A Joke
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The Game of a Blood Mage
🕑 Added 2021-10-05 21:26:12 +0000 UTCChapter 96: Meeting of Damnation
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The White Snake of Infinite Rebirth, a being whose existence itself had transcended space and time. It was said that he was looking for the owner of a certain item to give it to them.
Alex just stared at the creature with wonder. It was simply amazing, this was the first time he had met a being so out of his comprehension, and he knew why in the Game Players never met it.
[?????]
That was all that it said above the White Snake’s head. Alex knew that the gamer interface wasn’t an omnipotent power and if he relied on it too much. He won’t be able to ever compare to a being like this.
‘I must start doing my own things now, the Gamer Interface was just another crutch.’ - Alex knew this fact for a long time but only now he could truly comprehend the magnitude of what situation he was in.
It made all of his schemes and plans feel worthless.
Many other people would have gone insane just from looking at a higher power like this. But for Alex, it was different, instead of making him fearful it made him daring.
For the first time in a long while that cold exterior of his broke and he smiled for real. “You are amazingly beautiful, I want that.”
Those simple words described his ambition perfectly, it wasn’t that the snake itself was beautiful, but the power it possessed was the most beautiful Alex had ever seen. To a man like him, physical beauty didn’t matter too much, to begin with, and since he had been able to make homunculi that were so human-like and beautiful. His sexual drive was close to zero, no woman would ever be able to tempt him.
That feeling of euphoria lasted for a split second, but to him, it felt like an eternity. In the end, he had collected his bearings in less than a second, but couldn’t get rid of that long full smile adorning his face. “Greetings Immortal Snake, have you seen Mimir’s Well around here?”
Though he spoke words, no physical sound came out of his mouth as the Astral Realm was a place of thought and not physical. But Alex knew that the meaning of what he wanted to say would be conveyed to the snake.
The creature's eyes shone with an unprecedented radiance. "Haven't you asked the same question before?"
That made Alex stop and be taken aback by what the White Snake had just said. But he remembered the lore once again.
The Immortal Snake transcended time and space, it moved across time like a fish up a river. Even the Gods of Time couldn’t go back to the past so casually, but to the White Snake, it was as easy as walking to a fridge.
“Yes, I know,” Alex nodded. “I have asked you this many times. But can you tell me the answer again?”
Essentially the snake who could move through space and time had met a countless number of Alexs who have asked the same question. After all, while there were countless of him out there, in the whole of existence there was only one White Snake of Infinite Rebirth in existence.
It was a confusing concept that even with all of his intelligence Alex couldn’t grasp fully, though he did understand it.
"No," the snake immediately refuted him. "It was definitely you. Though your appearance might be different, I know it was you. The one who tricked me."
A chill went down his spine. - ‘Fuck!! One of the versions of me had tried to play a trick in the Infinite Snake?! Are they stupid!!’
Alex tried to explain himself, he didn’t want to try and make enemies with creatures of this caliber. But he calmed himself and asked the White Snake. "Did I find Mimir's Well?"
"No, but you did find Odin's Eye." The snake answered.
Now Alex noticed that the White Snake wasn’t mad.
Also, he got the information that he wanted, what he was looking for was the eye the Norse God Odin threw in Mimir’s well.
The eye had absorbed the water of the well and gained the blessing of Wisdom. Anyone who used it would gain an increased sense of Wisdom and be possessed by Odin’s will.
Alex had a use for the eye as it would help him increase his wisdom stat. He won’t spend points in any stats other than intelligence because it would balance the stats, meaning that if he met someone of the same level he won’t have the overwhelming intelligence advantage and instead will be just an average Mage for his level.
"Can you give me the directions to Odin's Eye?" Asked Alex, noticing something strange about the snake. Once again his brain played hundreds of simulations, yet he couldn’t come up with anything and didn’t have a base of knowledge to build a solid conclusion. In the Game, only a couple of lines of text had been said about the White Snake.
For the first time, he had no idea what the being he was talking to was after or what it wanted. Also unlike usual, he couldn’t even try to read the snake’s expressions, because, unlike humans, intelligent snakes don’t have such small signs of emotion and would seem the same even if they were happy or mad.
"I have Odin's Eye," Said the serpent. "You gave it to me."
Again, Alex had chills go down his spine, and this time he was on full alert. He knew himself, he would never give something for free, nor would he help alternate versions of himself.
So this was dangerous, and while the Astral Plane held keys to the future and past. Unlike many other places, it wasn't separated from other dimensions and it was possible to set traps here.
If Alex killed an alternate version of themselves, they would take everything from them. Their spells, Mana and all of that. If their strength were similar, then his Mana would double, essentially he would become twice as strong as he was now.
Since Alex realized that many versions of himself had met up with the White Snake, it was clear to him what would happen next.
Suddenly a realization hit Alex and the snake's face started morphing. It opened its mouth and whispered. "I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you."
Suddenly, like a lightning strike, dodged to the side as illusionary chains crumpled around the place he previously stood.
"A bible phrase? Really?" Alex asked, looking around trying to find the chain's creator. "What are you? A religious version of me?"
The space in front of him shivered and an old man with priest robes came through. Immediately Alex as a Soul Mage sensed the resonance between their souls, they were identical.
Meeting an alternate version of yourself was essentially impossible. After all, the Astral Plane was infinite and infinity was a big number. But using the White Snake as a trap and riding in its coattails was a smart thing to do. That way, more alternate versions would meet the White Snake.
"So, do you want to fight?" I asked the old man.
"No, I would rather not." He shook his head, though our souls were similar in form, we were two different people in personality. The old man looked calm and collected. "That is what I would say if I didn't sense that obnoxious killing intent you possess. Are you some kind of serial killer version of me?"
"Ahhh… you are obnoxious, old man."
"I am not actually old, I am just teaching in the Magic Academy and thought this kind of appearance would make me seem more mature." The old man's smile widened.
[Holy Chain of Imprisonment]
Constructs out of light were formed, at first Alex was on guard and thought the old man was going to attack. But instead, he formed a cocoon made out of light chains around them.
"Also, I am sorry, but a very troublesome guy will now start chasing after you too," apologized the old man, but he didn't seem to be sorry at all.
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A/N: I will probably re-edit this chapter later again. I had to go and have a parent's conference for my little brother, meet his new teachers and talk about the countermeasures they will take for Covid. So I didn't have a lot of time today.
