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Rainer looked at his completed Enchanter's Guild. For some reason, these past couple of weeks Talvara not only sent more workers, but also her own enchanters to set up similar defenses to those at their own base. Compared to the anti-teleportation enchantments of Neutral City, it was the difference between copper and steel. Especially since they were designed against Elementals.

Whenever he had met with her in [Sleep Learning] her mood had jumped from seething rage, to embarrassed, to whatever the hell she was now. Really, her weird laughs when she thought she wasn't being watched and strange smiles were disturbing him. He was deeply curious over what Francis was doing, but figured it'd be more fun to wait for the memories himself.

He glanced over the system messages he earned with his Avatar last night.

[General Enchantment has reached level 8]

[Attribute Enchantment has reached level 5]

[Sacrificial Enchantment has reached level 3]

[Spatial Enchantment has reached level 2]

He had not only recreated Kara's bracelet - which hid her Demonic Aura - though a bit subdued from the original, but a thimble-sized spatial ring soon after. It turned out the hardest part of making a spatial ring wasn't just the enchantment but attaching the created space to the ring. Something Rainer found easy to practice with his [Sleep Learning] space's help. Working with a crutch and slowly removing it proved to be almost as effective in learning enchanting as having infinite Mana was.

The skills gained from the fine magical and mana-related work required to enchantment restrictions proved universally useful in pretty much every aspect of magic. He felt it made his level 9 [Arcane Manipulation] go from 9.2 to 9.3, if there were such a thing.

More and more he got the feeling that the final level of a manipulation skill was beyond anything he could imagine. Even Talvara when he asked didn't have an answer for him. While her followers didn't practice magic, they did have [Void Manipulation]. Something even her current greatest Void Lord only had level 9 of. And there was at least no record of what came when a manipulation skill reached level 10.

He, of course, had no plans of telling this to Sarah. The longer he could keep her from taking the likely ridiculous Trial for [Manaborne] the better. She had promised, and agreed herself, that taking the Tier 2 Trial before she had maxed out her class skills was stupid when you knew the reality of the situation. He now had plenty of time to create and design an enchanted set for improving her Mana-related abilities.

"I must admit I'm a bit jealous of your Northern origins. Such impressive workers," Mala said from his side, though you could hear a strangeness in her voice. No doubt she, like many, had discerned his origins as fake and now was deeply disturbed by the sheer amount of resources and strange looking Dwarves he could mobilize.

It also didn't escape their notice that Rainer could be in two places at once, and that many of these Dwarves arrived without his personal help as well. Completely invisible from them.

He almost applauded himself for his poor storytelling ability that made everyone think he wasn't from some mystical far North prior to this new development. The jarring shock that some of the nonsense he said could be true would no doubt mess with their minds. Especially the inconsistencies.

Rainer glanced at her and wasn't sure how to feel about this snake-tailed woman. Giving it any real thought, she had manipulated him in a bad situation. Not that it took much effort to manipulate someone with a temper.

That made him feel even more useless. People with tempers were only truly scary to spouses and children and that was exactly who he never wanted to become. Let alone becoming some patsy of Neutral City they pointed at whoever annoyed them with a few well chosen words. Given what happened, would they see hurting his companions and blaming someone else as an effective measure?

Rainer froze. Elelaria herself said Taranien Empire's actions made no sense… but before he spiraled he realized that faking Divine Power wasn't actually possible. And that perhaps being able to do that and sneak past Gunthar was a feat that would be better served elsewhere.

But the idea was still there.

He needed to control himself.

But this wasn't anything new for him, so what could he do? Suppressing his anger, especially with Arcane flowing through his body, wasn't working. His nightly training of resisting both Arcane and Void was helpful but it did nothing to what he naturally was.

Then what of delaying? Was not delayed gratification the difference between man and animal? All his anger towards the Tarainien Empire, pushed towards a future where he'd bring their Divines to their knees. It was odd how that single thought calmed him so much.

Rainer let out a long breath and followed it with a smile, surprising the Lamia next to him. Given that a thin tree several feet away swayed a bit made her wonder just what sort of magic was in that breath. She certainly didn't feel any but could have never guessed his body was as powerful as it was.

Rainer glanced over the Lamia too, not feeling too much anger over being manipulated anymore either. That he wanted the information made it so he couldn't take offense, but she clearly had wanted him to overact. It was the perfect manipulation to help someone do something they wanted to do in the first place. It didn't matter if they were self-aware since it was their own desire.

He was far more thankful for Elelaria's advice now. Even ignoring the usefulness of it, he wasn't sure how he'd handle slaughtering so many basically innocent people if he hadn't been slowed down and given an alternative in how to show his displeasure. No doubt he'd take out his misplaced resentment on the Lamia next to him.

"We are just about done with construction. I'm sure you've heard of the auction next month," Rainer spoke, thinking of all the items his Avatar made. Many were quite simple, while others approached the armored set that the clan of Dwarves had only one of for their promising Trial takers. He was bound to make a ludicrous amount of money.

Plus his Avatar, and Luna - though he wasn't too excited about her design ideas (why couldn't Kara, Sarah, Gunthar, or hell, even Elelaria, be interested in this?) - were working on the standard ring for any who joined the Enchanters Guild officially.

It would function as both a small spatial ring, the standard of the Guild itself, a minor connection to a still unbuilt nexus Rainer could access in case they were in danger, and give access to the enchanted lanes that led to the Mana-Well in the central tower. Not that they would know the last part; the goal was for others to assume it was just a way of keeping copious amounts of Mana Crystals safe while still providing easy access.

Especially since there were only four more months till the Dungeon meet. Plus, he was planning on telling the Fae about it, who had their own trial coming up. They could send representatives if they wished, under the promise he'd protect them if they were revealed.

Now if only he could get Gunthar or Theodore into [Sleep Learning] so that he could copy Nalmar's enchantments. No doubt they had seen enchantments far beyond anything this world had. Or, besides happily meeting his parents again, he was just as interested in seeing what enchanted items they had seen. Sarah was unfortunately not well versed enough in Runes to recreate anything accurately enough.

Gunthar might not be either for that matter, but Theodore definitely was.

Francis glanced around the house he had chosen for himself. It was the nicest house he could find next to the coast of the port city they now had. Apparently 'beach houses' were a modern thing, and he found none. He had to grab some mages to help him move this place even closer on the coast, just outside the port city itself. And then use magic to fix the foundation.

Their original plan had worked and it had only been a week before that the citizens of the port city had migrated away in a hurried, frightened frenzy. He had taken pity on them and kept away any truly strong monsters that tried to take advantage of the fallen barrier. Mostly because of his mother asking him to, but he still took full credit for it.

It seemed the monsters here, apart from ridiculous amounts of magic resistance, were nothing special. He didn't even need to use anything but his physical abilities. Though it seemed their bodies were useful for making Mana recovery potions.

Rainer would no doubt be happy to hear that. Not even the Mana-Well was enough to keep Enchanters from eventually running out of Mana after all. Even more so if they lacked a high enough Mana Talent, and given Rainer's indiscriminate recruiting plans, that would be more common than not.

Stupid Earth and it's instilling that everyone has a right to education, and that it helps knowledge progress as a whole. How else could his uglier twin get stuck with all these ideas?

The system was truly powerful for any living being, it showed in how weak these monsters were. When it was time to slay Gods, he'd spare the ones blocking the system-enhanced from entering places they didn't belong. Whatever their reasons, he couldn't fault them.

The city itself seemed empty with only the 150 odd Mages, most of them too young to be of 'use'. In fairness, anyone other than Francis and his family were arguably of little use, so perhaps being a useless child was better than a useless adult?

He guessed it wouldn't be long before news spread of them occupying this place with the formly gone barrier back up again. And then once they succeeded in a major battle, any hidden Mages across the world might congregate here. His grandfather's Avatar was already out looking for more Mages. He seemed oddly happy about the idea of having Mages to rule over. Perhaps a lifetime of living on the fringe of Magus society had left him wanting?

Francis was too weary to try creating an Avatar. He had no idea how much Rainer relied on the [Sleep Learning] space anchoring his soul when creating an Avatar. It did seem a bit too easy even for an [Archon] to learn how to use the legendary ritual that mimicked an ability otherwise exclusive to God-like beings. And Francis was the perfect example of what exactly could go wrong. What if he ended up with a living Avatar without his winning personality and charm?

It wasn't worth the risk, as despite Francis' lack of desire to be alive, his desire to recombine was stronger than his want for death.

Stupid Luna and Kara…

He grumbled inwardly, thinking he might have said 'fuck Rainer' and just ended himself if it hadn't been for them at this point.

Any time he was alone with his thoughts he'd drift to the Void. Invariably, he'd think of the end of all things, himself included. Not even he was immune to the dreadful presence that Void Will naturally instilled. Especially when he was alone for so long and without anything or anyone to balance it. Combined with the hole in his Soul, it was too much to bear.

He wanted them back, and the only way he could have them is if he became one Rainer again.

He frowned, wondering when his desire for death, and a sentimental allowance to wait for Rainer to be ready for his death, had transformed solely to a desire to recombine. Should he try to make himself more unique, more substantial, so that more of him remained in the recombined whole?

Was it a natural result of coming from Rainer's Soul? An instinctive pull to return to what he once was? The small thought of Rainer technically birthing him, due to the pushing, the screaming, the pain, and the blood, derailed him and moved his thoughts to much more pleasant things.

Like that short shy blonde that gave him eyes earlier. Having high Charisma was wasted on Rainer…

A short blonde swung open the door to Francis' new house just as Helen was about to enter. The younger of the two blushed and quickly ran away while Helen gave her a bemused glance. She had certainly expected Francis to sleep with others while she was away for a week, but definitely not the mousy little potioneer who blushed if a man looked at her for too long.

A rarity among this group who had little to do back when they lived in a deep dark underground basement for decades.

I guess you never really know someone…

The Mage thought as she entered the house, easily finding the unique presence Francis radiated.

Helen stared at the magic-made bathtub, confused. Creating a bath with magical water and then heating magic, was he a masochist? But dipping a finger into it she stood there stunned for a long time and then disrobed. There went her plan for making him work a bit. How many years had it been since she had an actual bath?

"Are you aware how impressive this is?" she suddenly asked, remembering and being simultaneously amazed once again at his young age. It had been a casual question of hers. Perhaps something to make herself feel better about how much stronger than her he was.

Despite their awe for the Arch-Magus Frederick Nvos, their knowledge that he was over a thousand years old kept it to normal levels of awe. It became more along the lines of, 'of course a mage that old was powerful.'

Her attempt at making herself feel better obviously hadn't worked. Instead it made her feel like a dirty old woman.

Normally, age differences were ignored with Mages. But that was only when comparing 80 to 200, not 374 and 20. Plus, once it became obvious what their relationship was, she kept getting dirty unapproving glances from his mom. Occasionally mixed in with begrudging respect when her blue eyes roamed over Helen's figure. She was truly a strange mother.

Truly, Helen was embarrassed by the 300 years she had on Francis to where she almost considered not going back to him. Almost.

"Manipulating Earth, Water, and Fire? And I guess Wind too, the humidity builds up too quickly otherwise. I thought you knew I was an 'Arch-Magus' already?" he asked, confused, more focused on her recently unclothed body. The brown-haired Mage had curves in all the right places.

Helen froze. There went all her ego at her progress at his magical sexual skills. How could she even call herself a Mage when around him? Her earlier thoughts of shame due to how much younger he was vanished completely. How could she consider someone so much stronger than her as a junior? She could barely consider him human.

Was he a bored God treading among mortals for entertainment? He certainly acted like it. His casual act of knocking out the population of a city and fortress unconscious supported that little theory.

"No," she said teresly, "that it is comfortable to bathe in." She doubted anyone other than Frederick could match this feat. But no one obviously had the audacity to ask such a powerful mage to make them a bath.

Water created by magic always came with a major flaw: it felt off. It didn't quench your thirst, and it felt simply gross unless infused with healing energies. The idea of bathing in it was more unpleasant than being dirty. When added in with a bath made of spell-created Earth and heated up by fire it was borderline torture.

Was it because he manipulated it rather than used a spell?

"I don't follow."

"Nevermind."

"If you say so, but you aren't getting in without showering first."

"What do you-" Helen asked before a splash of cold water suddenly materialized and covered her.

"You ass!" she screamed before jumping into the hot bath. Though her anger quickly slipped away from how comfortable she was. It took too much work to be angry at the man who changed everything about their lives as suddenly as he appeared. Though the immediate benefit was more convincing.

"Cold to hot is beneficial you know. Increases metabolism, raises up the proper hormones, all that crap. Great for skin and for sleep quality. Plus it might be part of what makes Swedish girls the hottest in the world with all their saunas and cold climate. And men maybe? I can't really comment on that."

'What?" she asked, wondering what the temperature of women had to do with cold climates. Among many other incomprehensible words.

"See, that's how I felt when you asked if I was aware 'how impressive this is'. Context is important you know?"

"What's your world like?" Helen asked, changing the subject, and looking for some of this 'context'. It wasn't as if she particularly wanted to discuss how much more impressive his magic was compared to hers.

"Which one?" Francis asked, more interested in looking at her under the water.

Helen quickly resisted the urge to say 'What?'. No doubt she'd just get another complaint about context given the grin on his face.

"The one you are from," she felt was the best answer to the world-traveling man.

"Well for one, Mages rule the place. From the shadows that is. They let ordinary Humans develop on their own for whatever reason."

"And they do not fear what might occur?"

Francis had been curious about that himself. Though from what his grandfather explained, the Mage's Council was in full control of any nuclear arms. And most world leaders for that matter. Highly advanced mental spells made it quite easy, though they were pretty hands off; not really caring too much so long as it didn't conflict with their interests. From what he was aware, in a few years the Mage's Council would be working together to make the worst forms of pollution illegal.

Even they got annoyed with cleaning anything too damaging up with magic. Though they did enjoy how pollution weakened world energy, and therefore weakened Qi - in his terms, Aura - users. Hence why they had been ignoring it for centuries and even encouraged the mundane governments in the East to pollute more.

Unfortunately, they discovered 'Qi' wasn't as inborn talent based as Magic and that pushing Qi users too far to the point where they became less discerning in their recruitment efforts wasn't a good idea. They loved how exclusive and clannish China's Qi users were and had no plans to change that to where Qi techniques became public knowledge.

"They stick their hands in places that need to be… 'sticked in' I guess. Plus, most of the anti-magi tech here would be impossible in any of the worlds I've been in. Ambient Mana is a rarity rather than a standard." Though he fully planned on studying the inventions here. Who better to figure out how certain things could work with a different energy source than him? Or Rainer he supposed.

Helen raised an eyebrow at that. Then how did Mages even exist? That two Mages that were arguably stronger than any that have ever existed here came from such a place was a surprise. She had theorized the ambient Mana was special or even stronger from whence they came.

"Shall I stick my hands in places they need to be?" Helen asked.

"No."

"What?" It had been an abrupt and perhaps a bit clumsy segue, but since when did men ever complain about that? Helen wondered.

"I'm stuck picturing a council of wrinkly old hands caressing me."

Francis dodged a fireball aimed at his face. Did she expect him to be able to block that easily or something? Perhaps being overestimated as a Mage wasn't a good thing. Was it the Mage girl version of a playful slap to the shoulder? Maybe he should have dated some Mages growing up.

Wait… had he? His grandfather shouldn't have been immune to the idea of Rainer producing some Arcane-talented children...

"Did you think I'd let that assault go unanswered?" Francis said, moving over to her, leaving analyzing 'his' childhood romances for a later date.

"I'd hoped not."

Francis stared awkwardly at the seat Talvara patted. She wanted to play videogames… again. He really just wanted to make a Void Sword at this point, or get [Void-walking] working at full capacity in the ambient Mana. Though he usually practiced the latter at daytime. She still gave him advice on controlling the Void daily, but he really didn't have much time for self-experimentation.

Once more his night would be filled with their usual bet. The novelty of having the Void-Being doing embarrassing things quickly ended after a few weeks. He wouldn't mind if it was just for fun, but she was getting far too competitive. He simply ran out of ideas he wouldn't feel bad about making her do.

The latest thing he thought of was having her mud-wrestle with her own Avatar. Even that was borderline and he had mostly asked to see if she'd even be willing. It ended up being awkward for the both of them.

He was genuinely curious how Rainer would handle having that little memory.

Her refusing a bet would be an easy excuse to stop this nonsense, but he doubted she'd refuse anything short of killing herself at this point. He was completely out of ideas to where he bothered to suggest that she help Rainer more whenever his mother-brother? brommy?, brom? asked her.

That it would be indirectly helping Luna and Kara went unsaid. Damn his sentimentality.

He wondered if he should just let her win, but in the end he found her 'losing face' too entertaining.

Francis raised an eyebrow at Talvara's frustrated growl before he returned back to his own task. He had used his most recent bet so that she had to help him make a Void Blade. Instead, she made it a competition to see who'd get there first.

Making a controlled [Void Call] that acted like a blade was simple. But it took up pretty much all his mind to control that, and was therefore useless as an actual blade. Not to mention there was little point pretending it was a blade when it was technically not connected to his hand in an important way.

What he wanted was a piece of Void that cut and acted like a blade, with the strength to bypass all known magic and barriers that a [Void Call] naturally had.

According to Talvara, while it wouldn't kill them, not even the strongest Divine Avatar she's seen could do anything other than dodge or just take the loss and burn energy to recover from a [Void Call]. Though hitting them in the first place was unlikely but a blade would be entirely different matter. Especially if he could make it a spell like [Arcane Blade].

Francis flashed back and forth as he Void-walked throughout the city. He finally reached the edge of the barrier only to cry in confusion as he crossed it, ended up higher than intended and far too disoriented to do anything other than slam into the ground.

Once it seemed he was okay, he got to enjoy the peal of laughter that came from his mother. She was on standby in case any healing was needed. Or on the off chance she got to watch her son make a fool of himself. Him falling from great heights was a lot more funny for her once she realized he was made out of steel.

Francis rubbed his butt, his fall enough to hurt even his enhanced body. He flicked a bit of increased gravity at his mother walking over and chuckled as she nearly fell over face first. The look she gave him promised a return of the gesture sometime in the near future.

"How is it?" she asked, more focused on seeing the rest of her family again.

"Maybe three weeks at most before I can bring you guys to Rainer and Sarah," Francis replied after some thought. He was getting closer to being adjusted to the ambient Mana, and if he had to he could probably make a solo trip back.

An experiment with an enemy scout he found showed him that traveling with anyone else proved problematic for now.

"Let's see then if we can't accelerate things here," his mother said with a devilish grin. She reasonably hated these Mage-slavers almost as much as the Mage's Council back home, given their similar purposes when it came to her family.

They had already been working on preparing the Mages for how any future battles would go. However the goal in their training wasn't winning, that was a given as far as they were concerned. It was rather how to win and send the greatest message possible.

And it wasn't a question of If but when, as even if this country didn't attack them others certainly would. None would risk letting a Mage rebellion continue longer.

"Let's."

Francis gazed down in the darkness. 'Down' being a relative term to the massive flying fortress beneath him.

He had already been impressed with the Floater, but he could now see why Frederick had chuckled and said 'you'll see' when he asked his mother's opinion on them.

"I want it." And to remake it to work in any world. And just what were those advanced-looking cannons?

"Patience. We need our people in position so it doesn't get destroyed in a sudden fall."

"I could probably support the whole thing," Francis speculated. A combination of [Gravity Domain] and [Eldritch Flight] should be enough.

"I'd rather not bet you holding up a thousand plus ton piece of magnificence on 'probably' and on the fact you are just interested in seeing if you could rather than thinking it is a good idea."

"Got me. And only a thousand tons?"

"Plus."

"Well I could say a one plus pound fortress and be just as accurate as you."

"Don't sass your grandfather."

"Technically you are my great-great-grandfather."

"That's one too many greats, kid."

"No? I mean Rainer's my mother, Sophia is his mother-"

"Why am I more bothered by that conclusion than you?" His grandfather's face was a bit green.

"No idea. Isn't some degree of incest pretty normal among Mages?"

"Well a bit-"

"So I'm sure there is some aunt-mothers out there, why not a brother-mother?"

"I-"

"I mean it is a magical family. So isn't it plausible?"

Frederick wanted to argue. But then he remembered the Van'row Family. That was knowledge that should have stayed deep… deep within the recesses of his mind. Considering they had started their twisted family tree with himself in mind, Frederick momentarily shuddered in fear.

He had been far weaker back then and the Van'row's had come after him in a time in his life where he was doing more running than anything else. It was good they hadn't understood enough about Arcane Magic back then for the imprisoning spell they used to actually work against him.

That was one of the few families he never felt guilty for wiping off the face of the earth.

"So… how's the kids?" Frederick coughed awkwardly, trying to change the subject, though his mind was unfortunately still stuck elsewhere.

"Bradley is doing quite well at his new job. Though I have to admit I'm pretty worried about Samantha. She is taking her break-up quite hard. I will admit I never liked the boy she was dating, but that doesn't mean I want to see my daughter in tears," Francis answered.

"What?" Frederick responded. Before he realized the nonsensical question he asked.

"Going senile?" Francis asked with a chuckle.

"Don't sass your grandfather. I had thought you would have matured given what you went through."

"Oh, Rainer did. But the soul splitting kind of rewinded that for me. Speaking of kids, let me tell you about a little Elemental I created from nothingness…"

"We're ready," Sophia said before giving a weird look to Frederick, "Is everything okay?"

"No."

Francis gave a worried glance at the steeled look on his grandfather's face. Yes, he had been just as pissed at first, but Talvara had assured him the Elemental would have a great life, and there was nothing Rainer could do against a race of people that even the combined might of the Void Lords couldn't win against. And no doubt they had excellent defenses against [Void-walking], so the usual advantage he had didn't exist.

But explaining how well his Elemental would be treated did nothing to affect Frederick at all, save for making him more angry. The joke about it not technically being his kid per say only got a well deserved glare.

"Francis."

"Yes?"

"Go work on your [Void-walking]. Enough playing around with this world; disable as much as you can with [Void Descent] and go. Me and your mother will handle the rest. We'll call you if you are needed. But I will handle the rest of the issues related to the war."

"Frederick, you-" Sophia started to ask, confused.

"I am not having a discussion." His words were punctuated with a massive flare of Arcane. It was nothing like a 'presence' but was merely a raw expression of an unmistakable power. There was nothing elegant nor skillful about it. Not that it mattered.

Francis wanted to argue and frankly bristled at being ordered around. He was too powerful to care for that.

But now he found himself just as angry about what happened to his Elemental. And much of that anger at himself. Had he given in too easy because 'there was nothing to be done?' Had the near-death experience temporarily cowed him? When was Rainer Nvos such a rational person?

Whatever jokes he made, he created it, it was his child and he let some random Elemental have it just because they were strong and Talvara said it would have a 'good life'? Plenty of his friends back on Earth led 'good lives' because they were rich, but were all of his friends happy? Not even close.

He knew it wasn't completely fair to Rainer, having Sarah, Luna, Kara, and whoever else to worry about, but he found himself disappointed in the former him. And the current him. And all the hims. Far too disappointed to bother taking offense at his grandfather who wanted to get under the system so he could do what Rainer should have done months ago.

The world flashed grey for a brief moment before returning to normal.

"I'm on it."

Francis stood at the edge the floating fortress. They had captured it three days ago and were guarding it on the way back to the city. Practicing on a moving vessel turned out to be useful in his efforts of mastering [Void-walking] in a world of Mana.

There was, however, a major issue. He still couldn't take others with him. He doubted even his grandfather could survive the trip as he did the first time he came here. A telepathic message from his mother brought him out of his sight-seeing and he rushed over to the command center.

They found a spy?

"After I ambushed him and went through his mind the first time he's become resistant. And he just laughs whenever we ask him a question. I figured I'd call you over before I escalate the situation."

His grandfather was back to normal, but you could tell from how he ignored all protests and searched everyone's mind to see if they were a traitor that he wasn't relaxing here anymore. Not that he really had been before, but his study on Rainer's 'world-teleportation' spell had been going nowhere, so in the past there wasn't much he could do other than hope that his grandchildren were okay wherever they were.

He was now probably desiring to eliminate anything that might distract Francis from his current task. He ended up only finding a single one.

"I'll give it a try."

Francis walked over the captive, currently in one of the numerous runic suppressing shackles they had now.

He opened up [Arcane Revelation] with his Aura as he prepared to use [Mana-Reading]. He could easily tell the Mage had a too-stable Mana Pool, so he opted to try a closer looking method alongside the truth-detector skill.

But he froze at what he saw. Divine Power. Nothing compared to a descended Divinity, but it was enough to show the Mage in front of him was a serious follower. It was well hidden but such methods were pointless in front of [Arcane Revelation].

"Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"Is there a serious religion on this planet?"

The grin the prisoner had on his face fell as he looked at Francis in shock. Power surged within him, but Francis had been a step ahead. Before the Divinity follower could act, a manipulated lightning charged fist hit him.

"Before anything else, anyone know a spell to hold him better?"

"I can cast a medical stasis spell," Sophia said, and went forward to do so without further input.

"What do you mean by serious religion?"

"Exactly that. He has some Divine Power in him. I see no other conclusion."

"Divine Power?" both his relatives asked in confusion. They, of course, remembered the Divinities from his stories of the past, but they had a typical atheist Mage view of the world. A powerful enough Mage would be indistinguishable from a God, and therefore an actual God was unlikely to exist.

They had not known there was a power system to it though.

"There is one," Frederick said after a few moments of thought. "On the other side of the world there is a Theocracy. It follows the tenet that 'Mages exist to serve the needs of mankind'. Their priesthood is all Mages while the Pope and his Archbishops are ordinary humans who are rumored to have special and strange abilities granted by their God.

"But…"

"But?" Francis asked. Though he had to admit he was pretty disappointed. Meeting a friendly Divinity for once would have been interesting. Especially if they were related to magic. Oh well. It was a wide wide world out there, he was sure one existed on some planet or plane. Talvara was close enough to a Divinity, so he'll count her as one for now ignoring completely how one of her followers' greatest enemies was a race made of literal magic.

"This place is far, far larger than Earth. I can't see how one of them could infiltrate our number. Or even know of us. We've only openly declared ourselves a few days ago. Especially with how difficult any form of teleportation is here. He was one of the few slaves who joined us from the Port City. It is likely a coincidence and he was acting in his subversion without orders."

"A question for another time. But can we assume any believer of theirs is our enemy?"

"Most certainly."

"I'll check everyone then, in case your memory magic missed anything."

A full search found no others, and Francis decided to leave any further interaction with their spy for later. He had more important matters to handle during the day.

Francis stared at his hand in thought. Was it impossible? Talvara had concluded that making an actual blade of raw Void wasn't feasible. That the closest he could come to a Void-like sword was an expert manipulation of [Void Call].

But that wasn't of any use to him, it would be the definition of frivolous to do so. What was the point of having such a thing by your hand when it wasn't controlled by it?

He smiled for a moment as he brought the runic formula for [Arcane Blade] to mind. If he couldn't make a blade of Void, why not try Void Will? He ignored that his [Arcane Blade] wasn't made of Arcane Power, but Arcane Energy, but he supposed it would still work. It was just a question of whether it would do anything of use. A blade made of pure Mana rather than crafted in a certain way by a spell would be next to useless.

He cut out the Arcane part, and left only the framework. He brought the spell to mind, his Mana rapidly shrinking into the incomplete spell before quickly managing to input Void Will. It took a few tries, especially since this fake world of Talvara's wasn't perfect, but he finally managed it.

The lack of a skill or spell being made was not promising.

He gripped his hand mid-air as a blade of pure Void Will materialized in it. No reason to extend it from his fingers if he didn't have to. The dark energy merely floated there, giving off the usual unerring presence of anything related to the Void.

He casually sliced in across his arm. A shiver passed through his body, but otherwise the blade did not affect him. It was like getting hit with a [Void Presence].

"A bust," he lamented.

"Perhaps you need to use Rainer's space. Mine may not be perfect enough, so this may not be your fault at all."

Talvara's oddly encouraging and placating comment was as transparent as her current dress.

"Rainer's space," Francis mumbled to himself, thinking of Talvara's own compliments and grumbles about said space as well as the space's origin from his grandfather.

He stood up and headed to a more open area, materializing a grassland beneath him from the otherwise nonexistent scenery elsewhere. He found it helped him think.

With another Void Will blade in hand, he held it in front of him, imitating a basic stance of his [Arcane Blade Mastery]. He swung it a few times before focusing his mind.

Natural Laws. That's what they called it. And the [Sleep Learning] white void existed by borrowing Natural Laws from the Arcanium and perhaps the Void as well.

Then what of [Void Descent]? It took a relatively harmless skill - at least when used alone - and gave it killing potential by borrowing strength from the Void. Francis had no doubt that further levels could do far more than bring someone unconscious.

Then could the Void Will he wielded leverage the power of the Void?

With every swing of the dark blade, Francis thought over all his Void Skills and his practice in achieving [Void Descent]. He sank further in further into his Void Will, not the part of it in his body, but the part of it in his blade.

For a brief instant he felt the Void itself in his swing. Consuming all at the edge of the blade.

Space and time distorted as the blade became sharper than reality. Nothing seemed capable of barring its path. Talvara's illusory space shook and seemed to only stabilize because that single swing had ended far too quickly.

Francis let out a predatory grin as he looked at the once again harmless Void Will blade. He wasn't surprised at the lack of skill. This was a skill, or perhaps a spell, outside of Talvara's knowledge. He'd have to do it reality or in Rainer's [Sleep Learning].

"Talvara."

"Yes?" The Void-Being asked, staring at the blade just the same as he was.

"Use a [Void Call] on me. At a strength somewhat weaker than Aurora could manage."

Talvara thought for a few seconds before pointing at Francis, likely just to give him the timing of it. He sank into the Void Will on his blade again, and then lashed out. Talvara froze as she felt her connection to the [Void Call] vanish.

The only sound left in the space was the deep laughter of Francis.