Chapter 50
Toth went to see the blasphemer in the public square the morning he was destined to save the world. She was a young woman, blond, with emerald eyes. Were she not a Christian he would have found her attractive. But not only was she of the wrong religion, she was committed to bringing others onto the path of damnation.
He listened to her preach her poorly recalled religious texts from the other world. It was all so foolish. So one man on Earth came back from the dead. So what?
He scoffed as she described the church she was founding and the religious practices that would take place there. It was all blasphemy. He had half a mind to do something about it, his fingers going to his concealed knife, but he stopped himself. Mostly because she had a fairly large audience, and he wasn’t confident in his ability to get away clean or unrecognized.
And he had a larger role to play.
Someone had been Judged by the Eye of God. Toth had seen the Eye himself that night, and it had shaken him to his core. It had looked at him and it had seen him. All of him, his very soul laid bare. It was the most profound religious experience of his life. He hadn’t understood, then, but Goh, the priest of Ma’at, had set him on the path of righteousness.
A boy was playing with the power of the gods, and the gods would not tolerate his indiscretions simply because of his youth. Tom Weaver was founding a religion onto himself, bringing in undead worshipers from Earth. Aberrations. The dead should remain dead, their sins judged and their reward or punishment lasting eternity.
Nora Simmons’ false god was just one example. Her very presence in Welsius was unclean.
Suddenly she looked at him. And she looked very startled, as though she had read his mind and seen the image he’d been amusing himself. Of him sending her to meet the true afterlife. She looked like she was about to address him directly, but Toth didn’t give her the chance.
Toth forced himself to settle down and walk away from the pulpit. He glanced at the sky and realized that he’d listened to the sermon longer than he’d intended. He was running late.
So he ran.
The new adventurer’s guild was a front for the new false religion, but that was his destination. Toth and his brothers in arms and faith met him there. He nodded to the ones he recognized, but they spoke not a word of their purpose. They had been warned that the aberrations had strange classes and magics which might overhear them if they discussed the plan outside the sacred houses. So the plan had been hatched in secret under the rooms that were divinely protected from the outsiders and the unclean souls of the undead.
The plan was simple. Toth would pretend to be converted today. Then he would take whatever opportunity arose to make things right in the world once more. The others would do the same.
He arrived at the front desk of the Adventurer’s guild and gave the receptionist his name. He, along with twenty other soldiers, were expected. Tom Weaver was using his foul magic to alter the souls of the unwary, exchanging power for purity. Toth had joined the army to get the chance to be in the list, as had his brothers.
He had no doubt that he would be punished. In fact, Toth was expecting that his life was forfeit. But he would save the world from the unclean and the undead. The Eye of the Gods had looked down at Tom Weaver and judged him.
Toth was just following the divine will.
He was brought into a room and told to disrobe. He complied. It was part of the ritual, he was told, to have his lifelines recorded before and after the change. That was fine. The imprint of his soul was sacred, more intimate than simple nudity. But for this opportunity, he would do what needed to be done.
He disrobed and stood in a magic circle as a young woman sketched him. He knew from a glance that she was another one of the undead. He smiled at her, imagining sending her back into the abyss where she belonged as she dutifully recorded the imprint of his soul.
It wasn’t like she was a real person anyway, so what did it matter if she saw him so exposed?
“I’ve seen some of these patterns before,” she commented. “Those swirls on your scapula, they’re pretty common. Eight times out of ten the person with those markings awakes as a Warrior.”
“Is that so?” he asked casually.
“It’s not an exact science, of course,” she said. “The exceptions were Mages, so it’s not impossible that I’m wrong. Although I don’t see any of the usual markings that indicate a Mage class on your body. I think it’s very likely that you’ll be a warrior, and very unlikely that you’ll be a rogue.”
“Can you be more specific than that?” he asked, because it seemed to be the thing to say. “Can you predict my subclass?”
“Like I said, it’s not really an exact science. I’ve noticed a bunch of little patterns like that which seem to correlate to classes. I’m not certain why nobody else ever noticed them, although maybe they did and it’s just the fact that I have so many examples of before and after that I’m the first one who’s really had a chance to form a predictive model.” She chuckled. “I almost sound like a scientist, don’t I?”
“What’s a scientist?” he asked. The word was unfamiliar. Probably something unclean.
“Right. Another world,” she muttered. “Never mind that. You can get dressed. There’s no rule saying that you can’t wear the same clothes that you wore in, but you should know that the crystal changes your body, and if you’re going to be a warrior you’ll probably put on quite a bit of muscle, so you might want to wear the robes we provide. Once your class has awakened, we’ll see how your body changed and get you clothes that fit the new you properly.”
Toth nodded. It was fine. This was just another religious ceremony, and it made sense to him that they would dress their sacrifices to their unclean worship in robes. He would play along a little longer.
The woman, Elisa, left him alone to get dressed. It was so easy, he didn’t even need to obscure his actions as he hid the blade in the sleave of the robe.
He left the room a moment later, and nodded at one of his brothers who was next in line.
The defining moment of Toth’s life was rapidly approaching. He felt a little clammy as he realized the importance of what he was about to do.
He was going to save the world.
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Tom idly tossed the ball in the air, catching it as it fell back down. He’d Conjured it to have something to play with a few days ago, and it had been sitting on his desk ever since. It was a soft, rubbery material that was surprisingly bouncy.
He’d finished all of his paperwork. The only thing he had left to do today was the awakening ceremony, where he’d evolve ten or twenty soldiers for Fenard’s army. There was a limit on how many people he could Evolve in one day, although it was something of a soft cap. He could push on beyond that, but he felt a sort of strange feedback from the skill telling him to slow down. So he would.
He thought back to the light show and he blushed a little bit. He hadn’t heard from his grandparents since then. He hadn’t heard from Rowena either, and he realized that she was probably expecting him to come see her for a change after she’d thrown the ball so thoroughly into his court. He still couldn’t quite get his head around the things that she’d said to him.
Rowena was in love with him. It wasn’t just an arranged marriage for her, she actually wanted him as a husband.
He chewed on his lip. He’d have to talk to his parents about it. Maybe Grant as well. Grant had been married in his past life, right? Maybe he’d have some insight.
Tom thought of girls as often as any healthy teenage boy would, but he’d thought that he’d feel something … stronger … for the woman he’d marry than what he felt for Rowena. He did like her. He liked her a lot, actually. She was probably his best female friend. Probably his best friend his age after Sevin. Was that enough to marry her?
He didn’t believe in love at first sight. His parents had told him that it doesn’t really work that way. They had been friends before eloping. His mother admitted that she’d been desperate to get out of the arranged marriage that her parents had been trying to push her into. His father had loved her more than she’d loved him back then. If anything, he admitted that he felt a little guilty for taking advantage of the situation when he proposed.
It had worked out in the end. Both of his parents loved each other. They rarely argued. They had plenty of disagreements, of course, but where it mattered they always presented a unified front.
Maybe this was sort of like that? Except for the fact that rather than trying to get out of the arranged marriage, he’d be accepting it. Rowena loved him. He liked her. Maybe eventually he’d love her, the way his mother had started loving his father after a while. Maybe he wouldn’t, but just liking her was enough for a marriage? He frowned.
The door opened, interrupting his thoughts. It was one of the office assistants, informing him of the time. He had ten minutes before today’s batch of awakenees was ready for him. He sighed and put aside the Rowena problem for another time. He really would have to talk to his parents soon. And Grant.
There was a full length mirror in one corner of his office, a recent addition, and he went over there to straighten his suit and his tie. It was a brand new suit, one of Ingrid’s custom pieces made specifically for him out of his father’s cloth. He wasn’t certain why, but this new style was more comfortable than the suits that he’d been wearing before he’d summoned Ingrid. Or perhaps that was simply her class playing into things.
Once he’d straightened his clothing, he left his office and walked out to the square. He honestly didn’t understand why everyone insisted on making a big deal out of this; he was just using a skill on some people.
Although, when he thought about it, he was about to give about twenty people their Class Days. He remembered his own, back in Tilluth Village. Awakening with the system notification. The anxiety of realizing that he was going to unlock something other than Commoner. His parents being there with him, their reassuring presence getting him through the uncertainty.
Viewed through that lens, he could see why there was an audience, and why the soldiers he was awakening wanted a bit of a show. This was just another day of the week to Tom, but it was one of the most important days of their lives to them.
Most of the people he was about to awaken were standing in a row near Other Westone, just outside the Adventurer’s Guild Hall. When Tom stepped up next to the Core stone, the plaza went quiet. He bit his lip, realizing that he was expected to say a few words once more.
“So, most of you know what to expect,” he said nervously. “I’ve used this skill that awakens classes on quite a few people now. Mostly you just feel a bunch of energy rushing through your body, sort of like the biggest rush of experience that you can imagine. It’s not painful, but it can be overwhelming. If you’re worried that it might be too much, it’s okay to lay down or something when its your turn. After I’ve used my skill, you go to the Core Stone and it finishes the process. I think Elisa might have suggested to a few of you that she’s starting to predict classes based on lifelines, but you should know that’s very much still a guessing game. She’s wrong almost as often as she’s right, and she hasn’t figured out sublcasses at all quite yet. Either way, this is your last chance to back out. If you unlock your class today, you’ll probably never be able to unlock any of the Trade classes or Craftsman classes. So please, if you’re having second thoughts, speak up now. This is all strictly a voluntary thing, even the king admits that he has no right to order people to undergo this process. But if you’re all certain, then go ahead and step forward, and we’ll get started.”
Sometimes someone would balk at this point. Sometimes more than one person would elect not to undergo the procedure. Not this time, however. He looked at the line of men and women and saw a line of determined young people. Once everyone had had a chance to back out, one of the office administrators pulled out a list and read the first name.
“Duncan Seethring,” she said, and a young man stepped forward. He was bouncing with nervous energy as he approached Tom.
Tom smiled. “You sure about this Duncan?” he asked.
“Yeah, let’s go!” Duncan agreed. Tom took his hand and activated Evolve. It took almost half of his mana before the skill clicked into place, and the power rushed out of him and into Duncan. Duncan gasped and stepped back, his eyes going wide as he processed the energies coursing through his body.
After a moment, the young man settled down. He frowned for a moment, then said “Oh right, that’s only step one. I’ve got to touch the stone too.”
So he stepped over and touched the nearby Core Stone, and his body was enveloped in light. It faded a moment later, and Duncan was changed. Not too much. He was half an inch taller, and more muscular. Tom figured that he’d probably awoken some sort of soldier class.
“Alright! Cavalier!” Duncan shouted, confirming Tom’s suspicion.
A young woman was next, and she awoke as a Mage. This drew some excitement from those who had yet to go, and from the young woman herself of course. While any sort of combat class was sure to change their lives, most of the soldiers, warriors, and rogues were destined to spend the next few months being rapidly leveled before being pushed out to the front.
Mages, on the other hand, were given a state sponsored scholarship for the new magic school to develop their talents in exchange for serving the crown once they’d reached a certain threshold of capability. Tom wasn’t certain that they’d be ready in time for the war, but at the same time it wasn’t like the king could just send untrained mages to the front. Once they were trained, they’d need a few levels to make them effective as well. So there was a chance that the entire war would be over by the time this young woman’s training was finished.
“Congratulations,” he told her.
“Thanks,” she said, beaming. She stepped back and walked over to her family, who embraced her with jubilation as she revealed her class to them.
Three more young people came forward to receive there classes. Just as the event was starting to blur together, Tom got the surprise of his life.
When he reached out to take the hand of the next candidate, the man rushed forward. Tom felt a sharp pain. He gasped, looking down.
He saw red.
He’d been stabbed in the stomach.
He gasped out in pain, and the man – Toth was his name, Tom remembered – pulled his arm back and stabbed Tom again. Tom grabbed Toth by the wrist, and in his desperation, he activated a skill.
Not Evolve.
It was his only real offensive skill that he possessed. He’d only used it on Cores and Monsters before. He’d instinctively known not to use it on humans, but that barrier was in his mind, not in the skill itself.
It activated.
Tom Claimed Toth just as the knife stabbed him in the stomach the third time.
Tom collapsed to the ground as all hell broke loose.