The spell crackled unleashing streams of powerful magic into the environment, which was quickly absorbed creating wisps of power. A slowly opening hole in reality itself.
Jasper stepped through, finding himself on a dusty road, surrounded by golden fields. There was nothing but thick golden grains around him, and if Jasper had to guess he would suspect that most of it was rye. The only thing that broke up the rolling fields was a massive construction in front of Jasper.
It was a fortress, unlike anything he had ever seen before. Thick walls were created from what he assumed to be iron, with long chains tethering it to the ground, as if the architect had been afraid that the building might fly into the sky at any moment. Massive towers were placed all along the walls, creating the sense that the entire fortress was able to see anything approaching it.
As soon as Jasper stepped through the portal a massive figure appeared before him. It was clearly a man with a long beard and wild hair, but his proportions were off.
His body was too small for his arms and legs as if someone had stretched him, making him roughly human size, though the dense body and squat shoulders indicated that what Jasper was looking at had at one time been a dwarf.
The dwarf was sporting thick silver armour that seemed to gleam, and a golden crown on his head, all while holding a massive two-handed hammer.
"Kelllwan, I presume," Jasper said, trying to sound jovial, while the gate he had created closed behind him.
The dwarf turned human grunted. "I am. Normally only my greatest warriors get to see my realm, but they don't step into the world like you do. Tell me what you are. A spy from Daikia? A follower of Ewen? Do they truly wish me dead so badly they send only a single person for me in my realm?"
The god didn't seem to move a muscle, clearly expecting no harm to come to him. Jasper had to agree that the being before him was probably as invincible as anything could hope to be.
"I am Magnus, but I believe you know me under another name. I believe that you call me Armandos." Jasper said, realizing that he was breaking in the third one of his names used in this world. This was getting ridiculous. Maybe he should drop the Magnus title and just go with Armandos.
The massive dwarf took a step back, though fear didn't show on his stony face, it was clear that he was not comfortable with the situation. "The first god. Prove it. Tell me what claim to the divine you have." He said, looking over what was just a man with glasses and a bright blue robe.
"My claim? You are my claim. You were born from my death and you were moulded by faith itself." Jasper answered and instantly he felt a thick wave of power sweep over him, pouring into him. He didn't resist as the power scoured his words for falsehoods, hidden meanings and half-truths.
Kelllwan didn't seem to find anything of the sort in Jasper's words. "You have nothing to fear from me, however, be aware that you are banished from setting foot on Kalish. The plane of the mortals will stay that of the mortals." Jasper said, looking at the giant dwarf who waved a hand.
"Yes, yes. The Scribe was kind enough to explain this. However, how are you not dead?" He asked, absolutely fascinated by the fact that something older than him was standing right there.
Jasper smiled. "Would you like to find out?" He said with a cake-eating grin.
"I would, but don't bear me any ill will when I beat you." The overgrown dwarf said. Jasper nodded. He wasn't that worried, after all, when he had passed the barriers between planes he had gotten all his energy back for some reason, which was fairly interesting.
"I am not here to kill anyone, and I give you my word that while you might get harmed, you will not die by my hand," Jasper said, holding up a hand, and he felt how his soul, or at least something in the middle of his chest, pushed the words towards Kelllwan.
The god seemed surprised by the fact that Jasper was willing to swear an oath. "Ey, I take your word and give you mine. Now are we going to stand around all day?"
Kelllwan wasn't fast, not like the massive ork had been. Instead, Jasper got the feeling that Kelllwan was an unstoppable force. Each stride he took felt like it had an infinite amount of weight behind it as if the former dwarf could walk through a mountain and not even notice.
Jasper decided to test that idea, using Elementalism to throw up a wall of packed stone as dense as he could make it, Kelllwan hardly noticed, simply stepping through the wall of stone, leaving behind a cartoonishly shaped hole.
Jasper threw a fireball at the divine bringer of justice, and as soon as he hit he saw the message.
Divine message Luck [https://i.postimg.cc/5tXkKkFr/image.png]
These messages were both a blessing and a curse, as they disturbed Jasper's vision, they also let him know that the fireball had done as much damage as throwing a candle at the god.
Kelllwan's hammer came from seemingly nowhere. The sturdy god's voice called out in pure joy "By Divine RIGHT! PERISH!"
Jasper had no hope of dodging that, even with all the luck in the world he would have no option but to take the hit directly.
Activating his Unbreakable Power he did so, but even though he suddenly had an invulnerable defence, the force behind the blow still sent him flying across the plains.
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The rye parted in Jasper's wake, like waves formed by a boat. He hit the ground hard, realizing that he had been flying for more than ten seconds since he took a single point of damage from the aftermath of the hit.
"That is quite the force you have behind your blows, big guy," Jasper said as he got up, Kelllwan not following up with a hit, seemingly worried that he might just have broken his oath.
"Ey, I have the Might domain. I am taking you have the Endurance domain, just like me. Otherwise, there would be no way for you to survive something like that." He said, pointing at Jasper who should have been nothing but mist.
Jasper could hear the god clearly even though he could barely see him, he assumed that this truly was the divine realm of Kelllwan, and he had complete control of this place.
"I do. Wanna go further, or have you seen enough?" Jasper asked, feeling like he had gotten what he came for. Kelllwan was probably sporting the Loyalty, Might, Endurance and Melee Domains. That was judging by the fact that he seemed to focus on inspiring people to follow him and that he was wielding the hammer with a proficiency that couldn't just be explained by mortal training.
"I would like to see what you are capable of," Kelllwan answered, and Jasper smirked.
"Fine, have it your way." Jasper took a step back and took a deep breath, his entire body trembling as he spoke loudly. "Path of the Ur-mage, first step, Way of the Deified."
Jasper's voice was strong and echoed through the world as he invoked a miracle from his Mage Domain, allowing him to cast a single Ur-spell, though from the lowest level.
Kelllwan seemed impressed, or at least, Jasper assumed as much, as the dwarf had started to run towards Jasper.
The first god wasn't done though. He smiled and spoke again. "Path of the Ur-mage, second step, Way of the Supreme." Another miracle sprang into reality, as Jasper's Ur-spell of the first level was replaced by one of the second level.
Kelllwan's eyes seemed furious, burning with a hatred that Jasper had not expected. The god of knowledge and magic couldn't blame the former dwarf, this was the level that had nuked the central part of Kalish and had elevated Ewen to a god.
However, there was one more level, and Jasper could obtain access to it with a third Miracle. He had a massive grin on his face as he spoke. "Path of the Ur-mage, final step, Way of the Unbound."
As Jasper formed the last miracle, he felt how the power contained in his being was too much. He had gone too far. His body was that of a divine and he could feel himself flaking underneath his clothing as the pure and unfiltered power rolled through him.
The rye around him had burst into flame, creating a sigil that no divine, let alone mortal, would be able to comprehend. He had one spell, he could feel it inside of him. It would take him a day to cast without injury, or he could do it instantly, suffering from some rather severe feedback and spending another Energy.
He unleashed it.
Kelllwan was hovering mid-air, clearly aiming to strike Jasper down, but at that moment he hardly seemed to move, as if frozen in time. For the first time, Jasper was seeing fear on the god's face. He was no longer angry, he was no longer trying to win, he was simply trying to survive.
As the spell left Jasper's hands his right arm simply seemed to cease to exist and as it was taken by the magic, an intricate runic circle snapped into place around Jasper's head, as if he was wearing a halo.
He spoke the name of the spell, his lips dry as 12 of his hitpoints disappeared into nothingness. "Virtue of Heavenly Authority - Divine Awe" Jasper's words were not loud, they were honestly barely a whisper, but with the crown placed around his head, the world listened and obeyed.
Kelllwan landed hard on the ground, his body forced to kneel underneath his weight and against his better judgement. Jasper felt no pain from his missing arm, there was no blood, it was simply gone.
"You understand the divine authority I wield. The forces that Ewen has been playing with are mine to command. But unlike him, I know what I am doing, because I know all." Jasper said slowly stepping over to the kneeling god. "I gave you my promise that you would not die by my hand, and I will uphold that promise. However, know that I am not your ally. I intend to raise another divine. One that is your opposite. I do not do this out of spite or hatred for you, but to preserve balance." Jasper said, feeling like having the god of justice kneeling in front of him might be the best chance he got to explain things.
Jasper understood the spell he had unleashed. He understood why the AI had gated these kinds of spells behind enough locks and gates that one would have to spend more energy than what would be reasonable to simply cast it.
Jasper could hold the spell for as long as he wished with little to no effort. He wasn't expending more Energy, which was lucky, since he only had a single Energy left thanks to his newest Endurance Power. No Energy had been committed to sustaining the effect either, leaving it in place effectively permanently, if he so wished.
The spell gave him a mandate beyond what gods had. If Jasper stepped onto the mortal realm with this spell, all but the most powerful creatures, would be compelled to be his loyal subjects, they would have no choice but to act in his best interest, and they would be forced to obey any order that he gave, if they heard him or not. Kelllwan was a god, and while Jasper could give him orders, anything suicidal or strictly against the god's moral code would allow him a chance to break the compulsion.
The god of knowledge knew that this was too much power to have, and he tried to adjust the glasses on his nose, only to realize that his arm wasn't there. He sighed, releasing the spell, and feeling the exhaustion power through him.
Jasper had made his point, he had used what was essentially a non-offensive spell to put Kelllwan into his place. "It was a pleasure to talk with you," Jasper said, giving a light bow, before activating the spell that he had suspended with his Magic Domain power, The Excellent Pause, and activating the second part of the magic ritual he had performed in the mortal realm, which pulled him back through the veil between planes and landing him in the middle of the warehouse, just as the sun started to rise.