“You are right... in your own truths.” Lisa sighed, unable to perceive Murai's demeanor or how he viewed this situation in itself.“I also underestimated the circumstances about you, and the whole situation as a whole, so have my apologies.”
Hearing her, Murai glanced at her in silence, not willing to take some fake apologies from her at all. So he waited for what she wanted to tell him. Lisa saw his look so she had no choice but to continue. “I got some things, alright? Calm down, will you? I've got the year I desired for so long and few important happenings from this Izik guy.” Lisa pointed to the bloody corpse behind Murai.
“Yeah? What kind of things? Foes? A number of enemies? Circumstances about the Encounter that you forgot to mention? I know I haven't been able to get any news about the current state of the efforts, even if Iris seemed to talk some sense, she wasn't... informative enough. I lack the context that you would know, and since you were always sleeping, I didn't get anything great. The last week was quite hectic... with everything.” Murai excused himself.
“It's fine... We are even!” Lisa smiled mischievously.
“Oh, you think I will forget about the case of eating my part of the pie? You wish for that but I won't forget that.” He barked at her, ending her tries to remain her wishful power dynamic running.
Though it was late to do anything else, so Lisa explained the situation according to her desired information.
“As I've seen the memories, only 50 or so years passed since my death. It's about the context of some war. The current year is 34409, which isn't a lot to tell, but it allowed me to gouge the situation a bit better. It's not centuries or a couple of millennia that I feared would've passed. That would be quite a difficult change to get used to since the whole political aspect of the Battleworld would change in many drastic ways. Thousands and even a couple of hundreds of years is a large timespan for many things to occur. A lot of beings can grow in this span, with even changes in godhoods, and divine kingdoms, and numerous Extremes would emerge. Kingdoms would fall, and rise from the ashes, giving the Battleworld splendid changes.”
“34th millennium?” Murai frowned, taking it for what it was. “That is quite a small number you've got there... Such years in the divine context aren't much. How do you even know the passing years would cause a lot of changes? Are you some historian or something? I didn't take you for that.”
Lisa seemed perplexed again after hearing Murai's words. Considering her own though, she was sure it was hiding a lot of things but she was no different.
“Well, I am not convinced about your problems with time, nor am I a historian. That is true, so let me give you a glimpse of the present issues. Past is past, so it matters to some degree, but you don't need to worry about it. I lived for almost 3 centuries and it was a life of a Blessed, so I speak from my experiences and things I've done. It's sensible, whether you like it or not. It may not be for your liking because of me, but you will accept it, right?” She asked, but Murai wasn't having any of that so she continued.
“Many things can change even in a couple of years, you know? With such a world of power, including the frequent appearances of a Blessed, plot of gods, and the warring states of Men. One can't be surprised that only a few years can cause a lot of disasters. You probably know why, don't you?”
“Why? That question doesn't matter. When power and people meet, drama follows. It is the same thign everywehrte. It makes more sense than one would guess, considering the mana, and things I've seen so far. Gods are also variable, but in the actual scenario, the people beneath them have a rather chaotic nature. Rising in power in a couple of yours seems like a possibility but... I lack the greater context of this world. Apart from the magic, I don't get a lot of things. Magic and shrouding laws and whatnot should still be unchanged so what makes you speak like this?”
“Right? I mean...” Lisa hesitated upon hearing the term laws but decided to forget it for the time being. “It's all about the power progression and many other factors, Murai Hisagi. It appears Centralis kingdom is much stronger than when I was alive. They vanquished quite a lot of kingdoms, with at least 10% of the current world being under their sizable control. That's a lot, considering the size of the Battleworld.”
“10%? That seems lacking. What else? How about their powers, if you managed to retrieve the basics of their strength?”
“Right now, there are a couple of hundred Blessed under the Centralis Kingdom and they have dozens of Extremes by their size. Now, when I mention it, Izik was aware of that, yet it is a prohibited kind of information to share, along with not a whole lot of other things. I wonder why I was able to read into his mind at all. Wards and everything included, he was like a fortress.” Lisa said, surprised at her own success.
In truth, it was thanks to the Soul Render's abilities that she was able to do things she did. It was unlike her past experiences in terms of souls. Now, she was a unique existence. When it came to the souls - hence the memories - the Soul Renders can view a lot of things, and force some restrains away because of their unique properties that Lisa didn't know, or she was yet to explore in full. These little experiments were something she wasn't all that expecting to succeed, yet they did.
Memory Extract seemed to work well on the forceful side of things, but outside of that, she felt like washing her own soul sense towards Izik without any undulations. She reached further than she ever would. With the Porik, she forced herself directly to him but for Izik, he didn't notice how Lisa's Soul Power touched his own soul fragments. It went without his awareness, or was it a mixture of agitation, fear, and being in the middle of combat that allowed it to happen?
“Who cares about that? I am not interested in hearing much about how you made it happen.” Murai said, uncaring about her words. “ I care about what it provides. What about more information about the Centralis Kingdom? Their provinces, armies, and land. Is even the number of hundreds of Blessed a large number?” Murai asked.
“It is... It's a humongous number.” Lisa said the obvious things, realizing that Murai lacked quite a large context of the world even when considering his... uniqueness. When she thought about it further, she never give him much of anything. It reminded her of her first time being Blessed too. Back then, she was a naive demonic girl with a soul companion to teach her the ways of this world. Alone in a world full of wolves and demons, she was undergoing trials without any context as well. It was a pure survival world where the strong ate the weak.
Lisa paused for a while, reminiscing about something in her mind before continuing. “Centralis Kingdom means troubles. They have many provinces and kingdom powers under their belt, giving them high military strength, as well as agricultural, and geopolitical advantages. Right now, they are worth of dozens of regular kingdoms, but their Tier of power still fluctuates. They still form a Tier A kingdom on their own, while their subdivisions aren't as powerful. I believe they tried to achieve something with more people but failed because of messed up politics or the administration of too large of a land.”
“Though, they are an absolutely powerful hegemon in the Somalis continent, and even a bit outside of that. They long reached every nook and cranny of the Somalis Dungeon, so they hope to reach the others. But that should be difficult to accomplish since the Centralis Kingdom isn't a lonely hegemon, and never was, or will be. That goes without saying by the number 10%. There are many forces stronger or with similar strength as them. Tough people, beings, or races of incredible power. There are nations, kingdoms, and even organization that holds more sizeable lands, but they do not necessarily have the military-proven might of the Centralis Kingdom. Their armies and Blessed are things to fear.”
Murai hears her well-thought-out words, that for once, didn't seem like bullshit. “How exactly are Blessed considered important on a size of a nation? You mentioned them a lot, but I can't see their number being an intriguing aspect. You... lacked the words before, so how about telling it now? Aren't they just powerful individuals under the vision of the Battleworld? Shouldn't they be... less important in the grand scheme of things?”
Lisa chuckled and continued in a better mood. “That is a normal idea to consider. I thought so as well, since the world and the power one can have at their fingertips, lacks some touch to shake the heavens. In terms of might, the individual can't move a powerful nation, right? That is true, but not always. At the might of Tier A, none can force oneself against the Centralis Kingdom as a Tier A force. That's just how it goes. But the terms of a Blessed go along a complicated way, other than the one I had, and you think about.” Then Lisa paused, cycling her thoughts to say something that would make sense.
“You see... some things are strange. Blessed are strange. Blessed are crazed beings, or have souls like that. They are unique existence who got a second chance at living, after all. By whom? None knows it... They are the kind that got invitations to this world to act on their second chance but for what? Every Blessed is a person of some Ego since they already achieved something before coming here. And the Centralis Kingdom is the only force in this world, which holds Blessed in their highest ranks. It is a nation ruled by them. It happened when some god met the common beliefs or reasons to haggle with something. Then, letting hundreds of Blessed beings form a force under the same banner happened and the rest is history. It's kind of ridiculous since a Blessed is fundamentally stronger than the majority of the Gifted beings, let alone anyone without any special care. That is the general perception of them in this world and you should know why.”
“Power. Blessed have options and catering of this world that is unlike anything normal. It is as you said, right?” Murai answered, and Lisa gave him a light-hearted comment about how right he was. “These words that are coming from you don't seem that exaggerated, for once.” He mockingly added.
“Yeah?” Lisa grinned, almost chuckling. “I know what I am talking about when I mean it. Murai Hisagi, the Encounter is upon you, so do you even have any idea about the general perception of power in this world? So far, you haven't met anything substantial, forgetting the case of this... Encounter, strange dungeon, and another Blessed who... I rather won't go into this, since it seems like a plot of a godly interest. As for the things before that, you met nothing but beginner stuff, with nothing to them than simple things. Mana, power, magic, and so on. Even those messiahs are nothing but small fries at the ending point of their Path. That's just how it is. The beginning to power is...”
“Yet, this beginner is already getting a shot against level 40ties while forced to go against level 60s or whatnot. Are you... serious? How does this make sense to happen within those rules that you spoke of? It doesn't make sense from the sensible stance.” Murai jumped between her words. “Are you sure you have a good perception of reality or logic, or do you have a screw loose in your head too?”
“Shut up!” Lisa barked at him unhappily. “You talk to someone who was close to the Extremes!”
“Close is not near... nor that. You've died. That's all to your tries in power. Twice already, if I should believe your words.” Murai said the truth as he viewed it. That, coming from him was quite strange, considering many of his lives, and roads of power from one End to the other. It might be not that different in this life as well but only time will show that.
Seeing her unhappy expression, Murai figured he was indeed a bit harsh at her with his uncaring words. So, like the proper lunatic he used, or still was, he changed the topic.
“Anyway, what are those Extremes you mentioned twice already? Are those the Blessed who reached the power close to the gods?”
“Close... Hmph! We are just paws for them, as you often say, but no. Those aren't blessed, nor anything substantial like that. They are overpowered beings above level 90. Simple as that. They aren't only Blessed. It includes monsters, humans, elves, dwarves, and so on. Anyone can be an Extreme, as long as they reach level 90 under the Will of the Battleworld's context or their unique power system.”
“That explains a little, so how hard it is to reach that level? Are there a lot of Extremes?”
“I am not telling you that. It's unnecessary.” she flickered her head away, hoping to exchange it for something that Murai haven't told her so far.
“You said you would be honest.” Murai reminded her, which blew her tries to stir things up.
“Fine...” Lisa gave up and floated down to sit on the ground and appease a position of a teacher. “I won't talk about the topic of the Extremes, however. You don't know much about the progression and power anyways, so why talk about the pinnacle of the power? Since I hoped your case would be different from what I understood, I will give you some other topics. Blessed can reach certain power thresholds quite faster than ordinary beings and there are some ways to fasten their progression. That also includes gifted ones, but that depends on the degree of the blessing and other things when it comes to them. In your case, what do you think it is, that gives you an advantage in your leveling? I asked you that before, I think.”
Murai didn't even need that long to contemplate this question and answered right away. “Level is power, roughly speaking. It isn't that, but also is. Power is encompassing that, as far as I understand. In the past week, I've got a couple of levels, but for what? I didn't accomplish much but train, so how or what did it even give me? My own improvements, and undergoing this healing process are the answer for the former. Is it a sensible kind of system? No. Does it make sense to me? Also no, so what is it? I haven't killed a thing, so the level is a simple excuse to give you a rough gouging number to my improvements, right? ”
“What do you think?” Lisa asked.
“That it is bullshit and a mess, filled with unnecessary things running around it. They appear sensible but hidden underneath it are hideous factors of the unknown. My improvements are like small numbers. Things that the Battleworld gives and takes for granted, and gives me boosts for what "they" consider as necessary or worthy within their rules. In a sense, what is even this level? It isn't power, but is it something else? I don't think so. Within the Battleworld whispers, there is a term called Power Level, and it's there for a good reason, isn't it?” Murai asked and glanced at Lisa who listened, her eyes gleaming in a keen light, looking for some hints or whatnot.
“You are right, but not entirely. It's not as if the Level itself isn't important. It still gives a couple of Attributes to you and gives a higher threshold to their number. That is important for growth, but its primary strength is in the potential reaches of higher-level spells, abilities, and tomes to use. The higher the level is, the more strong one is, and the more potential one can reach. There are restrictions in many of these things, however, but you are yet to get a spell Tome, while Rudolf's stuff wasn't even... I don't even know what that was, but you lost it, so let's forget it”
“Another usefulness of reaching higher levels is the availability of specified equipment, and most of all, reaching the threshold to go into the dungeons, and other specific and unique places to improve yourself. So, reaching new levels mean attributes, and opportunities but not only that, maybe... Will of the Battleworld didn't tell a lot of specific or unique things for you, so maybe the evolutions would reveal further power dynamics that you lack? I guess...” Lisa said, shrugging her arms in a harmless and helpless manner.
“You guess?” Murai asked, uncertain if this was something right to tell. Guuesses were for those who were uncertain about something, and he had no need for uncertainties.
“I do... alright? Blessed have unique circumstances, while your case is 100fold more unique.” Lisa reasoned. “I never heard of a Blessed Anatidae and their Path. You want power, right? Slowly getting to know your Path is the best way to do so, but... the Blessed aren't normal, while the beasts have also unique things to worry about. Gods made them this way, you know? Reaching level 50 in 30 years for ordinary humans is good, but for Blessed, it is nothing but slow. In fact, I heard some mentions in the Centralis Kingdom, where even children before the age of 18 are already above level 30. The most ridiculous ones would be 40 or higher. Of course, I am talking about Blessed. Albeit even none-blessed can achieve miracles. Be it by themselves, or in sight of being Gifted by a degree of their desired god, or by some ridiculous talent that can appear once in 10 000 cases.”
“Hmmm... Alright, that is an interesting prospect, but for levels to include this lackluster way, I thought it would be more intricate than this.” Murai reasoned, and at last sat on the ground as well, calmly considering the tone of this conversation. “Blessed are already born with the connection to the Will of the Battleworld and the world's blessings, so it is making some sense of the situation. I bet the terms of unique aspects, are as you said - honest and truthful.”
“It's complicated, thinking of them one by one, Lisa. Paths are Paths, but they are there for magic, body, and soul alike. Every step can be similar, but ending results may differ. Now, it's the same, with many differences along with unique aspects. Evolutions and this system are one thing to consider in my case. Species, sub-species, while the Path is different than them, am I right?” Murai curiously said, wondering about the potential Path and possibilities that he could have.
“Yes... That's precisely why it's ridiculous. Now, do you know why your case is also as ridiculous as you view this yourself?” Lisa asked, but more so than this, insisted on forcing Murai to realize something.
Murai fell silent amidst his thoughts. “Are... No. Is this because of the Anatidae species, or something different? My soul? I know I am not even 1 year old into this living, yet the system and this power are giving me plenty of things, while the world is against me. Is this unique, or is something broken about this system?” Murai said, after pondering over this problem.
“All of that combined together, I think, but that is that, and the future may be whatever,” Lisa said, sighing afterward. “Now... for God's Trial, and this ridiculous Encounter, do you feel like a silly goose? Do you think it's a good or bad thing?” She asked with a strange and restrained tone of curiosity.
“The Trial? Depends on one's reach to powers. It's time-gated, so I feel my chances are decent, at best. The Encounter? Uh... Are you seriously asking me that?” Murai frowned.
“At best...” Lisa sighed and then tapped her fingers with her crossed arms. “BEST yourself then! This is the ridiculous excuse for getting outside of their robust rules, Murai Hisagi! It doesn't make rightful sense! Not only do they force the Encounter upon you with ridiculous requirements, but God's Trial is also there. Then, there are rules, reasons, and plots that shouldn't be possible! Tell me... Have you killed some damned gods in your previous lives and now they are hitting you back? HOW?!” she snapped her finger at Murai's head, almost clutching him but Murai winced back.
“Is them, sending you here, the reasonable thing? To get their revenge? Kill you for their lofty desires, while I am meant to die along with you? Don't you fucking dare to tell me this should make sense!” Lisa shouted, almost slapping Murai who appeared somewhat perplexed but understanding of Lisa's anger. She was quite talkative this time around and he got something out of it.
“Alright, I won't argue about that...” he said, “since I can't change it, nor did I ask for this. If you think you are the one who is angry, then you are the ridiculous one. You seek me like a book, but one that is closed with the majority of things hidden underneath the cover. I am upset no less than you because it goes outside of my own will too. Now!” Murai slapped the ground with his feet. “Let's get the fuck out of here and stop wasting time. I am fed up with this dead place already and thanks to your talk, I am getting hungry.”
Lisa clutched her fist, unwilling to halt this conversation but seeing Murai flap his tiny legs away, she knew that her anger was reasonable, and she barely started talking. Her own anger dissipated thanks to the present issues. Her view on the rules and reason may be hers, but some things hiding behind the scenes may be more ridiculous than that. The rules of the sense moved through the divine kingdoms, while the balance of the world was at stake here. Some messed up things like what Murai had shouldn't happen. Not when he was so young.
“Wait, are you going to ignore the treasures laying around? Those messiahs may be low-level like you, but they carry decent things.” Lisa reminded him, gesturing towards the rings, bracelets, and swords laying around. None of them got damaged apart from Izik's sword and they were free to take.
“These?” Murai quacked, turning his head to Izik, Porik, and an unnamed messiah. He didn't care about them from the very beginning, so he shook his beak in denial. “Treasures are good when they matter, but have you forgotten me? I am a duck. I can't do shit with them anyway, nor can I carry them well.” he flapped his wings in ridicule.
“You can learn telepathy!” Lisa argued, pointing at the metallic sword that lay before Porik. It was a decent one and at least a Grade C sword of around level 40. It should be worth hundreds of gold if not thousands.
“I already tried that thing recently. It's not passable with my Beast Core, and I like to use what I have in my mind and body anyway. Using treasures can lead to overconfidence, while one's Path is one's strength. Caring about material objects can lead to troubles in one's life, so forgot about these thigns. That, or you may take them. Oh! Wait, you can't because they are even more worthless for you than for me.” Murai chuckled and turned away from the corpses.
Murai wasn't an idiot. He long scanned their bodies and found nothing great in his opinion. They had nothing apart from the swords, and the tools to power up the Grand Enchamant that was more technical, than physical. It was custom magic, which was kind of useless to him. They didn't even have spatial pouches or other types of storage. That meant they were professionals who were ready to die while leaving nothing behind for the enemy.
Murai understood this fact, and kind of respected it. It may be true that he can't use anything, but he may take it and sell it somewhere. Iris did give him some reasons and context over the trading business of mages, but not so much to get the whole picture. Murai figured that acting like an Anatidae and trading accordingly would pose a massive issue since this species was ridiculous, and kind of, diabolical when it came to their history.
Another factor would be his demonic origin, which should pose an issue to undergo any kind of business.
“Fine... It's your decision...” Lisa agreed, looking back at the dead Porik and Izik with some disappointment. She can't take anything too.
Then the pair left this part of the Seventh Death Forest, hoping to walk toward the other parts and potentially leave for good. That was at least what this part of the Encounter talked about. Leave the Seventh Death Forest and get some reward. That was it, while Lisa wasn't able to retrieve much information about this forest from Izik or Porik. That left her no choice but to travel with Murai as before.
As they left the battle scene, something strange occurred amidst the death of 3 messiahs of no small power when put together. Their bodies began to disintegrate as if years passed by in a blink, turning their flesh and blood to the ground, where they became a part of the forest's soil. First, their fabric or leather clothes folded and disintegrated, then the skin, blood vessels, and everything that was organic.
That went until only skeletons were left, while the more potent treasures on their bodies remained. It was at this point, that the ground shook, and all 3 skeletons trembled and the soil itself engulfed them whole as if the earth swallowed them, treasures included.
Now, nothing of the past battle remained, and even the attacks and damage done to the surroundings were gone when the forest readjusted in these trembles, stopping any fire and spots of battle. The forest seemed the same as before. Deadly stale, dark, and silent. Now, it appeared, as if the Seventh Death Forest wanted to hide any Murai's steps away, or the cause was a much deeper one.
After all, the 2 reasons for Lisa's visit that she mentioned weren't something Murai found that strange. She didn't talk about it, because she had some reasons to remain silent about it. Both of her visits involved the deep secrets of the Seventh Death Forest, which wasn't a part of the Centralis Kingdom when she was alive. It was part of the past kingdom, under the same banner as Iris's kingdom. Lisa held certain secrets over that nation, or she was involved with many other thigns than she let out.
She shouldn't, and did in fact care about any of that right now. Knowing that only 50 years passed, she was a stranger to this current world. Situations and time flew quite fast when she died, and who knew what happened to all the people she knew, clutched with her power, and so on? Perhaps most of them were still alive in this world, following their living without her at all.
That put some strange emotions in her head, but she kept them to herself when she slowly began to ponder about this forest.