We were seated in the dining hall having dinner. Father was outside the castle having dinner with grandfather. He had been spending a lot of time with grandfather since Veloth brought him back. Veloth was voraciously eating, unlike usual. He was consuming impossible amounts of food, keeping the servants and chefs on their toes to bring out more and more to the long table. Taking their meal with us was of course Viridi and Sival.

Viridi seemed to be carefully picking at a Drugal fish. The flesh of the fish was cooked to a perfect silver. It was a pity she could not see the beauty of the dish. Sival almost seemed to be competing with Veloth in how quickly she consumed dish after dish, yet she came nowhere near Veloth’s current level. As for me, I was enjoying a favorite dish of mine. It was a slab of a Dire Rat steak. The meat was tender and juicy, cooked to a lovely bronze and garnished with a slightly spicy leaf of a plant called Sorano.

“Nya, You have quite the appetite this evening dear Veloth.” I attempted conversation with Veloth in order to give the servants a moment of rest.

“I… grumph.. grfff grff… can’t… nom nom nom… explain it.” He said while continually inhaling the food like a bottomless pit. Veloth is already consuming more food than Lady Gluttony at this rate.

“Pwahhh! I can’t keep up!” Sival spoke out… So she really was trying to compete… Abruptly Viridi sat up straight and appeared alert. Her eyes widened, and their gaze seemed to pierce through the dark castle walls.

“Veloth! Powerfull beings are approaching! One is as strong as you used to be. The other is only a few times weaker than you are currently! They are fast, they have almost reached the castle! Wait! Two more are approaching! They are nearly as strong as the last I mentioned! No, they are headed for the other two sources of power.”

At this, Veloth abruptly stopped eating. It looked as though he was listening to something. His eyes tended to cloud briefly these days, as if looking at someone unseen. He suddenly shot up from his seat.

“My mother!?” Veloth shouted out. Just as abruptly as he stood up, he vanished, a loud crack resounding from the sudden displacement of air.

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Veloth POV:

I teleported to the front of the castle gate. The guards jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance. Before they had even a moment to question me, I teleported to the position at the edge of my vision. Zahramiik was directing my direction.I would suspect him to be setting me up, but I had already heard from Viridi about the strength of these creatures, and soon I was able to feel it.

As I got closer the air seemed to thicken. Was it like this around em for other people? Or was this due to multiple high power levels coming closer… Oh I just referenced their power to levels… I berate myself for my cliche train of thought.

“Their power levels are all over nine thousand!” Zahramiik commented.

‘Just… shut up…’

“Ghost Nappa does not shut up! Are we there yet?” Zahramiik continued.

‘...’

“This is where you say ‘God damn it Nappa’!”... No way in hell am I going to say that.

I could see the figures in the distance. They had stopped moving. I could see that two of the figures were humanoid, while two were clearly mana spirits. I chose to release my shapeshift before teleporting into the situation. I had not taken my normal form in quite some time.

The last time was at the end of my battle with Zahramiik, and that was while I was barely conscious. I also snapped back to my shapeshifted form apparently, because Sival didn’t mention anything about me in mana spirit form, a form that I have never shown her… or any of the girls. She did mention I was but naked though. I remembered that last tidbit too late, and as I shapeshifted, another expensive piece of Greed’s wardrobe was torn to shreds.

I seemed taller than before. I hope this was fully grown because I was probably standing at about six feet and seven inches tall. Any taller and I would have difficulty fitting in human structures while in this form. My fur seemed to shift between many colors. This was probably the influence of my mana. I chose to focus on darkness mana and bring it to the surface, so as not to be so flashy. My fur became the same void black it was when I came to this world, and seemed to permeate its own shadowy darkness. The biggest change to my form was the addition of 4 tails… I now had six tails, and I was fully able to articulate them as if I always had them.

After that was done, I teleported near the group that seemed to be having a mexican standoff.

“-last warning, creature. Leave, or we will - Another!?” The woman who was speaking started, and took up a defensive position. The other three also started in surprise. One was my clearly recognizable mother, now shorter in appearance to me since she stood at about five feet eight inches.

The other mana spirit had deep violet eyes and a very soft looking pure white fur. she stood at about five feet four inches. Something about her intrigued me. I wanted to rub my body against her and lose myself in that soft fur… No, this isn’t why I came here.

The two women were nearly identical except for their age. They both had eyes so dark they appeared black. Their skin was deathly pale. Their hair was as void black as my fur. Their eyes and their hair seemed to emit a pale blue light. One appeared to be in her middle years, while the other appeared to be in her mid teens.

“They are two of the three goddess Norns, Urd the youngest and Verdani is the middle aged woman.The Norns are the ones that sent the Aesir to attack this continent… It would be beneficial for you to kill them and absorb their strength.” Zahramiik informed me.

“Who are-” I didn’t even hesitate in my decision. I let out a massive burst of mana towards the elder Norn who was speaking while charging the younger Norn. The chaotic blast of mana served to push the Norn back and disorient them… Or it was supposed to, but as soon as it made contact, the Norn dissipated. Nearly at the same time, my claw swiped through the younger Norn, and she too dissipated and vanished.

“Figures, the cowards only sent out illusions.” Zahramiik clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“Veloth!” My mother yelled out with the typical mana spirit way of speaking through telepathic mental connection. I turned just in time to be tackled to the ground by an affectionate mother. She was incessantly rubbing her vulpine muzzle against mine.

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Myria POV:

Drema stopped us for two reasons. The first was that Veloth could be seen getting closer. It seemed like an odd method of movement, as his vibrant power would vanish, and then just as quickly reappear much closer. The second reason were the two unfamiliar powers approaching us. Most likely, they were gods.

I could see two trails of dust in the distance. They were moving at a very fast speed just as we were moments ago. Before long, two humanoid women stopped about twenty feet away from our position. They had a very threatening aura about them.

“Leave this world, mana spirits. You do not belong here.” The older woman was first to speak.

“We will do no such thing.” Drema replied without hesitation. She had a steely determined gaze. That was the gaze that said if anything got in her way, she would nullify its entire existence. Myria shuddered, all too familiar with that gaze.

“This is your last warning, creature. Leave, or we will - Another!?” Everyone’s gaze turned to the very sudden new arrival. Myria had not noticed his approach, distracted by the women before her. He was almost an entire two feet taller than herself. His fur was an all-consuming black. His eyes were a radiant, glowing deep blue. He had the characteristically lean and sturdy body typical of male mana spirits. His claws and his teeth appeared almost new, and well taken care of. It was love at first sight.

One peculiar difference about the mana spirit was that he had six tails. The tails were usually associated with the age and power of the mana spirit This confused Myria because even Jargen or her father, only had four tails at most. Drema had just received her third tail only recently. It was a manifestation of a mana spirit’s strength that increased naturally with age. Did this mean the mana spirit was an anomaly, or that this world’s time was distorted?

“Who are-” The older woman began, but abruptly the male mana spirit that could be no other than Veloth sent forth a large burst of mana while dashing toward the younger of the women. The spell was chaotic, uncontrolled, and disorienting. It was a swirling mix of different mana types. Usually mana spirits did not bother to obtain any other mana types because their natural primal mana was more than sufficient in every element. However, due to the chaotic nature of the spell, Even Drema would probably have had a difficult time countering it.

Just as quickly as Veloth had started his attack, it was over. Each of the women had vanished to the attacks. Just as soon as it was over, a giddy Drema charged. “Veloth!” She seemed to be so excited that she did not limit the reach of her communication, and made a mental communication with Myria as well.

“Ah! That’s right! Veloth! This is Myria, your fiancee!” She giddily introduced me.

“Pleasure to meet you, husband. I hope to make our lives together very happy.” I stepped forward and lowered my head to him in the mana spirit greeting. I could feel his body suddenly tense up. What was that about?