their society would go through the equivalent of their teen and early adult years.

For some societies, this was when they peaked, and it was all downhill from there, unless they went through a good process of renewal.

Institutions got used to a particular way of working, and over time that created a force that resisted improvement. No, more than the ossification of institutions was the presence of immortals.

It was very much true in worlds with magic, where there were existences like myself. Immortals created a concentration of power that resisted change, unless the immortals themselves desired change.

We were the old pillars that prevented the rot from being too deep, but we were also the barriers that prevented further improvement. The societies, due to the pervasive effects of the immortals, over time were an image, a creation of their controlling immortalÆs views.

Freshka

The heroes had a few relatively peaceful years, and for them, they moved about and visited each other. The income provided from trading the hero items to the Order was lavish and afforded them many luxuries. Some heroes, like Khefri, liked massive mansions with dancers and all that.

It was a very comfortable and luxurious life, but I could tell that they were all a little lonely. Only Colette and perhaps Prabu were less so.

It was not as if the heroes didnÆt have friends. Many did try to make friends and successfully did so with the various Valthorns, whom at some level could be their peers. But they were never too close.

The restraints on the hero class didnÆt just hurt their ability to maintain their sanity. The hero class sabotaged their ability to form connections with their friends. Peers. But IÆd seen how to break the hero classÆs constraints.

I understood that it was all written into the structure of the soul spring. That white, corrupted soul spring. And so Colette also suggested something for Prabu and the rest of the heroes.

It emerged because Colette grew increasingly frustrated at how much she had to look after the rest of the heroes.

- The soul spring contains our hero class, and if you remember correctly, it cracked over time. Can you have a look into PrabuÆs soul and see whether there is something in there? -

The heroes regularly visited my biolabs for scheduled medical checkups once every few years. They were heroes, but it was a good habit. It kept them in generally good shape, physically. But the mental aspects were gated behind the heroic soul spring, and I wouldnÆt touch it unless explicitly instructed to.

I dipped into the heroÆs soul, and from outside, it looked generally all right.

Prabu winced, but I could feel his mind struggling. I sometimes wondered whether the hero class had some level of sentience to it. At least, maybe CavalÆs hero class had something different to it.

- IÆm going to lift up your soul spring. If thereÆs something hidden within your soul spring, or if thereÆs some damage, weÆll take it out. -

It was relatively easy to lift the once - heavy heroic soul springs. They still consumed a large amount of energy, but given my stronger levels, it felt as if they were lesser.

Stronger, I felt confident and tried to look deeper into the spring itself. The last time I tried, it felt like the heroÆs class resisted, but this time, that resistance could not stop me. So I noticed that some of the rocks that represented the hero class protruded into the flow of the mana.

It was as if the rocks were shaping the flow of the soulÆs mana into the rest of the body.

I lifted the stones that formed the hero skills, and as Colette predicted, there was damage throughout the rocks.

- There is damage, isnÆt there? - Colette frowned, who was also along for the ride through a sharing of vision via Dream Academy . - Can you fix it? -

My spiritual tentacles touched them, and the damaged rocks were fused back together. They were not really actual stones, but more like representations of a hero class. Was all this some kind of wear and tear? I did not recall such damage in my Valthorns, as I had done similar checks on them.

Was this the engineered decay of the hero class? The heroes experienced skill decay after they defeated the demon king. Was this - decay - wearing into their soul spring? There were some remnants, the ground - up dust and shattered remains of these hero class stones. I picked them up and kept some.

When I did, I got a notification from the System.

Dusts of the Heroic Class - Can be used to seed new classes and skills and empower them significantly.

Was this why there was a mechanism within the System to convert the hero classes to something else? For non - hero classes, they often took a different color and shape, and these non - hero classes were often forced to the outer ring of the Soul Spring.

Colette quickly reminded me to focus on Prabu. - Ah yes. LetÆs get to it. -

I picked up PrabuÆs heroic class stones and fixed them one by one, but as I went deeper, I reached some of the protruding rocks. I didnÆt understand why they were meddling with PrabuÆs soul flow, and they were likely pushed out of place over the years.

I adjusted the locations of these rocks so that they no longer blocked the flow of mana from the spring.

I was done. - HowÆd you feel? -

Prabu blinked as his partner quickly gave him a hug. - I feel. strange. Strangely clear - headed. Like, everything feels fresh and new. -

- ThatÆs amazing. Should we do this for everyone? - I asked Colette.

- Yeah. LetÆs ask them. IÆll word it as just some spiritual healing and therapy. -

YEAR 285 (PART II)

Mountainworld

Lozanna double checked her armor and triple checked her arsenal of spears. They were all tremendously powerful weapons, and there were fifty - five of her peers around her. All of them were preparing for the battle. Ebon. Hoyia. Lozanna . The dwarven mage Blackthorn and many others prepared for a battle against the demon king.

Fifty - five Level 140s would attempt the first attack on the demon king, and the hope was that some of them would make it past the finish line.

For some, the mood was relaxed. - I heard youÆre making big waves on Twinspace. - Ebon grinned and tapped the matriarch on the shoulder. He looked proud of his fellow Order teammate.

- It has to be done, - Hoyia answered. The matriarch had more armor on than the rest of them. Her physical abilities were probably one of the weakest, so she had to shore it up with more armor and equipment. - Just as what we have to do today. -

Lozanna thought about what Hoyia did ever since the developments were updated on their shared intreenet. She was there during the crusades against A/ and felt a little bit of unusual envy. She shouldÆve been there. She shouldÆve tried the same thing with Magisar, too.

Mages were not immune to religious propaganda, but as someone who grew up with A/ in her life, it was just something so taken for granted that she didnÆt even know where to start. For Hoyia, inventing a tale and a myth was perhaps easy. Maybe it was her class, that of a priest, that made storytelling easy.

Somehow, the knight noticed Lozanna . - Has someone relieved you on Magisar, Lozanna ? -

Lozanna snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. - Ah, yes. A Mage Lord finally arrived to do so, but IÆm staying back to help the transition of power. What about you? I heard you were on Caval for a bit. Was there anything interesting there? -

- ItÆs nothing much. - Ebon shrugged as if it wasnÆt much. - The living weapons are interesting and worth researching, but I think itÆs going to be quite challenging to get anything else of value out of it. -

- Good that you called it quits before youÆve spent too much time there, then, - Lozanna added. - Or are you still headed back there? -

- About that, it is complicated. I think weÆll see each other on Twinspace instead, once HoyiaÆs naval expeditions are in full swing, - Ebon said as he also checked his weapons. The knightÆs assortment of weapons came from many different craftsmen, and he had a wide range of spears, swords, and lances, but one of the things he tried to do differently was minimize the use of blessings from other domain holders.

There were some competing theories on whether the assistance of other domain holders made it harder for a person to make that final cut, so even amongst the group of Level 140 Valthorns, there was some variation in whether their equipment were enchanted with the blessings of other domain holders.

A few of them went as far as surrendering A/ Æs familiar, just so that they could truly put themselves on the line.

Lozanna breathed. She didnÆt go that far. The Court of the Deitree was too important to her. She nodded. - Yeah. LetÆs go get that demon king. -

Ebon nodded. In theory, there was enough firepower here to match a demon king. But because it was split across multiple individuals and not focused, that partly meant its effectiveness was minimized. - You, too. See you later. -

One of the mages in front made a signal, and everyone got into position. It was time to step through the portal and head to where the demon king would arrive. Patriarch Lumoof would watch the battle from somewhere relatively nearby and step in once the Level 140s were spent.

She hoped it never got to that point but took a moment and looked around. Some of her peers had no backup teleportation device. Some of them did.

Reckless, but theyÆd been stuck so long.

Was recklessness one of the factors? She didnÆt think so. But after such a long, frustrating stagnation, one step before the finishing line for years, she could understand why some of them tried such unusual strategies.

A few of them looked nervous. If she told anyone else, theyÆd probably think it would be fiction. Even if their foe was a demon king.

To the regular folk, it was hard to imagine people who were Level 140s being nervous. Folks that were so close to divinity having to give themselves a pep talk was a hilarious image.

Those not here would not understand the emotions they had or what it was like to face a demon king with few exit routes.

Lozanna closed her eyes momentarily and gave herself a pep talk. She would make it.

She closed her eyes briefly and imagined her mother. She remembered her childhood, hiding in the tree. The decades since A/ Æs presence had made Mountainworld into a safe place. She would like to help spread that presence to more worlds.

Everyone deserved freedom from a plague that did nothing but destroy. Some forms of destruction resulted in renewal. They destroyed the old so that the new could replace them.

The rift gate opened, and the Level 140s waited.

And they were off.

Lozanna watched the demon king emerge from the rift, in one of the thousands of mountainous valleys of Mountainworld. Mountainworld was home to numerous mountain ranges, created not by tectonic plates but by the flows of magic that forced the terrain to flow with it.

Demon King Armaddon has arrived.

The demon king was a large scaled creature, resembling an armadillo with heavy armor, and with four legs all ending in sharp claws. It emanated a toxic aura, and the gaps in the armored scales periodically released some kind of gas. A root - mask emerged via her Court of the Deitree and covered her face. Some of the other Valthorns changed into full body suits of armor and magical masks, while others relied on A/ Æs familiars to create a breathing mask.

Her spears charged with power, as she ran up to the gigantic armadillo demon, while the rest of the regular demons also emerged from the rift.

Distractions.

The skies rained with fire and magic, as the mages of the Valthorns bombarded the area with magic. These attacks quickly thinned the battlefield, and Lozanna herself closed in. The poison was slightly corrosive, requiring her to activate a healing ability in response.

The first strike slammed into the heavy armor and left a crack. But it was healing.

She cursed and struck again. About half of the Level 140s were priests and healers, and they mostly kept their distance.

She struck again, as she felt the priestÆs blessings kick in. Her body, enhanced by the priestÆs Strength of the Divine , made a deeper strike into the armor.

- Try the gaps between the scales! - Ebon shouted as he treated his weapons as if they were disposable. He thrusted the powerful, magically charged spears and lances into the gaps and detonated the stored magical power.

It ripped a few of the scales off and exposed some kind of flesh underneath.

- Eh. YouÆve made the opening. - Lozanna smiled as she dived at the unprotected flesh. The key to the demon king was the demon kingÆs core. There were two real ways of killing the demon king.

One was to drain the demon king of its energies. Each time the demon king regenerated or repaired itself, it used up the energies within the core. That was its - health. - Once that ran out, the demon king wouldnÆt be able to restore itself and would die. Of course, the demon core also could regenerate its magical energy, so the damage delivered would have to exceed the regeneration in order to reach the point where that was even possible.

The other way was simpler: damage the demons core itself. Lozanna knew this worked because she had seen how Lumoof and EdnaÆs strikes delivered damage to the core, even if it didnÆt hit it directly. That was key to quickly defeating the demon king.

A/ Æs ability to deal spiritual damage directly to the demon kingÆs core and mess with the rest of the demon kingÆs abilities worked exceptionally well and was partly why demon kings felt weaker in his presence.

Lozanna dived into the flesh herself and thrust her blade into the opening. The armadillo demon king responded by flooding its flesh with poison and some kind of acid.

- I canÆt stay in there long with that, - Lozanna said as she leaped out. The barrier created by her familiar wasnÆt strong enough to overcome the deluge of poison and acid. Some of her armor was already partially corroded.

The mages and priests that kept their distance understood, and she was then blessed with an array of shields and barriers. - Thanks. -

- Me too, - Ebon said as he briefly retreated to the mages. His armor was heavily damaged, but he managed to rip apart some of the armadillo demon kingÆs scales on the other end. - IÆll get in from the other side. -

There were about twenty other Level 140s harassing the demon king, and a few of them tried what Lozanna did. So far, not one of them died yet.

- DonÆt be reckless, - Lozanna said as her spears glowed. - Even if this demon king is slightly on the weaker end, they shouldnÆt take such risks. -

- Says the one diving into a flooded pool of acid and poison. - Ebon smiled as his armor somehow regenerated magically, armor shining as if it was newly forged. - We are all prepared to die, milady. Our conviction is just as strong as yours. -

Lozanna blinked and then smiled. - Ah. That is true. Then letÆs see who gets to it first. -

The Valthorns launched wave after wave of attacks, but the demon kingÆs toughness was truly impressive. A few of them tapped out and retreated.

Lozanna kept trying, but the demon kingÆs core proved elusive. The creature was too large, and each of their strikes wasnÆt deep enough. She remembered how Edna once said that she felt thoroughly frustrated.

She was a domain holder, but even at Level 150 to 190, she didnÆt have enough firepower.

But no. Lozanna knew she couldnÆt think that way. Edna was Edna. She was someone else, and her talents were different.

She saw Ebon run through different weapons; each of his strikes cut fairly deep but consumed the weapon itself. She needed a way to strike the demon kingÆs core, but could she replicate some of Lumoof and A/ Æs spiritual sensing ability?

She activated her Court of the Deitree and used her spiritual vision. It couldnÆt see through the demon kingÆs body.

She should have been able to see through it. Frustrated, she moved much closer to the demon king and landed into one of the regenerating wounds, stabbing her spear deep into the demon kingÆs body. Using the spear as a listening, sensing tool, she tried to sense where the turbulent magic of the demon king came from.

The demon king flooded her with demonic mana.

Lozanna saw her skin change color, as the demons magical energies flowed through the spear and into her hand.

Ebon, on the other side, slammed his sword into the demon kingÆs flesh with all his might. The attacks caused the demons magical energies to wane slightly, and Lozanna Æs own spiritual energy pushed back and regained control of her hand.

Still, she tried to find the demon kingÆs core. The armadillo was too large. They wouldnÆt get anywhere if they kept attacking like this.

Then Lozanna felt herself flooded with holy energy. Hoyia and a few other priests noticed what Lozanna was trying to do and combined their energies to bless her.

The best thing she could do now was to not waste it, so she pushed her own spiritual presence through her hand and into the spear.

- Where was the demon kingÆs core located - She cursed as she felt the two powerful forces fight within her soul. Hoyia and the priests channeled their powers through her, and the demon kingÆs energy fought back.

- Keep up the attack! - Ebon rallied the rest of the fighters to buy Lozanna some space. The rest of them launched volleys of attacks against the armadillo.

Lozanna searched systematically through the demonic creature, and then she found it.

She immediately took out a special spear and held it up. - Hoyia! Bless the spear! - she commanded as she channeled her own magical energies and abilities. The spear glowed, and she lunged it toward the demon kingÆs core, hidden beneath multiple layers of demonic sinew and muscles.

That attack caused the armadillo to flail wildly, as the spearÆs energies barely grazed the demon kingÆs core.

The attack hurt it slightly.

- Again! - But this time, the armadillo flailed like a wild bull and began to curl up into a ball. A few of the druids and mages tried to stop it and used the weapons to hold the demon king in place, but they were not strong enough. Lozanna Æs spear touched the demon kingÆs core again, and she felt a little crack.

Then the demon king released a powerful burst of energy.

Lozanna cursed and immediately moved out of the way as a spherical explosion emerged from the demon king. The demon king transformed as the explosion forced all the Valthorns to retreat.

The giant armadillo transformed into a smaller, human - sized beast and immediately charged toward Lozanna with tremendous force.

- ThatÆs enough. - Lumoof emerged as his avatar formed. A massive shield of wood slammed into the demon king with a thunderous boom, sending shockwaves throughout the valley. Then the spiritual roots emerged. If the attack hit her, Lozanna knew that was the end. - WeÆll take it from here. -

A/ emerged, and the demon king was no match for their enraged divine patron.

The demon king was slain but a few moments later. Lozanna watched the battle end and knew theyÆd have to try again? -

Demon King Armaddon has been slain.

That wouldÆve been the end of it, as it normally did.

But then, Lozanna felt the SystemÆs whisper continue.

She blinked.

YouÆve gained a level. You are now Level 150 and may now select a domain. You have three available choices.

Domain of the Spirit Warrior

The Spirit Warrior is a master of weapons that strike at the spiritual heart of your enemies. You will gain a range of abilities and weapons that attack both the spirit and the flesh. These spiritual attacks are able to ignore conventional and magical defensive abilities. You are also able to bless weapons to grant them the ability to temporarily deliver attacks that pass through conventional and magical defenses.

Subdomain of A/ - A/ Æs Huntress

As a subdomain of A/ , you gain an ability to link through A/ Æs clone and tree network, allowing you to move seamlessly through the multiverse at will. You will also gain a range of combat abilities similar to your patron god, to enact fury on his behalf. You are able to transform trees into A/ ic War Treants and also summon A/ Æs beetles to support you in combat.

Domain of the Unchosen Champion

You once wanted to be a hero, and youÆve finally reached the starting point. This domain replicates certain heroic abilities youÆve encountered in your journey, except for the heroÆs forge , and allows you to use star mana, convert your mana to star mana, and vice versa over a period of time. You gain the ability to use and manipulate unprotected hero - items without any penalty.

Lozanna blinked again and then turned to look at Lumoof with shock.

- IÆm Level 150, and I have a very important choice to make. -

YEAR 285 (CONTINUED)

Lozanna , on Mountainworld

Lozanna stood at the side of the crater, the demon king already crushed by A/ Æs roots. The corpse of the armadillo demon king was filled with roots that tore it apart. One of the roots was holding an intact demon kingÆs core. It would be another one for A/ Æs group of mages and artificers to study.

But it was just a passing point of note. Her mind was preoccupied. Ascension.

Something she had hoped for, and now she had finally achieved it. Her mind swirled at the choices.

She had never planned for this part. After all, without knowing what the domains were, what sort of planning could there be?

She looked around.

Was she the only one? Ebon looked exhausted, and she felt for him. He had worked just as hard. There was Hoyia on the side; she seemed relieved. She also felt a little bit stronger. Hoyia was in the Level 140s, but she wasnÆt exactly at the edge. She mustÆve gained a few levels and now she was on the cusp of becoming a domain holder.

But Ebon noticed Lozanna Æs eyes, and he walked to Lozanna . - You did it. I could feel it. -

- I did, - Lozanna said but thought of consoling the knight. Ebon was at that edge far longer than anyone else, and yet the System gave her the domain before him. Why? There were a thousand questions in her mind, but none would help at this moment.

But she stopped before the words left her mouth. Ebon didnÆt need it. He was a damned good knight; he didnÆt need her consoling worlds. She knew he would trudge on. He tried his best to smile. - Good job. ItÆll be me next time. -

- It will, - Lozanna answered. The rest of the Valthorns packed up. The battle was over, and it was now time for their routine cleanup. A group of mages and crafters teleported in and began to mine the space for anything valuable.

Hoyia walked over as well to congratulate her. - Well done. -

Lozanna smiled and said the usual thanks. There were many others who all came to congratulate her, but for now, she had something to think about. Something important that would truly shape the rest of her life.

It was an interesting set of three choices, and she wondered how they fit in her life. Lumoof once said that oneÆs domain choices seemed to be based on their class and their selection of abilities, but it was also a reflection of the direction of their lives.

She had served A/ since her childhood and wondered whether A/ Æs Huntress seemed to represent that. Her early life when she grew up under A/ Æs care and the later years when she served as one of the tree godÆs many warriors. As one of the earliest members of the Valthorns, she was sent on many missions to support the thenûNew FreekaÆs issue.

She speculated the first one, the spirit warrior, arose from her attempts at developing powerful piercing weapons, again, as part of her role as an agent of the Valtorn Order.

The last choice made her think of her old uncle Yura . She would love to see his reaction to this. Maybe she wouldÆve told Uncle Yura that her dream of being a hero wasnÆt impossible after all. Or maybe he wouldÆve been really proud of her. Even though it had been many, many years since he died, for a moment, she imagined him there tapping her on the shoulder.

- Well, who wouldÆve thought? I was wrong after all, - the imaginary Uncle Yura said with pride. - To think the little girl that I stopped from killing a wolf is now a champion. -

She shook her head. Her heart wasnÆt ready to choose at this time. So she looked around some more, noticed there wasnÆt much left to do, and then said to Patriarch Lumoof, - I think I want to go home and go see my mother and my two kids. -

Lumoof nodded. - ThatÆs a good thing to do. Go and clear your mind. YouÆll need it. -

Maybe she should visit her late husbandÆs grave as well. Yeah. She should. People that she should talk to before she decided on which of the three to go for.

Her heart told her that she should go for the last one. It was a dream, a dream she had buried and told herself was impossible, but deep down inside, her subconscious still didnÆt really believe it was.

As she returned to Freshka after the war on Mountainworld, there were many others that sought her attention. News of her ascension was only known to the Level 140s and domain holders, but she knew it would spread eventually.

For now, home.

Home was her well - furnished mansion in a quiet corner of Freshka. It wasnÆt the first home, but it was where she had lived for the past few decades. It was here where she remembered Kei knocked some sense in her and then convinced her to rejoin the Order.

She should thank her for giving her that jolt she so sorely needed. And it seemed that the golem had a talent for impeccable timing.

- I came to see you. - Kei, it seemed, had read her mind and was already in the area waiting for her. - I heard from Lumoof. -

- He told you? -

- I would curse him for an eternity if he didnÆt. - Kei the golem tapped her on the shoulder. - One more to A/ Æs pantheon of future deities. - Kei didnÆt need to drink, and yet she came with some kind of juice from one of her favorite fruit juicers.

- Did Lumoof tell you about my choices? -

- ThatÆs why IÆm here. He didnÆt. He said IÆd have to ask you myself. That damned old man feeding me with incomplete information. -

The newly ascended elf found the golemÆs reaction amusing. - He just didnÆt want to spoil the surprise then. Do you want to know?Æ

- Of course I do! - Kei said loudly and thumped her crystalline chest. Her biocrystalline form was so good at mimicking flesh that Lozanna still occasionally forgot that she wasnÆt actually a human anymore. - IÆm invested in your success! -

The two settled down in one of the reading rooms in Lozanna Æs mansion, and the elf narrated the three choices. In the end, KeiÆs choice was very similar to Lozanna Æs gut feeling.

- Choose the unchosen champion. ItÆs the path for you to do what youÆve always wanted to do but couldnÆt. Star mana is tremendously powerful. -

- I believe so, too. But I thought of giving it some time before I make that commitment. We are not at the point where I need to rush through that decision. -

After Kei, a few of Lozanna Æs closest friends and families all came to talk to her. Her mother, Laufen, was proud as hell and wished that her father would have been there to see it. Her daughter, Arlisa, didnÆt seem too excited. If anything, Lozanna Æs success turned into a deeper, larger shadow that loomed over her life. Lozanna tried to tone it down, but ArlisaÆs frustration only grew.

Her son was fairly relaxed and didnÆt have much of an opinion of his own. He was just glad that now that she was a domain holder, she would be eligible for the resurrection ability of A/ . He didnÆt have to fear losing his mother, and that was all that he needed to know.

The Valley of the Unrotten. It was the name those who came after her gave to this place. The name of the place where they survived the Rottedlands.

She didnÆt like the name. It was her home. It was Freeka, and then New Freeka. It wasnÆt such a deep, scary valley, either. Their long confinement of almost two decades surviving on their own druidic produce and what little food they farmed in the valley was a memory most of them didnÆt think about.

Things were definitely better now.

Nostalgia. Her mind thought about those days when she was trapped here in the valley.

The valley had changed so much. This place used to be home. Their homes used to be within the various subsidiary trees of A/ , but it had been more than a century. She hadnÆt been back in a long time, and yet the very act of achieving oneÆs domain seemed to refresh her past.

So here she was.

The place felt dense. A/ Æs presence was so heavy here, and before she got her domain, at times it felt suffocating. She could even tell he was trying to shift his presence around, but A/ Æs presence distorted the world and that distortion was unmistakable. Increasingly, even Edna, Stella, and Lumoof all also distorted the world around them.

For lesser beings, they were at the mercy of something that could unmake them in many different ways.

This time, this visit, it all felt different. She could still feel A/ Æs powerful presence, but it gently moved around her, as if she was a boat sailing through calm, peaceful waters. She was once a sandcastle facing the ocean tide, but today, it was as if her sandcastle was made of carved marble and stone, and the waters did not harm her.

- TreeTree, are you there? - Lozanna could speak to him everywhere, and yet she still came here to speak to him.

Her childhood that at some point seemed hazy now turned clear. She knew her fellow domain holders had rather vivid memories, but the sudden clarity to her memory and the strength of her nostalgia made her wonder whether this was an effect of the choices available to her.

- Yes. - The voice spoke into her head, and she blinked as she realized she could alter the form of that voice. A/ Æs voice had taken an ethereal, choral quality over the years, as if a thousand trees rustling and speaking together at once. Now, with the domain, the voice she allowed to enter her mind was within her control.

She could shape that voice such that it didnÆt overwhelm her, and she blinked as she realized how much leeway she had to shape the voice of those communicating with her telepathically.

She had always known that the domain protected them from mental intrusions and the effects of other immortals. In a way, a domain was the System Æs way of carving up the distinction between someone who existed as a part of the environment and someone who now stood above them.

- I can make you sound like you used to, - Lozanna said, feeling amused at how A/ Æs voice was back to that old, wise, but singular voice of her younger days.

- It seems the domain has brought you a fair bit of nostalgia. - A/ spoke to her without the echoing. Her mind didnÆt have to strain to withstand a powerful beingÆs intrusion.

- Yes. It has. Since two of my choices make a reference to my past, I would think so, - Lozanna said. Both the Unchosen Champion and A/ Æs Huntress referred to her roles over the years. - It seems I was held back by my past more than the others. -

- And the System recognizes you for it. -

- I thanked Kei for helping me realize that I had unsolved dreams. But now I think I owe her a little more than that. - She should buy Kei a good present for breaking her out of her stupor. A nice meal would be the normal way of saying thanks, but the golem didnÆt really need to eat.

- KeiÆs casual way of achieving things without much direct conflict is a strength of hers. I would give her a reward, but what she wants is just for the heroes to have a good rest. -

Lozanna smiled. She knew Kei played a big role during the first crusades, then later as the coordinator of the League of Heroes. Now this. - Yes. But this is the start. I am at the starting line. What should I choose? -

- ItÆs your choice. We will respect whatever you do and know that there will be a place for you, - A/ said, and for a moment, she remembered the days of New Freeka. - There are thousands of worlds. StellaÆs detection finds more worlds the further it goes. -

- The first choice? -

- The first choice, I suspect, is about your youth, - A/ said. - Your first weapon was a spear and a dagger. The spear, because you hoped to reach them and hit them before they could hit you. The dagger, because you wanted to kill the moment they got close enough. -

- Edna always wanted to be a knight, - Lozanna said. She actually remembered meeting Edna when she was just a Grand Knight undergoing training in Freshka. She remembered A/ offering her the level - breaking fruit, and she had declined. That fruit, instead, went to Edna. She had wasted so many years.

- That is a part of it. A part of you wanted to wander the world, learn from various spirit trees. We are more than just a single thing, and the System probably has to try very hard to boil down what your story is, - A/ speculated.

Yet thinking about the SystemÆs peculiarities was not why she was here today.

Lozanna shook her head and approached one of the Giant Attendant Trees. - Is our home still there, inside your Secret Hideout ? -

There was silence. A long silence she was so used to.

- Yes. -

- Can I see it? - Lozanna said.

The dark, magical bark that was part of A/ Æs gigantic body shapeshifted, the bark itself reforming into a door. It was a kind of wood magic, but maybe not. Her fingers and arms seemed to tremble as she reached for the knob.

The room was unchanged. There were still a few of Uncle Yura Æs things all over the place. There were some old clothes, perfectly preserved by A/ Æs preservation ability.

- This was after New Freeka? - Lozanna asked. - We stopped living within you after the Rottedlands Incident. -

- Yes. After my long sleep, all of you were used to living outside. YouÆve all stayed in for a bit, but then eventually all of you moved out. -

Lozanna nodded. The valley wasnÆt a place to stay. Freshka, the new city that was built nearby, was a much more pleasant place. Not everyone wanted to live under the presence of a god. So the secret hideout was just as it was. Most things of value were taken away, but there were some old things left behind.

They were already a powerful group at that time. Freshka and the Order had risen to dominate the continent. There were a few old overcoats, some thick boots, and a few more gloves. There was the old pantry area, with the old wooden plates and cups.

- The world used to be a lot simpler, - Lozanna said, and she felt A/ laugh in her head. Without the creepy echoes of A/ Æs voice, the laughter genuinely felt amusing.

- ItÆs only simpler because someone else dealt with the complicated stuff, - A/ said.

- YouÆre right. It was just a silly thought in my head. - The elven girl looked at that. - But I still miss those days. My memories of my childhood are so vivid, suddenly. - Then she was quiet. - IÆve never brought my late husband here, did I? -

- No. Not to this space. -

- He wouldÆve loved to see it, and I can still imagine him here. He would have said we lived in a life of luxury. Temperature controlled and stable supply of clean water is something hard to find out there as an adventurer. - Lozanna laughed. - We were lucky. We were very, very lucky. -

A/ didnÆt answer, but she knew it was good fortune. She knew he agreed.

- What should I choose? - Lozanna asked again.

This time, A/ didnÆt answer with words. Instead, a door opened. She knew what it was. It led to A/ Æs secret chambers. It was where the old Soul Forge and Biolabs were.

She followed the largely unused stairs down into an old room. She remembered she was here often.

She looked around and then saw a door that she had never seen before. It opened.

It led her further, deeper.

Down into the depths, into a secret room. It was larger, newer. And it was filled with treasures.

She blinked.

- This room is? -

- A room of treasures. Things weÆve collected over the years. The various plants from all over the multiverse. The various fruits. Trinkets. Belongings of those who have fallen. The divine log and many others, - A/ said. - I kept them here mostly as a store of things, and mainly, I wanted you to see the relics we have. -

The divine log. The lens for the Margmarian dwarves. Special weapons used by the old, fallen warriors. Yura Æs old set of weapons. LovisÆs old spear. The heroes items and a few personal belongings. She recognized many of them. There were things from the other elves, too. A/ kept the mementos and belongings of the Valthorns that fell in battle; it was a connection to those who fought for him. Even items from the very first refugees who came to New Freeka.

He needed them to augment his abilities as a Soul Tree and allow for the living to speak to those who recently died.

It was part of what he did to ensure that their spirits were properly handled and processed through the spiritual realm.

In a twisted way, it was a cemetery to those who died. An altar made of the personal belongings of so many people.

- ItÆs just a place where I kept things. A Treeasury , if you may. -

Lozanna laughed. - Can I touch them? -

- Try not to. The spiritual remnants of those who have left are very fragile. I keep them protected, but a touch from a domain holder is stronger than most. -

- I see. WeÆve lost many of our friends over the years. - Lozanna suddenly could remember the faces of those who used to have these things.

- It is. Of the first generation, only a few of you live or remain. -

There were a few mementos of those who died. Things that belonged to her friends. Emile, Brislah , Walen . She looked at them and memories of her childhood with her friends when still lived.

- I couldnÆt save them, - Lozanna said. - That day when the Rottedlands happened, I was too far away, and I could only reach a few. In the end, it was Uncle Yura that saved us. -

- Death was too common in that era. -

A lifetime of changes had occurred in the past two centuries, and yet she was now effectively an immortal. There would be a lot more changes to come, and she would play a larger role in shaping that future. She looked at all the relics and realized they were exactly that. Relics of the past. A snapshot of a time that was. But she wasnÆt in the past. - I see what youÆre trying to do now. -

- Oh. What would that be? -

- IÆm too preoccupied with the past. I should think about what will work better for the future, - Lozanna said. She should approach her choice without the baggage of the past but instead think about what would serve her well for the future.

YEAR 285 (PART III)

A/

Ifelt glad that of the first few elves that I took under my wing, one of them finally achieved a domain.

A part of me feared for them, and a part of me still dreaded the separation of death that occurred with Yura . I would lose Laufen as well, though her eventual death as an elven woman was still at least many hundreds of years away.

Life would eventually end, even for elves with their exceptionally long lifespans. That was the way of the world.

But even for me, there were days when I felt a little weary. Tired. Just like Lozanna said. There were times, moments, when one wished for the simpler days of the past. Now I would not have to witness Lozanna Æs permanent death, and that was a great deal of relief. I was fond of them, the first few elves that walked the path with me. They were there for me, and I was there for them. And now, one of them would live, for as long as possible. In Lozanna Æs domain, I had an additional anchor to my early village of Freeka days.

It also felt nice, a sense of validation that my goal wasnÆt wrong. I had supported her in her dream to be a hero, even if that journey took hundreds of years and a long detour through many worlds. She would now be a domain holder, with the powers similar to a hero. No matter the choice she made, it was still a significant step up in her strength.

So, while Lozanna pondered her new pleasant dilemma, the wider worlds continued to demand my attention.

Twinspace

Hoyia returned to Twinspace to continue the crusades for the Cursed Continent. As of now, half of the continentÆs nations had already converted to HoyiaÆs Temple of A/ .

The level of expansion slowed around this point, for two main reasons. One, the number of priests and agents at HoyiaÆs disposal was limited. Hoyia was increasingly concerned that once her area of rule expanded, there were not enough priests and agents to expand and properly steer the zealots.

The zealots were powerful. Their passion was real, but it was therefore really important to properly guide this fervor in a way that would lead to productive outcomes.

The second reason was really more of a number issue. With any significantly large number of people, there would be those who oppose for the sake of opposing. Those that felt a need to struggle against others and rebel against the norm.

Half of the inhabited Old Continent was more than good enough.

HoyiaÆs followers channeled the zealots from their converted population. The most passionate were redirected to building ships and raising an army to sail on them toward the new islands. The islands at the middle were built into a rest and refueling stop, for them to proceed to the Cursed Continent.

They built one thousand to two thousand ships, and all in a few hundred thousand warriors would leave for the journey. Many of these would set sail for the Cursed Continent from the islands, chasing the dream of the promised land.

As with all acts of faith, there was a special ceremony to seek the blessings of their patron god. For assistance, for a smooth journey, and for a successful venture.

A few thousand warriors and a few thousand more spectators. The ceremony would be held across the cities simultaneously, though the main event that was a massive sendoff at the main port city.

Multiple platforms were constructed throughout the cities in order to host the event.

It would be time for her to summon a titan, and she made arrangements with Lumoof to make it a spectacle. It had to be. She asked for a beetle carrier to fly overhead. Its surreal, alien quality was something she wanted to exploit to properly cement A/ Æs role as an otherworldly god.

The first fleet would be referred to by many names by future historians, but in general we called it the Expeditionary Fleet, and the army that went to the Cursed Continent was referred to as the Army of the Promised Land. The names were something the priests created to help their appeal in the eyes of their followers.

There was a launch event, to flag off the first ships from the anchor points that would sail toward the Promised Land.

On a sea - facing platform located on the shoreline of their largest ports, Hoyia was once again surrounded by hundreds of thousands of spectators. Her group of priests began to sing. The singing, amplified by their priest powers, could be heard throughout the city, and it was as if everyone was sucked into a song, even if they didnÆt want to.

The skies darkened, a mix of magic from various mages, and then Lumoof appeared from above in the avatar form. He was tiny.

He was an actor in HoyiaÆs scheme.

A role to play in the goal of solidifying their mythos.

The chants continued, and HoyiaÆs priests sang to call on their godÆs blessings.

The song and hymns intensified, and they timed it for the moment it almost hit a crescendo. The skies above changed as Lumoof activated his avatar form.

Everyone in the city looked up and saw a gigantic magical tree that covered the sun and clouds. An oppressive atmosphere descended on the entire city as their - god - came to their world.

- We are blessed! - Hoyia roared.

And as if controlled by the priestess, the crowd followed and roared. For a moment, the entire city echoed with the collective roar of the spectators, guided by her gentle but stern voice.

Through Lumoof, a gigantic living beetle emerged. Its size cast a large shadow that caused everyone to look up.

It was larger than any of the ships that waited in the harbor and was large enough to hold hundreds, if not thousands of beetles within its gigantic wings.

Its appearance made the crowd stare in silence and awe. The beetle carrier floated in the air, then, as if woken from a long slumber, the massive wings began to flap. A burst of wind swept through the entire city.

- Our god has blessed our crusade and granted us one of its powerful servants to aid us on our journey! Together with our great expeditionary fleet, we will crush the demons! -

Throughout the continent, those who used some form of scrying magic to observe the event were all struck in fear, as the size of the gigantic beetle carrier overhead was myth and legend made real.

Spurred by their godÆs perceived blessing, the first crusade sailed for the demons continent. A gigantic beetle - carrier flew above the fleet of ships, its winds helping the magical sails to go further, faster.

Privately, the Order knew it was just easier to use magic. But extensive teleportation magic just didnÆt have the spectacle and emotional touch of a journey across the ocean. There were also not enough mages and wizards to teleport a few hundred thousand warriors and their supplies over an entire ocean.

But that would be solved later.

The mages of the Order began construction of a large teleportation array on the de facto capital of the Temple of A/ on Twinspace on Port Tarfa.

Port Tarfa would be given a special title as its special place in the eyes of the temple.

The Holy Port City of Tarfa would be the seat of the matriarchÆs primary temple, and rather than commission a grand temple, she got some druids from Treehome to grow a gigantic tree into the shape of a temple.

Ideally, she would have liked it to be a node tree , but the actual node would be placed on the demons continent to facilitate the conquest of the new continent. So this was the compromise they ended with.

The teleportation array would then be paired with another teleportation array on the demons continent close to the node tree, and the two would then facilitate fairly regular movement of people between the two continents without the use of ships or airships in the future.

The journey across the ocean took about two months, faster than expected due to some favorable winds and magic from the OrderÆs mages.

Hoyia wanted the first fleet to appear - blessed, - so she had used her resources to ensure favorable winds. With things going well, the Expeditionary FleetÆs army was in high spirits.

Hundreds of thousands landed on the demonic continent and with the backing of the giant beetle carrier that flew overhead, nicknamed Gantry, war finally came for the Cursed Continent.

The landing site they chose would be where they founded the Cursed ContinentÆs first city, and the city would be later named ExpeditionÆs Landing. The demons were fairly disorganized, so the army of zealots were able to swiftly purge the area of demons and thus. The war to claim the Cursed Continent had begun.

These expeditioners quickly able to verify the Temple of A/ Æs claims.

The cursed land really was incredibly fertile and rich with resources. It was never mined, never farmed. Even with the demons corruptive blight.

Back on the old continent, there were rumors and news that began to spread. Wealth. Resources. Large, untapped masses of potential farmland!

But no one believed it yet. After all, they did not see it.

The Cursed Continent was covered in demonic blight, and that same demonic blight tampered with magic. This interference was too much for most of the relatively lower - level native mages of Twinspace.

But Hoyia knew she had to show results. Something to keep the nobles and the new zealots hooked. So HoyiaÆs expeditionary fleet hauled up large boulders of unprocessed ore. Most of these boulders were left untouched by the demons, filled with gold and gems, and were shipped back to the main continent.

She knew that day when the first ship, their very first - treasure ship, - landed on Port Tarfa and unveiled what they had brought back from their very first landing post, the rush for the Cursed Continent would truly begin.

Treehome

- EverythingÆs okay, - Prabu said as he emerged from the biolab. - I feel great, actually. Strangely nice. -

He stretched. Did some small jumps. The man looked like he never aged a bit. Rohana, his daughter, looked happy. Relieved. The heroes had many children, though both Prabu and Colette had been fairly special with each other and only had Rohana.

She was much older now and in her teens. A human like her didnÆt have much special skills, but as she began to age faster than her parents, I knew they would start to have strange thoughts about their children.

But it was a can they kicked down the road.

For now, everything was fine. In fact, things were better.

Our scheduled inspections post - soul spring operation didnÆt indicate anything unusual, but after some regular battle tests later, we discovered there were small improvements to PrabuÆs abilities.

We noticed Prabu stopped complaining about unusual pains in his head.

It wasnÆt totally gone. But they were far less painful than before.

They didnÆt hurt him in a primal way when we spoke about topics regarding demon kings and postponing battles. He could endure those conversations and retain memories of them.

I thus formulated a hypothesis that those protruding stones in their soul springs were ways the hero class influenced their minds. It warped the shape of the spiritual energy flows, and in doing so, they shaped their mind. All other classes did not have those protrusions. IÆd examined so many other Valthorns and individuals to know that classes did not alter the flow of mana from the - inner - soul.

So I quickly summoned the rest of the heroes for a similar inspection.

Not all of them wanted to let me work on their souls and clean it up, but they were willing to allow me to have a look in their soul springs.

I peered into the soul springs of Khefri, Adrian, Samuel, Rajah, and Wira and realized that they all had multiple protruding stone structures that altered the flow of their souls. This was the equivalent of a tumor growing within their brains. It applied pressure on their minds and thus shaped and directed their behavior in a certain fashion.

Unless they were able to thoroughly purge and - clean - their hero class like Colette, this did mean I could suppress and weaken the hero classÆs mental influences and allow them to think with more clarity.

I believed if I wanted an honest discussion with the heroes, they needed to be able to think clearly.

Yet, of the five other heroes, only Khefri and Adrian wanted me to help them fix the protruding stone structures.

Samuel, Rajah, and Wira all were still a little apprehensive. They were still new and maybe still didnÆt trust me fully. Rajah and Wira, in the larger scheme of things, were mostly out of the OrderÆs day - to - day activities.