Eric woke up at his alarm playing a song he liked, feeling refreshed, he casted [Cleanse] on his bed and himself. He thought about changing to different clothes, but felt that Lady Vannil would get suspicious of that, one thing he wanted to keep hidden was his Haven as it was his trump card.
Thinking about getting some breakfast, he imagined his kitchen and just appeared in it.
Oh, I can move around inside at will, neat!
Checking his fridge, he was low on food, so he would have to restock soon. Making him some eggs and bacon, he enjoyed his meal, finding it quite delicious.
Hmm. These taste really good. When did I buy these? Wow! Hopefully I will be able to get just as good ingredients here too!
Washing his dishes, he put them up and ported down to the ‘Power Core’ of his house to check it.
“Hmm, the light seems a little dimmer than before. I will have to keep an eye on this to properly…” Looking closer at it, some numbers ran through his mind, 1851/2000.
Oh, I can tell its capacity and current amount, oh, it went up a point.
Eric figured that using the stove for the food for about twenty minutes used up a little over 150 points and recouped some of it from waste water in the septic. The Haven’s temperature was perfect all the time, so he had no need to run his A/C system, which he figured would burn the most amount of power.
“Should probably head out.” Eric shifted back out to the room he was assigned.
As soon as he arrived, there was a banging at the door,
“Eric, are you in there?!” Micah’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door.
Shit!
“Uh, yeah, sorry about that Micah.” He opens the door and sees Micah in a more relaxed version of ‘her’ uniform.
Micah’s features felt different from last night. Now ‘she’ seemed to be considerably more feminine.
“Sorry, I was pretty deep asleep there.” Eric lightly lied.
“It is alright, no one can get a decent sleep while chained to a wall in a jail cell. I assume you slept really well. Though the bedding is not to the level of a noble’s, it is still high quality compared to basic inns.”
That’s one question answered.
“Anyway, change into these clothes and come up to Lady’s Vannil’s office. We will have some food up there for you too.” Micah said as she handed him some clothing and a set of boots.
Eric took the clothes and went to close the door, but Micah stopped him.
“Want some help?” Micah asked jokingly with a teasing smile.
“Nah, I should be fine. Unless you really want to, but that would require you telling me which you really are.” He replied to Micah, which got a light laugh as she wandered off, swaying her hips.
So confusing…
Closing the door, he changed into the outfit. It was a basic set of dark brown slacks that even had a zipper and a simple hook clasp to keep the pants on. The belt had a simple buckle that was used to keep the belt in place. The white shirt had long sleeves and buttons. He buttoned up that he tucked it into his pants. Next was a soft leather vest that a few pouches sewn on the front.
The last item were the boots. When he put them one and took a few steps, they ended up being quite uncomfortable. Eric pulled the inserts from his tennis shoes and put them into them.
That feels better, but these still could use some improvement.
Eric popped into his Haven and dropped his other world clothes into a basket and returned back to the room. Heading to the main hall of the building, he caught sight of Gil.
“Hey Eric! Sleep well? Hungry?”
“I did, thank you. I have a breakfast meeting with Lady Vannil, so I will be heading up there.”
“Ah, good luck with that. If you not busy tomorrow, let’s go out drinking! I’ll even cover your drinks!” He said with a grin.
Eric said he would get back to him later.
Knocking on the door, Eric heard Lady Vannil tell him to enter. Both Micah and Lady Vannil were changed into some nice commoner dresses. It looked like they already ate as there were a couple of empty plates and one plate with some vegetables and a couple of sausages on it. Sitting down, Lady Vannil told him to eat while she explains the plan.
“We will be heading to Church of Light that is near the noble’s district. They should be running their auction in a couple hours, so you will be able to see the truth for yourself.”
Eric nodded as he ate a bit of the food.
Thank goodness I kept my breakfast light.
“Our cover is going to be simple, we are business associates. You have never seen Heroes yourself and we brought you to see them. They should not pry further than that. You need to try and speak as little as possible. It is direly important that you do not allow them to realize that you are from another world. Your safety will be at stake. You will understand once you see the Heroes themselves.” Micah explained.
Eric only nodded without asking any questions, since it seemed like seeing the Heroes would be the best thing to answer them.
“Alright, let’s get it done Micah.” Lady Vannil said.
Micah acknowledged her and moved over next to her with a small box.
Opening it up, “Any preferences this time?”
“Something light.” Lady Vannil answered.
Pulling out a vial with a yellowish liquid, “Flex, change, and become like clay [Molding].”
The liquid became a bit more solid and she poured into her hand. Micah worked it in her hands and then rubbed it through Lady Vannil’s hair. Undoing the magic caused it to completely soak into Lady Vannil’s hair, leaving it a golden blond.
“Wha-.” Eric said, leading to a very feminine giggle coming from Micah.
“It is a magic that I specialize in. Using the correct ingredients, I can change what a person looks like easily and quickly.” Casting her spell again with a pinkish cream, she applied it to Lady Vannil’s whole face, carefully and quickly changing her features to that of a woman in forties.
“That is amazing, can you mold any material?” He asked as she changed her brown hair to black.
“You can, but if you are thinking of applying it to metal working, it won’t work as well as you think. For materials that need to be solid or sturdy, it causes them to be brittle, so they break easy.”
Eric understood as she changed her complexion a bit darker and added a large scar across the side of her face and down her neck.
“What is that for?” Eric asked.
“Ah, not to sound full of myself, but my cute face could attract some unwanted attention from the more, adulterous people of the Church of Light. A large scar like this will put them off.” Micah explained as she moved over to him.
“I’ll just darken your complexion, cover your beard, and lighten your hair just a little. Could you roll up your sleeves up to your elbows?” Eric followed her instructions. “Best to close your eyes and take a deep breath, it won’t take more than a few seconds.”
Taking a deep breath, she applied the cream to his face, neck, and ears. It felt warm and a little tingly as it felt like it was clinging to the surface of his skin.
“All done.” She whispered into his her seductively, her warm breath tickling his ear.
Eric was able to keep himself together and not give her a reaction. Opening his eyes, he saw Micah was smiling teasingly, but had a hint of frustration in the back of her eyes. Lady Vannil chuckled at Micah’s slight frustration at her teasing failure.
Shrugging her shoulders, she applied the cream to each of his arms and lastly adjusted his hair color. Lady Vannil casually handed him a mirror. He looked quite a bit younger without his beard, but he looked like someone who spent time working outside.
“This really is amazing, could you teach me how to use the molding spell?”
“Why don’t you try casting it like you did with [Cleanse]?” Lady Vannil commented while handing him a simple stone she used as a paper weight.
“Flex, change, and become like clay [Molding].” The magic activated and the stone became like clay.
“Wait, how the hells did you do that?” Micah asked in surprise.
“Am I not supposed to be able to do it?” He asked, wanting to know the reason, as he shaped the stone into a four sided pyramid and ended the spell. It returned to the consistency of a stone and he handed it back to Lady Vannil, who answered.
“One normally learns a spell by using a grimoire, it is unheard of for a person to learn a spell by just hearing the incantation and name.”
Eric asked for more details.
They explained that people used either grimoires or large amounts of effort and time to be able to learn spells.
“The main issue is that it takes a person to understand the words of the spell and have a proper visualization. The visual part is easy enough to be taught, it is the ancient language that makes it difficult as a person has to try and understand each segment.” Micah explained.
Wait, what?
“So, how would one write the word Flex?” Eric asked, trying to confirm what he was thinking.
Micah wrote the word on a small chalk board, parchment and paper were somewhat pricey apparently.
I can read this, but it is not the common language… Did, Luna cause this?
“Hmm, interesting.” Eric answered after looking at it.
Lady Vannil tried prying a bit more, but Eric chose to dodge her questions, using the trip to the church as an excuse.
Walking to the main street, they paid a couple coppers to a passing horse drawn cart to ride up toward the noble’s district. Micah explained that it was common for passing merchants to make a few extra coins by just giving people rides along the main road if they had the space in their carts. She did advise him though to not try it with carriages or people who do not look like merchants, as it could accidently get on the bad side of a noble.
After about twenty minutes, they arrived at their destination. Dismounting from the cart they headed off down a foot-path toward the church. Micah stopped them just before walking out into the courtyard.
“Okay, remember Eric, it is imperative you don’t give yourself away at all. I will be going by the name Nadi, she will be Ashley, and your name is Will, got it? Good, let’s go.”
One of the clergymen at the entrance to the Church noticed them on their approach and smiled at them.
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“Welcome to the Church of Light, are you in need of service? Or coming to offer prayer to the God of Light?”
Lady Vannil spoke up, “Good afternoon to you sir, may the light of our God reach you in your darkest days.”
“Ah, a devout believer, a pleasure to see you.” He replied.
“Thank you good sir, I am Ashley, we are visiting today because my co-worker here, Will, has never met or seen a Hero before. Nadi and I thought it would be great to not only bring him to see the church, but also see if we might have a chance to see some Heroes this day.” Lady Vannil said with a pleasant smile of a kindly grandmother.
Either [Molding] or Micah is really good, or she is a hell of an actor.
“I see,” he turned to Eric, “so you have not seen a Hero young man?”
Eric coughed once, pointed at his throat, put a single finger over his mouth and pointed at Micah.
The clergyman watched him and noticed Micah’s scar on her face.
“I see, that is most unfortunate that you lost your voice. Was it an accident?” Eric shook his head.
“An attack?” Eric smiled at the clergyman who smiled putting together the fabricated story of that Eric lost his voice in an attack.
Heh, he bought it, and I didn’t lie at all. ‘I cannot speak because she told me to.’ Not my fault he made his own assumptions. Heheheh.
Micah smiled at Eric, impressed with his ploy.
“Today, we do have some Heroes up for hire right now, but we also have a team on standby. I, may, be able to get you a private viewing with the standby team, but I am not sure if I can…”
He glanced at the donation bowl. Serious? This dude wants a bribe?
Pulling his coin purse from his hidden chest pouch in his vest, he fished through it finding a single silver. Pulling it out, he saw the eyes of the clergyman light up a bit.
Guess this might be enough. Probably best to make it seem that like this is a lot of coin for me.
Making an act as if he was conflicted, he made it like it was painful for him to drop the coin in the donation bowl, letting his shoulders slump as it clinked within.
“Ah, thank you for your generous donation and sacrifice. I think I should be able to get a private viewing. Please, come with me.” The clergyman picked up the bowl and dumped its contents into a bag on his waist and led them inside.
The inside of the church was bright, a majority of it was white marble with extravagant pillars that had silver engravings on it. The blue-gold tabards hung from the walls giving it a very gaudy, clean and imposing look.
“Welcome to all new-comers! The auction is still on-going for another hour to hire our team of Heroes, the Salamanders! Current bid is eleven gold coins!” Eric noticed a crowd of people gathered around a small stage where a man in a white-gold robe was working as an auctioneer.
He could not see the Heroes over there as the crowd was blocking the view.
“This way.” The clergyman beckoned them.
They arrived at a side door where a sour and bored looking priest sat.
“What is this about?” The priest demanded to know.
“This mute young man has never seen a Hero. I thought I might give him a private viewing if possible?” He replied.
“Hmm, thirty percent.”
“Twenty.”
“Hmph, fine.” The dour priest unlocked and opened the door for them.
Entering the sparse cold room, there were six extravagant seats, five of which were filled with people. The individuals wore fancy equipment, but was most peculiar was that all of them wore masks that just covered their eyes. They had lenses in them, making it difficult to see their eyes from a distance. They sat motionless, their expressions frozen.
“Team Leviathan, awaken.” The priest commanded.
Their heads raised up like they just powered up like a machine.
“Stand and present yourselves.”
The Heroes stood up, took three steps forward and stood at attention.
What the hell... They are like, robots…” Eric was doing everything he could to not show his worry.
“You may look, but do not touch.” The clergyman said.
Eric looked over each one of them. Their equipment was a matching blue color, each of their faces unmoving. He did not get close enough to see their eyes at the warning of the priest. The group consisted of two girls and three guys. Each one of them had an odd marking on their foreheads, it looked like a Star of David, with the points inverted, surrounded by a hexagon, and two horizontal lines moving from it across their foreheads.
Eric felt like he was getting to his limit of hiding his worry and motioned to the clergyman if he could get a handshake.
“I don’t see why not. Rachael, step forward and give this young man a light handshake, and don’t forget to smile.”
A girl with light brown hair stepped forward, turned to Eric and held out her hand. Moving forward, Eric pretended to reverently reach out and shake her hand. That was when he looked up and saw her face, she had a light smile on her face, but he could see through the lenses at their distance.
Oh, no…
A freezing chill ran though his body. Her eyes, had no life to them, even her hand felt it had no life to it. He may have been able to feel her body heat from her hand, but there just no life to her. As he stared into the empty abyss of her eyes, he felt fear welling up inside of him.
I, I need to get out of here.
Finishing his handshake, he bowed his head to the priest and clergyman, while clasping his hands together as to keep from showing them shaking. The priest did not really care, but the clergyman returned Eric’s faked thanks and led them out of the room.
“Thank you for coming to the church. May the light of our god reach you in your darkest days.” The clergyman said and closed the side door to divvy up his bribe with the priest.
Once out of the clergyman’s sight, Eric moved with a purpose to get out of the church, Lady Vannil and Micah had trouble trying to keep up with him.
Once outside the church, Eric walked quickly over toward an alleyway to get out of sight. As soon as he was out of sight, he left his whole façade go. His face twisted into a panicked fear, knees fell weak, and he could not keep his shoulders from not shaking. Micah and Lady Vannil came to him, worried about him.
“What, what, the hell was that.” He practically growled.
His anger was rapidly welling up over what he saw, as several puzzle pieces fell into place. Lady Vannil tensed at his shift.
“I’m, I’m sorry, I should have had Micah give you a bit more context before putting you through that. But I did not expect for you to get a private viewing either.”
Eric felt like vomiting, but he held back by taking slow deep breaths.
“I am sure you have many questions, but I will answer what I can once we are back.” Micah said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Eric turned and clasped her hand in both of his, looking deeply into her eyes.
This, this is proper life. Eric thought, the warmth of life in her hands and eyes.
Micah was taken aback by his actions and slightly blushed.
Seeing her face he let go, “S-sorry, seeing that girl, really threw me off. There was-.”
Micah shh’ed him by putting her finger to his mouth.
“We will talk a more back at the office.” Micah said, wanting to keep their conversation from being heard.
Eric gave a pained smile. Micah took his hand and led him further into the alleyways with a slightly smirking Lady Vannil in tow.
It took some time to make it back to the main road as Micah kept them from main traffic areas until Eric had calmed down enough. Taking a short cart ride they made it back to the Inquisitor building and went straight to Lady Vannil’s office after she gave some orders to Gil and a couple people to bring some warm water up to her office.
Using her [Molding] spell with the water, she removed their disguises and they ate some lunch, though Eric’s appetite was pretty low. They sat in silence for a bit before Eric could finally speak.
“They… It was like they were corpses.”
Micah’s face was neutral, but her eyes were pained, seeing the spirited man she saw earlier in his current state.
“I wish I could tell you everything Eric, but I am bound by contract. Micah will answer your questions.” Lady Vannil said, her face was stern, but her eyes were sad.
“I am sorry Eric, there may be some things I don’t know, that only Lady Vannil would know, but she cannot answer, even if she wanted.” Micah said.
A magic contract I am guessing? One that keeps her silent? But how did that happen? Why?” He asked.
Micah sighed, “She was once a Judicator. Ah right, you don’t know that term. There are two types of investigators in this world. One, the Inquisitors. They are government officials that answer to a country’s ruling party. Their purpose is just to seek the truth and evidence for crimes or investigations. Judicators are the second, and they are one that should be treaded around very lightly. They answer to the Church of Light, in the country of Dawn, they act as investigator, judge, and even executioner. While outside of Dawn, they lose the two latter abilities. So if you are insane and end up in Dawn, avoid them at all costs. Oh, don’t look at her like that, she was just an investigator and never worked in Dawn. She did a lot of good work here in Meerka, which may have benefitted the church greatly. But at a point she learned something she should not have, lost the will to continue serving the church, and was shown mercy by the Pope to be allowed to leave in peace after signing a contract that would prevent her from revealing what she knows about the church.” Eric had looked at Lady Vannil coldly for a moment until Micah clarified her situation for her.
Eric could see a deep sadness in Lady Vannil’s eyes. I guess she is weighed down with regret.
Turning to Micah, “So what is the truth then?”
Micah began by explaining that the church was the only one who could summon Heroes. Heroes were always brought from other worlds and were said to receive their great power from the god of light. The part that made them so lifeless was the marking on their foreheads.
“That mark, publically is known as the Mark of Heroes, but the real name is… The Mark of Domination.”
What the hell?! Eric was dumbfounded by the name of the marking.
“I had a very difficult time trying to find this information. I don’t know the particulars about it, but just from the name and what I have seen, it destroys the mind, making them into unthinking puppets who will only follow the orders of a select few of the church.”
Dear god, er, Luna, what the hell kind of church would force such a contra-. Wait… Eric looks over at Lady Vannil.
“That is what that contract was for, the mark can be protected against, can’t it?” She gave no reaction, she could not, but Eric felt he could see a tiny flicker of light deep within her eyes.
“Wait, what?” Micah said.
“Lady Vannil can’t say more in regards to this as it would reveal some truth. This is probably why she chose not to say anything yesterday and assigned me that simple contract. I am in her employ, but can basically do whatever I want. The mark might be powerful once applied, but can easily be blocked. Do you know when they apply it?”
She shook her head.
After thinking a moment, “It is probably applied the moment they appear in this world. Giving them too much time would make it possible to block the mark much higher. I am also venturing this theory, that they summon people at random, which would put them at risk of summoning a bad or violent person… Yeah, I think it has to be either as soon as they appear, or maybe a part of it. Wait, so is this the work of the…? Sorry, I need to go see someone.” He stood up and headed toward the door, dismissing the protests from Micah.
Lady Vannil decided to let him go as she felt that he was on to something, but was curious as to who he was seeing. After closing the door behind him and checking the hall was clear of witnesses, Eric jumped into his Haven.
“LUNA! LUNA I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!” Eric called out to her, hoping she would hear him in his Haven. A flash of light appeared and Luna stood before him.
“What is it Eric? Are you okay?” Concern was painted across her face, seeing the look on his face.
“Luna, I’m sorry to call you like this, I… I saw some things today that really disturbed me. Did you talk to the god in charge of this world?”
She nodded, “Yes, I did. They don’t have a connection to that Church of Light. Just to let you know, most gods tend to take a more ‘hands off’ approach to worlds. The god of this world is that type. Only a few gods get actively involved in worlds and its people.”
“Is there anything they could do to the church? They are forcibly enslaving people Luna, I looked into the cold dead eyes of a young woman… Please, they are using something called The Mark of-.”
“Domination.” She finished.
Eric was dumbfounded by her finishing his sentence.
“He told me about it. It was created by a being of Tartarus. What you know as demons of hell in your world, those are beings of Tartarus. They gifted the spell to a powerful, and evil, Summoner. ****** tried to remove the spell, but it kept coming back like a corruption on the world. He believes it was a curse put on the world by Tartarus. The most he was able to do about the mark is make it so it can easily be blocked with a simple mental resistance, strong will, trinkets, or even contracts. The other thing is that he made it that any person of this world is immune to having it applied to them. The mark is not successfully applied to every person summoned, they have a lot of failures.” She explained.
What happens to the ‘failures’?”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head sullenly.
“Aren’t you gods? Can’t you smite the church? Or maybe the people who use it? Is there a way to-.”
She reaches out, grabbing his head, and tightly hugged his head to her ample chest.
“I’m sorry Eric.” His senses were overwhelmed by her softness and pleasant, calming scent.
She stroked his head lightly, “I’m sorry.”
The strength in his legs gave out and he fell to his knees before her.
“I’m sorry.” Eric could not hold back anymore and began weeping into her chest, wrapping his arms around her, her divine aura cleansing him of his grief.
After some time, Eric was laying in the grass, with Luna using her lap as a pillow for him to rest his head.
“Is there really nothing that can be done Luna?” Eric asked her.
“It is rather easy for us gods to keep the beings of Tartarus out of worlds, but if they get in, it becomes something akin to removing one’s leg to fix.” She answered, petting his head.
“So basically a great catastrophe that would cost a massive amount of lives is the only way to remove it.” Eric sat up.
“Correct.” She answered again, shifting her legs to get her blood flowing again.
“Thank you Luna. I have one more question about it, is there anything I can do? Can it be removed from them?”
“The mark can be removed with incredible effort supposedly. But there is no stopping the person from using it. When user of the curse dies, the knowledge of the mark and hero summoning will just pass onto another random person.”
“I see. Alright. It will probably take me some time, but I will try to save them. Is there anything else I should know?”
She shook her head.
“Alright, thanks for answering all my earlier questions. I will try to think of a way to pay you back for everything Luna. Feel free to relax in my Haven whenever you want, however long you want. I am heading back.”
She gave him a pained, but warm smile as he stood up, and returned to the world.
Eric took a deep breath and knocked on the door, shortly after Micah opened the door and invited him into Lady Vannil’s office, she and Lady Vannil back into their usual inquisitor uniforms.
“Are you alright?” She asked as they sat down.
“Not really, but I found out some things, things that must not leave this office until we are prepared.”
Lady Vannil and Micah nodded to him.
“The Church of Light, is a falsehood.”
Eric then took some time to explain everything about the mark, how it came to be, how the god of light is not what the church claims, and about the curse of Tartarus.
“I also found out that the mark is indeed applied right after summoning.” Eric finished.
Micah was so overwhelmed by everything he said, that she was having a difficult time believing it. Lady Vannil did not say anything, but her stern face was replaced with one of sadness.
“So this world has no god.” Lady Vannil said.
“That is incorrect Lady Vannil. There is a god, but they stay out of most dealings of mortals and focus more on maintaining the world. But they are working to remove the curse of Tartarus, but it is difficult, and will more than likely be well beyond this kingdom’s lifetime if nothing is done. My source’s wording, not mine.”
Lady Vannil chuckled weakly, “I truly wish I could meet this source of yours.”
Eric smiled and said he would see what he could do.
“So then, what is the plan Eric?” Micah asked, seemingly fired up.
“Why are you asking that?”
A wide grin crossed Micah’s face, “I could see it in your eyes. You intend to crush the Church of Light.”
Lady Vannil looked at Micah, shocked, then back to Eric, who wryly smiled.
“Well, you got me. Yes, I want to save the Heroes and defeat this evil. The first thing that needs to happen is that I need to weaken the church’s power. To do that, I need to make it so no one needs the help of Heroes.”