"Saal'Xhir's rise from the ranks of the fallen was one of the biggest steps on All-Father's forgive and forget program where the lord of all creation extended the metaphorical and literal olive branch towards those who sided with his mad son, When the Goddess in charge of Love accepted his proposition and even managed to carve a decent following in Vermilion he granted her a special boon that further cemented her place as a legitimate Goddess"
The aftermath of the War in the City of Gods Volume 5
William stared at the young man in front of him, flanked by two beautiful older women who were likely seniors in the Academy, they had playful smiles on their faces as William got up and performed a proper bow to the young man.
"Hector Amenora, to what do I owe the pleasure?" William spoke "But please, take a seat, there's ample room for you and yours" William snapped his fingers and Saa'ryu exploded into motion, dragging extra chairs with speed and precision.
Hector was taken back by this welcome, aha William thought. He was still hurt from the treatment he got from his family after the blessing was made public, made a pariah turned dealer of hedonism in a place previously known for making formidable warriors, Hector was rebelling against the family that cursed and spurned him out by employing his Greater Blessing at full blast and openly praising Saal'Xhir.
Which in turn made others blessed, be them noble or commoner and merchant to flock to him, In-Game that turned him as the "leader" of the fourth faction inside the Academy but they had no real power outside of the Fields of Amenora, all they had was capital to fund their parties inside its grounds and the Academy leadership was more than content to let them revel as long as it was contained there.
And yet...William could feel the cold chills going up to his spine, the blessing flaring up to life as the trio got closer, a ping on his left ear shook him off as Kaine's voice bloomed into his mind
"Greater Blessings on all of them, It will cause a cascade on you"
Curses and damnation William thought A blessing cascade was when 2 or more Greater Blessings of the same god were near each other, usually only triggering when both parties used at the same time but the thing was under an RNG dice-roll.
That the two ladies beside Hector would also have Greater Blessings from Saal'Xhir was cheery on top of this particular juncture, William sat down as everyone went quiet due to the new people joining the table.
"Ahem, These are in no particular order, Dkhar, Raffa Ironheart, Kaine, Hope, and Richard"
"What happened to the other women that were with you mister Amenora?" Dkhar asked her eyes narrowed.
"They had things to do, places to be as you know" He smiled and Dkhar softened her gaze "Well the lovely Lucrezia here has already introduced me and I doubt there's a need for repetition, as for my companions these are Helaris and Kryn"
The two women smiled and waved as William felt his Blessing sigil flare, he had to hold a groan as sweat began to build upon his forehead.
William began with the old trick from his earlier days in this world, moving Ice mana along his channels, it worked for a few seconds before being overpowered by the cascade which at this point had to be on purpose, the rest of the table not picking up on this resumed their interactions and welcomed the new arrivals who on their part were doing a good job on integrating themselves with the others.
"Use the rage" Kaine spoke in his ear with the spell "Mana won't stop it and I don't wanna clean up after you if the cascade reaches its apex"
William tapped into the Rage and felt his mind flash red for a second, then it settled it as he stared at Hector who was no longer smiling.
"You must be wondering why I am here? in short, I have a message from our benefactor" Hector began talking "She wishes to congratulate you on dealing with those Uumaries Prudes and thank you for letting the church take roots in the north, an untapped land ripe for picking now that the tyrannical hold of Uumaries no longer chains its people under her yoke of iron"
"And a personal thanks from me for spooking those would-be paladins, you wouldn't know the ruckus they raised for our last charity party! to the point of defaming the orphanages, we were helping! Thankfully a little crow resolved that particular bit of nastiness from escalating further" So the alliance was already there huh, William pondered to himself, Velkarius was silent of late maybe she had something in the works for him?
"It isn't smart antagonizing one of the biggest faiths of the Kingdom Hector, surely you can see that?" Ironheart spoke as she cleaned herself after eating "Many nobles still are on her side and it could trickle down into something...less than pleasant"
"Not after the razing of Talos, that move alone has given my benefactor ample room for maneuvering and Uumaries is now forced to put out smaller fires as her people are outed as part of minor cults and such, I would make a small prayer for Friede but I doubt she would take it well, after all, she hates nobles" he laughed as focused back in William "Superb move using that mad Goddess, a more perfect execution couldn't be done!"
Hector cast his gaze upon the table, his face fell a bit as there was no slice of pizza left for him and so William offered his half-eaten slice to him, which made some gasp.
"What? I got no sickness! the dude clearly wanted a slice" William spoke a bit defensive "Oh gods it's a fetish thing isn't it?"
Kryn laughed out loud as the table broke into smiles and laughs "It is what it is" William said and shrugged it off. Hector finished eating with rosy cheeks and said "Thank you Lucrezia, now for the important bit of the message, our Benefactor wishes to speak with you in her cathedral, there is no set date so just drop by when your duties let you as I was made aware you are keeping very busy ever since the school year started, with that, I must take my leave, I thank you for the welcoming reception and your friends as well, so rare nowadays...Should any of you wish to visit our humble establishments please feel free to do so, I'll have your names written as personal guests"
With that, the young man left and the table went silent for a solid minute before Dhkar spoke, her voice betraying no emotions whatsoever "Ahem. that is an invitation I will have to respectfully decline"
"Same" Richard spoke "I fear for my safety"
"Hey, it's all done with consent" William had to defend his fellow Blessed "C'mon now guys"
"I know I know, it's just..." Richard flinched back before the topic moved on, William's blessing still at full blast as he held into the rage to not make a mess in the middle of the cafeteria.
It was going to be wild today, wasn't it?
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Richard Silverbrand was cursing himself as he sat down beside the infuriatingly beautiful classmate of his. Lucrezia was positively giddy today even after that bizarre talk with Thadeus earlier.
It didn't help his mother demanded updates on the daily about the woman, and add to the fact she was way too friendly with him compounded the issue to the point his sources were saying he was the one who Lucrezia was dating instead of Kaine!
''My quiet life...'' Richard thought to himself as a Priestess of the All-Father walked into the room with the grace of a saint, she greeted everyone and began writing on the blackboard as Richard went back to his mind.
The rest of their ragtag group might've seen Lucrezia work the cafeteria but they didn't know half of it! In a matter of 2 weeks, she had already established ties with every major and minor faction in the school that wasn't the nobles! And for some inane reason, he was the one who was managing this expansion together with her! Of course, the part his mother made sure he had that loved breaking deals was elated beyond belief! The access to items and capital he had was triple that when he got into the academy!
His mother even told him that she would push for a marriage! that started a nasty fight with father as he refused to sell his son for profit and that Richard should fine someone he loved, he decided to leave them at it, no point in getting yelled by them after all.
Still, Lucrezia's expansion within the school on every front that wasn't noble-backed felt strange, it was almost as if she had something against her kind. He wanted to press her for a reason but she got awfully quiet whenever he tried prying anything of her. The only person she would speak at length was Hope, that girl had Lucrezia warped around her finger but was too kind to use the madwoman.
It was to the point that Richard thought she was in love with her, but he couldn't quite put it like that, more time with both of them would be required to establish a working theory he felt.
Another point in the ever-expanding jigsaw that was Lucrezia was her relationship with him. His mother's ill-begotten plans of arranged marriage aside Lucrezia was touchy and often broke his personal space with hugs, leaning and one time laying on his lap! granted he was distracted and falling asleep in class and she did it to prank him but still, that's strange ain't it?
Part of him, the rational one that is. Knows it was likely her Blessing flaring up without a "proper" outlet, Saal'Xhir blessed had to engage in some sort of sexual activity there were no two ways about it. and given she had already developed Battle Lust before getting to the Academy that could only mean one thing, and to quote his dead grandfather "She wasn't getting any action"
The irrational part of his wanted this to be her way of saying she was into him, but Richard knew better than to listen to impulses of the flesh, he had seen many a customer from his mother, and many bargoers lose themselves to it and regret their decisions deeply.
And yet, there were a few moments where she broke free from the call of that Blessing and what he saw was a somber and extremely intelligent individual who was struggling with her choices, to kill good men and women like she did weigh on her heavily and very few knew about it, Kaine and her Maid as they had spent the most time with the woman, and Richard had a theory that Hope and the Prince had some sort of way to detect her inner feelings.
It was a few days ago when she took him to meet with the Academy's music team and propose a few of her songs to them where he saw firsthand that side of hers. At first, her songs were full of rage and bravado, meant to inspire soldiers and civilians alike to raise and fight for their land, her voice overpowering even the instruments to the point the Professor in charge of the music team had to step in herself and guide the band and Lucrezia.
After those songs, the woman asked Lucrezia for a calmer song, something that wasn't meant to whip the crowd into a frenzy but to make them feel sad and lonely. Richard noticed a few of the band members sighing and asked one what was up with that.
The Kitsune explained that this was the "fail" test the Professor liked to give whenever someone got delusions of grandeur about music, often to temper those who had Musical Blessings into showing that they still had ways to go in improving their skill even with the headstart provided by the gods.
Ah, Richard knew of a few martial sects who did the same. He stared at Lucrezia who had a smile on her face and asked for the musicians to be allowed to use their blessings at full power so they could follow her song with their instruments and magical spells.
It was then after getting the approval of the Professor she began to sing, at first Richard wasn't feeling particularly sad but as her voice grew in power he could almost feel it, a weight pressing him down the more she sang together with the instruments and spells that granted texture and scenery to her voice.
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They saw tall gray structures covered in snow, so much it piled up in the streets as shadowy figures walked aimlessly towards nowhere and everywhere, they saw a father fighting for his life as he tried in vain to stop the horde of shadowy monsters from attacking his daughter.
The scenery then changed into long barren plains and her tone shifted into another song, they saw the destruction and rebirth of a world and the death of its inhabitants, their cries of anguish and rage as the final light of their planet was extinguished and in a desperate mad bid for salvation the wanton killing of themselves to bring back the paradise they once knew.
She called the song of the ancients, a fitting name for the dirge she had sung for those who once lived on this planet of theirs. And yet Richard had glimpsed at that moment an intense sadness that permitted Lucrezia, together with a sense of duty and conviction so strong it nearly drowned him.
There was depth to her actions, an end only she and she alone was privy to and he wanted to know what was it!
He was snapped back to reality when Lucrezia poked him the ribs saying "You daydream too much" she laughed "The Professor will notice and call you out you know? we are at the front roll in case you forgot"
"Yeah yeah" Richard fired back and focused on the Priestess who smiled at him, he was taken back by the action but spoke nothing of it, the less attention he attracted to himself the better.
"Yeah yeah" Richard fired back and focused on the Priestess who smiled at him, he was taken back by the action but spoke nothing of it, the less attention he attracted to himself the better.
"Extraplanar studies" Richard hear Lucrezia mutter to herself as she grabbed a new notebook with her slick metal arm. Ah yes he thought, the one subject everyone but the actual insane didn't like, as to want knowledge from the terrors beyond the stars was taboo unless one wanted to join the legions of fighters to expand All-Father's reach into that great dangerous expanse.
Those (In Richard's opinion that is) insane individuals would go on to fight and die in some forgotten dust ball that the All-Father fancied the previous morning, it horrified Richard that good men and women would lay down their lives for it even with all the promises of glory and honor after death.
If the All-Father and its people got your soul before whoever out there gets first that is.
Fear was a constant friend whenever Richard was subjected to these topics, most didn't pay attention to it, they knew there were other races out there and that the All-Father wanted to bring them all under his rule and the line of questioning ended there, of course, the people who were against His rule were around but they kept quiet to avoid being stoned to death by the more lunatic followers of the supreme deity, or in Vermilion's case lose all social standing they had and become a pariah.
Everyone alive knew about the betrayal of the Mad God cursed be his name, and in his hearts of hearts, Richard could understand the divine, who in their right mind would want to see their children waste away in an endless war? see them suffer and die again and again and again? it would be enough to drive anyone mad.
And it did.
"Welcome everyone, today I'll be the one ministering your Extraplanar classes, my name is Laplace" the priestess did a small bow as she continued speaking "As future leaders of our fair nation your minds mustn't be closed to the greater reality beyond our planet and surrounding solar system, thus It falls to me and my peers to expand your understanding of the cosmos and beyond"
A hand went up, Richard looked over and saw Ironheart's face "Lady Laplace, would you be so kind as to say if the Hivemind's partition will be joining us this year?" the young man felt his skin crawl as that accused name was mentioned.
The godsdamned Hivemind was a galaxy eating monster who after destroying a nearby galaxy came in contact with All-Father, in a conversation on the entity itself and All-Father are privy to its details the Supreme Deity managed to convince that abomination against all that is alive to stand down and live its immortal life in the planet, where it partitions part of itself to act as an individual and walk the land in search of...something.
How many lives had it ended? how many people had it killed? Richard felt his blood run cold when the memory of a clan meeting with one of its partitions flashed in his mind, the monster hid under magicks to look like one of the many races from the planet but Richard could feel its cold uncaring nature, that wish to end it all hidden away via unfathomable means.
"Unknow, the Hivemind goes where it pleases Lady Ironheart" Laplace spoke with a smile on her face " But I am sure you could book a visit to its country if you wish to" Ah yes Richard recalled.
The entire thing was the size of a country.
"...Here we stand, feet planted in the earth, but might the cosmos be very near us, only just above our heads?..." Lucrezia whispered just loud enough that Richard looked in her direction, what an odd thing to say.
Laplace on the other hand snapped her head towards Lucrezia and spoke "An esoteric view only the sages of the order are known to spout, Do you also believe dreams are connected to the cosmos Lady Wulfgrem?"
The room grew silent as Lucrezia pondered "Mayhaps, the realms of dreams are rarely studied and the gods in charge of its many Spheres are fiendishly secretive with its inner workings, the more scientific-minded individuals who tried breaching it were all met with Divine punishment" Lucrezia smiled as she noted down something and Richard noticed Laplace hand twitching as if she wanted to speak up.
"A topic for another time, I'd wager the class would want to know more about our neighbors in the stars rather than esoteric musings of old men" Lucrezia finished as the Priestess nodded.
A long lecture on the many civilizations who were under All-Father's rule kicked into high gear, living in planets so alien and having ways of life so out of the established normal that Richard could barely wrap his head around it.
But Lucrezia could, where Laplace's overly technical and sometimes faith-driven explanations failed the many hands who were raised in question she would provide explanations be it swift or long, to the point she was speaking as much as the Professor.
"The denizens of Hepres-15 for example had figured out a way to tap into the river of time and saw a great cataclysm of cold death, where the very nature of the universe would halt to be as the stars grew apart and eventually all would be encased in an ice coffin" Lucrezia launched into an explanation after Laplace and a classmate went on a lengthy discussion about the heat death of the universe. The classmate in question couldn't wrap her head around the concept and was nearly having a panic attack as the weight of the existential dread assaulted her.
Laplace's eyes narrowed "Very few know about that Lady Wulfgrem" to which Lucrezia waved her off "I was not smitten yet, He won't mind if I give poor Ka-Xeena here peace of mind"
The catkin nodded as she fought off the tears giving Lucrezia the go-ahead "Those brave souls had devised a way to outright break the heat death of the universe via a mastery of magic unheard and unmatched to this very day. in tapping into the very fabric of reality and laws that govern what is material, for the immaterial is not beholden to the selfsame laws"
"And in a mad rush to end this nigh existential threat they devised an ultimatum, a spell so strong and so wide they tapped into nearly every sun they could reach, into every black hole for the power to tip the balance, and with a snap, it was done, their greatest achievement saved the mortal coil from heat death and to this day they are considered saviors of all, for the All-Father and other entities of his level who command multiple universes employed the self-same magic" Lucrezia finished.
"What happened to the people of Hepres?" Someone asked
"Their bodies were also used as fuel, they held within themselves more mana than an adult dragon, their souls joined the great beyond and once All-Father arrived in their universe they were welcomed within his halls as heroes" Laplace finished.
"How come this isn't general knowledge," another voice asked and Lucrezia laughed "It is! you can find books on any state library about it and every All-Father priest knows the tale by heart!"
"The wealth of knowledge hidden behind those dusty tomes, oh if I could show you all" she continued "Ye who lived lives knowing no wants or hardships"
"Tales of love, rage, hope, faith and much more" she ended with a big smile on her face.
Richard could hear faint sobbing in the background, and honestly? he couldn't blame whoever was crying, Imagine hearing all was fated to end only to find out someone eons ago did the impossible and even got their good ending?
The class went on, as Laplace mostly explained the other civilizations and the emotions from before calmed down until the topic shifted into those that were at war against the All-Father and those who the many entities on the same level as Him had either quarantined or outright destroyed in the rare occasions where the warfare would be set aside to deal with the new threat.
"Entity KJ-KM was the last know case of an alliance between All-Father and his enemies" Laplace droned on "A powerful being who ate star system whole via unknown means, it fought for years against the united front until All-Father deployed a new spell that obliterated it down to its very soul, the very first recorded soul destruction to happen," she wrote in the blackboard "As you well know a soul can't be destroyed, you can break it, splice it or even store parts of it but all is made whole one way or another, this new spell was developed specifically to end the threat KJ-KM continuous existence.
Cstra-Cam tapped her fingers on the table "Right proper nasty that is, you people don't wanna know how many necromancers we put down on the year trying to do the same, how the All-Father even was able to make such a spell boggles my mind"
Laplace smiled "would anyone explain how He was able to do such a thing?"
Richard saw Lucrezia's whole body freeze up for a split second, as the talk went on he felt she was getting more and more anxious as if something here was spooking her out real bad.
The third Prince's hand went up and the Professor spoke "the knowledge was made public just a few years back so I wouldn't worry if you don't know about it, I was only made aware due to my position as prince" that was the tell that the reason was something important enough to warrant the prince and his family to know.
That's when it clicked for Richard, his brain remembering a particular topic in Extraplanar lessons, the civilizations under level 5 quarantine!
Planet and people so bad, not even the beings on All-Father's level wanted nothing to do with it, locked away to wither and die on their forgotten corners so their horrible ideas don't spread to the greater cosmos, and out of all L5 civilizations, there was one whose very name was taboo among the children of Faal.
"Terra"
Arthur nodded but didn't speak anymore, knowledge on terra was very very scarce and all that was known was this; they had bloodthirsty gods who loved war above all else and it was populated by human-like people who also loved war, their machines made for the barbaric act so brutal and cunning that they nearly ended themselves twice! only when they were under assault from the terrors beyond the stars that the quarantine around their planet was made public knowledge for the people.
"To think a planet full of humans in a perpetual state of war exists" A high elf spoke, "A part of me wishes to help those sorry sods but if it was bad enough that the All-Father and his enemies decided to lock them away what hope do we mere mortals have?"
Richard noticed that Lucrezia was dead quiet, he poked her and asked "Are you alright?"
Her hands were shaking as she spoke "Blessing is flaring up again, don't mind me"
After a while, Laplace spoke "It was from that cursed planet that the All-Father devised the means to end a soul, to destroy that which is indestructible and to this day not a single of his enemies dare to provoke the usage of the spell again, let this be seared into your minds my young would-be rulers" she pointed to the ground "Down here you have power, upwards you are protected" she pointed to the roof then opened her arms "but beyond lies that which could end you in but a second, be humble and always heed the word of All-Father"
On this somber note, the class ended, and Richard bolted to the bathroom as he saw Lucrezia walking up to Laplace.
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Azarel Bir'Yurar walked along the austere halls of the Academy flanked by his harem of the most beautiful women the place had in the last 10 years, as the newest holder of the Sacred Sword Artorius he was the new face of Clan Bir'Yurar, famous for being the holder of the aforementioned sword and one of the most loyal families to server the Kingdom, Together with the Sacred Bow Vana.
The Shield was sadly stolen by the Imperium and the Spear was lost in the jungles of southern Shogunate, and so Azarel Bir'Yurar enjoyed a privileged position as the sword arts teacher and warden of the Fields of Seresval even when he was a second-year!
Alas, the young man lacked the morals from his forebears, abusing his power to starve the usage of the fabled fields for people who did not submit to his whims, only letting women as part of his ever-growing harem. The Academy and he knew they couldn't afford the drama it would cause if this went public and so he abused the noble's tendency of wiping their problems under the proverbial carpet.
The Sacred Sword was a living weapon, housing the soul of Artorius the Blademaster, a woman who fought for the first King of Vermilion at his prime and in her deathbed made an oath together with the other sacred relic creators that their families would serve the kingdom forever, thus her soul and the souls of every holder empowered the weapon granting its holder mastery over a millennium worth of combat experience.
Azarel couldn't care less about all of that, even with the other Sacred Relic on campus he was focused on his harem and living the good life off his family name and a magical sword. Ever on the hunt for another mark in his tally.
That was when he heard about the Wulfgrem girl, how she had committed sins and crimes against all that was good and holy, and even grabbed the seat of Duchess in battle! that she was a Saal'Xhir whore was even better, for some reason the bore in charge of the other field refuses to entertain him and his harem but perhaps Lucrezia wouldn't be so uptight and give him a good time.
Thus he walked up to her table followed by some of his girls and spoke "Lady Lucrezia Wulfgrem! you are hereby allowed permission to join me and my friends for a private gathering in the main keep of the Fields of Seresval" the faces around him telling that said gathering was nothing more than a paper-thin cover for an orgy with his harem washed with booze and drugs.
Before he could even hear a reply from the woman his blade screamed as a fist shiny and metal crashed into his solar plexus, Azarel felt the world spin as he began to fall before one of his girls came to his aid.
"You are a disgrace" Lucrezia spoke with what he felt was the Rage leaking from her whole body "A stain on this place and the people who turned a blind eye thanks to that sword of yours, approach me again and I will kill you" Azarel felt his sword manifest against his will and Lucrezia turned her ire to the weapon "He would be ashamed to see your legacy being wasted on this animal"
The sword went away as Azarel was dragged away from the table, his faculties returning to him as pure outrage blasted forth "You whore! I will have you killed! My best warrior will challenge you to battle and chop off your head!" he screamed as he was dragged away but not before sensing the Spirit of the Sword float behind.
He would be sending his very best to kill that whore, and then he would eat her corpse in front of all of the Academy as he feasted on her blood!