Side Story 7 - A short one on Eversmile (Patreon)

Excerpt from a conversation between Jake and the Viper:

”I am going to tell you a story about Eversmile. A story about someone so engrossed in his research of a topic that he will stop at nothing to truly learn everything he can - an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

“I think an example would make it easiest to understand. There was once a small village - the most powerful in it only reaching the E-grade. A small planet nearly entirely cut off from the rest of the multiverse. An overlooked and forgotten place. A perfect place for Eversmile.

“In this small village was a happy couple - a happy couple that was about to become parents. The father leader of the village, the mother his childhood sweetheart. A joyous event for sure. Until Eversmile appeared.

“The woman was carrying two children. A boy and a girl. Twins. Which was precisely the scenario he had come for.

“He linked the karma of the souls of the two unborn children. Unknowingly to the parents and the children themselves, even after their birth.

“They both grew up happy and carefree. The son, a talented warrior, was predicted to perhaps be the first to break through to D-grade in generations. The daughter, a talented artist and undoubtedly the most desired by all the young men in their small village. Even the lords of the big city nearby had taken notice of her.

“All was indeed well until the hundredth birthday of the two. Still young by multiverse standard. The young man now solidly in the D-grade, and the young woman betrothed to the young crown prince of the land. Both considered blessed children until that day.

“Without a warning, they both fell deadly ill. Their health was draining slowly, with not a single healer or Wiseman able to discover what was wrong. All hope was but lost, until one day a nameless wanderer appeared in their small village.

“An old grizzled and unnoteworthy man, by appearance alone. But all could feel his power- a Wiseman, unlike any other.

“The crown prince himself invited him to diagnose his bride to be and a diagnosis he delivered.

“The twins were linked intrinsically. The link had provided them both with twice the talent, but it did not come for free. The connection had grown too strong and was now siphoning off their very essence. The link would have to be severed. One of the children would have to die.

“It was an impossible choice for any parent, but an easy choice for the crown prince. He wished for his bride to live, damned be her brother. But the thoughts of the brother’s comrades were the same. A mercenary band, wielding power to threaten even the throne.

“A war ensued. Countless lives lost. But in the end, the brother died at the crown prince’s hands, and his beloved was saved. The day the brother died, the woman awakened. A jovial mood overtook the kingdom as the wedding day was set.

“But instead of gratitude, the crown prince was instead met with death on his wedding night. His new wife had inherited the power of her brother and used it to end his killer. But such power was not truly her own, and she who had been far weaker all along did not survive to overburden her body so.

“With the crown prince dead, the military got decimated by the mercenaries; chaos embraced the small kingdom. A war raged for years, the domain falling in the end, its citizens enslaved or killed.

“When the small village was beset upon by the attacking kingdoms, they found only ruins. The father and mother of the twins had taken their own lives the day their last child died. A real tragedy to most, I am sure.

“But Eversmile is not most. He had watched the children their entire lives. He had only ever interfered once as the old man to give the diagnosis. Before and after that, he just sat back and took notes.

“After the two twins died, he continued to observe for centuries. Until the last threads of karma left by the twins disappeared or were too weak ever to matter.

“So he did what anyone would do, and once more repeated the experiment. Perhaps changing a few details here and there, but otherwise the same. Two new twins linked a birth, another kingdom ruined, another domain brought to ruin.

“He did it over and over, thousands of times. All to observe the concept of karma and all of its intricacies. To watch how they would act under the situations he put them in.

“Directly, he didn’t kill a single person. In fact, one could say that he blessed the twins. Gave them talent and futures far beyond their station. Of course, with his mastery over karma, nothing ever led back to him.

“And mind you, this is merely a mild example of his antics. He has done far more extreme things. Forced a brother to force himself upon his sister, forced mothers to kill their babies, kings to enslave their own people, children to kill their parents. All just to learn more about the concept of karma.

“But at the same time, he also does it the other way around. Created heroes with no downsides, helped slaves usurp their captors, the weak to become strong- purged entire civilizations of corruption and malice. Created what can only be described as utopias for unknowing mortals to inhabit.

“To Eversmile, there is no good or evil. There is no right or wrong. There is only karma.”

“That is just fucked on so many levels…” Jake finally said.

“To you, maybe. But to Eversmile, it is just working to improve himself. He needs extreme situations, unpredictable fates. This is one reason I said I don’t even think he is mad at you. What you did in the tutorial he didn’t see coming influenced his test subject, William,” the Viper explained with a smile.

“Better pray they leave me alone… both of them,” Jake said with resignation.

“Again, you’ll be fine. If anything, I think Eversmile finds me just as interesting as you…”

“Why? Haven’t you been around long enough to study?” Jake asked, a bit confused.

“I have. But I haven’t had many friends.”