Chapter 264

Days passed them by, and then days turned into weeks.

Riven was predominantly thrown into five different types of public events, and he lost a little more than half of them on average. They were one on one duels, team battles, survival courses where 20 people had a free for all in an ever-changing and violent environment that was constantly trying to kill them, sensory deprivation fights where sight and sound were removed, and finally - one versus many. Inbetween fights he’d be set aside while other events took place in what had become a gigantic training regimen sponsored by the church, where Lillith herself would lecture him on what he’d done wrong and right - before providing demonstrations. For an untrained, self taught warlock, Lillith said he wasn’t doing too bad - but to not let that get to his head because he was still miles behind where he needed to be.

During this time, he quickly came to realize three things. First, he wasn’t anywhere near as talented as he’d previously thought he was. Yes he had immense amounts of power, but there were many combatants who had less energy stores than him but still beat him handily. Second, he was very, very wasteful in how he utilized his magic. There was a lot of energy expenditure he didn’t utilize that was lost to the ether simply because he didn’t maintain control over it after it was released. This caused problems whenever he faced opponents that were able to fully utilize their power output and successfully used compact attacks. Thirdly, he’d been relying far too much on his regeneration, better gear, and minions to get him out of tight situations. This was less so for Fay and Azmoth lately as they’d fallen so far behind, but when it truly came down to it - he had won most of his fights after Negrada because he’d had the bigger stick and a very keen sense of mana manipulation - especially when it came to the Blood Subpillar.

Not to mention he was still seriously at a disadvantage against stealth-type opponents, which had a disproportionate win rate against him in any of the given scenarios. This was also something that had been pointed out to him, but it wasn’t as if he didn’t already know it.

His squad-to-be also trained under Lillith. With Lillith as their future guide into the Abyssal Descent, and 5 being the number that could travel between floors with one another due to system guidelines, the other four of them were Riven, Allie, Retesh the Lich, and Nora Lang.

Then at the end of each training session between fights or events, Riven was forced to meditate along with the others as they prepared their soul lattices. Under the guidance of Gluttony, the five of them were shown how to create bridges between or around their pillars. They were akin to scaffolding, and different structural patterns in different amounts created different effects. It could change the way mana left your body, what mana was produced, how mana interacted with the environment and more - but the process was slow going and small mistakes could lead to entire failures of the internal soul system they had. There was even one time where Nora couldn’t use a single skill after she’d accidentally re-wired her scaffolding improperly, and had to completely tear it all down to restart from scratch. Nora was also singled out specifically, being sent back to Chalgathi’s altar trials whenever easy quests appeared for quick points so she could gain XP - as she hadn’t yet grown to level 200 and had a level cap imposed by the system due to the nature of the world quest. The only way she could actually gain levels right now was by completing those event quests, and she needed to reach level 200 in order to fully utilize the teachings of soul scaffolding that was being taught to her.

As for Riven’s minions, only Athela had been deemed as adequate after another in-depth evaluation of their skills. This was in large part due to the level discrepancy Azmoth, Fay, and Genua had when compared to Riven or Athela - but in the end, ‘WHY’ didn’t matter. Not to the clergy, not to the onlookers in the Abyssal Descent, and not to Lillith. The reincarnation needed to be protected at all costs, and already there’d been floods of prospects asking for Riven’s last minion slot - or even group offers that wanted to replace Riven’s current minion set and suggesting that he let Fay and Azmoth go. Azmoth didn’t seem to care much as he had absolute faith that Riven wouldn’t do that, but it very seriously impacted Fay’s mental health as they were all forced into a training regimen of their own that - in many ways - was far more brutal than Riven’s.

***

The eye of the vortex at the city’s center was one of few places where you could regularly fight F-grade abyssal creatures in a life and death struggle before passing into the second layer of the descent. It was a small, alternate realm connecting the first and second floors that had a filter on it imposed by Elysium, and it wasn’t entirely unheard of for those descending to die even here so early on. But the abyssal creatures ranged in level from 160 to 200 here in this first layer’s bridge, so most of these elites from across the multiverse didn’t have too much of a problem.

However, most of these F-grade elites were at the apex of their climb and heading into E-grade, or even already E-grade if they’d chosen to remain after completing their soul lattice. As for Azmoth, Fay, and Genua… things were not that way. Genua in particular had been taken by Amano and over eight hundred of the most powerful scions Gluttony’s Church had here to escort her as she leveled up, making sure she was power-leveled effectively while keeping Gluttony’s child safe as she lacked a minion contract that’d let her respawn. While Azmoth, Fay, and even Athela to a lesser extent were pushed into battle after battle with monsters of the deep to either sink of swim.

It was one of these occasions, in the alternate realm between floors, that Fay found herself in now. Beaten, bruised, and with an ugly festering wound on her side - she gasped and clawed at the strange black dirt as clouds crackled with sin energy far above them. A squid-like creature lay rotting at her side, and with signs of recent intervention on behalf of Fay’s escorts.

Lavini the redheaded succubus looked down at Fay with a frown. She sighed and shook her head slowly as the blue-type illusionist and curse specialist panted and coughed up blood on the floor. Glancing sideways to where some of the other five volunteer tutors had gathered to help whip Fay into shape, Lavini threw up her hands in exasperation.

“Fay.” Lavini stated with a hint of irritation in her words, and she leaned over the younger succubus to pour a healing potion over the girl - before handing the rest of it off for Fay to drink. “How is it that you came to be one of the Reincarnation’s minions?”

Lavini poked Fay with her staff, getting a groan from the young woman and sighing when Fay still didn’t get up. Lavini then took a cross-legged position and bent lower to whisper in Fay’s ear. “Answer me. I wish to know.”

Fay, for her part, struggled desperately to raise herself off the black ground where her blood had left a pool underneath her. The wounds she had were slowly healing, and she coughed up a ball of phlegm before managing to sit upright and stare Lavini in the face. “It was chance. He was not the Reincarnation yet.”

“But he still chose you. Why?” Lavini asked curiously, allowing Fay to use her arm as a support beam to maintain balance.

Fay coughed again, grimaced at her torn clothes and the bloodstained boots Riven had gifted her, then slumped her shoulders. “It was because I had a good set of utility spells, I think. I was a good fit for him because my illusions helped keep him alive.”

Lavini blinked. “I see. What kinds of enemies were you fighting back then?”

“Goblins, orcs, and humans mostly. On Panu.”

“And do you think that your spells are still able to do that? Against opponents like this?”

Lavini gestured to the single squid creature, one that she’d damaged beforehand to help Fay fight it. The monster was a level 161 Abyssal Prongsnapper, with large spikes coming out of its legs and hundreds of eyes across its upper body.

Fay’s grimace grew deeper. “Of course not, a monster like that would give even the other Apex rankers on Panu a hard time. My charm wouldn’t work on it. My dreamwalker illusions were dispersed by the creature just by a mere flex of its aura, and my curse of rot was too weak to damage it before it repaired its outer layers of skin until you helped me at the end. Curse trap was able to do a little bit, but not much. Dark pact doesn’t work on myself to heal. The Willpower of the creature was too high for silvertongue to do anything other than briefly stagger it. If you’re trying to point out that I’m weak, I already know it as fact.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Lavini smirked at the venom in Fay’s words, and she patted the younger demoness on the back consolingly. “As long as you truly do know, Fay. You see those other five that followed us here?”

Lavini gave a brief gesture in their direction, where they stood a couple dozen meters away with folded arms and scowls on their faces - two incubi and three succubi. All of them were some of the best the descent could offer for their species.

Fay hesitated. “Yes, what about them?”

Lavini gave her a knowing smile. “Each and every one of them is hoping that you spectacularly fail Lillith’s requirements, so that they can report to Lillith that you should be replaced. Either by themselves, or by one of their clan who they vouch for. What you have is the opportunity of a lifetime, and they want it.”

Fay’s face scrunched up in a combined look of embarrassment, rage, and horror. She spit blood, and her fingernails dug into her palms while she glared at the ground. “Riven is mine. He would not so easily cast me away just because they want him to.”

Lavini raised an eyebrow, then giggled and put a hand up to her face while spreading her wings. “Of course not. I’m not implying he would in the way you’re implying. But Riven is different from Gluttony, child. You must realize that the Reincarnation’s safety is of utmost importance for Gluttony’s climb. According to Lillith, Riven is a very rare specimen based on intrinsic power and bloodline - one that can greatly help ease Gluttony’s rise back to power. If he dies… it will be a catastrophic blow to the Great Maw.”

Lavini let the silence continue on after that for a little while, as Fay continued to look at the dirt in front of her. Lavini sighed. “Your position as his mate is no doubt something that many would kill for, but that should not be your immediate concern. From what I am told, that is not what Lillith is concerned about either. What she is concerned about, however, is your status as a minion. They are not one in the same, and you could remain as his mate while not being his minion if need be. May I be frank?”

Fay slowly looked up to the other succubus, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. You and the other minions Riven has collected are sub-par.” Lavini paused, waiting for Fay to get angry about the proclamation - but she only saw sadness and resignation in Fay’s eyes. “Perhaps Athela would have made it to The Abyssal Descent on her own, based on only her skill, but even she is incredibly lazy in her duties protecting Riven. As numerous others have pointed out, she is primarily a stealth-type assassin even despite her unique ability to swap between forms. She’s also an archdemon, and her combat prowess is rather good. However, despite that, Riven has nearly died numerous times due to her innaction and inattentiveness, and Genua nearly died along with Gluttony’s child because she was choosing to nap instead of keep guard. Do you know how often an archdemon actually needs to sleep?”

Fay didn’t reply.

“Not often.” Lavini stated, confirming the answer to her own question. “Very, very rarely in fact. Do they enjoy it just like anyone else? I’m sure. But when the fate of Gluttony’s progeny hangs in the balance, perhaps having someone a little more on edge - one who is able AND WILLING to fulfill the duty of bodyguard - should be selected.”

Lavini raised two fingers. “On to his second minion, Azmoth. That child is barely five years old. Did you know that?”

Fay turned her head in surprise. “Really?”

“Really.” Lavini confirmed with a nod of her head. “At five years old, that hellscape brutalisk barely knows his right from left. His head is in the right place and he has a fierce loyalty to Riven, but he is still just a child. Thankfully he shows promise, but he’s never been to the battlefields in the hellscapes even once. We’re hoping that the other brutalisks here are able to show him how to fight properly, to tank for Riven properly, but that is still to be determined.”

Lavini then held up a third finger. “Then there’s you. Tied with Genua for the title of being weakest of his minions, tied with an elf thrall of all things. Do you know what separates you from her though? And why out of all of his minions, it is you that is the biggest disappointment?”

Fay sniffled, looking back to the ground, and shook her head silently as tears began to build in her eyes.

“It is because you have a contract that makes you nearly unkillable on an F-grade integration planet.” Lavini stated flatly, unmoved by Fay’s despair and rising emotions. “The three of you demons, all of you, should be utilizing your demonic contracts to their utmost. You die? So what, you can respawn 24 hours later. That is why contracts are so popular to begin with. But each attempt enables you to grab more levels, and here you are - still below level 60 and having entered the descent as what is likely one of the weakest participants here in the history of the event. Both you and Azmoth should have been grinding enemies, burying them beneath your might to keep up with Riven - but instead you’ve both fallen so utterly far behind that I’m not sure we can fix it by the time this descent is over with. So here’s the thing - you need to prove yourself to Lillith and to everyone else that’s watching. Prove that you can fix your bad habits, fix your attitude, and fix this severe level discrepancy in order to keep up with Riven. Because if you can’t keep up, you will probably be designated to only being his lover while more competent demons take up the positions of his minion slots.”

“You say that, but Athela did die and I almost did too! And that was back on the F-grade planet you’re talking about!” Fay protested. “I’m not intentionally trying to hold him back!”

“Intentionally? No. But your laziness and lack of action are doing so anyways. Riven has his own problems, but you are adding to them.” Lavini didn’t back down from the glare Fay was throwing her way as the two women sat in the black dirt.

Another woman’s call came out from the sidelines where the five other succubi and incubi stood on the ledge. “We will go find another weaker specimen for her to fight, Lavini. Wrap up your lecture so that we can continue the grinding!”

With that, the five others began to walk away - looking for another of the relatively weaker abyssal creatures that roamed this ladder between floors.

Lavini watched them go, then turned her gaze back to Fay who was still clenching her fists in self-hate and frustration. “Fay. I am not saying these things to anger you. I am merely wanting to warn you in case these scenarios play out as expected. I truly do hope that you prove us all wrong, and that you can show not only me - but Lillith and everyone else in the church that you are worthy of remaining a minion. But no matter what happens, know that you will still have the standing and respect of all of us for being one that Riven cares so deeply about.”

There was a pause.

With those words, Fay’s composure faltered - and she covered her face with her hands. “I… I don’t want to be separated from him, Lavini. This is unfair, and I… I want to be useful. I don’t want him to befriend other demons, other women, that could take him away from me.”

Lavini drew the other woman into a hug, patting her on the back. “I know this is upsetting you, and I understand. It’s a lot to be thrown into, and I doubt Riven would even want to replace you after hearing of how much he cares about all his minions. However, I’m sure that if Lillith speaks to him about having you along being a potential liability - endangering not only himself, but you as well when assassins come for you… He’d probably be willing to see the change done. May I ask, do you know the three most common ways that a minion contract can be involuntarily shattered?”

Fay took a while to reply, but regained her composure thereafter and let out a shaky breath. “Weapons or skills related to the commandments, invasions of one’s soul aperture, and invasion of one’s nether realm to kill the demon there while it is unsummoned - though the last one is usually done by trickery as you can’t brute force your way into a nether realm.”

“Good. Now considering who you are bonded to, the chances of those things happening will continue to escalate. The moment Riven steps off planet and into the greater multiverse, assuming that he is able to conquer Panu and uses Elysium to keep it hidden for the next century, he will have a target on his back. So you must understand that not being able to protect him from even other F-grades, when S-grades will be looking to stomp Gluttony flat before his rise to power can gain momentum… it is just not something the church can risk.”

Fay sniffled again. “Why doesn’t Lillith bind herself as a minion then?”

Lavini opened her mouth, then realized Fay was being serious. She cackled slightly and then calmed herself before waving Fay’s ire down. “I do not mean to mock you, I apologize. You see, Lillith doesn’t have someone bound to her like Gluttony does. Lillith’s rise to power will likely be far faster than Riven’s because of this, even if Gluttony himself will end up causing Riven to match or surpass Lillith in the end should Riven not die. These early centuries of cultivation would be stagnated for Lillith if she was kept to a level cap equal to that of Riven’s own, and she needs to grow strong fast to make sure she can protect Riven and Gluttony as they continue to rise together. Not only is there a level cap equal to the master’s own, but you should already know that minion contracts reduce the amount of XP gained while underneath a master. Contracts add a certain amount of safety, but in return - a minion doesn’t grow as fast as an unbound demon would if they both had the same experiences. Now… Perhaps I can add some positivity to these training sessions by providing you with a gift.”

Lavini opened her palm, and over her white skin a ball of green flames rippled into existence. She smiled at Fay’s expression before using her other hand to open Fay’s clenched fists. “Raise your hands palm up, and I will pass you the flame. Your mission, as the others hunt for prey, is to stabilize this power and keep it there.”

Fay blinked, and as Lavini passed the fireball over - it quickly fizzled out and then flared to singe the tips of Fay’s fingers. “Ow!”

Lavini chuckled, shaking her head before producing another ball of green flames. “Again. Take your time, hold the spell that I give to you there, and don’t let it go.”

Fay hesitated, but opened her palms face up to the sky again and nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are those? Is that a curse?”

Lavini winked. “Oh yes, even now my insides are screaming in pain as I produce the flame. But we curse users are used to the give and take that is required of such spells, for greater power of course… wouldn’t you say? You don’t happen to be the only curse user here, and these flames not only burn you - but they afflict your enemies with a very specific debuff that you can stack and then activate. We’ll talk about details later, but for now - just know that it is your best interest to learn some real hard-hitting long ranged attacks. Because right now, your offensive power is actually rather pathetic.”