The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 845: The Primordial Metal Shaper 2

Chaos god? Esper? Avatar? Reincarnation?

These past few months, Damian used to think he had seen all the weirdness this world had to offer. He had even seen fourth rankers in action. What else could be more ridiculous than their terrifying strength?

The world proved him wrong. There was always a bigger fish to fry. Wait a second.. Bigger fish to fry? Is that how that saying goes? Or was he just hungry?

“What divine are you talking about? And what is an avatar?” Damian continued asking.

The dwarf god looked at him as if he were an unruly child who failed to understand the simplest of things.

“The almighty being who gives us all the powers, who else?”

“You mean the system? The status thing?” Damian confirmed, just in case.

“Yes, that divine voice.” The old god replied.

Okay, so even the most powerful beings have no idea what the system is or how it works. Damian couldn’t claim either that he knew more than they about this matter. But after his life on earth, experiencing the true modern age with movies, novels, and computers, his imagination had more range.

A sudden, unknown voice chiming in their heads in this day and age would clearly be only associated with supernatural phenomena. It could be from either a benefactor, like something divine, or something truly evil. Since it gave them strength, mankind had collectively agreed to consider it their great benefactor.

Damian was not so sure that it was either. The system itself had no bias; that much was at least clear after all he had seen. But the question was what about the one who had created it? Or the one currently in control?

Nothing the system had done to him till now that Damian considered wrong or evil. The ascension trials were not mandatory; people were not even required to activate their status. If a person decided to live his or her whole life without ever activating it, that would be completely acceptable.

But there was always a purpose behind the creation of every tool. And that’s what this status and the system were – just a tool. If its purpose was something grand, would it think twice about the will and wishes of some tiny solar system’s minuscule planet’s few people?

For now, Damian considered the system as it had presented itself in this strange world full of mana, a force of nature. It could be both good and bad, depending on one’s situation. He just had to make sure he was on its good side for the majority of his own and his loved ones’ lives.

“An avatar is a chosen representative of a god in the land of his domain. Every god has one at any given moment. Through him, her, or it, they interact with the mainland once they have ascended beyond mortal plain. But those are the rules we gods decided on our own and registered with the divine, not something placed upon us.”

“Gods work together?” Souldealer asked.

“No, they rarely interact. They only act up when someone messes with the rules. Except for the chaos one, I hear he is a loose cannon.” Answered the dwarven god.

“You are not part of this god circle?” Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I told you, don’t lump me together with that lot! They killed my brethren for simply existing! If it wasn’t for that damned Lightbringer, we would have become victorious! We had them.” The dwarf said with the intensity of a wounded predator.

“You fought against them? The ancient age.. gods?” Einar asked, surprise evident on her face.

“Yes, but we lost in the end and were hunted down one by one.”

“So.. how are you alive right now?” Sam asked.

“I have shared enough! If you are not with those bastards, then prove it and release me.” The god of metal golems demanded.

“We don’t know how.” Damian replied, “Will simply attacking it work? Or make things worse?”

The old dwarf looked down.

“Ah! The celestial chains! My own friend’s creation is being used against me! Nothing is sacred to those barbarians!”

The short, insanely muscular bearded dwarf tried to push against his restraints, but as expected, they didn’t even budge. After a strong effort, the dwarf simply gave up.

“I need someone to break it,” he said. “It needs to be done carefully. The force applied should be exact enough to break it. Neither more nor less will work and make things extremely painful for me.”

“How much force?” Damian asked.

“Uhmm.. What did Harmon say.. uh, a force equal to breaking a hundred steel gates. Our capital city’s gate had a thickness of 3 meters.”

Damian nodded. But before he could move a step forward, Souldealer placed a hand on his shoulder. The others also exchange glances with him. So collectively they all stepped outside the room. The sealed room had spells to block outside sounds as well, so they were free to talk without any worry.

“Do you seriously believe him?” Sam was the first one to start once they were outside.

“The title he mentioned is something I really have. When I had first received it, the information mentioned that I had awakened an ancient god of metal golems. I didn’t think much of it back then.” Damian replied.

“Even if you are right and the creature really is a god, we don’t know anything about him. What if he goes on a rampage? How will we stop a god?” Souldealer asked.

Damian shook his head. “There is not enough mana or aura in him. If I had to guess, his strength is equal to the peak level second-ranker physically. If he were near a fourth ranker, he could easily break that runic chain.”

“Maybe the runic chain is the thing suppressing his powers?” Einar suggested.

“Remember that he was captured and imprisoned by Neo and his gang. They don’t even have a transcendent amidst them. Where they got the chains from is a mystery, but I suspect it has something to do with the chaos god’s involvement, as the man said.” Damian replied.