Martin slid down the side of a crater in the warped wasteland that made up Leltho. While his body looked like an ork, it was divine in nature and much more easily withstood the corrupting powers of the desolate area.

Even so, he could feel the mana in the air with every breath he took. It felt dense and overwhelming, like the world itself was trying to smother him.

It wasn't just due to the thick mana in the air that Martin was uncomfortable. It was hard moving around, as Martin's heavy pauldrons acted as sentry towers to the point where his left pauldron had been outfitted with a mini-catapult.

The mini-catapult wasn't a good weapon. However, as a god, Martin believed his primary duty was aesthetic. There was a severe lack of gods of siege weapons throughout real-world history, and the game developer wasn't about to let the same fate befall his fantasy world.

Behind the ork, the massive bearshark was eagerly following, its eyes scanning the environment. It wasn't alone in doing so. Martin had spotted something he had thought impossible out here.

This place could best be equated to a magical nuclear wasteland, which was supposed to be an endgame zone. So when Jasper saw signs of an intelligent life, it made him curious.

While there was life around Leltho, most of it was ravenous and corrupt, driven to the brink by the area's intense magical nature.

Martin first spotted the signs of a campfire about a day ago. Tracking down the person who had made the campfire had been easy, thanks to Martin's skills, which allowed him to simply communicate with the bearshark and make it track the target for him. Less than an hour ago, he had spotted a humanoid form in the distance moving towards the bottom of the pit Martin was careening down.

The pit was clearly not some natural rock formation but rather a crater left by a pair of massive beasts clashing. Their immense power had torn up the natural terrain.

As Martin made his way down the sides, letting gravity do all the work, he could see that the figure he had spotted earlier that day was slowly starting to set up camp in the crater's centre.

Now that he was closer, he could see that it was a woman and a human woman to boot. Long red hair flowed down her shoulders, and Martin almost considered her a bug. Her beauty was astounding, impossibly so, thanks to the wasteland around them. The stranger's body seemed to be sculpted with a care that didn't align with the built-in flaws the AI should assign to every NPC. Martin made a note to look into this when he returned to his pc.

The woman was wearing a long robe, seemingly made from the cheapest material, maybe a canvas bag, and tied at the waist with a belt seemingly made from every colour of the rainbow. From her wide hips hung the symbol of every god that Martin knew of.

The orkish god could see the crown that indicated Kelllwan and the infinity symbol that signified Ewen. Those were reasonably common. After all, they were considered to be the 'Good gods'.

However, a pair of crossed red triangles were also hanging from the belt. Martin knew those symbolized Orlek, the orkish god, and was more akin to a neutral god, but the two last symbols were a surprise.

A black plate with three eyes symbolized Raffael Moordet, who wasn't quite a god but was considered to represent all demons.

The last symbol was a strange one. It took Martin a moment to recognize. It was almost a cross, but with a sharp arrow-like base and a rhombus around the top, all in white. That would have to be the symbol for Daikia, the goddess of drows and drow-supremacy.

Most people considered both of these last two gods evil, and worship had been outlawed in most places. At least, that was what the iteration summary Martin had read said.

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As Martin moved closer, the woman looked up from the camp she had been halfway through constructing and gave him a weary look. Martin couldn't sense any magic from her, but then again, he was currently being bathed in mana, and he wasn't the god of mages, so he was unsure if he could sense it in anyone.

"It ain't often ya spot an ork 'round these parts. Got lost from yor tribe, wee mate?" The woman spoke, and Martin had to hold back laughter. It was quite the accent she had. Martin had always loved accents in games.

"No, no. I know where I am, and I don't have a tribe. I am out in these lands looking for a worthy foe." He said, smiling before stretching out his hand in a greeting. "The name is Armandos."

The ginger woman had gone to shake his hand but had frozen in place when he told her his name. Her hand started to glow faintly, and while cheery, there was a certain venom in her words as she spoke.

"Ain't no chance yor Armandos. I know Armandos, and you're not them. Want to give it another go before I erase yer from existence, eh, luv?" She seemed to be casting some kind of spell.

Being a master of deduction, this told Martin that he couldn't sense if people had magic... at least not in this environment.

"I'm The Scribe, mate. Chosen of Armandos, I am. That dragon dung might fool others, but not me. So, tell me how ya know that name and introduce yerself proper, then we can be all polite-like, yeah?" She said with a piercing stare.

Martin was confused for a second. Then things started to click: the robes, which seemed a step up from a canvas bag, and the red hair, which represented multiple gods.

"Jasmine?" He finally asked.

The spell in Jasmine's hand faltered as her true name was spoken, and she stumbled to a halt.

"'Ow do yer know that name?" She asked, her eyes looking intently at Martin.

The ork god of artillery laughed with joy and pleasure. "It is you! My gods! I thought you would be gone by now, and Erik would still wander the world."

Jasmine's face fell a little, and she sighed. "Nah... 'Bout 80 years ago, he gave me the title o' The Scribe and passed on. He was old, even before that, and he couldn't bear losin' the people around 'im. I'm startin' to understand the wisdom he 'ad but never spoke about." The redhead said, sitting down at the camp. "You really are Armandos, ain't ya? Blimey, I didn't think you'd come track me down. You gonna kill me, then?"

Martin was taken aback by the question, looking at her with surprise and worry. "Why would I kill you?"

The god sat down and had to suppress the divine Domain that would spawn plants to care for him. He couldn't be hurt, but he got the feeling that Jasmine might not have the same protection. Jasmine sighed and seemed to unload everything that had built up inside of her.

"At first, I was fumin'. Proper angry at meself. Why should I live when it meant Erik 'ad to die? Then, I got it... he'd been trainin' me to take 'is place all along. The moment he took me in, he knew he'd pass the title on. Then I was angry at ya... well, at Magnus. Why'd he give such a title to that kind old man? Givin' 'im eternal life was a curse beyond curses. I thought I'd let go of the anger, but now I know Magnus is back. I know he's out there, and I've been avoidin' goin' to him. Been hidin', not even tellin' 'im what's happened.

I think... I think I'm scared. Not of what he might say, but scared I won't be able to look Magnus in the eyes without clockin' him one. Fightin' the god that gave Erik's life meaning... that'd be a sad end to the old man's legacy. But ya lot left me. Magnus left us. Yus all buggered off from that massive city... no goodbye, no nothin'. Just a note sayin' ya'd come back, but there wasn't no choice, was there? Either Erik wouldn't see ya return, or I wouldn't... the old man made that choice for me."

As Jasmine spoke, tears ran down her cheeks. Martin didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. Logically, he knew that this woman wasn't real, but the pain she felt was so incredibly real in the moment. Martin had felt it himself. Being left alone with nothing, and wishing that those with more knowledge, who had passed on, could answer all these new questions. These are questions that you had never even been aware of.

Martin sighed, as the bearshark slowly curled up to him. "I am not going to sit here and say that what Magnus did was the right thing, and you owe neither him nor me anything. However, what would his alternative be? He can only know things that have been written down. Creating someone who can write the information down for you is simply the best solution to a bad situation. As such, you either need to accept the current system, or propose a better one." He explained while petting the bearshark slowly.

There was silence between them for a couple of heartbeats before Martin continued. "Whatever the case, you don't have to go see him. You can help me instead." He said with a smile, conjuring some food for them and crushing the plants from which the fruits sprouted.

Martin happily shared his meal with Jasmine. As the woman took the fruit, she smiled as well and cleared her throat before asking, "Right, so what d'ya need my help with, then?"

Martin turned his smile into a wide grin. "I need to find a monster."