Chapter 47 Something Fishy

After Mal and I split the shield duties of Cethain, I took him through the Admin Hubs to Talitus, as he would be no use at all on Galess. Then I headed back to the Admin Hub and asked Aly to send me to the ocean planet.

Are you going in your human form?

“I’ll be alright breathing underwater and… actually, you make a really good point. I’m going to need to swim a lot, and I reckon this isn’t the body to do it in. Can you help me with what races live down there?”

Of course I can, Clive. Please make your way to the nearest Administrator console.

As soon as I approached the nearest one in the transport center, an image popped up on the screen: a blue-colored elf that looked very much like a Dokalfar but with webbed hands that were probably half as long again as their surface cousins, and feet which were at least twice the length. They had a slightly different body shape, too. I also noticed that gills lined their ribs and under their ears.

Race: Eakalfar

The Alfar of the sea are the fourth most numerous sentient race on Galess, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in architecture, arts, and military prowess.

They are a long-lived race, averaging 722 years of life.

They are a peaceful race that rely on well-planned defense and well-maintained armies to hold their place as one of the most powerful races on Galess.

Average Length: 6 ft

“Thanks for this, Aly,” I murmured as I swiped to the next race. This one looked human, apart from the lack of legs. Instead, they sported a fish tail. “A fucking mermaid? You can’t be serious,” I chuckled.

Race: Gallrach

The Gallrach are the fifth most numerous sentient race on Galess. Historically, they live in large, war-like clans and are generally aggressive in nature.

While modern Galessian society keeps them in check, they often find themselves in the military as an outlet for their aggression.

They are short-lived with an average age of 57 years old.

Average Length: 9 ft

The next figure was absolutely nothumanoid. With a spherical, spike covered body and huge eyes, it sported two fish-like tails. It was as ugly as it was monstrous.

Race: Leviathal

The Leviathal are the eleventh most numerous sentient race on Galess.

They are solitary creatures, and you will rarely find more than five in any city, but they are in every city.

Despite their ferocious appearance, they are a peaceful race with enormous mental capacity and an innate ability to paralyze an attacker with confusion as they escape any threats.

They are long-lived with an average age of 907 years old.

Average Length: 14 ft

Next up was another demon, equally un-humanoid. The one area it looked remotely humanoid were two ugly arm-like projections with roughly ten fingers on the end of each. It was long and thin like an eel, and its eyes glowed red.

Race: Gliderink

The Gliderink are the most numerous sentient race on Galess.

They live in nests and interact only with other Dark-aligned creatures.

What they lack in martial skill, strength, or mental acuity, they make up for in sheer numbers.

They are short-lived with an average age of 36 years old.

Average Length: 4 ft

I didn’t swipe again. “Hey, Aly, how many races do we have on here?”

There are forty-six races, Clive.

“And by any chance did you start with the most humanoid looking and you’re working your way to the freakiest looking?”

I did.

“Then I don’t need to see any more. I’ll go with an Eakalfar. Not really sure how I’d cope without legs. And those guys look pretty cool.”

A good choice. They are the most respected race on the planet and have helped to further the living standards of many of the other races.

There was more than one country back on Earth that claimed the same, and it always rang hollow. Still, I’d made my decision, and I made the changes as closely as I could to the picture and the details I was shown on screen.

I grew a little taller, with my limbs elongating, and I became notably thinner. Most of the mass across my shoulders remained intact, but my waist tapered into a width I hadn’t seen since I was twelve. I felt notably off balance for a moment until I adjusted, and then I was ready to go.

Yet as I moved, despite trying my best to walk naturally, my feet slapped on the floor in an awkward way.

From there, I transported into the Galess Admin Hub. Which was dry. From there, I flew out of the transport tower and headed toward the distortion field at speed, so my momentum would carry me out once my power cut off.

At some point, the orange cloud faded to be taken over by a gray cloud. My flight was back, so I kept going until I finally flew out of an enormous fog bank.

At which point, I saw how this particular Administration Hub had been hidden from view. With ocean all around, the only anomaly in the otherwise consistent water world was a long line of mountains. They stretched on for miles, either side of my position, and the entire range was covered in a thick fog bank, where only the occasional peak jutted out.

I nodded at the location, and unless somebody found a way to remove fog, they would never notice it was there. Just like with Toukal on Falritas, it would be forgotten as an oddity.

My thoughtful observations came to an end as I was attacked. A crackling white blast from under the sea shot out underneath me with a spray of water. I moved out of the way easily enough, but I was surprised to be attacked again.

Looking down at the water with Spirit Sight, I could see a squad of around a thousand soldiers. Eakalfar, Gallrach, and a race I hadn’t waited to see, and they had it in for me.

I widened my Spirit Sight to find Life’s territory and doing so showed me the enormity of Light’s army here. They mustn’t have known who I was for them to be able to attack me, but I wasn’t here to get upset about things like that, so I flew away from the area, heading for Life’s main city.

I quickly outdistanced those guys, but as Light’s army was so widespread, I was continually fired on by others. In the end and even now, I knew she wouldn’t listen, I growled across the bond to Light.

“You know your people shouldn’t be attacking me, Light. What’s the meaning of this?”

She didn’t reply, but a few seconds later, the attack stopped. And a few moments later after that, a portal opened, producing Light’s Chosen, including none other than Jurian of Erangral.

“Well this should be interesting,” I mused, coming to a halt.

“What are you doing here, Clive? And why do you look like that?”

“Always been interested in seeing an ocean planet, so I’m just touring the place. Having a gander, so to speak. Lord knows I’m due a holiday. Oh! And this old thing,” I said, gesturing to my body. “Can’t go on holiday without some fresh new threads.”

“Stop with your incessant lies, Clive. You’re here to offer underhanded assistance to Life.”

“Assist Life? In an underhanded way? I’m just visiting on my travels. Life’s a very good friend of mine.”

His face was flushed with irritation. “Just stop it, Clive. We both know you shouldn’t be here.”

“Of course I should! You, however, definitely shouldn’t. You haven’t even got the right holiday clothes on!”

“Why are you like this, Clive?” He seemed almost close to tears.

I didn’t exactly dislike Jurien, but it was still wonderful to watch him growing so helplessly irritated.

“You have a deal with Light not to interfere in her business. Leave here.”

“Is that what she told you?” I asked, disbelievingly. “I suppose it’s not too far from the truth. But she’s still attacking Peace and Devotion, which means that part of our dealcan’t stand. I’m going to build the shields Life needs to protect her people from you and your demented goddess. And you should be ashamed of yourself if you believe that this bullshit is okay. That Life deserves to be attacked?” I shook my head. “I’m taking the path of least resistance right now. I want Light to do better under her own steam, but mark my words, one day soon, there’ll be a reckoning.”

“What is that supposed to mean! You dare threaten our goddess?” another of the Chosen said, pushing past Jurien. He was pulled back promptly by Jurien who just stared at me, his flushed irritation gone and replaced with a pale worried look.

I focused on the one who had spoken last. “It means that the clock is ticking,” I said, flying closer, meeting all of their eyes. “It means that I’ll only take so much of this bullshit. It means that you’re completely alone and the only reason you think you’re doing okay is because I’m still trying for a peaceful resolution.

“But soon you’re all going to be on bloody knees, crying your fucking eyes out, while your whole goddamn world burns around you. And you’ll remember this moment and wish your goddess accepted my very gracious offer. Now go,” I snapped at them and did something I’d never done before, but the idea came to me, and with a few quick alterations, I pushed the portal at them.

As they turned in bewildered unison, I offered my final words, channeling them with what I hoped was at least a quarter as cool as Samuel L. Jackson.

“Tick tock, motherfuckers!”

Then I snapped the portal shut before allowing myself a small chuckle. I’d always wanted to use that in action.

They were probably fast enough to avoid the portal attack, but I imagined they thought I was attempting to escape, not them, as portals generally didn’t move. Not unless a portal ring was being used.

A fact compounded by the notification I received after I quickly closed the portal on them and carried on my way:

New Skill: Portal Manipulator.

You have discovered the ability to not only move portals, but to use them both offensively and defensively.

“Conversation closer should be on there too,” I muttered to myself, but Aly responded.

An apt addition to the description. I will add the extra information.

“Wait a minute, you’re in control of the notifications?”

They are automated, but I have access to the billions of descriptions, yes.

“Aw, hell yeah! We are going to have sooo much fun with them, Aly. Everyone deserves a snarky notification now and again, and I… I have ideas.”

I’m not sure what you plan, Clive, but there are firm guidelines for the creation and alteration of a notification.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sensible. Mostly.”

She actually laughed in response, which was good to hear. I still doubted she’d let me go on a killing spree, but it was definitely progress.

Heading toward Life’s city, I could have portaled down in a flash, but I was eager to find out how this new body would fare in the ocean world, and it would only take a minute longer. So I plunged downward like an arrow, entering the water at speed, and apart from the increased resistance, pungent ocean smell, and the fish I had to avoid, rather than birds, there really wasn’t much difference with flying.

A few seconds later, I changed my mind. There were a lot more fish than birds.

Far below me, I saw Light’s aquatic army moving about below, and it was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

There were huge, monstrous creatures with names on their identifiers that I’d need a whole new education to pronounce, or possibly different vocal chords. Thankfully, I wouldn’t be here long enough to need to overthink. As I went, they all looked up at me with hate-filled eyes, but not one of them fired at me now.

I internally cheered the Soul-Mate bond I’d tricked Light into. I had no idea it would be so effective when I did it.

When I finally saw Life’s shield, I sped up, going straight through as a friend this time rather than a hopeful helper. And this time, I wasn’t accosted by the King of the territory. Nope. This time, a raucous, joy-filled cheer swept over me.

Moments later, a group of Eakalfar surrounded by halberd wielding Gallach, flew towards me. My eyes searched out the leader in the center.

Queen Caralan: Level 419, Chosen of Life. Queen of Alezar. Eakalfa (Eakalfar III).

All of the Eakalfar had the same blue-purple-colored hair with only mild variations in tone. But the queen had vibrant red hair, and her eyes were almost translucent, giving them an ethereal quality about them.

“Heya!” I shouted over. “How you all doing?”

“We are well, Lord Clive! We were told of your arrival, and may I say what a true honor it is to have you here.”

“It’s great to be here, your highness.  And I’m happy to help.”

“May I ask, if it is not too presumptuous of me: what is it exactly that you do with the shields that make them so impenetrable?”

“I just add a little bit of my own power and finagle the weaves already present to make them more effective, and then tada! Safe as houses. I try to add a few things here and there so that the shields can absorb Neuma from either the atmosphere or from enemy attacks. Suffice to say, by the time I’m done here, all of your cities and towns will be secure. I’m sorry you’ll not be able to move freely between cities as long as Light’s army is here, but it will give you safety and peace of mind within your cities.”

“That is to be expected. May Light see sense soon and realize that we are no threat to her. We wish only to live in peace and harmony with the ocean around us. And not just the ocean. Three worlds you are protecting us across. I…” The queen paused. “My apologies, Lord Clive. I am keeping you from your work, and I imagine you are very busy.”

I always was, but not so busy as to rebuke the Queen of Alezar a few minutes in conversation. “It’s my pleasure to speak with you, your majesty. I’ve never been to Galess before, so I’m enjoying taking in the vibes.”

“Vibes?” she asked, puzzled.

“Atmosphere,” I replied swiftly. “I’ve seen nothing like it before.”

“Then,” she said, drawing herself up, her regal bearing multiplying in that instant, “perhaps once you are finished with the shields, you would consider joining us for a feast in your honor?”

My instinct was to say hell no! I had so much to do. But then I didn’t want to be rude either. So I tried to wriggle out of it like the most gracious of worms.

“Oh I wouldn’t dream of imposing on your hospitality, and I expect to have the work on your shields complete within the hour.”

She bowed at me. “I completely understand, Lord Clive. We will not keep you waiting. The feast will be ready in one hour.” She turned to those around her. “Go, prepare. Let the cooks know first!”

And just like that, it appeared I’d wriggled my worm ass right onto the hook. I offered the most genuine fake smile I could muster.

“It sounds amazing. Thank you very much. I best get to work before we lose the shield around Alezar.” I felt queasy as I spoke. Despite being a huge fan of almost all food, seafood had never floated my boat and that was just the fish. I knew some people ate some freaky ass crap out of the sea, looked more like it came from another planet. The irony hit at almost the same time as I had the thought.

“This city is named Requpa. It is the capital of Alezar which is the territory I reside over, but our chefs are some of the finest chefs in all of Galess. Prepare to be impressed.”

“Awesome. But, er, don’t go overboard on my account.”

“You are very humble, Lord Clive. It will be a feast as much to celebrate the increased safety of my people, I assure you.”

I smiled awkwardly, offered a thumbs up, and then got to work on the shield.

It only took me a couple of seconds to alter the Water aspect of Life’s shield, entwining darkness this time to create an alternative absorption aspect that would pull Neuma from the water rather than the attacks. Then I layered Reflection around that to send any attacks back at the attackers, creating a variation of Reap What You Sow. I didn’t get a new notification for this one, but I noted it down in my head as Poseidon’s Kiss.

Then using Spirit Sight, I portaled to the next city. I wasn’t even trying to hurry, but while Alezar had a lot of people and was quite spread out, they all lived in six super-sized cities.

In the end, it took me closer to half an hour than an hour, but I returned to Requpa with a vague hope that I could get the festivities started early, and leave sooner.

I flew into the immense underwater city and was met by guards who gushed to see me and took me immediately to see the queen.

We swam down into one of the openings of the central tower and into a wide, well-lit room. The queen lounged on a long chaise lounge style piece of furniture. She smiled over.

“Thank you for your work, Lord Clive. But I regret to inform you that not only are you faster in your efforts than you suspected, but my chefs are—despite their best efforts—running late. If you don’t mind waiting a little longer, there is plenty here to entertain.”

I thought about it for a moment, and then decided on what I’d like to do. “Can I see the kitchen?”

“You wish to see the kitchen?”

“If you don’t mind. I happen to be a pretty decent chef, and I’d love to see the workings of cooking underwater. Who knows, I might be able to speed things along!”

“I wouldn’t dream of...” As she spoke, I used my edible creation skill to produce a honey roast ham. The honey glaze washed off immediately, and while I’d never forgotten I was underwater, I was reminded what being under the water meant.

“Oh, well, maybe the glaze won’t work quite so well,” I chuckled.

“What is that?” she said, her eyes lighting up as they focused on the ham. “It smells... delicious.”

“You should give it ago,”

A servant I hadn’t paid much mind to suddenly rushed forward, placing them between the ham and the queen who chuckled.

“It’s okay, Waalvisk. I would rather risk food poisoning than show Lord Clive the disrespect by thinking so low of him.”

“Oh, fuck, I never even thought about that. I totally get it, though. I just thought this little fella here was a greedy bastard. Get yourself a bit off, mate. We should do things properly. Don’t want you killing off from anyone blaming me.”

The queen laughed with delight as the food taster pulled a knife and fork from his void storage and took off a delicate sliver. He ate it, and his eyes practically rolled back in his head.

He stammered, and then spoke to the queen. “It appears to be safe, my lord.”

“And how was it? Come on.”

“It was sublime, sir. I’ve never tasted anything quite like it.”

The queen swam over, and Waalvisk the servant removed another knife and fork from his void storage and handed it up to her.

Taking them immediately, she cut into the joint of meat and took a morsel. Her face didn’t alter for a long moment, and then she closed her eyes. “By all the starfish in the Seas of Elamar, that is simply the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in as long as I can remember. What creature does it come from?”

I chuckled. “It’s a land-dwelling animal called a pig.”

“Amazing. We must find a way to farm these pigs!”

“If you choose any animal to farm, and as much as I like steak and eggs, especially together, pigs steal the variety prize. Sausages, bacon, belly pork, Chicharrónes, slow-roasted pork shoulder, gammon, I could go on, but let’s just say, the pig is a magical beast. I’ll see if I can sort something out for you guys. I know there’s a mountain range, but is there any other land at all on Galess?”

There seemed to be an odd response to me mentioning the mountain range, and my curiosity was piqued.

“There is no other land other than the spine, and the spine is forbidden.”

“It’s pretty foggy. I’m not surprised it gets a bad rep. Maybe one day, I can create some land for you to farm if that’s not some kind of horrific proposition here.”

The queen laughed. “To my knowledge, it has never been proposed, so I couldn’t say. And perhaps one day, I will take you up on the offer, but it seems like a terrible use of your time in the current climate.”

She didn’t know a fraction of it, yet she was still right. My mouth was writing cheques my schedule couldn’t cash.

“Definitely one to pin for the future. But I still definitely want to see the kitchens!”

“Very well, I will accompany you.”

We left the room together at a leisurely pace. Guards appeared all around us, but with the queen being Level 419, and me being… well me, there didn’t seem much point. The queen began speaking again, distracting me from my musings.

“So, Clive, you come from Falritas, is that correct?”

“Nope. I come from a planet in the Tertiary zone called Earth, though I’ve spent the last few years on Falritas, and I now consider it my home.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone from the Tertiary zone before. It is so far away. Are there many Eakalfar on this Earth?”

“Interesting question, and not so far as I know. Our seas are apparently not fully documented, but there have been stories about mermaids who are like the Gallach, so I suppose it’s possible.”

“So how is it that you are an Eakalfar?”

“Oh, that. Perhaps I should have explained earlier. I can change my form into whatever I want. I could have become one of them big Leviathals if I wanted.”

“Is that so?” she said with a curious smile. “So you are by nature a land-faring creature?”

“Yep. I was a human, if you know of them. But then I became an Alo-im.” As we walked I morphed into my human appearance, and the queen gasped.

The guards grew tense, but I didn’t stop swimming, and neither did the queen or the guards as I turned into my Alo-im form. The queen gasped and then again as I changed into a Gallach before reverting to an Eakalfar once more.

“It is simply amazing that you can do such things. You can create food from thin air, and you can save an entire nation in a half hour. You are truly a god among mortals, Lord Clive.”

“Apparently so,” I chuckled drily. “Now I think I can hear a kitchen!” I said, speeding up a little as the muted sounds of clashing metal and shouting grew louder. The unmistakable sounds of a busy kitchen.

The first thing I noticed as I swam in was that all of the food that was visibly being prepared was indeed seafood. I could see a sizable amount of raw fish being delicately sliced and curled into fanciful shapes along with some kind of sea plant.

However there was an area of the kitchen where I could undoubtedly see the red glow of smooth, hot rocks upon which methods of cooking were on display. From pots of boiling something to filets of semi searing something.

Among the seafood smells, I did pick up on a range of herbs and spices that at least gave me hope. While I took in the sights, sounds, and scents, the queen shouted over to one of the chefs.

A powerful looking Gallach named Urah came over and eyed first the ham and then the queen with disdain.

“Try it,” she said simply, unphased by his demeanor.

He wrinkled his nose, and I could tell clearly that he didn’t want to, but despite his rude expressions his words remained civil.

“Very well, your highness.” He took a thin, expertly carved slice, and popped it into his mouth. I saw a flash of irritation cross his face.

“What is this,” he snarled, then added, “Your Highness.”

“A gift from Lord Clive, who is the guest of honor at this feast,” she replied with a clear warning in her voice.

He turned to me. “Then, Lord Clive. It’s truly a wonderful dish. I can’t place the flesh, but it’s rich, with an unusual sweetness, though it isn’t overbearing as it doesn’t penetrate all the way through the flesh. Rather it provides an interesting contrast. It would be well paired with something tart. Perhaps a juoli pod puree. What creature does this come from?”

“A pig. Not from this planet.”

He nodded, a hint of disappointment in his expression. “I will serve this after the feast so everyone can try a little of this delicacy.”

“Honey roast ham, a delicacy. My arse. You need a load of this stuff to really enjoy it. I’ll get to making more. How many people are we serving?”

“A little over one thousand people,” the queen replied.

The number blindsided me a little, but I said I’d do it, so I bloody well would. “Best give me some space then.”

All eyes were on me then and I laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not making a thousand hams. A few hundred should do it, right?”

The chef was taken aback. In fact, on a second survey of the room, everyone was watching me intently.

Ignoring them all with a smile, I went to work on creating hams. Magicking hams wasn’t really cooking, but it felt good to be working in a kitchen, no matter how unusual the circumstances.

When my Mortal Core ran out of energy to produce any more hams, I bolstered the power with Ethereal Neuma to keep the process going.

I’d never done that before with food creation and discovered that, while the cost was low, it wasn’t negligible and definitely not a good use of EN. If any of the gods saw me, or for that matter, anyone who knew my situation, they’d probably call me an idiot.

Yet still I continued producing hams until I reached four hundred. The total EN cost was almost over 1000, which was almost a level for me when transferred over to MN at an Admin Hub.

I decided not to weigh the experience with the cost as I stood back from my work bench. Urah must have noticed I was finished and swam over to me.

“That was incredible. You could feed a town just on your own!”

“And I wouldn’t mind doing it either.”

He nodded. “It was an honor to have you in the kitchen with us, Lord Clive, but I think I will be in trouble if I don’t send you back to the queen before the feast begins.” He raised his hand in an open palmed salute, and I returned it.

“It was a privilege to work in your kitchen, Urah. I’ll head back now, though. You’re right.”

I swam off and was quickly joined by two guards who offered respectful nods as they escorted me back to the area the queen sat. She didn’t lounge this time. She was sat bolt upright, awkward and uncomfortable, as sitting across from her was a very familiar lady.

“Well, hello, Life! I did not expect to see you here.”

“I did not intend to come, Clive. You know how costly avatars are. And I do like to save my EN for less frivolous tasks.”

“I’m sorry to hear that you think coming to see me and the queen here is a frivolous task.”

Life proved it was possible for an avatar to look embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Lord Clive. That was not what I intended to imply. This most certainly isn’t a frivolous task. I have watched you closely as you have gone from city to city under my control, and protected them from harm. Unasked for, and so far without any demand upon me or my people. The opposite in fact as you supply food for a feast intended to celebrate your assistance and our safety.”

“Knock it off, Life. It was fun to create the food, and as I’ve said before, I respect your stance. Since I showed up in Faradise, I’ve not seen you do anything to hurt anyone. Nor have I seen any of your people try to hurt anyone or start a bloody war. And mostof my interactions have been good with you.”

“Most?” she asked curiously.

“Well, there was that one time when you agreed with Light for an easy life.”

A frown crossed her features. “To avoid a war.”

“Yeah, that was very utilitarian of you. But as with most things, they never work out how you hope they do.”

“Which is why I changed my mind. Which is why I risked upsetting Light and Darkness. And why I came to tell you that I was removing myself from the situation.”

“Exactly. And that, dear Life, is why I’m helping you now. Because you’re a good person. A good goddess, sorry,” I quickly corrected in front of the queen. “I only wish all the gods were like you. Then we could just live our lives eating hams and chilling out. That’s why I’m happy to help protect what you’re trying to do, and that will never come with a cost. Ever.”

The queen sat wide-eyed, while Life looked to be struggling to find words.

Which meant I spoke again to ease the atmosphere. “Are you here for the feast as well?”

The queen’s eye flickered over to her goddess who smiled smoothly. “I believe I shall. This is indeed a day for celebration!”

The queen’s eyes rose in excitement at the news that their goddess would be joining us for the feast, but she remained silent, listening intently to every word that passed between us as if each was a rare treasure.

“I’ve taken note that you’re making great pains to be less aggressive with Light and Darkness and have managed to nullify them without true violence. This is no mean feat, but I wonder on your motivations. Is this purely to settle everything down so that you can focus on the arrival of Hakan?”

A deeper question, finally. I wondered when she’d begin to pick at the threads of the all-new Clive. “Not just for that reason. There’s literally no point in us fighting. It’s not going to achieve anything. Nobody’s going to win anything. No one will get a better life from it. It certainly won’t help the people who follow us.”

“Well said, Clive. Well said. And will you try peaceful methods with Hakan when he arrives?”

“Hell yeah, I will. The last thing I want to do is fight that dude. Hell, I’d just hand myself over to him if it meant peace for everyone else, but...” I glanced at the queen but Life shrugged.

“Speak freely. Nothing will leave this room.” She then covered us, including the queen, in a sphere that would keep us private.

I studied the weaves she used and then threw another shield of the same type over that one.

< Congratulations >

You have created an Epic level construct.

Silence is Golden

A powerful barrier that contains all activities from outside observance and is resistant to interference from outside parties.

Reward: 10,000 XP

“What did you do?” she asked panicked.

“Oh, I copied your shield. I’ve not seen it before and I’m trying to gain as many skills, and more importantly, as much experience as I can before Hakan comes for me.”

“Oh,” was her only reply. The queen tried to shrink into the couch as if hoping not to be noticed.

Life turned to her. “You are my Chosen, my descendant, and the queen of my people on Galess, you may hear what transpires, but you may not repeat it.”

The queen nodded mutely, and Life beckoned for me to go on. “You were explaining why your sacrifice would not have the desired result?”

“Same reason as last time I told you. Universe goes boom.”

“I remember, but I do not understand. Please explain.”

“Ah, there’s a lot you don’t know, Life, and you probably don’t want the queen to know. It's kind of damning about your godhood.”

“If Queen Caralan knows that she is my descendant, then I think it is safe to say she understands that I am not a primordial creation. Just a very old Losalfar.”

“Well if you don’t care, I don’t. Hakan was the last of the Alo-im. Or the Creators as most know them.”

“So he wasn’t theCreator?”

“Not in the slightest. And we are their descendants as they moved out across the universe. The further away we got from the Nexus, the less access to its powers we had. From what I gather, they saw the eventual demise of the universe and found a way to travel to another universe. So that’s where they all are now. To do it, they needed an area completely absent of Neuma.”

“The Abyssal Planes,” Life murmured.

“Yep. They created it with something called the Great Barrier, which holds the Neuma back. That also created the Tertiary Planes where there is some Neuma leakage, but not a lot.”

“I can see it,” she said, entranced.

“Once the other Creators left, Hakan was supposed to turn the Great Barrier back off and allow the universe to continue its natural life cycle. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but one thing’s for certain, if he did, it was a long time before any of you gods existed. He must have changed his mind at some point, and he created you guys, to suppress the races of the universe while he turned the barrier on and made his getaway.

“He’s only coming back because I’ll be able to turn the barrier off once I achieve a Divine Core, and if I do it before he passes through in the Abyssal Planes, then he’s stuck here. And I do need to turn it off, because if I don’t, the whole place goes boom. The power from the Nexus wasn’t meant to be contained. Which is why me giving myself up won't help anyone. I have to talk to him and get him to change his mind. Or I have to find a way to end him.”

“And what did Light and Darkness have to say to this?”

“They both back Hakan. They won’t believe he’d leave us to die like that. They think I’m the problem.”

“If you defeat Hakan, drop the barrier, and things return to their natural course, what will you do then? You will be the most powerful person in the universe, will you not?”

“Yeah, apart from Hakan, I already am,” I said nonchalantly, and the queen gasped, then covered her mouth.

“So what will you do?”

“Easy. Open a restaurant somewhere nice. Hire some good staff that I can train up and see what we can come up with. I’ll only be open three or four days a week though, so it’ll be pretty exclusive. The rest of the time, I’ll probably lounge about with Sania. Running as a wolf is fun, so we might do that a bit as well.”

Both of the women stared at me in bewilderment.

“That is really what you would do?” the queen asked. “What of your followers?”

“What followers? Once this is done, I’m cutting every single bond I have apart from the Soul-Mate bond I have with Sania, my wife.”

“That will be very distressing for them,” the queen said. “Who will guide the universe, then?”

Life just watched me thoughtfully. I smiled at her then met the queen’s gaze.

“If the universe needs my guidance, then we’re all doomed. I’m a tool, a necessary evil if you like. I’m here to do a job and then my usefulness will be finished. I’ll talk my followers through the process first, of course, and explain why it’s necessary, but the bonds basically stop people accessing Neuma directly.

“That’s not really very fair, is it? Why follow a god when you can be a god yourself. If you want to worship something, then worship the Nexus. It’s the true source of all life, and it doesn’t want anything in return. I’ll probably have to teach people how to use Neuma properly again after a few thousand years of being kept from it. And I will be removing the follower requirements to achieve a Divine Core, so it will be easier. But that’s not my end goal. My end goal is the restaurant, the beach, and the forest runs.”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have let you say all of this in front of the queen,” Life said after an extended silence.

“I will say nothing of this, and I will always serve, my goddess.”

“I know, but perhaps Clive is right. It is lonely in my life. We were trained by Hakan to remain aloof and distant, or we would lose our power over you and cease to be of use to him. Without the constraints in place over your own growth, many of you could achieve a Divine Core.”

“Exactly. Fulfilling your true potential shouldn’t be a privilege or a gift, it should be something that’s there for you to take advantage of should you wish to.”

Life nodded, seeming to make a decision. Then she blew me away. “I will join you, Clive. If you will have me.”

I did a double take. “You what?”

“If you don’t stand for something, then you’ll fall for anything. That’s what you told me not so long ago, and those words have haunted me ever since. I wish to join the Pantheon of the Resolute. That is the reason I came here to see you. I just wanted to speak to you again first, and you have erased my concerns. Perhaps with me onside, we can convince Hakan of another way.”

“I’d love to have you. As soon as I’m back home, I’ll set up a Pantheon meeting to install you officially. I’ll get Devotion to let you know when it’s time.”

“You have Soul-Mate bonds with your whole Pantheon now?” she asked curiously.

“All but Death. I was surprised when Peace agreed to it actually, but it helps a lot, and we lose nothing in my opinion.”

“Death has ever been painfully private. I can see why he wouldn’t, but I will. Until Hakan has been dealt with, I will form a Soul-Mate bond with you.”

At that point, I could have been knocked over with a feather. Or a fin, given our location. “You’d make a Soul-Mate bond with me?”

“I would. I’m fairly sure we can complete the union via the avatar.”

She closed her eyes without saying anymore, and I saw a tendril of almost entirely green Neuma spring forth. I happily obliged and reached out with my own, trying to fight a smile for the risk of coming off as creepy. I’d genuinely come into helping Life with no expectation of her joining us, so this was an incredible bonus.

I faltered slightly as my tendril passed through the avatar and sped off along her avatar’s bond to Onnekus. But then it was done.

< Congratulations >

You have forged a Soul Mate bond with the Goddess of Peace.

Ultra-rare achievement.

You have received 100,000 Experience Points.

< Congratulations >

You have leveled to 688.

You have 30 stat points available to distribute.

I slipped the thirty points into Agility, bringing it up to 896. I then noticed Life looking at me studiously.

“Did you mean everything you said about the restaurant, the beach, and releasing the followers?”

I knew she was testing the bond and if she had been duped or not. I rubbed at my face thoughtfully, as if mulling her question over and obviously teasing her a little. I saw how much the queen was worried and decided to stop being a dickhead.

“Every word, Life. I just want to make sure everyone is okay, and has the best chance of living a long, happy life, and then I want to go do the same.”

Life beamed at my words. She cast aside the Sphere of Silence, and I did the same. As it dropped, Waalvisk was standing there looking worried.

“Your highness,” he said immediately. “The feast is ready.”

“Wonderful,” Life said, seeming the most relaxed I’d ever seen her. I suspected she’d gotten more from the union than me, despite her earlier reluctance to join us.

We followed the servant out of the room to where the feast was being held, and I nudged Life.

“You know you came in the wrong outfit, don’t you?”

“I do, yes. But I like to represent my true image.”

“Fair. Are you leaving the avatar here?”

“Not ideally. I don’t make a habit of leaving avatars on the planet, though I suppose creating one on Falritas would make sense now. I will retire this one and create a new one there.”

“And lose the EN? There is another option. You could come back with me. I’ve got a few things you’d probably be very interested in seeing.”

“I have been wondering exactly how do you move from planet to planet when no one but Light can?”

“Then please, come with me and I’ll blow your mind.”