Year 272

We didn’t see the need to rush into Lumoof’s choice. After all, we could figure out what’s happening on the peripheral lands, before choosing the better fit. 

That was the thought with Edna’s choice, too.

***

“So what did you get?” Lumoof’s turn to rib the knight. The knight didn’t seem too enthusiastic. 

“I could summarise them into three main directions. The first choice of my Level 200 domain is the Martial Paragon. In this form, I would achieve what we longed for. Combat ability not only on par, and even more than the heroes. Martial Paragon would allow my [Duty] to last longer, and my overall combat abilities would rise significantly. Some of my abilities would also gain upgrades, such as my [Quest Swords] would gain even more power. I gain the ability to teleport to any of the fellow domainholders who are members of the Pantheon, at my choice. I am also able to leave a [shadow knight] with members of the pantheon, to provide some protection.”

I found it underwhelming. 

She sighed. “I think, aside from power, the utility aspects of this choice is lackluster.” 

Lumoof frowned. “Edna, I think you shouldn’t worry about the utility issue. The rest of us will deal with it.”

Edna nodded. “That is true.”

“Then what’s the next?”

“The Divine Herald of Knights. I gain the ability to sense the presence of all [knight] classes all over the world, and more. The Herald of Knights gains the ability to speak and grant [quests] to all knight classes all over the world directly, grant blessings, rewards, and also, bestow [knight] classes of different tiers. I am also able to form [Knight Orders] out of a group of knights, which grants them some kind of group-wide ability. I am also able to teleport to any knight that requests for my aid, or send magical assistants and spiritual knights. Pantheon members also gain an ability to set up a [Lesser Knight Order].”

“This is more in line with a goddess of knights-” Stella chewed on a sweet of some kind. With the defense of Satrya completed, the next phase was the void worlds, the peripheral worlds, and also the assimilation of Delvegard. 

“In short, the first choice is to go tall-in the direction of combat. This second choice goes wider, just like how Lumoof’s one did.” 

“I must say I’m starting to see a pattern.” Stella wondered. 

“It’s just how the system creates these domains. It’s a choice of focus, or breadth.” Roon said as if he knew it all along.

Johann poked his fellow domain holder. “And you know what’s yours going to be?”

“I bet mine’s going to be some kind of super-archer upgrade, or some kind of split-archer form.”

“Alright, alright, Edna, what’s the third choice?”

“The third choice is the wildcard choice. [Sword of the Void Forest]. It is the domain that takes me closer to Aeon, Lumoof, and Stella.”

Edna looked at Lumoof in a way that made Lumoof squirm uncomfortably. “What in the world-”

“I can also be an avatar of Aeon.” Edna repeated. “And you can be an avatar of me.” 

Lumoof’s eyes widened in shock. 

Stella shook her head. “That’s a clear no. That’s too much-” 

“You didn’t even hear the details.” Edna said. “Stella, the system clearly considers you as part of this arrangement. The primary power of this domain choice is the ability to have spiritual equivalents, or as the system calls it, ‘Manifestations', and tag along with Aeon’s Node Trees, Clones, Stella’s Void Explorer, and Lumoof’s avatar form. In this form, I essentially become a person with multiple bodies, like Aeon’s clone. These Manifestations are [Void] in nature, and I can travel in the [void sea] with your void explorers.”

“You create them?” Lumoof asked.

“No. Strangely enough, this domain binds the Manifestation to the abilities of Stella and Aeon. My manifestations appear whenever there is a Clone or a Void Explorer, or your avatar form. It’s a package.”

“A form of subdomain, but not totally subservient.” Lumoof thought about it. 

“In a way, it’s more of a pantheon-support type of role.” Edna countered. “Though the choice mentioned Lumoof, Aeon and Stella specifically, it’s not actually limited to them. It extends to all pantheon members.”

The rest of the domain holders were in thought, but then Johann laughed. “Roon, you might get a mixed-choice. Think about it, what if you got an Aeon’s Archer type of ability.”

Roon rolled his eyes.

“At least you won’t get one linked to your prospective partner!” Ezar, the brawler, chuckled. “Imagine that!”

Roon had a look of genuine horror. “Oh no way.”

“It is a wildcard choice.” Stella decided it was a fun topic and added fuel to the flame. “A wildcard romance-linked domain choice would be a supreme troll-move from the system.”

“I’m going to opt for the World Faith System if the system does that to me.” Roon countered.

“You’re taunting the system?!” Stella feigned horror.

Roon realized Stella had a point and decided it was best to just shut up. 

We didn’t decide that day. We had worlds to visit, and we wanted Alka to join us in the choice. We would prefer to optimise our abilities. Choices that would get us through the next hurdle. 

It also helped that Alka would have a level up of his own, and we wanted to hear from him.

What was it like, being dead?

 

***

Lumoof, Stella and Edna gathered for a trip. The three were often the first to visit dangerous places, and this time, they would visit the void worlds together. 

The void worlds exist only in the void layers, and it would be the first time my people ventured there. We wondered what it was like, but after all the wondering, it was time to visit. 

“Well.” Stella summoned the void mana in her body, and tapped into the void layers. The void layers required a few additional extra steps of locational information, and the cost of opening a rift to the void layers was a little bit higher than normal, but other than the extra ring of magical glow around the rift itself, it seemed pretty normal. “To the first void world.”

Lumoof laughed, and walked through without hesitation. Stella stared. “Hey wait!” She called out, but Lumoof was already through.  “I thought it wasn’t ready-”

Edna smiled at the void mage, and then, she walked through too.

“Dammit.” Stella ran through.

***

The path through the void layers was as if one slipped through the gaps of reality. They existed on a different layer of the void sea, occupying the same place, but on a different plane. 

“Well, took you long enough.” Lumoof smiled as Stella finally stepped through. We looked around, and saw a world with a burning black sun, and a surface made of darkened rock. 

“Uh. So where are we?” Stella said, but just as she said that, her own magic expanded into the world. 

Void world-

Our magical senses rang, as a strange creature appeared before us. It emerged from the same type of rift gates that we used, but the shape was different. It was some kind of worm, and it immediately judged us. It stared at us. It has fifteen eyes, and tentacles that looked like they were made of the void sea itself. 

It radiated void mana through it’s body. The eyes, each of them were as if they were made of starry skies, dark, and yet, somehow deep. The three spoke telepathically. “This is a void creature.” Stella said. It was a familiar feeling, she sensed creatures like this in the void sea, but to encounter them in the void layers was somewhat expected. 

Standing before us was a creature that didn’t look like any living being, and through Lumoof, I sensed it wasn’t even a creature with a normal soul. It was as if it was cobbled together from something that belonged in the void sea.

It reminded me of a jellyfish, it’s mind distributed throughout its limbs.

It stared at us for a while, and just as suddenly, the rift gates emerged again. It then vanished. 

“Well, what was that?” Edna said. 

“I don’t know. It looked like it was curious, but not altogether hostile.” Stella countered. The void world itself had a dark sun, the world had a glow that was quite similar to the reflected lights of the moon. 

Faint.

There were clouds in this world, made of black dust of some sort, and when they covered the sun, the world around us twisted. The laws of reality worked differently here. A world wasn’t a fixed object, but a flexible one that transformed according to the sun’s light. 

The terrain warped, and somehow the way it warped was always relative to our position. It only warped when the three of them were not there, in the distance, visible. 

“The stars lead to different places.” Stella stared, as she watched the position of the world shifted. It was as if the void layers were rolling a wheel, and the stars spun, slowly, and slowly settling into position. 

Edna nodded. “Useful?”

“Potentially.” Stella countered, as we continued to explore the void world. 

It was a world that was bare. There was no vegetation of any sort. The terrain was all rock and sand, all blackened rock and sand, all imbued with void mana to some degree. 

We searched.

And searched. 

Then we came across a large rocky plain that finally had something unusual. A crater with a skeleton at the center. It was a human of some kind, but a little taller than the normal human. The body had long been eroded by the sandy winds. What was left was just the bones, perfectly preserved, made of something resistant to the wind’s corrosion.

“A body.” 

I could probably use the bones to search its memories, just like with the dragons. How did it get here?

“It’s been here for a long time.” Lumoof said, judging from the layers of sand and the condition of the crater. The edges of what would have been the impact crater, were all smoothed out. Eroded by the winds.

The wind carried the same black dust everywhere. 

The wind was created by magic, the swirling energies of the void. 

This world should not have winds, but it did, because the rifts created low and high pressure areas throughout the world. Each time a rift opened, opened by the strange rift monsters that sometimes visited, it created a pressure zone. 

Winds. 

There was nothing else, but the void layers contained many worlds. Many more that Stella could see. We would have more to visit.

***

Satrya

Lumoof and Roon returned to Satrya, to find the two priests waiting for them.

“Hawa wishes to speak to you, Lord Lumoof.” Michael said with a bow. They’ve been exceptionally polite, and since the defeat of the demon king, they have treated Lumoof with the full benefits of a foreign dignitary, and some. 

It was a treatment that the lesser ranked priests found strange, but those in the Divine Guards silenced them, claiming that it was Hawa's command. The Hawa’s Circle rarely devoted full attention to any one person, but Lumoof, as avatar of a ‘peer’, was leagues above. It made Lumoof feel a little strange, of course. 

The entire courtyard waited, as Michael and Olivia sat at the side. 

Lumoof sat, while Roon stood behind him. 

The world twisted, and Hawa arrived once more. Here, in Museo, most mortal men never felt the presence of god so close. It would be something they remember for the rest of their lives. To be in the same city as Hawa arrived would be a mark on their souls. 

“Well done, and most impressive.” Hawa spoke, his golden form shone. “You’ve saved me precious points. Each of us spends every point we can spare, especially in defense of the faraway realms.”

I waited for him to speak, as Lumoof glowed. The avatar form rippled in the air, and the entire temple structure wobbled as my own energies rubbed against the energies of Hawa.

A golden pendant emerged from nowhere, as if it popped out of space itself. “This contains my will, and you may use this to sway my faithful followers in the peripheral worlds. Those who possess my related classes would know that you represent me, and you can claim to act on my behalf.”

Useful. 

“Change the balance of power, Aeon.”

“I do admit feeling like I’m being used.” I responded. Both priests present paled at my statement, and feared Hawa’s retribution. They didn’t know how their god would react to such a rebuke.

“You can claim the peripheral worlds as your own. I have no need for them, and many of us lose points holding on to them.”

“I’ll do it, of course. But I’d like your knowledge. Of the demons, of the other gods. Of how the system works. Of the worlds you have access to.” I countered. I didn’t mind working, and expanding my influence in new worlds was a win, even if it was contested territory, but I wanted knowledge. 

There was a moment of silence, as the air around us wobbled. Eventually, Hawa agreed. “I will share what I know.”

Another golden gem appeared, a quick glance of it is clearly a divine item.  

“This will allow you to ask me questions. I will reply to them when I am able. I will inform you of what I can tell you. Some things are restricted by our pact. I will let you know if it is.”

Both Michael and Olivia’s eyes were filled with greed. Two new divine items appearing in a single day would cause the priests to go insane. Armies would fight to get hold of them.

But no one would dare snatch it from Lumoof’s hand.

“Very well. This is more like it.” I answered. “I will begin to reach out to the peripheral worlds, and will need to travel through some of your outer worlds.”

“Understood. But move quietly. Some of my worlds know no other god but me, and it is in my interest to keep it that way. You may take my two priests with you to the Peripheral Worlds. I hear my priestess has found one of your minions attractive, and would like to be married.”

It made Roon and Olivia blush.

I merely brushed it off. “Their own private affairs are their own. But thank you for the offer. I will keep it in mind.”

***

Maelga, home of the imprisoned Crystal, Threeworlds, 

The human kingdoms of Threeworlds bent the knee, as they were expected to. The Valthorns have completed the assimilation of the Crystal King’s power structure, and replaced them. To the nations and kingdoms of the human-dominated lands, they stopped challenging our authority.

It was a peace brought about by blood, and a lot of captured men. We sent a few thousand of them to Lavaworld, where a quarter of them died, and the remaining too horrified to ever raise their arms against us. Blood on my roots and leaves, and so be it. 

Peace is here, and it was time to milk the industries of this world into the war machine.

My Valthorns quickly identified locations where we could set up manufacturing facilities for crystal bombs,  weaponry, and tools. We also began setting up training and recruitment institutes, where the recruits of the Centaur-ruled lands and the humans of the Human-controlled lands would train.

The humans found the presence of the Centaurs in their lands unsettling, at first. They were enemies, but under the watchful eyes of the Valthorns, they were in no position to attempt anything. 

Trade and mutual learning happened more frequently. Human merchants, mages and scholars were sent to the Centaur lands to learn from them, and vice versa. Centaur-compatible inns and institutions were set up in the human lands, and the opposite was also true in the centaur lands.

It was an uncomfortable change.

But both sides knew that they were now parts of an intergalactic war. It was an uncomfortable realization, that the peace of their world was merely an illusion. For many, they chose to believe in the lie. It was a lie that their world was still peaceful. It was also a lie that the three hegemons maintained a fragile peace.

Many chose to believe the lie. It was easy.

To those who didn’t, they were guided into our propaganda machine. 

Through a large recruitment program, talented soldiers from all sides, drafted and recruited. We wanted those who sought more from themselves. To those who didn’t like the fake peace, they saw our greater purpose appealing. 

I liked it that way. They would join soldiers from Treehome, Mountainworld, Tropicsworld and soon, Delvegard. 

A coalition of forces from all over the multiverse.

***

“Your ambitions are great.” Zhaanpu said, his mummified body floated in what was a quiet, private oasis meant only for him, and his guests. It was rarely used, from what I understand, but these days, it is where we meet and talk.

“You knew that.” I responded.

“I did. But even an immortal like myself cannot truly fathom the scale of what you want to achieve.”

I told him about my intention of constructing a multiversal force a long time ago. A force to take the battle back to the demons. But as with many others all over the multiverse, it is one thing to have information. It is an entire thing altogether to turn that information into understanding and knowledge.

So, my tree, the vessel of my will, wobbled in his little green oasis. There was a small pond, perfectly clear. Beautiful, white sands, more crystalline than dirt. There were tiny insects crawling all over the ground. 

“You have something you want to say.”

Zhaanpu mused for a moment, before he went for the strange question. “What do you have planned for me?”

I paused, before I decided it was best to be honest. “I intend to honor our old agreements, look for a suitable world of sand as you requested, and nothing more. This question arises because of the Crystal King?”

“Yes.” Zhaanpu admitted. “It is unnerving to see how you humbled my peer, and now I am uncertain of the nature of our relationship.”

I decided to reiterate my old stance. Perhaps in politics, as the power balances shift, there are times when I need to speak to those who are my friends, and remind them that they are friends, and not minions. When one party is much stronger than the other, it is only natural that this causes feelings of insecurity. “I ask for nothing but mutual cooperation. I do not ask for you to fight for me, and I would like to continue being friends.”

“Friends.” Zhaanpu said. As if the word was meaningless. 

In some ways, what meaning did it have? What does it mean to be friends, when we are immortal creatures that lived forever? “I would not impose, Zhaanpu. I do not intend to. As we expand, our needs will be spread over a wider set of worlds.”

Zhaanpu breathed a long sigh of relief. “Very well. I shall take your word for it.”

***