The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 169: A Third Avatar

“Luna, have you thought over when you’d take the Trial?” Rainer asked cautiously, making sure it didn’t seem like he was prodding her to take it earlier. Though a small part of him thought the benefit of her being safer after the fact might be worth it. Not to mention a strengthened Luna might be able to if not burn up less magical races like High Elves—when compared to Fae—but at least easily disable any magic affecting them. Like passive spells.

They were flying elsewhere in the Dungeon, looking for more opportunities. Being found by a party from another world and then countering the robbing with some of their own happened as well. He wasn’t willing to rob or hunt them out right, given that he planned on visiting many planes and worlds in the future and it was no longer a competition, but he’d happily defend himself.

It was with a combination of both hope for the greater universe and a bit of disappointment that most meetings ended with a terse exchange of words and a separation. Even a few pleasant exchanges happened on occasion. Though he got the feeling they would have said no to letting his orb inspect their Souls.

Or, if they recognized him, a ‘take my things and don’t kill me please’ type discussion. He opted to let them go without taking anything unless he had a particular grudge against them.

“After Luna eats the Fire that tried to eat her,” Luna finally answered, busying herself with scratching Kara’s ears.

Rainer raised an eyebrow. They had recently met up and discussed with the group about the black flame they met during a talk on the Forbidden Lands. That was when Art took the opportunity to talk about what he knew of Luna’s flame. Including that it likely could devour in turn.

Remembering the effect of Soul attacks on the thing, and his own continued improvement in that department, that sounded like the perfect thing to send Luna off on a Trial with. He switched focus to his second Avatar as they settled into a long flight. Not that he truly needed to ‘switch’ in almost all cases anymore.

Walking through the underground city of the plane he now knew as Hel’te, something he had to turn off his language skill to hear given that their city didn’t have a name and was simply referred to as ‘home’, Rainer wondered just when he’d finally get a decision from the higher-ups. What kind of home they were referring to was based on modifiers rather than the word itself. He guessed the strangeness of the language was why despite after a few hours of trying, his [Archon] bonus had yet to kick in and get him over that hurdle.

Given his recently acquired knowledge from the [Cosmic Map], he was more than ready to send an Avatar to the City of Wealth. Something made far easier too, when all of his Avatars could somewhat function independently. It was more akin to another brain, one that didn’t function quite as well as the original, but it still let him access more in terms of auto-piloting them than in the past. Not to mention they were more than ready to fight alongside one another when he needed it.

But his second Avatar had to stay with the Mana-Well. Not to mention it was currently pumping out enchanted items whenever Mana could be spared. Even with an object like the Mana-Well, part of his own Mana was still required in enchanting after all.

And his main body was taking advantage of the Dungeon. Given that he was also acting as a protector, that wasn’t a role he could drop easily.

“Did something go wrong?” Rainer asked his guide, or perhaps minder. It was another member of the [Nature’s Walkers].

“I don’t understand.”

“Why are they taking so long to decide?”

That seemed to only confuse the man more.

“They are deliberating with the knowledge you are likely from a race with less patience already.”

The man’s stony face nor his Mana pool offered any evidence of that being a lie.

“I see.”

Rainer did not see.

But he didn’t want to risk offending them by leaving early and ruining his chances for better magic. A few earlier questions had lead him to believe that these weren’t their best spells, even if they had offered many of and below the 6th tier. And he had a feeling his impatience would be seen poorly. Or that his ability to so casually cross worlds for when they made their decision would have him seen too well.

It was a few days later that Rainer managed to get his Soul to a point where a third Avatar could be made. And he knew just where he’d be sending it.

After a quick test in [Sleep Learning] that he could, in fact, make a third Avatar, and that his control didn’t suffer—especially when considering the improvement in control offered by using more than just [Flesh Manipulation]—he made his plans for next morning.

“Have you thought over what kind of Dragon you plan on using?” Kara asked, currently by his Avatar’s side in [Sleep Learning] as they waited for the next round of testing with Draconic resources. Art thought it would be useful for someone who, by definition of classes, was a pseudo-Monster to help with the experiments.

While not having as high a pain tolerance as him, Kara was still one of the few who truly dove into the full possibilities of training in [Sleep Learning]. And he had also done his best to explain what he saw with [Arcane Revelation] on Delilah, wondering if she might manage to enhance her Demon half by accident with enough tests. Or perhaps even her Wolfkin half if the Golden Aura was truly a part of her bloodline rather than a seperate more mystical form of inheriting.

“Huh. I haven’t,” Rainer said, now considering said possibilities. Given that a Dragon like Tiamat learned magic from her very bloodline… even one artificially created, it was easy to assume whatever type of Draconic Essence he used could lead to automatic Magic gains. Ones that were truly powerful.

He had all types of Draconic Essence to choose from, matching all his spellbooks with the exception of Space-Time and Arcane. Two of which he’d of course love the most. But even if such Dragons existed, he doubted he’d find rewards relating to them now, after having basically picked clean the Dungeon, and its parties, during the first time around.

He had even made it known amongst the high-level parties currently in the Dungeon that he would pay handsomely, in services or goods, for anything relating to those two types of Dragons. He didn’t even mind being fleeced for it. But he found it unlikely.

So he would have to pick a different element, and hope his natural Arcane-self would ‘corrupt’ it, just as it did with Aura.

“You have quite the strong one nearby,” Art chimed in, earning himself a glare from both of them.

“Even if I was willing to chance permanently harming Tiamat, it would be a waste,” Rainer answered calmly, knowing Art was just joking. Of course Rainer wasn’t above killing him if it later turned out that he wasn’t. But he didn’t have the same prejudice towards Art his grandfather had. For all he was, he seemed far more interested in having a good relationship with him rather than chancing it for a dubious gain.

“A waste?”

“Any abilities she learned from her natural ‘Dragonness’, I can learn too. It would be far more prudent to pick a different type of Dragon,” Rainer added.

“What about you,” Rainer asked to Kara.

She shrugged, knowing her role here. Any hope of affecting her bloodline, let alone gaining some kind of Draconic knowledge was next to none.

“I wouldn’t mind Wind,” she said. She had always enjoyed her speed. And flying without Rainer’s aid would be a welcome experience.

She readied herself as she saw Art come over with the next attempt at the retrovirus. It was always annoying that it made sense for Rainer to go first. His unruffled reaction tricked her every time into thinking it wouldn’t be that bad.

The only reason she was continuing at this point—Rainer had already studied the reaction on her enough times and she doubted she could stand to do it more for no benefit—was because it proved an incredibly effective way to train a few Aura skills. Her basic ones that hadn’t leveled in a considerable time. As it turned out resisting a poison-like substance, with an explosive addon, trying to destroy you from within was great training. She wasn’t sure how it was for others, but the sense of impending death never really lessened for her despite knowing she’d come out alive.

How could she who wants more power so dearly not wish to abuse such a thing?

The next morning, Rainer prepared to enter the City of Wealth. With an Avatar first, of course. His third Avatar fit for that perfectly, given his second was still busy elsewhere. Even with his Title he had no reason to chance an adverse reaction from technically being an illegal immigrant in a powerful God’s territory. He may be able to avoid their “Divine Sight”, whatever that was, but a Divine Avatar and their followers could clearly see him when in person.

The distance was far, a bit more than Fai’Etah’s plane, as expected, but it was well within his grasp, especially with a level 9 [Soul Presence]. Though he still had to be careful not to use up the Soul of his Avatar completely.

The expected Divine radiance searching through the Void was absent. Was the master of the City of Wealth incapable, or did he simply not care the means one took to visit his city?

Rainer appeared in a crowded town square moments later. His appearance surprised a close few but then went unregarded as the massive crowd continued on their way. Even before he became distinctly aware of a light Divine Presence that covered everything he could see, he stood in awe of the city.

Were there clouds, the buildings would have likely pierced them. They extended far beyond what their material would otherwise allow. The building styles varied, perhaps evidence of different cultures, but they still seemed to mesh well together. He half expected the city streets to be lined in gold, but the wide walkways, marred by stalls on their sides, were built of a stone with innate magic. Probably something more valuable than gold.

He walked off to the side, getting out of the path of foot traffic. He was a bit surprised at the lack of flight or enhanced movement, but guessed that was a law.

Before he had a chance to fully gain his bearings, or even inspect the light presence that covered likely the whole city, Rainer was interrupted by a robed figure appearing in front of him.

“Hello, Defier.”