After Jake agreed to a private meeting, he could once more return to just being a background character as Duskleaf and Nature’s Attendant kept speaking. Yggdrasil wasn’t very active at all in the conversation but did add a sentence here and there. From this brief meeting, Jake got the feeling that while Yggdrasil was the official leader of the Pantheon of Life, Nature’s Attendant was definitely the one doing the primary work of running it.
Luckily, this initial meeting wasn’t very long, as it was only to greet one another and do a small exchange. Duskleaf had brought a few gifts from the Order of the Malefic Viper, which were all resources in large quantities. From that, Jake also understood that the flasks he’d been given by Villy weren’t technically from the Order but from the Viper himself, which meant the faction also had to bring some gifts.
It all mainly seemed symbolic as everything that was gifted could just have been traded for, but Jake didn’t speak up but just enjoyed not having much attention on him. As the initial meeting wound to an end, the other gods present from the Pantheon of Life were asked to act as escorts – no, not that kind - for those from the Order of the Malefic Viper during their visit. A number of these gods also went off in a big group as they wanted to discuss a trade agreement or something. Jake honestly wasn’t listening much to their conversation as he was more focused on what he was to do next.
“Nimera, would you please escort the Grand Elder to the residence provided to him?” Nature’s Attendant asked one of the gods. “And if possible, could you remain here, Artemis? Seeing as you two encountered one another within Nevermore, you can escort the Chosen of the Malefic Viper to his lodgings after we’re done speaking with him.”
Artemis and the Godqueen named Nimera both nodded before this Godqueen approached the Grand Elder. “Sir, if you would follow me.”
“Of course,” Duskleaf agreed as he threw a glance at Nature’s Attendant. “Do also come by later, alright? I have some things I would like to discuss with you regarding you-know-what.”
Nature’s Attendant nodded with a serious look. “That was already the plan.”
Duskleaf and the god named Nimera teleported away a moment later, leaving only five people remaining.
“How about me? Who’s gonna escort me?” Minaga asked, looking around at the wooden chamber that now only had himself, Jake, Artemis, Nature’s Attendant, and Yggdrasil.”
“We didn’t know about your coming, so we hadn’t summoned anyone to do so,” Yggdrasil spoke. “But one should arrive shortly. In the meantime, you can stay here with Artemis as we discuss matters with the Vilas’ Chosen.”“Alright, I guess I can wait a bit,” Minaga said, throwing a look toward Artemis. Jake responded by glaring at Minaga, who just gave a cheeky smile in response, making it clear he was planning to do something.
“Great,” Nature’s Attendant nodded before turning to Jake. “Now, if you will come with us. You are okay with entering the true domain of the Mother Tree, right?”
“Sure,” Jake agreed, just guessing that this true domain was the crown of Yggdrasil. He’d been wanting to go there anyway after seeing it, so getting invited was awesome. Plus, he seriously doubted any of these gods had any malicious intent because if they did, he would already be long dead.
“Then allow me to take you,” Nature’s Attendant said as he lifted his hand. Jake felt the space magic begin around him, at a level where if he resisted, it would fail. He naturally didn’t but allowed himself to be affected, and in the very next second, he disappeared from Yggdrasil’s trunk and appeared within her crown.
--
Within the trunk, Nature’s Attendant also teleported out as Yggdrasil’s dryad body rapidly withered and disappeared, leaving only a pair of gods there.
“Well, it seems like it’s just the two of us left,” Minaga said with a big smile. He also subtly created an isolation barrier that would even block out Yggdrasil should she try to listen in despite the conversation happening within her trunk.
“So it seems,” Artemis acknowledged.
“You’re the one assigned to escort Jake after he’s back, huh...” Minaga continued.
“That is what I was told to do, yes,” Artemis once more answered shortly.
“Cool, cool, cool,” Minaga nodded. “And do you plan on leaving his lodgings again after escorting him there?”
“I assume he will need to know some basic knowledge about the Pantheon of Life, and I may as well provide it,” the wood elf goddess said.
“Yeah, does seem like a good idea to talk a bit,” Minaga agreed.
Artemis sighed as she looked at the All-God Legion. “Can you just come out and ask me already?”
“Will you answer me? How about this, I’ll leave you be and maybe even give you a little trinket if you agree to answer five small questions of mine,” Minaga proposed.
“One question,” Artemis said shortly.
“Four.”
“Two.”
“And we meet in the middle with three,” Minaga grinned. “Which was my plan from the very beginning.”
Artemis didn’t bother commenting as she sighed again. “Ask away, but you need to guarantee I get something out of having you pry in my social life. And it can’t just be some useless thing.”
“Alright, promise,” Minaga said, clearly pleased with himself. “First question... on a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to kill Jake over what happened in Nevermore? Ten being him definitely not surviving his escort to his lodgings.”
“Zero. One if that’s not an option,” Artemis answered without any hesitation.
“... I would have liked for you to expand your answer a little more, but me asking you to elaborate would definitely count as a second question, so I’m not gonna do that,” Minaga said as he seemed in thought for a moment.
“Second question. Do you hold any resentment towards either your image or Jake’s actions during the Colosseum of Mortals?”
“No,” Artemis once more answered, though she was being nice to Minaga by elaborating at least a little. “He did nothing wrong, and I can only guess that if I had been in the same position as my image, I would have acted very similarly, if not identical.”
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“I see, I see,” Minaga nodded. “I will also take that as confirmation that you don’t plan on filing any official complaint against Nevermore. Would make us look bad and make it harder to gather images of gods for the future.”
“That was not a question,” Artemis pointed out.
“Oh, I know,” Minaga smiled, seemingly in thought once more. “Okay, final question... what would you want first? A boy or a girl?”
“I do not have any preference toward the meat I eat,” Artemis answered the final question.
“You know that wasn’t what I was asking about!” Minaga protested.
“I don’t know that. I can infer that, but it was also entirely possible my interpretation of your question was correct,” Artemis said, feeling as if she’d gotten one over the Unique Lifeform.
However, Minaga still smiled. “You avoided answering my question, though... which means you at least considered what I asked.”
“Truthfully, I did not,” Artemis shook her head. “It isn’t something I would have an opinion on, as I would always leave something like that to nature.”
“Wow... are you-“
“You’re out of questions,” Artemis cut him off. “And now you owe me something for prying.”
“... fine, but you better talk fondly of your great friend Minaga from here on out with all who ask,” the Unique Lifeform said as he opened his inventory to search it. “And you’re damn lucky this was the me I used to explore the Emerald Forest...”
Jake opened his eyes to an all-new environment, both visually and energy-wise. Beforehand, when Jake had been within the trunk of Yggdrasil, the mana in the air was still primarily environmental mana, even if Yggdrasil was the one who controlled it.
However, now, Jake instantly felt that all the mana around him had a clear owner. To even call it environmental mana wasn’t even accurate anymore, as all of it belonged to the being who’d created the world he now found himself in.
Glancing around, he saw they were atop a grand, lush mountain with massive forests in all directions. Looking up, Jake didn’t see the night sky but what looked like a cover of faintly glowing leaves that extended endlessly in all directions, encompassing everything.
“Welcome to my divine realm,” a voice echoed as a person with the exact same mana signature as the environment manifested beside him. He turned and saw Yggdrasil, who looked quite a bit different now than before. She still resembled a dryad, but she looked a lot more flesh and blood now than before, even if Jake knew she wasn’t.
“It’s definitely a lot more interesting than the Viper’s,” Jake commented right as Nature’s Attendant also teleported over. When he did, Jake realized something. The Nature’s Attendant that he had met outside had only been a clone, and now he very strongly suspected this was the real one because the aura of this version of him felt a lot stronger.
Nature’s Attendant noticed Jake’s gaze as he chuckled and turned to Yggdrasil. “I told you he could tell.”
“You did,” Yggdrasil answered, her mouth not even moving, yet her words appeared all around Jake. “Tell me, Vilas’ Chosen, what are you feeling right now? What has changed?”
Jake wasn’t sure if he was being tested or something, but either way, he decided to just be honest as he shrugged. “Well, obviously, the environment feels quite a bit different compared to before. It’s all your mana. As for Nature’s Attendant, that’s a different version of him than the one outside, and as this one feels stronger, I assume it may be his true body. As for what I’m feeling... nothing in particular. Except that it would be very annoying to fight anything here.”
“What do you think there is to fight?” the Primordial continued asking.
“There are a lot of C-grades in the forest below, and in that direction, I can detect some B-grades, too,” Jake said as he motioned toward the north. “I should avoid the southern region, though... pretty sure there’s a way too powerful B-grade somewhere there.”
“Fascinating. You do indeed have powerful senses... perhaps that explains how you’ve managed so far,” Yggdrasil continued. “I have wondered how a creature such as you can even survive, but it appears your survival instinct and danger sense allow you to choose risks wisely.”
“You brought me here to study who I am?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I will admit there is some curiosity,” Nature’s Attendant said with a smile. “Though I will say it’s partly your fault. You do continue to surprise, sparking intrigue even now. You say that the body before you is the real one, while the one you met outside wasn’t. I believe that out of everyone there, besides Yggdrasil herself, you would be the only one able to tell the difference.”
“I’m not gonna deny I have good senses,” Jake said, wondering if perhaps he’d revealed too much. He reckoned that by now, the two in front of him had to have some level of understanding about Jake. While he did trust Dina, he definitely assumed she would answer any questions from her family members and the leader of her faction, so through her, they should already know everything he had revealed, at least for the most part.
Then again, seeing was believing.
“More than good, I would say,” Nature’s Attendant chuckled. “Do say, what do you think of this world? What can you tell me about it?”
Jake took a moment to once more stare out at the infinitely expanding forest as he wondered out loud. “We’re not on anything resembling a planet... I would assume it’s more like a flat plane. Moreover, while the mana here is strong, it’s definitely not to the level I would expect it to be within the divine realm of a god, much less a Primordial’s, making it evident at least this area had its energy intensity and quantity reduced. Likely with the intent of allowing the C and B-grade monsters to live here.”
“Good insight,” Yggdrasil commented. “Has Vilas ever spoken of my divine realm?”
“Never,” Jake shook his head. “Also, this is only the second time I’ve ever been in a divine realm... well, unless you count Nevermore, I guess.”
“I see. Are you interested in how mine works?” she asked. Jake found the line of questioning a bit odd, and while he assumed she was trying to lead the conversation somewhere, he wasn’t sure what she wanted to get to. As for seeing more about divine realms...
“That would be awesome,” Jake wholeheartedly agreed. He’d already borderline concluded that divine realms and Soulspaces were more or less the same in principle, so learning more about divine realms could only be a good thing considering his own Soulspace progress.
Yggdrasil waved her hand at his positive response as the area all around them was suddenly filled with leaves. All of them had faint transparent bubbles covering them, and when he glanced around, he saw what looked like clouds hanging over some of these small leaves, making him frown.
One particular leaf amongst the tens of thousands caught his attention more than any other. Jake couldn’t help but walk closer as he bent over and looked at its surface extremely closely. There, in the middle of it, he saw what looked like a very faint pimple when he squinted... which was when he realized.
“We’re on this leaf,” Jake muttered as he leaned back and looked at all the leaves around them. The leaf he identified them being on was one of the smallest ones, with other leaves several times larger floating primarily in the air above. If all of these leaves had huge planes of life like the one who was currently on... this divine realm was utterly massive.
“How many leaves are there in total?” Jake asked. Sure, he could count the ones summoned, but he had a feeling there were more than currently shown.
“You can see for yourself,” she answered and waved her hand again, and Jake’s eyes opened wide in the very next moment.
Leaves covered his vision, bathing the entire mountain and sky above the surrounding forest. Jake wasn’t even foolish enough to try and count them because even when he released a Pulse of Perception that covered more than three hundred kilometers in all directions... he still only saw leaves everywhere.
He could only stare as he wondered out loud: “Just how many creatures live within here? How strong are they? Are they born here?”
“This is a world of life,” Nature’s Attendant answered with a smile. “As for how strong... there are many gods living within here. Some of them are even natives of this world, having been born and ascended without knowing about the multiverse’s existence before achieving godhood. Mind you, we do not try to keep it a secret, but neither do we wish to interfere with those who live here as long as it can be avoided.”
Jake was astonished at the sheer scope of things as he muttered. “This is practically an entirely new universe.”
“Not yet,” Yggdrasil answered. “Though one day, it shall truly rival one.”
At that moment, Jake was once more reminded just how powerful Primordials truly were. He met and talked to them like people, but during encounters like these, he understood just how unfathomable they were compared to him. He began to better understand why so many beings in the multiverse worshipped them as utterly supreme and unapproachable beings.
But more than anything... the thought of such beings existing in the multiverse couldn’t help but get him excited. Excited just how far away the horizon truly was, Jake not once doubting it would one day be within his arrow’s reach.