Chapter 95
Chapter 95
“What game?” Fowl asked. “And changing how?”
Tapping his tablet once, Jazzjak cut off the feed, moved to his chair, and hopped into it.
Max could feel everyone tense up at their helper’s statement and as much as he wanted to ask questions, he waited.
Finally, Jazzjak looked up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at; his jaw muscles looked like he was clenching tightly. “That… wasn’t a normal fight.”
“It looked like one, albeit not what I expected,” Cordellia said. “Why wasn’t it a normal fight?”
Their helper stared at their ranger and sighed. “That was a match that shouldn’t have taken place. They knew each other and yet… it was similar to Max’s and Zogooruth’s fight while being slightly different.”
“Wait, you’re saying gods shouldn’t know other ones at this tier or have a personal grudge against them?” Sog asked. “Couldn’t one of those other bird gods challenge Max after what he did to the falcon one? Would that be any different from what we just saw?”
Jazzjak slowly nodded his head and then stopped. “It’s not like that thought. 80,000 years… I’ve been around for a long time and at no point have I seen Ooohmara issue a challenge or a fight. This means he is old… or was. And for him to challenge Greokol meant he had to know she was within his tier. So either she recently just reached a tier he could challenge or someone told him that she was able to be challenged. You heard her say that she laid a trap.”
“Aye, we did,” Batrire said. “But how does a god lay a trap for another?” Their helper smiled and pointed a finger at their healer. “Exactly. How do you communicate with a god who doesn’t have access to the Archons that someone he would want to fight can be fought? How do you manage to do something like that?”
A few grunts and the sound of chairs sliding across the stone floor filled the silence after his question.
“So who can set up something like that?” Rakonath asked. “Are we allowed to mention names?”
“I don’t think it’s who you think it could be,” Jazzjak said. “I… there are rules . Rules govern everything. My ability to communicate with others not on this world is very limited. But the one place I can communicate with at any time is those who operate the arena.”
Max already understood the implications that Jazzjak was starting to explain and his mind began to question things he thought he knew.
“What if Ooohmara had a teleporting area?” Max asked. “He could then travel to other worlds. Perhaps it was through that method he learned about Greokol.”
Shaking his head, their helper smiled. “Gods don’t leave their world like that. Or at least not the smart ones. Tell me, why do you not visit Naga Reef anymore?”
Max frowned, knowing the answer.
He just set a trap for you right there.
Ignoring Bob, Max saw the path the vorpal rabbit was clearly marking. “I wouldn’t go because I’m certain I’d have a hard time surviving.”
“Exactly,” their helper replied. In this world, you have allies and any god who came here would have to face all of you. Worlds with teleporters aren’t meant for the gods to travel. They’re designed to allow others to do so, bringing in new skills, techniques, goods and other opportunities to grow their world.”
Jazzjak’s tablet appeared in his hand and he began tapping on it a few times, displaying up the world Max had chased down a gnome who believed they could escape with a dragon core to.
“Worlds that connect via teleporters face a few unwritten rules,” Jazzjak said. “By creating a waypoint to travel to other planets, you also create the opportunity for another god to invade yours. There are small clusters of worlds that agree to a treaty of sorts. If one of the worlds decides they want to invade another world that is part of the treaty, they better be prepared to feel the wrath of all the others.”
“Can’t one just cut off the ability to come to their planet?” Fowl asked. “I mean, Max told us that Igarra did that. Even he was able to do that with his skill.”
The vorpal rabbit shook his head. “No, they cut off travel from’ their world. Max’s ability prevents gods or others who have a travel ability from using it within a certain radius of him, but that doesn’t mean they can’t arrive outside of that distance. What matters is the level of the skill to travel or stop another.”
“He’s right,” Max said. “Ockrim and Phaius could both ignore my ability, but doing so caused damage to the surrounding area. That’s why Windsor Wheel was impacted. Had Phaius not realized what was happening and forced his way through, most of the town would have been wiped out.”
“So what?” Tanila asked, frowning as she spoke. “You’re implying that this fight had to have been initiated by the arena moderators… or whatever they are?”
“Exactly,” Jazzjak said. “Think about it. Imagine you have a grudge against a god and you want to fight them. The problem is if you initiate the challenge, then they get to pick the battlefield.” As he spoke, the rabbit pulled up the image of the arena the fight had taken place. “Greokol would most likely have lost on any other battlefield but because of the space she picked, it seemed to amplify her natural defense and offensive capabilities. As a water-based being, she would have… the higher ground as you say it.”
“A smaller army in a defensive position can take down larger armies and often wipe them out,” Sog stated. “One of the things we learn quickly as demons is that you don’t want to keep charging forward when someone keeps putting traps everywhere you step.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
A few chuckles came and Max sensed Tanila’s frown being replaced with a smile.
“So she what… told the arena moderators to notify Ooohmara that she was a potential target?” Cordellia asked. “Why would they do that?”
“Divine Points,” Rakonath said immediately. “Everything revolves around them.”
“Exactly!” Jazzjak exclaimed. “Consider for a moment that they have one goal… well one major goal. It’s not to simply host the fights. Anyone can do that. You could host a fight by building an arena here… which we are not doing anytime soon,” the rabbit stated emphatically. “No, their main goal is to increase the amount of Divine Points they earn. Each battle offers a small ‘reward’ for winning but the real perk is the betting. I’m not certain but I would guess they also get a small percentage of any DP a god who dies might have.”
“And who would want that? The System?” Fowl asked. “Why would it… or they… or whatever the System is need more Divine Points?”
“Because it’s what everything operates off of,” Max said slowly. “Every world, every life, the Nine, the Archons… If I had to guess… there’s probably a limit in some ways to how much is out there and who gets to keep what percentage.”
“Uh… is that like something Bob knows or just what you’re making up?” their warrior asked.
“It’s a hunch,” Max replied. “Though Bob hasn’t corrected me yet which means he most likely agrees to a small degree. Let me show it differently.”
Max stood and moved to the center of the long table no one sat at and began placing objects on it. He pulled out a few bowls and then a waterskin. Next came a couple of potted plants.
Tell me again why you carry so much… junk. I cannot tell you how silly it seemed the other day when I helped that demon.
And yet you couldn’t have helped him if those items weren’t in my storage. That’s why. You never know when you’ll need twenty pounds of butter or a cactus.
Bob groaned in his head, but Max ignored him, pouring a little bit of water into each bowl.
“If I’m wrong, correct me, Jazzjak, but I think this is what you told us about 90 years ago on how the world works.”
Holding up the first of the three bowls, Max lifted a small plant. “This plant needs water and a portion of all the water in the world goes to making sure it can grow. But what happens if there is suddenly less water for them?” He poured most of the water into the second bowl. “It has to go somewhere. It doesn’t escape our… atmosphere?”
“Correct,” Jazzjak said with a grin.
Nodding, Max set the plant down and the almost empty bowl. He then picked up the third one and brought it to his lips. Taking a long drink, he drained it dry and set it down on the table. “So what happened to the water I just drank?” Max asked, eyes fixed on the dwarven warrior.
“Uh… It’s gone? Why are you asking me? You know I wasn’t paying attention to what floppy ears was saying.”
Shaking his head, Max pointed at the second bowl and water began to form from his finger, falling into it. “No. I have the water inside me. When I breathe, or sweat, or use the restroom, I return some of it. A portion stays with me until I die. But from what Jazzjak mentioned during his lesson, there is only so much to start with, and any extra must come from us spending Divine Points to do so.”
“My head is starting to hurt,” Fowl muttered. “This is why I stopped paying attention the first time.”
“Ignore him,” Batrire said, leaning forward. “So you’re saying the System manages the flow of DP. It wants gods to fall so that others can rise and new ones to appear.”
“But what about the old gods?” Cordellia asked.
“That’s the real point,” Rakonath said. “The oldest gods are seemingly safe from that cycle. Unless something out of the ordinary changes things.”
“Like me,” Max said. “Well… I mean Bob.”
Max watched as a few of those gathered seemed to grasp what he had realized a while back.
“And the arena is just another way to cycle Divine Points through the godhood until that moment comes,” Jazzjak said. “I hadn’t thought about it like that until you said that, Max, but I see how you’re right. Everyone talks about how scary and bad the black skills are because of the destruction they bring and yet they keep getting summoned. If they were so dangerous, why would the System allow it, or why would gods be foolish enough to spend the points to bring them into being again?”
“Because it’s all a game,” Tanila whispered. “That’s what you were talking about, isn’t it?”
Max nodded at his wife, seeing the way her nose wrinkled and knew she was concerned. “We were told there was a game and that we were part of it. I was told to ask Jazzjak about it, and he can only answer what he is allowed to at each moment. I think the real question we need to ask is, why is this game needed at all? Who stands to gain the most from it?”
“The older gods,” Rakonath said softly.
Max didn’t say a word, slowly putting the objects he had laid out back into storage.
Last we spoke about this subject, you had told me you were planning on sharing those thoughts just yet. Did that fight really change things that much?
You know what I’m thinking.
No… I know what you believe you’re thinking. I sense that you believe things are going to get worse in the coming two hundred years.
Fighting back the frustration he was feeling, Max moved to his chair and gently held Tanila’s hand.
Death made a move. Wekime made a move. It appears that the Void god made a move against us. Tell me, how many more of the Nine are actively trying to shape my path and the other two black skills? Where are they trying to… herd us?
To the place they want you both to be.
Rakonath’s voice was like a hammerhead striking a nail perfectly.
So the real thing we need to figure out is where they want us and how we can change that?
And if you can’t?
Bob chuckled in Max’s mind before he spoke.
Then we set a trap that springs when we arrive where they are leading. It appears we are learning this game the hard way.
Max lifted his wife’s hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
No… we’re learning it… I’m just afraid it hasn’t even begun to get hard yet.