Sometimes, you just knew you fucked up, and in that moment, Jake knew he had fucked up. Trying to get some petty levels of revenge on Eversmile by getting one over him had already been pushing it, and now Jake had effectively just rebuffed three presences of Primordials, as well as those of dozens of other gods, entirely on accident.
Instantly, Nature’s Attendant read the mood of the room and dispelled his soundproofing barrier, giving Jake the chance to apologize as he scratched the back of his head. “Ah, sorry about that; I reacted without really thinking.”
Yeah, that also wasn’t the best thing to say, as he had just told everyone he had effortlessly rebuffed them entirely accidentally. Jake was entirely expecting some kind of negative response, but then he saw that Villy was just smiling as he shook his head, seemingly not bothered at all. So, it probably wasn’t that bad, right?
The Holy Mother just retracted her own presence without saying anything besides giving Jake an inquisitive look, Valdemar temporarily doing the same as the Blightfather chose to speak up.
“I am beginning to get a better understanding of that power of yours after feeling it myself, especially after meeting and Blessing your friend from before the integration of the ninety-third universe. I was intrigued by how he, a mere E-grade at the time, managed to hold up so well before me, but if he was baptized by constant exposure to your presence, that would certainly be an explanation,” the Blightfather nodded with comprehension. “Quite a multi-faceted Bloodline you got there. If you ever feel like visiting the Ghostlands, you would certainly be more than welcome. You could maybe even go with that friend of yours?”
His words were both praise and sharing the fact the Risen also had some level of personal connection to Jake while also deciding to once more reiterate all Jake could do was rooted in his Bloodline. Along with that, he also publicly shared an aspect of Jake’s Bloodline he didn’t really think was that much of a secret, that being his ability to also increase other’s resistances through sheer exposure. Valdemar had kind of hinted at it, but the Blightfather pretty much stated it outright.
The final part – the invitation – was the only thing Jake would answer directly to. “I thank the Blightfather for his words, and I am certain I will visit the heartlands of the Risen one day.”
It wasn’t a lie, either. Jake would probably end up visiting most of the places of note throughout his hopefully eternal life, and the Ghostlands was definitely one such place. He just didn’t give any timeline as to when he would visit. It could be in a few decades or a few million years.
Seemingly thinking this answer was good enough, the Blightfather also retracted his aura, having said his piece. Jake thought his mess-up was finally over, only for him to realize it had only truly begun.
“You know, ever since seeing that battle in the Challenge Dungeon, ya got me curious about something,” Valdemar said in a loud tone as he stepped slightly toward Jake with a massive grin. “Prepare yourself!”Jake barely had any time to react as Valdemar’s presence came back with full force. Instinctively, he once more reacted as his own flared to meet the challenge, the two auras clashing in an invisible battle. Instantly, Valdemar’s was getting pushed back again until he opened his arm wide, and the Primordial’s fighting spirit was triggered.
His eyes began to glow golden as a slightly golden luster appeared around his body. He was not using any energy, but the concepts of his Transcendence still bled into his presence as it pushed back at Jake’s with indomitable strength.
It was like an unstoppable force, capable of crushing anything in its path, and for the first time ever… Jake felt his presence getting pushed back as pressure descended upon him. He felt like a mountain was crushing down on him as his own presence shrank, Jake gritting his teeth as this reminded him of what had happened inside of the Colosseum.
And like the Colosseum, Jake did not back down as he retaliated in force.
The two auras clashed as an invisible battle took place. Valdemar was slightly pushed back by Jake’s release but stabilized just as fast, stopping Jake’s advance. Their two auras kept battling as an equilibrium was soon established, neither side capable of gaining any ground as each of their auras extended halfway to the other party.
Jake was both astonished and excited. He was equally matching Valdemar in a pure battle of presences, though if Valdemar decided to pour in just a smidgen of energy, Jake would instantly be crushed. However, the mere fact their two auras were equal was more than enough to prove one thing to everyone in the room:
His Bloodline matched the quality of Valdemar’s Transcendence. A Transcendence many recognized as potentially the most powerful one in the entire multiverse. Some of the gods present even failed to hold their poker faces as they displayed genuine surprise at the impromptu duel of auras.
However, things weren’t over yet.
“Hah!” Valdemar laughed loudly as he took another step forward, his body exploding in golden light, enveloping the entire room. His aura spiked several degrees as it washed over everyone, Jake included. With a grin, Jake took a step toward Valdemar as he met the challenge, his heart beating with excitement.
Thump!
A shockwave erupted from his own body as their two auras clashed one final time before both faded. The only two people standing in the room were Jake and Valdemar, as everyone else was either sitting down… or looked to be in quite a bad situation.
This was when he also understood why the poker faces of some gods had dropped… their clash in auras had put them quite on edge, many of them unable to take it. Even Eversmile was acting like he had been hit by a bus as he was kneeling while breathing heavily.
Needless to say, none of the Primordials, Minaga, or Nature’s Attendant had been affected. This didn’t surprise anyone… but Artemis was also fine, most assuming she had been protected by Nature’s Attendant somehow.
“Good! Good!” Valdemar said, looking extremely satisfied. “I like you more and more!”
“Likewise,” Jake smiled, having enjoyed the clash of auras more than he thought he would. It wasn’t like an actual fight, but it was a challenge nevertheless. A kind he had never had before, considering there was no one else who could match his presence in pure quality.
The atmosphere in the room calmed down as Valdemar looked approvingly at Jake for a few seconds before speaking.
“Eh, you should go talk to that old druid and your fellow hunter; I think you kept them waiting long enough,” Valdemar waved him off as he walked back to the Primordials, yelling behind him. “Oh, and do come visit Valhal at some time! Our beer is better than the Order’s, too!”
Jake smiled but neglected to answer. He didn’t have to be told twice to go and talk to the two from the Pantheon of Life as he returned to sit down with the Nature’s Attendant and Artemis on a sofa set. The old druid gave Jake a very interested look and an approving smile as he sat down. The isolation barrier was quickly summoned again, making Jake feel like he could talk without as much of a filter or having to consider that everything was being recorded and openly broadcasted.
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“This sure is quite the gathering of gods, huh,” Jake muttered as something had been bothering him for a while. “Why exactly are there even so many here? Valdemar, I could understand, but what’s up with the dozens of gods who are seemingly just here as observers?”
“It’s because of you,” Nature’s Attendant answered. “At least partly. You made Valdemar come here, getting the attention of other Primordials, who then followed suit. With five gathered in one place, it is only natural it will attract the attention of most forces. And I am certain many are happy they came, as the show you put on just now with the Viper and the Wargod will have made the trip more than worth it.”
Jake nodded, considering his words for a bit. Yeah, that probably made sense. If a large group of the top world leaders on Earth before the system decided to have a meeting, you could bet your ass journalists and other interested parties would also show up to see what was up. Even their casual interactions would be gossip at worst and groundbreaking news at best. Plus, something did happen here. At least, it looked like it had. Two top world leaders had just gotten into a scuffle, after all, and were battling over a “resource.” The resource in question being Jake in this case.
“Show?” Artemis asked, looking confused, before she quickly gathered herself, seeming a bit out of it in general. She looked at Jake and lowered her head a bit. “No, wait. Before anything else, I should thank you for just now. I apologize if defending me leads to any trouble down the line.”
“No worries, no worries,” Jake waved off her concern. “I should be the one thanking you for what happened in the Colosseum of Mortals. Well, thanking your image, I guess, though based on Valdemar just now, there shouldn’t be that massive of a difference. Either way, I enjoyed the time together in there immensely.”
Artemis was taken aback at his answer as the tip of her elven ears turned slightly red. “I… I don’t believe there is anything you need to be thanking me for.”
“Oh, but there definitely is,” Jake said with a big nod as he smiled at her. “I’m talking about the archery training, of course. Wait, what were you thinking about?”
It took her a few seconds before her eyes narrowed. “You… no, never mind. Disregarding that, my image sure must have looked like an idiot with her whole speech about how you wouldn’t even be able to stand tall in front of the real me.”
“Eh, I found it more cute than dumb,” Jake shrugged. “It’s not like that wouldn’t be the case if I was pretty much anyone else. I just happen to deal with presences quite well compared to most everyone else.”
“That’s an understatement,” Artemis scoffed. “Also, what was that thing about a show you talked about earlier?”
Jake had purposefully avoided answering this one as he genuinely wasn’t sure if he should or could give a response without jeopardizing anything. Unsure, he looked at Nature’s Attendant, who seemed to be “in” on what was happening, as the old druid responded promptly.
“I will make sure she can’t leak anything even if she wants to. I set up this barrier with the expectation we would be talking about things best left unshared to the masses, so no worries,” Nature’s Attendant sent telepathically, sounding only slightly scary as he did so.
Artemis noticed Jake and Nature’s Attendant exchanged glances as she looked confused about what was happening. Jake finally sighed as he leaned back on the couch and looked at Artemis.
“This is quite a big secret that has multiversal implications, so keep it under wraps, okay?” he asked in a serious tone.
“Not sure I want to know now if it can get me in trouble…” Artemis muttered.
“Too late!” Jake grinned. “Anyway, the gist of it is that the entire conflict between the Order of the Malefic Viper and Valhal is mostly fabricated. That entire thing just now was also apparently just part of this bigger plot that I think is ultimately pointed at Yip of Yore. As for what it hopes to accomplish and the entire scope of the thing… I have no bloody idea. Nature’s Attendant probably knows more there.”
“And I have been very expressly told to not inform you of more,” Nature’s Attendant continued. “As your lack of knowledge makes you a better catalyst of chaos to introduce more uncertainty into this entire matter.”
“So there you have it,” Jake said, giving Artemis a beaming smile. “Just a plot involving a bunch of Primordials and a good segment of the peak existence of the multiverse. Kind of exciting, isn’t it?”
Artemis stared at Jake and Nature’s Attendant for a while as she sighed. “And I guess if I share anything with anyone, I will be killed?”
“No, of course not, what a silly notion,” Nature’s Attendant said, shaking his head before smiling teasingly. “You will be killed before you are able to share anything.”
The wood elf formerly known as the Lord of the Hunt just held her head and leaned forward. “I’ll just act like I never heard anything. Yeah, that’s probably best.”
“If it’s any comfort, I try to do the same, but I keep getting dragged back into things,” Jake shrugged. “This entire scheming thing is definitely way above my pay grade.”
“It sure would be easier if they could just fight it out and not make things so complicated,” Artemis sighed. “That’s why the nature’s way is so much better. Predators hunt prey, and prey sometimes kills the predator in return.”
“Nature also has natural schemers,” Nature’s Attendant said. “Plants or fungi who lay hidden for long, slowly growing in power. Predators stalk their prey for long periods to discover where the rest of their packs are. Beasts who take the shape of others mix into groups, only to eat them from within. But yes, I do agree that schemes like this are not aligned with the Paths of hunters like you two. You should still be able to take part in schemes when it benefit you, though. It doesn’t mean you have to initiate them; just be capable of performing as part of one.”
“Is this you low-key calling me out for being bad at playing my role?” Jake asked.
“No, I believe you played it extremely well. No one understands you, so you cannot truly act out of character as you have no established character. Plus, there is a high chance people assume any mistakes you make to be entirely deliberate, considering you are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper,” Nature’s Attendant shook his head.
“I definitely didn’t make any mistakes,” Jake nodded.
“Bullshit,” Artemis scoffed. “You constantly act without thinking and make needlessly rash decisions too quickly. Just from the recording I saw from the Colosseum, your reliance on instincts in battle bleeds into your way of acting outside of fighting constantly.”
“You’re saying that as if it’s a bad thing,” Jake smiled.
“I didn’t say it necessarily was. Not most of the time,” Artemis shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with living according to your instincts.”
“Glad we agree on that,” Jake said, throwing her a look.
Artemis sighed as Nature’s Attendant chuckled slightly.
However, before any of them could say anything more, the soundproofing barrier around them cracked, and a second later, disappeared entirely, Jake feeling the energy of the Wyrmgod… no, the energy of Nevermore itself tearing it away.
“Considering you are a Nevermore Attendee, I will not bend the rules further. I also believe it would be unwise of you to waste more time here than necessary if you wish to continue competing on the Leaderboards,” the Wyrmgod spoke, nicely telling Jake to leave.
Jake took the hint as he nodded. “Good point. Let me get out of here; I do have a few more Challenge Dungeons waiting, after all.”
The Wyrmgod nodded as a teleportation circle appeared under Jake. However, just before he got whisked away, he heard several voices echo out in his head.
“See you when you do my super exciting labyrinth that you surely won’t ruin all the fun of!” Minaga said.
“Acceptable performance here, but now that you’ve shown yourself off so much in front of your little girlfriend, you better do well, or I am sure she and everyone else will be very disappointed,” Villy said teasingly.
And finally, the voice of the “little girlfriend” in question, Artemis.
“I will be waiting for when you come out of Nevermore to… discuss more private matters further. Good luck!”
After Jake had left, Valdemar was back sitting with the other Primordials and Minaga, a big smile still on his lips. The Viper had already set up a sound isolation barrier, making sure none but they could hear the conversation to come.
“What brings such a big smile to your face?” the Holy Mother asked after a bit, seeing as Valdemar hadn’t stopped grinning even after Jake was gone.
“He is just happy another strong human has emerged,” the Blightfather waved her off. “Not that I would blame him. He is quite an interesting specimen.”
“Heh… you really didn’t notice?” Valdemar asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Notice what?” the Viper asked, frowning.
“That I lost,” Valdemar said, clenching his fists as the other Primordials looked confused at him, making the god of war elaborate.
“Our auras may have seemed equal… but he was protecting that gal all throughout, not allowing a single bit of my aura to reach her, no matter how hard I tried.”