(Gavin)

Judging by the strength of this guy's soul and the fact that I appeared right before him, he's likely the soul mage Nies mentioned to me. That means that he could, potentially, launch an attack on me against my own soul – which is something I can probably only barely defend against.

"Wh-wh-what do you want?" He asks, and even though it's another language, I can understand him immediately. "I'll-I'll give it back. P-p-please don't-"

Since I can understand him, and even communicate with him through his language, that means that my boost to learning and understanding languages doesn't come from the System, which is good news. I'm still limited, though, so I'll have to keep what I say short until I can understand more. It does seem that my ability to learn them did receive some boost from the System, though judging by how much I learned with that question and two fragments of a statement, it wasn't much.

"The fragment of a god's soul?" I interrupt the soul mage, and he nods. He's shaking, terrified. He thinks I'm here to punish him for capturing it. "How long ago did you find it?"

"S-s-six months ago."

Six months here? How long was it on Eisnar, before Nies let me out of that Divine Realm? And I'm still assuming he froze my world in time, even if he didn't say so. It's Nies – he'd want things to be as 'fast' as possible.

Though how 'fast' it is on Eisnar depends on how long passed before he froze it.

I can worry about that later. There are a few things I want to ask, before getting on with business.

"How old are you?"

"N-n-nineteen."

"Do you have the System?"

"Wh-wh-what is that?"

Guess not.

"What am I?"

"A g-g-god," he prostrates himself before me. "I-I-I'm so-"

"I really don't care," I tell him. "And no, I'm not a god. I'm a mortal. Sort of. I'm simply a very, very powerful mortal who's in a very, very foul mood. So stop with the prostrating and fear, because you aren't in danger."

I don't even need to see his face to know he's confused.

"You're a soul mage?" I ask, and he nods. "The god I serve sent me to you because of that. I need to learn soul magics."

"Wh-wh-wh-"

"Stop with the stuttering already," I order. "It's only agitating me."

He gulps. This is why I hate having the Aura of Power active. I can't fucking stop this shit. I order him to look up at me, and he does. Frowning, I realize that he's got a collar around his neck. It's slim and thin, but it's there.

"What's that collar for?"

"It's a slave collar," he answers, and I feel my blood boil. "It-"

No longer exists, which he can probably tell, judging by the shocked expression on his face.

"There," I say. "It's dealt with."

"You-you-you," he stammers. "How did you-you truly are of the gods!"

This again!

"No, I'm not," I sigh. "I'm just a very powerful mortal from another world. One who needs to learn soul magic. My patron has tasked me with gathering the fragments of that particular god's soul, which are scattered across the universe. I hear people coming."

"They-they probably know the collar's broken."

"Excellent," I grin and turn towards the door, reading the magics making up the spell that prevents him from leaving this room. "Those spells are annoying."

With a wave of my hand, I disable the spells. I don't need the System for shit like this.

"What's your name, mortal?"

"L-L-Litrar," he answers. "I thought you said you were m-m-mortal?"

"Hm?" I throw a look back at him, then realize what I said. "I am. Ignore the condescending remark, I can't help it. I'm of a species so much more powerful than a mere Human that I can't help shit like that at times. I've gotten used to restraining myself, but… never mind."

Without my Acting Skill, it's going to be a bit more difficult to restrain that kind of shit. Fucking hells.

When I collect this Divine Being's soul, I'm going to throw him into the oblivion that Nies's wife spoke of. Will need to find it, first, but I'm so going to do it. Let him see how he likes that. Hell – Nies might even happily help me – maybe even guide the way.

Make it so that it'll take him awhile to come after me and mine, and those that come after me.

A couple of minutes pass before the door is flung open, and before the half-dozen guards and magicians can do anything, my Aura of Power freezes them in their tracks, my fury overwriting any awe they would've felt, with nothing but terror filling their bodies.

"Hi," I say, my smile back. "Which of you assholes thought it a good idea to use slave collars?"

They don't answer, so I pierce their hearts with manifested spears.

"Hm," I spit on the one closes to me. "Pathetic. This isn't even worth comparing to my last fight."

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I look to the soul mage, whose eyes have widened with shock.

"I have a bit of an issue with slave collars," I tell him. "Somehow, I managed to escape having one put on me when I was younger, but they've left a foul taste in my mouth. I suppose without… that, I can't conceal said rage as easily. Come on. Gather what you need – and the fragment of his soul – we're leaving. You're going to teach me how to use soul magic so I can track down and pull together the pieces of his soul."

"I-I can't leave this room without-"

"Because of the magics in the doorway and the door itself?" I ask, and he nods. "I removed those spell. Something cast by a mere Human could never stop me. Get moving. If you need more than you can carry, we can place them into my ring."

"Your… ring?"

"Yes," I hold up my hand, showing the ring on my right ring finger. "My ring. It contains a spatial compartment within it, allowing me to store vast quantities of items within. So gather what you need. We're leaving and heading somewhere better-suited to you teaching me what I need to know. While I'm not pressed for time, I'd like to learn as quickly as possible."

"Y-yes, milord," he dips his head to me as he climbs out of bed. "I-slaves are not-not graced with-clothes, milord. Even a pair of pants, such as what you wear, would be enough to-to cover me, when outside, if you would b-b-be so k-k-kind."

He's shy about his body. Not because of me, nor being in here, but it's leaving this building nude that bothers him. He's likely lived here for years, and grown accustomed to it with his jailers and the other slaves.

Looking at him, I pull on his desire for clothes, manifesting a pair of pants for him. That's all he wanted, likely because he noticed it was all I was wearing. The pants themselves are simple, brown cotton pants.

Pathetic. You are before a great and powerful being, and the only type of pants you wish for are simple? Not even a tiny glimmer of a hope for something better?

With a flex of my powers, I upgrade them to quality velvet pants, black in color. Then, I weave together matching leather boots and tunic, plus a belt, tossing them to him.

"There," I say. "You're a Human. Such an outfit is more appropriate."

He swallows, then nods and quickly dresses, fumbling a bit with the belt and boots, but manages to dress alright. I ask him, and he mentions that he'd been captured when he was seven, during a random testing of everyone in his village proved him to have high soul magic potential. Apparently, they're stripped immediately upon becoming a slave – it makes it less likely for them to run.

So it's been a decade and a fifth, so his fumbling is alright.

Once he's dressed, and has gathered the things he needs, I turn and leave with a simple order to follow me, and he does. I could save everyone here, and I really, really want to, but I really need to focus on learning soul magic and restoring the Divine Soul.

Really need to return to my Order and find out how safe they are, with me gone.

Shutting out the sounds around me, the sounds of slaves, young and old, sleeping or working in their cells or crying and wailing, I continue to walk, killing any guards that draw near me.

We descend the tower with a path of blood paved behind me. By the time we reach the front, the guards run from my presence, rather than try to fight me. They know they can't win, and they know those who've tried to challenge me were slain as well.

With a flick of my wrist, I throw the door off its hinges, and it soars through the air, landing hundreds of yards away.

Stepping out into the moonlight, I inhale, the scent of sweat and blood from the tower giving way to the scent of fresh grass and flowers, with a light afterscent of rain.

We're now in fields, though around twenty miles in the distance, a forest starts up. There are several guards out here, but they're keeping their distance, having already been warned of the otherworldly being with a temper.

Flicking my wrist, I send fire outwards, killing each of the guards out here without breaking my stride. Litrar follows, and once we're around half a mile from the tower, I stop and turn to face it. Built of a greyish stone and rising two thousand feet into the air, it's quite impressive, for a world without the sciences of worlds like my brothers'. It being around three hundred feet across probably helps with the weight and support issue, though it's mostly through the use of enchantments that it can stand without issue, if my reading of the magic is correct.

Litrar looks at me nervously, then back to his former home.

"How does freedom taste?" I ask.

"I-I'm not sure."

"You're not my slave," I say. "I just need some help doing something and it deals with that fragment of a Divine Soul."

"Piecing it back together?"

"Yes," I answer. "Piecing it back together. I need to be able to track down each of the four hundred-some fragments of it and return them to each other. They're scattered across the universe."

"I-I'm not sure if I can-"

"You don't need to do it yourself," I tell him. "I'm more than capable of moving between the various worlds, realms, and planes of the universe. I even once entered my patron god's Divine Realm."

"You-you truly come from another world?"

"Truly," I answer.

"Your god wants you to-to restore the shattered one?"

"Yes."

"But if you do, whatever being shredded it might-"

"That is of no concern to me," I state. "My patron god was the first Divine Being to ever form, and is the most powerful of them all. That said, even if he weren't, I wouldn't have need of worrying, as I am the one who shredded that particular god."

Litrar gulps, and I glance over to him. He's staring at me with pure fear in his eyes, his body rigid and white.

"He pissed me off," I say. "Threatened those I love and care for. So I shredded his soul. However, some stuff came up, and now, I need to put him back together."

"And you're… you're mortal?"

"Essentially."

"Essentially?"

"Do you know of evolution?"

"Where a species is altered through the generations," he nods. "To adapt to environments or get rid of that which is useless."

"There's a way for things to evolve directly," I state. "And I have done it several times, becoming a being often viewed as a god. However, becoming a god itself is impossible, as far as I know. As I said, though – I am not a god, I am simply a very, very powerful mortal.

"So," I turn fully towards him, doing my best to stop my tail from swishing. My anticipation and excitement at learning this magic and being able to regain Access is showing through through the infuriating appendage. "Will you agree to teach me what I need to know, to complete the task my patron has assigned to me? Refuse, and I will simply relieve you of the fragment you have, take you somewhere safe, and return to you the items we stored in my ring. Then, I will give you some food and extra clothes, before departing and seeking out another soul mage."

Litrar thinks for only a few seconds before nodding.

"Yes," he responds. "I'll-I'll do my best to teach you."

"No need to be afraid," I smile at him. "My patron wouldn't have sent me to you if he thought I'd hurt you – he'd wait for me to be seeking out the fragment to find you."

Litrar nods.

"Thank you," I smile at him. "So – do you know a place we can go? Or were you kept in isolation for too long?"

He thinks on it for a few moments, then nods.

"Haivura is a free place," he tells me. "They don't practice slavery, and do spread the knowledge of magic. If you want a place less-populate with people, the Haivar Forest is mostly uninhabited by people, though it's far too dangerous for most people to go into."

Though since I'm anything but normal, he probably doesn't think I'd have an issue. Considering how powerful I am even without Access, the forest is probably child's play to me. Depending on what he can do with soul magic, it probably wouldn't be an issue for him, too.

And a nation that doesn't practice slavery and supports the spreading of knowledge? That sounds like my kind of place. I might be able to find some new recruits for the Order. Will translation magics work to let my people communicate with them, since they're from another world? Or will we need to rely on the Dekami for awhile if I bring some of them to Eisnar?

You can worry about that later. For now, just focus on learning how to use soul magic, sensing the Divine Soul's fragments, and pulling them back together.

"Alright," I tell Litrar, weaving together my air magics and lifting us up into the sky. "Do you know the way?"