As soon as I discovered the secret identity of the elven ambassador, I received a pop-up notification which read, "Faction quest COMPLETED. +250 XP." My eyes nearly popped out at the message. As a regular PC gamer, I was accustomed to doing fetch questions or killing monsters for experience rewards. In this particular instance, however, I was getting the experience for apparently solving a mystery. I turned my head over to the two gods, but they kept their neutral faces on and feigned disinterest in my conversation with the old cleric. Since it was just a few minutes past five, there was still daylight and I should try to talk to Roen today if the sign maker was inside his house. "I think I'll go have a friendly chat with Roen," I said.
"You could talk to whoever you wish, milord," Bishop Canterbury agreed amicably. "However, I ask that you avoid telling him about the Church's surveillance program. It would make the elves more distrustful of humans than they already are. Also, it would be even better if you don't disclose your source of information altogether," he requested.
My left eye twitched at the bishop's request. I suspected that this was another mini faction quest. "I will try my best to safeguard the Church's secrets," I agreed and deeply bowed to the Holy One.
The old cleric smiled again and then his face turned serious. "There is one additional matter to address before I grant you permission to leave, Initiate," Canterbury started speaking in a more formal tone of voice. "You have been blessed with one boon from Lady Musa and the second boon from Lord Bane. It would be shameful if we allow you to leave now with nothing from the Church itself. So the question is what can I grant you that is comparable in value to what you received from the gods?" he asked rhetorically and paused.
I simply shrugged at his question. Oh, I could ask for a LOT of things that could help me on my new mission—money, magical equipment, a horse, or bodyguards just to name a few possibilities. However, I didn't want to come across as being a greedy player. For all I knew, this question could be a test of my personal character and suitability for kingship. Every interaction with a church official was essentially part of my job interview for the crown. Thus, I had to stay on my toes when dealing with the gods and the church, and the best way to do so in this situation was to act meek and humble. Therefore, I would be perfectly willing to leave the bishop's study after receiving nothing from the Church. After all, with kingship as the ultimate prize, anything else that the bishop could offer right now had very little value to me.
Seeing my refusal to name my boon, Bishop Canterbury nodded politely as if he understood the real reason for my hesitancy. "Since you desire nothing from the Church, it would simply be best for me to fulfill a promise that I had made to you a few days ago," he suggested.
My eyebrows furrowed at this statement. What did the bishop promise me? Frankly, I couldn't remember. The days and hours inside this gaming world stretched far too long for my taste. Oh, what I wouldn’t give right now for a nice vacation to relax on the beach! There would be no worries for me but for how hot the sand felt under my toes.
"Please take out your truth stone," the cleric requested.
I obeyed my superior and pulled the stone out from under my tunic, robe, and armor.
"When I gave you this stone, I said that someday I will teach you how to use it," Canterbury reminded me. When he saw my eyes flicker in remembrance of his words, the bishop continued. "Since you received two blessings from the gods, it is proper for the Church to offer two boons as well. The first boon I shall grant you is the spell to detect lies. Each truth stone is attuned to one user and is bound to him for as long as the user is alive. Therefore, to unlock the full abilities of your truth stone, it must be bound to you," he revealed. Suddenly, the cleric turned toward the demon lord. "Lord Bane, please cut Lord Mulligan's palm," he requested.
The demi-god offered a malevolent grin as he suddenly grabbed my left wrist, twisted it so that my left palm was facing up, and my palm was cut by a sharp claw.
As blood started seeping out of my wound, I received a notification that read, "-10 Health." OUCH! Despite my rapid personal advancement, I only had 40 Health points in total. I immediately felt my palm burning from the pain. It certainly felt like a wound that dropped my health bar by a quarter from its original total.
"Lord Mulligan, press your palm against the truth stone and repeat my words," Bishop Canterbury instructed. "I, Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, hereby bound myself to the Will of the gods of Law and Order, and to the instrument through which their Will be done. I so swear until the last of my breath."
When I heard the words of this divine oath, my lips remained sealed. I was NOT stupid and I was NOT going to obey the Church blindly! This oath would bind me to both the Church and the gods of Law and Order. I was very hesitant to bind myself to both groups in this manner, without a meaningful discussion of what my duties and obligations to them would include. As a true believer in having the freedom of choice to live my life as I wished, I was chagrined by this stealthy attempt to attain my personal commitment to the Church and to the Order. I turned my head to the two gods but their expression remained neutral as before. I turned my attention back to the bishop, who also kept a neutral expression on his face.
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Suddenly, I realized that this was a turning point in my player character development. If I went ahead and took this oath, then I would be a true member of the Church of Britannia, not merely an apprentice. I would also be a true servant of the gods of Law and Order and I would gain access to divine magic beyond the two mere parlor tricks that the gods had granted me. It was a big commitment and I needed to take my time to consider it.
However, if I declined to take this oath, then my progress within the church faction would stall, possibly forever. My reputation with the Church would suffer as a result, and my pursuit of kingship may be jeopardized if other candidates were willing to take this oath of allegiance to Law and Order. In other words, the Church could conceivably make this oath of fealty de facto criteria to further weed out candidates for kingship, similar to the way I was essentially coerced into joining the Church in the first place as a nominal member. So the ultimate question was how badly did I want to leave Britannia and return home? Was I desperate enough to chain myself to the Church and to the Order for the rest of my stay inside this gaming world?
Furthermore, I had a nagging suspicion that the two gods knew that Bishop Canterbury planned to offer me this oath, and they wanted to be present and serve as witnesses. If I chose to decline to take the oath of Order, then I believe that Lord Bane would offer me to take an oath of allegiance to Chaos instead. In other words, I had to make a choice now, between Order and Chaos. Alternatively, I could choose to follow neither and remain neutral, but that would put me in the crosshair of both factions.
A pop-up appeared in front of my face. It read, "-10 Health." WHAT! I held my left palm toward me for a closer look, and I saw that I was STILL BLEEDING from the cut! I shot daggers at Lord Bane with my glaring eyes, but he only smirked in response. Combined with a few unhealed nicks that I had suffered before arriving at the study, my current health bar was below half! My mouth opened but I was too angry right now to lash out against the demon lord.
"Did I forget to mention that your cut will continuously bleed and you'll lose health every minute under the wound is properly bound or healed?" Lord Bane asked nonchalantly.
I turned my head from side to side, giving the other three occupants of the small room the angriest scowl that I could muster. "You three set me up," I finally replied as I began to fully appreciate how these three had conspired against me. Why was I in the presence of a god from both Order and Chaos? And why did they grant me the ability to cast divine spells so easily even though my profession was not cleric? It was because they REALLY wanted me to choose my path RIGHT NOW. If I didn't make a choice between Order, Chaos, and Neutral, then I would bleed to death. I gritted my teeth as my resolve was hardened by anger. "I would rather bleed to death than be forced to make a choice," I declared defiantly as my vision began to blur from my loss of blood. I looked down at the ground and saw a growing pool of blood in front of me.
"It's your life," Bane shrugged. "But I should point out that if you DO end up bleeding to death, then the gamemaster will simply bring another game contestant from your world to take your place," he added while wagging his finger at me. "Frankly, I find you entertaining to watch and I think my boss does, too. I'm going to miss you when you die," he admitted solemnly.
"It doesn't have to be this way, milord," Lady Musa pleaded, her eyes full of compassion and understanding for my plight. "Is there anything we can do to convince you to make a choice? Personally, I would welcome you as a child of Order and I look forward to helping you walk in the path of your predecessor," she added.
My eyes flickered at this last comment. Who was Musa referring to? Who was my predecessor? Unfortunately, I couldn't think clearly due to my rapid drop in blood pressure. "-10 Health." The game helpfully reminded me of my dangerous predicament.
"Is it something to do with the church?" Bishop Canterbury asked. It was an educated guess on his part. When he saw that my face had turned toward him, the old cleric finally saw an opening to cut through my stubbornness and he took it. "Lord Mulligan, the king of Merlin is the head of the Church of Britannia. If there is any practice or policy that the king finds objectionable, he may change the offensive policy and adopt a new one. If you swear fealty to the Law and Order, then you will be aligning with the Church itself and, in the process, enhance your candidacy for kingship," he reasoned. "If you attain the crown, then you will be able to change church policy however you desire."
I ignored the growing weakness in my left arm. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold up my arm. But if I could change church policy as the king, then perhaps this was another reason for me to seek the crown. If I die now, I would change nothing and I would die for nothing. This last thought of my life having no meaning convinced me to make a choice. And I decided to swear fealty to the Order. I grabbed the truth stone hanging around my neck. The cross was a loathsome burden once I understood what possession of the stone truly meant—it was a chain around my valued freedom.
"Shall I repeat the oath, milord?" the bishop asked.
"No need," I replied gruffly and repeated the words: "I, Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, hereby bound myself to the Will of the gods of Law and Order, and to the instrument through which their Will be done." Suddenly, another pop-up message appeared. "-10 Health." I quickly spoke the remaining words in a single breath: "I so swear until the last of my breath."
Abruptly, I blacked out.