"Is your hand alright?" Jay asks, as he slowly lets go of the dead Priest's body, and rushes to Aether to see if he was good. After all, the boy was a Reader, to think that he could fight a Priest by himself....

"I'm good, don't worry," Aether said chuckily, as he ripped a chunk of his cloak and used it to wrap it around his wound.

Jay's eyes widened. "Don't you need that cloak?"

Aether stopped slightly, glancing at him before looking back at his palm wrapped in the fabric of his cloak. "I got another, don't worry." He got up and moved his hand around, trying to see if he had wrapped it tight enough and if it would hold.

...Jay clenched his fists, looking at Aether with determination.

"You said that if we are able to kill him. Then we will go after the Heartforge... yet you said you would explain to me how after."

Aether was caught off guard by his determination, but deep inside, he was happy to see it. That he had someone who had the same hunger as him. He was going to miss him after he was done here.

'Not even Riven has his perseverance...'

"Well, I haven't told you my, um, ability yet."

Jay squinted his eyes slightly. "You mean your crest synergy." Aether eyes instantly light up. "Yes! That's what I mean, my um, Crest Synergy"

Aether chuckled to himself as his sword weirdly retracted back into his arm. He would have thought that this was his ability, but he didn't think this synergy could ever help them get past the guards.

...

"My crest synergy allows me to manipulate the memories of others, cool, right?"

...

...

Walking towards the Heartforge, Aether took many glances in Jay's direction. He was very pleased with the boy. But there was one thing that bothered him.

'Is the main character?'

That thought made his stomach twist. If he was right, then what if he was following the main event of the story? He had done a lot to make a name for himself in the story; it's enough to Alter a story, but that would hardly give them any essence, it didn't even have a multiplier. The only thing good about it would be its rank, but still.

He needed to change the story more, but that would mean having to step in a direction opposite to what he was doing right now. He could leave, but that would let the main character do what he wanted. In Frozen Crown, he speculated he was the main character. That was why the story had changed so much, because the ending he created was completely opposite to what the main character did in the main story.

...

What he was trying to say is that he might have to kill Jay.

He didn't want to, but at the same time, it could be good.

When challenging a book, there are two ways you can change the ending.

By changing it at the end. All the actions you have done until now have accumulated in one place. The end, where the original story ends. It's the easiest time to change an ending, because everything happens then. It's the culminating point. Most chose this because it allows you to try and change the ending more, maybe you go opposite of what the original did.

By changing it alongside the story. There are times when you can set the ending of a book early. Most of the time, it awards you with the Rewritten rank, since you were able to be noticeable. Yet he wasn't so sure if the Codex would consider killing the main character one of those times. If he killed Jay, and he got sent home for changing the ending, wouldn't the world take the ending it would have if Jay weren't here?

...

Would it even have an ending? If in Frozen Crown, he had died, wouldn't the world continue to be how it was? The world would continue to be how it was. It was the same here; the people will continue following the Heartforge, and there would be no ending.

So did that mean that if he killed him, he wouldn't be sent home? Or maybe... if he killed him at the culminating point, would that make a difference? He wasn't a genius when it came to changing the ending of the book and the Codex. After all, he had only done it once; the rest were done by his master.

... No, even if he killed him at the end, it would be the same thing. He needed the ending where he isn't alive to be stopped somehow. He needed to create the original ending and then break it.

If he went on with this plan, and they successfully stopped the illusion... if he killed him and did something to change the story after, would that at least Author the story?

His reason was simple: the everlasting ending created by the lack of a main character would be out of the question, because the main predicament of the world would be stopped. And while the original ending would be created, if he killed the main character, that would be a step towards changing the ending, since in the original, the main character would continue to rule over the world.

...

If, in the epilogue, after they saved the world, he killed Jay and took his place as the ruler, changing it to his liking, wouldn't that... give him more points? He had gone opposite to the ending where he ruled over the world.

But wouldn't that also be possible if he killed him now?

Well, it could work, yet, while he had said that it wouldn't take him out, there was still a chance that the Codex would consider the everlasting ending continuation of the world an ending different from the original.

He wasn't trying to create an ending, but changing it.

...

...

"You're hurting our brain, you know that, right?"

Aether looked to his side, annoyed.

There was a figure that looked just like him. The Abyss could do this because his mental fortitude was low.

"If you hurt yourself too much, your mental health is going to be damaged. You don't want that, you know?

Aether frowned.

"Well, I'm trying to figure out something important here."

The Abyss crossed its arms.

"Killing the main character of the story will send you back, if that leads to the world continuing its main cycle. The Codex considers it an ending because it automatically means the main ending can't be created."

Aether nodded to himself. It made... sense? After all, the Abyss was right; it made the main ending impossible, but at the same time, would he be given the Rewritten rank? After all, he has done little to change the ending himself. He had just killed one person; if that person had gone on to create the main ending, would that give him points? It depended on the Codex; it liked originality, so it might not like him cheating the system, and not consider his doing not a big part of why the ending was changed.

...

"That's right, you would be given the Altered rank. In stories where you are not the main character, if you kill him from the start of the story, it's not only considered cheating by the Codex, but also not original, nor are you making a great part in the changing of the world."

...

'Ah, thanks.'

...

Wait, why was the Abyss helping him out of nowhere?

The Abyss laughed at his sudden confusion.

"What, I can be nice. Considered this a favour for giving me a name."

Aether raised his brows. Did he really help him just because he created a fake name for him? Why? It was stupid; it was just a name after all.

"It's not. You see, all Gods gave a name, and a title... yet our real names can't be known, that is why we create ourselves a fake name. My is the Abyss. Having a fake name allows people to worship us, makes us stronger, but we can make ourselves more than one. So we rely on our people to make them. I now have three names.

Abyss.

Forgotten.

And Fallen Eden.

So technically, you made me stronger."

...

'Wait, the Abyss isn't your real name, but a title?'

The Abyss shook its head, chuckling to itself.

"Yes, that's right, the Abyss is not my name, nor is it forgotten. Those are titles, names created for me. And it's not just me, Praise too, and the others, these are not their real names. But the names created by them. One God can hold three. One created by them, and the other by their people.

Abyss, Forgotten, Fallen Eden.

Praise, Light, World Above.

Fallen, Chaos, World Below.

Freedom, Life, The One Lost From the Path.

Fate, Thread, String Maker.

These are the names of the Gods.

Or at least the names bestowed upon us.

Our real names are unknown to the world."

...

...

"I suggest you get this book done faster, after all, I got stronger with you giving me my last name."

...

"Wait, but how does that make sense. I'm sure many have given you many names, so why, when I did it...

"Simple, you are my vessel, with you giving me a name, you also gave yourself a name."

...

"All vessels bear the name of their God."

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