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Cultivation of the blade
Ch 2: Refinement and the Ruling council

Ch 2: Refinement and the Ruling council

During Bob's reforging of Eclipse the pantheon stirred.

Lucius Ark Randol edgar Luck

Current head of the pantheon and nemesis of the evil god Bob, strode from his luxurious abode into a large chamber with a circular table.

"Larel!" a tall toned woman called out to him, in his 'pet' name.

Yes, within the pantheon the only noble human 'player' was referred to by a pet name abbreviating his noble name.

lucius sighed "Lorretta, I was asking you not to call me that in front of the council, but we don't have time right now." He replied to the partially dressed Amazonian, her own ancestry lending to the shackles she bore even into the role of a hero.

Unburdened by these metal shackles she chuckled before taking a Seat.

At the circular table many people were seated, a departure from the evil pantheon, and as the final person took their seat the table separated and formed three tiers, with Lucius and his party of Transcendents at the top of the tier.

"Listen up people, we have gotten confirmation from Grendel, that the great witch was rebounded by her own curses placed upon That infernal Bob! But also that she confirms that he was restrained by the Second seal!" Lucius said in his most heroic voice to the chorus of the lesser heroes within the halls.

"However! What caused this breaking of heaven's rules is currently unknown." He continued.

"We will seal that tyrant's movements for the sake of the WORLD!!!" Lucius roared, to the applause of the lesser heroes.

"As members of the pantheon yourselves You will have a most opportune time to increase your strengths, by vanquishing the evils of this world Your karma is sublimated within you, and may light your 'spark' to Ascend into the upper echelons of the pantheon!"

"But be aware, Should you fall You will cause the enemy to become stronger, So Remember to temper your righteous fury!" He commanded to the crisp salute of the lesser heroes.

finishing sighing internally he followed up with "Now leave nobody wanting, War with evil is bound to happen soon, so Sharpen your weapons and train your techniques, The Council will deliberate further in private about future concerns, Your concerns should only be to improve your strength!" he finished, slamming his impossibly strong fist into a central pillar of the table causing the large pillar to shake violently as the seats returned to the complete circle state.

After the horde of lesser beings left, Lucius sighed heavily as Lorretta paced up to him.

"Oh my, what a hero, saying that our juniors should train themselves for a potential tier up?" She teased

Lucius held the feelings he had for this Amazonian down, They were considered criminals for a reason after all. "There was other things that I kept from the great swath of heroes, obviously.

Besides if they heard the rest they would be terrified." He explained.

The overly tall woman strode over, towering over the demi-god

"What does our, OH, SO scary Bob have that would leave the cattle scared in their boots then? hero?"

Lucius rolled his eyes "He is also under the effects of the fifth seal, Lorretta, meaning outside of me, there isn't a power in the world who would contend with him."

This drew a gasp from the other four members of the heroes pantheon present.

"Dera, Sylius, Montgomery, Abdul, Lorretta, you are all only Transcendant beings, not demigods, If bob wants to fight, you all will perish, while I would be left with a shattered pantheon and the world would lose hope." Lucius said, tone low and voice filled with fear.

The six great heroes, Considered geniuses of their time had purportedly held the gates of evil out of the hearts of the people.

The truth.

Bob had struck a deal with them, He would forewarn his assaults, and they would feed him the souls of undeveloped heroes.

With Divinity Engine online being a hardcore game, Many aspiring heroes stopped trying to be a part of the pantheon, since their characters would lose any sense of technique or cultivation before they even got to try to deal with this 'bob' individual.

"As much As I am an antagonistic force against bob, We are usually equally matched, His cults spread across the world spreading his foul name to every brigand and criminal in the world while we raise chaff to be separated from the wheat by bob's armies." He continued.

Dera coughed to get attention before asking "So what are we to do about bob, No doubt he knows our vulnerability, given his ability to reflect and negate negative effects, I don't see a way to win against him, So what are we going to do?"

"We are going to confront him, and ask what will happen now." Lucius answered promptly.

Everyone there was shocked and scared

Montgomery was a large man, even larger than the Amazoness, which to her fury, he kept poking.

His refinement was the Immovable mountain refinement technique, which in turn changed his race after a while.

In his low rumble he made his piece "Should we ask the calamity for answers, One would likely need to be sacrificed... and... I have been waiting... The world calls me."

Towards the end his eyes went foggy for a moment before refocusing the pale blue crystals housed in his eye sockets.

His skin like opal and bones like unknowable metal, he was a world titan.

And he, changed by the world, was in turn, able to change it.

But only so far.

"I feel, a stagnancy in the world... It's core... it slows and freezes, earlier I felt a tremor... a birth by earth."

Before another could interrupt "The last thing I would do is betray the world and kin, I shall go, and we will reconcile the paragon of balance, before the calamity claims us all."

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Lucius knew that Montgomery was a miner in the real world, How it must of hurt the big man to feel what he was doing tore at him, Lucius could see it now.

Dera snorted before slapping his waist "Who will train new heroes then big guy, none of us are either tough enough nor practice enough restraint?"

Dera was a slim, vaguely Asian descendant person, her curves and excessively attractive appearance came about due to her refinement, Carnal pleasure witch refinement.

Within herself she had a demon that could become more powerful with the more debaucherously the possessor acted.

Out of everyone Dera was the most versed in the nobility of the players, being that Npcs were generally easier to convince.

And that they, unlike players, Didn't need to provide consent.

Abdul was a short, dark skinned monk-like person, Large well maintained beard, and tattoos all over his flesh.

Following the tenets of the Lifecore cultivation Technique, he was a potent physical fighter, and a spiritual caster.

Abdul stroked his beard before he spoke in a older, wizened voice "The world's life is more important than livestock that live on the dying corpse."

Dera's eyes opened before looking at Lorretta for support

Lorretta snorted before drawing a strap across her chest, before letting it rebound back, which caused a not insignificant amount of drool to pool in Dera's mouth.

"You ain't fooling anyone, You just don't like being at another's mercy, especially since they are just as depraved as you are.. Seriously Lucius how did you manage to get the hornist player in the AEU to become a hero?"

Being an amazon was a unique experience for Lorretta or Lori for short, She had access to racial abilities equivalent of a greater being despite being a mere mortal.

Then the refinement appeared and she quickly ascended until she was captured as a criminal.

Her refinement was The Unending rage refinement Technique.

Out of all the people here she was the most scarred by her encounters with bob.

But rage is a hell of a drug.

She hardly remembers a thing after raging.

The pain he inflicted however, was something she couldn't forget even if she wanted to.

He toyed with her exposed body, tenderising her flesh, asked if she would hate him for eating her corpse.

Laughed as she danced herself to death under the effects of her own refinement.

Sylius was a silent type, rogue if you will.

His refinement was the silent shadows refinement.

He spent his earlier years playing with the 100,000 shadows, a organisation of assassins and rogues that trained their bodies to madness, in order to protect as many people.

He was the only shadow to survive

He quickly moved his hands, energy flowing between them, as a voice came from the dark and brooding man.

"Hiii~~ Well I don't see a problem with meeting up with Bob-san~~" An unnaturally bright, cheerful voice of a young woman came from him.

"Sylius, please stop with the damn, voices." Lucius asked, pleadingly.

Sylius coughed before putting his hands up.

"Sorry, sorry, habits, yah know." He said before continuing "Well I can't exactly help with any kind of fight against bob, mostly considering the fact that he was essentially the one who created my foundation."

Lucius sighed before saying "Yeah, I figured, well it is time, your words have given me the time to cast the teleportation, something interestingly bob doesn't possess."

A... Ripple coursed acrossed the small space, until it was like water in the tapestry, overflowing before the universe corrected itself, displacing matter to another location.

They found themselves in a surprisingly similar room to where they were before.

And a slow clap followed as a Youthful, long haired man stood in the doorway, so ereriely similar to the entrance to the halls of the Pantheon.

And in a profound, bass voice the young man spoke "Wonderful, spacial magics are always a treat to see, especially since I cannot use them without special permission. Welcome Pantheon 39... To my castle, I hope you will stay for refreshments and perhaps a educational course."

Bob was theatrical, jovial and most importantly, He never took his eyes off of the 6 of them.

"so I suppose you have come for the knowledge of why I am under two of the 10 seals, no?"

His beastial grin frightened everyone in the room, That was a grin of a being who knew that he was in the presence of his lessers, and reveled in their fear.

"well come on, we have much to discuss, especially considering we are all... What was it called again, AH Travellers, no?" His face seemed to warp into a sharp contrast, his grin more and more demonic looking by the second.

Lucius talked up first "Stop scaring the others, and yes as you have guessed We are here for information."

A low rumble that evolved into hysterical giggling erupted from bob.

"OH, OH oh, ahahahahahah, Lucy-boy, Implying that I don't know your actual moves and resorting to guesswork." More rauchous laughter.

"Your bluff is not lost on me, You lost your heroism, stooping to making deals with a demon?"

Bob closed the distance in less than a blink, no different to teleportation in the minds of those here, given that there was no noise nor breeze.

Bob towered over the demi-god who averted his gaze, before bob cupped his chin, Raising Lucius's gaze.

"Thats better, that is the lucius I remember so fondly, Ah I remember that your corpse was never defiled, Always so dashing, couldn't be seen as foul or tainted once I laid hands on your flopping corpse." Bob said, seemingly in reminiscence

Lucius slapped bobs hand away before his eyes hardened "We ARE, Going to talk about what has happened, AND NOTHING MORE!"

The remaining heroes froze as they heard this demand, and bobs smile became physically impossible.