Chapter 53

"I'm not promising to make a deal but I’m willing to hear you out, Lady Morrigan.”

“This is good.  How do you wish to proceed?”

Max was momentarily taken aback by the question, but decided to just roll with it.  “I want to ask one of my most pressing questions. Why do you want me to be your champion, especially if you're existing in another reality entirely?  Furthermore, why me?  I want to know if you have other Champions and what sort of deal I could get out of this. I also want to know if this will make me a warlock or not…because I'm not really excited about that sort of thing."

The Morrigan laughed. "That was a number of questions.  Why did I come to meet you?  Because you are here and you are not an average warrior.  I am willing to invest time and attention in places others are not.  In my reality, gods choose Champions as part of a proxy struggle.  It’s a way to play a type of game, a game with great stakes. If you are my champion, you will automatically be a part of that. It's called the Eternal Struggle. There's something similar taking place in your reality, but I am not at liberty to tell you about it."

"Really? You’re a goddess but you still have a gag order?" Max asked.

Morrigan’s expression was unreadable.  "None may order me, but my words carry weight, and I have an understanding with others.  There are some subjects I must not speak on.”

Max remembered the strange writing in the spherical room.  "Is this about the Originators?"

The goddess artfully waved a hand, brushing the question away, but her expression spoke volumes this time. Max gave himself a mental note to not forget about the Originators.

"I don't suppose you can tell me if the Originators have anything to do with the monsters that attack worlds in my universe, can you?"

"You are asking dangerous questions. These are questions such that I cannot even merely refuse to answer without giving away information.  If you keep this up, I may be forced out of this primordial space back to my reality.  While others cannot control me or control what I say, they can inconvenience me"

"Is it that serious?" asked Max.

"Yes, it is that serious.”

“Okay, well, how about instead of more questions, I'll just listen for a minute," said Max.

“So be it,” said the goddess.  "One of the greatest potential advantages for myself if you were my Champion, would be a connection through you to your reality.  Through this connection, I could observe, learn of any changes that might impact my own domain."

"Really?" asked Max, "And spying through me would be okay with the powers in my universe?"

"Another dangerous question, Max Cunningham, but this is one I will answer.  Just as I will not answer some of your questions., those in power in your universe are bound to not interfere with my Champions, at least not directly."

Max nodded. That did make a certain sort of sense. It also helped explain why the Morrigan wouldn’t answer certain questions and seemed a little touchy about it.  Maybe there was some sort of supernatural cold war.  He asked, "If that's the case then why didn't any other gods come here to try to scout me?"

"There are several reasons, but the most important is that I got here first.”  Her eyes radiated amusement.  “Also, gods may choose to have many Champions or very few. I am the latter. Because of my choosy nature, I am willing to look in less likely places, seeking truly unique candidates to be my Champions.  In fact, if you accept my proposal, you will only be one of three current Champions. As for what the deal usually entails, they truly vary.  But as a Champion, you would also have access to a special purchase system in which you can spend resources, points earned through great feats. This is the most I can speak about this matter with you now since you are not a Champion yet. But I tell you the truth, It can be a great advantage for a Champion to use this system."

Max understood the subtext of what the goddess was saying. The reward system she’d mentioned might help him in the future, but he'd have to live long enough and unravel enough mysteries in his own universe first to get that far. This actually excited him, and he wondered aloud, "Okay, that's interesting, but I still don't hear any specifics. Do you want to take my soul?"

The goddess waved a hand.  "If you offer it, I won't turn it down. Despite not being known for my associated afterlife, unlike some gods, I definitely would not turn down or waste a soul. But I wish to only keep those who truly desire to serve me, not make it transactional.  It is a great responsibility, and one that I have not accepted in quite some time."

"Okay," said Max. "I don't really have any strong ties to any religions.  But I do wonder if my soul was pledged to you, but I died in my universe, what would happen?"

"Now, that," said the Morrigan, "is a very interesting question."

"Not exactly filling me with confidence here, Lady," said Max.

“How cheeky.”  The goddess softly laughed. "I am sure that you noticed the age of the structure that led you to this place.  There are several others scattered around your reality, but not many.  In all my eons of existence, this is my first time conversing with a potential Champion in this manner. So now we both have the opportunity to experience new things. On that note, perhaps I can help us find an accord, but I must know more about you first. If you give me an abbreviated version of your life–no–two lives, both as Chasa de Milo and Max Cunningham, as well as your goals, needs, and desires, perhaps I can suggest a boon that will satisfy you."

Max folded his arms and chewed on his lip. He was sensitive to the fact that both of his contracted spirits were listening in. Now that Lavinia knew about his past life as Chasa de Milo it meant she would have a lot of questions anyway. He might as well get it all out there–save himself some trouble later. Screw it, he thought.  Max said, "Okay here it goes," and then he began to speak.

The story took quite some time to tell–from his life in the slums on Albion, his early days as a mercenary, then as an adventurer, going on campaigns to protect the world from destruction, dying violently and remembering his previous life as a child on another world.  Then he spoke of his time on Earth before arriving in the Quartet.

He thought The Morrigan seemed especially interested in his experiences in the Quartet.  She gave nothing away, but Max got the impression she was most interested when he mentioned how he’d been researching the acquisition of a third Path.

Once he was done speaking, the goddess said, "I will think on this matter for a moment." Max nodded and watched as she pondered. In his head, Lavinia still had not said a word, and through their bond, he felt like the spirit was

not a human woman he was speaking to. This was a goddess with horns and wings. In the brief moment he'd met her eyes he'd felt like he might actually fall into them.

Finally, Morrigan said, "I am rather curious what would happen if you were to die in your universe while your soul is pledged to me. In all of my long existence, it is something I have never had an opportunity to discover, and gods do not share information on matters such as this.  Truth be told, I do have need of more eternal servants as well. However, I am also curious about your reincarnation. Transference of a memory with a soul is not usually possible without divine intervention, and I do not sense any vestiges of the divine on you.

“I think I actually will ask that you fully join my service.  This involves pledging your soul.  However, if you decide you should ever wish to my service entirely, all you must do is repay what you have been granted to first join.

On that note, the first item of payment I am offering is similar to a Path Tome, one of the books you mentioned that will allow you to learn a new Path. However, a book of that size is such a clunky thing. Instead, I will give you a spiritual memory."

She held up a hand and a bright light flickered, just a pinprick of brilliance several inches above her palm. "This is a Path spark.  It is the totality of Path-related memories from one who climbed to the top of power in the distant past.  This particular one is for a special type of sorcerer. Your drive to be the first three-path Challenger in your universe is bold and commendable. Your information is wrong, though.  There has already been at least one before. That said, if you are able to attain three Paths and master them, you will truly become one of the most powerful beings in your universe. And I find this interesting. However, all the Paths that you mentioned would not integrate with your unique circumstances.  It would have cost you everything. The Path I am offering here will work with your two existing paths, I'm sure of it."

"Are you going to tell me what kind of sorcerer this Path spark person was?" asked Max.

"No." She smiled. "Call it a whim if you like. If you accept this boon, the process of accepting the Path spark is similar to contracting spirit, but is one-sided.  This knowledge will become a part of you. If you accept it, the process is irreversible."

"I see," said Max. "So in order to get out of the deal, I would have to find another Path Spark to give you, or more realistically, a Path Tome, right?"

"Precisely," said The Morrigan. “Now for your second boon.”

She held up her other hand. On top of it floated a silver sphere with glowing veins of white. "This is a mana vault. It's an extremely rare artifact from my universe that allows the storage of mana. This will, among other things, passively absorb mana, allow you to store mana, and can be triggered to release mana in order to help you build your mana body. It should allow you to more efficiently and regularly practice mana control.  It does not have the ability to make or build currency in your universe’s Quartets, mana units.

Now she definitely had Max's full attention. Not only was this item fantastic and just what he needed, if he ever got cold feet this Champion thing, he was pretty sure he could just give this artifact back.

The Morrigan made both previous items disappear from her hands and said, "There is one more gift that I will give you if we read an understanding.  And after receiving this, the deal would be very generous indeed."

"I am excited to see it," said Max.  He meant it.

The Morrigan snapped her fingers. In the air between them floated a pendant on a thin chain.  When Max tried to examine the pendant more closely, he kept having to force past a desire to look away.  He realized it might be some sort of obfuscation ability built into it.  When he managed to push through the veil, he saw that it was what looked like an obelisk made of black stone in a cage of silver.  At the bottom of the cage was a white sphere, also in its own cage.

"This necklace is a powerful artifact that will, in time, help you learn to adjust and modify your third eye. It is called the Hidden Twilight Eye.  In addition to protecting yourself, it will give you the ability to learn more about the living as well, not just spirits."

"What do you mean?" asked Max. "Can you give me an example?"

The Morrigan grinned, and for the first time, Max noticed her sharp canines. "With this artifact you can use your third eye to quickly and accurately determine what Path any enemy Challenger is on."

Max blinked at that. He asked, "And that's only one of its functions?"

"Correct," said the Morrigan, "but you will have to learn how it works and unlock its functionality over time."

Inside Max's mind, Lavinia spoke for the first time since he'd come to this strange place. Max, I've read of something like that before in an old book of myths. An item like that is definitely legendary level. I’m sure of it.

Max nodded slowly. The Morrigan waved her hand, and the three items that she'd promised now all hung in the air together. "What say you?" she asked.

Max pursed his lips and thought. Two of the items that she was offering, he'd be able to just give back if he ever wanted out of his contract. One of them, the Path knowledge, he could theoretically replace with a Path Tome if he could ever acquire one.  But he wasn't blind to the fact that merely having such powerful artifacts could theoretically make him a target.

The mana vault would definitely help him grow stronger much faster, though.  Plus, he'd have a third Path. Even if he didn't know what it was yet, there was no such thing as a Path that didn't confer some sort of power. He would definitely be more formidable if he got a third Path that worked with his current two–and the goddess had assured him it would.

It had almost destroyed him, but Max’s gaze on the goddess with this third eye had helped him know a few simple truths.  He knew that although gods could lie, it cost them to do so.  It cost them exponentially more based on the power gap between them and whoever they were lying to.  For a god to lie to another god came with a cost, but for The Morrigan to lie to Max, especially about a matter like this, it could weaken her entire existence.

Max said, "Lady goddess, this is a lot you're giving me and you do not even reside in my universe. So this means that you would definitely get a lot out of this or there's something about being your Champion I don't know. Is there anything else that I should know about?"

The Morrigan nodded. "Yes, I have factored potential risk into my offer for your boons. If there are any Champions serving rival gods in your universe, which is possible, they would likely want to kill you. Doing so would allow them to become more powerful if they ever return to my universe."

“Using the achievements store you mentioned before?”

“Precisely.”

"Oh goody," said Max, "so I'd get another target on my back."

"Indeed," said the goddess.

Max looked up, thinking.  He weighed the odds of ever finding a Path-conferring skill book on his own that would work with his other Paths. Even though he’d been willing to take a risk on it before, it was true he had truly wondered how realistic it was to find a compatible Path with so little information.

He slowly said, "I will accept your offer on one condition."

"And what is that?"

"From here, after we are done talking, I want to go back to my world to see it for myself and to check on the people I care about. To be clear, I want to visit Earth before I return to the Quartet."

The Morrigan snorted.  “How curious. I am amused.  My most recent Champion, Jake, a truly exceptional and unpredictable warrior, asked for something similar recently. So, a complicated space-time transfer like this is a use of my power that I have recently explored.  There is no way for you to understand how much it will cost me and how difficult it will be, but if you agree to our covenant, I will do this thing for you.  You have my word."

Max held up a finger. "And I want to arrive less than a month local time after when I left my world."

The Morrigan's expression fell.  "I see." She looked up in the air like she was thinking about something. "I think I can arrange your return between five and fifteen days. This is the closest the variance can get.  Anything more specific than that would be next to impossible. After all, I will be directly adjusting your timeline and affecting your universe, one that I technically have no jurisdiction over."

Max hadn't thought about it like that, but he didn't allow himself to feel pity for the goddess. After all, she wouldn't have come to him in the first place and offered this deal if she was getting nothing out of it.  “How long will I be able to stay once I return?”

"One to three days," said the goddess.  “You will be informed by your system about your time limit.  When you return, you will appear outside the structure you entered to come here.  I believe you said it was in a dungeon.”

Max looked at the three items hanging in the air again.  He thought about his parents and others he cared about, people he didn’t even know still lived.

What Morrigan was offering was more power, for sure.  And if he accepted this deal, he could even buy his way out of it in the future if he wanted to.  From that perspective, this was like a loan–more power and the ability to return to earth for a while.  His time as a Champion would be like paying the interest.

More enemies might end up gunning for him as a Champion, but he was already being hunted.  He could handle that.

"Madam, I think we have a deal."