[2009 – October – Friday]
To tell the truth, letting T'Challa sense even the faintest hint of my presence as a Realm Lord couldn't really be called a 'gentle' probing but it told me what I wanted to know, so I did it without hesitation.
My goal was primarily to see how Bastet would react, seeing her chosen one being pressured by a higher being but there were also other considerations to this.
T'Challa knowing what I was and about my familial connection to Emma, I saw no point in acting ignorant so I simply opted to take this chance to confirm their intel and to leave him with a reminder that his nation's technology would not stop me if they acted maliciously towards those close to me.
After all, I knew about their national pride and could only guess what they had planned to do about the Vibranium that Selene had delivered to Emma, as they would obviously suspect that Emma had gotten her hands on it after killing Klaue.
Nearly a third of a ton was simply not an amount that the Wakandans could disregard since it was enough to allow more in-depths studies, which might compromise their technological advantage.
And while I was sure that Emma had her own plans to keep them from taking it back, I had no intention of sitting back and watch as they attempted to take back what I saw as my repayment for her continuous care and support.
Still, I was also somewhat somewhat intrigued by T'Challa since he was an enhanced but not really a 'hero'. He was a future king and he was resolved to fight for his country, protecting its values and traditions.
T'Challa was raised as a warrior and ruler for his people, and as such he embodied an ideology that was as close as 'pure' patriotism could possibly get in this world filled grey areas.
It was a notion that I could emphasize with much better than those of seemingly 'self-sacrificing heroes' as he wasn't projecting a moral high-ground with his actions. He didn't live with the ludicrous belief that he alone knew what was right and moral, he simply acted for the benefit and good of his country.
Personally, I didn't have a problem with people choosing the path of of heroism but I detested the concept of moral superiority because it was a dangerously treacherous one. Believing oneself to be unequivocally good never ended well, after all.
On another point, I found the Wakandan's way of 'empowering' themselves to ensure their survival and freedom much more likable than the American's way of meddling with the political and military landscape of foreign countries to secure their perceived superiority while ignoring or even worsening their domestic issues.
Both approaches had their own flaws but the latter just seemed unsustainable in the long run.
Also, the fact that T'Challa could stay standing and shake my hand while I pressured him showed that, his negligible strength aside, he had true resilience and backbone, which was something that I could respect.
Still, all that was secondary when compared to the Ennead's gaze that I could feel on me.
The patron goddess of the Golden Tribe had not done anything while watching me pressure her 'champion' but I could feel the intensity of her presence strengthen, knowing that she probably waited for me to give her an explanation, which I had no intention of doing.
I did not owe her any her any kind of explanation since we did not have any sort of agreement with each others that made it clear that we wouldn't interfere in each other's 'business'. Also, and more important, I was the Realm Lord of the Darkforce Dimension.
I answered to no one but myself.
Still, I wasn't against communicating to gain a better understanding of the Enneads, which was why I was present in the first place.
Splitting a strand of consciousness off as I moved back to stand in front of the window, I entered the Astral Realm with a part of my mind to confront the projection of Bastet.
The Astral Realm was a strange place as it was similar to the Mirror Dimension yet very different.
It was a realm for the spirit, where the strength of one's soul, mind, and will were the deciding factor for what one capable of doing in this realm. For example, bending the laws of space and time was as easy as flipping one's palm for someone with a powerful mind.
It had a lot of different layers that were only accessible for those that fulfilled some sort of elusive conditions. Some also believed that it was the plane that allowed souls to move into the afterlife, acting as a passageway for the dead.
In a way, it was no surprise why the Ennead projected her will into the Astral Dimension for a conversation since it gave her a minor advantage of being able to use most of her power, considering that she could not appear with her true form.
In preparation for this meeting, I had visited the Ancient One in Kathmandu, who had graciously given me some reading material that was usually reserved for the Sorcerer Supreme and Masters that had her explicit permission.
All in all, there had been four books and they had talked about nothing but higher beings, including principalities, abstract entities, realm lords, demons, and gods. Without a doubt, those books had been left behind by Agamotto so that the order of mystics wouldn't be blindly provoke higher beings nor be clueless when facing such a threat.
My own knowledge, while somewhat more in-depths and experience-based, had been lacking in some aspects, which was something that these books had fortunately remedied.
And while I was still not satisfied with my level of knowledge and was contemplating ways to acquire more information on those more abstruse matters, I now had a much better grasp on what it meant to be an Ennead and their level of strength.
The Enneads were a group of 'gods' that had ascended to higher beings through the path of 'faith', which was a rather restricted and unstable path since the strength of beings that ascended through faith depended on that faith.
Without believers, such gods were even at risk of losing all their powers and their lives.
The Enneads though weren't 'average' gods by any measure of the word and had used their powers at the height of the strength to create a shared realm of their own and transformed themselves into quasi-'Realm Lords' or fake Realm Lords.
In fact, the Enneads were not the only 'gods' who had chosen this path as others who had ascended through faith had likewise done so since it was the easiest way to solidify part their power permanently, which gave them some strength unrelated to the amount of believers that they had and the quantity of 'faith' that they received through them.
The realm that Enneads had created acted as their 'divine kingdoms' and as the afterlife for their worshipers, which meant that they could draw on the realm itself for power and receive the power of faith from their believer even after their death.
But since they had to share the created realm with one another, their true strength was nowhere near that of a true Realm Lord, who existed as the very core and incarnation of his own dimension.
This also meant that they did not share the 'life' of the realm, which meant that they could die if their true bodies were killed even if the created realm wasn't destroyed. A true Realm Lord on the other hand could not be killed if his realm wasn't destroyed.
Still, while their strength as fake Realm Lords paled in comparison to a real one, they had access to the gathered faith of an uncountable number of years and they had the advantage of numbers, so the Enneads as a group were not to be underestimated.
A single Ennead was comparatively easy to kill, a group of them? Not so much.
At least, that was what it had said in the books that I had read. Though since that book described this from the perspective of mortals and not from the perspective of a higher being, I couldn't trust this assessment fully.
All I knew was that my Extrasensory Perception told me that I could crush the projection in front of me like a piece of dry coal. It felt weakand was not what I expected from the projection of a 'goddess'.
The quantity of mental strength was undoubtedly above what a mortal could hope to possess but its quality wasn't too different. Like loose sand, it seemed lacked 'substance' and cohesion as if it wasn't condensed enough.
Naturally, I couldn't be sure that this wasn't a trick but seeing as I had spread out an ethereal shield that prevented deception, I could now judge for myself the most obvious shortcomings of the path of 'faith'. Though there was also still a lot that eluded when it came to ascension through 'faith' and I was curious to find out more.
Standing before the caramel-skinned goddess, I addressed her: "Bastet, I assume?"
Her slitted eyes narrowed with interest and the faintest sense of hesitation before she replied with a clear tone, a somewhat ethereal echo to her voice: "And you are the Master of the Darkforce Dimension and the [Ruin of Magic], are you not?"
"I have sensed your 'birth' as a Lord, though I must admit that I wasn't sure what exactly it was at that time. And I was witness to your act of restoring this world after The All-Seeing proclaimed his admiration and gave you your title.", she continued, her tone carrying much gravitas when she mentioned Agamotto's title.
This wasn't too much of a surprise since he had been a legendary guardian of this world for eons, his sheer might a warning to all those seeking to invade the Earth Dimension.
Bast and her fellow gods largely depended on the faith of life forms from the primary dimension, since the dead provided only a fraction of faith in comparison to the living, so they naturally knew that they owed Agamotto respect and gratitude.
"As were many other Enneads, who like myself offer their sincerest congratulations to your ascension as a true Lord.", the goddess ended with a respectful nod.