“Where are these other summoned people? Where were they summoned?” Lanek asked as his shock wore off.
“Calm down, Lanek. I can guess why you are so excited and I hate to be the one to ruin that, but you need to know that when one of these summoning rituals is performed to bring someone to this world, it cannot be targeted. It is completely random. Not only were you not selected specifically to come here, but your world was not targeted either. The odds of anyone else being summoned from your world are infinitesimal. Additionally, the first summons that Wurgoth was aware of would have occurred over a decade ago, so they may have failed in the meantime. You’ve seen firsthand how hard this is.” Nerek said quietly.
Lanek turned to Caelis. “Do you think the Void targeted them as well?”
“Definitely. I can’t say if they were successful, obviously, but I can guarantee that the Void tried.”
“So, I’m in charge due to random chance?” Lanek asked.
Nerek eyed him for a moment. “That and your lack of prejudice against my people. The Hordefather would not have put his support behind you if you had shown any prejudicial tendencies toward his people. Wurgoth is well aware of your killing of a feral goblin shortly after you arrived here and before you knew what a feral was, but at that point that whip was already influencing you so he chose to overlook that act. Our people are not strong enough to take and hold the city on their own and there are very few races in this world that would accept a goblin or hobgoblin leader.”
“So, if Harad was out of touch until Liv arrived here, did Wurgoth summon me on his own?”
“Wurgoth didn’t summon you and he can’t find anyone who had a hand in your summoning either. Even Eldros and Invidros claim to not know who summoned you. Eldros and Invidros both felt you arrive in this world as the great forest around Caelis has always been the heart of Eldros’ domain and the mountains shielding the city from the north has long been Invidros’ territory. As for why they are helping you, I can only say that the Primordials have always chosen their champions, disciples, or allies based on their personality traits. Basically, something about your past and personality simply resonated with them would be my guess. You’ll have to ask them yourself if you want to know for certain.”
Lanek sighed deeply. “You know, this is going to sound weird, but I am so relieved that I’m not some kind of special ‘chosen one’ here to save the day. It really takes a bit of the pressure off because now I know that no one expects me to magically have all the answers or the solution to every problem. It also means that I can lean on you guys to help me without worrying that you will think less of me or freak out because I’m not infallible.”
“I’m glad we could help.” Caelis said while Nerek nodded in agreement at her words.
“Well, I’m going to take my leave if you have no further concerns. I’ve got a lot to do if we are going to be ready for those spiders.” Nerek stated while making for the door.
“Not unless you know anything about cultivation.”
Nerek shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that other than what [Identify] brings up in regards to certain objects, such as monster cores. Sorry.”
“No worries, that description in regards to the cores is exactly why I’m asking.”
As Nerek left the room, Caelis spoke. “I don’t know a lot about cultivation, but I can share what I do know. You heard Nerek mention the continent we are on, but you should know that this continent is only one of four. One of the continents was home to an empire that did not gain power through the System but through something called cultivation. They were still part of the System, they just didn’t receive titles or classes from it. The books I read theorized that this was because the cultivation techniques used by this empire were strong enough that the System did not feel the need to provide them with any more power. Unfortunately, this empire was very insular and weren’t very forthcoming with outsiders so you’ll have to take any information you find about cultivation outside of that empire with a grain of salt.”
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“Hmm, that’s a bit disappointing, but I suppose it can’t be helped. What about the rest of the continents?”
“Let’s see, this continent is called Laheris. While it wasn’t home to any mighty empires, Laheris does have a large number of powerful dungeons and numerous city-states. To our west lies the continent of Kaheris, which was home to a handful of dungeons and a few kingdoms, the three largest belonging to humans, elves, and dwarves. South of us lies the continent of Shisato, which is also the name of the empire that rules the majority of it and practices cultivation. Finally, there is a continent to our north that had been discovered shortly before the city fell. Up until the city fell, there was no information on the place or even a name. All we knew is that shortly after its discovery, the kingdoms of Kaheris sent several expeditions to explore and to be the first to exploit it, but none of them were ever heard from again. That may have changed since those kingdoms were pouring immense amounts of gold into a new expedition, but it hadn’t launched when the Depths broke. Finally, there have always been rumors of another continent, but nothing substantial. Mostly just talk from drunken sailors.”
“How do you think they weathered the gaunts?”
“I have no idea, but if I had to guess I would say that Shisato probably had a better chance of keeping things contained than the rest of us. I imagine that having a single empire controlling the entire continent would have made it easier to respond to threats quickly and decisively.”
“True, but having to police an entire continent’s worth of land for any gaunt incursions could have taxed their leadership structure to its breaking point. Oh well, it’s a bit of a moot point anyway. It’s a good bet that we aren’t going to be getting any help from any of those places.”
“Yes. As much as it saddens me to say this, we should probably operate as if we are alone in the world. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be true, however.” Caelis said somberly.
Lanek nodded in agreement before rising to his feet. “Well, I should probably get to work as well. I don’t suppose there is a dranrid ruin nearby? Something tells me that I’m not likely to find more information about my new race in the monastery’s library.”
“No, you wouldn’t. Any book you find about the dranrid would be full of conjecture. We don’t even really have any myths about them, just their ruins. As for any nearby ruins, there is one a few days to the east, just a few hours travel beyond Laethon.”
“Ah, well that is a bit out of the way. Hunting it is then.” Caelis sighed in exasperation before taking her leave, knowing full well that she wouldn’t be able to convince Lanek to sit still.
Returning to his bedroom, Lanek inspected himself in the mirror, curious to see what had changed since his transformation into a dranrid. In addition to his horns, short black talons, and greenish tinge to his skin, he discovered that he was actually a bit broader in the shoulders. His eyes had changed as well, leaving him a little disturbed by the result. The entirety of his eyeballs were now black, with flecks of green and blue swirling through the blackness. It didn’t disturb him because it was sinister or because it looked evil, it just looked alien.
Noticing something as he took a deep breath, Lanek quickly opened his mouth. I’m not sure if that is cool or just plain weird. He thought as he inspected his teeth, seeing that every tooth aside from his molars were now pointed and sharp. I’m gonna have to be very careful when smiling at people. These teeth are going to make it look like I’m threatening them.
When he ran his new talons along his skin, it felt as if his skin was more durable. It didn’t feel leathery to the touch, it just felt as if it would take more effort than normal to break the skin. Taking a deep breath, Lanek decided to test it out and dug his talons into his arm. Instead of feeling pain and seeing blood, he only felt a pleasant scratching sensation and a bit of pressure. He pushed harder, trying to drive the talons deeper, but with no luck.
Well, now. That’s going to come in very useful if anything gets through my armor.