Sabbatical – Chapter 233: Broken Chains

Elder Wu muted his TV as the news anchors went over the slew of prison breaks — both attempted and successful — again, shifting his attention to the System notification he had received.

All mortals have awakened. Do not disappoint.

"That's not ominous at all," he mumbled to himself before he let out a long sigh.

Wu leaned back his chair and simply stared at the ceiling of his office. There had been chaos before, but that had been controllable — mostly at least — by the various organisations of the world. Now that everyone had access to the System, that had changed.

A little while ago, he had gotten the first reports of terminally ill people miraculously improving, but now things seemed to have been taken a step further. In one case, a man that had been quadriplegic for the last fifteen years — just a little over half his life — suddenly sprang out of bed and crashed through the next wall. In other cases, people in comas had awoken and immediately displayed magical powers. Strong ones, too. Ones others had had to work years for. Life's never fair.

It was obvious that this was the reason Aperio made the dungeon. She had offered everyone that awoke early a quick path to power so they wouldn't be left behind when the last ones awakened. Elder Wu wouldn't be surprised if they found some of the All-Mother's mana inside these people, as she very likely just went and fixed them for reasons he likely wouldn't be able to comprehend. Perhaps this boon was meant as recompense for the time they had suffered without any way of getting better.

Elder Wu looked at his phone again and tried to call Merlin once more. He doubted it would work now, as she was probably still in the dungeon trying to gain as many levels as she could. That woman would do almost anything to get stronger. Maybe I should go too…

It had been a while since he had thought about such self-improvement, and even longer since he had actually levelled; and even longer still where had done so with any real efficiency.

"The joys of the free," Wu mumbled to himself, looking back at the TV. "Good thing we upped our own guards."

As soon as the Voice of the World — or the System, as it was predominantly known now — had become active again, and the council had their encounter with the All-Mother, Elder Wu had at least tripled the guards in any facility that belonged to either the council or him directly. Some of the things they were storing were not for anyone's hands, but couldn't be destroyed either.

Perhaps they could ask — or failing that, trick — Aperio into removing a few of those. That way they would have more resources left over for other, much more important things, like setting up a better foothold in other parts of the world now that they had more influence again.

"But first," Elder Wu mumbled to himself, "I have to help a few old friends."

A few people had called in favours he had assumed had long been forgotten. Evidently, they had not, and he was a man of his words. A promise had been made, in some cases generations ago, and he would be damned if he didn't uphold his end of the bargain.

With an all-too-stereotypical puff of smoke, Elder Wu vanished from his office. Unlike other forms of teleportation, his was only limited by how much mana he had and how well he could remember the places he had already been. As the All-Mother had seemingly made it her mission to drown everyone in mana, the former was not an issue. Not really, anyway. He still wouldn't be able to move himself to the other side of the world, but that was rarely needed.

"If it isn't my favourite Vampire Lord," the voice of a man said from behind Elder Wu. "I honestly didn't think you would honour the pledge you made so long ago."

"Paul," Elder Wu said with a slight nod of his head. "Reputation is important if you wish to live a long life. You'll figure that out in due time yourself."

The man gave a laugh and waved for the Vampire to follow. "I'm not sold on the idea that these levels will let you live longer just yet. Sure, I have some funky powers now, but that's about it."

"For now."

"If you say so," Paul replied with a shrug and began walking towards the door leading out of the room Elder Wu had arrived in. "For now, we have another Vampire you need to take care of. Whatever gave everyone these powers also caused her to turn fully."

"I figured," Wu said. "Can't say I have seen something like this happen before, though."

"Has something like this happened before?" the other man asked, holding open the door for Elder Wu. "Seems like a once in a lifetime thing. But then, you’ve had quite a bit more than one lifetime."

"Like this? No," the Vampire replied and stepped through the door. "There were a few times in the past where more mana surged through the world, but it was always short lived and rather pitiful when compared to this."

"Any idea what caused it? Lydia is usually the one more in touch with all this occult stuff, but well, she is having some blood-thirst issues, so I couldn't ask."

"We have a pretty good idea," Wu replied, his eyes taking in every door they walked past. "And we will have Lydia up and about in no time."

It had been centuries since he had last been in this house, but it still looked the same. It would seem the family liked to keep things unchanged; a fact that didn't surprise the ancient Vampire, when he considered who had been the head during that time for the longest.

Mages and Vampires usually didn't get along, so it was a nice windfall when he had found the Dúmont family. Sadly Lydia, the current head of the house, had been attacked by a more traditionally-inclined clan of Vampires that lead to her being stuck in a constant fight between her magic and the ever-resilient infection that was vampirism.

Usually, it wouldn't be a big deal. The infected would suffer for a few years, but emerge all the stronger for it. The surge in magic the return of the System had brought had seemingly shifted the balance a little, however.

Luckily for the Dúmont family, the debt he owed them was rather sizeable. It also helped that they still did business with one another, and neither of them had any interest in selling out.

"I'll wait for the report then," Paul said and motioned Elder Wu to go up a flight of stairs. "Wouldn't want Gary's work to go to waste."

"You might have to wait a good while for that one. Verifying what we know is an almost impossible task." Elder Wu paused in front one of the doors that lined the hallway as he could hear a quiet growl coming from within. "Helping Lydia is much easier."

"I'd warn you that she is quite aggressive at the moment, but I am pretty sure this isn't your first time doing this."

"It is not," Wu confirmed. "And I doubt it will be the last, either."

"I wish I could say it would be," Paul said, "but we both know that the world is only going get more crazy."

Elder Wu shook his head before he opened the door. "You have no idea."

///

Aperio frowned at the number of people that were praying to her. Apparently her little entrance had convinced quite a few people that she was a Goddess. Funnily enough, the people that actually knew what she was had no intention of praying to her. The reasonable choice. She was beyond the need for faith and other such crutches.

Of course, she ignored all the prayers directed at her. They would be able to worship the Gods and Goddesses of their own world again soon enough. Now that all the mortals had been given access to the System, the All-Mother needed to take on the task of properly fixing Earth’s weird amalgam of a deity. The only problem here was that she had no real idea on how she should do that.

She would have to somehow make new Souls for all the different deities, as she wasn't willing to let all the different personalities languish in the single — very much inadequate — Soul it currently had. At the moment, Aperio was reluctant to do anything about it as any time she interacted with a Soul, it grewwould grow stronger in ways she didn't really intend.

There had to be a way to do this, however, as the System was making new Souls for mortals and spreading them throughout her creation. It would require a look behind the workings of reality for her to properly figure out how to procure some Souls for the seemingly countless deities of Earth.

"Would you mind?" Caethya asked, tapping at Aperio's arm. "Can't exactly move it out of the way."

"Of course," Aperio replied as she let go of her love. "I was a little lost in thought. The dynamics of Souls are quite hard to figure out."

"I can only imagine." The Demigoddess stood up and stretched herself, arching her back enough to have Aperio concerned for the briefest of moments before she turned around and smiled at the All-Mother. "How can sitting in your lap be so refreshing?"

"Magic?" Aperio wagered as she mentally poked at a section of her System that carried the neat label of 'reincarnation'. "I want for you to be comfortable, and the universe tends to obey my wishes."

"Fair point," Caethya replied, this time running through a gamut of poses and stretches. "Really does a wonderful job, though!"

"Going to fight another army?" Eleanor asked, looking up from her scribbles. The mortal still looked a little haggard, but she seemed to have calmed down at least a little.

"No," Caethya said in English with a shake of her head. "I simply wanted to move a little. As comfortable as it is to sit in Aperio's lap, I do need some activity from time to time.

"Plus," the Demigoddess continued, "Aperio is messing with something beyond anyone's understanding again."

"Wouldn't that also be true when she simply sits somewhere and exists?" Eleanor asked. "Her very nature is beyond understanding."

"I am but a humble Elf of the Primordial variety," Aperio said, spreading her arms and wings and offering Eleanor a smile. "I also happen to enjoy creating things." And fixing my past mistakes…

While she didn't like that things were broken in the first place, Aperio would be lying if she said that the idea of poking at her creation to figure out what exactly went wrong was boring. It was challenging in a way that nothing else could compare to. Though fights could be fun, they were unlikely to provide her with any real challenge. Figuring out her feelings on just about anything was, but not always in the fun way that poking her System provided.

"Yes, like making everything," Eleanor replied. "Also, Primordial Elf? Is that actually a thing or do you call yourself that because you are the first being in existence and like being one?"

Aperio offered a shrug of her wings as she folded her arms in front of her chest. She also tilted her head slightly, a wide smile on her face. "Who knows?"

She tilted her head to the other side as Caethya stepped up behind her and placed her hands on the All-Mother's shoulders, running her thumbs up and down. "Would you mind teleporting me back to Riverburg? I would use this opportunity to see how fast I can go on my own, but I think that that would not go over well with the mortals here."

"Of course," Aperio replied, a portal simply appearing behind her love. "Though I think it would serve some of them well to know that they are not the strongest around. Now that everyone is awakened, a few of them are having funny ideas again."

"Oh? Perhaps it is my time to appear on the news." Caethya gave a small laugh. "Every good hero needs a sidekick, right?"

"Maybe?"

"They always do in the books I got when we first arrived," her love elaborated. "I should see if I have some armour that matches your aesthetic."

"I could make you some," Aperio said, leaning slightly to look up at Caethya. "They would be much better than anything that cwould possibly be sold anywhere."

"Perhaps, but I'd like to try on the things I have," her love replied with a smile. "You are more than welcome to accompany me, though. I guarantee you that we would be the best crime fighting duo."

"That is a given. The mortals here are weak."

"They'll get there. It'll just take a little while." Caethya tapped the All-Mother's shoulders before taking a step back towards the portal. "You coming or not?"

Aperio remained seated for a moment before standing up, a touch of her magic removing any of the creases her dress might have had. "I will come. It might be fun."

"And you will just leave me here?" Elanor asked, looking at the two Elves. "I can't just teleport places."

"All you have to do is ask me and I will bring you there," Aperio replied. "A simple prayer will be enough."

"Oh glorious All-Mother, please bring me home?" the mortal asked in a mocking tone.

"If you wish to phrase it like that, yes, that will get my attention." Aperio stepped closer to Caethya, erasing the portal she had made from existence as it wasn't needed anymore. "Or do you wish to leave now?"

Eleanor's eyes wandered between the Dragon that still rested at the other side of the roof, her book, and Aperio and Caethya. "I think I will stay for now. Just please — please — don't go too overboard. I would like to have a home to return to."

"What do you expect me to do?" Aperio asked. "Blow up a city?"

"I wouldn't rule it out."

"I will make sure none of that happens," Caethya said. "All we will do is wander around the world and see what people are doing with their new powers. Should be quite the sight, now that everyone has access to the System."

Eleanor simply looked at the two of them. Then she let out a sigh and turned back to what she had already written into her book. "Have fun, I guess."

"I'm sure we will," Caethya replied, taking Aperio's hand into her own.

"That is the goal," Aperio said before the two of them vanished, leaving behind a few feathers that slowly dissolved.

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