I turned to look at Gabriel.

“If it were any other Angel, the purifying of your Light would likely not have been necessary, Miss Afione,” I told her calmly. “I could have sent you to Radiant Holy Auspicious Butterfly Emperor, and together you could have cleansed your Light of Axiomatic corruption.”

She closed her dark eyes and exhaled softly. “The Wings,” she murmured bitterly.

“Yes. They are anchored into your Light Element, it is how they feed you power and access your soul.

“Wiping away those connections will sever you from the Light Element. This is not your fault, remember that. It is the fault of those who were going to sacrifice you,” I reminded her soothingly.

She took another deep breath and opened her eyes, resolve filling her gaze. “I understand. What needs I do?”

“Purifying the Light will prepare you immediately for Sagedom. You’ve already felt the power, you’ve merely been leaning on the Wings instead of your own Will to do so. Complete this, make Sage... and I will show you the Element of Silver Magic, and Wizardry. You will not be lacking in power, and instead will become one of the most dangerous magical duelists in the world, with no need for the crutch of your Wings.”

Her eyes glittered. “The Synod has long been interested in the deeper secrets of your Wizardry tradition,” she confessed. “But nothing they’ve seen surpasses the powers of a Mage or Archmage, so they’ve not pressed the point.”

“If Ruronalee were to attack Lady Sakura now, Sakura would straight-up slaughter her.” The Dark Daughter of the Acropolis blinked in disbelief, priding herself on her combat ability, while Sakura was admittedly the far better personification of an Acropolis Healer. “Sakura is my student, and a Wizardess. She has reached Archmage, and chose to embrace Silver Magic instead of Light when she did so. There is no Dark Magic on this world, and precious little other magic, that will be able to stand before her.”

Mok Fan looked ready to bounce from his seat at the news. “Sakura is truly so strong?!” he exclaimed in delight. “Can I Awaken Silver Magic?” he asked eagerly.

“No. It is only accessible by those of Good heart.” I inclined my head at Gabriel, who blushed slightly, while Mok Fan just blinked in disbelief. “You’ve very little concerns for the greater good that don’t involve your friends and family, Mok Fan, and Ruronalee had no time or energy to think of such things in the cutthroat atmosphere of the Acropolis.

“You’ll do good deeds out of whimsy or easy opportunity, but you don’t set out to do great good things. If your history is any indication, you get swept up in events, save who you can, and you attempt to gain vengeance on those who have wronged you. That is the attitude of disinterested Neutrals going through life and pursuing their own personal power as they wish to do so, keeping tight with friends and family.

“You are a far thing from a bad person, but that doesn’t make you a Good person, Mok Fan.”

He scowled, not hiding his reaction. “And who determines who is good and not?”

“The Alignments themselves do.” I didn’t hide my amusement at his complaint. “Who determines what Fire is? Fire does. Who determines what Air is? Air does. Who determines what Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos are?”

“Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos...” Gabriel filled in for me when I didn’t answer the question.

“And that is not good, evil, law, or chaos,” I stated, and they all caught the difference in the words. “The scale is not something you or I have any control or influence over, Mok Fan. Likewise, we do not influence the judgement.

“We have Free Will. We choose where we stand on the scale, no more and no less. THAT is our power, and our right, and the value of our souls.”

“You’re speaking... like there is some sort of Heaven?” Ruronalee almost scoffed, then remembered she was speaking to someone who knew Truth, and hastily adjusted her tone.

“There is indeed a Heaven, although no Realm Lords or greater beings inhabit it yet. There is also a Limbo, where the souls of the Chaotic are being dumped as the afterlife continues to stratify. Naturally the Netherworld is stealing or damning all the souls it can to populate its macabre realms or Burn for raw essence, and the Lords of Light in their Nirvana are sifting out the Lawful and loyal souls to empower themselves.

“Gaining enough time for the souls in the Heaven attached to our world to attract those who can stop Axiom and Sin from destroying it is why I am doing all this.”

“Souls really can go to Heaven?” Mok Fan screwed up his face. “That seems so... childish?”

I just snorted at him and rolled my eyes. “You are probably thinking of some bucolic paradise, where everyone can relax for all eternity, sip wine, have sex, eat grapes off the vine, and watch sunsets and go skinny-dipping and other such stuff?” He pursed his lips at my words.

“The afterlife is WAR, Mok Fan,” I stated bluntly, surprising all three of them. “The Alignments are at war, all the time, on scales and time periods we cannot comprehend, across time and space of all of Creation. The numbers and powers of the forces at conflict are just, well, too great for us to understand.

“Heaven can be paradise during the down time between those wars, but you know as well as anyone that gluttony, sloth, vanity, and pride are not Good virtues, and that is the scene you are imagining.” All three of them winced at the cut in my voice.

“A classic ‘paradise’ is what the higher Ruling Classes of Axiom and Sin indulge in, where all leisure and pleasures are theirs to enjoy, while those beneath themselves slave away to please their masters.

“Good people share the burdens in good times and bad times. Everyone benefits some, and everyone suffers some. In Axiom, you are a ruler, or you are a drone and tool for The Cause, as your rulers determine. In Sin, you are merely a disposable something or other who will be sacrificed for the good of your master, rewarded on their whim. In Chaos, you are either suppressed, or you are free.” I narrowed my eyes, reading ahead of their thoughts. “No, there is no ‘middle ground’ Alignment. You cannot ‘opt out’. Doing so just means you can get run over from any direction, and you have to fight like anybody and everybody else, or get trampled.

“The afterlife is not paradise, it never has been, and anyone who tries to sell it as that is lying to you. The only paradise that can be made is what you manage to do during your mortal years.”

That... was quite literally the total opposite of what most religious recruitment speeches were. They were all looking at me as if I were crazy.

I pursed my lips.

“No!” Mok Fan shouted, barely stopping himself from jumping across the table to cover my face. “We believe you!” he added hastily, and the two young women nodded quickly.

Ah, proper conditioning worked wonders for the recalcitrant mindset! “Very well,” I said, and they all sighed in relief. “Mok Fan, you cannot choose the Silver Magic Element, but that is of no consequence to you. You will have a Typeless Galaxy, you will have all Seven foundation Elements, and you have both the Void and Chaos Elements. When you make Sage, you will be able to take the Time Element quite smoothly, and so you will not miss your Demon Element at all.”

He blinked at me. “T-Time?” he actually stammered in disbelief. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew how powerful an Element that could be!

I just nodded again.

“But... you’re a pure Typeless Sage!” protested Ruronalee instantly. “You have access to all the Elements! Doesn’t that mean-?” She trailed off in disbelief as I nodded again. “Hera preserve us...” she murmured in awe. “How long have you been able to use that Element?!”

I just lifted an eyebrow at her. “There’s Novice-level Time Spells, just like any other Element. You just have to be exceedingly smart to understand them.”

“She... she’s probably the smartest person on the planet,” Mok Fan supplied helpfully. “It’s, uh, the main requirement for Wizardry,” he added at the stares from the two young women. “Gotta be smart to use all the Elements!” he lectured them smugly.

“I can see why you’re not teaching him Wizardry,” sniffed Ruronalee, and Mok Fan looked wounded.

“He’d not be a gifted Wizard, but he could be a successful one,” I answered casually. “Once he’s a Sage in all His Elements, maybe he’ll take some time out to learn some minor Utility magicks. Before then, he’s got many mountains to climb, over and over and over again.” I eyed his half-stricken, half-resigned expression. “It’s a good problem to have, in the end.”

“So much cultivation!” he groused.

“You’re going to have FOURTEEN Universes!” I just rolled my eyes. “A normal Sage has FIVE! A Typeless like me has ONE!”

“But your Stars are Tiered!” he pointed out promptly, wagging a finger at me. “All of them! I felt it! How did you do that, without, without...” he trailed off, not gesturing towards the Pendant he was wearing.

I flicked up a sphere of vivic fire on my hand before their interested eyes. “You should all recognize this by now, if only because of how renowned it is for cleaning up battlefields and restoring vitality to lands scarred by magical combat... and how it eats Dark Magic.” I glanced at both Mok Fan and Ruronalee, who both flushed. Doubtless they’d tried to use or touch vivus in the past, felt it eat at their Dark Magic, and hastily stopped.

“If it is active on a magical Beast as it dies, or within a minute or two of that, it crystallizes the spiritual and magical energies of the Beast into one of these.” I swept my hand in front of me, and a Soul Crystal, Egg, Gem, Jewel, and even a Star Jewel, each translucent white crystal gleaming softly with contained energies. “If they are caught and tempered before they dissipate, they can be used to temper Stars, exactly like catching Soul Remnants and the like.”

They all gaped at the gleaming, softly glowing Crystals. Mok Fan seemed particularly envious.

“Every single Spirit Beast?” he asked, looking a bit sick.

“If they are set alight by vivus at or shortly after death, yes. The more skilled one is at employing vivus, the longer that period is, and the longer the Crystals can last before dissipating.”

“You’ve been working the littoral zones for years...!” Gabriel pointed out softly, her voice catching as she realized the implications of that.

“And so have her people!” Ruronalee added insightfully. “People have often commented about the power of Coralost’s Mages. They all have Tiered Stars!” she deduced with almost explosive envy and frustration. “That, that-!” She couldn’t get the words out at the incredible edge that gave all of our mages.

“Yes,” I shrugged under their gazes. “Smartest person in the world gives her people benefits. I’m a Good person, I share with my people and raise the floor of magic. No, it doesn’t mean I have to give everything away to everyone. Even thinking that is reflective of Vanity, Gluttony, Pride, Greed, and Envy. I am not required at all to aid my rivals or my enemies,” I cut off the attempts to fan hypocritical fires before they started. “Attempting to redefine Good in service to your own desires is laughable, don’t try. You cannot guilt me in such a manner, I can see it for what it is.

“All of my Stars are at Six Tiers, I have most of a Galaxy at Seven Tiers, and my Core Adept Stars at Eight Tiers.” They all sucked in their breaths in disbelief, even Mok Fan, who had been tempering his Lightning Element for years. He still didn’t have them all at Five Stars, only his Lightning Nebula and several of his Adept sets.

“Eight Tiers is more powerful than any Spirit Seed!” Ruronalee pointed out in disbelief.