The seventh and last day in Lilith’s realm began much like the others. He spent a few hours practicing fighting in the metamorphosis form. It was still far from perfect but by the end he could not only hold the spell for five minutes but also actually fight in it. Although Seti was far from the best sparring partner the elementalist was surprisingly good in a melee fight. That still didn’t stop nearly every exchange ending with him on his ass.

  As Seti was rising to battle once again Milo saw Lizbeth approach out of the corner of his eye. The old hybrid merely stood there silently but apparently that was signal enough for Seti. He dismissed the metamorphosis spell and Milo did the same.

  “Looks like we’ve come to the end of our lessons, champion. We’ve accomplished much in a short time, and I think you are about as ready as you can be for what comes next.”

  Milo arched an eyebrow at his teacher, Seti usually just referred to him as you or apprentice. He’d never once used the champion title. Milo bowed to Seti.

  “Thank you for the instruction, I know you had your own designs on the champion title and yet I don’t think you held anything back during our lessons.”

  Seti shrugged.

  “My ambitions were never as strong as you might think, my plan to claim the title had more to do with denying Nero than my own desires. I will however admit that I was concerned you might not have the intellectual capacity to lead an entire race in the conquest of a world. Fortunately, you have proven that you are a curious and diligent student who is not too proud to take advice.”

  Milo truly was grateful to the man who had probably increased his odds of survival by a lot. He decided it was time to pay some of that back.

  “I will always be open to council from you Seti, hopefully you will be among the first to join me on Archeus.”

  Seti smiled but shook his head.

  “I’m afraid summoning me to Archeus will probably take you quite some time. But I have no doubt that you will manage eventually.”

  Milo was about to ask more but Seti held up a hand to forestall him.

  “My mother will elaborate and explain how everything will work, she is waiting for you in the throne room with her war council.”

  Milo offered Seti a hand and the other man shook it. Then he followed Lizbeth as she guided him to the throne room where Lilith and three hybrids were indeed waiting for him.

  Ivy, Lily and Beldan were standing around a wooden table looking at a charcoal drawing of a map. All three greeted him with nods but it was Lilith who spoke first.

  “The hour has finally come my champion. You have trained well and achieved more than I thought possible in a single week. I have no doubt that you will be a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield and yet there is more to your title than just fighting.”

  She motioned for Milo to join the others around the table, and he did so. Then Lilith waved a hand at Beldan.

  “My general will explain your starting position, if you are uncertain about any aspect of the plan, simply ask.”

  Beldan cleared his throat and then pointed at the map. Milo followed the direction of his finger to what looked like a mountain.

  “The rules of the contest states that each faction will need to defend an altar of their god. These altars will be static which means that whatever location we choose will need to be defended for the duration of the entire contest. Which obviously means that it would benefit us to choose a naturally defensible location.”

  Milo what wondered what the condition for eliminating a faction would be. He’d initially thought each faction would need to be slain down to the last member but of course that meant a faction could stay in the game by simply spreading out and hiding.

  Beldan’s finger moved down the mountain to indicate what looked like a valley capped on either side by a sharp mountain ridge.

  “This is the location I have chosen for the altar, the defenders will have steep impassable mountains at their back and both flanks. Which means they will only have to defend from one direction, this will massively favour the defenders should any siege occur.”

  Milo reached up a hand and Beldan inclined his head to acknowledge the interruption.

  “What about magic? Or someone with wings like Lilith and I?”

  Not that he could use the true metamorphosis form yet, but he still thought it was worth bringing up.

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  “You are correct champion, these mountains and natural fortifications will not stop a powerful elementalist or certain species. But what they will stop are vast ground-based armies. I’m afraid that’s as good as it’s going to get for this war.”

  Milo nodded and Beldan continued his presentation.

  “Now, as you know you will have access to spirit essence during the contest. This can be used to summon everything from food to soldiers and buildings. The price of each summon will be proportional to its strength which means that you will have to start with a small team and few resources and then work your way up.”

  “Lilith draws spirit essence from her worshippers but I’m not a god, how will I get more spirit essence?”

  Beldan looked pleased by the question.

  “The primary method of gathering spirit essence will be to slay native life and the minions of other divine factions. However, you can also get it by adding any sentient species into your faction, gathering worshippers, special events and great deeds.”

  The big general hesitated for a moment and look flashed between him and Lilith before he continued.

  “And by sacrificing any living being on your faction altar…”

  Whatever alarm bells had been dormant since his transformation started blaring in his mind with the force of a tsunami. It was only by some miracle that he managed not take a horrified step back from the group. They were all watching him for his reaction and only Ivy and Beldan looked any degree of sympathetic.

  He turned to face Lilith and tried keep his voice neutral.

  “This wasn’t part of our deal, you told me this would be divine war, you spoke of combat and conquest. Now here we are talking about sacrificing people…”

  Lilith couldn’t possibly have looked less moved by the horror implied by his statement if she tried. It was easy to forget that she wasn’t just some woman who led a band of demons and hybrids. She was a goddess, born at the start of the universe, ancient and powerful. She had seen countless species and gods born and die, many probably by her own hand. She reached out a hand and cupped his chin.

  “So young…”

  She released him and sighed.

  “Like my general said there are many ways to earn spirit essence, that does not mean you have to use all of them. That being said, I have a feeling that your aversion to sacrifice will not stand the test of time…”

  He was studying her ancient face when Beldan cleared his throat and broke the spell.

  “let’s move on, aside from offering natural protection your starting area is near several human controlled areas. Now the humans of Archeus might only have a few hundred years of history and learning to draw upon but that does not mean they are harmless.”

  “What level of technology should I expect from them?”

  “Here we encounter another rule of this contest. You see the inhabitants of Archeus have been left undisturbed and unwatched since the creation of them and their planet. For all we know the valley we have chosen as your starting position could already be occupied although that is very unlikely given the remoteness of the area. Still as to their technology level I would expect them to have mastered steel and probably some magic.”

  “They have access to the elements of the divine realms?”

  Beldan looked to Lilith and the goddess took over the explanation.

  “Not directly, but when we created their planet, we also made deep leylines of elemental magic across the planet. The leylines will be difficult to access and their magic will be weaker than ours. Still, I would advise you to keep in mind that a master swordsman is still dangerous even if all he has is a knife.”

  Milo nodded and once again Beldan took over.

  “Now, let’s talk about events. As Lilith has already told you each divine faction is unique. Some like ours are martial in nature, others use only magic to fight or rely on illusions or deception. The events are designed to give each type of faction a chance to play to their strengths as a way to level the playing field. And since an agreement on which event should be first could not be reached by the gods that means they will be random.”

  “Can I have an example of an event?”

  Beldan looked to Lilith and the goddess shook her head.

  “No, the events are kept secret. All I can tell you is that several of them will suit you perfectly while others will place you completely out of your depth.”

  Milo didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

  “So, what happens if a bad event comes up first? Are we just screwed?

  “Participation in the events is not mandatory, but by refusing to participate you also forfeit any potential rewards. In general, I would advise you to participate in almost all of them.”

  “Really? What happens if I participate in a bad event and die?”

  “The events all take place outside of Archeus in separate dimensions, if you die you will simply be returned to your last location on Archeus. In many ways it’s just like the virtual fights you are so used to.”

  “And what happens if I die on Archeus outside of an event?”

  “You will be resurrected after a time period, and that time period will increase each time you die.”

  “How quickly will it become crippling?”

  “Immediately. After your first death you will be resurrected after 7 days I believe, next it’s a month and then a year.”

  Being quasi-immortal didn’t sound that bad to Milo, at least not until Beldan took it upon himself to elaborate the downsides.

  “7 days might not sound like much to rise from the grave, but keep in mind that during this time our faction will be unable to spend spirit essence on troops, food and other things we might need. Meanwhile the other factions will be earning and spending and growing.”

  “So, if I die, I cripple my faction, 7 days is bad, a month is worse, and a year would essentially be a death sentence for any faction…”

  Beldan nodded.

  “Indeed, now onto the last item of importance. The interface. Once you arrive you Archeus you will have access to an interface which you can use to spend your spirit essence. This interface can be accessed by simply speaking commands out loud. One example would be: Interface show me how much spirit essence my faction has.”

  “So that’s it?”

  Lilith walked over Ivy and placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. The young hybrid didn’t react at all to the touch.

  “Indeed, if there is anything else you need to know you can ask Ivy.”

  “I’ll be able to summon her directly by name?”

  “No, only Beldan, Seti, Nero and Lily will be summonable by name due to their unique status as order masters. Still, I do have direct control over who answers your general summons for warriors, leaders, elementalists and shadow stalkers. To summon Ivy all you need to do is summon a shadow stalker and I will send her to you.”

  Lilith’s direct influence on the summoning order would probably useful. She would presumably send him the crème of the crop first, at least he hopes she would. He was still thinking about the matter when a rift in reality itself suddenly manifested right in front of him. He took several steps backs as he looked directly into a window to another world. He turned to Lilith and was about to ask what it was when she sighed.

  “Looks like our time is up, Beldan bring in the equipment.”

  Beldan shouted and a few seconds later a stream of hybrids entered carrying food, clothes, armour and just about every type of weapon Milo had ever seen. They organised the items in lines and then left. Lilith walked over to the items and then beckoned him forward.

  “According to the rules you may take as many objects with you as you can carry as long as they’re not magical. Which unfortunately means that the best quality weapons and armour I can offer you are steel.”

  Milo walked over and looked down at a set of armour which was so finely made it looked fit for a king. It was obviously a replica of the armour he preferred to use in virtual fights. He looked over the weapons and quickly found a replica of his favourite claymore. Say what you will about Lilith, she certainly knew how to prepare.

  Beldan and Ivy helped him put his armour on, once he was finished, he fastened the claymore to his back along with a bow, quiver and several sacks full of black grain. A brace of throwing daggers in a belt hung down across his chest and six regular daggers were fastened to his belt. With a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right he pressed a bundle of clothes and several waterskins to his chest. By the time he was fully packed he was so loaded that he could no longer see in front of him. In the end Ivy had to guide him to the rift. The last thing he heard before Ivy pushed him trough was Lilith’s voice.

  “Good luck my champion, do not disappoint me.”