CHAPTER 273: INFORMATION
Andrés could not help but divert his attention to the newsreel projection.
Information from the abysmal portals had been made public from both Russia and the European Union.
Who would be entering, the background of each and the overall capability.
Among them were some well-known heroes in the area, but there were also some individuals in the military who were lesser known.
Some participated in the European-Demon war, having quite an amazing track record, while others were professionals in their respective areas.
All this time they had been organizing everything, and no one stood still.
The authorities managed to discover how many people were possible to be sent before the abyssal portal self-sealed.
They had come to the conclusion that such portals were not something natural and pointed to some as yet unknown entity.
That meant that the rules could change as well as the number of people who could enter.
Still, the researchers and Archmages came to the conclusion that it would be sealed after a group of ten individuals entered.
That limit was on the European Union portal, and on the Russian portal, the limit was fifteen.
Such a limit was the average, as according to reports sometimes the portal was more stable or unstable, allowing less or more people to go.
Everything depended on the stability of the abyssal portal and the good thing was that the authorities were preparing to stabilize the portal.
The goblins arrived and their numbers were quite large before the war, that alone showed that coming to this place caused less instability than going the other way.
However, it also showed that they had a way to stabilize the portal and the way the goblins did was by using their guardians.
The newscast did not report on whether the authorities prayed to the primordial gods or another god seeking to stabilize it, and such a thing was suspicious.
Andrés let that doubt show in his expression, and someone noticed.
“It’s not that they didn’t pray, no one responded,” a voice sounded from behind him and Andrés was startled.
He had been completely distracted, however, upon hearing that response he looked at his boss.
“Looks like it’s pretty easy for you... You did the job completely distracted,” Lucius Aufidius, the ‘Sage of Technology and Science’ muttered.
He was now in his working hours and was tasked with going through the security of the next upgrade to the classic holographic clock, all as a test.
This new upgrade would bring an improvement far above other means of security, but when compared to an A-ranked mechanic it was deficient.
Of course, Andrés knew that his experience could not be considered normal due to the fact that he had been supporting Lucius and had learned many things.
“Why did you say no one answered?” asked Andrés without holding back.
Lucius took the holographic watch and then, after looking at it, upgraded the security to the next level.
“If they had, they would surely send an army... First of all, the guardians of those goblins, according to reports, were already dead and comparing them to Primordial Gods is a joke,” Lucius replied and seeing that he was paying more attention to the outside than to the work, he looked at him and explained. “Aion with a single snap of his fingers can do anything... Connecting two worlds is just child’s play.”
His simplicity in saying the name of such a primordial entity was quite impressive, but it made sense to Andrés.
If one thought about the power of the primordial gods and their mythology, then solving the issue of abyssal portals, would be child’s play.
That they would stabilize it would also be easy enough and that both states didn’t report on the gods and only thought about getting in, let it be seen that it wasn’t that they didn’t try, but that there was no response.
“So, we are playthings of these entities?” Andrés hesitated at that realization.
He was not a devout believer and honestly his closeness was closest to the God of Technology, whose involvement in this world was minimal, and the closest was the ‘Sage’ in front of him.
Still, to realize that these entities knew what was going on and did nothing was quite shocking.
How many people died in the battle against the goblins and ‘Chaos’?
“Wasn’t it obvious?” Lucius questioned and with a mocking tone, asked. “Do you think a Primordial entity like Aion who has surely seen millions of worlds perish and races die would treat earthlings as important? Do you think earth is that important?”
His scornful, mocking look made Andrés cringe a little, but his embarrassment only lasted a moment in the face of reality.
Primordial Gods... Known as entities that had been around since the beginning of time.
How many years had passed since that time? For his universe, it was uncountable.
The participation of such an entity supporting humanity from the Terra nova machine and continued help, caused them to now seek his help and be disappointed when he did not respond.
Adding the closeness of the earthlings to the gods of Terra nova and their history with them, made it seem that such almighty entities were not far from them.
As if that wasn’t enough, the God of Time and Space himself was an entity who had had an account on a social network... To think of such a thing made everyone believe that he was close to humanity, as if he were a mortal.
“If Earthlings want something, they have to do it themselves, without relying on outside entities and just taking advantage of what they are given,” Lucius said and with an unpleasant tone, he added. “But instead they got to worship some gods, who now ignore them... And as if that wasn’t enough, they also cry for the lack of response, when they generated a unilateral dependence.”
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Andrés became even more embarrassed... To a terribly embarrassed level.
While he wasn’t crying, he had certainly thought about them in the same way Lucius was describing.
Had the earthlings generated a dependency to these entities?
The answer was simple enough, one only needed to look at ordinary people to find it.
When disaster struck, what was the first thing earthlings did?
Pray to their respective gods.
And if such a thing kept happening unchanged?
They blamed them who supposedly had the power to stop it.
And what did the earthlings give to these entities?
Nothing.
That was the ultimate answer.
Rituals granted nothing in the eyes of those entities and as if that wasn’t enough, such primordial gods did not depend on or need the ‘faith’ of earthlings.
“Many of us are toys, but there are others who are children... And they can be educated.” Lucius added and meeting his gaze, asked. “What is the best way to educate ignorant children?”
His arrogant and slightly mocking smile pointed at the holographic clock Andrés had been wearing.
“A test...”
Lucius’ smile grew.
******
“‘Balance’ is a curious concept. Some liken it to order and others see it as always ‘good’, but it is not so... To achieve balance in morals you need ‘evil’ and ‘goodness’ in equal amounts,” counted Alice with a simple tone and giving a glance, she added. “It is possible to apply such an analogy to different experiences, for example... That some goblins are saved, bringing a danger to humans.”
Aurora was silent upon hearing such words.
She had taken the report Kairos had given her and reviewed it, but finding herself dealing with theological matters, she came in search of her sister.
The European Union and Russia had attempted to perform a ritual to the Primordial Gods with the goal of stabilizing the portal completely and sending more people through.
There had been no thought of them shutting it down, as such a possibility was nil, only stabilizing it completely.
Something more ‘simple’.
However, there was no response on the subject either.
So she focused on the report about the supposed entity that emphasized ‘balance’ and due to her lack of understanding, she came to Alice.
“If you ask me who it is... Then, it will be difficult to answer. Some of those entities have deep secrets,” Alice said and giving a smile, she added. “However, as I said, it is related to ‘Order’ and on earth there is only one entity under the Primordial Goddess of Order.”
Such words made Aurora’s expression tremble for a moment.
There were quite a few religions that came to Earth, but many of them had no influence and were temples worshipped in some places.
While some of those entities might respond, their influence was still minimal on a general level or at least in public.
Although, if they spoke of ‘Order’ and left the Primordial Goddess aside, all would observe their ‘Subordinate God’.
Supreme God of Terra nova Order, Celestial God and Lord of Purification, Zabathza.
That was the only god Aurora remembered from her theology classes who had a relationship with the ‘Order’.
“Of course, it is difficult to know whether or not I am correct, as it may be that such words were spoken to place blame on someone else. It is even possible that the great churches and different theologians may have already thought of it, but without proof have not mentioned it,” Alice pointed out and opening a bag of chips, she added. “In the end it doesn’t matter too much. What is clear is that the Primordial Gods either knew about it and approved of it or ignored it and turned a blind eye.”
Aurora was silent as she heard those last words.
Kairos passing all that information to her gave her plenty to think about and since it was confidential information, she only revealed it to Alice. Not wanting to cause trouble for Kairos by sending it to other people.
However, there were quite a few people investigating about the words the unknown entity said to Zrag and churches were the main ones, as well as governments.
As she had said, ‘balance’ was related to ‘Order’ and the closest entity, except for the Primordial Goddess of Order, was Zabathza.
Was that entity the one who created the abyssal portals?
The possibility was high and that possibility only increased when one thought that the Primordial Gods were only silent about the abyssal portals.
Even so, they still helped when it came to the rift to avoid worse situations.
Like what happened with the God of Time and Space, who before responding to close the rift in Constance City, acted to stabilize the portal superficially.
Did they know and did not act, did they ignore it, or did they simply turn a blind eye? It was all the same, as it meant that such entities were involved.
However, such information would not come out to the public so easily and no one wished to reveal it.
It was one thing to give a hypothesis, but when gods existed no ruler wished to get on the bad side of a primordial entity or its church.
Also, religion was a fundamental part of earthlings and there were quite a few people who worshipped, respected and idolized the God of Time and Space or the Goddess of Order.
While there were people who hated him for creating a machine that connected to another world as a game, no one denied the respect there was for him.
Such respect Aurora herself had.
“Disappointed?” Alice asked curiously.
Her gaze sought to understand her thoughts and comprehend her emotions.
“What did the gods give us a test like this about?” Aurora hesitated and with a half smile, murmured. “Just a little...”
She was not a believer and was one of those who always tried to solve her problems on her own, but there was a time in her life when she approached the God of Time and Space for his help.
So she could not deny that she was disappointed, it was the similar childish disappointment when one thought that all politicians were honest or that there was no corruption in the world and realized the opposite when colliding with reality.
“Such entities are not what they seem. It is useless to think of them as superior entities in every sense. They have their goals, interests and their own limits, as well as their flaws,” Alice pointed out and shrugging her shoulders, stated. “Nor are they the gods of the Earthlings.”
She was letting on that the Gods were more ‘human’ than they seemed and it was possible that they were... Alice was just giving her point of view.
Aurora took a deep breath.
All she could do at this point was wait for Cardinal Brousseau to brief her on the situation.
She had spoken to her parents, but they were still on ‘vacation’, enjoying their retirement, and that meant she had no other contacts in the church outside of Cardinal Brousseau.
“I guess we have to focus on the significance of this test...” Aurora murmured earnestly.
If this was all a test of that Heavenly God and was supported by the Primordial Gods, then she would have to have a target.
A lesson or a result and finding such an answer was what mattered... Even her master had recommended her to look for it.
Why were the abyssal portals appearing?
Perhaps the various portals would give a clue until the truth was fully revealed.
Alice just nodded without giving it a thought.
She showed the other perspective of humanity, the one indifferent to the test of a God and its meaning, even if it came to present a danger.
Glancing at the time, Aurora finally signaled her friend and made her way to the room where Clémentine was watching television.
She already had her clothes ready and already had her elixir, which she had ordered, so it was time to go back.
“Are you ready to go yet?” Aurora asked and with a smile, she inquired. “Would you like me to accompany you?”
Since they could travel through cosmos portals, it wasn’t that hard to accompany her.
“No, it’s fine. I can by myself,” Clémentine replied with a smile and looking at the newsreel, she added. “I hope everything goes well. The only bad thing about that place is the lack of communication... I’ve already fixed it though.”
The expedition would start at the beginning of February and that meant that it was only several days before that time would come.
In that time, Clémentine would be in her training disconnected from the world, however, now was going to be different than before.
She pulled out a communication crystal with an amused smile.
Aurora had also bought one to start using, as they were very useful to Urfin when they were inside the abyssal portal.
The three of them laughed in amusement.
With such magical communication crystals, Clémentine could converse with her companions and could be informed of what was going on, without losing contact.
The good thing was that, unlike the holographic watches, they didn’t have so many distractions, so she could devote herself to her training.
“I know you guys have work to do, so just take care of yourselves,” Clémentine said in a serious tone.
Aurora gave a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, it’s no big deal,” Aurora replied to calm her down, ignoring Clémentine’s look of suspicion.
Liam was still reporting on the situation in West Africa and the truth was that it seemed like a slightly worrying matter that required her intervention.
That was why Aurora wanted to plan to move.
Clémentine sighed with the understanding that no one would stop her from working.