Spending My Retirement In A Game

The Skald closed his eyes for a few moments, leaning his head onto his hand while shifting his body to the side, not acknowledging the old man's comment more than necessary, "Right. I guess there's no reason to hide it. For the past few months, I have been having repeated periods of blackouts, starting with the first appearance of those artificial folk appearing on the central continent."

Eisen, who was unsure whether or not this was actually going to be important until now, straightened his back and leaned forward, "Blackouts? Can you explain those a bit better?"

"Well..." the Skald started to think, but seemed to find the right way to explain the situation soon after, crossing his legs as he explained, "Technically speaking, I'm not sure if I could call them blackouts, truthfully. There are periods of time that are completely missing from my memory. Documents were signed by me that I have never seen before, and orders were given that I would never give. As you know, we are a passive people. We don't want to get involved with those on the ground below, for one reason or another, but suddenly, I gave commands that actively interfered with the actions of those lesser folks. Sure, I have my spies everywhere, but that is just so that I know what happens everywhere, not because I want to interact with them any further."

"Mhm, alright. So you've been dissociating for a few months, acting in unusual ways that you don't remember. I'm not sure how that's something I can help with." Eisen pointed out, still sticking to the Skald's words, unsure if this was really going where he wanted it to go. The cloud giant slowly let out a sigh through his nose, "It's not just that. Even in the moments I remember, I have been acting unusual. Sure, I did actively behave how I normally would, and I never acknowledged these blackouts. When my advisors or confidants spoke to me about my actions during the blackouts, I simply ignored them, even though I very clearly heard their words. It was as if I had suddenly gotten bored of the conversation."

Eisen crossed his arms, frowning slightly, "And what changed? You're worried about it all now, so something must have happened to prompt that."

"You are correct. It was during... something you could call a ritual. Something to make sure that my senses of divination wouldn't dull over time. During that moment, I saw a being approach me, trying to enter my body without my permission. Trying to take control of me. I defended myself against it, and soon erected barriers to keep that being out in the future as well. However, those barriers may... no, they will break soon. And I am afraid of what will happen to me the next time my body is taken from me."

Seeing the Skald's expression, and closely following the words of the man sitting across from him, Eisen couldn't help but grin widely. Quickly, he pressed his hand in front of his mouth to hide his expression that the Skald seemingly hadn't noticed yet, "So why did you seek me out, then?"

"...I received a report from one of my men, speaking of an event that happened not too long ago. In that city that you founded long ago, the one spiraling down into the ground, the man claiming to be Eisen, which I figured really was you, had a stand-off of sorts. After hearing the details of the situation and the words spoken by you, I concluded that the body of that city's lord had been taken over in a similar fashion as mine. I investigated, and noticed that not only that lord's, but the actions of many lords, be they greater or lesser, in the central continent had suddenly changed with the appearance of the artificial people. After seeing the situation unfold, I figured you might be able to help me out."

Eisen closed his eyes, forcing his grin away, before slowly nodding his head, "You're right, I can help you. Actually, it's why I asked the Grandour to call for a council meeting."

Surprised, the Skald looked at the old legend in front of him, "You already knew about my condition?"

"Well, no, not that specifically. I know that there are people possessed by that man, the one that's been taking control of you as well," Eisen explained, quickly continuing on by giving the Skald all the other information that he needed to know. Mostly focusing it around the fact that Samuel was planning on manipulating the world powers to cause a war between the giant country and the central continent, simply for the amusement of the artificials that he created.

Outraged, the Skald jumped up from his throne, the veins on his neck nearly popping open, "How dare he! How dare that man toy with our lives! This is all the fault of those- those artificials! Don't worry, they're going to pay for what they have done! If the council will not decide on it together, I myself will declare war on those fake beings, wiping them from the face of this world!"

Eisen leaned back in his seat, locking eyes with the cloud giant. The moment that the Skald's anger let through a moment of situational awareness, the cloud giant flinched, seeing the deep, cold glare of the man in front of him. His anger was quickly replaced by a sensation of momentary shock, as he took a step back and fell onto his throne once again.

"Have you calmed down enough to let yourself think for a second?" Eisen asked, before speaking to the Skald in a blunt manner, "If you even think of declaring a war on anyone, I will drag this whole city down to the bottom of the ocean."

Shivers ran all over the Skald's body as he nodded his head, and Eisen slowly stood up from his seat, "Those people, as a whole, haven't done anything wrong. They are here to enjoy their life in this world just as anyone else. Sure, some, or many, individuals might be doing wrong things in the process, but that's something that I myself am going to deal with," the old man said, walking up to the cloud giant. He placed his hand onto the Skald's shoulder, before pushing his hand onto his neck and pulling his face close to his. It was so close that Eisen was a bit scared that the Skald's hair was going to catch fire if they came any closer together, even if the old man's flames weren't even that hot right now.

"All that you need to do is support my plan when I speak to the council. That's all you need to do. Because trust me, even if you have your spies, I know much, much more about what is going on in this world than you do. I built it up with my own hands, and if anyone is going to try and meddle with it and bring it into chaos, it is going to be me that decides how to deal with them," Eisen said as he looked deep, deep into the Skald's eyes, practically just seeing the black of his pupils. The cloud giant seemed nearly mesmerized by the fear he feeling, and was unable to respond. Slowly, Eisen let go of the giant's neck before turning around again, "But well, just to calm you down a little as well, you won't have to worry too much about being possessed again. I'll figure out the details, but all you need to do is to hold out until the council meeting. If you can do that, I will tell you we will forever rid ourselves of that man's influence on you."

"That... I don't know if I can do that. There is a reason why I was so eagerly seeking you out," the Skald pointed out, "The cracks in the barrier I created are becoming too many. I don't think I will be able to hold out for much longer than this."

Eisen looked at the cloud giant chieftain with a light squint, before starting to shift his view toward the mana in the area. Since this huge island was covered in cloud mana and other sorts of magic to make this place float properly all the whilst gathering the atmospheric mana together to power itself, it was hard to see anything here at all. It was as if he was trying to find something through a thick mist. However, the old man was soon able to spot the barrier that the chieftain was speaking of. It was like a thin veil of mana covering him. Thin, but powerful. Eisen didn't know much about divination, so he wasn't able to speak much on the efficiency of this particular barrier. It certainly seemed interesting, though. And certainly, he was able to at the very least find the cracks that the Skald was speaking of.

"Did you consider increasing the thickness of the barrier?" Eisen asked, and the Skald quickly formed a frown, "Why would I increase its thickness? I'm trying to hide from that being's sight. A heavily concentrated, thick barrier will do nothing but attract more attention." "...You're trying to hide from him? By using divination based magic?" Eisen asked, widening his eyes in excitement, "That means, if it works... then Samuel is using something similar to divination magic to possess people as well," the old man muttered, waving his hand to pull open a chat window. Quickly, he started to type a message to one of his fellow Originals. Eisen wasn't sure why they hadn't thought of this in the first place. Maybe it was because they didn't know much about how the gods' powers worked in this world yet, even if Eisen remembered the gods themselves.

But now that he thought about it, Samuel wasn't a being of this world. Unlike Eisen and the others, he didn't spend enough time in this world for his soul to be anchor itself here. Was it really possible for him to use incredible godly powers if he wasn't even from this place? If not, that meant that he had to follow the exact same rules as others, even if he had access to different tools and power sources. He had to use magic, just like anyone else, and if that was the case, then the originals had the upper hand.

After all, Xenia was the person that knew the most about magic, probably even more than the gods of magic themselves..