UL1 - Book 10 - Chapter 29

“You okay?” Sog asked. “Do I need to give you a hug?”

“Oh go hump a–” Jazzjak said, pausing to look at Fowl. 

“An ogre,” the dwarf whispered.

“An ogre!” their helper finished. 

Sog started to laugh and gave the vorpal bunny a gentle pat on the arm. “That’s what I love about you. Soft on the outside, hard on the inside.”

“Let him be,” Cordellia said. “We got business to take care of.”

Another chuckle came from their demonic friend as he moved to his seat and sat.

Clearing his throat, Jazzjak tapped on the glass tablet at the end of the table, pulling up a display screen for them all to view. “Thank you, Cordellia. Now then, if you’re ready, it’s time to get down to business. Here I have listed–”

“A hundred million DP!” Sog exclaimed, his nails digging into the table.

Jazzjak sighed and nodded. “Yes, you each have basically a hundred million DP now. Slightly less than a hundred and four million, but that is correct.”

Sog held up a hand toward Rakonath, who, after a few seconds, put his up, receiving a high five in return.

“Focus,” Batrire muttered. 

“Sorry… I got a little excited,” Sog replied.

Jazzjak tapped his tablet, ignoring the demon and pulled up a list. “Anyways… I have broken out for you six what needs to happen next. Everyone but Tanila is going to invest ten million in your bloodline. Obviously, she only needs eight million as she has 25% completed already.  Next comes reaching tier 2, acquiring the other four sparks, and purchasing the two codexes.  After doing this, each of you will be spending about 17,000,000 DP.  From there, we’ll need to discuss a few other thoughts.”

Their helper waited, watching as each of the gods, other than Max, was looking at their individual screens.

One by one, their bodies began to glow for a few seconds. Raknoath’s was a silvery light while Sog seemed to radiate almost a shadow from around him.  Cordellia’s skin took on a soft green glow while both Fowl and Bartrire had a brownish hue.  

Max smiled as Tanila’s body went from red to white.

“My… bloodline,” Rakonath whispered. “Tell me…”

“Uh… I would hold off discussing those just yet,” Jazzjak stated. “If you all start doing that, we’ll get off track. Plenty of time to show those off later.”

A few sighs came from around the room at their helper's words, but each of them nodded and waited for the rabbit to continue.  

“So with that done, you six all need to go to your capitals, find the one you’ll give a bloodline and dispense the rest of your sparks.  If you’ve obeyed my original instructions, you’ll have already picked out those individuals. This will increase the amount of DP everyone earns per day.” Jazzjak swiped a finger across his tablet and the screen changed. “Here is our next path that you need to consider.”

*****

Divine Point System Shop

World Augments:

Obelisk of Presence - Bonus to all citizens of the world Obelisk is formed on.

Requires all world gods to have bloodlines.

One Obelisk per god may ever be constructed.

If the Obelisk is destroyed, no other one may be built or captured.

A world with an obelisk requires them to be destroyed before an invading god can kill any god who owns a part of the world and is on it. If a god is on a different world, they may still be killed. 

Bonus grows for every 10,000 years it is built.

20,000,000 DP

*****

“Holy ogre nuts,” Sog cursed. “Twenty million?! We’re spending DP as fast as we got them.”

“While that is true,” Jazzjak replied, “the difference will be immediate and noticeable. I need you seven to understand that this object isn’t something most gods just casually toss down.  In fact I hadn’t even considered this at first because most gods won’t put this on a shared world.”

“Why is that?” Fowl asked. 

“It’s the bolded section, isn’t it?” Batrire asked.

“Correct,” their helper replied. “The obelisk grants a bonus to every citizen. So Max’s would grant it to each of your people and vice versa.  Essentially, the seven of you are going to be granting an exponential bonus to each other, provided none of them get destroyed.  The longer this world thrives and survives, the greater their power becomes.  I can count on one hand the number of worlds I know of where multiple gods have built their own on a shared planet. Take your old home for a second. I’m not sure what conflict arose on the world you came from but often, gods will seek out the obelisks and destroy them if possible.  Doing so will greatly weaken a world's defenses. There is no way one can kill another god on a world if an obelisk still stands. It also grants a bonus to you seven, which again, is cumulative. Right now that bonus isn’t much but it will grow in time.”

“So, wait… if the seven of us each get one, then we’ll all get stronger,” Rakonath asked. “Does it work only on this world or–” Jazzjak sighed and the dragon paused for a moment. “You were getting there, weren’t you?”

“I was, but don’t worry, I can understand. This is all new to each of you. It’s not in the manual,” their helper stated. “This is something most find out about after they reach the Archons.  For obvious reasons, if you only get one, put it on the wrong world, one you can’t defend it and lose it, you’ve limited your potential.”

Two red eyes surrounded by white fur cut off Sog as he started to open his mouth.

“Now, this is the only time I would ever recommend a group of gods building them now. You have the DP to spend, it will aid you and your people greatly, and each other. Even though you’re not going to hit the next bump in bonus for 10,000 years, if this world and you all do what I think is possible, you’ll be fine.”

Tanila raised her hand and Jazzjak motioned to her. 

“Sorry, we’re excited,” Tanila said, “but can you tell us what the bonus is at 10,000 years? Or how much does it help us as a god?”

“No, and no,” he replied. “I can’t because I’ve never heard of seven gods let alone more than two having a world with multiple ones of them. They kind of feed off each other in some way or… perhaps build might be a better way to say it. I’m not sure how to even describe it. All I can say is that each of your citizens will be far stronger than before.  Even one will have a slightly noticeable difference but seven… I can’t even imagine.”

“So then what?” Fowl asked. “After spending all this DP, what’s our next step?”

“We wait. You help and build,” Jazzjak replied. “We’re probably not going to be doing much for the next hundred years besides waiting for the occasional arena match or if someone challenges Max. Until he can fight again, we’re just waiting for DP to build up and make our next shove.”

“A hundred years,” their warrior muttered. “He says that so casually.”

“Because, as Sog has managed to point out a few times, time is relative,” Jazzjak said, “It’s the only way you’ll ever get a chance to reach the next stage.  Max has given you a rare opportunity. He’ll be reaching tier three, which is where most gods hope to end up after three hundred years if they use a safe and steady approach.  We’re not even a hundred years into this yet and you all might just hit that goal of tier five if things go well.”

“What’s so important about tier five again?” Fowl asked.

“Really?” Batrire said, nudging him. 

“What?! It’s been at least ten years since we talked about it,” Fowl protested. “How am I supposed to remember all this?”

“He’s fine,” Jazzjak said. “If I had DP to bet, I’d wager he hasn’t read the book still. Regardless, tier five gives you your domain and best of all keeps you out of the reach of gods who farm the early risers.  Most never level past tier two or three.  Once you reach tier five, the game changes completely.”

Max smiled as Fowl gave Batrire a smug smile.

“Any other questions on spending DP?” Jazzjak asked.

When no one spoke, the rabbit nodded and motioned to Max.

“Thank you again for that,” Max told their helper. “Now comes the fun part. Jazzjak is right, we need to get the six of you set up as quickly as possible.  We can come back and talk in a day and share everything, but while you don’t think a single day matters, it does.  We’ve done the math, and the road to tier five is going to be tight. Unless things worked out perfectly, we’re still facing a chance of only being tier four when our three hundred years end.”

“You or us?” Cordellia asked.

“You,” Max replied. “It appears there are a few tier threes who do the same as the other lower-tier gods that have chosen not to increase rank. Sharks have found safe feeding pools and stay in them. The only thing that matters is getting everyone as high as possible. So I’m about to go out and set up my obelisk. I suggest you all do the same.”

“And before he forgets to mention it, Max has a few extra sets of armor and weapons set aside for your chosen ones,” Tanila said. “Once you have picked them, bring them to the armory and they can pick out some equipment.  As they level up, they can replace it.”

“Seriously?!” Sog exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d do that for all of our warriors.”

“Not all,” Max replied with a wink. “Just the five with sparks. Trust me, Sog, we all need to work together and ensure everyone's team is progressing quickly.  This brings us to another topic for discussion in the coming years. Factions.”

A few grunts and frowns came from his original party members.

“Are they really needed?” Cordellia asked.

“Needed? Not yet perhaps but we’ll have to consider the need down the road as the world grows older, our people expand and multiply.  Consider what it might look like in 10,000 years. How many different groups might function in each of our capitals and cities? Competition can be good if managed right. We’re going to want a framework for managing those things sooner rather than later. Each of us has seen what it looks like already as our races have started migrating slowly to each other’s borders.”

“Yes… my people were inquisitive about the sharp ears,” Sog said. 

“Did you seriously just use that slur?!” Cordellia shouted, slamming the table with her fist and cracking it.

“No… I….” Sog sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that. My kind was just wondering what would happen when we work with your people. The stories of your kind run deep just as my kind has a reputation we’re trying to change.  So I agree with Max. There have been no conflicts yet between our races and I would like to keep it that way.”

Cordellia grunted and then cringed when she looked down at what she had done to the table.

Max sighed and put his hand on the wood, flooding it with magic and as he had multiple times already. In a moment, he had fixed the broken spot so that it looked brand new.

“I think you two proved a point just as this table did,” Max stated. “We’re going to have to overcome those ideas about each other's races. My own people might have been timid when Sog’s first caravan arrived. They were anxious about a dragon descending to drop off some stone and ore, it would appear the system has built within each race an idea of the others.  

“This is why I want to start working on the Factions early. If we can set up small bases in each city, forming groups who go there and work with the others, learning, sharing, and fighting side by side, we can pull out the weed of mistrust before it takes root.”

“I didn’t know you were a philosopher,” Rakonath teased. “But I agree. My own people were anxious when the dwarves reached our place. Something inside every dragon… fears and distrusts them.”

“He’s right,” Fowl added. “Every dwarf had a bit of a hard time dealing with the dragon duo that came the first time. Even with Batrire and I there, we saw some gripping their tools and weapons unconsciously.”

Interesting. Perhaps you were right. The system sets everything and everyone against each other from the start.

Almost as if it desires us to fight.

Life… death… something has to die for gains. No matter the world, it appears.

Nodding to himself, Max stood.

“Let’s get to work. I’ve got a daughter to check in on and a world to make stronger.”

As one, the rest rose and the tension in the room eased as they all made their way toward the portal out.

“You’re doing a great job,” Tanila whispered.

“What job?” Max asked.

“Leading. Your heart keeps us on track.”

He kissed her hand and stepped toward the portal, ready to do what he could to protect those whom he loved.