Chương 128: A Thundering Essence 5
(Gaea's POV)
Seeing Zeus create water from nothing shocked me to my very core.
It should've been impossible. No, it is impossible. No god should have powers beyond their domain or domains. At best, Zeus would've been able to create storm clouds to produce water—but to create it from nothing is nearly on the level of the primordial chaos.
Is this young god favored by the universe so much that it would grant him such a gift? A small blob of envy enters my core as I look him in the eyes. I see something beautiful, I see innocence. I see pure wonder.
In that moment, I almost feel ashamed. Am I not the primordial mother? I should feel proud of my progeny. When I look back at him, though, I see that he is smirking in my direction with that same arrogant smile on his face, and I'm reminded that he is my progeny in both the best and worst ways.
I can see it in his eyes: they hold warmth, but I can also sense a waiting thunderstorm, ready to destroy anything in its path. Truly, Zeus embodies his domains in ways I don't even think he understands.
Yet a small part of me wonders if I've even seen the real Zeus. In his small moments to himself, in the mutterings I've overheard, he says things that are incoherent to me. I've been tempted to ask, but worry that turning him away so soon would be a grave error.
Let the young god have his secrets. I can tell they aren't harming me. But that was until he got up, and his eyes went white. Then they began to glow blue, and as he practiced against the dummy, the movements I saw were completely alien, yet so efficient that I couldn't look away.
With divinity comes a certain advantage over mortals: our forms are meant to be beautiful or handsome, and our movements graceful, or at least powerful. But what I'm seeing seems reminiscent of pure logic.
Every punch, every kick, every single tension of his muscles seems calculated for maximum damage. Hundreds upon hundreds of dummies are destroyed in seconds, and Zeus is in an almost trance-like state.
The centurions wander over to Zeus to make sure that he is all right. Seeing that he is only practicing, they continue to guard the room, but keep a close eye on him.
Soon enough, after hours had passed, Zeus's sight returned to normal. As he sees what he has done, he smiles, and it looks utterly rapturous, as if Zeus has seen the world in an entirely different way.
But before I could watch any longer, Zeus returned to his room and simply sat. Yet, as he places his hands on the bed, I see the material begin to change, and soon enough, the bed turns into something white and fluffy.
Seeming satisfied with himself, Zeus touches the pillow, and it, too, changes. As he lays his head down, I feel a small bit of shame that I had not been able to accommodate him more. But the fact that he was able to create these things himself is promising. His powers are growing, yet these strange things I'm witnessing are also slightly worrisome.
For now, I focus my attention on keeping the Titans from finding the young god, to which I give a small thank you to him for not flaunting his divinity and already having a decent amount of control over it.
Before returning my attention to the Titans, I reform my avatar and place my hand on his cheek.
"You will be great, young god. I just hope you're prepared to face eternity." As I remove my hand and begin to walk away, I see his eyes open, and as he looks at me, I can feel the thunderstorm in his eyes. But he simply smiles and waves me off.
With a slight smile on my face, I return to the Earth to keep watch over my children.
Most of the Titans have scattered across the world, with four of them being tested to hold up the sky. With the death of Ouranos, his body had threatened to fall to the Earth, but thankfully the Titaness Hecate was able to fashion a spell that tied the body to the Titans: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Cronus.
As long as they live, the body will remain in stasis, and thankfully his presence is waning. Soon enough, his body shall be completely absorbed by the sky, becoming one with his domain.
I certainly do not miss his presence. However, I do see that annoying confidence in Zeus. It's probably his only redeeming factor.
(Zeus's POV)
Dreams are a strange thing for a god—or maybe it's just me. As I fell asleep, I found myself standing in an ever-expanding realm. Around me, there was an endless kaleidoscope of colors. As I approached it, it looked reminiscent of the way the Watchers see the Multiverse.
In the almost shattered glass, I see so much… I bear witness to hundreds of timelines, and the only saving grace is that none of them are mine.
It's a wonder how anyone who can see this remains entirely sane. Do our actions have any meaning when, in another Earth and timeline, everything else is dead?
But before I can be brought low by existential nihilism, I'm reminded of why these things exist. They are possibilities, but they are also lessons on what not to do.
It doesn't help that there's a lot—and I mean a lot—of sexual content, and none of the fun kind. We're talking all the worst tags here. And I would rather not remember them.
As I continue to explore, I find myself enthralled by the possibilities, but I also feel stifled by the fact that I can't interact with these places. I can only watch—for now, at least.
I have a feeling that whoever put me here is treating this world like a starting level—a tutorial of sorts. Or it's a test to see how I handle all of this power.
But it would take a really stupid person to mess this up, and I'd rather not prove that theory correct about myself.
Soon enough, the realm begins to crack, and as it falls to pieces, a small part of me thinks it looks like the level where Vergil makes his entrance in the latest Devil May Cry game after he fuses with himself.
And boy, does that get my head going with ideas. Because hey, while the game was mostly just about Vergil hiring Vergil's brother and Vergil's son to kill Vergil, it doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy it. But the resulting hand pain from those combos did not do me any favors.
When I open my eyes, I find that realm is not here. After sitting up on the bed, I check my charges for the day. And lo and behold: three charges for each.
Placing my thumb under my chin, I begin thinking of what I should use them for today. Then it hits me. With all the time I've spent, I haven't been addressing something—my defense against time abilities.
I need something to level the field against Chronos and his time hacks altogether. After going through a brain-blast montage, the ability finally comes to mind:
Rooted in Reality: There is a thing called a reality anchor. It nullifies most paranormal effects and abilities in some range around it. You are now one such reality anchor! Naturally, this won't affect any powers of your own. You are now impervious to any direct application of supernatural powers. No mind control, no twisting your organs like putty, no setting you on fire. A telekinetic can still launch an I-beam through your chest at Mach 5, but he won't turn your bones into sand. Small mercies. Additionally, with an effort of will, you can extend this nullification effect over an area, disabling any anomalous effects. You may pick and choose what gets disabled and what doesn't.
After placing my three charges into it, I feel myself becoming simultaneously lighter and heavier at the same time. Lighter in the sense that I can feel esoteric forces avoiding me, but heavier in the sense that I feel more connected to reality itself, like I'm becoming a constant in existence.
It's simultaneously soothing and terrifying, but that's just semantics at this point.
Taking a breath and focusing, I make sure to do a once-over using Shaper to confirm that my reality anchor power hasn't altered my biology in any significant way. Physically, I'm the same, which is a relief.
Soon after, however, Gaia forms in front of me and looks me over from head to toe. Eventually, she lightly grabs my face.
"Grandmother, if you wish to embrace me, I'd be entirely willing," I say, though all I get in response is a sigh of exasperation.
"What have you done to yourself now? My senses have become dulled around you." As she continues to examine me, I think of a response to give her.
"Well, I am essentially using my divinity to try to hide my presence. I'm going to need to do that to retrieve my siblings from my father's stomach. I can't have Cronus recognizing me when I'm trying to get that done, now can I?" After hearing this, Gaia looks me in the eyes, presumably checking to see if I'm lying.
Sigh "You are an enigma, Zeus. I have rarely met beings that can make even me confused. This ability of yours—are you able to do it permanently?" I give her a shrug, to which she just disappears from view.
"Good talk," I say to absolutely no one. But with that out of the way, I focus on where to place my next three inspired vendor charges.
The Art of Forging, specifically from God of War, enters my mind. As I spend them, hundreds upon hundreds of forging ideas fill my thoughts. In my hands, I can almost feel the ability to create anything—but the feeling is fleeting. Right now, I have only mundane weapon ideas.
But even now, I know there's more behind this. I've seen it. In fact, a version of me was killed by a forged weapon from that universe. I wonder how the Titans in this universe would appreciate a Sword of Olympus.
But now it's time for breakfast. As I look for my favorite goat, I find him trying to hide from me behind the practice dummy.
"Come here. I need my breakfast. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
But it seems my attempts to calm the goat down only make it run away.
BAAAAAHH!!! (Stop chasing me, you insane thunder god! I swear to the sky above, I am going to find a way to piss on you when you're sleeping! Gaia, help me! NOOOOOO!)
Inspired Inventor:
(1/10) Metal Gear Cybernetics, (2/10) War Tactics, (3/10) Prana Bindu, (3/10) Forging (GOW),
Power Manipulation:
(2/10) Increased Daily Charges: Increase Charge Gains With One Additional Charge For Every Level.(Three Charges Per Day)
(1/10) Intuitive Aptitude: This kind of intuition can make the users well informed and knowledgeable by instinct, as they spontaneously learn anything that they may encounter, intuitively grasping the knowledge of how things work and how to use it to their advantages.
(3/10) Matter Creation: The user can create any type of artificial, organic, or inorganic matter, as well as any object, either from nothing or by using existing sources of matter and energy. They can shape the created matter into any form they wish and specify the material's type, layers, or subatomic structure. With practice, advanced users can even manipulate the matter they've created.
(3/10) Rooted in Reality: There is a thing called a reality anchor. It nullifies most paranormal effects and abilities in some range around it. You are now one such reality anchor! Naturally, this won't affect any powers of your own. You are now impervious to any direct application of supernatural powers. No mind control, no twisting your organs like putty, no setting you on fire. A telekinetic can still launch an I-beam through your chest at Mach 5, but he won't turn your bones into sand. Small mercies. Additionally, with an effort of will, you can extend this nullification effect over an area, disabling any anomalous effects. You may pick and choose what gets disabled and what doesn't.
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