For the next few weeks, the world had entered a lull. Most of the weaker gods had long since left to try to find their own world, some disappearing to the unknown dangers of space, while others found places to call their own. This left Earth and the other similar worlds… not quite safer, but certainly more quiet.

At the same time, James and his research team were beginning to set up defenses within the void to prevent most types of void monsters from interfering with the world. Thanks to them, I wouldn’t need to be worrying about random carnivorous clouds.

That said, Dana finished her ‘Fallen God’ training not long after she returned to the Sky Citadel. In all honesty, I was still worried that she was going to fail, and was prepared to rush to the Admin Room to purchase her as a Companion. Thankfully, the prediction from the Terra twins held true, and she was able succeed with the method that Chel came up with.

Giles slowly awoke, moisture soaking his brow as he found himself lying in a bed of leaves. A wet cloth was wiping his forehead, a familiar figure sitting next to him. “That was reckless.” The figure chided, though there was a gentle tone to her voice, almost worried.

“Sorry, Sprigga.” Giles responded with a small smile. After the recent incident with void monsters, and the mass disappearance from Sprigga’s grove, Giles had decided that he needed to be capable of protecting himself, Sprigga, and their community. The only way to do so that he saw was to become a Fallen God himself.

Unfortunately, he had rushed through the process in his haste to protect those close to him. After reading through the methods of becoming a Fallen God, he felt it would be easier to grit his teeth and do it quickly. The result was Giles lying in bed, most of his body beneath his chest having disappeared.

The dreams were the worst part, each one feeling so real. If he had been much slower about waking up, it was likely that he would have left nothing behind. “So… did you make it, at least? Are you done?” Sprigga asked in that same concerned tone.

“I did, and I am.” Giles responded with a happy sigh. The damage to his body would be easily fixed with just a bit of time absorbing energy. He glanced over at the message that appeared in the corner of his vision, telling him that he had become the Fallen God of Unity.

Sprigga nodded her head, a smile blooming over her face. “Good. While you were… asleep, your mother came to visit.” She said, Giles looking over and blinking in confusion. “She said that she was glad that she finally found you, and wanted me to remind you to go back home once in a while.”

“Is she… still here?” He asked, Sprigga giving another nod. He hadn’t seen his mother since he came to this grove. There were times that he thought she might have died trying to avenge his father. Hearing that she was alive, and had come to see him, Giles couldn’t help wanting to go meet her.

“Just focus on recovery first.” Sprigga told him, a hand on his chest to keep him on the bed. “If she sees you like this… no mother would want that for their children, even I know that.”

Although reluctant, Giles nodded his head in agreement, closing his eyes to focus. “You’re right.” He muttered softly. Before he could face her, he needed to be able to stand on his own two legs. And for that, he needed to have two legs again.

Aznod walked through the halls of the Palace of Ashtanu, carrying a silver tray in one hand. Udona had asked to take her meals for the day in her room, as there was ‘important business’ that she needed to take care of. This wasn’t the first time that this had happened, so the chef merely had a small smile on his face while carrying the Filling Cheese Steaks within the covered tray.

Upon reaching her door, he gave a cursory knock, calling out. “It is time to eat, Lady Udona.” Before silently counting to ten. When she did not come to the door, he opened it to step inside, as per her request in a previous related incident.

The reason that Udona wasn’t eating was because she was laying in her bed, a black visor covering her head. Clearly, she was playing some manner of virtual reality game, but Aznod did not know which one had taken her fancy of late. As the Goddess of Entertainment, Udona considered it her divine mission to inspect any popular video game being released to the market. It was to such a degree that her reviews of a game were often used in its marketing campaign.

Aznod moved over to a small table set in the bedroom, removing the lid from the tray. As the smell escaped, Udona’s nose twitched. Aznod merely stood next to the table, hands clasped behind his back while he waited.

After roughly five minutes had passed, Udona removed her visor and sat up in her bed. She was wearing a long, silver dress, and smiled towards Aznod when she saw him. “Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?”

“Not at all, Lady Udona.” Aznod said, having been making sure to keep the meal warm and fresh with his divinity as he waited.

Udona licked her lips, looking at the pair of sandwiches that had been delivered to her. “Thanks for this.” She said, climbing out of bed and moving over to the small table.

“Of course, it is my pleasure.” The chef smiled at the appreciation, before voicing a question. “If I may, which game is it that you are playing this time? I don’t believe that I’ve heard of any new major titles likely to catch your interest.”

As one who served the God of Entertainment, Aznod had similarly assigned himself a mission, and that was to keep track of popular media that Udona would likely find interesting. In many such movies or games, there would be inspiration for a meal that she might want to try, and he would do his best to surprise her with it. However, it was a rather slow season for the video game industry, most people content with existing games or making their own virtual worlds. Even Blank had not released a new game in the current year, though that was likely because he was working on a new one.

“It’s a secret.” Udona said playfully, putting a finger to her lips. Afterwards, she giggled and shook her head. “I’m kidding, it’s fine for you to know. The Keeper has sponsored another game, and Ashley’s getting ready to open it for public testing. It’s called the Fragments of Acidia, and it seems really interesting.”

Aznod nodded his head at that, making a mental note to watch for any news about that game. That is, until Udona looked up at him. “Maybe you’d like to play it with me?” She asked, and he could almost feel a spark of hope in her tone.

Aznod blinked, having never been invited to play directly with the Goddess before. Still, it took him only a moment to regain his composure. “This is quite new… Can you tell me a bit about the game?”

Udona’s smile grew wide and bright, nodding her head. “The game incorporates a new feature called Power Translation. It connects with the regular power profile of your virtual reality device, and translates your levels and skills into the equivalent systems of the game.”

“Oh? How is that different from the normal power profile?” His confusion made sense, as what she described sounded quite similar to how most games handled profiles like that.

“This game uses a different set of laws for mana and ki, and works based on a classless system.” She said with a playful grin, Aznod’s eyes going wide. Classless systems were not unheard of, but they had fallen out of favor with the introduction of power profiles, due to the inability to properly translate one’s power into the game. “Additionally, the change functions in reverse, so if you get stronger in the game, you can still get stronger in reality.”

Aznod thought about that for a moment. “This game… is it like Vision Expanse? Shall we be expecting to find it within our void?”

Most games, even those released by Blank or Darkflame Technologies, did not have a place within the void. To date, only Vision Expanse held that spot, being the only game to be composed of an entire universe. Those who traversed the void were even capable of entering the game with their real bodies, though doing so was rather dangerous.

“That’s right.” Udona confirmed. “Thankfully, it has its own software to identify ‘glitches’ caused by void beasts. Anyways, if you play with me, you can play as a kitsune, and you might even learn some new skills. There is this big company called the Midnight Diner, a group of chefs that are unmatched in the galaxy. According to the game’s lore, they can cook with starlight itself.”

Aznod’s eyes widened slightly at that, able to see how much she wanted him to play with that little enticement. “If you are going so far, I suppose that I can’t say no.” Udona pumped her fist happily at that agreement, before Aznod blinked in realization. “Are you just wanting me to play so that I can cook for you in the game, instead of interrupting you for your meals?”

“Uhm… no?” Udona glanced off to the side at that. “Though it is a nice, added bonus.” After saying so, she gave a somewhat wry chuckle. “I haven’t really had anyone new to play with since I became the God-Queen. People don’t treat me as… well, me. I used to always hide my identity to keep stuff like that from happening, but that’s not really an option anymore. There are eyes on me no matter what I’m trying to do. It’d just be nice to have someone to hang out with and play games again, other than the other Greater Gods. Aurivy’s great and all, but keeping that girl focused is like pulling teeth. Whenever she sees something new and shiny, she’ll quickly get distracted.”

Aznod thought about that for a moment, before a small smile spread on his face. “I would be happy to play with you, Lady Udona.” He promised, able to see how lonely she was.

Udona’s eyes went wide, almost jumping out of her seat before remembering the food that he had brought her. “Thanks! I’ll have Ashley send over a copy of the game for you later today, try to get it set up tonight. We’re still working on integrating the Power Translation system with the Virtual avatars, so for now you can only play it with your real self. Hopefully, the integration should be done by the game’s launch, but we’ll have to see what she can do.”

Aznod gave a small nod of his head, glad to see Udona so happy for his answer. “I’ll be sure to do so. Remember to include any instructions that I’ll need to start near you. If the game is as expansive as you say, I would not want to begin on an entirely different planet.”

Udona gave an almost silly grin at that, her head nodding quickly as she took a big bite from her sandwich. “Mhm!”

While Udona ate, Aznod considered what she had said about the Midnight Diner. If he could truly draw inspiration for new cooking techniques from this game, and apply them to the real world, what sorts of dishes would he be able to create? Would he even be able to maintain his culinary focus while adventuring together with Udona? Something told him that she’d be happy to let him branch out into his own path, as long as they stayed in regular contact within the game itself.