Sofia had given it a few attempts. He heard several heavy impacts on his walls, but she quickly gave up. Whether it was the strength of the wall or she realized that even if she broke it she didn’t have the strength to rescue Alexander, only she knew. Either way, it had been silent since.

Dalric nodded, “So the two that left, Irida and Ilektra, are burdened with teaching your people the tongue?”

“Yes, though it is not a burden. It is a highly respected position.”

It better be.

Dalric had only barely come to terms with it being possible.

“Why them?”

“The Third created the tradition of giving the oldest Blessed that had not held the role of Archon the position. The two are twins.”

There’s that term again. ‘Blessed’. I’m almost certain now that it means Enlightened, but then what does ‘Touched’ mean?

“A Touched can not hold the role?”

“That… would be insulting to our Blessed.”

“Even if the Touched held the most seniority?”

“I have never known a Touched to live long and not become Blessed. But…” Alexander seemed to carefully choose his words, “While we are thankful for the favor that our Touced were shown, they were not bestowed enough finesse with their souls to be able to properly instruct others.”

… What does that even mean? There’s a middle point between unenlightened and Enlightened?

There was little known about the process of becoming Enlightened to be fair. No one had ever witnessed a creature make the transition. Many had investigated it and it was generally believed that animals became enlightened through the same means that inanimate objects manifested souls, ahjer purity, but both were unproven theories. With neither observation nor experimentation, they were largely built on the fact that there was a direct correlation between ahjer purity and a non-sapient’s intelligence.

Cyan’s scholars used to theorize that sapience itself was a mere byproduct of high ahjer purity.

The fact he remembered that surprised him. He had disregarded the theory almost as soon as he heard it, there were simply too many holes in its supposition. Now, with everything he was learning about the Menos, he wondered if the old fools were actually on to something.

“How many of you are Touched?”

“Fifteen.”

“How many are Blessed?

“Six.”

Elders… there’s still another one.

He could see why the predators had left the trio he’d first come across alone. Six Enlighteneds in one group was simply outrageous. Even though most seemed to be on the weaker side, if they all got to Alexander’s strength, they’d be collectively stronger than Dalric was now. Unlikely that anything in the jungle could contend with that. He didn’t know what to make of the fifteen half-steps they added on top as well. How long was ‘long’?

“On average, how long do your Touched live before becoming Blessed?”

“If born Touched, Aegeus tends to bless them within ten years. Otherwise, I would guess the average is forty years.”

Dalric fought his face arduously. He told himself he had to stop being shocked by everything, but the world had to play its part as well and stop sending him such shocking information. Ten years? Forty would be ludicrously quick in the first place. If animals only had to live forty years to become an Enlightened, Enlighteneds would be everywhere. Ten though? Ten?

Even if he managed to put that aside, the other bit of information he learned was just as staggering. Their use of the terms ‘Blessed’ and ‘Touched’ had been vaguely intriguing, but every Enlightened communicated their own status in a different way so he didn’t prioritize finding out why. He should have.

He had never heard of the half-step stage before just now so when Alexander spoke of ‘favor’ and ‘being bestowed’, he had no frame of reference. Now, he understood. They believed Aegeus gave them their status.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

An Enlightened should know—would know—that no being gave it to them. Certainly no human.

Yet… Aegeus was Hellgurian. They spoke in Hellgurian. They wrote in Hellgurian. His influence here was clear. They even patiently waited for one of his descendants to pop up and reclaim control.

That just…

He refused to say ‘can’t be’, he’d said it too often for the words to mean anything anymore. Instead, he asked a previous question, “Who is Aegeus to you?”

“That—I… He is our God.”

Dalric’s face won that fight.

I… see.

A couple pieces clicked into place. Several others drifted further apart.

The basics for becoming a God were actually rather simple. ‘All’ one had to do was implant a piece of themself into the soul of at least one other being and then have that being willingly provide them with their ahjer. Soul splicing was tremendously difficult of course and the amount of power siphoned had to be enormous to be worth it, but the steps were fairly straightforward. While the only Gods currently were the ones that held Dalric’s chain, that wasn’t always the case. Before he had ended them, there were a dozen or so Gods walking around Frysta.

They put me here to end another.

That was one question answered.

The odds this body is Aegeus' child are non-existent. Godhood can be passed on and there’s not even the slightest chance the Gods would allow that possibility.

That was two. That was also where clarity ended and confusion resumed.

Why make me human? Why rob me of my strength?

Even ignoring whatever boost he acquired from Godhood, Aegeus would have to be quite powerful to even be capable of splintering his soul in the first place. The old Dalric would be able to contend with him, but the current one was weak, embarrassingly so.

Even if he had ample ahjer, much of his strength came innately from his body. That very same body limited his mastery of ahjer, something he could potentially rectify as a human, but that would take decades to centuries. For now, much of his technique and skill required his former frame. Without it, he was nothing like the titan he used to be and completely unfit for such a bout. Furthermore…

The Dance?

A single God was not a world event. Unless Aegeus had somehow flipped a fourth of the planet into worshipping him instead and decided he wanted to destroy the rest, it didn’t make sense. Even in that case, why would Dalric open his eyes to it? Why would he be so important?

Why was I resurrected?

Again, the more he learned the less he understood.

He put the Gods and the Dance to the side for the moment and focused on Aegeus. He would likely have to find a method to safely re-enter civilization… valinbarn civilization before he got clearer answers about the first two, but the latter could be delved into right now.

First, “Do you pray?”

“I… understand the meaning, but I’m confused what you’re asking me?”

That crossed out Aegeus just being a different name for one of the Gods. Prayer was the means by which they siphoned ahjer. There were a few potential other means, but figuring out which one Aegeus deployed could be done later.

“No matter. You mentioned those who are born Touched.” Dalric braced himself for the response, “Are there those born Blessed?”

“The Archon’s line has always been Blessed!”

Alright then.

He successfully managed to take that in stride. The tigers were simply the most unique group of animals on the planet.

Wait…

A few pieces moved closer together.

The Wyld…

The term specifically referred to the eight or so Enlighteneds that lead them, but they were a faction of many Enlightened beasts. So many that they could field them in brigades. It was assumed, by pure virtue of the age of the leaders, that their vast, ahjer-rich land simply held a plethora of aged fauna.

Maybe they were just born Enlightened. Maybe they only took forty years. Maybe just ten.

…

Maybe Aegeus had found a way to mimic that. Maybe he was attempting to recreate the strongest faction on Frysta and position himself as their God.

The third line was a dark thought.

Maybe he was already the Wyld’s God.

It vanished immediately, however. If the Wyld had a God, and he walked Frysta in the flesh, they’d have conquered the planet millenia ago. Plus, he wouldn’t have a human name.

Dalric slowed himself down. All of that was merely an assumption born from shaky conjuncture. He didn’t have anything close to the full picture. If he was on the right path though…

“You called your village a ‘colony’, why?”

“That is what we were told they were.”

They were?

“Okay. How many colonies are there?”

“To my present knowledge, there are sixteen left.”

Sixteen. Sixteen Archons. Twice as many as the Wyld. Coincidence?

“Do you work together?”

There was some hesitancy, “We… do.”

Oh? He said ‘left’ before. Infighting?

That was information to store for later. He thought about attempting to dig into it, but it was another non-pertinent path. He wanted to know how closely they mirrored the Wyld.

“You do? Good. What is the goal you’re all working toward?”

“Our goal is to follow Aegeus’ teachings. To learn, grow stronger, and expand. To… make preparations for his descendant's ascension.”

Well then.