Speed Is King

Enter Fizkan.

An adventurer of the Seventh Heaven, a follower of Laolth, Goddess of Milk and Honey.

He stumbled upon the hungry Baltamiros who had holed himself up in a cave somewhere within the plane called Seventh Heaven which was under Laolth's dominion.

He was a firm believer of gods and of Laolth, and he took pity to the miserable and lonely God of Ages, Baltamiros.

So he compiled his knowledge of Baltamiros and went around to inject that seed of knowledge to desperate people who needed a glimmer of hope right before they died.

And thus we have our current situation.

Elliot, stuck within a game, teeming with potential and the knowledge to once again grow at a speed and trajectory leading towards a complete outlier in terms of power, demanding to meet Baltamiros, the God of Ages.

Baltamiros, in his Folded God Realm, staring intently at the tiny flame.

Finally, Baltamiros could not take it anymore.

He changed himself into spirit form and dived into the location where the little flame was.

Whoosh!

He disappeared from his location and appeared where Elliot was in an instant.

"Hey isn't that Oldie? Did he just come out of seclusion?" The fat god shouted.

But no one answered him.

The god of ages had no followers for the longest time, and had disappeared for so long that no god remained that counted him as a friend.

Nobody cared.

So the fat god merely blinked a couple of times, and then he too closed his eyes once more and returned to his slumber.

Vsh.

The tiniest flicker of energy rippled near Elliot as Baltamiros appeared to check out his newest believer.

It was so tiny that Ganruk and Jane were not able to detect it at all.

But because of how close it appeared to him, Elliot was alerted to it almost immediately.

"Finally." Elliot said softly.

Baltamiros blinked and glanced around to see if Elliot was talking to somebody else.

But he found no one.

"Was he just talking to himself?" Baltamiros wondered. "Did I just get a crazy believer? Damn it!"

Elliot raised his hand slightly and traced a rune with his right finger.

Baltamiros could only widen his eyes in shock as he witnessed the "crazy believer" trace out the highly complex rune that was a representation of his real name in that particular planar region.

It was a stupidly difficult rune that only those with sufficient mental and spiritual strength could even dream of understanding, much less trace out with a finger!

What is in a name? Glory! Honor! Respect!

The Baltamiros God Rune contained a sliver of his attributes, and was notoriously difficult for mortals to grasp.

But here he was, the crazy believer casually tracing it out as though it was nothing.

Plus the fact that he was tracing it out quietly with his finger simply meant two things.

It wasn't convenient for him to speak out loud, and he knew that Baltamiros had arrived.

"Impressive." Baltamiros nodded in slight excitement at the prospect of gaining a strong believer.

With a simple thought, Baltamiros entered Elliot's mind.

And within his mind, a familiar mindspace suddenly formed.

Blink.

Baltamiros appeared within it in human form.

A handsome two meter tall bare bodied young man with fierce eyes and muscular body which looked like chiseled marble.

Thankfully he had pants on. If not, it would make for an awkward first meeting indeed.

"Hey." Elliot called out in his mind.

Blink.

Baltamiros casually waved his hand and made Elliot appear within his own mind as well.

"Hey yourself." Baltamiros grumbled. "That's not how you address a God, much less a God of such incredible power such as me!"

"Well, you're here aren't you?" Elliot grinned. "So that means that you're interested in me?"

"You punk." Baltamiros glowered at Elliot to create a strong first impression.

But Elliot merely grinned at him.

"My name is Elliot. I have the potential to become the strongest life form in all of existence. Help me go through the process of rebirth, and I will become your most powerful believer." Elliot started with a simple introduction.

Baltamiros remained silent and studied the cocky punk which had just made such a bold claim.

After a few moments, he nodded in understanding.

"You're skewed." Baltamiros said. "Your body is far too powerful compared to your soul. That's why you need a rebirth. Interesting. You have good potential indeed. But that's peanuts to me. I want nothing from you except for your undying allegiance. In return, I will make you my first and my most powerful Apostle.

Let me tell you a secret. I have unlocked the gate to unlimited power, even among the gods. You would be well served by becoming my first and most powerful Apostle."

Elliot shook his head with a sigh.

"I serve no one. I will believe in you, and I will bring your name to great heights, but not as a servant. But as a valued partner. I will not relinquish control over my fate to another." Elliot said stubbornly.

Baltamiros smiled to himself in satisfaction.

Elliot had just revealed to him the key to all of his thoughts.

"So this dude is actually a pretty simple person. He does not want others to be in charge of his fate. That's not a problem at all." Baltamiros mused to himself.

"Would you rather be a powerful rat living freely in a jungle full of hungry, even more powerful cats, or a treasured grizzly bear, living alongside its master, and hunting those cats down for sport?" Baltamiros asked Elliot with a laugh. "I am no evil god seeking to enslave you. I want to establish my dominion over all of life in existence, and my first apostle will be under one, but above all of existence. Think about it."

"You think about it. Help me go through rebirth, and you won't just have a grizzly bear next to you, but a fellow hunter with his own grizzly bears." Elliot said confidently.

"Hahahahahaha!!" Baltamiros roared with laughter and then flexed his power.