Mad God – Reborn

It was a sunny, warm morning when Ren was teaching the youngsters in the courtyard. Or mostly youngsters, since Ooda and Rabout showed up too as surprise attendees, sitting to the side and listening to her words. Even though they were already far more experienced than the rest, the Empire's changes over the past few decades, originating from Ren, still hadn't reached this side of the continent. It was why her words sounded so much more refreshing and exciting.

The lecture had been going on since early morning, as the sun began to rise, and by midday they were in the phase where Ren walked around, personally instructing everyone on how to cultivate their affinities as well as possible. When the lecture ended, Ren signaled to Ariana, who walked up and handed everyone multiple pills. Even Rabout and Ooda received their own shares.

"The included instructions are detailed enough, so you are going to know which has which effect and when to take it. Use it efficiently, as there is a finite supply for now." Ren said, warning the youngsters.

"How peculiar…" Rabout murmured, lost in his thoughts, already picking one pill out, inspecting it, and even crushing it into powder.

"Are these really effective for me?" Ooda thought to himself, but soon realized his pills looked slightly different from the rest because they glowed softly.

"They are." Ariana's voice transmission reached his ears, as if she were reading his mind. "When you cultivate next time, take one and see for yourself." She smiled, standing beside her Master, not really explaining anything, as the best way was for everyone to experience it for themselves.

"This is where we will stop for today!" Ren clapped, looking over them all. "For the next week, you all are going to practice by yourselves every morning and evening. After that, I am going to evaluate your progress. If you have trouble or questions, come to Ariana or to me. It is better to ask than make mistakes and have to waste your time correcting them later on!" When everything was said and done, the small group of disciples started talking excitedly among themselves, and Ren walked over to where Ooda and Rabout were sitting. "You already broke one, huh?" She grinned, watching Rabout play with the powder in his hands, infusing it with his energy as he tried to figure out the ingredients and how it was made.

"Of course! I mean, at my level... It is an interesting concept, forming pills out of herbal remedies... Huh. Such a wonderful method! There is a certain technique behind it, and it really, really pokes at my curious side!"

"Thought so. Why not visit the Sect one day?" Ren offered, and Rabout immediately nodded.

"I was about to ask for just that. When you are done and finished here, I'll go with you and see it for myself."

"It may take a long time until I go back, you know." Ren joked, but Rabout rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a newborn, kid! I already heard about your 'resolution' to Zelig. I already know what you are on about, even without you mentioning it." he looked at Ren with slanted eyes, but she just chuckled, not explaining anything. "No matter. Milly is collecting what you asked for. It should be gathered up in the upcoming days."

"Good! When it's here, I'm going to set up the promised room for you in your own tower and check out your library in the meantime."

"Your Majesty." Sentios's voice traveled into Ren's ear. "We have a guest."

"Hm? Who?" She asked back.

"Lord Keina is here. Alone. She wishes to speak with you."

"Lead her into my study. I'll be there shortly." Ren answered before cupping her hands to the rest, "I'm going; I have a surprise visitor today."

"She came?" Rabout asked, tilting his head, not really surprised.

"You knew she would come?" Ren hummed, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Had a hunch." He nodded in response. "She has thorns on the outside, but she is a soft, hurt little girl on the inside. She is not a completely lost cause. That is why I spoke up for her previously."

"Well, we'll see." She scratched her chin as she disappeared before them. A moment later, she was already inside her tower where Sentios had just led Keina into the study. "I did not expect you to come and visit me so soon." Ren walked in right behind them, smiling, and nodded toward Sentios, who quickly left, leaving them alone.

"Me neither," Keina answered, shaking her head and sitting down, watching Ren also do the same opposite to her. "But I had a long night thinking about things. I need some answers that only you can provide."

"Ask." Ren nodded, watching her eyes.

"Are you at the same level as Zelig?" Keina asked, cutting right to the point in a firm voice. Ren simply answered by letting Keina experience her aura for a moment. "Even if I never felt what Zelig could do, I fought against Rudrick… I know how strong he was…" She sighed, confirming that she had no chance against Ren in a real fight. "So you are going to be Queen, huh?" She leaned back, her voice tired and her smile sad. "I missed my chance, once again…"

"I wouldn't say that." Ren chuckled, leaning forward. "I'll be Queen, yes. I'll try to do it peacefully. Though, if things come to push and shove, I'll do just that. Push and shove everyone out of the way. I have no centuries or decades to do this. I want to finish it before the new year comes!"

"Finish what? I get the feeling you are not talking about becoming the ruler of Rozex."

"Because I'm not. That is just a step. My goal is more than that. That is why I said, I'm not so sure you missed your chance."

"Hm?" Keina sat upright once again. "Can you… explain it a bit more?"

"If you have time..."

…

….

…..

It was late afternoon by the time Keina left the Spire of Ren, walking through Rozex's streets with a somewhat dazed expression. No one on her side knew she left their courtyard to meet Ren. Yet one pair of purple eyes watched her step out of the gate... These telling, human eyes watched her walk away, but she couldn't feel them scanning her, not even with her sharp, Harmony-level senses, because a human wasn't the one watching her.

A larger black crow sat atop one of the houses. It had eerie, human-like eyes that blinked slowly at Keina, while in a dark room, two white-haired men stood elsewhere, watching a projection come from a shriveled, mummified corpse's empty eye sockets. It was the same image the crow saw plastered on a bare, white wall. As they watched, the seated, bald, graying body moaned and moved, while the image distorted and slowly lost focus.

"Change the blood packet for the projector." One of them opened his mouth as the second crouched down, opened the body's chest, fumbling inside. He replaced artificial parts as one would with a machine, because no organs remained inside, only tubes, boxes, gears, and some fleshy, clumpy leftovers.

"We need to report this to His Lordship," said the second man, standing back up and watching the crow's clear image once again. "We already saw two other Lords come and go. This is not good. If they form an alliance, we won't have a chance."

"I agree." He sighed, feeling disturbed by what they saw. "I'll make the report; you keep an eye out if any other party comes. Write up a list of all who visit them." He turned and left the room, hurrying to make his report to Corvux.

Their Lord was nearly 300 years old, having led their Spire for almost two centuries. He had been a prodigy since childhood, born with a particular affinity. His parents' meddling, when he was still an embryo in his mother's womb, had caused it, as Rudrick wasn't the only one fascinated by Aerthus's line. They always wanted rapid regeneration, potent life force, and the ability to manipulate it. Marrying Ren's mother, Anya, into the bloodline was one such attempt in the name of 'peace.' Yet it wasn't the first; Rudrick wasn't the only man who tried.

Corvux's family obtained samples over the centuries, especially during the chaotic times of Erterion and Aerthus VII the Tyrant. Their long-running experiments and research into their own bloodline led to multiple attempts to replicate Aerthus' gift. Countless lives were lost, lives that were not even old enough to be named. There were failures and dead ends, but also partial successes, like keeping some of the unfortunate ones alive, even after ripping them from all of their organs, transforming them into fleshy objects for… a more unique usage.

The family's research culminated in the creation of Corvux, who was anything but a regular baby. He was literally grafted inside her mother's womb by her parents, the previous leaders of their Spire, the so-called Twin Prodigies. It left Corvux born with an almost perfect, healthy body, even without a moment of cultivation. Most importantly, he had regenerative abilities on par with those sitting on the Empire's throne.

Yet he was far from perfect. Even within the family, he had no awareness of others' feelings, having been born without any. He showed no empathy for others' lives and never considered whether something was taboo or immoral. This was how his own parents became his experiments before he took over the whole Spire and announced himself the new leader. By now, he had transformed the entire Spire into his own image, promoting only one thought and one rule: Results above all else. No matter how cruel, gruesome, or stomach-turning something was, if it produced results and strengthened his 'family,' then it was allowed… even encouraged.

"My Lord," came the knock on Corvux's door.

"Come in," came the reply, and stepping inside, he found a luxurious bedroom, befitting a king. Corvux was admiring his perfect, naked body before a giant mirror, while two young and also naked, white-haired girls were washing his body with soapy, wet sponges, carefully caressing his porcelain skin, the subject of jealousy of any other women who saw it.

"We placed surveillance on the… Spire of Ren. It is the descendant of Rudrick."

"I assume you came because you have results for me?" he asked, glancing at him. Though he wore a small smile, everyone knew it was only something he learned to do, not something he felt. He perfected it to interact with his own people, but in reality, he hated talking with… lesser beings. Which he usually announced when he was getting annoyed.

"Yes, My Lord." His subordinate nodded, looking down and not daring to meet his eyes, since he sometimes took it as a challenge. "Spire Lord Rabout and Spire Lord Keina both visited her. Multiple times. The former even stayed inside for days on end. We are afraid that they are forming an alliance."

"Hm." Corvux tilted his head now, thinking. "Probably, the two are buttering up the newcomer. The old guy is not interested in the throne and is also protective of that retarded child he adopted. My first guess is they are roping in the new 'Lord' and will push for Tantrum Keina to take the throne. Hmmm… Rabout has a lot of resources piled up. He may be trouble. Keina, I am not too worried about. She is too emotional and easy to manipulate into mistakes. Also, Rudrick's line was weakened, almost destroyed. I don't think they have any resources left or strength to spare." He muttered as he quickly went through his own ideas. "Still, keep watching; we are going to make sure their alliance falls apart, one way or another."

"Yes." The subordinate nodded, then picked a crystal and projected Ren's appearance.

"Oh? So this is who inherited Rudrick's line? Looks nice!" Corvux turned quickly toward the image, shaking the girls off him to walk closer, and watched Ren's figure with an unblinking stare. "She wears some great, pureblooded marks. Oh… no… no, no… tsk, tsk, it is ruined!" He sighed with genuine disappointment in his voice. "The nose is a no-go! Same with the shape of her chin! Those are mongrel lines! Only a mutt has something this hideous! Tsk… Now I want to see her naked to see where she has more defects that require correction. Rudrick's family has truly fallen. They need to go; no more pureblood has left in their line!"

"She had a fight against Keina. We don't know the results."

"No matter. Even if she is strong, she is only one person." he waved his hand, losing interest and going back to his position so the girls would finish washing his body and dry him up. "We should use Malevick's family to test their strengths and wipe out what is left of Rudrick's forces. It is the least I can do to honor Rudrick's efforts! I'll hold a conference tomorrow; gather up the family."

"Yes, my Lord." He bowed again, backed out of the room, then turned and left.

"Hmmm…" Corvux tilted his head as he watched his body inside the mirror, now wearing a smile. "She still could be a great doll. Just need to swap some of those defective parts on her body with my perfected ones."