"What was I watching? Why didn't that useless moderator intervene?" Nyssa hissed, her expression icy, the moment Thalion returned.
Thalion was quite happy that he wasn't the focus of her anger, especially since he had ignored her earlier command not to rescue his friends.
"That such crude manipulation was even possible in the first place is unbelievable," Solan added, shaking his head in anger before his tone turned more thoughtful. "Still, what the Voice of the System said greatly improved our position. The other factions in the new universe are missing winners of system events, while we can already send two participants to this academy."
"On that note, I know what the Convergence will look like. Wanna hear it?" Thalion commented cheekily, thinking this seemed like the perfect moment to shock the gods.
"What did you just say? How should a mere stu... mortal know what is about to happen in an event that even concerns the gods?" Solan asked, barely able to hold himself back.
Nyssa also looked as though she didn't believe a single word Thalion had just said, and both projections began to flicker ominously, a clear sign that the gods were no longer fully controlling their auras.
"I've known since the tutorial. I'm not sure if it was called the Convergence back then, but the Voice mentioned that the barriers between the four quadrants of the System would slowly begin to fall. You might soon be facing gods far older than yourselves, assuming those quadrants didn't suffer an extinction event like the one that wiped out Amun Ra. But it will take much, much longer until the barriers disappear completely. I would also expect the System to begin with some kind of system event, given the nature of the academy. Otherwise, I don't see how the performance of mortals could possibly influence gods."
It looked as though what Thalion had said actually made sense because the gods remained silent for several moments before exchanging glances. Nyssa was the first to find her voice.
"Just how did you acquire that knowledge?"
The question was simple but incredibly difficult to answer. Thalion couldn't exactly tell them that the Voice of the System was actually an imprisoned dragon god condemned to oversee the System for the faction that had created it in the first place. Trying to outright lie to a god didn't seem like a particularly good idea either.
"I'm not allowed to say. Otherwise I might face a massive backlash," Thalion replied, trying to wiggle his way out of the situation.
Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy the gods, and they immediately began discussing the implications among themselves.
"If this is true, we're in quite some trouble. Cassie and Thalion are currently the only mortals who can enter the academy since most of our other promising candidates were taken by the elven gods when they abandoned you," Nyssa said.
"But isn't the third system event our best chance to gain more?" Solan continued. "It matches participants with similar placements from the previous system events. Ricarda isn't at the peak, but she was placed with all the weaker competitors during the second system event, which should give her excellent chances of winning the third."
"The humans had decent placements as well, and they've all progressed considerably. If everyone enters the third system event, we should definitely gain another one or two participants capable of entering the academy," Nyssa continued.
This was where Thalion had to interrupt because he had a strong feeling that the third system event would be anything but easy to win, especially considering how brutal the second one had been.
"None of my friends will enter the third system event. R-87 also warned me that it isn't an event for parties. Ricarda should give it a try, but besides her, no one else should participate."
Once again, the gods stared at him in stunned silence before Nyssa finally spoke.
"Again... how do you know that? And you certainly don't mean that crazy rock elemental, do you?"
"Ehm... well, we talked after I won the last two system events, which is probably why he'll be very upset if I don't show up. Sadly, I don't know what it's going to be."
The gods still looked at him as though he had grown three heads.
"I can't believe that crazy elemental is designing system events nowadays. Maybe we shouldn't send Ricarda after all? Do you remember how he kept trying to build the biggest round rock over and over again, only for it to collapse in on itself every single time, with the resulting quasar wiping out most of the life in the galaxy?" Nyssa hissed in disbelief.
Solan seemed to see it differently as he began to chuckle.
"Right... those were good times for us light cultivators."
That earned him a slap on the back of the head that echoed throughout the room.
"Alright, alright. So the mortal... ehm, Thalion, has a good point about not sending more people into the third system event. That means we need to find more system events with the proper difficulty to get as many people into this academy as possible. If those gods really are as old as the mort... Thalion said, we are going to have a very difficult time and will need every advantage we can get our hands on. In fact, I think we should start preparing immediately."
A slight shiver ran down Thalion's spine when he saw the ancient determination in the eyes of the two gods as they exchanged knowing glances. It made one thing abundantly clear to him: just how far he still had to go before becoming a god himself. There was nothing those two wouldn't do to secure victory in the coming conflict. To witness such ancient beings willing to go all out was something else entirely.
Thalion couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to stand in the same room as them, considering that even their projections had begun to flicker despite nothing changing in the surroundings behind them.
"Okay then, we'll go with your suggestion, Thalion. Help Ricarda prepare for the third system event. In the meantime, we will find suitable system events for your human friends. I also found a form with time affinity for your serpent. All of you need to prepare and train as much as possible. Whatever this academy turns out to be, the competition will be extremely fierce," Nyssa said and with those final words, the connection broke.
Thalion remained standing there for several minutes. There probably wasn't enough time to properly adapt to the new affinity before the third system event, but another thought dominated his mind.
Had the Oracles foreseen all of this?
Thalion had originally believed that multiple D-grade factions entering the new galaxy would be the greatest challenge, but now, with the announcement of the academy, that no longer sounded nearly as important. Then again, there was still the question of when exactly the academy would open since no clear timeline had been given. Maybe the war would begin before it?
Thalion had no idea, but he was beginning to suspect that the gods becoming increasingly restricted was, at least in part, because of the Convergence. What if far older and vastly more powerful gods were about to gain access to this quadrant of the System?
It probably wasn't a good idea to speculate too much about the future. There weren't many risks he could realistically take in the near future anyway. The biggest gamble had already been the Eclipsari experiment. Of course, there was still the issue of removing the system's mark, but he didn't know nearly enough yet to actually attempt it. If that went wrong, he would be in serious trouble. In fact, weakening himself before everything that was about to happen seemed like an incredibly bad idea, even if he knew that, sooner or later, he would have to take that leap.
Since there wasn't anything else to do besides checking out the new form the gods had sent him and talking to Ricarda, he left his house and headed toward the portal. It was probably best to get moving immediately because what had happened during the show was still bothering him. Even though he hadn't shown any discomfort, having such a large portion of the multiverse believing he was a liar and genuinely evil could make his future far more difficult.
It appeared that this time not only Integrated Space had been able to watch the show, but everyone. That became obvious from the looks people gave him as he walked through the streets of the base. The elves, especially, looked quite pleased that his reputation had taken such a hit, and many of them chuckled or openly pointed fingers at him.
Thalion briefly considered shifting into the Eclipsari and biting those pointing fingers off, but he managed to control the urge.
He didn't have to wait long by the portal before a few pieces of meat were brought through for him. To his surprise, a thoroughly exhausted Ricarda followed soon afterward. She looked completely drained, and her long hair was ruffled. Normally, elves always tried to look perfect, but Ricarda looked as though she hadn't slept in days, with dark circles beneath her eyes.
"My patron said I should talk to you about the third system event... Do you have any tips? After the second one, I planned on skipping the next one, but..."
Ricarda broke off several times mid-sentence and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Eh... yes. I'm not really sure what I can tell you besides the fact that the administrator of the third system event thought the second one had gone quite well."
That didn't seem to encourage her at all. Instead, she lowered her gaze to the ground as though the last hours of her life were rapidly approaching.
"But there has to be some trick, right? You've already won two system events, and if I'm being completely honest, I have no idea how you managed to win the second one."
Ricarda tried again, gathering what little courage she had left. Thalion really didn't want to shatter what remained of her self-confidence, but in his mind the third system event would be the most difficult one yet.
"Hmm... right, what else do I know about the third system event? Ah, yes. You'll have to go alone. R-87 mentioned something along those lines the last time we spoke."
That didn't help at all. Her face immediately turned pale.
"What do you mean I can't take my personal guard with me? We've been training together for the third system event."
Now Ricarda looked truly desperate, so Thalion tried to explain it a little better. It had been quite some time since he had spoken with R-87, but he still remembered most of what had been said.
"Well, the way he described it, it sounded more like a system event where you'll have to betray each other, or where only one person can survive. So you should be fine. Ricarda, you're an elf after all. Plotting and doing mean things are practically in your DNA."
That didn't help in the slightest. Now even her ears seemed to droop, something Thalion had never seen an elf do before.
"I guess I'll go ask Pikar for advice... and what DNA is."
Ricarda muttered those words before slowly walking away, looking nothing like the proud Chosen she was supposed to be.
Hello everyone,
The last few weeks have focused mainly on progression, with a bit of base building mixed in.
That's about to change. We're now only a few days away from the third System Event, and Thalion and the gods still need to figure out how to get as many of their fighters into the academy as possible.
So far, Thalion has been fortunate. None of the major factions have discovered his outposts—but how much longer can that last?
What I'm trying to say is that the pace is about to pick up. The next few weeks are going to be anything but trivial, especially since I've been looking forward to writing the third System Event for more than three hundred chapters. I haven't been this excited to write new chapters in quite some time. Ever since the Tutorial ended—and now with the System's Mark—Thalion has been forced onto the defensive. But that's going to change sooner rather than later.
Anyway, that's all for now. See you next week!
Cheers :)