The Path of Knowledge
"...and so, my people, whom I adore from the depths of my heart and soul," Shora, goddess of sanity, sophistry, and wealth addressed a crowd of young men and women in purple and black robes as they stood at the base of the Armazel Academy tower. She was back to her girlish form, since most people found it more pleasant to look at than the frog, much to Osk's bewilderment. "It is to your credit that I gift this ritual unto you, that you might elevate yourselves to the highest levels of achievement, glory, and existence itself. For the greatness of your nation, the glory of your king, and your faith in us, your gods, follow the path we set. You will see the greatness of your reward not long after." The crowd of hapless youths murmured in appreciation and joy at the announcement they all just heard. Shora had told them they could reach the level of gods with a mystical ritual, they simply had to follow the goddess' instructions to the letter.
On the top of the tower, looking down, stood Urmu and Lisma. Urmu looked a completely different man, his clothing upgraded to enkallibar threaded material, the second existing gear of its kind. The garments were more tight-fitting than the robes custom ordered by Edo, were died a deep crimson with the blood of a mino-wyvern, and more intricately woven for better protection and conduction. His staff was no longer the twisted wooden thing he used to carry, but a golden cylinder finely decorated with gems and inscribed with runes and glyphs, capped by a spear-like head of glistening divine copper. The Magus' Order had gained more and more skilled and crafty students who could work with the Manual of Divine Weaponry, making various immense leaps in mystical technology, including Urmu's updated accoutrements.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Urmu shot Lisma a skeptical glance as the wind in the high, thin air whipped at his increasingly ruddy cheeks.
Lisma chuckled, "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I am the goddess of wisdom." She lightly stroked Urmu's hair with a strange light in her twirling eyes. "One would have to be a fool to refuse this opportunity." She muttered, mostly to herself.
"That, I can understand. But, why give them the opportunity at all?" Urmu confusedly persisted.
Lisma shot a glance at Urmu. before staring blankly upwards. "They aren't the only ones it's a great fortune for. We have been shown a tempting possibility... even the goddess of luck gets lucky, it seems." Her last statement was barely audible as she recalled her moment of good fortune.
She was passing by Osk's cliff-side temple on her way to the military barracks to receive the soldiers' praise, when she heard loud shouts. As she peered in on the situation, she noticed Rygald, who was excitedly making his announcement about the Demon King, who may have gained full power over demons. Osk eventually dismissed him with a promise of investigation, and Rygald rushed back where he'd come from, leaving Lisma to hear the audible complaint that escaped Osk's lips.
"M'lak, damn him! Why would he expose himself like that?" Osk clenched his fist so tightly it cracked with an echo like thunder. Hearing this, Lisma was able to piece the puzzle together, and wound up getting herself in on the deal with the Demon King.
"So then you're just using these people?" Urmu's words snapped Lisma out of the past. He didn't sound particularly concerned about it. He too had risen to higher heights on the backs of others. He'd gotten the Commander post announced by King Gel-ad, for which he'd betrayed his friends, and now used slaves daily; not for labor, but for research.
"We are using them, but not just; they will receive the benefit promised if it all works according to plan." Lisma returned from drifting in her musings to aim a gentle smile at the enthusiastic youths below. "They will raise us up to the highest plane, after all. Can the Most High not repay her servants?" Lisma allowed her arrogance as a goddess to peak through a bit in her final statement.
Hearing these words, Urmu gulped nervously. "The Most High? Isn't that Anak's-" He hesitated, almost revealing his deepest suspicion about Anak. "Anak's God?" He finished meekly.
"Yes. Well, in a sense. Why do you seem so afraid? Have we not prepared you sufficiently to face that old friend of yours?" Lisma started to massage Urmu's shoulders comfortingly. Urmu leaned his head back and groaned as his tight back and shoulder muscles were ecstatic at the touch of the goddess, instantly relaxed by her kneading fingers.
"He's..." Urmu let out a sigh of pleasure, " ...not the one I'm worried about. I am more than an enchanter now, but he's only a fighter, regardless of how strong. It's this Most High that worries me. Just how powerful is He?"
Lisma's hands froze on Urmu's shoulders as she replied wistfully, "There are none stronger... yet. The Most High is exactly what it sounds like, the highest plane of existence, authority, and power. Through this ritual, we will transcend our domains and status into something of equal standing with He who has reigned supreme for an infinity before."
"And you don't fear His attention? That He will know and come to destroy you first?" Urmu whispered, craning his neck to look back at Lisma.
"Of course we do. Hence, the pawns." Lisma gestured below to the eager crowd that was now streaming inside the tower to set about various preparatory tasks. "The Most High could naturally wipe us from existence with a thought, but for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. He could defeat all his foes at once, if not for a vital weakness; his love for his creation blinds him to all else." Unbeknownst to Urmu, she was virtually quoting the Demon King verbatim from when he explained to her and Osk his plans. Much of this was brand-new knowledge for her too. "If he were to just wipe us away at a whim, the material universe would protest in catastrophic events to re-write the topography of space itself. It is inevitable, as it runs on an a system of automated natural laws imposed by His own immutable word. So, to create the circumstances we need, and keep our heads, we draw in the humans, who were created to reach heights we gods never naturally could. They will be the plow and the slingshot, opening the path, then flinging us through." Lisma finished her explanation rotely, her ability to understand much clouded by her pride that refused to truly believe her place below humanity.
Urmu, on the other hand, had wide, bright eyes. These concepts weren't too far beyond what he already understood magically, but the information was still advanced, and it opened his eyes to more incredible possibilities. If the universe had automated systems, could a human, created as more than gods, hijack those systems? Urmu was already oblivious to his surroundings as he lost himself in his magical theorizing.
Lisma looked on in envy. This human could already understand the Demon King's enigmatic explanations better than she, even though she and her comrades were his instructors. While thinking of her comrades, Lisma quickly spoke up as something occurred to her, "Don't tell any of this to Rygald." She spoke firmly to ensure Urmu took her seriously.
"Huh? Why?" Urmu snapped out of his reverie confusedly.
"He's been a little... vexing lately. Just leave him out of it. He already declined the opportunity. What will it hurt him to be ignorant of its processes?" Lisma persuaded gently, her cheek directly adjacent to Urmu's as she spoke, creating a sense of intimacy. The truth was, after Rygald brought his panicked news to Osk, it was clear he would never work with the Demon King. Osk had brushed him off by promising to look into it, but he may persist if he got more information. If he heard of these concepts that he and his fellow gods had no knowledge of just a couple days ago, that they had been delivered from his sister, Lisma's mouth, he would wonder about her source.
Urmu nodded apathetically, "Alright, sure. It's easier not to speak than to speak anyway."
Lisma chuckled, and kissed Urmu's cheek. "Such a good boy," she praised, somewhat patronizingly.
"If I'm so good why don't you teach me 'Impossible Luck?'" Urmu teased with faint sincerity. Impossible Luck was Lisma's signature luck magic, which gave the caster an infinite amount of luck for a short period of time, which depended on the caster's skill and power.
Lisma laughed brightly and cheerily, with a twinkle in her eye. "You know, I just might. Even if the ritual doesn't go as planned, by the end of this I'll be stronger." The Demon King had promised Osk and herself augmented domains in exchange for their cooperation. She thought it wouldn't be so bad to give her devotee a gift after her own upgrade. "You must know, however, you still lack the power to wield that spell for longer than a half-second."
Urmu nodded in a chipper manner, an irrepressible smile crossing his cheeks. "So when will your ritual start?" He was eager for his goddess to become stronger, and bestow on him her greatest magic.
"Right now."
The echoing voice of Osk sounded from behind them, and the inscriptions on the tower surface all lit up at once in myriad bright colors, illuminating the surroundings like a fireworks display. Lisma grasped tightly onto Urmu and flew with him into the air beside Osk, as a massive baby-blue light pierced from the tip of the tower towards the heavens.
The three of them raised their eyes to follow the light as it streamed continuously upwards, and Osk declared, "Today, we climb to the highest plane."