D. God Original Chapter 88

This concludes everything I have written for the original story. Thank you all for coming along this journey with me. I sincerely appreciate your support and I hope you decide to stick around for early releases of the re-write as I will continue to post new chapters here first and should be 20 ahead of RR within the next couple weeks.

Thank you again, and please have a great weekend. Cheers!

Jiran laughed nervously while taking a step away from the overbearing emperor. Black holes the size of softballs began to flicker in and out of existence as Dominus stared Jiran down with a daunting gaze.

Crap crap crap, I need to stall somehow. I can’t tell them about the red density. People just aren’t ready to fight up two tiers. I haven't had time to teach them enough yet.

Unable to think of anything that would convince the man to stand down, Jiran did the only thing he could. With squared shoulders and determination born from witnessing countless deaths, Jiran held his ground.

“Even under threat of death, I will not reveal this secret. Too many promising warriors that the empire desperately needs, would die pointless deaths. I refuse to have that responsibility on my shoulders,” Jiran matched Dominus’s eyes with unquestionable resolve.

The lab began to shake. Darkness surrounded Jiran as Dominus took a single step toward him. The emperor’s anger was evident in his scowl and the bulging muscles in his shoulders and arms.

Jiran’s heart rate instantly spiked to its maximum as fight or flight responses kicked into overdrive. His Unique danger sense that had saved him so many times in the past, uselessly alerted him to the incoming danger.

“You think you know what’s best for my empire? You don’t want the responsibility of a few deaths on your shoulders when every death for five hundred years has been piled on mine? You want to talk to me about pointless death when you have seen nothing at all?”

Jiran knew the specter of death was a hair's breadth from ending his short life. The emperor was at least triple his size, towering over him with the intimidation accumulated from thousands of seasons of ruling with an iron fist.

His strength, speed, and power were measured on a scale that Jiran could not yet stand upon. If Dominus wished it, he could snuff out Jiran before he even knew what was happening.

“You’re right, I don’t understand anything. But I still refuse. This is my secret to keep. Not a single person knows this information, not even Lenton or Samris. Perhaps they have guessed at it, but I certainly never revealed the extent of it to them.”

If this is the end, so be it.

Jiran closed his eyes, embracing the end.

Instead of the nothingness of oblivion, Olive’s frantic screaming reached their ears. Dominus’s impenetrable aura receded from around Jiran’s neck as the man took several steps back.

“Father, no! Please stop! You promised!” Tears streamed down her face as she hammered against the physical manifestation of aura Dominus had erected between them.

“You’ve got some real nerve, kid. Not many would willingly face death to protect their fellows. Sure plenty of soldiers go to the front lines, but it’s easy for them to think they will make it, that death isn’t really coming for them.

“When the true blade eventually comes down, most will buckle under its weight.”

Jiran’s breathing was ragged as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He watched Olive uselessly smacking her fists against the barrier and gave her the most reassuring smile he could, before turning back to his captor.

“I’ve lived a long time, you know. I’ve seen far more than you can imagine. I’ve done worse things than you would ever forgive me for. In all that time, through all those experiences, I’ve developed a sense for when things are important.

“I know what you’re hiding is important, I can feel it in my bones. So, tell me. What’s it going to take, Jiran? Because when it comes to my home, I’ll do anything to protect it. Name your price, I’ll do it.”

The giant man clenched his fist so hard his arm shook, which only caused the tremors in the room to escalate.

Can I trust him? He said he’s done awful things. But weren’t those things in service to creating the empire I love and call home? It’s a peaceful place where almost anyone can walk safely at night without fear of being robbed or worse.

This is a good home. His results should speak for themselves.

“Swear to me that the information will not be revealed until I think it’s time. No one else gets to make that call. If I die, then the information remains sealed. If you can agree to that, then I’ll tell you.”

“Ha! That’s it? You little shit, I would have done that anyway. Maybe not the sealing until death part, but I’m not going to go blabbering sensitive information to the five corners of the empire like some gossiping town pump.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly reverted to its normal calm state. Jiran was shocked by the sudden change, stumbling forward a step as the pressure that had been nearly crushing him, was instantly released.

Olive impacted him from the side while he was still off balance and the two of them tumbled to the floor. He felt her wet tears on his arm as the girl clung to him with frantic strength.

“Father! What were you thinking? You promised me you wouldn’t question him.”

Dominus scratched the back of his head while laughing nervously and staring at the ceiling. His unwillingness to meet Olive’s eyes only angered her further.

Promise? What promise?

After a deep sigh that felt like being in a room as a blimp deflated, Dominus looked at the two of them with a serious face once more.

“I really would do anything for this empire. But you’re right Oliviala, I did make a promise to you. I’m sorry,” He said while declining his head toward Jiran.

This day is just full of surprises. I didn’t think emperors were supposed to apologize.

Olive finally regained her composure. She sat up straight and wiped the moisture from her face. However, she did not move away from Jiran, remaining pressed to his side.

“Jiran, I swear upon my life to not reveal your secrets, I swear upon my life to keep them sealed until you deem them ready to be released.”

Jiran’s ears popped as the air pressure fluctuated wildly. Somehow, he could feel through his aura that reality had stretched and then solidified as Dominus swore upon his life.

What the hell was that?! Did his words just overwrite reality? Will he really die if he tells someone?

Jiran swallowed nervously even though his throat was dry as a dessert.

“Olive, you too,” He demanded of his daughter.

“Jiran, I swear upon my life to not reveal your secrets. I swear upon my life to keep them sealed until you deem them ready to be released,” She repeated with a determined nod.

This is it, my second biggest secret. I didn’t think this day would come for a long time. Hopefully, they will take it well. Where do I even start? I guess from Professor Saltaath’s lesson.

“Everyone knows that your mana and mana concentration doubles with each tier. What they don’t know is that there is another type of density that can be absorbed.

“When I first discovered it, I didn’t think much of it. I could tell it was pushing out the regular density in my body, replacing it, as if this new density was superior. It reinforced my muscles, mana, and weight a little more than the regular density.

“So, I had a crazy idea. What would happen if I only had this new density in my body when I tiered up?”

Jiran took a deep breath. He mentally crossed the threshold before he said the next words. Words which could never be taken back and would change the empire forever.

“This red density, it tripled my total power instead of doubling it.”

Jiran registered Olive’s gasp of surprise from right next to him while Dominus squinted his eyes in suspicion. The emperor looked deep in thought but circled his finger in the air for Jiran to continue.

“When I rose from second to third, the difference didn’t seem very large. If a regular tier three has 8 power, then mine was at 12. A noticeable difference to be sure, but nothing compared to the power of a tier five or six.

“I persevered, and through great effort was able to raise my tier off red density again. Now, I’m at fourth tier and my mana and concentration are both around 36 giving me a total power of 1,296. While a normal tier four would have only 256.

“At fourth tier, I’m twenty-five percent stronger than a regular tier five.”

Dominus finally spoke, interrupting him.

“That explains the anomaly in your mana. Upon reaching tier seven, you will unlock mana sight. With enough practice, you can easily determine someone’s tier and get a general feel for their strengths and weaknesses.

“Your mana has bothered me since you came to Cruex. There is too much of it. It’s a little too thick, and has too much color, but overall shows you as being tier four.

“So it’s this red density that is at fault for your strange mana.

“You still haven’t told us what's so dangerous about it. Why would you withhold this information? Everyone should be scrambling for this density. Is it rare? Are you trying to keep it for yourself?”

There was not an ounce of recrimination in his question, Dominus understood full well that the path to power required taking from others.

“In order to harvest red density, you must kill something two tiers above your own without help.”

Both their eyes widened in shock as his words registered.

“The amount harvested is not great either. Normally, you would only need to kill one hundred tier three beasts to be authorized to advance to tier four. I had to kill at least a thousand tier fives to collect enough red density to advance.”

Dominus raised his hand signaling Jiran to stop. He then rubbed his chin in deep thought. Several seconds went by as his demeanor rapidly shifted to intense excitement.

“I watched you kill Silver and a Rook. They were both tier six. Did you receive this red density from them? More importantly, do you think the rate of advancement will remain stable? Will your power keep tripling as you advance?”

The room began to shake again, this time the air felt so thin Jiran was surprised he wasn’t floating.

“Yes, I received red density from both kills. It felt exactly the same as the previous tiers, I see no reason why the rate of advancement would change. At least from four to five. For the higher tiers, I’ll just have to find out when I get there.”

Dominus was now pacing back and forth across the room. The intensity of his aura continued to increase at a rapid pace as his emotions got the better of him.

“If what you are saying is accurate, you could surpass me by tier eight, Jiran. You would have nearly double my power at that time. We could stand a chance, we could really do it.”

“It's theorized that a tier twelve has sixteen million power, and you would have eight. While I am stuck at four million. Do you know what that means?! No of course you don’t know, how could you possibly know.”

Uh oh, I hope he doesn't think I would try to take over the empire or something when I’m tier eight. No thank you! I want to explore the world, take Mayalyn home, find out what’s beyond the oceans and maybe even try to get into space. I have no desire to take your job, old man!

Dominus noticed Jiran’s reaction and barked a quick laugh which caused a small shockwave to ripple through the underground lab and likely half the city.

“Don’t worry, Jiran. I’m not worried about you taking my throne. If you want it, it's all yours. There are things you don’t understand. I… I need a m-moment to think.”

Did the emperor just stutter? What the hell is he thinking about that has him so worked up?

“Jiran, I’ll need your own vow that the information I’m about to tell you does not leave this room. I would never have dreamed that I would be telling a child this. But what you’ve said today has changed everything.”

“Father, what are you talking about?”

That’s my line! Whatever it is, I’m not sure I want to know.

When Jiran continued to sit quietly on the floor without speaking, Olive elbowed him in the side promoting a sigh to escape his lips.

“Fine, I swear upon my life,” Jiran felt something inside his chest shift like the grim reaper had gripped his heart in a skeletal hand.

“So be it, let history cast its shadow upon this room.”

Jiran could feel the emperor’s aura redouble in intensity. It was likely strong enough to prevent even another emperor from eavesdropping.

“A thousand years ago, my friends and I discovered a sealed cave with a plaque made of a metal so strong we can’t scratch it, even now at tier eleven. Near the plaque was a chisel made of the same metal, it remains the only means we have to leave our own story.”

That’s ominous. Get to the point! What are you trying to say?

“The empire is not the first civilization to exist on these lands. There were others before us, and they are all gone. Seven times humanity has risen up and left its story upon the plaque. Always with the same end. Death.

“They come for us every two thousand years, wiping out everything, everyone. Two times, observers actually saw them and lived long enough to record what they saw. They are some kind of giant, scaled bird. The plaque refers to them as the slayers.

“Six thousand years ago, one empire claimed their emperor advanced to tier twelve, he was supposedly killed instantly.

“When we were younger, my friends and I thought we could all reach tier twelve before the slayers returned. We hoped that maybe we would have a chance if we could all keep advancing, but it's not that simple.

“The graymin queens are tier twelve and they are our weakest neighbors. To the west in the forests beyond the desert, the beasts are at least tier thirteen. They would kill us before we even realized we were under attack. If they didn’t hate the sand, they would have long since wiped out the empire from boredom alone.

“In the oceans to the south, leviathans of unimaginable power prowl the depths. Mirala claims she saw one surface that could have been tier fifteen. She’s always been one to exaggerate but it is not wrong to say we would surely perish if we attempted to cross their territory.

“To the east, the flowing mountains stretch for tens of thousands of times longer than the width of our tiny empire. Within that river of shifting land lie plenty of tier twelve monstrosities.

“Nowhere around us are the tier eleven beasts we need to advance. We are stuck. Trapped in our tiny prison, awaiting death.

“Every twenty years, Madra sends us a tier eleven to challenge us emperors. We band together and survive, celebrating our meager victory as if it has meaning.

“If we had a few million years, then we could reach the twelfth tier from those occasional fights and break free. We likely have less than ten.

“There is no way to be sure exactly when they will come, but it should be soon.

“A hundred years ago, Steephon claimed the slayers would arrive. When they didn’t, he thought maybe they skipped us this time. Or that they died and won’t come at all. He’s hopeful of a future at least.

“I… am not.

“We are trapped in a prison Jiran, and our time is running out.”