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Vilastromoz just listened in as the two of them kept talking and discussing. After Jake had answered those three questions, the Wyrmgod was even more deep in thought, and the Viper understood why. There were a lot of implications to what Jake had done. What his Bloodline had done.

Transcendent skills pretty much always came with positive effects, as why wouldn’t they? They were created, after all, and even if it was often through enlightenment or even half on accident, they were always tied to the desires of their creator. It always aligned with them, so unless their Path called for them to do self-harm, the chances of seeing a Transcendent skill that was just downright detrimental wasn’t going to happen.

The same thing couldn’t be said about Bloodlines. Bloodlines were more like freak mutations that just occurred randomly throughout the multiverse and could take many forms. Some of them were strong, some were weak, and some were downright curses. Some would even kill the ones with it without offering any benefit. This meant that it wasn’t necessarily cause for celebration when someone was born with a Bloodline. Of course, if they were positive Bloodlines, they were a huge boon, but it was very much a toss-up. Also… Bloodlines often came with some ticks and quirks.

This was an aspect of Bloodlines that was not often discussed enough. Because the impact on the person with the Bloodline was massive, and not just when using it actively. As Vilastromoz had said to Jake a little bit ago, if you had a Bloodline, it became central to your being. You are your Bloodline, and your Bloodline is you. But… in this relationship, one has to consider that the Bloodline came first.

You do not shape your Bloodline; the Bloodline shapes you.

That’s one of the reasons why Jake’s Bloodline was so puzzling. He had managed to do something Vilastromoz had never heard of before… he had suppressed it. Shaped it. Suppressed it to a level where even the system didn’t instantly recognize it when he was integrated into the system.

But, perhaps this ability to suppress the Bloodline was, in actuality, a necessary aspect of it. One that was required for it even to properly exist. Jake had, in prior talks, discussed how he suppressed some elements, such as his spatial perception. How he could manipulate the Bloodline’s effects, far more than the Viper had seen anyone with Bloodlines do before.

In some ways, Jake and his Bloodline were able to remain somewhat separate. They seemed to exist like two sides of the same coin, always connected, yet with a thin layer separating them at all times. Based on Vilastromoz’s best guess, what Jake had done in the arena to beat Valdemar was to temporarily remove this layer and fully unleash his Bloodline and all its effects. At least, that had to be a major part of it. The Viper also had a feeling Jake’s Origin Energy, as they called it, was also involved somehow.

And if that was true… then the backlash Jake was suffering from now was just the result of him actually using his Bloodline fully. The implications of that were quite frankly terrifying, as that meant Jake’s Bloodline in its full form was powerful enough for the system to judge that simply existing required a severe backlash.

So the Bloodline had adapted… Jake had adapted to suppress the Bloodline, just enough for him to not face constant backlash. Just enough for his own body to handle it.

Of course, this was just his own theory and not one he would share with the Wyrmgod, but he had a pretty high level of confidence in his assessment. Jake also said that the percentage boost to Perception increased every time he evolved, which meant the Bloodline evolved with him. It slowly became more and more unleashed the higher grade he reached, which begged the question… when would Jake turn himself into a vessel truly capable of always having his Bloodline fully unleashed?

If all the Viper’s theories were true, he definitely looked forward to seeing that one day.

“By the way, have you sent out the recordings yet?” Minaga questioned the Wyrmgod as he changed the topic entirely, also catching the Viper’s attention. “I am pretty sure Gudrun made sure that Valdemar would be informed immediately if anyone managed to kill his image.”

The Wyrmgod nodded. “I have.”

“How about Artemis? I know there weren’t any criteria set up beforehand, but…”

“It has been made clear by her image that her true self is also to be informed immediately. I have already sent both packages.”

Hearing this, the Viper could only sigh internally. While having a Chosen who could create an uproar was incredibly entertaining, and he genuinely liked the chaos Jake created… he had a feeling Jake didn’t quite enjoy it as much.

And Valdemar and Artemis? Based on what he had seen, both of those could definitely create some chaos.

But… he did hope that the two of them didn’t decide to pay Nevermore a visit out of curiosity, as that would just make things unnecessarily rowdy. Hopefully, they had something more important to do or didn’t find it worth sending one of their avatars, much less their true body.

One could only hope.

The giant beast wandered across the verdant plains with steps that created massive pits the size of cities. It had two thick legs and huge arms that it used while walking, with eight spider-like eyes on its face. Leathery skin covered half its body, while long, thick hair covered the rest. If Jake had seen this scene, he would have pointed out how the beast looked vaguely like a huge gorilla, though of a size larger than any beasts he had ever encountered. Its power was also incomparable as it gave off the aura of a divine being.

On top of its head sat a single woman with her legs crossed as she tinkered with her bow. The string seemed to almost be alive and moved in odd patterns as she tried to tame and communicate with it, her struggles mainly in vain. She suppressed her annoyance at the silly plant lifeform as she slowly coaxed it into working with her.

Looking up, she gazed toward her target. Five humongous trees towered into space in the distance, their heights incredibly impressive even for divine trees found on a Great Planet. She was on her way to inspect them and see how well they had grown since her last visit. The last time she had been by was a few hundred years ago only, and Nature’s Attendant, who had helped her plant them, assured her they would do fine even if she didn’t protect them. An assurance she had not heeded, as she had promptly ordered the divine beast she was currently riding to defend it.

However, before she could get there, a figure appeared within her range of perception. A minute or so later, this figure entered her line of sight and flew toward her with rapid speed, riding atop a giant falcon-looking beast. The second she was above her, the newcomer, who looked like a beastkin, teleported and appeared right in front of the elven god.

“Mistress, I come bearing a message from the Wyrmgod of Nevermore,” the newly ascended beastkin god spoke as she kneeled and offered her a sealed black cube. “Your eyes only. The Primordial insisted.”

“Nevermore?” she frowned.

Artemis, who had been the elven archer riding the giant beast, took the cube and wondered what it was all about. Usually, the ones like her who had provided images for the Challenge Dungeon only be given these information packages at set schedules for them to look through. For the Wyrmgod to send a special delivery like this was both concerning and exciting. She didn’t quite remember even setting any criteria for getting contacted, which made the entire matter even more puzzling.

Seeing no need to delay, she infused some of her energy to unlock the package and inspected its contents. It contained a message and a vast number of recordings. The message was from the Wyrmgod and was just an explanation that he had made the decision to send it despite there being no set criteria, as he judged it necessary and because her own image had requested it. Along with a final mention that the content within would speak for itself as to why it had to be sent immediately.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Curious, she opened up the first recording. It was a match between her image and a human that she vaguely recalled having seen before. It took her a bit as she recalled where he was from. The Chosen of the Malefic One? What was his name again…

Watching the battle, she could admit it was impressive. He was good. His archery had much to be desired, but his overall movements and judgment mid-battle were top-notch. Moreover, his ability to dodge was uncanny, and from the looks of it, he had an extremely high Perception stat. Of course, within the Challenge Dungeon, it was severely reduced, but he definitely still had more than her image.

From the looks of it, he also had a danger sense. The same as Artemis herself. One that was quite honed and didn’t rely on any skills, which was nearly impossible to find these days. Most just relied on the minor danger sense a high Perception stat provided and never actively trained the sense, but clearly, he had. In fact, his danger sense and overall ability to detect his surroundings were definitely superior to her image. Also, seeing him fight, she did have an amusing thought.

For the Chosen of the Malefic One to be a human hunter. How intriguing.

She would definitely have expected the Malefic Viper to choose a monster of some kind as his Chosen. Probably a dragon or a snake. Of course, she understood why he had chosen this particular mortal. Based on everything Artemis had heard, he had quite an impressive Bloodline, and there had been talks in the Pantheon of Life to try and get their hands on some of the unique opportunities he could provide.

As she continued to look at the recording, it eventually reached its end, and she saw her image be defeated. If everything the Wyrmgod wanted to send her had ended there, Artemis honestly wouldn’t have complained. It had been a highly entertaining battle, and she liked the demeanor and fighting style of the human. If he wasn’t already the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, she would definitely have wanted to recruit him, even without considering his special abilities to manipulate Origins.

With the battle done, she wondered what the rest of the recordings were about. Because the fight was only a minor snippet. The first thought that struck her was that he had potentially used several lives before winning, but she quickly dismissed that thought. In the fight, he clearly gave off the feeling of it being their first battle. This just left her with the second thought: her image had chosen to interact with the Chosen of the Malefic Viper after getting all its memories back.

It didn’t really surprise Artemis. She could totally see herself wanting to know more about this mysterious human hunter with such an interesting vibe. It was a shame she couldn’t feel the presence of the human, as she got the feeling he was quite impressive based on how her image had reacted throughout the fight.

Yet despite this… she hadn’t expected what happened next. When she saw her image invite him to her place after the fight to “recuperate,” she was already surprised. When her other self then led him into the restoration pool, she had to do a double-take, and when she went even further than that…

Artemis had an odd feeling at that moment, especially after skipping through the many other recordings. Some of them included the two of them intimately together, while others were just of them training in the forest or talking.

It was just the two of them spending time together. Nothing exciting happened in most of the recordings, but Artemis still couldn’t help herself from watching it all. Finally, toward the end, she saw a recording of just herself sitting in a chair and staring directly back at her as she began speaking.

“Jake went to fight Valdemar today to become the one true Grand Champion, which means my time here is up at any moment. With that in mind, I have a request for you, Wyrmgod. I know you are watching. I want you to send recordings of everything that has happened between this version of me and Jake to my real self outside, and make sure to include this message. This next part is entirely addressed to my real self outside:

In the recording, Artemis saw her image slightly lean forward as she continued.

“Hi, me. I hope I’m doing well out there, not being stuck as a level 0 image in a Challenge Dungeon that will soon cease to exist. Now, I know how much I hate to beat around the bush, so let’s just get straight to it. Jake Thayne, the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, is worth pursuing further. I am not saying you, my true self, should replicate my actions… but at least consider it when you judge the time is right and he becomes capable of standing tall before you. I honestly cannot give you any concrete reasons why I did as I did, but I do believe you will understand if you ever meet him. You won’t be disappointed; I can promise you that. Oh yeah, on a final note, he also has an absolutely monstrous Bloodline, so that is also worth investigating further.”

Artemis’ other self said the last sentence with a teasing smile and a wink as the recording ended, leaving Artemis just standing there silently for over a dozen seconds.

“Mistress?” the beastkin god asked with concern.

Artemis snapped out of her spell as she threw the bow she had been working on into her storage and took out a long-range teleportation token. “I’m heading to Nevermore. Now.”

“What?” the other god exclaimed, confused. “What’s happened? What about the divine tree proj-“

The words didn’t even finish as Artemis disappeared, going straight toward Nevermore without delay.

“It’s gonna be bad,” the dwarf muttered.

“It can’t be worse than the last one, can it?” a large, bulky human woman questioned.

“Never underestimate him; that’s how you end up like Marcus.”

All six people at the table cringed at the mention of Marcus as a few muttered a silent prayer for their fellow god.

They were all sitting at a bar as they waited for today’s main character to arrive. All six of them had been chosen for this great honor, though most of them would have preferred to just head to one of the deadly zones of a World Wonder instead.

Soon enough, he appeared. A man wearing only a simple leather tunic, carrying a large barrel, walked through the door, a massive grin on his face. They all bowed their heads slightly as they welcomed the god of war and leader of Valhal, Valdemar.

“Glad you six could join me today!” he said, still smiling as he put down the big barrel. While hiding their fear, the six gods stared at the barrel as the Primordial introduced what they would be drinking that day.

“My all-new creation! I call this one the Starry Explosion!” Valdemar said as he slapped the side of the barrel proudly.

“What’s it made of?” one of the braver gods asked.

“Alcohol.”

Alright, that one made sense, even if it could be a bit dangerous based on its potency.

“A mix of berries.”

Again, totally fair. Hopefully, at least half of them were edible.

“And a bit of star.”

…

They all sat there silently until the dwarf raised a hand. “What do you mean when you say a bit of star?”

“Well, I wanted to add something to spiff it up, and last time, someone said it could be hotter, so I added some star!” Valdemar responded proudly.

“I think what that person meant when they said hotter, they meant as in more spicy?” the dwarf muttered as the rest silently applauded him for his bravery.

“Hm?” Valdemar exclaimed. “Oh! Yeah, that could be the case. Anyway, give it a shot; I think it’s pretty good! Plus, it took a long time to cut the star into useable pieces, so not even giving it a shot would be a waste!”

Valdemar took out metal mugs and poured them all a drink from the barrel. The bubbling liquid gave off heat enough to kill weaker gods if they ingested it, and the sheer aura of the alcoholic beverage was suffocating. Just the fact Valdemar brought out the special mugs he had commissioned from the Starseizing Titan was proof this one was not to be trifled with.

“Say, what kind of star did you use?” the large human woman questioned.

“Well, I wanted one of the yellow ones as that would add some nice color to the drink, but they didn’t seem good enough and way too weak, so I went and chopped up one of those small white ones. Took a while to get all of the star into the barrel, but I think it turned out great!” Valdemar said with a big smile.

Six souls stared at the barrel and their drinks for a moment, reconsidering how they ended up there. It wasn’t just the damn star mass that was the problem, but the other ingredients.

The problem with the Primordial’s alcohol was very straightforward: he had made it and done all the taste-testing. This meant it was alcohol he himself could enjoy, making it far more potent than something any average god could handle.

At least Valdemar did have the sensibility to create mortal versions of his successful creations, so he didn’t accidentally kill anyone who consumed even a drop, but gods were not offered the same courtesy. In fact, gods were the ones who helped find the successful creations.

The six gods who sat around the table all exchanged telepathic messages until, finally, one of them took the fall. The dwarf lifted the mug and, with determination, downed it as Valdemar stared expectedly.

There was deafening silence for nearly a full second before the brave soul suddenly opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Hey, It’s actually not that ba-“

The dwarf’s eyes suddenly rolled to the back of his head before he fell out of his chair and hit the floor, completely and utterly unresponsive. A second later, his clothes caught on fire.

“Hah! It’s strong, eh!?” Valdemar said with a huge belly laugh as he took out a bucket of water and dumped it on the burning dwarf. Seemingly having fully expected this outcome.

The other five gods stared at their own mugs with fear as Valdemar looked expectedly at them. They all exchanged glances to see who would take the fall next… but suddenly, their savior arrived.

A Valkyrie goddess, sent by Gudrun herself, arrived with a package from the Wyrmgod of Nevermore. At first, Valdemar wanted to continue testing his new drink, but the Valkyrie insisted.

Valdemar took the recording and checked it out. The six of them looked on as he slowly began nodding, then he smiled before frowning, back to looking happy again. Then there was a pang of sadness until his eyes suddenly opened wide, and he wouldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear for several seconds until the recording stopped.

Looking up, Valdemar looked slightly apologetic as he still smiled with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

“Sorry mates, gotta postpone this one; Imma go visit my mate in Nevermore!”

That day, Jake unknowingly earned the deepfelt gratitude of five gods from Valhal.