The moment she noticed his arm was missing, she panicked.
In that moment, she completely forgot that this was all virtual, that Jasper's arm wasn't really missing. Her thoughts spiralled, and she wondered if he could program with only one arm. She thanked her lucky stars he had decided to develop an approach to coding where he wouldn't have to type as much. It was a good idea that he could go into the game, and- Then she remembered that it was, in fact, their current location.
Celeste slapped her husband. "Idiot," She said sternly.
Jasper groaned. He didn't feel pain as such, but rather as if he was bone tired, and his entire being was slowly wasting away. He looked up at his wife and coughed.
"Wife, is that you? Please come closer. I fear that my days might be numbered." Jasper's voice was weak and raspy, and Celeste didn't need any divine powers to know that he was hamming it up.
Jasper quickly scooted up a little as she leaned closer and kissed her. She wanted to stay mad at him, but as she had said, he was an idiot. She kissed him back, and before long, they had snuggled up in the middle of the massive magical circle.
Jasper found some of his arm returning as dawn rolled around and he got his Energy back. He didn't really feel good, but he felt better.
He was still missing a ton of Hit points, and he decided that accessing his Endurance Domain to get the regeneration power, Amaranth Vitality, and spending a single Energy for the day on it, he quickly started to feel the restorative powers.
By the time the others had woken up, Jasper's arm was back, and the only sign that he had been doing something he shouldn't was his clothes, which Celeste quickly mended.
The Scribe looked over his master with a suspicious look as he stepped out of the quarters Celeste had created.
"You still live?" He asked, seemingly with more disbelief than Jasper thought necessary.
"Oh ye of little faith, of course I survived, I am part of Armandos, and we cannot be killed." The god of magic said.
Celeste was doing her best to be supportive and tone down her snark. She managed to control herself, crushing half a dozen comments before they left her lips.
"Though I did have to access the third level of the Ur-spells." He explained, which made The Scribe shake his head.
"You are a terrible liar, even for a god. There are only two levels of Ur-spells. Lower Ur-spells and Greater Ur-spells." The old man said. "I have spent a lifetime studying these spells, and while powerful, and something that can and will kill gods, they are not as omnipotent as some would claim." The Scribe continued.
Jasper had that smug smirk on his face that made the old-timer pause in his explanation.
"You would think that, but in actuality, there are three steps on the path of the Ur-mage." Jasper started to explain the theory of these spells, and before long The Scribe was taking notes in his thick tome.
Celeste quickly left to take care of her own things, though Jasmine stayed by the old man's side, looking bored the entire time.
"So, yeah. That is about it. In essence, not even a god can use the final step in combat without taking some heavy damage, and Ewen is really the only one that can access it beyond me, though I am fairly sure that he will get absolutely destroyed if he tries. I don't think he has access to the Endurance Domain, which is honestly the only reason I was able to survive." Jasper said. "Even so, this is a fairly high level of magic, and we should probably gate it in some way. Though, I am unsure of how to do that. I did notice that I got full Energy from the trip to Kelllwan's plane, though I didn't get it on the way back. I am assuming that it is a side effect of breaking your version of the barrier?" Jasper asked, wondering if The Scribe had an explanation for this.
"Yes, I have essentially used your power to create the barrier, so when you break one of them, the barrier tries to attack you, which is flooding you with Energy... your Energy." The old man said.
This was quite interesting. Jasper would have to start making some visits to the various gods during the evenings to make sure they were locked away.
"So, I am going to try and find a candidate for a scoundrel god, and I am assuming the best option for that would be looking for the leader of the Thieves Guild. Longknife wasn't any help, but he might still have a use. I just need to be a lot sneakier than I was before." Jasper said, mulling things over.
He was still in thought when Jasmine threw a pebble at him. "I AM BORED!" She shouted, and the god of knowledge had to admire her courage.
He had quite literally just defeated a god in combat, and yet a small child was still brave enough to try and fight him or at least annoy him.
"Well, you are in luck. How would you like to become a criminal?" Jasper said with a broad smile.
Celeste had decided to track down her forge. As far as she knew, it hadn't been stolen, but the power level of items it was cranking out would need to be curbed. It did help that a small pop-up message was hovering around in her vision.
Text from image:
You have removed a threat to the world
While conflict breeds plotlines and chaos is the agent of change, too much power leaves the world in ruin. You have removed two artefacts of great power that could harm the world. You have received 10 Worship based on the past day's contribution to the world.
Jasper had gotten the same amount of Worship based on what she had been talking with him about this morning. Celeste had practically doubled her Worship, gaining quite a bit of power in the process.
The Architect of Reality was debating how to best reclaim the smithy. However, she did have an idea of what to do. It wouldn't be easy, though. She would split up from Jasper for a bit, but they had done that before.
Celest focused herself. She felt the harmony between her Domains. Her Time and Journey Domains seemed to harmonize, and she could feel that Teleportation was a real option for her.
However, that felt like cheating. A bit like resurrection. Taking a shortcut. Circumventing one of her Domains. Celeste sighed and realized that she might have to make that one of her rules. People should not invent teleporting. It would also stop merchant caravans from being ambushed.
Even so, she knew that she could spend a miracle to effectively teleport. She decided to do it with style, and with a thought, she focused on a nearby door.
There was nothing fancy about the house the door belonged to. It was simply built and barely standing. It wasn't that the house was broken since her Impact kept everything in Marcusburg in peak condition. However, the house was simply badly designed. Any kind of wear or tear and it would collapse.
Was this her doing? Since the citizens here didn't have to think about maintaining the houses, they were just slapping things together. Maybe there was something about people growing stronger when they met adversity.
Celeste pulled herself from her thoughts and forced herself to ignore the symptoms of a city in decay. Instead, she pushed her will against the door.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
She was the mistress of any reality. She was the one behind the veil. She controlled time and space, and she wanted access to her smithy.
Pushing Energy into the world around her, every Domain she had seemed to work as a greater whole.
Then, it clicked.
She pushed against the door, and without any effort she stepped through the doorway, but instead of finding herself in the slanting house, she was standing in the middle of her forge.
The Architect of Creation hadn't expected to be alone, so she wasn't surprised when she saw someone working at the forge.
He was a drow, his greyish skin and muscles on full display as he worked. His torso was naked, and a pair of loose red pants was all that preserved his modesty. His lean and slim build betrayed agility beyond human comprehension. It didn't take long to notice the scars, especially since the sweat on his skin highlighted them. There were many, but they weren't detrimental to his etheric beauty. Most of the scars were made by blades, but some had definitely been caused by something bigger. Something heavier.
Celeste wasn't impressed by him, even as his short white hair took on a shine in the forge. Before she could say anything, he spoke.
"Rivvil. My brother told me to expect you, though your presence is a surprise since I did not hear any fighting outside." He said, looking her over.
Celeste shook her head. "Let me guess. You are another Ilsher? I am assuming Red House?" She asked, pointing to his pants as evidence.
"You do your kin proud, waeles. I am Ira, the warrior of the Ilshers, and I have been given the title slayer of gods." He explained, slowly breathing in before hammering red-hot metal and then breathing out. "I am to understand that you are the one to thank for this smithy. It takes a warrior to appreciate a good forge, for what other profession is so dependent on the quality of their equipment that they wager their life?" He asked, setting aside a heavy hammer and walking over to the quenching trough. He used the water to wash himself while the metal heated up once more.
At least, Celeste hoped that it was water and not oil. The drow put on a shirt that had been tossed to the side. She noted that it was black and red.
"I will not make the same mistake as my le'i. Underestimating you and having to crawl back to my sister is a fate that I will not have weighing me down." He said, taking a combat stance, clearly assuming that Celeste was here for a fight.
As the goddess of time, Celeste would be able to detect when she was being attacked. Therefore, she didn't even blink as a drow hidden among the various pieces of equipment in the forge sprung out, aiming a poisoned dagger at her body.
The Architect of Reality remained cool, simply pointing at the poor man and letting time decay him to pieces. It was a quick process and in an instant, it was like he had never existed.
"Why do you think I am here?" she asked, curiosity entering her voice. "You think that I have come to reclaim the forge? To some degree, I have. You cannot be allowed to create any divine artefacts in this place. The process is simply too... dangerous. The balance of the world is threatened by the destruction caused by this place." She explained, though before she could explain further, Ira had closed the gap.
His hand-to-hand combat quickly moved to make short work of Celeste. However, the Goddess of Time was not to be trifled with. She could sense his blows coming, and with minimal movements, she simply moved out of the way. Her power, Immediate Foresight, doing a lot of the heavy lifting to ensure that she could look cool and collected.
Text from image:
Immediate Foresight
Type: Constant
Energy usage: N/A
Full effect: You cannot be surprised. Your armor class is much better as you instinctively avoid foreseen blows.
She was hardly expending any stamina dodging the attacks. Still, she could also tell that Ira wasn't using any divine powers. He was testing her, seeing if she could stand up to him in combat alone.
"I get the feeling that you and your brothers might be considered spoiled brats." The goddess commented, and the next punch Ira threw was much harder and more focused, though she dodged it all the same, she had to actually take a step back.
"I mean, you take my shrine as your own. You produce weapons against my will, and yet you do not know my name." Celeste said, managing to talk calmly and steadily as attacks rained around her.
"I know who you are. You are the first god. You are Armandos. You are the forgotten one." Ira said, adding a roundhouse kick to the barrage of attacks. Celeste smirked.
"Good, then you should know that your actions do not impact what will happen next. I am going to tear down this smithy. There is nothing you can do about this. Then I will leave this place, and you will hope I never return. That last part is the only thing you have control over." She explained patiently, feeling the hits start to intensify. "Or maybe you would like me to gift this smithy to Kelllwan?" She asked, knowing that it would taunt the demi-god.
She felt the flash of power from Ira. And she realized that taunting him might not have been the best idea. A kick to her side that she couldn't dodge in time sent her flying. While the game didn't allow for traditional pain, the discomfort was intense and overpowering.
Looking at her health, Celeste could see she had lost 6 hitpoints just from that hit. She was sure Ira had used multiple abilities to get past her defences, and he was clearly using some kind of power to make his attacks beyond lethal. It seemed like playtime was over.
Celeste didn't have time to play around, either. With only 4 Energy left, she would have to ensure that she used the Energy wisely.
She had fought against Mordecai, but she wasn't sure that Ira would be the same kind of challenge. He was much more combat-focused. Celeste would probably have to spend Energy on using her Reaping word. However, she wasn't sure how that would interact with everything else.
Text from image:
Reaping Word
Type: Activated ability
Energy usage: Until the next loading screen.
Full effect: Choose a target at any range. A gesture suffices if you can see the target, otherwise you must use a name they consider their own true name. Lesser foes drop dead and cannot be revived without your permission. Worthy foes require Energy to be committed to the end of the day and are allowed a saving throw to resist. Furthermore, worthy foes must be injured in order to let Death reach them; even a single point of damage is enough.
After all, Mordecai had probably ensured his siblings couldn't be killed. Celeste would have to try something else. She would have to use one of her other Domains to win this.
Pouring her will into the Time Domain, she anchored it against Ira. The warrior Ilsher was getting ready for another follow-up attack. Celeste did everything in her power to try and manifest the desired outcome, and she felt her Energy start to drain as she attempted to lock Ira in a time stasis.
Mid stride, the Red Ilsher stopped. A look of surprise on his face as his own personal time slowed to a crawl.
Instantly, everything seemed to warp around him, and the sound of chains rang through the smithy.
Celeste sighed, feeling quite a bit of relief. She instinctively knew that he wouldn't be able to move for the next 24 hours, though nothing would be able to affect him either. He was in perfect stasis, locked in place, not even perceiving time.
She probably couldn't kill him without committing a lot more Energy, and removing a valuable NPC from the game seemed like a bad idea. Instead, she focused on tearing down the smithy and dismantling it thoroughly.
She looked through what items were lying around and found that there wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that wasn't a work in progress was a tablet with some elvish writing on it. Underneath the elvish writing was some writing that Celeste could actually read. This was clearly Daikia's dogma.
Worship me, the one true god, through sacrifices, murder, rituals, and chaos.
Always show that you are the strongest, perfect yourself, and spread chaos wherever you go.
Accept only the strongest in your society, for only the strongest blood has the right to worship me.
You are the most sovereign race; all other races are beneath you. Oppress the less worthy and show them that you are the dominant ones.
Bring my name to greatness and suppress all other gods. We are made to rule, so praise my name and make all others bow.
Apparently, this was the drow equivalent of one of those 'Live, Laugh, Love' signs that Celeste loved. The goddess destroyed the tablet with a well-placed hammerswing and enjoyed watching it shatter to pieces before starting to deconstruct the smithy. The goddess found that since it was her creation, it obeyed her command,. She simply had to focus on an aspect of the smithy for it to tear itself into atoms.
To her dismay, she didn't get the Worship back she had spent on it. It seemed like once allocated, the Worship would be lost. That was fair.
As she tore down the structure, she could see that she was in the middle of a cave. However, as she removed more of the building, she felt a strange pressure on her very being.
It built rapidly as more and more of the smithy was removed. Celeste's actions were coming to a crawl as the world itself seemed to fight her presence. She didn't recognize the feeling at first, but with a little focus, she quickly realized that this was the will of another god.
She was in Daikia's realm, and the goddess wanted the invader out. As Celeste removed the last stone of the smithy, everything turned white, and the pressure became too much.
The goddess was thrown back, and to her surprise, she found herself back in Marcusburg. Daikia had quite literally thrown her out.
Celeste slowly got up and looked around the place. Hoping to find a way to recover, she headed towards the warehouse.