“Fair point,” Alyx told him.

  “It would be very convoluted, but that can often be the case when great powers are at work. Still, you are right, it's not like being a warlock, as you put it, is bad. Maybe when the Realm Invasion first began, being connected to a Monarch might get you killed, but now there are too many hybrids running around,” Lili added, eliminating any real reason why the World Crystal might want to hide a Monarch's involvement with Tesilim.

  “Exactly, so why don’t we head back to the city?”

  “Sure, let's head back, though I have to admit, everything around you is rather odd, Tesilim. Gods, World Crystals, and now maybe a Monarch. Seriously, Tesilim, who are you? Why are you here? You aren’t some secret Chaos Power here to destroy our world, are you?” Alyx asked him in a serious tone, staring him down with narrowed eyes and the demeanor of a conspiracist.

  “Haha! Very funny, Alyx, now let's go,” Tesilim answered nervously as he turned around and began walking.

  “You don't seriously think that he is behind some of these crazy things, right?” Lili questioned the gnome once Tesilim had gotten far enough.

  “Gods no! I just wanted to mess with him a little bit,” Alyx told her with a huge grin as they both started after their elf companion.

  It didn't take long for the trio to get back to the city, and once there, they promptly split up. At least, after Tesilim confirmed that he had to be at the temple early the next morning along with Drex, he promptly grabbed Lili's hands, and they both walked off. For his part, Alyx watched him go for a few seconds before continuing towards the temple grounds.

  Entering the temple proper, Alyx noted the rather calm atmosphere; something that would rapidly change as soon as he delved deeper. In fact, it wasn’t long after entering that the quiet lobby was quickly assaulted by noise as the Grand Cleric came rushing from deeper in the temple.

  “Alyx, you're alive!” The cleric shouted, her voice rising in pitch with excitement and worry.

  “Yes, I am,” Alyx told her right before he was enveloped in a hug. The Grand Cleric, like many others of her rank, was one of the few people who treated him more like a person than a semi-divine being. Not that Alyx complained, since outside of a few individuals, most followers of the two goddesses were annoyingly respectful and reserved around him. Well, at least when it came to non-research-based interactions.

  “Good, good, now what took you so long!? We have been waiting on you to start everything!”

  “Aside from the fact that I died?” Alyx questioned sarcastically.

  “Yes, though you had us worried there for a second, well, had me worried. However, you’re alive, and should have gotten back here faster!”

  “Probably, but I still think you’re glossing over the fact that I died way too easily,” Alyx told the cleric, trying to gain some sympathy.

  “Nonsense! What's dying once or twice as long as you get back.”

  “What!? I will have you know that-” Alyx began, but was cut off.

  “Yeah, yeah, now come on, let's get moving, these rituals won’t get themselves done,” The highest local authority of the church told him as she effortlessly but gently nudged him forward. Now, did Alyx want to complain? Yes, yes, he did. Did he? No, no, he didn’t. The Grand Cleric, like Alyx, was a researcher at heart, and there wasn’t a lot that would get in the way of either of them gathering knowledge. This was especially true now, considering who had tasked them with the research.

  Typically, for scholars and other researchers in the same field, things consisted of constantly reviewing data and doing generally unexciting work. Granted, this entirely depended on the type of research the researcher was conducting. However, looking into the most exciting aspects of reality, there were only a few times when researchers experienced genuine excitement. Granted, these moments varied from researcher to researcher and depended on what each scholar considered worthy of celebration.

  For many on the lower branches of the research tree. Often, those who helped others find breakthroughs, their moments came when that breakthrough was realized. Sadly, there were few scholars at the forefront of their fields. And, in truth, many researchers were bottom-tier individuals. They simply lacked the comprehension or power to uncover the truth they sought. This didn't mean they were useless, as there were plenty of others who needed assistance with the more unpleasant tasks their work demanded.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  This dynamic also extended to the Temple of Knowledge and Magic, with the exception that there was one additional event that all researchers serving in the temple looked forward to. This event essentially transcended any other celebratory occasion, save for incredible breakthroughs that could change the understanding of reality. As expected, this event was when the two goddesses themselves recruited their followers to join in on a temple-wide project.

  Entering the temple proper, Alyx was soon among the controlled chaos of the ongoing project. A multitude of scholars were rushing around with checklists, materials, and other items as they sought to set up rituals in various rooms. This sight wasn't new to Alyx, as he had previously worked on a few temple-wide projects. Sadly, he hadn’t been able to do much during these projects as he had been too young and inexperienced.

  As for the current project, well, he wasn't really going to be part of it, since he was the focus. So it wasn't long before he was pushed into a room and into the center of a ritual circle. Not that Alyx could complain much, as he had been the one putting people in ritual circles for a long time. Also, this wasn’t the first time he had been thrown at the center of everything. After all, one can only go so long doing rituals and experiments, especially with souls, until something doesn’t go the way one wants it to.

  Another reason Alyx couldn't complain too much was that the entire ordeal went rather quickly. Usually, large research projects require significant time because they involve extensive cooperation. This causes many communication issues and a variety of other problems when multiple individuals work together. However, for their current task, each scholar on call was wholly focused on ensuring everything went smoothly. They all knew that this event was possibly one of the highlights of their careers and something they could brag about to other scholars, regardless of where their paths took them.

  After all, it wasn't every day that a researcher could work on a project directly involving two gods. So, when everything was said and done, it only took Alyx an hour or two to undergo a variety of rituals and tests.

  He had been efficiently moved from one room to another, each room having the ritual, resources, and people needed to complete their task. Then, once that particular test had been completed, Alyx was taken to the next and the next, until finally he was released as the cleaning process and final data collection got underway.

  Once he was free, Alyx took a slice of time to get himself together, as well as let the general chaos of the temple calm down. Then, when he felt like a gnome and not the subject of an experiment, Alyx got back to prepping. There were a few things that he wanted to look into for the coming rituals with Tesilim. Primarily, it involved checking on materials, bringing helpers on board, setting up rituals, and reading more on specific aspects of souls.

  Considering that researchers were still a little too excited about the project they had just completed, and some were still finishing up the cleaning, Alyx decided to do some reading and information gathering first.

  Primarily, Alyx was looking to read more about the various aspects of souls and the circumstances in which other scholars had found them split. He was also investigating how some souls had been merged and the overall process of soul creation. Not that he had much luck with the last part, as the process of creating a soul was a high-level affair. Granted, knowing how a normal soul was created was relatively well known by scholars or higher-ranked individuals, but the actual process of artificially creating one was more nebulous. This was mainly due to the implementation of the mana cycle into a soul, a process carried out by the soul and reality itself during the creation of a new living being.

  Of course, it was this implementation of the mana cycle, the very thing Alyx needed. However, he was unable to find much of anything regarding its implementation during the creation of a soul, much less using the implementation to establish an already existing soul. The entire ordeal was somewhat annoying, as he was supposed to be the chosen of two gods, as well as a relative expert on souls. Yet there were clearly things not meant to be known or used by low-ranking personnel.

  At the very least, Alyx couldn't say that he regretted his time looking into the various subjects, as it was a good idea to read the different perspectives of other scholars. It was also a generally good session for re-studying the basics and keeping himself sharp.

  Now, in between all of Alyx's reading sessions as he looked into souls, the gnome also worked on the other things needed for the following day. Out of everything, the easiest thing to do was recruit some helpers. Not only had a bunch of researchers just been part of a temple-wide project, but now the chosen —or at least one of their deities chosen—was asking for their assistance. And as expected, once Alyx had acquired some helpers, the rest of the things he needed to do became much easier.

  Checking on materials was probably the easiest thing to do, as the temple had essentially just replenished everything for use on the multitude of rituals performed on Alyx. So, all it took was a little bit of double-checking to ensure that they really did have all the necessary materials. From there, Alyx told his various helpers about the various rituals he would need, and they began allocating the required resources and generally prepping everything for the following day.

  The only thing that worried Alyx was that Tesilim would be mad at having so many people getting involved. However, if the gnome explained the oaths the researchers had taken, he felt his friend would understand. Plus, Alyx also felt like their friendship had come a long way, and Tesilim should, at the very least, be less wary of being kidnapped for experiments.

  Finally, the last thing Alyx planned to do before he got lost reading into the night was speak with a few people in the hopes they could point him in the right direction. These people weren’t really people, considering they were his two goddesses and a certain dragon friend of his.