The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 170: A Badge and a Coin

Rainer froze as he stared at the man in front of him. He relaxed minutely when he realized a Divinity hadn’t descended, but didn’t let down his guard that any further conversation might simply be delaying time.

“What can I do for you?” Rainer asked, going through his mind what could go wrong. And how he was found in the first place. If the Divinity’s followers were using this light presence covering the city to watch over its inhabitants....

Then being able to see him in person but not feel him with the presence was proof enough of his identity. And given the number of people in the city, they had to be waiting for someone like him, perhaps exactly him. Unless an ‘illegal’ visitor with a Defier title popping in was a usual occurrence.

The man shrugged, “To the point then. My Master wishes to speak with you.

“If you would follow me,” he said before starting to walk elsewhere.

Rainer got the distinct feeling that the question came with an ‘if you wish’. Given his current form as an Avatar along with a desire for the things and information, magical that is, that the City of Wealth would undoubtedly have, he followed along.

“Might I ask how you got here without using a portal?”

“You might.”

The man coughed awkwardly at the childish comment.

“How did you get here without using a portal?”

“I’m afraid that’s private.”

“I don’t think your title covers such means of defiance,” the man’s voice suddenly shifted and Rainer felt a tiny influx of Divine Power. Not enough to truly say a Divinity borrowed this man’s body, but enough to know his mind was no longer his own.

“What happened to following him to you?” Rainer joked, though inwardly he was prepared for both fight and flight.

“Pardon?” and as quickly as it came, the Divine Presence was gone. On the brightside, it meant this Divinity actually cared about the health of his followers. He knew descending wasn’t something untaxing on the body. After all, his own fight in such a circumstance ended mostly because of the body failing.

“Let’s hurry it up.”

The [Priest] nodded before cautiously wrapping them both in a spell of flight and bringing them onwards.

Rainer wasn’t surprised when they were brought to the likely tallest tower within this city. Nor that it was partially and garishly lined in what had to be a magical gold.

What did surprise him was the number of people inside and what the most ardent followers of this Divinity, Arthemtor, were doing.

A church of... bankers. He hadn’t been prepared to see an existence with a more frightening appearance than Fai’Etah and her race for quite some time. His guide seemed to have taken his surprised look as one of reverence.

He followed along, noting the main coins they were trading with all had the absolutely slightest touch of Divinity. It wasn’t that they contained Divine Power. It was more as if the metal was Divine in nature, akin to when metal was magical. It was a part of the very material rather than stored within. An interesting concept that was likely more than needed to keep an economy going that reached such a massive amount of different cultures, races, and places.

A singular currency likely gave him a measure of economic control over the city and all the places this Divinity’s currency ended up at. In a way, he had far more power than what any amount of faith could grant.

When he stepped into an elevator-like room, he was surprised instead of a moving box to have a portal of Divine Nature suddenly appear in front of him.

“You don’t seriously expect me to step through that, do you?”

The [Priest] looked at him for a few moments before sighing. With seemingly no actions taken, the portal disappeared and the room did in fact act as an elevator as it moved upwards.

“To think my Master’s gesture of goodwill would be so rejected.”

“Was it a gesture of goodwill or a test of how stupid I am?”

That seemed to take the [Priest] aback. Rainer wondered if this man’s God actually did such things given the reaction he just elicited. He also questioned if this [Priest]s less than fervent attitude about what could constitute an insult to his God was related to the type of worship going on. Merchants weren’t exactly known for being pious.

It wasn’t long they entered a vast room with quite the view through the windows not visible on the outside. The decoration was decidedly boorish, looking more like it was trying to show off wealth more than anything else. But the set-up had Rainer feeling like he was meeting with a company’s boss rather than a Divinity.

Perhaps he should have expected it given the earlier encounter, but the [Priest] went over to the chair and sat down. His demeanor changed as a Divine Power entered his being. Rainer could tell it was just at the level to not cause any harm. The [Priest] himself was quite strong in any case.

His face appeared more amused and his posture more relaxed. And a quick operation of the Divine presence that covered the whole city had brought a glass of clear liquid in front of the now Divinity-possessed man.

“It’s not often I get to witness a Defier in the flesh. I can’t even recall the years it’s been since I’ve last heard of one, let alone seen one,” he spoke, recalling that even on a cosmic level, the odds of hearing of—let alone seeing—a Defier were next to none.

“That’s quite the claim given you had your followers looking for someone like me,” Rainer guessed.

“When the eyes can see yet the mind cannot, it is not hard to find someone like you in my city. But you are correct, they were on the lookout.

“Besides, are you so naive to think that your actions have gone unnoticed? That your identity as the [Archon] of Alvra, the Void-traveling Mage of Augost’s domain, and the questor of Nalmar go unconnected?”

“I-” Rainer suddenly grew nervous, thinking of an exit plan.

“And did you think,” the Divinity started, as he suddenly swelled in power, filling the room with the full might of a Divinity descended, “that being a ‘mere’ Avatar would truly protect you? You treat your Soul with far too much carelessness.”

Rainer’s eyes widened as he entered [Arcane Awakening], getting the sudden idea to burn his Soul completely with a Final Arcanum and [Soul Presence] combined. Doing damage in the process of removing his Soul from here sounded perfect.

But just as he prepared to make the move, the suffocating power of a Divinity vanished, leaving only a subdued presence still residing in the [Priest]’s body.

“But alas, you are fortunate. I have no benefit in being your foe. I’d far rather work together with such a capable world traveler.”

Rainer calmed slightly, but left [Arcane Awakening] on. He wouldn’t take such a thing lightly. The presence in the room was brushed away as the Void descended.

“I have to wonder who's a worse ‘foe’ to have. You, or someone like me who can act freely on every single planet or plane within your reach. How long would your city last with someone like me, with no care for the survival of his body coming after it?”

The Divinity smiled, raising his arms in a faux surrender.

“If you would be so kind as to remove this irritating air?”

A light Divine presence flooded the room again as Rainer relented. He wasn’t actually looking to become this person’s enemy after all. Even if most of the people he cared for were currently safe from Divine interference of any sort within a Dungeon. Having to permanently keep up an [Arcane Presence] over anything he wanted hidden from this knowledge Divinity would be an irritating affair.

“Having you die an early death would be unfortunate. I was merely sending you a warning to not be overconfident. Besides, I wouldn’t say such knowledge is common,” Arthemtor, inwardly noting that likely no one other than him connected such things. Divinities weren’t the type to make nice with one another except in rare and often temporary circumstances. He was an exception given his way of gathering Divine Power and his unique skill of making semi-persistent portals. Trading support in exchange for use of his currency was a common means of his, Divine Empires included.

“Well, are you interested in hearing my offer?” the Divinity added, waving his hand as he made a seat opposite him appear from thin air.

After checking it over for traps, Rainer sat down, noting that he didn’t even register the glass appearing in his own hand, matching the Divinity’s. He was most certainly not drinking it no matter how curious he was. The presence that covered this city was truly an impressive thing. Rainer made a note to study it deeply when given the chance. Though he supposed his continued and future stay in this place depended on where this conversation went.

He wasn’t so trusting and wondered if the Divinity not going on the offensive was perhaps exactly because he knew Rainer had a countermeasure to remove his wayward Soul. That ignored of course that he only just now came up with the countermeasure in the event someone tried to capture his Avatar’s piece of Soul to somehow use against his main body. He supposed he had to thank the Divinity for pushing him to do at least that.

“Do you know the difference between a Divinity and an Ancient Aspect?” the man started, off topic.

Rainer shook his head, mostly to get a different perspective. The Divinity gave him a speculative glance, perhaps noting the lie, before explaining the two. The words didn’t stray far from Talvara’s, though Arthemtor carried a clear disdain for Ancient Aspects and Divinities alike.

“I wanted to take an unconventional path of advancement. To me, the idea of tying such great amounts of power to the belief of mortals, or to my understanding of the world… both displeased me.”

Rainer grew confused, then what was the point of his many followers here?

“So I thought, why did it have to be faith in me. Why couldn’t it be faith in an extension of me?”

“The currency of this city,” Rainer suddenly realized.

“To call it only the currency of this city, would be an underestimation, but yes. I changed my ability from gaining strength from belief in me, to gaining strength from belief and trust in my currency. Every trade that is done with only my money on the receiving side is the same as putting faith and trust in me. I won’t go into details at how I changed myself, but I have. I have taken a path of advancement far different than most of my fellows.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“How else to convince that there is no negative to our cooperation?”

Rainer wasn’t so obtuse to not catch his meaning.

“So you want me and mine to spread your currency, and use it amongst us and any we affect?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t even be difficult and having a steady currency for which to use at your auctions, one that can be given out in exchange for the gold or items of a world and traded back to you through what you sell, eventually gaining in value… you could even make a profit in terms of my currency with the right maneuvering. Especially given your abilities of teleportation that seem to defy reason. Should you wish to spread it elsewhere, I’d be more than happy to reward you for it.

“Oh, pardon, I meant magical [Void-traveling], not teleportation. Silly me.”

Rainer pursed his lips in thought, but before he could say a word otherwise he found both a badge and a coin thrown at him.

“It wouldn’t even be hard for you to gather large amounts of it through the sale of enchanted items in this city. To carry such things on a fake body, i’m quite impressed.”

“System-given items aren’t exactly common,” Rainer said feeling the cold badge in his hand.

That drew a laugh out of the Divinity, clearly catching his lie.

“No matter how talented an enchanter, even with the worst items of the System there is a perfection to them those skilled enough can see. You undoubtedly wear an item made by mortals, no matter how impressive said mortals are.

“Inspect the currency all you wish. It has no connection to me besides that of faith. I cannot track through any better than I could with ordinary Divine Sight. Though I’m sure you have no interest in taking my word for it.”

“And the badge,” Rainer asked, looking at the strange thing. It was outlined in velvet and was made of a strange metal. It had the image of a man with a bag of coins, holding a dagger behind his back.

“It is given out to dignitaries of large enough empires, [Priest]s of others holding a certain rank, and merchants of a certain wealth. Free accomodation along with a few other perks are given within the city. There are of course better ones, should our cooperation prove fruitful. I’m sure you would enjoy their benefits. This particular one allows for flight, so long as you do not bother others.

“Any one of my [Priest]s can be reached should you have come to a decision.

“Off you go.”

Rainer suddenly found himself outside of the tower, sitting mid-air. The mid-air defiance of gravity quickly turned to regular sitting as he found himself nearly hitting the ground before using his high attributes to avoid falling. Still a bit shaken and now a bit annoyed, Rainer decided to distract himself with whatever this city had to offer as he shared what he learned with those close to him.