For the Sake of Perfecting the New Class, the Devs Are Really Wearing Themselves Out, Huh (Yeah, Right)

As it turned out, once the foul-mouthed snake's initiative had been roused, the time-wielding creature always acted with astonishing efficiency.

Just like how Murphy had lured it away with the Creation energy from R-9 Base to spend over an hour learning the Twilight cultists' wicked knowledge, it now completed the task of contacting the Earth Mother quickly and well.

Of course, it was rather difficult for Mannis, once a force to be reckoned with across the Astral Plane, to contact an existence on the level of the Earth Mother. The gap in status and standing was not so easily crossed. Still, the Endless One was a demigod with "connections." It could pass along a message through the Earth Mother's "underlings."

Just as Tritan served the God of the Sea, the Earth Mother had her own demigod followers.

"Bloodhorn" Padd!

A war-lors beast with a pair of gloriously broken horns, Padd had more than a little history with Mannis, just like most demigods of the Astral Plane. Its signature broken horn was a gift from the Endless One.

By rights, the two should have been mortal enemies. But recent developments had given Padd and Mannis a little "common ground." The cunning Silver Wolf had made a deal with the owner of the Wolf Fang Holy Sword, which had been corrupted by the Lord of the Hunt, to get it back. The price was Padd's broken horn.

That was crossing a line.

After Tritan, the gossip-loving wanderer, spread the rumor, word was that the furious Padd had already fought several battles with the Silver Wolf across the shattered Astral Plane.

The whole affair gave Murphy a pretty useful point of reference and made him realize a truth: sometimes having a lot of enemies wasn't a bad thing, because your enemies had enemies