Chapter 899 - Still in progress

I pull myself back to look at her. “But why?”

The little girl with golden hair shrugs. “It's been a long time since he and I were on speaking terms.”

“But isn't that… I don't know… impossible? As far as I've heard, there are no new gods. They're an entirely different species, not a title or power you can gain if you fulfill certain requirements.”

“You heard correctly, but think about it: how did the gods come to be?”

I tilt my head. “They are born of concepts, collective thought, or-” I cut myself off.

That causes her to smile and nod.

Surprised by the thought, I ask her, "Has he been seen as the most powerful for so long, made that strong an impression, and been viewed as Pride rather than a Ruler by so many people, that it's simply become natural?"

“If it were that simple, there would be more cases, but it likely doesn't hurt. It should be impossible for anyone to become a god. It's even possible he didn't expect it to happen himself, but once he noticed a chance, he decided to take advantage of it. Though, knowing him…” She cuts off her sentence there and simply shakes her head without finishing.

“I heard that Rulers are the system's attempts to create its own gods. Do you think this is part of the process? That current Rulers are not the final result intended by the system, but something still in progress?” I ask her.

“That is something I personally never bothered finding out, but feel free to spend your time however you want.”

“I will,” I say. Seeing that she seems to be in a sharing mood, I push further. “How come you were the first to notice?”

“I have my own experience with gods, and you could say that in certain areas, my knowledge beats anyone else's in this universe.”

“So he wants to become a god, likely a godking, or hell, maybe the god at the top while being a Ruler? Is that why the system wants to kill him?”

“The system wouldn't mind that, I suppose. It's more likely something else.”

“Maybe he decided to go against the system, or the system challenged Pride, and this is part of the 'duel.' I would not be surprised. It seems to be tradition.”

“Or maybe Pride does it because he can. Maybe his blood is boiling after seeing what has been happening as of late. Maybe he is preparing for something we can't see yet. Maybe he decided to challenge the system now, when every other opponent proved unsatisfying, and wants to succeed alone where entire armies failed.”

“Maybe he decided to view the system as an opponent, and he doesn't like seeing it above him.”

“How unoriginal. The system's very best executioner turning against it in the end.” Kindness snickers. “The drama, the betrayal.”

“Clichés exist for a reason,” I defend my theory.

“They do,” she agrees, smiling as she looks at a snack she is holding. “But the system won't just take it sitting down. It always starts with an eradication quest that continues to spread to more and more people while the rewards improve. And if that isn't enough, one after another, the safeguards are activated.”

She looks into my eyes, her violet eyes seemingly glowing. “When the carrot doesn't work, there is the stick. Pride is powerful, and facing him alone, perhaps only Charity and two or three other beings would stand a chance. But there was always a trio that the system used in cases that went too far, and even Pride wouldn't be able to win if all three were called to service.”

Taking a bite of the snack, she seems to ponder something as she mutters, “Oblivion, Obsession, Rage.”

The way she says it makes me stop short of asking another question. I reach into the basket, take out some dried fruit, a piece likely worth several thousand calories, and pop it into my mouth. I wonder how much people like Lily, Jean, or Vic need to eat. Maybe once we return to Earth, eating a gram of uranium won't be a joke anymore.

When Kindness jumps off the bench, she gestures for me to follow, so I do, and we begin to head into even higher parts of the city.

“It is so weird to see the city from down this low. Everything seems so strangely big,” she says as we make our way through.

“We can sign a contract for Lily to produce multiple vessels for you like this one, and I believe both sides can come up with terms that would make everyone happy.” I offer.

“Perhaps I will go straight to her to skip the middleman. If I make myself look pitiful, I believe I can even get a vessel for free.” Her eyes flicker for a moment with an impish light as she looks up at me.

Left with no choice but to sigh, I mutter, “Perhaps she would do that.”

“Please don't mind my behavior. This vessel is far from being perfect, so my thoughts are beginning to degrade. The longer I spend in it, the more I damage the mind, lose memories, and twist my personality.”

“Can't you use a projection or something similar to just control the body?”

“Due to my situation, I'm afraid I cannot do that,” she laughs, then pauses. “Situation…” she repeats softly.

Then she takes off running on her little legs, so I speed up my stride until we catch up to the door of an unassuming house. She knocks just once, and the door swings open.

The entryway is simple, but as we make our way inside, it opens into a luxuriously decorated room where several people move around, talking to each other and engaging in minor trades. All of them are at least Handlers, with a few possible outside visitors, as the presence of the mora named Raga hints at.

“You know Raga already, you two met on Xyphos,” Kindness says, stopping in front of the red-skinned mora who stands twice as tall as me, making Kindness look especially tiny.

Yet, the mora still gives a deep bow, holding it for a few seconds.

“Nathaniel and his friend will be keeping this clone, and I want the Aurate Consortium to make no attempts to take it or interfere in any other way,” Kindness says.

“As you wish, my Lady,” Raga answers simply.

“Also, give him something nice as a reward for the snacks I stole from him.” Kindness drops her voice to a whisper, prompting the mora to kneel and lean much lower as she adds, “But nothing too much, or we will anger the ant.”

She giggles afterward and looks at me, making me realize everyone else in the room is staring at me as well. I force what I hope is a polite smile, which only makes her laugh again.

"Until next time. And don't be sad that you lost to my Nyssa. After all, she is one of my greatest hopes for extinguishing what remains of me."

The moment she finishes that sentence, the consciousness in the little girl's eyes disappears. Raga catches the clone very gently before it can hit the ground. Looking down at it with examining eyes, she furrows her brows before reaching out and handing the body to me, which I take and carry.

My eyes meet hers, and it's clear she isn't too happy about the situation.

“It wasn't our fault we got attacked by one of your Adjudicators,” I tell her.

“I won't be getting into useless arguments with you. Now, tell me what you want, and I remind you not to be shameless.”

“Can't do.”

“How arrogant.”

“Calculated,” I say. “If you touch me here, Kindness and Greed will get pissed off. If you try to mess with anyone outside the tutorial, Starless Sky will… I don't know what the gods usually do. Probably not something good. Some ancient method of ass-kicking.”

She just continues to stare at me until I sigh.

“Your Lady annoyed me by mentioning Nyssa, so I'm taking it out on you,” I say. “Can I have a few minutes to think of something reasonable?”

“Take your time,” Raga says, walking away to join a conversation with another mora nearby.

Even then, I am not left alone for too long.

There are still some Handlers lingering around, and one of them, a broad-shouldered man in a red suit, steps closer to complain. “I watched your fight against Nyssa Volare. You lost me ten million shards I bet on you.”

“Next time, ask me before a fight and we can… work together.”

He laughs out loud, and for a split second, his blue eyes glint with gold before returning to normal. “As amusing as that would be, I have to refuse.”

“Here you are again. Did you decide to bother a talent in hopes he joins your clan, Gauwis?” A woman whose lower body is replaced by a massive spider, complete with a spider's head, joins in with a gentle smile.

“Maybe I would if I were confident he'd make it out of the tutorial alive. Just look at that mess,” the man gestures toward me.

The spider woman follows his gaze, her gentle smile remaining as she looks me over. “I think it is pretty.”

“Of course you would think that,” the man chuckles. I pick up a strange, raw, animalistic aura from him as he looks at me. “Though, if he did survive…”

The woman taps his shoulder as if he just made a joke I'm not in on, then smiles apologetically at me and explains. “Gauwis has a barbaric tendency of eating people. Like all of his kind.”

“I see,” I nod. “Maybe Gauwis can stop fucking around with his presence, then. He should already see it isn't doing anything to me.”

That causes the conversation of even the few people around us to fade into silence, as if they were eavesdropping, or maybe they just noticed the change in Gauwis, whose eyes are now entirely golden.

The spider woman is the first to laugh out loud, tapping the man's shoulder again in a gesture that seems gentle yet firm before turning to me. “It is just something we like to do to test promising talents. It wasn't ill-intended.”

“To me, it felt ill-intended enough from the way he did it,” I smile back at her, mimicking her expression. “And a bit condescending. I mean, who gave him the right to test me? Some random guy who looked like he was about to shit his pants when Kindness appeared.”

The silence in the room deepens further as I keep smiling, venting my frustration. I spent months with Lissandra testing my presence and her endurance against me. And though she was demanding, she was always fair in her own way.

On top of that, she is someone I respect. But this man? I know the type. The kind of guy who reached his limits and realized the best he can do is put others down to feel more powerful. It's almost laughable.

I probably could have handled it differently, but I just don't want to.

Still, I force myself to stop paying attention to him and walk over to Raga, who looks up at me.

“I want more information on the Champion grade beings on the 5th floor. You can probably pull some strings and get more details from the guilds I've missed, or the ones hiding things from me, that is.”

“That much is reasonable. You will have that information delivered to your guild by tomorrow,” Raga says.

“Thanks,” I answer. Not bothering to stay any longer, I turn to leave.

I don't look back toward Gauwis, but in my periphery, I catch a hint of gray fur sprouting on the back of his hand as he watches me leave.

I see. A Lycan, most likely.

I'm not worried about him, I don't even need Izzy to confirm that he won't do anything, or attempt to do anything, beyond what I'd allow out of fear.

My mind is already running through the information on the 5th floor's Champions as I begin selecting two of them to challenge. Once the additional details arrive from the guilds, spurred by my threats and Raga's backing, I'll make my final choice. Until then, I'll start gathering mana and hire some specialists to help me with arrays that could prove useful. I'll also work on the attacks and triggers I plan to use.

When I reach the spot where I left the basket, I lay the clone on the bench and reach into the basket, which no one stole, to resume my food break.

I know this upcoming fight will be much more to my taste. I'm deliberately going to choose Champions who seem weakest against my ability to handle mana.

Oh, and I also need to get some black mana into my body to try purifying my ichor a little bit more before the primary class upgrade. That syncs up nicely with my need to gather more mana.

Some skill leveling. Another low pristine passive, and a few more preparations to maximalize the class. But before all of that...

“I want to use a Two Active Skills Combination Token.”

You have used an active skill combination token. Please pick two active skills from the following list to combine.

Warning! Combining two skills will reduce the level of the acquired skill.

Warning! A combination of incompatible skills may result in a worse skill.

Warning! After combining the skills, it will become extremely difficult to acquire the skills used in the combination.

Please select the skills you want to combine.

List of available skills to combine:

Perception - Lvl 80

Mana Manipulation - Lvl 88

Selective Adaptation - Lvl 43

Looking at this list, I can only hope that in the future I will get a token that allows me to combine even these seemingly higher-rarity skills.

“[Mana Manipulation] and [Perception],” I say.