บท 88: Epilog: The Beings and the Snake

AN: This will be the end of the first Volume I was originally planning on ending it at chapter 100 but it seemed I quite rushed some of the arcs!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I will see you all once the new Volume drops!

...

(POV of ### ### #######)

"Hahaahahahaha I can't believe this shit!!!!! I think I will faint! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH" screamed the being, holding his stomach as he arched over.

"Language!" Spoke the second being as she scowled.

"Sorry, sorry... I just can't believe this! THIS! Have you ever seen something like this!?"

"No, and I am quite pleased to see him grow. But all his strength was given to him. I am scared that he won't be proficient enough with them."

"True that. BUT, look at this luck! He has even greater luck than the apostle of luck and fortune when it comes to gaining strength!"

After a hard laugh, the being calmed himself, "Haahhh~ I bet she is crying rivers of blood seeing his achievements. I never liked her."

"Her pompous and demining nature is quite unpleasing. I must admit, seeing her face when she eventually realizes that her apostle is bested at one of her apostle's greatest strengths will be quite a show."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"Stop laughing, you were quite against him, even threatening to smite him!"

"Ah, silly me. I am sorry. I should have believed in your truly godly insight.

"Ts, at least you realized."

"But how did you find such a promising soul!? It shines brighter than the lord of stars, even in this state. Did you break some rules or something?"

"Hmpf, who do you think I am? I would never break a rule! But... I may have found a loophole..." said the second being quietly.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA! To think your stuck-up ass would "break" the rules. Is Heaven falling? Have demons stopped scheming? Maybe even the Babel Tower is crumbling. AHHHHHH HAHAHAHHAHHA!"

Seething with anger the second being spoke calmly, "... Another word, and I am reporting all your misdeeds to Selene."

"..." the being turned real quiet after her threat. "Ehem, I misspoke. Now back to the topic. Did you temper with him or something? I can't quite believe this."

"Not really... I am just as amazed as you are. I only did a small "ingraining"."

"Hmmm, but that doesn't explain all this... luck. Is Shai maybe connected to this?"

"No, his realm of power doesn't quite fit this. And I don't feel anything else tampering with his soul except the demi-god of that cursed realm. And even he couldn't see his true soul's color."

"How mysterious. But to think he would gain so much attention, his presence is like a shining beacon to all the stronger beings and gods. Even the void has an eye out. And when they are looking I can't imagine all the others."

"Maybe I can call in some favors to speak to Mavis."

"!!!!!" the being was shocked hearing her. "WHAT! You are considering calling in your favor for such a trivia matter?"

"I am merely considering the possibility. And him meeting Mavis will change a lot. Maybe even Shai will interfere, but I already have something that will make him reconsider."

"I can't imagine what dirt you got on all of them..."

With a smirk, the second being proudly said, "After so many years they have done quite some stupid deeds. I have dirt on 80% of them. Including Ganesha and Gaia."

"... I truly struck gold with being in an alliance with you..." Spoke the first being with bowed head.

"Your flattery will take you nowhere, but is greatly appreciated." Said the second being haughtily.

The first being only rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Now how do you think he will deal with all that?"

"It depends on the gifts he will gain. But he might overestimate himself... I am scared that his hubris leads to his unfortunate death. He may be a very, very, very, very-"

The first being starred at her "... "

"Very! Strong tier 3, but now that all the attention is on him... I can't help but fear for his future."

"Hah, with both my and your support how could he? He may as well be a demigod at this point... ok I may be exaggerating. But you get my point."

"Maybe you are right... but this war may humble him once the big leagues step in. And no one in his surroundings helped him see his weaknesses. They may be stronger than him, but their help only lead to him being arrogant..."

"I think you are quite misreading his character."

The second being stared at him waiting for him to continue.

"Yes, he may have been given enough strength, but he has yet to show his true colors. All the situations till now were him being too weak to do anything or just learning about this world. So it is best to not judge his character too soon."

She sighed and nodded. "You speak quite some truth, once you don't act brutish and barbaric. It makes you look dumb by the way."

"Hah, such insults don't hurt me. As I know I am far greater than what the others claim me to be!" Her slide remark only bounced off his thick skin as he posed to show his bulging muscles.

"... and here we go again..." sighed the second being shaking her head.

"But to think even the other gods are fearing his growth and punishing him. They truly took their anger out on him. But see it as a growing curve, he may be nerfed, but such things can be "easily" fixed once he reaches tier 7 or 8. And with his growing speed that will only take a few years, a decade tops."

"I still don't like them tempering with my chosen one."

"No, you are wrong, he isn't yours."

The second being looked at him baffled and slightly angry, "What do you mean?"

"He is ours!"

"..." She clenched her fist and radiant purple light shone.

He began to sweat, "It was a joke! I am just kidding! He is yours! Only yours! ... and maybe the sand golem's..."

He whispered the last part but she clearly heard him as she punched him in the face sending him straight to the ground.

"ACK!"

"I won't accept his "mate"! Another one of your jokes and I will send you back! I think it is time to visit Selene after this..."

"What! You can't do that! It isn't allowed! And you won't do it!"

"Oh, try me." said the second being menacingly

"Ts, and now the stick is back in her ass... great. I thought with him here she finally managed to pull it out..."

"!!!" Her hand clenched as her hand radiated unsurmountable pressure.

"I said that out loud didn't I..." spoke the first being with a trembling voice.

"Yes, you did..."

"You won't send me back right?"

She didn't answer him and only smiled sweetly.

"Right!?"

He started to sweat as the pressure increased at an alarming rate.

"Stop joking please... this amount of power will truly send me back!"

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson."

And with those words and his screams her fist connected to his face. The realm turned purple for a split second.

The ground, the sky, and the very being of space and time rippled as the first being crashed through the ground and space.

Blowing on her smoking fist she sat back down as if nothing had happened. "Well, with that dealt my worries are quite eased."

...

Meanwhile.

"Now that you have gained all the basic abilities of a tier 3 and even some of the tier 4s, we should prepare you for the integration." The elf clasped his hand as the ground flattened and dozens of materials moved around. "Thanks for all the help Lopptos."

"No need to thank me Raas. Thank Emporer Luvari instead, he provided most of them anyway." Raas nodded and let the elf concentrate on whatever he was making.

A few minutes Raas exclaimed, "Ah shit what is all that? Do I really have to drink that?"

He was now curled inside a large magic circle with dozens of burning torches around him. He felt as if the librarian was going to sacrifice him to some devil. It looked oddly barbaric and cult-like. Even the elf's uniform changed into a robe with many ritualistic and runic symbols.

He stood in front of the giant serpent with a large barrel filled with pitch-black liquid.

"Yes, how else do you think you will get the optimized results from integrating the spirit core?"

"I thought integrating was random?"

"Why do you think so?" asked the librarian as if Raas was mentally impaired.

"Because the last time I integrated something I didn't do all that stuff."

The librarian's eyes nearly popped out. He facepalmed so hard that he nearly broke his magical enchanted glasses.

"Ugh, I can't believe this... you are either truly lucky or the item wasn't dangerous."

"Well, it did say there was a chance of death," said Raas sheepishly scratching his forehead with his tail.

The librarian took a doubletake as his words sank in. "I am going to ignore that."

"But in my defense, I didn't know about all that and it only gave me 10 seconds to prepare myself. And this time all the chances are much higher."

He gave Raas a massive side eye, before taking a deep breath and said, "Now, please drink that when the timer hits one minute, after that release all your mana into the magic circle. You will have a 10-minute window to choose your options. I will guide you through it and explain all the boons you will get, but in the end, it will be your choice."

"Thanks, old man. I really appreciate it" Said Raas jokingly.

"Ts. I am only 122."

"..."

"So how long do you have?" asked Lopptos. "Should be quite close now."

Raas looked at the countdown and exclaimed. "Oh just reached the one-minute mark, time to dig in I guess..."

Raas' giant head reached down and his tongue dipped into the black barrel.

His face crunched in disgust as the elf laughed at the sight.

"Come on we don't have time for that. Down with it."

Raas glared at him and the elf recoiled slightly.

With a deep sigh, he plunged his head into the barrel.

As the liquid entered his mouth he nearly vomited his mana core out.

Pushing his will, he quickly drank it all up till nothing was left. It took him 10 large gulps, but the liquid was viscous and clung to his mouth and throat.

He smacked his mouth a few times to get the taste away but to no avail. "... what even is this made of," asked Raas as he tried to keep the liquid down with every fiber of his being.

"You don't want to know..." said Lupptos with a wry smile.

...

An: And with that, I conclude Volume 1.

It may seemed rushed for me as I wanted to stretch some arcs out, but I guess it turned out ok-ish.

It was quite a journey for me... to think I took over 2 years to write "only" 89 chapters.

And reading some of my old chapters I think I have quite improved myself... or so I think at least.

But this is only the beginning!

Volume 2 will start "shortly" after, but I will try to stockpile some chapters so you all will have a regular release schedule. And maybe then I will finally have the motivation to set up a P.a.t.r.e.o.n. account XD

Till then, stay safe, and Happy Halloween in advance!

PS: Comments, Power Stones, Reviews, and Power Stones are greatly appreciated :)