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Francis ran a hand through his hair as he thought over the information that he'd just recieved. In the background, the teenagers were lively talking, extolling the virtues of his fake master who could teleport. A feat that was considered both legendary and impossible.

It wasn't hard to guess why as Francis was weary of even [Void-walking] a few feet, let alone normal teleportation. Only the greatest Mages dared to teleport in the light and scattered ambient mana of the Dragon Isles. Compared to this planet, the ambient mana in the Dragon Isles may as well not even exist.

He had gone with the old cover story of being the apprentice of a hermit and falling into a teleportation accident. It made it easy to ask questions anyone normal should know. And the answers he got astounded him.

Mages were an oppressed class. They either lived away from society in hidden enclaves or covens, or they were enslaved by various governments. The governments themselves considered controlling 'dangerous' mages as natural and not evil, but clearly no one here saw it that way. There were some better countries, if one had to choose a master, but their current one was one of the worst.

On Earth, with the exception of China and a few nearby nations, the Mage's Council ruled the entire planet. Most other types of supernatural races and people had been wiped out or were controlled by now.

To Francis, a planet that was so useful to a Mage's growth had Mages as a subservient class was beyond confusing. He couldn't understand in the slightest how this happened. Was it related to the technology he was seeing? But why did Mages allow this technology to exist in the first place?

Unfortunately, the boy in front of him couldn't answer his questions. Only that the Narrain Hierarchy, like all countries, had special weapons to cut through magic and that was how they were captured while their parents and teachers were killed.

He felt it wasn't so cut-and-dry; why would they bother enslaving Mages - some for war purposes - in the first place, he wondered, but he wasn't in a position to ask for details. It was a very awkward moment for the emotion-deadened [Harbinger] to hug a crying 14-year-old boy. Especially since the restraints made it more like he was just leaning against Francis.

On the bright side, they assumed any enchanted item was boobytrapped, and withheld from taking his Spatial Ring off him.

"How's this vehicle work?" Francis asked once the boy answering him calmed down.

"I only know the mana core is in the front of the Floater."

"Floater?"

"Ah, well, it can't run well in sand, so it floats a bit lower than usual, but it can't fly, so it's just a Floater. But it wears down the control device to float over sand for too long."

"So all the people running it should be in the front?"

The boy, Samuel, nodded.

"And the restraints, do they have a failsafe?"

"The mana core in center explodes if it's tampered with," the boy quickly said, noticing the concentrated look the Arch-Magus was giving the item. Having their hopes dashed away because this man exploded would be quite the tragedy.

"Is there anyone other than you seven that would be missed?" Francis asked, his dark eyes somehow looking even more murderous.

It took Samuel a few seconds before he was able to shake his head no.

Francis grinned and unleashed a small [Void Call] on the restraints. The center disappeared. Using [Arcane Awakening], he tore off the metal cufflinks still attached to him.

The seven around him gasped, but for a different reason then he thought. They weren't impressed with his strength, or with the strange magic he used to get rid of the restraint, but that he could do both.

Ever since weapons that could deal with magic were invented, Mages of course looked towards other types of magic, such as passive body strengthening spells. However, those came with huge drawbacks; you couldn't use normal magic anymore. They also didn't strengthen one's skin too much and were still vulnerable to steel. Certainly not strong enough to tear a metal cufflink off without even a mark on one's skin.

Francis went to the front of the Floater, walking up to a closed door. With [Arcane Revelation] activated, he could see 13 Souls, one of which was a Mage. No doubt one of the enslaved variety. He upped his [Arcane Awakening] to 100%, planning to avoid using magic in the actual killing when he could. Without further knowledge on their anti-magic tech, it'd be too much of a risk.

As fun as it would be to kill them guns blazing, Francis opted to cut a small hole in the door with his [Arcane Blade] and poured copious amounts of manipulated Light into the room, creating a mini-sun. Following numerous screams of pain, he smashed through the door.

He twisted the first neck he came across and then sprinted towards the Mage in the room.

Not giving him a chance to act, Francis slammed a fist into the old Mage's stomach. The man crumpled to the ground. It took the [Harbinger] a single moment to make a [Void Call] small enough to work on this Mage's metal collar and not harm its wearer. He focused on the Mana Core he could see with [Arcane Revelation].

He tore the result off the Mage's neck.

"What… what did you do?" the Mage asked, too confused to do anything.

Francis ignored him and sent a weaker blast of lightning through his palm. The old man was unconscious now. There was no reason to take a risk. After all, Francis guessed some of the stronger Mages lived what would be considered good lives, even if they were technically slaves. It did no one any favors to poorly treat slaves of great use. If they had incompetency issues to work out there were no doubt plenty of more useless slaves available for that. And, judging by this old man's massive mana pool and fine clothes, he may have been a slave of great use.

He may even resent being freed.

It took only a few seconds to clean up the rest of the room. Some gave token resistance of waving swords at him, and a certain genius used a 'gun?' that hit his fellow. Francis saw no reason to spare anyone and killed them all, easily snapping any necks he came across, or in lieu of that, just a full force fist from someone with over 60 points of superhuman strength. The result was unpleasant to look at, but effective nonetheless. He'd get the older kids to clean it up.

"You can come in now," he yelled towards the smashed open door.

Cautiously, the seven kids walked in. A couple of them paled at the sight, but the rest looked at it as if it were normal. Had Francis been less deadened by the Void, he would have been bothered at how used to death they seemed.

He cast a quick blood tracking spell and used [Void Seer] to get a general sense of direction for where his mother and grandfather were. Both were sleeping, which boded poorly for Francis given it was clearly daytime where he was.

He looked out the glass window of the pilots cabin and confirmed it was just an hour after dawn or so.

"Is there a map or anything?"

Samuel went up and pointed to the center of the cabin, where the mage was on a raised podium.

"You can access a map there."

Francis went up and found several unfamiliar controls, a strange mix of metal and wood making it look like something from the future and the past simultaneously. A globe opened after he hit a button and a large, blinking dot evidently represented the Floater.

He took a guess at the direction his family would be in.

"What's here?"

"That's the Empire's territory."

"That's where I need to go, any issues?"

No one in the room spoke up, likely having no where else to go.

"Can any of you pilot it?"

Samuel nodded, and Francis left him to it.

After asking a few questions, Francis took some water and food and then threw it outside the Floater along with the old man. He was too much of an unknown, and his Mana Pool had a kind of stability that might make [Mana Reading] difficult or unreliable. He was just like George, the [Stormcaller] he met at Grimlar's Pass.

"Take me to the captain's quarters, or whatever," Francis asked, deciding to go to sleep and hoping at least part of it conceded with Rainer in [Sleep Learning]. He'd need to figure out how to Void-walk here, and fast.

Francis growled as he woke up. Rainer had attempted to bring him into [Sleep Learning] but the distance was too far. So was he stuck practicing in reality and hoping he could piece himself back together? He sighed, having nothing else to do, and went back to sleep. Despite it being day-time, his prior injuries left him wanting more sleep.

Francis felt another pull, thinking Rainer was trying to bring him in again. He tried, wondering if his twin was doing it differently this time.

"Francis, how lovely to see you."

Francis stared with confusion. Why was Talvara here to greet him. And why was this place black rather than white? And how could he see despite it being pure black?

"I copied your lovely little space. It's nowhere near as versatile, as the place itself is limited to my personal knowledge and skill level - therefore useless to me personally. And unfortunately I don't understand the true fundamental laws of the universe and so the space is pretty much useless except for things I understand related to the Void.

"Really, that [Sleep Learning] space of yours is truly ridiculous. Have you ever given it any real thought to what it would take to make a place where everything functions properly? Where gravity is exactly how it should be, including how it effects magic and otherwise? It's quite impossible for even a Divinity I'd assume. Perhaps only an ancient aspect like Death or the World Tree could manage it if they weren't so boring."

"So you made it just for me?" Francis asked, a bit confused and more than interested in her knowledge of Divinities. It meant here he could level his Void Skills or perhaps even get [Void-walking] to move in a place with thick mana. Maybe. After all, who knew what universal forces she was unaware of, even in the Void, that Rainer's [Sleep Learning] space automatically accounted for?

"No, but I did open it again and bring you here, just for you," she said with a smile that was somewhere between enchanting and devilish.

Francis grinned and offered his thanks. He quickly delved into his current problem, hoping the ancient Void-Being had a solution for him.

A month later, Francis' group of teenage Mages had finally reached the border of the so-called Empire. It was an arrogant name that assumed it was and forever be the only 'empire' in the world. Though given they out-sized all the other countries combined, it wasn't too arrogant.

Francis found Talvara's simulation of a mana-filled world to be lacking. While the injuries weren't as catastrophic as before, even short-distance Void-walks still had him losing a finger or two. And that was with her advice. Still, it was better than the arm he completely lost on his first attempt in reality. On the brightside, he finally answered a question that been bothering him and that he really should have tested in [Sleep Learning] ages ago. [Arcane Invigoration] combined with [Flesh Manipulation] could in fact grow back a limb. It took about three times his current Aura pool, but it worked nonetheless.

Casting the Blood-tracking spell again, Francis used [Void Seer] on his grandfather before instantly cutting off the skill.

Is there some Divinity of Luck screwing with me? Why do I always see old men having sex when I use [Void Seer]?!

His only consolation prize was both the woman and his grandfather only looked 30-40. It didn't make it much better, though.

Francis cautiously looked towards his mother and was ecstatic when she was only helping some kids stitch their clothes with magic. That was one possible scene he could really live without. On the other hand, scarring Rainer with the memory did present a glorious opportunity for revenge...

With the Floater, she was only about another week away. Based on the globe, it was considered a danger-zone due the the monsters that lived there.

Francis smiled, looking forward to meeting his family again.

In the [Sleep Learning] space, Rainer stood across from Kara a bit nervously. This would be the first duel they'd had since she gained her 2nd Tier Class. He wasn't nervous about losing, rather he was nervous whether her current strength would be enough. Enough to finally not fear for her every other second of the day she wasn't beside him.

Over the past month, Rainer hadn't gotten any closer to solving his Void Will and Arcane Power issues, but his Avatar, his actual Avatar and not Francis, had made progress on his Arcane skills with the exception of [Arcane Presence].

[Arcane Awakening] rose to level 6, improving general efficiency as well as empowering all the runic-type skills attached to it. All of which he had managed to get level 3, with the exception of [Arcane Awakening: Final Arcanum] which he was unable to get past 1.

[Arcane Energy Manipulation] managed to reach level 9, but he didn't have a clue what he was missing for the final step. Sarah herself was stuck on level 9 [Enchantment Manipulation] as well, and both couldn't figure it out. Amer and Furtak only got angry when he asked them, so Rainer assumed their possibly low level manipulation skills were a sore spot.

"You ready?" Kara asked, shifting to her Wolf form. Her Demonic Aura now had a slight dark-purple tinge.

The [Greater Fel Werewolf] was still changing, according to her. Her Aura and even her body seemed to be altering by the Arcane that now pervaded her. Kara's bloodline had truly changed when [Mystic Dancer] and [Demonic Werewolf] combined after her Trial. And was still changing. While nothing changed in her Wolfkin form as of yet, who knew the future? She did notice the occasional increase to Intelligence or Aura attributes. It was only a few points, but it did signify a real change.

Apart from the fact that most of her Body Enchantments now had skills at either level 9 or 10, they were also supercharged. Rainer really wasn't sure if he could win without his Void Will.

"Go," he said, and Void-walked several times into the sky, deciding to play it safe. He unleashed half of his now 24 stored [Arcanum]s and fired them one by one at the Void-stepping Werewolf. Twelve Arcane Ritual circles hovered behind him. One blasted against her shield, breaking it but losing all momentum. Suddenly, the Werewolf smirked even as an [Arcanum] beam tore through her shoulder. She vanished, and Rainer only reacted at the last moment as she appeared behind him.

He barely Void-walked away, but not before losing a piece of his chest.

"Shit!" he cursed, not expecting that Kara could Void-step so far. It had been limited to a dozen feet or so before, but now it seemed as far as his. Though, likely without the world-traveling part.

The fight became a battle of Void-step and Void-walk, but lacking even a moment to cast a spell Rainer had to finally resort to a [Void Hold] and his last dozen [Arcanum]s to finish her off. She managed to block a few of them through the sheer amount of Aura in her Shield Enchantment, but lost to the barrage at the end. However, he ended up killing himself with the [Void Hold], leaving it a draw.

Without Void Will, any Void Skills would have to be used through his mind alone, just like how it was when he first learned them. Death was a very real option and something he wouldn't easily risk outside of [Sleep Learning].

Rather than being disappointed at the draw, Rainer gave a grin to Kara. After so long he finally didn't have to worry about her. Even if she couldn't win, she could escape. She'd just need to improve her offensive ability a bit more.

Now it was only a matter time before they took the fight to the Demons, rather than the other way around.

Rainer fixed his collar as he walked towards the meeting place. It seemed like every night he was wearing something more ridiculous than the last. Elelaria was having far too much fun with Luna's ability. At least he always had his enchanted long-coat to cover it up, at least partially.

His prior discussion with the Lamia Clan Head went well, and now he was meeting with all three Heads. While nothing overt was said, it was easy to guess this would be a conversation related to the dungeon.

Rainer's foot froze mid-step as he felt a panicked message come from both his sister's and Lilia's soul mark. He vanished before his foot hit the ground.

A Divine radiance filled the room as a cloaked man ran towards Sarah. Gunthar rushed behind him, the man had been completely invisible to Gunthar's detection skills, letting him get so close in the first place.

Yet before Sarah could take any action, Rainer appeared in the room. He grabbed the man and vanished in the same moment, as if neither had been there at all.

Over the night-sky of Neutral City, a massive explosion of Divine force erupted and a serpent started cleaning up the remaining power.

Rainer floated in the sky, his [Arcane Awakening: Shield Mode] lacking even a single mark.

Too weak…

He thought, and then seethed in anger. The target wasn't him. There was no way they'd believe him so weak, and they couldn't have known he would arrive to defend his companions so quickly. They were the goal of this suicide mission. And clearly, this man had something that hid him from even [Soul Detection] or Gunthar would have long since stopped him before he even entered the building.

He paused for a moment, taking some of the leftover Divine power that tried to escape and encasing it in a Arcane Weave. He layered over the now spherical weave and then shoved it in his [Arcane Awakening: Spatial Storage], cutting off the power's connection with its master. Jor sent him a dirty look, but Rainer promised the Serpent he could have it later.

Rainer no longer had any Void Will to calm himself down. And the Arcane Power racing through his body and blood in the form of [Arcane Awakening] only made things worse.

Was it time to declare war? Perhaps they've warred across the south unopposed for too long...

Let's see how they stop me without their Divinity descending.

Rainer void-walked in front of the three Clan Heads, slightly surprising them. His Avatar went to stay with everyone else. Kara was in the far North with her tribe and mother, so it was only Sarah, Lilia, Tiamat, Elelaria, and Gunthar there.

"I need a favor. What's the most important strategic point in the South for the Tarainien Empire?"

The three Heads were already standing, having felt the explosion of power in the sky. They had sent their guards out in a rush to get information and were even prepared to rush out themselves. But they clearly already found the target of it.

Both Moon Elf Clan Head and Dwarven Clan Head thought in silence, while Mala decided to take the lead. If this [Archon] wanted to interfere with the Tarainien Empire then she'd welcome it. Plus, if he truly angered the Tarainien Empire enough, Neutral City would become one of the few places willing to risk the presence of his Guild. It was a win-win for her. From there it'd be easy to maneuver their relationship from one of equals to something else.

"They recently took a mountain pass that leads into the Elven Country of Mistmyer, they had been trying to consecrate that pass for close to a century. It will open up the entire South to them more than anything else," the Lamia spoke.

"Thank you," Rainer spoke and vanished. He'd find a map and the place itself with Ele's help easily enough.

Rainer switched places with his Avatar, who was now currently surpassing the speed of sound as it rushed to the place on the map. It was easy to find as it was near the highest mountain in the area.

"Rainer.. I really advise you don't do this," Elelaria said, again. The fuming [Archon] looked odd with a sour expression on his face while a Fairy happily sat on his head and played with his hair. But she wasn't in the mood to laugh at him.

"Why. Clearly they've decided not to leave things alone, so why should I let them relax?"

Elelaria sighed, she was forbidden from sharing this information by her grandfather, but it seemed she needed to.

"Rainer… you are overestimating how much they hate you and underestimating the means of a Divinity."

Rainer frowned. The descended Divinity he fought made it quite clear their hatred was eternal.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you block out all sound? I mean layered magic. Not just a single spell."

Rainer nodded. He activated his enchanted ring, covered the place in compressed Arcane-Earth while using [Arcane-Wind Manipulation] to lift himself and Elelaria so he could cover the floor. He then manipulated a small light at the top of the new box.

Elelaria took a moment to hide her surprise at how casually he manipulated so many elements of magic. She was sure it was manipulation because none of it seemed structured enough to be a regular spell other than the use of the enchanted ring.

"It is said a Divinity can only descend in their followers within consecrated ground, yes? Well… that's true, but only technically. They can descend an Avatar anywhere they please, though at enormous cost. I'm talking about centuries of received faith kind of cost for the Divinities at the level of the Tarainien Empire. Plus, their time will be limited."

"Why is this a secret…" Rainer asked, inwardly deciding to talk to Talvara about this.

"Because it is against Neutral's City interests for people to be too cautious in dealing with the Tarainien Empire. So my clan has hidden the information from even the other Clan Heads. I only learned it by accident and had my grandfather not favored me, he might have killed me to keep it a secret."

"I would think Neutral City or even the Southern Countries has pissed them off enough to warrant such action…"

"In the grand scheme of things? No. After all, they only want Human faith for whatever reason. So the southern expansion only needs to keep up with population growth. Besides, the life of a mortal isn't long enough to truly anger a Divinity beyond reason. At least, that's what my clan records state."

"So I should just let them continue assaulting me and mine?" Rainer asked, not mentioning that his serpent had absorbed part of the Divinity's power and that may have made it cautious in descending an Avatar for revenge. Nor that his title and [Divine Resistance] were noticed and infuriated said Divinity.

Elelaria frowned as she thought over a solution.

"No… but do not sow irreversible hatred. Threaten those at the mountain pass, give them a day to leave or face your 'wrath' or whatever you wish to call it. But ignore any Elves or other southern delegates who may try to speak to you. Make it clear you are only getting personal revenge and have no plans to wage war. I think they'll get the message.

"Especially since attacking your companions sounds like personal revenge. No one of any real intelligence would perform such a move that would serve only to make you act against them in full force if they succeeded. There is literally no benefit to killing those you care for. Capturing, maybe. But killing? That kind of moronic move can't be sanctioned by their Emperor. There is a possibility they were trying to lure you to their consecrated territory, but the odds of that are low. You are a Magus of great power, you don't need to be in their territory to cause harm to it."

"But I'd still be helping the Elves retake the pass."

"That is merely a consequence of your actions rather than intent."

Unfortunately for her plan, Rainer was still furious.

"I'll think about it."

Rainer's Avatar appeared above and away from the fort at the mountain. The sun was just rising over the horizon as a massive power spread out over the land.

The world turned violet and an unspeakable presence pushed down on every Tarainien within the fort. Even the dozens of 2nd Tier Experts stationed there shivered in fear as they looked up in the sky. It reminded them far too much of something else. The hovering Magus appeared far more than he was.

Rainer looked all across the fort, up and down the wall and across the buildings. There was something he forgot to consider: innocents. Ordinary soldiers knowing nothing better. Far different than the specialized group sent after Elelaria months ago.

He grit his teeth in anger. Not at just them but at the Divinities behind them. What was the point of such pitiful people fighting in a war? They served little to no purpose. Were their followers lives so meaningless? He ignored that any other country of this world, or his own world, was no different. He was far too angry about last night's events to care about that.

[Arcane Awakening] cycled faster through his body as he got angrier and angrier. Such Gods had no place among men. They had interfered with him far too many times. Inadvertently he sunk into his Arcane Power just as he did with Void Will months ago.

His [Arcane Presence] reached beyond this world, it's pressure becoming chaotic and knocking anyone too weak to resist it unconscious. Months of practice finally produced a tangible result as he took the final step.

[Arcane Presence has reached level 10]

[Experience Gained: 1.31%]

[Arcane Presence has reached its maximum level. 7 skill points have been rewarded.]

[Arcane Presence has unlocked Arcanium Descent lvl 1/10]

A wave of violet extended for miles. The chaotic energies swirled and lashed out against anyone who was still conscious, sending their minds and energy into disorder. To the [Priest]s within the fort it reminded them far too much of what it was like facing the power of their Divinties. Though they avoided directly thinking of such a blasphemous thought.

"You have a single day to retreat. Any who remain will be slaughtered. " The pressure suddenly vanished, leaving only a single figure floating in the air with his eyes closed.

"What do you think," a blonde-haired Elf asked the room. Currently seated in a tent, all the commanders of the nearby southern forces were gathered. They had been preparing an assault on the mountain pass, knowing the consequences of losing it.

"He fits the profile of one [Archon] Nvos. It isn't confirmed, but the Netural City leadership seems to believe that is his class. My spy in Neutral City informed me of his presence there months ago. As of last night I received a message of a Divine attack in the city, a Divine Death-Bringer from the appearance of it, though it seems the [Archon] teleported him to above the city before any damage was done."

Their faces hardened at the mention of that. While such suicide attacks were useless against those of true power in the 2nd Tier, they were effective on pretty much everyone else. And they were masters of stealth. Only when the Divine power in their bodies was ready to explode would they be revealed.

"So he's just here for revenge or as a warning?" one Elf sighed in disappointment but found it hard to be unhappy given that they'd be regaining such a strategic position. The Mage Guilds of the North occasionally interfered in the war, but only because they were unhappy with a trade deal or because the Tarainien Empire went too far with their actions. They never did anything more than token resistance. The trade with the Tarainien Empire was far too profitable for both sides for them to ever truly fight against one another.

"We can send a delegate to be sure."

"Some fancy Elf is flying up to speak to me, what should I do?" Rainer's true body asked Elelaria, who had been staying up with him. Sarah and Lilia fell asleep next to each other on a nearby couch while Gunthar was glaring at the Arcane Weave covered orb of Divinity as he tried to learn how to detect it alongside Rainer. Feeling the power when it was activated was one thing, detecting it was another.

"Ignore him completely. No doubt you are being watched," Elelaria said, happy he went with her plan. What she didn't mention was that if he truly went too far, he'd lose a lot of standing in Neutral City and in the negotiations related to his Enchanter's Guild. She felt he wouldn't care about that so she didn't bother. Or even worse he'd simply chose to leave the city and delay his plan until he was stronger. Anyone who wasn't blind could tell how much he hated political maneuvering.

"Lord [Archon], the King of Mistmyer sends his greetings."

Rainer's Avatar just remained floating with his eyes closed.

The delegate showed no surprise, and simply bowed after a few moments before flying away. It seemed luck wasn't on their side.

Rainer glanced at the fleeing figure before staring back at the fort with its rapidly retreating soldiers. It should be common knowledge amongst the higher ups that he had won against a descended Divinity, so there was little point of fighting him on ground that wasn't even consecrated.

He didn't feel too bad about not helping the South or accepting their greetings. The moment he reached the Third Tier was the moment the Tarainien Empire began their fall. Such meddling and magic-hating Divinites had no place in his future goals. There was no need to worry about ordinary believers as no doubt seeing their Gods helpless to stop him would be enough to break any faith. And without 2nd Tier Experts the Empire couldn't fight any wars anyways. So his conscience would be clear.

And that was ignoring the plans of Talvara, who no doubt wished to milk this Empire for all it was worth in terms of Divine power.

It was now a dying faith.