Nilus woke up to see Lora bringing him breakfast.

“You woke up just in time. I was worried I would have to heat it up later.” Lora said.

Nilus yawned for a moment before he said: “We are almost like gods now. Our only food is pure crystals. Not that I a am against proper food prepared by you.”

“I want to keep our lives as mundane as possible.” Lora said.

“Okay.” Nilus left the bed for a quick shower.

He then came back to eat with Lora.

“Ever since you met that master of yours that always sumons you in his dreamscapes, you sleep more than a regular human being. What did he make you do this time?” She asked.

“He is crazy. He created a dreamscape as big as our universe and he plans on turning it into a game in which the only currency will be pure crystals.” Nilus said.

“I see. That idea of his will be popular on your three continents. Even the whole planet. What’s the game about?” Lora asked.

“Missions and unending quests about nonsensical things. You win pure crystals to level up or new abilities. There are many recreative avenues. The ability to normally live in there. Even all the living beings inside look and act like normal people. That old man is crazy to create such a thing.” Nilus said as he wolfed down anything in his way.

“Impressive, but I imagine that as almighty as he is he cannot oversee everything on his own.” Lora said with a thoughtful look.

“He made me the game master of the ascendants’ dreamscape. I am to oversee everything in that universe from quests to the rewards attributed.” Nilus was reluctant to even accept the job.

“haha…and what’s in it for you? If I recall correctly, you never won any of his challenges and still have the powers you stole from the Marquis. What else did he offer for you to accept?” Lora asked with a smile.

“I get a commission for every player that I bring in. All the ascendants that we have right now are either my friends or warriors that work for me. They won’t be enough. I will have to go on the rest of the planet to promote his stupid game. He even said something about expanding to the other colonies in the universe.” Nilus said.

“That’s a huge return. With the current population having tripled, your power of amassing energy gives you, your friends and your army enough pure crystals to level up. If you add the returns of this game, then it’s just a matter of time before you reach Anlow’s level.” Lora excitedly said.

“I know. But we risk compromising our hard earned peace that just lasted two decades. Let alone planet Lords, even the Kings will want a piece of the meat.” Nilus said.

“I pity them. They have no idea they are up against your greedy master.” Lora said.

“Oh… I have news. Daryl will inherit the lightning ability of the Hornraven family.” Nilus excitedly said.

“Your family…why do you keep them away from you? It’s been decades now…” Lora said as she looked sad.

“I was thinking that it was time we met them…” Nilus said.

The new game was named the way.

Anlow had designed it with the purpose of teaching the way of the aura to his players.

Each player would receive a grimoire.

The grimoire shared information like the abilities they had earned and their stats, the places they were at as well as an introduction of everything they came across.

It could also be used to communicate with other players and conduct any kind of transaction.

The grimoire stored pure crystals and introduced the quests and missions available. The abilities gained and how to use them was also on the menu.

It floated before or around the player and could not be touched. It was an ethereal object that looked like a an old book.

As it remained closed, it opened with the mental order of the user and showed what it was asked. There was no specific page for anything.

It could also be used in the real world. Any kind of interraction with the grimoire like summoning it needed aura as the price.

As the game was created with the goal of only attracting every aura wielder, Anlow took it upon himself, to help those that could not wield aura to also play.

He planned to remotely ignite their souls to permit them to acquire aura.

As long as one had a soul, one could ignite it to acquire aura whether inborn or with outside help. Green ghosts were the only anomaly.

Anlow goal was to turn the all the colonies in the universe into aura wielders for the purpose of gaining more players.

***

Violetmill city, Greenwick country.

There were no major changes in the city since the departure of Nilus.

Nilus and Lora headed for the Hornraven estate.

As they arrived, a sleeping guard woke up in stupor as he said: “Young mast… King Nilus…” He bowed a thousand times.

“At ease Vince… Is father home?” Nilus asked.

“Yes…king Nilus.” Vince said.

“Bring me to him then…”

They entered the estate.

As they slowly walked, Nilus was brought back to his early days in this mansion as he looked at Vince.

Nilus remembered this lousy guard that never caught him during his night escapades as a hero. The guard, however, always found some time during the day to impart some knowledge about fighting techniques to the young Nilus that no one cared about.

He asked Vince: “Vince. Are you interested in working as my palace guard?”

Vince thought he was dreaming but kept his calm as he bowed and said: “It would be my honor, your highness, but I…”

“I know, you are still loyal to father. When the Hornraven family moves to the palace, you will naturally follow them. In that case, you can already consider yourself a member of the palace guard.” Nilus said.

As they arrived to the door, Vince ran inside to personally announce the arrival of Nilus to the patriarch while the servants led Nilus and Lora to the main hall.

Moments later, An old man appeared.

He still had the bearing of a knight. He weakly said: “What brings you here Nilus?”

***

As his family settled in the palace, Nilus was having a hard time comprehending the rules of the way.

Anlow impatience had reached its limits and said : “I created the grimoires for this purpose. All you have to do is think. Nothing more, nothing less.”

A black grimoire appeared in front of Nilus. He thought : “Who am I?”

The grimoire opened to a random page. Letters and numbers started appearing.

Name Nilus Hornraven Race human/green ghost Level 57/100 ABILITIES MAIN Spirit body Energy absorption(soul,aura) SECONDARY Reality warping Pyrokinesis Telekinesis Telepathy Pure crystals 563,941

“Useful enough. Where do you keep all the pure crystals?”

“Under the merfolk city. Safer that way. I can teleport them out for anyone to use, anytime. Each grimoire contains my soul brand. An identical copy of myself. There can be no mistakes. None.” Anlow said with confidence.

“Sigh…when do you plan on launching the dreamscape?” Nilus asked. He now knew that there was no way for him to extricate himself from his new job as the game master.

“As soon as you announce it.” Anlow said.

“Do you not understand how absurd all this sounds? What am I supposed to say?” Nilus said as he envisioned the laughing masses as he announced that a game that could be played in dreams was about to be launched.

“Just say it like it is. Some will believe you while others won’t. I will make the grimoires fall from the sky and the chosen ones, the ones that believed you, will be the first to play. Just do not forget to mention that even non aura wielders can participate and earn their own aura.” Anlow said.

Nilus half-heartedly toured his three continents and gave his speech. A god, his own master, was gracing this world with riches, power and knowledge. He emphasized on the fact that it all happened in simple dreams.

Many thought their monarch had gone insane while others tried to read between the lines in search of a hidden secret that they never found.

Nevertheless, some had no choice but to believe in him. They were rewarded with weird looking books that fell from the sky.

Anlow had read their thoughts and immediately knew who was sincere or not.

What happened after was akin to a domino effect. After all, seeing was believing.

It took a week for half the population to acquire grimoires with more lining up.

It was impossible to resist.

One pure crystal, was enough for an Asura of the 10th stage to skip two stages and enter the divine stage.

The effect on a normal person could be imagined.

“Anlow, you have to put some rules in place. Normal people won’t be able to survive like this if everyone is asleep. Do you remember that there is something called working? If everyone sleeps all day long for the sake of your game, how can they even survive?” Nilus angrily said.

“My true goal is to eliminate mortality through the game. After all, the stronger they are the more energy can be amassed. The divine stage is a good starting point.” Anlow uncaringly said.

“Well, unless all your players reach the divine stage, you will lose them all through malnutrition and starvation.” Nilus said.

“Then let’s turn all your population to the divine stage. There won't be a human dreamscape anymore. Just the divine stage and the ascendants dreamscape will remain. I helped the merfolk in reaching the divine stage before, I will consider this an investment for the future.” Anlow said. He closed his eyes for a moment then said:

“Effective immediately, all who possess a grimoire must be of the divine stage. I am issuing the order to all my clones right now. All players are being turned into divine stages whether they like it or not. It will be the same for the new players.” Anlow

“He is completely insane” Was the last thought Nilus left as he quit the dreamscape.

Of course, Anlow had heard it. He did not care. All that was in his mind was the revenge he’d been patiently concocting for eons. The woman who had turned his body to ash, leaving him no choice but to flee with his soul, could still wait for a few years. Besides, being given a divine soul and body just to play a game was a good move to win many new customers.

Immortality came at a cheap price for a god like him.