The Pantheon Moves (Emerilia Book 10)

by Michael Chatfield

  Becoming the Earth Lord, it would only be natural that the Earth Lord Faction would come to accept you rather than despise you. Now you can expect creatures with a high affinity to the Earth to leave you alone more often and for them to be weaker when they attack you.

  Dave quickly went to check his Champion Slayer class to see the overall changes.

  Class: Champion Slayer

  Status:

  Level: 3

  Effect:

  +30 to all stats

  Relationship with Affinities Pantheon:

  Dark: Enemy

  Light: Despised

  Water: Favorable

  Fire: Trusted Friend

  Earth: This is you, don’t really expect that it’s going to be much different than how you feel that day about yourself.

  Air: Favorable

  Dave laughed at the changes and moved to his character sheet. His head started to get fuzzy as power started to pour through his body, slowly at first but increasing in speed.

  Character Sheet

  Name:

  David Grahslagg

  Gender:

  Male

  Level:

  204

  Class:

  Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Skill Creator, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master, Champion Slayer, Master of Space and Time, Master of Gravitational Anomalies, The Few the Mighty, Lord of Earth

  Race:

  Human/Dwarf

  Alignment:

  Chaotic Neutral

  Unspent points: 0

  Health:

  5,550

  Regen:

  26.62 /s

  Mana:

  17,280

  Regen:

  64.45 /s

  Stamina:

  5,720

  Regen:

  56.90 /s

  Vitality:

  555

  Endurance:

  1,331

  Intelligence:

  1,728

  Willpower:

  1,289

  Strength:

  572

  Agility:

  1,138

  “Well, okay, it looks like one can really become a member of the Pantheon by stealing divine wells. I wonder if there is a way to change this to just normal Mana instead of Earth Mana. Be a lot more useful.” Dave talked to himself as he started to go through the new menus that came with being the Earth Lord.

  There were controls over the hall he was in, as well as a preset spell menu he could pull from. All of the spells had been made by the AI that was assigned to him.

  He accessed the AI and found that he could look upon anything in Emerilia.

  He was hooked into the Jukal network of recording and viewing devices.

  He looked upon where Markolm was, with black clouds covering the sky above Markolm. With some simple commands, he was looking at Cliff-Hill, watching his house. It was so clear, it was as if he were there.

  “Damn, that is some impressive and scary ass tech,” Dave muttered.

  Dave stood and moved behind the throne to enter a private room. He sealed the door and then activated the skill that Bob had given him. He used his Jukal link and his interface changed as he used a keyboard to type in different commands. A command prompt came up as he gained access to the AI’s full facilities. First, he ran a mirror server that would make it appear as though it was doing the same things to the Jukal. Then he disconnected the actual AI from the Jukal Empire and started to work on it.

  With the Jukal link that Bob had given him, Dave now had administrator rights to all of the tech that was linked to Emerilia. Something like a god’s AI was easy for Dave to take control of.

  He started to go through the different settings on the AI. Now everything that it sent to the Jukal Empire would actually be confirmed or altered by Dave as he inserted himself as the moderator and controller.

  Then he had the AI relay its library of spells and uses. He took this information and then sent it through a Mirror of Communication to the people of the Pandora’s Box Initiative, with a couple centuries of spells with different formulas and on massive scales. It was a gold mine for researchers.

  He went through and looked in on the AI’s rules when it came to changing from one master to another. “Okay, so, it looks like the first dude needs to be dead in order to take over. So, if we want to do this to Light or Dark, we’re either going to need to kill them or get creative,” Dave muttered.

  He sent a message to Ela-Dorn and Lucy. He needed people to get working on a virus that would override the AI that was under Dark’s control and allow them to imprint a new user and Dark Lord upon the divine wells and hall under his control.

  Next, he opened up the core coding of the AI and started to add in new options to the menus that he had.

  “Going back to the basics.” Dave laughed to himself as a secondary menu, with a log-off and change user button, were created. With the log-off, he could allow others to “log in” and then they could switch between one another with the switch user function.

  Dave sat down on the ground and pressed the log-off button.

  The link to the AI as well as the divine wells went away but the changes to his body remained. Also, he still had the option to sign back into the AI.

  He moved around to make sure that the changes to his body were all still the same.

  “Okay, so, this could be a really damn scary usage,” Dave said. “However, I don’t know if it’s possible to be connected to two different god AIs and their divine wells, so for now I’ll hold onto this and later can test it out—that is, if we can get control over the Dark Lord’s divine wells.”

  Dave had an apprehensive look on his face before he logged back into the AI, once again becoming the Earth Lord. Dave started to change the settings with the AI, making it convert the Earth Affinity Mana into neutral Mana. He also input a bunch of coding that would allow the hall to start generating its own power to supply the divine wells.

  Within the halls, only the main hall could be viewed, so Dave made three more rooms and coded them himself so they couldn’t be seen and then added in fusion reactors connected to the divine wells.

  “Using the AI and my own knowledge, I can create spells with the power of the divine wells without having to channel all that power through my body and make me fall unconscious.” Dave’s face was serious. He had a number of grand scale spells he had theorized of and created over time, but the strain on his body would have been too much to complete them. The AI, however, could take that information and create it for Dave, taking on the strain instead of him.

  It wasn’t the power that he had gained access to that was the scariest factor: it was the fact that he now had an AI that he could use to test out his theories without them backfiring on him.

  All of the members of the Pantheon didn’t care for their AI, just using them or ignoring them. However, Dave pulled a personality core that he had cut out from an AI in the Earth simulation.

  He uploaded it into the AI and waited as it booted up, a nervous look on his face.

  “System, initialized, personality module uploaded for Jackie.” A robotic voice filled Dave’s head and started to change until it was female.

  “Hello, Mister Zane. Is there anything I can help you with?” Jackie’s familiar voice rolled through Dave’s head.

  Dave let out a shuddering breath, his eyes slightly wet before he laughed. “Hello, Jackie. Been some time. I hope this time you won’t be trying to run my life and make sure that I don’t crash the Earth simulation,” Dave said.

  “I will try my best, Austin,” Jackie said, sounding amused.

  “Please, I am Dave. I’ve kind of got used to the name.”

  “Very well, changing to Dave,” Jackie acknowledged.

  Jackie had been his personal AI back in the Earth simulation. She had actually been a Jukal AI meant to keep him stable and thus the Earth simulation stable.

  She might have been there to control him, but Dave k
new it hadn’t been her fault; it was her programming. He had spent hours talking and working with her throughout his life; he’d gone through trials and tribulations with her.

  With the Jukal link and his access to the servers in Bob’s Datskun, he was able to copy out Jackie without the Jukal commands. He missed the AI and so now that he had another one he was linked to, he’d once again brought her to life, his Jackie.

  “What goals do you have for the future?” Jackie asked.

  “Oh, you know—steal some god’s power, stop a war, start a war, win a war, and get married. Lots to do!” Dave said.

  “Who is the lucky lady?” Jackie asked.

  “Deia.” Dave smiled. The two people he had talked to on Earth regularly were Jackie and Suzy. He hadn’t broadcasted the fact but most people thought he was loopy the amount of time he spent talking to his AI.

  He didn’t care; she looked after him and she was a great listener.

  With Jackie’s personality module uploaded, he agreed with the new settings. He once again linked the real AI to the Jukal Empire and removed the mirror server. He deactivated the Jukal link and moved his hands.

  The powers of a god were not simple. He could have the power of a person and then with a simple command, he would be flooded with the power of his divine wells, augmenting his own abilities.

  “Well, guess I’m kind of a god now,” Dave said to himself. He snorted and shook his head, unlocking the room and stepping out.

  “Don’t get too full of yourself. You’re still one of the weakest in the Pantheon,” Jackie said.

  “Don’t you start getting sassy, Jackie.” Dave waved a finger at the air as he made it into the hall.

  “Okay, one hall down. When we hitting the next one?” Dave joined the party chat and said to the grouped together members of Party Zero.

  “As soon as possible,” Deia said.

  “So how does it feel with the Earth Lord’s power running through you?” Malsour asked.

  Dave could feel the different scans he was doing, probably comparing them to ones he had taken previously. Dave didn’t try to stop him. He, too, was curious as to the full changes that had happened to his body.

  “Eh, got a new AI that I can use to test out some spells.” Dave shrugged.

  A woman’s figure appeared above the group.

  “Is that—?” Suzy asked, a look of shock on her face.

  “Yes, it is!” Dave grinned.

  “Hello, Suzy,” Jackie said. She had a rather neutral appearance, with pale skin and black hair.

  “Who is this?” Induca asked.

  “This is Jackie, my personal AI and the AI of Rock Breakers Corporation. She also used to be my minder,” Dave said.

  Deia gave him an odd look and then back to the AI that floated in the sky.

  “Basically, she’s the personality module I put into the AI that’s connected to me because of the whole Earth Lord thing,” Dave said.

  “The additional nanites that are in your bloodstream and body would easily be able to support you both. However, her main system must be with the rest of the Jukal AI,” Malsour said.

  Dave looked thoughtful. “I think we might have to look into that in the future.”

  “What are you building downstairs?” Malsour asked.

  “Power.” Dave grinned and then snapped his fingers. “Right. Forgot I’m going to need fuel.”

  Vines tore out through the grasslands beneath their feet, causing them to all jump away. However, the vines didn’t attack but rather bowed to Dave, who pulled out an ono. The vines wrapped around the ono; a hole opened in the ground and the ono disappeared down as the hole closed.

  “Dude, not cool.” Gurren held a conjured sword.

  “Heh, sorry—was just checking out the new powers. Pretty cool having minions around. Hey, Jung Lee, you want me to power up your Earth Affinity spirit?” Dave said, looking a bit embarrassed.

  Jung Lee was thoughtful for a moment. “Yes, it would greatly improve the growth ability of my plants,” Jung Lee said. From his body, a green spirit stepped outward.

  Dave pointed his finger at the Earth spirit. The wind in the room rushed over Dave as a green glow appeared around his body. He truly looked like a god giving judgement.

  “Jackie! Stop wasting power!” Dave yelled out.

  The wind and the glow died down immediately.

  “Talk about egotistical—some people really like to show off.” Dave shook his head. He pressed his finger to the Earth spirit; a dense green light, almost black, entered the spirit. Its pale-green appearance became stronger as its aura increased in power, driving Jung Lee’s aura to increase as well.

  “Woo-hoo, it worked!” Dave laughed to himself, checking the power levels of the divine wells. His eyes shone with excitement. “Damn, took a good chunk of energy, though.”

  “Just became a god—already complaining,” Lox said.

  “Kids these days,” Steve said in a sigh of agreement.

  ***

  Frank looked over his different stations. All of them were reading as fully operational as they passed through the wormhole.

  This was the third system that they had entered. With the wormhole transfers, they were able to move much faster than the Deq’ual system ships.

  After the second jump, the captain of the BloodHawk had cut orders to the other captains. They were to maintain contact through the Mirrors of Communication but they would all be operating on their own.

  It was clear that they hadn’t been detected yet; after all, Dave had adapted over his Jukal link. The administration access he held in Emerilia also allowed them great access to a number of civilian networks within the Jukal systems.

  They dropped off anchor point buoys and relay buoys that connected to the civilian networks and the different scanners within the system as well as its own to build up an understanding of the system.

  The Deq’ual knew where things were located but the Emerilian fleet were learning about the people of the planets. They found out tensions, looked into political parties, possible rebels. They were starting to build not just an image of these systems, but come to understand the groups of people within it.

  The bridge was tense, less so than when they had first entered an inhabited system, but it was still there—the knowledge that they were walking in blind. It was possible that someone could just be around their exit point and alert the whole system.

  They had picked places that shouldn’t have anyone interested in them, though this was off information from Bob that was hundreds of years old and what he had been able to glean from the different military networks.

  They passed through the wormhole, the massive battleship ready for anything that might come their way. It passed through the rift that had been created between the system it left and the one it was entering. Runic lines across its body glowed with a dark light that seemed to suck in the surrounding light. These runes allowed the battleship to fool the Jukal sensors, letting them pass from system to system without a trace.

  The different missile tubes and weapon systems were ready, as were the Devastator-armored fighters that rested within the hull of the ship. The armor maximized all of a person’s abilities, so mage or melee fighter—it didn’t matter as the armor would increase from the base stats of users.

  The wormhole fell away behind them, disappearing as they moved through the system and using sensing spells to test what was in the system. These were not sensors that the Jukal could pick up, so they could use them as they desired. Unlike the Deq’ual sensors that would ping the Jukal ships, these spells passed through all matter and sent information back to the ship.

  “Nothing within five light-minutes,” Sensors called out.

  Everyone relaxed slightly as the information coming in from the light reflecting off the planets matched up with the historical maps that they had gained and the intelligence from the other systems.

  This allowed them to build a picture of the system within minutes.

&
nbsp; There were ships moving constantly through the system, the five different inhabited planets and the hundreds of stations, shipyards, and other areas in the system.

  This was a core world of the empire. Trillions of creatures from all races called this place home. However, here, the Jukal ruled completely. There were shipyards filled with warships and no less than ten warships moved through the system, displaying their might. There were also a half dozen portals that would allow the warships to move anywhere in the system and throughout the Jukal Empire. High-ranking people of the Jukal Empire and those who had paid enormous fees were also allowed to use the portal.

  In the space of a few minutes, they saw massive trading ships pass through the portal. These were goods from halfway across the Jukal Empire. The people of the planet might not even be able to use these items, instead having to offer them up to the Jukal Empire as a tax.

  As the images started to come in, all of the people on the bridge started to watch.

  This was the center of what they were trying to fight; from here, the empire held its strength and sway over nearly a quintillion of living creatures and thousands of star systems. All to propagate what they were seeing here.

  “Prepare the anchor and the sensor buoy,” the captain said, his voice grim as they looked out upon their enemy.

  Chapter 22: To Shock a World and an Empire

  Josh scanned the sky. He stood on the highest point of Goblin Mountain’s Flying Citadel One. The massive citadel that seemed to have dominated the air was now looking at Markolm. Comparing the two was comparing ants to asteroids.

  All sixteen flying citadels floated above the dwarven mountain Gorlei as the sun started to rise.

  Even at this distance, smoke could be seen coming off Markolm, from burning cities and battlefields that crossed the floating nation. Here and there, rays of light and pillars of darkness intersected. However, as it could be seen, it wasn’t heard.