Spending My Retirement In A Game

[Eisen] Xenia, do you have time to speak? [Xenia] I'm in the middle of something right now, so if it's not an emergency, I'd rather talk later [Eisen] I have some new information on Samuel that I need your opinion on. [Xenia] ...what sort of information?

[Eisen] I just met with the Cloud Giant Chieftain. It seems like he is one of the individuals that keeps being possessed by Samuel, so I learned a few more things about that It would be easier to explain if we just spoke.

[Xenia] give me 5 minutes

The old man got the last message from Xenia just a couple seconds after he send his own message, as if the high elf was eagerly waiting for what he had to say. With a light smile, Eisen looked at the Skald, "I will convene with Xenia in a few minutes. We should be able to figure out a way to help you for the time being." With a broad smile, the Skald nodded his head and nearly jumped off his throne, "Thank you! The true predecessor of magic is going to heed my request...? How wonderful!" he exclaimed. Eisen was practically shocked as he saw the Skald's expression. It was surprising enough that he was a fan of Eisen's, but it at least seemed plausible in his mind, since he was still a Giant at the end of the day. But Xenia was an Elf, so seeing a cloud giant think so highly of her, no matter her position, was still surprising, to say the least. However, there was something that surprised Eisen even more than that. "True predecessor?" Eisen asked, not having heard that term before, even though it sounded vaguely familiar to him. The Skald raised his brows surprised, "Yes, of course..."

"I have issues with my memories, as you must know by now as well, so could you tell me what that's supposed to mean? I haven't heard someone call her that."

"Ah, of course. I apologize," the Skald said quickly, straightening his back as he sat down properly on the throne again, " 'True Predecessor' is a title many refer to the five of you by. While generally, the consensus is that you made amazing advancements in your respective fields, many thought, and still think, of it as more than that. Instead of seeing you as pioneers, they believe you to be the source. That which came before. You are the true predecessor of all craftsmen, kings, and tacticians, while Xenia would be the true predecessor of all magic users."

Eisen raised a brow curiously as he heard the explanation, "But craftsmanship was a thing even before I came along, and I've used magic long before Xenia was born. It's not like we invented it."

The skald shook his head quickly, "That is not what that title means directly. You are correct in saying that it technically existed before you came along, but the moment you each came to be, you became the accumulation of your arts and techniques. Whatever came before you does not matter, as only with you, a part of the world as we know it came to be. That is why you are called the 'True Predecessors'."

Curious and wanting to hear more about this, Eisen crossed his arms. The term 'True Predecessor' certainly sounded familiar, but it wasn't the sort of nostalgia that would unlock a memory in his mind just yet. If he got more information, then maybe that would be different.

However, before he was able to ask for more information, a window popped up by his side, showing that Xenia requested a private call with him, "... I will have to ask you more about this later, for now, I will speak to Xenia. Please excuse me."

The Skald seemed conufsed, unsure what exactly Eisen could mean. He didn't know about the chat system, after all. And since Eisen didn't want to explain it to him, he simply let it be, and accepted Xenia's call request.

With a single blink, the environment around him changed, and Eisen now found himself in the empty white space that was used as the basis for private calls. In front of him stood Xenia, eagerly waiting for him. Since his transformation affected him even here, Eisen quickly changed back to his base size so that he could have a proper conversation with the high elf, and watched as she nervously tapped the ground with her foot. "Alright, what is it that you want to talk to me about then? Something about the possessions?" She asked immediately, and Eisen slowly nodded, but didn't respond before taking notice of the state Xenia's body was currently in.

The state of the caller's body at the time that the call started would be perfectly reflected in this private space, unless actively changed like Eisen did just now, so it seemed like Xenia really was busy while Eisen messaged her. One of her arms was nearly completely frozen over, pale white and covered in a thin layer of ice, while her other arm was covered in numerous small cuts that even stretched out to her clothes.

"...What happened to you?" Eisen asked, and Xenia looked down at her body before huffing, "Don't mind that, it's all going to heal during the call anyway."

"I know that, but still, if the situation over there is that serious, you should make sure to properly finish up before talking to me, right?" "Says the one that suddenly hit me with a message saying he has information on our nemesis? Not that it matters, cause the reason I look like this is exactly because I made sure to finish everything properly, alright? But again, don't mind that, and just tell me already." Xenia groaned loudly, as if she really didn't care about the state her body was in right now. Although, considering that her wounds were all being healed right now, since Xenia was also in 'standby' mode during this call, there really wasn't any reason for that in the first place. Eisen used this same method to make his arms regrow, so it wasn't like he was the right person to complain about Xenia being reckless.

Eisen sighed and nodded, "Fine, you're right," he replied, and quickly started to convey all the information that he hab been told by the Skald. Xenia continued to listen to the conversation, soon seeming like she was busy thinking. "So he's using powerful divination then?" Xenia repeated, "If that's the case, then we should be able to do something against it, right?"

"Right. That's why I wanted to talk to you, since you obviously would be able to figure out a way to do that better than I could," Eisen pointed out, and the high elf's expression quickly lit up, "Wait, didn't we already do something against that?" "Hm? What do you mean?" The old man asked, and Xenia quickly replied, starting to pace around this white void, "The meeting room! I thought it was created in some special way only possible since we peaked, but if it was something made to defend against divination, we should be able to analyze it and figure out exactly what methods we're dealing with. I know we looked at it before, but we didn't understand any of it, but knowing that it's related to divination, we might be able to figure things out..." the high elf muttered deep in thought.

Eisen smiled, happy to see that Xenia was already so invested in this. If that was the case, it shouldn't take her long to figure something out, "Great. You should have everything you need for that, right?"

"Enn... I think so. Some forms of divination are heavily influenced by the ingredients used in the process, and since we obviously worked together on creating that space, there might be some materials that I don't inherently know to be related to divination that you brought into the mix. If that's the case, I'll call you again and ask about it, but otherwise, I should be able to figure it out."

"Amazing. Thank you. And if you manage to figure out what exactly it is that keeps Samuel out of the meeting room, then-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you know. I'll draw up some magic circles so that you can make an item to help that cloud giant guy out." Xenia replied, and Eisen quickly smiled, "Great, I'll let him know."

"Mhm. I'm going to have to rush back to prototype then. You said he can't hold out that much longer, didn't you?"

"Yeah, exactly. I'll try and find a way to let him hold out a bit longer if necessary until you've come up with a solution," Eisen said with crossed arms, unsure how exactly he was going to do that.

"I think I might already have a solution for that," Xenia pointed out, "I'm not sure how much it's going to help, but it might help him last a bit longer. Even if I don't know by how much," she explained, and Eisen listened curiously to the high elf's explanation of what it was the Skald had to do. It seemed a bit unorthodox, but it didn't really matter. The Skald's pride might be hurt a little, but that was probably better than his body being completely taken over, or his mind being permanently damaged by Samuel. And so, as the call ended, and Eisen looked at the expression of the nervous cloud giant in front of him, he relayed the explanation to him..