“And yet my Aether rating is my lowest attribute,” Zel said.

The Smoke Witch scoffed, “So you have a Tablet. Give it here, let me take a look.”

Zel did as asked, and after a few seconds, the Witch tossed it back to her with a disgusted look on her face.

“That abominable facsimile you call a Tablet was made in the last century, of course it can’t properly measure anything. It barely covers the four categories of attributes. Fine, I’ll answer your questions, but I have one more before then. Your outward appearance; you’re like some fictitious overman descended from every race all at once. How long did it take you to make all those changes?”

“I came out of the growth tank like this,” the homunculus grinned. A light came on behind the Smoke Witch’s eyes, like she’d just been told that some heretofore impossible miracle of science had come to pass. She said nothing of it, however, merely sipping tea as if to drown whatever she had wanted to say. Then, she nodded and beckoned: “Alright, give me your question. Anything other than the main reason you were sent to me. We can get to that later.”

“Er… What’s an Immortal Beast?” Vic questioned, directing it towards Zefaris, only for the Smoke Witch to answer without even looking at him; she maintained eye contact with Zelsys.

“A non-human cultivator who has developed a humanlike mental capacity and physical form, now shut. You’ll get your turn,” she said. “What. Is. Your. Question?

“Why did Xiān Dì need help with his breakthrough?” Zel probed, thinking it might be wise to try extracting information regarding the Emperor’s potential weaknesses.

“Five tribulations in rapid sequence; the practitioner must employ the element which defeats the tribulation’s element to a masterful degree in order to survive, maintaining a perfect internal balance of elements all throughout lest the energies settling within them rip them apart body and soul. I helped with making sure he didn’t fuck up that second part; his spiritual roots are fundamentally unstable, making them ideal for the actual practice of the Five Elements method in externalized form, but he was like a lopsided spinning top in internal control at the time. Why would you want to know? None of you is a Five Elements cultivator, but prettyboy over here could make for a good one.”

“I mean to kill him. Knowing your enemy is vital,” Zel answered, expecting surprise or really any reaction at all, but she only received an understanding nod and a sigh.

“Yeah, figured as much. Warned him that he’d make himself a giant glowing target… I’d ask what he did to you, but I honestly don’t care.”

There was silence for a few seconds as the witch sipped her tea, Zel doing the same.

“So ah… Do you know what an Antediluvian Gem is? Besides the name, of course,” Vic cut in.

The Smoke Witch sighed again.

“Can’t wait to hear the interesting news, can you? Of course I know, I used one as a temporary means of staving off death while I worked on my current immortality method. Now, the real question is, why would that old bastard feel that you need to ask me about Antediluvian Gems? They’re-” she began, only to scan the room and realize that knowledge of the subject was not nearly as common as she had assumed. “Oh, by the Dead Ones, don’t tell me they fell into obscurity as well. What next, are Dungeons completely unknown to modernity as well, huh? Weapon spirits? Talismans? Basic fucking glyphs?!”

The temperature in the room rose by the second along with the woman’s frustration, her grip on her tea mug tightening, the liquid within coming to a roiling boil in moments. It could be heard creaking, threatening to explode under the pressure. Her hair began to float as wisps of smoke rose from it; it was like sitting next to a boiler mere seconds from exploding.

“No, just… Just the gems,” Vic piped up, holding out his hands in an effort to calm the belligerent immortal. “Could you share what such a gem is? Its function, origins? What to look out for? You mentioned using one to evade death?”

The boiling stopped and the witch deflated in her seat, finishing the half-empty cup of doubtlessly scalding liquid before pouring herself another one.

“Yeah. I shoved my soul inside one as insurance when I attempted what was to be my final breakthrough, the True Phoenix Rebirth. Fucked it up, didn’t finish it properly; my flames sputtered out and now I’m stuck between what you would consider to be Third and Fourth Circle. My body refuses to die, wounds heal nearly instantly, and even if I am scattered to the winds, I just reform out of smoke; can’t even cut my damned hair. Any method of going back to try again is lost to me… But it’s fine, I’ve come to accept my lot. As for the gems, I’ll start with the etymology; they’re called Antediluvian Gems because they’re created under conditions akin to the conditions of the world’s previous state; back when divinity still belonged to the gods. I won’t tell you how to do that, but I’ll tell you that it involves going to the Foundations of the World or another place immediately adjacent to the most intact of the Dead Gods. Show me your gem, if you would-”

She reached out her hand to Victor, making no effort to hide that she had been aware of his possession of the gem from the very start. He hesitated, so she reassured him: “It’s fine, I couldn’t steal it even if I wanted to right now. Once an Antediluvian Gem is attuned to someone, it can’t be separated from them for long ‘cause local spirits will be compelled to return it to the rightful owner. Takes some serious prep work to disrupt the connection, and you need a sympathetic magic link to the owner to even do that prep.”

With some hesitation even still, Vic untied the cord and handed the gem over. A glimmer was seen in the Witch’s eyes as she looked upon it, grabbing the string in one hand while forming the smoke-eye gesture with the other.

“...Ah. That explains it. Koschei’s in there.”