Aaron smiled and nodded, "Excellent answer. Very well, I will have the adventurers help you as part of a mutual alliance between the Rulebreaker and myself; I am the thirteenth and fallen god. Aaron, Progenitor of Monsters. My kin are legion."

Is he in middle school?

“That was… really lame, was the pose even necessary? We’re the only ones here.” Perhaps telling off someone who had just announced that they were a long-lost deity was not the smartest idea. But something about the way he acted made me retort reflexively.

Seriously? This guy promised that I could turn to him when I was completely out of options…? Maybe if I really was out of options, he might be acting more seriously.

Whatever the motivations behind his antics, Aaron completely ignored my reaction and continued speaking as though nothing was wrong, “Of course, not without benefits for myself.”

That was far from unreasonable, so I nodded, “Naturally. What are you after?”

“Well, first and foremost, do you have any idea why the creator of all monsters would be so deeply ingrained in the adventurer’s guild? All of them answer to me you know, and outside of this kingdom one of our primary functions is the extermination of monsters.”

No, not really.

It was a fairly easy jump to make, as the reasoning lined up almost perfectly, “You aim to control the extermination of monsters, limiting it and guiding the hand that holds the knife away from intelligent monster societies. Following that logic, you want Drakan Knights to refrain from their extermination hunts, or at least avoid certain areas?”

Aaron’s hands met each other in a loud clap, “Exactly! Glad to hear we are on the same page in this. Now, are will you to go that far?”

As much as I would have liked to take him up on the offer; having the various monster species as allies would prove beneficial in the coming war. But this would most certainly not be my decision. Most likely, Rupert would also see the value in the alliance and agree. Then, his father would approve of his proposal.

“...I can only promise to advocate it; such a decision is not mine to make. I will need details as well; having the knights cease the extermination missions entirely is out of the question; just look what happened to my home village…”

My voice trailed off as I was beset with a certain realization.

That was him. The goblin outbreak always seemed odd and out of place, but we weren’t able to find anything… It was him pulling the strings, as the god of monsters.

“Based on the glare you are giving me, I imagine you just realized the hand I played in that. I did not mean anything evil by it… You could even consider it a gift if you like.” He waved his hand dismissively to emphasize how little he actually thought of it.

That, of course, pissed me off, but his wording intrigued me, “...A gift? You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am. I knew you weren’t leveling up much at all, and if things had kept going like that you would have been screwed. There was no way you would have been able to escape your engagement to that half-demon. The goblins were likewise beginning to overpopulate; they would have come down on their own in a few more years. All I did was give them a little push… How bad would things have been if you were absent..?”

When my glare did not immediately abate, he continued on and said one more line, “Well, in the end only a few of the guards died, you got your levels, and the village won’t be overrun five years or so from now. So, I’d call that a gift, yes.”

I hate that I actually agree when he says it like that… Damnit, fine.

I forced myself to set aside the still lingering anger as it would not serve my purposes in the securing of an alliance, “That aside, you claim you were watching me. How.”

This was my primary concern once my anger cooled. If the spymaster herself had a mole, then she could hardly do her job.

“Through Stil of course, at least at first. Stil is a monster, and I share a link with all monsters. It is similar to the link a demon has its larva; something you are already familiar with, I am sure. Rest assured that it is not quite as convenient as that; at most I understand Stil’s general opinion and mood. I cannot share his senses or read his thoughts… He was quite worried about you back then.”

His answer was both rather straightforward and deeply concerning, to the point where I wished I had not asked. The idea that my tamed monster had been a liability had never crossed my mind. But if Aaron had a link like that with every monster, then he definitely had to be tuning some of them out. Or rather, almost all of them. Even for a god, that was a lot of minds to be in loose contact with, “And you first singled him out when we met two years ago in Fess, didn’t you?”

Aaron nodded, “Yes... Now, are you going to ask the nextr question?”

The one about how that was only how you did it ‘at first’? Yea, I suppose I need to ask that.

“...How are you doing it now?”

He bobbed his head, “Do consider this information as a gift in good faith; this alliance will be more beneficial to me and mine than you can possibly fathom. In short, I now have such a connection as with Stil, with you.”

His words sent a tingle of fear down the nape of my neck. Some instinctual understanding that he was not lying. Or perhaps that tingle had been sent by him, a sort of feedback along whatever connection we shared meant to assure me of the truth to his words. Regardless of my feelings, there was another immediate question.

Making little effort to hide the general disgust at the thought and with my voice laden in sarcasm, I asked, “If you are in such a giving mood, would you care to tell me how? I swear to you that I will not immediately cut it off.”

Aaron shrugged, “It should be obvious, or is it not? I had thought you would have figured out what was going on by now. With both you, and the world in general.”

His nonchalance caused me to snap, something that I had not done towards someone in quite a while. His general attitude and demeanor were just so grating to me, “You’re the one reading my mind, you tell me if I’ve figured it out!”

“...No, I cannot read your mind. Ours is the same as any of my kin; I know your general feelings at any given moment, that is all. If I may be so bold, you’ve been a real piece of work ever since you woke up.”

Haaa…. Something going on with me and the world, something that changed when I woke up from my most recent coma. …And he’s calling me his kin now but I’ll pretend not to have heard it.

“...My skills… [Mana Crystallization]? You know what’s wrong with me!?”

Aaron flashed me a grin and applauded lightly, “Bingo! Your skills are broken, right? Considering what you did, that isn’t that surprising… But no, I honestly do not know. I have a theory, but it’s a bit far-fetched. Then again, something like this has never happened before.”

My face contorted into a grimace, “And you are not going to share that theory, are you? It will be held back, used as an incentive to get me to argue in your favor?”

Aaron shook his head, “No, all it is, is a theory. Besides, you will argue in my favor regardless; I can sense your general opinion and mental state, remember? You already decided to present my case to His Highness, Prince Rupert.”

A god using Rupert’s full title is a bit… and he knows we’re married, but isn’t using my title! In fact, he’s been taking the piss with me this whole time.

Stolen novel; please report.

“As far as I can tell, disconnecting from the system really messed you up. Compounding that with the injuries you sustained, and Adroni forcing your soul back into your body… Well, do you know how the system works?”

When I shook my head ‘no’ he shrugged, “In short, skills and talents are based on reality. [Mana Crystallization], for example, is based on the organ possessed by most monsters. Adroni took what already existed, my creation, and codified it.”

Things were beginning to fall into place and starting to make sense, “Your creation?”

“Not important, what made you think that a system made up of programs just came into existence naturally? Or that it was a coincidence that some of the skills and talents mimic the natural abilities of one species or another?”

And here we go with the mind games again.

I shook my head, “I do not have time for this, Aaron. Either tell me your theory plainly or hold your peace.”

Aaron held his hands up in mock surrender, “Fine, fine, spoil the fun, why don’t you? I’ll get to the point, but humor me with one last question; why is it that your body ages as you use your authority? Do you know? Have you ever even thought about it?”

…I sort of just assumed that was because I was a mortal using too much divinity? That’s what the notifications make it sound like…

“Haaa… That was three questions, but, it is because my body is too weak to handle the divine element, so my lifespan is burned up to provide a counterforce.”

Aaron shook his head, “No, not quite. Another question then, what is mana? What is the Divine Element?”

At this point, it was beginning to become difficult to keep from snapping again as the blatant irritation started creeping back into my voice, “That was two questions, you really struggle with basic math, don’t you? Neither of those questions are difficult at all; mana is an energy source used to power spells and magic tools. Divine Element is one aspect that can be attached to Mana.”

He shook his head, “Wrong on both accounts, though given where you learned spellcraft I can see where you got that idea.” Before I had a chance to retort he, thankfully, went on to explain, “To a god, there is no such thing as an aspect. Mana is mana. The so-called “Divine Element” does not exist. The system Adroni put in place dilutes mana, filtering out much of its energy in the form of aspects. When a mage applies one to their mana, they are simply re-adding something that was removed.”

“...So it isn’t that I was using too much divine element, but that the sheer quantity of mana I had was insufficient?”

He grinned, “Not quite, but close enough. Now, consider your vessel, that is to say, your body, like a muscle for manipulating and containing mana. What happens when you work out?”

Ah. Everything makes sense now. Damnit! What did that fuck go and do to me!?

Biting back my anger towards Adroni, I answered the question posed by the god in front of me, “When you work out, you tear up the muscle. So when I exercise my authority, I’m tearing up my vessel. The coma and the aging repair it and, like a muscle, I get stronger.”

“Exactly. That’s how it works, or is supposed to. But the system was never designed for someone to forcibly disconnect as you did. In a way, it would not be incorrect to say you gave yourself cancer. Now, what do you think is happening to you?”

Cancer? But the corrupted skills aren’t killing me, they’re just rather inconvenient… They still do what they’re supposed to only now those instructions are corrupted… like a tumor…

“...Something happened when Adroni put my soul back. When my body repaired itself, it ran into a glitch and tried to realize the skills? So instead of having the skill [Mana Crystallization], I have an actual mana crystal? The only skills that aren’t affected are the ones I got after I died…”

“Correct, that is indeed my theory. Though, I only have a minimal understanding of that guy’s machinations so I could be wrong.”

No, I don’t think you are. At the very least, this is the first plausible theory about what’s happening. Now, the question is whether or not there’s a way to fix it…

In theory, I could probably use my authority on myself to seal or outright remove skills and talents. If it was like cancer, then operating to remove the tumor might be the best option.

But that’s not a good idea until I know for sure… Besides, it would really hurt.

Just the memory of the pain Sitri had felt when I sealed her skills, which we shared through Adroni sticking me in her head, was enough to make me wince.

No, I need to keep that in mind as an option, but wait a little bit longer. At the very least, leveling up might help. I haven’t gained any experience since this happened, and there’s also the seedling that’s still at zero percent. I still don’t know what that is, but given what it took for it to even get that far, I don’t want to risk screwing it up. Yea, those are the reasons I’m going to wait. It’s not that I don’t want to go through the process of removing them… blegh.

“Stahlia? Are you alright? You’ve gone a bit pale.” Aaron’s voice pulled me back to the present. While there was no mirror present, it would not surprise me if I had indeed gone pale.

“I will be fine. Now, before I carry this request to Rupert, I have a few more questions for you. Are you still in a forthcoming mood?”

He shrugged and sat back in his chair, “I don’t have any other plans for today.”

Pursing my lips, I cut straight to the chase, “How, exactly, do you know all of what happened to me? The number that knows the details you used to form your theory could be counted on one hand.”

His own face turned grim, and for the first time in this meeting, his tone was solemn, “Don’t go there. Just trust that I have my methods.”

Unfortunately, I really can’t do that.

“You, of all people, should understand that is an impossible request.”

He met my stare with a flat glare, “I have my sources, that is all I will say.”

So these sources are probably something that he fears would jeopardize the alliance. In that case, it would mean he got the information from someone I regard wholly as an enemy. The gods are out since I can be reasonably sure they do not know the full story. But then so are the demons, since Five and Sitri are the only demons that actually saw me and neither of them really knew what was happening… There isn’t anyone else I really hate unconditionally.

“...Just on the way here, I gave my unconditional trust to one of my servants and it immediately bit me in the ass. The stakes involved with this alliance are far greater than anything she could possibly do. If you will not tell me where the hole in my security is, then this alliance is off. Rather, I will tell Rupert that the adventurers guild is being run by monsters, and have you all thrown out of the kingdom in the name of operational security for the coming war.”

“And what makes you think that you’d be allowed to leave if this ends on anything less than favorable terms?” His voice had gone steely and he began to emit an ominous aura. Likewise, his hair was starting to stand up in short spikes, and it looked like his nails had grown pointier.

That being said, I did not actually find him to be that threatening, “Nothing. Do you really think things would work out well for you if I don’t leave? At the very least the adventurer’s guild would be expelled from the kingdom. Most likely, without me, Rupert would reach out to the demons again.”

The air remained tense, but I kept pushing, “You clearly have plans that involve both me and this kingdom, do you really want to risk them for this? Just tell me where the leak is.”

Aaron’s body slowly returned back to its human shape. When he spoke, his voice was dry and unamused, “Fine, I’ll let you call my bluff. No, my source is not the demons, nor is it the gods.”

So he predicted my line of thought. Then again he apparently knows my general state now… Which is actually kind of creepy. But if it’s not the gods or the demons, what then?

“Well, that isn’t exactly true. Technically my source is both of them. I might be ‘fallen’ but I was, at one point at least considered among the thirteen; we do still talk from time to time. I’m also still a god under the system.”

Ah… I was totally off base with my assumptions then.

“Your Authority.”

Aaron nodded, “Correct, your own Authority has something to do with manipulating the system itself. As for me, well I was once regarded as the God of Nature.” His tone lightened somewhat, but remained firm, “Forgive me, but a god’s powers and weaknesses are rolled into their authority; I will not fully detail the effects of mine.”

I remained firm myself, “You have to give me something, telling me what you were the god of doesn’t do much to alleviate my concerns.”

He paused for a moment, his face betrayed that this issue was something he felt genuinely conflicted about doing.

Is knowing the full details of an authority that big of a deal? I don’t see any major weaknesses in mine…

Finally, he nodded, “As a symbol of trust. My authority is over nature. One application of that, allows me to communicate with natural forces quite easily. Over the years, I have become very good at filtering information and drawing conclusions.”

Communicate with natural forces…? So ‘A little bird told him’ or he ‘heard it on the wind.’ In that case, there’s nothing I can really do to hide is there?

Concerns aside, telling me that much was giving up quite the card. It was unlikely pushing further would get me anything so I bowed my head, “Thank you. I can tell that was far from easy… I will carry your request to Rupert and put my full support behind it, for whatever that is worth.”

Aaron stood abruptly, watching me with a rather conflicted expression, “Thanks for that, I have some things to take care of now, but whenever you have a response feel free to call for me… here.” He held out his hand, holding something between his finger and thumb.

My hand reached out to receive whatever it was, and Aaron dropped a small sliver of crystal into my palm, “Break this, and it will briefly strengthen our connection through your mana crystal; enough to allow for two-way communication.”

I placed the crystal into one of my outfit’s secure hidden pockets. By the time I looked up, Aaron was gone.

What the hell!? I thought you didn’t have any other plans today?