Artemis teleported across the Great Planet as she answered the summons of Yggdrasil. Not that she had to be summoned in the first place, as she’d fully planned on being present when the people from the Order of the Malefic Viper arrived. This was a day she’d been waiting for, after all.
Soon enough, she was at the trunk of the Mother Tree. Her former Patron gave her permission to enter, and with a single teleport, Artemis appeared within the Primordial, which was also where they planned on conducting the meeting with the divine delegation from the Order.
Instantly upon appearing, Artemis felt the pressure of Yggdrasil’s aura, but luckily, they weren’t that close to the crown where the pressure was highest. Unlike most gods in the multiverse, Yggdrasil had directly incorporated her Divine Realm into her body, keeping all of it hidden within the crown of the tree, which was also what had given birth to the grand world hidden within.
The last time Artemis went to meet Yggdrasil, they had been closer to the crown, but as the plan wasn’t to intimidate the Order of the Malefic Viper, there was no need for Yggdrasil’s aura to put unnecessary pressure on them. Some pressure was still a good idea, though, and no place in the entire Pantheon of Life was safer than within Yggdrasil.
Within the trunk, Artemis found she was far from the only one who’d been summoned. Nature’s Attendant was already there, along with over a dozen other high-ranking gods from the Pantheon of Life. Most of them were Godqueens and Godkings, but a few of them were of lower ranks, primarily present because they specialized in political matters.
As for why Artemis was there... well, some did question that.
“Artemis, I’m surprised you decided to attend a gathering like this,” a Godqueen called Nimera said with genuine surprise when she noticed the newcomer. “With your true body, even. What’s the occasion?”
“I attend sometimes,” Artemis answered, seeing no need to disclose any personal details. It was true she didn’t usually take part in these kinds of things, but it wasn’t as if she was never there.
“Sure, but that still makes this a rarity,” Nimera continued with a smile. Artemis knew the other god had no ill intent with her words, and she would consider them friends as they’d gotten close after spending a couple of millennia hunting together only a few million years ago.
“I invited her here,” Nature’s Attendant spoke up for Artemis.“Oh?” Nimera looked at the second-in-command of the entire faction with surprise. “How come? You two are really getting me curious.”
Nature’s Attendant threw Artemis a glance before he answered. “You remember when the associates of the Wyrmgod sought us out not that long before the integration of the ninety-third universe happened?”
“I do,” Nimera nodded. “They wanted images for that Colosseum of Mortals Challenge Dungeon in the C-grade section of Nevermore, right?”
“They did,” Artemis took over. “And I provided one.”
“Now that I hadn’t heard,” Nimera said. “I guess your presence does make some sense, then. That Chosen of the Malefic Viper will be part of the delegation, so you being here along with Nature’s Attendant will at least mean there are some familiar faces.”
Artemis nodded, happy that the topic was seemingly swept over in such a clean fashion. At least, that was what she’d hoped.
“Hey, seeing as your image was used, you got recordings of the fight, right? Or at least you can request recordings? Can I see them at some point?” Nimera asked, once more just innocently curious.
However, considering the recording Artemis had received held quite a bit of content that wasn’t related to an arena fight, she had no interest in sharing it with anyone, much less her friend.
“No, I think I’ll keep it to myself,” Artemis said.
“Fine... I guess its value does go up the fewer people have seen the recording,” Nimera very inaccurately guessed why Artemis didn’t want to share her image’s escapades with the Chosen. “But, can you at least give me a little hint? I know it was just an image of you in there, but from what you saw, did he seem any good?”
“He is the new top-scorer of the Nevermore Leaderboards,” Artemis merely answered, really wanting to bury the topic for now.
“Good point,” Nimera shrugged. “Either way, I look forward to seeing him. I just hope he can properly handle the pressure in here... it’s not very healthy for mortals to experience this level of presence.”
“He’ll be fine,” a voice echoed throughout the chamber as the Mother Tree finally revealed herself. Out of the wood, a dryad’s body began to grow as Yggdrasil manifested a humanoid form to more easily interact with them all. “Based on what Tonken told me, I couldn’t affect him even if I wanted to. Not without directly using my presence to attack.”
“Surely that’s an exaggeration,” Nimera said, looking to Nature’s Attendant for answers.
Nature’s Attendant just smiled. “Within Nevermore, he had a direct clash of aura with Valdemar, the victor undetermined.”
Nimera just stared at Nature’s Attendant, clearly finding that claim hard to believe, but considering its source, she had no choice but to believe it.
“From what I understand of Vilas’ Chosen, it would be unwise of us to treat him as we regularly would one holding such a title,” Yggdrasil also spoke up. “He is a rather... unique individual. Despite being a Chosen, he does not appear reverent of his Patron. He respects the Malefic Viper, but he does not worship him. Moreover, likely as a result of his Bloodline, he is not only able to resist the auras of any other beings, but he is also unable to view himself as a lesser creature to anyone and anything. Even gods.”
The words spoken by the Primordial made quite a few of those present frown, with only Artemis and Nature’s Attendant subtly nodding along in agreement. Both of them also knew a bit more about Jake from having interacted with him at least a little, and in addition, Nature’s Attendant had shared with her the intel they’d bought from the Court of Shadows and Nevermore regarding Jake. While they didn’t have a lot, both at least had their own subjective understandings that seemed to mostly match up.
“That also appears to be why the Malefic Viper treats him almost like an equal. Because to be viewed as his equal is the best that any of us can do. You may not approve of him, and you may even find him overly arrogant and full of himself, but if you do, please leave now,” Yggdrasil spoke. “He is here as a guest for a reason, and if Vilas has decided to see him as an equal, then none of you are qualified to do anything less. Moreover, he does have some qualifications for his arrogance, and I would heavily advise against making him a future enemy. He is a hunter, after all.”
Artemis listened and was quite taken aback, to say the least. She understood the first warning about how his Bloodline affected Jake, but the later portion was entirely unexpected. It was clear Yggdrasil viewed the Chosen of the Malefic Viper in a very favorable light, something not many of the gods present could see the reason for. What’s more, she even seemed a bit worried.
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Part of it was likely due to what she said about the Malefic Viper treating his Chosen like an equal. While Artemis still felt a little doubtful if that was true, it would explain a lot, including the recent theater play the two of them put on to lure in Yip of Yore. Artemis had to confess that after she’d seen what happened, she couldn’t help but think if such an attitude wouldn’t make him a heretic...
No, that wouldn’t make any sense, she quickly dispelled the thought. Jake was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, and there was no way he could be both a Chosen and a heretic at the same time. That would just be way too... unnatural.
“Then how should we treat the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?” one of the gods asked.
“With respect,” Nature’s Attendant answered. “We will not tell you to treat him like an equal, but we will expect you to at least keep in mind that the Malefic One appears to. So even if you do not directly respect the Chosen, respect his Patron and thus him in turn. But more than anything, do not disrespect him needlessly, even if he is still only a mortal.”
There were a few nods throughout the room, and despite Yggdrasil saying they could leave, no one did. While Artemis knew that none of them entirely understood, she knew they at least respected the Mother Tree and Malefic One enough to do what was said.
“They shall be here shortly,” Yggdrasil spoke again as she finally decided to shift her consciousness to the dryad body she’d summoned to speak through that. “Be aware that the Chosen of the Malefic One and the Grand Elder of the Academy are not the only two notable guests among them. The All-God Legion seems to have joined them in their travels.”
That last part was definitely a surprise to everyone, including Artemis. Sure, she’d known the Unique Lifeform had taken an interest in Jake, but she hadn’t expected such a powerful god to tag along with him like this. Alright, sure, Artemis had no proof that the All-God Legion was only here because Jake was, but she would stake a lot on that being the case.
The gods around all chatted with one another about this sudden piece of news. Many of them wanted to even see if they could take this chance to get closer to the All-God Legion, as he was known to be a good person to be friendly with. Artemis didn’t join their chatter but simply waited until, soon enough, Yggdrasil looked toward a particular spot. “Here they are.”
Less than a second later, a teleportation circle appeared on the floor right where Yggdrasil had been looking. The magic circle slowly gathered power before activating, giving everyone a brief grace period before the delegation from the Order of the Malefic Viper would arrive.
Several more auras appeared within the room in an instant as Artemis looked at the newcomers. She saw the All-God Legion, the Grand Elder, and all the other gods present, and yet her eyes went toward the sole mortal present who stood in the back. Nearly all the others who’d arrived had taken a moment to adapt to Yggdrasil’s presence, but he hadn’t even flinched.
Instead, his own eyes had scanned the room and met Artemis’ as she stared back into the inhuman eyes of a born predator. At that moment, she once more understood what had initially drawn her image within the Challenge Dungeon to the man.
Their eyes remained locked for a moment before both turned their gazes away. Now wasn’t the time or place yet for them to have their long overdue talk. No, before that could happen, they both had a job to do as members of their respective factions.
Jake suppressed a smile after he and Artemis averted their gazes from one another. Just from that very brief interaction, a lot of Jake’s worry had been dismissed. Artemis hadn’t looked at Jake with any negative emotions as far as he could tell, though she was definitely not looking at him the same way her image had during Nevermore. A difficult talk was still in the pipeline, but for now, things seemed pretty okay.
Of course, they couldn’t just stare at one another without catching attention, so Jake looked away before he assumed others would think it was weird. Seeing as they’d met in Nevermore, it naturally shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jake recognized her, but he still wanted to keep what had actually happened between himself and Artemis between the two of them. At least he wasn’t going to be the one spilling any beans.
He kind of wanted to just have his talk with Artemis immediately, but he knew there was work to do first. Luckily for him, he wasn’t the leader of this little delegation, forcing poor Duskleaf out of his comfort zone no matter how much he hated it.
“This one greets the Mother Tree,” Duskleaf bowed toward Yggdrasil as he spoke in a respectful tone. “I thank you for allowing our presence, and I hope it can be the beginning of something greater.”
It was a bit direct and to the point, but Yggdrasil seemed appreciative as she looked at the old alchemist. “I thank you for coming, Grand Elder. You too, Chosen of the Malefic Viper and All-God Legion.”
She said the last two while looking toward Jake and Minaga, respectively, with Minaga just grinning and scratching the back of his head. “I reckoned it would be fine if I tagged along. I did get a standing invitation at some point, right? Well, alright, I technically didn’t get any invitation, but one of me definitely did, and we tend to share amongst one another.”
Minaga was still Minaga no matter where he was, and once again, no one present seemed at all surprised by how he acted, as even Yggdrasil merely nodded. “You are always welcome in the Pantheon of Life. As long as you respect that this is our home, of course.”
“I’m literally inside you right now, I’m well aware I should be respectful,” Minaga nodded. “You could kill every single one of us pretty damn quickly if you so desired. Well, except Nature’s Attendant, but knowing him, he would help you in squashing us to death.”
“You are as interesting as always, Minaga,” Yggdrasil said, shaking her head. “Besides, I don’t have full confidence that at least one person from the Order’s delegation wouldn’t be able to escape.”
Yggdrasil didn’t make it clear who she was talking about by looking or motioning toward anyone, but Jake definitely assumed it was Duskleaf. Weirdly enough, others seemed to believe it was Jake based on how many glanced his way when she said that.
Jake had wanted to also introduce himself, but felt a bit awkward doing that now after all the other talk. Thus, he just stayed silent as Duskleaf spoke up again.
“It has been, what, two eras since I last set foot within the domain of the Pantheon of Life? I must say, the development has been splendid, and the number of planets teeming with life within your influence has expanded more than I originally projected,” Duskleaf said, laying it on thick with the flattering.
“Things have indeed been going as we’d hoped,” Nature’s Attendant jumped in and spoke. “I can feel from you that your progress has also been worthwhile. I attended an auction recently with one of your creations, and it was certainly the main attraction.”
“Oh, I believe I know what you’re talking about, and I may just have happened to bring along something very similar,” Duskleaf continued. The two older-looking men were definitely going a bit overboard from Jake’s perspective, but he couldn’t really say anything. He was also wondering when he was supposed to give Nature’s Attendant and Yggdrasil the bottles he’d been given by Villy.
On the one hand, doing it with everyone else present would show off a bit, but on the other hand, he had no idea if Villy would have wanted him to reveal the gifts to everyone. He considered asking Duskleaf but, for now, decided just to stand back. If the alchemist wanted Jake to hand stuff over, he could damn well tell him to.
After the two old men had been talking about mostly nothing for a little while, with Minaga not even trying to hide how bored he was, Nature’s Attendant finally changed the subject.
“Ah, where are my manners,” he said as he finally turned toward Jake. “I was the one who invited you, and yet I just let you stand there. I do apologize for my rudeness, and I’m glad to see you found the time to visit so soon.”
“I should be the one thanking you for having me,” Jake said, trying to be polite. “So far, the trip has definitely been worth it just going by the sights I’ve seen.”
“I’m glad to hear that, and I naturally hope to make this trip even more worth your time. I do believe I owe you a favor, correct?” Nature’s Attendant asked, though, in reality, it was more him announcing to everyone present that he owed Jake something.
“You did insist on that,” Jake nodded, not wanting to make it seem as if he’d asked Nature’s Attendant for a favor. He had been the one offering it, after all.
“I did, didn’t I? Well, either way, we should definitely discuss that more closely later in private. Yggdrasil and I would like to speak with you later. When it’s just the three of us. If that’s possible, of course?” Nature’s Attendant asked, still being a bit overly polite in Jake’s opinion.
“Of course it is,” Jake smiled, also very relieved for now, knowing when he should hand over the gifts.
What was perhaps a bit less relieving was the ever-growing amount of stares he got that had only increased in intensity the more the conversation had gone on. Some of them didn’t seem that nice, and Jake just hoped he wouldn’t come to regret this visit to the Pantheon of Life.
Or, more accurately, that no one would try and make him regret his visit.