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Your level in "Divine Champion" has increased!
8 => 9
Ability Acquired:
Eternal Champion
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L felt V level up through her blessing, and quickly re-focused on the situation at hand. V's hands were raised in protest, but it did not seem totally sincere protest. "Well. I guess it does not matter what I say now." V's voice sounded resigned, but tinged with an excited element. Eika was jumping around "COOL! Death serves V now! Well like obviously it’s not like real death just the champion but that has to make us more likely to survive right I mean in a death game you would think the death champion would be handy to have on your side I’m not sure why he surrendered but DEATH WORKS FOR US NOW WE ARE INVINCIBLE!" As L moved over and placed a hand on Eika's head, L questioned. "Oh? He surrendered to you. Did you threaten him?" V gave her a blank look. "Do you think so little of me that I would threaten the man who seems to be the reason I am currently alive and/or not brain damaged?" L shrugged "Depends on the day." V did not have a response to that, and in the dead air, Amara spoke. "I am level one again, in a death game, as the Champion of Death. I figured I would be an easy target, as well as a desired one. I’m sure many would believe that the Blessing of Death would be a great prize in a death game. Although, to be honest, most would not be aided by my blessing, as it currently is anyway. With this in mind, I figured it would be best to join up with your group, for my own survival. Plus, this way I finally feel free of my debts." Amara gestured toward V as he continued. "He saved the man known as Amara, by giving him his vengeance, and also freed the being known as the Champion of Death. Saving his V's life but a single time was not enough. Joining his bid to win this game was the only way I could think of to settle the score. I suppose I could have just followed along until I saved him a second time. But that is both weird and does not solve my weakness as an easily targetable champion.”

"I have no problem with this arrangement. The greater my master’s servants, the easier time I should have keeping him alive. Probably." V rolled his eyes but spoke excitedly. "Ya whatever. On the flip side of all of this, I seem to maybe have gotten an actually useful ability from leveling up finally! The name sounds powerful anyway. Let's check it out!"

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Ability: Eternal Champion
User can no longer change class.
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Quickly gripping her sword, L tried to determine what the drastic change in V's emotional stability meant. Her blessing seemed to think V was about to commit some form of violence. "WHY THE HELL IS IT LIKE THIS?!" V's anger and pure hatred of his class overwhelmed him for a few moments. "This makes like eighty percent of the abilities and skills I’ve gotten up to this point from the Champion class pointless! Why would this skill even exist." V's anger started overflowing. L felt a strange change come over V, her blessing alerted her that he was in extreme danger. The source? V himself. The Champion of Death's eyes narrowed, he also sensed a change, thanks to his own blessing. V looked toward Amara, "You! This is all your fault!" V's cone of vision narrowed as he began to move toward Amara.

┌——————┐
Blessing of Ha-
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"Urkg" V made a strange noise as L brought her fist across the back of his head. V collapsed into a pile as Eika rushed over. "What is going on?! Eika is so confused!" Luna had also woken up in time to see V get struck by L and wandered over, mimicking Eika's hand waving. "I don't know either. I could sense a rising danger, but the danger was coming from V himself." Eika considered L's words. Before Namkuzu left us, he said that something was wrong with V's brain, and that he fixed it. Maybe that has something to do with it?" L examined V's pupils as she pointed his face toward the sun. "Maybe.... He is not normally like this; I don't know why he targeted you like that." L turned to Amara and bowed her head. "I apologize on behalf of V, please don't hold it against him." The Champion of Death shook his head. "No... I will not. I also felt a change come over him... As if death itself was forcing him forward." L furrowed her brow as she stood back up. "He should awaken soon. I do not think I did much damage. Hopefully he will be... normal, I suppose is the word."

"I might have some insight to give you actually!" An excited voice entered L's mind. She had not heard T's voice in a long time, and had almost forgotten that he did something to her heart. Almost. "Oh? If this was caused by you influencing his emotions, I will burn you from existence." T hastily spoke "No. No no. That was not me. I had actually been trying to contact you recently, but for some reason couldn't find you. I’d be very interested in what was blocking my communications, if you’re willing to tell me." L considered, figuring there would be no harm in it. "We were in a location that blocked all connection from the outside. I myself wish to know however, if you can observe what is happening now, do you always see through my eyes? Or my heart? Or whatever you are actually doing? I am in a state where it would be easy for me to carve my own heart out. I will not tolerate you spying on the one I serve." There was a slight pause before T responded "No, it’s not a constant thing, only when I am looking specifically for you." L's demon side chuckled darkly for some reason. T quickly responded, a tinge of concern in his voice. "Uh, I wouldn't worry though I basically never spy on people unless I’m looking for something specific." L had a strong feeling that he was telling the truth, although she was not entirely sure why. "Anyway. I am actually contacting you on behalf of J. Although, it is a message I happily carry. Apparently, The Champion of Madness was convinced by... someone, that V is insane."

A small silence passed between them, as T let the statement hang in the air, L watched V carefully as he awoke, he blinked confusedly. T continued "Yes, it’s a bit concerning. Worse still, we don't actually know what this means. The word 'insane' can mean anything. If it’s a personality change, then theoretically once the Champion of Madness is not thinking about him, it should revert to normal. On the other hand, what if he considers "insane" to mean brain damage? Physical destruction caused by the Mad Champion does not normally revert. If his belief in V's insanity caused V's brain to be physically damaged or deficient in some way, it would be considerably more permanent. Also, even if its temporary, all anyone has to do is remind the Mad Champion that he thinks V is insane, and it would reoccur." As V groggily dragged himself out of the snow L observed him carefully. Her blessing indicated nothing out of the ordinary level of perpetual danger. "I don't think this was caused by the Mad Champion. My blessing indicated that he was a danger to himself. I doubt the Mad Champion is skilled enough, or should I say sane enough, to try and cover his own tracks." A "hummm" sound emanated in her mind for a moment, "Perhaps, but wouldn't the danger be internal after the insanity set in?" A puff of flame flew out of L's hand as she responded. "Perhaps, but it is not so easy to fool me anymore. There is precious little that can hide from me in regards to harming my master." T's suddenly strained voice responded "Yes, yes I'll believe that. Well, uh, I gotta go. Good luck and all that. Oh, one last thing. U and her band are actively hunting you guys now so uh, be careful. If you die, I’ll be next!"

V shook his head, it felt like molten lead had been poured into his brain. "I'm not sure why I came after you. I'm sorry about that Amara." Amara nodded. "We all have.... moments. Regardless your lapse in judgment. I do not think Amara is proper anymore. I am a composite of Amara and the old Champion of Death. I believe going by my new identity would be best. According to my status, I am now 'K.' For... whatever reason." V nodded, although K seemed to have moved on, he was still concerned by what had happened, and to be honest. He was actually still quite angry about the new 'ability' he received. L spoke up. "Eika informed me that Namkuzu 'fixed' you before he left. I believe the champion of madness did something to you, and that Namkuzu fixed it. As for this incident, I have little explanation. I doubt any of the Champions could fool Namkuzu or hide any affliction of the mind from him. That leaves only two possibilities in my mind. Whatever is causing your emotional instability is either stronger than a Champion, or your affliction is not of the mind. I can only think of two things stronger than a Champion. First, a demon, and Namkuzu and I are supposed to be the only ones. Besides, even if we are not the only ones, I doubt any demon would be able to hide something like that from the Archdemon of the Mind. Secondly, a God. Presumably any active interference after the game started would be noticed under most circumstances. So, the most likely time would have been before the game, in which case there is only one God who had the opportunity. The God who created your new body, and held your soul in their hands.

"B..but!" Eika was panicking. "The Goddess of Motherhood betrayed V!?! Why would she do that! He is fighting so hard for her!" Eika pulled her ears down as L responded. "I think it would be more accurate to say that V is fighting because of her rather than for her." L cast a glance at V, who shrugged "Ya that's more accurate." Looking over toward K, L hesitated. "I know you are now bound to V, but you have had little time to build my trust. I hope you do not mind if I exclude you from this conversation?" K shook his head "Of course, I am a newcomer after all. And Champions can be quite tricky..." K walked off a moderate distance into the snow. L recounted the God of Honor's last message to Eika and V, and technically Luna. V and Eika absorbed the information quietly. V's brain worked to sort this new information. If it was all assumed to be true, why was he re-created to be this way? If the Mother Goddess broke the rules to create him as some sort of... super mortal, then it did confirm that at-least part of what she told him was a lie. V thought about his encounter with the Mother Goddess. "I was dead at the time, and she is a god, so this is not very reliable information, but the way she spoke to me only ever indicated her disdain for the rest of the gods. She called them children, and seemed almost dismissively hateful of them. As if they were an obstacle to be overcome, rather than a rival. She used the word 'peers' once, but her tone of voice was so dismissive I never felt like she really saw them as peers. I know none of us are mothers, weirdly I might be the closest to a mother our group has." Eika choked back a giggle as V spoke. "But let me ask you, do mothers call their 'peers' children? I did not think of it much at the time for obvious reasons, but the way she spoke of the other gods was inconsistent and somewhat strange. I can only assume that she is either unhinged, or that she has a more complicated relationship with the other gods.

V continued "I suppose at this point, the first question we need to answer is the Mother Goddess's motivations. I don't even mean her specific motivation. What I mean is if she is trying to have me win the game, or if I am here for something else. For example, L, you were really only here to free Namkuzu. I assume you agree that the God of Honor seemed to have no interest in the game's outcome?" L nodded "I can confirm that at the very least he did not care if he or I won it." After her confirmation, V continued "If I am here to win the game, then I think it makes it much easier to accept my situation. We can write almost everything off as the Mother Goddess trying to do some real crazy rule breaking in order to make me powerful. Although... if that was the case, I hope she had a reason for giving me this class." V took a quick moment to show them his new 'ability.' L made a sour face as Eika exclaimed "W... what? Why?" In a rare moment, Eika did not seem to have any words. "Right, that was my reaction. As I’m sure you all noticed. Regardless, if her plan is for me to win the game, then we can try to do just that and not really worry about it as much. In the worst-case scenario, if we think winning the game is a bad thing, we could simply make an arrangement with the final champion to live and let live. Due to the rules of the game, I do not think the gods could stop us from keeping the game going eternally but just making peace with another champion." Eika looked thoughtful. "Maybe? But I doubt the gods would make it easy for us..." V shrugged "Probably, but that is a problem for another day. The real risk is that I was sent here for some other purpose, a purpose I cannot even begin to guess. If I was sent here for some specific reason, why did she not tell me, the same way the God of Honor told L? I suppose there was a chance that knowing the reason might have overwhelmed me with stress at the start or something, but I doubt it. The only reason I can assume for not telling me, is that I would not agree with the reason I was sent here."

With an expression of disdain, L spoke up. "It could be both as well, however... If we assume she sent you here for some other reason, the fact that she did not tell you can only mean one of two things. One, her ability to manipulate events is such that she is controlling the game in a way far beyond the other gods. For example, if I was not told of the God of Honor's desire to free Namkuzu, how would I have ever done that? If I was just sent here and told 'win the game.' How would events have ever unfolded in a way where I came to this frozen wasteland and freed him? The gods are all obviously manipulating the game to some degree underneath each other’s noses, but to manipulate the game in such a way as to have their champion accomplish complicated and specific tasks while not knowing they were supposed to be doing said tasks is far beyond the ability of most of the gods. The God of Honor's largest rule bending manipulation was to arrange a way to speak with me once when I almost died, and even that level of manipulating events seemed highly situational and luck based. Secondly, and I don't know if this is more or less concerning than the first possibility, something is going to happen to you along the way. A personality change, some form of mind control, or some other similar situation. I am unsure if I will be able to stop something like that, Namkuzu and the God of Honor both indicated that demons were not a direct threat to the gods. I doubt I could burn away something of that nature."

Eika made a strange face, like she was smelling something particularly unpleasant. " Maybe there is a third reason? Maybe this is like a daycare, and V is the child she sent here." Both L and V looked at her, waiting for her to expand on her theory. "Oh uh. What Eika means to say is that like, you said he is a mortal who just gets stronger with time right? What if he is here to just get stronger and stronger? You said the game could go on indefinitely, right? And the gods can’t directly interfere to just kill a champion outright. Maybe she sent him here so he can grow infinitely. If V's existence would anger the gods or make them afraid or something, wouldn't they band together to kill him? But they can’t do that as long as the game is going on. He is unable to just be struck down by them. So maybe this is a daycare, protecting him until he is strong enough to... do... something? Eika did not really think that far... sorry." L shook her head "No, don't be sorry. That is not a bad idea. It's also possible for that to simply be a 'bonus' while he attempts to win the game, or accomplish some other task." V was about to say something when K called over loudly. "Sorry, but I think we should really start heading south. I have a bad feeling about standing around here!" L nodded and called back. "I think you are correct, let us be off!" Her blessing had been slightly increasing the constant danger warning, but she often did not pay it much attention as it always fluctuated. However, she was more willing to care about it if the Champion of Death had a bad feeling as well.