Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The Third Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher…

"Master. You folded too quickly…" said Susu'k almost timidly.

"Did I?"

"Given the circumstances, the Jan`ind's will would have allowed you to immediately access your full strength using the power of the Timemould Mirror Box. But you didn't even try." It was a wonder whose honor Susu'k was trying to defend. Skullius suspected the Strawler was torn between his good and the Warmoth's.

"You're right. I could sense it myself," said the Warmoth. Indeed, had he wanted to, he could have accessed the full power of the War Body in that instance. "But it served no great merit for me to clash with those three right then. Besides, they made an attractive offer, even if it's riddled with traps."

Susu'k was unconvinced, but unfortunately, Skullius wasn't all too invested in making him understand his choice. His priorities were straight – poised towards the direction of his goals without the slightest deviation.

But there was a caveat. The reason Skullius had not already commanded his subordinates to change the course of Amanas was because he still had much to confirm about the Primeval Deities he'd just received a girthsome task from.

…And that was why he turned to the UNLIMITED CONTRACT he had signed with TITEMIUS.

'I'll trust TITEMIUS despite what VOW and Serenity warned about him back then only because I needed a fresh perspective. I didn't really get to know much about him other than the fact that both the Parallels and the Primevals don't like him very much,' Skullius thought while giving commands to the guidance field.

'I guess now, I get to kill two birds with one stone.'

[You and the Primeval Deity known as TITEMIUS have signed an UNLIMITED CONTRACT, a mutual, indefinite agreement of trade]

[Beware. All permissible articles of trade have definitions and limits.]

[You have elected to charge TITEMIUS with knowledge through a restricted window of 10 minutes]

[Once you verify that the aforementioned information is correct, a channel will be established between you and TITEMIUS, and the countdown will be prompted]

Skullius had learned more than the deeper applications of darkness and light from Fulgardt's book. He'd also mastered how to manipulate the guidance field and fast-track processes that would normally take novice users precious time to run through. All the particulars regarding the UNLIMITED CONTRACT were one such example.

An UNLIMITED CONTRACT operated on a reciprocation basis. Initially, a Primeval Deity would propose trade with a person of interest, offering a set number of gifts in exchange for a curious Exotic Parlous Nature. But after the Contract was signed, if the recipient wanted something from the Primeval Deity, the worth of said something was weighed based on what they could give in exchange.

Treasures, Tears, information… every article possible to trade with had a value. Skullius had estimated that ten minutes worth of information was within the rough limit of what he was willing to give in exchange – any more and he wasn't sure he could give anything worth that kind of value. Of course, he wouldn't truly know until TITEMIUS made his demand in exchange for the information he requested.

…But that would come after Skullius' ten minutes were up.

Following Skullius' confirmation, the guidance field whirred. A single notification box remained in Skullius' vision, blinking in and out of existence.

Skullius imagined that establishing a concise channel of communication between two beings in sophisticated and massively estranged locations was not quite as easy. Perhaps that too was subject to the Patronage Rank of one's guidance field.

Finally, the notification box stopped blinking.

…And then text ran through it, some of it referring to the commencement of the ten-minute counter, and the rest....

[I was wondering when you were going to seek me out]

Skullius summoned a chair out of [Evil Darkness] and sat in it.

"Were you?" he said, and judged that TITEMIUS was probably receiving a translated transcript of his response in turn.

[Certainly. Then again… perhaps I underestimated just how little you knew about how many eyes were watching]

"What?" said Skullius. He was sure the other Primeval Deities couldn't jack his conversation at the moment, after all, it was being held under the strict security of an UNLIMITED CONTRACT.

[Ha… I was right] There was a short pause following the message. [Many eyes – more than you can imagine – were watching you. The Acceleration prompted the bulk of that attention. I assumed you'd seek me out to stave it off]

'Oh, that's what he means,' thought Skullius, relieved.

…But then it struck him

The Power of Dimensions wasn't as rare as he'd initially imagined. Even Boron hadn't seen it that many times.

It wasn't just the Primeval Deities who had been watching, drawn by Fulgardt's attempt to expose the Absolute Sun.

"That's not entirely true, but yes, I do have some annoying attention on me, moreso than you know, perhaps."

[My peers, I'm guessing?]

Skullius crossed his arms. He crushed every instinct that compelled him to hesitate with information. He had to give some freely, despite not trusting TITEMIUS entirely.

"I want to know their intentions," he said.

[I see. That's why we're having this conversation, right?] A pause. [Well, your predicament solely depends on which camp those peers of mine belong to, rather than what they said they wanted]

Skullius tilted his head upwards. "What camp?"

There was a funny transcription of a laugh in the notification box.

[I suppose this is where the true trade happens]. Another pause. [We are divided into two camps based on ideology and influence… choice of influence, rather.]

[YOMMR` for those of us who tamper with the wondrous workings of Divinity's architecture, and QUESSR` for those of us who limit themselves to meddling with individual Divine beings and their Direction.]

Skullius' brows rose with interest.

"YOMMR`, QUESSR`…" he recited. "I see. So AKHASHA belongs to the YOMMR`."

[Him and several others. There's a conflict between the two camps, one that doesn't really care for right or wrong, morality or immorality. I'm the only Primeval who never chose a side, and that's part of the reason why I'm the one in a cage.]

'So, it was true…' Skullius thought, recalling how VOW had reluctantly told him that TITEMIUS was so dangerous that the other Primeval Deities had imprisoned him. Reflecting on it, he realized that VOW hadn't been exaggerating with the way she framed the entire ordeal.

"I see…" The Hybrid swallowed his fascination for later. Time was of the essence. "Which camps do DRADPAS OL`HERT, ABBON-RIGGIE, and SVEERCUSK belong to?"

[…]

The lack of an immediate reply made Skullius tense up.

[Of those three, only ABBON-RIGGIE belongs to the QUESSR`. That doesn't bode well for you]

"Why?"

[When I was imprisoned, there was a vacancy of official standing. We Primevals take rankings seriously, after all. However, aside from AKHASHA, COLMUUN, and me, the rest of the Primeval Deities are more or less relative in strength and freedom. The void I left behind is actively being fought over. GREY VONSE is veering for it currently, but the competition is close. SVEERCUSK and DRADPAS are quite power-hungry, even among the YOMMR`. If any one of them takes my official ranking, it will upset the power balance]

Skullius… was confused.

"Hold on. I must be missing something here," he said, shaking his head. "What's so important about this official ranking? And why would it be bad for me if either SVEERCUSK or DRADPAS got a hold of it?"

[I rushed ahead a bit, I suppose. I just realized that precious few outside us Primevals know about this.] Another transcribed laugh.

[The top-ranking Primevals are granted the rights to six of the most loyal and powerful beings in this Reality – enigmas that rival even us in strength. They effectively grant a Primeval Deity the utmost freedom to execute whatever they desire. We call them the Unyielding Vaengir]

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