Nate stood next to Kiri as he waited for the portal to open. Kiri was in turn chatting with Gwen, while Wulfgar and Jak were joking about some past battles and apparently a little sparring they had done during everyone's down time. Jemima was hovering nearby and looked ready to chew on her nails while Fili seemed to be trying to blend into the background.

The short woman from Jak’s team had been far more subdued at the second dinner the team had shared, going so far as to almost completely avoid looking at Nate and Kiri. Nate wasn’t certain, but he had a suspicion that Wulfgar had said something to Jak during their sparring sessions, who had in turn warned Fili off antagonising the ‘scions of some True Divinity’. That was Nate’s guess anyway.

As for the portal, it looked like they weren’t the only ones making the trip to Serpent’s Wing. Nate noted two other teams of Lesser Divines who stood separately and watched the group warily. Both teams were made up entirely of elves and Nate suspected they were denizens of this world, Fifth Scale, who were going to try their luck in the tournaments. Similar to their first encounter with Fili, Nate caught more than one glance at him and Kiri, specifically lingering on their Regalias. In theory, the protections put on the Divine Artifacts should be concealing their nature. In practise, someone being unable to identify the clearly high quality materials of their Regalias gave a hint of their nature.

While their eyes may have looked on, filled with poorly concealed envy, no one from the other two teams approached, and for that Nate was thankful. He didn’t really feel like fending off inquiries about himself.

It took another ten minutes before the portal finally hummed to life and a spinning sphere of space appeared within the middle of the huge, metal structure. The portal was big enough that it could have almost accommodated Ankh’Aris at his full-size and out of it marched a few elven Lesser Divine guards accompanying some sort of elven bureaucrat. Nate guessed they were here to collect Fifth Scale’s offerings, which mostly included massive food supplies as Nate understood it.

Fortunately, while that exchange was taking place, the teams of Lesser Divines waiting to go to Serpent’s Wing were ushered through. Stepping into the portal felt like being squeezed through a tight, rubbery tunnel. The experience lasted less than a minute before they were spat out the other side of the portal.

Nate’s first thought upon seeing Serpent’s Wing was one of scale. Jungpo had somewhat reminded him of the cities of Earth. Serpent’s Wing was far beyond that. Towering buildings in the distance stretched into the heavens, their tops concealed by clouds. Glass and metal were in abundance and the ambient mana was the highest he had felt since the Wild Realm. Putting some thought into it he estimated that it could easily support raising individuals to level one-hundred-and-ten on ambient mana alone.

While the distant vista was of towering buildings, the area around them was cleared for kilometres and made Nate think of a military emplacement. His guess was that this was created in case of an invasion and he found that there were enchantments within the walls around the portal that were interfering with his sphere of awareness. The static sensation of trying to push beyond the walls forced him to retract his sphere and he finally started paying attention to those around him.

“Join the appropriate line and have your identification ready!” called out a uniformed elf, motioning to three separate lines behind him with writing to identify each. Mortal, Lesser, and Greater. Nate supposed there was no need for a True Divine line, as any True Divine visiting likely warranted a diplomatic reception anyway.

Moving with the others he joined the line for Lesser Divines which moved relatively quickly. His first surprise was that the elves from Fifth Scale were not given preferential treatment. The second was how quickly processing was taking place. That was until he saw that everyone was being moved into a corralled off area. After a few minutes it was his turn and he found a wrinkled, male elf holding his hand out.

“Identification.”

Nate handed over the token.

“Risen Sun Sect. Lesser Divine. No other notations here. Reason for visit?”

“Participation in the World Reaping,” answered Nate.

There was a tiny pulse of mana into his identification token then it was handed back to him.

“Move to the assessment area to have yourself checked for any contraband as well as a wealth assessment. Next!”

Nate wasn’t sure what the wealth assessment was about but he moved over to join Kiri and Wulfgar while they waited for Jemima and Jak’s team.

Every single Lesser Divine that had come through the portal ended up in the assessment area and they were forced to wait for almost an hour before someone arrived. Or in this case, someones.

Nate’s body froze as four individuals approached them, led by another uniformed elf. Nate kept himself from assessing their Class Cores, but unless he was mistaken, based on the Conceptual weight the four were giving off, he was looking at four True Divines. Each one was utterly different to the one next to them. A willowy lady with skin the colour and texture of bark with leaves for hair stood next to a mountainous individual who had the appearance of an ogre, if said ogre was stuffed into a powerful set of gold and red armour. Next to them was a short elf who wore a blue toga. The final member was a bald human woman with green skin and yellow eyes that looked like they were constantly glaring.

“Pay your respects to the True Divinities,” ordered the uniformed elf who Nate now recognised had quite a few emblems on his uniform and shoulders.

Everyone present bowed at the waist and Nate quickly mirrored them.

“As per World Reaping rules and in line with the Reaper’s Accord, all individuals wishing to compete must submit to a search of their belongings by members of the competing factions. This assessment is confidential and is to prevent any thefts by competitors outside the bounds of the World Reaping itself. In addition, and in line with the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent’s terms for granting entry to our core worlds, they will also check for any contraband or other materials believed to be dangerous or threatening to the security of our worlds. If you do not agree to these terms you may step to the side where you will be directed back to Fifth Scale. There will be no questions. Remain where you are if you accept these terms.”

No one moved and Nate waited for the assessment to continue, unsure of just how thorough the check would be.

*************

Grommir, half-ogre, True Divine of War and Grand Marshal of The Golden Tide stood resolute and prepared to fulfil his duty. Every World Reaping followed similar rules and as the Grand Marshal it was his duty to assist in assessing those who would compete. Of course, that meant he couldn’t assess his own warriors. That would be left to another competing faction. But none of these Lesser Divinities were part of his faction and so he would make sure they did not steal from the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent.

The first was a fidgety human woman. Breaking into her spatial storages was simple work. An alchemist, he decided. Nothing forbidden within though she seemed to prefer toxins. Distasteful but not illegal. No sign of existing affiliation except for a small, Low-Divine Artifact detailing a golden dragon roaring at the sun. Not worth any more thought.

Next was a warrior. Blood. This one would fit in well with The Golden Tide. Same Low-Divine Artifact as alchemist. Not a symbol Grommir recognised and the man felt old. Fourth-evolution Lesser Divine. Likely capable. If he performed well in the tournament Grommir would send a recruiter.

The third was interesting. Human. Female. Someone with less experience might think her armour was made of Wyvern-scale. Grommir knew better. A black dragon’s scales crafted into armour and reeking of destruction. This one was dangerous. A Seed. There were no doubts. She too bore the roaring golden dragon symbol. This time, not a Low-Divine Artifact. Odd that the symbol was golden but the scales were black. Very odd and worthy of investigation. No spatial artifacts to be found but he sensed a strong soul connection. Breaking her open would be an attack. He asked for permission. She opened before him. A sanctuary within the spiritual realm. Copies of herself. A powerful Path if she could continue along it. Less likely to accept recruitment. Clearly favoured by someone powerful. Onto the next.

Human. Male. Not a warrior. Mage perhaps? Multiple spatial anomalies. Breaking into the clearly concealed Divine Artifact impossible. Ask for permission. Permission received. Peak-Divine Artifact. Seed, like the female. Paint? Odd material to favour, even if Divine-tier. Second spatial anomaly bypassed. Pocket world. Flying ship. Home and warehouse. Clearly a crafter. Hybrid? Warehouse contents, materials and…

Grommir’s mind stuttered to a stop as he took in the artwork before him. A painting of a battle, vibrant and bloody, forces in contest and commanders directing them. War in all its structured beauty. Not the only work either. Other battles. He was… enraptured.

Pulling his mind back, Grommir signed off on the approval for the crafter. No contraband was found and a detailed list of the contents of each spatial zone was captured. The other True and Greater Divines from the host and opposing factions were clearly waiting for him to finish. Grommir did a quick assessment and realised he had taken an extra two minutes focusing on the paintings of the crafter. An unusual lapse for him, though he would not apologise. They could wait for a year if he deemed it necessary or leave of their own accord.

After the approvals were given, Grommir returned to the compound gifted to him for the duration of his stay. It was sufficient, if inferior to the personal compound in his core world. Appearing in his office, he slapped his desk, adjusting his strength so that it created a loud sound without damaging the wood. Immediately one of the Lesser Divines guarding his door peaked a head in, snapping off a perfect salute.

“Yes, Grand Marshal?”

“Send for Marshal Hondo.”

“At once, sir!”

Marshal Hondo appeared within the minute, delivering his own sharp salute and standing at attention, awaiting orders. Grommir was pleased that his soldiers had not let their discipline become lax just because they were in a new environment. Following processes and procedures were important factors for keeping the Golden Tide functioning as efficiently as possible.

“I have a task for you,” stated Grommir.

He chose to ignore the slight twitches within Marshal Hondo’s body as he explained to his subordinate what he needed him to do and why.

*************

Phun waited until the True and Greater Divinities had left, along with the new arrivals, before sending his report. Kalin Silverscale was an up and coming Seed for the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent and getting on his good side could only help Phun in the long run. Kalin had asked Phun to keep an eye out for a very specific kind of individual coming through the portals. His exact words had been ‘Competitors who seem to possess considerable wealth but from smaller or unknown factions’.

Well, that team from the Risen Sun Sect seemed to be exactly what Kalin was looking for. No one Phun asked had ever heard of the Risen Sun Sect and after a little digging into the Dynasty’s records he found it only had been recently recorded as a possible faction on Fifth Scale. The same world the competitors had just come through. That almost guaranteed they were a small faction. Couple that with a wyvernscale Divine Artifact that couldn’t be actively detected and Phun was confident that this information had just signed his own rise on the coattails of Kalin Silverscale. Phun sent the message, including their descriptions and destination.

*************

Worldhammer returned to his own abode, taking a moments respite. He would be called out to do more assessment soon and the old elf was already looking forward to this World Reaping being over.

His hammer waited inside of himself, the cornerpiece to his inner world and the heart of his power. He’d wanted to pull it out and crush Seraphina’s head with it. The ancient dryad was a Greater Divine like himself and their two factions had been quietly at war for generations. The next Greater Divine World Reaping wouldn’t be for another twenty years though, so he would just have to wait unless she offered terms for a duel. He knew she wouldn’t, conniving bitch that she was. No, instead, she would no doubt send her own Disciples after his pupils. Well, she was in for a surprise there.

He sneered at the thought and looked forward to seeing her and her Disciples laid low.

He was about to go check on his own pupils when he felt a power descend that dwarfed his own. His world shrunk until it was just him and the gigantic moon hanging before him.

“I HAVE AN OFFER, WORLDHAMMER.”

“I’m listening, Kali’Terra.”

The System pulsed with a white light before the all-encompassing voice came again.

“OFFER AN ADDITIONAL AWARD FOR THE WORLD REAPING. A SINGLE ITEM FROM YOUR VAULT.”

“And in return?” he breathed, ignoring the pang of fear he felt. After all, not everything in his vault was strictly his. But a deal with Kali’Terra might be worth risking the ire of his master.

“THE LAST PIECE YOU SEEK. A PEAK NASCENT WORLD SEED.”

Worldhammer wanted to immediately agree, but he did not grow to be one of the most powerful Greater Divines in existence by being hasty. He weighed the risk and the reward, but no matter how he looked at it, this deal was worth the potential cost.

“Agreed. I will announce it along with the start of the Tournaments.”

“OUR AGREEMENT IS MADE. REMOVING ANY ITEM FROM YOUR VAULT WILL BE SEEN AS A VIOLATION.”

The presence vanished, Reality returning to normal as Worldhammer swallowed his worries. He hadn’t even considered trying to trick Kali’Terra. After all, the previous task it had seen him undertake had given him the knowledge that made him what he was today. His Divine Vessel had been growing for a generation now and by the time he was done that additional power would allow him to violate his master's rules and ascend to True Divinity. But he had reached a blockage. His Vessel refused to grow. Now Kali’Terra revealed a path forward. The very thing he had been seeking to break through.

Then he would supplant his master, becoming the ruler of the Dynasty. This World Reaping might very well define his future. Now, he just needed to make sure it was one of his own pupils who won. After all, Kali’Terra hadn’t said the prize needed to go to anyone in particular.