Nightmares of a Mortal

"I met Peter the moment I arrived here," Amun said. "He was struggling with the mana density, and a few royals and nobles from Maru were bullying him because he was a former slave."

"That's stupid." Blude sneered.

"I agree. And I hate bullies, so I called him out." Amun snickered. "Naturally, he challenged me to a duel. The problem was, he had barrier magic. I couldn't attack him outright, not without using the void." He shrugged. "So, I attacked his mind instead. I used fear to loosen his foundation. Then I broke him.

"While we exchanged some words thereafter, he distanced himself from me until I captured his knight during an outing in the wilds. A tear-jerking conversation later, and the royals and their knights agreed to help me with the portals in Maru if I helped them un-fuck their country. Something I planned on doing regardless." He snickered.

"A few months later, I made the announcement to the rest of the class, promising to help fulfill whatever goals they have if they help in Maru, in addition to many more boons. After the work in Maru was done, they could retire as emperors in my empire of empires or continue exploring the Mortal Plane with me.

"As I told you earlier, most of the class joined," Amun said with a hint of disbelief. "So, I built a tower in the Bodhi Tree's territory and spent the latter half of the second year training them to be elite officers. And then we evolved." This time he laughed dryly. Almost maniacally.

"Then I learned I have five classes."

My jaw almost dropped. "Five?"

"Yes." He shook his head. "Currently at the Fifteenth Step of the Grandmaster Artificer path, a Grandmaster Armorer. A Ninth Level Monk of the Way of Death's Door. A Fourth-Level Rogue Devil, Soul Mastermind. A Second-Level Void Sorcerer on Zefroth's Path. And finally, a Cleric of the Eternal Path.

While one was impressive and another was one I had long since been aware of, the rest numbed my mind as they rattled off of Amun's tongue. A devil, cast aside by his kin. But also a sorcerer who walks the same path as the first devil. Not to mention, a cleric without a deity. A cleric, only in name.

"And so." He grinned in that unsettling way as he turned to the girls. "I am an Eternal God. One who needs faith to grow, but one who will not need faith once he matures. One that has made it his promise to give those he cares about, all the power and knowledge they'll need to be, as I call it, unfuckwithable."

That got a hearty laugh out of even me. Yet, unlike the girls or his, mine was born from hope. Hope that he seemed hesitant to capitalize on. "Like all gods, I have four domains, and each domain has four aspects." He said. "But unlike other gods, duality is an aspect of my portfolio. Thus some aspects have mirrors, and I have two religions. Technically two philosophies as well, but that's neither here nor there.

"On one hand, I am the World Weaver, worshiped by the Order of Worlds. My first world orbits me wherever I go, acting as both a representation of me and the gate to my divine realm of Eotrom.

"Often wrongly called the 'Second Sun,' its name is Mani and was born from the World Weaver's power- Moonlight. It is light fused with darkness, and thus is its first aspect, followed by Worlds, both their fluid seas fused with their surfaces; dreams fused with illusions. Life fused with death. Many creatures are associated with this domain. Canines. Creatures of the sea like squids and dolphins. Many species of deer. And moths.

"On the other hand, I am the Elven Devil, worshiped by the Black Plume as the Owl. It comes from Twilight, Light in tandem with Darkness. And so its domains act in tandem as well. The Twilight of the expanse beyond in tandem with the Dusk in the Darkworld below. Purity in tandem with Corruption. Life in tandem with Death.

"The merge between holy and unholy makes both of these neutral powers. Thus they bring no harm to creatures of the night. In regards to Twilight, there are felines, rodents, snakes, creatures like badgers or weasels, and of course, owls."

There it was, the hope. Brought along by a single word that caused me so much torment over the years. Snakes.

"Aside from that, my third domain is Engineering." He gestured to the strange environment surrounding us, and my eyes suddenly caught on the trees whisking by the window, where they stayed as he continued.

"I am the Divine Engineer. Its aspects are Civilizations, Militaries or Guilds, Industry, and Science. However, the houses of worship tied to this domain are more akin to places of learning. Research and development, artificing, and engineering are all ways of worshiping me in this regard. Not praying. Although, I suppose, someone could.

"The creatures you saw me interacting with during my walk are tied to this domain." He pointed out. "The family that bees, wasps, and ants belong to; and termites as well, though they are unrelated. There are also some types of Spiders- I can't claim the burrowing or trapdoor spiders, for some reason, but the so-called true spiders are mine."

'For some reason.' I could not help but choke on dejection. Yet he continued without a care.

"The last of them is perhaps the best of all. Beavers. Collectively, however, these creatures are nature's best architects. Like the ancients who passed along the martial arts we use today." He gestured between us. "Those in my previous world learned how to mimic nature in their structures, materials, and machines, not just their fighting techniques. Something referred to as Biomimicry.

"Lastly, I am the God of Mana. The aspects are Divine Creatures, the Universe, Evolution, and Sorcerers. Mana wells, affinity cores, mana molding, or manipulation, mana casting or forging, magical evolution; I do or will have power over all of these things.

"As far as I'm aware, though, there are no animals associated with this domain. However, there are some in the Legions who assume I'll be the God of Faeries or something." He laughed.

I did not find it as funny, however. On the contrary, it was a terrifying prospect. But if his contradictory powers were something to believe, it was more than possible to be true.

"Aside from that, there are three more things to be aware of." I turned my eyes to see Amun holding up three fingers. "The first is that all of these domains share the aspects of Nature, Duality, Freedom, and Change.

The second, and perhaps most controversial, are the creatures tied innately to my divinity. One of them, to little surprise, are devils. The second, to everyone's shock, are shadow dragons."

I leaned across the table this time, my face shrouded in disbelief as I stammered. "S- shadow dragons?"

"Yes." Amun returned an amiable nod. "Turns out, the greatest guilds in Polaris and the Emperor himself thought it was wise to pit me against a red wyrmling last year. A venerable one, at that. Born from the Scourge of the Mountain or whatever they call sleeping ancient to the north.

"That's why no one saw me fight last year. Because I destroyed the scrying eye and made a deal with the dragon. Now she's a venerable red shadow dragon. The first of many. And I am her God."

"That is as amazing as it is terrifying." I shuddered.

"Yes, but since you're with me now, you don't have to worry about her kind harming you. Or chromatic dragons as a whole, for that matter. If I understand things correctly, at least.

"The last thing, though, are my blessings from Telin." He continued before I could voice any more shock. "There are three. Telin's Grace, which makes me the most beloved by mana in the universe. Telin's Hand grants a higher tier of affinity cores to my followers. And Telin's Sight, which allows me to see the paths of anyone who meets my gaze."

"What?" I demanded.

"I can see every aspect of the paths people can obtain, no matter which ones they've already pursued. I can read the tasks that accompany each step down the end of those paths. And I can even see what perks they'll receive along the way. This includes mine, by the way." He clarified with a passive wave.

I just could not believe it. "So then, you knew you would follow the Way of Death's Door before you even arrived at the Halls. You did not even have to train with us. So then, why appear at all?"

"Well." He shrugged. "For one, because I knew there would be things that would only be learned if they were taught by a master. And the second reason was you."

"I- I see." I turned away from his gaze and suddenly felt ashamed by the sudden warmth in my cheeks. So I pressed him to continue.  "What else do you know?"

"Well." He shrugged. How much do you know about ability improvements?"

My careless shrug resulted in a tangent that revealed a bounty of things even I was not aware of.

Breaking into the realm of super-powered abilities through magical evolution did more than just make one stronger, it prevented the body from being destroyed by exceeding its limits. It prevented large objects from collapsing under their own weight when lifted. From disintegrating from flying through the air at hypersonic speeds or breaking your arms when punching at the speed of sound.

Constitution, for example, evolved in stages like all the rest. The first came with resistant skin and bones dense enough to facilitate the lifting of heavy objects. At the second, the organs were optimized. The digestive system was improved to a degree that required only one meal a day. A meal that was digested rapidly and produced little to no waste. But so too did that apply to the kidneys, lungs, heart, and even the brain.

Then came the healing factor at the third stage. Light injuries healed only while performing light duties or when resting. After that, the skin and bones were made resistant enough to block all but adamantine, mithral, or magic. And the skin becomes rigid enough to resist pressure changes, allowing them to survive where there is no air. Or below the sea.

The fourth brought elemental resistances and a moderately persistent healing factor capable of healing minor wounds during combat. But it was nothing compared to the complete healing factor at the final stage, where even life-threatening wounds could heal during combat, albeit at a snail's pace.

However, that also included a stronger resistance to all types of elemental damage and organs that are both fortified and optimized further.

Since adding onto his constitution would be counter-intuitive to his class and he could steal as much strength as he wanted, Amun made it a point to tell me he was going for super-powered agility and dexterity.

He'd know he reached the first stage when his reaction times surpassed the speed of sound, placing him into a state of slowed perception whenever he bolstered his body with mana making his strikes and kicks generate miniature sonic booms.

Beyond that, his movements would become hypersonic, displacing so much air that they turned into virtual air cannons. And due to the perks of mana, the negative after-effects were negated.

At the third level, those shockwaves would grow powerful enough to propel one in the opposing direction. Effectively allowing them to kick off the air as if it were solid ground. Something he would already be able to do with ki, at some point. But he made it a point to explain his concept of 'redundancies' to cease my ramblings.

At phase four, the reaction time was to the point where one could track lightning with the senses, but not yet keep up with it. That, keeping up with lightning, was the limit of dexterity.

Agility was more or less the same. Rather than being reaction time, reflexes, and use of the hands. It was overall speed and athletics, and the first stage was the most noticeable.

It came when the reactions of mana began to negate the displacement of fluid around the body as one moved. Effectively reducing atmospheric drag to near-zero and in turn, increasing the top speed to match that of sound, which evidently has a speed.

Quite interestingly, it was then that he more or less ordered us to enter the realm of super agility and speed alongside him. In response to my inquiry, he explained that raw abilities and evolutionary abilities were innately different.

His raw strength was in the superhuman realm. But that was it. In terms of humans, his dexterity and agility were too. But not to other elves. The perks of the ability score increases only went into effect when one bolstered their bodies with mana. That was why those with super strength did not go around breaking doors every time they entered a building, unlike those with raw strength.

Like the Amazonians in his guild and his Great-Grandfather, his strength was an 'always on' endeavor. He can stop time with magic and infuse his body with lightning to slow his perception of time or make himself faster. But that was the only way his agility and speed could match his newfound strength. Thus he needed the evolutionary perks to give him the dexterity and agility he would otherwise have when in the presence of antimagic.

Enough to match his strength. If not surpass it.

I pointed out that such a thing was born from a cynical and paranoid mind, to which he did not disagree, he only leaned over the table, causing the burning embers of hope to rise forth once more.

"Now," he began, staring deeply into my eyes. "I'm sure you're aware of this, but when I mentioned the loudest voices in the Peninsula, I was referring to you as well. But not just you, you may not know. Countless drow as well. Mostly males but many females as well. Even if they don't know it, they've been pleading for someone to free them from one of the few fates it seems they have.

"I never counted on being the God of drow." He admitted. "But if it means freeing you all, I'll gladly be that. The decision to be freed- the decision to join me, however, is yours to make."

"Not that I have a choice." I laughed bitterly. And sweetly. "But, with what you have said- with what I have seen- my answer would have been yes either way. If you can free those like me, in particular my brother, that would be better than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you." I bowed.

He waved my words aside as if they were meaningless. "You're still my teacher, Etan. But I'm your boss. So, I guess that makes us equals. Friends, even." Amun laughed.

"Either way, being your boss or your God doesn't mean you have to be formal with me or treat me as anything but a normal person. I don't see my divinity as something that places me above the likes of others. It only turns fighting into a bore and makes everything else far too easy." He laughed dryly. "Which is precisely why I've decided to make things much more interesting.

"But now comes the real question." A lengthy pause coincided with him leaning back into his chair, grinning wide to show his rows of pointed teeth. "What kind of power should I bless you with?"

"My face fell as I thought about the possibilities, as I weighed the pros and cons. I did not get far.

"No pressure," Amun said with a raised palm. "You don't have to decide immediately."

"Then, I will wait to decide." I nodded, prompting, it seemed, for the girls to jump from the table and declare they were going to sleep.

Having no need for my trance just yet, I wordlessly followed Amun into the workshop and sat peacefully while he approached the carcasses of his beloved wolves, methodically butchering them and hanging their hides up for tanning.

Yet, it was not just that. It was an… intimate moment. Something along the lines of which I have never seen before. A silent weeping of creatures in passing, a strange sight to see a necromancer perform.

He skinned them with the utmost care. Muttering words I assumed to be blessings each step of the way. He hung their pelts on wooden frames to dry. Turned the marrow of their bones into salves and ointments, their organs into potions. Their bones and blood into tools, weapons, and equipment.

Every bit of those massive creatures was used for something, then packaged in magical wardrobes before they were sealed away in a dimension of darkness.

He emerged from his labors in the deep of night. And though the hardly perceptible cloud that hung over Amun had dissipated, he called for some alone time after showing me to my room. It was a luxurious abode. The bed was larger than a Matron Mother's,  but I had long since learned to be ascetic.

For the first time in my life, however, I was alone and in private. Thus I began to meditate and think of the obvious, most exciting thing to ever cross my mind."

***

Amun.

***

I beamed wide as the smell of rot and tar filled my nose and laughed as every set of burning eyes turned in my direction. I beamed wide. I spread my arms as far as my body allowed. And I screamed across my pit. "Archer! How've you been enjoying the new life?"

The spined devil that once was a famed witch of Chaulort leaped to my side in an instant, clawing his greedy hands happily. "Good! Good!" he cackled. "Many new souls have come by. Though, not as many as your smell would suggest."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off me. "Not every soul I free comes here. Some have second lives to live. Anyway, I need you to teach me something.

"The Art of Nightmares."

---

[The Path of Zefroth. Step 3: The Mind of Night.]

[To continue down the path, learn from your devils, the art of infecting mortal minds with pestilential nightmares to place them on the path to corruption.]