Chapter Forty One, Anaflandus.

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  A hand grazed against a stone wall. The dust that rested against the stone, stayed unmoved, not bothered by the movements of his hand whatsoever.

  Because in truth, he was not touching it.

  As he walked, Jora's hand sunk into the rock, reaching in and letting his fingers wade through it as if it was water.

  Like a blink, three more weeks had passed. Three weeks that he spent exploring the Deep Dark... Countless S-rank beasts he had encountered, an unlistable amount of beasts being consumed and thrown into Aeternum.

  Already, he had breached the stats of an SSS-rank, having surpassed Kismet by a long shot. So, he refrained from stealing the Attributes of his food any longer. He singled out what he felt was worthy, consuming memories, Talents, and things of that nature.

  Genes were embedded into his structure, and through the weak development of his Envy, his body had become far more malleable, able to mimic everything he had consumed with ease. It melded well with his slime physique, letting him take on any form he desired.

  In fact, he might as well bring his envy to completion, right?

  He subtly nodded, a smile emerging on his face.

  And then there was a tingling in his mind.

  "I was wondering when you would ask..." Jora murmured, his smile brightening further.

  His teeth shone, and he retracted his hand from the wall. He stepped a few feet away from it, coming to stand in the center of the cave tunnel.

  He upturned a palm, power gathering within it.

  And then he paused.

  "No..." He mumbled, "This is cooler." With his smile still equipped, he reached his hand upwards. It met his face, and two fingers found their way to his left eye.

  And he plucked it out.

  With ease. His left eyeball was retrieved from his skull.

  With his remaining eye, he observed the shiny orb, rolling around in his palm.

  Then he tossed it forward.

  The eye floated in the air for just a moment. In that moment, goo exploded outwards, viscous liquid sprouting outwards and forming strands of meat, muscle, blood, and flesh.

  His hands found their way back to their resting position behind his back, and he observed the creation of something monumental.

  Energy flourished in the air, as he squinted. A new eye appeared within his empty socket, and he manipulated the formation of a body with just his vision.

  Slowly, a woman was born. A physical body being sculpted into reality. Her skin was pale. Her hair was long, and dark, it cascaded over her shoulders. She faced away from him, her backside completely visible, and completely uncovered. Lining her spine was text, writing that he recognized from certain memories. An ancient script, the first language of Yara, Yarean...

  He smiled.

  He could read it.

  It wrote...

  "Anaflandus..." His teeth were on full display.

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  She flipped her hair out of her face, and she slowly turned around.

  "You know very well you could have made some clothes for me." Her face was flat, a tinge of aggravation interlaced into her expression.

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  Jora smiled. He stepped forward, and his eyes met the pale irises of the woman that was but an extension of he himself. His gaze shifted from her eyes, to her body, from head to toe.

  She crossed her arms, and her head tilted. Her barefoot tapped against the ground, and Jora only maintained his silence.

  He was but a step away, and his eyes returned to meet the woman's. Then his arms moved, released from his backside, instead, wrapping around the girl before him.

  His skin met hers, and their bodies interlinked. She froze for but a moment, the briefest instance of confusion washing over her. But then she reciprocated his movements. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her face resting on his chest. He was half a foot taller than her, fitting of the natural height differences between human woman and man.

  "Been thinking, have you?" She spoke. A hint of mockery was in her words. Jora chuckled.

  "Good to know you have finally developed a brain!" She made fun, and Jora's laughter only increased.

  "Right!" With a smirk on his face, his hand exploded into the woman's back.

  She erupted into a coughing fit, and Jora backed away, letting her lurch over in pain.

  "Good god! Why are you so strong! Doesn't even make any sense! I have all of your power as well!" A hand was on her knee, and the other reached for where she had been struck, as if she could just grab the pain away.

  "Do you think I can't harm myself? You're smarter than that..." There was a calm smile on his face, his hands behind his back once more.

  She groaned, straightening to her full height.

  The two shared some words, bickering like children. Jora enjoyed it, and Ana seemed to be annoyed by it. But he knew well that she enjoyed it as well.

  Swiftly, he swooped her in his arm, resting along her shoulders.

  "Unhand me!" Ana complained, and he only smiled.

  The two walked forward, and Ana grumbled, but Jora was an immovable mountain.

  "So what made you leave our humble abode?" He questioned. As he did so, a nearby wall burst open. Monsters broke through, but before they could even make a real appearance, they were burnt into pure energy.

  The potential of what they could have been.

  Their energy flowed into both Ana and Jora. The former relished in the small boost of power, and opened her mouth to answer Jora's inquiry.

  "Aeternum has undergone mass extinction. There isn't much to do there right now. I can only let the world rebuild." She replied. Hearing that, Jora's brows raised.

  He adopted a surprised expression, and his head tilted as they continued to move forward.

  "Has it now?" He spoke.

  Ana nodded her head, sighing in the process.

  "Nyxariel wrought war onto Aeternum, battling their gods. They warred among the planet for dozens of years, and in the end came the death of Nyxariel and every single god beneath our children. Their bodies fell from the skies and onto the land, altering everything permanently. Nyxariel's fall dismantled half of Aeternum, turning a large portion of the planet into a complete wasteland. Flame, ash, shadow, and soot, currently reigns over the world. Few life exists, but the corpses of the gods are fighting back against Nyxariel's hellish affliction. This event should spur on the evolution of brand new creatures, new life, and an intense history for the folks that rise from this ash." Ana detailed.

  Hearing this, Jora was truly a tad shocked, but it sounded interesting to his ears.

  "Kuta has taken up the mantle of retrieving all of the dead souls, repairing those that were fractured by Nyxariel's fall, and melding the damaged souls of the fallen gods into their lifeless corpses. Ana'fae is boosting the development of the repaired souls, creating more, and deeply manipulating their energies... The high gods allowed for this extinction event, so that they could experiment with something grand." Ana breathed, and Jora showed more focus on her words.

  "From the ancient texts they have made that center around us, Vastness, and The One Soul.... They intend to make Aeternum whole. One soul, but countless separate creatures. They intend to create a World Core for Aeternum, and meld their souls into this core, alongside every other soul, but while also keeping this construct fractured. With this physiology, each and every inhabitant of Aeternum will be indirectly connected to each other. A qualitative boost to the Talent and strength of every entity. At the same time, they're attempting to make everything living. Giving a soul to the entirety of Aeternum, from each patch of grass, to the smallest of pebbles, to the grandest of trees. High ambitions they have...." Ana rubbed the back of her neck, Jora's arm still wrapped around her.

  He nodded, seeing the grandiosity of their plans.

  "Is it feasible?" He asked. Ana titled her head.

  "It may be... Even now, despite their level being half through SSS-rank, they have power equivalent to those of the peak, and their Attributes are far beyond that. Their skills and manipulations may allow them to succeed, and I hope they do. If they do succeed, that means you'll gain a whole lot more abilities, and even whatever power they use to merge all of those souls. Then, you'll be able to merge all of their souls with yours, and subsequently, have every soul of our inner dimension, be a part of yours. That way, all of their skills, Talents, and even comprehensions, should flood into you naturally. Core hivemind type of stuff. No longer would we be a Dungeon, a core that controls, but instead we would become everything... We would be the real abstract deities from the Aeternal Myths..." Ana smiled.

  Jora had his brows raised. The thought of her words made him deeply entertained. He would soon reach levels others could only dream of!

  A lovely thought.

  ”Let me see…” And just like that, a portion of his attention slipped into Aeternum.

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