“Oh, I didn’t realize that. Wait, if those stories have spread that far we might have a problem. I expect that the merchants from the southern empire won’t pay much attention to them, but their guards and servants are a different story. If they spread those stories, then the southern pantheon may learn about you two sooner rather than later.”

  Seronia says “That’s alright. If it happens, we will handle it. We are in a much better position now than when we first summoned you. They won’t find it quite so easy to force us to join them. Especially with Holos out of the picture.”

  Krenocia says “Besides, we have a wild card that will make them or any other pantheon nervous.”

  “A wild card? What is it?”

  Krenocia says “You, silly!”

  “Me?! How am I a wild card that can intimidate a pantheon?! I may have gotten stronger, but not strong enough to fight a god!”

  Seronia says “Not directly no, but you have proven that you can handle their avatars. You could also cause plenty of chaos for their followers.”

  Krenocia says “Ash could cause chaos for an entire country all on his own! Just look at what he has done to the empire!”

  “That wasn’t all my doing. I just took advantage of the chaos.”

  Krenocia says “Chaos that you caused! What worries me is that you might just have had every step of it planned out. That would be a terrifying level of foresight.”

  “No, most of it wasn’t me. I only issued general orders, Leonarr did most of the work. I’m not sure if he is just that good, or smart enough to listen to his officers who are. Either way, I just created the chaos, he and his men took advantage of it.”

  Krenocia says “So, the fact that they were already in position and staging to move when the chaos happened was pure coincidence?”

  “I was only planning to rescue the beastmen, everything else was accidental.”

  Krenocia says “Sure it was!”

  Seronia says “Anyway, that unpredictability of yours will make any pantheon thinking about moving against us nervous. The southern pantheon will have other reasons not to move against us, mainly your alliance with the southern empire. So you don’t need to worry about that.”

  “Okay. I will leave it to you, but let me know if you need any help.”

  Seronia says “We will.”

  Krenocia says “We will figure out this mortal avatar thing as well. It shouldn’t take us long, we should know if it’s possible by morning.”

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  “Alright, sounds good. I will also think about your offer, but it may take me a while. It is something that I will have to discuss with the girls as well.”

  Seronia says “Just so you know, Lin has already said that she is interested, whether you become a god or not.”

  “That’s no surprise, not if you offered her the position as goddess of magic. She is more obsessed with magic than anything else. You basically just gave her a path straight to her ultimate goal.”

  Krenocia says “Even if you choose not to accept our offer, she would be a valuable addition to our pantheon.”

  “So you plan to ascend her no matter what I choose?”

  Krenocia says “Yes, we do. Assuming nothing happens and she stays on her current path.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Seronia says “We can only do so much to help someone ascend. They have to reach a certain level of power on their own to qualify for ascension.”

  “Are you talking about levels or overall amount of power?”

  Krenocia says “Power, but levels help with that. So do your modifications that you have done to her.”

  Seronia says “She is already pretty close to the power level needed to ascend, but the further she goes the better. She may even have enough potential to reach ascension on her own.”

  Krenocia says “Myria is also doing well and will get to the point that we can help her ascend without any issues.”

  Seronia says “Brightfire is a slightly different story. She will reach the point that we can help her ascend, but it is going to be a while. Elves, because of their longer lifespans, tend to be a lot slower to grow into their power. Brightfire’s speed has increased since she met you, but she will need help to keep up with the others.”

  “Are you saying that I should modify her?”

  Seronia says “Yes. Her and probably Mercy as well, at least if you want them to have a chance of keeping up with Lin and Myria. Of course, if they don’t want to ascend, then there is no need.”

  “That is something that I will need to discuss with them. If they want to, then of course I will help them. Regardless of what I end up deciding.”

  Krenocia says “That’s good. Even if you don’t choose to join us, we would want them as part of our pantheon. We aren’t inviting them simply for your sake.”

  Seronia says “The other three are fine, but we will not ascend Mercy unless we feel that she will be a good fit for the pantheon, just so you are aware. Ascending mortals still comes with a cost and we won’t do that just for your sake.”

  “I understand.”

  Krenocia says “Well, we might, but it would take some convincing!”

  Seronia says “Krenocia!! Stop that!”

  Krenocia says “Take it easy. Ash knows I was teasing him.”

  “Yes, I know. I have gotten used to being teased lately.”

  Krenocia says “Well, with four wives I would expect nothing less.”

  “Oh, speaking of my wives, they had a special request. Seronia, if you can make a mortal avatar, please make sure that it has the ability to treat exhaustion.”

  Krenocia laughs and says “Ash! Have you been exhausting those poor women every night?!”

  “Um, maybe.”

  Seronia says “Alright, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Krenocia says “Now I really hope that we can figure out how to make mortal avatars. I really want to see what kind of things you are getting up to with your wives!”

  “If you figure out how to make the avatars you will do more than see it.”

  Krenocia says “In that case, I will figure out how to make a mortal avatar even if I have to sacrifice something to do it!”

  Seronia says “Why did you look at me when you said that?!”

  Krenocia says “No reason!”

  “Before you two start fighting, I have some questions about becoming a god. Since you want me to consider it, I need more information.”

  Krenocia says “Go ahead and ask.”

  “I think I remember that you once said that ancient gods don’t have to follow the same rules that other gods do.”

  Seronia says “That is correct. They are also less dependent on the faith of followers than we are.”

  “Why is that?”