Stone Age?
{A/N:
I'm uploading this extra chapter. Please Power Stones!
}
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Observation Log by Spark Draconisfilia
System Building - Entry #238
Earth-199999, ~301, 635 BE (Before Emergence)
Years 389 of the Fulgebunt Draconis Imperium (Earth-199999)
From this point forward, the term 'system' refers to an interface designed for reality intervention, observation, analysis, and documentation.
The complexity of building a system can vary significantly based on its operational intricacy. To facilitate study and design, systems will be classified according to their functions and capabilities.
Categories of Systems
1. Gamer System
A system with a video game-like interface and functions, offering several tracking functions, such as:
• Stats tracking: Monitoring physical, mental, or situational attributes.
• Mapping: Spatial representation of the environment.
Analysis of observed phenomena: Tools for interpreting and understanding reality.
Operational features may include growth assistance, inventory management, a store interface, mission dispatch, and other interactive components.
2. Progress System
A system primarily designed for tracking progress, which could apply to the host, an objective, a map, a mission, or more. It focuses on quantifying and qualifying reality, often with a visible progress counter. Progress Systems do not provide additional benefits beyond monitoring.
3. Function System
A broad classification of systems defined by their intrinsic purpose or function. Examples include:
• Gacha System: Focused on randomized rewards or outcomes.
• Marvel System: Based on themes or rules derived from the Marvel universe.
• Harem System: Oriented around managing relationships and interactions.
• DC System: Based on themes or rules derived from the DC universe.
• Template System: Configured to mimic predefined templates or archetypes.
The nature of these systems is inherently tied to their name and designated function.
• Loli Conqueror System: Of conquests of lolis and such.
• MILF Hunter System: Related to the accomplishment of successful hunts of mothers.
Additional Classifications
By Coverage
• Realm Systems: Applicable to an entire realm rather than an individual. These systems often include features like title granting, stats recording, level measurement, and accomplishment tracking.
• Host Systems: Linked to and operating at the level of an individual, typically bound to the host's soul. These systems can function internally (within the host) or externally (affecting the host's surroundings).
By Source of Power or Authority
• ROB System: Powered by the authority of a Random Omnipotent Being (ROB).
• Reality System: Draws power directly from reality itself; Realm Systems often fall under this category.
• Divinity System: Powered and operated by one or more divine entities.
• Center/Core System: Driven by a centralized core of power, often located in the heart of a celestial body or a metaphysical realm (e.g., the Akashic Records).
• Mind System: Rare systems powered by the subconscious or split mind of a host or entity. Their operational scale is proportional to the power of their origin.
By Applicability
This classification resembles Function Systems but focuses on reach and versatility.
Applicability System: For instance, a forging system is limited to forging activities, while a Function System might encompass a Forging System as a subsystem or include related features.
The system the Master Chief is aiming for encapsulates functions and features from various categories but can broadly be classified as a Function System.
The primary purpose of the system is to provide the Master Chief with a focus for his multitasking training while also assisting the household staff in developing a new void-powered magic method.
The core of the system will be the Master Chief himself, operated by his multiple selves, with its coverage limited to the hosts' souls and a focus on Progress Tracking and Data Sharing.
The Grand Repository of Knowledge, Seraph Draconisfilia, and myself, Spark Draconisfillia, will function as the main subsystems for knowledge gathering, knowledge sharing, and communications management. The Master Chief will oversee the system's operational aspects.
Key Components and Features
1. Sources of Knowledge
The primary sources of knowledge and data will include:
• The Grand Repository of Knowledge
• The Master Chief
• The hosts (household staff)
2. Limits of Coverage
The system's coverage will extend to:
• The souls of the hosts
• Those who have received a terminal to connect to the system.
◦ Terminals may consist of the Master Chief's selves or the P-Links connected to Seraph or myself.
3. Functions and Subsystems
Below are the planned functions and subsystems forming the foundation of the Master Chief's system:
• Mapping: Provides the ability to locate and track the hosts and their surroundings.
• Chat: Enables communication among hosts, the Master Chief, Seraph, and myself.
• Exchange: Facilitates the exchange of spells and knowledge. A currency system based on 'Favors' will serve as the banking mechanism for the divinities of the Imperium.
• Virtual Space: Creates an environment for testing, studying, and developing spells.
◦ The virtual space will be physically located within the realm of Kaguya Otsutsuki, Goddess of Chakra and the Dimension of Chakra. However, access will be restricted to the astral forms of the hosts.
• Inventory: Provides secure storage within the Master Chief's soul space, an improvement over the existing storage functions of the staff's clothing's storage system.
• Followers Management: Assists hosts in managing and interacting with their followers. By blessing followers with P-Links, limited system access can be granted.
◦ This feature remains under development and will not become operational until one of the staff members ascends to divinity. Additionally, internal regulations dictate that no P-Links may connect to the Soul Repositories (Hell, Abeyance, and Heaven), rendering followers of Madelyne, Goddess of Souls and Abeyance, unsuitable for testing.
• Delivery: Facilitates the transport of physical objects via the shared soul space of the Master Chief's selves.
4. Future Development
Additional functions are currently in the design phase. For now, the features listed above will serve as the backbone of the Master Chief's system, provisionally named 'The System' until further notice.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
/ End of Entry #238 /
______________________________________
Earth-199999's Core, SoulSelf's Soulspace.
'Although a bit lacking, it is the start of my system.'- Aragorn commented, reflecting on it.
He, Seraph, and Spark were floating in his Soulscape, observing the psionic construct of the construct that would serve as the spine of The System.
To allow Seraph and Spark to visit his Soulscape, Aragorn had manipulated a portion of his soul to offer them hospitality, otherwise they would have fallen to madness.
The so-called spine of the system resembled a neuron cell, with a nucleus, a core, and multiple tendrils. The core shone brightly with a warm light, and the nucleus was the origin of the dendrites.
Seraph and Spark's connections were at the nucleus, Aragorn's was at the core, and the ends of each dendrite served as terminals for the hosts or future P-Links.
'Father, we're handling data transfer speeds of Ronnabits per second—it's even challenging for us—and you call it lacking?'
'That's because the thinking speed of my soul is on the ≈10^40 scale. Ronna is 10^27, and you and Spark normally work at ≈10^30 scale, which is Quetta. Since your thinking speed is only about one step above the current running speed in the same order of magnitude, you feel overtaxed.'
'I suppose it will get better once we grow in power and get closer to our corresponding jumps in status.'- Spark commented.
'Yeah, I believe so. Gaea and I don't have experience with the path of the ascendency of artificial life such as yours. Still, when I went to pick up Kaguya, I asked The Aniki about it, and he mentioned that there shouldn't be any problems.'
'Well, I can't wait for it. This feels like what I calculate walking through molasses feels like.'- Seraph grumpily said.
'I understand, little sister. I feel like lagging, which I thought was supposed to be impossible with the amount of processing power our design and programming granted.'- Spark's soul form waved a glitching hand in front of his face.
'... You're glit-you're glit-glitching...'
'You both are.'- Aragorn grinned mockingly.
'...'
'...'
'Father!'- Seraph complained, it took her a while to determine that Aragorn was routing some of his processing responsibilities to them to mess with them.
'Hahaha! Sorry, sorry! I won't do it again.'
'Humph!'- Seraph pouted.
'Master Chief, I've just received a query from a panicked Madame, she said your body just fell unconscious.'
'Ah... Shit, The System is demanding more of my attention than I expected.'- Aragorn lamented in concern.
He concentrated for a moment and shortly after the soul form of Death joined his Soulscape.
'... Love? What in creation's name is that?'- Her attention was immediately grabbed by The System's Spine.
'It's what we've been working on for the past centuries. It's my training module, in a way.'- Aragorn replied.
'Is that why you suddenly stopped flying and crash-landed in the middle of the ocean?'- Death worriedly asked.
'Yes, Noona. The System is being operated by all selves within this universe except for the PuppeteerSelf, and the SoulSelf working with Tiamut. We are currently within the SoulSelf but it is not working on this, to be exact, it's just housing The System.'
'Oh... You should have brought me to your soul sooner, My Love. I love it here.'- Death replied with her eyes affixed to her surroundings with uncanny intensity.
'Noona, would you like to stay here with me until I can safely operate my body on the outside?'
'Can I? It won't cause you any problems?'- She got closer to the 'walls' of the space housing The System and caressed them with a deviant smile.
'Girls, can you get someone to move our bodies to the Halo while we remain unconscious? You could also just leave them there, there's nothing on this planet capable of hurting us. Just don't separate them because that's what's allowing Noona to be present here.'- Aragorna asked his AIs.
'Sure, Father. I still have some tests pending for your bodies!'- Seraph shared her eagerness.
'We will leave you be, Master Chief. Please don't route your processing responsibilities to us without previous notice, I'm afraid of the possible consequences the Ark and Halo might suffer with a lapse of my functions.'- Spark requested/threatened.
'Don't worry, Spark. I'll stay here until I have it under control. Inform the family about the functions of The System, they should be able to call for the interface in two hours.'
Spark nodded.
'Bye Mother, bye Father.'- Seraph lovingly bid her farewell and disappeared with Spark's soul form.
Aragorn gazed at the transfixed Death and stopped controlling his Soulspace to make it habitable. From the deep darkness that it originally was, it turned into a mess of eyes, light, thoughts, emotions, concepts, and pure madness.
Though, in its own way, the madness that his soul was fondly caressed Death's soul form.
'~Hehehe!'- Death chuckled in delight.
'I'm glad you like it, Noona.'
'It's you, My Love. How could I possibly not like you?'- Death found herself floating in an ocean-like body of light, eyes, and emotions.
Death scooped some of the eyes-filled liquid that made up Aragorn's soul and greedily drank it, with a euphoric face.
'Now you're just trying to get me going.'- Aragorn moved his soul form to Death's.
'Tough luck, My Love. Soul forms don't experience pleasure, though we can try merging our souls the next time, right?'- It seemed quite contradictory when spoken by Death, who recently showed an enraptured expression while consuming some of Aragorn's soul.
'We will have to wait a few hundred thousand years for that, my SoulSelf is quite busy.'- Aragorn replied, without bothering to mask his disappointment.
'Oh... That's sad, but we can wait. How is your business with Tiamut going?'- Death trapped Aragorn by mounting him with her legs around his waist and arms around his neck.
She pecked him softly on his eyelids while intensely gazing into the galaxies in his eyes.
'We theorized that we could potentially supplant some of the needed energy for the eclosion by accumulating energy if we enhanced the absorption efficiency.'
Previously Aragorn and Tiamut had discovered a possible path to gather energy more efficiently, but that helped no one since the objective was to safely complete the emergence, not having it happen sooner.
Tiamut suggested that if they could somehow collect that energy for later use, they could use it as a substitute for the deaths of billions, the problem was how to store it safely and the original issue of how to emerge without cracking the planet apart.
'So it's nothing definite yet, but it's a path to a possible solution?'- Death asked, dotingly planting pecks all around Aragorn's face. Few things could stir her heart as much as watching his pink and golden eyes lock on her.
'Yes, Tiamut is working on a possible storage cell, or battery, for the excess energy, while I continue with the original issue.'
'Can't you use the Time? Like completing the emergence and then rewinding time but excluding Tiamut from its influence?'
'If it were not for the ritualistic nature of the emergence it would work.'
'Ritualistic?'
'Yeah, the souls are consumed in the process, so if I rewind time—'
'—The mortals would be left as soulless husks.'
'Yeah. There's a nuclear solution. Which is stealing the humans from an Earth about to face its end and using them on my Earth, then I would rewind time after it was cracked open and replace the husks with the original citizens.'
'But that's not a solution the Celestials would adopt, it's too resource-consuming, and it would be better to simply use the original citizens without much fuss.'- Death surmised.
'Exactly, and I don't think I like my humans enough to undertake that endeavor, if we get to that point I would just let it run its course.' - Aragorn said.
'Quite the conundrum. Well, I'll leave you to it, you two seem to have more knowledge about it than me.'- Death set the matter to rest.
'By the way, My Love, Sarah wanted to know if Bonds and Dragons were good divinities.'- Death.
'Bonds is alright, but Dragons? I thought Margaret as the progenitor of the species would take it, did she not?'
'Margaret settled for Leadership and Protection, Steve for Protection and Freedom, so Sarah wanted Bonds because she said it was due to the existing bonds that the desire to protect was born, and she took dragons because her mother was not taking it.'- Death replied.
'Well, I guess it's alright. Do you know what Vladarion is taking?'- Aragorn wanted the divinities related to their beings to be chosen sooner since if an enemy came with a divinity of dragons and they had none, their dragons would be in serious trouble.
This is also the reason why Yao chose the Divinities of Magic and Beastpeople. Since she is the closest one to ascending.
'The kitten wanted War and Progress.'- Although Death referred to Vladarion as a kitten, he was already centuries old.
'Uhmm, is he perhaps trying to make a symbiotic nexus between the two?'- Aragorn pondered.
'I think so, and also he said that when our humans start making wars he would have a bigger role to play.'- War was a part of what made humans humans, at least the Haloans so it that way.
'Ok, that's a good idea.'- Aragorn approved.
'My love, please tell me about your family.'- Death abruptly changed the topic.
'My family? You mean my human family?'- Aragorn asked, confusion evident in his voice as he pondered where the question had come from.
'Yes, my love.'- Death nodded.
'Sure, but why?'- He asked.
'Just curious. Soon our little baby will be born, and although I have plenty of third-hand experience with families and such, I don't think any conceivable family model applies to our situation.'- Death admitted, sharing her concerns.
What she referred to as third-hand experience was what she earned from viewing the memories of some of the souls that made it to her realm.
'Aren't you a great Mistress Mother? I don't think Vladarion, Sarah, or any of the Wolf Princesses have ever complained about you—or me, for that matter.'- Aragorn said, his eldritch soul seemingly trying to overwhelm Death with its affectionate presence.
'I know, but leaving the princesses aside—since their upbringing was as special as they are—we weren't truly the parents of the kitten and the hatchling. Margaret, Natalia, Steve, and James and his harem were always there, and we respected their authority as parents.'
'Ah, I see. You're worried because you and I will be the ultimate authority for our little baby.'- Aragorn surmised, understanding her concern.
'Yes, my love. If we saw them doing something wrong, we could step in without issue. But once we're the parents, if we make a mistake, they might not point it out because of who we are.'- Death murmured, her worry evident.
'Their parental figures.'- Aragorn clarified, referring to the fact that, for their household staff, Death, Gaea, and himself were the ultimate authority figures, which could hinder open critique.
'Exactly. And while I know Gaea will support us, even our dear Chocolate doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to parenting.'- Death replied with a wry smile.
'I concur. Gaea's mothering résumé isn't exactly stellar... I can tell you about my human family, but we might not be the best examples. I was a depressed human for a reason, and it wasn't just because I wasn't good at life.'- Aragorn confessed.
'It's alright. I know our baby won't have a conventional childhood, but I have no experience with parenting at all. I came into existence exactly as I am now, so any reference is better than none, right?'- Death said.
She wasn't and then she was, that was her 'childhood' as the Aspect of Death.
'Alright, I'll start with my parents. My mother was a very stoic woman, driven by objectives and perfectionism, with a touch of narcissism. She measured everyone by the same impossible standards she applied to herself. In conclusion, she was a cold and strict mother, never fully satisfied with her children's achievements.'
'Wait! Didn't you say you loved her and grieved deeply when you lost her?'- Death interrupted, surprised.
'That's how humans and most mortals are. They find it difficult—if not impossible—to objectively view their parents. I was the same. I loved her and was proud of her. It's not that I hate her now; I've just moved on from most of my human fixations.'
'Oh, okay. Continue, please, my love.'- Death encouraged, tightening her hold around her dragon and planting soft kisses on his lips, occasionally nibbling.
'I felt indebted to her for feeding, housing, and educating me. To the point that I would daily calculate how much money I owe her for my upbringing. I would try to save money on electricity, food, water, and anything aside from the absolute necessities, it was a constant worry. In hindsight, that's not a normal feeling for a child to have toward their parents, but I couldn't see it then.
'My father was similar to how I am with you. He was so in love with my mother that he often struggled to side with my sisters and me. Aside from that, he was a good parent—patient, responsible, tender, and quiet. He genuinely loved raising us; it was obvious.
'We moved a lot between North America and Central America due to my parents' jobs. I struggled to make friends and grew so accustomed to solitude that I began to enjoy it. My older sister became my only true friend for a time, and we both protected our little sister fiercely.
'Somewhere along the way, I learned to shut down my feelings, and things stopped mattering to me. this gave me a respite from the constant worry of my accumulating debt to my mother. By the time the ruptures began and the invasion started, I cared little for my future. I used to think, 'If I die, then so be it.' That's it. Objectively, I can't complain, but subjectively, it was hell.
'And you know the rest, through trauma greater than my childhood I overcame my depression and learned to be a pseudo-competent human, just before I died and absorbed everything.'
Death stared into Aragorn's ever-changing eyes, sensing that his emotions were perfectly still, as if he were retelling someone else's story.
'Do you think that because you didn't want to be like your mother, your body gave you these adorable eyes of yours?'
'You mean as a way to always expose my feelings?'- Aragorn asked, contemplatively.
'Yes, my love. Our girls and boys have often said that it was easier at the beginning to lower their guard when they could visually see your heart. Maybe these precious eyes were meant to ensure you wore your heart outwardly and made meaningful connections more easily.'
'That makes sense. Perhaps my 'subconscious' believed this was the better path.'- Aragorn agreed, considering her theory.
'My love, I may or may not have groomed you into your current form, but I certainly had no role in shaping your eyes. Yet, they are possibly one of your most attractive features to me.'- Death confessed, gently tracing his cheekbones with her thumbs.
'Thank you, Noona. I may or may not have imprinted on you and find it impossible not to love even your flaws, but I can wholeheartedly say I unmistakably love you.'- Aragorn said, his gaze making Death blush.
Unable to resist, Death kissed his Soulform.
As noted, there was no physical pleasure in their kiss, but it filled their hearts with butterflies.
____________________________________
"So... do we say 'Properties', 'Configuration', 'System', 'Open Sesame', 'Interface', 'Status', or '5H1N34M3!'?"- Yelena asked the silver-haired Spark.
"You don't need to say it; just think about pulling The System's interface out, and you'll see it."- Spark said.
"What?! No 'Status!'? What sort of third-world system is this?"- Kitty screamed in outrage.
"Does that really matter?"- Pietro asked, visiting Halo on vacation after helping his lover rule Hell.
"Of course, it matters!"- Kitty snapped.
"Don't pay too much attention to the rabid cat, unruly teen."- Spark advised.
"She's been moody because her believers still see her as ugly. They offered her another 'sacrifice' this morning."- Yelena chuckled.
"What? Is it such a big problem? Just accept it—even if they consider it a sacrifice. After you take them to a hellish heaven of orgasmic bliss, the so-called sacrifice won't have much to complain about."- Pietro said, staring at Kitty like an idiot.
"Shut up! Just because you're not a centuries-old virgin cat doesn't give you the right to mock me!"- Kitty snapped again.
"Chill, dude! I was giving you friendly advice, no mocking intended."- Pietro said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Gnu."- Kitty gnashed her teeth.
"It's because the age of the 'sacrifice' is always on the conflicting side of morality."- Spark explained.
"... Sometimes, I believe mortals are more demonic than my usual prole back in Hell."- Pietro said with a grimace of disgust.
"There's not much we can do that isn't forceful or counterproductive. They are too set in their ways."- Yelena said, her expression distant.
"There are also valid reasons for their behavior."- James joined the conversation.
"What do you mean, man?"- Pietro asked, unable to fathom acceptable reasons for their practices.
"Their tribal structures—and they die too young. Pregnant women are cared for and expected to stay 'home', while the tribe handles daily necessities. Non-pregnant women are expected to help raise the offspring and keep things running while the men hunt or protect their abode."- James explained.
"Okay, I don't see the problem with that. But how does dying young justify their deviancy? And why does it matter?"- Pietro asked, confused.
"Initially, their maximum lifespan was somewhere in their twenties. After we moved them to our land and took on the role of guiding and, somewhat, guarding, that number rose to somewhere in their forties."- James said.
"Which is great for a glacial era."- Yelena added, playing with her frondous tails.
"Assuming a girl has her first blood between the ages of 10 to 15—"
"TEN?!"- Pietro interrupted, horrified.
"Yes. Mammals are highly adaptable creatures. Due to their circumstances, they adapted to an earlier start in their fertility cycle. Even nines and some eights, I've seen."- Kitty explained, now calm after her tantrum.
"Aragorndamned! That's way too young!"- Pietro exclaimed.
"Yes, but let me finish, unruly teen."- James said.
"I don't know why you keep calling me a teen, but go on."- Pietro complained.
"That's your nickname; deal with it."- Spark interjected.
Pietro rolled his eyes.
"As I was saying, they start earlier but also end earlier. The average female stops being fertile in her early thirties—if she lives that long.
"Then, consider how precarious their lives are. Every year, at least 15% of their population dies from diseases, 10% to predators, 40% to the environment, and 8% from congenital disorders caused by inbreeding. Their population is constantly rotating.
"Intelligent beings are good—especially hominids—but life in this era is too much of a 'chad', as the Young Master says, for them to handle.
"Infancy and men have the highest mortality rates. They can't afford to care for non-contributing individuals. A non-pregnant woman without male support is expected to join the hunts, where the weak die. Females are weaker than men. If weak men die hunting, what do you think happens to a female?"- James finished.
"Can't their fathers support them?"- Pietro asked, reluctant to accept such a harsh reality.
"You're forgetting that men tend to die faster. It's rare for a father to see the birth of a second grandchild—if he sees one at all."- Kitty replied.
"Their mothers even teach them from a young age how to seduce males to secure reliable support."- Yelena said.
"And since a structure of polyamorous relationships formalized through polygamy is the norm, it's safer to join groups so their 'sisters' can protect them. Thus, it's normal, morally acceptable, justified, needed, and expected."- Kitty said.
Pietro mulled over the taboo information, his face shifting through various expressions before he finally said:
"I can see why the Old Man isn't personally involved with the mortals. He can't stomach it, even if he understands it, can he?"- Pietro asked Spark.
"It is as you surmised. The Master Chief finds it repulsive but understands humanity's need for this hardship. He opts for inaction, though he dislikes it. He's waiting until they at least reach agricultural development."- Spark conveyed her creator's thoughts.
"Agricultural development?"- Pietro asked.
"That's when we will start meddling with the mortals in full force."- Spark replied.
"At the moment, we act like administrators, not teachers. We aren't introducing 'advanced' knowledge—just ensuring they survive and properly integrate among the four species."- Kitty added.
"... Well, that sucks. Things are better in Hell. Wanda, Agatha, Jean, and I just have to go on rampages from time to time. Most of the other days are spent developing faster ways to purge karma or handling disputes with the dukes. But Duke Blaze is mostly in charge of disputes, so it's mainly about fighting and similar stuff."- Pietro replied.
"Ugh, how nice. It's been centuries since I last let go and went on a rampage."- Kitty muttered to herself. But given the sensitive ears of everyone present, they all heard her.
"Spark, is The System 'online'?"- Yelena asked, steering the conversation back to its original topic.
"In a few seconds... it's ready now."- Spark said.
They all stood still for a moment, their gazes fixed emptily on the air.
"This is different than I expected."- Kitty remarked.
"Yeah, it feels more like an advanced web browser than a system."- Yelena added.
"I told you not to expect much. This is the beta of the beta of the beta, times eleven. It's just the beginning."- Spark replied, silently wishing they could comprehend how amazing it already was.
"I'm not complaining. Jean's going to evolve me after this, and I'll finally have my own reserves to cast magic. Easy access to all the spells you've recorded is exactly what I need to start practicing."- Pietro said.
"Ugh, who sent a picture of me showering?"- James grimaced.
"How do they even have that?"- Kitty asked, opening the chat to investigate.
"... Well, I've already seen it, but damn, James, are you packing."- Yelena giggled, sending an attachment with her collection of Aragorn's pictures.
"Why are you sending nude pictures of people we've all seen naked before?"- Spark asked, already making mental notes for her ongoing study of sexual deviance.
"Because it's fun."- Kitty replied, sending her pack of Spark's nudes.
"Oh, James, I see you've joined the dark side."- Yelena chuckled, opening the pack of Steve's nudes.
"I can't be the only one going down. Steve must join me."- James scoffed.
"When did Wanda take these pictures?"- Pietro murmured as he scrolled through his own nudes in the chat.
"I've got some artistic nudes of Elyseas!"- Kitty exclaimed.
"Hey, I'll trade you some racy pics Johnny took of me for a couple of Elyseas'."- Yelena offered.
"Deal!"- Pietro replied before Kitty could.
Yelena raised an eyebrow at him.
"I have Wanda's. We could trade those too."- He added.
"Agatha's or Jean's would probably be more valuable. Those two—and Master Yao—are the most guarded."- James said.
"I've got a few of Jean in underwear, but not fully naked."- Kitty nodded, agreeing with James' assessment.
"If I had nudes of Agatha, I'd probably be in one of the torture rooms by now. I do have some of Master in a swimsuit, though."- Pietro said.
"Nah, we all have those. We were there on Nirm's beaches that time."- Kitty dismissed.
And so the conversation continued for a few minutes. To the Haloans, this was nothing more than a humorous game—a kind of family activity.
[I create a System, and the first thing you gremlins do is exchange nudes? What the fuck? You guys are even posing in some of them.] - Aragorn sent through the chat.
"Hahahaha!"
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!"
And they all burst into laughter.
Given how their sparring sessions often went, losing all manner of clothing was normal, and they'd all seen each other naked at some point.
There was also a culture of sharing memories when referring to events someone hadn't witnessed, so they all had mental archives filled with memories of each other in compromising situations.
Quite literally, they could identify one another by their 'chrysanthemums' if they so wished. This was why Aragorn found it pointless for their first use of the chat system to be sharing nudes.
But to the Haloans, it wasn't about embarrassment or humiliation. It was about sharing their treasured collections of funny, blooper-like moments of one another.
Some of them also shared artistic nudes, which was considered normal for them. They were objectively attractive, and a bit of narcissism was expected. A few of them enjoyed dressing up—or dressing down—and giving an artistic flair to their pictures.
"Poor Master Chief—he's super busy running The System, only for these deviants to use it to share their collections. I'll write that down."- Spark said with a smile. She was pleased with all the data she was gathering.
"Let's take a look at the chat!"- She grinned.
________________________________________
TheShineDragon: [By the way, what are you doing with my body? Sometimes I get some strange feedback.]
343Guilty2B: [Little sister took both yours and the Madame's body, I believe she is running some tests and scans, for her studies.]
CarinaStars: [The Princess took them to her lab.]
BuckysFairy: [Last I saw, there was some probing involved.]
SexiestRedCat: [Did she ask permission to take Aragorn's virginity?]
TheShineDragon: [The hell?! Seraph please don't probe your father's asshole!]
RampagingCortana: [I checked, you didn't make an asshole for your draconic form. T.T]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Babygirl, please don't probe mine, that's for your father to probe, not you.]
RampagingCortana: [...]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Baygirl?]
RampagingCortana: [Fine >:{ ]
GoddessOfDragons: [Can someone send me Mom's pics?]
RampagingCortana: [Here you go.]
MargaRed.mem
GoddessOfDragons: [Thank you for the memory, Seraph!]
RampagingCortana: [✌︎︎♡⃛]
SexiestRedCat: [Why is it named like that?]
TheShineDragon: [Margaret in Red lingerie = MargaRed.]
SexiestRedCat: [Oh, I prefer black. It's my color.]
ImperatrixFox: [White for me.]
DarthKitty: [Black.]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Dark green.]
GoddessOfLust: [Edible.]
PrincessFox1237: [Yelena, what does edible mean?]
GoddessOfLust: [Is the type that you can eat, the color doesn't matter much to me.]
PrincessFox1237: [O.O]
ImperatrixFox: [I'll teach you later, Daughter.]
TheShineDragon: [Don't corrupt Mindee. I prefer black for me.]
DarthKitty: [Eh? That's strange, I thought you wouldn't care about what color the Madame wore.]
TheShineDragon: [I meant to wear on my female bodies.]
DarthKitty: [Ah! I see... Pics?]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Here.]
BlackThongNThighsOnly6439.pic
Butler: [The 6,439th pic?! Damn!]
RampagingCortana: [That's too many pictures.]
343Guilty2B: [Interesting.]
GoddessOfLust: [You should see how many @Irina has.]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [... It's for documentation purposes.]
DarthKitty: [Is the serious maid a secret pervert? -_-]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [No. Seraph asked me to take pictures of the Young Master once, I liked the pictures so I kept taking more. It's a hobby now, but I'm not a voyeur.]
TheShineDragon: [How many do you have? Not that I mind. I remember I posed for some of those with Noona.]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [I don't know, Young Master. I don't keep count.]
GoddessOfLust: [Like a million.]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [I don't think so, and you probably have like that many of Mr. Storm.]
GoddessOfLust: [Bitch please! (In Fury's voice) Those are rookie numbers. (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)]
343Guilty2B: [689,852 pictures, I just checked.]
TheShineDragon: [... That many?]
GoddessOfLust: [XD HAHAHAHA!]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Me! Me! I want them!]
ImperatrixFox: [+1]
DarthKitty: [+2]
GoddessOfLust: [+3]
CarinaStars: [+4]
DemonQueen: [+5, There's a bit of lag in Hell.]
TheShineDragon: [Good catch, let me fix that. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧]
Butler: [+6]
TheShineDragon: [Et tu, Brute?]
Butler: [Well, I like your female body, the older one. I bet the pictures are more artistic than racy.]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [They are, I prefer the artistic type of nudes.]
TheShineDragon: [Fair enough, I also like my female body.]
BigTittyGothGirl: [... My Love?]
TheShineDragon: [Of course, no more than I like yours, Noona.]
FastestIncubusAlive: [Insert Whip Sounds here.]
TheShineDragon: [Wandabus, control your dog!]
OlderSister: [+7]
Firebird: [+8, What's with that username, Maddy? <(ꐦㅍ _ㅍ)>]
OlderSister: [Nothing much... sister.]
Firebird: [Why do I feel like you wanted to add something before the 'sister'?]
343Guilty2B: [I created a chat room for nudes sharing, you can also use the Exchange if you want to sell your collection.]
RampagingCortana: [We can use the auction function in the Exchange.]
DarthKitty: [Oh, that reminds me! I plan to open a credit line for Favors.]
Firebird: [Booooh!]
DemonQueen: [Booooh!]
Butler: [Booooh!]
GoddessOfLust: [Booooh!]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [Booooh!]
SexiestRedCat: [Capitalist scum! ╭∩╮( •̀_•́ )╭∩╮]
DarthKitty: [What's wrong with these dirt poor commies?]
TheShineDragon: [Maybe it's because you are the 1%, what's the point of having that many Favors and never using them? I should start taxing you, I'm the government!]
DarthKitty: [Hey, Spark already taxes me enough!]
ImperatrixFox: [That's true. slowly but surely we are recouping the money.]
TheShineDragon: [I'm the source of the Favor's value, I don't think there's much 'recouping' you can do.]
ImperatrixFox: [Maybe, but what will you do with the Favors? Grant yourself a favor?]
TheShineDragon: [... You have a point. You and Spark can keep taxing the virgin cat.]
DarthKitty: [That's it! ⁽⁽(੭ꐦ •̀Д•́ )੭*⁾⁾]
TheShineDragon: [Heh, What will you do about it?]
DarthKitty: [You've received an invitation for the private chat 'Join my rebellion and get paid in Favors', click here to join.]
SexiestRedCat: [Like how many Favors?]
DarthKitty: [One for joining, the rest is up to performance with a maximum of five.]
SexiestRedCat: [Nice, I'm in!]
ImperatrixFox: [+1]
GoddessOfLust: [+2]
BunnyMaidOfFire: [+3]
TheShineDragon: [...]
DemonQueen: [+4]
FoxWitch: [+5]
FoxSorcerer: [+6]
FastestIncubusAlive: [+7]
Firebird: [+8, Phoenix might agree to join.]
TheShineDragon: [(⊙ _ ⊙ )]
OlderSister: [+9, I've got to help my... sister.]
Firebird: [... You... Sigh]
OlderSister: [☺]
RampagingCortana: [+10, Mother, Join us!]
TheShineDragon: [(ó﹏ò｡)]
BigTittyGothGirl: [Sorry, Babygirl, I will be here with your father for a few hundred thousand years, I don't think I can help you... On that matter, how will you even rebel against my dragon when he is currently unavailable?]
DarthKitty: [... Damn it!]
TheShineDragon: [HAHAHAHA! ( ≖‿ ≖ )]
SexiestRedCat: [So no Favors?]
DarthKitty: [We can start planning now for when Aragorn returns, meaning you can join either way, but you'll only be paid the joining bonus.]
Butler: [Kitty if I join and have the rest of my wives join, will I get a better joining bonus?]
DarthKitty: [Half a Favor for each extra wife aside Natalia, you can also have your kitten join.]
Butler: [+11, Consider it done, I'll tell Vladarion.]
GoddessOfDragons: [If Vlad is joining, so will I, +12.]
TheShineDragon: [Is it because you love the kitten?]
GoddessOfDragons: [W-What are you on about?]
BigTittyGothGirl: [I will ask Mistress Love about it.]
GoddessOfDragons: [N-No! That's not fair!]
Butler: [I'm proud of my boy, I will tell Steve the good news.]
GoddessOfDragons: [Shut up, father-in-law!]
TheShineDragon: [⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡]
BigTittyGothGirl: [I don't need to ask now.♡]
DarthKitty: [Heh.]
SexiestRedCat: [I'll talk to Peggy.]
GoddessOfLust: [Sarah, you can come to me for the advice that your mom and dad won't give you.]
SexiestRedCat: [Shut it, Yelena!]
Butler: [How do I file for a restraining order?]
343Guilty2B: [This is valuable data.]
________________________________________
(CarinaStars, is the girl they rescued from The Collector during Kitty's space adventure.)
________________________________________
"Hehe. Valuable data, indeed!"- Spark giggled.
"You're probably more perverted than me. Are you sure you don't want my divinities?"- Yelena asked the giggling Spark.
"No, you've got it wrong. This is all just documentation and data gathering—no lust on my end."- Spark defended herself.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."- Yelena quipped.
"By the way, Yelena, your guys have been focusing too much on gathering. Is there a reason for that?"- Spark asked, sending Yelena a comparative graph of the different tribes and how they spent their time.
"Ah, that was my idea."
"Please elaborate."
"So, we aren't going to start intervening in full force until they develop agriculture, right?"
Spark nodded in affirmation.
"I figured, since I can't tell them about agriculture outright, I could manipulate the conditions so that an interest in flora develops naturally. That's why I told them I like plants and fruits. Now they dedicate part of their day to gathering offerings for me in exchange for a fertility blessing.
"I figured sooner or later they'd find the process inefficient, and a genius caveman might come up with the idea of taking care of a fruit tree or something like that—ergo, starting the agricultural revolution."- Yelena concluded.
"... That's surprisingly well thought of you."- Spark commented.
"That's rude, I'm practical-smart."- Yelena glared.
"Maybe, but how can I know that if you only use your brain to play around and discover different forms of pervertedness."- Spark nonchalantly replied.
"..."- Yelena found an interesting start to gaze at.
"... Don't tell me... There was a perverted motive behind this too?"- Spark widened her eyes.
"... I'm the Goddess of Lust—that's the goal—they are so busy fucking just to keep up their numbers that there is little lust, at least not the type of lust born from boredom, creativity, and luxury.
"Caveman sees first blood, caveman likes. That's the summary of their mating rituals, no love, no drama, no fight, no effort—aside from the effort required to live—no flare, just straight-out natural coitus, no creativity, boring.
"There's not even anal sex or blowjobs, or titty jobs—which is the basics—just vaginal penetration and the women care more about their intake of milk than pleasure. I've seen these girls keep a deadpan during the act and then beam a bright smile when they check their coochies dripping with their partner's semen. Fucking boring!
"It's like watching Animal Planet!"- Yelena exclaimed.
"Is there more to this, Yelena? You're awfully agitated about the sex life of mortals."- Spark asked, sounding like a trained psychologist.
"Sigh... It's about Johnny. We agreed that no men were allowed, but I could play with my sisters if I later shared the memories with him."
"That's somewhat reasonable, considering you'll be apart for so long."- Spark commented.
"But I'm not gay, so what's the point? I thought about relieving myself while watching them—my cavepeople—go at it, or maybe even the Young Master, for that matter."
"I see. And that's not working out for you. On one side, the cavepeople are like animals; on the other, the Master Chief and the Madame don't engage in sex in our proximity. That leaves you with James' harem and Steve's marriage. There's also the fae and merpeople, but they wouldn't take it kindly to have you spying on them."- Spark surmised.
"Yeah, but it's weird to fantasize about James because I've known him since before Aragorn saved us, and also because their harem doesn't accept outsiders. And Steve and Margaret are probably the only normal relationship we'll ever see in The Crystal."- Yelena sighed in disappointment.
"Have you tried porn?"- Spark asked.
"Ugh, the resolution sucks! It's like 360p is the best they could do."- Yelena complained.
"That was the case. Remember, the technological revolution only began when Stark and the Master Chief introduced the new line of smart devices. Before that, Hydra kept a tight grip on tech."- Spark explained.
"Fucking Hydra! They're so useless!"- Yelena shouted to the heavens.
"Why don't you alter your ego a tiny bit?"- Spark suggested.
"What does that mean?"- Yelena questioned.
"Make yourself homosexual for the foreseeable future. You can undo the change later when we return."
"That's... weirdly logical. I don't know, though. Should I? Won't I stay a lesbian if I have all those memories of lesbian sex after I reverse the modification?"- Yelena asked hesitantly.
"Maybe? Who knows? The other option is to ask the Master Chief for some of their memories during intercourse, but I have a feeling their type of sex isn't what you're looking for."- Spark mused aloud.
"... I can imagine them going all hentai-tentacles and eldritch on each other. Is abstinence my future?"- Yelena wept.
"Why did you decide to continue such a relationship? The logical step would have been to take a break or outright break up."
"... I loved what we had. Johnny was like me, and we understood each other."- Yelena said with a faint smile.
"302,025 years apart is no small number. It's inconceivable for a human to grasp how long that is. Do you think he could have abstained that long for you? Mortals can't even fathom a century. I doubt either of you truly understood what that timeframe meant."- Spark remarked.
"So what are you saying? Should I cheat?"- Yelena grimaced.
"Yes and no, just go about it as if Mr. Storm didn't exist, then you come clean when you return. You'll be an entirely different Yelena by then, who knows if you'll even want to continue, besides, what you had was not a formal relationship."- Spark replied.
"... I think I'll hold on as far as I can, it's been almost four centuries, I'll try to hold on for a bit longer."- Yelena replied as if trying to convince herself.
"You'll have our support either way... and also more children will come, and when these grow up you could get off from watching them, Vladarion and Sarah are an example of this."- Spark added.
"You are right... Maybe I just have to hold long enough, and if I fail I'll just tell Johnny."- Yelena smiled as if reaching an acceptable decision.
"Good. Please help me by sharing your method, I want to see if we can influence them to bring the agricultural era sooner. I prefer not waiting 290,000 years."- Spark requested Yelena's assistance.
"Oh? So you think so as well?"- Yelena asked.
"Yes, preferably I would like to start before Mount Toba's eruption. In around 226,000 years."- Spark replied.
"Leave it to me, I'll get it going as soon as they form a homogeneous species. I'm gonna start blessing these apes so much they'll get horny even for Kitty!"- Yelena excitedly exclaimed.
"Poor cat, but that's great."- Spark chuckled.
________________________________________
One thousand years later...
The first to ascend to divinity was Yao—not because of her great number of believers (not that she lacked them)—but because she was the closest Haloan to the goal. Her ascension could almost entirely be credited to her hard work, dedication to Sorcery, and only minimally to her believers.
Aside from gaining another tail—bringing her total to seven—there was no other outward change. Deities are not vastly different from mortals, so it was expected that she would remain largely unchanged. In fact, were it not for Aragorn's love for 'romance', she might not have gained another tail at all.
Unmistakably, on the metaphysical level, she had become an entirely different being. Her soul gained a new source of energy, one that, unlike her core, was uniquely and wholly hers.
Madelyne, as the resident 'expert' on divinity in Gaea's absence, took it upon herself to help Yao adapt to her new status. Kaguya also contributed, so for the following century or two, Yao spent most of her time between Abeyance and the Chakra Dimension—Kaguya's home.
Her followers, after receiving her blessing—a genuine blessing, not the mock blessings dispensed by Haloans in the absence of real divinity—became the designated shamans of the Imperium.
The tribe of shamans undertook the mission of walking the lands of the Imperium, leaving an ordained shaman in every friendly tribe they encountered as a point of contact. This initiative would later be known as the first step toward macro-organization.
The benefits of having a shaman in a tribe became evident within just a few years. A shaman provided insight into weather changes, tides, migratory habits of megafauna, access to elemental sorcery—fire, wind, water, earth, and light—aid with common diseases, and many other advantages that, while not monumental, meant everything to the primitive tribes.
The second to ascend was Wanda, primarily because demons loved her as much as they feared her. Being non-demonic in nature, Wanda did not compete with the demon rabble for ownership of souls. Instead, she liberated the souls Mephisto had previously claimed.
However, 'liberated' might not be the right term—she set the souls free, but only within Hell. This freedom often resulted in their re-capture by demons inhabiting her Hell, which earned Wanda favor among them.
Duke Blaze, the Ghost Rider, spread rumors that Death was Wanda's stepmother and Aragorn her father. Why this arrangement? Because Agatha was considered her mother, and Blaze was not bold enough to declare Aragorn her lover in Death's presence. Thus, the Demonic Royal Family tree was made public. Wanda's sinful relationship with Pietro only enhanced her reputation among demons.
Why was Duke Blaze spreading these rumors? Because the demons feared two beings most in Hell: the dragon that breathed conceptual death and the being that had defeated the Council of Red. After the rumors spread, Blaze calmly claimed that the Demon Queen's father had gifted her the throne to ensure her ascension as the Goddess of Chaos and Hell.
Arrogance is a shared trait among beings of immense power, and demons, accustomed to eons under Mephisto's oppressive rule, began to speculate:
What would happen if the Queen failed to ascend?
What if they were blamed?
Would the Queen's father punish them for not worshipping her?
What if her stepmother decided to intervene?
Faced with such questions, the demons, out of fear, prayed fervently to their Demon Queen every night.
"Just as planned."- Duke Blaze cackled madly, his skull aflame, upon receiving Wanda's confirmation of her ascension.
The third and fourth to join the divine ranks were Agatha and Pietro, through their association with Wanda.
The fifth was Yelena, and the sixth—within the same year—was Irina. Yelena's and Irina's tribes were neighbors across a wide river. This river, which would later be known as the Panama Canal—or so it would have been—linked the two tribes, which were considered sister tribes.
Why? Because Yelena and Irina claimed to be sisters. Since each tribe worshipped one of them, they developed an amicable relationship.
Both tribes, however, despised Kitty's tribe. Kitty, with her penchant for stirring trouble, incited her tribe to raid theirs. Being larger in number, Kitty's tribe often forced the other two tribes to unite against it.
This animosity was not without reason—not entirely. Yelena's and Irina's tribes were of a different species than Kitty's, and Aragorn instructed that they should mix.
And what have been humanity's two universal methods for mixing races? Invasion and war spoils.
Invasion was not viable in this case, as neither group would willingly allow the other into their numbers. War spoils, however, were. Kitty incited her tribe to raid and capture members of the other tribes, ensuring eventual racial integration.
Of course, the sister tribes retaliated in kind and they also began to capture members of Kitty's tribe. Once again, racial integration was promoted.
Seventh was Kitty, though she almost had a heart attack when Madelyne informed her that, aside from Law and Adventure, she also had a seed for the divinity of Chastity. In the end, Kitty decisively got rid of the accursed thing with a little help from Spark, who was curious about it. As a result, her Chastity seed died before it could bloom.
James was the eighth. As the God of Shadows, Fear, and Evil, it was natural for him to have an abundance of believers, mainly those who worshipped him out of fear of retaliation.
James chose the divinity of Shadows because it matched his affinity. Fear and Evil came out of necessity—the necessity of their budding pantheon. It would have been disastrous if a God of Fear or Evil from another pantheon attacked them, and they had no divinity of their own to protect them.
From there, all the Haloans stationed on Earth ascended.
Once this was achieved, Jean returned from her outpost in Hell. As the avatar of the Aspect of Rebirth, she was in charge of creating the proto-reincarnation cycle that would move souls from Earth's Imperium to The Ark's Imperium. Aragorn had already set a temporary system to manually migrate souls, but it was never meant to be permanent, so it wouldn't have been able to handle a heavy flow of souls.
By this time, the environment in The Ark had developed enough to sustain sentient life, though it was still somewhat simple. However, that would be fixed with time.
With the arrival of more souls, thanks to Jean's reincarnation cycle, the Haloans stationed on The Ark began their ascension respectively.
What followed for the mortals would be known as the Dark Ages of Homogeneity—a period marked by constant warring and the clashing of clans serving the separate deities of the Drachantheon Therion (The Dragon's Pantheon of Beasts). This era would end with the formal establishment of the said pantheon.
During the Dark Ages of Homogeneity, conflict was the way of life. Homo sapiens, Neanderthalensis, Denisovans, and Heidelbergensis fought for supremacy and the grace of the divine.
Multiple tribes and clans came and went, as the only constant was the presence of the undying deities—the same deities that had accompanied the Imperium since its conception. They sheltered, educated, guided, helped, and cared for the inhabitants of the Imperium from the very beginning.
These ages would be known as the Dark Ages because there was almost no progress whatsoever aside from warfare. This era would serve as a shameful reminder of how something as banal as racial discrimination shackled the Imperium for almost 224,000 years. In the same way, it would remind the Imperium of how progress ultimately ended this era and secured the love of the divines.
Agriculture—that's what kicked off the end of the Dark Ages of Homogeneity.
Around the beginning of 76,000 BCE, in an attempt to woo Yelena, the Goddess of Lust and Ice, Kav'Juhus—the first exalted mortal in the North Scale of Light—began cultivating the plant that would give rise to Solanum tuberosum (the potato).
In doing so, he singlehandedly ushered in the era of Divine Guidance. His legacy includes not only Agriculture and a better era but also the first deity of mortal ancestry—Luxena, the Goddess of Agriculture and Celestial Stars—conceived in Yelena's womb. Sadly, he didn't survive after a week-long session with Yelena. He moved on to the second stop—The Ark—where his legend continued.
With agriculture beginning the era of Divine Guidance, the species of Homogeneity was born: the Duskari, consisting of two races—Noctelvi and Lucelvi.
The Noctelvi were the inheritors of the original color of the four progenitor species, while the Lucelvi adapted to the lack of natural light during the glacial and interglacial eras. Together, these two races made up the Duskari, the Dusk People—those who lived between Light and Dark.
Shortly before agriculture began, Aragorn and Death, the heads of the Drachantheon Therion, returned.
It was thanks to Aragorn that the Duskari were born. Aragorn and his selves 'blessed' every birth for almost 1,500 years, which led to the consolidation of the two races of the Duskari.
Although mortals and future historians would interpret it as a blessing, in reality, Aragorn was using his biokinesis on the zygotes to select and enhance his desired traits. Taller frames, stronger muscle tissue, denser bones without losing buoyancy, larger lungs, more potent hearts, faster synaptic responses, better eyesight, more resilient and fairer skin, healthier hair, leaner forms, sharper hearing, a more aggressive immune system—these were just a few of the changes he made.
Aragorn would later confess that perhaps he had gone a bit too far, since, by the end, he had guided the birth of an entirely different species than the Homo sapiens they had all expected.
The Noctelvi were dark—not brownish-dark like the darker humans, but black-dark. They all had long, straight hair in white tones, and their irises were of lighter colors, a pale palette.
The Lucelvi were pale white, almost the color of Death's skin. They were also straight-haired, but their hair was black, and their irises were intense in color.
Reproduction between both races was possible, but the race of the offspring was determined by the mother. This factor supported the idea that the Duskari were a different species from humans, as interracial births are usually influenced by both parents.
"These are weird human-elves, not humans."- Yelena muttered while reading a report.
"... It was not my original intention, I must say."- Aragorn sheepishly replied, resting on her lap in his honey-badger form.
"I'm not complaining, I don't think any of us are. They are better than expected."- Yelena said, running her fingers through his scaled back.
"But they don't have pointy ears, so not elves."- Aragorn tried to argue.
"Aragorn, they are fair, lean, tall, have jade skin—and I hate to use that term—straight hair in different colors, are magically adept, smart, fast, have sharp senses, and this is just what's obvious. I don't know what else is hidden. It's like a combination of different elf traits from different fictions. Just because they don't have sharp, pointy ears doesn't mean they aren't elves."- Yelena declared.
"... I guess they do resemble our Elyseas. But I was aiming for high humans. You can consider them high humans that come in two different skins."- Aragorn said, purring under Yelena's touch.
"That's another thing: why black and white?"- Yelena lifted him from her lap, placed one of her frondous white tails under him, and covered Aragorn with another tail, leaving only his head exposed.
"This is heaven."- Aragorn purred.
"So, I like white and black women, appearance-wise. But then, when black and white humans started mixing, these people, who were almost white but with some features of black humans, were born. I had no problem with them—the best of both worlds, right?
"But then everybody started claiming the race card just because they had black ancestry. It was confusing. Like, if your skin is almost white, do you still get to claim the race card just because your grandfather's uncle was black? Well, I never cared about race. Then I became racist toward the entirety of humanity, but it still confused me."
"So you made them permanently black or white?"- Yelena asked, amused. She found Aragorn's motivations as selfish and amusing as he was.
"Sort of. I was working on some genetic markers in their life code related to their nails. It always bothered me that humans' nails were so flimsy, so I wondered if I could make them stronger or outright get rid of them—nails are useless unless they're like mine.
"While working on that, I identified one of the markers that influenced humans' skin tone merging abilities. One thing led to another, and I ended up with a genome that enhanced the structure of the nails and also made skin tone exclusive. I had already worked hard on making nails functional, and I didn't want to start over. That's how the Noctelvi and Lucelvi came to be."- Aragorn pleasantly vibrated in the fluffy heaven of Yelena's tails.
"That's a wild ride of a story. Let's just write in the Divinicon that you blessed them with the representativity of you and your wife, Light and Dark."- Yelena stated.
"Will the Lucelvi be to me as the Noctelvi to Noona?"- Aragorn asked.
"Yeah. You don't like it?"- Yelena asked, sensing something amiss through her empathy.
"I sort of like the Noctelvi better."- Aragorn meekly said.
"And the reason?"
"Black was my favorite color."
"... Please don't tell me it's because it's edgy."
"Fine, I won't tell you."
"~Pfft! Hahahahaha! Aragorn, you idiot."- Yelena laughed while smothering Aragorn in her tails.
"Fine. I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Now my favorite color is one for which no language has a word."- Aragorn said, his eyes seeing All, encompassing the entire EM spectrum and beyond.
"Why don't you give it a name?"- Yelena suggested.
"Even if only I, and maybe The Aniki, can see it?"
"Sure, why not?"
Aragorn stared at her with his unblinking pink and golden eyes and his white third eye.
"... Yelena."
"What?"
"That is the name of my favorite color."
"... You can be awfully cute sometimes."- Yelena said, lifting Aragorn with her tails and planting a smooch on his closed third eye.
"I try my best. By the way, where's Luxena? I haven't seen her for half a century."- Aragorn inquired.
"She's in The Ark. She went to spend a few centuries with Mindee and some of her followers who took the second stop."- Yelena said.
"She's the closest of us to her followers. Maybe it has to do with her father's mortality."- Aragorn commented.
"Yes, I think so too. Although she's also affected by the difference in life level, somehow she's closer to her believers than most of us."- Yelena affirmed.
"What became of Kav'Juhus?"- Aragorn asked.
"Wow, you remembered his name!"- Yelena's eyes popped.
"Well, that guy isn't just a mortal; he's a legend."- Aragorn scoffed.
"Why? Just because I laid with him?"- Yelena narrowed her eyes.
"That's just the cherry on the cake. He, by his own might, started agriculture just because he wanted to get laid with the Goddess of Lust. He convinced you to give him your all—"
"That's because he said he didn't mind dying and moving to the second stop in that way! Not my fault!"- Yelena exclaimed.
"—in bed, and he died after a week at it. His actions brought about a fundamentally better era. His one-week-long time with you impregnated you, and Luxena came to be—the first of the deities with mortal ancestry. Honestly, that guy isn't a god just because he doesn't have a receptacle for the faith he earned. Of course, I remember his name."- Aragorn said, nodding in approval.
"... He's in Abeyance. He died a few centuries ago."- Yelena chose not to comment further.
"Did you know? Emma said he became the founder of the first duchy in The Ark. He took one of The Ark's four main wings for his duchy. His legend will probably continue in Abeyance."- Aragorn giggled at Yelena's exasperation.
(Four Main Wings, Four Sub-Wings.)
"Let's drop this topic here. What's the next step? Agriculture is as advanced as it can go in this stone age. Should we introduce metals or maybe more advanced forms of magic aside from the elemental type?"- Yelena inquired.
"No, we won't teach them more magic for now. I'll have Yao give them a skeleton for sorcery based on our magic system. I want them to develop magic following our casting form, but nothing more than that. What comes next is the Iron Age, the development of better medicine, and the upgrade of their primitive societal organization."
"Wait! Iron Age? What about the Bronze Age?"
"If they use elemental sorcery, they won't face the challenges humans did. It made no sense to subject them to it."- Aragorn claimed.
"... That makes sense. Was that your objective all along?"- Yelena asked.
"Yes, but the idea was sparked when Yao mentioned teaching her people basic sorcery. Besides, the Bronze Age won't help the Imperium that much."- Aragorn rationalized.
"I see. And the upgrade in their society?"
"They live longer than humans but have about the same propagation rate. We'll be left with no space if we don't start population management now. The Imperium's territory is somewhat limited."
"About 200 more years in lifespan isn't that much of an upgrade. It makes sense their fertility wasn't as strikingly affected as ours."- Yelena commented.
"You guys aren't giving me more grandchildren because you're taking care of yourselves, not because your fertility is as limited as it seems."- Aragorn grumbled.
"We've learned to appreciate time. Since we're immortal, we have all the chance in the world to bring about more cubs, so we're taking our time."- Yelena said sagely.
"If you really got a better handle on the time scale of your lifespans, you'd understand that spending some measly 20 years raising a cub isn't a big sacrifice. So, go! Bring me another one! You can do it! Go! Go!"- Aragorn used his magic to create an illusion of a billboard of light reading 'Go! Go!'
"Settle down, idiot Master."- Yelena chuckled.
"By the way, when will you spit out Kitty and Seraph?"
"When they learn their lesson!"- Aragorn grumbled.
"... I can't think of any defense for them, but they've been in your stomach for 1,500 years now. I know Seraph is alright—her messages say so—but Kitty is bound to go crazier from boredom. I don't think we can handle an even crazier Kitty."- Yelena said, expressing her concern.
"Maybe, but I still don't understand what drove them to build a 'Lazy Nook' in my stomach during the absence of my mind."- Aragorn said, shaking his head.
"Seraph discovered the vast pocket void in your stomach, so she created a lab to study it more comfortably. Then Kitty found the lab and decided to turn part of it into their 'Lazy Nook'."- Yelena explained, listing the events that led to the odd outcome.
"No, I understand the sequence of events. I just don't get why they thought it was a good idea. When I returned, I expected rebellion from Kitty—but to find her, and most of you guys, planning a rebellion while in my stomach? That makes no sense, and I'm not even a faithful practitioner of logic."- Aragorn said, half glaring at Yelena before burying his head in her fluff.
"We were there for the promised Favors."- Yelena claimed matter-of-factly.
"Whatever. You know I don't care how many coups you guys throw at me, but I still have to teach those rebellious girls a lesson... I'll set them free next year."- Aragorn declared.
"That's good. Their followers have been pleading with us to intercede on their behalf."- Yelena chuckled, recalling the heartfelt appeals of the believers.
"Were they mad that I ate them?"- Aragorn asked.
"No, they just accepted it as divinely normal when we told them Kitty and Seraph were alive and well. The fact that they're still receiving their oracles through the P-Links their priests carry made them understand that everything was fine."- Yelena said with a smirk.
"Uhm, how are you handling the P-Links?"- Aragorn asked in interest.
"Each of us can allocate three P-Links, but normally we only give them two and keep the third one in reserve."- Yelena explained as she pulled her reserve P-Link from her storage.
"That's better, but if your believers increase and it becomes unmanageable, you can allocate more, up to seven should be fine. I just don't want to give them easy access to too many privileges."- Aragorn suggested.
"So that's why you allowed them limited access to The System."- Yelena surmised.
"Yes, my hope is for them to develop a form of sorcery based on ours, so that we can then use their spells as inspiration for our magic system."- Aragorn disclosed.
"Ugh, void energy is a rebellious bitch. It is unmalleable; it's a pain to give it form and directives. The biggest breakthrough I've made is a spell to remove friction. Hundreds of thousands of years, and that's all I have to show for it."- Yelena said, burying her face in shame in the bundle of dragon and tails.
"I can't say it's not disappointing to a certain extent. But it was an impossible task from the beginning. It's like showing mortals electricity and then asking them to learn how to cast magic with it. Unreasonable, right?"- Aragorn comforted her.
"If you put it like that, then I feel like a genius fox. Then I remember that Master (Yao) developed 13 spells, and that's enough to bring my recently risen ego back down."- Yelena said with a distant look.
"Don't mind it, Yelena. It really is difficult. Me, my selves, and I have only been able to replicate basic sorcery. Taking my computing power into consideration, it's like giving a modern human—able-bodied and sound of mind—a box of matches, and then dropping him in the middle of a dry forest during summer to set the thing on fire, only to return a week later and find that he hadn't been able to do it."- Aragorn said in self-deprecation.
"You say that, and you're the origin of void energy. It really paints a bleak future for the rest of us."- Yelena said, shaking her head.
"Now imagine that I consider void energy tame compared to Void energy."- Aragorn replied, mimicking her and shaking his head.
"That's like Abstract-level bleak."- Yelena remarked.
"... Yeah, let's ignore it for now. Let's lift our spirits by taking our cute savages out of the Stone Age and into the Iron Age!"- Aragorn exclaimed, locking away his problems in the deepest recesses of his mind.
"Problem-solving at its best!"- Yelena added, equally eager to leave the previous topic behind.
Aragorn transformed into his humanoid form, this time taking the shape of a little girl. Yelena lifted him in a hug, and Aragorn teleported them to the surface, specifically to the sister tribes.
"Young Master."- Irina greeted him upon their arrival.
Around them, the mortals observed with unbound curiosity. For them, accustomed to living alongside the deities they worshipped, meeting Aragorn—one of the most reclusive 'deities,' who usually appeared only briefly to signal the successful impregnation of a female—was a matter of novelty, especially in a setting that didn't involve pregnancies.
Earlier that day, Irina had informed the sister tribes about a summon from Aragorn for a matter of guidance. Guidance was what they recognized as a form of collective blessing.
Over the years, they had come to understand that the divine blessed them in three forms: Material Blessings, Individual Blessings, and Collective Blessings.
Material Blessings were tangible in nature, ranging from simple gifts like a seed for a new plant to more complex items like a P-Link.
Individual Blessings were metaphysical and typically awarded to individuals who performed great actions for the benefit of the collective or pleased their deities. These could range from a boost in health to more complex blessings, such as the ability to always be alerted to an incoming emergency.
Collective Blessings usually involved the granting of knowledge that benefited the whole tribe—safer ways to deliver children, healthier methods for obtaining nutrition, changes in the interglacial or glacial era, more efficient paths for growing crops, and so on.
Central America—specifically Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama—was not famously known for its reserves of minerals and ore deposits. They weren't absent, but they were not abundant either. If Aragorn had waited for them to naturally discover iron ore, he might have had to wait five or ten generations. Fortunately for him, he found iron-rich marine black sands nearby.
Aragorn instructed them to board their rafts while he and his maids hovered and guided them to the chosen location. For them, seeing their deities fly was not something to send smoke signals about.
"This is the place."- Aragorn spoke in the local language.
While the official language of the Imperium was English, their naming conventions followed Latin, something Aragorn had advocated for.
As with all languages, this one had mutated and evolved to suit the populations and generations. The result was a mix of Latin, English, local vernacular, gesticulations, Greek, and bits of every other language their deities used.
However, due to the presence of a clear reference—their deities—the language hadn't changed much over time. An English speaker could probably understand about 60% of what they heard. Considering that the Imperium was now over 200,000 years old, that was remarkable.
"I will teach you about metal. My hope is for you to use it in your agricultural development, but know that it can be used for countless other purposes."- Aragorn's voice reverberated unnaturally, even without vocalization.
He waved his tail, and a sizable chunk of iron-rich sand detached from the confines of gravity.
"You need three spell programs for the production of metal. The first is of wind attribute: Ventiflamma Hydrogenium. You normally use this one as an enhancer for fire attribute attacks."- Aragorn explained, showing them a familiar magic circle, a wind attribute spell that maniplated the present atmospheric conditions to increase the hydrogen concentration and grant it a flow and direction.
Nods of understanding and murmurs of approval followed.
"The second spell is Igniblasta Fornax, commonly used to burn bodies and in close-quarter combat."- Another spell circle materialized. This one was of pure fire attribute, it manifested an intense constant stream of fire, the stream didn't seperate farther from the caster. The flame was a bright blue color.
"You use these two in sustained application. You can take turns if your inner reserves don't suffice."- Aragorn blasted the black sand with both spells.
"For better results, you can use limestone."- Aragorn shared with them a memory of what limestone was.
"You keep at it until the slag starts to float on top. At this point, you use the third spell, the wind attribute Aërolevitas. You normally use this to mimic our telekinesis."- Aragorn activated the third spell and used it to remove the slag from the mixture.
"You'll get gases and water as byproducts. Be careful with the gases, you could be poisoned to death."- Aragorn pointed to the vapor.
'This doesn't match what I knew of iron casting.'- Yelena said in his mind.
'The method you're thinking of is the one that uses coke, but the Panama Isthmus is a very young land, geologically speaking. Mineral coal formation primarily began during the Carboniferous Period (about 359–299 million years ago), this land bridge was formed during the Pliocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era, approximately 3 million years ago.'- Aragorn replied.
'Ah, I get it. You don't want them to cut down trees to make charcoal as a substitute for mineral coal.'- Yelena said.
'Yes, the hydrogen should suffice as a reducing agent instead of coke, it's cleaner. And as you can imagine, this is not the most optimal process for iron casting, but I'm giving them a raw version to optimize.'- Aragorn added.
"Your responsibility is to find a use for the slag and the other byproducts, as well as to work on improving the recipe I just gave you."- Aragorn commented.
He then speedran the process with his powers, and in the end, he was left with a hoe. Cast iron was definitely not the best metalwork for a hoe; it was heavy and brittle, but compared to the stone heads they had been using, the tool was godly.
After that, he patiently instructed them to try it out so that he could personally guide them. Irina and Yelena hunted a megatherium and a titanis for them because Aragorn believed it would take them at least a week to get the hang of it.
About a week later, their efforts culminated in a shoddy hoe. It wasn't much, but it was something. With proof of concept in hand, bright smiles, and an uplifting mood, the Duskari returned to their sister tribes.
Aragorn left them in Irina and Yelena's hands and then moved on to the current goddess-less tribe of Kitty. He taught them in the same way and then proceeded to the next tribe. He continued this for about a year before freeing Kitty and Seraph from their time-out.
"..."- Seraph hovered next to Aragorn with a massive pout. She grew a thin tail-like limb and used it to whip at her father in protest while not facing him.
"..."- Kitty, for her part, was vibrating like a Nokia 3310. Her eyes swam madly, her hands shook violently, and her fur was scraggly.
"What a drama queen."- Aragorn landed a heavy hand on her head and began petting the maniacal cat.
"Fuck you."- Kitty murmured, but otherwise didn't fight the hand atop her head.
"I've missed you too."- Aragorn smiled and shared his :Love: with her.
"Fuck you."- Kitty replied and shared back her :HateLove:.
Kitty and Seraph joined Aragorn, and about three years later the Stone Age officially ended in the Imperium, approximately 64,000 years before humanity's Stone Age—Wakanda aside.
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{A/N:
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}