Langa awoke with a sore back, finding himself lying on the floor of the inn with only a small blanket covering him. Notifications blinked at the edge of his vision, but he ignored the system for now. His head throbbed with a slight headache as he surveyed the room. It was cramped, with only a tiny single bed as the sole piece of furniture. He did not remember coming in here last night. As his head throbbed, he swore in pain. Who the fuck had let him drink so much last night anyway?
"Morning sunshine," Di Etta said. She was standing on the other side of the bed, putting on her cloak. Her face looked pale and rough, and her voice was hoarse. She had drunk more than him last night, so it was expected that she was squinting and looking ready to drop dead on the floor.
"Morning. You've looked better," Langa said with a slight grin.
A pillow was chucked towards him, and she glared at him before she started fastening her shooters to her belt as if ignoring him. Gertina came out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her robes, dark hair tied back, and looking beautiful as if she hadn't touched a drop of alcohol last night.
"Oh, well, look who's awake. If it's not the guy who offered to buy us dinner, only to flake out later and leave me to cover both that bill and the room," she said pointedly staring at Langa. "Truly, chivalry is dead."
Langa averted his gaze, scratching his head in embarrassment. He ran his fingers through his dreadlocks, frowning when he realized his headband was missing. "What the...?" he exclaimed, sitting up abruptly. That headband was his only defence against his low mental resistance.
"Looking for this?" Gertina threw the black headband at him. "You took it off last night, saying you were feeling hot and that it didn't matter since you were still in the negative anyway, even with the headband on. You weren't making any sense, but seeing your face right now, I'm guessing that it does matter."
"Oh my gods," he said, taking it from her and putting it on. He should really not be allowed to touch alcohol ever again. He didn't even remember taking it off! He was extremely vulnerable without this headband, as it added (+5%) to his mental resistance. "Thank you for keeping this safe for me."
She shrugged. "I've been taking care of this idiot for almost what, five years now?" She gestured to Di Etta, who was busy checking that her shooters were fastened.
"Sorry about the money as well. I've got two bounty tiles in my inventory, and I'll buy you guys dinner as soon as I cash them out," he promised.
The goblinkin snorted, "Forget it. Gria is waiting for us at the rank. After that, we're going to the gorge, and then maybe back to the capital."
That was disappointing. He'd only met these girls yesterday, but they had helped him out, and they came back for him even when they didn't have to. Was there really no way to pay them back?
"Don't look so downcast," Di Etta said, coming over and putting an arm around him. "We'll be at the capital. I'm sure you will go there for the welcoming ceremony, right? You can get us something then. For now, get some sleep. You don't have to check out until, like, 11. Stay safe, kid."
Once again, he felt a twinge of annoyance at being called a kid by someone who looked only a year or so older than him. But then again, people in the Tower aged slower than on Earth. Well, actually, the rate of ageing was divided by their Tier, therefore Di Etta could not be that much older than him.
Di Etta was almost out the door when Langa remembered something. "Wait!" he said, digging into his inventory, and pulling out the two Exploding Ice Orbs. "Take these at least, the enchantment is expiring today, and I can't use them."
Gertina examined the orbs while Di Etta said, "Are you sure? You just need to pay like a silver coin to an orb enchanter, and they can renew it."
He shook his head, "Nuh, I couldn't use it even if I wanted to. It's incompatible with my full affinity," he assured her.
"See, I told you he was a nice guy," Di Etta said, clapping Gertina on the shoulder. She leaned forward and gave Langa a quick hug as well. "Don't be reckless, and don't go telling people you just met yesterday about your full affinity."
"That's rich coming from someone who abandoned an important quest to save someone she literally just met yesterday," Gertina remarked, shaking her head. Her comcer beeped. "Oh, Gria's going to kill us. Let's go, Di Etta. See you around, Langa."
And with that, they were gone. Langa was left alone in the room, feeling a mix of gratitude and guilt. He had a lot to learn about this new world and the people in it. But for now, he would focus on getting some rest and preparing for the journey ahead. After the girls left, Langa got on the bed and slept some more. He was woken up in the late morning hours by his comcer beeping. He had a message from Liv. He'd responded to the message that Langa had sent yesterday.
> To:@Liv'Kungsadu
>
> Playing the hero suits you. Congratulations, that was a great way to make a debut.
>
> To:@langelihle
>
> You're one to talk, Blazing Blitzhunter. Nice work.
>
>
What did that even mean? Langa did not have to wonder long, however, as he opened the Dent interface on his comcer. His profile was filled with lots of notifications stating that people had subscribed to his channel. Blazing Blitzhunter of Voidents was the title that Jandri chose for the video. It made Langa cringe, what a shitty title—that was just not him at all.
He watched the video himself, wondering what could have possessed over a million people to subscribe to him. Granted, it wasn't as much as Liv or Vos Kindaro II, but it was still a substantial amount. Jandri had cut the footage of about 4 hours into one hour, and it started with him entering the void territory and ended just after he killed Fidser. He did not know if it was the aesthetic, Jandri's editing skills, or, his general awesomeness, but the video looked beautiful, and he had to admit that he looked really cool slashing through the red NPCs, especially when he threw Tonare and struck the woman in the shoulder.
It was even more impressive because he did not have any throwing skills, and used his own abilities and accuracy to throw the spear. He looked like a vengeful ghost in the fight against the voidents in the cave, and the one thing that stuck out to him was how fast he sometimes moved. He appeared as only a blur at times on the video and had to slow it down to see exactly how he moved.
The Dent did not have a private messaging function as that required the individuals to exchange mana signatures, so everything said on the forum was public, and everyone could see it. As a result, Langa looked through all the 1 098 comments below his video. He knew that he should be nervous, but he was used to being criticised whenever he failed to win a race by sports newscasters.
After reading every single one of the comments, he did not find any username that was similar to Neo, Khaya, his sister, or his brother-in-law. It was still only the first day, so he was hopeful. But when he read the comments, he realised that they fell into five basic categories: those who admired his speed and thought he was cool, those who criticised him for taking the villagers' lucent stones, those who thought he was hot; those who were already power scaling him against Liv, Vos Kindaro II, Coraloa and Vavuciadsforenkka, and the final group, haters. Then comments from the haters said he did not deserve to be in the top ten, or that he was not strong, just fast, and that his spear technique was lousy.
Who the hell power-scaled people after only seeing them in one fight? He shook his head with a snort. "And Lady Mira said that this wasn't the internet."
The portion of the fight where he fought against Fidser cost ten copper coins to watch, so Langa noticed that he now had a few silver coins on his profile that he could cash out into his inventory. However, most of his gains came from elsewhere.
When he checked his system interface, he was bombarded with over a thousand prompts. "Yhoo! Oh my gods, just... display them in order, please, one by one," he said. Most of them were notifications that he had gained 0.0005 karma for every 100 people who subscribed to his profile. While he was asleep, he had gained 6.5 karma, which in the grand scheme of things was not much, but it was something.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Special Stat: Renown
Renown (REN)
A measure of how well-known a player is for performing heroic or villainous deeds. It is an indicator of a player's notoriety, intricately tied to their Alignment. This stat significantly influences interactions with NPC leaders, quest availability, and the player's capacity to establish influential groups such as guilds, clans, or cults. As a measure of fame or infamy, Renown also elevates the likelihood of leadership skills dropping from Boss monsters.]
[Current Renown: Level 1: Familiar Newcomer]
There were apparently ten Renown Levels: Familiar Newcomer, Emerging Novice, Prominent Figure, Floor Luminary, Storey Icon, Tower Champion, Distinguished Icon, Legendary Paragon, Mythic Figure, and Divine Star. Langa had no idea what to make of this special stat, and he could only hope that no one forced him into any leadership roles. He had no idea how Renown would affect him from now on, but he knew that he needed to raise it if he wanted to become well-known.
There was now a coin purse icon on his Dent profile listing all the money he earned from people watching the videos and upon focusing on it, he discovered that if he bought something from the Dent, a token would also be stored in that coin purse until he downloaded it into his inventory. If he had no slots left open in his inventory, he would need to free up a slot before he could access those products. Then he had to take the token to a merchant or guild outpost or select stores to collect the product from the Dent.
For interest sake, he checked the price for a 12-slot inventory bracelet on the Dent forums and then quickly closed his comcer interface when he discovered that it cost more than all the silver he had earned in the tutorial. Alright, he knew that it was time to wake up and learn more about this world.
*
After breakfast (in which Langa had a hearty meal of isijingi with a side of deer meat stew because, as his father used to say, a man must eat meat for breakfast, lunch, and supper), he checked one of the points on his map that he had been advised to visit. The library. It was located near the centre of town, close to the shrines and the central business district.
The library was a large towering structure made of grey rock called starium, and it appeared to have suffered from being weathered by time as there were visible cracks on the outside walls. The starium rocks clung to each other, creating an old-school obelisk-shaped castle. A large statue of a beautiful phoenix with a woman's face and fiery red hair was perched above the gate to the library, floating in the air with blue flames constantly being emitted from the phoenix's wings. The name Picciari: The Red Flaming Blade of Menika, floated below the bird. Langa stood and admired it for a moment, realising that this was the stature of the leader of the Deiwos Clan.
Odd-coloured plants with red flowers adorned the gate to the library, where multiple goblinkin and birdkin milled in and out. There weren't a lot of players that Langa could see, but he did notice that the dwarf from the transportation bay the other day was also here. Two hawkkin guards sat by the entrance inside the gate, so he walked up to them. They sat behind a large desk with a purple glass separating them from the others. One was on his comcer interface, clearly slacking off work.
"Yeah? What is it?" the second guy said as he looked Langa up and down with no interest.
"I'm a new player, and I'd like to go inside the library. Do I need a card or something? Or do I have to pay?" Langa asked.
"Argh, another one," the hawkkin, whose nametag read Hazgose, muttered. There was a small lucent tile next to him, and he said, "Give me your wrist."
Langa had the sense to put his hand with the comcer under the glass, and Hazgose pulled it roughly, tagging his comcer against the lucent tile.
"Welcome to Menika Call, Risa's Plateau's most comprehensive library. Reading is free within the library, but if you wish to check out books, you need to pay a membership fee of 2 silver a month. You can tag your comcer at any door and if it opens, that means you're allowed inside. For a full list of the categories of our offerings, please check out the lucent tile on the wall next to the entrance. We hope you enjoy reading with us." His voice was so monotone that Langa was sure he was required to repeat those same words to every new player. It must have been exhausting, but it still did not excuse how rude and unprofessional he was being.
Langa had wanted to ask some questions, but he decided that he had no desire to be in this person's company any longer. He would figure things out on his own or check the Dent forums for anything else. He pulled his hand away and walked towards the entrance.
He tagged his comcer against the small lucent tile on the door, and the heavy door creaked open. The scent of old paper scrolls and strange new fragrances assaulted Langa's nose. He was unable to stifle a gasp as the library unfolded before him—a maze of high shelves, each filled with tomes that glowed with knowledge. There were grand arched windows that looked to be made of the same purple glass as the one outside, but he ignored the sights, walking to the large lucent tile on the wall. There were more players and NPCs in here and, Langa frowned in disgust, large spiders crawling on the walls. Nobody seemed bothered by them, so he looked away from the spiders, and at the people in front of the lucent tile. They seemed to be queuing to use the lucent tile, so he stood in line behind the last NPC.
The player at the front of the line stood in front of the lucent tile, on top of a purple disc on the floor, and said, “Section 22, please.”
The disc glowed, its colour turning almost pink, and then the player disappeared. Langa stared at the place where he’d been standing in disbelief, but no one else seemed to care that a person had just vanished in front of them. Instead, the person next in line also stepped on top of the disc after him, muttered a section, and disappeared too. Right, Langa reminded himself, magic.
When it was finally his turn, he also stood on top of the disc and looked at the lucent tile. On the display, there were 25 sections that he could choose from. There was a wide range of sections, including Fiction, Legacies, Non-Fiction, Academic Scrolls, Class Selections, Weapons and Items, The Tower, The Deiwos Clan and their constellations, The Great Quartenity, Holy Relgtes of select deities, Dungeons, Comcer compatible books and many others. Langa chose the first section as he wanted to do some exploring first.
One moment he was stepping on top of the disc, and the next he was standing inside the first section. He hadn't even felt a thing!
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The library was illuminated by light lucent crystals, casting a soft shine all over the books, and the displays all over the library walls were all covered with large lucent tiles depicting scenes of players using magic and what may have been ancient heroes doing battle. Bookshelves lined the entirety of the first few sections, from the floor up to the ceiling. While he had never been very smart, Langa did not hate reading; his father had been a teacher after all. He had many of his father's books after his death, but he always loved reading about the myths and legends, and it was one of the things that he was excited about in the Tower.
As Langa stepped onto the next floor, the glow of lucent crystals suspended from the ceiling bathed the space in a multicoloured light, filling the floors with a homely atmosphere. There were desks and chairs in each section, and some of them were occupied by NPCs reading quietly.
He read up about skills because he was curious about why some things counted as skills and others didn’t, even though he was good at them, like throwing.
The books said that a skill was only a skill because of the effects and bonuses it produced. For instance, anyone could follow a recipe and make soup, but someone with the cooking skill would make food that both tasted better and provided bonus effects like a limited stat increase for some time. Even if someone followed the exact same instructions and did the same things as someone with a blacksmithing skill to create a sword, their sword would just be a simple sword with no effects or bonuses that could not even be enchanted.
That satisfied Langa's curiosity a little.
In the next section, nothing much happened as he looked through the book titles until something creepy happened.
"Be careful, there are invisible scrolls next to you," a voice said, and Langa turned around, but no one was there. "Up here."
When he looked up, Langa shrieked in both shock and fear. Dangling from a ceiling web was a spider, its legs as large as his fingers, and its beady eyes fixed on him. Recoiling, Langa brandished Tonare, only to notice more spiders and webs up there, all over the walls and the ceiling.
"Arg! Voetsek! Voetsek!" he shouted, waving his hands in front of his face protectively.
"What does that mean?" the spider asked curiously.
"It means piss off, you freaky monster. So just fuck off, and leave me alone, yeah?" Langa said, stepping back, still holding Tonare, and noticing even more webs on the ceiling, and large spiders milling about. Nobody else seemed to care.
An owlkin poked his face out from one of the shelves upon hearing Langa's screaming. "Are you okay? Are you a newbie?"
"Yeah, why the hell is a large spider talking to me?" Langa demanded.
The owlkin laughed, "They are spider spirits, agents of The Trickster Spider. The Red Flaming Blade apparently lost a divine war against him, so he has control over all the libraries in the Dewios Clan Towers for the next 1 350 years. The spider spirits aren't that intelligent, but if you ask, they can show you around."
[The Kwaku Clan god: The Rainmaking Trickster Spider, is laughing at your reaction to his lowly creations.]
"Why the fuck would I want a giant spider as a librarian?" Langa asked in exasperation. He was no arachnophobe, but this was just plain wrong.
The owlkin shrugged. "It's his idea of a prank. He preys on newbies, scaring them for fun," he said, and then went back to his shelf.
That jolted Langa's memory a bit. A great spider that loved playing pranks and was interested in gaining knowledge? Was this god what the Legend of Kwaku Anansi was based on?
[The Kwaku Clan god: The Rainmaking Trickster Spider, is pleased that even your lowly lost world knows of him. As a reward, he orders the spider spirits to leave you alone.]
The spiders that had been watching him retreated up into their webs, and Langa could finally breathe. He did run into the scrolls that the spider had warned him about, though. The invisible scrolls seemed to be floating in the air, their words unveiling only when he focused his mind on them.
He left the section speedily and went up a bifurcated staircase, the fanciest one he had ever seen in his life. Langa then reached the floor dedicated to worlds and realms. The shelves in there were lined with leather-bound books that chronicled the histories of lands that he had never heard of and probably would never visit. He also spent some time on realms reading about how the Tower adjusted most worlds to the same time zone calculated from the day that that Tower opened.
As Langa passed through more sections, he could see other people conversing with the spider spirits as if that were normal. Further exploration revealed a section on monsters, where menacing grimoires sat alongside enchanted cages housing lifelike replicas of the monsters. On another floor, a library of potions, alchemical compounds, and ingredients was situated, its shelves stocked with images of rare ingredients and ancient recipes.
Besides the books and scrolls, there was also a section on weapons of legend, and replicas of them leaned against display cases as if each blade held unspoken tales of heroic quests and epic battles, and Langa swore that he felt a hum from Tonare on his waist.
Regarding stats and how they affected the body, Langa learnt that the experience a mortal gained from leveling up helped to temper their body magically strengthening it with something called lucents. But he found that stuff boring except maybe the part where these lucents strengthening the bodies were what allowed mortals the ability to age slower within Towers. There apparently existed elixirs that could stop aging altogether or make mortals younger, but of course, elixirs would cost platinum coins or karma to buy.
In another section, held ancient books and scrolls on the thirteen mana disciplines, each volume almost brimming with the faint essence of its mana discipline. Langa marvelled at a book seemingly made of flowing water, its pages rippling as if touched by an unseen current. He spent a lot of time in this section, trying to learn about the rest of the 130 mana disciplines and how they related to each other. There were way too many of them for him to fully read and understand everything, but he got the gist of it.
Like Gertina said, they were all related in some way or other to the base 13 disciplines, for example, healing was a product of the life discipline, illusion magic a product of the light discipline, shadow magic a product of both light and darkness disciplines, telekinesis was related to both the metal and gravity disciplines, weather magic was related to water, fire, lightning and wind disciplines, alchemy was related to life, poison, earth, fire and many other disciplines. Just reading this shit made him yawn, and he closed the book and stood up to stretch his legs.
Another thing he found interesting was that occasionally, the library opened up to a vast expanse of the sky, revealing swirling clouds and distant constellations. It was beautiful to look at.
On the floor depicting the feats of known legendary demigods, Langa was surprised by how few of them there were. Most of the ones that he read about achieved great things, but they all died from karma-implosion before reaching Tier 5. Some made it to Tier 10, but not many. All the demigods that managed to Ascend to godhood, though, became powerful gods, and they could bypass the step of becoming constellations first.
His curiosity led him to read up about the conception of demigods as well, thinking about what he had heard from Liv about them being cursed with too much power. To his surprise, he learned that demigods were not born like normal mortals. According to the Relgte of Life, the ritual for a god to have a child required the god to take the form of a mortal compatible for relations with their chosen lover.
Then two would share karma until a karma-rich egg filled with both of their karma was formed, but only if their karma was compatible. Langa wasn't sure if that was literal or a euphemism for sex. Anyway, not just any mortal could have relations with a god, only those who were past Tier 10 and had attained seraphim rank. Once formed, the egg would be bound to the mortal parent regardless of gender from that moment on, constantly siphoning karma from its mortal parent until the mortal died from karma-attenuance and the demigod was born.
Langa stared at that sentence in disbelief. Who the fuck would want to have a child that had to take their life in order to be born? That was fucked up. He also wondered if it was possible for gods to fall in love with mortals or if you could die from a one night stand. If he knew anything about the gods of Olympus, it was that all of their mythology depicted them as very loose when it came to this, and he wondered how many lives had been lost because of them.
Wow, was he really thinking about the sex lives of gods right now?
Moving to the next floor, Langa finally reached his destination. This floor contained all the information on deities in the library. The Relgtes of the deities of the Deiwos Clan sat on pedestals, their covers emitting strange light. There were paintings of the deities next to their Relgtes, and Langa was surprised to see that, other than the thirteen main gods, the Deiwos Clan also had millions of constellations under them as well. He went and stood in front of the Relgte of The Lackaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, and was once more surprised because there was no painting of him, only a bolt of lightning.
Since there wasn't much information on the only god that Langa was interested in, he picked up The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master to read about the sponsorship of players and the deities' role in them. This was his main reason for coming to the library. The Challenge Embargo was ending today, and he was anxious to know how sponsorships worked so that he could make an informed decision.
Alfsol had given all the new players the Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master, but there was something comforting about reading a physical copy for Langa. It reminded him of when his father would read to him. It was on the third scroll that he finally found what he wanted, so he sat down on a chair and began to read.
[The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master
Scroll 3: Chapter 3
Rules of the Tower.
Sponsorship of Players.
Please note: All contracts between deities and mortals are sealed by the system, the Unrivalled Tower Master herself. All agreed-upon stipulations in the sponsorship WILL be enforced, and any mortals or immortals who disrupt the order of the contract will be punished. For deities, they will be brought before The Quartenity for judgement.
All deities are reminded that The Quartenity have the power to seal and take away the authorities of all immortals that are found to be in contravention of the laws set during The First Divine Summit, including gods.
All mortals may receive a maximum of (1) Divine Skill, (1) Active Skill and (1) Passive Skill from any deity that is not their patron deity. This will naturally depend on the type of sponsorship contract that they have with their patron deity.
Sponsorship Ranks:
1. Incarnation
2. Visage
3. Avatar
4. Disciple
5. Daeva
6. Chosen One
7. Blessed
Blessed
A mortal may receive a Blessing from a deity at the deity’s discretion. Blessing a mortal costs karma to the deity, and there is no return in karma from the mortal. This is not a binding contract, and the Blessing can be revoked for a hundredfold karma cost from the deity.
For more information on the Blessed, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 1
Chosen One
A deity may choose a mortal from a lost, natural or blessed world to participate in a tutorial and enter a Tower, even if the Chosen One’s world has not been integrated into any Tower. The deity must give the Chosen One at least (2) Blessings before the tutorial.
Upon ascension into a Tower, a Chosen One must receive a sponsorship contract of at least Disciple rank or higher from their patron deity.
For more information on Chosen Ones, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 2
Daeva
This sponsorship contract is available to all sapient beings (both mortals and maestrils)
In a moment of desperation, a sapient being can make a worthy sacrifice to a deity, asking them to fulfil their Divine Wish, in exchange for their soul.
A deity forms a contract with a sapient being, giving them Blessings, Skills, Power and the ability to host a once-off Descent of the deity into their body. Upon the deity’s Descent into the Daeva’s body, and using their power to fulfil the request of the Daeva, the Daeva will die from the karma implosion. Permanent death will occur regardless of the Daeva's remaining respawns, and the deity sponsoring them will receive their soul as payment and their body as a vessel for a demon, angel or spirit.
For more information on Daevas, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 3
Disciple
All mortals, both player characters and non-player characters can become Disciples.
A deity may choose to issue a Challenge to any mortal that they desire, and if the mortal accepts, and completes the Challenge according to the deity’s liking, they may be given the role of Disciple. A constellation or may delegate Sponsorship of a Disciple to a higher ranked god, provided the mortal is Blessed by them. The mortal will be considered co-Sponsored by both deities and may interchangeably receive items from both of them, up to the maximum listed below.
A Disciple is entitled to a resurrection stone with a maximum of (3) respawns per Floor. In return for sponsorship in the form of skills, divine skills, divine artefacts, power and Blessings, 3% of all karma earned by the mortal will automatically be given to the patron deity for the rest of the mortal’s life, and the contract continues even after the mortal sheds their mortal coil and becomes a deity.
A Disciple receives a maximum of (3) divine skills, (3) active skills, and (1) passive skill from their patron deity from Tier 1 to Tier 10 (level 1 to level 100). All other skill slots may be filled at the mortal’s own discretion.
A constellation remains a Disciple of their deity, still paying karma to the deity that they follow, for eternity, and the patron deity will continue to receive the agreed percentage of karma for eternity, regardless of the relationship between the two of them.
The patron deity is obligated to issue the constellation at least (3) worlds.
For more information on Disciples, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 4
Avatar
This is the highest level of sponsorship that can be issued to a mortal, by constellations. It is the second highest level of sponsorship that can be issued to a mortal, by gods.
Only a player character can be an Avatar.
A deity may choose to issue a Challenge to any mortal that they desire, and if the mortal accepts, and completes the Challenge, exceeding the deity’s expectations, they may be given the role of Avatar.
An Avatar is a representative of their patron deity, and must always act in such a way that shows the glory and splendour of their deity.
An Avatar has the right to participate in any Divine Wars involving their patron deity, from Tier 3 (level 30) and above. They may refuse a summons to participate in the war with a valid reason.
An Avatar may receive a maximum of (1) divine skill every odd tier, (1 ) active skill every even tier, and (2) total passive skills from their patron deity from Tier 0 up to Tier 10 (level 100). All other passive and active skill slots may be filled at the mortal's discretion.
An Avatar is forbidden from learning ANY divine skills from other deities without prior approval from their patron deity. No new divine skills may be learned if the patron deity declines them.
An Avatar is entitled to a resurrection stone with a maximum of (4) respawns per Floor. In return for sponsorship in the form of divine skills, divine artefacts, power and Blessings, 5% of all karma earned by the mortal will automatically be given to the patron deity for the rest of the mortal’s life even after they become a deity themselves.
On every Tier, an Avatar must offer at least (1) worthy offering to their patron deity to prove their faith.
The patron deity is obligated to give the Avatar at least (5) worlds once they shed their mortal coil and become a constellation.
For more information on Avatars, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 5
Visage
This is the highest level of sponsorship that can be issued to a mortal, by a god.
Only a player character can be a Visage.
A god can only have one Visage at a time, and the position only becomes vacant if a Visage permanently dies. The god may also Choose another Visage if the current one sheds their mortal coil, becoming a deity, but the god may only do so with the permission of their current Visage.
A god may choose to issue a Challenge to any mortal that they desire, and if the mortal accepts, and completes the Challenge, forging a true bond, a divine nexus, they may be given the honour of becoming a Visage.
A Visage is the mortal face of a god. All actions of the Visage are a reflection of the god they serve. Once per tier, a Visage can accept their god’s Descent into their body or use one of their patron god's Sovereign Authorities without facing karma implosion. All other mortals bound to the god and all of that god’s constellations are to show respect to the Visage as the High Priest of their god. A Visage automatically has access to participate in all of their patron god’s Divine Wars, and may NOT refuse a summons to participate in a Divine War.
A Visage is granted (3) extra divine skill slots on top of the mortal maximum of 10. They may receive a maximum of (1) Divine Skill per tier, (1) active skill every two tiers, and a maximum of (3) passive skills from Tier 0 up to Tier 10 (level 100), from their patron god.
A Visage is forbidden from learning ANY skills, Passive, Active or Divine without prior approval from their patron god. No new skills may be learned if the patron god declines them.
A Visage is entitled to a resurrection stone with a maximum of (5) respawns per floor. In return for sponsorship in the form of divine skills, divine artefacts, power, Blessings and many others, a Visage must pay 13% of all of their earned karma to their patron god for the rest of their mortal life.
On every Floor, a Visage must offer at least (1) worthy offering to their patron god to prove their faith.
Upon shedding their mortal coil, and becoming a constellation, a Visage automatically becomes the highest-ranking constellation serving under their god and has the right to become that god’s Incarnation.
The patron deity is obligated to give the Visage at least (13) worlds once they shed their mortal coil and become a constellation.
For more information on Visages, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 6
Incarnation
This sponsorship contract is issued by gods to constellations only.
For more information on incarnations, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master Scroll 4: Chapter 7]
Langa had to reread that a few more times before he fully understood it. He was not a Chosen One, so that and Daeva were automatically out. Being a Disciple or an Avatar had good benefits, with Avatar seemingly being the best option out of all of them. It was balanced in both what he had to give and what he would receive.
Although being a Visage had the most benefits, with three extra divine skill slots and five respawns, as well as gaining thirteen worlds once you became a constellation, it had the disadvantage that you had no control over what skills you learned, and he did not think he would like that. What if he pissed his deity off and they blocked him from ever learning any skills?
Yeah, Langa decided that for his sponsorship contract, he hoped that he would get to be an Avatar but he would settle for Disciple if that was the other option. If the deity that he chose did not offer him those two, then he would rather remain unbound, without a deity. There were only a few hours left now until he had to make that choice.