Ch – 3 Baptism
Baptism.
What is baptism?
After the Plane of Existence, the Plane in which the mortals reside, experienced a major extinction at the hands of the Abyss Uprising and the Descent of Chaos from foreign Planes, the Gods and Goddesses of the Great Pantheon were faced with a major dilemma. The Great War of the New Era, as the war is often called, took a great toll on the Plane of Existence and most of the great heroes and other artefacts which held the Plane of Existence together were lost to the various monsters which rose from the Abyss Outlets.
One cannot fathom their powers if they haven't seen them for themselves. Their power even left the Gods baffled and powerless to intervene and stop the massacre they caused. After all, how many times can a God and his followers carry a Divine Intervention? One. Two? And there's no more than a few dozen Gods and Goddesses left in the Pantheon. It is insignificant compared to the tens of thousands of Abyss Outlets which were opening every day. It was pathetic and thus after the Great War had ended, the Gods and Goddesses of the Pantheon agreed on a System. And Baptism was the first part of that System.
It works in a very simple way, if one thinks about it carefully.
Instead of watching the desperate struggle of everyday life of the humans in the Plane of Existence, some of them rising from their low or mediocre origin to great heights and sometime dropping unexpected people from different dimensions into our world for their 'fun', the Gods and Goddesses didn't do anything. For a mortal to cross the Mortal and the Noble Realm to the Divine realm and carve a seat in the hundreds of followers and angels of the Gods and Goddesses was rarer than finding the feathers of a Phoenix.
But in this System, the Gods and Goddesses would provide every single living, human beings a skill or two if they are filled with latent talent and a Skill Window to see their progress. Other than that, they numericalized everything from health to Mana to will, even skills and their proficiency would be displayed. It helped in many ways but to the Gods and Goddesses it was a better way to manage a large population of partial 'followers' while not losing control over the System. Currently, the System has even developed its own sentience and become a Goddess in itself. Oops! Guess I wasn't supposed to tell that but bah! Not like those damn angels would come at the great Celestial Scribe himself. Oops again! I wasn't supposed to say that either but … my words are lines in this book and I can't change them even if I want them to be… damnit Father!!
Anyway, moving on. So, what's this Baptism? In simple terms, it is a way of surrendering yourself to a particular God or Goddess, giving your complete faith and obedience to him or her and in return would be granted a special skill according to his or her talent and luck. Lady luck is a big factor and if there was a God or Goddess with luck as their Law … it would've been fantastic.
Now, now. Don't get ruffled up. This might make you think that the world has become a place for churches and faiths, which it already was, but ever since starting of the System, more mortals haven been able to cross the boundary between Noble and Divine and start their own churches and cults. The best example would be the Church of Thieves led by the Goddess of Night. I hate that damn bitch! How many times has she already stolen my books or replaced my premium ink bottles? Gosh!
If I could get my hands on those thin, slimy neck of hers—Ahh! Stop! Stop!
- Excerpt from 'The Daily Thoughts' by Metatron, The Celestial Scribe of Heaven.
…
'Sigh…'
"Feeling sad, bro." asked Jovian as he entered my room which was in the attic of the house. Our house was a two-storied brick house, one of the few permanent houses in the slum and it was all due to my brother's and mother's hard work.
My attic has only two opening, one inside and Jovian entered through that one with the help of a ladder. The other was a small window from which I usually stare out at the night sky, like I was doing today. It was a chilly night but to me, it felt warm.
Seeming that I was not speaking or turning towards him, Jovian smiled woefully and sat beside me. He rested his head on his palms and sprayed his legs back, copying me. He stayed quiet for a few moments before asking in a small voice, "Are you angry at father and mother for their decision?"
"Yes." I gave a clear reply.
"Why?" he asked me, probing me of course and I didn't want to hide anything from him. "Why?! I'm not angry at mother for asking me to get my Baptism done from other churches. Heck! I would be glad to do it from the Church of Holy Earth if there was one but why THAT church?! Brother, don't you know what happens to the followers of that church? Especially those priests and the head priest. You looked at their faces, right? Their expression. Those … vile creatures are not on the same species level I say." I declared in an angry and wronged tone.
I still shuddered when I thought about the little snooping, Jovian, me and William did a few months back. It wasn't a winter month then, start of autumn perhaps when we snooped into the back of the nearby Church of Craven. We thought we might find some priest or junior priest doing something naughty but what we saw shook us to our core.
We saw a score of priests standing in a semi-circle with the head priest, Maddox performing some strange rites on a group of young children, mostly girls but there were a lot of boys too. Most of them were near my age and I recognized them as those children who recently completed their Baptism. They were crying. Endlessly. And then, one by one every single one of them plopped on the ground, never to stand up again. I knew what it meant. They were dead.
I know this is an incomplete story but there was nothing much we were able to discern given our pitiful amount of knowledge but from Jovian's expression after we escaped, we knew that it was nothing good. Ever since then, I have subconsciously tried to avoid both the followers and priests of the Church of Craven while Jovian had tried many ways to investigate the Church but haven't been successful, even with the resources of the Adventure Guild. Unfortunately, it seems like fate doesn't want me to lead a happy life.
Sensing my frustration, Jovian placed his palm on my head and rubbed it forcefully. I hated it but he still kept doing it. When I turned towards him in anger, I saw him smiling brightly at me.
"Remember Aiden, there is no bigger joy than having a family. Cherish your family no matter how bad or hopeless they seem. No matter how angry you are at them, at the end of the day, they will still be look after your back and won't abandon you, no matter what happens. Got that?" he stared at me with his big brown eyes, unblinking.
I nodded my head mechanically, shocked to give a more fitting reply. Smiling, he continued.
"As for your Baptism, it won't be a problem, I think. I will try to arrange for the money and try to persuade mother to not let your Baptism be done in that Church but … I've got a little trick up my sleeve." He smiled at me.
"What is it?" I ask, a little excited.
He smiled and handed me a small token made up of copper with a big 'A' on it. The moment I saw it, my eyes glittered in shock and excitement as I beheld the token.
"Whose token is it?" I ask excited.
"Look behind it". He replied and looking back, I saw my name 'Aiden Archard' written in a fine cursive with a small 'G1' written underneath it. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw my name but when I saw this 'G1', my heart nearly leaped out of my chest.
"T-t-this…" I stammered, unable to form words for a few moments before finally uttering a simple word, "How?"
Jovian kept his mysterious smile and told me his secret which he was hiding for nearly a month. He rubbed his nose gleefully and said, "Well, you see… last month I completed my Silver Rank test and formally entered the ranks of the Silver Adventurers and since I was one of the youngest youth in the whole city of Lexington, Guild Head was kind enough to grant me a wish. I asked for a permanent position for my little brother." He said, showing nearly all of his teeth.
I was shocked and if it wasn't for the adrenaline rush going through me, I would've fainted then and there. Well, you might be clueless so let me explain for a moment.
…
There are different Guilds in the Central Continent which cater to different needs of the people. Most of them are local or confined in the boundary of the city or district but some of the global Guilds like the Adventure Guild, the Mercenary Guild, the Mage guild or the Merchant Guild would have powers and resources which would exceed the level of small kingdoms and dukedoms, making them a great power in Global Politics.
Currently, my brother worked in the Adventure Guild, one of the most finest and most preferred Guild in the entire Central continent with branches in every single city and mid-sized towns. The ranks of an Adventurer is divided into three stages, Mortal Stage, Noble Stage and Divine Stage where the first stage Mortal Stage consists of Novice rank, Copper rank, Silver rank and Gold rank.
Every adventurer starts his or her journey as a Novice where he or she gets trained by some veteran adventurer in basic things like camping and stalking. I had taken these classes with big bro and they were very detailed and informatic. Following the Initial Rank, there is the Copper rank which is divided into three grades, G1 or Grade 1, G2 and G3 respectively. In the Initial Stage, all ranks are divided into 3 grades while in the Intermediate stage, they are divided into 5 and so on.
Currently, I'm in the Copper Rank, Grade 1, a full rank higher than a recruit or novice. One might think of this as useless but the usual time required for a normal person to rank up from Novice to Copper is nearly a year and this is because at the Novice, one doesn't actually fights and thus doesn't acquire Experience to level up. They have to learn all the basics to the bone before being 'carried' by veterans AFTER they have passed the Rookie Exam. A big hassle but brother has reduced it to nil.
Well, I still have to take it nonetheless because the Guild doesn't want any silly deaths upon its name.
…