Chapter 160: Omen – Chapter 149: Precipice

Caethya squinted at the notification that hung in front of her. She really did it. The clock ticking down seemed a little ominous, but the message she could read below it turned the dread that had slowly started to creep into her stomach into excitement. She would get a Class!

Just what kind? she wondered. A mage of some sort, maybe? Caethya's expertise was mostly in the mystical arts, if you narrowed it down to using magic to rid the world of monsters of various kinds.

"Will I get a Class?" Maria asked, looking up from the sketch she had been working on. "Is there an age limit on Classes?"

"I don't know," Caethya replied, lowering the book she had been holding but not really reading. "I'd assume everyone will get one, but the only one who would know would probably be Aperio."

The girl grabbed hold of her dress, holding the fabric tightly between her hands before she spoke again. "Could you ask her?"

Caethya closed the book and placed it in her lap as she sat a little straighter. "Why not ask her yourself?"

"She does not listen to me…" Maria mumbled in reply. "I can pray as much as I like but I never get an answer. Only dreams of her." She picked up the notebook she had been sketching in and showed to Caethya. "And you, now."

The drawing Maria had begun to make showed Aperio and Caethya standing, facing one another with hands intertwined as they stared into each other's eyes. Not something Caethya could recall happening, but it was definitely within character for the both of them.

"May I?" Caethya asked, nodding towards the drawing. Maria simply offered the notebook to her in reply, letting the Demigoddess take and inspect it more closely. Even got Aperio's look right, she mused as her fingers brushed over the depiction of her love.

The way the All-Mother looked at her was not something Caethya had thought could be properly recreated in any way, as it was always accompanied by the calm of her presence and the warmth of her aura.

"You are really good at this, aren't you?" Caethya asked as she handed the notebook back to Maria. "I had never thought a drawing could capture Aperio like that."

"I use my magic for them!" the girl exclaimed, her previous sadness seemingly forgotten as she hugged the sketch she had made. "I think it's a part of my blessing."

"Perhaps," Caethya agreed as she began to formulate a prayer to her love in the back of her mind. "Her blessing does make magic shockingly easy; brings us a little closer to her way of doing things."

"How does she do things?" Maria asked, tilting her head ever-so-slightly.

Caethya offered a non-committal nod in reply as she tried to think of a way to explain how Aperio worked her magic. The book she had been trying to read vanished into her [Dimensional Storage] and she clasped her hands in her lap. “Aperio just... wants something to happen and then it does. For me, magic works in a similar way. I know how I need to guide my mana for it to work, but I don't need to." She held her hand out, a small flame dancing across her palm. "Most combat related magic only requires me to think about what I want to happen, not how to make it happen."

"I don't even think about magic," Maria said, her eyes fixed on the dancing flame. "I just… draw."

Caethya let the flame disappear, raising a brow at the maid that stood behind Maria. She had shifted ever-so-slightly, undoubtedly taking hold of a weapon underneath her uniform.

"I started out like that," the Demigoddess said, unbothered by the overprotective maid. "But then I got taught properly, as the instinctive way of using my magic led to some interesting situations."

Caethya smiled a little as she felt the attention of her Goddess settle on her. The prayer she had sent her love's way had arrived safely, but she could already feel Aperio's hesitation. There was assurance that nothing bad would happen and that everyone whose Soul had not been marred by the Repens Nabu would get a Class, but there was also an undercurrent of worry that came with Aperio's thoughts. She doesn't know how the Classes work, does she?

She lightly shook her head before setting her eyes on the now rather confused-looking Maria. "You will get a Class, but she does not know what kind."

"I wanna be mage!" the girl exclaimed, hugging the sketch she still held again. "With a cool staff and a tower!"

"I'm sure you would be a great mage," Caethya replied as she got up from her chair, dismissing the notification with the timer to the edges of her vision. "Do you want me to show you some more magic?" she asked, shifting her gaze to the maid behind Maria. "Or is that forbidden?"

"It is not," the maid replied, never letting the Demigoddess out of her sight. "If Maria wishes, we can prepare the garden."

"Please!" Maria almost yelled as she whipped around in her chair, looking at her maid. "I want to learn magic!"

Caethya offered the girl her hand as they both reached the door. "I will do my best."

Jester tapped his fingers against the stone surface of his mother's desk. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," his mother replied. "Your father would not do well with a Class; it's best if we do it soon."

"Fine," Jester replied with a sigh. "I'll let Jidol know that we won't need his services anymore."

"Thank you," Elariya said. "Please give him my best wishes for his wife. The first child is never easy.

"Of course, mother."

With a shake of his head, Jester pushed himself out of the plush chair he had been sitting in. Why his mother had the things was not something he would ever understand, but he would not question her either. He had no desire to end up like his father would by the end of the day.

What a fool, he thought to himself as a servant closed the door to his mother's office behind him. The old man had never been a match for Elariya when it came to wits, but over the past few years it had gotten a lot worse. He had become… obsessed with their mission to bring back Inaru, despite a literal God telling him that rushing it was wrong. Probably thinks he can use the ritual to ascend. Fool indeed.

Of course, Jester too would like to be a God, but he knew that the road to actual Godhood did not run through an ancient ritual. The last one of those that had been performed had led to rather questionable results. Sure, the [Grand Magus] had gained strength from it, but he had also lost his sense of self and nearly everything else. What use is strength if you turn into a mindless monster? The thing at least still had its uses, so his investment in the ritual had not been completely wasted. Won't be able to stand against the Creator, though…

That was the biggest issue in his book at the moment. No matter how he approached the resurrection of Inaru, he could see no possible way that the All-Mother would not notice it; and from what he knew of her, she very much disliked the values Inaru represented. Even if it is the natural order of things.

He would like to know more about the only God he was actually willing to follow, but the records he had access to were all a little… lacking. Some of the people in the Order of Inaru were convinced that Inaru was not, as was commonly assumed, a God, but perhaps instead the name of an empire. Jester found that notion to be a bit silly. There probably had been an Inaru Empire at one point or another, but he was sure it had gotten its name from the same God they were trying to bring back.

"Lita!" Jester called, only having to wait a moment before two slender arms snaked across his midsection.

"Yes?" the purring voice of his favourite slave whispered into his ear. "Does Master need to relax?"

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"Alas, no," Jester replied. "We need to visit Jidol."

"Oho! Planning something naughty, are we?" she asked, gently rubbing her head on his shoulder as her tail coiled around one of his legs. "How bad."

"We are cancelling a contract; mother is doing it herself."

The Beastkin let go, stepping beside Jester instead. "Who made her that angry?" she asked, fixing her attire that had gotten a bit dishevelled from her previous antics. "The Lady usually does not get her hands dirty."

"You will see when we get there."

Lita leaned closer to her master, lowering her voice so only he could hear. "Family business?"

"Indeed."

"How exciting!" the Beastkin exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Should I bring anything, or does Jidol not require… convincing?"

Jester shook his head in reply. The assassin would not need any convincing, he would simply take the usual cancellation fee and call it a day. Might even be happy he won't have to kill father. His father might be delusional, but he was not weak.

The System did not care for your intelligence when it gave you stats; all you had to do was kill enough monsters and you would get stronger. Of course, with the supposed return of Classes, that might be changing. What little Jester knew of them made him certain that someone with a bit of brain would be able to get stronger than someone who merely went and killed mindlessly like his father had done. Of course, she might have changed how they work.

Trying to understand the divine was already a silly idea, and applying that to the All-Mother was probably worse. Just thinking about how someone like that could even come into being from supposedly nothing gave Jester a headache.

With a wave of his hand he commanded Lita to follow him as he stepped through the door — that had so helpfully been opened by a servant – into the noisy streets of Ebenlowe. It was the only downside of his mother's hidden estate, really. Why she tolerated the peasants and lower races right in front of her was not something he truly understood, but he could appreciate the value of a more inauspicious base of operations. Would be even better if I could finally get a spy inside.

Lita had disappeared into the shadows again, undoubtedly taking some of the possessions the peasants had not secured; something Jester could not care less about. If they truly valued something, they would learn [Dimensional Storage].

"Now then," he mumbled to himself as he began to walk to the [Assassin's Guild]. "Time for business."

Aperio squinted for a moment at the maid that had drawn her dagger before she sat herself down on the stairs leading towards the Terenyk's rather expansive garden. Caethya had noticed her arrival, but she had asked her to not tell Maria yet — the girl seemed so excited to use her magic that Aperio did not want to interrupt.

Instead, the All-Mother directed her attention back towards the part of the System she had just fixed. Despite the countdown still going, it had already begun to sort out some Souls that it had identified as marred. So it's already working, but not actually granting people Classes?

It made sense to a degree. There were trillions of Souls that it needed to check — not counting the ones that floated through her Void — so getting a head start on that was likely a good idea. The only thing Aperio wanted to know was how it worked with the amount of mana it drew from her well. It had begun with a large pull to get going, but ever since, it had slowed to a trickle; using far less than her constant body improvement did. That won't ever stop, will it?

She could still feel herself growing stronger — as paradoxical as that might be, considering she should already be as powerful as was possible — but the visual changes that had usually come with it had stopped. She had not grown any taller than she already had and the definition of her muscles had largely stayed the same. Maybe because I am happy with it?

Her appearance had not been something she had consciously chosen like her dress, but something that had just happened. And is largely based on how I looked as a mortal… Perhaps that is why I am attached to it? In the end, her body was a shell. Every other deity had said that and Aperio knew they were right: her brief time as a cosmic cloud proved it. Still prefer a body, though.

The reasons might be selfish, but she did not care. She had made all of existence, couldn't she do a few things she liked? Not being a Goddess people would worship was not an option, Ferio had been right in that regard. Even if people did not know who she was, most of them still somehow figured out that she was not merely a strong mortal.

"Your dagger won't help you against her either," Aperio commented to the maid as her daughter appeared next to her. "Besides, she is my daughter and has worked with Lord Terenyk in the past."

"She is just doing her job," Ferio said, taking a seat next to her mother on the stairs. "And I think she is one of the new ones, or at least I have not seen her before."

"My apologies," the maid whispered, bowing deeply before retreating back to her place at the door.

Aperio let out a sigh. Her talking had alerted Maria to her presence, the girl having probably felt the mana each of her words carried. It was not necessarily bad, and Aperio liked the girl after all — it was easier to see her as her daughter than Ferio, sometimes — but she still wished for her to have had a bit more time to play with her magic before being distracted.

A thought was all she needed to appear by Caethya's side, wrapping a wing around the Demigoddess while gently patting Maria's head. The girl had immediately wrapped her arms around the All-Mother, holding on as tightly as she could.

"The whole Class thing is really this stressful?" Caethya asked, brushing her hand over the inside of Aperio's wing.

"I don't know what will happen once it goes live," Aperio replied as she carefully wrapped her other wing around Maria. "It will change how the world works, and I am not sure anyone is ready for that."

"Nobody is ready for a change like that," Ferio said, offering Maria a small wave as the girl peaked out from underneath Aperio's wing. "It was still needed, however."

The All-Mother did not reply, only letting out another, more quiet sigh. Caethya gently rubbed her back as she let some of her magic flow around Aperio. "Would you like to see what Maria learned while you were gone? She is quite talented."

A smile spread across Aperio's lips as she lifted her wing from the girl so she could better see her. "Would you like to show me?"

"Yes!" the girl exclaimed, quickly removing herself from Aperio and moving a few steps away from the group.

Aperio sat herself down on the grass, pulling Caethya into her lap and gently resting her chin on the Demigoddess' head. She wished every day could be like this. No worries about the upcoming Classes, just relaxing with her love while watching Maria eagerly trying to use her magic. The All-Mother had no real reference point to compare the young girl to other mortals, but from what she could see it was clear that Maria would make an excellent mage.

Her mana moved with her almost like it did for Aperio herself, forming small balls of water and fire that slowly began to whirl around one another, picking up speed as though they were learning the dance they took part in. If anything, the display made her question why Maria ever needed a teacher to begin with when she could clearly use the mana she had just fine. But that would be a question for another day.

For now, Aperio would enjoy the last few hours of peace before the world would irrevocably change.

GamingWolf

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