Bro, I'm not an Undead!

<It's hard defending a world with all the Rules that we have to put in place. They work for and against us, and without them, you can't establish a world. They operate using powerful forms of Fundamental Barter, you see. As you establish enough limitations, your world becomes strong enough to endure the great void. If not, it simply crumbles against the weight of the darkness.> explained Suzamete. <And that's not even including some of the automatically restrictions that come into play because of the Fated Reef that's used to serve as a foundation for a world.>

Skullius listened closely.

It came as a surprise to him that Fundamental Barter was involved in a world's creation, though, he imagined that it was more vital for individual Deities establishing a world, as opposed to multiple helping each other.

<Using vessels is pretty much the only viable way to infuse our true essence into our creations and fight on their behalf to defend the world. In those old days, it was much easier because humans, Sif and Giants were significantly stronger. Quintess was not a fan of the Purity. Neither was Listafelle. I persuaded them to broaden their reach in any way possible. Using Priests was the optimal way to help everyone on Aigas begin journeys of self-discovery – as fighters, farmers, carpenters, merchants. It all started with a temple and that was easier to access for most humans – as the bulk of the population.>

<Quintess, however, favoured the way the Giants communed with him, or rather, how Jerthrax, Jiggorrhax, Seongssax and the dragons before taught the Giants to commune with him. He always admitted to being biased towards the Giants. Listafelle was biased towards her Sif though much fonder of humans than Quintess. Ultimately it was her efforts that convinced Quintess to validate the Purity. But even though that was the case, when the time came to introduce the concept of vessels, Quintess chose to use a group of humans known as the Unnamed Keepers. They followed the way of the Giants – learned from the First Grand War. They were humble and devoid of scandalous ambitions like the Purity. Quintess loved that."

Skullius remembered fragments of this, but he wasn't sure whose memory they were from. With Festos absorbing the powers and knowledge from many experts during their battle, he couldn't be certain.

But all the same, he knew that the Unnamed Keepers had butted heads with the Purity during the Second Grand War and then proposed the idea of the vessels. They stated the requirements and the consequences – well, some of them. The Paladin Champions, already familiar with Divine power in the form of their individual Divine Blessings, were prime candidates for becoming vessels.

Those were desperate times. The Purity folded soon after the proposition was made.

<Even while using vessels, however, it was difficult to battle mortals who were seasoned in combat and cruelty like Fulgardt, his Chosen and the Unions – armies under each Chosen. It wouldn't have been a problem if we could exert some of our own strength in the vessels, but unfortunately, that's one of the Rules that work against us: we can't help a creation of ours transcendent their limits simply by inhabiting them. At best, we can ignite some of their own potential from within, which is why most of the Champions turned to ash after we used them.>

"They couldn't handle it," Skullius said grimly. Suzamete nodded.

<That's where Rayn came in. Quintess orchestrated a plan to apply the same schematic we'd used when creating the Eternal Drakkens – anchors of Aigas – on a lesser scale. The result was a child was born with the capacity to be a vessel. His body and soul were leagues stronger than that of others from birth. He was a perfect vessel.>

<But even then... We all knew what powers Fulgardt was meant to gain at his peak. Those powers were nothing like the ones he awakened that one random day after the First Grand War. He fought us like a crazed fiend – tireless and unforgiving – especially after that friend of his betrayed him. When he reached Divinity, Rayn lost any chance of putting him down.> She sighed. <I still wonder who this Wanderer Fulgardt keeps referencing is. If he really exists, he might have just altered reality to give Fulgardt that unfathomable power without us knowing.>

To this, Skullius couldn't help but frown.

The Wanderer Who Seeds.

Could he really alter reality on that scale? It might have sounded absurd to him if he'd never lived through today, but…

'Fulgardt's goal is find others like him. I imagine its people on different worlds who suddenly awakened powers like those of the Insurgent Magnus. They probably all know and preach about the Wanderer, rebelling against their Deities,' Skullius thought.

All these beings…

AKHASHA, the first Deity – the first and most influential Primeval Deity.

COLMUUN, the Primeval Deity Future Skullius had signed a contract with.

TITEMIUS, Serenity's imprisoned enemy whom the present Skullius had signed a contract with.

VOID, Serenity's sister, a great black blanket across this entire Reality.

EMMAE, another one of Serenity's sisters, the visionary behind Undeath.

THE WANDERER, a nebulous figure bordering on myth, sowing his seed of chaos across the world.

THE VOICE OF WORLDS, a networking entity who knew everything.

How many more threads linked all these beings together? Was Fulgardt way ahead of Skullius in knowing more about this?

Suzamete took a seat next to the Hybrid Warmoth.

<I tried copying his genius, you know? Quintess, I mean. I tried to create better vessels than his, in case another calamity spawned from nowhere after I was left alone to deal with it all. My Fruit Bearers. I thought I'd created something profound, but no. They aren't suitable for battle. The only reason they even work as inexhaustible vessels is because they are shells devoid of souls and the capacity to grow in any way.>

Skullius gave a nod of understanding. That made a lot of sense, and…

…!!!

"Wait," he said, a spark of realisation lighting in his head. "You tried to learn from—"

<No, that was Quintess learning from himself.> Suzamete quickly said with a small smile. She knew the question that had been gnawing at Skullius all along, and that he'd find some purchase to question about it soon enough. <All the Spirit Wardens are modelled after Rayn by Quintess himself. They are his trump cards.>