Once we were back in the rainbow forest I let my thoughts wander a bit, primarily I was wondering how I had been able to combine my [Spell] with the one from the triplets under all that stress and pressure, and how the car that came out in the first place had paddles on the yolk instead of pedals, as if it the [Spell] had taken into account, on its own, that I didn’t have feet.

Not the first time that something, where I had included [Adaptability], ended up adapting on its own; it was, after all, what had made the [Enchantment] my favorite to implement in the first place, but time and time again it felt as if the concept behind the [Enchantment] was somehow alive, or driven by an unseen hand; once more, I was left thinking about how I should find the time to sit down and study it, and maybe this time, with the time off I will be forced to use to rest after having my limbs regrown, I might just get the pause that I needed.

And my cloak!

I almost forgot, but I don’t only have the old [Adaptability] and my [Overflowing Adaptability] to study, but also the version that the [Tailors] somehow made: [Improved Adaptability].

The latter is much more similar to normal [Enchantments] in its design and function, giving me a window to observe it from a different point of view.

[Adaptability] was the one that I knew best, but even it was capable of surprising me, so there was no doubt in my mind that I had been overlooking something whenever I inspected it. [Overflowing Adaptability] was hard to look at, to begin with, so my progress in analyzing it was going at a snail’s pace, especially when speaking about the part in question that ‘overflowed’, so there was no point talking about it for now. [Improved Adaptability]? I barely looked at it, but even an amateur [Enchanter] like me could tell that it was a proper [Enchantment], if an unbelievably complex one, compared to repurposed [Trait], which meant that there must be some underlying concept that could be extrapolated, studied, and recreated.

And I knew, that by the time I understood all there was to understand about it, that would be the point where I could reliably consider myself ‘Over Powered’.

The [Rune of Adaptability] was a move in the right direction, especially since it was present multiple times inside the rings of the [Matrix] that made up the original [Adaptability] and all its siblings, but was severely limited on its own on what it could do, and required a bigger involvement from to do what the others could understand and do on their own.

Still, it was a starting point, and as far as a starting point went it fit pretty well with the fact that I could actually sit down and study the rest of the [Runes] on the [Matrix], and by using those I knew as some kind of ‘rosetta stone’, using the one for ‘adaptability’ as a known point, allowing me to kill 2, maybe even three, birds with one stone.

Studying [Runes], what appears to be behind the basic principles of [Magic], as dictated by the [System] at least, understanding how said [System] determines and streamlines [Matrixes], so that I can give them a more personal twist to them in the future; and lastly there would be the tiny little point of becoming as powerful as a [True God] so that I can interact with them more directly and slap them around until they start giving me actual answers.

What did I ever do to you?

“That that you’re even asking, while intruding on my private mental monologue, should earn you double the amount of what you already deserved!”

I jest.

And if you’re set on slapping something: Might I suggest my rear?

“I don’t even know how I would begin to smack your smoky ass, but I promise you that I’ll find a way, even if to just make you eat those words.”

I can’t wait~

Damn [Luck] and her predisposition for getting the last word!

Still, I knew that arguing with someone who could be millions of years old was like running uphill, only that at the top of the said hill there’s a little girl giggling and taunting you during your entire ascent, who is also ready to throw things at you whenever you get distracted, and the only reason you can't get angry at her its because there are precious gems mixed in among what she throws at you; so you’re left scrambling after the good things, while trying to avoid the worst at the best of your ability.

Still, this last rock that stumbled my way was far too big and dangerous, and with too many legs, for my liking, and since a fellow [Protegee] came to my rescue I can’t stop thinking that the [Goddess] must have tilted the scales of fate in one direction or the other.

Now, which way she had tilted those scales could be anybody’s guess, but given the sense of foreboding that suddenly assaulted me before we assaulted the Giant, my money would be on her trying to help us.

Or more specifically me, for which I’m grateful, but we have a direct line of communication that she could have used to contact me much more efficiently… I guess her ‘alignment’ must force her to work in ‘mysterious ways’. Something that would have vexed me to no end, if I were in her shoes, which fortunately I am not, the possibility of her not even having feet notwithstanding.

Must I remind you that you do not have feet either at the moment?

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“Ugh, please don’t: I’m trying to follow any stray thought to keep my mind off it…”

Too late, [Buddy] brought it up, and now small pangs of stabbing pain started shooting through my missing calves, and I didn’t even want to know how painful my condition would be with a lack of shock and first-aid from Undine.

“Wait, she did have heels at some point… when did that change?”

But my question would go unanswered because that was the point when I noticed Merga staring at me, upside down, from the side window, again. It took more than I’d like to admit to not jump in fright, which made me notice that my [Aura] didn’t work on her, and I couldn’t figure out why.

“Why is our [Patron] telling me that you’re bullying her?” she asked with a raised eyebrow- or, well, lowered eyebrow, given that she’s upside down.

“I’m bullying her? I wouldn’t even know how to do it, and believe me I’d try if I knew if it was possible!” I replied with an affronted look.

Great, now [Luck] was throwing shade at me behind my back.

“I believe you, but it still stands that a [True Goddess] took the time to message us both for something that many might perceive as petty, so why?” She seemed unwilling to relent.

“I don’t know, she’s just like that with me”, I honestly replied, taking notice that everyone else in the car had stopped their own discussion and was now listening to us in rapt attention.

Yes, even Cherry.

“And you find it a normal behavior coming from a [God]?” This time there was a note of genuine surprise in her voice.

“Hey, gods back home were mythological figures without the brackets, that we’re not even sure existed, and if they did they limited themselves to performing parlor tricks to fawn the flames of their religion: I have no idea how a [God] is supposed to act.

Having said that, I recognize that she’s probably more lax around me than it’s strictly considered proper”, I explained.

“Hm, I remember you mentioning the near to total absence of divine manifestation back on your original word, yes. Still, there must be a reason why the [Goddess of Luck] seems so invested in messing with you: No [True God] does things randomly”, she pushed again, and I was starting to get the feeling that she was trying to get me to either spill something or have me come to some sort of realization.

“I’d beg to differ that [Luck] is exactly the type of [God] that would do stuff randomly for shits and giggles”, I said, while taking the time to look off the road and stare her dead in the eyes for half a second.

“…ok, maybe. Point taken… but still!” Merga seemed to get frustrated by my constant redirection.

“Look, I get it: It all seems to point to her having some sort of greater plan for me, or something, but I don’t know anything about it, and if I did she would probably make me swear to secrecy so that I don’t spoil anything”, I decided to explain, trying to not think about the glaring [Divine Quest] in my log.

That was another can of worm that I was happy I didn’t need to open right now, and I wanted it to remain that way.

“Miss… Merga?” Sheeno asked extremely timidly, totally unlike her.

“Oh, please, just call me Merga: honorifics make me feel old”, the [Depth Witch] said with an easy-going smile.

Right, because, besides [Luck], as far as I understand, she’s probably the oldest person I have seen yet, and not even by a little. It was mindboggling when I had first come to know it, but I had quickly come to consider it at the time as just another example of ‘magic-fuckery’, this time one involving apparent immortality with the side benefit of not aging.

So, yeah, she probably didn’t like being reminded of how much older than everybody else she was, so it was natural for her to forego the proper ways of addressing others.

Something that might seem small to us, but I had no doubt that it had greatly helped her blend in with every generation walking around that she technically didn’t belong to, which was pretty much everyone else, as far as I understood how things stood.

“Yes, of course”, my mate responded a bit too deferentially than she meant to, “Merga, I quickly came to realize that common sense does not apply to Darwin, and it’s in everyone’s best interest if you just dedicate to curbing the random excesses of strangeness that he’s prone to either causing or getting involved into”.

I didn’t have the chance to show an expression of mock shock to my girlfriend that everyone else in the car was already agreeing with her.

“Mhhh, a sound assessment… am I right into believing that you and Darwin have developed a romantic relationship?” Merga asked, right after acknowledging the casual slander, with a sly smile and light squint in her eyes.

And if she was trying to trip my girlfriend up she was going to be sorely disappointed, because what she got instead was a predatory grin in return.

“Oh yeah: I’ve already claimed him as my mate.”

And that confidence… did things to me.

Still, the Witch took it in stride and simply moved on.

“Then I’m glad to have moved things so that you two would meet, even though this wasn’t exactly the result that I had foreseen”, she said, sliding back out of view, considering the conversation finished.

“Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say that you made us meet?” I found myself asking, a bit perplexed by the information.

“Oh, yeah: I may not be the [Goddess of Luck], but I can still see how some tread of fate intertwine, and move according to what I see could bring to the best result”, she replied, not bothering to make a reappearance and making her voice reach us from the roof.

What Merga says is shocking, and even manipulative, but the more glances I kept stealing of Sheeno’s statuesque form, the more I was glad she had interfered and made us meet.

Also, she had admitted to us falling in love not being among her previsions, so that was definitely our natural chemistry, and not the result of a dubious unseen hand smacking us together like poorly cared-for dolls.

“Can’t you just come in already? Your voice just magically reaching us is kind of unnerving”, I said, making a bit of the exasperation I was feeling toward her antics seep into my tone.

“Oh? Is the wicked [Witch] making you uncomfortable?” Merga asked in a sing-song voice, obviously knowing what I was thinking, and mocking me for it.

“Wicked witches, in my world, are known for meeting gruesome ends, from being melted down to a puddle to getting thrown into volcanoes, so I don’t think you want to refer to yourself as such”, I replied, as if it was a matter of fact that the stories of Earth were a mirror of the truth of this [Nexus].

Still, it was almost like the entirety of mythology and fantasy back in my previous world had either influenced, or had been influenced by, everything that was real here, and if things were as multiversally old as others implied, it was probably the latter.

“…Since when have I been considering the [Nexus] home, and Earth as my old place?”

For a while now: More precisely from around when you took your relationship with Sheeno to the next level.

“Huh… guess home really is where the heart lies…”

“You paint a gruesome picture, but I’m sure I could survive both situations, if it were to come to it”

“You know… I could probably survive the volcano myself. Maybe those fates start losing meaning when the [Witch], or whoever else is subjected to them, can do more than cast simple hexes or polymorph”, I mused aloud, really wanting to scratch my cheek in thought but unwilling to take a hand off the wheel, when I was using both to control the sticks and buttons, especially now that we were flying through and above trees.

It wouldn’t be long before we managed to arrive back in mostly one piece.

Well, no: We are in one piece, it’s just that we’re missing part, and those parts don’t exist anymore, so there technically are no other pieces that could be lost.

“So? What does the intrepid leader want from little old me?” The [Depth With] asked with a sweetness so fake and forced that I could hear her pouty lips and puppy eyes.

“…Just get in before I start purposely driving through trees, instead of around them.”

As soon as I was done threatening her there was a slight silent lull where everybody else was looking at me weirdly, but that lasted only until the knocking on the turret’s hatch started.