Zyz'Ti was the closest thing to a modern monster Perumah had seen so far. The Lunar Spawn were puppets to The Mother's will, and Sapients had far too many emotions to qualify. Monsters were limited in their thinking, narrowed to fit a single niche with only the emotions to match that one niche. Zyz'Ti fit the bill.

The hunger was not a simple desire to eat, either. No, it was a complex, layered thing. The main portion was a desire to eat, though it was focused heavily on blood. Lying directly below that was an intense magnifier of emotion, one with a familiar flavor to it, though one she herself had yet to experience: love.

This love was a different type compared to what she'd seen in other humans though, and she struggled to put it into words. This was a love of… flesh. The conjoining of one another carnally, and it was very sexual. Not in the 'reproductive' way, but in the 'alluring desire for pleasure' way. If this was Zyz'Ti's affinity, it was no wonder the woman was incredibly attractive.

The last aspect was a kind of… shadowy, reflective thing. It was a shining darkness, silvery and hidden at the same time. It reminded her of the moon, but not. To Perumah, a moon was a big rock revolving around a planet. She'd seen such in the memories of many people, and even Dei himself. This moon was the same but different. An alternate meaning.

There was something odd about the emotion in a way she'd never experienced before. If she had to describe the sensation, it was like every affinity she'd ever known had shared some facet about them, some meaning to them, but Zyz'Ti didn't have that.

If Perumah had only seen carbon based life forms until now, Zyz'Ti was silicon based. Fundamentally different compared to anything else.

'A glimpse into impossibility… yet it could be mine.'

Perumah had already pieced together exactly what she was looking at. The power she reached for? It was Zyz'Ti's. The focus on blood, the ancient nature of the memory, the overwhelming strength of it was everything she hoped it would be. She just needed to see what it actually did.

So she followed them around. Zyz'Ti helped the man, then moved on to someone else, helping them as well, or just generally chatting with them.

There were two kinds of people to Zyz'Ti, those she spent seconds with, and those she spent tens of minutes with.

The elderly couple, for example, only saw Zyz'Ti for a handful of seconds as she dropped off a burnable plant. The man getting water for his ailing mother though? That'd taken half an hour, give or take a few minutes.

The behavior didn't quite make sense, unless Perumah stopped thinking of the woman as a human. She was not a human. This was a monster, wearing human flesh- like Perumah herself.

Zyz'Ti was attempting to blend into human society, and doing so perfectly. So what was the purpose between the two groups? Some she barely talked to, others she spent significant amounts of time with?

Well, it was obvious. The two categories were Prey and Alibi.

Those she spent seconds with were her targets. Those she spent a long time with were there to say something along the lines of "How could Zyz'Ti have killed that person, they were with me? Oh, what about before me? Well, they were with this other person first, and there was no time between those two things… surely you do not mean she killed someone on the way to me?"

That couldn't be it though. A corpse in the street would be found and investigated, there was another layer Perumah would only have to wait to see.

As the day wore on, Zyz'Ti's hunger grew. Her facade never cracked, but Perumah could see a clawing sensation within her, urging her to feed. It was not biological, as Zyz'Ti did frequently eat and digest regular food, it was an emotional aspect of the affinity. The latent will.

The sun touched down on the horizon, and Perumah was starting to believe Zyz'Ti would only attack during the night, when the hunger within her tensed, and Perumah felt it was time.

There was a house with a weary man standing out front, leaning against the shuttered window and looking down the street in the direction Zyz'Ti would have walked, had she taken the main road. Doing a quick scan of his mind, Perumah saw the man frequently waved hello to Zyz'Ti as she walked by, and was building up the courage to ask her out. She suspected the chance would never come, because Zyz'Ti ran in the empty alley behind his house, silent as a shadow.

With a wave of her hand, Perumah watched the bar on the inside of the house raise and silently lower, letting Zyz'Ti open the window and slip inside, where she quickly lowered the bar, closing the window.

Warning: Cannibalism. Skip ahead to the designated spot if you want to.

Going over to the front of the house, where the door was closed and the victim leaned against the closed window, Zyz'Ti blurred, undoing the bar, opening the window, pulling the man inside, closing the window, then latching the door in a single motion.

The man never hit the ground. Before the window was even closed, Zyz'Ti unhinged her jaw, biting straight into her victim's neck, severing his trachea and one of his carotid arteries in a single, fluid motion. Blood sprayed across the room, drenching Zyz'Ti's face and chest, though she didn't seem to mind.

She did not stop or slow down. She didn't even wait for the man to die before biting into his face, breaking all the bones and ripping off his jaw effortlessly. The man let out a weak gurgle, but the light was already fading from his eyes.

Perumah could only lean forwards, watching with absolute fascination as Zyz'Ti started from the head, devouring massive chunks of bone and flesh, and working her way down. She ate with a smile on her face and only joy in her heart. More than joy, this was her version of love and, in her mind, this was an expression of love.

'This is what it means to be a monster.'

In less than a minute, she was done with her meal. Quickly standing up, she looked around the room, every wall and even the ceiling covered in a new layer of red.

Waving her hand, the leftover blood on her body fell away. Throwing her arm to the side, it formed a new red streak that blended perfectly with the rest. Not even a bone remained of her victim.

Cannibalism over.

Zyz'Ti glanced around at her handiwork and let out a short giggle, mumbling "I can't wait for him to find this one…" before unlatching the back window and slipping away once more, heading back up the road where she'd come.

The entire process had taken perhaps a minute total, and Zyz'Ti found her place on the street again, walking along where she should have been, had she not just committed murder. Pretending like nothing happened, she simply glanced at the window of the house, and walked on to her next alibi.

'I see… She has a plausible alibi and no body left behind. It would be absurd to say she could do the entire process in less than a minute, so it's impossible to make a case stick to her. Not for lack of trying it seems, if her reference to "him" are to be believed. There are definitely people investigating her crimes, yet she always gets away.'

Perumah followed behind Zyz'Ti once more, a light smile on her face. The abilities she'd seen so far… were quite good.

The moon aspects granted stealth abilities, the love granted her more power the hungrier she became, and Perumah could tell she had a very fine control over blood. Perumah's own Blood affinity focused on gaining the most out of what she ate, kind of like the Bulk affinity, but Zyz'Ti's did more, letting her manipulate her own blood and the victim's directly.

Not just that, but she saw Zyz'Ti gain a strong, permanent boost in all aspects. Making her harder to kill, faster, hell even prettier. It was not a small amount either, but one that was utterly unfair. Since it improved everything, even the strength of one's soul, Perumah would've expected it to grant the most miniscule of bonuses… but that's not what happened. Zyz'Ti had to have gained six or even seven percent of the man's strength directly. If she translated that over to System terms, that meant if Perumah consumed someone with 100 in every stat, she'd gain six or seven in each stat, directly stealing their strength. Most things had a lot more than 100 in a single stat.

It was odd, Zyz'Ti was not incredibly attuned to the affinity either. She did not have a Historic or Fabled connection with it… it was normal. Rare quality, maybe Treasured, without even using any spells! This was all pure freeform mana manipulation of an elementary degree. But if that were true…

"Is this affinity simply better? I thought affinities were all supposed to be balanced and the same, but this one seems to have only upsides."

"It is," she heard a deep rumbling voice say behind her, whirling around while launching a mind attack in all directions just as she had last time she was surprised, feeling it hit a brick wall of mental defenses and dealing no damage.

Taking a few steps backwards before she'd even processed the figure she saw… Vy'Vex. The one who'd died in the attack on The Mother, still in his golden armor, though it was pristine now.

Perumah was only around five foot four in this body, and Vy'Vex was over eight feet tall, making her back up even further.

He didn't seem to try approaching her anymore though, he simply stood there studying her.

"I believe Vy'Vex died in the real world. What are you?"

"I did pass, yes, but it's a bit complicated as to how I ended up here. All you need to know is that I am one of the seals upon The Mother, preventing her from accessing Zyz'Ti's power. While many of the seals did not survive the transition to the new world, some of us are much deeper than others. Before you speak though, there are many questions you will ask and I have few answers I'm able to give. Let's start with your first question and take things from there, 'Is the affinity simply better?' To answer that: it is. This affinity is better than almost all other existing ones, because it was not created with balance in mind. Though, I will recommend you do not choose it."

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"And why is that?" she asked curiously. Dei was out of reach, she insisted Wild Chains stay away. The feedback she got from her Heart affinity said he was less a person and more a construct, with specific limitations. She couldn't hurt him, but she found his mind was incapable of visualizing her death. He was not allowed to hurt her in any way.

"Well, to understand that, we have to start from the very beginning, though I'll summarize it. Not because it's too long, just that we don't really know much about the beginning. I speak of The Primordial, what do you know of it?"

"That it created the four races of Primordial Children, though I am skeptical of such an explanation that I know The Mother was a parasite that leeched off the Primordial," she answered truthfully.

Vy'Vex sighed, "a gross simplification, but adequate. I suspect my own summary will not be much better. In my life, I was a part of an organization called the Golden Order, a namesake we'd earned from our characteristic armor and weapons. This order researched many things, but its main task was the location and elimination of the Celestial Parasites, twelve invasive paths to magic. In our long history, we eventually pieced together where these paths stemmed from: a different Primordial. For the longest time, it was always assumed there had only been one, yet the locations and records uncovered in our hunt for the Celestial Parasites proved there were not only two Primordials at the beginning of time, but three."

"Based on the record of only a single one, I'm guessing they didn't get along?"

"Just so. The three primordials each held their own domains, just as Gods of today do. The first was the Primordial of Sun, its domain being life, light, good, sacrifice, and fire. Then there was the Primordial of Moon, whose domain was death, dark, evil, cold, assassin, and parasite. Last was the Primordial of Earth, whose domain was that of chaos. Can you guess which is the one that survived?"

"Well, based on the long descriptions of the other two while the Earth Primordial only needs a single word, I'd say from linguistically alone Primordial Earth won."

"We theorized the same," Vy'Vex said with a light smirk. "Something happened between Primordial Earth that made the Sun and Moon turn on it, both trying to kill the thing. The war lasted a long time, with each of the Primordials casting their own magics and yadda yadda until, eventually, Primordial Earth managed to best the other two, despite being outnumbered.

"So… that's what broke the super universe into fragments?" she asked, thinking about how apparently the big universe was constantly giving birth to a bunch of smaller ones at all times.

He looked confused for a second, "Broke the…? Oh, I get it now. No that's not how that happened. That was some millennia later. I just wanted you to know about the other Primordials and that one was undeniably evil, even according to itself, to avoid more tangents."

Perumah nodded, "I see, so these twelve Celestial Parasites were created by Primordial Moon? It being the evil assassin and all."

"Got it in one. Earth had the unique power of casting magic through her chaos, and Moon hijacked it slightly, twisting the Earth's chaos to her purposes. Nowadays, they manifest as what one might call an affinity, except they are traps. Affinities walk the path of the Primordial of Earth, as does almost every existing life form. If a child of the Earth Primordial gains an affinity of the Moon Primordial, they get… hollowed out. They end up like Zyz'Ti, because they've tapped into power they were never meant to. The reason affinities are equal in power to one another is because the Earth Primordial designed it that way, so there wouldn't be a single limitlessly strong affinity that reigned supreme in the multiverse. The Moon Primordial had no such qualms, encouraging her false affinities to consume as much from the Primordial Earth's Chaos as possible."

"I see… so if I were to gain this affinity…"

"It would consume you. The path is simply too toxic, too uncontrollable. Too strong. The first thing it'd devour is all other affinities in your body, the second would be you, resurrecting Zyz'Ti."

Perumah's brow scrunched, "How so? Wouldn't I start to act according to the Primordial Moon's will, not Zyz'Ti's?"

Vy'Vex shook his head, "No. When Primordial Moon died, its control over the Celestial Parasites did as well. Instead, their controllers are the first people who uncovered their powers."

"Then what of Ascenders? I thought one had to Ascend to exert their will over an affinity, were these people forcibly sent wherever Ascenders go?"

Vy'Vex looked surprised, "You know of Ascenders? But no, not quite. The Celestial Parasites aren't affinities and do not proliferate as affinities do, specifically because there is no Ascender to head them. They have to call out to people like you, and even then, they can only truly connect when one of their victims walks into one of the temples. Although, their goal is to eventually gain the power that other affinities have."

"I see… so this memory within The Mother's soul is a temple to Zyz'Ti. That would explain why The Mother affinity cannot be inherited by anyone except her direct descendants. The Mother is one of the last Moon Primordial descendants. That's why she can't use MP to fuel her magic, because that involves using affinities, which are part of the Earth Primordial's domain. The Lunar Spawn… Oh, I see now why they're called that now. The Lunar Spawn are the last soldiers to the Moon Primordial. That means… the Dragons, their descendants are the Sun Spawn. They are of the Sun Primordial's creation? Then why are they able to interbreed with children of the Earth Primordial"

Vy'Vex chuckled, "Ever more tangents. I'm afraid that is not relevant to the discussion at hand, so let us get back on track. Please, do not reach for Zyz'Ti's power. You'll die."

Perumah narrowed her eyes, "I don't think so. The Mother has already attempted to control me, and it did not work. True, it may be hard to contain, but it's everything I wanted. There must be a way to cleanse Zyz'Ti from the affinity and impose myself in her place."

Vy'Vex ran a gloved hand through his hair, looking exasperated, "No, you'll just die."

"You said the original users were weaker than Ascenders, what if I did that? What if I Ascend past Godhood? I don't necessarily have to resist the effects forever… what if I became the new head of the affinity before Zyz'Ti took over?"

Vy'Vex's expression darkened, "For countless millennia, the Golden Order has sought to prevent any Apostles of the Moon from Ascending. We failed once. Do you know what it created? Demons. I take it you've heard of them?"

Perumah nodded unsteadily, not trying to give anything away on her face.

"The demon affinity isn't actually called that. It's real name is Phantom Plague, and now they proliferate across the multiverse endlessly, unable to be killed or sealed away because every existing affinity is just not up to the task. The hard limit that Primordial Earth put in place prevents the affinities from reaching higher, but the Phantom Plague is not as limited. As is, the multiverse is already struggling to handle one Ascended Apostle of the Moon. If you were to become the second, I suspect life would soon collapse."

Perumah tapped her chin thoughtfully, "But is that not a point for letting a second Apostle move up? If I manage to truly resist and Ascend, head the new affinity, and not be evil, would there not finally be a tool to eliminate the Phantom Plague?"

"It's too risky," Vy'Vex insisted.

"I believe it is less risky than the alternative. Demons cannot die or be sealed. Eventually, there will be too many to contain in their own universes. They will escape, rampage, and free one another from the quarantine the System places on them. And what if one is born in a Systemless dimension? What next? No, I believe that I may actually be the best inheritor of this affinity."

He slumped, likely having thought this all over as well, "And what makes you different?"

"Well, that's simple. For one, I was born a monster, and am well on my way to making a new sapient race. I only need Wrath, Love, Fortitude, Justice, and Abstinence. I've only begun the journey to creating a sapient race last year, yet I'm already more than halfway done. My ambition and willpower is grand, but that is not the reason I am confident in reaching higher."

If Vy'Vex knew anything to make controlling Zyz'Ti's affinity easier, she'd need to convince him it was worth the risk. She was starting to reconsider whether to take the affinity, but she wanted all the information before deciding.

In her efforts to get Vy'Vex talking she… didn't lie, just fudged the truth a bit.

"I believe I'm on track to becoming an Ascender because my companion up there" she said, pointing at Wild Chains, "Has earned the confidence in a System that he has a chance."

Vy'Vex's brow scrunched, "Describe it please."

"Though I am not privy to all the details, he tells me that he met with the System, and it gave him a quest to go past Godhood, and Ascend into an administrator. His word alone is not trustworthy enough for something of this magnitude, but it's not just his word. It's spoken to him personally, it's given him special treatment and gifts, it's allowed him into areas it forbade others from going. The gifts are limited, as the System is not allowed to prefer him over others, but it is clear to me that the System is trying its hardest to skirt its directives for his benefit. I even heard it directly say that it'd issued him a quest, and with everything else in mind, I believe his claim that the quest to become an Ascender is true."

Vy'Vex looked thoughtful, glancing at Wild Chains. "I sense that he is not a God yet, how is the System so confident that his message is strong enough? How close is he to Godhood, and what is his chosen message?"

Her mind raced, realizing she didn't have to lie about Dei having a message. The unique affinity between Wrath and Kindness would do for an explanation as to what he was going to Ascend for.

"Do you know how the System measures strength?" she asked, just to preface her next words.

"Depends on the System. Some use letter grades, others use numbers. Tell me what one starts at as a rank of power, then what the minimum rank of power for a God is and I'll get the idea."

"Well, Dei is not close to Godhood at all. Everyone starts at level one, and level five hundred and one is the threshold to become a God. Last we checked, Dei was around level one hundred and forty. Despite that his… message is discernable. His main two affinities are Kindness and Wrath, and he tells me that he has some kind of pseudo-affinity between the two, with a monstrously powerful spell stemming from this. I take it this is the message you speak of?"

"Perhaps. Bring him down here so that I might investigate this confluence affinity myself."

She hesitated, but looking at his emotions saw that he was still incapable of hurting anything in the soul. If she had to guess, this was his limitation as a seal. Something along the lines of the Abstinence affinity granting him the strength to limit The Mother, but he was no longer allowed to hurt anything or anyone else.

'This does not benefit me alone. He wants to Ascend, and Vy'Vex might give us one more hint.'

Instructing Wild Chains to fly lower, her and Vy'Vex jumped up to the roofs of the buildings, then onto the Leviathan's back.

She was tense, ready to act if the man tried hurting Dei, but it was unnecessary. Kneeling down, he simply observed Dei's unconscious form, not even placing a hand on him.

After a few seconds, Vy'Vex asked "What did his spell do? The one stemming from his message."

"It is called Cycle of Sealing. On his homeworld, affinities corrupt people's minds, so the spell pits his Kindness and Wrath affinity against one another. The result is that his mind is left untouched by either, and it supposedly even limits the effects of all influences on his mind by turning the two fighting forces against invaders. It does much more than that, such as act as a mana storage and even manifest itself physically into the very Leviathan you're standing on, but that is the basic idea behind it."

Startled, Vy'Vex turned his view onto Wild Chains instead, studying it as well.

He hummed thoughtfully, before standing up and looking at Perumah. "Even an Ascender is not necessarily enough to contain a budding connection to Zyz'Ti, but it seems his message is… uniquely suited to the task. I believe, if he helps you, you might actually succeed. I will lend you my assistance, potential Apostle of the Moon, but I need insurance. Hear my offer, agree to the contract I present, and you will have not only my advice, but my protection."

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