I'm off to say goodbye to the shrine. Just like how the old man used to do it, I’m waving with an open mouthed smile and a twinkle in my eyes. The only thing that was missing from the old man’s departure ceremony was the sun bouncing off his bald head. Thank Rosity, I still have my wonderful blue hair, truly a staple of my character and good looks. Welp, I watered the plants, harvested and baked the wheat, I locked the super important secret room, and lit some good smelling incense.
“It's time to go on a journey, Lotus.” Off to the nearest city often mentioned by the old man, the city of theater and performances, Baisien. I have never been there myself but a lot of the visitors live there or often go through that city when traveling to the shrine. I have heard a lot, apparently this place was the destination of all sorts of talented performers, being a convenient place to earn fame in a short amount of time. But when it comes to the actual city, I heard from the old man it was a romantic and beautiful place filled with dreaming souls. And dreaming souls often have sadness and problems, so I think it's time for me to solve their problems.
But I am a little confused with how exactly being a saint and an avatar of Rosity works. When I was made one by Rosity, a small box appeared in front of me. It was a weird table that had information about me and apparently my skills?
Lotus
SAINT Generosity Karma: 0 ===SKILLS===
Talisman Creation (Lv.1)
“Yeah this box. It’s slightly see-through and,” I waved my hands over the box and my fingers passed through like the box was made of air, “intangible. Hmmm.” I assume the box is invisible to the eyes of others and can only be summoned by me. I do wonder what constitutes a skill, is it magic related only? Or kindness skills? Also talisman creation as my first and only magical skill is weird, it's not like I'm any good at it.
Talisman Creation (Level 1)
The ability to create, manipulate, and activate talismans of your own
“Wow, how convenient.” The ability to create talismans, not exactly a hard skill to learn so i guess that explains why i have it. “Though, what’s this? Level?” Judging from the number next to it being low, maybe that's the strength of the skill or maybe my level of mastery of it. I guess I can only figure it out when I practice it some more or when I learn another skill. As for karma, it's obvious what it means. It's a measurable amount of my good deeds which probably increases with every mission I complete.
I stepped down the short stairs of the shrine, finally venturing off and leaving this all too familiar shrine. I stretched my shoulders, fixing the bag hanging on my back and readying myself for the weight it will exert during my whole journey.
Rectangular bricks of bread (x5)
Blank talismans (x19)
Gohei (x1)
Brown sac (x1)
Metal flask (x1)
Cosette
Vannessa
Can of mush (2x)
That’s useful, I can peer into the contents of my own bag without opening it. I wonder how many more secrets this box thingy will give me, just thinking about it really fires me up. I can smell some great power that can be earned. I began to increase the pace of my steps, turning a sharp right. The river beside me flew constantly, slamming into its rocky borders repeatedly. The empty wheat field beside it was slightly getting splattered because of the strong impacts of the waves.
My legs soon took me to a long and sturdy stone road. It was here where I first encountered a person outside the shrine, that wasn't at the wheat field, a monumental event it would have been if it was any other person except this one. He approached me with a serious and uptight walk. His face was looming over me and was covered by a green round mask. That part of him was the only area with any color besides his eye-catching white suit and tie. He went by many names but I just called him Sweet Jade.
“Lo lo low. Hello there Lotus, I see you are venturing outside that shrine of yours.” His voice was booming with power and authority, making my shoes tremor slightly.
“Yes I am, are you looking for the old man again?” I said, nonchalantly slapping my wrist to calm down myself. “If you are then, I have some bad news for you.”
“No, I have a much more urgent task to focus on right now.” His spider-like lanky arms made snappy movements accompanied by loud and abnormal crackling noises. “I'm following a fool’s trail. What about you? Why the journey outside?”
“Well it's a few things honestly, I can list them down if you want?”
“Go ahead, I'm a patient fellow.*
“The food in the shrine has been far too repetitive, being bread and all for the past months or so. The same with sights, spend a couple years living in the same old place and you start to memorize the texture of the trees and rocks. Another pressing issue was the number of visitors have lowered so far down that I have been going through weeks without any sort of income. So I decided to leave after thinking of a new scheme. I shall spread kindness to the people and gather followers so the shrine will prosper with faith and money!”
“Spreading good deeds? This worn out gent finds that quite admirable. Are you perhaps heading into Baisien? I should give you a fair warning, that place is currently in a state of disarray. A certain performer seemed to have squandered his marbles and is now setting up quite the depressive atmosphere.”
“That sounds like…”
“A perfect opportunity?”
“Bingo!” I pushed out my fist towards this tall gentleman, my arm only reaching around his stomach. He snapped his arm towards mine and fist bumped me, creating a hollowing scream upon impact with my flesh. “You get it dont you, thanks for the tip. I'll be heading on my way now.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Better hurry up Lotus, time might be an important matter in this situation. Oh and before I forget, here take this from me will you.” His gloved elongated fingers slithered towards a pocket in his suit and pulled out a handful of white wrapped candy. “Don’t use them all in one place now.” He peeled my fingers open and dropped the candies onto my hand. “You might get a rotten tooth., ha-ha-ha.ha.”
He patted me on the shoulder and lifted his legs off the ground, leaving behind a black mist on the soles of his shoes. I stood still for a couple seconds before falling to the ground, my knees slamming to the hard floor. But despite the pain, my mind was occupied with something else than the pain my knees felt. My pupils bounced my eye sockets and tears drained from my face as I began to gasp for air. This feeling. This god awful feeling. It's… D… Disappointment. Seriously, who gives people Carne Squash flavored candies? Dumping me the yucky flavors…
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I arrived at a gate of the city, having only consumed half of my flask and two blocks of this boring hard bread. Anywhos, I was greeted by a girl wearing a uniform. Well it was less of a greeting and more like me happening to stumble upon her. She was moping over a wooden podium, her red hat seemingly defying gravity as it remained stuck to her long braided hair. I moved past her and her fashioned podium pilled with medals and approached a massive steel gate that prevented me from entering the city. I tried to shake the gate but made no visible budge. “Greetings…”
The girl raised her head from the podium and slightly turned her face towards mine, her massive eye bags instantly catching my attention. “Oh hello there, may I enter the city?”
“State… please state your purpose for entering the city...” She said tiredly, yawning immediately right after her statement.
“I'm here to go watch some of the plays in the city, I heard they have wonderful performances in this place.”
“A tourist? I would… highly advise against entering the city. As of now, it’s… full of sadness.”
Guard Downer
Cheer up the guard on duty in the west gate of the city of Baisen
Hmmm. A quest? I softly stretched my shoulders and put on my greatest smile. “You seem to be sad right now, don't you want to return to how you were before the whole depressing mood overtook the city.”
“Sad? I have a normal expression… right now.”
“Are you sure, I can't help but see the gloomy looks in your eyes and the tired frown you have on. Is your job stressing you?”
“... Sir.” She pulled out a massive book from under the podium and slammed it into the podium. She flipped the pages in the middle of it, showing me a picture of herself who also had the same sad look on her face. “This face is what was given to me.” She flipped the pages of the book, her clothes changing and her age slightly regressing with each picture, the only constant thing was the tired look on her face. I glanced up from the book and indeed, she was still in possession of that dead soulless and crumbling face.
“You’re thinking of something… rude, aren't you?”
“No no no, I'm just curious. Why do you carry a picture book of yourself on you?”
“It’s obvious… to spread the cuteness of my face.” She said nonchalantly, not making a change in her face. Not even a single cute pose or a quick wink. “But lately, I have been lacking any motivation to do so.”
“Ahh but why one picture per page.”
“Every year I take a picture. It was a tradition that began with my parents… when I was born.”
“Oh! Thats a lot of pages, you must be very ol-
“Don't finish that!” Her eyebrows furrowed a little, her pupils moving off the ground and onto my face. “Continue talking… and something grimm will happen to you.” She took a deepbreath and blicked slowly. “Ahh I don’t know how to cheer up… people always told me I was too depressing to be around.”
“Well, whenever I feel down I always try to do something I enjoy, so do you have any hobbies?”
“I do mingle with a bit of poetry… but it has been ages since I last did any.”
“Well how about you try some right now. Go and give me a on the spot line.”
“A feeble soul waiting for her death. For her podium leans to the left”
“Eh? Is that a poem?”
“It’s two lines. Barely a poem… I thought you would know more poems, being a tourist… and all.”
“Well if you had paper and something to write with, would you be able to create a better poem? Maybe something deep?”
“I don’t feel like opening the gate… for you anymore. Go talk to that guy instead.” She pointed towards the insides of the city, another person wearing uniform was standing there, with a podium as well. He was drenched in a red stain and was carrying around a large serrated sword which he swung around the air.
“I don’t… I don’t feel comfortable talking to that person.”
“Why so? He's a good person, a little childish but… he’s alright.”
“His uniform is stained with something red… By the way, is he your brother?”
“Huh? Are you… assuming I'm related to him because of our uniforms? That is so… preposterous… If that’s your logic then give me… the clothes of royalty and I will let you pass. Maybe a life of a royal would be better for my failing agenda.”
“What no, you guys have the same hair and eye color. I just get a sense of familiarity between the two of you. Anyway, I don't have any royal clothing for you, what about this instead.” I dug deep into the pits of my bag and pulled out three Carne Squash flavored candies. “Here have some sweets, I know it can cheer people up.”
“This feeling… I haven't experienced this in such a long time. Receiving something, a gift from someone.. It’s truly a delight, a wonderful… Carne Squash?”
She frowned and dropped the candies onto her podium. “Are you bullying me?”
“What?! Of course not, Carne Squash is a respectful flavor, it’s just a little umm. A little, a little hard to swallow? No, actually it's more like hard to chew… and digest.. or even stomach actually, it’s just a nasty taste.”
“And despite knowing that, you still gave it to me.”
“Yeah… sorry about that.”
“Well… it's alright. I can just give these to my brother over there.”
“Huh?! So you two are siblings, you lied, you said he wasn't your brother earlier.”
“I did not. I just called your way of thinking… ridiculous. I never denied it.” She tapped a button from under her podium and the gate opened sidewards. Instead of upwards which the gate seemingly was supposed to do. She grabbed the scattered candies and walked over to her brother. “Duke.”
“Oh, tired already sis, just retired already, your gloomy face is standing out a little too much.”
“Shut that brass mouth of yours!” She gained a bit of life upon hearing her brother’s teasing voice and gained even more life when she smacked her hand onto her brother’s head. “Anyway, here I have some candies… so take some."
“Aww thanks.”
She turned around towards me and pointed towards her back. “Go enter… And oh, thanks for the candies.” She said, smiling slightly.
Guard Downer [Complete]
+20 Karma
New Skill Unlocked: Sharp Eyes
Sharp Eyes (Level 1)
The ability to heighten your eyesight and to zoom into objects for a short while (30 seconds)
“It was nothing, thank you!” I entered the city and was immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of emptiness and sadness. My heart felt mellow and my head was filled with ideas of tiredness. I glanced at the two guards who seemed to be unaffected by this gloomy feeling. “How are you two not affected by this?”
“Oh us?” Duke scratched the top of his head and smiled widely, slashing his sword to the sky. “Probably because we are quite strong.”
“You should go and hurry up now… Go watch the plays you want and leave as soon as possible.”
“Yeah of course, bye bye!” As much as I would love to take a wonderful break and experience the joys of the city of Baisien, I have a different goal. I’m here to stop this whole fiasco and earn myself some shrine followers. And additional, getting free skills and karma along the way sure is a positive.
Lotus
SAINT Generosity Karma: 20 ===SKILLS===
Talisman Creation (Lv.1)
Sharp Eyes (Lv.1)