***

Peter looked at them all a little saddened.

"I.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take so long just now setting up my status."

Everyone in the room went wide-eyed, a few stifled laughs could be heard. Kayel almost laughed himself.

"N-No, that's not what I meant by 'we've been waiting for you' Peter! I meant we've been waiting for the arrival of the Avatar promised to us by Adrestia. I did not mean to make you think we were upset at you for... 'setting up' your status."

Peter's eyes changed to a happy look and glowed a little brighter, "Oh! Well, I'm glad we cleared that up haha."

Everyone looked at Peter. Peter looked at everyone and scratched the back of his neck nonchalantly.

"Hey um.. I hope it's not too much of a bother but... It's kind of breezy in here.."

Peter's face blushed a little when he looked at a woman in the back of the room who was staring. There was only so long a man could take standing naked in front of strangers.

***

"Peter I don't know how to say sorry enough. We were all just so excited that you were finally here, we forgot all manners and--"

"No really Kayel, I've forgiven you! Please say no more. I feel bad enough as it is that I need special clothing made because of my size."

Kayel walked side by side with Peter through a stone hallway. These hallways were not as well decorated as the altar room of course, but they still had carvings every 20 feet or so of either a sword or a set of scales. Peter was now wearing a table cloth over himself in the style of a toga. They walked by room after room and chatted about various things. Kayel mentioned how sorry he was a few too many times for Peter's comfort. Nonetheless, Peter felt he was sincere. 

Kayel went over what Peter knew, and found what he knew to be very little, yet valuable information! Peter knew about the issues that have come up around the world. These zones of land that 'World Energy' is skyrocketing in have been slowly growing in number for 300 years now. A new one pops up once every 30 years or so, so it's been slow but steady going. Peter also told him he knew exactly how many square miles of raw area were land, and how many were water, but didn't know any of the towns or countries. Kayel was very surprised. Any complete knowledge about Athone was incredibly valuable because of how hard it was to map such a large world. Only rich guilds and large countries could afford so many Scouts and Cartographers to go out to every corner of the globe.

Once the initial chat was over, Kayel took him down a few more hallways and introduced him to a few other people. These people were of great importance to the temple, or they were elders who were close to their deaths. All of them were so ecstatic to meet Peter that at least half of them cried and held him in a hug for a minute or two.

"I know this must be strange for you Peter, but I really meant what I said back in the altar chamber. We really have been waiting for you. Many generations have passed since this temple was built, and it has always been populated with caretakers and guardians. With the Avatar's arrival, it means that all our work had purpose," Kayel placed his hand on Peter's tall shoulder, "Everyone here had times of doubt. Wondering if they were just throwing their lives away for no reason. The fact that you're here is a joyous occasion. These elders deserve to see that they can die in peace, knowing that their, their parents, and their grandparents life's work came to something."

Peter was pretty overwhelmed. That was a lot of responsibility placed on him, but he didn't feel like it was a burden. He felt like it was an honor to be the representation of their lives. He wouldn't let these people, who had given everything they had for him, down. He would die first, that he was sure of.

***

Despite all the places they went, Peter never felt like he was bored, or that it was too much. In between visits, Peter was messing with his 'H.U.D.' options which required no hands to wave in the air, like his 'Status' did when he was configuring it. It reacted to Peter's thoughts and eye movements. He eventually got everything the way he wanted it to be. A nice [Health] bar on the bottom left of his vision, skill cool-down and passive 'stacks' indicators in the middle, and [Stamina] bar on the right.

"Alright Peter, we've kept you bored long enough. We can't take you too many more places in the temple because your existence has to remain as low profile as possible tonight. We're making a cover story for all the sounds and noises that took place at the altar today. I only wanted to do right by the elders of the temple, and let the people who need to know you're here know, so they can set up training." Kayel said in a serious tone.

"Please don't think I was bored. This is my first time being fully exposed to the System, so I'm exploring all my options as we walk. I'm very much looking forward to training, though!"

Kayel laughed and said "Well I'm glad you've been keeping busy, and are looking forward to the training. We can't wait to see what a mage of your stature can accomplish."

Peter froze. He clenched his fists and looked at the ground. Kayel walked a few steps before he realized, then turned around.

"Peter, what's the matter?"

Peter cleared his throat, "Hey um. Kayel. I need to speak with you about something."

"Absolutely. Follow me." Kayel sensed whatever it was really bothered Peter, so he found a private room for them to speak in.

Once they were inside, Kayel looked the door with a small swing-down barricade. Nobody would be bothering them. The two sat down at a table in the room, and Peter began going over events that happened to him. Right from the God's test, to the Equilibrium Construct, to arriving at the altar. When Peter got to the part about his lack of [Mana], Kayel almost unnoticeably paled. Even though he didn't allow his face to change, Kayel's inner feelings couldn't be hidden perfectly. His body tensed up and he had a very slight glisten of sweat, but he let Peter finish his story.

Peter was no fool. He noticed all of the minor reactions in Kayel's face. He wasn't sure why he did though. They were extremely subtle hints to how Kayel was feeling. Peter chalked it up to his brand new [Perception] stat, and was rather impressed with what it could do with only 10 points in it.

"Peter... I must be honest with you. This is terrible news. You will likely never have a moment of rest for as long as you live if this becomes public knowledge."

Peter's head leaned back, his brows furrowed, and his fingers spread flat on the table, "What? Why? I mean, I know it's bad for my combat potential, but why would I never have any rest?"

"Peter please listen to what I have to say," Kayel cleared his throat, then spoke, "There is a guild that exists on this continent. They're called the 'Arcane Vanguard', and they control a massive quantity of trade between the kingdoms in Fulguran."

"Let me stop you there," Peter said, "What is Fulguran?"

Kayel lifted his eyebrows, then said, "Sorry, I forgot that your knowledge of this world is limited to only a couple strange facts."

Kayel took out a small, hand-drawn map. This map was rudementary at best, with only basic outlines for the continents and their names. He laid it on the table for Peter to see.

"Fulguran is the continent we're on right now. There are 5 major continents in this world that we know of. They are Fulguran, Ferrumzal, Ignithul, Aqulin, and Aermet. Each continent is mainly separated by which type of magic the majority of their mages use. Fulguran, the continent we're in uses lightning magic, Ferrumzal uses earth magic, Ignithul uses fire magic, Aqulin uses water magic, and Aermet uses atmospheric magic."

Peter tilted his head sideways, "So do you know lightning magic?"

Kayel replied, "Some yes, but I specialize in atmospheric magic. My ancestors were from Aermet. They brought their knowledge with them, and I took to learning it much easier than the other elements. Just because the continent specializes in a certain magic doesn't mean it's inhabitants don't use other magic. Remember that."

Kayel went on, "Now the other continents don't matter for the immediate time. You need to understand things about this continent before today's end. Normally I would not take you under my wing for lessons until you went for combat strength tests, magic strength tests, and a few other minor things. But your case is clearly in need of a lesson in politics before we begin any of that."

"Okay. I'm listening," said Peter.

***

The lesson began with teaching Peter about the Kingdoms. There were only two in all of Fulguran even despite Fulguran being the second largest continent of the 5. One was the Kurrenth Empire, and the other was the Ohmal Kingdom.

Ohmal was a very rich Kingdom that thrived in times of peace. They held the most high-quality farmland of the two kingdoms, and still had a lot of forests, rivers, and mountain ranges under their control for resources. They were the most liberal kingdom of the two in terms of economy, and many of the citizens were very happy and wealthy. But, Ohmal had a dark side. They relied on slaves for their riches. Despite their liberal nature, they were a very cruel Kingdom to anyone who wasn't a citizen. Typically anyone caught breaking a law of any real severity was sentenced to a life of enslavement. The Kingdom would then sell theses slaves to the rest of the citizens so they could look after them, and make them work.

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This was a very effective way to rule. Nobody questioned the Kingdom out loud or behind closed doors for fear of becoming a slave. And to even further keep the citizens from being upset with the government, they had easy lives due to cheap slaves that they could work almost as hard as they wanted. Anyone caught conspiring against the Kingdom would have their assets seized, and half would be given to the person who reported the 'traitors'. Everyone in the kingdom had all the reason in the world to just live like this. If you keep your nose clean, you were all but guaranteed an easy life.

The Kurrenth Empire on the other hand very much disliked Ohmal. They believed in fair punishment, and slavery was abolished many years ago. Kurrenth was generally a poor country in comparison to Ohmal. They hardly had fair wages, but a generally fair government, and fair taxes. Due to the fact that the citizens had much more reason to try their best to earn a living than they did in Ohmal, technology advanced much faster in Kurrenth. Citizens in Ohmal were fat and lazy, while Citizens of Kurrenth were always striving to innovate and become rich by doing something nobody had ever done before to improve an aspect of their lives.

The dark side of Kurrenth was the separation of classes that this caused. Poor people were generally frowned upon as lesser and stupid, and were not cared for by anyone because the Kurrenth government lacked the resources to take care of them like Ohmal did with slaves. The Magitech inventors were so caught up in their own superiority that they had stopped caring about the everyday citizen. These were the same citizens which their inventions were supposed to help.

There was currently a struggle between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in Kurrenth. Nobles, and their advanced weaponry, versus the citizens who were sick of being treated like dirt, who outnumbered them 10 to 1.

As bad as it sounded, Peter was still extremely interested in all of the political strife, and the inner-workings of it all.

Kayel further explained that the only reason war hadn't broken out between Kurrenth and Ohmal was because Ohmal had a mountain range to protect them, and Kurrenth had more advanced weaponry. There was no way for one side to invade without taking massive risks. Also, only reason war hadn't broken out in Kurrenth was because the nobles weren't confident they could win, and the citizens weren't either. The nobles had lots of control over powerful weapons, but they didn't get out much to level up. A large portion of the citizens, on the other hand, survived by hunting monsters and selling their loot. This was because of how scarce well-paying jobs were, and how hard it was to get any job at all. All combined, the citizens had more combat potential than the nobles.

All that resulted were high tensions and lots of hate between all sides. 

"That's really interesting and all," Peter said, "But what does that have to do exactly with me having no [Mana]?"

Kayel looked stern, "Everything."

Kayel started again by explaining that the Arcane Vanguard were a very powerful guild. Neither of the Kingdoms wish to get on their bad side because the kingdoms rely on their trade. Ohmal requires 'Slave collars' to keep slaves from just killing their fat and lazy masters. A slave collar is a pretty advanced magical device that puts the wearer in a dream-like state where they are very suggestable. They can only be made by advanced mages, like the ones in Kurrenth.

Peter had an epiphany, "So the Arcane Vanguard act as the middle man between the Kindoms. The two kingdoms hate each other, but will work with the Vanguard in order to keep trade going. Kurrenth needs resources that the Ohmal has, like food and iron, and Ohmal needs Kurrenth's advanced magic to keep their government running the way it does." Peter said, interrupting Kayel's lecture.

Kayel was stunned, "Ye-Yes, did you deduce all that from what I just said?"

Peter replied, "Well yeah. You said the Vanguard control trade, then gave me an exact example of what needed trading."

"Still... you have a good head on your shoulders." Kayel nodded slowly. His beard tipping against the table they were sitting at.

"Here, why not a small test then," Kayel said with a smirk, "Have you also figured out why all of this is bad for you?"

Peter leaned back, enjoying the thought of a challenge to his wits.

"If I were to guess, I would say that the Arcane Vanguard have a lot of influence due to their control over the lifeblood of both kingdoms."

Kayel nodded, "Correct, but that's easy. Can you go further?"

Peter thought for a moment, "I suppose that the Vanguard aren't exactly the nicest people. They would have to be very tough to keep control over that kind of market."

Kayel smiled, "Better. Keep going."

"The only way to keep control over something that could so easily become volatile is by manipulating people. The Arcane Vanguard probably use some kind of... I don't know... religious beliefs?" Peter narrowed his eyes and looked at Kayel, "They use religion to keep people in line, don't they? They're hardly a guild at all... they're a cult."

Kayel clapped, and shook his head at Peter's undeniable intellect, "Exactly Peter. They're a cult of mages to be exact. Very powerful mages at that. They strongly believe that [Mana] itself is a God. Therefore, those who are born unable to use it are cursed by the Gods."

"Ahhh... that makes a lot of sense. They probably hunt down anyone who doesn't have [Mana] freely within either kingdom. Neither would risk offending the Arcane Vanguard's beliefs just for the sake of a citizen who wasn't able to be useful to them anways," Peter said with a serious look on his face.

"Yes. Those Vanguard are like seeker wisps. They go where ever they please, and test people to see if they can use Mana," Kayel said with scorn in his voice, "But the issue with you goes even deeper than that. You can't use [Mana], but you're an Avatar. You are the very definition of 'Blessed by the Gods'."

Peter's eyes went wide.

"They'll try to kill me before what I am becomes public knowledge, all because the very fact that I exist means their whole ideology is false! If people found out there was an Avatar who was manaless, who was chosen by Adrestia herself, citizens would realize all the people that the Arcane Vanguard have killed were killed unjustly, and only because the Vanguard felt like it," Peter added.

"The people will turn against the Vanguard for killing their family members under false pretenses for years, the governments in fear of losing their trade will turn against the people..." Kayel continued.

"All. Out. War." Peter finished with a smirk, "Who knew I'd be so much trouble? Just because I exist."

"Nobody did. You're a totally unexpected disaster," Kayel answered in a 'matter of fact' fashion.

The mood in the room was pretty grim. Peter sat still for a while and just pondered the entire conversation they just had. He brainstormed about possible ways to keep his secret between Kayel and himself only. He brushed his hands through his perfectly white hair, and adjusted his tall body on the chair. A chair that was clearly meant for a smaller person.

One thing bothered Peter, though.

One thing he really couldn't understand was pestering him like a mosquito that just wouldn't go away.

Peter leaned in towards Kayel with eyes squinted, and hands clasped. Elbows leaning on the table like an interrogator. He looked Kayel up and down once with his glowing blue eyes. Peter huffed a small sigh, then breathed in.

Kayel, knowing how smart Peter is, wasn't sure what could make Peter's composure so aggressive. He was anticipating a large and meaningful question that could shake him to his core.

"What in the heck is a seeker wisp?" Peter asked plainly.

...

Both men looked at each other, then had a good hard laugh.

 ***

A dark haired, tall man paced back and forth in his room. His glowing white eyes were pulsating with rage.

"I can't believe the Avatar actually showed up. This is insane! I was supposed to be the one who called the Avatar forward. Not that feeble, outdated, loathsome old man!"

Mathus grabbed a chair and tossed it at a wall. The expensive looking chair seemed to explode into splinters on the stone blocks that made up the High Priests chambers. Mathus looked down at his own hands, confused as to why he felt so weak.

"Status." He said sternly.

Status Name: Mathus Narthal Level: 37  Gender: Male   Class: High Judge  Race: Human  Fame: 1,410  Health 180 / 180 Mana 355 / 355 Stamina 150 / 150 END 30 (15) VIT 36 (18) DEX 28 (14) STR 30 (15) WIS 71 (35.5)  KRM +30 INT 50 (25) Skills [LOCKED] Debuff: [Judgement]

"No... this can't... How could Adrestia do this to me?"

Mathus was gobsmacked. He didn't know how to process this. He'd grown up his whole life being the pride of his family. He could do no wrong in their eyes and got whatever he desired. He was to be the future High Judge of the Justicar. The Justicar were well respected within all of Fulguran. Especially in the Kurrenth Empire where the temple was located.

He was groomed from toddler on in the ways of [Mana] manipulation and reading into the fates in order to judge situations fairly. He was also well educated in various forms of mage to mage combat and using it, he had earned a name for himself inside of Dorcot, the largest province in Kurrenth. Pride overflowed from him in every aspect of his life. From combat, to academics, to his duties to the temple of Adrestia, Mathus always excelled.

It was understandable that he was filled with pride, but Adrestia clearly found him to be corrupted by it. The [Judgement] debuff can only be applied by Adrestia herself to her servants who displease her.

All Gods had a debuff they could apply to their servants at any time. It was the way Gods maintained some control of their believers, and disassociated themselves from believers who performed horrid acts against their God. The only way to remove the debuff was to denounce Adrestia as your Goddesss, or to please her once again.

Mathus steadied himself, then sat on the foot of his bed. His childish rage had turned into full blown adult malice. He couldn't help but hate Kayel, and hate the new Avatar. His honor, which was going down in history as the one who brought forward the Avatar had been taken right out from underneath of him. And for what? Kicking a mere servant? Who could possibly care so much about one silly servant? This wasn't Justice. This was betrayal!

The furious man stood up and started destroying more furniture in his rage... until a very interesting window popped up in front of him.

Mathus read what it said and calmed down. He pushed that window to the side.

But didn't close it.

***