"What do you intend to do with his body?" The raven asked after the one minute of silence elapsed.
"I have time and the means, I'll carry him to Lei so that they can mourn him properly, it's the least I can do for someone who helped me achieve greater heights. The cold should preserve him until then."
True, the hunter was just an acquaintance, but without him, Erik would have never killed the direwolf, of which he was certain.
"Hum, an honorable decision, kid. What about the stutterer?"
"Ah…," truth be told he had forgotten about him. Erik glanced at where his brother was embedded in a pillar, his golden threads showed no signs of dimming, the kid was just knocked out. Erik helped his brother down and tended to his wounds using dog piss.
"We'll see what he has to say for himself after he wakes up."
His mourning over, Erik sighed, the fatigue washing over him. "Just in case, would you mind scouring the ruins in search of wolves we might have forgotten to deal with."
The raven scoffed. "You just contracted me and you're already bossing this old raven around?" Despite what she said, Old Bone flew out the rose window, after all, it was her duty to collaborate with him and she actually agreed.
Erik watched her leave, his mind filled with questions for the totem beast he'd planned on asking later.
'For now, I just want to catch a breather,' his eyes went to the dead hunter, there was a small flask hanging on his belt. He reached for it then stopped. 'No, I shouldn't dishonor a drengr's corpse.'
He got to his feet and walked toward his sled.
Fire camps the hunter had lit under his order before the fight was all over the place, most extinguished, a few embers still.
'Blessed be the Wildfather!'
Luckily, his sled hidden under the snow was in one piece. Mouf berry lingering scent invaded his nostrils as he unwrapped the fur protecting provisions.
He brought out one of the two clay pots, sabered its stone cap, followed Rex's loud snores and sat next to him. The dog's wounds were healing at a fast pace, already the injuries were cauterized, fur started regrowing in some places; a combination of both mid-rank healing potion and new abilities the totem beast developed.
"To yours and Sieg's bravery," he took a sip, "Pah! Quite strong and astringent, I see why Sieg might have added snowberries to his moonshine. It's not mead but I'll make do with that for tonight."
Golden threads weaved a notification, interrupting his tasting session.
——
[Congratulations! You have completed the Fate Quest: Trial of Naglfar!]
Rewards:
1) Ghosts' acknowledgment.
2) +100 wyrd
Bonus Rewards: By awakening your Divine Seed, the ghost officially recognize you as the Beast God's inheritor.
1) A handful of them will follow you.
2) You are allowed to take the ruins' treasures.
——
'Some will follow me?' Erik hoped he misunderstood this part.
Convergences formed outside the church, and with them came the voices of those living within another reality.
"We acknowledge your wyrd as the last shaman and Inheritor of the Beast Seed. We wish to present you with a sincere apology for our earlier disrespect while imploring your help."
"Disrespect is putting it lightly," Erik replied, remembering the heated chase all around town.
Channeling [Shaman Senses], he saw the room filled with ghosts, kneeling, heads low. Gone were their desire for blood and vengeance.
Blinking at their change of tone and the sudden respect, Erik took another sip to better digest what was happening in front of him and said. "On your feet, I'm not fond of these kinds of etiquettes. I'll help but now all I want is to rest, so please, let's have this talk later."
"Very well. We'll stand guard so no one would dare interrupt your rest, Inheritor. Call us when you're ready." Their figures misted away.
Two new notifications appeared.
[Congratulations! Your Saga's fame, Last Shaman, has increased from None to Normal!]
The Saga's details showed it permanently increased his wyrd by 50 instead of 10, pretty good considering his rank.
'So ghosts still count in the fame increase.' This meant that the conditions to increase one's Saga's fame did not necessarily involve being known by humans.
[Congratulations! You have triumphed over a foe much stronger than you along with others and accomplished a rare deed! The rewards will be split. Reward: 40 wyrd]
Old Bone came back, reporting nothing was amiss outside. Satisfied, and with the ghosts keeping watch outside Erik allowed himself to relax a bit.
He lit a campfire next to Rex, using whatever could burn in his surroundings, gently placed a beast fur atop the dog's body to keep him warm, tended to his unconscious brother's wounds with what remained of Rex's piss in the gourd, and, exhausted, fell asleep.
***
Next morning.
Erik came back to the church with a batch of firewood, the others were still sound asleep. After a good night's sleep, he had already mostly recovered because of his new capabilities, lesser injuries, and [Soothing Pain].
Storing the wood in his sled, he grabbed some frozen meat, settled in a corner where he could see the entire room and ate his breakfast while contemplating the many changes his body had gone through yesterday.
Sunlight peered out the rose window through his Fate Status as he inspected it.
——
[Erik Basara]
Divine Seed: Beast God
Core Shape: Lightning Storm (Trapped)
Ascension rank: Late-stage Foundation Realm (rank 3)
Saga: [Last Shaman]
Wyrd Accumulation: 710/600
Strength: (+) mid-Warrior Tier // Agility: (++) early-Warrior Tier
Stamina: (+) mid-Warrior Tier // Physique: (+) late-Bronze Tier
Body Types: Wild Blessed / ??? / Lightning Resistance / Cold Resistance
Elemental Affinity: Earth
Cultivation Arts: Shamanic Art (7) / Martial Art (5) / Basara secret Art (2) / Wolf Style (6)
——
'My body feels so foreign.' He's never heard of this Divine Seed. In search for more answers, he deciphered his status window from top to bottom, opening one section's detail after another.
——
[Divine Seed: Beast God]
Growth Progression: 0.71%
Grade: Divine
Benefit:
1° You can communicate with beasts.
——
'The benefits could be useful. What's with the progression percentage? Could it be, the higher it reaches the more benefits I'll unlock? Sounds about right.' The Divine Seed was, without mistake, one of the Weaver's gifts. If what he was reading was true, then he had inherited the Wildfather's powers.
'That doesn't make any sense, I thought the Wildfather died along with his powers. Moreover, a mortal possessing divine powers is unheard of.'
He noticed a detail, his eyes shifting between the oddly accurate percentage and his wyrd accumulation. 'Is it possible they are linked? If that's the case then, it would mean if I want to increase the rate to 100% I've got to reach 100000 wyrd.' Erik chuckled nervously, 'That's a ridiculous amount.'
He put his many questions aside for later, pondering on such mysterious powers alone wouldn't lead anywhere, there were too many unknowns for him to make sense of anything. Well, the only explanation he could find was the Weavers' intervention.
Other peculiarities required his attention anyway.
Like his core.
—
[Core Shape: Lightning Storm (Trapped)]
Grade: Epic
Attunement: 100%
Benefits:
1° Increases affinity to lightning-related cultivation arts.
2° Slightly increases your Agility.
3° Body Type: Lightning Resistance.
4° Store 20% more wyrd than normal cores.
5° Your ascension should be smooth until the Late Stage Manifestation Realm (rank 6).
—
'Amazing! So that's why my Agility is boosted one step further than my other physical stats. Also…'
Lightning Resistance body type was hard to acquire, one would need to be repeatedly hit by lightning, usually resulting in death, a suicidal endeavor to say the least.
More importantly, that additional 20% capacity storage was epic like the core's grade!
That's why his wyrd threshold was at 600 instead of the common 500 at rank 3, though he already went over it thanks to the Fate Quest. It would even make his future breakthroughs easier.
Like Caliber, some cultivators had shaped cores capable of storing more wyrd than normal, in no way was their cultivation impeded, instead, it was a boon. There were fixed wyrd thresholds and requirements for breakthroughs Erik knew until the last rank he had achieved in his previous life.
For instance, to break through the Manifestation realm, he needed to open his lower meridians and have accumulated at least 500 wyrd.
'I could reach the early-stage Manifestation realm right now but I'll keep condensing my wyrd until I reach Tiger Gorge. There is no need to rush my cultivation, I'd get more benefits from condensing my wyrd.'
Erik massaged his temples, there were so many questions Old Bone probably had answers to. Well, that could wait for later.
After all, before the others awoke, he had a feast to prepare to celebrate their victory. On the menu, direwolf meat à la broche!
***
Later today.
"So," Erik's stomach grumbled, the delicious scent of a roasting direwolf prickling his noise. He cleaned the saliva dripping down his mouth and continued. "Got anything to tell me, Old Bone?"
Since she had no injuries and barely fought yesterday, the raven had woken up faster than the others; Ogram was still recovering, enveloped in fur his brother had placed on him last night and Rex was still sleeping, the downside of using [Hibernation] was that no one knew when he would awaken, it could be days or even weeks.
'I suppose I owe you answers, kid. We'll do this by sound transmission through our bond so to avoid leaking our discussion to your examiner. He may not understand me but he'll pick up a few things from you.'
Erik was about to ask how it worked when Old Bone said. 'Simply speak in your mind while thinking about me,' she straightened up, predicting his question.
'Interesting, can I do the same with Rex?' He said mentally.
'That and much more,' she explained, 'the crest, our bond works in mysterious ways your clan have forgotten.'
True, Erik has never heard about any of his siblings conversing with their contracted beasts through this method. As far as he was concerned, the crests on his hands he could materialize or hide at will served no other purpose than symbolize the bond.
'For instance, this sound transmission. We talk through our connected fate.'
Erik has experimented firsthand the telepathic talk, which he knew to be true, although it remained hard to swallow.
'Anyway, ask your questions kid. I'm sure you've got plenty.'
'If such things were possible, to begin with, how come my family never uses the bond this way?' He inquired.
'They cannot.' She said plainly, her face reflecting disgust at the mention of his family. 'With the curse cast on your bloodline for the sins your ancestors committed, the crests' true powers are sealed. Moreover, those who contract your family are younglings who haven't even lived a thousand years and haven't been taught much so they don't know about it.'
His hunger gone from the startling revelations, Erik massaged his temples.
The ghosts and their link to the Basara family.
The bond and its unknown usages.
The elder totem beasts and their hate for his clan.
Everything he thought he knew about the Basara family became blurrier by the passing days.
'Rex is the youngest, that's why he is lacking more than the others and partly why he likes you; both of you are the youngest of your clans.'
'Why would only younglings contract us? And what is the origin of this curse?'
'The Wildfather himself cursed your family, that's why you could undo a small part of the curse thanks to his power slumbering within you. Where and how you got it, I don't know. All I know for sure is that the Wildfather had planned this along with some other gods. After their deaths, their Divine Seeds scattered to the four winds, looking for worthy new hosts.'
The Beast God was the Basara clan's patron deity, him cursing the clan seemed impossible, making it harder for him to believe her, yet Erik could tell she wasn't lying.
'As for your other question, it's because we cannot, nor are we willing, not anymore.' Pain and sorrow flashed through the raven's dark eyes as she recalled a distant past. 'Only those who do not remember what happened can contract a Basara.'
With every answer came more questions.
'Then why are you here?' Erik asked.
'Do you think I had a choice?' She pointed towards his bosom. 'The Divine Seed called my name and ordered me to teach you the true ways of old, not the false ways instilled in our younglings. That and the brat kept pestering me for hours!'
The brat was certainly Rex.
'That… power within me can talk?' Mesmerized, he touched his bosom, recalling the dreams.
'Communicate. Since I was the Wildfather's right hand, I am familiar with his Divine Spark.' That much Erik had expected, he was learning so much it didn't even shock him. 'Although, what slumbers within you is far less potent than the divine power I remember. But you can nurture it. Despite your clan's sins, I'll teach you everything I know so that perhaps you may right the wrongs of your ancestors.'
'What sins did my cla—' Erik started.
'My words are sealed,' Old Bone interrupted, her voice low, almost robotic. It returned to normal. 'An oath binds my words, kid. Like the restrictions placed on your bloodline, the false ways taught to your family by younglings, this is part of your clan's punishments for their sins. If you wish to absolve your family, you must find the truth on your own.'
'How am I suppose to right the wrongs if I don't know my ancestors' misdeeds?'
'Until now, you've proven yourself a worthy contractor and a better person than your ancestors could ever be. I'm sure you'll find your answers in due time,' Old Bone said.
'Thanks, Old Bone,' Erik said, smiling at what he interpreted as a compliment, something the raven appeared to give rarely.
'I wish the youngling hadn't tainted your memory with that monicker,' the raven said, sounding a bit annoyed. 'Remember this, my real name is Munin, the original guardian beast of your clan.'
Erik reached for a clay pot, and gulped two mouthfuls of mouffette as well as this ridiculous revelation.
'I thought Munin was a snow tiger not a bird. More than a thousand years of tradition and a statue naturally carved in Tiger Gorge attest to that fact. Every History book and Saga too. I'm not saying you're lying, it's just a hard pill to swallow.'
'Dare say the b-word again kid, and I'll electrocute you to a crisp,' the raven protested, her anger flaring; one thing Erik had learned about the totem beast was that she had a short temper. 'Your so-called thousand years tradition barely equals a ten-thousandth of my age, kid. I have seen Ulreon before mankind walked it. I have taught Ancient Dragons' to fly. I have watched a thousand civilizations fall and rise. Few have lived longer than I, and even fewer still live to tell the tale. And here's something my boundless wisdom can certify as the truth, your clan is lying on many fronts.'
Erik took another sip. A pillar of his beliefs was being shaken to its very core. At that moment, he made up his mind to find the hidden truths. Not for the family he cared little about, but for himself and those that had been wronged.
Because it was the honorable thing to do.
*****
Lore Extract: Cultivation Realms and Breakthrough Requirements according to Erik's memory.
I) Foundation Realm.
Rank 1: Accumulate 100 wyrd.
Rank 2: Forming a wyrd core and accumulate 200 wyrd.
Rank 3: Accumulate 300 wyrd.
II) Manifestation Realm.
Rank 4: Accumulate 500 wyrd and open the lower meridians
Rank 5: Accumulate 1500 wyrd and open the intermediate meridians
Rank 6: Accumulate 3000 wyrd and open the advanced meridians.