Chapter 33: Long Night

The day was coming to a close, the sun had begun to fall into its slumber and the moon raised to show it was its time. The goblins had all returned to their ash houses with a look of dismay. They had lost. what they felt was the first place they ever had any sort of security. It was a place that allowed them good rest and kept the nightmares away and now it was all ash. Scitus knew this would happen, he planned it to be so. Sia could have burned the area around the ogres alone, but he explicitly told her to burn everything down if she could, she was happy to oblige with the promise to do her a favor. Scitus couldn’t help but feel that she acted more like a devil than she herself realized. Though underneath all that, he had begun to see that beyond just wanting knowledge, she was hiding something else entirely, she was hiding her desire for community. No matter the human, they desire social interaction, whether it be a simple hello or even just a handshake. Sia had none of this, she had spent most of her time alone and her odd glee of being able to speak was noticeable to only Scitus. He noticed because he noticed the same thing about himself, he rarely ever spoke to anyone in the other world and when he did it was just a few words here and there to his maid, other than that, he spent his life in complete solitude.

Scitus was never one who took satisfaction in manipulation but he knew he would have to use it as the country grew. He wanted, no he needed the loyalty of all his citizens. A king is nothing without his subjects, in the world he found himself in, that was especially true. This was why he asked her to burn everything down, so he could show them that as long as he existed, their homes could be rebuilt.

“Repair.” Scitus softly said under his breath, he soon felt mana leave his body and cover the area. The walls began to creak and shift back to life, their color had returned. The tents and towers that had been built began to fly into the air before settling down on the ground, it was as if they were being materialized before the goblins very eyes. The cottages that had been built to house more people and be better-structured burst into existences as if they were being brought back from another plane of reality. The spectacle was a sight to behold and even Sia couldn’t help but admire its majesty. Magic was always in part affected by the mentality of the person. The recreation of the camp showed Sia that Scitus, thought magic as something that should be beautiful and majestic and as such, the world seemed to burst full of color before settling into reality. She had only ever seen such magic few times before, it usually only occurs in children who see magic as something wonderful, though very few children can use magic and therefore its beauty is almost never seen.

The goblins watched in awe as they turned left and right, seeing tents spring to life like something out of cartoon and the walls begin to rise from the earth and clip themselves to place, the tree that had been burnt to crisp, sprouted from the ashes like a beautiful flower and bloomed thousands of leaves in the same moment. It was an incredible so much so that its intended effect on the population surpassed Scitus’s expectations. Around that time as everyone stood in awe at everything around them, a single goblin looked at Scitus, this goblin was Seresa, who understood, she was perhaps the only goblin who knew why the red witch had burned everything to the ground. She looked at him an expression that can only be described as melancholy. She saw the spectacle as an act of distrust in them, in her. She felt a small pain in her chest, but quickly suppressed the emotion and smiled. If he didn't trust them yet, he would do her utmost to see to it that he would trust them. or at least, she added in her mind, “in me”.

"How much magic power do you have?" She had wanted to ask this question ever since they first met but due to circumstance, she was never able to properly ask him, this time she wouldn't let the question die even though she realized that he had business to tend to. Scitus was just heading to the goblins and explain what to do next, after that he planned to speak with the fairies and finally interrogate both the captured Drow and Minotaur, he, of course, couldn't forget his business with the, now, sole survivor of her tribe, the elf. But by this point, he knew that Sia would cause problems for him if he didn’t tend to her curiosity first. With a sigh and annoyed curl of his lips, he turned to face Sia. Her long charcoal black hair, extended to just below her shoulders, it was seemingly as fiery as she was, scattering all over her back like a raging fire. Though her hair made sure to not spread its fiery path into her beautiful face. “a princess indeed” Scitus thought.

“I thought all gods had this much magic power.” He was telling her the truth, he had assumed that all gods held the same amount of magic power.

"you're wrong, well, most normal gods do have an immense amount of mana reserves, but that only applies to stable gods who have lived for a long time and have a decent population." She paused and looked at Scitus, though it seemed she was remembering something rather than actually looking at him.

“though, that is always a possibility” she remembered Scitus’s black Aura, his passive magic color. Unlike the conscious use of magic, gods also possess a passive magic that affects the land or the people on the land. In the case of Scitus, his passive ability allows him to heal everything in his territory for as long as he sees them as an ally or neutral figure. This passive ability is not shared by all gods and only a certain type of benevolent god has this ability. The black aura represents the rank a god is. Black and white represent the weakest gods, though this wasn’t stated in the third book of gods but rather the first, a book Sia has only seen excerpts of and is known as the Book of Rules by most. In the book, it labeled all the ranks and all the colors. There she learned that black and white were the weakest colors. She stops her thoughts for a moment not believing it to possible, her gaze looks at Scitus with a strange fascination. The reason for this behavior was simple.

“Black and white are also the highest ranking.” Scitus tilts his head, he didn’t know what she meant. Plutus never mention rankings, only the number of gods, 3,000, and the continents on the planet as well as other miscellaneous information.

"Black is the highest possible color for a god to possess, in short, you base magic power is a lot higher than normal gods." Ordinarily, the weakest ranked gods had immense mana inside them, enough to surpass any normal person, despite this, a person like Sia has easily surpassed them in mana quantity and efficiency. She has so much mana that it rivals mid-tier gods, not taking into account their populations. The only beings that can rival gods in mana are dragons, the most powerful existences in the world, just behinds some of the higher tier gods in terms of mana, though greatly suppressing most gods in utter destructive power. But Scitus, the youngest god in current existence, surpassed this, he greatly surpassed this, Black was two ranks higher than highest ranked gods in the world. Her mouth quickly contorted into a mildly wicked smile, Scitus felt a chill go down his spine.

“I’m glad I didn’t kill you” She puffed her chest out and laughed loudly, though she never actually planned on killing him, it was a simple bluff at that time, Scitus still didn’t know it was a bluff. Having a god like Scitus around would benefit her greatly if he aided her in her magic research.

“You still don’t know how to use your mana as a barrier right?” Scitus nodded, he knew what she meant. Sia had shown this ability clearly when facing the Minotaur, she surpassed him in mana strength and defense, this was possible because of the mana coursing through her veins. A person familiar with magic is able to use it not only to increases their strength but their mind and create a barrier around themselves that protected them from damage for as long as they had enough mana to expend on defense. Magic casters don't usually put a strong barrier around themselves because they need their mana for attacking but the Minotaur was so weak compared to Sia that she didn’t need to worry about that.

“I am going to tend my other business, now that you have answered your own question.” Scitus was glad that she answered her own question so quickly. Though he had become curious of the rankings she spoke of, but this question would have to be for another time. he needed to speak to his subjects.

Not far from Scitus and the contemplative Sia, were a group of goblins being lined up into several rows and columns by the main leaders of their respective teams, with Seresa and Max guiding the non-military personnel. As soon as Scitus came closer, the back of every man and woman straightened and mother silenced the few babies in the crowd.

“We have won, this time with zero casualties.” Scitus looked at the goblins who were trembling with excitement, they felt near invincible and Scitus saw this as a problem. They would grow arrogant in time if he didn't deal with their overexuberance quickly. "This will not always be the case, remember this. These are your god's words." The smiles faded on the faces of young men and woman in the front of the crowd, the older goblins changed their expression into one that displayed absolute attention. Heeding their god's words was paramount, he was their savior and the one who had brought them out of the darkness.

“No one wins a war.” He pauses. “do you all understand. ” his voice exuded a power that caused their muscles to twitch, he had done it intentionally but at that moment he had activated his [voice of authority] to assure that every single goblin that worshipped him understood that he wanted them to never forget these words. Some goblins nodded, while others asked themselves why no one wins a war? Other simply didn't know what to think but they made sure to remember his words.

“That is all, you may return to your daily activities.” As everyone dispersed, Scitus made sure to beckon Seresa to him, he had to ask her how his projects were progressing. She was happy to oblige him, every moment with him was a happy one, and a new opportunity to gain his trust.

“yes, the entirety of the farms should be usable by next week but as you instructed we planted some at the beginning of the farms construction and they are growing well. The younger goblins are getting extra lessons from Thoth and Hera, the construction of a stone path is also underway. Some buildings weren't repaired by your magic, it seems it didn't have an effect on half-built structures, because of this we lost three wood houses and logs stored near the walls. Though the ones kept inside your magic bag are fine” She began listing the progress on domestic projects as wells as cultural protects. Most were running smoothly with a few grumbles from goblins here and there. The biggest problem they still had was the burial of all goblins, this was simply something most couldn’t tolerate, another problem was less severe, the problem stemmed from some few fanatical Goblins who wanted to push their intense fervor for Scitus onto the others. This didn’t go well with other religious fanatics who worshiped nature as well as Scitus. this led to a group fight that was eventually stopped by Valentine. Valentine stopping the fight led to more problems than it solved because Valentine was still an outcast by most of the goblins in the tribe, very few had accepted him. Then there was the problem of the enslaved goblins, who were more prisoners than slaves. The newer goblins that entered the colony wanted the goblins executed from committing crimes against their kin, some even wanted Valentine executed, one even suggested to have Juliet executed for having a relationship with him. These problems mostly came from the older goblins, while most of the military and the young goblins, had an easier shift, though they still held personal grudges against other tribes. Even though they worked together, there were times when they fought for food and attacked one another, though there were never any direct deaths, there were people who had starved because of it. Scitus was then told by Max the entire story, Tribes very rarely get together, they all have different customs and bloodlines. The only time Goblins get together is when they fight Kobolds for land and food rights but once that's done there is constant infighting between the tribes. The alliances rarely last longer than they need too, during that conversation, Scitus learned that goblins could kill other goblins without suffering from corruption as long as they did it for others. In the case of food, they might hurt other goblins not out of malice or a sadistic desire but to feed their children. In short corruption only happens when a monster does something that they themselves deem to be evil and by nature killing another goblin is almost always evil.

The goblins had worked very well when getting to Scitus, this was because of the constant danger but now, with the danger gone, their petty sides began to rise to the surface of their desires. For this reason, he had ordered team building exercises, with the military personnel showing the most progress in that regard.

“That is the report your majesty” Seresa had recently changed her way of addressing Scitus after she learned the meaning of master from Hera. Hera made sure to explain to her the sexual implications of the word master, this caused Seresa to burn red, unable to call him by that mantle any longer, this was the first in a long line of names she would call him by.

“Thank you as always” Seresa bowed and unexpectedly, though she didn’t see it, Scitus gave her a small smile. She was a troublemaker but also the most resourceful in terms of communication. Unlike Scitus who gave out a cold aura whenever he spoke, Seresa was able to speak with a sweet voice to any goblin she spoke to, it was what had allowed her to be lazy in the days before Scitus, lazy for a goblin that is. The phrase silver tongue matched her perfectly.

The fairies were next on his to-do list, Scitus wondered what would become of their relationship together, knowing that they certainly were not his subjects, nor did they desire it. Even so, they had helped him with the minotaurs.

“This is going to be a long night.”