Master of Time

Like I don\'t have enough things to do with my time already. I just loathe at cleaning up other people\'s mess.

To be honest, I am not really that bother by the fact of people are going to die. Yes. People are going to die with those evil spirits running freely and possessing whoever they pleased.

This is because people do die every day, in one way or another, mostly through natural causes as they reach the end of their lifespan. Money can keep death at bay, but death will eventually come.

People do get born too, at an even faster rate than death works its magic, hence the explosive increase in the global population in recent decades.

It is just all part of the natural cycle of life, and there is no need for me to fuck with that cycle. Knowing that death lurks around the corner just makes people live their life to the fullest, instead of just staying alive.

This is not to mention that having an exceeding long lifespan causes stagnation, socially, economically and technologically. It is even more so if everyone become immortal. People are no longer living then, thus I do not consider them to be alive.

Obviously, I will have to hunt down those evil spirits to prevent them from creating a mess. They were never a problem in the future. The alternate future that the world was destroyed by the introduction of magic.

Evil spirits weren\'t even a problem in the future that the world was ripped apart by temporal rifts. Not even in the unspoken future that was filled with constant wars throughout the galaxy due to one thing or another.

Alright. I do realize that everything I have done so far inevitably cause the end of the human race, but then again, if I do nothing at all, the human race will destroy itself anyway.

I am the lesser of two evils.

That is to say, my morally questionable actions will eventually allow humanity to prosper throughout the galaxy and the universe.

That is the goal, and it isn\'t so simple than I had initially thought. It is the fluke that humanity has really survived this long.

But in the future, humanity will have to choose me or choose extinction.

Either way, humanity is screwed. More screwed if I don\'t fix any of the problems that I have indirectly or directly created.

I am responsible for the company that I am keeping. There is no doubt about it.

"Yes, Max. There are. But there is no need to get upset. Think of those evil spirits as progress."

Zeus answers my question. He really does not care about what happens to the human race. He actually only cares about the result, even more so than me.

I didn\'t like being on this side of the fence, where I am unable to dictate the course of events.

"Do you even care about the lives of other people, Zeus?"

I question despite already knowing the answer.

Zeus is a God. He was born into divinity unlike me who has started out as a human. I mean after I was killed and reborn. This is actually a huge different between us.

I consider myself as part of the human race. Zeus does not. Why would he?

"Of course, I do care about other people, Max. I care about people that I know. That means you too if you are curious."

Zeus smiles. He actually dodges the question, but he did give me the answer to a question I didn\'t ask, and that question is whether he will backstab me in a heartbeat.

I suppose I will have to take his words for it since distrust will cause disunity, thus making our mutual goals more difficult unnecessarily.

"I see."

I response with a sigh. There is no point of getting upset with him, considering his point of view. He is not my underlings, so I cannot enforce my ideals onto him. The same could also be said in reverse.

"But since you care so much, Max. I will help you hunt them down before they cause a hole in whatever your plan for this reality is."

Zeus assures, seemingly knowing my concern full well.

The individuals do not matter in the end. Only the goal is.

Humanity must prosper, and anyone who stands in the way will be removed.

"It is quite hard to sense spirits once they find a suitable host to possess. As they are netherman, that means inhabitant of the Twisted Nether, the nether will actually call out for them regardless wherever they are. They will probably try to find a way to return there with a corporal body. In that case, I should show you something. Come with me a for a minute."

Zeus continues. He then gets up from the couch and walks pass me.

I stash the Longinus Spear into my spatial dimension and head downstairs to the wine cellar. Maybe I should call the spear as the Dark Spear now. It is pretty much corrupted by evil spirits.

From what Zeus has told me, evil spirits are pretty much spiritual beasts. Spiritual beast is merely just an encompassing term, like mammals, for humans are a part of.

Did that mean deep down, all humans are just beast? Well. Humans are certainly capable of it.

Downstairs in the basement is the wine cellar, but it is empty now. Whoever owned the house before I did decide to sell all those vintage drinks.

Wines worth quite a bit, especially with age. With my power, I could create a thousand-year-old bottle effortlessly. It should fetch for a few hundred thousand of dollars on the market, if not a few millions.

As a matter of fact, I always age wine to order to enjoy their rich taste. Not all wines taste better with age, however. Most of them tastes like shit after a certain point.

Crappy wine turns to vinegar after a while, but that has to do more with the manufacturing process.

Anyway, I shouldn\'t worry about wine even if I was going to bring one for Sandra as congratulation. It is for purchasing a new place.

I should be more concern at what I am sensing in this room at the moment.

It is a storm of spiritual energy. Highly turbulent.

"What am I sensing here, Zeus?"

I question, as I am unable to see what he can. However, I can sense it.

"I could tell you, Max. But it is better for you to see it yourself. You will be able to with some time and maybe some effort. Out of curiosity, how did you awaken your spiritual awareness first place?"

Zeus questions, getting my attention.

"Another reality. I managed to run into a spiritual beast."

I response. The essence of a Dragon God is more or less the same as a spiritual beast in my opinion. It is actually an astral entity.

Zeus did not request me to elaborate. He watches me wandering around the room, trying to get a feel of where the spiritual energy is being focused.

It is not at the middle of the room. It is more towards the opposite end of the room.

"Be careful, Max. You wouldn\'t want to enter the Twisted Nether as you are right now. It is extremely dangerous for you as you are right now, but you probably fare a lot better than me since I don\'t have a soul to defend myself against the environment."

Zeus warns, and I think that is my cue to distance myself from the invisible portal.

His smile is dropped when the spiritual energy in the room spikes. He immediately pulls out a double edge sword, which radiates darkly.

"You continue to amaze me, Max."

Zeus speaks up before running towards me.

I narrow my eyes slightly as he slashes forwards, missing my body just a couple of centimeters to carve up something that I cannot see. I dash out the way for him to give him room.

Something shimmers in the air. It launches itself towards Zeus before he slices it in half with his sword, killing it. More shimmers are seen, surrounding him.

One of them charges at me, and while I cannot make it out, I can totally grab it. I grunt as something bites down my arm. While there is no wound whatsoever, I could feel my arm getting tear off.

I send whatever it is flying with a punch to where its head was. It rolls on the floor without disturbing the ground.

"Spirit beasts?"

I question as I pull out the Dark Spear. Before the monster can recover, I stab onto the ground where it is. I could hear a howling sounds before it dies.

The weapon in my hand pulses as it hungrily devours the kill.

"Yes, Max. They are called Spirit Hounds. Just think of them as giant wolves with aggression that makes make the Hulk looks tame by comparison. They are in a frenzy right now because of you. How about you tell me what you are, right now?"

Zeus responses and slaughters half a dozen more Spirit Hounds with a couple of slashes, but it seems that no matter how many he kills, more appears.

I wonder if Zeus somehow set this up just to get me to tell him what I am. It is more than likely, and I think I am bleeding. It feels like I am, but there is no visible wound on my body, at least physically.

"I am actually not sure what I am, Zeus. My power just awakens one day, and I decide to pretty much make the most of it."

I answer. It is more or less the truth. I do not fully now what an Aspect actually is, just that Aspects are the most powerful thing in existence. Right up there with the Primordial.

Zeus nods and accepts that explanation, at least for the moment. He spins his weapon above his head as a bunch of hounds attack him from all direction. His weapons pulsate the more he kills, just like the spear in my hand.

"You might have already notice that spiritual weapons become stronger the more they killed, but they also become harder to control, so you shouldn\'t let the spiritual energy builds up too much. Just think of it as building up that special technique meters."

Zeus speaks up before his weapon glows brightly. He then jumps up and smashes into the ground hard to send out a blast of spiritual energy in all direction. It sends the invisible Spirit Hounds flying against the wall.

Strangely enough, they didn\'t pass through the wall, considering that they aren\'t corporeal. But I guess if I was Zeus, I would have erected some sort of barrier around the room to prevent these things from getting out.

It sounds logical.

While Zeus is having a blast, I stand back and watch. There is no need for me to get involved since it is still not possible for me to make their forms yet.

"It\'s another wave? Why didn\'t you guys call me, Zeus?"

Zephyr groans as she jumps down the staircase with her scythe in her hand.

"Ah, so sorry, Zephyr. It is unexpected thanks to Max here. Can you please patch up his arm first, so he can stop being a strawberry?"

Zeus responses as he takes becomes more aggressive, cutting down whatever monsters that manages to get within his range.

While I am wondering why Zeus calls me a strawberry, Zephyr grabs my hand to have a look. She then proceeds to gesture her fingers, making me feel somewhat better. I assume she is healing me.

"There you go. Don\'t get bitten again. You might feel a bit sick tomorrow due to the infection. It should be okay after a good rest. Can you guard the staircase, so none can get out? It would be a bad thing, I recall."

Zephyr tells me before joining the battle.

I decide to sit back and play gate keeper. Several hounds manage to get pass Zeus and Zephyr to come at me. They promptly die because even if I cannot see them, they are more or less animals moving on pure instinct.

Strawberry. Spirit. Oh. I get it.

It is quite easy considering Zeus likes to reference anime. He is referring to Ichigo from Bleach. Ichigo means strawberry in Japanese.

And as to why Zeus had told Zephyr that, I was bleeding spiritual energy before, thus basically inviting the hounds from the Twisted Nether. It is interesting to know I taste delicious to Spiritual Beasts.

Interesting does not mean a good thing. I am not about to be a happy meal for some monsters.

The battle eventually dies down since the sharks no longer smell blood. I watch Zeus and Zephyr with interest as they wander around to pick up something. I could make out the shape a little.

"Can you see this, Max?"

Zeus asks once he join me by the staircase and let Zephyr collects the rest.

"They are called Spirit Shards. It is similar to those monster core you have, in a sense that they contain spiritual energy. These are required for cultivating one\'s spirit. It is the reason why we are heading to the other side unless there is a way to bait a Spirit Beast of Millions. That is a spirit beast that live for millions of years."

Zeus tells me before looking at me like a giant worm.

I sigh. He will probably try to figure out way to use me as bait, considering this whole thing is probably a test. I am not having that, at least not today.

"Where is my share, Zeus? I did kill quite a few."

I request.

It is basically loot, and I want my loot.

"Not all kill leaves the shards behind, especially when we are using cursed weapons. They are like pigs hunting truffles. You have to stop them from gorging on the spiritual energy. But here you go. Thanks for the help."

Zeus tells me before handing over a couple of spiritual shards. I could feel them sitting within my palm even if it is hard to make them out.

I pocket them before putting my Dark Spear away.

"I don\'t mind you farming for them like this, but it will be a problem if you are unable to contain these Spirit Beasts, Zeus. I don\'t want to end the world because of you are overconfident in your ability. That is not to say you aren\'t capable, but I learn that if things can go wrong, they will definitely go wrong."

I response.

Honestly, I don\'t want to stay here anymore since I am sure Zeus will find a way to fuck with me. Twice is enough for one day.

I also do want to examine these spiritual shards in private.

If these shards are like monster cores as Zeus has implied, I can probably clone them with my power, at least the container.

The power to store spiritual energy? I just need to figure out ways to abuse the fuck out of it. Also, the shards might help me with my curse, allowing me to cast magic like a normal person.

"Only if a Spirit Beast of a Billion manages to find the portal. Even if they could, it is not really possible for them to squeeze through due to their massive size."

Zeus assures me.

But somehow, I am sure the universe will make sure one will come through just to screw me over. Like I have said, anything bad that can happen will happen.

It is all for progress.