Chapter 72: Pondered

Akash hadn't been happy with me when he eventually regained his consciousness. 

He had claimed that me using the weak point at the back of his neck had been inherently dishonourable and that it had been rude of me to hold back for so long only to blitz him at the end of the fight like that. 

I had wanted to tell him that the reason I'd held off was that I was dealing with my debuffs and that I hadn't actually been trying to mislead him, but that would be way more explanation that it was worth. 

How was I meant to explain that my abilities had been hampered because I hadn't been able to shower or eat for two days while I was unconscious? And that practising my magic for an hour had somehow brought all of those abilities back?

Somehow, I didn't think that he would go for it. 

Instead, after regaining his consciousness, he sulkily deactivated the holo-displays, which allowed the Eldrani landscape to fade away back into the white room that I'd previously battled Yr'Arl in. He then left without saying another word. 

On the plus side, defeating Akash had given me another hundred thousand XP, and that had been enough to level me up once again. That meant I was already even stronger than my last bout with the tree-like alien. It also meant I was still wildly outclassed when it came to fighting Lara. 

I pondered the subject as I made my way back to the initiate dorm rooms. 

Clearly, the girl was something of a biomechanical genius, she had managed to engineer entirely new versions of the Null Space Invaders after all. I had my suspicions that, while she had likely been strong to begin with, she may have increased those powers even further with some kind of self-modification. Increasing the amount of manna her body can process drastically. 

<It's certainly a possibility,> BB chimed in, <Either way, tomorrow is going to be tough, and the chances that you're going to die aren't exactly zero.>

Strangely enough, I wasn't too scared of death anymore. If I did die there was a pretty high chance that the beings in the Void would simply just send me on to the next world so that I could live that all-important meaningful life that they had been droning on about while I had been in their domain. 

<You might not care about your death, but I'm pretty sure I do,> BB said. <If you die, I doubt you'll be bringing me along into your next life, I'd just die alongside your body. So, if you could try and not let that happen that would be great.>

Whether BB believed it or not, that did actually give me a bit of motivation toward staying alive in this universe. I liked the AI, as annoying as it tended to be from time to time. If he were to die because of my inability to fight back against Lara, I think I'd be genuinely upset. Besides, if I died and my seemingly limitless potential for growth was removed from this universe, who would be left to stand up against Lara? I doubted anyone else would be able to match her vast magical powers. 

<You seem to be under the assertion that Lara is the strongest being in this universe, don't you,> BB said, the sigh evident in his voice. 

It had certainly seemed like Lara was the strongest being in the universe, considering how everyone kept on going on about her the way that they were. If she wasn't the strongest being, then just how powerful did people get in this galaxy?

<So let's lay things out properly,> BB began, <You aren't the strongest being in the galaxy yet, but remember what I said when we first met? You're like a manna factory with unlimited production capabilities, you just have to unlock your ability to use them.>

That had indeed been how BB had explained things at the beginning, that I was incredibly powerful but that I wouldn't be able to handle that power until much later on. I hadn't realised, however, that meant I had the potential to become the strongest being this universe had ever seen. 

<Sure, you have that potential, but reaching it is going to take a whole load of time. You realise we have literal gods in this universe, right? Beings that twist reality around their pinky finger and gobble it down like cotton candy.>

That was an honestly disturbing thought. I didn't expect myself getting to the level of the gods any time soon. 

<You'll have to eventually, you know. This universe is one of constant escalation. When you get to a certain amount of power, you're going to attract the attention of these beings whether you like it or not, and when you do, they're going to come looking for you spoiling for a fight. It's going to happen whether you like it or not, so you're going to just have to be ready for it.>

I shut the door of my dorm room and let myself fall face-first onto my bed. 

It felt like the multiverse was playing some sort of a practical joke on me. I found myself wondering, not for the first time, why I had been chosen to go through something like this. 

Sure, the creatures in the chasm had told me that I needed to live a meaningful life, but this felt like they were going overboard. Surely I could live a meaningful life without having to fight reality destroying gods and girls with the power to manipulate some of the creepiest creatures I had ever seen. 

I rolled over and sighed. 

There was no choice fretting over any of it. The fact of the matter was, this was my lot in life now and I was going to have to live through it. 

The universe didn't seem to give a damn if it was what I wanted or not, so I'd just have to deal with it. 

… and then I'd have to kill a god.