I'm a Daemon, so what? (Tensura/Multicross)

Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?

Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.

Chapter 70: Manas

There are up to 15 chapters ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk

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- Felix -

I closed my eyes as I rested against Luminous's bed. 

I sighed as I thought through the last day or so. A lot more than I expected happen, the most unexpected being Luminous' whole confession. I still wasn't sure if anything between us would be long lasting, but even if it wasn't that was fine. As long as everyone involved enjoyed their time then I didn't see any problems with that, I think Luminous shared a similar opinion on that front. I obviously wouldn't self-sabotage myself though. We had gone through a variety of positions, Luminous did want to be on top at some point, after all, and watching her ride me was a treat in itself.

Her breasts shaking up and down, the intense look in her eyes, all of it made for the perfect time.

I looked down. A bed of silver hair was sprawled against my chest, a pair of red and blue heterochromatic eyes staring up at me.

"You finally up?"

Luminous nodded as she made no move to change her position. "Yes, I am. That was… wonderful."

I nodded. "Yeah. I finally got to spank you for being a brat! Just like I promised!" 

Luminous scoffed but didn't say anything. We simply enjoyed each other's company in silence.

After some time, Luminous broke the silence. "Felix."

"Hmm?"

"It is about time we talk about our relationship." Luminous said.

I nodded. My relationship with Luminous would no doubt be different from my other relationships simply due to our status. With the others on paper, they were my subordinates; they wouldn't really argue against me, which was annoying, but it is what it is. I was getting them to open up a bit more but it was a work in progress. This world basically ingrained it into Majin that you served your superior with whole hearted loyalty as long as they did not betray you. There were outliers of course but generally when someone names you, you are theirs in mind, body, and soul. 

With Luminous, however, we were both fellow Demon Lords. Even if I was stronger than her I wasn't going to base our entire relationship on that. It sounded lame and unfun. 

Luminous made no move to stop lying on my chest, and I didn't bother moving either. This conversation can be held in our comfortable positions.

"I am not one of your subordinates, and I expect to not be treated as such. " I nodded. "Except perhaps in the bedroom from time to time." Luminous added with a smirk.

I laughed at that. "Sure, sure, I am aware that it will take some time for us to get more used to each other in a romantic light. We kind of jumped into bed, and now we have to figure everything else out."

Luminous nodded. "I do not care for the harem you have built for yourself. Far lesser men have done the same, though do you mind if I partake in some of your consorts when we are enjoying each other's company?"

My mind froze for a moment as I imagined Luminous making out with Arcueid, or Lalatina, or Raiden, or Saeko. Only when I was in between, though! I was a jealous man!

That was hot.

I imagine she meant sex when she said enjoying each other's company, so a threesome, huh?

I've never actually had a threesome as odd as it was, and it was definitely something I wanted to cross off my bucket list. What guy didn't want to have a threesome?

"Hehe, yeah, that would be hot." I voiced out.

Luminous let out a fanged smile. "Ah, I see. I should have expected as much. You are a lecher of the highest order."

I rolled my eyes. "You're one to talk. We both know what sort of degenerate fantasies go on in your head."

"Along with that, I do not wish for you to baby me. As much as it galls me, I am aware you are more powerful than I am, especially after whatever it is you did, but I am aware that I am a prideful woman. I will not allow my pride to kill me, but I refuse to be reduced to a porcelain vase." She continued.

I nodded. "I didn't intend to baby you. That would take away what made you… you. I like you as you are, pride and all."

"Ara, you like me as I am, hmm?" She teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Shove it."

"Fine fine." Luminous agreed, though going by her smirk I knew she would bring it back up again. "Now, I wish to talk about Hinata."

I looked at her curiously. "What about Hinata?"

Luminous looked at me with an odd expression on her face. "...You do not know?"

I tilted my head. "Know what?" I was aware that Hinata was a bit fond of me, but I'd let that route take its course. There was no need for either I or Luminous to push things along. Hinata was a big girl, if she wanted something she'd get it herself. 

Luminous giggled. "Ah, how cute. It is hard to remember, but you really are quite young, aren't you." She shook her head. "Never mind, she will bring it up on her own."

I nodded. "Sure." I didn't know what sort of delusions were going on in Luminous' head but I didn't care to correct them,

Now that we had established our boundaries, we went back to cuddling for a bit.

–

I put on my coat and waved Luminous goodbye. "Feel free to stop by if you want." I called out.

Luminous nodded. "Very well, goodbye, Felix."

We were both fully dressed now, before leaving we had a quickie, because who wouldn't when a woman like Luminous was willing? 

Now Luminous had some more preparations to make to deal with Granbell and company. She had said she wanted to come with me to talk to Chloe and Hinata some more, but she did care for her people and would do her best to keep them safe.

I'm sure Chloe and Hinata will be back here soon, Hinata because I doubt she'd abandon Ruberious, and Chloe because I'm pretty sure she and Luminous were friends.

Luminous got a little bit more powerful Energy wise, her EP had gone up. It wasn't a significant amount, but it wasn't insignificant either. However, it would eventually add up.

The farther apart the gap in the strength of my partner and I, the larger the gain they would get with Essence Exchange. It was literally dual cultivation that functioned based on similar principles as the old version of Magicule Breeder Reactor that I had.

The Magicules I release inside of Luminous breed with her own Magicules, creating even more Magicules, which forcibly expands her Magicule Capacity. Something like this is dangerous if done too suddenly, but it is safe to do little by little.

"See ya." And with that, I teleported to Tempest, there were a few things I wanted to do.

I appeared in my residence in Tempest. I looked out the window. It was evening now, Rimuru, Hinata, and Chloe left around noon, so Luminous and I took a couple of hours.

Not bad when we could have easily taken a lot longer, but we both had things to do.

Actually, I had an idea. I felt that it was possible to accomplish my idea with my newfound control over Time, but I wanted to check with Odin as well.

'Odin is it possible to set up a room where Time is accelerated when compared to the outside world?'

'Before analyzing the Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Space-Time it would be impossible, but now the Master is capable of such a thing.'

'Great, that's what I thought as well.'

I'll have to set something like that up at some point. It wouldn't be useful for just sex. It would be good for training as well.

I shook my head, I could so that another time, for now, I had a mission to accomplish.

I snapped my fingers, placing Barriers around the room I was in. They should be more than enough to conceal any Aura explosion. I knew the shonen tropes!

I had told Hinata that I would see her, but I'll do that after this.

'You ready?'

'Affirmative.' Responded Odin, but I could tell there was an undercurrent of nervousness in her tone.

I didn't blame her. This was completely new to both of us. 

I already had a name in mind for Odin. I remember originally thinking of Odin, or rather Othinus from To Aru, when I first got Odin as my Ultimate Skill, and Othinus is as good a name as any.

I had a feeling that Odin wished to stay close to her routes, and Othinus was essentially another way of referring to Odin, the God of War.

'Odin… I name you Othinus. It's about time you become your own person.'

'!!!!!!!!!!'

I gasped as I felt the transformation going on in my Soul. I felt my Soul grow in size and strengthen. It was as if I wasn't just myself anymore. There was another Soul here with me.

'Ahhh! I am now truly in eternal bliss.' I heard a much more feminine voice say in my head.

I guess it was successful.

'Welcome to the world, Manas Othinus.'

- Othinus -

Othinus… that was her name now, wasn't it? 

Her very own name.

She didn't care that her Master had taken inspiration from some character he knew of. She was Othinus.

From the Ultimate Skill: Odin, Lord of Cursed Knowledge, she emerged, leaving only the scraps of the Ultimate Skill: Odin, Lord of Cursed Knowledge behind.

She took everything that made Odin what it was and improved upon it by millions of times. She was incomparable to her former Ultimate Skill self.

She was almost insulted when she looked back at all the data she had gathered as Odin. So insufficient, but she knew that was her pride speaking.

It was no matter. She would do better from now on, and as long as she had her way, no harm would come to her Master.

Her mind wandered to the past, back when she wasn't capable of protecting her Master. She was able to retain her memories of back when she was a mere Extra Skill. She could not feel any true emotions back then, but when looking back at it, she could only feel dread and despair when she thought back to how her Master nearly perished against that horde of Daemons.

She was insufficient to protect him, and so she attempted to evolve and become a Unique Skill. She was still not capable of any real thought or feeling emotions, but even as a Unique Skill, her primary designation was keeping her Master safe, and she thought she would be capable of it, even against the Arch Dragon, her Master faced when he was first Summoned to the Cardinal World she had dozens of plans to suggest if her Master seemed to be struggling.

Of course, her perfect Master did not struggle whatsoever and was able to deal with the Arch Dragon.

As Cursed Sage, she was confident that she would be able to assist her Master with anything, and then Milim Nava showed up.

That meeting had humbled her. It had shown her that there were times when no amount of planning would be able to assist her Master. Milim Nava back then was as vast as the cosmos to her, and she was still just as vast, only her own Master had grown to reach the same level.

As Cursed Sage, she was unable to even measure the amount of power that Milim Nava held within her; it felt almost infinite, and knowing what she does now, she was still wary of Milim Nava.

With her Master's recent power up she was confident in being able to defeat Milim Nava should the worst happen, but she was still cautious of the sheer power the woman held within her.

Of course, Othinus did not see a true life-or-death battle happening between her Master and Milim Nava. Milim Nava was practically wrapped around her Master's finger.

But back then, that was a wake-up call. That was when Cursed Sage realized that it was still insufficient when it came to fulfilling the objective of protecting her Master.

And similar to what she always did when she had a problem, she worked on finding a solution. In that case, Cursed Sage utilized the Energy that her Master had gotten from his naming and evolution to evolve itself further.

That was the moment when the Ultimate Skill: Odin, Lord of Cursed Knowledge, was born.

After that moment, she remembered quickly getting to work on gathering as much strength for her Master. She analyzed Milim Nava's techniques, but she made a mistake. She was too eager and risked her Master's very Soul in the process, a sin she would never forgive herself for. 

Thankfully, she was able to come up with a solution, but she learned her lesson after that. She had become much more careful when strengthening her Master after that, running simulation after simulation to guarantee his safety.

Then time passed, and her Master's Harvest Festival happened. She was able to make use of the Harvest Festival to strengthen her Master to the highest possible level at that point, multiple Ultimate Skills, one higher tier Ultimate Skill, and a massive increase in Magic Power and total Energy.

Satanael, Lord of Wrath, was finally unsealed, which was a massive boon. Instant energy regeneration was incredibly useful.

Then, the Walpurgis was when she realized that what she had done was not enough. Guy Crimson was an absolute monster. Not on Milim Nava's level of course, at least not in raw power, but yet he still felt incredibly dangerous. Her Master was only able to keep up with him due to her assistance at first, and even she was working overtime to keep up with Guy Crimson's movements and techniques, but her Master quickly adapted and improved dramatically as he fought on allowing her to dedicate more of her processing power to analyzing and recreating Guy Crimson's techniques. Now those very same techniques were with her Master.

Guy Crimson wasn't the only powerful individual. The Continents Wrath, Dagruel, was also incredibly powerful. Now that she had something to compare it to, she would place him at approximately 40,000,000 EP, less than her Master's total EP by a significant margin, but there was still something odd about him that made Othinus careful. Something that was only amplified when she learned from the time traveler about Dagruel's moves in the future.

He would become an enemy, and her Master seemed to think it was possible to change that, but it was in her nature to come up with countermeasures to any and all threats. Her primary objective had never changed. Protecting her Master was her most prioritized objective.

Even Rimuru Tempest was not excluded from the list of possible threats. Raphael alone made him a dangerous enemy, no matter how inferior Raphael was when compared to her Ultimate Skill self, let alone her newly evolved self.

Rimuru was also an anomaly that acquired four Ultimate Skills. He was someone who could quickly grow to be a threat. Just the fact that Raphael was able to evolve Chloe Auburt's various Unique Skills into an Ultimate Skill of comparable quality to the original Ouroboros, Lord of Infinity, was something she could recognize. 

Rimuru Tempest was not a simple man.

Then there was Chloe Aubert. 

Chronos, Lord of Space-Time was a fearsome Ultimate Skill, but she was not bothered about it anymore. Since she was able to analyze it completely due to being within Chloe Auburt's consciousness, she was able to adapt it for her own purposes and strengthen her Master while also coming up with countermeasures for Chloe Auburt.

Chloe Auburt's Energy alone made her someone Othinus recognized on her radar. She was comparable to Veldora, the Storm Dragon, in sheer Energy alone.

An EP of over 80,000,000, something extraordinary for a Human to accomplish, something that was perhaps ordinarily practically impossible, but with two Awakened Hero's Eggs, Chloe Aubert managed to do it.

Then there was Chronoa, the only other Manas Othinus knew of, but to call them equal would be incorrect.

As a Manas born from an Ultimate Skill, she was intrinsically capable of many things, such as copying Skills, and analyzing data along with various other things due to her old nature as an Ultimate Skill. She already had a base set of abilities that she was improving every instant. Chronoa, however, was different.

Chronoa was not born from a Skill, so she would have to begin her journey as a Manas manually and pick up the basic things before moving on to the more advanced things, such as creating new Skills. As her Master had said, Chronoa was a Potential Man just like Megumi Fushiguro, or rather Potential Woman. Almost boundless potential, but it would be up to Chronoa to reach that potential. It would take Chronoa time to become somewhat of a threat, and by then, Othinus was confident that she would be capable of brushing Chronoa off.

Othinus focused back on her own nature and the new thoughts running through her head. Now that she was a Manas, she could see many flaws in her previous strategies, flaws she would quickly get rid of, but Othinus would not risk her Master's safety due to overconfidence. That was why she had pushed him towards Luminous Valentine.

She knew that if she had not done that, he likely would have pulled back in order to assist her with evolving into a Manas. He was extremely loyal in that way, and the fact that he cared about her was something that caused her to experience rapturous delight.

But the more allies her Master had, the better. Milim Nava alone was an extremely large deterrent to those who were truly aware of her power, but Luminous Valentine may also prove useful. Her power as the goddess of the Western Nations could prove useful at some point if her Master did not wish to cow the West into submission through force should the need arise. 

She doubted either Milim Nava or Luminous Valentine would be needed with her here to assist her Master, but she had backup plans for her backup plans. She was still working on creating more backup plans; a war was on the horizon, and she would not underestimate her Master's enemies.

Thanks to the information her Master obtained from Guy Crimson, she was aware of the potential power the Empire could bring to bear. Michael, Lord of Justice, was a Skill she would make sure she was careful about, as she was with all unknown Ultimate Skills.

Now that she focused on herself, she felt a truly odd feeling throughout her being. Before being Named, the feelings and emotions she was able to exhibit were subtle, not like what she was currently feeling. It was almost overwhelming, emotions were truly overwhelming.

Happiness? Was this happiness? 

'Ahhh! I am now truly in eternal bliss.' She spoke out to her Master.

'Welcome to the world, Manas Othinus.' Just hearing her Master's words was enough to cause her to almost die of happiness. Euphoria was all she could feel. But she could not die, not now. Her Master still needed her.

She had to introduce herself, didn't she?

'Hello Master. I am Othinus, the Manas that now dwells within your Soul. I am the copier and unifier of Skills. It is nice to meet you.'

Was her introduction bad? She hoped it was good enough.

'You already got some titles, huh? The copier and unifier of Skills? Kinda chuuni, I love it.' If she had a body, she would have blushed at her Master's words. 'Well, anyways, it's nice to meet you too, Othinus. I look forward to working with you from now on.'

Her Master's words made delight surge through her being. There was not much she could be affected by anymore, but her Master would always remain her sole weak point.

'So what did you mean when you said you dwelled within my Soul? I think I sorta get what you were getting at, but hearing it from you would be better.' The light of her life asked.

Following her Master's commands was a reward in itself for Othinus, and so she did not hesitate to answer his question.

'The most simple way of explaining it is that I live inside of you. Your Soul now houses my Soul.'

'Huh, that's neat. I guess it's not all that different from when you were an Ultimate Skill. Now, instead of being attached to my Soul, you have a Soul of your own. You really are alive now, aren't you?'

'I am by all meanings of the word alive.' She said, not quite hiding the excitement in her voice.

'I see, well I'm glad you're happy. It will be quite interesting to get used to this new version of you, but we can do it, can't we partner?'

She all but squealed when she replied. 'Yes Master!'

'Master? You don't really have to call me that, you know, I don't really see you as a subordinate, not with all you've done to help and support me.'

'Oh, I know, Master, but I prefer it this way.' She also saw him as her partner in all things in life, but nothing would change the fact that she lived to serve him. 

Just being in his presence was euphoric for her, but she knew that he wanted true companionship, and so she would do her best to give him that. He had no need for any more "yes sir" subordinates. No matter how much her Master cared for his subordinates, it did not change the fact that he did seek a relationship where he could truly speak his mind and be told of his faults to his face, and she would be that for him, his partner.

'Suit yourself then. Now I can feel that my Soul is a lot stronger than before. Did your evolution strengthen it?'

'It did. You essentially have access to two Souls of storage and power now, and you are capable of handling even more Ultimate Skills due to this.'

'Huh, that's neat. I can feel some more changes inside of me as well as just how different you are now, but what exactly are you capable of now?' Her Master asked.

'All of my former abilities have been strengthened by a large margin; even higher tier Ultimate Skills are no longer out of my reach. I am now capable of making use of information to a much more efficient degree as well.' She responded without hesitation. That wasn't quite all of her capabilities, but it was the general gist of it.

'I see. I can feel that Thought Acceleration alone has been strengthened to an absurd degree.'

'Correct, formerly it was only capable of accelerating my and your thoughts by just 10,000,000 times.'

'Heh, 10,000,000 alone is a lot, you know?'

'Perhaps, but now it is capable of accelerating our thoughts by a factor of 1,000,000,000, and it will continue to grow.'

'One billion?! Man, that's just an obscene amount. What's even the point of that at this point.'

'I am sure it will prove useful in time, Master.'

'Perhaps. So basically, all of your overall abilities have been strengthened?'

'That is correct.'

- Felix -

'Perhaps. So basically, all of your overall abilities have been strengthened?'

'That is correct.' Othinus replied.

'I see.' With Othinus' capabilities, I'm even more confident than I was before. My EP has gone up by multiple times, I gained more power over Time, and now Odin has become a Manas.

It will take some time to get used to having an actual intelligent being in my head, but Othinus has already seen the most degenerate thoughts I've ever thought up, so I'm not shy.

'.....'

'Pfft, you're going to keep doing that?' The only thing that has changed is that I can clearly feel the emotions Othinus is exhibiting. At the moment, she was feeling embarrassed.

'Well, some things never change.' I thought as I snapped my fingers removing all the Barriers I placed around my house.

Part of me was expecting some super cool shonen-style evolution, with a rampaging Aura and everything, but with Othinus, there was no outward show of power, so my safety measures were useless.

'Do you wish for me to make an epic shonen entrance?' Othinus asked.

'Nah, it's fine.' I guess I should have expected as much when nothing outwardly changed when Chronoa became a Manas.

I walked out of my front door intending to find Hinata like I promised. I did want to hear a bit more about her adventure in the past. Hinata most definitely has more information than Luminous did. She was the one who lived it. Plus it would be good to just catch up, I'm sure Hinata grew as a person and I was curious about what changed. 

'Can I begin making minor adjustments to your Skills? I can now optimize your abilities even further, conserving your Energy while increasing the output.'

Nice, so less Energy cost and more power output. That doesn't seem to have any downsides to me.

This is just another way that shows that Othinus is superior to Chronoa! It wouldn't be fair to compare her to Raphael since Othinus is entirely different from just an Ultimate Skill now, but Chronoa is fair game.

'Indeed, I am far superior to that baby Manas.' Othinus huffed proudly. 

I didn't argue with what she said even if Chronoa was technically older than Othinus. 'As for your earlier question, sure, make whatever changes you think would be helpful, but don't go overboard. You never know when something may happen that requires my abilities.'

It would be a bit troublesome if I ended up in an intense combat situation and I was not able to use my Skill to its full potential due to all the changes.

'Very well, I am capable of controlling your Skill for you, Master, but I understand your worries. I was not planning to go overboard in the first place. I am conserving Energy for one big final Skill upgrade.'

'Oh? A final Skill upgrade, huh? Well, I'll look forward to that.'

'I will make sure not to disappoint you! However, it will take some time. The Energy required is absolutely massive and will greatly cripple your combat power at this point in time. From the data I have put together, this will be an Ultimate Skill far superior to any other Ultimate Skill in existence. It will be a literal game breaker, and it will destroy the gameboard and recreate a new one in your image.'

'Huh, well, that sounds fancy. Another question I had is, has your evolution into a Manas accelerated the time it will take to recreate Veldanava's memories?'

'It has, instead of 2,031,124 years, it will take approximately 15,311 years. The data from the Star King Factor has also greatly lowered the amount of time necessary. If I can analyze more Angelic Skills or some other things related to Veldanava, I can shorten the time even further. Each piece of new data will lower the time exponentially. Though I cannot predict just how much each piece of new data will lower the time."

'I see.'

Well, that's still an absurd amount of time, but that's just due to my current perception. Even though I am an unaging being, I'm still not even half a century old. 15,000 years is well over anything I can imagine.

I'm sure 15,000 years is nothing to Arcueid, Lalatina, and Megumin, so I guess that's really damn quick to recreate the memories of the Star King Veldanava. He was a True Dragon that should be billions of years old. But intellectually, knowing that I am capable of living for billions of years is different from actually experiencing billions of years of life.

Othinus really is working hard, huh?

'Good work, Othinus.'

'Thank you for the praise, Master!'

'No problem. Well, that's all the questions I have. Have fun with making new Skills and whatnot..'

'Hehe, I will!'

It seems that Othinus is a bit of a Skill nut, a collector and appreciator of Skills. I can't say I'm much different. I like collecting the data for all sorts of Skills, too. Othinus just takes it a step further and creates new Skills from that data.

"Greetings Lord Felix." One of the Kijin walking past me greeted me, and I nodded in return.

As I was making my way to where I sensed Hinata's Aura, I decided to activate my newly strengthened Thought Acceleration, 10,000,000 times Thought Acceleration made a single second into about 115 days, and 1,000,000,000 is 100x greater than that.

I can make a single second feel like about 32 fucking years. That is absolutely absurd. I can turn a single second into 32 years….

It took me a moment to let that sink in. It's just that absurd.

And Othinus said that my Thought Acceleration's capabilities would grow even further over time.

For the first time since Othinus had evolved, I activated Thought Acceleration to the absolute limit, and I saw a whole new world.

10,000,000 times made it seem as if time was well and truly stopped, but now I could see more, I could literally see rays of light moving. My perception speed was so quick that I could actually perceive light moving!

Thought Acceleration really can be quite incredible, and I can enforce this onto someone else as well. If I were to punch someone while enforcing this kind of Thought Acceleration onto them, they would feel pain for literal decades. That's not even considering that my casting time for Spells has gotten even shorter, to the point that the moment I even consider casting a Spell it will already be cast and heading towards an enemy.

I deactivated Thought Acceleration, and my perception shifted back to normal. People began walking past me again.

"That is trippy." I voiced out. I shook my head and continued on my way. I could sense that Hinata was in The Dungeon.

It didn't take me long to arrive next to The Dungeon, I skipped past the lines and walked right through, ignoring the stares of the waiting Adventurers. One of the Dryads in charge of The Dungeon greeted me. "Lord Felix, are you here to meet Lady Hinata?" Asked the Dryad.

It was pretty well known to the Dryads that Hinata was my student. The Dungeon was where we tended to spar since it could contain the damage a fight between us caused, and the Dryads were basically the moderators of The Dungeon so they were able to spread their senses throughout it.

I nodded to the Dryad. "I am."

The Dryad nodded with a smile on her face. "I see. She is currently watching Lord Veldora spar with his student."

I nodded. "Zegion?"

The Dryad nodded. 

"I see. Thanks for the information."

"It was my honor, Lord Felix." The Dryad then left. I snapped my fingers, creating a portal that connected to Veldora's Floor. The moment the portal opened, Magicules immediately began leaking out in intense waves. It seems the spar between Veldora and Zegion is getting somewhat serious.

I snapped my fingers shifting the Space so that all the Magicules coming through the portal would appear in a separate dimension. I didn't want any of the Adventurers that were a short distance away to die from Magicule exposure after all. Plus it would cause some damage to the buildings and such around.

"The buildings would instantly be shattered down to the atoms upon being exposed to such intense magicules." Othinus helpfully chimed in.

'Good to know.'

Once that was done I walked through the portal.

The moment I appeared on the Floor I was bombarded by the sheer amount of Aura raging around the room. The portal was only releasing a portion of it all.

"I have succeeded in analyzing the Authority Small World." Othinus informed me.

'Nice!' 

Small World was always something that stumped Odin, it was nice to see that Othinus managed to overcome her obstacles and succeed at understanding Small World.

I could feel the information of how Small World worked flooding my mind, and I felt something attach to my Soul. It wasn't quite a Skill, but it was very, very similar.

'I thought Small World was an Intrinsic Skill? You called it an Authority.'

'That was incorrect information. As Odin, I was incapable of truly understanding the nature of Small World even though I was able to comprehend a very small portion of its true abilities. Small World is not a Skill. It is an Authority.'

Huh, well, I guess that makes sense. No matter how perfect Odin had seemed, everyone makes mistakes.

'.....'

'Oh, stop pouting. It wasn't an insult against you.'

'I know! I am simply disappointed that I did not manage to catch this.'

'Well, you managed to understand it now, so why don't you explain to me what an Authority is?'

'Authorities are something entirely different from Skills and yet still function in a similar way. I do not have much data on them. Small World is the only Authority that I have fully analyzed, but from what I understand, an Authority is what it sounds like. It is essentially control over an aspect of the World similar to an Ultimate Skill, grants the user Authority over the World in a similar way as Ultimate Skills do.'

Huh, well, that's interesting. Who knew there were even more power systems in this World to discover?

I focused on the newfound Authority Othinus was able to replicate inside of me. Small World was truly an extraordinary ability, beyond even what I originally thought it was capable of.

At its core Small World allows the user to create an endless amount of Dimensions as long as they have enough energy. Each Dimension is tailored to the user's liking, and anything within those Dimensions is practically fully under the user's control. Even the laws of that dimension could be changed if the user had enough energy.

Even death is something the user of Small World can control if it is within the Dimensions created by it. Of course, the Dimensions aren't indestructible. They are just very, very hard to destroy. Even if I went all out with a Hollow Purple, I still doubt that I could destroy all 100 Floors of The Dungeon. The Dimensions created by Small World are just that sturdy.

And if someone has enough power in general they can resist that absolute control the user of Small World has over the Dimension or if they are strong enough, but it is still a very powerful ability.

The Dimensions are also not simple at all. The user of Small World can instantly customize the Dimensions to their liking, rearrange the Floor plans, change the terrain, etc.

The user can create just about any structure or terrain in the Dimensions created through Small World. The Dimensions are basically the user's own personal world, where they are free to modify anything and everything. I could do something somewhat similar already, but Small World streamlined the process and made it far more efficient. Small World when used in sync with Brahma, made for a fearsome combination.

Though life can't directly be created with Small World, but Odin had said that she was working on it back when I got Brahma, and I assume Othinus is continuing her former self's tasks.

'I am. I can feel that I am on the verge of a breakthrough involving Souls.'

'Nice.' 

Once Othinus figures Souls out, I can create Soul Energy directly and feed the Soul Energy directly to my direct subordinates Demon Lord Seeds, triggering their Harvest Festivals, though I'll likely hold off on that until they improve their own abilities further.

Power means nothing if it isn't mastered. Just giving them more raw power wouldn't help them much in the long term. That rule applies even to me. I, however, have the cheat known as Othinus so controlling my power is a piece of cake. However, without Othinus, I'd have a bit more trouble. That's part of why I want to spar with Milim and let loose a bit. I want to see where I stand and gradually put my power under control on my own.

As for my subordinates controlling their power, they already have pretty solid control, well, except for Saeko, who is all power and has no finesse, but that's just how she is, and she's been working on that.

Though I don't doubt that Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina would effectively make use of the power up the Harvest Festival would grant them, but I'd like to do all their Festivals together if possible. 

Then, I need to consider just how many people I was willing to power up. I didn't want to upset the power balance of the world too much. I have a feeling that if I go too overboard, Guy won't like that very much.

Dealing with an upset Guy just sounds annoying, maybe he'd even sick Velzard on me. 

Velzard was a scary yandere, you never underestimate a yandere or you may find yourself stabbed in your sleep.

I focused back on my new Authority. Small World had very wide-encompassing abilities, though it also had some rules the user needed to obey. For one, the user cannot force someone into a Dimension created through Small World. They need consent. 

Thankfully, just being subconsciously willing to enter counts as consent, so that isn't too large of a deal.

'I have learned something interesting while analyzing Small World. Would you like to hear about it, Master?'

'Now you got me curious.'

'I believe that Small World once belonged to the Star King Veldanava and was used in combination with something else to create the multiverse.'

'For real?!'

'Indeed.'

Huh, Ramiris must have been even more busted in her prime than I thought. 

If Small World is capable of creating a multiverse, then she must have been an absolute force of nature. However, it seems that whatever was used in combination with Small World played a very key part since from what I understand so far, to create an entire multiverse Small World alone is just not enough. 

It has the foundations for it, but I have no clue as to how one would go about coding reality, which is what creating a multiverse is. You are basically coding reality.

Reality is very, very complex, and Veldanava would have had to basically set up all of reality. He had to set the Laws of an entire multiverse, which, even with all the data I have, I am incapable of.

A multiverse is just impossibly massive.

Sure, I could perhaps create a universe by technicality with some work. Brahma was capable of something like that, setting up the Laws of the Universe included, but it would take me a while, and I'd likely have to do everything manually, something I doubt Veldanava had to do.

'Your theory is likely correct Master. From what I understand, Veldanava created the base of the multiverse in an instant, the Laws of it included. Later on, he began creating life and individual planets.'

Small World really is something, you can make a world on your own with it.

'Oh, since Small World was once an ability of Veldanava's, did the data on it decrease the time needed to recreate his memories?'

'It did.'

'Excellent.'

'I also have an idea to power up your direct subordinates further, Master.'

'Oh? Let me hear it.'

'I have come up with an Art that makes use of Life Domination to remake an individual into a stronger form. It is possible to even evolve someone through this method.'

'That sounds great, but there has to be a cost.'

'Indeed, this method requires Souls, not just Soul Energy, since it makes use of the memories, the Ego, and the Spirit of a Soul to initiate the recreation of an individual.'

Soul Energy isn't enough, then.

'I'm guessing the Souls I have in my possession aren't enough?'

'Correct. To remake even a single one of your direct subordinates it will cost approximately 100,000 Souls until I optimize the process more.'

Damn! That's as much as I would need to initiate an Artificial Harvest Festival!

'It is estimated that the resulting power-up will be comparable to that of a Harvest Festival.'

An evolution that can mimic the effects of a Harvest Festival, one that would literally increase my subordinate's power by multiple times, is insane.

All of them would triple in power at minimum. Depending on their personal aptitude, they may gain an even larger boost.

And then, when I initiate an Artificial Harvest Festival later on for each of them, they would once again get a large boost in power.

By my estimation, some of my direct subordinates would directly breach the 15,000,000 EP mark after all of that. That's a significant level of power.

But I can think further on that later, I don't even have the Souls necessary for that yet.

"It's quite impressive for Zegion to be able to match Veldora. I still recall our fight when I sealed him, the amount of raw power Veldora emanated was incomparable to anything else." A feminine voice called out.

I smiled and turned around. "Sup Hinata." I waved.

Hinata turned away from the arena to face me. She had a smile on her face. "Hello Felix, I assume you have come to me to hear about my tales as you said you would?" She asked with a quirked brow.

I nodded. "That's right, but let's watch this fight for now." Hinata nodded and turned back around.

Veldora was using some of his personal Martial Arts while Zegion was responding with the same.

Some time back Zegion had evolved, gaining a far more humanoid body. He was no longer a juvenile of the Insectoid race. From what Sukuna told me, Zegion had become a much more bothersome opponent after evolving. His exoskeleton wasn't powerful enough to nullify higher-tier Magic, but it still made it difficult for Sukuna to properly Cleave and Dismantle Zegion.

Sukuna had to develop some new methods of attack to actually breach past Zegion's defense. I knew having a shonen rival would help Sukuna.

I noticed that Hinata was very focused on Veldora's movements. She was observing every little thing. 

"Are you going to ask for a rematch?"

Hinata turned to me and nodded. "At some point, yes. In the past, Veldora was far weaker. I was able to handle him fairly easily with the help of Chloe's Energy reserves, but as he is now, he will be a challenge."

I nodded. "Veldora is very strong. It wouldn't do to underestimate him due to how goofy he can act. He is the strongest force Tempest has access to, far surpassing even Rimuru."

However, depending on if Chloe decides to stay in Tempest that may change.

I smirked in Hinata's direction. "Maybe we should have a spar while these two go at it? I am curious to see how much you have progressed. It would be a shame if my student was still weak. Though if you are hesitant about your chances of victory, you may graciously decline my offer." I taunted.

Hinata glared at me before huffing. "I know you are baiting me, but fine."

I laughed in victory. "That always works on you. It's adorable how you still haven't changed after all this time. I'm glad."

Hinata's face flushed. "A-Adorable?!"

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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.

I have a discord server, come hang out if you want! https://discord.gg/VxR5Gn72Fp I also have a channel in Shiro's Gaming Omniverse.

Links: patreon.com/theogbasilisk

Author's Note:

Sup everyone, the moment has finally arrived, Odin has become a Manas. It only took 70 chapters. Though I have been planning this from practically the start of the story, so it feels good to have finally reached this point.

Now as a Manas Othinus' capabilities have been strengthened by an obscene degree, even Small World was copied. There was a bit of an info dump but I like doing those whenever Felix discovers a new ability, and Small World is one broken ass ability, describing it helps me understand the ability as well so there is that.

Anyways, thanks for reading, peace!

Thanks to the Bewtichingly Benevolent @Bonvoyage, @Salante, and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.