"Senior Chief Gleason. So good to see you again." Ignatius said from the other sofa in the room.

James looked over at his visitor. Ignatius was dressed similarly to the first time James saw him. Short black pants with black suspenders, a buttoned-up light blue short-sleeved shirt, white socks and black shoes with extra-long laces. It was a strange sight, to be sure. Ignatius' feet didn't reach the floor as he was still portrayed in a ten-year-old body.

"Ignatius, you are looking well," James said politely.

"I wanted to have more time to chat, but I have been told that we won't have that long. Sadly, we have a lot of things that we need to go through. If you have any questions, I hope they can wait until the end." Ignatius didn't even pause for James to respond before continuing.

"They are in no order of importance, but just as they come to me. The Greater Gods have decided that they like the idea of the mortals hunting the Champions and killing them. They don't like the idea of Champions banding together to survive. The Word is that the Greater Gods find this turn of events boring. So, they have increased the rewards for killing a Champion fourfold. It now gives the community in which the Champion was killed a bonus as well. These new incentives will be broadcast tomorrow to all the mortals worldwide. I know you have your new friends in Melgarden, but I hope you will play it safe when you visit them next."

Before James could absorb that bombshell, Ignatius continued with his monologue, "This is the first time I have had a chance to come here and chat with you. To be able to do that, certain conditions have to be met. You staring into a bed of embers while slowly drifting off to sleep works. You may want to try that more often or use Meditation while focusing on embers. Another novel approach is prayer." Ignatius stopped for a moment to laugh at his joke. If James didn't know that the boy in front of him was a deity, he would have difficulty figuring it out.

Wiping away a tear, Ignatius continued, "I hope these tips help because it is important that you and I work together. I can't always answer your questions like I am now, but I will do the best I can with the Divine Faith I have."

"Why so accommodating?" James asked.

"How do you mean?" the deity replied.

"The way I hear it, deities are selfish, conniving, manipulative and absolutely horrible to deal with. And yet, here you are, amiable, polite and cordial. I would almost think that you are up to something." James explained.

"I am," Ignatius confirmed. "I am trying to survive and the only way I can do that is to work with you. I have been trying to win this damn game for the past two thousands years and so far, I have failed to reach the top 300. Failure before was just a blemish on my reputation, but now, it means my very existence! So, if it takes me being nice and friendly with the person who holds my life in their hands, then that is what I will do. That being said, I am not going to whore myself to succeed."

James and Ignatius stared at each other for a moment before James nodded. Then the deity nodded. A mutual accord had been reached.

Ignatius shifted in his seat, "The other reason I am more cordial is that I just found out that I may have indirectly hurt you. I didn't mean to."

This caught James' attention, and James spoke up, "How so?"

"When I asked for Zita to find me someone who could be my Champion, I told her to get me the best deal she could," Ignatius looked down at his feet and sighed, "And she did."

"I don't understand," James stated, "I took the job. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Ignatius nodded slowly, "Yes." Looked up at James, Ignatius frowned, "But I ask you, what are you getting out of this?"

James smiled, "Why I am... I mean... she agreed to give... Or you agreed to..." James was confused. He couldn't remember what the agreement was that he made for taking on the role of Champion.

"You agreed to nothing," Ignatius offered. "She arranged the best deal for me by getting you to agree to the contract without conditions or rewards."

"That bitch," James hissed, trying to figure out how he missed that. "Is she responsible for my missing memories?"

"Missing memories?" Ignatius asked. He was an excellent actor if he knew and was faking being innocent. But then James remembered it was a deity.

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Ignatius held up both hands, "I know nothing about missing memories. Honest."

James stared at the deity in the body of a ten-year-old. "Why do you appear like this?"

"Like what?" Ignatius looked down at himself, searching for some blemish or stain.

James waved his hand up and down the deity's body, "Like a ten-year-old?"

Ignatius smiled, happy for an easy answer, "We appear this way because of our Rank. Lesser gods appear as children, Minor gods appear as teenagers or young adults, Major gods appear as adults, and Greater gods appear as more elderly or mature." This last part was said with an air of sophistication and elicited a laugh from the young deity. James wasn't feeling the humour.

Ignatius sighed when he noticed that James was not laughing along. "Our ranks also affect our behaviour. The same when you were a Were Tiger, and you were too curious for your own good."

"That was the fault of my Race?" James asked.

"And low Willpower," Ignatius added.

"So, you look like a child and act like a child because..." James paused, "you are a child?"

Ignatius shrugged, "If I am, then I am a child who is many eons old."

"So, why did you tell me about the biased contract? You could have easily left me hanging." James inquired.

Ignatius paused and then nodded, "I am sure you understand that someone willingly fighting for a cause is more dangerous than someone who is coerced. I only found out a short time ago, and this was the first time we could talk. I would have asked Zita to amend the contract, but she is not returning my inquires."

"You mean you are being Ghosted," James said with a chuckle.

Ignatius didn't know what James meant, but he smiled anyway. The god was pleased to see James finally laughing, if only a little bit. "So, I ask you. What reward would you like for doing this task? And please, understand that I can not return you to the living in your own world."

James understood that would never be an option, but it still tore at his heart. He knew he had family and friends back on earth, but he struggled to picture them in his mind.

"I want my memories back!"

Ignatius nodded, "You are not very good at the Negotiation Skill, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does it make sense to take something away from you and reward you by giving it back?" Ignatius asked, an odd sense of wisdom emanating from him.

When James didn't reply, Ignatius continued, "When you came to this world, some of your memories didn't come with you. Restoring what was taken from you in the first place is not a proper reward. If I cut your arm off and then promise to restore it if you do the task I want, how am I rewarding you?"

James finally understood where Ignatius was going. "That makes sense. But she took it away. You are restoring it. That's not the same thing. Not that I am arguing about getting a bigger reward," James said defensively.

"She was my representative, working for me. So I was the one who took away your memories, and so I will not return them to you as a reward. I will return them to you because they should not have been taken away in the first place."

James leaned back in his chair and stared at Ignatius, "In my world, we are taught to be cautious of Greeks bearing gifts."

"Greeks?" Ignatius asked. James took a moment and explained the Trojan horse and the fall of Troy.

The story risked going on longer, before Ignatius interrupted him, "Sorry, but we are sill pressed for time."

James nodded, "I enjoy military history. I could go on for hours."

"This goes back to what I said earlier. I am being nice to you because my life is in your hands. We have a saying in our world. Do not belittle the gift by seeking the intent. That is not to say that intentions are not important, but it speaks to the fact they have their place, and a gift is still a gift unless it is not."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," James summarized.

"I am willing to seek to restore your memories. I feel that it is not a reward to do so. The other concern is if recovering your memories will be a blessing or a curse?" Ignatius asked.

"What do you mean, a blessing or a curse?" James asked.

"Your memories may give you joy and happiness, but they may also remind you of what you lost. That is a pain that no magic can heal."

"I won't know until the memories are restored," James stated. He wasn't sure himself, but he felt he would rather have the memories and deal with the pain than to forget.

"Then they shall be restored as soon as I am no longer 'Ghosted,' as you say.

'"What are my options for a reward?" James asked.

Ignatius interrupted him, "We haven't much time, so I will ask that you think about it and we can chat later. I need to tell you one more thing before our time is up."

James shook his head, trying to clear it. He was already overwhelmed with all the information shared by Ignatius. He had tried to reach out to Rocko a couple of times, but there was no response.

"Okay, lay it on me."

Ignatius chuckled, "I like that. Lay it on me. Okay, the Greater Gods have allowed those of us who are not ranked in the top 500 a chance to offer their Champions a boon. The boon does not have to be used right now, but you need to decide before reach a rank that puts you in the top 500. I can award you with an extra 10 extra Free Advantage points at the cost of the target Rank to avoid expulsion being increased by 10. In other words, if I give you 100 Free Advantage points, you now need to reach the top 400 in Rank, in order for us to survive.

"Do you think it is worth it?" James asked, wondering if Ignatius had an ulterior motive for telling him.

Ignatius sighed, "It may be a good idea to have a Blessed Token. If you are not within the top 500 and are about to die anyway, spending 100 Free Attribute points won't make a difference either way. If you survive, then it just means you have to reach higher for us to win."

James thought about that for a moment. Using the points to get to the top Rank made sense in a life or death situation. But it also made the climb to the top Ranks more difficult because he had to get further than before. Failing meant death for both of them.

"What is a Blessed Token?" James asked, a little sidetracked.

"As your guide, my time is almost over. But speaking of your guide, be wary of his motives. In your own words, he may be a Trojan gift." With that, Ignatius faded away, much like Rocko does.