Troy fought the urge to rub his hands together, as he lifted the huge crab from the makeshift pot, Vitkor on the other side.
While it had taken them over an hour to clear the island, the time on the island had been overwhelmingly more proactive than it had been for the last two days. The group had barely gotten time to store the kill before they had to run after the next fish crawling out of its hiding hole. Troy still needed another [Weakstone] to fill the quest’s demands, but he’d at least be able to clear the silt slug requirements.
As the man and oruk set the crab down on the stone table, Troy looked over at Efficere and asked, “Is the special tool done?”
“It wasn’t like it was a screw-pump,” she told him, and handed the giant stone pliers over.
Troy took the oversized tool in both hands, the weight nearly making him tip over. As he tilted the tool over, Troy stumbled before he finally got it around a club-sized leg. “Now, it’s time to get cracking,” he joked, and forced the top half down. With a slow, audible crunch, the leg eventually cracked open. With the smell of cooked crab seeping into the air, Troy dropped the tool and began to pull the shell off.
When the empty leg slid free, Troy switched his grip onto the meat, and he carefully set it on a serving tray. With the crab meat visibly steaming, he looked around and asked, “So, who wants to have the first bite?” he asked, and began to cut a notable section off the meat.
While Vitkor and Efficere were queasy at the offer, Alcydes was the first one to walk up with a platter. Troy happily cut off a section the size of a soda can for the boy, and Alcydes sniffed at the meat before he took a bite. Alcydes paused, only to quickly start eating when the flavor hit his tongue.
Bolstered by the elfkin’s reaction, the others took their own slices and began to eat. Telephax was quick to let out pleased noises as he chowed down, but Efficere was happy to eat her own portion at the table.
As he took a second bite, Vitkor looked down at his plate in disbelief before taking another bite. “Alrigh’, I c’n see where y’re com’n fr’m,” he admitted, his words muffled around the seafood. As the oruk swallowed, he took another section from the serving table and asked, “How the hell is it that the legs are delicious, but the body is complete trash?”
“I can’t answer that myself,” Troy responded, and began to eat himself. With his own giant crab leg resting in front of him, he took a hearty bite out of the crab meat, then added, “But I suspect that’s because it steams itself in the shell, so you get it specially flavored, like wrapping a sausage in porkskin.”
Vitkor grunted at the idea, but took another bite.
As the crab’s legs were torn apart, Telephax dipped his leg into melted butter before he hummed in satisfaction at the flavor. “Personally, I’m surprised that the flavor is made from a wild tinge to more nutty with butter,” he chimed, and set the empty carapace down before he pulled a rear leg off.
Troy perked up at the comment, and leaned over the clay bowl. “Shit, I forgot you even brought the butter,” he chimed, and pulled out a plastic bowl before he poured himself some. As he took a bite of butter-poured crab, he hummed in thought. “Thanks for hopping along, Telephax,” he commented, and took another bite before adding, “It’s hard to have crab without proper butter.”
Telephax nodded, and took another rapid bite. However, the gnome’s expression soon turned sly, and he slowly added, “You know, it was really thanks to my goddess’s blessing that I should bring the butter with me.”
Troy slowly sighed at the comment, and set his food down before he looked at the group. “I get that you’re a priest, but are the gods that prominent over the world?” he asked, and waved an arm around, “As far as I can tell, they aren’t around right now.”
The non-human folks took in a sharp breath, and looked at Telephax with worry. Rather than be enraged at the comment, Telephax let out a slow breath and sat down on a nearby rock. “Sadly, while it would be nice to have the Eternal Archivist around, the world isn’t that kind,” the gnome commented, and pointed at the sky above, “The gods may be plentiful, but their actions are limited on Mugarde. Instead, they exist in the World Above, an external realm that lives outside the mortal realm, but they are able to keep track of what goes on and keeps the world in balance.”
Troy snorted at that, then glanced up at the sky for any supposed sign. With there being no floating castles or clouds shaped like people, he looked back at the gnome and shrugged. “Seems like they aren’t watching right now,” he responded, then continued eating his crab.
“Oh, they are,” Telephax responded, “However, by their own rules, they cannot interfere directly. They can only manifest their images in the temples and sacred sites. Even then, they can’t do more than give their blessing or talk with their worshippers.” When he pointed to the north, he added, “In fact, the town of Shaleguard north of here has a temple set up to talk to Persphe and Fufluns for help with improving their crops.”
“Really? Shouldn’t that be the other way around?” Troy asked, and tapped his plate in contemplation before adding, “Honestly, if the gods want to keep their power, wouldn’t they want to set up as many temples as they can for more worship?”
“Nah, that’s how you get holy wars and shit like that,” Vitkor cut in, “You think territory disputes and gang fights are bad? Imagine having statuesque immortals leading the charge, throwing lightning storms and making forests grow from nowhere.”
Vitkor sipped from his flask before a low burp escaped his lips. “While the gods give us many blessings, thank the stars they’re self-restrained,” he mused, “They fucked it up too often in the past, at least.”
While Telephax was affronted at the idea, Troy looked over at the oruk with curiosity. “Wait, they can mess up that badly?” he asked, glancing around in concern, “I thought that the main problems came from Star Heroes messing around, not the gods.”
“Oh, they do plenty of that, too,” Vitkor agreed, only to wave his flask in the air, “However, there’s still cautionary tales of how the gods have messed up out of ‘good intentions’. It’s been a century since the last incident, but they still talk about the Wilde Hills before Simarg made it the Wilde Forest.”
“Or how Hawk’s Peak became the Labyrinth Caldera after Modi took all the ores to make holy armor for his high priests,” Efficere added, nodding along to the comment.
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“Don’t forget House Syli’s death after they collapsed Vejovi’s temple,” Alcydes commented.
When the group turned to look at Telephax, the gnome looked away. “Okay, I’ll admit the gnomes didn’t react well to Duolatis establishing her temple in the Ontal plains,” he reluctantly admitted, “But the added marshes helped protect them during the Torn Crown War, so it’s not all bad!”
Troy idly nodded along as the group fell into a squabble, his mouth full with crab meat. Granted, he hadn’t seen any gods himself. But given how insistent they were, he supposed that it only made sense. It wasn’t like the world was like Earth. However, with how they were talking about the gods being pretty greedy, it was drawing worrying parallels with some old stories he had read.
Troy’s mind was dragged out of musing when the gnome smacked him in the leg. “So Troy, which god do you worship?” Telephax asked, looking at him with curiosity, “Wodan? Vulcan? You strike me as a bit of a Lares fan, but that’s just speculation.”
“Eh, don’t really worship any god, to be frank,” Troy answered, then cracked a new leg open. When he noticed the group staring at him in shock, he rolled his eyes.
“Look, I’m not saying they don’t exist, I just don’t worship anyone,” he stated, pointing to the leftmost two, “Alcydes and Vitkor already know that I’m a ‘Star Hero’, as you guys put it. And on Earth, there’s far too many instances of gods literally fucking families over for small slights, crusades slaughtering cities in the name of ‘divine justice’, and too many local priests found being too interested in kids. So why bother worshiping them, if they can’t keep their worshippers from becoming zealots?”
Telephax looked away, but only let out a slow sigh. “With that logic, I suppose I can’t fault you for being wary,” he relented, then gave Troy a side glance, “However, you may want to choose a god to worship soon. After all, Star Heroes tend to have problems when they keep pissing gods off.”
“If you say so,” Troy dismissed, and returned back to eating his food. After all, what gods would be interested in a single, casually adventuring guy like him?
----------------------------------------
Delphi bit her thumb as she glared at Troy through the scrying pool, Telephax’s presence helping anchor the connection. She had known he had come off as a shady figure, but to refute any gods? What kind of stuck-up prick got processed through reincarnation?!
The scent of shellfish didn’t help matters, as Delphi’s stomach rumbled. With a feral growl, Delphi tore her bread in half and shoved a chuck in her mouth. Over a month of problems, and he kept flipping the gods off? Oh, how she wished she could drive him insane with a curse of babbling…
As Delphi fumed over the pool, the sound of sandals on marble made her spin around. “Who’s there?” she asked, hiding the broken loaf under her robes.
Before Delphi had to break the divination, a familiar faceless figure stepped into view. “Greetings, goddess Delphi,” the clerical spirit stated, clipboard in hand.
Seeing it was just a simple spirit, Delphi breathed out and pulled out her loaf again. “Oh, it’s you again,” she grumbled, trying to appear uncaring that he had startled her, “Did the audit pass early?”
“Actually, there were some errors we found,” he stated, and flipped to a clearly bookmarked sheet, “While the mentioned human’s records are clearly added thanks to guild records, it appears that a matching human wasn’t listed as being transferred in the week beforehand. Are you sure that the human was processed during the designated period?”
Delphi sputtered at the question, then pointed at the pool. “Of course I'm sure!” she exclaimed, pointing specifically at Troy, “He’s right there, flickering in and out of divine sight for the last month!”
The accounting apparition leaned over to the pool just in time to see Troy pull out an ATV. “He does seem to be a reborn human,” he stated, then pulled out a crystal monocle. As he looked at the human though, a faint frown soon formed. “However, he doesn’t have the Hero’s Blessing that gives increased Potential. Or any Skills that were gained before registering.”
Delphi paused at that, then looked at Troy more critically. “Wait, are you serious?” she commented, her eyes faintly glowing as she looked at him. While she had paid a good amount of attention to Alcydes and the human, she hadn’t really looked at him. However, as her gaze changed from the physical realm to the spectral, she realized the clerk was right: His soul wasn’t rather powerful or unique. Instead, compared to the adventurers around him, especially Alcydes, it just seemed… Raw. Unpolished?
As Delphi considered what the right word would be, the etching of charcoal made her look back at the clerk. “This extra description should help,” he stated, pocketing the scroll, “With these additional notes, we’ll have the review ready in the next five to eight days.” The clerk gave one final nod, then left to return to his auditing.
However, Delphi didn’t notice as she thought over the implications. As far as she was aware, the screening process should ensure that all humans turned into Star Heroes. That way, they wouldn’t be as physically handicapped as they would be compared to the races on Mugarde. So how could one slip under the radar like this? An officially processed human should have the boost, unless they had passed through without notice…
Delphi’s musing slowed when the last thought crossed her mind, and she began to pace around the pool. “No, they couldn’t have let one slip through, did they?” Delphi asked herself, her mind awhirl. She knew that every human would have to pass through the Spirit Gods to be approved. That way, they don’t accidentally bring the next Demon Lord into the world by not checking their compatibility. However, it wasn’t like messing with the Hero System was impossible. Delphi knew that far too much herself.
With a faint smirk growing on her face, Delphi left the scrying pool to find a certain someone. With her stone heels clicking on the marble, Delphi weaved through the hallways before she spotted the one goddess who could help her find stuff out. “Ossa, there you are!” she called out, waving to the waif of a goddess.
Upon being called out, the slender deity spun around before a toothy, eager grin formed and she hugged Delphi. “Oh my gosh, Delphi!” Ossa squealed, hugging her friend with the force of titans, “It’s been, like, so long since we talked! How’s it been? We haven’t hung out in months!”
“Yeah, I’ve been dealing with a good amount recently,” Delphi said, rustling Ossa’s brown locks before she stepped back, “At this rate, I’m going to be anchored to the pools with mortal-watching for months.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ossa whined, then clapped her hands together, “I heard you had a bit of trouble with the Skyfather, so I was like, super worried. You aren’t being sealed too badly, are you?”
Delphi’s smile turned brittle at the reminder, but she waved it away. “Oh, it was just a stern talking to, nothing too bad,” she told her friend, then leaned in closer, “Anyways, I was mainly hoping if you heard some recent rumors. Have you heard of any ‘pet projects’ going on in the S.I.K. Opums?”
“Ooooo, some new gossip?” Ossa gasped, then leaned in with a grin, “Spill the deets, I’m all ears.”
“Settle down, it’s nothing confirmed yet,” Delphi hissed, eyes darting around for fear a Kyrian could be listening in. Seeing no one nearby, Delphi slowly whispered, “I can’t say it all, but I’ve been watching a new mortal recently, and have been noticing a rather… persistent Star Hero who keeps partying with him. However, he doesn’t have the boost or Divine skills that he should have. Meaning that if he’s in there-”
“That a member of S.I.K. Opum could be taking souls on the side?” Ossa interrupted, a delicate hand covering her mouth. Ossa’s sapphire eyes flashed at the info, and she leaned forward in anticipation. “Oooh, that’s some juicy deets,” she cooed, and rocked back and forth on her heels before she asked, “Do ya know who it could be?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” Delphi lamented, and gave her friend a sly look, “However, I’m sure that a gal like you can find out who’s behind it.”
“You know it!” Ossa giggled, before she looked over at Delphi, “So, if we wanna, like, plan stuff out some more, what do ya say to going down to Cojimka’s for a meal out? Get some ambrosia and brews?”
Delphi hummed in thought, then gave a happy smile. “You know what? That sounds delightful,” she agreed, and helped Delphi stand back up. While that human was still following Alcydes around, it wasn’t like he would kill the kid while she was gone! A hearty meal was the perfect mood lifter she needed right now!