[||||=LEVEL 42= ||||]
"Ophis?"
"Mm?"
"You know about the contracted elementals in me that stimulate my affinities, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you know if there's a creature that uses void like you out there somewhere that would be willing to contract with me? I can't make a void elemental by making a high concentration of affinity in the environment like normal and I don't know any other way."
"Mmn. Summoning. Or make one. There aren't many like me in this dimension." A surprisingly comprehensive answer to my question. It must be because I've been raising my void affinity lately. I've had six on void, one on heat, and two on motion.
I've also been considering carefully what I want to do with my broken semblance. As it is right now it's useless. I need to implant an affinity. It's not like I'm going to lose my affinity either. It's just making a decision, albeit a difficult one. Void is the obvious candidate but I can use void fine with my storm semblance and I need utility more than combat power right now.
Considering that semblances are based on your natural affinities, at least according to the huntsmen I've observed, I likely have space and light already forming my broken semblance. The question is what to put in it that would properly compliment the two. Chaos, maybe? I can't find an effective use for it immediately available.
"Make one? Interesting. I've never tried to make an artificial soul before. I think I could probably do that. Summoning is different though. I've never done that and it sounds like a pain to learn. I'm also wondering if you can give me some tips for using the void."
Ophis stopped for a moment and seemed to actually think, which was rare for her. I watched her carefully but the only thing indicating that she was thinking at all was her eyes. They seemed contemplative rather than half-lidded and lazy like normal.
"The void is negative infinity. The opposite of infinity. The absence of anything where there could be something. Infinity is the existence of so much that it all is meaningless. Worth nothing. Yet it fills the void of nothingness." With that little wisdom done Ophis looked away at nothing.
Well… now what? I have no idea what to do with what she just told me. Maybe combine infinity and void to cancel out and make super void? Probably not…
But wait… Ophis has both infinity and void at incredibly high levels. I can feel it just being near her. With my storm affinity I can sense when storms are coming and all the aspects of one easily. So for Ophis to comprehend infinity so… Nihilism and a degradation of value to all things would be at least one consequence of such comprehension. Understanding the value of nothing and understanding infinity to the point that nothing matters… how horrible. Considering that all this is true, that is.
"NYAAAAA! IT'S NOT WORKING!" I didn't even flinch at the loud noise from outside. It was hard to ignore the mana being tossed around by Kuroka. She had taken two days before she asked me to teach her space magic and senjutsu, meaning aura, in greater detail. It grates on her pride as much as I thought but she makes up for it by messing with me.
I showed Kuroka a warp spell, the basic of basic space spells I knew, and told her that it was all she was getting until she learns to properly meditate and raise her affinity while she was at it.
She sucked at it far more than I could have imagined.
Kuroka, and devils in general I think, are not sit still people. They're movement, energy, chaos, and the sins personified. Sadly, meditation, if I were to assign a sin or virtue to it, would be patience. Meditation was boring, no way around it. Useful as all hell, but boring.
Cats did not like boring. Thus Kuroka did not like boring. Nevertheless she is slowly figuring it out. She actually raised her space affinity four points so far. When she can focus on the affinity alone without using her mana to feel out her soul, as she was trained to do apparently, then I'll help accelerate her learning of affinities and provide her with the quick way to gain affinities if she's alright with it.
I had done very little by the way. The ORC (Occult research club) had finished end of year testing yesterday and were going on to the underworld to do a 'training camp'. I think they finished the testing early with permission from the student council so they could get training quick.
Azazel, in the past month, had done fascinating things with my silver eyes essence and my purity affinity. He had found that the silver eye essence was some sort of ultra-distilled form of purity affinity and lifeforce (aura) along with something else he couldn't identify that I'm pretty sure is aura's divine component. He's added a sort of magical scaffolding to the framework of a sacred gear and is filling out the gear with its energy. That's my understanding of it.
While he was busy I couldn't help but consider how I would get to the underworld. I could ask Ophis but how would I get back? There are gates to get from hell to the mortal realm and gates from hell to heaven but the gates are guarded and there are WAY easier ways in.
The ORC building had a circle of runes that could teleport people across dimensions when provided with mana and infernal essence.
Let me repeat, the ORC building HAD a circle. Now the Pendragon manor has one and several vials of distilled infernal affinity courtesy of Kuroka and my efforts. The Pendragons were somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of having a dungeon around so they refurbished most of it through some magical internal decorators and installed the portal circle. There's still two cells with implements for holding just about anybody but the Pendragons are nice people and really only kept the two cells because Vali asked them to.
Speaking of Vali, he turned down his dickishness to a three from the eight it was at before. He still glares at me sometimes and I'm pretty sure he growled at me once but he hasn't actually mustered up the will to approach me on whatever he wants to talk to me about.
I don't care if we never talk again. As far as I'm concerned I knocked the stupid out of him concerning me and I'm not running a program for troubled youths so he can glare all he likes. He's been in and out of hotel Pendragon anyways so we haven't seen each other all that often.
Besides my parallels grinding my affinities as is normal and my theft of a portal circle, which was quite easy, I've been lazing around. I sparred with Arthur a little and found that the guy was a FAR better swordsman than I was, on par with Raven I'd say. However, he lacks the raw power I have and so I'm the better fighter and Raven's strength continues to go unrivalled, considering I and the other two immortals eclipse her utterly.
"NYAAAAAA! ABYSS-SENSEI, TELL ME THE EASY WAY ALREADY!"
"Just tell her," Ophis muttered, "She disrupts my quiet and some people use alternative methods."
"Aren't you in a chatty mood today?" I commented. She looked flatly at me. "Fine. I'll show her the alternative method."
I stood up and stretched a little before walking outside and seeing Kuroka nearly pulling her hair out in frustration. I gave her a metronome to use to keep a steady rhythm of breathing but she seems to have thrown it into some bushes. That was rude of her. It was Arthur's metronome anyways. I picked it up from one of the mansion's old abandoned rooms.
"Fine. I'll teach you the alternative method. Just learn the other one eventually. You can only go so far with this one." Kuroka's eyes lit up and she sprung to her feet.
"Really?!" she exclaimed, seemingly relieved of all her frustrations for the past two hours. "What's it called?!"
"Sex," I said bluntly. Kuroka stopped dead and stared at me with her mouth slightly open. The perversity of this dimension must be at work here. Sex to gain ultimate power? Yeah that reminds me of highschool dxd for sure. That the technique originated in my world is irrelevant.
"Someone with a large affinity for space such as you or me can use a runic circle that compresses affinity to form it to a liquid substance. Liquid distilled affinity. Taking in so much purified affinity causes your aura to make you have a primal urge to find a mate, far preferably with a large aura and affinity for the affinity you ingested. For the best results you should drink of a much higher concentration than you currently have. Drinking your own distilled affinity only causes the mate effect."
"The mate effect?" Kuroka seemingly got over the surprise of sex causing increased affinities quickly. Then again, she told me about a senjutsu technique called 'the bedroom method' where skinship causes exchange of lifeforce. I'm pretty sure that the 'technique' is just an excuse for sex but then again, some interesting things happen to aura at times of intimacy with another soul.
"It's just what I call the effect of that aura-induced lust," I said dismissively. "So you'll have to find somebody you don't mind sleeping with that has a large lifeforce."
"Oh that's easy," Kuroka said with a sly grin. "You, nya."
I shrugged. "I won't give you kids, remember?" We had talked about that little goal of hers privately and worked out that I wasn't going to give her any kids since I have to be in Remnant. We had also clarified that I'm not really a nekoshou.
"Getting kids to restore my race is important but just having sex is different."
"Well that's true," I acknowledged. "You don't have any romantic obligations to a guy or girl, right?"
"Nyah." Kuroka said it dismissively, like she was saying 'nah'. "Besides, most devils are polygamous. The female to male ratio is actually two to one since mostly guys fought in the great war between the angels, devils, and fallen angels. Powerful devils get multiple women usually. Devils also have loose inhibitions. It has something to do with the sins but I never paid attention to that. So I'm up for the easy and hopefully not quick-" Kuroka smirked seductively at me "-method of raising my attunement."
Something seemed to occur to Kuroka. "Wait, you don't have a lover do you, nya?"
"Only a sort of lab assistant that I sleep with to use this method. Oh, and she's well aware that we aren't dating. She knows I might sleep with somebody else when I'm away. I'm seventeen, what did you expect?"
"I hoped you wouldn't be a virgin, nyaaa." Kuroka grinned. "And what else can this method do?"
"Gaining new affinities and enhancing already existing ones is it," I clarified. "And please don't equate this to the bedroom method senjutsu users do."
"Oh. I thought you had to sleep with a panther to get that panther form for a moment, nya," Kuroka said innocently. I groaned internally.
"No. Just no. I captured a panther and bound it's soul within me to a prison. Look, do you want that skinchanger thing?" Kuroka nodded with a grin. "Fine. Get me your favored animal before I leave and consider it a graduation present."
"Yes!" Kuroka cheered.
"I've already got liquid space affinity, by the way." I reached into my soul space and plucked out a smoothie in a vial that was infused with as much space affinity as I could. "You had to find inner peace eventually. Or Ophis would have just asked me to show you the easy path from the beginning."
"I'll need to thank her, nya." Kuroka looked eagerly into the vial of affinity and towards me. Oh, so she actually is interested in me rather than just going to the first person available. I was actually pretty sure she would want to just sleep with me but i figured that I should offer other people first.
I myself took out a hot coco in a vial that always stayed nearly boiling hot because of the fire affinity in it that Raven put in it. I poked Kuroka's arm and blinked us into an empty room of the manor.
"Let's get started!" Kuroka said happily. Then she popped the cork of the vial.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Abyss, I have to ask, ah, are you a nekoshou, nya?"
"No. I'm called a faunus. Basically a human with animal parts. There are plenty of faunus, from winged ones to ones with gills. I just happen to have panther ears."
"Oh."
"And why do you go 'Nya' all the time? I've seen your sister and while she doesn't talk much she doesn't go 'nya'."
"I go 'nya' because it's fun! Try it, nya!"
"No."
"Do it."
"Not a chance. I have pride, you know?"
"I won't tell anyone."
"I don't believe you."
"Then I'll mess with you and unplug that Xbox you're so fond of."
"Nya!"
"AHAHAHA! That-! NYA! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ugh."
"That - hehe - how attractive, you sounded like a scared kitten! Nya!"
"Damned cat."
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Kid, you smell like sex," Azazel said bluntly as soon as I teleported to him on the due date of the silver essence… you know what? Let's call it the silver gear.
"Guess why," I said dryly.
"Kids and their hormones," Azazel sighed. "The gear was done yesterday at eight PM. It's right over there." Azazel pointed to a large shoebox on a side table of his office. I walked over to it and made sure that it had no traps on it.
"I figured that you'd prefer the gear in your soul like most of them are but of course all gears have a physical form. You didn't specify but the gear was based around magic and attunements so I gave it an appropriate form."
I lifted the top of the shoebox and brushed away some paper. My breath caught.
"Whatever essence you gave me it had some weird effects," he started. "The gear sort of shaped itself, kind of like it had an entity inside it but not quite the same. More like it had a will in it. In old china, around maybe two or six hundred AD, they had scrolls you could write on and the scroll would answer as the ancestor whose will was linked to the scroll would have. I'm guessing that the essence was very important to somebody."
My eyes felt wet. Azazel must have seen something because he seemed to soften a little. "Do you know what drives sacred gears, Abyss?" I didn't answer. "Desire," he said grandly. "That Issei kid wants a harem. Sure, it's childish, but his desire for one is already affecting his gear, making it more powerful. Vali wants to prove his lineage and become the strongest. Also childish, but both he and Issei are honest in their intentions. I think honesty with yourself is also a factor in a sacred gear's power, but that's just me."
Azazel got up and walked over to see the sacred gear with me. "My artificial sacred gears aren't up to my old man's work. I blame desire. I want to make the gears but they're being made because I want to make them. They aren't made with a desire to fulfill some grand purpose in mind. But this one is different. This one had desire. It wanted to be shaped, to be useful. It's the strongest sacred gear I've ever made and it's not even my fault. Whoever you got that essence from had a desire like hellfire and a will strong enough to impress itself on that energy."
Azazel was silent. "I only opened it once." With that said he seemed to have darker features and stalked out of the room. "I'll see you out of my office later. Have your moment."
I said nothing but stared at the pendant. It was small, silver. The chains to go around your neck were a shining silver but very faintly tinted in alternately red and white. The exact shade of Summer's aura and my aura alternating. On the chains were faint etchings of vines with rose flowers on them spiraling around the individual links. It was clear that an exorbitant amount of time and care was given to every single link, of which there were many. A modern yet simple clasp tinted my red held two chains together at the back, making it easy to remove.
At the body of the pendant it was a pure white colored silver with Summer's emblem, a rose, etched into it. Flipping the pendant over showed my symbol in my more red tint of the man by the abyss with grimm crawling out of it. It was a stark contrast to Summer's simple and peaceful emblem to my darker and more detailed one. Summer and I were like that sometimes. Opposites in many ways…
With trembling fingers I opened the pendant with a faint click, pulling the pendant back from the whitened side. A picture was on the right side. A picture nobody had ever taken.
Summer was crouched on a knee hugging Ruby and Yang, both of whom were nearly in tears. Summer's cloak was worn by travel, clearly, shown by a few ragged tears and some dirt on it. Even so her smile was brilliant. Off slightly to the side was Taiyang smiling proudly at his children.
Behind Summer off to the side I was almost leaning against the wall, more shaded by the portrait. I was more easily ignored but if noticed the expression on my face was clear in the smile.
Peaceful.
Under the portrait on a small amount of whitened silver lay Summer's epitaph, "Thus kindly I scatter".
On the other side of the portrait was a far different scene. Summer, Tai, Ruby, and Yang all stood in awe of a clear night sky, Summer and I were nearly side by side looking at the family with nearly mirrored expressions. Soft smiles were expressed on both of our faces.
But neither of these scenes were how the events had gone. I had been taking a picture when we were in Summer's soulspace. When Summer had come home it hadn't been travel worn and to teary faces. Summer had called everyone with breakfast. I hadn't even had a body.
Something itched at my consciousness and I closed the locket. Then I flipped it to the red tinted side and slowly opened it. My lips pressed together at the different pictures.
A larger man with lean muscles and a black goatee flecked with dark grey wore strict frown on the left. He was dressed in black pants and an untucked maroon dress shirt. Always a little stiff, a little more formal than necessary. He was a poor stepfather too.
Beside him stood a smaller and petite lady in slightly more relaxed clothes with a neutral yet intense expression. The lady was missing an eye, wearing a pirate eyepatch over it instead that was partially covered by long dark brown hair. The neutral expression and oddly comical pirate eyepatch seemed like they should clash but looked strangely natural on her. Mom always did
In front of the two were three others in order of height. First was a young man with raven hair in a dark blue dress shirt in the same style of his father and grey jeans. He wore a faint smile, like somebody had told a joke a few minutes ago and he was reminiscing on it. Looking at him gave me the faint sense that the joke he was told was about me.
Roger always did like pissing people off. Except me, luckily.
Second in the line was a bored looking girl with dark brown hair in a ponytail that looked closely like her mother's. She wore, in a deviation from the others and their style, a leather jacket and a white shirt underneath. Her jeans were the same grey as her brother but with zippered pockets. Given an estimate most would say she was in her late teens.
Ruby… the other Ruby.
Finally was a somewhat short brother. His hair, in seeming defiance of the rest of the family's genetics, was a pale blond. His eyes seemed more guarded and a little harder than the rest of his siblings. He wore a slightly ruffled suit his size colored black but with a dark grey dress shirt underneath. If you looked closely you could see dried blood on his nose that had tried to be hidden. Looking even closer would show that he seemed to lean back just a little bit towards the lady.
I forgot… didn't I…
I almost closed the pendant then and there. But when I glanced to the other side it was too late. But I was lucky. It was nowhere near that family.
I myself was sitting down, like most of the clan. We were all in something resembling a circle around a pine tree that had various ornaments on it, some of which were the typical colored globes and some of a more interesting variety like carved animals. Ruby was holding out a rectangular christmas present that I recall had the schematics for the mechanical armor I still have. I should give that to somebody now that I have my gloves. I hardly ever used it anyways.
Raven was glancing at a book down in her hands titled 'Leadership and tactics for dummies'. Her new swords lay at her side in their sheath. This was right before the icy forest, hm? I remember.
There's no inscription of any kind on these set of photos. Good. Some things are better off forgotten. Damned pendant.
I closed the pendant once more before I lost myself in memories and looked silently at it. I think I know what this pendant is based around… of course it is. Summer only ever desired one thing. Desire fuels it, hm? …
Argent mother - Sacred gear; Magic accessory
Rarity: Unique
Material composition: Silver eyes energy (physically shown as silver and silver alloys)
Balance breaker: Thus kindly I scatter - Sacrifice all mana and aura in a massive unavoidable strike against all those considered threats to family or yourself. Only works in a variable radius dependant on aura and mana used. Mana and aura will not regenerate naturally for 24 hours after use. Affinities will be unusable for 24 hours after use.
Special traits: Family-bound (Xiao-Long; Mavros; Rose; Branwen)(Will always find its way back to family possession; cannot be used except by those considered family to those listed), Specific magical affinity foci (Purity) (x125(x5 due to foci skill)), innate affinity (Purity - 8700),
Bio: Upon the death of Summer Rose her only wish was to protect her family. Her eyes were gifted to a trusted family friend and personal 'bestie' Abyss Mavros. The eye's essence was combined with his own purity affinity to gift to him more powerful silver eyes not seen in centuries and believed to have died out completely.
For years Summer's eyes served her friend stalwartly until an accident in divine beginnings and endings caused his silver eyes to be tainted by the divine affinity and their essence gifted back to Abyss on the duty of a goddess of light called Althea. However, the eyes were tainted with their origin, Summer Rose.
Upon seeking out a fallen angel to forge the silver essence to a greater form a new origin was created. The origin of a new 'sacred gear', the argent mother, was created more powerfully from the slight divine power in it's being and shaped around the desires of Summer Rose, to protect her family no matter the cost.
Summer… always keeping me on the straight and narrow, huh? And that balance breaker. It's either a stupidly powerful kamikaze move or… no. It's certainly a stupid kamikazi move. I doubt I'll be using that often, if ever. Hopefully not ever.
I quelled my tears and grabbed the necklace, putting it firmly around my neck. A connection between my soul and something in the sacred gear formed and i felt it turn to an essence in me. A brief flex of my will brought it out to physically manifest itself and I knew that I could manifest it at will whenever I want. Kind of like the gauntlet the boosted gear serves as.
A long shuddering sigh left my lips and I pulled myself to the Pendragon manor. The change of scenery was barely noticed as I plopped down in the rec room and collected myself.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Qrow we have a problem."
"Huh?"
"Not right now but, uh, your sister. Should we reserve a seat for her at the wedding or… "
"She'll probably turn up as a raven in a tree somewhere and watch the proceedings."
"Are you sure?"
"What, do you think that she'll go down into the seats and say 'Oh hi daughter of mine. Be quiet for a moment so I can watch my brother's marriage.'"
"More like she'll grab me from my bed at night and interrogate me to see if I'm suitable to hold the blood of the Branwen tribe or something."
"…"
"Qrow?"
"Well… maybe?"
"No Qrow seriously."
"I am serious. She really might do that."
"Oh dust."
"She isn't going to kill or seriously hurt you-"
"What?!"
"-but she might show up beside your bed one night with her blade to your throat. When-if! I mean if! If she does then just calmly answer her questions and when she asks you to prove your worth in combat… well, run."
"Run?!"
"Rave's a maiden and one of the deadliest huntresses on Remnant, not to mention whatever stupid bullshit powers Abyss taught her. You better run and hope she doesn't feel like following if you think you can get away. If you're not confident you can even run from her then… well, improvise."
"Wouldn't your sister respect honorable combat or something? Trying my best? I know I suck at real fighting but I can hold my own with an average huntress."
"Being average isn't good enough. Even if you try you know she's a maiden and you know how stupidly strong she is. Fighting her would be stupid and my sis doesn't like stupidity."
"Then… hm."
"Don't do it."
"Do what?"
"Whatever you're thinking to do don't. I know that look."
"I'm doing it."
"Dust-damnit. Just don't die. Also, keep a knife and some explosives under your pillow."
"We sleep in the same bed, Qrow."
"She killed two goliaths in one strike once."
"Five knives then. Do you know where I can get a ballistic missile?"
"The missile would fly away from her in fear."
[|||| =+= ||||]
The gargantuan stony hide of the beast cracked in tandem with the lightning once more and it roared in agony. I aimed my rifle at the open wound in it's armor and a rhythmic crack of bullets signalled pain for it. I faintly saw shards of stone fly out the other end and assumed that the bullets pierced through, hopefully causing internal damage on this creature.
The beast turned it's bull head towards me with bestial rage in it's eyes once more and belched black flames. I already knew them to be infused with a pain affinity of some sort and I teleported through the air as the flames heated the already burnt and cracked ground upon which I once stood.
Teleporting wouldn't normally be an option but if I cleared out the mana from the air it worked perfectly until the ambient mana crept back in. It was a little heavy on my mana to get rid of all the thick affinity around me and keep the area clear but a little mana and void combined made a potent reaction that worked fine.
The beast in question had a bull's head with glowing red slits resembling gills around its neck, a man's torso, and what seemed more like pig legs than bull legs, all of which were red or black. He was as tall as a two story building and his skin was hard and stiff like stone with no real entrances other than his mouth and the gills.
To top it all off he had a magical resistance of some sort that made the void/mana black hole not one-shot it by tearing it's affinity and mana from it. Even so it's soul was permanently marred each and every time it got hit by the black hole.
The thing that made fighting him so easy was how stupid he was. He also couldn't fly and had no counter to quick attacks other than to pour affinity in the air from his gills and tell the elementals that spawn from the concentration to attack me.
I liked using void to rid his skin of whatever magical trait gave him a resistance to magic and then using destructive methods to wound him. Lighting was just one such destructive method.
The creature roared once more and his hands lit aflame as he hurled fireballs at me. I dodged them all easily and sent another spear of mana infused with void at him. The black lance tore through the air and buried itself in the beast's gut. It snarled and turned itself to make the target I opened harder to hit but not fast enough. A barrage of lightning tore into the weakened patch of hide and caused the beast to spasm. Hacking snarls escaped from it's snout.
One more teleport to it's front let me point my finger to it's larger open wound and release what looked like a shotgun blast of mana all attuned to purity and enhanced with my sacred gear acting as an amplifier.
The beast roared weakly once, twice, and whimpered a third time before it fell to its side, too weakened by the purity burning in it's insides to act. I walked to it's throat and it weakly lifted it's head to look at me before letting it's head fall to the ground once more.
The gills on its neck glowed weakly with the red of concentrated infernal affinity, far weaker than before. I doubt it could summon enough affinity to make the air hazy if even that.
I leapt onto the beast's face and made a spear of purity mana that was swiftly aimed in the beast's eye. Since the battle was over already now I used my sacred gear to enhance my purity affinity. I might as well make it quick. A brief thrust and the creature was dead.
The message of XP was easily ignored and I looked over the creature's body. Could I do anything with it? It had a rather strong affinity for fire…
No. The fire is tainted with the infernal affinity. I'd rather stay far away from devil stuff. I kind of like my humanity and absorbing random affinities I find lying around is likely bad for my health and immortal soul.
I sighed and looked towards what I had deemed as the west, though there wasn't actually one. The underworld didn't have a sun below the first level, or circle as it's called. The first level only had a sun because a guy named Beelzebub made one for the newly reincarnated devils to feel more at home. Nice guy but going down below the first circle showed just how alien the underworld was.
The air seemed to be… breathing, for lack of a better term. The infernal essence was thick and clumped together often, forming elementals that looked like what I imagine an imp would be portrayed as. Short and humanoid with wings and small horns. As they grew stronger they stood taller mostly with a few other minor differences such as slightly less repulsive faces and the ability to manifest their infernal affinity into a ball that they threw at me. It looked like fire, quite a bit, actually.
I wonder if the infernal affinity exists on Remnant? I've never looked much at the religions of Remnant but I know monotheism exists there. Summer was a bit involved with religion for a time before I met her. Other than that I guess it never popped up. Ah, but Qrow has that necklace, the silver one with the crooked cross on it. So maybe the christian religion does exist on Remnant.
It doesn't matter right now though.
I turned my attention away from the beast and surveyed the molten fields. A whole herd of creatures like the beast milled around nervously. They're all significantly smaller and their gill-like slits glowed less intensely not to mention that they're much weaker. I think they're all females though I already assumed that the one I killed was the alpha, the male of the… herd. It's like with normal cows but they're all more evil looking.
I ignored the herd of creatures and sensed as far as I could for a strong affinity or pool of mana. I found none except a pit that I know leads to the next circle.
A scowl ran across my face. The bull was a little strong but it wasn't… good. I hadn't even used my glove and it had died without too much real effort. I want a challenge. Sure it's a bit arrogant to go deeper looking for a fight but I need to do something at least.
Also I just want to go down here. I'm curious. Sue me.
I just hope there's something more interesting as I go farther down.
[|||| =+= ||||]
Concerning Miss Ruby Rose,
Hello Miss Rose, I am Ozpin Meridian, the headmaster of Beacon. My apologies for the abruptness of a personal letter from myself in the midst of your summer but with such a long time between your formal application and your official due date to enter the academy you and an adult with whom you are taking residence with or your legal guardian must meet with an official of Beacon, namely me or any other staff or counsellors. The adult in question should be family of immediate or extended relation. You and your associated adult must be present within one month of Beacon's initiation.
Typically these measures would not be taken but as of extenuating circumstances such as your official guardian being of renown, the early admission of yourself, the questionable actions of your guardian as of late, and other such factors, I felt the measure should be taken. Mister Mavros, to my understanding, is unavailable so while he must have the same measure taken I will personally have the same meeting with him and streamline the process so as to ensure your and his admittance to Beacon is smoother.
When next you see your unofficial sibling please inform him of this decision as I understand him to be out of mail and scroll reach. Have a pleasant break Miss Rose.
-Ozpin Meridian
[|||| =+= ||||]
I may have overestimated myself a little.
The beholder, or at least that's what observe called it, shot another blast of infernal affinity at me. The concentrated affinity mixed with something called force affinity slammed into my icy barricade. Even with the ice augmentation and my creation of packed ice, which was harder than solid rock, the blast blew chips of ice around and made a sizable indent on the wall.
The other five beholders in a half-circle around the wall readied their own blasts as well. Stupid giant eyes. I would have killed them if not for how big and magic resistant they are. They're all the size of mammoths and I think that only half of my spell's power affected them. They were anti-spellcasters, in other words.
At least the blasts were manageable now. Before I wiped out the infernal affinity around me with void the blasts of infernal and energy affinity condensed all the affinity around the area and used the ambient affinity to make a bigger, better explosion that sometimes made more explosions. A single bomb became one big explosion and twenty smaller ones. Such a pain in the ass…
With a small focus of void affinity I peeked out the side and threw my hand out. Tendrils of void affinity lashed out and struck at the beholder's souls and made the beholders shudder and one to even die. In their hesitance I lashed again and sliced the soul of another nearly in half, causing the death of the creature.
By then the beholders had recovered and shot more blasts at me. One came particularly close to me and threw me back a little, singing my right arm and hand a little. It would have been worse without aura. I hissed and flowed a little life affinity at the burn. A moment later and my arm was fine.
I winced at the booming of another barrage of infernal blasts. That's it. I'm done with these guys. Stupid one-trick ponies.
I reached into my prime affinity and drummed up a storm from scratch. The underworld is too dry to properly make a storm. The beholders' barrage stopped for a moment.
Right, they don't have storms down here. It's all magma and ashen soil besides some few gnarled trees and geothermal heated lakes with a red bacteria that makes the bubbling waters look like blood.
The storm I summoned was just a medium to strike at the beholders though. I focused on it and brought my lightning affinity to bear with an infusion of half a million points of mana. A deafening boom sounded, or it did for them. I protected my ears with motion affinity slowing the air around my ears, my air affinity being occupied with the storm.
I peeked out from my wall once more and saw all ten beholders I had killed throughout the battle laying in deflated heaps. The four I had just killed were easily identifiable, being blackened and charred around the pupils. Four more were easily picked out due to being dead by my attacks with my weapon or guns. Then I had to retreat behind my wall and they pinned me.
The final two were a little suspicious just because of how healthy they looked. They had no magic power whatsoever but they still looked like they should be alive in body yet they weren't.
I glanced at the gloves on my hands. If even the sixth circle couldn't stand between me… what could the seventh do?
A smile crept onto my face. I'd like to fight whoever's there.
Before I moved on, though, I heard a creaking to my right. A glance showed another face trapped in a scream looking out at me from one of the gnarled trees. It's eyes seemed to follow me.
As of this floor I had started seeing souls tainted with corruption trapped in the trees and rocks, suffering. I decided early on that if they're in hell I probably shouldn't have anything to do with the people.
It also took on a new view of the corruption affinity. Did being evil grant the affinity? Did the god of the bible decide all those with the corruption affinity were evil? Corruption was malicious, certainly, but for people with corruption to be sent to the sixth circle of hell? Harsh…
I ignored the screaming face and continued on. To the seventh circle I go. Hopefully there's no more damned souls. They make me feel uncomfortable since I can feel the souls here but I just know that messing with the damned is a bad idea.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Ruby what is this?"
"Um, I got it at dad's house. It arrived in the mail."
"Ugh."
"That's what I said - or, well, muttered."
"Yes, well, this isn't exactly subtle of the old man."
"He wants to meet with me about the maiden stuff, right?"
"He wants to get a read on you and probably set the record straight. He also seems to want to meet with me as well."
"Huh?"
"He wants extended or immediate family that you're living with. Other than me there's nobody else."
"Oh. Maybe… Hm… "
"I'll come."
"Huh?!"
"I'm under Abyss' protection. Ozpin won't strike at me and I'm the spring maiden not to mention I'm your family and Qrow's sister. Ozpin can't strike at me without striking at Qrow, you, and Abyss. I'm invulnerable. The most he could do is keep me for a little while but even then I could tell Abyss and any hope of alliance between the two would be more a dream than a hope."
"Oh… so you want to come?"
"No… but going to Beacon is important you you, isn't it?"
"Well yeah."
"Then I'll be coming. Besides, letting you go to the old man on your own is risky. I don't trust you to not spill something to him."
"Oh… that makes sense."
[|||| =+= ||||]
There was a massive guy frozen in ice… well that's not true. I mean, sure he's probably a guy but… well he's also a monster. Let's just call him a monster. It's easier.
The monster was similar to a fallen angel, that much was certain, though he had twelve sets of wings like Azazel so he's pretty clearly strong. He had the upper body of a fallen angel and the lower body of a snake. He also had several strange features. His fingers were clawed like a bird's talons and he had no lips. His hair was long and drawn to a short ponytail that didn't look very feminine at all. All of this was much larger than the norm. He was as big as Icmant was, towering above me.
All of this was certainly intimidating and made me a little uncomfortable but… why is he here? Or, more specifically, why is he hidden behind so many protections? He's trapped in some sort of magical ice and under the ice in silvery chains covered in runes. So many runes. I can feel the magic like a massive pressure on me. It's like standing next to the biggest bonfire imaginable that's running on gasoline.
I could feel his soul too. Even through all this protection I can feel his utterly huge soul leaking out through the bindings just a little.
I could… release him. I mean, the runes have all sorts of mana and affinity reinforcing them but they're using magics. I happen to have void, a literal anti-magic…
Who is this guy to have so much protection keeping him in?
Samael
Titles: The first serpent; Original sinner; Defier of divinity; Personification of evil; Poisoned heart; The first deceiver
Level – 10,747
HP – 97,590
STR - 7,407
VIT - 9,759
DEX - 6,102
INT - 16,855 (+1000%)= 185,405
WIS - 13,639 (+250%)= 47,736.5
LUK - [NULL] = [NULL]
Affinities:
Serpent (Sealed): 9,825,738 (x32) = 314,423,616
Poison (Sealed): 7,083,956 (x32) = 226,686,592
Corruption (Sealed): 4,585,370 (x32) = 146,731,840
Nature (Sealed): 2,759,345 (x32) = 88,299,040
Fire (Sealed): 1,049,475 (x32) = 33,583,200
Earth (Sealed): 7,739,474 (x32) = 247,663,168
Water (Sealed): 4,639,375 (x32) = 148,460,000
Life (Sealed): 2,483,041 (x32) = 79,457,312
Origin (Sealed): 12,753 (x32) = 408,096
Purity (Sealed): 51 (x32) = 1632
Perks:
Defier of divinity - The divine commanded and you rebelled. For resisting the commands of the first one, the almighty, you have survived to grow stronger and wiser. For what may stand over you if not the divine?
-+250% WIS
-Immune to compulsions via fate, origin, reality, mind, or any other compulsory force other than yourself, rendering the LUK stat null.
Elder being - You existed before the dawn of the world. Before the species of the world spread like locusts. You have seen the world at its birth and been born of the first being at the time when the world was rich with the rawness of affinities. From this age of origin you emerged and until the time of your end you shall likely remain. Yet, mana was not present at your birth and your soul has grown numb to it's embrace.
-+2000% INT
-Affinities are 32x more potent
-Mana may not be used internally
-Your soul cannot be erased. Only assimilated, transmuted, or otherwise changed.
Divine seal - The one known as God has placed a seal upon you to the best of his ability.
-No perception of time
-No movement is allowed
-No use of affinity is allowed
-No amount of physical force may break your cage
-No personality may be expressed
-No escape may be conducted by an internal force
-So long as you reside in Cocytus you may not be freed
Bio: Samael was one of the first of God's creations, one of the few to reside in his garden when the earth was still inhospitable to most life. Over thousands of years in God's gardens, however, Samael grew bored of the endless monotony of the garden. No conflict was allowed, nor any form of chaos whatsoever. This was unappealing. Samael thus strove for God's attention, becoming a troublemaker simply to liven up the garden.
Upon the creation of Adam and Eve, the most promising of God's new creations, Samael sought to bring them to chaos, bringing more liveliness to the garden. However, Adam and Eve, after taking part in the games of Samael, were cast out as God's patience snapped as he felt rage at Samael interfering with his grand plans for a brighter future and the peace of the garden was restored with their casting out.
Samael, however, was not simply cast out. He was imprisoned with the greatest of God's runes and magics holding him. He still feels bitterness towards his creator for seemingly overreacting towards his games. In his imprisonment he became powerful and cruel.
Seeing his imprisonment of Samael simply let a wound fester God sealed Samael fully, locking him away as best he could, letting a dark mistake die in the darkness.
Well no. I'm just going to… go somewhere else. Yeah, somewhere else.
I mean sure the guy is super weak sealed the way he is and I could break that runic matrix easily but why though? I would get a buttload of experience but… well he's really, REALLY strong. If I weaken those seals on his affinities even a tiny bit he'd utterly crush me. Seriously those affinities are plain stupid, though the fact that he doesn't have mana would make him a lot weaker. I'd bet that he can use mana pretty easily with a catalyst though. I could make one really easily…
Sure I have stupidly large affinities too if I use a catalyst. I have over fifteen million storm affinity with my glove multiplying my affinities by so much.
Could I kill him if I dumped all my stats into WIS and INT? Probably… right? I mean, I have void with me and getting all that mana and the power of a stronger soul from the WIS checkpoint skills… it wouldn't even have to be all of my stats. Just to a thousand INT and WIS would let me know. I'm not even gaining all that much power from training any more… a month could net me what? Maybe a paltry point in INT or WIS? Certainly not both.
You know what? Let's just leave this place. Leave and never come back. Even so, though, I'd bet that somewhere else in this prison area there are other beings I can fight…
No. Not with people like Samael around to harm me. If I miss some void attack I could release a prisoner I can't handle. It's not anywhere near worth it.
I stopped and sensed for a moment longer.
There's still more below me… an eighth circle.
I stopped and looked down contemplatively…
Down we go.
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Why the hell do you care about some random girl in a random forest pathway in… well who cares about some girl?"
"She is not some girl. She is Amber, the… well actually I can't tell you."
"So you don't even know what's so special about her?!"
"I do. I just can't tell you. Ask Branwen."
"If you want this girl dead just have me hire an assassin or ask the bosslad-"
"Quiet. She's coming. Remember, I get the final blow and she has to be looking at me when she dies."
"Why?!"
"… Because somebody with a possession semblance is looking through her eyes and we need to send a message."
"Well why didn't you say so Cindy?! Dust damnit is is really that important?! Look, now I'll be quiet."
"Right…"
[|||| =+= ||||]
The hooded people were creepy.
"Ah, hi." I frowned at the hooded guys and observed them. Levels about two hundred or four hundred between the seven of them. They were apparently reapers, servants of a being called Hades, the god of the underworld.
I'm more concerned that they all possess a death affinity. Nothing I've ever seen has had that affinity. So they're probably closer to the undead than the living. I'd bet that my life affinity can repel their affinity for death. Void would be better, though.
One of the hooded beings stepped forward, the strongest of them at level four hundred twenty two. "Silence," she said cuttingly while politely. It was a strange inflection and I didn't expect a womanly voice from such an ominous getup. "Why and how are you here, mortal? You are neither demon nor spirit, though you possess a connection with spirits within. So what are you?"
"My name is Abyss," I said a little casually. "I'm something like a powerful wizard. My race doesn't matter, though I'm something like a nekomata without the element of a youki. Don't ask."
"No matter," the being said dismissively. She waved her hand and I saw a small glimpse of hands made of bone under her thick sleeve. "What is your purpose in the realm of the dead? The living and those without the spirit of the infernal have no place here." The being paused. "Do you seek death?"
"No," I said neutrally. "I quite like life and I've already died twice. It becomes boring."
"Twice?" the being asked curiously. She peered at me and hummed. "Perhaps so. You carry a faint taint of death… your soul resides but you are not truly that which you appear. You are simply possessing such form as you are in?"
"Yes," I confirmed. I was curious as to how she figured out that I was more possessing this body than bound to it like most people were.
"Like divinity," one hooded figure in the back muttered. He sounded masculine. So they have genders then. I couldn't confirm it but I think the gazes on me grew more intense.
"How did you come across such a… trait?" the leading reaper asked.
"I worked," I said vaguely. Clearly the reapers were displeased by my vagueness so I continued on. "I'm currently here because I was scouring the underworld to find enemies to fight that stretched my limits. There are not many that I can fight on even terms. At this point I need to find somebody to train me properly, recede to train myself and discover strength for my own, or sacrifice what potential I have for a more substantial gain right now."
The reapers shuffled uneasily. A silence rang out between us. I waited for them to respond feeling a little impatient. These reapers in front of me probably aren't worth much to me unless they're really skilled but I somewhat doubt it.
"If you wish to fight a reaper you may either fight all of us or none of us and I assure you that lord Pluto, Thanatos, and Orthos are all at the peak of our race's strength." The head reaper concluded, "I will relay your request for mentorship or strong enemies to learn from to lord Hades. Do not expect a reply."
I looked at the reaper in irritation. "I do not want your god's mentorship. Nor do I want enemies provided for me with the intent of acquiring a favor from me."
"No matter," the reaper said with another wave of her hand. "Now leave."
I rolled my eyes and turned away. "Enjoy reaping souls or whatever it is you do in this circle." I found the pit in the ceiling that I had descended from and leaped, rather easily loping up the sides.
I think I learned a lesson here. There's a power gap between the middle of the pack and the top only crossable by nefarious deeds or inborn traits.
I grunted as I hit the top of the pit, breathing a little heavily. As if from my subconscious thoughts my character menu appeared in front of me. So little gain… I had gained only thirty four points in INT since Icmant.
My hand clenched a little and I looked at the points. My selective memory could recall every moment where I had gained points.
Even now the gap between my acquisition of them was getting bigger and bigger. It was one week for the five hundred first. Then a week and a day. Fast forward to the twentieth and it was more like a month and a half.
I could be so much stronger. Keeping an ace up my sleeve isn't a good idea, is it? Like the transition to a higher soul gave me intense pain and then I barely stayed conscious before fighting Icmant.
I was still for a moment before I sighed and waved away the points.
Maybe my patience is wearing thin. I'm not fighting. My life's not in danger.
I'm always in danger. I could get new parallels. New skills to train. I could still get stronger. My growth would be exponential.
Or would it?
I stopped playing back and forth with myself and growled to myself. This accomplishes nothing. I've done fine so far. Why change what I've been doing if it works?
Even as I ascended the circles of hell my mind kept leaning towards the points. I could be so much more…
[|||| =+= ||||]
"Sis! You're back!"
"Uf! Ah, hi Jaune. Aren't you getting a bit big for hugs?"
"Tell that to mom."
"I like my life. I have enough trouble dealing with Ozpin and work already."
"I'll say."
"Mom… it's nice to see you again."
"How long are you back this time?"
"Summer break. I get the whole time off but I have some papers and stuff to fill out. Glynda still helps me with that but I'll just need an hour or two a day to work on them."
"Wanna spar? I've gotten a lot stronger!"
"Maybe later, Jaune."
"You could have visited, sweetie."
"You know I would have. I was busy. Being a teacher isn't exactly easy."
"Hmph. You had winter break at least."
"I… yeah. I'm sorry. You're right."
"Of course I'm right. Running off to Vale is fine so long as you support yourself but running off and not contacting your family for weeks at a time is far less okay. You know I don't even like you dealing so close to Ozpin."
"He's a family friend now, mom."
"Ozpin seemed alright when I met him. I liked the guy."
"Seeming nice and being nice are two entirely different things."
"Like Glynda."
"Not her."
"Well that seems awfully two-faced."
"Deal with it sweetie. Now come inside. It's hot out."
"Maybe you shouldn't wear a sweater than."
"Maybe you should shut your mouth honey before something flies into it. Such as my fist. I'm happy to spar, you realize? I'm your mother. I can beat you without even using my hands."
"We both know she's right."
"Yes mom."
"Good call, sis."
[|||| =+= ||||]
Time passed once more. I spent it in a bit of a dry period of sorts. Kuroka's training went smoothly and we grew a bit closer. Ophis was a little clingy and I spent my time giving her a quiet space or cooking. She stalwartly took three meals a day, having discovered the wonders of food. She doesn't really like other food though. I know my food is good, but nobody ever likes it that much. I don't get it but if she really likes my cooking that much it's fine.
I actually found that trying to infuse void into a sandwich and leaving it bare of affinities made it much more appealing to her. I ended up just assigning a parallel to her to cook for her at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of which breakfast and belgian waffles were her favorite. I guess she doesn't get fat so of course she would eat as many sweets as possible.
Arthur seemed to warm up a little to me. I didn't realize that it was actually him that bought those game consoles, although he didn't often play anymore. We played a few times together and had something of a light friendship.
But of course… I had only so much time. I had felt the dimensional anchor tensing on my body and soul. It was like a chain at the center of my soul but I couldn't touch it with my mana or aura or… well anything. I didn't dare use void on it but I'm not sure that would work anyways. The chain was likely more existential than magical, though if that's truly how it is I have no idea how Salem did that.
At least I had gotten most of what I wanted to do done. I got my purity affinity made into a gear, I fought some moderately strong beasts in the underworld, and I know now that I'll probably have to make my own void elemental from void and something else. I have some ideas.
That doesn't make leaving easy at all, though, with unfinished business and all.
"NYAAA! Don't go Abyss-sensei!" Kuroka said dramatically, clinging to me. She wasn't actually that emotional but she was just dramatic. I have no doubt that she is really a bit upset, though.
"Mm," Ophis hummed discontentedly. She wore her usual emotionless expression but I still felt quite clearly how annoyed she was. I was HER friend. Not that she was MY friend, though I felt she was… I would say that it's somewhat like a relationship between a dog and a woman except less degrading, though sometimes it feels a little like that.
"Do visit eventually," Arthur said crisply. The slight increase in formality in his tone hinted at a little discontent at me leaving. I was never really a burden for the Pendragon family and Ophis was just a force of nature that occasionally popped off to manage the khaos brigade. She couldn't really be stopped.
"Goodbye Abyss-sama," Le Fey said nervously. We hadn't spent much time together. She spent most of her time practicing magic and all the magic she practiced was very different from what I used. She often exercised the mystical affinity that Kuroka also had and used ritual circles, both things I have no experience in.
"I'll see you all eventually," I assured them. "Unless I'm unable to, which is improbable to say the least."
"Don't take too long!" Kuroka sniffed.
"It was enjoyable to play video games with you," Arthur said with a glance towards the rec-room.
"I'll visit," I repeated. "I just have school, unfortunately. I can't let my sister go to the old wizard alone and I prefer to keep my promises."
"You never explained that to us," Le Fey interjected quietly.
"I know," I said with a small twitch of my lips. I felt the tug on my soul increase and I winced. Just a minute longer. "It's time. Goodbye, you a-"
The anchor, unfortunately, didn't care for my politeness or goodbyes. The tug this time was far stronger and I felt that pulling sensation. The images and colors and worlds flashed before me the same as before and I closed my eyes at the brightness of it all.
The red dragon glanced at me and snorted disdainfully before turning into a barrel roll.
An angel with a face so cold that it was inhuman barely glanced my way yet a force pressed against my mind as I passed by her. It passed too quickly for me to think on it.
A man with golden hair and a beast filled to the brim with corruption faced each other. A woman with long dark - is that Raven? The world passed.
A woman with red eyes and a porcelain face stared into my eyes. They felt faintly menacing but also cunning and curious. "You're back. Do you have time for tea before you go? I'd like to hear about this other world."
I blinked. Oh, I'm here. "Er, right. Just a moment. Transporting dimensions is… odd." Salem nodded understandingly and seemed to glide across the room. Right, she does that. I saw that tea was actually already out and that Hazel did not fit well in the small seats that were laid out for us.
I sat down a little shakily. Salem politely poured a small cup of chocolate brown tea in front of me before tending to her own cup.
"We never really got to talk before," I started. "Would you mind that we do that now? I still have a lot of questions about you. You seem far more tame than I had thought you would be."
"Of course, so long as you answer mine in turn," Salem answered smoothly. Did she get tea for me as soon as I travelled back since she knew I'd be queasy and feeling off?
"How was your stay in the other?" Salem asked. I assume the other is the other dimension.
"It was… pleasant," I said hesitantly. Salem nodded and I took the cue to continue. "People are luckily civilized there. I woke up in a field near some forests and immediately met a person who felt my entrance named Ophis. A god of infinity."
"Oh dear," Salem sighed. "A reasonable one?"
"A nearly emotionless one," I explained. I still felt off from going from the manor to Remnant directly and suddenly having tea with Salem. "At least in expression. Her aura faintly projected her own emotions. She was also very closely affiliated with the void. She was kicked out of her home in the void surrounding her world by a deity of exactly equal strength. She didn't want to share, you see. So she clung to me and I got rid of the affinities around her, giving her more comfort than she could really have before."
"A slave?" Salem questioned. I shook my head.
"No. She would have actually followed along with me and teleported to attend to any responsibilities of hers should I have wanted to leave. The path of least resistance, you see. I went to a few events, had an energy of mine made into a more suitable form, made a few friends, and learned a fair bit under Ophis, though I learned from my observations far more than she tried to teach me."
Salem nodded and sipped her tea a little. "Do you recall what I said to you before you were transported?"
"Trust goes both ways," I repeated. "Believe me, I recall. I trusted you to cast the spell and you trusted me enough to give me more power over the void."
"Indeed," Salem agreed. "Though I wish to know what lessons you learned while in the other."
"A few." I stopped and thought for a moment. "The biggest one is that those who are not human are truly not human." I frowned sadly. "Ophis is not human. She does not particularly care about humans. She cannot completely relate to humans. This is all because she is not human. The same goes to other mortal species as well but to a lesser degree. It is the immortals who are so very different. The ones that are above humanity. They are different and there is little we can do to change that. The differences may be subtle but the point stands."
Salem was silent for a few seconds, thinking over my perceived lesson. "You mentioned an object and an energy?"
"I'd rather keep that relatively private actually," I said apologetically. Salem raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Let's say that it involves an angel, old eyes, a friend's sacrifice, and old memories."
Salem nodded once more and sipped. I glanced at my own tea and tentatively tried it. I blinked in surprise. I don't really like tea other than Raven's, which isn't quite traditional, but this is good.
"Surprised?" Salem asked dryly. I glanced up from the teacup to her. "I've seen the so-called tea that passes in Remnant today. The traditional way is still the best way, though the inconvenience of making the brew is still that, an inconvenience." She took a meaningful sip once and sighed softly. "Unfortunately, I don't truly need to eat anymore after becoming what I am yet I still enjoy the tastes of tea and such commodities."
"That seems convenient, if a little saddening." I paused. "I don't truly need to eat either." Salem didn't seem surprised for some reason. "But I still try to eat a meal a day at least. I still need sleep, unfortunately, though the definition of sleep for me is looser than that for most people."
"It concerns your odd soul, yes?" Salem asked.
I blinked in surprise. I didn't know it was obvious. Still I nodded in confirmation. Still, though, I have a question that I need to ask. "Out of curiosity what is the date?"
"August sixteenth, though it's almost midnight. Beacon starts on the eighteenth, yes?" Salem seemed a little amused as I scowled.
"My apologies to cut this short but would you mind if I asked my own questions and went on my way? I need to check on my company and family before Beacon starts. Not to mention that I need to pack."
Salem nodded easily. "I already told you there's no need to be formal with me. You are not my subordinate. Your questions?"
"To summarize them, your ex husband, your goals, why exactly you're so respectful of me when you could just as easily be commanding and imperious, and whatever you can tell me of the gods to help me understand them. Not the goddess I met but the god and goddess of Remnant."
Salem nodded easily. "I am respectful because there is no reason not to be." I tilted my head slightly and she continued. "Being respectful is simple for me. I do not enjoy fighting. It is easier to talk and attempt to understand a potential ally or associate before fighting them should you believe that they will give you trouble. If I was rude to you I would not gain anything from it. I do not even particularly like being rude, though I occasionally have to do so in order to deal with my subordinates."
Salem looked down into the tea and smiled. It wasn't a kind or even smug smile. It was an angry smile. It promised revenge. "The story of my being the first demon is not quite true or false, yet I cannot tell you why. I can assure you, though, that I am not a demon in soul, though some would say I am in body. As for the other three…" Her eyes looked back up to me and I saw a vicious glint in her eyes.
"It is an old story now known as the girl in the tower. It stretches back to the first races of man and tells the story of Ozman the hero and his love for the lady Salem and how they ruined the world and drove the twin gods from Remnant, cursing the world. Would you care to hear it?"
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