Year 193

“We want to make a deal with Aeon.” Prabu and Collete said to Kei. It’s been close to 6 months since he arrived on the Central Continent, and he’s been visiting. On and off, they did travel to the other continents, but in the end, they returned.

Kei sighed. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t speak for him, so I’ll have to take you to him, if he lets me.”

Prabu was firm. “Yes. Both of us talked about it, and we decided, no, I decided I want to stay here. Colette’s just staying here with me.” I wondered whether these two were an item.

Kei’s magical lips curled. “It’s really not a good idea to base your decisions on which continents have the best snacks.”

“Eh. Am I such a caricature that my entire thought process is summarised down to my love of snacks?”

“Well, no. But is it?”

“No. I like snacks but I’m not stupid. I also like modern conveniences, and on that front, this continent is far ahead of everyone else. Especially here. If there was a place I wanted to stay, it’s here.”

“Have you thought about what you want to offer Aeon as compensation?” Kei said. “Back when I was still alive, I helped Aeon with magical research.”

“I’ve seen Freeka’s colleges, and I think the College needs a proper magical teacher. We both can do that.”

“You know these mortals can’t learn heroic magic.” Kei frowned.

“They can learn by exposure. Just having heroes as lecturers should be a huge selling point for the college. I honestly don’t mind being mascots.” Prabu laughed. “I used to wear costumes for my school plays. So yes, I mean it, I want to live here.”

Kei looked at Colette. “How about you?”

“I’ll travel around, but I’ll probably drop by and just rest here too.” The knight-hero, Hafiz is out to set up his own sultanate in the Western Continent, while Chung the archer went back to the Southern Continent to continue his work on magical contraption again.

I suspected they were probably more than friends, but they didn’t do anything strange while here. Maybe they used some magic to hide themselves from my prying eyes.

“We only have a few years of peace.” Colette said. “Before we’re back to that old disaster, again. There’s still so much to see, and so much to eat.”

“We’ve seen most of the big sights.”

“There are things hidden in plain sight.” Colette responded. “Like how we’ve never seen Aeon’s true body even after we’ve been here so long. There are things we will only discover if we spend the time to find it. These magical senses are tuned to demons, and very little else.”

Of course, that’s really understating how overpowered their normal senses already are.

“Can you please ask Aeon?”

Kei led them to me the next day, and they saw my main body for the first time. They instantly backed a few steps as my presence and theirs clashed.

“The true body is really nothing to scoff at.” Prabu said with a bow. “We humbly greet the great deity of the central continent.”

“I have heard of your request, and it is granted, with some conditions.” They stared and waited for me to continue. I then listed down my requirements. I wanted them to stay out of politics and avoid giving any tacit or implied support to any of the nobles, I didn’t want a political upheaval in my land, and I was concerned that the nobles would be able to gently maneuver the heroes against me.

The heroes are political newbies. They could find themselves indirectly led to a path where they are then forced to make a choice. The only way they could stay in the Central Continent, is if they are directly under my control, and no one else. At the same time, they had to work.

I tasked them, mainly, with creating heroic items, and also working as guest lecturers at FTC.

Just like Kei, when she was still a hero. Prabu accepted it without hesitation, and was more interested in debating the specifics of his compensation for his goods and services.

-

I then approached both Aria and Aispeng, and also Lilies, on the specifics of a pantheon.

I asked Lilies, and Lilies could not answer.

They have not reached that point. > We don’t know. It is a commitment far above what we are ready for. <

Lilies couldn’t answer, either. But I sensed turmoil and conflict through our linked roots, I felt its many minds in fierce debate over the invitation.

-

Aria and Aispeng frowned. “So level 200 is a pantheon. If we get there we can get it too. But we’ll have to wait a few decades. But what happens if we reach level 200 and can we leave the pantheon?”

I honestly answered. “I don’t know. The system does not answer such questions, but I would theorise yes. A pantheon may not be a fixed thing. Only those who selected a subdomain, like my priest Lumoof, are stuck with me.”

“What exactly is a pantheon? What are your powers over us?” Aria asked.

“I also don’t know. I’ll know more when Edna joins my pantheon.”

“Hmmm. Then we will wait until then. We certainly are not friends of the demons or the gods, so I don’t see the problem in joining with you, if it’s not a permanent, irrevocable arrangement.”

-

In truth, any of my domain choices should make the world safer. If I had all of them that would be even better.

I hoped level 250 allowed me to get all of them.

-

During the middle of the year, I got a ping from one of my artificial minds. My artificial mind drew attention to an individual who arrived by sea. The man had long hair tied up into a ponytail, and wore simple armor.

“The Central Continent. How does it feel?” The man asked.

There was a small snake on his shoulder, a real, living snake with dark green skin, but my watchers were already on the lookout for anything snake-related. The snake had glowing red eyes. “We’re being watched.”

“Is it?” The man looked around, but didn’t seem to see anything. “I don’t see any assassins or spies.”

“It’s everywhere. I can taste a faint presence.”

“Oh great. We’ve walked into a trap.”

“No. I don’t think so.”

It’s easy to tell this was Ken. “Heh. So is this trip a mistake? We still can back out now. No, if this is a flag, we should back out.”

“No. The source of the divine energy we felt was here. Even now, I can still taste the residual divine energies in the air. We move.”

“I taste nothing.” Ken rolled his eyes.

“Your senses are crude, human. Come, we shall move to the source of this energy.”

We continued to watch Ken travel from the northern coasts of the central continent, slowly to the center of the central continent. It took them about two months, but Ken finally arrived at Freshka.

“There’s something here reaching out to our minds.” The snake said once they approached Freshka.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You sure don’t know much for a supposedly all-knowing snake.” Ken laughed.

“I’ve never sold myself as an all-knowing snake.”

“Is it? I recall back when you latched onto my soul, I remember quite specifically that you said you have the knowledge of the world and you can help me.”

“My world, not yours.”

“Great, I fell for a marketing misdirection.” Ken rolled his eyes.

The snake didn’t answer.

“Ah, Freshka! I heard Prabu’s here. I should meet him.” Ken said.

“Is dropping by unannounced a common practice in your world? It would be an act of disrespect to us.”

Ken shrugged. “It’ll be fine. Prabu’s pretty chill.”

“He’s still under the control of the gods. They may not be. Not when they detect my presence.”

“Ah yes. That twisted backstory of your world, right?” Ken said. “But you know what, I’ll still meet him. I’m not at risk, you are.”

The snake was silent, and Ken smirked. Ken immediately activated a messaging orb. “Hey Prabu.”

“Oh, hey! Ken! Where’ve you been?”

“Long story, but guess what, I’m in Freshka. Wanna meet up?”

“Wait. what?! Sure, dude! Sure! Uh, you wanna meet at one of the city’s restaurants?” I thought I felt a little bit of echo as I heard Prabu speak through my eyes, and also through Ken’s observer.

“Yeah. Sure. Tell me where.”

They met at an upscale restaurant in Freshka, complete with a private dining room. Of course, the whole place was bugged with my trees. Prabu arrived first, as Ken took a while to find the place.

When they met each other, Prabu immediately frowned. “Who’re you?”

Ken paused, and then realised his disguise was still active. He activated some kind of spell, and now he transformed back into Ken. “Sorry. I’ve got a disguise on, since there are a lot of people looking for me.”

Prabu frowned. “With that ability of yours, how do I know I’m actually talking to Ken, and not someone who just looks like Ken.”

Ken rubbed his chin. “That’s a good question, I actually can’t prove that. It’s entirely possible that Ken’s still back on earth and I’m just a copy of Ken who can shapeshift with flesh-alteration magic. Or it is also possible magically that something ate Ken and stole Ken’s memories, and now this Ken-eating monster now masquerades itself as Ken.”

Prabu smiled and sat. “Alright, Mr looks-like-Ken-but-may-not-be-Ken, so I’ll still call you Ken for short, what’s up? We saw the notification, and your message. Chung will want to know that you’re still alive.”

Prabu then pointed at the snake.

“And also, that snake of yours, where is it from? It feels... familiar.”

Ken immediately placed the snake on a chair. “His name’s pretty hard to pronounce, but I call him Snek, because he looks like Snek. He’s a spiritual hitchhiker. He’s been with me since the very first day we arrived in this world.”

“Really?”

“It took a while for him to wake up, part of the perils of dimensional travel.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I don’t trust the gods to keep both of us safe. Not with the power they’ve given us.” Ken remarked flatly.

“What is it?” Prabu stared at the snake, and the snake coiled up. “And why are you willing to do so now?”

Ken smiled. “Because I’m no longer a hero, and it separated from my soul after it consumed the hero class.”

“The snake ate your hero class?” Prabu’s eyes almost popped out at the second sentence. “How? And why? Seriously, why? What were you thinking?”

A knock on the door, and Prabu tapped a button. The door opened and three waiters came in. They served the food, drinks and snacks, and left when they were done.

“Yes. Where were we? Hero class, what were you thinking?”

Ken looked, and smiled. “Well, I’m pleasantly surprised that you didn’t instantly try to kill me or the snake.”

“What? Why would I?” Prabu leaned back, slightly offended.

“Well, let’s cut to it. We all know there’s some mind control element. It restricts what we think and what we do. I didn’t like that, and Snek helped me to remove it. It’s a win-win situation, since Snek comes from a world that’s devoid of heroes.”

“Wait. Are you saying Snek is a demon?”

“Not quite. Have you ever wondered what would happen to the world if the demons win?”

“Everyone dies?”

“Well, no. The demons kill those that they encounter, but what if they somehow manage to hide?”

“I thought the demons could find those who live?” Prabu frowned

“They have refined senses, yes, but they are not perfect, and certainly not omniscient. There are things they don’t know, and in the snake’s case, they got lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

“Their world was swarmed by flying demons, but they, the snakes and few others, are a species of subterranean creatures. They lived underground and surrendered the entire surface to the demons, and they built their cities deeper and deeper. But, the gods only recognised those who were humans or humanoids as worthy of protection, so sentient snakes and other beasts were abandoned.”

That was fascinating.

“The flying demons and the demon king that made the surface into a demonic world, and yet beneath it, these snakes lived. And they remembered the loss.”

“That’s...”

“The gods discriminate by species.”

“No. The demons have tunneller demons too. Why didn’t they use those?”

This time, it was the Snake-Spirit that answered. “Because the demons have a system. Each demon king that wins a world claims that world for its type. The demon gods created a rotational system to allow each subdemonic race a chance to invade a world, but if it fails, another subdemonic race gets the opportunity to send their Kings. My world was claimed by the dragon-demons.”

Prabu asked a question I always wanted to know. “Then, do you know what are the Demon Kings? How do they become what they are?”

“In every world, the demons will create a massive pool or spawning pit. This is the Heart of the Demons, and it is linked to the Core of the world. The hearts steal power from the world, to create a demon king. It takes almost a century for the heart of the demons to create a demon king.”

This story is different from the one told by the parasite. Prabu frowned and asked. “To be fair, it sounds like your world has managed to coexist with the demons.”

“We do not consider it coexistence. Not when all the surface dwelling species have been eradicated, and those who fled to the tunnels have changed over the millennia. Our world is a demon world, and we feel the pain of the Core that feeds the demons.”

The demons were created from the energies of the captured worlds, and use it to create demon kings.

“The world’s energy fades in strength, each demon king it spawns kills the world a little more, and we fear what happens should the demons consume all of the world’s energy.” The snake answered. “But because we come from a world where the core’s energy has been tainted by the demons...”

Prabu shook his head. “Sounds like a pretty tragic background story.”

Ken actually laughed at it. “I know, right? Anyway, their world needs a hero, so, since I didn’t want to be controlled by the gods, I agreed to give my hero class to them. So, I’m a free man now. Win-win situation.”

“Free only because someone else will be fighting for you.” Prabu frowned. “We could have used another person on the battlefield.”

“Eh. You four are doing fine! I heard of your incredible battles.”

“Those are all exaggerations. Those who were present in the battle all know it didn’t go like that.”

Indeed, there were no spectators. The risks were too high, and everyone present was at a higher level. I lost too many lower level folks when I deployed them during the previous battle. It was also extremely difficult to scry the battle with so much magical interference.

“The four heroes defeated the demon king.” Ken said. “Though, the central continent seems to have a different version of the story, where the warriors from the central continent supported the battle?” As usual, the temples had their own versions of the story, and we too had our own versions. Each side made statements to its own benefit.

Prabu smiled. “We had help.”

“I see.” Ken waited.

“So, why are you here, really?”

“Someone called the Gods here.” Ken said. “Snek wants to know.”

Prabu frowned. “And why is that?”

The snake shook his head. “Let’s just say it’s a curiosity.”

“Are you not afraid? That someone who could call a god here can easily crush you.”

The snake nodded, it’s voice was angry. “So it could. But we want to know. We want to ask why we were abandoned.”

Ken looked at the snake. “Sometimes I wonder whether that’s how the demons came to be. These abandoned races, ascending and then are on a quest for vengeance against the gods who abandoned them. Why are they obsessed anyway?”

The snake didn’t answer. We don’t know why, and it seemed the snake did not, either.

Prabu frowned. “There’s so many holes in your explanation. How’d you even manage to latch on Ken, when we are summoned? That’s a kind of power I’ve not seen before. Your ability to extract the hero class, what exactly did you do?”

The snake looked at Ken, and it was Ken who answered. “These snake-folk, they practice a kind of blood magic.”

Prabu’s face twisted. “Ken, you agreed to work with someone who sacrificed lives for magical power?”

Ken sighed. “Prabu, it’s hard to explain, but yes. There’s a lot more nuance to blood magic than you know, and these snake-folk have a very high level understanding of it. I’m now free of the hero class with no side effects.”

“And how was that achieved, exactly?”

The snake and Ken seemed to share a look. “It’s complicated.”

“You’re not making a convincing case, Ken.”

The snake then said. “There’s a lot of sacrifice involved. Willing sacrifices are key.” Willing? Didn’t I recall the snake using some kind of mind-puppetry or mind control? Ken leaned forward. “We’ve talked about something not relevant for a while. Prabu, I need your help.”

“Help? What kind?” Prabu asked.

“The rumors were very messy. Some of them said there was a heavenly meeting, some said it was something else. We want to know, did somebody summon the gods?”

Prabu laughed. “Ah. The Aivan God’s meeting. Yes, what about it?”

“Do you know how to trigger it again? Snek says it may be his ticket home.”

“I don’t.”

“Where did it happen? Here?”

“Yeah. Somewhere outside of the city. It’s off limits, though.”

“Can you smuggle me there?”

“No.” Prabu shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to try weird shit in this continent. This isn’t a place you can fool around. Even if you’re a hero.”

“Why, some officer of the kingdom’s gonna stop me?” Ken said. “This continent’s a competent religious-military state with a supposedly divine religious figurehead. You’re a hero with divine powers. Heroes win.”

It seemed that Ken had a very different impression of the continent, and Prabu immediately frowned. “Those words are best not tested and said outside of this room, ever. You underestimate the rising god at your own peril.”

“Wait, it’s not a competent religious-military state? All those soldiers in fancy uniforms and high levels? That’s the impression I got.”

Prabu frowned. It was the Snek who stopped at Prabu’s words. “Wait. How powerful is the deity of the land?”

Ken looked at Snek. “Waitaminute, what are you implying?”

“Sawabesarulars you damned fool.” I didn’t know how, but the Snek somehow managed to look like it had an epiphany as it cursed at himself. I presumed that was his name, since it was clearly pretty difficult to pronounce correctly. “Four hundred thirty three years of waiting for the right moment, and you miss this shit. Stupid, elementary mistake.”

“Spill it Snek.” Ken looked serious. Prabu’s frown turned into bewilderment.

“The competent religious-military state is competent, because there is a singular, ascending god at its core. You had the logic backwards. It is not the competence of the military order that maintains the illusion that there is a God. There really is a god, and it is god that imposes competence. All those military guys with high levels, the massive background presence in this entire continent, it could only mean we were watched. All the damned time.”

Ken’s face paled. “Wait. But Chung didn’t say much about this Aeon. The temples certainly painted Aeon as a pretender.”

“Of course they would!” Snek screamed. “Have you no sense of politics?! Even we spirit-snakefolk know about talking shit about your enemies! This is an absolute failure of your information collection!”

“It’s my fault, now?” Ken slammed the table.

“Well, yes. All we know about the central continent has been anecdotes and biased information from the temples and the merchants. Your friends didn't say much either. You, with your supposed treasure trove of tropes, seemed to happily categorise the entire Central Continent into this caricature of a military regime.”

“Tropes are never wrong. Only subverted!” Ken slammed the table again. “I got the trope right!”

“But we got the wrong decisions, you damned fool!”

“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Prabu said. The food was getting cold. Prabu’s plate was clean.

Snek turned to the hero. “Do you know what level is Aeon?”

“I’m not sure, but his two generals, a priest and a knight, joined our battle with the previous demon king. The priest was able to have Aeon descend on the battlefield through him. They really pulled their weight during the battle.”

Ken looked. “Wait. Wait a minute. The natives are not useless?”

“I don’t think so?”

Ken looked at Snek. “This flies against everything you ever said about natives having no chance against the demon kings. That we all need hero-classes to win. You’re wrong too, alien-snake-person.”

The Snek paused. “Our world never had anyone who was able to reach those levels. Even I, the one chosen to take a spiritual form and make the journey to the god-watched worlds, am no more than level 80. We didn’t think it’s even possible for natives to fight.”

Huh. They didn’t need super high levels to break themselves free of the hero class. No, maybe it’s easier to break if the hero class was low levelled.

Prabu looked equally puzzled. “Where’s this conversation heading?”

“I’m sorry, Prabu. We just had a few of our key assumptions rebutted.”

“We should stay here, and watch a bit more.” Snek said, suddenly. “If this is true, I have much to learn about this world. A lot more than just a hero class.”

Prabu frowned. “I’m not accepting freeloaders. You gotta get your own crib.”