(Day 166) Aprilis 11th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

I woke up early and went down for the morning meal. I paid a copper and received eggs, a piece of ham, toast, and water. Also, it looked like everyone that wanted to eat the morning meal paid the copper, including the academics, if I wasn’t mistaken. I made my way back through the building to where I’d met Academic Silvanar. Stepping up to the double door I knocked lightly, and it opened.

“Please come in Adam.” Academic Silvanar said.

I stepped through and the door closed behind him. “Good morning Academic Silvanar,” I said.

“Please, while it’s just us, call me Freya. Also, if you’ll follow me I have some refreshments and a place where we can sit and discuss why you were seeking out an Academic.” She said as she led me upstairs to a table with two chairs. Each sat in front of a glass window that looked out onto a giant garden.

After we were seated and we’d each had taken a sip of our tea Freya asked “So you killed a Betharak. That means either it was very young, or you are more than you seem.”

“More than I seem, I'm afraid. Would you like to try to read me again?” I asked

“In a moment. You do not seem worried” she stated

“I have nothing to hide. Also, before I traveled here I was in Village by the River and allowed the Elder Jasilla to use one of her divination spells on me”

“Jasilla?” she said questioningly “That is not a name I have heard in at least 10 years. How is she?”

“She and the other villagers are doing good. I lived with them for a bit and learned what I could. When they’d taught me all they could I made my way here. That was about a week ago. I should warn you that when Jasilla used her divination spell and I relented to it, while I don’t think she was actually hurt, it took her a moment to recover from the information overload she received.”

“Information overload?”

“Yes, information overload. You see, I’m not from here. By here I mean to say I’m not from this dimension, or as my adjudicator stated this Universe.”

“I see that you believe what you say, but why would that cause an information overload?” she asked.

Well, in my Universe I learned a lot. Before I came here I had 1,124 skills. After arriving I’ve been relearning everything as there seems to be a compatibility issue. I haven’t actually reviewed all my skills in a while, but I believe I have about 1,150 to at least skill level 100. I also have a few skills up to level 500.

“You have at least 1,150 skills at level 100 or higher?” she asked then asked again “Are you a divine, I thought divines could only visit the mortal realm?”

“No Freya, I am not a divine or a God. I am a mortal, just like you. I believe when you use your ability or spell you will comprehend my true nature, then we can get down to business. I was letting you know all of this so that you are prepared for the information that will be coming your way and can steel yourself for it.”

“Before I do this, might I know your class?” she asked

“That is one of the subjects I need to discuss with you. In my Universe, we do not have classes. We have what is called a Character Level. I have been informed that the progression is similar. Though in this Universe there is more than one I have been told.

“Okay, what character level are you?”

“Currently, I am character level 5,000.”

Freya coughed, then cleared her throat. “You are not divine, yet possess the class, I mean, character levels required to be divine?” Here once a single class has reached level 5,000 mortals have the choice to become divine which permanently converts them to that path. Or they may choose to continue as a mortal and attempt to increase their skills and class levels before becoming divine.

“Well, it seems that the level cap of 5,000 stopped progression where I’m from, and without access to my personal interface there was no way for me to choose another path. See, in the Universe, I come from, there is no magic. None. That is another subject I wish to discuss with you. Because there is no magic we do not have access to our personal interface, nor can we distribute attribute points. After I came here I’ve thought about the subject a bit and it almost seems as if my Universe is set up so that mortals cannot become gods. I was informed by my adjudicator here after I arrived that when I died I would have been able to review my personal interface and if I met the requirements I’d have been given the choice to become a divine at that time.

“That sounds limiting.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” I asked back

“Which begs the question, how did you achieve the level you are?” she asked.

“Well, there is a story behind that which actually originates from this Universe. Before I tell you though I want your promise that this next part, and the individual I name, stay between you and me. If that is not a promise you can keep then that part of the story is better left unrepeated. Also, I can’t think how I became the way I am as necessary for the Academic discussions I wish to have with you.” I said with a smile.

Freya smiled back “Let’s leave that subject for later then. I do not want to make a promise to hold a secret at this time. We just met.” she said with a gentle laugh. If you are ready I believe I’m ready to cast Divine Insight.”

That is the same spell Elder Jasilla used” I said.

“I would expect no less from Jasilla. We are both Clerics for the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning, Serena. Also, I was Jasilla’s teacher once upon a time.”

“Well, if you’re ready I’m ready”

Standing from her chair, Freya moved over and placed a hand on my forehead. Then a gold light surrounded her hand and I received the prompt

The Level 956 High Elf Cleric Freya Silvanar is attempting to cast the level 101 Spell Divine Insight on you. Resist, Yes or No?

I chose No.

Immediately, Freya’s eyes closed as she weathered the information she was taking in. Her stance swayed for a second then she opened her eyes and walked back to her seat and sat down. “I thank you for the warning. You were right, had I not erected some mental defenses the amount of information you possess would have overwhelmed me.”

“I warned Elder Jasilla as well, she disregarded my warning. Once she was able to stand she mentioned that her goddess probably took great pleasure in the lesson of humility she’d just received.” I said.

Freya laughed “That does sound exactly like something she’d say after her pride got the better of her. Now that I’ve divined your nature, skills, and abilities, what exactly do you need help with?” she asked.

“A lot. To start with, Souls, are they permanent, can they be destroyed, how do they work? Then of course there’s magic. I do not understand that system., nor do I understand how to read spells. After that, do I want a class? How do I get a class? Can I have multiple classes? Maybe a little bit of knowledge about how the Personal Interface works and any tips or tricks a non-native to this universe might need to know concerning how to use it. I’ve also learned there are professions and specialties and when I took out the Army of Bully, a half-giant, half-minotaur that was going to lead a raid against Village by the River I saw a prompt that implied that if I’d had a class, profession, or specialty I’d have received another reward. Then there is my need to make it to The Labyrinth eventually to discuss an old debt with the consciousness there.”

“Is that all?” she asked with a smile

“No, but all of those subjects will do for a start,” I said.

“How about we start with a subject you did not mention, the origin of everything,” she asked.

“Sounds about as good a place to start as anywhere else” I answered.

Taking a sip of her tea Freya began. “Our current understanding, provided by our goddess, states that in the beginning there was a great expanse of Chaos. Chaos has no form, has no function, other than to constantly change, and exists in and around everything else that exists. As time went on something happened or something emerged that brought some order into chaos. Now you must understand this place of chaos is vast. It has existed, exists now, and will always exist. Also, it exists outside time. It would be better to say that time exists within chaos, as do all the other primal forces. So, a mote of order popped into existence, and from that order, a Universe formed. Do you understand the concepts of Space, Time, and Gravity?” she asked

“Our Scientists have come to understand them, yes. We call the area that our Universe exists in Space. We have deduced that time and gravity exist as a byproduct of the mass of bodies in that Space.” I said.

“That’s not exactly how those three primal forces behave here but the fact that you recognize and understand them is good. Order popped into existence and suddenly there was a Universe consisting of Space, Time, and Gravity. In this bubble, for lack of any other term which is infinite yet enclosed, most Universes formed with Magic. The eight basic primal forces or magical spheres are; Air, Life, Water, Darkness, Earth, Death, Fire, and Light as well as other forces that are combinations of each. These primal forces come together in various combinations within the framework of Space, Time, and Gravity to define that Universe.”

“Each Universe thus created could therefore be different as the values of all those primal forces could be different. This Universe allows for what is considered a normal iteration of the Primal forces, they are evenly distributed. Yours sound like it somehow had the ability to utilize magical forces stunted. But I’ll get to that. If we think of this in terms of the direction. Chaos is at the bottom with Order forming above. Order is then composed of Space, Time, and Gravity which then encompasses the other primal forces if they are present; Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, Death Light, and Darkness or any combination thereof. The only three forces that are required to be in each bubble of order are Space, Time, and Gravity. Though such bubbles are few and far between. Most Universes have some form of the other eight primal forces. From this fundamental framework Universes also developed pocket universes within themselves as guided by the divines there. These are Anti-Universes and Proper Universes, your Evil Hell, and Good Celestial Universes. The divines also created the Evil Putrescent and Good Absolute Universes, your Heavens and Abyssal realms. As far as my Goddess knows each “bubble” of order contains its own hellish, abyssal, celestial, and heavenly pocket realms within itself” She paused for a moment to take a drink and let what she’d said sink in.

“So, each bubble of Order could have its own Gods and Demons that might not ever meet?” I asked.

“Each bubble of order could have exact duplicates of a God or Demon or copies that are similar but different. There could be a duplicate of you and me running around from another Universe. Chaos creates whatever Chaos wants to create.” she answered before continuing, “So what led to the Divines. Once, the framework was created the mental came into existence. At first, they were just basic constructs but eventually, such thoughts became complicated enough to become creatures like you and me. Once the mental developed a will to live the Spirit came into existence. Once spirits existed immortal souls developed. Once souls came into existence it was only a matter of time before the first Divine’s came to be.” She paused for a moment taking a drink and collecting her thoughts before she continued,

”Now we come to the crux, which directly relates to you. Chaos is infinite, or at least unmeasurable, as far as anyone can tell. Inside Chaos, Order can form over and over and in multiple ways. In addition, connections between these motes of order can come into existence which allows for connections between aspects of the Putrescent, Anti, Divine, Spirit, mental, Proper, and Absolute. There can be connections between some, all, or none. It sounds like the Universe you traveled here from was one of those that was connected to none. Now because all motes of Order exist within Chaos some believe this to mean each can be connected, even if only for a moment. It also means that there can, and probably will be duplications. Do you understand so far?” she asked

“Yes, it’s easy enough to follow. We call the idea that there are multiple Universes within a much bigger sea, or fluid, the Multi-Verse Theory. I don’t think anyone ever thought of that fluid as raw chaos before, though it makes perfect sense.” I said.

“Which brings us to the mental, spirit, soul, and divine. Some postulate that something mental had to come into existence within chaos to form the first mote of order that became the first Universe. As Chaos does contain everything and is constantly creating and destroying those things it’s completely possible, but no one knows for sure. Once the first mote of Order was created the first Universe was created, then the second, the third, and so on. This allowed those Universes to develop and within those universes, the first aspects of the mind formed. From those minds, spirits developed, and from those spirits, souls. Eventually, those souls grew into the original divines. Scholars believe that as time went on the souls that became divine first changed the fundamental rules in some universes and separated the path of the mental into the spirit, soul, and divine. From what you told me it sounds like your Universe has rules in place so that if the mental become souls, they move on to whatever the next phase of the soul is when their body dies. Which even scholars argue about because there is a point no one has been able to see beyond. As to what the soul is? Ultimately it is easiest to think of a soul as the ordered memories of life with enough will and determination to continue to hold those memories together after the spark of life fades from a material body. Now let’s talk about the divine. What are your teachings or more importantly what do you believe or know about gods?” she asked.

“Where I’m from one of the beliefs, which I hold, is that there is only one God, and he created everything,” I said

“There is not only one God that created everything, or if there is, he, she or it sits outside chaos and directs it, which is doubtful, but not impossible. What I know through communing with my Goddess is that the mental that became spirit evolved over countless millennia.” She paused for a second while taking a drink then continued. “When I say countless I mean that there are motes of Order with divines within them that would not have a level. They would be so far above levels as to make such distinctions meaningless. I have seen your attributes. Imagine if you will that you were level 100,000 with 800,000 attributes. The beings I describe would be orders of magnitude above that. By the way, what did you utilize on the Betharak?” she asked.

Thinking that was a quick change of subject and wondering where she was going with the question I answered, “I used the Staff of Hellish Immolation on it.” I said.

She nodded. “That would do it. Where did you get the staff from?” Freya asked

“An Arch-Mage named Findal challenged me to a place of power duel to the death at the Village by the River. He declared the challenge, and we appeared somewhere else. He used the staff on me, I destroyed him.” I said

“So, he’s dead then?” she asked questioningly.

“Yep, dead as a doornail. Why do you ask?”

“Findal was the Nobel first son of one of the Nobles here. If they find out you killed him there could be repercussions. I would not pull out that staff inside the town. Someone might recognize it and report seeing it.” She said

“Understood, I wouldn’t want to get the nobles after me. Though It was…” I stopped myself, took a deep breath, and continued. “Thank you for the warning. I will take it to heart and try not to antagonize anyone else within the city.”

Freya nodded, took a drink then continued. “The first Divines learned to modify the rules by which their motes of order work. In some cases, new motes of order that spontaneously pop into existence follow those same rules. Other motes of orders that spontaneously pop into existence might have slightly modified rules. Chaos does tend to do whatever chaos wants to do after all.” She paused for a moment thinking then continued.

“As to your questions about Souls. Those first gods set forth the rules for every Universe they oversaw and some they visited. The one fundamental truth about the rules they create though is this. Unless you die, you don’t get to know exactly what happens to a soul as none have ever returned. A soul can be captured, reincarnated, resurrected and the Gods can even allow the soul to have an afterlife in the heavens or hells but eventually, all souls chose to leave this existence behind and make their way to The Eye.

“The Eye?” I asked

“The Eye is a spiritual gateway that only souls may pass through. Mortals, Monsters, and even Gods can eventually choose to allow their souls to pass through if they have the will and determination to keep their memories together. As they do though their material form is destroyed, and that soul is never seen again. Once a soul passes through The Eye no one knows what happens. “

“So, there is an Afterlife then there is something after that afterlife?” I asked

“No one is sure. Souls can stay within the framework of this Universe to serve their Divine. In fact, the more souls that willingly serve a divine the more powerful that divine becomes. While I’m not sure, there does seem to be a correlation between how fast a Divine rises through their ranks and the number of devoted mortals and souls they have.”

“Can the souls of sentient creatures be trapped?”

“Simple answer, yes. When a person dies their soul normally makes its way to their God or Goddess and presents itself. Within each Pantheon of Gods, there exist good, neutral, and evil Divines as there exist those divines who are Ordered, Neutral and Chaotic or any combination thereof. The Gods then reward or punish the souls, as is their right, for the services they have performed for them. Those souls that are evil, usually fail their Divine so are punished in some way. Those divines that are good usually allow their followers to live within their idea of heaven. The one thing that is true for both groups is that eventually a soul will grow weary or tired and choose to move on. “

“Those being punished go more quickly of course. When this happens, no force can stop them, and they pass through The Eye. Now if a divine’s growth is directly tied to the number of followers and souls that serve that divine you would think even those that are punishing the souls that answer to them would want to cultivate their retention and instead please the souls answering to them. This could not be more untrue. The other aspect of Divine progress is the idea of being true to their purpose, which all divines have and declare. The truer a divine is to their purpose, the faster their level progression. Acting in any way opposite to their stated purpose, reduces and can even reverse that progress. So, an Evil divine that punishes a soul for 50 years before it gives up and passes through The Eye will earn the same progress along their divine path as a Good divine that rewards their souls for thousands of years before they get weary and decide to move on. This is one of the reasons sin seems so easy. Even among the divines being evil can garner quicker initial progress.

“How do you know this specific tidbit about the Divines?” I asked.

“My Goddess and I once sat down and had a long chat on the subject. She is after all the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. Her purpose is to learn and share knowledge.”

“But why would she inform you that at any time you can choose to just bug out, I mean to say, leave and move on to the next phase through The Eye,” I asked

“I asked her that same question and her answer was simple. She must stay true to her purpose. Holding onto knowledge of any kind would slow or reverse her progress.”

When she explained it like that, it did make a kind of perfect sense I thought then asked, “Concerning souls, can all souls be captured and used?

“The simple answer to your question is yes” she responded, “The longer answer is only until the soul becomes a bonafide spirit.”

“Wait, you just said mental formed spirit which formed souls?” I asked.

“In the formation of a Universe yes. Souls that are being released from their mortal bodies however make their way to their God, or if they don’t have a God or are not sentient enough to have a God they make their way to The Eye. Upon death, there is a short window where spells and creatures that feed on souls can capture or eat them. If captured they remain so until utilized in a spell, rune, or pretty much for anything else. The capture must happen within moments of the creature’s death so casting a spell to do so after the creature dies usually won’t work. Though, some casters can instantly cast their spells. Those casters could capture the soul. If the soul is not captured part of the reward and punishment process is that the soul must have a physical form. Since a true physical form is absolutely out of the question they are given spirit form by their God or Goddess after which they serve their god until that form is destroyed, or they willingly release it. The form given feels normal in any of the celestial, heaven, hellish or abyssal realms but in the primary universe of the bubble of order, their body is intangible and usually immune to damage. The rules for this were set up by the original divines. Else, everyone would just die and reform continuously forever. Which brings us to our last subject concerning souls, trying to destroy a soul.”

“As far as anyone has determined thus far Souls cannot be permanently destroyed unless that’s what happens once they go through The Eye. As an example, let’s say that you were to enchant a weapon using a soul. The soul’s energy would be 99.9% utilized to fuel that enchantment. That last .1% would flee through The Eye and be gone forever. There is no force in this universe that can stop that from happening. Once a soul is reduced to .1% of its original soul energy, The Eye calls to it, no matter where it is, no matter if it's trapped or not. Even creatures that feed off souls to become stronger, vampires being a classic example, cannot absorb that last .1%. When that point is reached the soul vanishes. As it is the will of the original gods, it is so.” She said,

“Everything you just told me makes sense. I’m sure I might have more questions sometime in the future. Now though, I’d like to ask you about Dungeons and The Labyrinth”

“The first is actually quite easy to explain. Dungeons are manifestations of magic that have become sentient in a way. Think of them as a much bigger and more sophisticated Venus Flytrap except their nectar is treasure. The Labyrinth is something else entirely. Remember that I said motes of Order popped into existence. Well, some of those motes became self-aware in a way. If we look at Dungeons as manifestations of magic within a Universe, then The Labyrinth is a Universe that is a manifestation of magic that has achieved sentience and is not Divine, or at least doesn’t start out as a Divine. The other thing you should know is that there are more than one Labyrinth. In fact, there are at least 1,233 that have been cataloged, though that number could truly be infinite. The Labyrinth controls all Primal spheres of power within it, any connections to it, and could control some higher spheres of power as well. Most Labyrinths only connect to Dungeons though some have allowed Universes with high concentrations of Magic to connect to them directly.”

“It should also be noted that Labyrinths also allow connections between themselves which makes it even harder to know exactly which Labyrinth you’re in. There are junctions, or node, that allows people to teleport throughout the labyrinth and even into some dungeons. Also, the Labyrinths hardly ever connect to young dungeons. Normally they wait until a Dungeon is at least level 100 because once connected the creatures that the labyrinth creates can utterly devastate common and even advanced dungeons. The other thing you should know about Dungeons and the Labyrinth. Parties of no more than ten may enter. If larger numbers enter, serious penalties, titles and marks are applied to the ‘cheaters.’ Additionally, two parties will never meet inside a Dungeon. Each time a group enters a dungeon they enter a different “instance” of that dungeon. This is not true in any Labyrinth. Once in the Labyrinth, parties could meet up and run into each other.”

“I saw the obelisk to the North of the City. Why is that Dungeon called ‘The Dungeon of Divine Elements’” I asked

“That is a long story that I might share someday. The short version is that a Divine was killed, his soul captured, and it was used as the item of power. The Harbinger was a Fire Elemental. So naturally, The Dungeon Master at the time chose the name Divine Elements” she said.

“Does that mean every monster you fight in there is an elemental?” I asked.

“No, the dungeon can absorb anything that enters it and is killed there. The Kings, all of them going back to the age of darkness, have made sure to capture monsters of various kinds and throw them into the dungeon. This has provided all types of monsters that parties could encounter.” She said,

“I have to ask; how did they kill a divine?”

“As the story goes, someone that had chosen to become Divine was tricked into accepting, and while they were starting to undergo the transformation a weapon that could kill gods was used. As the divine was technically just coming into their power they didn’t have the defenses that most gods put in place and the nature of the attack captured his soul. The divine was so new that his name wasn’t even recorded.” She said

“Doesn’t that make the dungeon incredibly powerful?” I asked.

“Technically yes. The item of power for the Dungeon is technically an Artifact. Also, the Dungeon connected to The Labyrinth long ago so again critters and monsters make their way in from the Labyrinth. Add to that no one wants to fight a level 1,001 Elemental. At least that’s what its level was the last time someone was able to sneak in and come out, which was just over 13 years ago. Back then something changed. No one that has made it to the deepest level has returned since. Most parties are content to stick to the first nine levels which allow for encounters up to level 900, each level gets increasingly harder in 100 level increments. Level 1, 1-100, level 2, 101 – 200, you get the idea. Newer dungeons have more restricted ranges as they are lower level but once a dungeon grows to a certain point the levels it creates contain higher level monsters. Also, if you fight higher-level monsters, you’ll get better treasure. Though I should say that it’s not a cakewalk. The Adventures Guild tries to make sure that all parties that enter have all classes covered and the levels to handle the dungeon. Sometimes though the preparations just don’t matter. We lost one of our younger adepts last week. She thought making a little extra coin on the side was a great idea. She was a 25th level cleric and did have healing. Her entire party was wiped out on the first floor.”

Freya paused for a moment then stood. “We’ve been talking for a while. Why don’t we go get some lunch and walk in the garden for a bit? It’s a very nice day out and the sunshine would do us both good”

I stood as well and stretched. “I would like that. I have to admit the view from here is exquisite?”