Chapter Twenty-Two
Energy drained out of him and into the ritual circle.
The power swelled and a glow formed within the carved lines.
Sparks of every color imaginable began rising into the air, like rain moving in reverse, and Vester felt an alien force trying to pull his hair upward.
Individual silver strands floated toward the sky.
Then Non appeared before him—and immediately recoiled.
“What the fuck is on your face!” Non screeched in surprise.
“No, no, no, no, NO!” she shouted, and then Denny’s Party was treated to the sight of a goddess stomping in circles with her arms up over her head, cursing and complaining about her dad.
The exact moment Non had manifested, the mask Vester had been ‘blessed’ with had materialized over his face like a porcelain wall.
It had no eye holes and no slot for his mouth, yet Vester found he could see and breathe through it like it wasn’t there.
He attempted to pull it away, but just like before, the thing wouldn’t budge.
When he attempted to will it back into its intangible state, it ignored him.
Okay, I am starting to see what it meant by “This mask can be made intangible at will—usually.” and I am not a fan. We’re going to need to get this fixed sooner rather than later, because I don’t want to give up my goddess kisses—they’re all I get outside of teasing when Non is around.
Non was wearing a pale, cloth-of-gold dress that did very little to hide her dark, full curves.
A thin ribbon passed behind her neck, looped down to cup each of her breasts, then curved around her body to cross at the small of her back and wrap her hips in a small skirt.
Matching sandals with gold laces that crisscrossed up to knot behind her knees completed her outfit, and Vester openly admired the dark skin on display.
Especially since Non’s stomping was producing some truly amazing jiggles—and honestly, he needed the mental release. Ogling his goddess girlfriend was immature, but it was definitely soothing.
“How did he even slip past the wards to get onto Ordinal?”
Non was muttering while waving her arms over her head, though she was gradually calming down.
“This is… fine, it’s fine. The mask is called A Father’s Approval, obviously that’s a good thing. He won’t give me a hard time… No, no, it’s Mom Vester has to worry about.”
At that comment, Vester straightened up and felt a cold sweat break across his forehead.
“Wait… why do I have to worry about your mom?”
he asked. He saw Skylar giggling out of the corner of his eyes, but his attention was fixed on the draconic dark-elf who’d just started washing her hands against each other.
Non might have forgotten he existed.
The Goddess of Chaos was currently staring at the ceiling of the eleventh floor like she was praying, which, considering her divine status, did quite a bit to make Vester more nervous than he normally was regarding a partner’s parents.
‘Dear Non’s mom, please understand I have the deepest respect for your daughter, and when I am Non’s equal I fully intend to love and cherish her with the same care, focus, and attention I give all the women in my life now.
I swear I will never neglect or abuse her, and I will do my best to make sure her life is rich, fulfilled, and happy, emotionally, mentally, and physically,’ Vester prayed.
‘Also, please note that while I already love and respect her, my mortal limitations mean it’s hard for me to do anything she can’t do for herself easier.
All I can offer her now is my heart and friendship.’
While meeting parents sucked, Vester wasn’t the sort to let being intimidated stop him from speaking his mind.
He did care for Non, and he didn’t intend to stop just because her folks were all-powerful divine beings.
That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be careful to make sure he was respectful though.
Check Your Grimoire—Tawny
Vester stared at the notification and felt his eyelid twitching underneath the mask. He took a deep breath and summoned his Grimoire to hand.
Hidden Quest achieved:
Quest Log: A Mother’s Blessing
Requirements: Demonstrate wisdom before a greater being.
Reward: +3 to wisdom.
Bonus Reward: A Father’s Approval has been upgraded. Progression to level 51 Nightmare Weaver. Random Skill Upgrade.
I can’t tell if this is really good, or really bad, he thought absently.
When the hell did I hit level 50? Fuck, now I have a new skill to pick on top of these…
domestic complications. Okay, let’s get through this stuff.
I’ll drop my free points into strength, since I’ve gained bonuses to other areas.
Which skill upgraded? Oh, Trickster’s Cunning. Sweet.
Trickster’s Cunning (SS-Rank): Level 2
Trickster’s Cunning is a boost to the Avatar’s wisdom based on their level. This skill provides a +1 bonus to wisdom per 4 levels of the Avatar of Chaos’ class. At SS-rank, this skill increases to +1 wisdom per 3 levels upon reaching level 3. This skill does not require mana.
Vester had to flip rapidly through the text, the book feeling far thicker than it had been.
Okay, I got the +3 for this hidden Quest, and now Trickster’s Cunning is giving me 12 extra points.
I gained 3 for moving from level 47 to level 50 as well…
so my wisdom is 70 now? Oof, going to have to get used to the enhanced senses.
He flipped the page to his level 50 skill options and saw one option had repeated from level 45.
Chaos Agent (SS-Rank): Level 1
Chaos Agent is a boost to the Avatar’s dexterity based on their level. This skill provides a +1 bonus to dexterity per 5 levels of the Avatar of Chaos’ class. At SS-rank, this skill increases to +1 dexterity per 4 levels upon reaching level 2. This skill does not require mana.
It’s a decent boost—ten more points of dexterity wouldn’t be a bad thing, he admitted. But I am disappointed they’re still shoving this in my face.
Remove Divine Curse (Unique)
Each time this skill is taken, it can remove one curse, no matter the source. This skill will appear at random intervals and can never be given as a Quest reward. It provides no benefit and the curse it removes is random.
Again, not taking a chance of losing my immortality.
Besides, my limitations make me think outside the box, he decided.
Something poked him in the forehead before he could check his third skill, and he glanced up to see Non leaning over him.
Since Vester was still sitting cross legged in the middle of the ritual, this provided him an amazing view.
“Are you ignoring me?” Non demanded with a grumpy expression on her face. “My dad came and meddled with our lives and you’re just… reading your progress? What the heck, Vester! Figuring out how to get that mask off is important! What has you distracted?”
“Your mom told me to check my Grimoire,” Vester said instantly, then paused before continuing, “assuming Tawny is your mom.”
Non visibly trembled, her eyes huge. The black slits in her crimson eyes expanded like she’d just suffered a shock, then narrowed back to thin lines.
“T-T… yes, that’s my mom,” she said in a shaky voice.
“Um… what does your Grimoire say?” she asked.
Suddenly she was kneeling next to him, her hands clasped together like she was praying. “Does Mom like you?” Non whispered.
“I’m not sure yet,” Vester said. “I completed a Quest called ‘A Mother’s Blessing’ that gave me bonus wisdom, and it unlocked something in the mask, but I can’t progress to that page before I pick my class skill, so my Grimoire is blocked… and someone is distracting me,” he teased.
Non let out a squeal that made her sound like a teenager. “Get reading!” she yelled, then she lunged away from him and charged over to Skylar and Krysta. At some point Krysta had woken up and resumed healing Denny. A flick of Non’s hand saw the black veins in Vester’s twin vanish.
Startled, Krysta looked up and found herself face-to-face with Non. Non snapped her fingers, and Li Ra, Kora Dol, and Reve were suddenly standing at her sides. Then a dome of swirling, prismatic light covered the Party completely.
My goddess just kidnapped my Party, Vester realized with an uncomfortable sense of dread. He knew it wasn’t a literal kidnapping, but the idea of Non conspiring with the rest of his Party filled him with a sense of foreboding—especially since Non had included Reve in the group.
The Avatar of Life had expressed interest, but she wasn’t one of Vester’s lovers.
“What is going on?” Davis asked in groggy confusion. The young man had flopped down next to Rachel and Kimmy. He looked ragged, and Vester sympathized with the mana drain, though he also knew that Davis would recover soon enough. Krysta’s Sanctuary would see to that.
“Um, well, Vester summoned his goddess girlfriend,” Rachel said, sounding incredibly confused.
“The goddess’ supreme god dad seems to have gotten involved in their love life, and now Vester has a cursed face mask or something, and the goddess’ mom sent him a message… so now his girlfriends are gossiping about it,” Rachel looked over at Vester. “That is what’s happening, right?”
“I mean, more or less?” Vester said. “It’s fine. I’ve got time to pick a skill now.”
He definitely didn’t want to get into a drawn-out discussion of his love life with people he didn’t know, and he also wanted to find out what had changed with the damned mask.
With that in mind, he forced his attention back to his Grimoire.
Alright, what the hell is my third skill option?
Trickster (Unique)
This is a class evolution. Forgoing a level 50 skill allows the Avatar of Chaos to evolve their class to Trickster. Freeform Illusion, Aura of Illusion, Fantastic Reality, Inconvenient Illusions, and Nightmare Field will merge into a single Divine Skill.
Vester stared at the page for several long moments. What. The. Fuck? His split-second of dumbfounded shock was blown aside with how fast he accepted the new option. Vester had no doubt that a divine skill wasn’t to be neglected, and so he greedily claimed it without a second thought.
Evolution in progress, do not move.
‘Do not move?’ Vester repeated to himself, then his entire body felt like it had burst into flames.
Tricker class gains +2 to dexterity, intelligence, and wisdom per level +1 free point.
That message was the first thing Vester registered when the pain vanished almost as fast as it had appeared. The text almost looked like it was made of living flames, demanding his attention. Then he saw what his Freeform Illusions and passives had merged into:
Trickster’s Domain (Divine)
This skill does not level. The Trickster projects an aura that coats reality around him with an illusion capable of fooling mortal senses.
The radius of this skill is 15’ per point of intelligence.
Within Trickster’s Domain, reality can be shaped to the user’s will.
The greater the change, the more mana is used.
Living beings inherently resist being changed and will use mana to fight against the domain.
Expending faith energy allows Trickster’s Domain to defy other divine skills.
For a greatly reduced mana cost, illusions can be used in place of altering reality.
“Holy shit,” he mumbled, unaware he’d spoken out loud. I… can reshape reality at will? This is… insane. Wait, what are my stats now? He swiftly flipped to his main page and stared in utter shock.
Vester Gambit: Divine Elf
Trickster: Level 51
Profession: Enchanter
Strength: 28
Dexterity: 115 (165)
Constitution: 36
Intelligence: 134
Wisdom: 122
Charisma: 31
Skills: Trickster’s Domain, Phantom Form 4, Decoy Swap 3, Labyrinth Ward 3, Chaos Cock MAX, Chaos Thief 2, Remove Divine Curse, Deprivation Cage 2, Unfettered. Trickster's Cunning 2
Profession skills: Mana Manipulation, Inscribe Enchantment
Unique Ability: Nightmare’s Release
Gear: Avatar’s Raiment, Trickster’s Cane, A Father’s Approval
Free Points: 0
Oh, that, that is a lot of attribute points…
No wonder it hurt. He did some quick math and realized Trickster’s Domain had a radius just under two thousand feet—he couldn’t even comprehend how big that was.
He found he could recall his math classes with far greater clarity, and then tried to visualize almost thirty-two-and-a-half billion cubic feet of volume… and failed.
A lot. I can affect a lot, he decided. I’m also not sure what ‘faith energy’ is, but…
could I use this to break the rules of my curses?
He was tempted to try but decided to wait for Non before he did anything potentially risky.
To remove the temptation, Vester flipped to the page describing A Father’s Approval to see what had changed.
A Father’s Approval (Soulbound): A plain porcelain mask that will change appearance to match any gear worn by Vester Gambit.
This mask is indestructible by any force on Ordinal, and it cannot be removed.
A Father’s Approval’s abilities are [Skill Token], [Locked], and a +15 to intelligence.
This mask can be made intangible at will—usually.
I mean, that’s not what I expected, but it’s… fine? I guess. He frowned and brought up the Skill Token to see what it was, then blinked.
[Skill Token] can be used to upgrade a single skill by one level.
Vester decided to use the [Skill Token] on Deprivation Cage, and then grumbled to himself at having to read more to make sure he didn’t miss any potential changes in the new skill.
Deprivation Cage (S-Rank): Level 3
The Deprivation Cage level 2 targets 7 beings.
These beings are isolated in complete sensory deprivation for one minute per point of the caster’s intelligence.
At S-rank this skill targets 3 additional beings per level.
This effect ignores standard resistances if they are below the rank of the casting skill. This skill requires mana to use.
Well, being able to trap seven people isn’t anything to scoff at, that’s an entire Party and an extra. Not to mention it lasts for two fucking hours now. That’s brutal. Now what—
“Vester!” Non screamed in shock. His eyes snapped up from the Grimoire and he found his entire Party staring at him. “How are you suddenly a demigod?” Non demanded. “Would. You. Stop. Changing. Things!”
Non was suddenly looking incredibly vulnerable, shaken, and confused, and without thinking about it, Vester cast Decoy Swap to appear next to her. He wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tight.
“Hey, take some deep breaths,” Vester said gently.
His hand rose, stroking the back of her head, and Non curled into his chest and began shivering violently.
“Trust me, I’m overwhelmed too. But let’s calm things down and talk over everything that just happened… because I have some questions and I think you’re my only chance of getting answers.”
For a second, Non looked so fragile that Vester found himself wondering how old she actually was in terms from her perspective.
On Ordinal she’d been a goddess for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.
But he knew she existed on another plane and found himself wondering how much time had passed for her true self since she’d taken over here.
Am I dating a teenage goddess?