Daniel was given a few seconds to process that his continued living depended utterly on a vote, with one god already hating him, before the world blurred and he found himself in a new space. How Hammer was moving him without teleportation or spaghettification he wasn’t sure, but it was only barely less comfortable than the latter.
The space around him was the shape of an octagon and must have filled the space made by the exterior hallway ring. The term megastructure completely applied. With Quick Mind on board, Daniel still struggled to get a sense of the exact size. From his position in the center, he would guess it was two or three kilometers to the edges yet only a quarter of one at most in height.
Sections of the octagon were split off like the Realms of the Octyrrum, eight instead of the outer six with a space one hundred meters wide in the center distinguished from them. It only contained a floor made of hexagons, the small panels split into separately colored wedges each with a symbol of the known gods. The disparity between the eight-sided building and the six-sided panels in the center drew Daniel’s eye, but now was not the time for questions.
The outer areas were set as temples, with one grand throne for someone like the giant Hammer to sit at. Various alters, structures, and banners filled the space between that and the center. There was enough room in that middle area for an army to both train and pray in. To extend the metaphor and consider what this must look like from the outside, this megastructure is what the theoretical eugenic catholic church would use to invade and conquer other worlds.
Background concerns over death by divine democracy aside, Daniel was reminded of the message that had been shown when Hunter awakened. It had implied eight gods, as had the world’s name when he’d first heard it so long ago. Wouldn’t you know it, but what Hammer had spent who knows how long writing into reality supported that theory too. There were a few assumptions he could make based on this structure, aside from the fact that magic did make what little he remembered of engineering from his world obsolete.
First? The gods of the Octyrrum had dedicated pairs. Hammer had mentioned that Star was his opposite, and they were placed accordingly in the octagon. The same with Hand and Scythe, Cloak and Torch, and Hourglass and the last mystery god. Only their symbols were present, but in the case of the eighth’s, Daniel found he couldn’t fully remember what it looked like despite looking hard at it. It was like the knowledge was being blocked from entering his brain, and that’s when he realized that was exactly what was happening.
Either way, this mimicked but did not mirror the current structure of the Octyrrum. The center was empty here, whereas Hourglass ruled the hub of the modern-day world. Did the Collapse happen because this eighth god died and threw things out of balance? But that doesn’t make sense, Artruz invaded Hourglass’ Realm in the center after that. Was the entire story a lie? He had very little information on the event that had created the Crest, though one thing that mortal knowledge was clear on was that the gods had been partially responsible. Given that Torch could so easily obscure knowledge, it was strange to have this fact spread without any intervention.
Lastly? Daniel did not want to be here. Nothing Hammer had said thus far implied he’d be able to leave. He was so in over his head he was half the size of the people this massive complex was built for. At best he was being treated like a child with some potentially terminal illness. If he had a choice, he’d ask Hammer to take the Spoke out of him and send him to Aughal right now so he could get on with his life and let the gods handle the apocalypse, but it seemed that wasn’t in the cards today.
No, instead someone his size appeared in the very center of the massive construct. She was already prostrate, dressed in immaculate robes that glowed with a soft light. “On behalf of my patron Lady, I greet you, Hammer, master of transmutation.”
Hammer nodded solemnly in response and gestured upwards. “Rise, servant of Torch. A fine servant indeed. Level 7 Proxy? Long has the journey been that has led you to this honor.”
“I count a life in service to the protection of knowledge spent well,” the Proxy replied, coming to a standing position but keeping her head bowed. At no point did she look at Daniel, despite him standing beside Hammer. “Would it please the divine for Torch’s will to enter this vessel?”
“Of course.” The Proxy stood up straight and kept standing up, rising to a height about equal to Hammer’s. That wasn’t the only change. The woman, who previously had had the beginnings of facial lines you could see in the late-40s, aged into crone territory. Hair whitened, skin grew taught, and the back hunched slightly which did nothing for the difference between her and Daniel. She looked older than Hammer, who was trying to play up the whole old wise guy look.
The robes shifted in kind with their mistress, though they weren’t the only thing casting off light anymore. Torch’s eyes glowed as soft as the cotton she wore, and that light was all that was visible from the sockets. Suddenly, Hammer’s odd eyes seemed more mundane. “We meet once again,” Torch spoke, and there was a sense that what she said was made into reality just as much as how Hammer had crafted this space. Like her very words could establish truth. “There is much we must discuss. Without this one.”
…
Daniel spent the rest of what was becoming a pretty depressing night inside his rooms, which were now plural. Hammer had ninja’d an entire apartment to the bedroom, making a kitchen, library, and lounge area as well. Whether it was the influence of Torch or it had just been meant for show, the bookshelves of said library were empty. At least the pantry wasn’t, it would have been bad if Hammer had assumed he didn’t need to eat.
Tasked only with assuring his survival by not being a nuisance, Daniel investigated these spaces more as he tried to stop himself from checking on Hunter’s body. He knew the bag had a slight preservative effect, but given all that had happened it felt like it could be torn out of his hands at any moment. The complete lack of agency and isolation began to get to him, especially when he realized he couldn’t reach Bridge Space anymore.
The loop was there. Hammer had repaired it as promised, and yet activating it wasted mana to accomplish nothing. Whether it was Hammer repairing it poorly or the loop breaking in the first place Daniel didn’t know, but he might have tried just existing there if it got him away from the gods.
One small fact he did learn that would have been revolutionary elsewhere was that his mana was slowly recharging. It was minor, but what mana he had used to recreate his Focus was now restored somehow. Daniel was at the point that he barely cared about free magic and chalked it up to his Spoke bleeding the armageddon levels of power he’d manifested earlier through a weakened wall.
It was when he considered jumping out of one of the windows that Daniel gave himself an ultimatum. If the next god that shows up is another crusty old guy I have to play pretend with, I’m just telling Hammer everything. His reasoning wasn’t entirely self-destructive. For one, Earth-Daniel’s actions and words had hinted at some kind of complex plan in place, ostentatiously to help bring his Dad back to Earth. Granted that’s what he’d deduced himself, but Earth-Daniel hadn’t liked that he had done that. Even if he’d gone against the script by finding that place so early, if the undertaking was as convoluted as it seemed it should have more contingencies than just a copy of him waiting by a button.
It had to be said there wasn’t an absence of nihilism in the plan either. Hunter was dead, and everything Daniel had built in the world was either regions away or farther. Hell, he had no idea what had happened to most of his team. Given the world was ending and things like the Illustrious slave host existed, would being unmade in a thought be the worst outcome?
Why do I think Hammer would react negatively? Would it be worse to keep lying to him by omission? Daniel did not want to go down that path, but the only good things about where he was right now were the bedsheets and the bread. There was no sign that his survival would lead to anything other than ending up as a pet to Hammer. In the words of Hunter, he wasn’t a pet.
There was also the matter of his advancement. Despite everything that had happened on the Eye, Daniel had a measly four potential. Perhaps using his Spoke powers had invalidated whatever he would have gained from Casia, and to be fair they hadn’t beaten Mark either. The most impressive thing Daniel had done was defuse the slaughter outside of the Sun Spire, and he guessed that’s where most of the potential had come from. Without a notification history or access to Bridge Space, he couldn’t be sure.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Intelligence tempted him as always with the promises of hitting level 3, but Daniel didn’t feel it was time, especially since he’d be one point short of 30. Endurance was a strong contender for at least some love since it had given him Regenerative Craft last time, pushing his healing rate to broken levels of restoration when he combined it with Regeneration. Assigning two points to that, he also gave two points to wisdom in the hopes he’d get something to survive all of the insanity going on.
<hr>
Your Endurance is now 24! You have gained Feature: Defensive Craft.
-
Your Wisdom is now 22 You have gained Ability: Track Merchandise.
-
Defensive Craft (Feature, Endurance, Domain: Restoration, Level: 2):
You possess the Power to improve the durability and resistance of Formulae: Armor you can craft. This effect scales with your endurance, and the Attribute your crafting feature is awakened from to a lesser degree. The effect also scales in inversely with the disparity between your level and the level of the craft, to a certain threshold.
-
Track Merchandise (Ability, Widsom, Domain: Knowledge, Level: 2):
You possess the Power to locate Items you have personally crafted through the expenditure of a minor amount of mana. This effect can be prevented if the item is possessed by another with the chance for success scaling with your wisdom, and inversely scaling with the target’s Charisma and the length of time the item has been out of your direct possession. This is a Magical Ability that does not function in an area of Magical Suppression.
<hr>
The two new powers were interesting, a universal defensive buff and something with very abusable mechanics. There was nothing there that would help him with gods though, and Daniel sighed as he resigned himself to the fact that there’d be no magic bullet to get him out of this mess. He turned off the phone and sank back into the sheets, both dreading and anticipating the moment he’d tell Hammer the truth.
…
So it was with a strange kind of resolve that Daniel stood on the central plate of the megastructure. More accurately, the divine pavilion as Hammer mentioned in passing as he brought Daniel back the next morning. Whatever discussions he’d had with Torch were over now, the goddess sitting distantly on her throne. Despite the distance and direction, it still felt like she was looking over his shoulder.
“Star’s Proxy is approaching,” Hammer told Daniel, with a note of warning in his voice. The god hadn’t given Daniel any indication about how the private conversation had gone, but now there was a note of warning. “I would advise you to remain respectful. He and I are oppositely aligned, as I mentioned. In addition, he is unusual. The most unusual of all of us, I would say, though Scythe makes that assessment difficult.”
I’m from Earth, Daniel thought, mentally priming the confession like he was loading a gun. Who he was pointing it at, he wasn’t sure. I’m not your son and I don’t want to be here. Please, just let me go back to Aughal. I’ll take sand over this.
The next Proxy appeared like the other one had, instantly. He was pretty sure Hammer had included some kind of array or teleportation circle in the design to allow this, as while the transmutation domain could give a workaround for teleportation, he didn’t know how Torch’s Proxy could have pulled it off. Star, representing the enchantment domain, could probably get here under their power, but Daniel didn’t see any kind of device on the Proxy younger than the Torch’s had been.
Whereas Torch’s Proxy had glowing robes, Star’s Proxy had on something approaching a modern jacket and khaki’s. It was primarily black, though patterning in a slightly fainter shade wove across at random. Though, the more Daniel looked, the more it gave his nascent seventh sense a nudge. Something to do with mana flow? he thought and then recalled what the shell of the Origin Beast had looked like.
“Star,” Hammer greeted with clear disappointment. “A level 1 Proxy?”
The poor Proxy, who Daniel had to remember was an individual who was essentially getting taken over to channel their gods, shuddered. “This, this one apologizes for his failings. Please, do not think ill of my patron master.”
Oh great, Daniel thought, pulling the hammer back on the loaded statement in his mind. If this Proxy is so terrified his boss must be a jerk.
“I would have hoped for more, given the occasion. Still, you may manifest him.” Hammer didn’t allow the poor Proxy to stand first.
“T-thank you.” The body of the Proxy changed as the other’s had. To Daniel’s surprise, they only grew a meter instead of doubling in size. The appearance of the Proxy didn’t change either, though the fear was gone and replaced by a wide smile.
“Hammer! It’s so good to see you bro!” Daniel’s mental confession jammed as the god spoke like he was passing out beers while reminding people to stay hydrated. “Guess it’s that time again. Hey Torch!” He waved broadly in the general direction of the distant god, who looked in dire need of a newspaper to grumpily raise in front of her face.
“Star,” Hammer repeated, his frown unchanging despite his nature. “A level 1 Proxy?”
“What? He really wanted to come.” Star saw the look in Hammer’s eyes and tilted his head down a few degrees in half-exaggerated shame. “Sorry, but all we need to do is talk here, right? I don’t need to send my highest leveled Proxy here just to hang with you guys.” Across the massive space, Torch’s hands twitched as if she was rustling a newspaper. Daniel’s eyes must have betrayed the instant liking he took to the god as Star noticed him. “Hammer, who’s this?” Star did a double take and knelt down, the god next to him looking on with disappointment as the knee touched the hexagons. “No, no way. He’s an Artificer? Hammer, I’m touched. Of course I’ll help train him.”
“Star, that is my child.” The air grew heavier as Star’s relatively normal eyes widened, and he stepped away. He must have been under a higher subjective gravity than Daniel, because while the Artificer could just remain standing, the Proxy the god inhabited struggled to get up.
“Sorry!” Star apologized, not exactly subservient but in recognition of an unintentional insult. “But how-“
“Incarnate.” The accusation came from the back of the room and felt like a slap to the back of Daniel’s head. Star’s reacted by squinting at Daniel, before pulling out a set of goggles with multi-colored lenses from the air as Hammer watched.
“If your Proxy’s senses were not as weak, Star, you would have known,” Hammer intoned.
“Hammer, you can’t blame me for missing the fact that the Artificer in the room also has a Spoke,” Star said in self-defense, before taking the goggles off. His words had also grown more contemplative. “There’s more there too. Hammer.” Star turned to the nearby god as he said this. “You did it!”
“Yes,” Hammer said simply, though his frown lessened.
“Well, Crest dude, I’ll still give him a few tips if you want me to. We both know Hourglass isn’t getting here for at least a few more days. There’s time.”
Hammer, as well as Daniel, was torn by the offer. On the Artificer’s side his understanding of how the gods in this world behaved had been rocked to the core. In a good way, though he didn’t think he was closer to avoiding either petification or reality erasure. Enchanting tips from the god of enchanting didn’t sound so bad.
“Star, our work is the only thing more important to me in this world than my children,” Hammer said, Daniel getting that slight freeze in his veins whenever the bearded god got super possessive.
“I know, I know. Come on, Hammer, you know I’m a fun guy. He’ll have a great time.”
Hammer sighed, this exhalation not accompanied by any random manifestations in reality. “It would do well for my child to excel in his class. Very well, Star. Do not forget to attend when our brethren arrive,” he added with a note of warning. “Hand will be here this afternoon.”
Hand!? Daniel’s mind jumped at that and the weight on his hip grew heavier. The thought that he might get Hunter back in only a few hours made this all seem bearable, especially because there was at least one god who wasn’t a jerk. If Hand was anything like Star, he doubted he’d have to do more than ask.
The god of enchanting and possibly fraternity turned and squatted slightly to get on Daniel’s height. “So Artificer bro, want to learn enchanting from the master?”