The Arcane Emperor

Chapter 181: Of Gods and Empires

Rainer was working on enchanting Trial sets as usual. One of his Avatars was already heading to Alvra to pick up and negotiate with the Mages. Luna stood by his side poking him in the cheek and other places as she tried to distract him.

“Luna?” he finally said to the Fairy, most of him still focused on the gauntlet he was working on.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you train,” she answered with all seriousness.

“And how exactly are you doing that?”

“If Rainer can ignore even Luna, then his Enchanting will be far better.”

It was said with a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Maybe a vacation on Earth after the auction would be a good idea. He wanted to recruit from there in any case.

“You should talk to Kara’s father again,” Luna finally said after a while, shrinking down and ruffling through his hair like she was making a nest.

“Why?” He had talked to the man after they had parted ways from the Dungeon, and he even mentioned the two new 3rd Tiers from Zan with his Avatar on Alvra. But Ymir had no intention of leaving the Dragon Isles.

“Kara is upset he’s staying there.”

Rainer glanced at Luna. Kara didn’t seem that bothered, and even if he was her father she hadn’t spent that much time with him. Then again, Rainer hadn’t spent much if any time with his Aunt and he’d be pretty upset if she had done something similar.

“I’ll try,” Rainer eventually said. It wasn’t as if bothering the Wolf King again would be any trouble. But first, he needed to finish his business with the Mages.

On Alvra and directly controlling an Avatar, Rainer wasn’t sure of what to make of the gathered Magi. Especially when the moment he arrived he was already bombarded about the rudeness of his request and the cost being too high. Whatever fear and respect he had gained from his abilities within the Dungeon seemed to have been blunted by his request.

Not everyone thought so. Tian and the Farseers were already at a point of considering open exchange, and were happy to leave the world with the promise Rainer wouldn’t give up on it, and the Tideborne Guildmaster had better sense than most. Especially when the half-transformed Water Mage heard of the Order of the Elements. He, to the determinant of a few of the older members of his Guild, immediately agreed.

He had gone a unique route and if there wasn’t an audience Rainer would have accepted that knowledge alone in a trade. Unlike every known predecessor of the transformation, Maverick had changed his body with his element without touching his Soul at all. Despite having the powerful ability to transform in pure Elemental water, he was still ‘Human’.

The problem was that he was now stuck at this stage with no obvious way to change the Soul, but it also likely meant he would have no issues in the 3rd Tier Trial. At least related to Difficulty increased by Soul strength or mutation. The Order of Elements would be interested in someone like him indeed. Though whether that interest was benign was another question. He should recommend that the Tideborne Guildmaster remain in the City of Wealth for quite a while.

“I’m afraid this isn’t a negotiation,” Rainer’s voice cut through the discussion as he very clearly toned his voice into a faux pity, “Your lives are irrelevant to me. Unless you pay the set price. Then I’m your best friend.”

It didn’t hurt to play into the mercenary persona he had unintentionally cultivated. Having Elelaria in easy reach of another Avatar for advice was always a plus. She had recommended he play up his greed.

Rainer and the Tideborne Guildmaster, Maverick, chatted on the subject of his altered body as others discussed amongst themselves after his declaration.

One by one, every Guild agreed to the terms. Given that they already had the trade prepared, it wasn’t hard to gather that they were only negotiating him down rather than actually reluctant to make the trade. And once they saw he wasn’t going to be moved, they gave up. Having the Farseers vouch for his integrity didn’t hurt either.

It wasn’t long before a new group of Mages made their way to the City of Wealth. With one man several powerful spells heavier. It would be a fun night in [Sleep Learning] seeing if Avatars could cast a Group Spell. Rainer returned the Avatar to Alvra. He needed to have a talk with Kara’s father.

Rainer wasn’t surprised as he looked at the man even more merged with Golden Aura. [Arcane Revelation] showed him to be stronger than ever. He had after all reached the 3rd Stage of the Dungeon. Even without the bonuses Rainer got, the rewards from the first two stages should be nothing to scoff at.

“Here to convince me to leave this planet again?”

“No,” Rainer said, “though that was more at the request of your daughter. You are free to stay and die here,” he said, a bit annoyed even if he respected the man staying here for his country. But anything that made Kara unhappy made him unhappy.

The Wolf King, Ymir, just laughed at the rebuke.

“A few Dragon Isle Kings are preparing for the 3rd Tier Trial. We already agreed on alliance against outside forces as we always had.”

“But not you?” Rainer said, inwardly keeping his theory that none of the Dragon Isle Kings would likely pass it to himself. He doubted he’d be believed and it would do nothing of use.

“I’m still quite young you know.”

“At least accept a [Soul Mark] from me.” He had gotten here through [Void-Traveling] to the palace and then using [Arcane Revelation] to find the man’s unique presence.

“I could always take you by force,” Rainer added.

Ymir scoffed, “Do you really believe so?”

“No, but I was hoping you believed enough for me.” Rainer didn’t think he could capture the man without killing him in any case, nor would he really be willing to.

“You can mark one of my aides, but I will not be marked.”

Rainer frowned but suddenly had a good idea, “While I have you, how much can you reveal about your Golden Aura?”

“I can’t-”

“I know you can’t say anything directly. But if I told you the method, would you be able to confirm it?”

Ymir sat there for a while.

“Possibly,” he said, and then Rainer went into the explanation. The Wolf King’s face changed from thoughtful to confused and then enlightened. It seemed Rainer had gotten a far more complete and advanced version than him.

“Your version is better…” the Wolf King eventually said, slightly depressed. This was his valued heritage after all. But that depression was quickly overwritten at the thought that he might be able to make improvement to his Aura.

Rainer suddenly had a good idea.

“I could take you to the plane where that idea comes from, you know? They are quite open in sharing it and consider anyone capable of it to have the right to practice it.”

He could see that Ymir instantly desired it, but then the man paused.

“And what’s the price?” Ymir asked, sighing deeply at the huge grin on Rainer’s face.

“You know what the price is.”

“It seems my daughter will be happier then. Mark my Soul.”

“I’ll be back in a week or so. I planned a visit there myself.”

Rainer’s Avatar left and returned to the City of Wealth shortly after.

With two of his Avatars now in the City of Wealth, Rainer left one as usual to watch over the small stall with the [Soul Dragon] resource. The other took time to see just how much progress Elelaria had made.

The Guild building was filled with people running back and forth. Most of whom he did not recognize. A single Trial Set was displayed triumphantly on what would likely be the auctioning platform in the center of the first floor. Several people were inspecting it, though there was a clear no touching rule. Only in a place like the City of Wealth could something like this be displayed so openly.

“Truly impressive isn’t it.”

Rainer heard a woman say from beside him. He didn’t recognize her, but she was one of many staring at the item in question. There was definitely a magic around her eyes while doing so, leading Rainer to believe she was an enchanter. Though he highly doubted she saw anything close to what he did. But if she did...

“It is,” Rainer agreed, holding back a laugh. It wasn’t that different from the set he made for Kara and her Trial. Elelaria had convinced them to lessen the strength of their sets from their current standard. Rainer had to agree. It did them no benefit to outdo themselves when this type of enchanting had no real competition. According to the Moon Elf, Mana Crystals were rare enough that any enchanting was on a made-to-order basis. Meaning the Enchanters themselves were far less skilled and far less common.

“I only came here to extort the owners. It is pretty easy for me to tell whether an item is System made or not even from sight. Who would have thought it was truly enchanter made? What shall I do now?” she said with a long and fake sounding sigh.

Rainer took a longer look at her. Tor could also tell whether an item was system made or not. Then again he was a self-proclaimed God. Rainer’s eyes narrowed.

As was she.

He hadn’t noticed it at first. It was subtle. But this was undoubtedly a follower of Divinity, and the person currently in control of her body was a Divinity itself. She, going by her body, seemed to borrow Tor’s good sense in very partially possessing her follower. It was likely cheaper and far less taxing on the body of the possessed. He didn’t think it was a common skill though. Everything he knew of Divinities suggested that trips to this material world were almost always taxing and to be used in emergencies.

Was she hiding from Tor? Or did he know this other Divinity was in his city?

“So, Defier. Are you the creator of it, or is it a force behind you?”

Rainer wasn’t surprised and only wondered what took her so long to mention his title. It also answered the question of if she was here in the City with Tor’s permission or not. To know that he the Defier owned this place would be knowledge only he or his followers had easy access to.

“For this particular set, I’m not actually sure who made it. But I could easily create something like it.”

“A man of many talents. Given the rush to auction, and your second body’s long-distance perch over a stall, I imagine you are in need of money. Perhaps you’d be interested in a trade?”

That wasn’t technically his ‘second body’, but it did give Rainer a bit of relief that they thought he only had a single Avatar.

“A trade of what?” Rainer asked.

“My followers are stranded in a plane outside of Tor’s reach. I simply need you to bring them back for me.”

That Tor had a ‘reach’ was interesting. He didn’t think there was really any limit given that he didn’t exactly exist in this material world in the first place.

“Any of the 3rd Tier?” If he needed to use his main body for this, it was an instant no. It wouldn’t be long until he had his own money, and he’d replace the [Soul Dragon] essence with another Dragon if it came down to it. He doubted the stall owner or anyone else would notice it.

“I would not be asking you if there wasn’t.”

“Then it’s a no.”

She seemed surprised by his answer. And while her face showed no signs of it whatsoever, he could practically feel a literal rage with [Divine Detection]. He imagined a ‘mortal’ rejecting her so plainly was a new experience.

“You should rethink your actions. If-”

“It is you who should rethink your actions,” Rainer responded, pushing down with the Void as he descended it around them. Tor’s Divine presence quickly vanished, and Rainer detected the slightest bit of fear from her. All around him the crowd seemed to freeze. The once comforting safety of Tor’s Divine Presence was nowhere to be found.

It was only a few more seconds later that a joint sigh of relief seemed to come from the crowd.

The Divinity bristled once more in anger, perhaps at her own reaction this time, but quickly left the building afterwards.

Rainer only spared her a glance before looking away, wondering if there would ever be a time where he could just learn Magic and not be bothered by Gods and Empires. This also meant he likely had to acquire the [Soul Dragon] essence through more clandestine means lest she purchase it to blackmail him. A swap while covered in [Void Suppression] it was. He’d buy the swapped essence from the owner later. Hopefully Draconic Essence wasn’t ‘magically loud’ enough to effect [Void Suppression]. Enchanted items seemed to be the only thing that did.

And he’d get Elelaria to find out just who the new Divinity he pissed off was. A list that seemed to grow and grow with time.

Rainer had to admit a great deal of excitement as he recreated all the received scrolls in [Sleep Learning]. It was only now that he realized he’d been tricked. Being so happy to receive the Group Spells, he had forgotten his request was all their spells. He’d be more careful dealing with them in the future, but he wouldn’t go find revenge. He frankly didn’t care enough about them to do something like revenge.

“Where’s the rest,” Art asked curiously.

“This is it,” Rainer responded with gritted teeth. Both his Grandfathers, Locklar, Amer and his Avatar, his mother and aunt, and Furtak—the Flame-Touched Goblin—were all present. Along with three of Rainer’s own Avatars. They recruited two Humans belonging to Locklar’s faction who had skill in fire as well.

They would be starting with the Fire Group Spell, given that it was the most common talent among the group here. Even Locklar, a mage specialized in Soul and Space magic, had a [Low Fire Affinity] he rarely used for anything other than lighting a pipe.

“You didn’t push for more after getting the Group Spells. A good decision. These are worth more than anything else they have,” Locklar said, looking over one of the scrolls. He had created enough copies of the Fire Group Spell for everyone here to read.

The praise rang hollow to Rainer’s ears and he just decided to focus on the spell. [Devour All Life] was not a name he expected for a fire spell. But the short description that was written with the Runes, something he did at least have the good sense to double check for issues, explained it clearly. It was a powerful flame that targeted and burnt through the Life of everyone in its area. The burnt Life energy would count as a sacrifice and fuel the spell even further.

It was a nasty thing. Though Rainer had some confidence defending against it with Arcane-Fire or the strength of his Soul, it was only some. He had no idea what such a spell would look like or function. Perhaps it was difficult to sense and defend against in that manner. That it might originate from the Zan gave Rainer a new respect for the invading High Elves.

But, like everyone else now parasing over the spell, his focus was enraptured on learning it.