Teyva sat atop the altar in Myranda’s church, swinging her legs as she flicked through her notifications and messages. She’d enjoyed many of the updates that she’d pressed Journey for. In particular was the updated version of the Journal. Flipping between topics had become all that much easier. She shifted her weight and glanced over at Myranda who was sitting off to the side in quiet meditation. The space was dark and empty, most of the priests had gone to sleep by now leaving Teyva and her Fourth General alone to talk in private. She fell onto her back and kicked her legs again, flipping from her messages to her stats page. It’d been a while since she’d looked at it.

NAME: TEYVA AKURA

PLAYERID: IANNA

RACE: PRECURSOR LABYRINTHIAN

SEX: FEMALE

AGE: 27

TITLE: Great Demon Lord

CURRENT LEVEL: 22 (262410/285400 EXP / Growth: 100%)

HP: 3152/3152 | MP: 4032/4032 | SP: 3056/3056

REPUTATION: ENEMY OF THE WORLD

ALIGNMENT: NEUTRAL (40/60)

Physique:

135 (+15) (25%) Focus

[Labyrinthian]

Endurance:

141(+21) (66%) Focus

[Titan]

Willpower:

181 (+11) (98%) Focus

[Pale Dawn]

Influence:

174 (+14) (72%) Focus

[Facsimile]

Agility:

62(+15) (12%) Focus

[Siren]

Skill:

81(+20) (33%) Focus

[The Mother of Monsters]

RESISTANCES

Death Magic

Heroic

Nullifies all incoming death magic. Absorbs 50% of Damage as Health.

Poison

Grand

Nullifies all incoming poison damage.

Spiritual

Grand

Nullifies all incoming spiritual magic.

Mental

Grand

Nullifies all incoming mental magic.

Fire

Potent

Reduces all incoming fire magic by 50%

Water

Potent

Reduces all incoming water magic by 50%

Wind

Potent

Reduces all incoming wind magic by 50%

Earth

Potent

Reduces all incoming earth magic by 50%

TRAITS

[TONGUE OF THE LABYRINTHIAN]

[SPARK OF THE OUTSIDER]

[TOOLS OF THE WANDERER]

[CHILD OF THE HALLS]

[STARLIGHT SORCERESS]

[ADAPTABLE]

[NATURALIST]

[CORPSE OF THE ANCIENT QUEEN]

ACHIEVEMENTS

[Well, that sucked!] - You have endured terrible trauma and come through stronger than ever before. Your base willpower is increased!

[Undying] - You have died and come back to life repetitively, your soul becoming inured to the experience. You no longer suffer resurrection sickness. A very small amount of progress is saved upon death and rebirth.

[Titan Slayer] - You have slain a creature far beyond your capabilities. Let no one doubt your capacity for destruction! Your abilities do increased damage to creatures of a higher level than you.

[New Progenitor] - You are the first Labyrinthian to exist in eons, your people and civilization forgotten. You are to be an example of what your kind can achieve. Your growth rate is increased!

[Champion of the Green Sea] - You played a role in liberating the Balthin Green Sea from it’s corruption. Residents of the Balthin Green Sea have a naturally higher regard for you.

[Lord of the Wildlands] - You saw to the destruction of The Lydan, Lord of the Wildlands. Word of your deed will spread and your name will carry more weight. Your base reputation has increased!

[Kin of the Demon King] - You have been accepted into the Azar King’s immediate family. Your base reputation with all Azar has increased!

[Goddess in the Making] - The Akurai People have come to realize that a small part of you resides in each and every one of them. However dubious this declaration is, they will come to revere you as something close to the Divine!

[Lady of Unification] - You have overcome every opponent in your way during the Unification Festival and claimed victory. Your overall reputation has increased!

[Aspect Being] - You have awakened a sixth aspect and ascended past the bounds of what it means to be mortal. Behold your splendor! Your experience gains going forward are increased by 25% (Current EXP Modifier: 100%)

.

[Tempered Soul] - Over and over you have exposed your soul to great pressure and strain, coming out stronger than before. Your will is like steel. You have gained a natural resistance to Spirit and Mind magic. Your base willpower has increased by 10.

[Great Demon Lord] - You are the first being to be recognized by the world as more than just a Demon Queen or Demon King. You are the Great Demon Lord, enemy of all that exists beyond your domain. Your base reputation has dramatically increased.

[Enemy of the Gods] - You have declared war on the gods themselves.

She licked her lips and waved her hand over the screen, scrolling through her list of achievements. She hadn’t had any new additions to the list since the events of five years ago, though that wasn’t much of a surprise. What bummed her out a little was the next page. Her traits hadn’t changed at all. Though she supposed that made sense as well given as she’d acquired all the aspects she could acquire.

TRAITS

[TONGUE OF THE LABYRINTHIAN] Racial - As a labyrinthian you know the language of your people. The source language for all speaking creatures in Orum, Labyrinthian is a language of feelings, words, and imagery. You are capable of speaking with any creature capable of speech and reading any written language based on Labyrinthian.

[CHILD OF THE HALLS] Racial - As an Impure Labyrinthian you possess an innate sense of direction. With enough time your body will naturally adjust to the subtleties of enclosed spaces allowing you to navigate complex passages without getting lost.

[STARLIGHT SORCERESS] Racial - As a Pureblood Labyrinthian your casting time and mana use are reduced by 25% at night.

[ADAPTABLE] Racial (Human) - Constant exposure to adverse conditions without succumbing will eventually result in tolerances or even resistances.

[NATURALIST] Racial (Orckin) - You take on attributes that compliment your surroundings, altering your appearance over time and providing you with various benefits.

[SPARK OF THE OUTSIDER] Unique - You possess a soul from another world, transmigration has altered you irrevocably. Some requirements and limitations do not apply to you. You are capable of consuming aspect stones to awaken abilities and powers.

[TOOLS OF THE WANDERER] Unique - As a compromise for your state at rebirth. You have been granted abilities to aid you in this new world.

[CORPSE OF THE ANCIENT QUEEN] Unique - You possess the accursed body of a prehistoric monarch known as Teyva Rani. Your body gains resistance to death magic. Your rate of growth has decreased significantly.

[Corpse of the Ancient Queen] made her simmer quite a bit beneath her skin. No matter how long it had been since the passing of Rani’s soul, that trait was a reminder that the woman lived on in some small way as part of her body. She clicked her tongue and moved away from the list to her massive list of abilities. The number had continued to rise over the years and it was hard to scroll through the whole thing without becoming hopelessly lost. There was one ability in particular though that she was proud of above all the others. One that she was holding in reserve till the day she could drop it at just the right, crushing moment.

Summon Lydan

[Titan]

Potent

Summoning | 880MP

You summon a Lydan, a mighty lesser true-titan. The creature obeys your commands and will fight relentlessly until it dies or is dismissed. The Lydan possesses its own suite of combat abilities and possesses incomprehensible physical strength.

She admired the simple wording of the thing. Snorting out a small laugh and rolling onto her side. She stared at her High Priestess until the woman opened her eyes and returned her gaze. “Yes, Goddess?”

“Myranda, what if I just… dropped one in the Badlands and called it a day?” She asked, kicking her legs and resting her chin on her palms. “Just told it to go to town until the Orc’s asked very nicely for me to stop.”

Myranda frowned and raised an eyebrow as if trying to understand what she was saying. It took several seconds for the elf to go wide-eyed and look down at her hands before pulling her gaze up to Teyva again, “You aren’t serious.”

“Why not?” Teyva asked, and then sighed, “I mean I know why. Basic decency. Not slaughtering hundreds or even thousands of civilians like the humans would. Let alone the lasting harm to the environment. There’s more, obviously, but…” She rest her chin on the altar and stared at the floor, “...sometimes I just wonder why I feel the need to restrain myself so much. I’m antsy, Myranda. I need to stretch my legs and if I don’t see any action in the Badlands I am afraid I might just cut loose anyway.”

“Does it really bother you that much?” Myranda asked.

“Yeah,” Teyva said, “It’s like every waking moment is just an endless itch at the back of my mind. A perpetual reminder of just-” She trailed off and her eyes fell on the door that pointed out towards the east. Towards Katal. Towards her enemies. Towards Bertrand. She took a deep breath and held it for several seconds, drawing her mana around herself in a tight, instinctive embrace to cool her nerves and ward off the hostile thoughts. She needed to keep herself steady for just a little longer.

“Don’t feel alone,” Myranda said, looking towards the door as well. “If it did not fly in the face of the bigger picture, I would be out there with Conrad right now, I imagine the others feel the same way.”

Teyva rubbed her arms and rolled onto her back. She wondered if they’d be disillusioned if they saw her cut loose, if they saw her go to the extremes she had on that day she had marched across the Wildlands towards Osan. The carnage she’d left in her wake. She rubbed her face. Did she even really care? She didn’t exactly feel anything in the way of guilt about that day. No, that was wrong. There was one thing she felt guilt about. She grabbed her arms tightly and pushed the memory out of her mind, shaking it off and shuddering as her Mana came in even tighter.

“You’re dwelling again,” Myranda said softly, getting to her feet and walking over to her Goddess.

“Yeah, and?” Teyva grumbled.

“We leave for the Badlands tomorrow, Yaga and Stella are gone. Your contingencies are ready to respond to any surprise attacks on the city,” Myranda said.

Teyva frowned, “What’s that got to do with-”

Myranda held up her hand, “Stop worrying so much about Osan,” She said easily, “Stop using past events as an excuse and your rising tension as a crutch. You aren’t eager for a bloodbath, not really, vengeance yes but widespread cruelty isn’t your style. You’re eager to be done with the badlands and come back to your people with them safe and sound. You have hardly left the pinnacle since what happened to your father,” She paused and chuckled, “For the Mother of Monsters you have a hard time recognizing motherly separation anxiety.”

Teyva sat up and scowled at Myranda, she opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again.

Myranda chuckled and turned away, walking towards one of the benches and throwing herself into it.

“Better?”

“Shut it,” Teyva growled, and then looked away, “Yes.”

“The city will be fine,” Myranda soothed, “But if you insist on worrying, spend your time thinking about how to make our visit quick and efficient, rather than daydreaming about fire and brimstone.”

Teyva fell back onto her back and stared at the ceiling, “Thanks, Myranda.”

“Anytime, my Goddess. I live to serve,” She said with a delicate bow.

Teyva smirked at the ceiling, “So how’s Leo?”

“My sex life is not your business, I’m afraid,” Myranda warned, raising a finger.

“So things are going well, then,” Teyva laughed.

The two fell silent for a long time after that. Both of them lost in their own thoughts. Teyva stared at the ceiling for a while, occasionally flipping through notifications that Journey sent her way about new adventurers appearing and shifts in quest chains. Apparently this SimoneB person had completed her introductory quest and was off to become a proper Adventurer now. Good, that would make her easier to track in the future. She turned her head and glanced one more time at Myranda.

“Hey, I’ve got a question, as Teyva.”

Myranda hesitated and nodded, “Ask away.”

“How do you think History will remember me? Once I’m done,” She asked.

“As the most feared and dreaded being that ever walked the surface of Orum,” Myranda said bluntly, without a moment of hesitation. “I very much doubt that history will be kind to you.”

Teyva huffed out a laugh and rolled onto her back, resting her hands on her waist and smiling. She was okay with those consequences. If it meant Orum was free of the Cycle, fine.

“Good enough for me.”