“Thanks for letting me borrow you guys for a bit,” He told them as he walked over, even as he was already eyeing the great space spirit and the changes in the other that had occurred in the last day.
Originally looking like nothing more than a dense mass of mana, visible to even those like himself without the proper mana sense for its affinity, it looked like he’d chosen a shape for himself like the other great spirits had for dealing with the mortals across the world. Specifically, Ben’s shape.
Seeming to be made of the same condensed space that would accumulate around voidstone, aside from the lack of pigmentation it looked to be an otherwise perfect replica, with Abrus noticing his small look and seeming apologetic.
“It’s his way of showing gratitude, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, I was just a bit surprised. Have you picked a name for yourself too then so I can have something to call you?”
“Ogilt,” The space spirit told him, still seeming withdrawn into himself after the day prior.
“Ogilt then, it’s nice to officially meet you. I don’t think I ever said it but I’m Ben.”
“I don’t understand, we met yesterday?”
“Exchanging names is different, now it’s official. Just take it as a silly human quirk if you want but either way, I’ll borrow you for just a minute to get your help.”
Pulling the spirit along, Ben took him to the last three pods that were scattered through the structure, getting the other to teleport them down to where Lux and Abrus were waiting out of consideration for the sheer destruction all three would be capable of compared to the rest he’d spoken to that day before going out to greet them, not worrying too much thanks to the scale of power he had on his side but still trying to be ready as they opened the pods, revealing the ones inside.
Unlike many of the others he’d dealt with, two of those he released managed to handle things in a reasonably calm manner, hesitantly making their way out while looking at the four of them with uncertainty and distrust. The last one immediately tried to run, only to be caught and stared at by Lux.
“Ben, this is-”
“A new form of mana-based life, yeah. The first example of a non-affinitied type too, they call themselves wraiths.”
It was a discovery he hadn’t been prepared for, but then, he hadn’t been ready for the other two either, with both of them taking the form of two contenders, one of which was even more alien to him than the wraith.
The planet’s newest form of mana-based life seemed to naturally take a reasonably human-like shape while existing at a size comparable to Ben, unlike the far smaller spirits, fairies, and elementals that already made up the world, and what seemed to be a general non-affinitied skill that couldn’t level, meaning that combined with the raw power that sort of life naturally had, they’d be a powerful force to add to their planet, even if it hadn’t been enough for their own world.
The first of the two others was a contender for tri-swordsmanship which made enough sense based on what Ben could see of his body plan, with what he would describe as an almost hominid type if not for the trilateral symmetry that was on the rarer side for races on the planet along with a thick carapace.
He would have been plenty interesting alone, but unfortunately for him and the wraith, the third one managed to be unique in both form and history as his eyes were drawn to the most unusual of them all. A being whose race had lost not only a world before, but also a star, having it conquered by an evil god long ago in their ancient history before their god took what remained of their kind and modified them to live on a terrestrial world, that alone could have been enough to captivate him if not for what else he was seeing so clearly. The person before him was the second example he’d ever come across of an energy-based being, and the first living one at that.
Oaun definitely had some interesting specimens in his collection, I can’t deny that. I mean, as someone from a different universe I probably would have counted as a pretty interesting one myself but still, this is something else altogether. And a contender for high light magic, it looks like their species as a whole was naturally skilled with it. I wonder if that’s going to be common for all energy races or if it’s just a coincidence?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
He really had a million questions about their kind he knew he wouldn’t be getting answers to, ranging from how their biology worked to how they were even solid to begin with when their body was made of some strange arrangement of energy instead of matter, along with the evolution that had taken place on their lost star that had ended with the form the unique creature had. Ben knew that a species’ gods would alter them as they saw fit when lifting them to sapience, but it was all built off of the original base. Having a form that looked like a ring rotating into itself in a constant, smooth motion, he knew it couldn’t have been entirely due to a god's meddling but he couldn’t imagine what environmental pressures could have led to something like that.
God, reality as a whole really does pick at my curiosity but that’s not important right now, gotta focus.
“Hello, I’m sure the three of you have a lot of questions and concerns but for now you’re relatively safe. My name is Ben, the apostle of the god Myriad and I’m here to explain how you ended here and the state of the world you find yourself on so if you’d bear with me for a little while I’ll tell you everything I can and do my best to answer whatever questions you might have.”
From there he went on to explain the same things he had been telling others throughout the day, having his speech perfected by then leaving only how they’d react, with the swordsman speaking first.
“So you’ll let us wait things out in these pods if we want?”
Shit.
That was an outcome Ben especially didn’t want those three giving into. All of them were going to be powerful and it would have been a waste for the world as a whole, so while he wouldn’t deny them if they really wanted to, he was going to do his best to convince them otherwise first.
“If you really want to you can but I’m hoping you won’t,” He told them honestly as he addressed the two contenders. “And you two in particular have an excellent reason not to. You’re both on the edge of godhood. If you can each get just a little stronger in the time you have then you’ll achieve it.”
He could feel in their thoughts that he’d captured their attention as he explained further. Since he could see their skills he knew how powerful they were but the two had come from planets with neither the system nor ascended gods. The fact that they could raise themselves up to such a thing was news to the both of them, and tempting news at that. They both were dealing with some psychological harm from their long imprisonment but to learn that they were on the edge of a level of power that could make an overwhelming difference against the race they’d both lost to in the past was proving to be the exact temptation he’d hoped it would be and he knew they’d get plenty of resources put towards them if they chose to fight.
While he didn’t make them any promises, he was sure that the two would be in good positions to get help from Yuzu and resources from Falk, maybe even some blessings too if they were lucky and the right gods were feeling generous. They were extra strength in a time the world needed them, they just had to get over that last edge.
By the time he was done he knew he had them convinced, even if hesitant, leaving only the last of them, the wraith.
He was about to start trying to convince him the best he could but the other spoke before he needed to.
“I’ll fight as well.”
“Fantastic, we’ll be glad to have you.”
Because I had no clue what I could have done to convince you. That worked out better than I could have hoped.
“Okay, from here we’ll… Hmm, should we send them to the communal church with the others?”
All of them were powerful and they wouldn’t be acting like civilians like the others, was there a reason to send them there when their situations were going to be rather different in the end? It was Lux who answered, looking at them all as she did.
“We should give them rooms here for now, I’ll be able to help two of them adjust and my husband can help the last while we get in contact with various organizations to plan things out.”
“Sounds fantastic, thanks Lux. And with that done, that leaves me only one major thing left to do. I’m going to need to borrow you guys for just a little longer if you don’t mind. I should be able to make it quick.”
Getting nods, Ben once more dragged Ogilt with him to pull out one last pod before making requests of the two other spirits.
“Abrus, when I open this would you be able to cover its occupant with moribusial? And Lux, would you be able to heal their injuries for me?”
“An odd request,” The great earth spirit commented.
“Just a necessary precaution. I’ll be adding my own touch too.”
He materialized a collar as he said it, applying the most powerful dark enchantments he could in preparation before opening things up, revealing the dying form of the demon within, the very same one that had dragged him to its world in the first place.