***The World***

***Ascathon***

“Good. Now that you two are introduced, I'll see to my godly duties.” Fixing Karin with my gaze, I add, “Just make sure not to adopt Willow's clothing habits.” I glance at Williow. “Or lack thereof.”

“Hey,” Willow complains, placing her fists on her hips. “What's wrong with being naked at home? Normally, there is nobody here who hasn't already seen me in the nude.”

“You associate too much with Seria,” I reply harshly. “How often did I tell you that she can't be trusted.”

Willow shrugs and looks away while playing with a strand of her white hair. “Seria is a nice gal once you get to know her. It's just that she has some kind of problem with you and she refuses to share the reason. Besides, a woman doesn't have to be untrustworthy, just because she refuses to play around with you.”

I throw up my hands in the air. “It's not about her liking or disliking me. If I want to, I can have plenty of women as beautiful as her. What I am concerned with is that she is hiding something important. I can smell it! Tjenemit might be too caught up in his own ego to see it, but there is more to her than meets the eye. She may even be a spy for one of the other Council members.”

And as much as I dislike Tjenemit, he is still better than having El Shaddai's attention. Or worse, being subject to one of the other psychos.

“That may be true, but all of the immortals are hiding something. It's in our character. We are wilful, we hunger for power, and we like to play the long game. Those are the traits that set you on the path for godhood. You can hardly blame others for hiding their secrets - just like you do.” She pokes her finger into my chest, almost accusingly.

I slap her hand away and concentrate my attention on the girl instead. Maybe it's not too late to turn at least her into a decent person. “That went way too far off topic. Just remember-”

“Don't worry,” Karin cuts me off. “You won't be seeing me running around naked.”

“That's a good girl,” I reply.

Willow digs her index finger into Karin's cheek. “Aw, don't be so uptight, it's unbecoming of a child who should enjoy life. But don't worry. I'll teach you the proper perspective.”

Rolling my eyes, I decide to use the chance to flee the scene by using a pathway back to the middle of all things. It's certainly rude to teleport out on them like that, but I don't owe them anything.

I appear right in the central plaza of the Crystal City, a place buzzing with life and creatures of all races. When I first experienced it, I had a hard time believing that all of them were gods. Especially coming to terms with the seemingly constantly ongoing explosion of colours and the clash of cultures from different worlds wasn't easy.

I weave through the crowd of mostly humanoid people, each of them either trying to sell or to buy various goods. The circular area of the plaza is so full of vendors that it's hard to find a way through. And if it seems like an easy path to get through opens up, it is instantly clogged by two haggling parties.

Seeing that it is an especially busy day, I consider teleporting directly to my destination, but I decide against it for the sake of moving my legs.

Shopping in this place always takes quite a bit of time, since gods have no true currency. I was told that the Council tried once to establish a unified currency for trade between deities, but it quickly became clear that immortals as a whole are far too opportunistic to make anything like that feasible.

There is no material in the multiverse a god wouldn't be able to acquire in vast amounts if they put their mind to it, and any other sort of easily distributable currency would be counterfeited within days.

The natural result is that gods tend to trade the fruits of their labour for another's goods. Some even go as far as to hand out time-credits, valuing an object or service only in the amount of time it requires from the person in question.

And let's be honest, which price should someone place on an item enchanted by an immortal master crafter? There is no way to weigh his time and work against worldly materials.

Well, there are the mana crystals. The rare material that defies all logic and can even strike down the gods. Left behind by some ancient civilisation, the secrets of its creation were lost in the distant past.

I studied historical texts which spoke about an eternal war which raged for untold times between the gods, until the Council managed to reign supreme and established their base here in the middle of all things.

They claim that they created this city, but I am relatively certain that they are just usurpers who settled into the shell of a fallen leviathan. If the Council knew the secrets behind the mana crystals, they wouldn't just rule the multiverse, they would suffocate it.

I stop my silent musings upon arriving at an unassuming bookstore at the edge of the market. Forcing open a rusted and creaking door, I enter a clammy and narrow room which stretches out seemingly endlessly. A nauseating feeling overcomes me as I step over the threshold and into the warped space of the store.

It's dusty and smells of old books, but it's ten times better than being outside in the suppressing atmosphere of the market.

The store's warped room stretches out to infinity in depth and height, creating the illusion of standing between two impossibly large bookshelves.

I snort, seeing that the owner is absent, so I slam my palm onto the bell which was placed on a counter right next to the entrance, causing an unnaturally loud and reverberating 'gong' from the enchanted object. Not waiting for the sound to fade out, I push down the button on top of the bell, again and again, creating the most annoying rhythm possible.

Grinning, I watch as the books on the shelves closest to me start vibrating when I hit the right rhythm.

Finally, with a flash of teleportation magic, the owner appears behind the counter.

The brown-haired beast-kin wrinkles her nose upon seeing me. Her tanned skin is smooth and the wide lips give her an otherworldly beauty which has hints of the Orient. One of her long ears twitches in annoyance. Her fabulous appearance isn't lessened by her obvious displeasure of seeing me. “Ascathon, are you finally going to give back the book you borrowed?”

“Aeehh...” an unintelligible sound escapes my throat as I try to remember what she is talking about. I was caught off-guard by that. Which book does she mean? The one I smuggled out... erm borrowed? Or does she know about the one I outright stole?

“The Grimoire la Morta? The Tome of Death?” she clarifies disapprovingly. “It was in the restricted section the last time you visited me, and now it's gone.”

“Yes.” I flick my fingers. “That one! Nope, forgot it at home. Turned out to be a total dead end to my research. But just to help you out a little, the author was a total charlatan. You don't want that piece of mental puke back. It's better that it's gone. If some future student of the necromantic arts finds it, he or she could be led seriously astray, wasting decades of their time.”

“Then you can leave.” She disappears again, leaving me with no other choice than to start the annoying rhythm once more.

Another flash, and the owner is back. “Oh, you again, that was fast. Have you-”

“I'll return it, but right now I really need access to your library, Alexandria,” I blurt out before she can disappear on me again. “Tell me your price and I'll pay it!”

She blinks, taken aback, then she gestures at the endless shelves. “You know very well that all knowledge within Alexandria's Library is free. As long as you don't take a book out of the library, you have free access to all the knowledge.”

I press my lips together, following her finger to the endless shelves of seemingly unsorted books. No, forget that, they are unsorted! Only Alexandria knows her way through that mountain of paper. Forcing myself to smile, I speak very slowly to the beast-kin to make sure she understands. “Thanks. And believe me that I am beyond grateful that you are willing to share all this knowledge for free.”

It's really too generous of her to drown her customers in piles of paper. “It's just that I am in a bit of a hurry, so I don't have time to invest a few centuries in order to search for what I need. I would like you to give me access to the digitalized version of your library. I have to run just one search and find the knowledge I need.”

Her eyes narrow. “Just to make sure that I understand this correctly. You want me to give you access to the database you tried to steal the last time you were here? While I slept? And that for free!?”

“I did no such thing!” I reply, offended by the accusation. All I did was try to make a copy! It's not like I would have taken the data, leaving her with nothing. “Lexi, would I ever lie to you?”

“In a heartbeat,” she answers stoically. Then she waves an elegant finger in my face. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to digitalize all the knowledge in my books? I kept working until my fingers bled and my eyes turned red! For centuries! My customers thought that I was some kind of ghoul!”

Just because she wouldn't allow anyone else to touch the books in her restricted section.

“It was all a big misunderstanding, Lexi. You know that we share the love for books, right? I would never try to take that away from someone. You know what? You help me with my research, and I'll take a look at that fraying space-time enchantment around your library. Just imagine what would happen if it fails.”

Her eyes narrow, so I press the issue.

“I have this picture in my head. All those countless books, your beloved books, suddenly confined to the three by ten metres of real space in this store.” I point outside. “And then the door bursts open and all those lovely books spill outside, flooding the whole market like a tidal wave!”

I see that she isn't quite on my side yet.

“The books will land on the dirty street! And then all those measly deities out there get their grubby hands on your books! What if they think it's a free for all and run off with the loot?”

Her eyes widen in horror and she looks around the space. “Is the enchantment really failing? I had someone take a look at it just a thousand years ago.”

I nod. “Space-Time magic is a tricky thing. It needs regular maintenance and I can see with yours that it has been a very long time. You certainly need to have it looked at by an expert.”

She huffs and crosses her arms in front of her. “You are just trying to trick me, just like that night!”

I smile and wink at her. “But it was a wonderful night, wasn't it?”

Lexi considers that, without a doubt replaying the night in her memories. At last, she rolls her eyes and huffs. “Fine. What do you need? And I still want the book back. Knowledge should never be forgotten. Even if it is a flawed version of the truth.”

“Everything you have on world enchantments.” It's unfortunate that I have to admit it, but I am a total noob at world enchantments. I don't even know where I should start, not to mention getting out of Tjenemit's little experiment.

“You aren't demanding at all. Something like that will require an additional price. Anything concerning world enchantments gets immediately moved to the restricted section.”

“What could be more important than your library's safety, Alexandria?” I rub my hands together. “I am sure that we can find common ground. Let's talk about the price.”

She smiles. “You weren't wrong about that night. I'll require just a little of your time. Let's use that amulet of yours to its fullest. Ah, and I want one for myself.”

“Aaah, the healing amulet is it?” Amulets which provide endless stamina are surely one of my best bargaining chips.

She nods.

***The World***

***Karin***

Now that we are alone, I return my attention to Willow. “Are you also a god?”

“Gosh, no, child.” The beauty waves her hand. “I am one of Ascathon's servants, though I can proudly claim that I managed to rise to the status of an immortal during my service to him. You could call me his left hand.”

“He called you a maid...”

Willow raises her hand as if she is about to faint, touching her forehead with the back of her hand. “Oh, the mistake of trying to kill him just once. Will I ever be forgiven, or will this Martyrium last for eternity?” As quickly as she started her act, she returns to normal. “I am just kidding. In principle, I do everything that's asked of me. After all, he is protecting us to the best of his abilities.”

“You tried to kill him?” My forehead furrows as I try to grasp the strange notion. Even as a slave, knowing less than I do now, I would've never even tried to kill a god. “What do we need protection from? Aren't we immortal? Other gods? Is that Myrm fellow a danger?”

She shakes her head. “I don't know who this Myrm is, but he is certainly just a minor symptom of the true illness. There is a Council of gods, a group of beings who rule the multiverse. They say what goes and what not. It goes as far as to intimidate all the newly awakened gods into serving them. Any who challenge their authority disappear silently and without a trace. In fact, that's what happened to a very good friend of ours.”

“But we aren't gods...” I reply, mulling over the thought.

“We aren't, yet,” Willow corrects me. “In fact, Ascathon is helping me not to awaken and to hide from the Council. If any of them knew of my existence, they would surely try to force me to awaken so that they can play their games with me.”

I nod slowly. “I am sorry for taking all of this with a grain of salt. A few hours ago I was a random slave without hope.”

“Yet you are taking the situation with more dignity than can possibly be expected. Why don't we get rid of those filthy clothes first, and then we take a bath together?” A lecherous grin enters the woman's eyes and she grabs my hand before I can respond. Numbers float through my vision, and some kind of strength-check between me and the woman fails, displaying my measly power level of five against her eleven.

“I- I promised-”

“Don't worry. Nobody would blame you for getting naked in the pool. And while we are at it you can tell me about yourself.” She pulls me with her along the corridor, towards the door which was said to be a pool. “Without that knowledge, I can hardly think of a training plan for you.”

Overwhelmed by Willow's personality, I allow myself to be dragged off and stripped naked in what seems like a changing room while I have to spill the story of my unspectacular life.

I was born in a small village where my mother made a living with her herb-shop. As soon as I was old enough, I started helping mother at the counter. My father was a soldier and often sent us a part of his earnings. While it lasted, it was possible to get by with just the two of us.

In truth, I never knew the man, as he was always on duty, fighting in one of the countless wars between the nations. That was until his letters stopped coming altogether. Either he had forgotten about us, or he had fallen in war. I suppose that we could be thankful that the assistance lasted as long as it did. Most women who fall in love with a soldier have to bear the result of their stupidity on their own.

But my mother never complained in front of me or gave any indication that I was a burden to her.

Without the financial assistance, we quickly fell into debt. The world was hard enough for simple peasants without being a single parent, and mother had fallen out of favour with her family when she ran off to be with a soldier.

Debt quickly turned into serfdom, and serfdom into slavery. The merchants who bought herbs from us had a saying, 'Once you fall, you fall quick and deep.'

I never understood what they meant by that until I ended up in that cage and had to watch my mother being beaten to death after she tried to save me from being raped.

I allow a bitter smile to creep into my expression. “...and then, after months of slavery, I heard about the advent of the gods. That's when I started praying and one day, he appeared. He gave me the power to punish everyone, just like that. As if it were no big deal.” I look up at Willow.

“And I just did.” I can't stop my voice from sounding a little crazy in that moment.

The silver woman smiles and rubs my back without saying anything before pushing me out of the changing room through another door... and onto a beach.

“Tadaa!” She gestures at the white sand and the ocean. “Let's treat this horrible mental trauma with beachtime!”

A gentle breeze softly moves the large leaves of a strange tree and waves are brushing against the shore.

Blinking, I turn around to assure myself that I just left a building, but behind me is just the thick underbrush and forest of some kind of island. There is also a single doorframe which blurs at the edges, making it hard to focus my eyes on the spot. Inside the doorframe, I can see the changing room Willow and I just left.

“Aw, don't look like you just entered wonderland.” Willow bends down and picks up a stone, throwing it at a spot a metre next to the doorframe. It hits some kind of wall and bounces off while the image of the tropical island blurs and waves, returning to normal after a few seconds.

“Illusion magic, neat, heh?” She places her hands on her hips and grins from ear to ear.

I smile forlornly, appreciating her attempt to distract me from my story. “Thanks, but you hit the nail on the head. I indeed feel like I entered a wonderland.” A cruel and twisted version of a children's story.

Willow is suddenly next to me, picking me up in a princess carry. I squeal in shame, feeling her soft bosom push against me.

“You know what? But the water is real!”

Then I am tumbling – end over end – as the picture of the world refuses to right itself and I flail with my arms and legs. Screaming, I realize that the crazy bitch threw me, just as I hit the cold water.

Struggling, I gulp down several mouthfuls of the salty liquid before I come up for air. To my shame, I expel most of what I can through my nose, coughing and heaving from the burning sensation of salt water in my nose, lungs, and eyes.

“I will add swimming to the schedule. You are lucky that I threw you into the shallow part,” Willow calls out to me from the shoreline.

I make my way back to the shore, trying to get rid of the salt. “What was that for!?”

“Mainly for my own amusement,” Willow answers without a smidgen of guilt. “And to get your thoughts to other things. Enjoy this pool while you can. Once you are relaxed, we have to start your basic education.”

“Basic education?” I ask. “Like in the temple school?”

Willow slaps a hand against her forehead. “Oh, you poor girl. I have no idea what went through Ascathon's head when he gave you the Eye of Possibilities. You probably don't even know enough about mathematics to use it, not to mention understand what you are seeing. We need to run you through basic scientific education, and then a specialized math course before we can even consider teaching you magic.”

“The Eye of what!?” I ask, dumbfounded.

“That's why he ran off so quickly. Why is it always me who has to tell them?” The silver woman shakes her head and sighs heavily. Then she walks over to a row of deckchairs, picking up a mirror from one of them. “Oh, girl. This will probably come as a shock, but you probably didn't even notice the changes beneath all the blood and grime.” She then holds it out for me to see.

The face that looks back at me isn't mine. At least, it isn't what I looked like just a day ago.

My left eye is completely transparent, and inside it is the hexagonal pattern of a slowly spinning dice. The right one also changed, and my formerly round, brown and perfectly human iris is now slitted and golden. Mostly hidden beneath my brown hair, which is now much darker and bordering on a shade of the red of fallen leaves, are two bony ridges which start at my temples and disappear behind my ears. Little horns!

“Close your mouth, or you will catch an insect,” Willow advices while she is groping my belly, but her strange behaviour couldn't be further away from what bothers me right now.

“What?”

“Just confirming, yep, it's in there. I knew he took one from the vault.”

“In there!?” I squeak, slapping her hand away. Then I feel for myself, pushing my fingers in, and sure enough, there is something hard inside my belly. What's that!? Am I pregnant again!? This situation feels so much worse than rape!

“A dragon's mana-core. It makes it easier to control mana, but it's also a weakness.” She sighs. “Well, you just have to get used to it. Being Ascathon's minion comes with the price of being a lab-rat.”

Seeing my distress, she pats my shoulder. “Hey, don't worry. All will be fine in the end.”

I point at the bony ridges on my temples. “That's not going to be fine! Will I turn into some kind of lizard!?” Now that I am on the lookout, I also notice that my fingernails are a little thicker than I remember them to be. “Am I getting claws!?”

“Nope.” She stops my worst assumptions with an open palm. “I am sure that's the extent of the changes.

“Don't smile like that!” I squeal. “You aren't the one who was experimented on.”

“Heeeey...” Hands open, she gestures at herself. “Do I look like any species you have ever seen? Milky-white eyes without pupils, silver skin, and a rack that makes it impossible to look away.” She squeezes her plentyful and lets go, with an annoyingly bouncy result.

My eyes involuntarily follow the bounciness, and I just have to admit that I am envious.

She smirks. “Do you want to feel them up? There are the cores of two metal elementals in there. And would you believe me if I told you that I was a fairy before this? People change. That's the price we pay for power and experience.”

Willow has mana-cores inside her breasts!? Isn't that like stuffing one's bra with straw? “That's cheating!” Feeling wobbly, I sit down in the sand. “I honestly don't know how to feel about this.”

The older woman ruffles my hair. “You are young. You will adapt...”

“... or die,” she adds after a moment of consideration.