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[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Race = Unknown/Celestial.
Title = The Gamer
Occupation = Prince of Asgard.
Ranking = 97th
Level = 1797
EXP = 0%/100%
HP = 314,447,500/314,447,500
MP = 357,740,000/357,740,000
STR = 559875 (+223950) = 783825
VIT = 628895
DEF = 321247
DEX= 479125
INT = 715480
CHA = 156625
WIS = 515478
WILL = 198215
PER = 176456
LUK = 6000
STAT POINTS = 21450
MONEY: 43,108,732,912.30$
]
Finally in the top 100.
I knew I would reach that line one day, but I never expect it to happen so soon.
I sighed, turning around to greet Thor.
Who teleported to earth using a beam of light that hit the ground with earth-breaking power, "Brother!" he grinned, approaching me with beaming eyes.
"How's Asgard?" I asked. If memory served me right, Alice had opened multiple portals to an eldritch dimension, that had monsters very similar to the symbiotes, monsters that were a bit more feral in essence.
"Good, it was more bothersome than hard to deal with, really," Thor sighed, "It just took some time," he added, turning his gaze to Hela.
"As you can see, I did what I was told," Hela smiled, her eyes shining in a prideful manner.
"She did," I nodded.
"Good," Thor nodded, before chuckling, "God, and by that I mean, me, competing with you is a rather exhausting task, brother, just a day ago, I was stronger than you, but once again, you leave me in the dust, quite literally, granted, you ate a planet baby to do that, but still…" he pouted.
I snorted.
"I doubt there's anyone strong enough to pose a threat to you now," Hela commented.
Poor ignorant child, "There are, exactly ninety-six beings above me in power," I replied, which was more than enough to make her eyes go wide.
"That monster is amongst them, right?" Thor asked, and immediately I knew to whom he was referring, the Beyonder.
"Of course," I nodded, his power was leagues above mine, even now, but, I was getting closer, climbing that ladder one step at a time.
"I figured," Thor sighed as he looked aimlessly into the sky before deciding to shout, "Oh well, time to train!"
I chuckled.
"I will reach your level soon enough brother! So just wait!" Thor beamed laughing like a madman while opening a portal to Asgard.
"Well, as much as I liked battling the lunatic, and the bit of freedom I was given, I'm afraid it's my time to go as well," Hela sighed, walking towards Thor, "I am… reluctantly ready for my punishment, Thor."
"Bah, don't worry, I will go easy on you, I mean, it's not the first time a sibling has tried to kill me, by the age of ten Loki had tried to end me twenty-eight times, twenty-nine if you count the snake incident! It's pretty much a family tradition at this point," Thor laughed, grabbing Hela by the waist with a single hand and throwing her into the portal like a fucking spear.
"Thor, have you considered… I don't know… therapy?" I asked, concerned about his… mental stability.
"No, why would I?" Thor replied, tilting his head to the side in confusion, "But talking about therapy, do you think Doctor Walker, will take Hela too? Maybe making it a package deal, two for one?"
"You mean, Emily?" I asked, wondering if he was high.
"Yes," Thor nodded.
"Emily wasn't charging you anything," I chuckled.
"At first, but then Nat came, saying she was her manager, and that Emily's premium services as a therapist were worth Volstagg weight, in gold," Thor chuckled, "So, I paid."
"I… I don't know if I should feel proud, or concerned," I muttered.
"Both," The Ancient One replied.
"Very well, I am proudcerned," I chuckled, turning to face Thor once again, "I will talk with Nat, maybe she will make an exception, family discount, and stuff," I nodded.
"Wonderful! I mean, Asgard is rich, but we only have so much gold," Thor chuckled, jumping into the portal with a wink, one that let me know he was okay with Nat taking his gold, he was just being extra for the sake of it.
"So, now what?" The Ancient One asked as the portal Thor had created closed.
I mused at her question for a bit, remembering something in the process, the mission to conquer earth, a mission I had not completed because at the time I was too weak to do so, something that was no longer a variable stopping me from taking action, "Now I conquer earth," I replied.
"...."
"Yes, I'm aware that sounded rather ominous, and that without context would leave me in a bad light," I nodded, feeling her judgmental gaze on my back.
"Very well then," The Ancient One chuckled, "How can I help?"
"Weren't you judging me like a second ago," I snorted.
"I would never," The Ancient One gasped playfully.
"But as for help, well," I smiled, as I started to describe in detail what conquering the earth entailed, and the benefits it would bring, like for example having the power to block the entrance to the planet to dangerous individuals as long as they were below my level.
"I see," The Ancient One nodded, "I like the idea, it would save us a lot of time if we could only keep undesired individuals out of the planet."
"Yes," I nodded.
"So, I guess the next question is, what to do with them?" The Ancient One asked, pointing at the unconscious Eternals around.
"Let's ask them," I replied, using a pulse of cosmic energy to not only wake them up but bind them in place.
"You did it," Ajak muttered as she came back to her senses, looking at me in utter shock.
"I did," I nodded.
"He will kill you all, you saved nothing!" Ajak shot back, probably referring to the Celestial that had ordered her to ensure Tiamut's emergence.
"Who knows," I smiled while using my map to locate the strongest Celestials. [Jemiah The Analyzer LV 1401], [Nezarr the Calculator LV 1489], [Hargen the Measurer LV 1390], [Esos The Searcher LV 1460], [Arishem the Judge LV 1701].
"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Ajak replied, "You ate…. One of them, and he will judge you accordingly."
I chuckled, "Maybe, but enough about that, I didn't wake you up so that you could tell me how death I apparently am, I woke you up, to talk about your future."
"We will never work for you, beast," Ikaris spat in clear anger.
"I… didn't ask," I replied, before continuing, "But, basically, my offer was, that if you guys want, you can stay on earth, no need for you guys to fight the deviants and stuff, I will deal with that myself, or rather my group."
"She killed them all," Ajak replied.
"But you are not her," Thena sighed, "Yet, you feel like her, no… rather, she felt like you but corrupted, I guess I didn't notice until now."
"What we want is inconsequential," Ajak sighed, her eyes staring into mine, "Earth is doomed, he will see to it."
"You think?" I hummed, not really worried about that, not because I was stronger than him, but because we both shared a common enemy that was about to wake up any day soon, Knull, "Let me ask him," I smiled, opening a portal to meet the Celestial, who I had a feeling, would be more understanding than Ajak imagined.
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer
Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz
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I stepped through the portal to Arishem's location, immediately seeing the giant who towered over me in size, being over three hundred miles tall and a few miles wide, emanating nothing but pure cosmic energy in his wake.
For a long calculating moment, I simply stared at him, fully aware he knew I was there. In a way, we were both measuring each other up, feeling each other's intentions.
"You consumed the seed," Arishem was the first one to break the silence, his voice booming through the empty void of space like an echo in a well.
I nodded, looking up at him with a small frown decorating my face, this situation wasn't optimal for communication, It felt like I was talking to an impossibly large building, that needed to change it, so without a second thought, I changed my size, matching his, by altering my molecular structure.
"What do you seek here?" Arishem, unfazed by my noticeable change continued.
"I came here to make peace, and maybe some alliances," I replied, looking into his red emotionless eyes.
"The seed allowed you to consume it," Arishem said, sounding surprised yet calm, somehow coming to the realization of what Tiamut had done, "He chose this path, was humanity that valuable?"
"It was for him," I replied, after all, the value of something was in the eye of the beholder.
"Then we have nothing to discuss," Arishem replied, his eyes flashing bright, "He made his choice, and in turn, a new type of celestial was born, and it is not my prerogative to question that choice, nor judge it, as my title would suggest. While unusual, our kind has been known to have biological children the way organic individuals have, not that this enters that category, but it's the only example I have of it."
"Your Eternals were worried you would want to kill me," I replied, giving the Eternals a side look, who so far had been nothing but silent, staring at Arishem in shock, and fright.
"It was their mission to protect the seed from the deviants. Anything beyond that was out of their mission parameters," Arishem replied, his gaze turning to them, "I can see why the would assume such, nonetheless, you didn't do anything to warrant judgment, it is clear Tiamut offered his life to you out of his own volition, he chose you to be the new Celestial, therefore, judgment it's not necessary."
I smiled, this was going better than I imagined, then again, something told me it would go well, maybe it was the bit of Tiamut that remained within me that made me feel like it would go well, who knows?
"Then, I suppose the next item in our conversation would be, the alliance," I replied, hoping that this would go as smoothly as the previous item.
"Elaborate," Arishem replied, sounding curious, "As a Celestial, albeit an unusual one, you already have our support in your actions, as long as those actions stay within cosmic order, nonetheless, I am intrigued by your interest in forming an alliance, and therefore would like to know what warrants such a desire."
"Knull," I replied, and for a brief moment I felt Arishem's energy flicker in a mix of shock and something akin to fear, not quite there, but close.
"Explain," Arishem replied, his voice cold.
"He will wake up, I have foreseen it, and when that time comes, we have to be ready," I sighed, taking a deep breath, "I have no idea when, but it will be soon, by human standards soon, and I would like to have all the hands I can on my corner."
For a while, Arishem said nothing, simply staring into me seemingly at a loss for words, and I couldn't blame him. The last time Knull was around, he killed several Celestials like they were nothing but oversized roaches, so really… who could blame the guy?
Eventually however, Arishem replied, "That is most worrying. His awakening could mean the end of all in creation, that I cannot allow. You can count on us, the celestials will do their part to maintain the cosmic order of things, the grand design, but I'm afraid that might not be enough."
I liked this guy, even with all his power, he was humble enough to recognize when he was outclassed, "That's all I ask, and don't worry, when the time comes, we will be ready." I had faith I would be ready when the time came.
"Preparations must be made," Arishem replied, "Was that all?"
I nodded, "Yes… Well, not technically, I was meaning to ask about the Eternals, do you have any problems with them staying on Earth, or being free for that matter?"
"No, so if you desire to keep them. So be it, it was their duty to protect the seed, the seed has emerged, their duty is complete, they are without duty, you are free to give them one so you desire it, it is within your power to do so," Arishem replied, without even giving them a look.
"Very well," I replied, happy with how easy dealing with him had been, heck, he was a green dot in my map now.
"Farewell then," Arishem said, creating a rift between time and space teleporting out of sight, a few billion light years away, close to another Celestial, perhaps he was passing the word of what we shared.
"Well, back to earth, but first," I smiled, shrinking back to my normal size, before opening a portal to Earth.
————-
Back on earth, I sat with the Ancient One drinking some tea, as I gave the remaining Eternals time to process.
"We serve you now," Thena was the first one to approach, smiling in a seemingly emotionless way.
"I mean, if you want," I shrugged, "I'm not really into having sentient slaves," I chuckled.
"She killed… so many of us," Makkari muttered.
"Oh, right, about that," I smiled, equipping the time stone, "I can bring them back, if you want that is."
"You can?" Ajak asked, daring to hope.
"He is a Celestial, after all," Thena replied.
"Please," Ikaris muttered, kneeling on the ground, "Bring them back, I beg you."
Well that was an unexpected turn of events, "I will, give me a second."
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