All For Power

Chapter 35: Al'ravee, The God Of...

This time it was Jurdelious that responded " Remember Al'ravee that the universe is more or less like a game of Power. The gods are the main players. Any other thing is just a side character, a pawn to make the gods look good in front of their believers and help us gain more power.

They are all expendable". Jurdelious said in a matter-of-factly manner.

Ris and stylaff remained silent just like Ozia had done from the start. This was something they already knew long ago and even practice now.

'So it's like that game of chess that was invented during my reign. I really liked that game' Al'ravee mused to himself.

"The thing is" Krene continued, "that power is quite hard to get sometimes. You will go to places where the dos and don'ts are all set up by the most powerful and you might be expected to follow them as long as you are there.

Because we are eternal doesn't mean we can't die. There are several things that could kill gods lying around in the universe. Some of us might experience a divine lock and be forced to never advance in rank ever again.

Even then, gods can be very troublesome. They will mostly mind their business but once they get interested in something... They would be ready to declare apocalypse on any world just to get what they want. Your father has been guilty of this on many occasions". Krene said, allowing Al'ravee to process the words from her mouth while keeping an eye on his face to observe his reaction.

Al'ravee only raised an eyebrow at her words but that was it. Krene wasn't disappointed. 'He should be able to execute his task well'.

"What every god and goddess needs but hardly gets is a chance to be in a pantheon. An organisation that is established based on the interests of all the gods and goddesses attached to it. With that kind of backing, things will be much more pleasurable and smoother.

A lot of gods move through the void, searching for a place to call their own but that is very hard to find as well. Lucky is a few who successfully establish their religion on a planet. If possible, monopolize the resources, souls and faith essence. But some don't and end up wandering deities. Only stealing from others to avoid the Slumber.

Luckily for you, you are surrounded by gods who are willing to form a pantheon with us. There won't be a need to find or select a leader as your father is already available". Krene said, not needing to catch her breath at all.

Al'ravee soaked in the information while looking around at the people present, "From your description of a pantheon and my own guess, it seems joining it would be a very serious and big decision for me" He said with a thoughtful look on his face.

" The truth is we already thought about it many years ago, we only started planning for it after a serious event that happened back then. I helped Ozia once and he has nowhere to go in this galaxy so he's sticking with us. We found both Ris and stylaff on different planets. Ris had just been a clueless god intruding on our territory.

As for Stylaff, she was a mortal god who we would have chosen as our only child if not that we weren't present at her birth..."

Al'ravee now somewhat understood, 'would that mean that I would have never acknowledged them as my parents if they weren't the first person I saw?' He asked deep within his mind, taking note to ask them later.

"... Using the pathfinder, she was able to fuse with the law of Mortality, thereby becoming a transcendent goddess as you see her now. If all is well, she would be a loose goddess soon. I couldn't tell Ris about it because... well...some secrets just have to be kept. I apologise Ris." Krene said with a wry smile.

Al'ravee ignored the subtle psychological trickery that his mother was purposely implying and continued to listen. Ris too seemed to have expected this as he wasn't really showing any negative emotions towards it.

" Your father was the one who found it when we were still mortal gods on the same planet and decided to share its use with me thinking that it was a common treasure and...*sigh*"  Krene sighed and Jurdelious's face seemed to harden even more. There was suddenly an awkward silence in the room.

Stylaff spoke up " One of the uses of the pathfinder is to help a god who had never chosen a law before to choose one as we like without any stress of waiting for a long time. This could help us to gain followers who would be loyal to the pantheon. In fact, we are currently in contact with a mortal goddess who is nearing her transcendent time. All we need is to give her the Pathfinder to choose the law of her choice"

Al'ravees' face suddenly froze as he heard the last part of her sentence.

"What's wrong" Ozia opened his mouth for the first time to speak in a monotone voice. He didn't like the change in Al'ravees' expression at all.

"Isn't it supposed to like you know, disappear, after using it?" Al'ravee asked, feeling quite stressed out right now.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jurdelious asked with a deep frown. Al'ravee felt like the air had gone so thick that it could be cut with a knife. If a mortal or any other outsider tried to be friendly, they would no longer be able to breathe well.

Ozia who was sitting directly beside Jurdelious had a very uncomfortable expression on his face.

*WOOSH* To Al'ravee, he felt like he had gone naked again. Jurdelious and Krene checked him out with scrutinising gazes.

No doubt, this pathfinder was important to them "What happened? which law did you choose?" Krene asked. She previously didn't inquire about it because Al'ravee would have eventually told them, but now it was different.

Krene and Jurdelious were surprisingly taking this news well. Either they had a spare or they were just good at controlling their actions.

Taking in a deep breath, Al'ravee began " Back then, I found it hard to choose a law cause I saw a flaw in all of them. Before Ris left me after my first death, he told me that a law was a god's path to their perfection.

There could possibly be perfection through fire, water, sword or any other law but they didn't sound quite perfect to me. More like they were just part of a bigger piece of something so they all had flaws.

I tried to activate more than one law at the same time. I tried Chaos and Fate first but nothing happened..."

" Of course, nothing will happen, we have previously tried it before. The pathfinder would not allow any god to select more than one law." Jurdelious cut him off as folded his arms, causing the muscles on his arms and chest to swell.

Al'ravee had a slightly buff body and although not as big or though-looking as his father's, it was still a faint source of pride. But the sight of muscles swelling like it was being pumped beyond human capacity was very intimidating, even for the five-hundred-year-old-plus Al'ravee.

"... I know, that's why I decided to try to feel all of them all at once. Using the enhancement of the pathfinder, I spread my consciousness and activated all the laws present there..." Al'ravee said, pausing to observe everyone's expression. ' It seems they had never thought of this or didn't have time to think of it'.

"... After doing that, I was made to watch scenes of many beings I guessed to be gods, in action. Some were in the midst of battle, some just had something weird going on around them. And I even saw you two at the same time on a battlefield.

You both stood backing each other, Father donned a black armour while using a very large sword and mother, in a gown with some floating paintbrush.

I saw you two beat gods with unbelievable might. Alas, I wasn't able to watch it to the end cause of the constantly changing scenes." Al'ravee ended with a slightly dramatic sigh. That fight was indeed fantastic ' I wish I could watch it again.

Jurdelious, Krene, Ozia, Stylaff and Ris exchanged glances. "*sigh* The universe is filled with surprises and unexpected occurrences. This is just one of them". Ozia spoke again in that monotone robotic voice of his.

"So what law, did you finally get at the end? what are you the god of?" Krene asked curiously.

Al'ravee smiled like a mortal child presenting his top exam score to his parents. He felt the need to stand up for a more dramatic effect even though he didn't know the meaning and the gravity of his following words.

" I... Am Al'ravee, the god of Reality".