Cole woke up slowly. Consciousness returned in brief fits, never staying longer than a few moments. When he was awake, his vision swam, his body ached, and his memories were a garbled mess concerning whatever had led him to this point. The only things that were concrete in the few lucid seconds were that he was hurt and a pale green light somewhere in his field of view.
That light got slightly dimmer each time he woke up, and each bout of wakefulness was somewhat longer. His muscles burned lightly less, his vision was a bit clearer, and his memories were actually in order. He had fought the wolf. He had won. He was hurt from the fight, and from using his own body as leverage with which to stop a Monster ten times his own size. The green light was a shard of crystal. A healing crystal.
It was after the crystal went dark that he woke up fully.
With a groan from the lingering remnants of pain, the smith lifted himself off the floor. Though the Pocket Forge was actively cleaning it, there was a puddle of blood beneath him. He felt sore in every part of his arms and legs, with his back not missing out on the pair either. But aside from the pain, nothing seemed wrong with him. His ribs felt fine, and a few tentative pokes to his stomach revealed they were back in place. No scars or cuts marred his skin. The healing crystal had done its job.
Mana crystals were strange. They acted like runic equipment, with each kind of crystal gathering and storing its affinity of mana. This mana didn't have a purpose, however, and simply manifested in the most natural way it could. Fire crystals would produce heat, metal crystals would reinforce any metal around them, and life crystals would heal.
He had won.
The wolf was dead, even if it took Cole's claymore with it. He had shards, or at least a shard, of life crystal to work with. He had killed something far stronger than him due to his own creations, superior skill, and complete and utter disregard for his health if it meant he won. But he had won in the end, and ignoring his own injuries was what the life crystal was for.
He would need to meet up with Mary and Jace, see if they could get anything more from whatever remained of the wolf's corpse, and make himself a new weapon. Something more focused on speed this time, just to see how quick he could get. Knives? Katars? Gauntlets? A cutlass, maybe?
His wrist buzzed.
Another customer. He was surprised it took this long for them to try again. No way he was giving any of them a chance.
[The Void God R̵̞͓̼̜̮͍̩̺͉̗͑̓͠e̴̬͛̾̆̐͋̽̈́̉̓̈́͐̑̒̍̕͠͝v̶͉̦̠͎͈̮̯͖̠̳̏̈́̆̿͛͑͗̃̈́͛̚å̶̧͕̩̯̪̬̲̋͆̽͒͘͠͝ļ̸̳̦̞̘̤̝̥͕̤̦͕͒͐̿̒̿̅͠͠o̸̢̨̮͇̞̬̠͎̱̳̦̮̬̬̜͈͒̐̍̾̏̍͂͒̀̈́͛̚͠ṙ̵̹̅̆͑̾̐̓͊͑̃́͘͘͜͝-̸̧̛̘̤̟͇̥̗̭̬͓̟̬̲̗̰̆̽̆͐̔̿Ả̷͈͉̼̳̘͈͖̥͕̪̜̞̌̊̉̋͆͋͌͠ḻ̵̢̢̛̛̛̞͈̩̤̭̩͓͕̲͚̜͇̠̣̊̊͊̿̆͒̈̚̚͠g̸̡̘̠̥͑͂́̃͗̍́͝a̴̝̱͓̳͇͕̖͍̠̍͆̿̆̄̒̌̄̒̿̈́̅͘͠r̷̡̛͖̬̙̱͓͙̂͌͠i̵͙̟͍͊͋͆͗̉̑͠͝ü̶̡̠̻̠͇̜̭̬͈̻̲ḿ̵̢̢̛̤͔͔̙̰̞͇̰͋̀̆̈́̐̑̓̍̋͜͝͠-̸̧̨͖̮̲̣̮̝̙̮̠͙̙̬͔͉̤̑͆̋͊̿̈̑̑͂̇͗͘O̴̡̡̹͚͕͚̹̰͔̺͍̦̲͕̭͒̉̒̑̌̅̂͐͘x̵̺͖̬̣̽̀̌̿͗̏̀͗̐͊̊͘̕͝î̷̡̦̹͎̤̝̻s̶̢̡̡͓̲̳̝̩̙̺̹̙͉̫̭̈̒̓ͅ has offered you a sponsorship. Would you like to open a portal to negotiate? Yes/Y̵̝̯͎̾́͝ȩ̸̢̭̱̲̇͑͋̚ṡ̵͈̼̪̊́̚ͅ]
[Error, presenting options again. Yes/Y̵̝̯͎̾́͝ȩ̸̢̭̱̲̇͑͋̚ṡ̵͈̼̪̊́̚ͅ]
[Error, presenting options again. Yes/Y̵̝̯͎̾́͝ȩ̸̢̭̱̲̇͑͋̚ṡ̵͈̼̪̊́̚ͅ]
[Error, interference detected.]
[Elminiting interference.]
[The first and last Void God has been forcefully reminded that my Lord and Creator's work is supreme and that he is only the second strongest being in existence.]
[Presenting options again. Yes/No]
...Alright there was one way he was giving them a chance. Cole was not going to pass on the opportunity to meet, and maybe insult, the second strongest being in the world. The little part of his brain that cheered every time he made fun of a customer demanded it.
----------------------------------------
The God of Entropy watched as a portal opened in his domain. Even as he shifted and changed every fraction of a moment, the lingering pain from the System's damned elimination of his interference lingered. He knew that he stood no chance of defeating the System itself and that it could probably force all of the integrated universe to attack him, but the fact that it harmed him wholly on its own was shocking. Had Altagox-Aaet-Yiu been insane? Who in their right mind made a construct that was able to do direct harm to its creator's kind? That was just asking for eradication.
But even more concerning than the System was the mortal it had carried to him.
Revalor-Algarium-Oxis was prevented from harming the mortal by the System, even at the heart of his domain, but only that. So the moment the Chosen Creator entered the true Void, the first and last Void God knew him. Knew Cole Amadeus Vance, a smith of great renown. Knew Mr. Vance, the boss who only hired help due to his burning hatred of the business side of business. Knew Vance the Vicious, who rebuked and ridiculed any who were foolish enough to ask him to create something below his talents, or worse, something that was a waste of them. And finally, he knew Cole, a simple man who just enjoyed the feeling of a sword of his own creation resting in his hand.
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He had five affinities. Metal, Kinetic, Fire, Enchantment, and Conjuration. The mortal possessed an absolutely abysmal mana pool, only elevated to the heights of below average by his status as a Chosen. But his recovery. Oh, his recovery was amazing. The pull, the opportunity, the glory of becoming the only manifestation of five affinities at once drew the mana in like a whirlpool. By the time the smith reached Demigod, he might be recovering his entire mana pool in less than a minute. Without recovery enchantments.
He could see the mortal's history and capabilities, but not his mind. The System considered any mind magic, even beneficial acts, to be attacks. A shame, as it would only take him a fraction of a moment to fully understand the smith. Mind magic was one of his specialties.
[̸N̴a̵m̵e̶:̶ ̷R̴e̸v̸a̷l̷o̷r̴-̴A̵l̸g̷a̴r̸i̷u̶m̷-̶O̶x̵i̶s̸]̵
[̶D̷i̶v̴i̷n̵e̸ ̸D̴o̷m̵a̶i̵n̶:̶ ̷E̶n̴t̴r̷o̸p̴y̷,̷ ̷T̴r̷u̷e̷ ̶V̴o̸i̸d̶]̶
[̷U̴n̶i̴v̴e̷r̴s̶a̶l̸ ̷P̴o̴w̷e̶r̴ ̵R̴a̸n̷k̷i̸n̴g̴s̴:̸ ̴2̷n̵d̵]̷
[̸S̸p̵o̶n̵s̶o̷r̵s̶h̵i̴p̷s̴ ̷G̸i̵v̵e̶n̸:̴ ̴N̸o̸n̶e̵]̴
[̸A̸f̷f̵i̵n̸i̵t̴y̴:̷ ̷V̸o̸i̶d̴,̴ ̸M̶i̷n̴d̶,̴ ̴D̷e̴a̷t̸h̸,̷ ̵S̶p̴a̶c̶e̸]̴
[̸A̷f̴f̵i̵l̶i̸a̵t̶i̴o̵n̸:̴ ̸V̵o̴i̴d̵ ̴G̴o̵d̴s̴]̴
His 'status' was as glitched and broken as it ever was, bringing the equivalent of a smile to what served as his face. His ponderings, checking of status, and mirth at the System's expense had all taken place in about three picoseconds, so he wasn't concerned with the Chosen Creator feeling ignored. How to approach this dealing?
The God of Entropy felt as if he had taken the mortal's measure, but one could never be sure. The smith's entire planetary society had just collapsed, before he was thrust into the world of magic and mana, and then almost died trying to fight a Mortal-2 fenroar and somehow succeeding. Would he lash out in anger? Break down in despair? Be consumed by arrogance like so many Chosen before him?
One route would work on them all. Revalor-Algarium-Oxis was loathe to demean himself enough to use currency. It was the hallmark of a civilization, and he stood above those. But even if he didn't directly use the System-backed Credits, bribery always worked. The truth of the world is greed, as he had heard more than one Wealth God say. In time, the mortal would likely come to realize that the real truth of the world was power. But for now, while the Creator was still attached to the idea of participating in a society, bribery would work.
The System prevented overly generous gifts, at least for newly integrated worlds, so even if the God of Entropy was feeling philanthropical, there would be no true Void steel in the mortal's near future. But he could offer far more than materiel gains, along with whatever came of the pseudo-affinity.
He diminished the incomprehensible aspects of his appearance and voice as far as he could, allowed his mind to begin moving at its normal pace again, and made his offer.
"My Sponsorship and the power it entails, along with a good amount of Grand steel, in exchange for continued monitoring of the effect of having five affinities on the soul and body. These are my terms. Do you accept?"
"You're an ugly fucker ain'tcha ya?"
The first and last of the Void Gods paused. Every one of his seventy arms, eighteen legs, one hundred and two tentacles, forty-nine tendrils, eighty-three eyes, and six maws stopped and stared at the human mortal in front of him. The meer blip on the universe, inconsequential for a few more centuries as he gathered power, the speck of life in front of him had insulted the strongest living being in existence. No, the System did not count as living.
The strongest of the Gods, the first of them, the only remaining resident of the Void, had been referred to as an 'ugly fucker'. If it were not for the System's protection, he could wipe out the mortal's entire solar system, nay, galaxy with a thought. And the smith, the speck, the Mortal-2 being, had insulted him.
Revalor-Algarium-Oxis broke out into heaving, shaking laughter. Bellows of mirth echoed through portions of the Void that had been silent for eons. A smile broke out in the mouths all across his form, now numbering ninety-two.
Such defiance! Such confidence! It was incredible! The words were tinted with surety in oneself, but not arrogance. Earned pride, from hardships and battles fought to the end. He knew, somehow, that the mortal would have said the same even if the System wasn't protecting him.
The smith himself was also smiling, looking at the Void God with a small measure of relief in his eyes.
"Good to see not all the new customers are full of themselves. You sure know the way to a man's heart. Metalic instruments of violence, or the materials to make them. What's the 'power it entails bit'?"
Revalor-Algarium-Oxis finished his laughing fit, wiping caustic tears from his four thousand three hundred and twelve eyes.
"A simple extension of Domain, my friend. You will, in some way, gain proficiency at Entropy. It may also affect your magic or Signature Ability."
The Void God had thought for a long time about what the pseudo-affinity would do, always coming up blank. What would the Creator gain from the opposite of his passion? A hefty question. But not hefty enough for the strength of a man with surety of his path.
"Ain't it obvious? I'm the Creator, sure, and a smith. But specifically, I'm a weaponsmith. I create to destroy. Simple as. And I'll take a way to make forcefire even stronger any day."
It was incredible. He had seen the mortal interact with a Star God and the arrogance of the fenroar and meet both with cold and calculating rage. And yet, the Void God had simply laughed at a joke, and the man seemed and acted like a close friend. He shared the name of his un-heard of power, of forcefire, freely. He acted as if they had known each other for centuries. There was a deep understanding in the mortal's eyes. One master of his field, recognizing another.
With the casual grace of meeting a friend, the strongest living being in the universe extended one of his hands. The Creator smiled again, reaching out and shaking the hand of a being millions of times stronger than him. But above that, shaking the hand of a kindred soul. Maybe, eventually, that of a friend."
"So?"
"It's a deal."