Chapter 118: A Deity's Plaything.

"Go ahead…ask."

The words sing like music to my ears. My heart flutters happily as Lotar utters just the right set of words I've been dying to hear; access granted to pursue the depthless truth that I seek.

First.

"How exactly did I meet Phien and Ferth? I don't even know who Ferth is, haven't heard of him either."

Ferth is a name first spoke by the very wolf lounging underneath the tree. Lotar shrugs, now taken to peeling what looks like a tangerine in its restless hands.

"I told you, Ferth is the twin of Anera herself, not my fault you don't know anything about him." It drawls.

Resisting the urge to bite back I repeat myself, "Right, of course, but who is he? And how did I meet him?"

Taking a huge bite into the fruit the Wolf chews without care and disgustingly talks as well, "How else would you meet a God of Death? You died."

…

Wait. I've only ever died…once. Yes, Lotar is certainly talking about my past life.

Remembering to take a breath I quickly ask my follow ups. "You Gods, you exist even in my world? In my old world?"

Lotar gives up on chewing and simply swallows the fruit whole, seeds and all, "Ahh, that's refreshing, meat isn't and all-round diet you know?"

I glare.

"Alright. To answer that…it's complicated."

I raise an eyebrow and ask the obvious, "How?"

"Well, if there was a how to it then it wouldn't be complicated now would it?" Lotar chimes, a sarcastic tinge to its words.

"Explain best as you can?" I plead, finally deciding to sit, legs folded underneath the tree with the Wolf deity.

Taking a deep breath, the Wolf begins to explain, "Gods like the twins exist in any reality where Life and Death are occurrences. In some worlds, most worlds really, Gods can be born, born from legend and adoration of a great many living things, an example would be the Goddess of the Elves in this world…spontaneous birth filled with a singular goal of protecting and answering the prayers of the Elves."

"Other Gods are born from the spontaneous worship of…anything truly. The Goddess whose name shall not be spoken in my realm is one example of this type of Deity."

"And Phien? What type of God was he?" 

Lotar chuckles wryly, "The most dangerous kind of Deity, one that was once a Mortal."

I feel my mouth dry as it hangs open and my heart pound even faster, "We're going way off track but…Humans can become Gods?"

Lotar shakes its head, "Don't you get it? Anything can become a God with enough power, with enough time, action and devotion…a Deity can be born." The Wolf snorts, "I literally just said Vuius was born out of widely believed made up stories of the history of Elves. Long before I was born, these elves worshiped a Goddess that wasn't in existence, for millennia until she, Vuius coalesced and was birthed!"

"Anything…can become a God."

The Wolf nods, satisfied that its mind-blowing words are starting to piece together in my head, "Anything can become a God. But the strength and reach of said God depends entirely on what they are God of…but no matter what, so long as there are living beings, mortals, daemons, beasts of the wild or the insect that crawl, Anera and Ferth will always exist."

I see that now, but there's still a bit missing, "If that's so and I met Ferth after I died, then there's nothing special about me. Everyone and everything dies after all…so why?"

"Why did I mention it like it was an achievement?"

I nod.

"Because you convinced him to reincarnate you."

Blinking I stutter out in surprise, "I did?"

The Wolf shrugs, "Of course you wouldn't remember, it would be even more unnatural and quite frankly, scary if you did." The wolf summons an apple and stuffs it in my hand, "Here's your boon, now if you're done with your-"

Gripping the apple, I frown, outraged, "No I'm not done. We've barely just started!"

The Wolf grunts, "I'm kind of on a schedule here, starting a religion in my name, growing my power? I can only be in five places at once and you're taking up a rather important slot."

"UH…what?" I can't believe the words I'm hearing. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling to calm myself I speaks, addressing the Deity as respectfully as I can, "You still haven't answered about how I met Phien. In fact, you've given me more questions than answers. I convinced the God of Death to reincarnate me." I scoff, full of unbelief.

The Wolf chuckles, "Even though this happened in another world it made waves all the way over here, we were pretty sure Anera would have you killed once you popped into a new form."

"But…?"

"But you convinced her to, stick you into the body of a person on the verge of death instead of killing a new life just for your sake. Haahaha, that day was an interesting one, many Gods have watched you closely since then."

Many Gods?

Ugh, my head hurts.

"As for how you met Phien…well, the fallen Deity felt the lingering eyes of said Gods on you the moment you made contact, I'm not sure what happened when that Gamma knocked you out, but I know it caused quite some uproar over here."

"Uproar? Why?"

The Wolf guffaws, "Why else? You were entertaining and the pain in the side fallen God nearly killed you within your first days, fortunately for him, you survived, but I know you spoke with him in there."

Arak village, that Cultist that shot through the sheep and pulled me into white…that white could have simply been me talking to Phien…but, I don't remember any of it.

"How are you so certain?"

The Wolf takes on a serious look, "HarlFary was the one who noticed it. There was more than ample time for that Gamma to turn you into a Cultist minion, or simply kill you, but it paused and let you be saved, dragged away by the following."

"Even HarlFary wasn't sure why that happened, it's out of character for the Cult, but now, now I know for certain. You said Phien wants you as his Alpha…he decided then, while picking about in your soul, in your head."

Silently I sit there, stewing in the mess of information Lotar dumped on me. I asked for it, but still…I can't believe I haven't gotten through all my questions, a part of me is afraid to ask them all.

Anything and anyone can become a God?

I've spoken and convinced two Gods, the most powerful at that to let me have my way?

I'm being watched by a slew of Divine entities, since the very beginning too?

And Phien…something he saw in me that day at Arak made him decide it wanted me as his first Alpha Warrior. The Human turn God turn fallen deity; the highest threat to my continued existence…

And the Gods and Goddesses watch on from above…as entertainment?

"I'm guessing this HarlFary God…Goddess?"

"God." Lotar helps.

"Right, God is watching me, one of the many watching me for fun, watching my life."

The Wolf shrugs, "Well, you don't have as many as before, a mortal can only be so interesting. Most will check up on you and your journey in a few years, they can't stand the slow crawl of your life spans, and others still linger."

"And HarlFary? Rather, who is HarlFary?" I ask.

"God of Hunting Beasts, my…creator." Lotar mutters with a tang of distaste. He recovers his smile however, brightening up as he speaks, "Guess what though, he's the one who had the bright idea to give you hunger as an incentive."

"What! Why?"

"You're the Warlock of a Hunting Beast, it's only appropriate that you're inspired by the growling hunger of a beast…. a hunger that can only be satiated with the blood of your prey."

I groan at the reminder. Looking down at the glistening red fruit in my palm I sigh, "Astral Projection huh."

Lotar nods, "Now then, if you're quite done."

"Not."

The Wolf groans, "What more could you possibly have to ask?"

"For my memories? For knowledge about the System and the previous Necromancer? For the truth behind the Synagogue and the fall of Saia?"

The beast snorts, "That last one is pretty easy actually." I perk up and he swiftly squashes my burgeoning hope, "But no, you've taken far more than you're due, even if you're an interesting figure in HarlFary's eyes, I can't have you exploiting my whims."

"What? No, I'm not-" I don't get to complete the rest of my sentence as Lotar lazily raises its white-furred palm and a sudden rush of wind blows over me.

My eye snaps open and I gasp desperately for air.

At first look it's certain I'm not longer in the Wolf Deity's realm, I'm back seated on the bed of a man I just usurped. 

But I've got a souvenir, in my hand is a ripe, red apple. My boon.

The Wolf didn't give it to me like this last time, I suppose it's being a show-off. 

Nevertheless, I've got one more journey to make before I call it a night and fall peacefully to sleep for the first time in a week.

Without hesitation I take a bite out of the apple. Immediately I discover its actually just meat.

Fighting back the reflexive urge to spit out the surprise taste of what is essentially mystery meat, I realize that it certainly would be an odd look for a Wolf to eat fruit.

[Lower Deity Lotar Has Bestowed Upon You A Boon]

[Spell Unlocked: Astral Projection]

Good, time to get Anselm.