Kashi's Inner World.

11:32 p.m. 19th Banem 1092.

Kashi appeared in the skies above his inner world, a small smile on his face as he surveyed the bustling scene on the prairies below. Several centaurs trotted in and out of a small settlement built near Yggdrasil. The centaurs held different kinds of beasts which they carted off to a newly formed forest a couple of miles in the distance.

The centaurs were not the only guests in this world. The daeben spotted King Xafier and a few ministers standing in front of Yggdrasil with stunned expressions. Opposite that party, Hogosha, Leila's Nespian Tiger, basked in the Divine Tree's aura with one eye on the cocoon that hung from its branches. Elsewhere, Drixlia darted across the fields at breakneck speeds, thoroughly enjoying the liberating feeling of a full sprint.

"Master," Drixali greeted as he appeared beside Kashi. "What brings you here?"

"I thought Savi might have some questions," Kashi replied. "Also, I don't fully trust the gods. I can't just leave him here, unsupervised." The daeben looked at the centaur god. "By the way, where is he?"

Contrary to Kashi's expectations, Drixali just stared at him with a raised brow. After a brief silence, the centaur god asked, "Who is Savi?"

"Mertian god covered from head to toe in gold," Kashi answered with a skeptical frown. "Just sent him in. You could not have missed him."

"I did sense the portal opening," Drixali admitted. "I came up here to see who had arrived, but I have not seen anyone but you."

"Huh, Wait. Give me a second," Kashi murmured and then closed his eyes as he communicated with Yggdrasil. Seconds later, he opened his eyes and announced, "Found him. Come with me." With those words, Kashi flew down to Yggdrasil.

The daeben landed on a three-meter thick branch where he found the elusive merchant god, Savi, sitting with a pitcher of wine in hand. "Found you," Kashi remarked with a smile as he approached the god.

"Oh, you have arrived," Savi softly said as he turned to look at Kashi. There was a strange forlorn aura surrounding the merchant god, but the daeben could not place its source. The merchant patted Yggdrasil's branch and praised, "I doubted my eyes when at first, but this familiar feeling. It is indeed Yggdrasil, my Father's greatest creation."

Kashi's eyes went wide with disbelief at this reveal. "Yggdrasil was made by Ferulic? I always assumed Aethir created it. It's the Tree of Life, isn't it?"

"Tree of Life and Space to be exact," Savi corrected with a small smile. "Yggdrasil's true nature is its ability to connect several worlds, planes, and dimensions." The merchant god chuckled as he said, "Father was truly a hopeless romantic. He hoped that no matter how far Mother was, she would be able to reach him through its branches."

Kashi frowned, feeling something was off with the tale. "Why is it only known as the Tree of Life then?"

Savi paused, his gaze downcast as he said, "Mother never utilized its spacial traits. She got hooked to this world after she created the humes, and wouldn't leave for any other plane. However, Yggdrasil was an immensely powerful, divine tree, so she blessed it, and set it as a paragon for life in this world. Its destruction set in motion the events that would eventually lead to the famous Calamity."

"What do you mean?"

"I am sure you have heard of Razznik the Destroyer?" Savi continued after Kashi's curt nod. "For various reasons, Mother did not like him. Razznik was an embodiment of chaos. He did what he wanted, regardless of consequences. Even when faced with the threat of mortality, he still refused to bend his will. I think that, to Mother, was the greatest insult she had ever received. But the day Razznik destroyed Yggdrasil, he effectively declared war on her, and she swore to make him suffer for eternity." Savi downed his mug and then lamented, "A mistake the world is still paying for."

Kashi frowned as he listened to Savi's account. He'd always known Aethir had it out for Razznik, but he'd never known the reason why. Especially towards the end of King's Journey. Razznik lost count of how many challenges and assassination attempts he thwarted in those last few months. Unfortunately for Aethir, no soul could match Razznik in combat.

In the end, it took a coalition of the entire Japanese server filled with millions of warriors and Residents to finally put Razznik down. And even then, they only succeeded because Razznik himself had grown weary of living without purpose.

Maybe because of Kashi's knowledge of Razznik's life, something about Savi's account made him uncomfortable. He could not shake the nagging feeling that there was a large piece of the puzzle within that account that would shed more light on the continent's real history. Luckily, after a momentary pause, it finally clicked.

"Hold on. You said Aethir hated Razznik for a long time, but Razznik only ever interacted with her near the end of his life." Kashi's eyes narrowed, his muscles tense as he asked the question bothering him, "Before then, he was like every other Summoned—maybe a little more unpredictable, but he rarely engaged in the world's politics. So, what exactly did Aethir hate so much?" Kashi paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, and then said, "If there was one threat, it was his rapid growth rate."

"Was that it? Was Aethir afraid he would get stronger than her?" Kashi continued his monologue, talking faster as he began to run through the possibilities. "No. That's not it. Even with the level cap, there was no chance Razznik could ever reach God-levels of strength. There aren't enough monsters in the entire world to level up that far. But if it's neither his strength nor his potential, then it has to be something embedded in Razznik—a quality only he shared."

Kashi's eyes narrowed even further as he quickly ran through Razznik's entire life in his head. At first, he did not see anything odd, but after a few moments, he began to see a pattern emerge. Razznik, for better or worse, never held any respect for the gods. In his quest for strength, he sought and destroyed powerful foes regardless of their alliance. Kashi could not count how many paladins, priests, necromancers, liches, and more had fallen to Razznik's blade.

Some of these priests and paladins were either champions of the gods, or oversaw temples dedicated to them. However, as far as Razznik was concerned, they were stumbling blocks he needed to topple over to reach the top.

"Could that be it?" Kashi mused. "Was Razznik's disrespect toward the gods the reason Aethir hated him so much? But, almost every Summoned disrespected the gods. If she hated Razznik, then she should have hated all the Summon—" Kashi's voice suddenly caught in his throat and then, pupils shaking, he turned to look at Savi. "Wait, tell me. Razznik was a Summoned. What happened to the rest? They should have had Aerith's immortality, right?"

If someone had asked Kashi this question a day ago, he would have scoffed them off. What happened to the Summoned? They logged out obviously after King's Journey's final battle. However, he'd had an uneasy feeling ever since he heard about Razznik's role as the destroyer—like something did not feel quite right. Savi's revelation once again brought that feeling to the forefront. Only this time, the picture had begun to clear up.

"They died," Savi replied with a sad smile as he shook his head. "They all perished while taking down Razznik."

"That's impossible," Kashi replied with a frown. During Razznik's final battle, everyone the Demon King killed was sent back to the Circle for reincarnation at the nearest temple... or did something change? "The Summoned had Aethir's immortality blessing. How could they have died?"

Savi sighed and then took a large swig of his wine. The merchant god sighed and later confessed, "A blessing given can just as well be taken. Mother rescinded her blessings right before the final battle. The Summoned, unaware of this charged at Razznik with everything they had, more than willing to suffer death in exchange for getting even a scratch on him."

"Hold on. Hold on. Hold on." Kashi repeated, red eyes smoldering with rising flames. "What you are saying is that Aerith used Razznik to take down all the Summoned? Why!?"

"I told you, Mother loved this world far too much," Savi replied. "The humes, even with all their flaws, were a controllable bunch who listened to her counsel. All that changed when the Summoned arrived." Savi sighed and then took another swig of his wine. "The Summoned killed, raped, and destroyed everything she loved with little to no consequences. Jails could not hold them, nor could death. Soon after the Summoned arrived, Residents began to stray from the gods. After all, if the Summoned could get away with their crimes and disrespect toward the gods, why should the Residents follow us?"

"So, her solution was to wipe out all the Summoned!?" Kashi angrily roared. "And she manipulated Razznik and everyone else to achieve that?"

Savi nodded and then said with a rueful laugh. "It would not have gotten to that stage had Razznik not slain the level totem. With her death, a future where Summoned amassed enough strength to rule over the world completely was no longer a possibility, but a matter of time. Even worse, Razznik cut down Yggdrasil, which served as our entrance to the mortal plane. Without Yggdrasil, Mother could no longer descend to the world without being summoned by a mortal, and even then, she could not last long on the mortal plane."

"I do not understand one thing," said Kashi in response. "If Aethir hated us so much, why even give us the immortality blessing?"

Savi's body instantly froze, his face pale like he was... 'frightened?' What in seven hells could scare an immortal god? The merchant god took required a full minute before he finally regained his composure and turned to look at the daeben. "That, I cannot tell you."

"Don't worry," Kashi consoled, but then added with a hard glare, "You already did. There's an entity above even Ferulic and Aerith—One whose orders cannot be refused." The daeben's lip curled in a slight smile as he stated, "I believe I have an idea who." Before Savi could question that statement, the daeben swiftly changed the subject, "So, to get things in chronological order. Something ordered Aerith to bless all new Summoned with immortality. Aerith reluctantly complied, but eventually grew to hate the Summoned who laid waste to the world. And even among the Summoned, she especially hated Razznik even more for his blatant disregard and disrespect to the gods. A few manipulations later, she gets all Summoned to engage Razznik in an ambush, but he ends up killing them all. Which, I am assuming, was at the cost to his own life."

Savi nodded.

"What happened afterward?" Kashi asked, eager to find out as much as he could from this eye witness. "There's a big gap from being dead to causing the Calamity."

Savi laughed and rose to his feet. "That, you will have to find out on your own. I felt nostalgic because of Yggdrasil, but that's as far as I'll talk." The merchant god continued before Kashi could plead his case, "As for your world, I am assured of its security. You are in control here. No one can go in and out without your knowledge. Also, as long as Yggdrasil is here, it'll be aware of everything that occurs in this world."

The merchant god smiled and looked at Drixali who stood behind Kashi, "That said, you need to appoint a god to manage security in your world. That way, you do not need to wait until you contact Yggdrasil to find out if something bad is happening." He lightly tapped the branch with his boots as he explained, "Yggdrasil is too passive. It will only react to world-destroying threats. A god, on the other hand, will have Yggdrasil's surveillance skill at their disposal, but will also be able to act on them."

Savi pointed at Drixali and said, "I would nominate the centaur for the role. Of all the creatures in this world, he's the only one who can manage that level of information." Kashi opened his mouth to speak, but Savi once again cut him off, "I cannot stay here much longer, or it will destabilize your world. My final advice to you is this: As soon as you can, substitute your world's cores with non-living entities. Yggdrasil and the dragon are fine, but you cannot rely on the Hydra and the centaur for too long, or there will be dire consequences when your world expands up to a certain point."

Kashi paused, stunned by Savi's warning. He had no idea such a problem would ever occur. He immediately asked, reluctant to let Savi go now, "What would you recommend?"

Savi hesitated, but seeing the eagerness in the daeben's eyes, compounded by the familiarity of Yggdrasil's aura, he relented. "You need divine items which can grow with your world. You currently need metal, water, and wind. Yggdrasil is the strongest Earth core you could ever find. Your soul is that of a twin-element lightning-fire Elder Dragon. There's potential there, although it seems you are yet to unleash the lightning element in your inner world."

"Yeah. Which is weird, cause on the outside, I have only unlocked lightning-related skills," Kashi replied with a helpless smile.

"I am no expert on dragons," Savi confessed and then added, "but I have heard of dragons who unlocked their hidden potentials during intense battles. Maybe that'll help."

Kashi shrugged with a care-free smile. "I can only hope."

"As for the other elements," Savi muttered, deep in thought. "I suggest you summon Aygor to ask for the location of a good metal core. As for water, the only items I can suggest around Destia are the Black Pearl of Stagnetti and Gorian's Trident." Savi preemptively shut down Kashi's next question with, "I will not tell you their location or even what they are. You must find that out yourself."

"I had to try," Kashi said with a laugh, and then asked, "What about wind?"

Savi's lips curled up in a smile as he stated. "Do not worry about wind. If you survive the upcoming battle, you will find what you need."

"Huh? What do you me—"

Brrrrrrrr!

Kashi stumbled, nearly falling over as a soft earthquake shook the ground. Yggdrasil's branches bristled as a sharp wind picked up, swaying back and forth as if in protest.

"It is time to leave," Savi stated with a smile. "Your world cannot handle my presence much longer."

"Oh, yeah," Kashi absent-mindedly replied and then with a wave of his hand, opened a portal.

Savi looked at Kashi and then said before stepping into the portal, "I did not need to perform this inspection, but I wanted to see Yggdrasil for myself. Thank you. Truly. For bringing it back to life."

Embarrassed, Kashi scratched the back of his neck and replied, "I didn't do anything, to be honest. I had no idea it had such a powerful backstory."

"Perhaps that was for the best," Savi replied and then disappeared through the portal.

Kashi closed the portal after the god's departure and then took a moment to organize everything he had just learned. If everything Savi said was the truth, then was there more to the Calamity than initially let on? Was everything as simple as Razznik = Bad Guy?

Well, whatever. It was not like Kashi would figure it out just by worrying about it. He thus decided that he would personally question Razznik if he ever got the chance.

As for now...

Kashi turned and looked up at Drixali. With a sly grin, he announced, "What do you think about becoming a god?"