43 Chapter 43

"...What?" Aerwyn stared at Nyris, unable to process his last few words.

"There has never been any other living beings on Alduun, native or otherwise, without a mana core. I believe that although you are a mortal now, you weren't born as one. When gods ascend their mana core's are absorbed by their souls, fundamentally changing them. It is a necessary process that allows them to absorb divinity.

So either you are completely unique in all the worlds of creation or you were simply born with divinity. The easiest answer is most often the one that rings true."

"Then why can't i remember anything?"

"That... I don't know. If it's true that your soul was in a weakened state when you first woke... It's possible that your soul was destroyed along with your divinity. The soul is one's identity, if your soul was destroyed then you would be no more the god Aerwyn than you are the necromancer Nyris."

"W-what does that mean?" Aerwyn was confused even without the complex explanation.

"...It means that if true, you would never recover your memories. The you now wouldn't be the same being as the you that was a god, however that leads to even more questions. The most obvious being that you still somehow possess your power despite not possessing divinity or a mana core." Nyris spoke nearly the same words regarding his memories that Tylin had as if to confirm Tylin was hiding this from him.

Aerwyn went quiet as his mind began racing. He felt like he should ask more questions but he couldn't think of any as his mind was full of the thought that the very gods themselves were trying to destroy him. The faceless man in his dream appeared powerful but Aerwyn would've never of guessed he was that powerful.

If this was true, then he hoped the gods believed he was dead but he didn't like the thought of sitting on his hands and hoping. Even if there was the tiniest of possibilities that the gods were aware that he survived, he needed to be prepared.

"Tylin told me a bit about the gods when he told me the story of the Fae'Laran but he didn't go into great detail. What exactly can they do to me if they found out i was still alive?"

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"Their power is limited, especially given the timing. The last world invasion was over two hundred years ago and we're long overdo for another. They still hadn't fully recovered from cursing the Fae'Laran when the orcs invaded two hundred years later and millions of lives were lost because of it. Rolan, Selene, and Malach were forced to allow dozens more to ascend just so the world wasn't overrun so i doubt they'd be willing to expend power like that again.

The gods main strength is their ability to grant a minute fraction of their embodiment to those who follow them. For instance Malach can grant his most devout with the power of fire, allowing them control over the element. If i had to guess, they'd most likely consider you an invader and call a crusade." Nyris's answer surprised Aerwyn.

"They can't just directly kill me with their power?"

"No and even if they could, their power might not work on you now that you're in the mortal realm. Gods can only directly affect mortal beings with curses and blessings who are originally from their world but it's possible that you wouldn't be considered from Alduun since you were born in the divine realm. This is all speculation of course, so don't curse me in death if i turned out to be wrong."

While fighting the entire world wasn't great, it was certainly better than being struck by a lightning bolt while he was going about his day. It at least gave him a chance to survive if he could grow his undead army large enough. It was possible to spend his life in hiding but he would always be fearful of the gods discovering him, he shut that idea down as soon as it came into his mind.

He wouldn't sit back and be hunted like some animal for the rest of his life, now that he knew who his enemy was he would turn the tables and become the hunter. For that he needed far more than just a few hundred undead beasts but that in turn left him with another problem. He was already running out of creatures to resurrect in the area surrounding Ardin which meant he would have to spread out into orc territory sooner or later.

The memory of Velk's little excursion to the north was still fresh in his mind and that was only a 'lesser orc', yet it still managed to kill so many of his undead. The thought of fighting the orcs was both frightening and exciting to him. If they were that powerful then surely they would make even more powerful undead if he could resurrect them.

Consuming their souls would allow him to evolve more of his undead too which would add even more power to his forces. Strangely enough the idea made his mouth water and when he noticed he shook his head and looked back at Nyris.

"How many gods are there?" Aerwyn asked, curious if he might recognize his name or his parents if he heard it.

"The Fae'Laran have very little contact with the outside world and there are undoubtedly hundreds of gods by now. If you're trying to find your identity you'll have to leave the forsaken lands, you won't find a list of gods here."

Aerwyn sighed, it seemed like one question was answered but a thousand questions popped up in it's place, leaving him worse off. At least he had some semblance of a long term goal now that he knew who his enemies were, even if that goal was as laughably improbable as fighting the gods.

The whole thing felt surreal to him. He wondered what his parents were like and if he had any siblings or friends but the more time he spent thinking about it, the more empty he felt. Nyris noticed his complicated expression and tried to comfort him.

"You'll be safe in the forsaken lands for now. The gods see through the eyes of their believers and they have to be actively looking as well. You'd be hard pressed to find any beings worshiping Alduun's gods here, at least not until the gate opens once more."

"What do you mean?"

"When the gate opens again the three races will send an army to deal with it. If they see your power there's a chance the gods may be watching too."

"No i meant about the gate, it always opens in the same spot? How do the forsaken races live through it then?"

"Ah, the short answer is we hide and attempt to communicate if the army comes too close. For the Fae'Laran, we retreat behind Tyres Gate until the fighting is done. The armies are here for the world seed so they generally won't waste their time fighting defeated armies of past invasions unless they stand in their way. The real trouble come after the war as the races end up fighting over territory in the forsaken lands."

"Why don't they just destroy the gate?"

"The gate cannot be destroyed, it's an artifact left over from creation like the world seed. Once it opens it can only be closed by destroying the invaders divine icon."

"Master we're done!" Erit called out and broke the the conversation.

This little job ended up netting him seven hundred and thirty three D Grade mana cores which would be enough to buy around fifteen spears if he included the payment from Master Ynir. Aerwyn and the rest returned to the forest edge and spent the night under it's protection. His anxious mind made sleeping near impossible, only managing to finally get some rest when the sun was about to rise.

They reached Lyr by nightfall and Aerwyn stayed the night in Nyris's guest room. After breakfast the next morning he went out in search of Master Ynir to receive his payment. Once the payment was out of the way Master Ynir attempted to recruit Aerwyn to live in Lyr once more but he was politely denied again before Aerwyn left to put in his order with the blacksmith.

The smithy was at the edge of town and as he got near the smell of oil and smoke filled the air. The blacksmith was short and had a rugged appearance with long black hair tied in a knot. He had a long black beard that was speckled with grey which showed his years. Aerwyn thought he looked more like a tall dwarf than a short elf as he hammered some smoldering steel.

"Hello?" Aerwyn called out atop Erit.

"..." The blacksmith lifted his head for a moment giving Aerwyn a quick look before returning to his work.

"..Um i'd like to place an order?" Aerwyn wasn't sure how to deal with this elf, Marik was rude but at least he acknowledged his presence.