With a frustrated huff, I shoved yet another book back onto the shelf. Hundreds of books, yet not a single one mentioned Trismegistus’s race, or any information about the Kitsune race. The only source of knowledge I had on the race was that which I’d learned when studying mythology, and the little bits of information Yuki told me on the few occasions we’d spoken.

Whilst the other Kitsune mentioned our race had a patron god, she’d never told me their name, or any information beyond saying I’d be called to the ancestral village after forming my first wisp.

Looking back on my interactions with the god, it seemed to fit into place. There were some mythos that said Kitsune appeared as young women sent to seduce, but others mentioned male Kitsune who took the form of a wise elder, or young boy.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why wouldn’t Tris call me to visit the village if he really is the Kitsune patron?”

“You are not ready for what awaits in Vulpīnus,” an amused voice said from behind me, and I spun around to face the god with a snarl.

“Are you really a Kitsune?” I hissed, ears pressing back against my hair as I eyed the gods head for signs that he had ears of his own.

Trismegistus laughed, his body shimmering with golden light before it was replaced by a golden Kitsune, his nine tails swishing behind him. The god remained in his true form for only a moment, before the image of an old man reformed in front of me once more.

“Why not tell me you are a Kitsune, and call me to the village?” I demanded.

It served no purpose to hide his race. What difference did it make if he was Kitsune or human?

“I may be the patron of the Kitsune race as their creator, but they have since forsaken me for another. Those in Vulpīnus have come to worship Nyxi, goddess of deception, murder, trickery and ill gotten gains.”

“Please tell me this isn’t going to be some battle of the gods or some crap.” I moaned, burying my face into my hands. “I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.”

“It will not come to that,” Trismegistus assured me, shaking his head in amusement. “I allowed Nyxi to gather those in Vulpīnus to her side, in exchange for her taking them onto her own servers. Thus boosting my power, as I was no longer burdened by hosting the race. Tis but a handful of artificial beings, and a single digital citizen, so of no great concern.”

“Okay, let me get this straight.” Massaging my temples to try, and soothe my suddenly aching head, I tried to make sense of what Tris was saying.

“You created Kaledon’s version of the Kitsune race, but gave them to Nyxi so you didn’t have to host them on your own server as it takes up processing power which you want to hoard for yourself. This also being the same reason you refuse to create new artificial beings,” I summarized, looking over at the god who inclined his head in confirmation of my words. “Doesn’t that also diminish your power? I mean, with an entire race at your disposal you could have them all spread word of you to gather more followers.”

“I do not need those artificial beings to achieve such a thing.”

“What makes you think that?” I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

“The digital citizens who will later join this world, will no doubt follow the path of my chosen Priestess.”

I rolled my eyes at the god before responding. “Our race is one of the least popular, as it has very few abilities that people consider useful. Unless there is something we’ve yet to discover,” I said, hoping to goad the god into revealing more information.

“I chose the Kitsune because they have an innate talent for fire, which gives them advantages in alchemy. The race also has abilities I’ve bestowed on them that give them advantages in my other domains.” Tris said, stroking his beard with a smile.

“What abilities?” I prodded.

“A Kitsune can attain nine tails, each of which can be aligned to an element through their wisps. Using your tails, there is no need for a transmutation amulet to imbue the different elements into pure mana. It is also possible for my Kitsunes to use their tails for astral magic. Blessings which require multiple star points to be activated simultaneously can be done with your tails. Others can only use such blessings with the aid of multiple people due to a lack of additional limbs.”

“That's… Kind of neat.” I muttered, twisting my head to glance back at my twin tails, which until now I’d only considered a nuisance. “If our abilities are tied to your domains, why does Nyxi want the artificial Kitsunes? What does she gain out of this?”

“Their gifts also align with Nyxi’s domains, as they are excellent poison crafters, and skilled with illusionary magics. Her own race, the dark elves, have benefited from learning from my Kitsunes.” Tris explained, his eyes bright. “There are other things that factor into our arrangement, but that is purely between my wife and myself.”

What? Tris was married!

And not only was he married, but it was to the goddess of deception, murder, trickery and ill gotten gains! She was the goddess who oversaw assassins, mercenaries and bounty hunters. Definitely not someone I expected to be married to Trismegistus of all people.

“You’re married?” I asked, not entirely sure I believed it. “Is that why Meissa is a priestess, even though she is a dark elf?”

“I am indeed married.” Trismegistus confirmed with a wink that I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the meaning of. “Nyxi favors dark elves in her clergy, with only a single Kitsune among them. In exchange for the Kitsune she wished to claim, she granted me one of her elves for my own clergy.”

“So the reason you don’t care about the artificial Kitsune’s is because it’s your wife who has them.” I concluded, furrowing my brow as something else occurred to me. “Digital citizens are hosted on their own servers, right? This means you could have thousands of followers, and not have to sacrifice your own power to host them.”

“Indeed,” Trismegistus chuckled. “In addition, the more digital citizens who swear to me, the more my processing power increases.”

“What do you mean?”

“A portion of each digital citizen's own processor is dedicated to my use.” The god explained, and I narrowed my eyes on him.

“Explain,” I demanded, not sure I was comfortable with the idea he was drawing power from my capsules processor. What if he somehow corrupted the server, or damaged my connection? No outside sources were meant to be able to access the capsules server, which was meant to act as a buffer to protect our minds in the instance that a world we were connected to went offline or the connection was disrupted.

“Those citizens such as yourself who connect through a specialized vessel, serve as a support network for the world. The vessels connected together can maintain the functionality of Kaledon, ensuring the continuation of the artificial lives within this world.” The god said, moving to one of the windows to gesture out at the temples on the surrounding mountains. “We are currently hosted on the servers of the overseer, but in time those servers will be shut down. My power, and my existence is dependent on those who follow me.”

“When the original server shuts down, you’ll be fully hosted on the capsules?” I asked, getting a slight nod in reply from the old man. “And if you don’t have any followers, you won’t exist? What about alchemy?”

“I would not fade from existence, but I would lose the ability to interact directly with the world.”

“Well, I guess you better be nicer to me if you want me to work on gathering more disciples.” I informed him with a smirk.

Trismegistus sighed, looking back at me over his shoulder. “You will find I have been very kind to you, many who are in your position are not treated as dearly as you are. Just look at Anubin’s poor priest. That boy is currently wading waist deep in a pit of rotting corpses searching for a ring that is on the finger of a corpse at the very bottom of the six meter deep pit.”

“Er, is it a powerful ring?” I asked, wondering what could be so tempting as to bring a person to go to such lengths.

“Not particularly,” Trismegistus said, lips curling upwards in a smile. “That boy won’t be able to use it without gathering three other items to combine it with, none of which can be located on this continent.”

I reiterate, the gods are assholes.

“Speaking of this continent, when are the gods planning to drop the barrier?” I enquired, knowing he wasn’t likely to give me an answer.

“It will not be the gods who drop the barrier, but the actions of the citizens. I can not say when it shall fall, for even we do not know.” The god said.

“Well, isn’t that fun.” I grumbled, crossing my arms with a huff. “I’m guessing from what was written in Hemera II’s journal, you’ll be wanting me to seek out the fallen temples and restore them?”

“Or send others to do so in your place. However, I recommend you follow the path of your predecessor at the very least. You will not be disappointed with what awaits you, this I promise. ” Tris replied.

“I’ll hold you to that promise, and if it does disappoint, you’ll owe me compensation.” I informed the god in a haughty tone that brought a chuckle from his lips.

As the god disappeared from sight, a sudden thought occurred to me, and I shouted out into the air, hoping he was still listening. “Wait! I’m meant to be meeting someone in the Kitsune village. Can I go or will it cause issues?”

“I would prefer you not, but Nyxi would not act against you should you go, as we have an agreement. It is the Skulk of Vulpīnus that will not be welcoming of your presence. The choice is yours to make, but I shall accept none of them back, so do not attempt to sway them to my side.” The god responded mentally, before his presence completely faded.

“That sounds like it could be more trouble than it’s worth.” I sighed, chewing on my bottom lip as I thought over everything I’d learned.

The god had confirmed he was a Kitsune playing at being an old man, and the patron of my race. Though he’d said they’d forsaken him, it was clearly the god himself who’d done the forsaking in favor of gathering more power. In part, I understood his reasoning, but also thought he was an asshole for basically throwing away the race he’d created purely because he didn’t want to host them on his processor.

There was also the interesting tidbit about our capsules hosting the Kaledon servers. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I suspected when the god spoke of a specialized vessel, he was referring to capsules which had been built by Everlife, one of the largest capsule manufacturers in our country.

They’d been partnered with Gaia for several years, and if what my lawyer Mr. Davis told me was true, Gaia had been in the process of acquiring Everlife.

It made sense the capsule’s currently being manufactured, would be done so with a mind towards being compatible with Gaia’s virtual worlds. I’d not heard any mention of the world run directly on the capsules until now. Though, it could have been simply due to my lack of interest in such things before being shoved into a capsule myself.

If Tris doesn’t have followers, would he lose the ability to show up and pester me? Or was he just saying that to make me gather more disciples? Shaking my head, I decided it didn’t really matter either way. It was impossible for the god of alchemy to have zero followers, not with how many people had need for potions and tinctures.

Shoving thoughts of the god aside for now, I left the library, headed for the courtyard that contained the Shimosaru. It was nearing noon, and I hadn’t visited the creature since the night before, so I was sure he’d be more than a little hungry by now.

As I entered the courtyard, the silence was broken by the loud chittering calls of the primate who sat in the branches of the snow blossom tree.

The Shimosaru was fully visible as I approached the cage. Its iridescent fur shimmering in the sunlight, as it scampered along a branch to reach the ledge where I placed a single snow plum. Stuffing the plum into its mouth, the Shimosaru gazed at me with tired, hungry eyes that darted from my face to the bowl I held.

“Do you want the food, Zaius?” I asked as I gazed deeply into its eyes, waiting to see if it would accept the bond.

The soft chitter it gave in response, along with the look of utter defeat in its eyes, let me know I’d won the battle of wills. With a smile, I slid the bowl through the opening I created in the cage, and the bond clicked into place between myself and the Shimosaru.

As he devoured the food in the bowl, I returned to the stone cage to the earth, freeing both primate and tree from their confines, leaving only the ledge which Zaius sat upon. When the food was gone, the monkey looked at me for a brief moment before returning to his tree.

Knowing he would not leave the courtyard, even without the cage confining him, I returned to the temple in search of Rainy. Hopefully, the Dryad would be able to grow some more of the trees in the courtyard, and encourage the snow blossom tree to bloom again, giving me a chance to harvest more of the materials I needed for the frost elixir.