FeTr 0018: The Undeveloped Woods
I keep my trekking adventure in this new realm towards the north, despise my red flag from before, and I have not faced any issues so far. It was past midday, and I was starting to get hungry. I did not know my current state precisely as I got a new body. But I feel that I arrived here satisfied, without thirst, hunger or drowsiness.
I decided to grab some water, and I crouched down to the water stream and cast a purifying spell. This should keep that part clean for some time, so I drink it. I noticed that the fish avoided the water that was purified; maybe all their food was there. Sorry, little fish.
I decided to rely on my arcane skills. I imagined all a small blob of water floating over the river, gathering to form a small spear, then I frozen it. And I made a small movement with my head, trying to pinpoint the correct position of a fish.
It is a hit. Fortunately, my training with Hercules for creating magical attacks was paying off. Using the natural resources demands a negligible amount of mana which is a very efficient way to use arcane spells. I redirected the water flow, and thus the fish could get closer to the shore. I lacked any tools for cleaning, so I went and created a mana knife so that I could do that.
At least I had some minimal survival skills; one of them, very relevant for this moment, was starting a fire. Naturally, using arcane spells was much easier. I stuck the fish on a small branch and started to cook it without salt. I was going to become bland, but I need patience for now. Again, I cast my nice purifying spell and dug in!
I had a tickle in my ear. I looked around and stuck the branch with my partially eaten fish on the ground. This feeling was something that I learned; one of my Authorities had been triggered. These divine abilities worked in a totally different fashion from their arcane counterparts. The most basic authority empowers the individual by understanding the nature of the underlying phenomena. While the most proficient user could perform godlike feats within the authority's purview.
Obviously, as a recent user, I barely qualify as a basic divine caster. Currently, I could affect the lower tier of my authority sphere of influence. Which is almost useless in the present situation. Its lower tier allowed me to perceive and identify every mundane disease, as well as provide enlightenment on how to treat bruises and small wounds. Grand miracles like closing wounds or fixing broken bones were possible too, but they were far from my power.
Regardless, of my own prejudice towards the god's skills, the Authority of Healing has kicked in. Probably because some wounded creature has gotten "close" to me. Authorities are godlike power, even their lower tiers have astonishing effects. For instance, I am able to pinpoint where this creature is, about 300 meters (close to 1000 feet) from me. The detection range was big, according to Hercules, if I managed to achieve enough contributions to access higher tiers of my power, I could perceive every wounded individual in a realm.
The mental breakdown or overload of information would destroy my mind, although what I was experiencing was different.
"I always knew that this creature was there. He is bleeding—not a lethal, but he caught an infection already." I said to myself that the information was there in my mind as I just recited it. I did not feel like it was implanted or something, it just appeared there.
As my ability was subpar, I could not assert the nature of the creature, and I knew it was a humanoid, small and with little weight. A child, maybe? My other authorities did not pick anything. Well, commerce requires commercial transactions, speed is trickiest to sense, and justice is applied in conflicts and language. Well, I think the latter one is quite obvious when it is applied.
I was worried that I might get into something unpleasant—a hurt creature—alone. And if they were children and were alone, lost in the woods, as I want to help this realm, to forfeit the first hurt individual was too cruel. Thus, I decided to go greet the hurt little fellow.
---
"Where is he?" questioned absently Athena.
"I believe that he used my authority just now. He is somewhere in the woods close to the village, and we pointed to him," replied Asclepius.
"I am glad that we didn't miss our target. These woods are undeveloped, and only hunters go in," concludes Hermes.
"Yes, yes. The place has some goblin tribes, but they are commonly more deep in these woods and closer to north lake." Asclepius provided a more clear insight to the matter.
"But, did he use your authority? So he had some bruises from the transmigration." Athena showed some doubts to the other two.
"No, no. I can sense his health status perfectly. He just had some lunch. He is going well, purifying water and food. This is someone that he sensed by himself." Asclepius explained.
"It is a shame that we can't watch properly over him. Let's wait for the development of our faith." Hermes said.
---
As I was getting closer to the wounded creature, I noticed that he halted his steps at some point. I think they noticed my presence, and I ignored them and continued with my pace towards them. There were two new discoveries: the child is a she and not a child, but an adult goblin. This was important for me to better understand the information that comes from the Authority.
She was holding her bow in my direction, and at this distance, I could perfectly sense her health state. Not bad, but a lot of blood was lost. She was barely conscious, while I heard some grumbling.
It was now the time for the Authority of Language to play its role.
"Who are you? Why are you following me?" the goblin said. Despite her small stature, the characteristic green skin was there; she was beautiful, I guess for goblin standards. She seemed like a small beauty, not one similar to a child. She was also taller than I expected, almost 1.3 meters (4.27 ft).
"I am Rufus Costa, a merchant looking for Wheatstone." I replied in polite goblin language.
She was shocked. I answered her back in her mother language. I believe she did not expect that.
"Why are you following me?" she drew a little more of her bow.
"I felt that there was someone hurt and came to aid." I was sincere in my answer. However, I don't know if she was going to believe me.
Well, my worry was unnecessary. She passed out standing, and she ended releasing the arrow, but without proper aim guided by an awake archer, the arrow stuck on the ground a few meters from her. I heard her fall, I expected that she did not get any more hurt by that.
Treating an unconscious individual was far easier than treating a conscious one. Obviously, because I had the Authority of Healing. I already knew all of her illness, I could cast a healing spell to stop the bleeding. But, I could use my Authority for the first time.
Different from spells that required some understanding of reality, divine spells relied on the gods' providence. Authorities relied on the divine power of the individual itself. I knew the three paths, and as I lacked the ability to use my Authority to heal others, I went for divine spell casting.
"Oh mighty Asclepius, who provides the blessing of living to all. Have mercy on this poor soul." I prayed. And Asclepius answered me back. I felt my divine power being used to stop the goblin's bleeding and to diminish her bruises.
When I learned how to use divine spells, I thought that only people with Authorities could do it. But thanks to the Asclepius-curated list of books, I learned that one can call upon their patron deity (or deities in my case) to achieve some specific effect.
The ability to cast more powerful divine spells was related to contributions to a given faith. While to empower one Authority one needed to understand better the metaphysical concepts behind it and have contributed towards Authority. This last part was very ambiguous; for healing, it was easier—discovering new methods of healing others, pursuing cures for plagues, etc.
Therefore, for my luck, healing would make me progress on both paths simultaneously. A glad surprise, however, is that using divine power does aid me in my path of becoming a better cleric, while this does not hold true for Authority that grew only with contributions.
It was a shame, but a few moments later, the goblin woke up. She was startled when she saw me lost in thought and screamed to stay away from her. Thanks to my Language Authority, I even know the common gestures and mannerisms of all cultures. So I dropped my head and crossed my arms while crouching. This awkward position was akin to the one when one holds his arm up and says: "I did not do anything at all!"
Once again, she seemed afraid. I guess that is reasonable; goblins were mostly hunted by humans, as they were considered a kind of plague that destroyed lands and pillaged villages. However, the forest goblins, these green fellows like the one in my front, were peaceful tribes that just wanted to be left alone. Of course, not all humans nor goblins thought the same, so exists forest goblin tribes at odds with human and specialized hunters that seek the greener fellows.
"I just healed your wounds. I am not looking for a problem. Would you kindly point me in the direction of the north lake?" I asked her as gently as possible.
Something happened. She went silent, and then she bolted towards the north as fast as she could.
"I was not expecting this. What did I say? Maybe being gentle is the wrong approach?" I was left there, dumbfounded. I was not asking for a thank you, but this was new.