AUTHOR'S NOTE

Reminder that this is the beginning of a 2.5 week planned break. Will be back with chapter 126 on Saturday the 6th. Patreon will continue updating though.

END AUTHOR'S NOTE

Maggie stared at Elise for a few seconds, then burst into laughter.

“H-hey, it’s a legitimate question!” protested Elise.

Maggie started laughing even harder, doubling over and clutching her stomach. Elise tried to maintain a series and indignant expression, but by the time Maggie recovered, it was already wavering.

“So?” asked Elise.

“No, I’m not telling you that so that you don’t cut off my supply,” said Maggie, still smiling. “To be honest… I should probably stop. I’ve been here for too long. I kept telling myself I could stop whenever I wanted—and I can, to an extent, since I can cure myself of the symptoms whenever I want—but I’ve been here for five years now. Clearly, I had no intention of stopping. This has been a good wake up call. Nothing like giving others advice to make you realize your life is in the dumps.

“No, the reason I tell you is because I wanted to help you understand the consequences of your actions. Not in a bad way, but… well, it’s complicated. I mentioned I’ve seen you in my dreams, right? Do you understand what that means?”

“Are you a prophet?” asked Elise.

“Similar,” Maggie replied. “You’ve had dreams of others as well though, right?”

“...Yeah.”

“That’s a product of your aether. Aether is a complicated topic, but essentially, it is the energy that binds the world together. It is connective. This is a good lesson for you too, because you can’t think of it like mana. With mana, you can gather it into a ball and throw it somewhere, and that mana is gone. That’s not how it works with aether.

“Everything with aether is a connection. When you use an aether-based skill, you aren’t expending aether like you would mana. You’re using it to form a connection, and then manipulating that connection. And oftentimes, even after that Skill’s duration is up, the connection remains to some extent.

“Everyone you interact with, you form a connection with. Even if it’s as simple as making eye contact. It’s a weak connection, but still a connection, and it gets stronger with more interaction. That’s why Charisma is the aether stat. Relationships, which Charisma affects most, are aetheric connections. When you use a skill like {Charm}, you’re thickening that connection.

“And how this all relates to dreams is that those with lots of aether tend to form strong enough connections that they can remain aware of the others, even when far apart. This manifests in the subconscious, which becomes most active while asleep. And as your aether grows, you may end up dreaming about those you haven’t even formed connections with. As I said, the stronger your aether, the stronger your aetheric connections, and that means that even weak ones may be noticeable. Even now, you’re likely no more than four or five moderate aetheric connections from just about anyone on this continent. You could technically dream about any one of them, though if you don’t have any skills to control your dreams, you will gravitate toward the ones that you have the strongest connections with, or the ones that have the strongest aether of their own.

“That’s how I was aware of you. My strongest aetheric connection is to Lucena, goddess of light, and through her, I am connected to everyone touched by the light. Even those in other worlds. I was aware of you when you were still a student in your first life. Your soul was already anomalous back then, by the way.”

“It was?” asked Elise.

“I wouldn’t have noticed you otherwise.”

Elise frowned at that revelation. She hadn’t felt that she had anything like her current high Charisma back on Earth. She had only had a couple close friends, and was generally bullied by everyone else. Though perhaps the bullying was due to strong negative connections…

No point in worrying about the past, she told herself.

Regardless of what the truth was, it didn’t matter anymore. That life was gone, and she had a new life to worry about. And more questions to ask, because every answer Maggie gave only seemed to create more questions.

“How many different worlds do you see?” she asked.

Maggie shrugged. “I have no idea. I suspect that I only see worlds that are already connected to this one though. As for how many that is, I don’t know. Different parts of the world look different. I have no way of knowing if I’m seeing a new part of an old world, or a new world entirely.”

“Are there any other people like me?”

“Y-” Maggie started.

She paused, her head tilting slightly as if listening to something.

“Well, it’s too late to hide that the answer is ‘yes,’” she said. “But I’m not allowed to tell you any more about it.”

“Oh…” said Elise, disappointed.

Just that one word though sent her mind racing. If there were other people like her, did that mean that there were other people from Earth? Or did they come from completely different worlds? Were they victims of the Find-a-Form algorithm too, or did they get to be human? How many were there? Was it just one? Two? Ten? Where were they? Would she meet them?

“Since I can’t tell you any more about that, I’ll get back to the point I was originally making,” said Maggie, pulling Elise away from her thoughts. “As I was saying, everything with aether is a connection, especially relationships with people. You are connected to your friends, who are connected to their friends and family, who are connected to their friends and family, and so on. Everything is connected. When you mess with one node, there is a ripple effect on the nearby nodes. This is true for everyone, but doubly so for you, aetherborn.

“I would give the same advice to anyone, but especially for you, you should be aware of this fact. Your actions carry weight. Your aetheric influence is much higher than normal. Your small actions cause disproportionately large ripples, and your big moves create massive waves. The world is like a giant spiderweb, and you are a fat, juicy bug crashing into it, shaking the whole thing and alerting the spiders to your presence.

“Of course, this is unavoidable, no matter what you do. Choosing to do nothing is also a choice, and it will have its own consequences. And no matter what you do, you can never predict exactly how your actions will affect the world. At most, you can predict the most immediate consequences, and even then, it will be unreliable.

“Now, that all might make you feel overwhelmed, but I don’t want you paralyzed, unable to make any decisions because you’re afraid of what the consequences might be. I just want you to be aware that your actions will have consequences, and that whatever you do, you need to be prepared to handle them.

“To counter my previous points, if you choose to do nothing here, Euphoria will continue being distributed. They may increase the scale of their operations in the future, and get more people addicted, causing something of an addiction epidemic. They might use unethical means to scale up. Things like killing parents to take their children. Perhaps gathering enough children that they can cycle them out, borderline torturing them, in one place so that their feeling of joy when brought here will be even greater.

“As you can see, no matter what you do, there is potential for tragedy. When you make a decision, you need to be aware of this, and resolute in your choice so that you may handle the consequences accordingly. Do you understand?”

Despite Maggie’s attempt at a motivational speech, Elise was indeed feeling a bit overwhelmed. She recognized that it was her own fault for not thinking any of this through before she tried to initiate a large-scale drug bust, but it still didn’t make her decision any easier. Objectively, the drugs were illegal, and the manufacturers would be arrested. Also objectively though, the orphans were living pleasant lives and the streets in the slums were safe due to these very same drugs. The drugs were ruining lives, but getting rid of the drugs might also ruin lives. Leaving them be would ruin more.

“I recommend looking on the positive side, rather than the negative,” said Maggie. “It’s easy to lose yourself in the negative consequences. What would be the best thing that could happen after you expose the Euphoria production?”

“...The manufacturers get arrested and the drug production stops…” Elise began slowly. “I could try to convince Oberon to find happy homes for the orphans. I doubt he would keep the streets safe, but maybe I could find someone trustworthy enough to handle that.”

“Why not handle it yourself?” asked Maggie.

“Well, because-” Elise faltered. “I have to go to Jelor City soon…”

She frowned as she spoke.

“But you could benefit more lives if you stayed behind to help keep the peace here,” argued Maggie.

Elise recognized that the other woman was now playing devil’s advocate, but she also recognized that she had gotten bogged down by this same logic before. She had less of a choice back then, but back with the dwarves and drow, she stayed behind to handle things personally, rather than leaving as soon as she could. Was that wrong of her? She had definitely saved lives by doing it.

But at the same time, she had also felt trapped. The whole time she was underground, she couldn’t stop thinking about the other things she needed and wanted to do. She had to save the Grays. She had to find the warg. She wanted to have some time to herself.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I don’t want to stay here and spend my whole life keeping the peace.”

“Exactly,” said Maggie. “And that right there is all you need. As I just explained, whatever you do can have major consequences. You might do a lot of good here, but you might also do a lot of good in Jelor City. Or in Vina. Or in Bermark. Or wherever else you decide to go. You are also under no obligation to help these people. You certainly could, but why can’t they help themselves? Oftentimes, people are victims of circumstance, but just as often, they merely accept their circumstance, and do nothing about it but wait for someone to save them.

“Much of the time, the best you can do is give them an opportunity. Give them an opportunity to change their circumstances. Create a situation where they can rise above their current situation. After that it’s up to them whether they change their lives for the better, or continue to wallow in their own failures.

“It sounds unempathetic, yes, but how can these people ever learn to act for themselves if you stay and do everything for them? Aside from the literal children, they are not children, and you are not their mother. Additionally, they are strangers to you. You have no personal stakes. Perhaps you could stay here and keep the peace for eternity, but what would happen to your existing relationships? Even with your aether, they would slowly fade.”

“Right…” said Elise. “But if there’s something I can do to help people, and I am completely capable of it, and I choose not to do it, isn’t that just as bad as putting them in those situations in the first place?”

“Is it?”

Elise couldn’t answer. Her mind was in turmoil. Every time she thought that she had an answer, Maggie would say something that made her uncertain again.

“Let me give you another hypothetical. Say you are on your way to rescue a village of 100 people. On the way, you find a caravan of 10 people being waylaid by monsters. If you ignore the 10 people, they will certainly die, but if you save them, you will be too late to save the 100 people in the village, who will also certainly die. Which do you save?”

“...The 100 people?”

“Is it then wrong to ignore the ten people?”

“No?”

“To the 10 who see you pass by and do nothing, it certainly seems so. To them, you are evil for ignoring their plight. To the rest of the world you are a hero for saving the 100 people.”

“But what if there is no village to save. Wouldn’t ignoring those 10 people in danger be wrong?”

“Would it?”

Elise hesitated for a moment before responding. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” said Elise more firmly.

“Good,” said Maggie. “That is the resolve you must have. I know that my words are overwhelming, but this is the point I am trying to make. You need to have resolve, and you need to keep the long term in mind. Do you have any long-term goals?”

“Becoming a goddess?” said Elise, uncertain.

“Why?”

“Well…”

Elise trailed off as she tried to articulate her reasoning. Her main goal, and the one that she felt the most strongly about, was allowing monsters like Jag to live normal lives without stunting their growth. That meant changing the System to allow monsters to take Classes. And to be in a position to do that, she needed to be a goddess.

“I want to change the System,” she said. “Make it better. Let monsters live normal lives.”

“And in the long term, how many lives will that benefit? How many will it save?”

“I don’t know,” Elise admitted. “A lot?”

“Theoretically, if you accomplish this goal, it would be countless,” said Maggie. “It would make monsters less aggressive, saving both their lives, and the lives of humanoids, and it would make the more peacefully-inclined ones able to live more fulfilling lives. That is your village. That is your 100 people. Whatever you do, you need to keep that goal in mind. If you come across the 10 person caravan, save them if you can, but you don’t need to devote your life to it. Don’t put your long-term goals at risk for the sake of a few strangers.”

“I see…” said Elise.

She didn’t have any concrete thoughts on the situation, but she did feel a sudden spark within. It wasn’t hope, or inspiration, or anger, or anything she recognized. However, she felt suddenly more at-peace. Not completely at-peace, but she felt like she was on her way there. The conversation with Maggie had forced herself to put her long-term goals into words, and something about that had helped settle her mind. She was also starting to come to a decision about what to do about the Euphoria, so when Maggie spoke next, she was ready.

“So, now, what do you plan to do about this?” said Maggie, gesturing toward the mushroom-filled planters.

Elise hesitated for just a moment, then made up her mind. She looked up at Maggie with a resolute gaze and spoke firmly.

“I will not report the drugs.”

“And why not?” asked Maggie with a faint smile.

“Because as you explained, the Euphoria is what’s keeping the streets safe and the children happy. Taking them out would ruin all of that. I might be able to handle the children with Oberon’s help, but it’s also a bit of a gamble, because he isn’t trustworthy. And if this organization disappears, the streets won’t be peaceful anymore, and handling that would be more work than I want to do, and it wouldn’t align with the path to godhood I am trying to forge.”

Maggie nodded. “And you are certain of this choice?”

“...No, but I’m resolved. There’s plenty of time before any of the things you described would happen. If things do get that bad, I can always come back and stop them.”

“Good,” said Maggie, nodding even more.

Elise felt a bit proud of herself. She wasn’t sure if her decision was “right,” but if it wasn’t, she was prepared to deal with it. She felt a small trace of amusement as she realized how opposite Maggie’s lesson of accepting the consequences was to Oberon’s of running from them. She definitely leaned more toward Maggie’s philosophy, as far as she could tell, but she also saw at least some value in learning Oberon’s. While his wasn’t anything she wanted to follow herself, they also weren’t entirely incompatible. She could both live freely, and be resolved to handle the consequences of her actions.

“In that case, let’s get out of here,” said Maggie. “I’ve been dreaming long enough. It’s time for me to get away from the Euphoria and back to life. I think it’s time for the Order of Light to return.”

Elise vaguely recalled learning something about the Order of Light at some point, but she still wasn’t entirely sure what it is. Still, if Maggie was the one leading it, she couldn’t imagine it would be too bad. Well, the Maggie she was talking to now, at least. Crazy, drug-addicted Maggie was not a good leader.

Together, the two of them walked out of the vault, and back into the tunnels. They made it past the guards again in much the same way, though rather than odd threats with {Fey Bargaining}, Maggie used physical threats. It was much faster that way.

They emerged somewhere on the outskirts of the slums, outside the range of detection of the Euphoria group. Maggie stretched and stared into the sun, then looked down at Elise with a smile.

“This is the first time I’ve been properly sober in years, and it’s thanks to you,” she said. “So thank you for that.”

“You helped me more than I helped you,” said Elise.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Maggie shrugged. “But it was a fortuitous encounter either way. I’m glad that I met you, and I hope that we meet again in the future.”

“Me too,” said Elise, smiling back at her.

“Then I’ll see you around,” said Maggie, turning away.

Elise watched her walk away a few steps, then a sudden thought crossed her mind. She had already been thinking about Jag because of the conversation earlier, and with all the talk about aether and souls, it wasn’t a surprise that her mind made that connection.

“Wait!” she called.

“Yes?” said Maggie turning around.

“You’re good with souls, right?”

“Better than most.”

“I have a friend. His soul is wounded really badly. I’m keeping him in stasis right now so he doesn’t get any worse while I look for a soul healer. Would you be able to help him?”