Under the Clouds

"Why do you think?"

Asked Samiel as another thunder sounded somewhere in the background. The weather changed drastically during the past few hours, and from nice and sunny, it evolved to this shitstorm above their heads.

"It's all about the resources; everybody strives to get as much as possible to become stronger than their competitors."

Samiel tilted his head to the side as his brain wheels started working.

"Resources?"

To his question, Yvraine nodded and proceeded to explain the thing further.

"Each new world connected to the Tower is practically a treasure trove full of most valuable resources for either Mortal Factions or Transcendent Faction. Practically everyone could find there something they would need. For Mortal Factions, like Nesser Dysntasy or Magisterium, could obtain territory, resources, and other stuff that could be used in their growth. On the other hand, the most valuable resource for Transcendent Factions is the population itself."

She made a short pause before she continued in the explanation of the political landscape of the Tower and the entirety of the Cosmos. As expected, nothing was simple in this world, and even the slightest changes could create a colossal tsunami.

"Among Transcendent Factions, Pantheons of Gods are itching to spread their religions to gather more Faith, 72 Daemon Pillars of Abyss and 7 Archdevils from the Nine Hells of the Baator are looking for souls they could consume. Other species with Transcendental backing would also be looking for some advantages they could gain from the new world."

She made a small pause before continuing her explanation.

"Practically every new world that got connected to the Tower and was without strong protection meant war, but that also depended on the type of the world and civilization living in there."

Samiel could agree with that; all it was about was power and greed.

From what he knew about the Transcendents, they were always on the look to increase their power. Transcendent Level Beings had a very hard time in improving their raw power, and when some defenseless world appeared, it was always considered a treasure trove.

Especially for those like Gods whose Godhood solely depended on the existence of Believers, so for them spreading their religions and gathering more Faith was essential. Not to mention that Gods could easily fall from the Transcendent States if they are forgotten and do not receive the Faith for a prolonged period of time.

Though many Eldritch Creatures were termed as Outer Gods, their Godhood worked differently, as they gained strength not only through the Faith, but they could grow their Godhood permanently without risk of falling through devouring Souls and Negative Energy. Pretty similar to what Daemons and Devils are doing through the countless worlds and dimensions.

Same about the powerful mortal factions that wanted to obtain more territories, resources like ores or rare plants, natural treasures, and many other things that could be gained when one was controlling the entire world.

"So, who do you think would be the first one to cross over there?"

Asked Samiel about her professional opinion, as she knew much more about the political landscape of the Tower and the Cosmos. Yvraine was well educated about these things; surprisingly, she would always answer his questions, no matter how stupid or basic they were, if he had any.

"Orks. The entire 1st Floor is under the rule of Orks, and it is only a miracle that Ork Boss Gurnish didn't become Floor Ruler. Not to mention, they should have already encountered some of these newcomers, and even though the Orks are musclebrains, they have a keen sense of searching the war."

Samiuel could agree with this statement, as Orks would never pass out the opportunity to participate in a war.

"So, in my opinion, Orkoid Pantheon would be first, then probably some other Pantheons, depending on the world."

She then slightly paused, remembering the humans she had encountered. For sure, they were originating from the newly connected world to the Tower. From a certain point of view, they were really unlucky to be connected to the Tower, as they would be destroyed, enslaved, or annihilated for sure.

Their chances for survival would be better if they got connected to some weaker world, but alas, fate had other plans as it seemed.

"From what I saw, it was more like a purely scientific world, meaning not many Gods would be interested in that, as it is hard to spread religion in worlds like that. So probably Daemons or Devils would want to catch some Souls, and would send their forces and cultists, and lastly probably the Hall of Kadath."

It was true that spreading the Faith in the pure scientific worlds was horror for any Church, so that would be reasonable that most Pantheons would back down, and only warmongers like Orks would be interested.

Pantheons and Churches preferred relatively backward worlds where they could spread their Faith, and worlds defined by logic and reason were on the bottom of the list where they would attempt to obtain some sheep. Worlds like these required a lot of effort and resources to develop and transform into pure religious and pious worlds, so for the majority of Pantheons, it was not worth the hassle.

Ironically they would rather ignore these worlds, and even if they found some world like this, only those of the strongest Pantheon could really transform pure scientific worlds into their faithful sheep through various machinations and, most importantly, Apocalypse.

Orkoids loved to destroy things, so for them, the worlds they were invading didn't really matter, and only what mattered was the Waaagh, or in normal language, war. Samiel already had a hunch; they were searching for these humans and a way to invade their world to unleash the war.

Daemons and Devils were also understandable as both species vied for souls and also for a proxy battlefield. Daemons and Devils were two species that warred against each other since immemorial, and where one of them appeared, the second one arrived soon after to fight against the first one.

But Samiel never really heard about the Hall of Kadath; even though it sounded familiar, it sounded like a home to him; it was a very bizarre and indescribable feeling.

"Hall of Kadath... that sounds familiar."

Said Samiel quietly. He heard that name several times from Yvraine already, always when she mentioned that, he could feel a kind of respect but also a great deal of fear in her voice, just by saying the name of the faction.

"Hall of Kadath is one of the strongest, if not the strongest mortal faction in the Tower and through the entire Universe. They are the smallest faction when it comes to numbers. Still, their individual power is frightening, as they have a higher number of powerhouses. Each one of their core members is a very mighty Legendary. Worshippers of Outer Gods, and all of them are inside in their own way. Currently, the strongest person in the Tower under the Transcendent Level is their Hall Master, Menuhyutt Faulhaber."

Samiel listened attentively, as there was probably a high possibility that in the future, he would join the Hall of Kadath due to him being the Apostle of the Blind Idiot God Azathoth.

Also, it would be nice to have the might of an entire faction behind him and access to the best resources in the Tower and Universe, as the Hall of Kadath for sure controlled many worlds and Dimensions, and the Outer Gods they served were among most powerful Transcendentals.

"How are the relationships between Hall of Kadath and Nesser Dynasty?"

Questioned Samiel suddenly, as Yvraine could see his hidden intentions asking this.

"Not bad... Hall of Kadath is a very reclusive faction. They didn't show themselves for ten thousand years, as they usually keep to themselves. The last commotion was when the new Cardinal was inaugurated into the Hall, where they fought with some Vampire Clans, and even one of the Vampire Ancestors was killed. Actually, my Uncle is one of the Cardinals of the Hall, so our relationships with Hall are very good."

He didn't want to join a faction that was on bad terms with the Nesser Dynasty, as in past days, he grew fond of Yvraine, and he considered her as a friend, which was something he didn't really have.

During his time as a Patrick Smith, he didn't have a lot of friends, or probably any? Aside from his cat, though... He was not the most socially able person, not that he cared about that; he was never shy from the loneliness. On the contrary, he loved it just as much as it terrified him.

Even though Yvraine was a somewhat arrogant and posh princess, she was an actually decent company, as he could easily filter and ignore her provocations or other things she said, as he really didn't care much about it.

Not to mention during the past days, especially since the moment she dragged him after he collapsed from fighting the Bronze-Tier Ork Champion, she became more moderate in her provocations and even kind... at least at some times.

"We should go inside the cave; the storm is approaching rather fast."

Said Yvraine as both of them stood up and went to the cave; Samiel recalled his Undeads and ordered them to seal the entrance to the cave, as they went to deeper parts of the cave, where there were some primitive lodgings built by his Undead.

"What are you cooking?"

She asked as she created fire by casting a spell on a pile of wood she put together. He liked cooking over the fire, it gave food a whole new level of flavor, especially when one was making meat on the fire.

"Steaks from Two-Headed Cow."

He replied as his Undead brought the Two-Headed Cow that they caught several hours ago.

"How did you learn all of that?"

Asked Yvraine curiously as he got to the work.

"My homeworld has surprisingly very developed gastronomy, and I learned from the best. While I didn't seem for it, I became very rich, like, very, very rich, and from vanity, I kept hiring the best chefs around the world to teach me how to cook. Surprisingly, I was natural at it, and after a few years, I learned practically everything aside from some things that I didn't have a strong interest."

Answered Samiel as he started shaping nice juicy steaks from the Two-Headed Cow.

"You know, the secret is not the recipes but techniques. Once you master proper cooking techniques and skills, you can apply them to almost all sorts of food and eats in some way."

He stated as he started seasoning the several huge steaks. He ate a lot, and even Yvreaine, despite her slim figure, was quite an eater if she waned.

He took out some species on the meat, as they were one of the few things he had in his Dimensional Ring, and started seasoning them just with a pinch of salt and four types of pepper for extra flavor.

"And now the fire would do the rest of the wondrous flavor of these steaks."

He said as he took them on the fire and started to sear them up.

"Remember, my young apprentice, the only way to cook a steak is a medium rare, and everything else is heresy!"

Samiel imitated the voice of a sage as he instructed Yvraine, and to his surprise, she took it seriously and nodded, which almost made him laugh.

And after several minutes, the steaks were done, nicely medium rare in the middle, while seared from the outside. Just a perfection.

"And now we need to rest the meat, approximately the same amount of time we cooked it, to let it rest."

He said as he put the steaks aside and prepared plates.

And after several minutes, they started eating; from what he could see, Yvraine enjoyed the steaks very much.

"This is delicious."

She said while stuffing herself with more pieces of meat.

"I am glad that you like it."