Jake stood on an observation deck above the bridge of the ship as he saw the world pass by all around him. It was nothing but a constant stream of colors with nothing distinct ever visible, their speed simply too high for him to distinguish anything.
He had remained interested in how the spaceship worked, and he’d assumed it would work a bit like Sandy and their ability to enter subspace to circumvent some of the regular laws of space. He had been correct... kind of.
Genuinely, he remained confused about how it all worked. The spaceship they were on was shaped like a regular ship meant to sail on water, which, in retrospect, didn’t make much sense if it was supposed to fly through space. However, when they started moving, he realized that the design was like that for a reason.
The bottom part of the vessel was submerged in what to Jake looked like complete darkness. When he looked down and not straight ahead or up, all Jake could see was darkness everywhere he looked, as if they were sailing an endless black ocean. From the rudimentary explanation he’d been given, what he saw when he looked down was the barrier between the void and reality.
A vessel such as this skirted this line. A part of the ship was so deep in subspace that it was practically outside of reality, allowing it to travel forward at incredible speeds, all while the top half remained in the universe for all to see. Seeing as all regular laws of physics had long broken down, faster-than-light travel wasn’t anything impressive in the slightest. Jake had no idea how fast they were currently going, but it definitely wasn’t slow.
Again, the entire purpose of them traveling using a ship like this was to be seen. If they had truly wanted to get to the Pantheon of Life as quickly as possible, they could have gotten there within an hour. All they would have had to do was teleport to the small planet right outside the Pantheon of Life’s domain, passed through the barrier that blocked external teleportation, and then either had a god help teleport the rest of the way or just used the Pantheon of Life’s own internal teleportation network.
Seeing as simply arriving quickly at the Pantheon of Life’s heartlands wasn’t their only objective, they had chosen this method of transportation.
Usually, this kind of ship was only used when exploring sections of space with no established factions. Even gods were limited where they could teleport to, as one of the basic requirements was being able to see where they wanted to teleport to. All gods had the ability to scry somewhere they’d been before, making it easy to teleport there, but when exploring the vastness of space, their teleportation range was effectively the range of their Perception or Perception-based abilities.
That’s why a ship like this was more effective when venturing into the unknown. It allowed even gods to travel at incredible speeds until something of note was spotted worth actually exploring. What’s more, it was far more relaxing to chill on a ship than constantly be scrying and teleporting around – or worse – flying around yourself.
Jake had also been informed that the current speed of the vessel was far from its limit but that going too fast would make them harder to detect, resulting in most S-grades becoming unable to recognize their passage. Something that would naturally be highly counterintuitive.
All in all, using a ship like this to travel through the internal territory of a major faction was indeed out of the ordinary, making the Order of the Malefic Viper attract even more attention with this move. This had evidently worked, as Jake felt powerful beings scanning the vessel intermittently, and he did find it kind of comical how many of them rapidly disengaged their senses after detecting who the ship belonged to.
Along the way to the center of the Pantheon of Life’s territory, the plan was also to drop off diplomats on a few select major planets or points of interest. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the territory ruled by the Pantheon of Life was stupidly massive, which was why this journey took so long despite how fast they were going. Oh, and when they did encounter a lot of empty space, the ship would teleport forward to not just sail through nothingness for a day or two.
Jake didn’t really complain about the length of the journey at all. It was interesting seeing more of the multiverse, even if it was only through glimpses of the different places they stopped. Also, in total, the trip should only take around two weeks, and they were already on day three.
Of course, there was still one pain point.
“Quite the view, eh?” the four-eyed Unique Lifeform spoke as he appeared behind Jake, who’d otherwise enjoyed standing on the viewing deck all by himself, enjoying his alone time.
“It’s unique,” Jake spoke, knowing there was no excuse once the newly arrived being decided he wanted to chat.
“If you learn how to fly really fast, it’s actually pretty standard, though I guess with your low Perception, it does look impressive,” Minaga nodded, acting all jovial despite having just said something incredibly offensive.
“Saying my Perception is low... those are fighting words,” Jake said in a serious tone.
“Low in the grand scheme of things,” Minaga said, laughing a bit awkwardly. “Even me at my best still has low Wisdom compared to someone like the Malefic Viper.”
“I definitely concur you’re not as wise,” Jake fully agreed.
“And now you’re back to being needlessly rude, though this time I do recognize it’s partly my fault,” Minaga muttered.
Jake sighed and shook his head as he kept looking at the cosmos a bit more. Over the last few days, Minaga had surprisingly left him mostly alone, and no, they were not bunkmates. The ship was more than big enough to provide them all with their own private rooms, and despite being an S-grade, Minaga had been given a room in the section with other gods. Seeing as, you know, he was kind of a god... oh, and the fact he kept that same powerful clone he originally appeared with hidden away in his room.
Speaking of the gods, all of them were just meditating based on what Jake could see. Even Linea, the one currently operating the ship, was sitting in meditation, the only difference being that she did so on top of a large formation.
The room assigned to Jake was also quite fancy and from his scans of the ship, the most luxurious outside of what the gods had been provided. Even if the gods of the Order all treated Jake with respect, that didn’t mean he actually ranked above them in the hierarchy. He was ultimately still only a mortal, and most of the recognition he got from members of the Order was more toward the Viper than himself.
“So, are you looking forward to visiting the Pantheon of Life?” Minaga asked curiously after the silence had apparently pained him for five seconds too long.
Jake turned and looked at the Unique Lifeform, and seeing as only the two of them were there, he took this chance to ask something that had been bothering him. “I’d turn that back around. Why did you decide to join this expedition? You could visit the Pantheon of Life at any point if you so desired. There’s no reason to go there with the Order. In fact, you doing so may make people think you are partial to the Malefic Viper. I would judge your actions as pretty damn hard to understand.”
“I’m not partial to the Malefic Viper,” Minaga acted offended. “And I’m not going to the Pantheon of Life with the Order either. I’m going there with some of my favorite Nevermore attendees of all time!”
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“And the more serious answer?” Jake followed up.
“Legitimately, without any joking around, I decided to tag along just because I felt like it. I like to experience new things, and new things tend to happen when you’re around. Fun new things. Interesting new things,” Minaga said, turning a lot more serious. “I’ve experienced countless lives, explored most of what the multiverse has to offer – what won’t kill my clone instantly anyway – and it’s hard finding new things that pique my interest. You know how some gods complain that eternity can get boring? Well, imagine how I feel, having to experience eternity simultaneously with every single version of me at once.”
“That’s... honestly a good point,” Jake had to admit. “Doesn’t really fully explain why you are the way you are, though.”
“It totally does,” Minaga answered confidently. “I am this way because I can be this way. Because it’s more fun. Have I legitimately pissed off a lot of people, including gods? Sure thing, but what are they gonna do about it? Same with some factions not liking that I travel with the Order. I don’t care. They have no recourse. Sure, they can complain, but why would I care? In fact, I could easily retaliate. Did you know I can ban people from Nevermore? Because I can totally ban people from Nevermore. Well, technically, the Wyrmgod can ban people from Nevermore, but if I ask really nicely, he tends to agree. So, yeah, I am the way I am because no one is able to force me to be something else.”
“Another good point,” Jake once more had to admit. “And... I almost wanna say that’s kind of an admirable attitude?”
“Does that mean we can be bunkmates now?” Minaga asked with hope in his voice.
“There aren’t even any bunks in the rooms.”
“I could make one. Just take two beds, slap them on top of each other, and boom, we got a bunk bed,” Minaga said with a grin.
“The answer remains no,” Jake vehemently rejected.
“You’re still so mean... I bet you wouldn’t have rejected me if I were a wood elf goddess from the Pantheon of Life named Artemis,” Minaga said, acting all hurt.
Jake had to give Minaga credit where credit was due, he had managed to not bring Artemis up before now. Based on what Jake knew, only a few people in the multiverse knew what had gone down in the Colosseum of Mortals within Nevermore, the total likely less than could be counted on one’s fingers.
Minaga was one of them, and Jake had fully expected him to bring it up constantly to tease him, a bit the same way Villy had. That’s why he had to give the Unique Lifeform at least some credit for not having done so. As for what he said...
“No, if you were Artemis, I wouldn’t reject that at all,” Jake simply answered honestly.
“See, and I find that highly discriminatory. What does she have that I don’t?”
Jake just stared at the Unique Lifeform for a few seconds.
“Alright, point taken, but I’m still allowed to be at least a tiny little bit offended,” Minaga halfway admitted defeat.
“If that’s your prerogative,” Jake shrugged. “By the way, you answered why you wanted to travel with us to the Pantheon of Life, but not what you plan on doing there... and before you even think about asking, no, you’re not gonna be glued to me while there.”
“Now, I may have questionable judgment in most areas, but even I wouldn’t expect that,” Minaga said. “Believe it or not, I have a legitimate purpose for going. The Pantheon of Life is known to cultivate some very interesting plant monster variants, and they even have a gathering of new monsters from the integrated universe, so I’m going to check those out and document them. This documentation can then be used to create those creatures within Nevermore for the next upcoming floors.”
“Color me impressed. It sounds like you’re actually doing your job,” Jake commented, surprised.
“What? No, that isn’t my job. That’s the job of this other extremely popular, handsome, and smart god. I’m mainly just going to hang out,” Minaga said with a big smile. “But don’t you worry, I have others besides you I can hang out with.”
“That’s comforting,” Jake sighed.
“Do you think it’s gonna be awkward, by the way?” Minaga asked.
Jake already had a good idea of what the Unique Lifeform was asking about but still asked for clarification. “What’s gonna be awkward?”
“Meeting Artemis for real. Sure, you two have bumped into one another, but you only ever had any real interaction with her image within Nevermore. The real deal is gonna be quite a bit different, seeing as she’s not a level 0 mortal here but an actual god,” Minaga said, taking a deep breath.
“And not a weak god either. Last I checked, Artemis was at the Ninth Layer of Divinity, and she’s bound to become a Godqueen pretty soonish. Oh, by the way, I totally assume you know about the Layers of Divinity. Anyway, that means she isn’t a nobody, and what’s more, she’s highly trusted by both Yggdrasil and Nature’s Attendant. Did you know she used to be Yggdrasil’s Chosen back in the day? I think the biggest difference between Nevermore and now is that back in there, things like status didn’t overly matter, while out here, it’s all way too many people even care about.”
Minaga had quite a rant, making it obvious he’d been thinking about this topic quite a lot. Jake could only see one reason why he could have done so as he smiled.
“Are you worried about me?”
“What!? No! No, totally not, I’m just personally interested in things going well for both parties involved. This entire debacle started within Nevermore, and as one of the top people in charge of Nevermore, I feel a personal responsibility to avoid disaster as we don’t have any liability insurance that covers this kind of thing,” Minaga said, trying to sound as business-like as he possibly could. It wasn’t working very well.
“Thanks for the concern, but I’ll be fine,” Jake shook his head. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous, but at this point, I’ll just let the chips fall where they may. I only know what I’ll do and what I feel, and I guess the only thing left to do is meet up. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?”
“She could kill you,” Minaga pointed out.
“Eh, I doubt it’ll go that far,” Jake shrugged.
“But it could.”
“Nah, it’ll be fine,” Jake kept being casual.
Minaga didn’t seem to entirely agree but didn’t argue either as he sighed. “Well, good luck either way. Also, you’re totally visiting the Pantheon of Life for more than just to see Artemis, right?”
“I was invited by Nature’s Attendant and Dina originally, so yeah, I’m definitely gonna see and hang out with them a bit alongside Sylphie and the old man,” Jake answered. “ I’m sure I’ll also end up meeting Yggdrasil, though that may be more in a professional capacity than a private one.”
Minaga nodded before tilting his head. “You are going to ask Yggdrasil to help you out, right?”
Jake sighed as he thought they were done with that topic as he looked at the S-grade clone. “I already told you, whatever happens in that department is entirely between Artemis and myself, and I don’t plan on getting anyone-“
“Wow, you’re starting to sound downright obsessed! Without any prompting, you instantly assume I’m talking about her. Just... wow,” Minaga said, acting incredibly astonished. “For the record, my question had nothing to do with her!”
Feeling pretty damn baited into giving the response he had, Jake wanted to ask the Unique Lifeform what he had meant instead, but the clone just kept shaking his head. “You know what? I think I’m gonna leave you with your own thoughts as you do seem pretty stuck in them right now.”
“Dude, just tell me outright what you meant,” Jake said with exasperation.
“No, no, it’s way too late for that,” Minaga shook his head. “Would be way too big of a shift in topic anyway, which could make the end of this otherwise semi-pleasant conversation awkward. Anyway, to summarize what the rest of our conversation after this would have been in a swift fashion: I would ask if you planned on also going hunting while there, you would say yes, I would tease you again, you would ignore me teasing you, and I would end up recommending a particular hunting ground that you would have forgotten the name of before the day was over.”
“Now that’s not fair, I tend to remember stuff I care about, and I care about good hunting grounds,” Jake countered, it now being his time to act offended.
“I never said I’d recommend a good hunting ground,” Minaga answered.
“... fair enough... yeah, I’d probably forget in that case. Mainly because I’d never commit it to memory in the first place,” Jake said, at least knowing himself well enough to admit that.
“Yeah, I can see it be hard committing anything to memory when your head is only filled with dreams of a certain wood elf goddess who-“
“I thought you were leaving?” Jake interrupted the Unique Lifeform.
“Hey, if I ever find myself in a similar situation, you totally have permission to also tease me,” Minaga said as he raised his hands. “Just keep in mind that as a Unique Lifeform, I’m unable to reproduce, and due to that, I do not have any kind of biological drive making me interested in seeking long-term romantic relationships with other beings.”
“I guess I can also head down to my cabin, got some nice reading material waiting for me down there,” Jake sighed as he began to walk toward the elevator that would take him back down into the ship.
“Don’t misunderstand!” Minaga yelled after him as if he had just pursued Jake through an airport and had been stopped at security but still wanted to yell out his final confession. “I can still be swept up in the raw emotions of a powerful bromance! I still have hope! We still have hope!”
Yeah, Jake wasn’t sure he planned on leaving his cabin again before they arrived at their destination... ah, who was he kidding? Jake low-key enjoyed fucking with Minaga knowing the Unique Lifeform was perfectly willing to clap back in his own Minaga ways.