Across the various worlds, new dungeons were cropping up left and right, many of them appearing directly outside of cities. At first, this was a cause for alarm among the residents, as the dungeons could be seen as a source of danger waiting to unfold. However, the truth about dungeons had long been known to the general public.
After the brief unease, several priests sought advice from Aurivy, the Goddess of Dungeons, and learned the true nature of these new dungeons, and that they were meant to be a training ground for new fighters. Lately, most of the training for combatants took place in the virtual world, due to the higher degree of safety. In most game worlds, there was no true danger to be found. At worst, you risked losing the progress that you had built up.
In this way, many people considered the virtual world to be the ideal training ground for talented fighters. However… Aurivy had a different opinion.
As Aurivy explained it to her priests, a true warrior could not be born in a video game world. This was because there was no true sense of crisis to be found when training there. If someone were to be trained comfortably without experiencing a true danger, they would take their powers for granted, and would cower away from a true fight.
Thus, Aurivy created this new variant of dungeon, known as Challenge Dungeons. These dungeons would automatically scale based on the level of the challenger, selecting appropriate obstacles and monsters to fight based on the target’s level. And, while there were safeguards in place to lessen the chance of someone being killed, the danger was not completely eliminated.
This allowed the challenge dungeons to serve the role of tempering true warriors, building their courage in a setting where there was no guarantee of a revival. As for their proximity to major cities, this was to make them more convenient for people to travel to, so that they didn’t have to traverse the wilderness in the hopes of finding a dungeon that, honestly, people would build a city around anyways.
In the wake of this dungeon development, another new technology hit the streets. This one, arguably, caused a much larger wave across multiple different realms. After all, it allowed people to instantly travel without needing to reserve a timeslot days in advance. Almost overnight, the Fairy Rings were rendered obsolete.
There were even plans being made to have the rings dismantled. While rare, there were still cases where the rings would activate on their own and bring a random traveler over. This traveler could be anything from a mundane slime to an army of warrior goblins.
Between these two developments, people were able to gradually forget about the disaster that took place on Oranii Seven, and the memetic entity that could have devoured the planet. Well… most people. There were, of course, those that were unable to forget because of more personal reasons.
Nelson’s eyes went wide as he looked at the large room that had been presented to him, his sister standing a few steps behind him. “Wow… is this really all mine?” He asked in childlike wonder. No real surprise, given the fact that he was still truly just a child, despite the change to his body making him look years older than he really was.
Nearby, Keenan nodded his head with a serious expression. “That’s right. Since you will be with the church from now on, we wanted to make sure that you had a suitable living space. Your sister’s room will be just down the hall from yours, as well.”
Nelson looked back at Keenan when he heard that. “We’re not sharing a room together?” He asked, confused. The new room that he had been given was almost as large as their old house, and he had always shared a room with his sister. After all, they were still young, and neither of them were too comfortable with being alone.
Jace smiled, standing next to Keenan and crouching down, his eyes remaining closed. “It’s for the best this way, Nelson. You’re a Fallen God now, but you don’t have the training necessary to control your power. If you decide to go to sleep one night, and have a night terror, you could release your power without wanting to. Even if you don’t sleep, simply getting frustrated at something could cause damage to your surroundings.” Nelson’s eyes went wide with dread when he heard that, looking at his sister as Jace continued.
“But don’t worry. We aren’t going to isolate the two of you from one another. This room is built to handle the energy that you could unconsciously release. Whenever you aren’t studying or training, you’re free to spend time with her whenever you want. Ah, but… even though you don’t need to sleep anymore, she still does, so try not to disturb her when she’s resting, okay?”
Jace spoke in a kind tone, and Nelson nodded his head slowly. He turned to look at Brianna, who smiled, though she had a clear look of confusion on her face. “So… what do we do now?” Nelson asked, looking back at the two deities of the church that had brought them from Oranii Seven.
“We’re working on a special education program that will let you better control your new abilities.” Keenan told him with a nod. “It might be a little slow going at first, but it shouldn’t take you too long, as long as you are diligent with your work.”
“Isn’t that great?” Brianna asked with a smile. “Plus, we get to live in this really big dorm…”
Nelson hesitated briefly, before nodding his head. “I’m not… going to be asked to fight for the church or anything, right?” He asked, a clear sign of trepidation in his tone. However, Jace shook his head to deny that.
“Terra’s church doesn’t do things like that. If there is a need for someone to resolve a conflict through force, it is only ever requested, not ordered. Even the two of us have the right to refuse to fight.” He gestured to indicate himself and Keenan. “Someone of your age won’t even be asked, so let the grown-ups handle that.”
Nelson gulped, nodding his head. He thought back to the incident that started this all, looking at his sister again. “What’s going to happen with Bri?” He asked in a hesitant tone, nad Jace simply chuckled.
“She’ll have normal lessons. If she wants to pursue a path of divinity, we will provide her with the opportunities to do so as she becomes strong enough to handle it. Otherwise, living here won’t be any different than living back on Oranii Seven..”
“Additionally, the two of you will receive a weekly stipend for any living expenses, so you won’t need to worry about that. Do you have any other questions?” Jace asked, the two looking at one another and shaking their heads. “In that case, feel free to get used to your rooms. I’ll send your lessons by later.”
After he said that, Jace stood up, turning to walk down the hall with Keenan. Only once they had left the building did the felyn god Jace speak up again. “Has there been any report on who caused the incident?” He asked in a quiet voice, Keenan shaking his head.
“I’ve conversed directly with Terra over the matter. She wouldn’t tell me who did it, just that the matter had already been taken care of.” When Jace heard that, he let out a long sigh of relief.
“Sending memetic monsters to a remote colony like that… If Nelson hadn’t gotten lucky, the whole planet would have fallen, maybe even the Hyperlane node itself.”
“I’m not sure that it was luck.” Keenan spoke up, and Jace turned his head towards him in confusion. “I know, I’ve already spoken with the goddess about this. She said that it wasn’t her doing. However, it’s possible that someone else interfered, and is keeping quiet about it. Otherwise, there is simply no way to explain how it played out like that.”
Jace simply chuckled when he heard that, shaking his head. “If there is someone pulling the strings like that, I’d like to have him on our side.” He said with a smile.
Keenan hesitated at that, before glancing off to the side as Jace’s ears twitched. Nearby, the familiar figure of Samantha could be seen running towards them. “How are the kids?” She asked in concern.
Jace walked over and lightly pat her shoulder. “They’re fine. They’re just getting used to their dorms now.” As the Goddess of Family, Samantha had volunteered to take care of the two children, despite the fact that she wasn’t part of the church itself. That didn’t change the fact that she was the half-sister of one of Terra’s subordinates, and married to another.
Samantha nodded her head, glancing at the building that the two had just emerged from. “I’ll bring Devin by later, he should be able to get along with the two of them.”
Thinking of his young son, Jace’s expression softened, and he leaned in to kiss Samantha’s forehead. “I’m sure that they would all like that.”
Although the two of them were of different species, that stopped being a problem once Samantha ascended to godhood, allowing them to use the method of merging energies to create an offspring. And thus, Devin, the Demigod of Hope, came to be.
Keenan chuckled, turning and leaving the two alone. He had his own matters to take care of. Specifically, he was the one in charge of fixing the damage that had been done to Oranii Seven. While they were there to retrieve the two siblings, he had taken care of some of the work, but there was still much left to change. He just had to prioritize taking care of a potentially volatile Fallen God rather than fix another crying window.
He pulled a golden ring from his inventory, using it to tear open a hole in the void and return to the colony world. Seeing several buildings still warped and twisted into horrific parodies of what they once were, he let out a long sigh, knowing that his day was only just getting started.
Rather than taking care of the residential district, he moved to the suspected origin point, where citizens had reported seeing the black figure rising from. This was a large warehouse district, and he could clearly see where everything started. After all, the changes were spread by the creature’s shadow, so all he had to do was find the point where the changes stopped.
Following the path of razorblade concrete and jello grass, he soon found a single warehouse with a missing door, that door able to be seen a few dozen meters away wrapped around and chewing on a forklift. With a snap of his fingers, the door went back to being.. .well, a door, and the interior of the warehouse returned to a smooth, concrete floor.
“You don’t need to worry about trying to track down the origin, if that’s why you’re here.” A voice spoke up behind Keenan, causing him to glance over his shoulder. Upon seeing a familiar, silver-haired elf, he simply nodded his head.
“Terra said something similar. Does the Greater Pantheon not want people to know?” He asked curiously, working on fixing the path that he had walked over to reach the warehouse next.
“It’s not that.” Leowynn smiled, shaking her head. “If you have the ability, you are free to look into it. I was just giving you a bit of friendly advice. The person behind this was very good at covering their tracks, and they’ve already been dealt with. I thought that pursuing the information would just be a waste of your time, Keenan.”
Keenan let out a long sigh. Having lived as long as he had, he had interacted with a few members of the Greater Pantheon over the years. Out of all of them, Leowynn was definitely not one to try to deceive people. Especially when it came to a matter related to the void. “I’ll take your word for it. However, I just came here because it’s quieter, and it felt like an easier area to start working.”
If he was seen walking around the city, there would be no end to the people running to him, begging for him to prioritize themselves or their homes. If he started from the origin point, he would have an easy excuse to ignore those people and take everything along a set path.
Leowynn grinned when she heard his answer. She had dealt with her fair share of people who believed that their problems should be prioritized over everyone else’s, so she understood the deeper meaning. “I’ll let you get back to it, then. Don’t worry, I’ve already swept the area to make sure that there aren’t any lingering memes.”
