“Hello again and welcome to another night where we interview your chosen characters.”

The presenter bowed low, the mic held close to his mouth.

“Here we are once again, to ask questions, by yours truly. It really is an honour to be back, but let us make the most of the time we have afforded to us. Firstly, before we beginI would like to inform everyone that we have a special surprise guest coming tonight, but before that I would like to invite Zen, the Sylphian Archer, to the stage. A round of applause for the Ranker, people.”

A man with green eyes and long chestnut hair, held in a top knot, confidently walked onto the stage. He takes a seat, calmly folding his hands in his lap.

“Welcome Zen! It really is lovely to have a Ranker on the show. Now Zen, there were a few people curious about what Rankers are. And who is the OneWorldGaming that you mentioned? What do you need to be a Ranker? Is all you need strength?”

Zen smiled and waited until the presenter finished, before speaking.

“As you mentioned just then, strength is one thing that Rankers are known for, but it’s not the only thing you need to be a ranker. It’s one of the most commonly discussed aspects, but far from the only aspect. It’s not even the most important one.”

“Do tell.”

“A Ranker… perhaps I should start this differently. When true VR popped up, not augmented reality or simple VR headsets, but true immersion tech appeared, there appeared a site online known as OneWorldGaming. Games of any kind, from sports to Esports, will always have a fan base, a forum, a wiki, a ranking system. OneWorldGaming became that for Immersion VR, or simply VR. Nobody knows whether it’s an individual, or a group, but they compiled information on top players, and created the site OneWorldGaming. Since then, they have tracked, updated and followed all the top players in all the VR games. Then, one day, after a showdown between two of the top players they created the ranking ladder.”

“So, all you have to do to get on the ladder is to be a top player?”

“Yes and no. Most Rankers will be top player but being a top player will not guarantee you a place in the Rankings. To be a Ranker you need something that makes you special, something that makes you stand out, something that makes you unique?”

“And that is…?”

“A moniker. You need recognition. But that’s a lot harder than most people believe. Being the first to kill a dungeon boss in a new game won’t give you that. You might not even get it for being the first to clear the first five, even with scoring the best times. You need to prove not only that you’re better than everyone else, but that you are so far ahead of them that they will struggle to ever imagine coming close to your level. And it can be just one thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re luckier, faster, smarter, stronger, crazier, craftier, crueller, or richer. You just have to stand at the peak. That’s what it means to be a ranker.”

“Thank you Zen for that explanation, but I’m still confused as to how this ties in with OneWorldGaming.”

“I’m getting there. As I was saying the first part of being a Ranker is popularity and reputation, to get a Moniker. From there OneWorldGaming will quickly catch on and if there are enough people that recognise the moniker they will add you to the Ranking board. The Ranking Boards are mostly split by game, as it’s not uncommon for some Rankers to hold one or two different titles over different games. Most top Rankers will stick with a recognisable theme, or a class. Me, for example, I keep the [Archer] class over the different games, keeping my moniker, the Sylphian Archer. I earned that one in a game called ‘Global Conquest’, for my unerring accuracy and swift shooting. But we’re getting sidetracked. Once on the ranking board OneWorldGaming will then calculate a players’ potential, which in the end will give them a final ‘Ranker score’. The higher the score, the higher your ranking.”

“And how does this ‘score’ get calculated?”

“Well, nobody has quite figured out the exact maths, but the criterion are pretty straight forward. Combat strength is a large one and the most popular. There’s wealth, both in game and in real life, as well as how much capital they could call on if they needed to. Popularity factors in as well, with how many watchers follow their streams, how many players they could rally in game and who they are affiliated with. Strength, wealth and connections are the three big ones, but there are also others. Technical skill is another one for example.”

“I see, thank you. I do believe that that clears things up for quite a few people.”

The Presenter stands up from his own seat and extends his free hand to the Ranker. They shake, before Zen walks off.

The presenter makes sure that Zen is gone before a large screen, previously hidden in the background, flickers on. A mischievous face with messy orange hair and startlingly clear blue eyes appears. However, they are sideways and it takes a moment for them to realise that and correct it.

The presenter clears their throat and addresses the figure. “Hello, welcome to…”

“Hello??? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, we can.”

“Oh. Good.”

“As I was saying, welcome to tonight’s talk show. We’re so glad to have you on our show tonight”

The presenter turns to the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Trickster, God of Mischief to our show! Our first ever deity, here to answer questions, live! So, Mr. Trickster…”

“Just Trickster is fine.”

“Trickster it is! We invited you tonight, because we had three questions come in and we thought that you might be the best person, or should I say God, to answer it for us.”

“Indeed.”

“The question was: ‘Why does Azrael have void powers, even if he hasn’t accepted the void as a patron’. The second one was ‘why didn’t he accept the Void’s offer there and then?’ and the final one is ‘Has Sophie accepted Purity as a patron?’”

“Ah, I see. I will try my best to answer these questions, but as some of you might have noticed Gods also have rules to follow. The greater the power, the greater the consequence of the actions. Therefore, restrictions are put in place, to keep balance. The Void for example is one of the most powerful deities. He, and I say this now but primordials have no gender, has the greatest power, but also the greatest restrictions. Primordials themselves, unlike gods are not allowed to directly interfere with the realms. It was because of this that I had to make contact with Azrael and summon him outside of the physical realms. It’s a bit of a loophole, but that’s what I do best.”

“I see, however I do not believe you’ve answered any of the viewers’ questions”

“Questions? Oh, right, those. Sure. So, anyhow deities can choose advocates, champions, apostles, whatever you want to call them. There is a procedure to that though. Champions may only be appointed at ‘that place’, after ‘that thing’. So, no Azrael has not accepted a patron. Similarly, Sophie could not have accepted Purity as a patron either, however she can still dedicate herself to Purity’s cause and Purity can grant her a blessing, much like I did with Azrael. As to the power which Azrael has gained, the void and The Void are fundamentally different. The Void refers to The Primordial of the Void, while the void is simply a space separate from the physical planes, which exists beyond time, space and reason. Part of Azrael’s soul is anchored in the void, granting him access to it.”

“I see, thank you for answering those questions.”

“My pleasure… do you think I should host a talk show in the Gods’s realm? Trickster’s Talks? Talks with the Trickster? What about…?”

The screen suddenly goes dark and the presenter turns to the audience, as if nothing had happened, while pulling out a letter from a pocket.

“Well then ladies and gents, on to the last of our show for tonight. Our beloved author sent through a question for the public. And it was as follows:

Dear Readers,

As you all know I’ve taken some time off for real life stuff and intend to continue editing in my very limited free time.

I was recently re-reading all the comments and looking through the story as I was editing it and found something that stood out. As I was correcting and editing out unnecessary bits I realised that I had a big part in my story that wasn’t really necessary. Azrael didn’t have to be (as one of you readers so kindly phrased it an “angry young master”. I could cut out and edit a large part of his backstory and relationship with Holy Empire, without it affecting the actual story. Looking at what I’ve written so far and what I intend for the story I realised that if I wanted to change it, it would have to be now, before the next part of Azrael’s journey in New Earth.

It wouldn’t change any of the occurrences, or interactions that have happened so far and very little information would be edited out.

I was wondering what you guys though about it and decided to put it to a poll (see below).

Hope you guys are holding up fine and hope to be writing again.

Your author,

- Wulfian

The presenter put the letter away, tucking it back into one of his pockets carefully, before turning to the crowd, with a smile on their face.

“I am happy to announce that you have all voted for no change in back story! Hearing this the author has decided to follow your wishes and edit the story as is.”

The presenter looks up at you, conspiratorially.

“Well, that’s all folks. See you when I see you!”