She ran off to the north. Well, if she were afraid of me, this could become very troublesome soon, as my destination seemed to be in that direction. Before, I could easily identify her because she was hurt, but now she was emanating divine magic. In this situation, if I were more competent, all of my Authorities would assist me in identifying her, as I would be following my divine signature.
I would try to keep a certain distance from her, following only the divine magic remnants that she left behind. I noticed that the vestiges were getting stronger, so I believe that she had slowed down. At some point, I noticed that she had stopped, and she got within my Authority range again. However, there was something odd this time.
My Authority had captured an awful and disgusting presence, and for this one, I knew what it was. Undead. Authority of Healing was a deviation of the Authority of Life, whose power was tiers above the healing one. According to the books, if I got enough contributions, even my authority could evolve into something more and more abstract. Although I should now avoid digressing.
I changed my walking direction towards the goblins and undead. As I got closer to their position, I realized that they were engaged in combat, as three undead were going on the goblin, and she was trying to fend them off.
The forest here was getting less dense, and I believe I was almost reaching my destination. But for now, I could see three zombies (as I believe anyone would call moving rotting corpses) trying to hit the agile goblin. I was proud that my healing stopped the bleeding, and she was bravely fighting them off with some prowess.
Although my combat lessons were correct, fighting against the undead with a bow was not the smartest decision. I think that I would use something that could produce cuts. But I couldn't see that she was carrying anything besides her bow.
My Authority was tingling, and I was truly uncomfortable. Like when you are wearing shoes smaller than your feet, there is an awful smell, and you are feeling nauseous, all at the same time. As I got closer, I decided this time to use my divinity.
I think in erasing that disgust creature, the Authority of Healing was inadequate to deal with the undead like others. However, it was not useless either. Then, I did my act differently than divine spells Authorities only required my will to be employed, and thanks to my month-long fasting training, my willpower was quite prepared for that.
I imagined a holy light above their bodies, encompassing the four individuals (the three zombies and the goblin). Healing would heal her wounds and restore their bodies to their original condition: immovable corpses.
---
"Who was that human? Why is he so deep in the forest?" Jel thought to herself. She was running away from him. Humans are dangerous; humans kill for fun; humans destroy for the sake of pleasure.
That was what her elders had been teaching her since childhood. She had had encounters with humans in the past, all of them violent. She was not going to take her chances with this stranger.
He did not harbor ill-intentions; she could notice this, but her gut was screaming at her to get away from him! So she ran as fast as she could. Perhaps he would follow her, but even though she was going to get away from him.
When she felt that she was far enough, she reduced her speed to catch her breath. Then she remembered that she had a wound in her leg, but there was no pain. She inspected her legs, confused about what had happened. She recalled that a skeleton hit her with a rusty knife. But there was nothing there.
She looked behind her and did not feel that the human was following her. But then she noticed that something was approaching her from the north—her village should be closer now. Three zombies were walking in her direction.
She readied her bow and started volleying arrows at them.
"Damn, if I had my sword," she cursed. At least she had enough arrows to track down those beings.
However, they were unfazed by her arrows, and this was becoming a worry for her. She began to keep a constant distance between her and the zombies. Luckily, these were the slow types, but why were they coming from her village?
Soon, she heard someone behind her. "More zombies?" She thought, in despair, that being flanked by them would lead to a quicker death. But when she looked back, she got startled. The human was following her. She was sure that he was not tracking her, she didn't feel anything. How could he manage to find her?
Suddenly, a giant golden light encompassed all of them. Her body started to get gently warm while she saw the zombies starting to catch fire. Her prejudice towards humans was telling her to run away again. However, the comfortable feeling was making her relaxed.
---
The rule of healing was not enough to heal wounds, as I lacked the ability to employ my Authority. If anything, at least it could set the zombies on fire. I noticed that the goblin sat down, and this added up to the many odd things that were happening. Living beings should not be harmed by this level of divinity, especially as he thought that he was not aiming to hurt her.
The zombies were being burned by a divine flame, not actual fire. It looked similar to the usual red and yellow flame, but the impression was completely unrelated to the chemical reaction. I got closer to the group, and the goblin was just breathing heavily. I think that she got tired from running and fighting the zombies, and consequently, she was simply exhausted.
The light from my Authority faded away, but the flames kept burning the zombies, which already halted all of their motions. Then, I speak to the goblin, "Sorry, that I have meddled in your battle, but I felt that you were not going to defeat those undead."
She had some hint of fear in her eyes, and it seemed that she was gathering her courage to talk. "I…Thank you for the help." She was still trying to catch her breath. She slowly rose from the ground while maintaining eye contact with me all the time. Likewise, I was judging her, she fled from me, now she could react by fighting me.
"You are welcome. Again, I was not going to do anything to you. I just wanted some directions." I tried to explain once more to her my goal and that I was anything but an enemy.
She got up and looked straight at me, then said, "Do you have any business with us?" I didn't follow what she meant, as I was looking for a way to get out of the forest.
"I do not have any business with you. I just want to get to the north lake, then go to Wheatstone village." I answered her, explaining my "business".
She did not seem convinced and, at the same time, conflicted. "Look, I get that you are uncomfortable. I swear, I am just looking for a path to get out of this forest."
"Swear to your god!" She hurriedly exclaimed. I got startled for a moment, and I think she caught on that I am a cleric. There were several levels of promise divine spell, the lowest one was used for information, while the highest level was to bind the priest or someone else to an arbitrary task.
I was not worried, so I vowed, "I swear in front of Hermes, Athena, and Asclepius that I am not lying.
My goal here is to leave this forest, and I do not have any business with you, whoever you are." A gentle light in the form of chains appeared before my wrists while I was vowing. After the end of my proclamation, the chains broke out.
I did not feel any divine or clerical power within her, I did know if she would be able to ascertain that I did not fake my vow.
"Alright, I believe you. If you follow in that direction, you will find the lake." She pointed to the northwest. I thought that it was a little odd, but maybe there was something ahead from where the zombies had come.
"Thanks for your help. See you." As I felt that my presence was undesirable, I was in a hurry to leave her alone. When I started to walk away, I noticed that she went straight north, from where the zombies had come. Without any prior warning, I felt that disgusting feeling again, coming from the north.
"Hey, there are more undead there. Take care." I shouted at her. For an instant, she halted her steps, then bolted in that direction.
She was not sufficiently equipped to face the undead, as arrows were only useful if enchanted with holy powers or fire magic. I sensed that something was wrong, as she gave me awkward directions and was now sprinting towards the undead.
She seemed to be a hunter—not of an undead one, but a regular hunter. I decided to follow her again, and then my promise spell kicked in. The broken chains were restored and reappeared, starting on the ground, until my wrists were chained to hold me back.
"This spell is clever," and my goal was to leave the forest so that direction would lead me there. Therefore, I was going to break my vow, and then the divine enforcement appeared to guarantee that I was not going to tarnish my gods' names.
There are no loopholes with promise spells, and thus it was mandatory to have a reason to violate a vow. So I recast the promise spell and added a clause: "I want to ensure her safety. If I fail, I assume full punishment."
The addition of clauses was one way to work around the promise without being punished by it. However, if my additional clauses were only an excuse, I would endure a heavier punishment than violating the vow. I should pay more attention next before casting something like that again.
So after being granted weaver, I went towards the goblin once more. One may say that I am mad, but after facing the zombies, I felt as if my Authority was demanding some action from me.
This time, I had a feeling that something could really go wrong with her, so I ran after her. As soon as I got closer, I felt more and more undead presences, and she was going to dive into a nest of those creatures. But I could not be more wrong.
What I was seeing was horrible. A small village of goblins was being torn apart by zombies and skeletons, some of them with humanoid features, others with monstrous appearances. There were dead goblins all over the place. I saw the goblin that I rescued from before, now with a short sword in hand, fighting against a zombie, while she had a fledgling goblin attached to her back.
I had thought back that the three zombies were my first combat in this new land. Furthermore, I think that was just a warm-up for what I was going to do now. Fortunately, my vow was not going to be broken.