The god shoots his massive beam, enveloping me completely with magical energies. Several guards and people in the foyer are evidently also hit as I hear screams of terror come from the room.
The god chuckles confidently as the dust from the attack settles. His chuckle fades to silence as he realized his attack did nothing to me.
"Glad I designed that spell," I say as the transparent hexagonal barrier before me fades. The Void Shield, an ingenious spell designed by me, draws Vacuous (Vacuum, Emptiness) Essentia to its location and forms a barrier of pure nothingness. Energy must have matter through which to transmit itself. "The guardian dragon you hold so close to your heart was feeble, unworthy of life. Not to mention it attacked me without a second thought. Now why do you say it’s stronger than you when your attacks are clearly more potent?" A look of sheer terror crosses the god’s face as I move faster than he can perceive with the boots of the traveler and plunge my fist through his head, scattering blood on the fabric padding of his throne. You could still prove useful to me. I rip out his brain and stem from his body. A constant healing spell should be able to keep the brain alive until I can return to my study. I socket the spell focus and begin channeling healing magic into the brain. As I turn to leave, I see several of the guards still hold their ground, although they are trembling. "Are your lives really worth an employer that can no longer pay you?" Apparently my voice is so menacing to them they give up and run in fear. I look out the window and see several battalions of soldiers running for the palace. I chuckle heartily as I open a flux rift back to the Emptiness.
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"Leviticus, open the way to my study! I have a time sensitive matter on my hands!" I burst through the door and run with the severed brain. I hear him shout orders to the cultists as they hurry and open doors in front of me. I run into my study and begin assembling a basic Victus (Life) circulation device. Within a minute I have the Victus and components ready. I insert the brain stem into the socket and activate it. The machine begins whirring as I wait in anticipation. The goggles of revealing show that the brain still emanates Cognitio (Mind, Memory, Cognition) Essentia. I breathe a sigh of relief. As long as the brain lives, the soul is bound to it. I can get everything I need from him now.
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The first thing the god heard is mechanical whirring as it slowly awakes. "Where am I? Why can I hear my thoughts so vividly?" If suddenly realizes it can see too. I feel a sense of pride at my incredible feat of Thaumaturgy.
"I saved your life. Granted, I also killed you. By the way, I haven’t learned your name yet." The now awake brain of the god seems to only now realize its situation. I smile as it shouts extremities obscenities at me and demands I let it go.
"I will be back for you later. Try not to think to hard; you’ll wrinkle up."
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I step through the flux rift and return to the meeting place the Praetors and I agreed on. My part is done and I could return to the tower at any time, but I can’t just leave them stranded here. I decide I will begin studying how this dimension is different than the previous one.
The first dimension, the one where the kingdom of Ctalek resided, has interesting properties. The vis in the atmosphere was sort of knit into an array of squares; where each square had a different function, sort of like computer code. The vis of this dimension was completely unaltered, which I deduced meant casting spells like the captain guard of Ctalek was not possible here. Gods bound to a word of creation must have some sort of intrinsic connection with reality. Surprised that one died so easily. I’m also confused as to why they say the dragon was stronger than the gods. The god’s attack was clearly far ahead of the dragon’s in terms of destructive power. Was it holding back? Perhaps the dragon was a god as well?
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I managed to infer and learn quite a bit about the nature of dimensions before the Praetors return. While they did not glean any information on Heaven, I decided it was of no matter. I had all the information I needed to begin the search, and the living grey matter in my study would be the one to help me find it.
As we return to the tower, I call Victor into my study and assign him with a task. "When I next leave, make sure this brain doesn’t do anything funny or try to kill itself. I’m not even sure it can, but we have no idea what gods are capable of."
"I have a name you piece of fucking shit." The robotic emanates from the device attached to the brain, sounding almost like my own. "Let me out of whatever dark prison you’ve put me in!"
"I’m afraid you misunderstand. When I attacked you I ripped your brain stem out of your body. I intend to use you in a magical experiment, and while I do intend do give you a new body, don’t expect it to be soon. In the meantime I will experiment on the source of your divine power." All obstacles can be overcome with persistence and sacrifice.