"I met Peter the moment I arrived here," Amun said. "I saw him before, of course, but he was the first one I spoke to after stepping through the Bifrost. He was struggling with the mana density, and a few royals and nobles from Maru were bullying him because he was a former slave of their Empire."
"That's stupid." Blude sneered.
"I agree, and I hate bullies. So, when I learned we were in the same party, I called him out." Amun snickered. "Naturally, he challenged me to a duel. The problem was that he had barrier magic. I couldn't attack him outright, not without using the void." He shrugged. "So, I attacked his mind instead. I used fear to loosen his foundation. Then I broke him. While we exchanged some words thereafter, he distanced himself from me until I captured his knight during an outing in the wilds. I had his shadow clone spill his secrets, and after a tear-jerking conversation, Prince Winston Epeth and his knight agreed to help me with the portals in Maru if I helped them un-fuck their country. Something I planned on doing regardless." He snickered.
"A few months later, I announced the formation of my guild to the rest of the class and made it clear they'd be making a devil's deal if they agreed. I promised to help fulfill their goals if they help in Maru, in addition to many more boons. After the work in Maru is done, they can retire as Emperors in my Empire of Empires or continue exploring the Mortal Plane with me. As I told you earlier, most of the class joined," Amun said with a hint of disbelief. "So, I built a tower in the Bodhi Tree's territory and spent the latter half of the second year training them harder than my vassals, turning them into my first, most elite officers. And then we evolved." This time he laughed dryly. Almost maniacally.
"Then I learned I have five classes."
My jaw almost dropped. "Five?"
"Yes." He shook his head. "Master Class, Grandmaster Artificer, currently at the Fifteenth Step, a Grandmaster Armorer. Master Monk, the Way to Death's Door, at the Ninth Step, Death's Yard. Prestige Void Sorcerer, on the Second Step of Zefroth's Path, The Flesh. Prestige Cleric on the Eternal Path's Second Step, The Holy and Unholy Word. I'm also a... Prestige Rogue Devil, Soul Mastermind... at the Fifth Step, The Network."
While the first was impressive and the second was one I had long since been aware of, the rest numbed my mind as they rattled off Amun's tongue. A devil, cast aside by his kin. But also a sorcerer who walks the same path as the First Devil. Not to mention, a cleric without a deity. A cleric, only in name, for it was meant to shroud the fact that Amun was the Eternal God. Prime Deity to be of the entire universe.
"And so." He grinned in that familiarly unsettling way as he turned to the girls. "I am the Eternal God; one who needs faith to grow, yet one who will need no faith once he matures. One that has made it his promise to give those he cares about, all the power and knowledge they'll need to be, as I call it, unfuckwithable."
That got a hearty laugh out of even me. Yet, unlike the girls or his, mine was born from hope. Hope that he seemed hesitant to capitalize on. "Like all Gods, I have four domains, and they have four prominent aspects." He said. "But unlike other gods, duality is an aspect of my portfolio. Thus some aspects have mirrors, and I have two religions. Technically, two philosophies as well, but that's neither here nor there.
"On one hand, I am the World Weaver, worshiped by the Order of Worlds. My first world orbits me wherever I go, acting as a representation of me and an eye in the sky, in addition to being the gate to my divine realm of Eotrom. Often wrongly called the 'Second Sun,' its name is Mani, and was born from the World Weaver's power- Moonlight. It is light fused with darkness, and thus is its first aspect, followed by Worlds, their fluid seas existing on them; and dreams fused with illusions. It primarily represents change and is represented by many creatures. Canines of all types. Cephlapods and Cetaceans like squids and dolphins. Many species of deer, and moths.
"On the other hand, I am the Elven Devil, worshiped by the Black Plume as the Owl. It comes from Twilight, Light in tandem with Darkness, representing duality. And so its domains act in tandem as well. The Twilight of the expanse beyond in tandem with the Dusk in the Darkworld below. Purity in tandem with Corruption. Life in tandem with Death. The merge between holy light and my unholy sorcery makes both neutral powers. Thus they bring no harm to creatures of the night. In regards to Twilight, there are felines, rodents, snakes, creatures like badgers or weasels, and of course, owls."
There it was, the hope, brought along by a single word that caused me so much torment over the years. Snakes.
"Aside from that, my third domain is Engineering." He gestured to the strange environment surrounding us, and my eyes suddenly caught on the trees whisking by the window, where they stayed as he continued. "I am the master of Arcane Technology, the ArcaTech. Its aspects are Civilizations, Militaries or Guilds, Industry, and Science. However, the houses of worship tied to this domain are more akin to places of learning. Research and development, artificing, and engineering are all ways of worshiping me in this regard, not praying. Although," He glanced at Iris. "I suppose someone could.
"The creatures you saw me interacting with during my walk are tied to this domain." He pointed out. "The family that bees, wasps, and ants belong to; and termites as well, though they are unrelated. There are also some types of Spiders- I can't claim the burrowing or trapdoor spiders, for some reason, but the so-called 'true' or 'orb weaving' spiders are mine."
'For some reason.' I could not help but choke on dejection. Yet he continued without a care.
"The last of them is perhaps the best of all. Beavers. Collectively, however, these creatures are nature's best architects. Like the ancients who passed along the martial arts we use today." He gestured between us. "Those in my previous world learned how to mimic nature in their structures, materials, and machines, not just their fighting techniques. Something referred to as Biomimicry.
"Lastly, as I am Telin's Champion, and he is the source of mana, classes, affinity cores, and the gates, I am the God of Mana. The aspects are the Universe, Evolution, Sorcerers, and Affinity Cores; yet also encompasses mana wells, mana molding, manipulation, casting, and forging, as well as magical evolution. While I can't do some of those things yet, I'll have power over all of these things in the future. As far as I'm aware, though, no animals are associated with this domain; unless you want to count wise rocks. However, some in the Legions who assume I'll be the God of magic beasts or Faeries or something." He laughed.
I did not find it as funny, however. On the contrary, it was a terrifying prospect; and one that may have been more true than he realized, considering the brooch he showed me. But if his contradictory powers were something to believe, it was a certainty. Not Faeries, per se, but some type of Fae.
"Aside from that, there are three more things to be aware of." I turned my eyes to see Amun holding up three fingers. "The first is that all of these domains share the aspects of Nature, Duality, Freedom, and Change, although Moonlight and Twilight are tied most strongly to Change and Duality. The second and perhaps most controversial, are the creatures tied innately to my divinity. One of them, to little surprise, is devils. The second, to everyone's shock, is Umbra Draconis.
"Shadow Dragons."
I leaned across the table this time, my face shrouded in disbelief as I stammered. "S- shadow dragons?" It was not unheard of. But it was rare. Moreover, there were whispers of Amun facing a red dragon, yet none knew the outcome of their engagement.
"Yes." Amun returned an amiable nod. "Turns out, the greatest guilds in Polaris and the Emperor himself thought it was wise to pit me against a red wyrmling last year. A venerable one, at that. Born from the Scourge of the Mountain or whatever they call sleeping ancient to the north. No one saw me fight last year because I didn't. I destroyed the scrying eye and made a deal with her, Cononthoth. Now she's a venerable Red Shadow dragon. The Exalted Gloom. The first of many, as she is not sterile like the tales describe dragons being corrupted by the darkness. She'll birth more shadow dragons and the others I corrupt will birth more of their kind; chromatic and metallic alike, I am their God."
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"That is as amazing as it is terrifying." I shuddered.
"Yes, but since you're with me now, you don't have to worry about her kind harming you. Or venerable chromatic dragons as a whole, for that matter. If I understand things correctly, Tiamat is quite pleased with the whole thing.
"The last thing, though, are my blessings from Telin." He continued before I could voice any more shock. "There are three. Telin's Grace makes me the most beloved by mana in the universe."
"That makes sense."
"Telin's Hand grants my followers a higher tier of affinity cores."
"That also makes sense," I muttered.
"And Telin's Sight allows me to see the evolutionary paths of anyone who meets my gaze."
"WHAT?"
"I can see every aspect of the paths people can obtain, no matter which ones they've already pursued. I can read the tasks required for each step down the end of those paths. And I can even see what perks they'll receive along the way. This includes mine, by the way." He clarified with a passive wave.
I could not believe it. "So then, you knew the steps you had to take to Death's Door before arriving at the Halls. You did not even need to train with us. So then, why appear at all?"
"Well." He shrugged. "For one, I knew there would be things I could only learn from a master. For two, there was you."
"I- I see." I turned away from his gaze and suddenly felt ashamed by the sudden warmth in my cheeks. So I pressed him to continue. "What else do you know?"
"Well." He shrugged. How much do you know about ability improvements?"
My careless shrug resulted in a tangent that revealed a bounty of things even I wasn't aware of.
There was more to it than mere strength, durability, or agility. It involved mana, and thus the limitations were exceeded. It prevented the body from being destroyed by exceeding its limits. It prevented large objects from collapsing under their weight when lifted; from disintegrating from flying through the air at hypersonic speeds or breaking your arms when punching at the speed of sound.
Constitution, for example, evolved in stages like all the rest. The first came with resistant skin and bones dense enough to facilitate the lifting of heavy objects. At the second, the organs were optimized. The digestive system was improved, limiting one's needs to one daily meal. A meal that was digested rapidly and produced little to no waste. So too did that apply to the kidneys, lungs, heart, and even the brain. Then came the healing factor at the third stage. Light injuries healed only while performing light duties or when resting. After that, the skin and bones get strong enough to block all but adamantine, mithral, or magic, and the skin becomes rigid enough to resist pressure changes, allowing them to survive where there is no air. Or below the sea. The fourth brought elemental resistances and a moderately persistent healing factor capable of healing minor wounds during combat. But it was nothing compared to the complete healing factor at the final stage, where even life-threatening wounds could heal during combat, albeit at a snail's pace. However, that also included a stronger resistance to all types of elemental damage and organs that were both fortified and optimized further.
Since adding onto his constitution would be counter-intuitive to his class and he could steal as much strength as he wanted, Amun pointedly told me he was going for super-powered agility and dexterity. He'd know he reached the first superpowered dexterity stage when his reaction times surpassed the speed of sound, placing him into a state of slowed perception whenever he bolstered his body with mana, making his strikes and kicks generate miniature sonic booms. Beyond that, his movements would become hypersonic, displacing so much air that they turned into virtual air cannons. Those shockwaves would grow powerful enough to propel one in the opposing direction at the third level, effectively allowing them to kick off the air akin to solid ground. Something he would soon learn to do ki, but he made it a point to explain his concept of 'redundancies' to cease my ramblings.
At phase four, the reaction time was to the point where one could track lightning with the senses, but not yet keep up with it. That, keeping pace with lightning, was the agility. Instead of reaction time, reflexes, and use of the hands, it focused on overall speed and athletic ability, and the first stage was the most noticeable. It came when the mana reactions negated fluid displacement around the body as one moved, effectively reducing atmospheric drag to near-zero and, in turn, increasing the top speed to match that of sound- which evidently has a speed.
Quite interestingly, it was then that he more or less ordered us to enter the realm of superpowered agility and dexterity alongside him. In response to my inquiry, he explained the differences between raw and evolutionary physical ability; mostly to the girls. His raw strength was in the superhuman realm, but that was it. In terms of humans, his dexterity and agility were too, but not to other elves; his magic ability was less than average and his athleticism was normal to us, so bolstering himself with mana would not give him an edge. Bolstering was what caused the evolutionary physical abilities to activate, however. That was why those with evolutionary super strength did not go around breaking doors every time they entered a building, unlike those with raw strength.
Like his Great-Grandfather, the Amazonians in his guild- and by extension Blude- his strength was an 'always on' endeavor. He could slow time with magic and infuse his body with lightning to slow his perception of time or make himself faster, but that meant nothing in the presence of antimagic, so he needed the ability improvements to have his speed match his strength. If not surpass it.
I pointed out that such a goal was born from a cynical and paranoid mind. He did not disagree but did not agree either. He only leaned over the table, causing the burning embers of hope to rise from the depths of my spirit once more.
"Now then," he began, staring deeply into my eyes. "I'm sure you're aware of this, but when I mentioned the loudest voices in the Peninsula, I was also referring to you. But not just you, you may not know. Countless drow as well. Mostly males but many females as well. Thousands of them, far beneath the Halls of Nydorden. Even if they don't know it, they've been pleading and praying for someone to free them from one of the few fates it seems they have. I never counted on being the God of drow." He admitted. "But if it means freeing my people from the madness that enslaves them, I'll gladly be that. However, the decision to be freed- the decision to join me, is yours to make."
"Not that I have a choice." I laughed bitterly. And sweetly. "But, with what you have said- with what I have seen- my answer would have been the same either way. If you can free our kind from the Demon Spider's webs, particularly my brother, that would be better than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you." I bowed.
He waved my words aside as if they were meaningless. "You're still my teacher, Etan. But I'm your boss. So, I guess that makes us equals. Friends, even." Amun laughed. "Either way, being your boss or your God doesn't mean you have to be formal with me or treat me as anything but a normal person. I don't see my divinity as something that places me above the likes of others. It only turns fighting into a bore and makes everything else far too easy." He laughed dryly. "That is precisely why I've decided to make things more interesting in places like these.
"But now comes the real question." A lengthy pause coincided with him leaning back into his chair, grinning wide to show his rows of pointed teeth. "What kind of power should be the foundation for your domain?"
"My face fell as I thought about the possibilities; weighed the pros and cons. I did not get far.
"No pressure," Amun said with a raised palm. "You don't have to decide immediately."
"Then, I will wait to decide." I nodded, prompting, it seemed, for the girls to jump from the table and declare they were going to sleep.
Having no need for my trance just yet, I wordlessly followed Amun into the workshop and sat peacefully while he approached the carcasses of his beloved wolves, methodically butchering them and hanging their hides up for tanning. Yet, it was not just that. It was an… intimate moment, almost like a ritual. Something along the lines of which I have never seen before. A silent weeping of creatures in passing, a strange sight to see a necromancer perform.
He skinned them with the utmost care, muttering words I assumed to be blessings each step of the way. He hung their pelts on wooden frames to dry, crafted salves and ointments out of their marrow, and made potions from their organs; their bones, and blood into tools, weapons, and equipment. Every bit of those massive creatures was used for something, then packaged in enchanted wardrobes before they were sealed away in a dimension of darkness.
He emerged from his labors in the deep of night. And though the hardly perceptible cloud that hung over Amun had dissipated, he called for some alone time after showing me to my room. It was a luxurious abode compared to even drow standards, being spatially distorted to a grand chamber's volume. The bed was larger than a High Matron's, but I had long since learned to be ascetic. However, for the first time in my life, I found myself in private solitude. Thus I began to meditate and think of the obvious, most exciting thing to cross my mind."
***
Amun.
***
I beamed wide as the smell of rot and tar filled my nose and thundered out a low laugh as every set of burning eyes turned in my direction. I beamed wide, I spread my arms as far as my body allowed, and I screamed across my pit. "Archer! How've you been enjoying the new life?"
The spined devil that once was an infamous Chaulortian Witch instantly leaped to my side, clawing his greedy hands happily. "Good! Good!" he cackled. "Many new souls have come by. Though, not as many as your sm- sm- sssmell would suggest."
"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off me. "Not every soul I free comes here. Some have second lives to live, you know. Anyway, I need you to teach me something.
"The Art of Nightmares."
---
[The Path of Zefroth, Step 3: The Mind of Night.]
[To continue down Zefroth's Path, learn from your devils, the art of infecting mortal minds with pestilential nightmares that place them on the path to corruption.]