Fire, rabble and chaos.
While reminiscing his days when he came back, which is not yet a year, he found that his starting point has been toppled over, and what's waiting for him are problems.
"Zypher??!"
"Charity Dagger! Energize! Fujin Step! Raijin Pace!"
One, two, three, four, five steps.
All his Raijin Paces were consumed in an instant; and in his path? Corpses, amputated limbs, blood pools and heads that rolled down.
[Congratulations! By doing 1,000 Stabs, you unlocked the Ability: Stab.]
Stab, which is his first skill that he earned by himself, now coming back to him as an Ability, which strengthens his arsenal.
[Ability: Stab - Rare (Growth)]
[Raises the speed of Stab-Type Skills and it's attack by 10%.]
{Use Stab 1,000 more times to raise the Ability.}
But, even if its a joyous occasin, he just let the notification rot.
His Fujin Step is still active, and every move he makes, there are tens to hundreds of enemies that fall down.
Inside a minute, he took down almost a thousand, but that's not enough.
The second core, which was from the Orc Kong Dungeon, produced too fast, and the first core, the one from the Blood Bat Dungeon, has also saturated it's hatchery, and so, when the two cores collided, created a stampede.
Zypher and the goddess came from the south west part of the Codex Town, and now, doing his part, Zypher cleared the west part, and is now going to the northern part, because that is where the gate is, and he needs to close the gates first, or he will die of exhaustion.
Though it is a game, and exhaustion won't kill him here, but his Stamina and Health can be depleted.
Arriving at the north part, he saw that there were three elite monsters in the vicinity: A Blood Troll, an Undead Orc General and a Sonic Soul Bat; all trying to destroy the Codex Library.
"Quick Snipe!" Using a Beginner Gun he got from the store, he then proceeded to gun down the monsters, but his problem reappeared.
His skills, are reliant on mana, and now, his Mana points is only at 10, thanks to a certain someone with him right now, he just can't finish everything in time.
After gunning them down, he them used Fujin Step to get close and use his stabs to eventually end them all.
Their levels are only at level 10, so his arsenal is still a bit useful, but he cannot stay in this state for long.
"Move!"
Her soft voice reminded him. As he looked at where it was all coming, he saw that she is standing atop the Library, and her eyes were glaring at the monsters with deep anger.
"Death Wave!" She shouted, and a circular wave of black energy shooted out, wiping each and every monster in the vicinity.
[Wave 3 Ended! Calculating Results.]
As he saw this, Zypher slumped down, from tiredness of his body, and his mind.
Though a game, it can still send signals to his neurons of what he feels and senses inside the game. And sitting like these released all the hormones that shoot up when he was fighting.
"Skill Pool Variation, Energy Conservation, Flexibility, Power and Originality."
She said as she floated down to his side. She pulled one of the dead bodies and a black swamp from the ground ate it up, and all was left is an amputated hand.
...which became her seat as she sat across Zypher.
"What?"
He asked incredulously. He heard her first time, but he asks it because he doesn't understand what she was talking about.
"Your weaknesses."
She said as she shook the dust on her hands and crossed it on her chest.
"Are you truly a goddess?"
"Of course!"
She answered with glee.
"And you know that you cursed me, right?"
"You deserve it."
"I don't."
"Then release the Codex."
"I can't. It already bound itself to me."
"Then die."
"Why don't you do it so this curse can be undone?"
"Are you saying that I, a goddess, should die?"
"Yes, do me a favor and die, so this curse can go away."
"You know that it doesn't work that way, right?"
"I don't know what works anymore."
"...."
A moment of silence dropped as she and Zypher shouted out his frustrations. Her haughty attitude, and her pride, works out, but as a goddess, she has to be equal, for if she has biases, others may also do so.
She is powerful, but not powerful enough to face every other gods and goddesses, especially when the codex is the part of the discussion.
"What really happened? Why is it bound?"
"I.. [®{{`}$}€[®°®}$$]`=¥=®÷®==|✓€%}$}$}=®÷`]©{."
At this time, something was triggered, and she felt a strong pang of headache come to her.
It was like a long static bleep that can take away your consciousness, and loud ringing in your ears.
"Hey, what happened?"
As Zypher saw her almost rolling on the floorz he stood up to support her, only for him to be sent away so hard that he destroyed a bit of the city.
"Bastard."
She said as she wiped some blood out of her nose. A goddess? Bleeding? This is a disgrace to her, and her power, and being helped by a human is a wound to their pride.
But, she knew. She knows this was above her. Even she, a goddess, is directly attacked, then no one else can know. This is a dilemma, as she did not get anything.
And...
"This changes a few things."
She said as she stood up and walked towards Zypher.
"Changes? *Cough* Like not being able to stand up? *Cough cough*"
Zypher said, trying to stand up from his plight. She then grabbed his hand, and pulled him out.
"The Codex chooses it's host."
After standing, the goddess used her power to conjure a picture.
There are three symbols in it.
"These are the three powers of Humanity as a whole: the Codex, the Arcane, and the Mech."
"These three represents the concept of Humanity's growth, and these are all powerful."
"The Arcane, is the future, for it holds the mysteries of the future. It also represents the resilience of Humanity, and their ability to grow in face of adversary."
"The Mech, is the present, for it appears now, and evolves. This also represents the ability of Humanity to think, perceive, and arrive at different conclusions, solutions, and growth from one single problem."
"But the Codex is different. It represents the past, and chooses the most probable, most correct, and the most viable future. It represents the weakness yet the wisdom of Humanity."
"That's why it selects it's host, because not anyone can carry the weight of it's decisions."
"I miss the part that it is my problem." Zypher suddenly butted in.
BONK!
A sudden hand chop hit his head.
"Dumbass! To make the story short, I cursed you because I did not know that the Codex can bind itself."
"But you said that the Codex chooses it's master?"
"That is true, in case of Humanity."
"You mean, the gods and goddesses covets it?"
"Yes. I cursed you because I know I can't get it, and as to see how it can help you."
"So it may be seen as a blessing in disguise?"
"Yes! And the blessings you received plays a different role."
"Huh? Why? They are blessings."
"Blessings are unmerited. But what the blessings did to you is like an advanced payment, which will get what that payment is for."
"Isn't worship enough?"
"No. Only one God accepts gratitude and nothing more. Others just get belief by standing on one principle, and they are worshipped because they can "control" some of the said principle."
"And so, I am a target now, huh?"
"Not yet, unless you declare to the whole world that the Codex is bound to you."
"So I am a fool if anyone knows, right?"
"Correct."
"So, how can I know that you are not an enemy of mine?"
"...."
She was surprised by the question, but then, she did not have anything to prove her point.
She threatened him, even got inside his space, asked him to die, and hit him hard. All of these, points to her that she is an enemy of Zypher.
"What do you want me to do for you to trust me?"
Zypher, without a single thought, answered.
"Remove the curse."
"...."
Silence permeated the air. Her nouth twitched a few times, opened a few times, but no words escaped.
"I guess I can't trus-"
"A blessing given, is a blessing given; a curse done is a curse done. If we ever break our words, we lose our divinity, for the ones that believes in us will know that we take back our words."
"That's not my problem. You were wrong, and now, you have to take responsibility. As a goddess, isn't that the best possible way?"
"It's not just you. I also have many people below me that I care about. If I am lost, what happens to them?"
"....."
This time, an even deeper silence fell down. Zypher, who just stood up, sat down the rabble and accepted the reality, that this time, he cannot be an active role in the field.
In his past life, he is a commander strategist: he sees the field and immediately give orders. He is torn between a warrior and a strategist, so he wished that he can just focus on one.
But now, realizing that he has to unlearn everything, this becomes a hassle for him.
"But I can ask someone to give you another blessing. A blessing that can counter my curse."
"Don't give me hope."
The goddess went silent, but still took a small envelope from her pouch.
"If you ever change your mind, come to Mount Apo, a mountain in a tropical island. There, you can meet him, and he may even give you something that might help you."
As she said that, looking at Zypher, who look lost, she decided to just leave for now, so Zypher can think for himself.
Hours passed, and Zypher just can't be lying here forever. He grabbed the floating envelope, and proceeded inside the Codex to start the renovation of the place.
To have its name be appropriated, he decided to create an octagon middle. Each side has a triangular island. Now, Caelestia looked like a sun with eight rays.
He then created eight floating diamond shaped islands that are in between of each triangle.
Now that he has many resources, he then created more towers such as Gatling Tower, which fires fast, Mortars that slows the enemies, and the upgraded Drone Tower which also releases small mine crabs that explode on contact.
The Herb Garden, has now many herbs, but was destroyed, and so, Zypher decided to build four on each different floating platforms.
What upgraded the most is the Production Hall. In truth, Zypher didn't use the Production Hall last time making the Charity Dagger because it is low-leveled.
But now, he upgraded its level,higher than his Central Building. And now, he has to create another weapon to boost his power.
The Seven Virtues, has a direct counterpart that is as strong as it, and it compliments each other while being it's direct opposite.
Charity, in its sense, is giving away lavishly, without anything in return, and almost nothing will be left.
That is why Charity Dagger always gives, and gives, and it stacks, and it creates greater one.
But now, he has to create the one that receives all the time, and wants everything.
He then started to hammer a circular blade that is almost half a ruler thick. It's body is like a saw, and in the middle is a bar like handle.
It looks like a wheel with holes in it, and there is a handle small enough for his hand to fit.
Compared to the dagger, it is larger by a bit. If the Charity Dagger is blue and white, this weapon is black and green, and looked like a dragon that is coiling.
"Welcome to the team, Greed Chakram."