Jay entered the dorms at school. Xera and Millie were waiting for him. "What happened in the trial?," was the first question out of their mouths, and the first question he expected. "I'll tell you, and Diamond, when he gets here."

  Diamond appeared behind Millie and Xera, casually putting his hands on their shoulders. "What's this about me?"

  Jay shook his head. "This is definitely not something that should be said in public."

  Diamond opened a portal. "We can do it in your new office, then."

  They stepped through the portal, ending up in a room that looked much like Diamond's, but with the floor and walls created of a solid black stone. There were no gaps between blocks. It seemed like the entire room had been carved from a single piece. A dark wooden desk stood in the center. "Does this mean I have to do paperwork?," Jay asked Diamond, who shook his head. "You don't. I have to do paperwork, which is the stupidest thing ever created, as do other Gemstones, but Onyx is one of those who doesn't need to, mostly because of his duties. Your office is a place to store things and return to, whenever you wish."

  Jay nodded. "So, my trial. I had something I assume was perseverance, where I had to walk for a long time, and then climb eventually. Then I ended up in a colosseum. I had to fight this construct-whoever got to three hits first won-and I got to choose the weapons. We both used twin shortswords, and I easily won, using the elemental forms I know. Then, I had to do a defense thing, where a bunch of monsters, really low-level ones, were assaulting a village. I killed them all with the ocean and flowers."

  At this, Diamond raised an eyebrow. He didn't know all of Jay's abilities. Sighing, Jay gave him a quick rundown of all his classes. Diamond nodded, waving a hand at him to continue. "So, I killed all the monsters. Oh yeah. Going back to the colosseum, there were a bunch of spectators, who were also judges, apparently. They were... previous Onyxes. I didn't check for the one who's currently... insane, so I don't know if he was there. An announcer was their spokesperson, I guess. After the village attack, they said that they would move me to a trial from a 'benefactor'. So I was put in some dining room, at the foot of the table. The rest of the table was filled by gods. I asked them who they were, and the God of Light and Purity, who hates me by the way, said I should know my place. Then I asked someone else, someone with a brain, to respond-"

  Diamond spoke, his eyes wide. "You said a god didn't have a brain?"

  Jay stared him back. "Would you expect anything less?"

  Diamond sighed. "No, I suppose not."

  Jay continued his speech. "So, the Goddess of Night, the Moon and Stars responded. She told me what was going on. The gods apparently wanted to bind me to them and force me into working for them for the rest of my life. Immediately after she spoke, they gave me another offer, proving her right. They said that they'd make me a god when I died. I-I told them that I'd become a god while I was alive, and no thank you."

  Diamond pinched his nose. "As expected, once again. Continue."

  Jay smiled at his aggrieved expression. "So, the gods said that they would make my life hell, and I ignored that. I asked Night whether gods had rules they had to play by, and she said yes. I assumed they did because I wasn't dead yet. I asked who supported me, and no one but Night did. Then Amon somehow got into the room. I still don't know how. Her explanation made no sense." He sent her a mental frown.

  My explanation made perfect sense!

  Why didn't I understand it, then?

  Because you're not smart enough to!

  Sure.

  "So, Night gave us both protection. I asked her why she was helping us, and she gave me a good reason. Then we left. The God of Pain tried. He tried really hard. But it didn't compare to fighting without a heart, so I ignored it, and we just walked out the door. So the gods are probably after me."

  Millie piped up. "You fought without a heart? When?"

  "Uh... When Mercury came to get you, he stabbed me through the heart, destroying it. I fought him with a heart made of Amon's liquid."

  Millie looked up, confused. "I never knew you had a heart. I knew other people had hearts, but I always assumed people with your or Diamond's personalities didn't have hearts."

  Jay sighed at the insult. "Really?"

  "Yes!"

  Diamond took back control of the conversation. "So, you have a lot of gods after you."

  "Yeah."

  "Onyx, they're gods."

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Jay swelled with a sudden surge of pride at being called Onyx before tamping down on it. "Yeah."

  "You just angered the strongest beings on this planet."

  "Yeah."

  "And they have armies."

  "But I have Night on my side."

  "And I suppose they don't know where you are. Hm. This could be a passable situation."

  "It could?"

  "Yes."

  Jay asked another question. "What's our next mission?"

  Diamond turned to him. "With your team, you're set to infiltrate the town of Tunstead. We suspect corruption there, and it all needs to be gone by the time the war starts, as it's an important strategic point. It's where we get a lot of our food. The Council's undoubtedly inside, same as everywhere else. Keep in mind none of us can currently go into other kingdoms, even to chase Metallics, because they're not at war with those kingdoms and have committed no crimes in those kingdoms. After you finish, stay there. I expect you to keep leveling during your stay-you'll be taking out a few choice Councilors when I tell you to."

  Jay nodded. "Anything else?"

  Diamond thought for a moment. "If you level enough to get your tier two paths, I may port you to a couple places you are needed to do clandestine missions. So don't slack off."

  "Got it."

  A portal appeared in front of them. "This leads to their front gates. Show them you're Onyx, and you'll be let through. We're the only ones who know the other Onyx is currently evil, so you'll be fine."

  All three of them walked through the portal.

  Diamond sat down on Onyx's desk. The Metallic Council was a menace that needed to be removed. A map appeared in front of him, detailing their entire kingdom. He quickly found the important points they needed to defend, marking Tunstead as 'defended'. Then he started assigning people to other areas, each going where they could best help. There was a single city he didn't have anyone to send to. The Gemstones were each strong, but they didn't have the numbers of the Metallic Council. And he needed to pair up the weaker ones to guarantee a well-defended town. "My turn, then," Diamond said, marking his name down for the location.

  He walked back to his office, casually setting an illusion over the entire area. This illusion looked exactly like the world itself, but was set to alert him to any Metallic Council members and their locations. It would take a little while, but he had time. Diamond sent a message to the king.

  I've sent Gemstone Councilors to each and every strategic city to defend them. If they require backup, I will let you know. All other cities must be protected using your own troops-we don't have the numbers to defend them.

  The king heard Diamond's voice next to his ear, carefully not reacting to it. He was used to this. The king sat in his war room, making decisions about the war. Suddenly, he pulled gems out of a bag next to him, dropping them on each city as Diamond relayed a list of Councilors to him. Then he came to an Onyx. "Are you sure?," the king asked out loud.

  He's with Millie and Xera.

  "Xera was the other girl at the table?"

  Yes.

  "Fine."

  The onyx dropped onto Tunstead. Then the king pulled out the final gem, a Diamond, and dropped it onto the Capital. The people in the war room all scrutinized the placements. Diamond knew they would all love to find something wrong with what he did, but Diamond didn't make many mistakes. Then the king pulled out figurines of soldiers. He distributed them among each city. Diamond didn't speak up. He knew how to deploy his Councilors. The king was a master of his soldiers. Notably, he didn't place any soldiers in a Gemstone-defended city, knowing their capabilities.

  Soon, the board was completely filled out. "Diamond. The school needs to shut down for now."

  I've already started the process.

  "Good. There's only one more thing I need of you. Create a force of Gemstones that you can call at any moment to fend off the stronger Metallic Councilors. I don't need Gold showing up at a time when you're busy and not having anyone to stop him."

  Sure. Onyx will be on the team, a heads up. Only if he's on his Tier Twos, though.

  "No. Gold's at least on his Tier Seven. That's not something a Tier Two can handle."

  Have you seen the kid fight?

  "No."

  He took out a group of twelve Tier Ones, and also one against Xera at the same time, though she's at the peak of Tier One. He's not going to be fighting Gold. He'll be getting people out of the area, and he's strong enough not to die from a stray rock.

  "If he promises not to fight."

  That's not happening. I wouldn't be able to get him to do that.

  "Then don't put him on the team."

  When he sees the battle, he'll only step in if everyone else is dead or defeated.

  "How do you know him so well?"

  When he fought Mercury, he knew he was outclassed. He stalled. He didn't attack. He stalled. Until he got stabbed through the heart, of course.

  "Yeah, you told me of that. I have to return to planning."

  And I to paperwork.

  "Good luck."

  Diamond didn't reply, looking at the mountain of paper on his desk. Even with the ability to fill out forms at ridiculous speeds using illusory ink, this would take a while. Resigning himself, Diamond sat down.

  "Where is he?," The God of Light and Purity asked.

  "I'm sorry, lord, but none of us saw him."

  The God glared at his servants before leaving, teleporting back to his domain, from which he walked to their meeting room. Previously, it had been a dining hall to welcome the human, but it was a circular room with a fireplace now. Night sat in a chair, watching as he entered. Pain stood in the center, as did the rest of their group. "Do you know where he is?," Pain asked Light.

  "No. None of my servants saw him."

  He saw Night smile out of the corner of his eye and turned on her. "Get out. Now."

  Night laughed. "You can't make me."

  Light fumed. He couldn't. Not unless he wanted to die instantly. Void was an unforgiving judge. He turned back to everyone else. "How do we find him?"

  Crystal suddenly entered the room. "One of my followers found him!"

  Light turned. "Where is he?"

  "In Tunstead. Kingdom of Astellire."

  Death spoke. Everyone quieted. "They are currently at war. Send your assassins afterwards."

  Death was their leader, and everyone knew it, but rarely ever spoke, to give them orders or information. When he spoke, everyone listened. Night got up. "Huh. Thanks for the free information."

  She strode out of the room, casually waving goodbye. Death ignored her-he'd never had an eighth chain anyways-but everyone else fumed. She was the only god among them who didn't want to rule, to have power over the humans they had risen from. The gods had become gods from humans-it was their duty to prevent anyone else from making the jump. They were in power, and would be the only ones in power. Forever.