I turned around, narrowed my eyes at the still rambling skeleton, and growled. “Alright, buster, shut your trap and listen up, because I’m only asking each question once.”
I assume my intimidate ability went off, because, like I commanded, he immediately ceased his inane prattle and fell silent, which forced him to use the little green flames in his sockets to confirm his compliance by whipping them up and down in place of a nod.
“Good.” I took a step closer, and cringed internally as he pathetically whimpered. “Now, how did you learn about this place?”
“I–I, uh, found it while studying the flow of time? I didn’t mean to, it just sorta happened, but once I knew of it, I… Well, I kinda became obsessed, which led me to accumulate more power, crush those who even slightly threatened my work, and finally abandon my mortality in order to set foot here.”
I arched an eyebrow. “So you know you’re obsessed? That’s pretty self aware from someone insane enough to be willing to throw away their natural existence for one of undeath.”
The green flames sank to the lower right, and his raspy voice became dull. “Yeah, well, I’ve had a very long time to reflect on things, and not much else.”
“Uh-huh, sure. And what about all that blustering and bravado a second ago? I think you’re just trying to play me since your initial attempt at conversation failed to get you what you wanted.”
His eyes flared bright again, and he shouted. “Fine! You got me okay? I’d hoped the amulet would get someone to bring it to me so I could escape! But you broke it so now my options are even more limited! So unless some other magus stumbles across this place, and comes here under their own power, we’re both trapped until you cooperate! Get it?!”
“So you want me to free you?” I momentarily looked up at the anomaly, but it didn’t indicate anything or answer, so I glanced back down. “How?”
The skeleton sighed. “I thought it’d be obvious by now! I need your life force and mana! Clearly, I ran out of both when that stupid throne blasted me into the ground, but for some reason I haven’t died! I’m still trapped in my bones, probably because time doesn’t really flow here! All I’d need is for you to sacrifice some of your abundant–”
“No.”
But it’s great to know you’re powerless. That’s a big worry of mine gone.
I’m pretty sure the bone for brains would’ve ground his teeth if he could move, but didn’t, because he couldn’t. “Ugh. Yeah, go figure…” His voice dropped with an unknown lifetime’s worth of dejection, something I could have sympathized with, only he brought his solitude onto himself. “Then if you’re not going to help me and are content staying here, since I’m your only way out I might remind you yet again, then could you at least finish me off? I imagine my bones are quite brittle now, so just grind me into dust so at least one of us doesn’t have to suffer for the rest of eternity.”
I stared at him through half closed eyes. You really think I’m just gonna play along with that? Knowing you, you’d probably try to possess me afterward, or have some latent spell activate to restore you. So better luck next time pal, I’ve got no reason to humor an egotistical megalomaniac like you.
“That can wait. First tell me about the throne. It was here when you arrived, but how do you know it belongs to God? Why assume it would grant you power? Why assume it was empty at all?”
Since, ya’know, there’s a giant anomaly behind it.
The green flames stared me straight in the eye for several minutes, then blinked on and off a few times. “If you’re going to demand answers first, fine. But are you really this dumb? Who leaves a chair at the very brink of time? Who could it possibly be other than God? And why wouldn’t I assume it’d grant me power? Can’t you feel the energy radiating off it?” He paused, then very clearly looked me over. “Actually, why aren’t you burning? I’ve forgotten about the sensation myself, since I haven’t felt anything other than boredom after being blasted off the throne, but you should be being assailed by the latent power of this place just like I was when I first arrived!” Then the little flames flared up again. “And what do you mean it’s not empty?! Who else is here besides us?”
I only offered a smug, knowing, smirk as I activated Uriel to check what he’d said. “If you don’t know, then I’m under no obligation to inform you. You’re probably better off without the details anyway, but I will tell you that the blast you suffered, and your time languishing here, was a punishment and not a simple volatile reaction.”
At least that’s what Uriel told me before I came here.
I left the skeleton to grumble about what I’d just said as Uriel buzzed.
Report: Energy wavelengths are unique to and match individual Anon Amos's own, as a result no harm is done.
That’s it? That’s all? You expect me to believe that this place is filled with my mojo, all without giving me a proper explanation?
Uriel buzzed again.
Answer: Yes. No further explanation needed. This place is yours. Always has been. Always will be.
Now it was my turn to gulp. That’s… That’s kinda ominous. Didn’t know Uriel could spook me the way the system usually does. But it’s exactly what I felt when I last looked at the stone seat too.
I clapped once to retrieve the bellyaching bonepile’s attention and to disperse my doubts. “Alright! Last few questions. Before you came here, were you the one who suppressed time essence magic’s development and use?”
“Huh?” The burned skull stared at me, and I could almost see the furrowed brow on the long gone face. “What are you blathering about now? All I did was strike down my rivals and enemies and stomp out any promising talents. Sure they were more often than not time mages too, but it’s not like I… Oh. I see what you’re asking.” He sighed deeply. “Which explains why no one else has shown up here on their own. And means I’m really stuck at your mercy.”
So it wasn’t his direct goal, but a byproduct of his rampage. Got it.
“Alright, dare I even ask, but what did you have to do to become a lich?”
“Well, the usual process of relying on dark essence magic and spirit summoning and trapping magic was a bit too lacking for my tastes given the side effects, so all I did was work out a way to… let’s say erase my inevitable death from the flow of time. It took quite a bit of sacrifice, from others, not me, and trial and error, but I managed it in the end.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as I clenched my fists so tight I could hear my knuckles pop. “What side effects? What was different? And how many died?”
Apparently oblivious to my growing rage, or simply happy to expound on his research and accomplishments, he rattled on. “Oh, well, the typical method requires one to trap their spirit and those of others, ultimately bonding the whole mess together inside the lich-to-be’s dark essence infused body, which results in a significant power boost, and everlasting life at the cost of instant flesh decay and profound personality changes. My method, though requiring more sacrifices, allowed me to keep my personality and form! Though I didn’t get any stronger as a result… But really, there’s no comparison! I’m a genius! The discoverer of immortality!”
I leaned down till my face was right above his. “How. Many. Died?”
The green flames of his eyes narrowed down into fine defiant points. “Do. You. Think. I. Counted?”
Frigid silence reigned in this forsaken place.
Neither one of us broke eye contact or blinked–not that he could, but still.
He’s just trying to egg me on in the hopes I smash him into dust, isn’t he?
I hissed. “Last question.”
He sneered. “Try me.”
“Do you know who I am?”
The lights in his eyes went out. “Oh, for the love of–! Is that a serious question? Does the transfer here cause amnesia in the living? Or are you just the most ego– Haagh! Aaagh! W–whyyy?! H–hoooow?!”
I held a hand over his empty chest cavity and silently activated smite.
His bones swelled with light filled pustules that spread from where my hand hovered outward across what remained of his torso, down his upper arms and legs, and across his jaw–but no further. It took a varying assortment of seconds for each to pop, but when they did the blackened bone around them crumbled not into dust, but nothing at all.
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He screamed and howled until his mouth was utterly ruined, and with a wave of my hand the last of his limbs swelled and burst as well.
I honestly wasn’t expecting much since he didn’t give off the same discomforting feeling that the blight filled demons do, but apparently the ability does more than simply burn away that nasty stuff… It’s also weird that I didn’t feel any of that warm energy leave me when I activated Smite… I’ll probably find out why when I sit on the throne.
With only the upper part of his skull remaining, I feared I’d granted his wish and killed him, but after a minute the green fires reignited within his dark orbits and he glared at me in agony driven fury–though he remained silent so he was either unwilling or unable to speak now that his jaw was gone.
Not that he really used it before, but I guess it was still needed.
“I asked if you knew me in case your encounter with the throne imparted any wisdom, but it was a wasted question.” I stood up, stepped over him, and moved to stand before the throne. “I asked, because this throne is apparently mine.”
With my expanded senses I watched the green fires flicker, perhaps in fear, shock, or disbelief, but he couldn’t do or say anything anymore so I turned, gazed right at the pitiful remains of that foolish and fiendish fellow, and casually sat down. “And now, I claim it.”
The anomaly whispered. “So let it be.”
The system announced.
I blinked. What? Was that it? I became the landlord to the least appealing plot in history, and nothing else? Is that what I was supposed to learn?
I looked around, half expecting something dramatic after talking to the lich, but nothing really happened. At least at first, but suddenly I felt something intangible start to trickle into me from the throne. It wasn’t mana. I hadn’t sensed any up till now, so no real surprise there, but I was a little startled when the flow intensified and I recognized the power as the stuff I use for my ??? Protection, ??? Intervention, and Smite abilities.
Guess that’s the energy Uriel was talking about, and why I didn’t use any up when I smote the lich… Plus the fact that it burned him the way it did makes so much more sense now. Which means this is the growth step the anomaly mentioned, right?
The flow of power continued to swell, seemingly without end, and as it did my vision started to swim. Visions of places, people, animals, and an eclectic assortment of other creatures both great and small filled my mind and danced across my field of view in a variety of activities as if the bleak world before me had become the backdrop to a truly eccentric performance.
Uriel Buzzed.
Notice: ???, ???, ???, and ??? are activating strongly and resonating with one another.
The worst part was that I felt I understood all of it. That cryptic message from Uriel, the chaotic and disjointed scenes and lifeforms playing out before me. None of it felt off to me, I felt that it all made perfect sense even though it didn’t!
I mean, what am I supposed to make of pink hippos being hunted by gangly green people riding on the backs of six legged horses that run rather than gallop?! How about schools of miniature flying sharks battling it out with what had to be a dragon high above a sea of metal mountains?! And what the heck are those absolutely massive critters that are basically living natural disasters?! I just watched one sink a continent! A continent! And I’m okay with that! Why?!
My inner monologue’s growing confusion was utterly subdued by serene calm and the unshakable sense of rightness that overtook me upon starting to absorb the warm power. Other, even stranger and more varied, images and events played out before me, but the only thing I really grasped was that these were my memories. That they were parts of the history of the new Earth, and that I’d somehow witnessed it all even though I knew full well I was asleep the whole time.
And then they stopped, but didn’t vanish. They congealed, but not into madness. The legion of lifetimes and those who’d lived them formed ranks, encircled me, and bowed low. Everything from the tiniest microorganisms to those truly gargantuan beasts that make mountains look small were laid low at my feet, their endless voices mixing together in unison as they spoke. “Hail! All hail the one! Glory and honor to our origin! Respect and Love to the Creator! Blessed is the One before All! The Maker of Ways! The Hand that Gives! Hail! All hail and rejoice!”
Then they faded from view.
And my calm went with them.
I trembled.
From head to toe I shook.
I struggled to swallow back the acrid bile that welled up from my stomach.
Then I hung my head in disbelief.
“This… .”
I looked back at the anomaly with my extended awareness. “Is this some kind of sick joke? Is this what you wanted me to learn? Are you hoping to convince me that I did, in fact, create everything in the new Earth, and that none of it, none of this, nothing at all, was a dream? That I gained and then lost almighty power because I didn’t give myself enough time to adjust before using it?”
The anomaly murmured. “Yes. Now grow.”
It didn’t say much else, and I’d gotten quite a bit more powerful after absorbing all that warm stuff, but I instinctively knew that simply amassing energy is not what it meant when it told me to grow.
I’m not the Creator. I can’t be God. Why would I make myself wander alone for all that time if I was? Why would I limit myself, why would I even have limits, if I was? I don’t really have a choice but to play along right now, but I’m not okay with the direction this anomaly is taking things. For all I know, it’s God, or the devil, or something else entirely! But I don’t know! And I can’t accept any of this!
I made a face and reluctantly held out my hand, and the broken skull was lifted from its crater for the first time in thirteen millenia–something that I now just knew for some reason.
Slowly it drifted over to my outstretched palm, where it remained, hovering in place, as I understood that the impure thing couldn’t even touch me.
The once willful and defiant fires faded into meek embers that threatened to go out forever as it gazed at me, but they couldn’t, the anomaly wouldn’t let them, not until I retook the essence of time from the one that stole it from everyone else’s future from so far in the past.
And take it back I did.
Because I’ve got no other choice. I can tell the anomaly won’t even let me stand until I do. Which is more insight into that monochrome thing than I think I’ve ever had and already I hate it!
Uriel buzzed.
Notice: Time essence magic (beginner) lv:1 has risen to Time essence magic (Grand Master) lv:100.
Additionally, hundreds of spells have been learned.
The transfer didn’t even last a moment. He didn’t even get to resist or scream for that matter. And I wanted him to scream. I knew he deserved it.
Seven hundred and fifty two thousand six hundred and seventeen.
That’s how many lives his actions ended.
How many hopes he snuffed out.
Sure, not all of them were good, but it wasn’t his place to judge them.
Apparently, the anomaly thinks it’s supposed to be mine. But even if it is, I’m in no position to do so as I’m severely lacking in the information needed to make such decisions.
I thought that, but reality differed. After the transfer was over his shattered skull cracked, and crumbled into less than dust.
And just like that, nothing of him remained. Not body, mind, spirit, or soul. I wasn’t sure how exactly I knew that, but I did.
He’s gone.
The weight of what I’d just been party to sank heavily onto my shoulders, weighing me down with a sudden and immense melancholy that had me hunched over where I sat, tears pouring down my face.
Why? I hated him. He was disgusting, revolting, repulsive, and utterly awful so why am I now so sad? What am I mourning? The fact that there is a true end to life? That even the immortal soul can die? That he could’ve been a better person if he’d faced different circumstances? That I was the one to end him? All of the above?
I half wanted my prior peace to return and wash away my guilt filled grief, but that wouldn’t change the fact that I’d just, albeit unintentionally, erased someone from existence, and I was honestly more terrified that I’d feel as justified as before when watching that continent sink with all those creatures on it.
I gave myself time to process and breathe, and I leaned back in the broken chair, and stared up at the dead black sky through bleary eyes. “God. If you’re out there, I’m sorry. I’m starting to understand what you see and feel when you look at truly terrible people, and why you give so many second chances…”
Slowly, I got up, and started to walk away. This place has been nothing but unpleasant since the moment I arrived. But at least I can go now. I activated my new Domain Traversal ability, since it was pretty obviously my ticket out now that this place is considered my domain, and in that instant I vanished and reappeared back in the forest where I’d parted ways with Silvia. It’s faster than that amulet was. Though what’s this? I flexed my hand, still aware of all the power that I’d gained, though now it felt like there was a bottleneck to it. Uriel? What happened?
Uriel dutifully buzzed.
Notice: The power attained within your domain is still yours and accessible, however to make full and free use of it individual Anon must return to the domain: Edge of Eternity or cause it to manifest with the corresponding ability.
“Oh. So the bottleneck is what? The limit of what I can handle currently? And I didn’t feel it before because I didn’t even have enough power to reach that limit?”
Uriel buzzed again.
Correction: You have no real limit, what you feel is the boundary is actually the point of physical collapse. As you exercise this power you will naturally be able to handle more without negative side effects.
I closed my hand and squeezed it tight. Well fine. Whatever! It’s not important right now. I’ve kept Witness waiting long enough. But do I go to face Benedict quietly, or loudly? I doubt he’s willing to talk after the way I tossed him around last time, but maybe there’s still a chance… or maybe I’m just getting my hopes up that I won’t need to risk accidentally crushing him too.
“Maaasssteeer!”
Silvia’s voice pierced the night and I looked up just in time to see the silver owl girl barreling toward me from above.
“Silvia? I thought I told you to wait–!”
She didn’t slow, didn’t stop, and didn’t hesitate to glomp me straight into the ground, squeezing me with all of her unreasonable strength, and nestling her face into my chest. Uggh. What even happened while I was gone?