[To all my children who follow the path of lightning, guard your erratic impulses.

Laziness without complacency is commendable because life does not demand unyielding perfection. Instead, I urge you to seek every conceivable shortcut to accomplish your goals. The path of lightning is so vast that you must pave your own Path within it.

Find just one thing that you are passionate about, a spark that ignites your spirit, and dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to it. Embrace that Path and burn your heart and soul for it.

For me, my lightning burns to destroy those who would harm my own.

-Excerpt from: The Relgte of The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm: Scroll 3: Chapter 2.]

*

Langa had a restful night. He didn't have any nightmares about being trapped in darkness by an unknown god.

Breakfast consisted of warm purblan bread and butter-filled glazed meat wrapped in toran leaves. Besides the food he'd eaten at Risa's Plateau with Di Etta and Gertina, this was quite possibly the best meal Langa had since coming into the Tower. Unlike back then, Langa was not drunk, so he did not ask Synn to marry him, he did, however, compliment her on the meal.

"The food is really good, Synn," he told her, licking his fingers.

She rolled her eyes. "If you think this is good, wait until I raise the skill to Intermediate and Advanced Level," she said. "I'll be able to purify corrupted meat and give temporary stat bonuses to anyone who eats my food."

"Now that is a worthwhile crafting skill. You just need to make good food to raise it, unlike mine, which keeps blowing things up in my face," Langa said sorrowfully.

"That's because you keep trying to make bombs with Beginner level enchanting," Aria said coming towards them with Jandri and Undkese.

"Aria? What are you doing here?" he asked.

The fae's hair was black today, meaning she was annoyed. "Trying to convince this guy that me coming with you to the capital is a good thing."

Undkese was also wearing a frown on his face, and his arms were crossed in defiance, as he said. "And as I told you, ma'am, I have Synn and Blitzhunter, they can help me protect the children just fine. We don't need the Guardians inserting themselves into the equation when your incompetence is what led to the children getting kidnapped in the first place."

Aria glared back. "Technically, the children were kidnapped by a mercenary guild and then sold to voidents by you," she snapped. "So, if you want to blame someone, why don't you blame your Federation Police? Red players are not the Guardians' jurisdiction, so-"

"That's enough, Aria," Jandri said sharply. She turned to Undkese. "You can have your issues with us, but don't put those children in any more danger by refusing to accept our help. There is no way that the three of you will be able to take turns driving the lucent bus, being on guard against threats, maintaining the cloak, and looking after the children for the entire journey."

Undkese seemed torn and then looked at Langa and Synn for support. Synn shrugged. "Don't look at me, I can't drive. Well, I can, but if you want to arrive alive at Tishiba's Peak without further traumatising those kids, get somebody else to do it."

Undkese was a native of the 1st Floor before he became a player, so Langa understood his gripe with accepting help from the Guardians but now was not the time to be rebellious. "It's free labour and additional protection for the children. You don't have to like it, but you must accept it," he said.

"Fine," Undkese said through gritted teeth. "But we are not putting the children to sleep again."

Jandri beamed. "Wonderful. Aria, pick a small party to accompany you. Now for the three of you, let me know what supplies you need for the journey and the Guardians will foot the bill," she said, and then, seeing the greedy look on Synn's face, she added, "Do not ask for anything outrageous."

Undkese paused. "Blankets and clothing for the kids, as well as food to last us for a week. Also, some toys for the younger ones to play with."

Aria noted everything down, and since they were making requests, Langa figured it wouldn't hurt to try and ask for what he needed. "I want a Portable Enchanting Kit," he said boldly.

"No," Jandri said, dismissing his request at once. "It's too expensive and not much use for transporting children to the capital."

Damn, he had been hoping to save some money by having them buy it for him. "Fine, I need lightning mana potions," he grumbled.

"I can only get you the common ones, five at most. That should be enough for you," Jandri said, motioning for Aria to write it down. She turned to Synn. "What do you need?"

"A Portable Cooking Kit?" she asked as if she were trying her luck.

"Done, but only common rank. Get ready, all of you, you leave tonight," Jandri ordered.

Langa frowned as Synn smirked at him. "Hold on, how come she gets her request fulfilled and I don't?"

Jandri raised her eyebrows. "Because both you and the children need to eat on your journey. Aria, make sure to ask Synn what ingredients she needs."

"Yes, ma'am," Aria said, writing it down.

"Langa, can I have a quick word?" Jandri asked, and Langa followed her to the riverside. "There are two things I need to give you. First, take this and don't lose it," she said, handing him a small white bead.

He tried to scan it, but nothing happened. "What is it?"

"I told you before, GM Merreddyd wants to meet you. That pass is the only way you'll be transported to our roving guildhall to meet her," she said.

"When?" Langa asked.

Jandri shook her head no. "She'll see you once she's done with the Second Storey. Don't lose the bead, okay? Lots of people would kill for a chance to gain access to our main Guildhall, and it could be dangerous."

Langa nodded, wondering what type of person the Guardians' guildmaster was. He knew she was strong, as she was the only Guardian Knight in this Tower, and she was bound to The Unrivalled herself.

“Second, we found this message on one of the dead voidents,” Jandri said, handing over an empty piece of paper that looked like a cloth.

"What message?"

“It's written in khitaba, disappearing script. Aria managed an enchantment to reveal the hidden message. Girl's a genius when it comes to enchanting, I swear,” Jandri said infusing mana into the cloth. Symbols and pictures revealed themselves on the cloth. “It says-”

“Oh! These are hieroglyphics!” Langa said excitedly, trying to jog his memory of his father's journals. “It says ‘return…house? Disturbance/uprising… and then random numbers.”

“I thought you were from a lost world. How can you read this?” Jandri asked with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, my father was an expert in African religious history. The mythology of the Egyptian gods was pretty popular back home,” he said and Jandri grew more puzzled. “The Ter Netjer Pantheon was pretty popular.”

“Wow, they reached the backward lost worlds too?” she said impressed. “Well anyway, that message is, 'Come to the main den on the 3rd Floor. The upheaval will be taking place on the first week of the month of Fire. Further details to be communicated.'"

"So The Accari Crows are planning something major on the 3rd Floor, the month after the next?" he asked.

“I think this dead voident was a floater because it can't be The Accari crows. They don't have a base on the 3rd Floor. I destroyed them all years ago and they haven't rebuilt them. Their remaining dens in this Storey are on the 6th, 8th and 10th Floors. Still, the Pharaoh of the 3rd Floor has been acting strangely for the past few months, and the people are dissatisfied. I'm worried some voident gang is stirring things up," she sighed. "Aria enchanted the papyrium so it's constantly emitting the dead voident's mana signature. Keep checking and you'll see the next message when they send it.”

“Why are you giving this to me? Hunting voidents is your job," Langa said, even as he took the cloth.

“We only have two guild outposts on the 3rd Floor, and due to the nature of their religion, the NPCs there won't join the Guardians,” she said, and clapped his shoulder. “You said I'm not doing enough, right? So show me how it's done, Blitzhunter.”

She was still salty about that, it seemed.

Langa returned to the room that had been his home for the past two weeks and took all of his belongings, which honestly weren't much. He went and said goodbye to Instructor Rancho, collecting his armour which he'd sent for repair, and promising to contact him for advice about his enchanted necklace as he progressed.

That night, the children filled the lucent bus, and Aria took the wheel.

"Are you okay?" Langa asked Aria who sat on the driver's seat, watching the valley sadly.

"Nope. I'm just thinking about how I might never come back here," she said.

Langa glanced at her. "After the mission, aren't you returning to the Valley?"

She shook her head. "No. AD Jandri froze all my commissions. She said it was time for me to return to the 6th Floor and clear it for the Guardians. This last incident with the Accari Crows hit her hard, and she's tightening the noose around us." Her hair turned green, and then she added quietly. "The last time I was on the 6th Floor, Amalgam killed me."

"I'm sorry," Langa said. "Jandri said you were a candidate to become the Administrator of the Ground Storey after her. Is that true?"

Aria scoffed, the red moon in the sky illuminating her hair. "DP Alfsol had high hopes for me, but I failed, Langa. Jandri has been stuck putting out fires alone on this Storey for years because I failed. Do you know they call the 7th to the 10th Floor the Zone of Discord? It's not just because one of Anarchist's Insurgents, Discord, likes to lord over it. It's because there are virtually no players in those Floors, most of batch 3 is stuck below the 6th Floor while players from batches one and two are on the First and Second Storey. Without players to stop them, the voidents do as they please with the NPCs," she sighed.

Langa wanted to talk more with her, but someone called him outside. Mesala was sad as he bid him farewell and it made Langa feel bad since he hadn't been nice to him because he reminded him of Makoto. Aquila's team also came to see the children off.

"Safe journey, Langa. Sorry, we can't help out with your quest," Aquila said. "We need to go to Reidgtu and buy the location of some unclaimed dungeons from the Dungeon Seekers Guild."

"Why are you apologising to me? I already cleared my unclaimed dungeon. Hopefully, I'll earn a lot of karma in the Celestial Clash and instantly clear the Floor," Langa said.

Aquila raised his eyebrows. "You'd have to do something absolutely insane to earn 10 000 karma from an exhibition match. Well, I guess I can't put it past you."

“Sure,” Langa grinned, shaking his hand.

"We’ll be in the capital on the first to watch your match live, so you better make it interesting,” Ormeth said with a laugh.

"This sucks." Langa turned to Aramaga, the tearful expression on her face taking him aback a little. He didn't think the two of them were that close. “Who's going to carry us through the level 10 zones?” Oh, that's what she was upset about.

Langa reached out to gently pat her on the shoulder. ”You do realise that most of those times I was just using your team as bait, right?”

“Even so,” Aquila said. "Thanks for helping us level up."

"Yeah," Aramaga nodded. "I'm level 10 now, and I even got my first divine skill. It wouldn't have been possible without you.”

“Don't forget to thank him for not holding it against us that we tried to attack him at first,” Ormeth chimed in.

Langa shrugged, walking into the bus. "You never know. Maybe I'm just playing the long game. And stop saying goodbye, I'll see you in a week.”

He felt bittersweet about leaving the Valley of Guardians since he wouldn't be returning here. He would participate in the Celestial Clash, then raid some dungeons or hunt some voidents to earn karma and clear the 1st Floor. After that, he'd probably begin the Infinite Challenge and finally Ascend to the 2nd Floor.

He waved to Aquila's team when Aria started driving the lucent bus up into the air.

After what happened with Makoto, Langa maintained a cool distance from everyone, not allowing himself to get attached again. Somehow, it seemed he had failed. Although he had mostly been using the three of them, he was fond of them, they had helped keep him company after all.

*

The travel plan was simple, they would transport the children to Tishiba’s Peak land in a secret private lucent rank arranged by Undkese’s father.

There was one issue, though. “I can't get into the capital since I'm red. I'll be arrested on sight. You are going to have to drop me off at a low-level red or yellow zone before continuing,” Synn said.

Langa had forgotten that negatively aligned players were not allowed in safe zones. "It's not right to just leave you in the middle of nowhere," he said, thinking. "Hold on, my friend is in the capital. I can ask him if he knows a village close by where your alignment won't be an issue."

Synn tilted her head to the side. "You have friends?"

Langa glared at her as she laughed. He had half a mind not to help her, but he still contacted Liv to ask him for a favour. “Hey, I'll be arriving at Tishiba’s Peak in a few days, but my friend is a red player so she can't enter the city. Is there a neutral zone close by where she can stay?” he asked.

“Oh, you're finally coming to the capital? It feels like I've been waiting for you forever! Let's see, she can go to Sorrento Creek, it's a small, neutral town about 150 kilometres below Tishiba’s Peak. That's where I've been staying. When she gets to the town, she can just go straight to Sorrento Inn and give them my name. I'll let them know she's coming,” Liv said. “What's her name?”

“SynnForessa. Thank you,” Langa said, wondering how high Liv’s reputation was for him to have so much influence in a town close to the capital.

“No problem. Wait, is she the one from our tutorial batch’s top ten?” he asked and when Langa confirmed that she was, Liv thought for a moment before saying. “Well, I was trying to find a place for those of us participating in the exhibition match to stay, and I think I'll just announce for everyone to meet at Sorrento Creek.”

“Is Fi Kindaro coming?” Langa asked at once.

“No idea. He hasn't responded yet. I'll post on the Dent later that we need the numbers so we can finalise the accommodation,” he said. "But he'd be pretty stupid to show his face."

“Okay, I'll see you in a few days.” Langa ended the call. He really hoped Fi Kindaro would show up. Since Sorrento Creek was a yellow zone, no restrictions prevented PvP, so it would be a good place for a traitor to die.

During the four-day journey on the lucent bus, Langa and his companions were attacked by flying monsters a few times. If not for that, the journey would have given him a terrible case of cabin fever. To pass the time, Langa worked on his enchanting skills using his brand-new Portable Enchanting Kit that he'd tearfully paid for and enjoyed delicious food prepared by Synn.

The children on board would often ask him to recount his heroic adventures, but Langa had none to share. Instead, Undkese embellished stories based on his videos, which made the kids look up to him like a saviour, much to his chagrin. On one such occasion, Undkese had tearfully explained how much of a good person Langa was by telling them of his selfless crusade against the trollimps at Psike's Grotto to save the allemaks. It made Langa uncomfortable since he had done that because it was his Challenge quest and to pay back Rila for saving his life.

A side effect of his exploits was that he had been hounded on the Dent by alchemists, guild leaders, and many other players, asking him to sell the dungeon Rila's Garden to them. Absurd amounts were thrown around, including the Herbology Guild 'Monila Flower' offering him 10 fucking gold for the garden. That was enough money to buy a decent plot of land at Risa's Plateau! However, Langa had no interest in selling the dungeon, not when he knew that the players would bleed the allemaks dry to get their lifeblood. His conscience wouldn't allow it, no matter how much money was offered.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Also, once it was done renovating, he wanted to use it as his quiet sleeping space where he went to be alone, so selling it would seriously impede his plans.

It sucked that the only responses he received from his videos were from fanatics like Undkese, people looking to recruit him, and those who wanted to buy his dungeon, not from Khaya, Neo or his sister.

When he had some time to himself, Langa also did some personal research on the Dent. He could not find what he was looking for on Liberty's Dent profile, as all she ever posted were pictures of plants and announcements regarding the First Storey and the Insurgents.

The Maluta Syndicate was the information-gathering crew he'd heard about from Synn, and when he checked them out, it turned out they ran a forum with information on famous players that he had to pay 20 copper a minute to access. To his annoyance, when he found Liberty, there was very little information on her. The summary of her exploits in the Tower was fascinating, though.

(Liberty, (real name unknown), is the fifth Insurgent of Anarchy. Not much is known about her origins, as she is not from any of The Deiwos Tower's Floors. She was Chosen by the Demon Reaper and entered the Tower of her own free will as part of tutorial batch 2. After being scouted by Baelira Muyo, she became an enforcer for the Incantatrix Sorcerers and showed her immense power in the great Tree of the First Storey breaking the record for fastest climber of the Storey.

Thanks in a large part to her, the Hallow Reaper Cult was able to surpass the Incantatrix Sorcerers in rank. Not much is known about the incident but Liberty singlehandedly betrayed and permanently killed five members of the Incantatrix Sorcerers' main raid party during a guild battle and joined the Hallow Reaper Cult.)

Langa didn't know how true that was, but he could not help but sigh. If she did betray her former guild then she was bad news. He continued reading.

(She became the First Storey Administrator of the Hallow Reaper Cult thanks to her achievements. Liberty is one of the cult's main assets and since she is widely regarded as the best alchemist in the entire Tower, she is always guarded by some of the guild's strongest players.

In the 8th year of the 1773rd Deiwos Tower, she left the Hallow Reaper Cult's main raid party and officially became an Insurgent of Anarchy. Widely regarded as Anarchist's left hand, Liberty is-)

"What are you reading that has you so engrossed?" Synn said, startling Langa into looking up.

He closed his Dent interface quickly, not wanting to be caught stalking Liberty. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Synn raised her eyebrows and sat down on the chair across from him. "Undkese said you were looking for me."

Oh, right. Ever since the Void Star fried his nerves, moving his mana around his body was hard. "You're the best Mage I know, so I wanted to ask you something. Ever since my fight with Sasani, it's hard moving mana through my nerves. It physically hurts," he said.

She watched him for a moment and then said. "Wait, you weren't using mana channels for your Brand? You circulated corruption through your one and only nervous system?" she asked, appalled. "How are you even able to walk?"

"Master helped me," Langa said. He knew it was stupid in hindsight, but that had been a life-or-death situation. "How do I fix it?"

"Don't use your nerves. Use your mana channels so your mana core can grow in capacity. I can't even sense the strength of your mana core and I'm amazing at that," she said and hesitated before adding. "About that, can I offer you some constructive criticism?"

"Unsolicited? This ought to be good," Langa muttered, wondering what she wanted to criticise.

"You're wasting your full affinity because you don't know how to circulate your mana effectively," she told him.

“Synn, can I trust you with something extremely private?” Langa asked. “If I told you I’d be revealing my weakness.”

“Langa,” Synn said, taking his hand, “You are the only mortal in existence who knows my greatest weakness, how in my greed I destroyed an entire world. You know I’m a walking sack of sin without a chance of redemption. Why wouldn't you trust me?”

He smiled. “Okay. I can't circulate mana through my mana channels because I can't form a mana core."

"What?" she asked. "But anyone with a Mental Affinity and Resistance average of 0 can form a mana core!"

He took a deep breath, revealing his weakness. "I have negative Mental Resistance."

Shock filled her face, then she squeezed his hand. “Oh. Not having a mana core isn’t the end of the world,” Synn said, already trying to come up with a solution to help him. “What you need is a mana manipulation skill.”

"While that sounds wonderful, I don't have the gold to buy a skill," Langa said. He'd just blown most of the money he'd saved for the teleportation wheel on a common Portable Enchanting Kit.

It seemed the best way to deal with his mana problem was to become Adtonifulmin's Visage.

"Maybe one of the gods watching you can assist you?" Synn suggested.

[Multiple deities search their treasuries for artefacts they can use to entice you to take a Challenge from them]

Oh? Langa knew there were more deities than usual watching him after his fight with Sasani, so perhaps one of them could assist him with a quest to improve his mana control.

[The Onslaught of the Dark Void would like to offer you a Challenge for the divine skill: Mana Channels of The Dark Void.]

Langa stared up at the message, in disbelief. Did Chaos think he was stupid enough to accept a divine skill from him with his low Mental Resistance?

“I decline,” Langa said.

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, allows the offer to remain in your system, in case you change your mind.]

“I don't need that kind of divine skill,” Langa said.

Synn frowned. "Who offered you a divine skill?"

“Chaos. Master doesn't even like him. I don't know why he didn't just reject it outright because it's for void mana channels.”

“Yeah, you have full lightning affinity what are you gonna do with a void mana manipulation skill? There's-” Synn started then paused, her eyes widening. “Oh!"

“What?”

“Out of all the mana disciplines, Arcane is the most versatile followed by Darkness, which is what void magic and corruption fall into. Void magic can seal anything, Langa, even your corrupted lightning,” she said. "If you assimilate the Void Star as your mana core, you could circulate your mana through the void mana channels!"

"No,” Langa said at once, shaking his head. “I won't accept it. I refuse to think like the followers of The Thousand Undead and accept any power even if the source is evil."

"Look, having morals is good and all but-"

"It's not that. As much as circulating my lightning mana through void mana channels instead of my nerves is better, I can't control my curse," he said. "If I make the Void Star my mana core, right now, it'll get consumed by the Brand. The Brand already has control of my attribute, I can't let it control my mana too."

“Wow I almost called you stupid for declining power, but you thought it through," Synn said and stood up when her comcer beeped. "Listen, Langa even if it hurts, you must continue moving your mana slowly along your nerves until it's bearable again," she paused. "I'm leaving, it's my turn on guard duty. You can watch your erotic content in peace. Take your time."

"That's not what I was doing!" Langa protested.

"Please, you blushed like a teenage foxkin caught looking through some illicit drawings."

Langa grinned. "Are you speaking from experience? How long ago was that for you, a thousand years?" He was lucky he had quick reflexes and was able to dodge the Flame Spike that came flying his way. Synn flipped him off before sauntering away.

Once he was sure she was gone, he resumed trying to find as much information about Liberty as he could.

*

The next day, after a particularly nasty encounter with a flock of baby harpies, Undkese had bad news. "Guys, we need to refuel," he said.

"What? I got us enough lucent stones to charge all the lucent crystal helms on this bus until we reach Tishiba's Peak," Aria protested.

"I know, but we had to take a long way around to avoid a nest of papabowas and we overused our gravity-lucent stones to fly higher. We still have some, but not enough to reach Tishiba's Peak," he explained.

"That's a problem, we can't stop at any big cities or towns where they might recognise us. I'm sure Synn, Undkese and I are on the Vonelle Heilliege Guild's kill list," Langa said.

One of the Guardians shared a map with everyone in the group. "There are a few small villages around, maybe we can land close to one and refuel without being recognised?" he suggested.

"That's our only option, but I don't like it. We'll have to cloak the bus and leave someone to watch the kids," Aria said. "We don't have time to dally. The longer we spend in the sky, the more risky it is for the children."

"We'll have to be quick," Synn said. "But will they even have gravity lucent stones? I mean, even the common ones aren't easy to come by."

"Worst comes to worst, we'll just have to make do with air," Undkese said, frowning. They kept their voices as low as possible, so the children wouldn't hear that something was wrong.

It was decided that the Guardians would remain with the children while Synn, Undkese, and Langa went to buy lucent stones in the nearest village.

The village was nestled between two small hills, and as the three of them approached the entrance, the sight before them quieted their chatter. The farms surrounding the village were now nothing but scorched earth, and the crops were trampled and destroyed. Using his Avatar title, Langa crouched down and saw large bird-like footprints leading to the forest.

“Baby harpies,” he murmured, recognising the subtle breath of life from the ones they had fought in the sky.

“Do you think they got inside?” Synn asked, worried. Langa checked where she was looking and saw that the protective wall encircling the village was in disrepair, with gaping holes and cracks that left the villagers vulnerable to further attacks.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if they did,” Undkese said in a clipped tone. “The protective enchantment on the walls is probably disrupted.”

There were two guards standing watch on top of the wall, and when he scanned them, Langa found that they were both level 10 Fighter NPCs. From the small wooden gate, three elderly goblinkin emerged, and the older one stepped up to greet them. He was a level 8 Village Chief named Ghunfira.

“Chosen Ones! Players! Welcome to our humble Ginora Village!” the village chief said, bowing his head. “We are but a small village, so there isn’t much we can assist you with.”

Synn stepped forward to shake hands with Ghunfira. “Please relax, sir, we are just passing adventurers. We need to buy any gravity lucent stones that you might have.”

“Buy?” he said, looking up in surprise. “I mean, of course, please come inside. We don’t have any gravity lucent stones, but we have a couple of fully charged common gravity lucent crystals, perhaps you can replace yours with them?”

“That would be great, thank you. How much?” Synn asked as Langa looked around.

“10 silver,” the village chief said quietly leading them into the village.

“Ten?” Undkese asked in shock.

Given how tall and heavy Undkese was in plate armour, towering over the village chief, he startled, jumping. “I’m sorry, even 5 silver is enough.”

“For the Vodun’s sake, lift your head,” Undkese told him, trying and failing to sound gentle. “I meant that the system price for gravity lucent crystals is 30 silver. Don’t undersell.”

“What happened to your wall?” Langa asked, looking around. Calling this place a village was overstating it. It looked to be a hamlet of houses at best. There were only two shops that Langa could see, and many of the houses were dilapidated as local NPCs peeked at them from their shoddy homes.

“Ah,” Ghunfira said, looking away. “A few weeks ago, neutral bandits from the Hazyunl razed this area, and they took everything from us and the surrounding villages. After they were done looting, they had their red players destroy our protective wall. We became a neutral zone, so we were susceptible to attacks from corrupted monsters.”

“Couldn’t you call the Federation Police?” he asked.

“This place is far from any towns, and I’m sure there aren’t any official teleportation wheels nearby. Unfortunately, you’ll find that the Federation Police pick and choose their battles based on risk, and Hazyunl is a wanted bandit group, so they rely on bounty hunters like you to take them out,” Undkese answered quietly.

Synn turned to Undkese and whispered, "Can't we help them?" Unlike her usual abrasive self, she seemed pained at the sight of the devastation.

Undkese placed a hand on Synn's shoulder. "I understand your desire to help, Synn, but we are on a tight schedule. We can't delay transporting the children. Many villages suffer like this due to the lack of adventurers in these parts. Ironically, jilted players from batch 3 overcrowd the large cities, taking jobs from NPCs, yet no adventurers care about these small villages because there’s no payment."

“Don't concern yourselves, players. There is a nest of baby harpies nearby, and no matter what you do, they will continue to raid our village when they get hungry,” the village chief said in defeat.

Langa hadn’t seen this side of the 1st Floor since Theria's Hollow, so he'd never seen such poverty and despair in the Tower. His heart clenched at the sight of the thin, hungry children playing in the dusty streets.

“I grew up in a small village too, you know. We weren't exactly poor, my dad and I made do. He was a teacher, and we were close to Eshowe, so we could always go into town to buy what we needed,” he said, kneeling on the ground. He took out three loaves of purblan bread and gave them to the children. Astounded parents walked over to inspect the food. “I can ignore people’s suffering if I can’t see it. If it's right in front of me like this, and I don’t help, I’ll get fucking nightmares."

After a moment of silence, Undkese finally relented. "Alright, let's do what we can. I have a construction skill, so I can help patch up the wall where the protective enchantment was disrupted. We have to do it before the end of the day too, otherwise, Aria might kill us.”

“I’m worried, even if we repair the wall, there aren't any shrines or altars nearby, to ask deities for their Blessings and protection," Synn said.

“This Floor’s patron deity is the constellation Swiftfoot Anitari. Can’t he just give them protective Blessings?” Langa asked.

“That’s not how it works, otherwise, every deity would give their Disciples multiple Blessings. Blessings have to be earned from Faith, offerings, or getting a player to do a quest to bring the deity closer to the NPCs,” she said.

Langa hadn't realised that for regular Unbound NPCs, deities were distant since they communicated directly with him every day. "Maybe we can build a small altar to one of our deities and pray for their protection?" he asked.

Undkese shook his head. "Building an altar to the Vodun of Iron on unsacred ground requires a three-day cleansing ritual. I'd also need some specific talismans which I don't have on me."

"Yeah, and the Nine-Tailed Fox requires his shrines and altars to be built in Flame-scorched areas, or a ritual to bathe the land in fire must be performed first. I can't perform rituals for him anymore," Synn said, eyes closed.

Langa opened the Relgte of The Lackadaisical Herald that he carried with him and checked the requirements for building an altar. He grinned when he was done, grateful for his master's laziness. "It looks like I just need to create a sturdy structure, make a suitable offering, and place items corresponding to lightning, life, sloth, and decay on the altar."

Undkese raised his eyebrows, "I've heard of The Lackadaisical Herald's nonchalance, but really? That's it?"

"Hold on, it says you need to make a worthy offering. That means he may not bless the shrine if you don't give something precious to you," Synn told him.

"Yeah, but I can at least try," Langa said. Adtonifulmin had told him that the most meaningful offerings were not based on the true value of an item but on the value of the item to the giver.

Undkese set off with the village chief to work as they repaired the broken wall with some of the men in the village. Synn tracked down the nest of corrupted baby harpies and since the creatures were all level 10 and below, she easily destroyed them.

Langa had some of the free young goblinkin help him carry a few rocks to the town square. There was an old, dilapidated hut that used to be a shrine to the 1st Floor’s patron deity, the constellation Swiftfoot Anitari in the centre, and the magic circle surrounding the shrine had been disrupted by the bandits' attacks, and the village had no priests to repair the altar.

"Lord Adtonifulmin, I'm building an altar for you so that these people have someone to pray to for protection," Langa said. "Please let me be successful. Ngiyabonga."

He stacked the rocks up and placed a wooden log on the floor. Then he went about reinscribing the symbols on the magic circle with his enchanting skill. To his surprise, he felt a hand guiding him as he drew the symbol of The Lackadaisical Herald (a winged lightning bolt) on the circle around the shrine. He hoped that Swiftfoot Anitari would not be too upset at him for hijacking his shrine for his god.

Once everything was arranged in order, the townsfolk gathered outside the circle and gave him items that had a connection to lightning, life, sloth and decay. Undkese, Synn and the others also came down from the patched wall.

Langa hoped this would work as he searched for something precious to give to Adtonifulmin as an offering. His chest tightened as he pulled out a rare lightning lucent stone. Fuck, he had been saving it to feed Tonare so he could use Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike. Aargh, not only was it freaking expensive, it was rare.

He sighed and placed the stone on top of the shrine. “Master, these people are no longer safe in their own homes. Please allow this shrine to protect them like you protected me. I found comfort in your essence, so I pray that you Bless this shrine and extend your hand to them,” he said. “You know my heart, so you know how precious this lucent stone is to me. This is my offering.”

Langa concentrated on his Faith in the Lackadaisical Herald to hear him and protect these people. Sharp, searing pain stung his arms as he infused his mana into the shrine’s magic circle.

[The Deiwos Clan god: The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, has heard your prayer.]

The sky darkened, thunder rumbled and storm clouds brewed overhead. There was a flash of lightning and the shrine glowed blue.

“The wall!” Undkese shouted, pointing. Lightning struck the wall and the bricks tightened together as the protective enchantment Inscribed on the wall reformed itself and glowed.

[Ginora village has been granted a Conditional Blessing by The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm.

Conditional Blessing: Safe Zone

Effects: Ginora Village shall remain a safe (green) zone as long as the shrine of The Lackadaisical Herald remains protected. No negative or voident aligned mortals will be able to enter this village.

No monsters will be able to spawn or break through the wall surrounding the village as long as it remains a safe zone.

Every household within the village must make (1) offering to The Lackadaisical Herald during the months of Life, Lightning, Darkness and Physical Body to maintain the Blessing.]

“Oh shit!” Synn shouted as a blue light surrounded her, picked her up and threw her over the wall. Langa grimaced as Undkese ran to check if she was okay. She was a red player after all. He felt assurance from the essence of Adtonifulmin filling the shrine that she was fine.

The villagers wept behind Langa and some of them knelt on the ground, giving thanks to The Lackadaisical Herald.

[ACHIEVEMENT!! You have created a shrine for your patron deity and converted 20 mortals to his religion!

+475 Karma

+10% Faith

+100 EXP]

Ghunfira bowed to Langa and Undkese when they left two dead deer with him. He handed them a reed basket filled with strange fruits and one gravity lucent crystal. “This is all we could give as a village. Thank you. We won’t forget your kindness,” he said.

"Here's your payment, 30 silver," Langa said, handing him the Guardians' money.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly accept this after what you've done for us!" he protested.

"You will. This village is a mess. Use the money to fix this place up," Langa insisted and walked away from the chief's exclamations of gratitude. 30 silver was a lot of money for such a poor village.

As the three of them made their way back to the lucent bus, their Renown went up and they received a gift.

[The constellation: Swiftfoot Anitari is grateful to you for helping his people and he Blesses your journey. Until you reach your destination, your journey shall be swift and hidden from monsters and all negatively aligned players.]

It was good that he didn't seem to mind Langa stealing his shrine for Adtonifulmin.

"Did he take the money?" Synn asked, munching on one of the fruits from the basket.

"Yeah, Langa forced him to take it," Undkese told her.

Synn smiled and placed her arms around both of their shoulders. She had to tiptoe because they were both taller than her. "You're such tough-looking guys and yet you're big, sappy softies," she said. "Langa, don't think I didn't see you buying those useless woven reeds and protection beads knowing full well they have no enchantments on them."

"I..I wasn't being a softie, they reminded me of the material we used back home to weave tribal necklaces. I need them for a project I'm working on," Langa said defensively. It was true. He was hoping to add them to his enchanted mana stone/darkness crystal that he was working on for Makoto.

"Sure," she said, not believing him.

Undkese snorted. "Be nice to us. Did you not see Swiftfoot Anitari's Blessing? If we don't lead the way, you won't be able to find the lucent bus."

"Oh shit, you're right," she said, realising it. She smiled brightly. "So, what do you boys want for dinner tonight?"

Langa rolled his eyes. Did she honestly think bribing them with food would work? His stomach growled, thinking about how great her cooking was. It was such a fucking traitor.