The cart creaked as Vythin passed under the enormous walls, glancing up and seeing several individuals with crossbows at the ready as the bustle and noise of the city came to the forefront. Definitely lower class, he thought as he looked around seeing the unwashed masses who were tending to daily life among the stream of incoming traders. The smells hit him pretty and he gagged and retched on the side of the road - the stink of the tanneries and the reek of unbathed individuals. This is worse than Oceanside with all the fisheries. But it was never this strong. He had grown up in poverty, but this was a whole entirely different level of destitution.

  Slate spoke - holding his nose, "Best we make way to the upper levels."

  Vythin pulled the cart, taking in the sight and breathing through his mouth as he saw the squalor around him - the center boulevard just barely kept clear with the gutters running near full. "Is this what most capitals are like for the lower class?"

  Slate stroked his beard before replying, "I’ve only been to this city and Crux Omega. There was a drastic difference. In the Kingdom of Cruxia the lowest class are the subservient Crulon race. You must remember this is a republic built upon the almighty drek - money is all that matters."

  Vythin felt a tension in his gut, the feeling of righteous indignation that comes with seeing something so wrong with the world and being unable to do anything about it. Vythin stared at the ground as he trudged ahead. Wait, I’m a god of wealth. I can fix things for these people. He focused on his desire, picturing the result in his mind. A city completely clean, with a hundred dreks in each person’s pocket. He felt the heat roil within him, much hotter than before, before he channeled it into his feet to spread throughout the ground imperceptibly.

  The change was immediate. The entire lower city was filled with the scent of freshly washed clothes. Dirt disappeared, filth vanished into nothingness, the citizenry’s clothing was immaculately washed - and dozens of people felt a weird bulge in their pockets before pulling out a fistful dreks - the currency of the realm. Vythin smiled as he felt weary but pushed on, putting on a face like nothing had happened.

  "The smells are gone," Isaac said, glancing around and sniffing the air like a bloodhound tracking a scent.

  Vythin glanced back, fully grinning and smiling, "I just made things a little better in the short term."

  Slate frowned, "Did you think of the ramifications of what you’ve done? The Imperial Treasury will not be happy at all with...god-made currency floating about."

  Vythin shrugged and kept pulling, "I control wealth, including anything that money can buy. They can’t do anything to me. And I’m going to fix things that I am able to."

  Slate harrumphed and continued to glower at Vythin as they passed the second gate, the sounds of joy fading off into the background. They were stopped by some guards who inspected the wagon and the occupants before letting them pass.

  This part of the city - where the middle-class lived and worked; was much cleaner and more organized in its layout than the lower city. There were sparse parks and large townhouses that contained shops of various types on the first floor. Folks who seemed decently well-off were milling about trading, shopping, and conversing. The group continued to ascend to the third tier of the city.

  They were immediately stopped at a very large, ornate and flecked with plated gold entryway. Guards dressed in similar attire to those in the lower and middle city were stationed here; however their outfits were adorned with gold accents as well. One of them walked in front of Vythin.

  "Hold. What is your business in the upper city?"

  "My name is Vythin. We are seeking temporary residence for a short time."

  The guard looked down at Vythin - a much larger human than him, "You’re dressed appropriately. However your companions are obviously not of the right income level or social class."

  That’s how it is, eh? Well, good thing simple things don’t cost me any heat. Vythin snapped his fingers and noble clothing materialized over all of his companions much to their and the guards' surprise.

  He took a few steps back, "I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know you were a mage! Please, come in." The guard stepped aside and signaled to the gate-house above as the doors creaked open. Vythin just smirked as he pulled the cart through.

  "You must really want to get us noticed while we are here," Slate said.

  Isaac spoke, "I’m not sure I agree. We could take advantage of our new positions. I’d imagine many people would want to help out New Gods in exchange for our favor."

  Slate looked back at Isaac, "We may be gods, yes - but how much do you think Umbra, who is worshipped by many in this city - will look upon individuals ‘poaching’ her worshippers? That, and we can’t set expectations too high. Eventually we may have thousands upon thousands of worshippers expecting that same level of divine intervention, and I doubt you’ll want to spend all of your time performing miracles for the masses."

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  "I worshipped Caeli myself, but I venerated and went to the holy days of the other main gods. Can’t people worship many gods?" Vythin asked.

  Slate sighed, "Yes, we can venerate all of the gods. But ultimately only one gets to ‘claim’ your soul and take you to their afterlife when you pass if you're devoted enough. That’s what I mean by ‘poaching’ individuals. If you recall your basic schooling...provided you had it, we are three parts. The mind, where our knowledge lies. The body, our physical being that generates Quintessence. And our soul, which is immortal and contains what the mind knows and what the body experiences. The soul also generates Quintessence, but at a much lesser degree than the body."

  Vythin only half listened as he looked around for the first time, really taking in the sights of this upper tier. Large mansions and estates were spaced along wide boulevards. Tall fencing blocking off the main property from the street - which were immaculate and well maintained with several street-sweepers working to keep the place nearly spotless. Dominating the center of this upper level was an enormous domed structure.

  Slate pointed, "That is the Starfall Hall. It’s the center of the representative government. And deep beneath it is The Hall of Shadows, the main temple of Umbra in Heimfold. Well, except for that tower in the Krekyo Dominion, and her throne at the Conflux of Creation in Saint’s Hold."

  Vythin nodded, "It’s breathtaking." And it truly was. Easily a hundred feet tall and made from black marble streaked with white. Several windows overlooked the city and let in a significant amount of light. At the top of the dome, on top of a rotunda, was a large black crystal. Vythin pointed, "And that?" he asked.

  Slate chuckled, "An artifact called ‘The Shadow Iris’. Supposedly Umbra placed it there herself to be able to immediately shift her gaze to the city."

  Isaac looked up at the rotunda, "So she could be watching us right now if she chose?"

  Slate nodded, "If the tales are true. And frankly I wouldn’t be too surprised if she was…especially after Vythin's stunt."

  Vythin spoke with one of the street sweepers and inquired about inns and The Reshiron League. The young woman advised them that the coffee house had a hotel adjacent to it owned by the same proprietor. As they made their way in the pointed direction, Isaac spoke again. "You mentioned that the Iris thing up there was an artifact. Can you tell us more about those?"

  Slate replied, "An artifact is a powerful item. No simple flaming sword or shield that repels projectiles. But rather an item created by a god from divine materials. Weak artifacts are made from the Divine Metals, like Shiversteel. More potent artifacts are made from Aether Shards."

  "Wait, I thought that all of the Aether Shards were sent out to make New Gods?" Vythin asked.

  "Most of them did. However, quite a few were placed throughout the world by Ignis after The Shattering of the Aether Throne as a challenge for us. I did some inspecting of that book that you gave me from that rather nasty undead mage. He was actually tracking the location of several Shards through divination spells - spells that can find answers to questions." Slate said, turning to Isaac, "To finish answering your question, we can make artifacts. We can use them as well - think of it like a miracle you perform, but you store it for future use. Oftentimes they are limited to a few uses per day - the more powerful an artifact, the less often it can be used."

  As Slate was finishing his response they arrived at two buildings side-by-side. These stood out significantly from the rest of the buildings in this upper city. Dual red brick towers that ascended five stories each. Windows interspersed every ten feet on the upper levels and several balconies jutted out with tables full of well dressed and quite pompous sounding folks who were discussing various business deals or politics. There was a small gated area with tables and several white-clothed servers going about. There was a sign on a stand near the waist-high gate, and written in ornate red lettering was The Reshiron League. Something about that writing seems familiar, Vythin thought as he pulled the cart to the second building. Similar to the first, except the front area had no fenced in portion.

  Vythin pulled the cart up and a Tritar - the smaller cousin race of the Spriten - ran up, slicking back his hair as incandescent blue drops fell away and vanished.

  "Welcome to The Reshiron Inn and Tavern. Are you seeking accommodations?"

  Vythin set down the cart handles as his companions got off. "Yes, we are seeking lodging for a few days. And a place to put our cart."

  The Tritar looked at Vythin quizzically, "No pack animals?" Vythin shook his head. "Oh, well, that makes my life much easier. Will you be so kind as to maneuver your conveyance around the back? We have stables set up there that are guarded. Your companions may follow me inside."

  Isaac looked over at Vythin and rubbed two fingers together. Vythin sighed and reached into his pocket - understanding the message - pulling out fistfuls of dreks and handing them to Isaac before pulling the cart around back and stabling it. As he stepped inside he saw the rest of his group waiting in the lobby.

  Isaac was twirling a key on a ring and stood up upon seeing Vythin, tossing it to him. "We’re roommates. Slate’s going to stay with the kids."

  Vythin looked at Yvilli, "What about you?"

  "I’ll stay with the children. I’m sure you all have some business here in the city and having to shepherd them around would be quite a handful. Perhaps Slate can recommend some local sights I can take them to see. I don't need a bed, either. I go into a dormant state when not needed," She said.

  Slate immediately pulled out a writing utensil and parchment and began to scribble as Isaac waved Vythin up the stairs. They reached a sturdy door and inside was a well-appointed room with plenty of fancy furniture. Isaac flopped onto a bed and stared at the ceiling. "What next?"

  Vythin sat on his bed, "I’d say let’s relax and sleep a bit. I mean, I’ve been flying and pulling a cart all day so I could go for an early rest. Maybe we pick up tomorrow morning with this whole ‘Demon’ business?"

  Isaac nodded and sat up, "Sounds good."

  "We need to talk about Slate. I told you all that he has done in his past…how much do you trust him?"

  "He helped me avenge Willow's death. Is he a little unhinged? Maybe. But he immediately stepped up to take care of those two kids, and he seems like he is doing that out of the goodness of his heart. Give him a chance; being a god may have changed him for the better." He stood and walked out.

  Vythin laid down and stared up at the ceiling - the large wooden beams engraved with swirling patterns. Perhaps you're right. Slate can't fix what he did previously. Vythin closed his eyes. It’s wrong, he thought as he mulled over the sights of the squalor in the lower city, people shouldn’t live like they do in the lower city. Everyone is a person, why can’t we all be equal? He turned over and swore to himself. I’ll fix it. No one is going to go through the pain that I did if I can help it. He thought back to his childhood - the few good years - and dozed off.

  Sterkhander - Fight Against The Hordes

  by Zer0n1gh7s

  Adrian decapitated the first thing he met. An orc. Then was a vital part in the cleaving of a second. The rest were either slaughtered, most brutally, or cut down during retreat. All under his command. He knew instinctively that murdering anything remotely green was not right. But it felt holy in some odd dystopian way.

  Right?

  Did he mention ancient abominations planning world domination? Yeah. That too.

  What to expect -

  * Mon/Fri Schedule (Sometimes Sunday)

  * Litrpg Numbers (Light)

  * Kingdom Building/Politics/Military

  * Character Interaction

  * Tons of fighting

  * Blood splattering!

  * Brain matter showering!

  * Viscera explosions!