Demonic Devourer's Development

For a moment, there was a tense silence. Then Goddess of Wizards raised her chin with a huff. "I suppose it was inevitable, but I don't see how is that important. The problem certainly exists, but it is not of urgent sort, and is not impossible to fix. Our current problem, which proved itself to be irritatingly hard to remove, is Devourer."

God of Rogues raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "Don't take my words wrong, goddess! Who are you taking me for? I was simply shocked when I heard this all at first. Now I'm dying from curiosity. I won't sleep until I understand—how could that happen at all? Just listen—you explained from the start that EXP was a mysterious energy that souls generated from their development, and that we could harvest and harness it for whatever he wanted. Right?"

Goddess of Wizards nodded. "Indeed, this is what I had said back then, when I first explored the world we were born into."

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"And after death, you told that this EXP just goes nowhere, so there's no harm in harvesting it. Isn't that right?" God of Rogues narrowed his eyes.

The goddess adverted her eyes, visibly uncomfortable. "Yes, this is what I had said, too. Afterwards, I found it is more complex… The energy of souls doesn't simply disappear. It spreads in the air, the earth, the water, nourishing them and giving them life. Even in Hell, it is true, though this realm is made such that any life born into it could only be a grotesque parody of what we can find in the mortal realm."

God of Rogues silently digested that information for a minute. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. "But we harvest EXP by sending out adventurers, by giving them classes and by waiting for them to die. That's the reason for the problems that were described to us, isn't it? We hoard EXP, and it doesn't reach the places it should."

"Exactly. But there are much fewer adventurers than there are living beings in the world. We aren't even hoarding that much." Goddess of Wizards waved her fingers in a dismissive gesture. "Who cares if it causes a drought or two amongst mortals? They die in thousands each day, anyway. As for the more serious problems, I believe that a right application of a right magic will fix those, too. Starting with Devourer. It's only a matter of time spent on research."

God of Rogues let out a bark of laugher. "Well, while you research the 'kill Devourer' spell, I'd like to think more about the consequences of our actions. Droughts—well, droughts I don't care about myself, but you can't dismiss the First. It's in his power to send a dozen of Devourers against us, or just remade the world anew if he chooses. Shouldn't we try to please him, at least?"

Again, the goddess didn't reply immediately. "This is rational. But we have to think about the mortals, too. They depend on adventurers for protecting them from monsters, which are still a threat to the settlements. We can't abolish the Adventurers' Guild."

"No, that'd be absolutely wrong." God of Rogues nodded eagerly. He chose to not point out that there were times before adventurers even existed, when humans relied only on their wit and skill to protect themselves, and did it well enough, despite the abundance of chaos beasts in the world at the time. "But what about other ways we could help? Like what you did back there, Goddess of Wizards. That would be of help…"

"What I did?" She looked at God of Rogues in confusion.

"Dying." He grinned, and that grin only widened at the anger in her expression. "Didn't it release your EXP in the world? Tons of it, I know. Did it make an impact on the world's wellbeing?"

"It must have, but there's no way to find out immediately. We can only wait and see… But I doubt the result is worth the sacrifice. If you are so keen to help, though, you are free to follow my example."

"Oh no, no. And I doubt anyone else is. I suppose I will just leave that in the realm of the most improbable possibilities." God of Rogues paused and smiled slyly. "Unless we count Devourer in. Then, the improbable changes to unlikely."

Goddess of Wizards grit her teeth. "Not if I can help it. And you too, since you are here. We had no luck in our search yet, but you are the best in hiding, which gives you a unique knowledge of the best places Devourer can burrow himself in."

"And if it would be of any help to you, I would readily give it. I mean, I would've… But there are already a dozen gods searching for him, including Goddess of Rangers, who is not much worse than myself in hiding and skulking. I think my efforts are better spent elsewhere, goddess."

"Indeed? Where that place could be, pray tell?"

'Somewhere where God of Monks won't find me if he asks any of you, guys, so not in your vicinity,' God of Rogues said inwardly. Outwardly, his words were much different and much fuller with fake sweetness. "After all I found, I feel like it's my duty to investigate the extent of the First's doings in our world. We can't have a second Devourer growing in some dark place somewhere, just waiting for a right moment like an arrow notched on a bow, like a dagger behind one's back? No, I think not. You must agree, too."

The goddess looked thoughtful for a long moment, but finally, nodded. "I do. And I trust you to not alert the others without a good reason. The spirits are already tense amongst us—additional confusion and panic would be highly undesirable, and lower our effectivity."

"Of course! You know me. My mouth is shut, locked, and the key is broken in the lock.." God of Rogues mimed the said actions and, with a wave of hand, began to cast the teleportation spell. "Have a good hunt, goddess!"