He pulled his car off of the driveway and onto the road. Letting his thoughts wander as he drove through familiar streets. More often than Luke would like to admit, he didn't remember the act of driving to his office. One moment he'd be at some intersection, or red light, the next he'd be turning the corner a single stop sign away from what promised to be eight hours of mind numbing work.
He felt today's drive should have been like that.
Instead, a raccoon ran out from under a bush on the opposite side of the road. An inexperienced driver turned her wheel straight into oncoming traffic in a poor attempt to avoid running over the creature, and crashed bumper first into Luke's car. The impact crumpled the hoods of both vehicles, creating a malformed mass of metal, plastic, and rubber.
The sound of squealing tires and a loud bang ended Luke's life on Earth.
He felt his soul leave his body. For a moment, it floated above the wreck, and he saw or maybe felt (because he didn't have eyes) his former body laid dead halfway out the windshield. Unsure of how to act, and surprised by his state, he hovered above the scene of his death in shock and confusion. Observing silently as a young woman pulled herself free from the wreckage.
So that's who killed me. At least she made it out okay.
Not quite sure what to make of the situation, Luke focused on his new and strange state. Only to find that he had been reduced to a wispy blue orb, glowing with a gentle inner light. The only logical conclusion, he thought, was that he was perceiving his soul.
Suddenly he felt a tug. A tug that turned into a pull, and he was whisked away into the Aether. Neither up, nor down, nor sideways, but inwards. Inky blackness surrounded him. Hoping he was being taken to Heaven, he surrendered himself to the journey. Not that he had any say in it to begin with. Suddenly the direction of his soul's travel changed.
He felt caught. Like a fish trapped in a fisherman's net, and he wasn't alone. Hundreds, maybe thousands of other souls, each glowing with their own soft blue light, all with as much agency as him, (none), had been captured. Onward they went, in a direction that to all of them felt wrong. To Luke, it felt as if a taxi taking him home had suddenly taken a wrong turn.
He would have complained. Corrected the driver. Yelled 'You missed the exit!' while he stared out the window and gazed longingly at the missed turn. Instead he found himself without the ability to speak. A natural consequence of being dead, and of no longer possessing a mouth.
Their destination came into view not long after. A bubble in the blackness, invisible, except for the shine that surrounded it. The closer they got, the larger it became. Suddenly, Luke was squished right up against it. Then with a jolt, he was inside.
Surprisingly, he landed on his hands and feet. Instead of flesh, blood, and bone, his body seemed to be made up of the same substance as before, merely reshaped to resemble his human form.
Taking in the world around him, he was in awe of, and in greater measure, terrified of what he saw. The sky was in tatters. The earth cracked. Mountains were ripped from the ground and carried off into dark rends in the air, places where space itself seemed to have been torn. It was raining, but the water would sizzle and evaporate when it touched the black soil. In the distance, a forest full of large leafy trees had caught fire, and was spewing dark smoke. Far in the sky, where the clouds broke, the sun looked like it was growing larger and larger. He watched, horrified, as it went from yellow to orange, and from orange to red, in a span of seconds.
Aw shit. This is hell isn't it? Luke's mind filled with righteous anger. He hadn't been that bad a person. Surely! Looking around him, he saw countless other souls. Forms of men, and women of all ages, some children of five or six, and a few even younger.
Are the kids going to hell too? That seems wrong.
Spying what he thought looked like a personable figure in the sea of souls, an older gentleman with big round glasses whose back was hunched over a walking stick, he took a step towards him. A question burned inside of him, begging to be answered. Maybe, just maybe, he knew what was going on.
"COME!" A voice resounded through the realm, stopping Luke in his tracks. "COME!" The voice demanded again, its flat tone betraying the speaker's anger. This time, however, the command was accompanied by an invisible force. It pulled them deeper into the world. Whatever had brought them here wasn't done with them yet.
The remains of a city loomed in the distance and rapidly grew larger as the souls were pulled to a destination within it. It was a scene of disaster. Ruins of once beautiful structures lay shattered on the ground. Aqueducts spilled steaming water onto streets paved with what had once been perfectly cut marble. White columns that looked like they belonged in front of a museum or in a temple in Ancient Athens lay shattered on the ground. In some parts of the ruined city, magma oozed from deep beneath the earth and spilled onto the surface. Burning everything in its path.
At the very center of the city, there was a castle. Fashioned from gold, it alone stood unblemished and proud, untouched by the chaos that had overtook the rest of the world.
The souls, caught from the Aether, were funneled through the front gates. To a large open room. Twin staircases led to the higher floors, one pressed against each wall. A narrow red carpet, sprawled from the castle's gates all the way to the front of a massive throne.
Sitting atop it was a man. He had no more arm past his right elbow, and no more leg below his left knee. His stumps gushed brilliant red blood that pooled on the floor around him. Indistinguishable from the red of the carpet. He had a hole, shaped like a perfect circle, carved out of the middle of his chest, oozing even more blood onto already wet black robes.
He lifted his one remaining arm, and with grace unbefitting a man who looked as wretched as him, curled his finger.
A single soul flew out of the crowd, and into his waiting palm. He squeezed, and he pinched, and he rolled. Until the soul that once belonged to an older woman, who Luke thought looked rather like his own grandma, who, thankfully, had outlived him, became a ball. The man inspected it curiously, and nodding to himself in approval he carelessly tossed it into his mouth and began to chew.
Those souls not paralyzed in fear tried to run. Luke watched one enviously as it managed to escape through the door. Envy swiftly turned into pity as an invisible force dragged it into the monster's waiting hands, where he once again rolled it up and swallowed it.
Luke watched the quiet terror, as one after another, more and more souls succumbed to the same gruesome fate. The purpose of the insanity became clear, as the man's wounds slowly began to heal. The hole in his chest shrank, and the stubs of his limbs began to grow with each additional soul that was consumed.
Maybe he'll finish recovering before it's my turn. Luke thought hopefully.
A soul beside him was summoned into the man's hands.
Maybe not.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How the mighty have fallen." Another voice resounded through the world. Luke watched incredulously, as the roof was torn free from the castle's walls.
An Angel. Maybe she's come to save us.
"You." The man stood from his throne, on his single leg, and glared at her. His otherwise handsome face twisted ugly with hate.
Her white feathered wings beating softly, she landed between the souls and the man.
"I commend you, Aeolus. To think you had fashioned yourself a demiplane. When you fled to the Aether, I thought my prize was lost. To think that you came this close to divinity only to fail at the very last step."
He snarled. A black sword appeared in his hand. He pointed it at the winged woman in challenge.
"Ha." She snorted. "You want to fight me. Be a good little boy and just hand it over." Her voice rang, full of mockery.
"You know I cannot."
"Of course. It's bound to your soul and all that. How could I forget?" Clearly, thought Luke who was beginning to suspect that she was here for some purpose other than to save him, she hadn't forgotten. "I suppose, I have no choice then, but to tear the Seed from your soul."
Looking far too cheerful for someone about to kill, she flapped her wings. In a motion faster than Luke could perceive, she was in front of the monster, for what else could a man who feasted upon the souls of the dead be. In her hand a blade formed of blinding white light, locked against Aeolus's own sinister blade. A moment later the world shook, as reality caught up with their movements. A shockwave rippled out, flattening each of the castle's walls. Exposing Luke to the burning hell that the world outside had become.
The man collapsed onto his throne, and his sword clanked as it fell in a pool of his own blood. Defeated after a single exchange. Not a match for her in the poor condition he was in. The angelic woman's arm blurred, and with a sickening plop, his two remaining limbs fell to the ground.
"There. That makes it more even." She smiled at his limbless figure.
He smiled back at her, blood escaping his mouth as he did. "You may kill me today. Know this though. I did not come close to divinity. I reached it!"
"Hmm." His head slid off his shoulders. "The death of a god. How quaint." She stepped back, as if she was looking at a particularly thought provoking painting. "Arke. The God Killer. I do quite like the sound of that." She nodded to herself, satisfied with her self proclaimed title.
Definitely not here to save us. Luke thought, watching the terrifying display. Also not an angel. No matter how much she looks like one.
"You are all quite lucky to have seen this." She turned towards the assembled souls. "A god hasn't died in ages. Of course, there hasn't been a god as weak as him in ages either. Had he finished this construction," she gestured vaguely to the rapidly disintegrating world, "it may have even been me who…" She trailed off and looked at the dead god's corpse.
Its soul separated from its body. Unlike the others, whose souls were blue, his was a resplendent gold. Shining like a miniature sun in the room. It looked around, before attempting to flee into a crack in space. It was an attempt doomed from its conception, as Arke had been waiting just for that moment.
The man's soul struggled in her grip before smiling. Something unsaid passed between them, as in the next moment Arke let go of his soul, and constructed a dome of light around her.
He detonated.
For an instant the world became white. When the light faded, it revealed a gruesome scene. Arke was strewn on the ground. Her wings shredded and stained red with her blood, her limbs shattered and bent unnaturally. Despite her condition though, she smiled. A big happy cheerful smile, as she stared eagerly towards the charred space the man's souls had occupied. Floating there was a gem. Fist sized and glittering. The prize Arke had killed a god for, The Seed.
Luke watched in horror. Questioning reality. First I die, then the guy captures our souls, then he eats some of us. Only to be killed by that crazy angel-lady. All for that? He looked apprehensively at the floating gem.
He watched as Arke hobbled and crawled toward it, weakened by the explosion. Reverently, she strained her arm and closed her fist around the gem, only to grasp empty air instead.
She started incomprehensibly at her empty hand.
Luke looked at the gem floating in front of him with trepidation. He glanced towards the other souls, only to see most of them had been sucked into a rend that had formed behind him. He even spotted a few of them flicker out of existence, likely resuming their journey. Finally free with the death of the monster that had brought them here.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT!" Yelled Arke from across the remains of the now ruined castle.
Unfortunately for Luke and her, the choice was taken out of his hands. Before he could respond, it plunged into him.
"AGGGHHHHHHH!" Arke screamed as she hobbled towards him using her ruined wings for support, one painful step at a time. Not that Luke noticed. His attention was focused solely on the message that had appeared before him. One that only he could see.
Synchronizing.
Suitable Host Detected.
Requesting permission.
Accept Soul Bond with God-Seed
Yes/No
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Don't you dare! Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" Arke shreeked.
Luke ignored her as he considered his options. Whatever his decision, he would have to make it, and fast. On one hand the last person to possess the Seed had been killed. Right in front of him for that matter. On the other hand, Luke was already dead. His fate was uncertain no matter what happened next. He had been pulled away from wherever he was going by Aeolus, to be eaten. Would his soul be free to resume the journey it started on with his death if he rejected the bond. Did he even want to find out what was waiting for him out there?
Glancing at the rage-filled expression on the crazy strong winged woman hobbling towards him, he knew intuitively that if she got to him, he would regret it. Considering she had killed Aeolus, and captured his soul, she likely had a way to take the seed out of his. There was a high chance, Luke felt, that she would do it in a way that wouldn't leave him in tact.
God Seed. What did that mean?
He remembered, before he died and blew himself up, the man had claimed to be divine. Even the name of the woman, Arke. It sounded like something he had heard in passing. She was a character in a story. A myth came true. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think of where or when he had heard her name before.
A seed. You planted it, and it grew. A god seed. Would it grow a god? Is that what the man had meant by his last words? That he was a god?
Yes. Luke decided, making his choice. The first one since he had been pulled into this mess.
Installing.
Installed.
Host in imminent danger.
Would you like to use a Charge to escape?
Yes/No
In the distance, Arke seemed to have detected that something had changed.
"NO! If you leave. I will find you. Just like I found Aeolus. The fate that befell him will feel like heaven compared to what I do to you!"
Yes. Luke gave the command. Committing the name of the monster that had brought him here and the not-angel who's actions had inadvertently saved him to memory.
Charges remaining: 9 of 10
Choosing Destination
Analyzing Parameters
Destination Set: Theos
A golden bubble originated from within him, and wrapped around his soul. A now familiar inky blackness once again surrounded him as he was carried into the Aether.
The journey this time felt a lot more relaxed. The direction of his travel, at the very least, didn't induce the same sense of wrongness and anxiety as it had when Aeolus had hijacked his previous trip.
It helped that this time, instead of the blackness, he also had something to attract his attention. A Status Screen, like in a video game.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: N/A
Rate: N/A
Strength: N/A
Agility: N/A
Constitution: N/A
Arcana: N/A
Stat Points: N/A
Charges: 9/10
All considered, it was interesting to look at. Even with all his stats reading 'Not Applicable'. Something he correctly attributed to not having a body. A problem he desperately hoped there was a solution to.
His tier being Mortal, implied that there was something beyond it, recalling the terrifying might of Arke and Aeolus, that was definitely the case. Mana, similarly implied the existence of magic. Strength, Agility, and Constitution, were easy enough to understand, even if Luke didn't know exactly what they meant outside of a game. The function of the Arcana stat likely had an effect on Mana. What that effect was, Luke couldn't say. Magic being a completely foreign concept to him.
The Quests tab was empty, for the moment at least. His inventory, however, was not.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Items:
God Seed (Soul Bound)
Tier - Primordial
An artifact forged from the Primal Energy of Chaos by ⠗⠑⠙⠁⠉⠞⠑⠙. Guides wielder in their pursuit of godhood.
It was a sparse description, but useful nonetheless. It confirmed his suspicions about the purpose of the Seed. Arke had likely discovered that Aeolus owned it, and had come to take it from him. Reading the description once again, his attention lingering on the black bar that was supposed to be the name of the Seed's creator. Not quite sure what to make of it. He didn't know what the Primal Energy of Chaos was, or what Primordial Tier meant in the grand scheme of things. Something to look into in the future.
Luke's musings were cut short, when something came into view. Unlike the bubble in darkness that was Aeolus's demiplane, the world before him just existed. There was no barrier separating it from the Aether. It was a planet, but calling it such felt like an insult to its sheer size. Orbiting it from a distance were nine large stars, and closer to the surface were nine smaller bodies Luke thought looked like moons. Like a picture of Earth taken from space, it was shrouded by white clouds that shined blindingly with the reflected light of its suns. Continents and islands peeked out of its oceans, barely visible under the cover provided by the clouds.
To his untrained eye, it looked vaguely like one of those old models of the solar system, before they had figured out that the Earth wasn't at the center of the universe. This place, in contrast, was.
Theos. That's what the seed had called his destination.
Entering Theos.
Environment inhospitable to non-corporeal entities.
Recommended action: Possess recently deceased body.
Cost: 2 Charges
Yes/No
Luke considered what it was asking. So there was a way for him to get a body. Except, he wasn't enthusiastic about taking over some dead person's life.
Are there any other options? He directed his thoughts to the Seed.
A mortal-tier body can be constructed.
Cost: 8 Charges
Yes/No
That would leave him with one Charge. He'd already used one, and it had been a massive help. It had quite literally saved his life. Spending eight more, while he could get away with spending two, didn't seem wise.
Can I get more Charges later?
Negative
Luke frowned. Just now realizing that he could communicate with the Seed with thoughts alone.
Are you alive?
Negative.
The God Seed interfaces with the user's soul and possesses information processing and scanning abilities. Designed to guide the wielder towards godhood. For more information, contact ⠗⠑⠙⠁⠉⠞⠑⠙.
He read over the message carefully. Frowning at the black bar hiding the identity of the Seed's creator. Even if he had known their name, there was no way he would go and seek them out. In any case, it was a relief to him that the Seed wasn't alive. He wouldn't quite know how to feel if the seed had been some strange being that he had to share his soul with. Not that there would be anything he could do about it at this stage.
Do I have any other options? Besides creating a body or possessing one.
Negative.
Possession it is. Luke decided after mulling over his two options. Not knowing what else he may need the Charges for in the future, it was best to conserve them.
Affirmative.
Scanning.
Compatible bodies found: 1 356 087 873
Analyzing.
Defining Parameters.
Optimal host selected.
Rerouting.
Abruptly, the speed he was traveling at increased. The distant world became larger and larger to Luke, until it encompassed the entirety vision. Then he was there. Bursting through the clouds, with a clear view of the world's continents and oceans.
He flew at blistering speeds towards the surface of the planet, to an ocean in between two large continents. A moment later, his destination became visible. An archipelago. With each island surrounded by beautiful blue-green water and sandy beaches.
Before he could accurately judge the size or even the shape of the Island he landed on, he found himself hovering before a body. It was a kid, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. Dark hair, pale skinned, and dressed in ratty clothes. A body that was soon to be his.
His vision faded to black, as a message appeared in front of him.
Standby.
Luke rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, before abruptly getting to his feet. He stood in the clearing he found himself in and took in the sight of the leafy trees, and the sounds of the forest. Taking deep breaths to calm himself as he did so.
Sitting back down a moment later with his back pressed against a tree, he closed his eyes to think. Taking a moment to just breathe for the first time since he'd landed in this mess.
He wondered how his parents and friends would take the news of his passing. Someone would have rummaged through his belongings. Got into his phone. Made the appropriate calls. He smiled lightly as a tear ran down the side of his face. Hopefully his roommate, once he heard the news, would close all the tabs he had left open on his laptop and get rid of everything even remotely embarrassing that he saved on his hard-drive. A promise made in jest not long before his untimely demise.
Besides, he thought, I have a real chance of becoming a god. If those two could move around in that weird space, so can I. Once I get strong enough, I might even be able to go back to Earth. Wouldn't that make a mess. He smiled as he imagined the looks on everyone's faces once he came back with crazy strong powers.
Calling up his Status, he looked over his attributes.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: 0
Rate: 10% per hour
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Constitution: 13
Arcana: 0
Stat Points: 0
Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met.
Charges: 7/10
It had updated when he'd possessed the body, and he was relieved to see he finally had stats. Disappointing as they were, he had plenty of room for improvement. Something that he was looking forward to. The Bloodline was new though, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
What is a Bloodline anyway?
It was at that moment disjointed fragments of memories belonging to the body's original owner hit him with all the grace of a bag of bricks. Aside from painfully filling his head with the knowledge of this world's language, they didn't paint a pretty picture. The kid, Max, had been an orphan. When he was younger, five maybe six years old, a fisherman had found and rescued him. Max himself didn't remember, but he had been told when he was older that they found him alone on a dinghy floating listlessly in the sea. Dehydrated and on the verge of death. The old Fisherman and his Wife had been kind to the original Max, and had raised him as if he was their own son after finding him.
Things had been good, until the Fisherman had an accident at sea, and perished. Not long after he passed away, Max and the Fisherman's Wife had been harassed over his debt. A debt that Max was sure didn't exist. The Wife, already old, and weakened by the death of her husband had passed away not long after. The debtors, seeing an opportunity, used the alleged debt as well as the fact that Max wasn't the Fisherman's actual son as an excuse, and took possession of the couple's property. Every single thing they'd owned. From the boat to their small house.
As if that hadn't been enough, the debtors had decided that Max was too much of a nuisance to their claim, and had chased him out of town. Without any food, water, or even appropriate clothes, he had succumbed to the environment and died. Moments before Luke's soul had occupied the vacant body.
Which led Luke to his current predicament. The island he was on was big. If the jumbled mess that were Max's memories painted an accurate picture, if the island was picked up and dropped into one of Earth's oceans, it would be the size of a continent. At least. The level of technology on the island also wasn't great. If Luke had to guess, what did exist would be comparable to what was present in the pre-industrialization period of Earth. They had trains that ran on steam, but the most common mode of transport were various beasts of burden. Giant four legged lizards, and flightless birds that reminded Luke of ostrich, pulled carts and carriages, taking people where they needed to go.
At least the weather is nice year round.
His stomach grumbled painfully. Reminding him that he didn't have the luxury of time. If he just stayed here, he would only succeed in re-enacting Max's death.
Luke thumped his head gently against the tree, at a loss for what to do. He didn't know what direction the town he came from was, nor did he particularly want to go back there. Compared to his modern sensibilities, the place might as well be a backwards and lawless hellhole.
In this world, it was common for the average person to never leave the place of their birth. Max himself had never been possessed by a desire for knowledge, and hardly knew a thing about anything other than his own little part of town. Having fully planned on inheriting the Fisherman's boat and supporting them the only way he knew how.
Quest Alert: Acquire the Bellerophon's Blade
Luke stared at the message. This is what a god had died for? A vague clue. He opened his Status.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Acquire the Blade of Bellerophon:
Over five-hundred years have passed since Bellerophon's infamous attempt to reach Divinity was thwarted by Zeus. His armaments fell with the rain over all corners of Theos. His blade is on the Island of Carim. Found by members of the Luminous Sky Society, it resides in their Armory till this day. Ignorant of the treasure they possess, or how to use it, the blade hangs unused on a wall.
That was better, thought Luke as he carefully read over the description of the quest. There was a sword on the Island. The Luminous Sky Society, whatever that was, had it. He just had to find a way to retrieve it, and he'd be well on his way to his own apotheosis. One that hopefully went better than Aeolus's or Bellerophon's for that matter.
All he had to do was find a way out of the forest, and then find a way to the Society. Sorely wishing that Max's memories had provided more context, he got to his feet and looked around. Picking a direction that he thought and hoped led to the town Max came from, he began walking.
A few minutes later he heard someone sneeze behind him. Jumping two feet in the air at the sudden noise, Luke came face to face with a sturdy looking elderly man dressed in bright red robes. Floating lazily above the ground with his legs crossed.
Luke started at him, and he stared at Luke.
"You wouldn't happen to be possessing that body would you?" He asked, his hands combing through his long white beard as he stared at Luke. An unreadable expression on his face.
Fuck.
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Hmm." He stroked his beard. Uncrossing his legs, and landing softly on the ground, he walked in a circle around Luke. Poking and prodding his body with his finger as he did a lap around him.
"I uhh… I don't…" Luke stuttered. Not knowing what to say, and caught off guard by his sudden appearance. He didn't want to admit to anything, but at the same time he didn't want to lie to someone with abilities he didn't understand, lest he anger him. The Old Man was capable of flight, and had arrived before him minutes after Luke had possessed the body. Who knew what else he could do. The supernatural being entirely unfamiliar concepts to Luke.
"No. No. No." He muttered to himself, before lifting one of his legs and folding it across his hip and then the other, once again floating in the air. "Sorry to bother you young lad. Your body displays no signs of possession. Your soul is stable. More than that, both your soul and body are in perfect sync." Luke allowed himself to relax. So he didn't know. "If I hadn't noticed that same body you're in right now laying dead earlier, I would never have guessed otherwise."
He winked.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Luke's thoughts skidded to a halt as he stared, open mouthed, at the old man. Stunned that his secret had been exposed already.
"What do you want?"
"Bah. What I wanted was to be left alone. Instead I have those ruddy Olympians breathing down my neck. Treating me like their servant, and expecting us to clean up their mess. Tell me. How is it my problem that a thief, a dead thief at that, escaped them and fled somewhere onto the archipelago. Especially when every sane person knows that a soul has a limited window of time to make its way into the Aether or risk dissolving by staying on Theos, making the search effectively useless."
"It isn't." Luke offered. Recalling that the Seed also mentioned something similar about the environment being inhospitable to non-corporeal entities.
"Precisely! It isn't my problem. Instead, they have us poor folk, trying to live our lives in peace, searching every one of the hundreds of islands. Looking for someone who could steal from them, and get away. Let me ask you this. If this alleged thief can run away from the Olympians, what chance do we, us poor and weak members of a small and weak organization like the Luminous Sky, possibly have of finding him?"
"I imagine the chances are very low." Luke responded evenly.
"Next to none! A complete waste of time, and they know it. The fact that I actually ran into you. Hah!" He smiled broadly. Displaying a row of perfect white teeth.
Luke mulled over his words. Luminous Sky, those were the people who had Bellerophon's Blade according to the quest the Seed gave him. The Old Man just so happened to be a member. What were the odds that he would get a quest, and moments later meet someone directly relevant to it? Luke, looked at the Old Man consideringly. Next to none, he decided. The Seed must have foreseen this happening.
For whatever reason, the Old Man didn't want to help the Olympians. Arke, Zeus, and Bellerophon. It was hard for Luke to even wrap his head around them being real. They were supposed to be myths. Ancient legends. Conjured by ignorant folk to explain how the world worked. Not people of flesh, blood, and bone. Never would Luke have thought that he'd one day be discussing how they conducted themselves with someone who was genuinely inconvenienced by their existence, and be inconvenienced by their existence for that matter. Or that he would get dragged into something far beyond his imagination, and make off with a prize that they were now combing the world for.
"Right." Luke looked at him warily, still on guard for any unexpected surprises. The lack of response from the Seed, however, put him slightly at ease. It had alerted him of danger when Arke was gunning for him minutes ago, and given him means of escaping. Seeing as he still had plenty of Charges stored up incase of emergency, he felt that, for the moment at least, he was safe. Charges, Luke realized, that he didn't understand. Not completely.
The Old Man's smile slipped from his face. "I have no love for the Olympians, but their power makes them terrible enemies. Overtly disobeying a request made by them is… unwise. At least for the likes of me. Look at you, they destroyed your body, and recovered what you took from your remains. Still, they exert their power over us, just so they could punish you. Forcing us into this mockery of a hunt."
Luke nodded slowly, his thoughts churning as he tried to make sense of the situation. The Old Man was clearly missing some pieces of information. Critical information at that. As a consequence, he had drawn the wrong conclusion. He recalled the time spent as a soul. As an incorporeal being. In hindsight, it wouldn't make sense for a bodiless soul to physically run away with something. After all, it's not like he had arms to carry it. From the Old Man's perspective, he had failed and fled in a story state. Except the Olympians could have claimed that he ran away with a critical piece of knowledge or something. Which also ran the risk of whoever captured him, also learning what he knew. In a way, by saying that Luke hadn't escaped with anything, they were reducing his value in the eyes of others, but still leveraging what power they did have to capture him. A situation that aided both Luke and the Olympians.
It's like when a criminal can't go to the police, without risking their own crimes being discovered.
He didn't know what Luke had taken. Or that he was just a random person from a different world. He was imagining Luke as someone capable of going head-to-head with very powerful people and escaping by the skin of his teeth. In the process, likely attributing his current lack of power as a result of possessing a powerless body.
If he knew Luke had an artifact capable of turning a powerless nobody into a god, they likely wouldn't be having this conversation. It would start a blood bath. In the chaos that would ensue, there was no guarantee who the Seed would go to. They had even managed, through some unknown means, to figure out his general location and started a manhunt for him. Unfortunately for them though, the person to catch him wasn't loyal to them. Potentially, giving Luke an opportunity.
"So… What did you steal?" He leaned forward. Looking at Luke eagerly.
"What do you plan to do with me?" Luke asked in return. Deciding the less he said, the better it would be.
The Old Man sighed as crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know. I doubt that there's anything you could do for me as you are." He smiled. "How about this? Come back to the Luminous Sky with me, and recover your strength. True allies are hard to come by these days. In exchange for not turning you in, I need your help with something once you pass the mortal threshold."
"My help with what?" A wary expression appeared on Luke's face as he considered the offer. Seriously tempted to accept it. Especially because all evidence seemed to point to the fact that their encounter had been arranged by the seed.
"That, my new friend, is a secret. Here." A silver ring on his finger briefly flashed before a small pile of clothes appeared in his hands. Black versions of the same robes the Old Man was wearing.
"What are these?" Asked Luke, trying his best not to show his surprise at clothing just appearing.
"Members of Luminous Sky keep to a strict dress code. Those robes are what the Outer Disciples wear." He explained.
"So I just put these on and follow you back to the Luminous Sky? Then once I'm strong enough, I help you with something and we're even?"
"You got it."
"No one will be surprised if I show up with you?" Luke looked at him skeptically.
"Whatever technique you used to take over that body, it's seamless. I can't even tell that it's not originally yours. Granted, I don't know much about the process, but even if there are signs of possession that I can't detect, they should fade in a day or two anyway. As for you showing up suddenly, the Luminous Sky is always recruiting. Me returning with someone I claim has talent won't strike anyone as odd. My position as an elder guarantees that much."
Luke blinked, as he processed the Old Man's words. He had deduced that he wasn't the only one on the path to godhood from the information that came with his quest, but to learn that there were entire organizations dedicated to it was a shock.
"Okay. I want to know more about what you guys actually do though." Luke agreed after some thought. Worst case scenario, a rumor would spread about what he possessed, and the Old Man might act out of greed. So long as he had a Charge or two to spare though he was fine. It also gave him an in to get started with his Quest.
"The Luminous Sky is decent at keeping itself on the up and up. At least as far as an organization full of bastards trying to be gods can be. Don't worry we're not Demons or anything."
"Right. That's good." Luke nodded.
Demons?
"I'm Nefkha." The Old Man introduced himself suddenly.
"Luke." He responded, taking the robes from his hands.
Might as well. He thought, awkwardly getting dressed. Relieved that he could get out of the rags that he was wearing, and simultaneously annoyed that he was still dirty underneath them.
"Ahh! I forgot how annoying it is to carry mortals around. Here, this should be big enough for you to sit on." His ring flashed, and a large circular shield came into existence.
Luke desperately wanted to ask how he was doing that. Even though he knew the answer would be magic. Instead he kept his mouth shut, and did his best not to be visibly surprised by anything he saw. Breaking his character would result in a bad end for him. If Nefkha thought he wouldn't be able to help him in the future, then he had one less reason stopping him from handing Luke over to the Olympians.
Aeolus's fate still fresh in his memory, Luke resolved to do whatever he could to avoid it. He stepped into the dome of the shield, and they took off into the air. Gripping the leather straps with white knuckles, Luke couldn't help but compare how much better traveling was when the Seed was carrying him. Or when he didn't have bugs flying into his face.
Struggling to breathe with the wind pulling the air out of his lungs, he looked over to Nefkha, who seemed completely unbothered by it. So much so that his robes weren't even flapping. Shaking his head, he adjusted his posture in a semi successful attempt to make breathing easier.
They covered ground quickly and in silence, mostly because Luke wasn't able to talk at the speeds they were moving. Something that he was grateful for.
A couple hours later, they arrived at their destination.
A small artificial mountain range, with twelve mountains in total. Each of them, perfectly identical and arranged in a semi-circle. Luke looked at them with disguised awe, every mountain had its peak's cut off, leaving a flat plateau, on top of which were castles made of white stone. Located in the center of the range, was a city.
"Here. Take this token to the Administration Building in the city. It's the tall one, next to the Arena. You can't miss it. They'll set you up with what you need. The rules prohibit me from showing any undue favor, and it's best that you keep a low profile, at least for a little bit, so we won't have much contact. I'll keep an eye on your progress though, and once you're strong enough I'll find you. If you try to run… I'm sure the Olympian's would like to know that you were here." Nefkah threatened as he landed on a road just outside of the town.
"You have my word."
"Hmm. Try not to show off too much either. I don't know how strong you used to be, but take your time recovering your strength. The timing of your arrival is curious, and I don't want any of the others suspecting anything." He nodded, and with a pat on Luke's back flew away. Eying the town, he began walking towards the buildings. Eager for the day to be over.
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Last edited: Feb 24, 2023
Feb 23, 2023Report
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Luke took in the sights, as he walked towards the administration building. It was impressive to say the least. The memories he'd inherited from Max had painted a picture of the world that was tinted through the lens of, not poverty, but of a lower middle class existence in what he was now realizing was a poorer part of the world.
Luminous Sky City was the polar opposite. Every brick exuded wealth. The streets were clean, the people sharply dressed and well groomed as they milled about. There wasn't a single piece of trash to be seen, no matter how hard he looked. It even smelled good. Like woodland and flowers. Just breathing the air made him feel refreshed.
Opening the door to the administration building, he blushed as he walked to the front desk. People stared at him as he did so. No doubt wondering what smelly hole he had crawled out of. Despite being dressed the same as everyone else, Luke felt out of place. Acutely aware of the dead leaves in his hair, and the grime covering every inch of his skin. Not to mention the smell coming off of him. It was bad.
"Hi. How can I help you today?" A woman in white robes sitting behind the desk asked him.
"I have this." Luke slid the token Nefkha had given him earlier across her desk. Idly wondering what the deal was with the robes. In Max's memories, most people simply dressed in pants, shirts, and dresses if they were women.
Accepting it gingerly with both hands she looked at the token and then at him. Seeming stunned that he possessed it. "One moment please, I'll be right back." She got up and disappeared further into the building.
Luke stood there awkwardly for a minute as he looked around the room. Waiting rooms, he concluded, were the same everywhere in the world.
A few painfully long moments later she returned with another woman. Unlike the white robes the receptionist was wearing, she was dressed in the same black robes he wore.
"Hi. I'm Arya." She stepped around the desk and shook his hand. "Welcome to the Luminous Sky Society. We're glad to have you join us. If you follow me, I can take you to your accommodations and get you properly sorted out."
"Right." Luke nodded as he walked out after her. "So… what does the Society actually do?"
She looked at him weirdly. "Did the Elder not explain anything to you?"
Scratching the back of his head, he struggled to come up with a response. Nefkha had made incorrect assumptions about who Luke was, and what he was capable of. Whatever the Society did, he expected Luke to already be aware of it. Instead Luke was completely new to the world, and had no idea how anything here worked.
"He mentioned that the dress code is pretty strict?"
She stared at him blankly. "That's it?" She looked at him blankly.
"Um. Yeah. Was he supposed to tell me more?"
Suddenly she stopped and stepped into his personal space. Before he knew what was happening, her hand had snaked through the front of his robes, and was resting right over his heart.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked.
"What are you doing here?" She asked in turn.
"Nefkha asked me to join…"
She blinked at him owlishly. "I don't sense any mana in your body. You haven't even begun to draw it in. You're as mortals as a mortal can be."
He stepped away from her, as he processed her accusation. He was in fact as mortal as a mortal could be. Largely on account of the fact that he had no clue how not to be.
"Is that a problem?"
Her cheeks turned red. "It's… not a problem. It's just unusual. Typically, those who join outside of the examinations, already have a foundation in cultivating mana. That's how they catch the Society's attention"
Mana, his Status said he had none, and that he regenerated none of it every second.
"I don't really know how to do that." Luke confessed, carefully thinking over his words. While Nefkha thought he was a powerful man who had fallen on some hard times, he actually had no idea what he was doing. Seeing as he already had no foundation in cultivating mana, now was a good time to get the basics explained to him. If Nefkha looked into his actions, he was likely to assume that he was playing a role. Pretending to be an ignorant mortal he had picked up from the outside. While in fact, an ignorant mortal was exactly who he was.
She opened her mouth and then closed it, before nodding. "Why don't you get settled in, and I'll arrange for someone who can walk you through what you need to know tomorrow." She said, leading him to a house on the outskirts of the city.
"Is this all for me?" Luke walked into an empty living room. Fully stocked with tasteful furniture.
"Yes. All members are provided with accommodations and meals. There is a copy of our handbook along with a few other introductory texts already in your house. I'd suggest you acquaint yourself with them. They should answer a lot of your questions. Someone will bring you food later in the evening."
"Thank you."
Exploring the house, he was pleasantly surprised by it. While it wasn't extravagant, all the furniture was of very high quality, and besides lacking a kitchen, everything else in the house was largely what he expected. Peeking his head into the rooms as he went, he nodded at the large washroom, which thankfully possessed all the modern conveniences he was used to. Before finding a room with a yoga mat in the middle surrounded by shelves, which save for two books and one scroll, were empty. The last room turned out to be a standard bedroom.
Half an hour, and a very thorough shower later, he stepped into the meditation room. Idly peeling a banana that had been left with a basket full of food on his porch, he eyed the books on the shelf. Picking one at random, he decided to try something that he had wanted to do for a while.
Add to inventory. He gave the Seed a mental command, and with a flicker, the book was gone. Excitedly he called up his Status.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Capacity: 0.359 kg of 104 kg
Items:
God Seed (Soul Bound)
Tier - Primordial
An artifact forged from the Primal Energy of Chaos by ⠗⠑⠙⠁⠉⠞⠑⠙. Guides wielder in their pursuit of godhood.
Book
Tier - Mortal
Just as expected, an entry, this time lacking a description, appeared under the one for the Seed. His eyes lingered at the top of his inventory page where a new piece of information had popped up. He frowned as he tried to make sense of the capacity, before realizing that it was just his Strength attribute multiplied by his Constitution attribute converted to kilograms. While it was disappointing that he didn't have a limitless amount of space, he was happy with the current capacity. Being able to carry a little over a hundred kilograms in mass was nothing to scoff at. More than that, the limit should also improve as those two attributes did. Thinking back to Nefkha's flashing ring, the ability might not be exclusive to him alone.
Leafing through the books, his eyes traced over the foreign letters. Possessing Max's body had come with some welcome side benefits, besides having a body, chief among them was the ability to read and write in this world's language.
The first book contained all the rules and duties expected of a member of Luminous Sky, and read like those Terms and Conditions you had to agree to before seemingly doing anything on the internet. Contracts which Luke had never once bothered reading. Thankfully the book was rather brief.
The Society was essentially a gathering of people who all had the common goal of pursuing godhood. There were many challenges to doing so, some of them were difficult if not impossible to overcome alone. The Society promised its members among other things, a place where they could exchange resources, learn from those further along the path, a place to live, and security.
In return, its members were required to contribute to it as well. All disciples had to fulfill a quota of missions. At least one a month, with provisions for those missions that took longer than a month to complete. What those entailed, remained to be seen. The Society also acted as a police force in the area. All the cities, towns, and even villages in the region sent monthly tributes, and in exchange the Society dealt with any supernatural threats.
In retrospect, it seemed obvious to Luke that in a world full of gods, there would also be monsters. Monsters that mortals were unequipped to handle.
The Society was divided into ranks. Ranks that determined certain privileges, as well as described a person's power. White robes indicated a person who had attempted to cultivate before being demoted down to clerical duties. They took care of the society's more menial tasks. Black robes were one above that. Those that wore them were referred to as Outer Disciples of the society, and from what Luke had seen on his short trip through the town, were the most populous of the Society's members.
The mortal-tier itself was divided into three broad ranks by the Society, early, mid, and late. Outer Disciples belonged to the early and mid ranks of the tier. Above them were the late mortal-tier individuals who wore blue robes. The divisions inside the mortal-tier however, weren't actual thresholds according to the book. Instead, they were meant to signify a difference of ability. Anyone could have their abilities tested, and where you scored within certain parameters informed your rank and progress in the Mortal Tier. Those at the Mortal Tier ranged anywhere from barely stronger than the average human, to having as the handbook described it, the strength of a hundred men.
If you managed to surpass the mortal-tier, and enter the warrior-tier, you would automatically graduate from being a disciple, and instead be given red robes and the title of Elder. Along with an abode on one of the peaks. At the moment, the Society only had nine people in the warrior-tier. All of them holding considerable influence over the Society, and a say in how it operated.
The ability to fly was the hallmark of being in the warrior-tier. Any who demonstrated the ability were instantly promoted to the rank of Elder.
So that's what Nefkha meant by surpassing the threshold.
Having a rough idea of the Society's rules Luke closed the book, and looked at the scroll. Smiling at the novelty of it, he unfurled it. His eyes instantly widened at the contents. With the title, 'Ascending Past Mortality', it immediately held his interest.
His eyes raked over each word, careful not to miss the slightest detail. After he was done, he put it to the side and sighed. The path of climbing past the Mortal Tier was surprisingly simple. All you had to do was exercise.
According to the scroll, the world was full of energy called mana. Living beings like humans, animals, and even plants could absorb mana from the environment, and learn to manipulate it after accumulating it inside their bodies.
Unfortunately, the ability to gather mana wasn't something that people were born with. Instead, you had to push yourself to your limits, and eventually, how long it actually took depending on something the scroll referred to as talent, your body would develop an affinity for mana. Beginning a process of automatic accumulation. It would then use the energy to reforge your body better and better, until you surpassed the limitations of mortality.
Eventually, you would even gain the ability to sense the mana entering your body, and learn to exert influence over it, choosing what you improved and by how much. The ability to sense and direct mana however, wasn't guaranteed, and you would be eternally stuck at the mid tier of the mortal realm.
Recalling Arya being able to detect his mana, he concluded that she would likely enter the late stage if not the warrior-tier itself eventually.
Having learned the rather mundane secret to godhood, Luke stripped out of his robes, into his underclothes, and started doing push ups. When he couldn't do any more pushups, he rolled onto his back and started doing sit ups. When even those became impossible for him, he stood up and started doing squats. Repeating the process until he could barely move. Sweat beaded on his body as he pushed himself farther than he had ever pushed himself before. Godhood a carrot that he couldn't help but chase.
When the sun set over the horizon, Luke quickly rinsed the sweat off his body, and stumbled onto his bed.
Waking up sorer than he ever remembered being, he couldn't take the smile off his face.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: 0
Rate: 10% per hour
Strength: 8 > 9
Agility: 9
Constitution: 13
Arcana: 0
Stat Points: 1
Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (0/10 000)
Charges: 7/10
His status had changed. Not only had his strength increased by one, he had also gained one stat point, along with a counter next to his bloodline. Eyeing the stat point, he dropped it where he thought he needed it most. The Arcana stat.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: 6.5
Rate: 10% per hour
Strength: 9
Agility: 9
Constitution: 13
Arcana: 1
Stat Points: 0
Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (0/10 000)
Charges: 7/10
Surprisingly he didn't feel any different, nor could he feel the presence of mana inside him. Frowning, he analyzed the numbers. His total mana was half his Constitution stat, while the regen rate was unchanged at ten percent an hour.
Maybe I don't have enough mana to even notice it? Six and a half is decent for other things, but maybe not much when it comes to mana. I'll have to add more points to the Arcana stat, and see if it makes any difference.
Deciding it was what it was, he rolled out of his bed and got ready for the day.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Just in time.
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Feb 24, 2023Report
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started his third. This time against a girl. She wasted no time in engaging him, and with fists raised above her chest she circled around him slowly, before striking out with a quick jab that he dodged by stepping to the side. Before the girl could even pull her arm back, he had closed the distance between them and punched her in the gut with everything he had.
Luke winced along with the rest of the line as she folded instantly, and fell knee first onto the ground, and started gasping for breath. The Society, at least when it came to combat, made no distinction between men and women. While men had a natural physical advantage in the earliest stages of the mortal-tier, it would dwindle rapidly as they progressed. The mana in the air, augmenting all people equally as they worked their bodies.
As the girl stumbled out of the ring, the referee waved him in right after. His opponent had waived the allotted minute of rest granted between battles.
Here we go.
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Last edited: Feb 25, 2023
Feb 25, 2023Report
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Luke eyed his opponent with caution as he raised his fists in front of him. In what he hoped was a stance that would protect his face. Breaking a nose or anything equivalent was bound to be an unpleasant experience, and something that he wanted to avoid. From the fights he'd seen up till now though, none had been particularly vicious. Giving him some hope of getting out of the rings with just some bruises.
Should I be bouncing from foot to foot? That's what they do in those MMA fights… No, I'll look stupid if I'm the only one doing it. Why isn't he doing anything though. Does he want me to make the first move? Fuck it. Might as well get this over with.
Luke stepped forward with his guard still raised, only to step back in order to dodge a sweeping kick. Then dodge again as his opponent immediately moved in with a jab, pushing Luke to the boundary of the ring.
Luke shuffled to the side in an attempt to get away from the edge. Only for his opponent to land a glancing blow on his chest. His knuckles scraping against Luke's skin. Running into the ring, Luke ignored the stinging sensation from the hit, as he tried to find an opening in his opponent's guard.
You know what. He can come to me this time.
Growing impatient, the other disciple threw caution to the wind and recklessly closed the distance, wildly swinging his fists. Seeing a punch go wide, Luke repeated his opponent's earlier strategy, stepping in and burying a fist in his stomach with as much force as he could muster. Unexpectedly, the punch was ineffective, and his opponent took it in stride, without showing even a hint of pain. Taking advantage of Luke's compromised position he moved in even closer and wrapped his arm tightly around Luke's neck.
Gasping for air, Luke knew he should tap and get it over with. Instead, all he wanted to do was win. Throwing himself onto the ground, Luke used the added momentum to break free of the hold. Rolling on the floor of the arena, they both desperately tried to maneuver the other into a pin. Until, finally, Luke managed to get behind him and catch his opponent in a choke hold. He attempted to struggle, and after not finding a way out of Luke's hold he relaxed his body, and gently tapped the stage.
Luke won.
Panting, he stumbled onto his feet, and watched the referee run onto the stage. Inspecting both of them for any obvious signs of injury.
"That was good, I thought I had you earlier."
"You almost did, that was a good fight." Replied Luke.
"It was fun! I'm Mykanos by the way." He extended his hand.
"I'm Luke."
"Good luck on the next fight. Back to back fights get exhausting fast!" Mykonos walked out of the ring, as the next person in line stepped forward.
Oh right. The winner just keeps going until they lose.
Acutely aware of the sweat dripping down the side of his face and the prickling pain from where Mykanos had hit and choked him, Luke thought he should feel awful. Instead, he found himself looking forward to the next fight.
Locking eyes with his opponent, Luke raised his fists in anticipation and widened his stance. The battle began.
He won his second fight, and lost on his third. Then in a decision that surprised even him, he walked back into the line and started the process over again. Sometimes managing to stay in the ring for multiple matches, and sometimes losing after a single one.
Hours later, when the nine suns of Theos set below the horizon, Luke stumbled home. A smile on his face in spite of being covered in bruises, and aching in ways he didn't know he could.
I did not expect fighting to be that fun.
The next morning, he was happy to see that his suffering came with a reward.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: 7
Rate: 10% per hour
Strength: 9 > 10
Agility: 9 > 10
Constitution: 13 > 14
Arcana: 1
Stat Points: 1
Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (0/10 000)
Charges: 7/10
Gaining a point in every attribute except one was a surprise, a very welcome one. Dropping his spare point back into the Arcana Stat, he refreshed his Status.
Status | Quests | Inventory
Name: Lukas King
Tier: Mortal
Mana: 14
Rate: 10% per hour
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Constitution: 14
Arcana: 2
Stat Points: 0
Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (0/10 000)
Charges: 7/10
So my total mana is just Arcana multiplied by my Constitution divided by two. My regen rate is still the same. Ten hours to recover a whopping fourteen mana seem's pretty crap though. The fact that it stayed the same, however, is good. No matter how much mana I have, I'll recover all of it in a set amount of. Not that I even have a way to use it at the moment. Is it the same for everyone though, or is a fixed rate something the Seed gives me.
Speaking of, I still can't feel my mana. Maybe when I enter the middle stage of the mortal tier that'll change. If I keep getting free points like I am now though, I should have a lot of mana, pretty soon though.
Falling back onto his bed, he was tempted to sleep the day away. Unfortunately, unlike his last life he couldn't afford to take it easy. Things seemed calm for the moment, but that could change any second.
If Nefkha suddenly gets cold feet, I'm fucked. I need to get to the next tier as fast as I can, or else I'm just a sitting duck at everyones mercy. If I can fly, I should be able to hightail it to some random cave and disappear. Hopefully to someplace where no one knows I'm wanted by the Olympians.
Forcing himself out of his funk, he took a quick shower before walking to his next destination.
Back to working for a living.
The Mission Hall reminded Luke of a fast food joint. There was a row of white robed people standing behind a counter, with an assortment of mostly black and a small number of blue robed people in line. All silently gazing at the wall behind the clerks, reading the pinned requests that hung on it, like a menu.
It had more jobs, and a greater variety of them than Luke imagined there would be. Hunting down dozens of different creatures causing trouble in the surrounding areas. Guarding merchant caravans coming in and going out of the Society. A few requests for aid in the forges. Hundreds of herb gathering assignments. Requests for sparring partners. Repair work and construction. Recruitments for expeditions seeking lands rich in resources and danger. Delivering letters and parcels, and more. There definitely wasn't a lack of options to pick from.
"How can I help you today?" Asked the clerk as he finally made it to the counter.
"I wanted to go on a mission. Preferably a simple herb gathering one."
"Can I see your bracelet please?"
"Of course." Luke slid it off his wrist and handed it to him. Watching curiously as he dropped it onto a blank sheet of paper and becoming fascinated as words magically appeared on it a uniform black ink.
"Just to make sure, you are Luke, yes?" The clerk asked, reading his name off the paper.
"That's me."
"Okay. Welcome to the Society! You said you were interested in gathering herbs? That's a good choice, I can't tell you how many of the newer members foolishly choose to hunt a monster on their first missions, only to come back grievously injured if not worse."
"Yeah, someone recommended that I start with a safer mission."
"I'm glad they did. Now, as you can see," he gestured to the wall full of missions behind him, "we have quite a few of them. Did you have a particular one in mind, or would you like for me to choose one for you?"
"If you could, that would be great. Something on the easier end would be nice."
"Of course, let me just… aha. This one shouldn't cause you too much trouble. Blue Wildflowers are fairly common in the area. The mission is to collect ten of them and the deadline is tomorrow before noon. If you fail at the mission, and it is determined upon investigation that it was due to lack of professionalism and or poor conduct on your behalf, you will be docked five merits." He recited dryly. "Am I correct in assuming that you haven't collected any herbs before?"
"You would be."
"Alright, in that case." He reached underneath the counter and with a practiced movement pulled out a book. "This is the Society's Compendium of Flora, it has a lot of information that you'll find useful, as well as instructions on how to correctly harvest the plants. I'd suggest you read the entry on any plant you intend to harvest, before you head out into the wilderness."
"Thank you." Luke nodded gratefully.
"It's no problem. We do Charge two merit points for the book though, which will leave you with eight. You will be deducted ten at the end of the month. The mission you're going on will give you one merit, so you have to complete at least one more within two weeks."
"That sounds good to me. Thanks again!" Luke waved, before walking out of the building. Flipping through the book as he did so.
Finding the section on Blue WIldflowers, he committed their appearance to memory before reading up on them. The flower, while not rare, wasn't super common in the region. It grew quickly, but only in the wild. According to the book, attempts had been made to cultivate them in green houses, but like most other plants useful for alchemical purposes, the properties that made it useful were lost by doing so. The Blue Wildflower in particular was a common ingredient in many potions, and it needed to be fresh. As such the Society always needed more. Unlike some of the other plants in the book, this one didn't require any particular method to harvest. Only its petals were valuable, so simply tearing the stems was enough.
So I'm basically an errand boy. Thought Luke, as he walked into the forest on the east side of the Society. Finding a trail, he began to hike. Nodding politely as he passed other disciples along the way, many of which, like him, were also delving into the forest.
"Hey! Luke, right?" He heard a voice calling his name.
"Oh. Hey Mykonos." Said Luke, smiling as Mykonos and two other people walked into the forest behind him. One of them, he recognized as the person Ethan had pointed out in the Arena. The one likely to become the Society's next Inner Disciple.
"Let me guess, you're gathering herbs?"
"Yup."
"Blue Wildflowers?"
"You called it."
"I'm just smart like that. We happen to be looking for them too. Uh, this is Spiros, he's my cousin, and that's June, she is also my cousin." He introduced. "That's Luke, he kicked my ass in the arena yesterday."
Luke waved at the cousins.
"Why don't you come with us Luke? Last time we came, we noticed a bunch growing near a small lake."
"Uh… yeah, are you sure it's okay for me to tag along? I don't want to intrude."
"Yeah I'm sure. We're sure, aren't we guys?" Mykonos turned to his cousins.
"Yeah, it's fine." Said Spiros.
"Let's go." Mykonos led the way into the forest.
"So how long have all of you been in the Luminous Sky for?" Asked Luke, ducking under a branch.
"We joined two months ago with all the other new disciples. Didn't you?" Said June.
"No. I was just kind of minding my business when Nefkah, he's one of the Elders here, asked me to join."
"You're lucky. The test to get in sucked. They made us run laps, until there were only five hundred of us left."
"That sounds brutal."
"Oh trust me it was. There was even this one kid who shat his pants while he was running." Luke looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes. "I'm not kidding. I swear on the Deities." He grinned.
"That's insane."
"I know right. You know what's even funnier. You've actually met him alrea…" Spiros threw a stone at Mykonos.
"Will you ever stop telling that story?" Spiros yelled. "And you know what. I did shit my pants, and I'm proud of it too. I did what I had to do to get here. I have something called resolve! I have commitment!"
June burst out laughing. "You had poop running down your legs."
"Gggghhhh! You guys are so annoying. Never let yourself slip up with them Luke. I'm telling you, they will hold everything they can over your head. Right now, it's that I shit myself. Before that it was because Helen turned me down."
"Helen is forty years old."
Luke laughed out loud at the absurdity of the situation.
"Not you too!" Spiros cried.
"Sorry, I tried really hard not to laugh, it's just..."
"Guys! Look." June pointed to a large batch of blue flowers.
"Awesome, there's a bunch of them too. Enough for all of us." Spiros started walking toward them.
"Wait." Luke called out, pulling him back. "You see it?"
"I do." Said Mykonos, running his hands through his hair. "That's one big snake."
"Big is an understatement." Luke took a step back. His eyes locked on the undulating black tube that was the snake. Just barely visible from behind the trees, its dark scales letting it hide near perfectly in the shadows. He didn't know much about the creatures, but he was sure that they weren't supposed to be wider than two humans hugging, or as long as a bus.
"It looks like it's full." Spiros pointed to a large lump halfway through its body.
"It's staring at us awfully hungry like though." Said June.
"I heard snakes have good noses. Maybe you should poop yourself again, and it will just go away?"
"Shut up, and that's not true."
"Move!" Luke shouted, pulling both Mykonos and Spiros back. Just in time, as the snake whipped its tail where they were standing seconds later.
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Feb 28, 2023Report
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That was a close call." Luke wiped the sweat off his forehead, and crouched behind a decomposing log with the others, a fair distance from the snake. Luckily for them, it hadn't pursued them after striking. Allowing the party of four to retreat to a safe distance.
"I think we should kill it. If I'm right, that's a Black-Scaled King Viper. The Society buys them for a lot, and they're not supposed to be all that strong. Just incredibly rare." Said Mykonos. Greedily rubbing his hands together.
"Are you sure, it looks pretty dangerous… and angry for that matter." Luke eyed the snake carefully. On guard for a surprise attack now that he knew the snake was there.
"It's fine if you don't get hit." Mykonos argued.
"How many merits are we talking about here?" June turned to Mykonos.
"A hundred-fifty for merits for every vial of the venom, another hundred for each fang, and twenty per square foot of its skin. I can't remember the price for its organs, but it's not low."
"I'm in!" Spiros raised his hand. "A little risk to not come out here every day is worth it. I've had enough mosquitoes bite me for a lifetime already."
"June?"
"I don't know Myko. How many talismans did you bring, and are they enough?"
"Five."
"I have three." Said Spiros.
"I have five too."
"Talismans?" Luke asked.
"Right, you're new. Uh, they're basically these slips of paper that explode. Inner disciples make and sell them for two merits each." Mykonos reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper with some squiggly lines drawn on it.
"Is thirteen enough to kill that thing though?" June asked, reaching into her pocket and pulling her own out.
"More than enough."
"If we try, and it doesn't die, I lose at most ten merits. If it does, I make hundreds. If it gets angry, I think we can run away from it too. Yeah I'm in." June nodded, satisfied with her assessment.
Mykonos smiled and looked at Luke. "Here." He held out two of his talisman and looked expectantly at June. With clear reluctance, she extended one of her talismans to him too.
"I ahh…"
"Here's what I'm thinking." Said Mykonos cutting Luke off and taking the tag out of June's hand and forcefully stuffing all three of them in Luke's. "We only really have one shot at killing it. We can't take turns tossing the talismans at the thing. A single non-lethal explosion will spook it, and I really don't want to find out how fast it can move. Whether that's in our direction, or away from us. I say we circle it, and throw them all at once. Four explosions going off on its face should do the job quite well. Like I said, those things are rare, but they don't get too strong. The Bestiary said that they concentrate most of their mana in their fangs, leaving the rest of the body fairly weak.
"Sound's good to me." Spiros slapped Mykonos on the back.
"Are you guys sure you want me to participate? You don't have to include me just because I tagged along."
"Luke, Luke, Luke." Said Spiros, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Here's the thing. I'm pretty sure killing the snake isn't the hard part. We're spending some easily earned merits and throwing accurately at a very large snake's equally large face. The hard part is dragging it back to the Society. Look how big it is. Do you think me and Myko are strong enough to pull it off?"
"Hey! I'd help pull it too." June complained.
"Hmmm." Both Mykonos and Spiros grunted half-heartedly.
"I hate you guys." She crossed her arms.
"Anyway," Mykonos added, "Spiros is right. We walked for two hours to get here, and dragging the snake out of the forest will be a lot easier if we have you helping us."
"Alright then. If all of you are okay with it. How do we use these though?" Luke inspected the talisman.
"Super easy. All you do is rip this little bit off," Spiros pointed to a perforated tab on the bottom of the paper, "and you throw it. It blows after five seconds, so make sure it's a few feet from you at the least. We should probably tie them to rocks or something though."
This world is insane. They just sell the equivalent of grenades to teenagers in exchange for some cheap labor.
"Right, seems simple enough." Luke responded a moment later, looking at the innocent piece of paper with apprehension and a little bit of doubt. Exploding papers being an entirely foreign concept. At the same time though, the idea that gods just walked around, actually blew people out of the sky, and that the Olymipans were hunting him was equally strange. His standard for what was and wasn't possible, had shattered quite a long time ago. Exploding paper was probably one of the tamer things he was going to have to get used to.
Doing his best to move quietly, even though he was fairly certain that snakes primarily perceived the world through their tongues, he got into position. After some planning, they had decided on a horse-shoe shaped formation encircling the snake's head. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out three rocks, the exploding talisman already attached to them with strips of cloth liberated from his robes.
The plan itself was simple. Him and Spiros would aim for the snake's left eye, while June and Mykonos would aim for the right. June would give the signal.
"Now!" He heard her yell and instantly tore the perforated edge off the talisman and took aim, already counting down the seconds it would take to explode.
…and one!.
He flung the rock at the snake, synchronizing near perfectly with the others. Time seemed to slow as he watched with bated breath, the rock sail through the air, and into the snake's nostril.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. The talisman detonated in quick succession, spewing smoke and small bits of rock and chunks of snake-flesh into the air. When the dust cleared, it revealed a brutal and bloody scene.
The snake mutilated and in pain was thrashing in the clearing. Its right eye was in tatters, and blood oozed out from the socket. Either June or Mykonos had aimed their attack perfectly. Its nose had likewise been blown to pieces, from where Luke's talisman had entered the cavity, and it had chunks of flesh missing from where the other two paper explosives had struck it along its body. Leaving gaping and messy holes on its scaly body.
"Another round?" Spiros shouted.
"No! Let it bleed for a minute. It won't survive those injuries for long. We'll pelt it again if it runs, but let's try not to damage it too much." June shouted back.
After five minutes of watching the snake writhe in pain, Luke was tempted to hit it with another set of talismans just to put the creature out of its misery. Looking at the expressions on the other's faces, he assumed they were too. Except, none of them wanted to damage the snake further, and in the process, devalue it. They, afterall, had decided to kill the creature for money. Damaging it more than what was necessary ran counter to the goal.
"Let's just hit it with another one." Spiros broke. Having seen enough of its suffering.
"We can't. It's still moving around too much. If we hit it in the wrong place, the whole thing may as well become worthless. At that point, we would just be killing it for no reason at all." Mykonos said quietly. Mirroring Luke's own thoughts on the matter.
"Fine." He turned around and sat behind a tree. Facing a direction where he couldn't see the snake.
Ten tortuously long minutes after they had launched their attack, the snake finally went limp.
"This is going to be a pain to drag back to the Society." June idly ran her hands along the snake's scales. Grimacing as she got some blood on her hand, she pulled out a napkin and wiped it off. "Should we leave it here, and put in a request for a mission to move it back to the town?
"No." Mykonos shook his head.. "If we do that, we'll have to leave it here overnight. Scavengers will eat parts of it, and its mana will have evaporated. It'll be worthless by tomorrow."
"Fine. I'll grab the flowers, you guys can figure out how to move this thing. Luke, your mission was for ten of them as well right?" She asked sweetly.
"Uh yeah. It was, thanks."
"Don't thank her!" Spiros raised his hands in protest. "I told you she wouldn't help drag it back."
"You knew I wouldn't anyway." She snapped back while picking up the flowers.
"That's not what you said before." Mykonos looked at her disapprovingly.
"Fine! I'll help you drag the stupid snake back. I swear to the Deities, you two are so annoying."
Luke smiled at their banter, while simultaneously feeling like he was intruding. Shaking his head, he paced around the snake, trying to figure out how exactly they were going to drag the behemoth back. He had grown stronger, a lot stronger than should have been possible in the scant few days he'd been here, but not strong enough to drag that thing back. Thankfully he wasn't alone.
"I vote that we drag it from the tail." Luke suggested, looking at the mutilated head. While mostly intact, it was covered in the creature's blood. Not something that Luke wanted on his body. Or something that he wanted to look at for any length of time. Honestly, he was surprised that he hadn't thrown up.
"Smart. Let's get to it." Mykonos agreed. "Hopefully we get back before night falls."
Luke along with the other dragged the carcass through the forest. Sweat dripping down their faces, and covering their backs. The hike into the forest had been pleasant. The trek out, not so much. Luke's feet constantly dug into the ground as he was repeatedly forced to step into mud and softer dirt. Something he normally would have avoided. With the snake however, watching where he stepped was an exercise in futility.
This is torture.
"How much longer?" June whined for the umpteenth time. Something that Luke could sympathize with, considering they had been dragging the snake for three hours already.
"June. You're my sister and I love you, but shut up!" Spiros snapped at her.
"What he said." Mykonos parroted, exhausted from the arduous task, and in no mood to hear any complaints.
Luke shook his head in amusement, the only one in their impromptu group in a pleasant mood.
As hard as this is, I better get some nice Stat Points out of this.
The trek, in addition to being uncomfortable, had also been longer than any of them had expected. It would have been even longer, if Spiros hadn't surprised Luke with how freakishly strong he was.
Luke estimated that Spiros alone was carrying forty percent of the creature's weight. Apparently he had taken the mid-stage trials, and came out just a little short to qualify. A feat Luke was curious to know how he had achieved. Especially as he had joined the Society at the same time as his cousin and sister.
From what Luke had seen of Mykonos and June, while they were both in exceptional shape from their time in the Society, they weren't quite what Luke would call ridiculous in terms of strength, and were just a little stronger than him. Albeit in slightly different ways. Mykonos was durable, while June moved with uncanny grace. Spiros on the other hand, had clearly stepped into the realm of superhumans. At least by Earth standards. The fact that he was still considered to be a lower-stage-mortal on Theos, was telling of how powerful actual mid-stage and beyond individuals were. Especially the beyond. Luke suppressed a shudder, recalling Aeolus's abduction and cannibalization of the souls. An event that he suspected would keep him awake at night if he ever stopped pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion.
An hour later, they finally breached the tree line. To a view that horrified them all, and sent currents of fear down Luke's spine.
Flying in the air above the Luminous Sky City, was Arke. The nine suns of Theos beautifully descending below the horizon in a line behind her, she sat imperiously on a throne made of light. Her wings folded behind her back, and white hair fluttering gracefully in the wind. Nine humans, presumably the Society's nine warriors, prostrated themselves before her midair. Not daring to lift their heads in her presence.
Fuck me. I'm dead aren't I?
"Kneel!" Spiros barked, dropping face first into the dirt, quickly followed by the other two.
Threat detected.
Yeah yeah. I know. Thanks for the warning.
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