Jasper's glee at getting to punish those that got in his way was gone. The fight had been too easy. It had been like trying to fight puppies.

The worst they had done was try and invoke powers beyond their understanding. That, however, would stop now.

"You have tried to ambush me. All because I gave you knowledge that you could not understand. You have bargained with demons for power you cannot wield. All because you think yourself superior to all." Jasper said in a hollow voice. He manipulated the wind just right so it would carry through the air.

The pompous man looked up at Jasper with pleading eyes. He had fallen to his knees on his own volition, but this was over, there was no doubt about that.

Jasper decided to spend a point of Energy to gain the name of the grand wizard just so he knew who he was punishing.

Health 47/47 Energy 2/8

"Urial Starborn. As the god of gods, know my name and despair. I am Armandos, the forgotten god, for I have no priests to worship me and no temples to my name. Your master bargained for power that he could not understand, and when he turned to you, you sought vengeance on a being you cannot hope to comprehend." Jasper declared in his most divine tone of voice.

Urial didn't say anything. Jasper was pretty sure he was weeping, which didn't soften the god's heart. These men had still come after him when they had power. Even then, they had ganged up on him.

However, the grand wizard didn't beg for his life. He had clearly accepted what would happen, and Jasper saw the opportunity to drive the world forward.

Magic needed a counter. That much was sure. These men were proof of this. The fact that they could cast Ur-magic through demonic means was a problem. Did that mean that Raffael Moordet also had access to this kind of magic?

Jasper took a deep breath and realised what he had to do. With six points of Worship left, he had an idea that would be fitting as a punishment.

"As promised, I shall take away your magic. You will not be able to cast spells. However, as you were a beacon of corruption in your order, so shall you become a beacon of anti-magic," He proclaimed and poured his Worship into creating his will.

Curse of Nullification [https://i.postimg.cc/rm9MH21b/image.png]

Text from image

Curse of Nullification

Input: A curse that nullifies all magic within 200 meters and dampens Divine Powers, increasing their cost by 1. The curse needs to be bestowed on someone new upon the target's death.

Calculated cost: 4 Worship

Jasper accepted the cost, and instantly, Worship flowed out of him and into the men before him. The intense feeling of power leaving him was quickly replaced with a thick blanket that left his mouth dry. The world was dampened to the point where the world almost seemed hollow and drained of any magic.

Total Worship 47 Spent Worship 47 Remaining Worship 0

To check if it had worked, the god threw a fireball and realised that he couldn't even build up the mana inside of him. That was good. He then tried to slam the leader of the group with the power "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

A Series of Unfortunate Events Power Description [https://i.postimg.cc/RhpFZYp9/image.png]

Text from image:

> A series of Unfortunate Events.

> Type: Activated ability.

> Energy usage: Until next loading screen.

> Full effect: You smite a chosen foe within sight with bad luck, inflicting a 1d20 damage die per Rank. This takes the shape of various accidents with lethal intent which instantly affects the target. As a Smite power, A series of Unfortunate Events cannot be used two rounds in a row.

The divine power failed, and a quick check of the HUD logs showed that Jasper would have to spend 8 Energy to cast the power, 7 of them dedicated for the entire day, while 1 was until the next loading screen.

He gave a soft whistle. They stacked rather effectively, though he wondered if he could do it better. He reached out to his gift to try and make the cost scale exponentially, only to find that while standing among all seven of them, his powers might as well be nonexistent.

The god of magic had just created the most effective tool for defeating any god. Well, effective was a strong word. Since they were human and mortals, conflict and corruption would soon follow, just like with the dragons.

This brought Jasper's mind back to what was actually important. He looked Urial and cleared his throat.

"My will is done. However, in my curse, you shall find salvation. I have given you a new purpose, and through this purpose, you will come to see my curse as a blessing. No mage shall be able to harm you. Even gods will find it impossible to stand against all seven of you at once, and this shall be your option for redemption. Become the shield that the Empire needs to protect against magical threats. I name you as the founding members of the Inquisition. The shield against magic." Jasper proclaimed in his most divine tone of voice.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Urial was clearly struck dumb by everything that had just happened, but Jasper knew he would soon recover. With that in mind, he simply turned on his heel and returned to Donagus's manor.

The old man in a young man's body was serving refreshments to the cityguard and the White Feathers. When Jasper returned, the squad of elite fighters gave him a look, but the scent of honeyed herbs was wafting from their cups, and none of them seemed willing to throw the mixture away to confront a potential threat.

The god walked inside the manor and looked around. From his quick spout with Donagus, the floor had been torn, and a brick wall had been crushed. Jasper would have loved to help the man, but he didn't have the power to repair things that way. Celeste was the one with that Domain.

Taking a seat in a torn-up padded chair, the god sighed. With a flourish of his power, a gust of wind pushed a small table in front of him so he could rest his feet. While the god couldn't get tired, dealing with people was mentally taxing. Maybe he should just spend the next iteration fixing various plants. However, with his luck there would be some kind of nature goddess who had created a whole council of dryads that he would need to get the aid of.

About an hour later, Jasper could hear Urial bark some orders to the White Feathers before the sound of marching boots and rolling carts indicated that the warriors were heading out.

Once they were gone, the god heard Donagus slowly enter his home, finding the First God sitting in his living room.

"Can I get you something?" The mentalist asked.

Jasper shook his head. "I am fine. Please, take a seat. We need to talk about what I expect from you."

Donagus did as he was asked, sitting on a barely ruined couch.

Jasper cleared his throat. "I need someone to manage a guild designed for all the biggest heroes in Kalish. That includes orks, goblins, elves, halflings, drows, whatever might just be intelligent enough to sign on the roster and strong enough to pass your trials. I honestly don't care if you let an alarmingly competent sparrow inside as long as it is able and willing to join. Are you with me so far?"

The mentalist nodded.

"Good! It is not going to be easy to manage whatever egos that will be drummed up by this, but honestly, that can't really be my problem. In around one thousand years or so, there will be a massive influx of heroes. You will need to provide these people with a prestigious community and a place to pick up quests. Do you get me?"

Once more, the mentalist nodded.

"Perfect! Last but not least, I highly suggest that one of the first tasks of the heroes guild will be to do something about the elder dragon spawn. The Elder Dragons should be fine. However, their children have been corrupted. I am sure that they have even created their own warped spawn already. If you don't want this whole world burned to the ground, you will need to fix this. If you are smart, you make it part of the initiation process. Kill a dragon to join... something like that." The god said, slowly rubbing the bridge of his nose and pushing up his glasses.

Donagus raised a hand, and Jasper gave him a look.

"What?"

"So, uhm... Are you really Armandos?"

Jasper rolled his eyes at the question. "Does it matter? I gave you magic, I gave you protection, and I did not force you to obey any creed. Whatever you choose to call me doesn't really matter to me."

Donagus lowered his hand as he leaned back into the couch, clearly trying to connect the dots. Jasper wasn't really in the mood for this and continued to talk.

"I have some tasks that I need to take care of before things get out of hand, so better get to collecting heroes. Try and forget whatever happened here today. I am not looking for followers, and I am not looking for churches." Jasper explained, and with that, he nodded and stepped outside.

His wings spread behind him, and in a single powerful motion, Jasper took off, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

He was soaring over the world, heading towards the area where he wanted to start the next session. He was heading to the southeastern part of the Empire, known as Southland.

While he flew, he looked over his character sheet and sighed. He still had quite a bit of Impact left that he could spend. The points could be spent to hold up various miracles in areas and sustain their effects. It was the middle ground between Worship that created permanent and hard-to-remove effects and Energy that created one-time miracles.

Jasper thought momentarily and decided that he might as well do something with his remaining Impact. He wondered what he could do, and then an idea came to his mind. The world needed Leylines. They were always a good excuse to have a ritual happen at a specific location or have a bad guy go somewhere to try and amplify their powers.

With his speed and magical power, he could maintain a network of Leylines.

Leylines of the World [https://i.postimg.cc/RZLR1Fxr/image.png]

Text from image:

Leylines of the World

Input: Invisible magical pathways that naturally amplify spells and improve mana regeneration. If used correctly, they can be used to harness and amplify giant rituals or let mortals cast divine spells known as Ur-magic.

Calculated cost: 4 Impact

At the cost of 4 Impact, that seemed like a fair price. Jasper committed his unspent Impact and smiled.

Impact 2/7

He was still spending Impact on maintaining the information he had provided to the Academy, and he couldn't stop committing that since a soul oath bound him to ensure that it was in proper condition.

As Jasper flew, he passed over what he knew was the Area of the Empire called Permersland. The land was responsible for most of the food generated in the Empire, and vast fields of wheat and other types of grain were more common than actual settlements. However, the land was also in almost constant civil war. It wasn't Jasper's target, but he knew he would have to look into it.

A civil war could be an interesting hook for players, so if there were any bugs in the area, they would have to be fixed. However, that was a job for later. His target remained. Southland was located on the other side of Leltho compared to A'kastin. It would be an ideal location for players to stock up before heading into the endgame zone.

However, there were some obvious bugs in Southland, as massive monopolies had sprouted in the area. Since the land was the trading hub of the entire world, they were much more welcoming to all types of humanoids in Southland. However, large trading guilds also started to take over any trade, pushing out anyone not associated with them. If Jasper had any hope of creating a functional player economy for the game, then he would need to break up those monopolies so players had the option of getting a bad reputation with some of the trading guilds and still being able to sell their goods.

The trip to Southland took one and a half days of constant flight. The only real break was a message he got at dawn on the first day.

You have helped the world [https://i.postimg.cc/Hxh3JhDV/image.png]

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You have helped the world

Message: By creating Leylines and a heroes guild, you have ensured that the world becomes more magical. Thanks to the foundation of the Inquisition, you have also ensured that any magician will be hunted down if they break the rules of the Empire.

Reward: 18 Worship

When Jasper finally reached Southland, a sprawling country with many well-crafted structures, he realised he was probably already late for waking up from the game. He sighed, and with a strain, he logged out while staring at the area ripe for exploration.