The Real Reason the Lord of Dawn Hunted Me

No, thank you.

That was what Tingen wanted to say.

But as a warm and hospitable archmage, Tingen treated every guest with the utmost enthusiasm, even one who had arrived uninvited.

So he readily agreed to his guest's request and opened the library hidden in his Demiplane to him.

Then he stood on the eighth floor of his Wizard Tower and waited for the gentleman to come out.

He waited until the moon had climbed into the sky before the gentleman finally emerged from the Demiplane. Never before had he realized how unbearable waiting could be.

"Thank you, sir." Jiang Hao nodded politely to the mage. The man's extensive collection had answered many of his questions, and he wanted to express his gratitude.

"It is my honor to serve you, sir." Flattered, Tingen removed his pointed hat, held it to his chest, and bowed deeply to Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao smiled. "Would you indulge one more unreasonable request?"

No, thank you.

That was what Tingen thought, but what came out was, "I would be honored to serve you again."

With a smile in his eyes, Jiang Hao said, "As a visitor from far away who knows nothing about this city, could I stay with you for a while? I'll move out once I find a place of my own."

"You want to stay here?"

Tingen felt a flicker of panic.

What was the difference between a mage letting an unfamiliar Demigod stay in his Wizard Tower and a king letting a treasure-hungry dragon stay in his treasury?

Jiang Hao nodded.

Tingen's face twitched at the thought of the cost. "It would be my honor to have someone as distinguished as you stay in my Wizard Tower."

I hope this Demigod, who speaks like a noble, won't loot my Wizard Tower like a greedy dragon... At least leave me half.

Jiang Hao gave a reserved nod and waited for the archmage to make arrangements.

Once everything was settled, Jiang Hao sat in a gray egg chair, sipping freshly squeezed root-fruit juice prepared by an Invisible Servant. He could not help feeling impressed.

"Noble etiquette from another world is pretty useful."

He had merely imitated the manners in Baron Ian Albert's memories when speaking to the archmage, yet the results had been surprisingly good.

The man had not looked down on him, lashed out at the first disagreement, or given him any trouble. Instead, he had seen to every detail and conjured several Invisible Servants to attend to him. Jiang Hao felt right at home.

No, it was better than home. He had no servants waiting on him there.

So he decided not to look for another place to stay just yet.

Jiang Hao waved the Invisible Servants away and sank into thought.

Among the books in Tingen Archmage's collection, the Book of Sedir had answered his question about why he could not become a god. Its author was Oghma, a deity known as the Binder of Words, the Recorder of History, and the Spreader of Knowledge.

From Baron Ian Albert's memories, Jiang Hao knew that Oghma believed knowledge was everything and devoted himself to spreading it across the continent.

Oghma had personally written hundreds of books covering different fields of knowledge, placed them in Graycastle, the headquarters of the Church of Knowledge, and made them available to every creature who came there.

Of those books, the Book of Sedir was the most widely circulated.

Powerful beings were always particularly interested in becoming gods.

"Baron Ian Albert's memories were wrong. Faith isn't the key to becoming a True God. Authority is."

"One who occupies an authority is a Demigod. One who masters it is a True God!"

"Two Demigods who occupy the same authority are mortal enemies, because an authority can belong to only one. When a Demigod completely masters an authority and ascends to godhood as a True God, every other Demigod occupying that authority automatically loses control over it. If it was the only authority such a Demigod occupied, they fall back to the Legendary level."

"And before that god dies, Legendary professionals cannot become Demigods by occupying that authority."

"The key to occupying an authority is playing the part. The key to mastering it is recognition."

Jiang Hao considered this carefully. What did "playing the part" mean? And what was "recognition"?

He murmured, "Taken literally, 'playing the part' seems to mean acting as a particular god. What I did on Blue Star seems to fit."

"I played the part of Amenominakanushi, who created the world and ruled the gods in mythology. So when I came to this world, I automatically gained the authorities of Creation and King of the Gods."

"If playing the part really is as simple as I think, the number of Demigods in this world ought to be a surprise."

Legendary professionals lived for three hundred years. Demigods were immortal.

If advancing from Legendary professional to Demigod was that easy, there should be far more Demigods than Legendary professionals in this world.

"Then what about 'recognition'? Does it mean being acknowledged by everyone, just as the word suggests?"

He thought it over, then rejected the idea. "It can't be that literal. The people of the Eastern Isles on Blue Star acknowledged me as the real Amenominakanushi. If that were enough, I would have become a True God the moment I crossed into this world, rather than merely occupying those two authorities."

As Jiang Hao pondered, a possibility suddenly occurred to him.

A Demigod could occupy multiple authorities.

Then what about the True Gods in the void beyond this world?

Did they occupy multiple authorities too?

Take Oghma, the author of the Book of Sedir. He was called the Binder of Words, the Recorder of History, and the Spreader of Knowledge.

In this world, his divine name was Oghma, God of Knowledge. That meant he had mastered at least the authority of Knowledge. His title of Binder of Words suggested he also occupied some portion of the authority of Words, while Recorder of History suggested he occupied the authority of History.

Of course, he might have mastered the authorities of Words and History completely.

That thought brought Jiang Hao back to the Lord of Dawn, who had shown him such unmistakable hostility.

His title was blunt and straightforward: the ruler of Dawn.

That should mean he had mastered the authority of Dawn.

"Is Dawn an authority derived from the Sun Authority?"

The Book of Sedir recorded that authorities could branch into lesser authorities.

For example, the authority of Disaster could branch into Volcano, Storm, Earthquake, and others. The authority of Elf could likewise branch into Drow, Sea Elf, High Elf, and others.

"Baron Ian Albert's memories show that the Lord of Dawn's divine emblem is a rising sun... Suppose, suppose the Lord of Dawn mastered the authority of Dawn, derived from the authority of the Sun. Then I've found the real reason he keeps hunting me."