"Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant."

Epictetus

*****

"We'll leave it there for today. Tomorrow will be the last lecture, and it will be focused on answering questions. I urge you to think deeply about what to ask as time will be limited." Medea said, drawing the lesson to a close as she checked the time on her menu. She was about to leave but one of the 'students,' an old man wearing a magic robe and hurriedly writing notes desperately waived his hand for her attention.

"One last question then," she relented at his anxious face.

"How does the Accumulation of Belief work per the World Egg theory? Wouldn't they interfere with each other?"

"A quick answer is they would interfere with each other, but because the actor with the Belief is part of the World Egg, the Planet Consciousness will both support and hinder the superimposition of phenomena. This is why more alien phenomena to the Consciousness are more difficult to actualize. At least according to the World Egg theory. If you would like a more in-depth answer, you can find one in Marquis Du Bois' treaty on the subject. We have three copies at the association library, and it can be found in most book rental stores. If you have more questions, please keep them for tomorrow and have a good day." Medea nodded to the group as they rose to applaud her. It had been a bit disconcerting the first lecture they had done so, but after a month she was used to it.

As exited the lecture room, Medea rolled her shoulders to work the stiffness out. She was no stranger to giving lectures, both in the game and in real life, but standing for hours on end would make anybody sore. That wasn't even counting when she had to use magic for demonstration purposes. She enjoyed teaching, mainly when the students were interested, but she honestly prefers teaching Augustus. She would only have to explain things once for him to understand and he would often ask questions that made her think deeply to answer. It was a shame that he was too low level to accompany her tomorrow or she would have been able to keep up their lessons on the road. Without company, it would be a long few months to reach Selwe. Though, with any luck, she would discover a few good dungeons to raise her level. Right now Medea was perhaps the pinnacle of players when it came to theory, but there was still a significant difference when it came to battle experience between her and other high-level players.

For example, the two women who were waiting for her at the entrance to the Mage Association.

"Sorry for the wait," Medea greeted the pair. Octavia closed her menu as she rose to her feet while Claudia kept her focus on the glowing blue ball of energy in her hands as she rose as well. A few popups told Medea that it was probably coagulation of souls condensed into a magical container. The temporary lecturer suppressed a shudder, that deep blue color would only be possible if tens of thousands of souls were condensed into a tiny area. Unless Claudia had an item that passively gathered them, which was reasonable given her sister, it meant that personally killed enough sapient creatures to populate a large village. Non-conscious monsters did not have an ego substantial enough to have developed a soul so they couldn't have counted.

"No problem, you gave me time to finish," Octavia answered, dragging Medea's attention from the walking genocide by her side.

"What were you working on?"

"You'll see," Octavia smiled mischievously. "It's a surprise for bro."

"Fine be secretive," feeling a bit petty Medea decided to wipe that smile from her face. "Have you started your final paper yet?" Sure enough, Octavia stopped smiling and pouted at the Sage. Unlike how it appeared in the game, Maude was more conscientious when it came to school work than Nico.

"No, bro gave me a few sources, and I've already finished Paradise Lost, and I'm almost done with the Divine Comedy. Once I find a few secondary sources I'll be able to finish it in a few hours."

"You're writing about the portrayal of women in pre-modern Christian literature right?" Octavia nodded in agreement. "Then those are good examples, but be careful, it is a common pitfall to assume that groups have unified opinion on subjects. Don't forget that those books were written hundreds of years apart and in different cultures."

"I know that!" The Creator whined a bit sulkily. "Besides, I was going to focus on the dichotomy of Milton's Eve and Beatrice's role in the Paradiso. I'm not writing a dissertation, just a high school paper."

"Now that I think about it, Dante's work probably has influenced Gods' Nature."

"How so?"

"You know about sub planes right? Little pocket dimensions that have different rules and environments than normal?" Octavia nodded in acknowledgment, she had even explored a few places like that. "There are references in more than a few books about massive sub planes, and a few of them match Dante's descriptions of hell, purgatory, and heaven. In the future players should be able to visit places like that." A look of wistfulness passed over Octavia's face.

"I can't wait till we get out of this damn calm belt!" The calm belt was the nickname given to the area that players were able to explore at the moment between Selwe in the east and Sarra Keep in the west. It wasn't like leaving it was impossible, but death rates increased exponentially when players tried and it usually only took a few weeks for an expedition to be wiped out.

To the southwest was a land of the undead, the southeast was a poisonous swamp, and to the south was a wasteland filled with incredibly tough monsters. The northwest was perhaps the least difficult to traverse, level wise, but much like the swamp, it was the terrain that made it unappealing to most players. It was a dense jungle, so fighting in it was severe, to begin with, and that wasn't taking into account that it was filled with insects, poisonous creatures, and plant type monsters that blended in perfectly. The north and northeast were the most likely areas for players to expand into, there were regular outings in those directions since the terrain of hills and plains was favorable, and the monsters were not too high leveled.

"It shouldn't be long now," Medea said. "Once enough players get access to respawn skills it will be possible. In a year we-" She was interrupted by a shout of joy besides her.

"Aha!" Claudia shouted in joy as the blue clump of souls in her hands started to shift. "Finally."

"What are you doing?" Medea asked.

"Making my newest servant," was the answer. The mass of energy finally seemed to settle down and assume a more solid shape. Its size remained the same, about a foot tall, but it now had a defined head, body and bushy tail and it was colored grey rather than blue.

"It's a... squirrel?" Medea half asked, half stated.

"Don't be silly." Claudia denied. "It's a Killer Undead Squirll, trademark. I got the idea from Jorry, this little guy can act like my eyes and ears. I'm going to train it to be a ninja, super stealthy and deadly."

"Good for you?" Medea said, eyeing the pale abomination in front of her, and bit curious why the younger girl felt the need to say she trademarked her creation. A few popups telling her that this little creature could probably kill and eat her in seconds. Not that it seemed inclined to do so, busy as it was rubbing itself against Claudia's hands. "You never actually told me what your Nature was.

"Hmm?" Claudia barely acknowledged the older woman, busy petting her new creation. "Oh, the technical name is Spiritualist, but the description is probably different than most other spiritualists. I use souls to power myself up as well as summons. It gives me a bit of control over the undead too and, so long as I was the one who killed them, I can manipulate souls into different shapes and purposes like this little guy."

"I see," Medea said slowly, eyeing the dozens of popups that appeared in front of her. They ranged from similar skills and Natures she knew about to potential ways of fighting spiritualists and the composition of souls. "Do you absorb player's souls when you kill them, how does that work?"

"Oh, they are like NPCs. When they die and respawn their consciousness doesn't remain behind, but a portion of their souls does, as well as an emotional imprint. The soul regenerates really quickly, so it isn't noticeable."

"Hey bro," Octavia interrupted with a yell at Nero, who had been doing pushups, of the girls' arrival at the park. The Killer Undead Squirll ™ faded from view, but Medea knew that it was still around and those with the appropriate skills would be able to see it.

"Hello girls," Nero rose to his feet to greet them. Jorry, upon seeing the approaching group, had coiled itself around Nero's neck and was watching them wearily partly hidden by Nero's hair.

"Any progress?" Octavia asked.

"A bit, I got another point in strength, but it took most of yesterday and all day today to get it. At this point, I'm probably better off raising my level and raising attributes in a fight rather than keep training like this."

"So you're finally going to go out and level huh?" Claudia asked.

"Not just yet, there are a few things I want to finish in Sarra before then. Besides, I still have another week with the training hall and later the final expedition before I end with Ground Sheer. After I finish there, I think I will leave and explore while leveling up."

"Do you have any idea where you want to go?" Octavia asked. Left unsaid was the Nero was just too weak to follow any of the girls here.

"I was thinking of traveling south for a bit, till Machy at least. The monsters between here and there shouldn't be too difficult. Depending on if I die or not and what level I am after that then either westwards towards the sea or northeast following the Toadfen river."

"Looks like you have it all planned out," said Medea.

"I've had time to think about it." Nero shrugged. "Things might change before then, who knows. You are leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Yep," Medea casually answered. A month ago she had been worried about Augustus, but from what she had seen so far he seemed to be getting better even without her help so she could leave with no worries. "I have to be in Selwe within the year, so I better leave sooner rather than later. You never know what you'll meet on the road, and I plan on stopping in Valiskali for a while."

"That's the lost city being colonized right? Are you a high enough level for that."

"I'm only going to be passing through the area to get a bit of lore about the old capital. I'll be steering clear of the more dangerous areas." Nero nodded in acceptance of Medea's answer, she knew what she was doing, so he turned to his sisters.

"What about you two? Are you going to be staying in the keep for a while?"

"We're still not done what we came here for, so it will be a few more weeks before we are ready to leave. We'll probably head back out around the same time you leave." Octavia answered before the mischievous smile from earlier crept its way back onto her face. "Before that, I have to show you something."

"Sure," Nero answered, quirking an eyebrow in interest. Octavia sidled up to his side and opened up her menu. Medea curiously looked on from Octavia's other side and Claudia, with a smile of her own, peeked over their shoulder to watch as well.

"Just watch," Octavia said, keeping her mirth in check as she brought up an unnamed video.

It started quietly, soft music began playing to a black background. After a few seconds, the music rose in intensity, and the black screen disappeared to reveal an image of Nero standing on a wooden platform in a lake wearing only swim shorts. Nero groaned, knowing what was coming. Sure enough, what followed was a training montage to intense music, clips of Nero fighting the Sullen being edited to match the music and once the song drew to an end in a final crescendo before falling quiet, the video ended with Nero, covered in gore laughing madly like some kind of serial killer.

"I can't believe you really made a training montage." Nero groaned once more, his cheeks heating up a bit in embarrassment.

"That was pretty well done actually," Medea said while giggling. "Do you work with videos a lot?"

"A bit," Octavia answered. "But that is not all." As she said that she brought up another video.

This one began like the first, with soft music on a black screen. That is where the similarities ended however as the music this time was much sweeter with and had a more smooth jazz sort of feel. The video that followed was also a collection of clips from Nero's fight, but it focused mostly on his movements and the way the light played in the moving water. It looked like he was dancing and the Sullen were back up dancers with the water as special effects. By the end of the video, Nero was much redder in the face, one of the only times he could remember being embarrassed to this extent. The girls' laughter certainly didn't help.

"That looked like it belonged on a dating profile more than a training video!" He shouted.

"Exactly!" Octavia said in between peals of laughter.

"You have got to send those to me," Medea told the twin once she had calmed down enough to talk properly.

"That'll be ten dollars," Octavia responded, figuring she might as well see if she could make some money.

"Fine, I'll give it to you tomorrow at school." Medea agreed, and Octavia sent over a copy of the videos.

"You girls suck." Nero was definitely not pouting, sociopaths did not pout. He was merely scowling in a manly fashion. That was his story, and he was sticking to it.