(Eris POV)
I looked down at the vial of Origin liquid on the table in front of me, now that I was concentrating on it, I could definitely feel the power radiating from it.
Like Brendan had said, it was quite intoxicating…
"So… What are we gonna do wit' dis'?" Bait asked while standing beside me.
"Careful consideration…" Laverna stated while looking at me.
I nodded, "We know the risks of it, so we have to treat this thing very carefully. We also have to consider the possibility that the stalker bitch may just try to use this to her advantage."
"This one humbly asks if it is not possible to make ourselves Goddesses directly?" Denna asked.
"There is that, I suppose. But Master had also told us before that there is a difference between being given a power and gaining it ourselves. I think part of the warning Brendan gave us is also in consideration of that."
The other three also nodded in agreement.
"Then wat'? Are we jus' gonna forget about dis' and dump it sumwhere'?"
"No, we just need to come up with a way to use it that won't result in us accidentally destroying the world or something equally drastic."
Denna moved closer to the vial and stared at it, "This one thinks we should consult Master first."
"I hate to say it… But in Master's current state, I don't think we will get a good answer from Him either…" I pointed out.
Bait clapped her hands together, "Hey, that's it! Why don't we just use it to speed up the process?!"
The other three of us just stared at her, wondering what she was talking about.
She rolled her eyes, "We jus' need ta' earn that power, right? Then we can just use it to speed up our training! Like, imagine it gives us the best condition ta' become goddesses in less than a month or sumthin'."
I stared at her, "Are you real? How are you the one with the great ideas?"
She scoffed, "Hey! I'm still you ok?! Jus' because I act like dis' doesn't mean I'm dumb!"
"No, but you usually don't use our brain to think."
"... Tch…"
I grinned at my victory and reached out to pick up the vial, feeling the power coursing through the small bottle.
"So what are we supposed to use this for, just think about using it to speed up our ascension and drink it?"
Denna raised her hand, "This one remembers Brendan mentioning that there was no need to drink it. Just pouring it out is enough to have it influence reality."
"Ok, so I just pour it out while thinking about letting it speed up our ascension to the point that we will be of use against those tentacled monsters?"
The other three nodded.
Alright, here goes nothing I guess…
Making sure that my mind was free of distractions, I concentrated on the idea before uncorking the vial and pouring the liquid on to the ground in between us.
The liquid seemed to disappear into thin air the moment it hit the ground, not even making a splashing sound when it did.
I emptied the entire bottle and waited… And waited… And waited…
"Daheck, did ya' do sumthin' wrong or--"
Bait didn't get to finish her words before the world spun around us and the next thing I know, I was on the ground.
Odd… I don't remember falling and the change in scenery was so disorienting, like it was the ground that had came up to me instead of my body falling onto the floor.
I pushed myself up from the ground, only to realise that I was alone in the room and… Why does everything look so red?
"Bait? Laverna? Denna?" I called out both mentally and orally, only to be faced with silence.
I'm guessing the Origin Liquid did work in some way so now I have to figure out what it actually changed. The fact that I was separated from my other selves must be one of the factors.
Stepping out of the room, I looked up to see a red moon hanging in the sky, its size at least two or three times bigger than the moon I remembered.
Aside from that, the courtyard still looked the same, albeit being devoid of any signs of life.
"Master? Sisters?" I called out, though I still received no response.
Did the Origin Liquid send us to an alternate dimension? But what are we supposed to do here? Or rather, what am I supposed to do here?
Not liking how eerie the place looked, I materialised my sword and stepped closer towards the centre of the courtyard, expecting something to happen.
As though it was waiting for that exact moment, the ground beneath me shook violently and the buildings were torn to pieces before the debris were flung up into the air.
Cracks appeared on the ground and the earth split into multiple pieces with the ground under me also shattering, leaving just enough space for me to stand on.
I stabbed my sword into the ground and held on tightly as my piece of land flew up alongside the other debris, as though aiming to fly towards the moon itself.
Right as I thought I would shoot past the clouds, the pieces started to congregate to form a floating island in the sky, with my own piece joining the very edge of the new piece of land.
Instead of forming into an exact replica of Master's courtyard, this one was a haphazard mash of various buildings and nature that were dug up from the ground below, looking like they had fused together.
I even recognised the building in front of me as a part of our sleeping quarters that was cut off abruptly to fuse into the pavilion in Master's courtyard. And instead of the table and chairs inside the pavilion, a tree had instead taken their place, growing straight through the roof like it wasn't there.
Now I'm not even sure if this was just a dream or some sort instead of an alternate reality.
The thing that got my attention was the fact that another me was leaning against the tree, smiling the moment she saw me.
I pulled my sword out from the ground and was instantly alert, the feeling she gave off told me she was not Bait, Laverna or even Denna.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
She chuckled at my question, "Isn't it obvious? I am you."
"You're not going to say that you're another personality of mine, are you?"
"Oh no, I am just you. Or rather, a manifestation of the inner self of 'Eris' if that makes any sense."
It doesn't but I nodded for her to go on instead.
She grinned, "You don't understand do you? Oh whatever, just know that I'm like your inner voice that was given form thanks to the Origin Liquid. Anyway, you're probably wondering what's happening right?"
I nodded slowly, "And also why I'm here alone."
"That's because this is the path for you to ascend quickly. Your mind is fractured into multiple pieces to hold your other personalities which doesn't help in your path to ascend to Godhood. So the easiest way for you… Well… You can guess, can't you?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, "What are you saying?"
"You really want me to say it? You need to kill the others of course. Kill the others and claim dominance over your own mind, that's when you will be able to ascend! So go out there and kill those three!"
What did she just say?!
