Chapter 18
Gods and Mortals [https://imageshack.com/i/po1FXghFp]
Jack Mors
Status Class: Guardian Lvl: 11 Xp: 13% Mana: 0/0
_ Divine grace Language of Empire Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Will of Guardian _ CON 11 END 0 STR 0 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Recovery II
Orla
Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 11 Xp: 13% Mana: 7/7
_ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman
_ CON 11 END 0 STR 11 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Warrior’s conditioning II
Linus
Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 11 Xp: 13% Mana: 31/31 _ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman
_ CON 11 END 0 STR 11 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Spearman's thrust II
Zaun
Status Class: Silent Watcher Lvl: 11 Xp: 13% Mana: 10/10 _ Race talent: Growth Tier I talent: Eye of the Silent
_ CON 0 END 0 STR 11 PER 33 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
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* Watcher’s sense
* Silent strikes
Congratulations! You gained perk Recovery II !
After long contemplation, Jack Mors chose the Recovery II perk. With the notification perk engraved itself in his being. Something in him grew to encompass new properties of his body. There was no visible change in his body. He didn’t grow a new organ or gland, and yet something was different from before and he could feel it. There was a change.
It was the same feeling he got every time he leveled up, but during level-ups, physical changes in his body overshadowed the deep intrusive sensation he felt somewhere deeper. It was feeling in the place which he felt for the first time in his life, yet it was so intimately familiar to him.
When Jack picked the Recovery perk for the first time, he was in a deep slumber barely holding on to his dear life.
But now, with no stat growth or other distractions, he felt how his spirit, his soul, his dao or whatever was in there changed. It grew. It expanded. It morphed into different shapes. Stronger. Bigger.
Jack closed his eyes, not caring to survey the fog around him anymore. He sat there taking in this new sensation. A sense of power emanated somewhere from deep in him and he swam in that feeling like a fish.
“Haha!” laugh escaped Jack's mouth and flew into the fog.
“Don’t scare me like that, old man,” Orla said silently, ”And why are you so loud? I think we all are forgetting where we are right now.”
“Sorry! Sorry!” Jack answered her in the same silent tone, “I am just happy about my growth. Soon I will be eligible to run my own coal mine business.”
“It is the best part about this lifestyle, isn’t it? What did you choose?”
“I chose the second level of Recovery,” Jack answered, “It might be a mistake, but if I will not see what hides on the third step of the perk, I will not be able to fall asleep ever again.”
“There are no mistakes,” Linus said from Jack's other side, “It is your path and there is no need to think about others, which are already barred from you.”
“You sound like a pastor,” Jack laughed.
“What is a pastor?”
“Clergy man. God’s messenger. You don’t have pastors or priests here?”
“Not really.”
“Tell me about the beliefs of people in the Empire. What is your god?”
“You want to hear about Divines?”
“If they are your gods, then yes,” Jack said to him.
“I wouldn’t call them our gods,” Orla snickered.
“Well. Divines exist and people don't get in their way,” Linus explained.
“Very detailed explanation,” Jack noted.
“Well, we are nothing to them and they are nothing to us. People in our lands worship power and money, not beings to whom we might not even exist," young man reluctantly started his explanation, "Divine of Creation made you and me, he made earth and water, sounds and smell, existence, and lack of it, and even Eldritch you rest on right now. He created everything and then fucked off somewhere else. The rest of Divines are just creatures who have embraced aspects of Creation to such depth, that they became as close to said aspects as possible.”
“In my home people can only guess the nature of the god. Yet you speak with certainty of the man who has seen him.”
“Not seen. If I would have seen one of those mindless fucks, I would be dead right now. Where they travel, mana follows. Civilizations die, seas dry, the fabric between planes breaks, and thousands of years later we still must deal with creatures from other planes clawing their way to ours. We are in one such plane, by the way.”
“Bunch of freaks,” Orla supported the sentiment of Linus.
“They are immortal and invincible and created everything, but they don’t care about ruling over any of that. Divines are just moving disasters. We are unlucky to see them from time to time just because our plane connects to all of the others. Divines move through our plane from time to time, but they never stay.”
“How can your people even know all of that? Do divines talk? Do they explain their motives?” Jack questioned Linus' story.
“Don’t know and don’t wanna know. All of that might be lies, but what is certain is that our creators don’t care about us. The only one who cares about the human future is Emperor. He is the only god who matters. If not for our ruler, we would be overrun a long time ago by threats coming from all sides of the Empire,” Linus said with conviction which he never had.
Something in Linus' voice made Jack stir. There was some unnatural melody in his words. His words were strange too as his friend sounded completely different from his usual self. Linus had never spoken about his love for the Emperor, yet now, he sings praises to him like a stalwart lackey of the crown. Jack glanced over his shoulder at Linus and the young man seemed completely normal. He was resting by Jack’s shoulder and watching the fog with a calm look.
Too calm.
“Sounds like propaganda to me. I bet your Emperor is just an over-leveled, tyrant. Ruling with an iron fist and spreading the gospel about his wonderful rule to every villager under it.”
“How dare you?” Orla sharply screeched at Jack.
on both of Jack's sides, Orla and Linus became unnaturally stiff. The strange stillness made Jack’s instincts scream at him. He jumped up and turned towards them with confusion. Despite his lack of understanding, his mace was already in his hand ready for the work.
The eyes of both of them were pitch black.
Orla and Linus watched Jack with eerie eyes. There were no whites and there were no pupils in those eyes, only a sea of darkness.
Unnatural cold crept over Jack and there were goosebumps all over his skin. His companions were possessed right in front of him.
“Emperor is our savior,” Orla said with a strange deep melody in her words.
“You don’t agree with us, Jack Mors?” Linus asked him.
Linus has never used Jack’s last name until now. It also didn’t escape Jack, how both of them were holding their spears with tight grips and their legs moved under them ready to spring up.
Zaun jumped up before Linus or Orla did. He stretched his hand forward and waved it up and down with haste. His eyes weren't black, but they were pleading and fearful. Zaun desperately tried to say something to Jack.
Jack’s gaze traveled between all his party members in order. He struggled to understand what was happening until finally, understanding dawned on him.
“Interesting!” Jack smiled brightly about his new discovery, “I see your point! Yes, I agree. Divines bless the Emperor!”
Upon Jack’s words, darkness retreated from the eyes of Orla and Linus. Their poses relaxed and both of Jack’s companions regained their casual demeanor, turning back towards the fog on their respective sides and continuing their rest like nothing happened just now. The tension disappeared like it was never there.
After a second Linus looked up at Jack. Then at Zaun. Confusion was clearly visible on his face.
“When did you stand up?” Linus asked.
Orla also just now noticed that both men beside her were already standing. She watched them in bewilderment.
“Just now,” Jack said after a long pause, “If you rested, I think it’s time to move.”
“So be it,” Linus said.
Linus and Orla both stood up and got ready to move. Linus lost his own bags before, so he took off some burden from Orla.
"You could have just said to me that people in your Empire are under some sort of loyalty sorcery," Jack whispered to Zaun while Orlaand Linus were distracted.
Zaun just shrugged his shoulders and picked his own bags.
After they strapped on their helmets and prepared their weapons, Mad Dogs started slowly moving in a random direction from their resting site. There was no feasible way to orientate themselves as the light barely pushed through the fog, but the direction of their movement didn’t matter.
Fog split in their way as they moved forward in a careful walk.