Daz took some time to identify all of the skills that Rimmy's Core possessed since it was treated as a separate being from his main body and also had a different class.
"Some of these skills are... amazing. I really need to go do some other stuff, even though I wish I could stay and talk to you, buddy," Daz said with a bit of a sad look on his face.
Rimmy's core gave him a thumbs up before he waved. "Rimmy."
"Yeah, seeya later, buddy," Daz replied.
Rimmy's core floated up and reentered Rimmy's main body by using one of its skills, Crystal Magnetism.
Crystal Magnetism [A-Rank (Higher)] Description
A skill unique to Jewelled Mountain Golem Cores.
It was created with love and care by the middle god, The God of Minerals, before his death.
It grants the host the ability to fly by using the energy of jewels and crystals that lay beneath the ground as an anchor to bounce off of.
Level 1 Abilities Grants the ability to fly. Can only be used if there are enough jewels and crystals underground to support the flight path.
An incredibly useful skill in Daz's opinion considering how rich Earth was with minerals, despite civilisation's attempts to strip it bare.
The first thing Daz did when he entered Fort Skip again was look at his new ranking positions, the City Owner ranking included.
Your overall Lord ranking is #1, your overall Point ranking is #152 [-69], your overall Kill ranking is #256 [-48], your overall Evolution ranking is #32 [-12], your overall Skill Creation ranking is #57, and finally, your overall City Owner ranking is #19.
Daz was glad that he hadn't gone down in the rankings at all. He was eagerly awaiting the day that his point ranking would reach the top one-hundred since he'd get a new reward then, and he was assuming that ranking would be the first to cross the next threshold when compared to the other rankings he was on.
Due to being in the top 100 for overall City Owners, the host will gain special privileges during a particular future attack cycle if the host's capital city is not destroyed by then.
"Special privileges? I was expecting a discount on city upgrades, to be honest," Daz mumbled. "System, does my Godly Base Management Skill affect cities, or is it only limited to bases like Fort Skip and Camp Waterford?"
'It's kind of a shit skill if it's only helpful for a cycle or two. It doesn't really deserve to be Godly-ranked in that case,' Daz silently said to himself as he waited for the system's response.
Instead of answering Daz, a different notification than normal appeared in front of the Reaper's eyes.
The higher god, The God of Order, has considered your thoughts and has thus changed the skill [Godly Base Management] in response upon agreeing with you.
"Oh?" Daz was surprised. "The gods can read my thoughts? I'd better be careful of what I think in the future, then."
While remembering that, Daz checked the mentioned changes to his skill.
Godly Universal Management [God-Rank] Description
A skill created by the god of Order to better manage his properties, although it sounds like it was created on a whim, many centuries and much power was put into creating this skill.
This skill was edited after the God of Order agreed with the thoughts of its sole owner, Daz.
Abilities Allows the host to create all base upgrades without having to meet the needed requirements. Reduces the cost of all base upgrades by 75% in the system's shop. If the host is creating base upgrades via resources, they require 75% fewer resources. Allows the host to upgrade one base infinitely, with no restrictions, bar resource or merit point costs. All bases owned by the host will have their stats increased by 50%. [New!] All of the above abilities apply to cities, countries and planets owned by the host.
Stolen story; please report.
"Wow. That's a pretty big upgrade. Countries and planets as well, huh? I guess that means that eventually, this whole apocalypse will spread to space? Or maybe it'll be more magical and focus on alternate dimensions? Shame my access level isn't high enough to simply ask the system," Daz lamented.
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Meanwhile, in the realm of the gods, Ordine, the God of Order, was sat atop his huge throne in The Chamber of Council with a mysterious smile strewn across his bearded face.
The God of Death was hovering just above his own throne. It was impossible to tell his expression nor his emotions since he was nothing more than a floating wisp of smoke, but regardless, Ordine was able to sense a slight disturbance within him.
"Morte, what's wrong?" Ordine asked.
"I've told you to call me Mortimer, just like all of the other gods. How many times must I remind you before you stop addressing me with that embarrassing name?" The God of Death asked with a clearly angered tone.
Ordine laughed. "You already know that I must maintain order. I cannot give you preferential treatment over the other higher gods. Regardless, you are genderless, so why does it bother you so much, Morte?"
In the ancient language of magic, which just so happened to coincide with Earth's language, Italian, morte meant death, but at the same time, it was a feminine word, and The God of Death had lost count of the number of times that his preferred gender had been mistaken.
"You know why," Mortimer hissed.
"Indeed I do, don't I?" Ordine laughed once again. "Regardless, I felt an irregularity in your order. Did something happen?"
"I was watching the Reaper, and yes, something did happen. I wonder if you'd care to explain that, would you, Ordine?" Mortimer's tone was very telling.
"Which Reaper might you be referring to?" Ordine acted the fool.
"You know which. Don't play coy with me," Mortimer wasn't a fan of Ordine's roundabout way of talking like some of the higher gods were. He was firmly planted within the faction that opposed Ordine.
"Indeed... Your champion is somewhat of an embarrassment, for a Death Reaper, at least. The Justice Reaper, on the other hand..." Ordine smiled.
"Enough!" Mortimer yelled. "Speak, you old fool! Why did you alter his skill and give him such a vast benefit? This is unfair and will tip the balance! It certainly doesn't seem like something 'The God of Order' would do, now does it?"
Ordine said nothing in response and simply waved his hand, revealing a large transparent '1' above his head.
"Y-Your divine crystals... H-How is this possible... You had billions!" Mortimer screamed in agitation.
Ordine waved his hand once more and the number above his head disappeared. "Altering the Reaper's skill was not cheap. His words were correct, that is all. I cannot allow the system to classify such a skill as Godly if it is almost unusable after a few weeks, no? I am merely maintaining the rightful order."
Mortimer was lost for words for a few seconds before his icy and threatening voice filled The Chamber of Council. "How risky. You do recall that getting to zero crystals will result in your death, yes? Perhaps I should challenge you right now?"
"I would not be averse to a fight against you, but you know the rules. A match where one god losing would result in his death, the other must also offer their own life and all of their divine crystals. So, Morte, are you willing?" Ordine asked as he scratched his beard.
"I dare not," a coarse laughter issued out of the wisp that was The God of Death. "I was just joking."
"I see," Ordine replied as he smiled knowingly.
"I have other matters to attend to within my personal realm, so I shall say farewell for now, Ordine, and please, stop calling me Morte." Without waiting for The God of Order's response, Mortimer left the Chamber of Council promptly.
Shortly afterwards, a large and powerful Golden Dragon lumbered into the Chamber of Council before he curled up in the wide-open space between two of the thrones.
This Dragon, The God of Strength, peered at the seated Ordine, and the edges of his scaley mouth rose. "A bold move, Ordine."
"It was necessary, Forza," the bearded giant replied with a sigh.
"True. It does involve both of our Champions, after all," Forza said as a puff of smoke escaped his nostrils.
"Speaking of which, how is yours doing? I have been rather focused on the Reaper boy and haven't checked in on your Champion in some time despite their proximity." Ordine's curiosity was piqued.
"I was worried for quite a while, but Pala's Champion is guiding her and helping her make the right decisions with her points, so I can't complain. Her strength is immense though, even more so than I expected," Forza happily said with a chuffed look in his massive amber-coloured eyes.
"Is she not weaker than the Reaper boy? The Angel girl as well, I suspect," Ordine pointed out.
Forza huffed. "Strength has nothing to do with battle capabilities, you old goat."
"I suppose that's true," Ordine agreed as he chuckled softly.
"You already knew that. I'm really not a fan of your mind games. You're far too similar to your opposite, Caos, you know?" Forza complained while he curled his tail around his body and got comfortable.
"Yet still, you defected from his faction and joined mine, evening the balance," Ordine commented with a strange glint in his eyes.
It was almost hard to believe that Ordine was once a mere mindless giant, considering how much he now used his intellect as a weapon, particularly in the past few eras. Though millions of years passing and becoming a god had certainly changed the Immortal Giant King in many ways.
"Guerra gave a very convincing argument," Forza said as he referenced The God of War.
"That makes sense." Ordine smiled.
Forza looked at Ordine strangely. "How so?"
"It makes perfect sense that the only god who could get you to betray Caos would be another meatheaded individual like Guerra. Shuras and Dragons have a lot in common, don't you think?" Ordine laughed.
"Hmpf, maybe so," Forza replied haughtily.
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Two million [Divine Crystals] have been consumed to grant a clear message to the host's Champion, [Shen Mu]. Please state the message.
Mortimer's icy and emotionless voice flowed through his personal dimension. "Head east and cross the ocean. Find the city, Waterford. Kill the Justice Reaper known as Daz who resides there and I shall grant you two million merit points and an SS-ranked skill. Act swiftly, my Champion."
Confirmed, message delivered.
"Good." Mortimer floated towards a pool that was filled with a pitch-black liquid and he sank his wispy body into it. "With this, whatever Ordine is scheming should be thwarted."
Mortimer remembered how greatly Daz and his citizens had struggled against the Frost Phoenix. "He is admirable, but if it can save us and end Ordine's plans, then his sacrifice is worthwhile."
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Back on Earth, in Hong Kong - China, a young man no older than nineteen years of age, lifted his body as he rose from his slumber.
He crawled out of his temporary shelter, a ruined building with little to show for its former glory as a mansion, the home of a famous movie actor.
The young man looked at the peculiar status message in front of his eyes and grinned. "Two-million points?" Mandarin flowed from his mouth as he mumbled to himself.
"Well then, I'd better find myself a speedboat, huh? Oh, and a map. I hope Waterford is near the west coast," he said before he stretched his back and grabbed his menacing-looking war scythe from the floor.
He slung the weapon over his shoulder and lifted his hood to cover his handsome face before he strolled out of the high-class neighbourhood and walked past all of the bodies of the Humans and a single massive dog with three heads.
Oddly enough, the Humans all looked to be from Earth and not a single one of them had claw marks from the dog on them, no, the only wound on their bodies was a single long gash that has split their bodies in two. A few were also covered in a neverending black flame.
Shen Mu, the handsome young man, began peacefully humming to himself as he made his way to the nearest pier and found an abandoned speedboat after taking a world map from a bookstore.
As he was starting the boat up, he realised something. "Ah, that guy, 'Daz', was it? If Senior Death wants me to kill him, he must be pretty interesting. I should go back quickly and grab a book on English and study it before we meet. It'd be nice to talk to someone interesting for a change. Skull sucks."