Dei briefly thought back to what he'd agreed upon.

'Let's see… honestly not much. All I said was to ensure my family was safe and give me some information on Reality Beings, and that's it.'

Dei looked at him curiously, "A fair bit? I believe all I needed was some information. Was there more?"

"I'm so glad you asked, because yes, there is! But- hold on a moment, I need to run to my car to get everything, I'll be right back."

It seemed a little silly to pull Dei to the side before he had everything, but it was probably just Luke's emotions making him rush. He seemed uncharacteristically excited.

When he was back, there was a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, which he gently removed, placed on the ground, and opened.

Dei saw a cosmic, sparkly purple fabric inside, but the first thing Luke pulled out was a book, handing it to Dei. it was thin, perhaps fifty or so pages.

"THIS is all the information we have on Reality Beings, but, that's not what I'm excited about. You see, I got some special permission to add a bit of trust to your rewards."

He took hold of the purple fabric, pulling it out and holding it up. "This is an artifact. An object blessed with magic. We don't, normally, have a way to create them on Earth, so we've traded for all the ones we have. This one? It was bought from a Visitor that appeared some two centuries ago. It's utterly priceless, and one of the few artifacts that actually does something. Most of what we have are little harmless trinkets, but this? This was created for a Realm Walker, and an exorbitantly rich one. The System told you about it and helps you with it so it isn't a major problem, but going from one universe to the next is highly toxic to existence. It is up to the individual to find a way to adjust their natural makeup into the new Laws of Physics. For you, you can travel back to the System for a moment, then to wherever you want to go and you'll receive help- but I believe this cloak will be even better.

"You see, it does not simply protect you from the differing laws, it teaches you about them. It is called the Cosmic Cloak of the Sage's Travels-"

'Dear God, the Sage title follows me. No!'

"-rather than simply do it for you. From what the Visitor said, it will shield you from the natural forces the moment you enter a new universe, but it will slowly allow more and more of the reality to affect you, while also nudging you towards a way to alter yourself to better fit in. It teaches you reality bending, that way you don't have to simply rely on The System!"

Dei was picking up a bit of a salesman voice, and knew there was a catch to this.

"Okay… and what does Earth get out of it? I definitely didn't ask for this, and you said I've been given trust, not that I've been given the cloak itself. Are you letting me… borrow it?"

"How right you are! I'm sure you don't have a long-term use for it, considering you intend to go back into quarantine after your universe travels, so I and everyone else on Earth would appreciate it if you returned it to us, whole and unharmed. As for what we get out of it, we would like for you to… think of us in your travels. We don't have artifacts or magical items here. Should you run across any, and have no need for them, we humbly ask for you to pick them up and bring them back with you to give to us, so we may study and keep them."

"Oh, it's like you're 'Funding my expedition' so to speak. I get a large initial burst of value, but if I find anything of interest, you get it? So you're investing in me."

"Not an inaccurate way to put it. So, what do you say, do you agree? Please don't say yes if you don't intend to get this back to us, because I put my entire reputation on the line to get this approved. This is our third most valuable artifact, and we'd rather have this artifact than a bunch of random items you find along the way."

Dei laughed, "Reasonable, but I'm not sure I really need it."

Luke seemed to deflate, "Pardon?"

"I've just picked up a spell- Divine Balance- that helps me adjust to new laws of reality internally. It does everything the robe does but… automatically."

"You don't need it at all…?" Luke said in such a heartbroken tone that Dei was half tempted to take the deal anyway.

"I might," Perumah said into his mind.

"How so?"

"While I could borrow your Skill any time we traverse the multiverse, I would like to start building independence from you."

"Really? Cool. How? And why?"

"The 'how' I will show in a moment. The why is… that I've been thinking about what The Mother said. I told myself long ago that I wouldn't be a simple tool for you, but all my actions speak contrary to my words. I am not a simple tool, and I will not build myself around that. I will not rely on you to move or feed or exist. I want to become myself."

"That sounds wonderful Perumah!" he told her encouragingly, "and if you'd like that, I won't mind at all. I would never see you as a tool, but I understand how this might affect your image."

"Mm, yes, so if you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate the cloak. I need to create my own body anyway, and it will help. I will take their deal, I will collect artifacts, and I will return the cloak with interest."

"Do you want me to tell him all this?" Dei asked.

"No. I will. I've studied the languages in your mind for some time, as it seems most fleshy creatures are… not receptive to the thoughts of plants. They find them confusing."

"Yea, I did at first as well. Alright, I'll leave it to you."

"Not all to me, just yet. I have one last request before my separation."

"Yea?"

"Take a large bite of the concentrated rations we retrieved from Gate City."

"Hm? Sure."

In preparation for their journey across the multiverse, Dei had picked up some of the concentrated meat and plant rations that his mother had left him so long ago. The original rations were now with Fendrascora, so he needed some replacements. A large bite though? That was a lot of energy.

He could guess why she wanted him to take a bite. Even if it was too much though, Dei's Union state meant that he could shunt the excess energy into his soul if it overwhelmed him.

Their conversation had taken all of half a second, and Dei quickly refocused on Luke, saying "One moment, my companion said she wants to talk to you as well."

"Companion?" Luke asked, but a chunk of meat four feet long flew from his chest, carried by a pink chain and deposited into Dei's hand. Dei took a bite, hardly even chewing.

Along with the explosion of energy in his stomach, large quantities of his blood seemed to evaporate, pulled into Perumah's roots. He felt her being careful to not consume any of the "Meaning" in his blood either, leaving his memories intact and his soul undamaged. She was only taking the physical portion of it, the nutrients.

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Though she remained attached to his bloodstream, she also seemed to grow outwards. The blade portion, or the nub as she was at the moment, remained unchanged. Her roots, on the other hand, expanded dramatically. They became sturdier and longer, twisting around each other to support each other more thoroughly.

Luke took a step back, horrified, but Dei simply watched it without reacting.

At the rate she was consuming blood to recreate her body, he would've been drained dry in seconds if it was back when they'd first met. Now though? Dei had lost thousands of gallons over the previous year through either wounds or feeding Perumah and Fendrascora. At this point, it was probably impossible for him to bleed out with how familiar Homeostasis was with blood loss. He'd sooner starve to death as his body ate itself to fuel his blood production than he would bleed out.

In seconds, Perumah took the shape of a standing humanoid- a little less than six feet tall, vaguely feminine without any of the parts, and completely composed of roots. On her left hand, where she'd been on his, was the blade that made up her main body. Everything else was likely for show.

Raising her head to look at Luke, she said "I would like to discuss the deal you've offered Dei," with a rasping voice and halting tone.

Luke was pale and unmoving, so Dei explained "This is my traveling companion, Perumah. She's a plant that's been with me since the other universe, and I can vouch that she is an incredibly trustworthy woman."

"Dei doesn't need the cloak to travel," she hissed, "I do. I will take your deal and honor it."

Luke wiped away the thin perspiration that'd formed over his face, but collected himself quickly.

"Let's talk specifics," he said, determined.

* * *

While Perumah and Luke talked, Dei stood off to the side for a moment to read through the book about Reality Beings that he'd been given. It appeared to be a summary of sorts, cutting out the classified experiments run to find these results, but it was still a trove of knowledge.

A while back, when he was using Commune with the Universe, Dei noticed two beings within his perceivable range. One was much closer than the other, but they were both there.

The book, also, talked about two different reality beings. One, the closer of the two, was called Separation. It was responsible for keeping everything different so to speak, ensuring that the world would not return to some kind of singularity. A person couldn't merge with grass to become a grass person, they were just a person. Without Separation, it was theorized that everything would slowly collapse into itself, resulting in what Dei would guess to be a kind of primordial soup.

The second Reality Being close to them was called Continuity. It made it so that things didn't… jump around so to speak. Between universes, there were common laws such as gravity or covalent bonding. It was theorized that these laws were inherited from the original universe of which the multiverse split apart, and Continuity kept the torch burning by ensuring that all the flakes that came after were made in the origin universe's image.

The combination of the two was what led to Earth, and supposedly its universal neighbors, being caught in such a predicament. Separation meant that people couldn't merge with magical things, and Continuity ensured that they couldn't change their current state to become magical.

Quite odd.

There were a few other listed Reality Beings which were nothing more than rumors, such as Divine, Growth, and Sensation, but there was almost nothing listed on them. All that was noted was how these beings still affected Earth, despite them not being within "Range" of it. A Reality Being's reach extended far past their dedicated aura.

The only Reality Being which came with further instructions was Edit. Edit appeared to be incredibly powerful and unique somehow, as every Realm Walker they'd met so far was aware of it. Edit constantly emanated some kind of energy source called Edit Energy, which was boringly named but accurate. Edit Energy let people do practically anything, so long as they had the willpower to withstand it and the body to channel it, Edit Energy could recreate the effects of any affinity, unrestricted.

'MP…'

Edit had to be the one responsible for MP; it was simply the only thing that made sense. MP contained all possible affinities, and perhaps more if it was able to even copy the affinities created after the Edit Energy itself. Did it, perhaps, contain all possible theoretical affinities? How?

'Unless… it's not copying them, but they stem from it? Is MP perhaps unfiltered chaos? That would be insane, but make a lot of sense. Or perhaps MP is filtered by the System, but Edit Energy is unfiltered? Really, there's only one way to find out.'

For a moment he considered that perhaps Edit was different from the other beings in that its touch didn't reach Earth, then realized he was being silly. It did. That's likely why affinities existed on Earth in the first place.

The book had been a major boon. Dei now knew exactly what to ask for when he spoke with a Reality Being now, and was a lot closer to his goal than before. He wanted to at least experience Edit Energy before going back, but if it was unfiltered chaos, he may not be able to approach the entity itself.

He pondered over the issue for a while longer, and eventually saw Luke and Perumah's conversation winding down.

* * *

By the end, Luke came away happy. Even though Perumah was trusted, he still politely asked if she would mind making a vow to return the cloak in the same condition it was loaned. He didn't require it, because Dei did vouch for her, but he said it would give him peace of mind. Perumah had every intention of returning the artifact in mint condition, so she had the courtesy to agree.

"If it does end up destroyed," Perumah told him, "I will replace it with something of equal value."

Luke chuckled, "Of course, that's how vows are. There's no way to slip it, even if certain clauses aren't directly stated."

Dei had a thought, and chimed in as well. "Hm, you know? What would the punishment even be if she broke the vow? With my deal to Void, you said it'd be in charge of punishing me if I went back on my word, but how would you punish Perumah for going back on her word?"

"Not a bad question, really. Every type of deal is different, and those between the divine and mortal aren't the same. For mortal-to-mortal deals, the punishment is closer to instant PTSD"

"What?!"

"Vows enunciate the negatives of going back on your word. Perumah, as you've said, has a conscience, one that would insist she either return the cloak or make up for it. That's why a vow can even be made by 'giving your word,' because that's what you're doing. If you go back on your word, you feel guilty, and the vow increases that tenfold, never letting you forget the stain of dishonor. If a creature isn't intelligent enough to have a conscience, they usually feel some other negative emotion as punishment, but if they have no emotion, they cannot make a vow at all. As in like, they literally cannot vocalize the words. I'm told it's quite obvious if the vow doesn't take."

'Well, that certainly explains why he's confident she'll return it now. Even if she isn't going to be physically stopped, PTSD is no joke.'

He'd been told multiple times that Vows were like mini laws of physics, and he now knew they were social laws. Man-to-man promises that couldn't or shouldn't be broken, lest you fail your social duty.

It reminded Dei of what the Wrath Echo showed him. In his previous life, Leven had never retaliated physically, but he'd worked within what was legal. Most of the time, this manifested in a very petty way, but it wasn't simply being petty, it was to lash out in a manner that kept with his word. He wasn't under a vow, but there was an implied agreement to be civilized, and he would earn that back in turn.

He sighed, 'But the social aspect failed, didn't it? I was not given the courtesy I gave. I would've rather been struck down than forced into the situation I was in. True, adultery is illegal, but it's rarely enforced with prison or execution, and I was killed for attempting a just retaliation. How do I even respond to that in this case? How would I respond to that?'

Dei had promised himself he'd let it go, but there was something there. A niggling scratching at his mind which he allowed to guide his thoughts.

'Let's work out how I could resolve this grudge, piece by piece. I was hurt socially, that is a fact. My death is irrelevant to the grudge, no matter what I say, as Taj and Emily didn't kill me on purpose. Doesn't make it better, but my options change. The Wrath echo would insist something be done in the same vein, but they've already suffered total social isolation. Similar to my death though, that doesn't matter to the situation. It seems to be relevant but… let's be honest, it's not. I want something of my own. Something that doesn't violate my second Rule of Wrath, to protect children. Something that'll ensure Jenny gets a good life, but destroys Taj and Emily; to get that, I'd need to separate Jenny from them, but that ensures she is heartbroken and I have broken my second Rule. She's only a year old, so she won't remember it… but I will.

'So, keep Taj and Emily in her life, ensure she has a good future, but ruin theirs, through the law? That would require the cooperation of a MAJOR organization, or perhaps even the government itself. Or…'

His grudge flared back to life again, as a path to resolution was found.

'...perhaps the cooperation of a massive church and the backing of God himself?'

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