Ed walked to the first stall by the door. Priya had already laid down fresh hay and the floor was swept out. A lantern already hung from the wall and it glowed softly. Ed pulled his shirt loose from his pants. They had been tucked in for dinner to make himself more presentable. Ed laid the stiff blanket over the hay and rolled a large bundle of hay into a pillow. He then arranged a pile that looked the most comfortable.
"Ed? You around?" He heard Golliad call out. Ed knew it was him because he felt it in is head. His words were different now that Ed was back in the world. They had a feeling in his head like jaw was vibrating whenever the divine talked.
Ed was glad he hadn't sat down to pull his boots off yet and walked out through the front door. The night air was crisp but not yet cool enough to be worried about. It was that time of year when the days were still warm, and the evenings were the best. Golliad was standing between the house and barn. Ed could see his aura glowing through the line of trees that separated the two. "Yeah walk past the tree's" Ed suggested to him in my head.
He saw him move towards him. Ed found a pile of lumber about 50 yards from the barn. It was being used to mark the start of the first field from the barn and it was laid in such a way that the logs made an excellent place to sit. Ed walked over to it and waited for him to catch up and be standing next to him.
"I expected you would enjoy yourself for a while before you called. Ysennia said you would call as soon as you woke up in the church. Rennish gave it two days. Damned bard wins again. Never play betting games with a bard. They know how to read a room!" He said smiling and looking at Ed in the same way you would an old friend.
"You guys are still talking about me. I heard it's been over a month your time since you poofed me from there to here. Someone here had already heard and spread the word of the miracle back home. I had hoped we'd be far enough away I'd have a while before the news caught up." Ed shrugged in resignation and looked up at Golliad as he sat down.
"Humans love nothing more than gossip. I won't, lie us spiritual beings have picked that trait up from you also. We love to gossip so much that it spreads among us and I would bet that Fay or Field spirit was whispering and the people noticed." He pointed to the trees and wind. Everything in this world that was alive had some kind of glow to it. Lifeforce came from the gods even that way too.
"So, is there a god for the things that are alive but not aware of it?" Ed asked without thinking.
"Who said the tree's don't know they are alive? The trees are very much alive but talk so slowly you would never notice it. They talk through their roots for anything that needs more immediate attention. Small gods live in among the mice and gopher and tend to the roots of the tree's for more information about the world. I don't get into that much. The rat gods are a bit weird if you ask me." Golliad replied. "But what do you need Ed. I'm sure you have tons of questions."
And he was right. Ed had plenty but most of them were not that important. He had to sort out the ones that were the most important. Trying to focus on the spiritual world and not the corporeal world hurt the more intensely he focused. Ed wished they would have paused the earth for a minute around him but he wasn't going to start making requests just yet.
"Did you know I am a walking talking blessing?" Ed said.
"Of course it is! Your body is touched by the divine. Lord God wrote your soul. You are a first-generation handwritten soul you have the potential for all kinds of magic. You will store power as you come in contact with it. Even Rennish will keep you stocked up on the divine power of the gods, as long as he is with you. But that also means you are constantly draining him so doing like you did tonight and sending him off will help him keep himself in check and charged up. Our powers recover over time and we don't sleep so we just have to wait until they do." He said looking at Ed blinking.
"You are afraid of something seeing it or knowing about this right?" Golliad tilted his head as he asked the question.
"Yeah, I have heard that certain beings that have gone against the Gods and creation will look for people like me to feed off this power," Ed said rubbing his hands on his legs and massaging his knees. Ed was trying to look like he was having a good moment of prayer to anyone who might walk outside, instead of looking like a crazy person talking to the gods.
"You don't have to worry about that for now, most of them are imprisoned. Most of the rest who are not are living on the southern half of the planet. The other races have more natural power than the humans and they live their leeching off them to keep themselves alive." He looked to the south, the constellation "The Clock" hung in the sky brightly tonight so everyone knew where it was. "Besides when you do meet them you will be prepared."
The fact he said that with so much knowledge shocked Ed. He was suddenly aware that they weren't really just sitting back and watching him like some comedy play. Golliad and the others were very much nearby and involved. They knew more than they were telling him also.
"Am I going to hurt these people by being here near them? Can I do anything to control it?"
"Well with time and practice you will be able to store it and release it. And not just as a miracle but in other ways too. For right now try to feel when you are releasing it. Think about a miracle and force it into one thing. Hasn't Rennish displayed any of this to you yet? Do you know about the difference between divine power and mana yet?"
Ed shook his head and thought about the old battered spoon he had kept from the pile. Ed wondered if he could use that to see if he can make a miracle spoon or something else in that pile. A good luck spoon maybe?
"I worry about ruining people and places. I have never been a part of anything like this and it's hard to act surprised when I know it's probably all me." Ed sighed.
"Man, to ethereal god-like man." He said patting Ed on the shoulder. "Suck it up. Live it up. You have been given a whole new lease on life, a new face, a bit of an allowance, and the ability to do anything. Don't go around moping, becoming a hermit. Live it up a bit. That's the only way you will find what you are supposed to do."
Ed was shocked at first but he knew Golliad was right. He just needed to get over it and live life a little. He was so caught up in the enormity of the last few days that the was forgetting to live.
"Okay, so if that's the case and I'm supposed to 'live it up' I've got to confirm a few things" Ed sighed. "The bag is magic right?"
"Yes," He replied, "You will get an allowance. No one will be able to ever take anything from inside of it. A copy of your scroll is in the tube inside and we can put notes inside there or read notes you put inside."
"Are their rules to this miracle magic leaking out of me?"
"Magic has very strict rules but is also very loose." he suddenly got serious. "Pay attention Ed, this is the most important thing about magic. Magic flows around us. It's not really magic but the energy of this world. We are living in the magic that flows from the Lord and his magic is what binds all this. We are a creation of his imagination if you will. His commands give form to our world. Those that are in tune with it can manipulate it and give it new orders within the limits of what the Lord gave them on their scroll." he paused and coughed, clearing his throat.
"Your soul and its purity determine the rules that your magic is limited to. Those with talents like priests and mages are limited on what they can do based on their soul, not some arbitrary destiny. A village medicine maker may be blessed but let's say his soul is a 3rd generation copy. His magic will be severely limited to just what he was gifted at birth and it will have the limitations of all the copies of his souls before. So say his soul was made off a copy that couldn't deal with fire. He won't be able to do anything with his magic that involves fire."
"So since I am a first-generation my limitations are nearly as good as a god? Does that make me even with you guys in potential?" Ed was stunned. How many of these miracles was he going to be doing?
"Yes and no. You have the potential to have god-like powers. That is why we wanted to offer a position to you. As a human, your abilities are limited compared to being a spirit But your ability to make your magic and do things that are very loose. Some mages can make one type of small fire. You could make a small fire, sparks, a warm spot, who knows. You have very few limitations other than they must be slightly above average."
"So all MY rules are very open-ended. That's not the least bit helpful. Is that why earlier when I was trying to think, I kept thinking if only I was smarter. And it was like suddenly things came more into focus?"
"Very observant, yes you are focusing your power into you and you gave yourself a buff to your natural intelligence. You are slightly above average already, you gave yourself a bit of a boost. As you learn to focus it you will be able to control the power in the boost. If you poured too much power into a boost for a feat of strength you could overload your body and do serious harm to your soul. So be careful. If you want to be more intelligent about tactics you could make yourself slightly more intelligent about that. When you try to look earnest to get a job, you are slightly changing your charisma and people suddenly think of you as having a likable face. Your ability to bend the rules is on par with ours but limited by your human form. Please dont destroy it using the power until you can throttle it just slightly above average."
"How much is average for a human being?"
Golliad blinked. "How would I know, I haven't been human on this planet before. I was alive in a world nearly as far back as time itself. One of the first dozen the Lord made as a matter of fact. My soul was made by accident as a side note to the soul of a powerful wizard. I was an apprentice who was never supposed to be important but I overcame the rules on my soul to get the Lord Gods' attention. He pulled me off the planet and let me follow my passions here."
Ed laughed. "God's happy accident then?"
"Other way around. I was causing him a problem. He had a plan in mind and I was stopping his design from coming true. I became a hero instead of his intended champion. So he offered me this so that the world would go on as he wanted. I was the fly in the ointment. He pre-writes the backstories on planets now and then. When humans wake-up for the first time they know what happened in the past. The lord gives a book or collective memories or oral history and skips the part of making it all really happen. Humans believe that more anyway because it's controversial. Again, nothing makes a human happier than gossip!"
"So I can do anything as long as its power is above average." Ed thought out loud.
"When you practice, be careful what you do though. Your soul has an affinity for miracles and magic and it will take a soul stronger than yours to undo it. There only a few beings on this world who can do that and maybe a dozen spiritual beings with that power also. You know me and Ysennia so there are 10 others you haven't met yet. Even Rennish's power doesn't have the ability to overcome yours. So don't command anything too major."
Ed nodded thinking about what this all meant. he needed to practice so he could shut off the flow. It all felt like being an awkward young man again trying to hide your changing body but unable to control everything it was doing. This was worse for everyone else, they normally only had to face a squeaking voice and the smell that pubescent boys go through.
"Thanks, Golliad you've helped me understand what's happening. I will leave you a note in the tube if I have other questions. I will try to not call you unless I really need you." Ed said standing up.
"It's no problem, Ed!" He smiled and stood up himself patting him on the shoulder. "You may not remember since you've been back in the world but we are friends in a weird strange way. I would gladly help out a friend!"
And he was right. Ed knew he was slowly forgetting some of the knowledge he had access to while in the spiritual world but Ed could remember a bit when in Golliads or Rennishs presence. Ed was glad he had him on his side but he had to make this work on his own.
Ed smiled and walked back to his stall in the barn, waving goodbye. Tomorrow he needed to focus on the smithing and get out on the road as soon as possible he thought to himself. This was going to get interesting.