Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

I stuck close to Sorwen as we headed into the city. I didn't know her, but I knew everyone else even LESS. Of the few dozen people I could see, only she was a member of the forces I'd already observed up to this point. The others were most likely selected from among the nine thousand plus applicants who had been frozen in the rooms of the tower we'd observed from outside, though I admit none of them looked especially strange or alien to me.

"So, what was your trick?" I asked her as we walked. "Or what is your ability? Whatever gave you the opportunity to enter this major?"

Based on my experience, I assumed you needed some kind of time related power. It was strange, because I had created mine easily enough, so it was curious more people didn't do the same. Then again, techniques had always come easy to me, so maybe time powers were too difficult for most people. My ability to create the Great Book Heavenly Library alone outstripped the technique abilities shown by most people I'd met.

She raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously, but eventually shrugged. "I have kind of a precognition power. I can predict attacks before they happen. Plus I got to intermediate. That was a pain."

"Me too," I said with a chuckle. "It's possible that having a time related ability might not be enough. Maybe you have to reach at least intermediate to qualify. Still, it doesn't seem like many people made the cut. There were, based on the windows outside, nearly ten thousand applicants, and I only see maybe thirty people nearby."

She nodded. "Yeah, seems slim. A third of a percent isn't much. Although clearly we're not the only group. These are all B-rankers."

"Yeah, the majors are subdivided," I confirmed. "At least as far as I saw. But I'm not sure there'll be as many C-rankers if you need to hit intermediate to qualify. I can't imagine many people that rank being able to take on ten thousand robots."

Even if the robots themselves were C-rank, it was unlikely. Most C-rankers didn't have a Domain like I did. Without Gehenna's particular brand of bullshit, I was doubting I would be capable of taking on an army that size. Then again, that was the combat assessment. Who knew what the support assessment would be like. Not to mention I had no idea if the supporters even had the same majors as us. Were there twelve others? Were six of the twelve support? Three? Honestly I was blown away by the scale of this whole place.

Which wasn't helped by arriving at a massive amphitheater that everyone seemed to be guided towards. The lighted cobblestones led us right to the door, and a quick glance at Sorwen to confirm saw us entering cautiously, ready for some kind of trap.

Of course, there was no trap. They didn't need to trap us if they wanted us dead. We were entirely at the mercy of the faculty of this place, assuming what the voice had said was true. Outside the chasm, without the suppression of the vortex, I doubted anyone here could stand up to even a fragment of a god.

When we entered the amphitheater, I was surprised to find that the intimidating show of force I had expected was nowhere to be seen. Based on the city outside and the fancy stone path, I had expected some grand opera hall or something where someone would lord their power over us. To my surprise, the inside of the theater was almost cozy. Plush red carpet, comfortable built in seating, and a relatively short stage with thick curtains around it that made it feel more confined, but in a comfortable, homey way.

Sorwen and I headed down the gently sloping aisle to grab seats near the stage and sat down to wait as everyone else filed in and found chairs. Eventually, when all the movement had stopped, the dark stage lit up. A single beam of brilliant light illuminated the form of a calm, reassuring man with salt and pepper hair sitting on a tall stool.

He smiled blandly at us. "Welcome, children of time," he boomed. His voice was deep and resonant, but also cold. That declaration should have sounded cocky or condescending, but he mostly just came off like an executioner reading off our death order. "My name is Samuel P. Gibbons. My official title outside these walls is "The Hourglass Bodach", but in Frozen Moment, we don't much hold with fancy designations. We prefer to base our internal reputations on skill and intellect. You may simply call me Dean Gibbons."

His eyes were an intense swirling silver, shot with flecks of obsidian that danced around his pupils like leaves in a storm. They scanned the amphitheater slowly as he spoke, taking in every detail of his audience. "You have all been invited to attend classes under my department, and while that is an honor, it is also a privilege. The department of temporal studies is the most select and exclusive major at Frozen Moment Academy. You can learn things studying here that you can't learn anywhere else. Each of you are elites among this group of applicants, and you have earned a place here through luck and skill…but that place is not a right.

"You can and will lose your access to this major should I believe you are not worthy of my consideration. Do not allow yourselves to fall behind, or you will be ejected from this major." His eyes narrowed coldly, the approachable demeanor being shrugged off like a cloak, showing just a flash of something darker beneath, like the shadow of a monster swimming beneath a ship on calm waters. "Should that happen, you may be allowed to select a new course of study, or you may be expelled. Circumstances will dictate. Now. I will be accepting three questions."

One of the seated students raised a hand, Dean Gibbons gestured to him calmly. "Yes, hello, Dellos Veck, I was wondering if you'll be teaching any of the classes personally? I heard there were instructors that did most of the hands on stuff."

"A good question," the Dean nodded. "No, I will not be personally instructing you for the majority of your courses. There are some advanced classes and lectures I conduct myself, but those cost credit points rather than awarding them. Similarly, you can spend credit points directly to arrange a sit down meeting with me. This is a one time opportunity granted to new arrivals, and will only be available for the first month. It will cost one hundred credit points, and will last one hour. I make no promises about the effectiveness or contents of these meetings, I only offer them as they are. Whether to avail yourself of this service is your own decision."

Another hand went up and he gestured to a smaller girl with hair that looked like actual seaweed. "Alverra Delnock," she said, announcing her name like the last one had. "Can credit points be traded directly between students? Is there some kind of marketplace where we can sell things for credits? Can students post missions like the ones mentioned in the assessment, or is it only teachers who have that ability?"

Dean Gibbons narrowed his eyes and her mouth snapped shut instantly. Sighing, he leaned back. "That was more than one question, but they were thematically similar, so I shall allow it just this once. Don't do it again. Credit points are awarded for completing courses, winning competitions, attending lectures, or accomplishing tasks set by the faculty. Tasks CAN be set by students, but credit points will be required to post them, and task payments must be covered by the poster in addition to payment for the service.

"Credit points can be SPENT on advanced courses and lectures, material goods, special events and competitions, and the entry to special environments and beneficial locations that can aid in comprehension and advancement." his expression softened back to the approachable mentor. "So no, I'm afraid there's no direct trading of credits, though you CAN use the task postings as a point of sale if you can get enough credits in exchange for whatever you're selling to offset the service fee. One more question, and then we move on. You." He pointed at Sorwen, who had raised her hand without me noticing.

"Sorwen Ard," she said cheerfully. "Will our residences cost credit points?"

He grinned at her. "There was an implied secondary question in there, but since you didn't technically break my rule I'll answer both. No, they will not. You will be given residences as befits your status as intermediate students. There are three residence halls. Once for B-rankers, one for C-rankers, and one for A-rankers. Due to the academy's focus on mythcrafting, those who have completed their Chronicle and reached S-rank need not apply."

I frowned at that term, wanting to raise my hand to ask what mythcrafting was. It clearly had something to do with authoring pages, but it wasn't a term I'd heard before from any of my family. The idea that I might be learning something GODS didn't know was somewhat intoxicating, so I could only wait for someone to explain it to me.

"Now, with that out of the way, we can move onto the information you'll need to make best use of your time here," he gestured out the door. "This is Moment City. It is the residence hall allocated to B-rankers of this major. Moment City is NOT unoccupied, and should you anger the residents, we will not be responsible for what happens to you. Learn more about this place on your own time.

"Should you wish to associated with other majors, you can purchase transportation to Common City, a shared space accessible to all majors." his voice was casual as he filled us in. "As intermediate students, you are only eligible for two days of common time per week, regardless of credit points. Beginner students have one day. Outer students and below measure their common time in HOURS."

He looked around the room. "At any time, any student may apply for the advancement trial to advanced student. Should you succeed, you will be granted an audience with me directly, free of charge. The one hour limitation will still apply.

"That should be almost everything you need. Your identification numbers can be used to look up your residence in the city in the book behind me on the stage." he gestured behind him into the dark. "There will be an introductory course offered as a one time benefit for newcomers later tonight in this amphitheater. It rewards no credits. I highly suggest you attend. Welcome to the department of temporal studies. Good luck." The light went out, thensmaller lamps illuminated the whole theater, revealing Dean Gibbons was gone.

"Well, that was dramatic," Sorwen said brightly. "I have to admit, this place isn't what I thought it would be. I was expecting challenges and death battles, not classes and worksheets."

I snorted. "This is an ascendant academy. There will be challenges and death battles. I'm more interested in what he said about mythcrafting. I've never heard that term before. Do you know what it is? I take it that's something to do with authoring a chronicle."

Sorwen raised an eyebrow at me. "I knew your plane was underdeveloped in some respects, but that's just absurd. Yes. Mythcrafting has to do with-" she stopped, looking around warily. "Look, let's go find out where our residences are and we can talk while we walk. Maybe they'll be close together, and if not we can find a park or something, this won't be a quick conversation."

She stood and headed up to the stage and I followed after her. I didn't mind her taking the lead, she clearly knew more about what was going on than me. Still, I reached out through the bond to check on Callie as I walked, happy to receive a warm pulse of reassurance from my wife. Knowing she was ok and presumably hadn't seen any evidence of the others having trouble, I sped up my walk towards the book. I had a feeling this conversation would be an important one.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Sorwen and I were not staying close together, so we decided to stop at a local park to have our conversation after getting our room assignments. I was almost vibrating with the need to ask question, but I knew that seeming too eager was likely to backfire. Sorwen didn't know me, and if she thought she had leverage she could decide to use it. So I just forced myself to look relaxed as we walked together.

Finally, we arrived at the park and I sat down on the edge of a fountain, glancing at the higher dimensional woman without saying anything until she took a seat herself and shot me an amused smile. "So, you have questions."

Apparently my attempts to play it cool weren't going to work, but I decided it didn't matter at this point. I got straight to the heart of the matter. "Mythcrafting," I said simply. "Dean Gibbons said the school is based on it. I've never heard the term before. Is it something we don't have access to here?"

She shook her head. "No, you have it. You have to. It's an integral part of the Ascension process. It's just hard to…how to explain this? It's like someone asking you what air is. You can TELL them it's an invisible substance that sustains the body, but without knowing how it works they won't really understand. Mythcrafting is something everyone learns, though how much you understand varies. I suppose it's easier to start at the beginning. Or maybe the end. Do you know what Worldforce is?"

"I do," I nodded. "It's the substance gods use to fill their realms. It can be infused into divine artifacts and gives them their power."

"That's…technically accurate," she allowed. "But it's not really relevant to the question. I asked if you know what it IS, not what it does. Based on your response, I suspect you do not. But it is important in this case. You know what Mythology is, of course."

"Obviously," I nodded. "It's the force that composes stats. The finer and more detailed power that makes up everything about an Ascendant."

She beamed. "Much more accurate, yes. This is important because the path of Worldforce begins with Mythology. Or rather with stats. As you know, from the very beginning of an Ascendant's journey, they need to learn to use stats. That's what skills are. You can combine them and reshape them but you need the stats to make them work. At higher levels you learn to more delicately craft skills, rearranging stats to form complex mechanisms."

I nodded, because that was all obvious, and she continued. "But you probably noticed that the higher you climb, the less useful skills actually are. Techniques become the bread and butter of higher level Ascendants, and the mechanism for utilizing those is very different."

"It's more intuitive," I acknowledged. "Emotions and imagery are important to techniques, as opposed to delicate structural engineering."

"That is incorrect," she denied. "It is more accurate to say that you aren't CAPABLE of delicate structural engineering. The creation of techniques is the manipulation of Mythology in its purest form. Or, in the common parlance of the higher planes: Mythcrafting."

I frowned at that. "That's…wait, that doesn't make sense. I do that already, and I do it all the time. I mean, sure it's useful, but my ancestor based his whole empire on a skill, so it's not like mythology is just qualitatively better. Learning to make better techniques would be great, but I don't see how it's like…linear. They're just different approaches."

"They aren't," she assured me. "And I can tell you that for sure. Do you remember where I started this explanation?"

"Worldforce," I said immediately. "How are they related?"

She grinned at me. "Qualitatively. See, the process of Ascension isn't just random and pointless. It's delicate and complicated, but at the end of the day, it's an evolution. It's a growth mechanism. Start with an ability to get you used to stats, introduce skills that let you alter said ability, learn to condense and refine those skills moving into Paths, and then step from those Paths into techniques.

"Stats are the largest and most cumbersome delineation of force for an Ascendant," she lectured. "Mythology makes up those stats, so learning to manipulate stats is learning to manipulate mythology. Eventually, the training wheels come off, and you learn to make techniques using mythology in a more basic form, and THAT transitions into authoring pages in a Chronicle, which teaches you how to more delicately craft with Mythology by letting you rewrite pieces of your own legend. Something you can FEEL on a visceral level."

That made sense. It was a lot more cohesive than it had felt when I was DOING it, but I hadn't exactly taken the traditional road to get here. "And Worldforce?"

"Worldforce is the next step," she clarified. "Mythology is created by the thoughts and opinions of others. You can weave it together however you like, but techniques are still heavily informed by recursion. Contrary to the way it sounds, Worldforce isn't spatial. Not inherently. Worldforce is a unique force that you create from different mythologies. A special crafted energy that belongs only to you. Mythology is the legend of a person. Worldforce is the legend of a WORLD."

I frowned at that. "Wait…so it's just like…a technique but stronger?"

"Worldforce is…you could consider it a template," she clarified. "Once you form your Worldforce, which can be done at Demigod, recursion ceases to be an issue. All the renown that pours into you homogenizes with your Worldforce and becomes a part of the story YOU want to tell. It seeps into your realm, watering it and helping it grow. In order to MAKE Worldforce, however, Mythcrafting is essential."

"So all the gods have to be doing it?" I asked angrily. "And they just never mentioned it?"

She shrugged. "They're probably doing it the same way you are. Instinctively. You'll notice that there are far FEWER gods than there used to be in this plane? Less than a dozen over the span of millennia is a vanishingly small amount. That's easily explained if there's just a much higher talent requirement to get there."

But that didn't explain how Atlas hadn't mentioned it. I was sure he had to know, being from a time when there were so many gods. Why hadn't he…and then it hit me. Because he thought we already KNEW. These gods and overgods were talking about Mythcrafting like it was some basic knowledge everyone had. Atlas had seen me use complicated forms and techniques. He probably just assumed I knew what I was doing. It was like Sorwen's oxygen metaphor earlier. There was no reason to just start telling someone how to breathe when you could see them inhaling right in front of you.

"Alright," I said slowly, wrapping my head around all this. "So…Mythcrafting is about techniques." That meant my talent was Mythcrafting. Had always been Mythcrafting. It was kind of frustrating to think about, but at least I had some idea what I'd been doing now. Hell, knowing THIS might be enough of a leg up for the WCP from the whole damned legacy. Not to mention learning how to do it. "How does this work then? Because techniques are like…easy? Anyone can do a technique for anything, right?"

She snorted. "Spoken like a natural. No. Techniques can't just "do anything". Mythcrafting works on Mythology. Mythology has certain attributes. I'm sure you've noticed that all your techniques have some kind of BASIS. You make them from skills, abilities, things you can observe. In order to create a technique, you need a combination of attributes that fit the effect.

"Of course, not all types of mythology work well together," she clarified. "That depends on the myths that make it up. Certain stories are more deeply entrenched in certain cultures, and the mythology of those attributes takes to certain forms more smoothly. Fire is often associated with rebirth across multiple planes, and that makes things like phoenixes a good element to tie together flame and healing attributes. You can fudge it a little by creating your own story, of course, the more detailed it is the more compelling to the attributes involved, but ultimately, some combinations are just more effective. That's what Mythcrafting is all about."

I blinked at that. "That's why we got the invite to this major," I said with dawning realization. "People need certain kinds of Mythology to Mythcraft certain things. We have time attributes in our skills, which means we have access to time related techniques and, eventually, time related Worldforce."

"That's overstating it a bit," she warned. "We have the POTENTIAL for time related Worldforce. But it's a rare attribute, yes. Time related skills are uncommon. Collecting attributes is hard to steer or control. They're based on your Mythology, which tends to take on a mind of its own, so unless you're born with a time related ability, getting the attribute introduced into your stats is exceptionally difficult. Speaking of, where did yours come from, if you don't mind me asking. Your ability is complicated, but I don't think it has an inherent time attribute to it."

I didn't have any idea, not at first, but then I realized what it had been with a start and I couldn't help but start laughing. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Diviner," I chuckled. "I have a skill that lets me access powers from a videogame I grew up playing. My class was Fatewalker. It's a hybrid of Monk, Rogue, and Diviner. One of the first Diviner abilities I got was an attack prediction overlay."

It had been the earliest subskill DS Mastery had granted me, and one of my most useful in the early levels, but it had sort of fallen by the wayside. I'd gotten others, of course, and much more powerful ones, but something about knowing that my overlay had brought me here, had unlocked this path for me…it made me smile. Like a part of that old power was still with me, even after all this time.

I made a mental note to track down the demon for the Overlay and talk to him about all this. I was betting that his involvement with this whole thing would be deeper going forward than any of us would have expected. He was only tier 4, which meant reincarnation would be easier. I couldn't help but wonder if the fate adjacent demon had picked up something important without noticing it.

Sorwen was grinning too. "Video games," she said in exasperation. "I don't know whether to be horrified or impressed. Remind me to introduce you to my brother Winston. You would get along."

I laughed at that, but my face quickly smoothed into seriousness. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, and this has taught me a lot, but…why are you helping me?"

"This is going to be a complicated and difficult journey," she admitted. "Having a friendly face around to help can't hurt anything. Besides, your sister-in-law is an old friend of my ancestor. Us local factions need to stick together if we want to make it through this."

I stared into her eyes for a moment, trying to see any deception, but Scent of Truth caught nothing. She actually meant that. I laughed and held out a hand for her to shake. "Alright then, guess we can look out for each other while we're here. You know my name already, but it's polite to introduce yourself to new friends. Shane Wyndham, at your service."

"Sorwen Ard," she grinned. "Though I'm not much into the servant thing. Nice to meet you, though."

Laughing, we both stood up. The conversation was over, and I had learned quite a bit. Now it was time to head back to my room and figure out where the hell I wanted to GO with all this. I had a lot to think about, and I got the impression the decisions I made in the coming days would decide the upper limit of what I could accomplish in this life. I couldn't wait to get started.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

My mind was whirling with all the new information as I let myself into my residence. Without much preamble, I flopped into my bed and descended into Gehenna to consult with my court. I might not be able to work through all the angles all at once, but I wasn't alone. This information concerned everything that had happened to me since I had started my journey, and I wasn't planning to ignore the implications of everything I'd learned.

Sure enough, Oz, Dom, and Sam, my three ministers, were waiting for me on arrival. Alongside them was another figure, and it took me a moment to realize exactly why it was, because I was so unfamiliar with the features after all this time.

"Overlay," I said after a moment of searching the face. "Yeah, you should probably be involved in this chat."

Overlay looked…like me. Honestly, most of my demons KIND of looked like me. Some were bigger, or mutated, or older, because they had been changed by living full lives of their own, but they still looked a little like I did in some way. Overlay though, Overlay looked like ME. Like the me I used to be.

He was a little shorter than me, not having traded for the extra inch of height, and his features were softer. He didn't have the same air of command or combat experience either. He just looked like an eighteen year old kid who grew up in an apartment in Valen.

It was honestly kind of jarring. Looking at him like this I almost couldn't see myself. I hadn't thought I'd changed that much in just a few years. Sure I was stronger, and more ruthless, and maybe more confident. But we looked more like siblings or cousins than the same person. Comparing the two of us was like comparing night and day, and I wasn't sure which was which.

Of course, he was more than I had been. Overlay (Owen for short, it always felt impersonal referring to them by skill names) was a tier four demon. He hadn't grown much, which went to show how little he'd been training. Gehenna made advancement easy at low levels, and the only demons that remained stuck there were the ones who were angling for reincarnation to become something more effective.

"Walk with me," I told the others as I headed into the chamber behind my throne room. "Now, I assume you all heard all that? I'm not sure exactly how much you perceive from in here, but I think Azazel has access to my senses unless I block it."

Oz nodded. "I do. And a general sense of when it's appropriate to access them. This meeting was portentous, so yes, I was listening. I filled the others in as well."

Sam hummed with interest. "Yeah, it was definitely fascinating to listen to, but I'm not sure how applicable it is to me specifically. You DID design me based on a powerful racial trait. Speaking of, how does that work? She said skills are just like…a lesser tier of power, right? What about the old men, and other bloodlines?"

"I've been thinking about that," Oz said cautiously. "I believe this is a matter of pure instinct. Powerful skillcrafters like the ancestor have an innate understanding of the mythology of their skills. I believe, and this is pure speculation, that the powerful bloodline meta skills of people like the Wishmaster serve as a sort of proto Worldforce. An accidental template that steers the power into the form that the ascendant wishes. There are other complications to the theory, such as Domain seeds, but all in all it does hold water."

"Assuming the old man and the other gods aren't keeping their mouths shut about Mythcrafting to prevent the proliferation of more gods, which is a possibility, there has to be some way to brute force the creation of your own Worldforce." I mused. "Not that I have any interest in DOING that. Now that we're here, we can learn to Mythcraft properly. Considering that Mythcrafting is how you author pages from your Chronicle, I have a feeling we want to make sure each of them is as well constructed as possible. Speaking of which, Oz, did you finish that project I set you?"

My first minister nodded excitedly. "Thirty miles," he said confidently. "Almost exactly. Sadly we weren't able to measure before the rank ups. My best estimate is that entry to B-rank pushed you to twenty, and the other ten were from a combination of cosmic phoenix strengthening and the rank up from the Pillar of Goetia. I don't have many other Domains to compare it to, so my math is somewhat half baked, but I would probably assume based on Callie's Vault that your Domain is unusually large for your rank."

"I figured," I said with a wry smile. "And denser too. Having an A-ranked pillar supporting it, not to mention whatever benefits the Myriad Demons Manual gives now, makes it safer to use my Domain in battle, and that'll only continue to be the case as it expands. Were you able to get any definitive information on the benefits of that?"

"Nothing specific," he grimaced. "Best I can tell it aids the creation of a Domain Seed somehow. My only source for the knowledge would be Dantalion, and only what he managed to pick up passively during our travels. He's been working with Pride to construct and ACTUAL library in the castle, though I've been asked to invite you down to peruse the royal collection. Apparently all seventy two of us are still linked to the library, and each of us still has a book."

I blinked in surprise. "I…kind of assumed the library was gone after the Domain condensed," I said blankly. "That could be incredibly useful though. The old man's library was a skill crafting technique, but mine was aimed more at Mythcrafting, even if I didn't know it. I bet I can learn more about attributes by studying the books, and I'm sure the Mythcrafting techniques I'm going to learn will help me improve the foundations of the various demons manually."

One of the first things I'd learned about my Domain was that the demons could still be altered just as easily as they could grow. I didn't do that, because the staff's simulation made stronger and more lifelike constructs. Knowing what I did about Mythcrafting, that was probably to do with the well worn intent behind them and the firm foundation of the story, but even if that was true, the staff and I were connected. Learning Mythcrafting would help optimize ITS abilities as well as my own.

That was a matter for another time, though. Once I'd actually LEARNED some Mythcrafting. Speaking of, I turned to Doom Sovereign. "What are the chances we can get a complete list of all the attributes I have access to?"

Dom, ever the taciturn member of my council, just shrugged. "Not great. There's a lot we don't understand. So far the only real confirmation we have is time, and it's only really our assumption it comes from Overlay. We have a few strong guesses, like Destruction for Mephistopheles, and we know at least a couple for sure, like Purification from your grandfather. But all in all, there are seventy two of us, and not all of us were even formed exclusively from your own skills. You mixed in a bunch of stored techniques during creation."

I sighed deeply. "Yeah, I was afraid you were gonna say that. It's fine, this is a Mythcrafting school, there almost HAS to be some kind of identification method for attributes. We know I have Space and Life because of the major invites at least. Maybe more if you need more than a single attribute to be invited. Which I have to assume you do, because time can't be THAT rare."

"Speaking of," I turned to look at Owen. "Are you sure you want to be involved in this? There are other options. Limbo could take your place, I'm almost positive. I figured it was fair to give you first shot at being my go to demon for this course, given you've been stuck at tier four and clearly want an upgrade. Plus I like the symmetry. But you don't HAVE to do anything. This is entirely up to you."

Most of the people here were working with a totally different system than I was. They all had abilities and skills with time attributes, and were going to be using that to make techniques. For me, the better call was to incarnate one of my demons with time attributes and treat them like a form, learning to manipulate time more directly and maybe even baking that into the demon as I went. It had advantages and disadvantages, but I suspected it would allow me to wield my time attribute with less training.

Owen, for his part, didn't even flinch. His eyes locked with mine, and I saw a stubborn set to his jaw that I recognized from the mirror AND from seeing it on my mother and sister. "I want to be stronger," he said firmly. "I want to be more. You don't need me, not the way I am. Haven't for a long time. But now I can DO something. Be important. Be honest, do you really think I'll ever achieve godhood at this rate?"

I thought it through. He was right. Theoretically, all my demons could be gods, and they could grow passively so they would mostly get there eventually…but realistically, tiers became exponentially harder to get through as you went up. It had taken me months to push my top demons to tier eight. And that was with direct intervention. That was why so many of the lesser demons were keeping their ranks low in hopes of reincarnating. They could all be gods eventually…but eventually was longer for some than others.

"No," I admitted. "Not anytime soon. Even if you started training as hard as you could, you'd hit a wall at rank seven or so. The Pillar only has so much processing power, even at A-rank, and it gets prioritized by utility. The demons that I work with the most need that processing power to keep up with the demands I put on them."

"I know," he shrugged. "That's why me and the others have been waiting. We all want to find a purpose, something unique and powerful that will make us necessary. Will push us to grow. This is mine, I can feel it. So, how does this work? You just…reincarnate me?"

I shook my head. "Nah. No catalyst. I need to learn some Mythcrafting, and then we can consult your book in the library. We'll take it slow. You don't have to have a qualitative upgrade like Brad or the Nine Phoenix Art. My talent in Mythcrafting is immense. It's the deal my dad made with me in exchange for eighteen years of my power. He didn't even know what he was doing, but I'll be damned if I'm going to waste that kind of ability.

"I have faith that a gradual iteration process with intent and knowledge will eventually push you to heights well past where a freak accident or a powerful material could get you," I assured him as his shoulders drooped. "Mythcrafting is going to be integral to my progress to godhood, and you and I are gonna go on that journey together, ok?"

I held out a hand, and I saw the look of determination kindle in his eye as he reached out to shake. It was hard not to admire the kid, and then it was hard not to wonder if that was egotistical because he was kind of me, but I decided I'd never been shy about my ego anyway. "Alright," I said with a laugh. "Now, I need to head out and check in with Callie, I want to hear all about her trial." I was pretty sure I knew what major she had picked, at least.