876 Chapter 876: Riley Confused
Riley did not even bother reading the number written on the orb. Grea already said that she was the oldest G.o.d in the city, and he did not really have any reason to doubt that. It was impressive, for sure, as evident with all the G.o.ds that were letting out gasps of amazement around them. Riley was also impressed, but he was busier trying to think of how old he would actually be.
Will it also count the time he spent in Eternity? Or was that something that would always just belong in his mind? Either way, whatever result comes up for him, it will probably shock everyone here.
"Oh, you don"t seem to be shocked with how old I am, Newborn?" Grea let out a curious hum as she removed her palm from the orb, "Could it be that you"re actually older than most of these G.o.ds before you even transcended?"
"I do not know, Great," Riley could really only shake his head.
"Well, that is why we are here," Grea took a step back as she gestured to Riley to touch the orb. There were those who wanted to place their palms on the orbs first since they were there first, but could really only just back away when Grea glared at them.
"Hm." As for Riley, he slightly hesitated as he stared at his slightly distorted reflection on the large mysterious...o...b.. But after a few seconds, he just let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders — he had never really been this confused in his life, and he was somewhat slightly amused with what he was feeling. Is this what Hannah and the others were going through whenever they were with him?
If so, Riley could not really think of a reason why they would want to kill him — being completely confused is extremely fun. And so, with that thought, Riley finally stepped forward and placed his hand on the mysterious...o...b..
"..."
"..."
And even after an entire minute had pa.s.sed, nothing really appeared.
"Hm? Did I break the thing?" Grea could not help but squint her eyes as she started walking around the orb. But before she could say anything else, she saw a hint of a number hiding behind Riley"s hand, "Lad, can you remove your hand?"
"Okay," Riley said as he took a step back. And as he did so, the number 25 revealed itself to all of them.
"That… can"t be right," Grea blinked a couple of times as she looked back and forth at the number on the orb and Riley Ross, "Place your hand again, maybe the artifact is malfunctioning because of me."
Riley did not really see any reason not to follow Grea as he once again placed his hand on the orb, and as he did so, the number that came up was now 26.
"It changed again? This artifact truly is—"
"No, it is right," a small smile started to crawl on Riley"s face while he shook his head, "Although it is such a timely coincidence, I believe today should be the day that I was born."
Riley"s smile almost had a hint of nostalgia in it as he looked up at the sky which was also an endless land.
"Are you telling me that you have lived for less than a century?" Grea"s eyes started to widen as she looked at Riley from head to toe.
"I suppose so," Riley shrugged, "I suppose that should make me weaker than all of you since we grow stronger when—"
Riley was not even able to finish his words before he noticed that Grea was suddenly gone. It wasn"t only her, the G.o.ds who were eavesdropping on the sides and waiting for their turn to touch the orb also disappeared.
"h.e.l.lo?" Riley could really only start walking around the orb to try and see if Grea was hiding behind it. But alas, there was absolutely no one else in the plaza but him… and Miss Peponvondosovich, who was still completely unconscious on the marbled floor.
"..." Riley once again looked around one final time before he grabbed the gra.s.s from his pocket again and started waving around.
"Mine!"
But alas, aside from Miss Peponvondosovich who just suddenly woke up and immediately leaped toward the gra.s.s, no other G.o.ds came for it.
"W…" Miss Peponvondosovich, who woke up from her own greediness, could not help but pull herself away from the invisible wall that was pinning her cheek, "This… why are we here? Ah, lucky! No one"s here!"
Miss Peponvondosovich then casually placed her hand on the orb, revealing a 6-digit number that Riley once again did not bother reading. She was already that old, and yet her maturity seemed to have already stopped from the start.
Although, Diana and Aerith have actually already explained how their age works to him. As they get older, their brain actually starts maturing at a certain point to prevent certain… mental illnesses and complications from appearing. Perhaps that was applicable for everyone, just earlier for Miss Peponvondosovich.
"Weird, why is no one here? This place is usually filled with people," Miss Peponvondosovich squinted her eyes as she looked at Riley, "Wait… I remember being knocked out by Grea"s large and beautiful arms! Where… where is she!?"
"I don"t know, Miss Peponvondosovich," Riley shrugged, "All of them just suddenly disappeared."
"Huh, that is indeed weird," Miss Peponvondosovich"s nose started to twitch as she raised her head in the air, "I… don"t smell anyone outside. Are they all attending someone else"s cla.s.s and we weren"t invited? I mean, I could understand if you weren"t given an invitation, but me?"
"...Are holding cla.s.ses common in this Domain, Miss Peponvondosovich?"
"No, not at all," Miss Peponvondosovich shook her head and wagged b.u.t.t, "Only those who have proven themselves to be worthy of being listened to are allowed to hold a cla.s.s. Well, no, actually, that is not correct either — everyone is allowed to hold a cla.s.s, but it will be useless if no one attends."
"Oh…?" Riley tilted his head to the side, "And how would one know if one is worthy to hold a cla.s.s worth attending?"
"Be like Grea," Miss Peponvondosovich, "She is considered to be the strongest in this city. Most G.o.ds who are the strongest in their city are usually the most popular of cla.s.ses, it helps them gain more Territory. And then, there are also the Higher G.o.ds who are already on a different level than us."
"..."
"You want to ask what the Higher G.o.ds are?" Miss Peponvondosovich raised her head confidently.
"I suppose, Miss Peponvondosovich."
"The Higher G.o.ds are basically those who already have their own plane — a universe of their own," Miss Peponvondosovich"s eyes started to glisten as she stretched her arms to the side and took in a deep breath, "You are aware of the Multiverse, correct?"
"I suppose so, Miss Peponvondosovich."
"Hm. Apparently, there are what are called the Undisturbed universes — they are those that are usually similar to each other in one way or another. Usually where all of us came from," Miss Peponvondosovich sighed, "And then, there are the universes created by the Higher G.o.ds."
"Which are completely different from the Undisturbed universes," Riley placed his hand on his chin as he thought of all the universes he had traversed to that were completely different from the others,
"Does that mean that I might have destroyed a Higher G.o.d"s universe?"
"You… pft," Miss Peponvondosovich almost burst out in laughter as she pointed at Riley, "Good one. Good one."
"...May I ask how you got here, Miss Peponvondosovich? To the Domain of the G.o.ds?" Riley did not mind Miss Peponvondosovich condescending breaths.
"Oh, I… uh," Miss Peponvondosovich seemed to try really hard to recall her life before, "I was very... angry? Someone from another universe invaded mine and I just sort of… started going wild? My species, you see, are quite territorial."
"Hm."
"Of course, that inhibition all went away once I transcended," Miss Peponvondosovich breathed out, "Honestly, I do not remember much about my life before. You should treasure your memories — you don"t know when they will disappear. Ack, I am getting emotional — we should start finding other people, it"s not fair that they"re attending a cla.s.s without us. What if it"s a cla.s.s of a Higher G.o.d since even Grea disappeared!?"
"Is it possible they were transported to another city, Miss Pepondosovich?"
"No, I can still smell them here, they are just not outside," Miss Pepondosovich started walking away as her nose twitched. And soon, she began hopping at an insane speed. And of course, since Riley did not really know what he was even going to do in this place, he just followed behind her until they reached a part of the city that had buildings slightly closer to each other than usual.
As soon as they arrived in the area, however, they saw several G.o.ds quickly closing their windows when they saw a glimpse of Riley. Those who were walking outside, quickly disappeared and entered their homes.
"What in—Why are they being like that?" Miss Pepondosovich crossed her arms, "I knew the G.o.ds here were sn.o.bs. That"s it, I am transferring to another city! I only decided to lodge here for Grea"s cla.s.s, but she won"t be having any time soon. Are you coming with me, fledgling!?"
"...I suppose, Miss Peponvondosovich," Riley shrugged.
"Then let us go to the next city!" Miss Peponvondosovich raised her hand before rushing and leaping back straight to the gates of the city. But as soon as they arrived there, they were greeted by Big Teeth…
…whose small legs were trembling uncontrollably for some reason.
"You... you are not allowed to leave!"