The late afternoon sun started dipping behind the walls of Charville. Long shadows were thrown over the streets, casting them in eerie twilight. As Liam made his way towards the man he hoped would help him to some answers, his anger slowly drained away. The mad fury and frustration he had felt earlier were still there, only not on the surface anymore. They had seeped all the way into Liam, bundling together with the pent up rage at the nobility Liam had collected over his lifetime. On the surface though, Liam felt mostly drained.

It wasn’t long until he found himself in front of his destination. The old library of Chairville.

It was an impressive building, one of the few architectural wonders in the lower parts of the city. It towered above the neighboring buildings, with its big couple, entirely made out of glass dwarfing everything around it. The building wasn’t just big, but intrinsically designed, with lots of ornaments and small statues covering the facade. Some figures of myths and legends, others mythical creatures, but towering above all of them, the eight big gods of their Pantheon.

Even after all these years Liam still couldn’t help but marvel every time he saw the library. The outside wasn’t this place's main appeal though, and the building had only become special to him because of one man working there in the first place. Mr Montgomery.

Mr Montgomery was one of the scribes in the library of Chairville. He had always welcomed Liam inside, not just giving him a safe space to spend some time, but also had taught him how to read and think for himself. He had been one of the few people who were able to see people like Liam, truly see them.

The man could grow a little confused, even eccentric at times, but Liam thought it a normal side effect of his old age. Despite this thought, thanks to Mr Montgomery, the library had turned into a sort of home for Liam.

Liam lost count of all the days he spent huddled away between the shelves of the library, trying to escape into different worlds so that he didn’t have to deal with his.

Unfortunately he always ended up stuck in the one he lived in.

Liam stepped through the old wooden door. The squeak of its rusty hinges cut through the silence that resided between the seven meter high shelves, ringing through the long hallways. The slightly musty smell of old paper and ink welcomed him immediately.

The familiar sight of the monstrous bookshelves rising up in neat ranks, with thousands of leatherbound backs greeting his eyes, immediately calmed Liam down. His shoulder sagged as he felt a lot of tension he hadn’t even noticed carried away, and the thought of all those words hidden away here made his fingers twitch.

“Liam!” Mr Montgomery was sorting some books at the top of a ladder and beamed down at Liam. “Good that you’re here, I was a little worried after you didn’t come yesterday. But I saved you one of the Ferloryn story you wanted to read.”

Liam flashed him a weak smile. “Thanks Mr Montgomery, that is very nice of you.”

“No worries. Jensy came by to lend one, but I refused her. Said you would’ve wanted it first. Besides, you know how Jensy is. That girl handles a book like a smith handles his iron. All pragmatism, no…” Mr Montgomery continued blabbering. Liam waited patiently for his chance to interrupt the man.

“Thank you Mr Montgomery. I appreciate you blocking a book for me, but I didn’t come here to lend a book.”

The man adjusted his glasses. “No, then why did you come then?”

“There is something that I wanted to ask you.”

“If this is about anything illegal again, I have to tell you that I can’t help you there.” The man said.

Liam laughed, holding his hands up. “No, no, it’s nothing like that. I just have a few questions about theology.”

“Is that so? I don’t remember you being very interested in the pantheon.” Mr Montgomery raised an eyebrow. “What are those questions?”

Liam wrung his hands. “I would like to talk about those in private. If possible.”

Mr Montgomery raised an eye at the request but didn’t question further as he led Liam to a room in the back of the library.

It was sparsely furnished, most of the space being taken up by a big dark wooden desk and a few stacks of books that almost reached the ceiling. A warm musty air greeted them inside. Liam had never been to the scribes offices before, but he had always wondered what they looked like. The reality was a little disappointing.

Now that they were closer Liam could see him scrutinizing him more.

“Liam what is it? You look a little disheveled.” There was a look of worry on the old man's face. “Did you get into trouble again?”

Liam smiled weakly. “Not more than usual. You know how close me and trouble are.”

“What is it then?”

“Have you ever heard about a god called Gravitas”?

Mr Montgomery raised an eyebrow. “Gravitas? Of course I heard about him. He is one of the primordial ones.”

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“Primordial ones?”

“One of the first ones. The original ones. Gravitas is kind of like Mortia and Galifra, the gods of Death and Time, they represent certain fundamental aspects of the universe.”

“So is he an important one? How come I have never heard about him before then?”

“You have never heard of him because you nether bothered to touch any book that had even close resemblance to history or the pantheon.” Mr Montgomery joked.

“To my defense those usually tend to be the most boring kind,” Liam said. “Still, if he is that important I should’ve heard about him before, no?”

“Well that’s the thing. He doesn’t belong to our pantheon or our minor gods anymore. When our current pantheon emerged, they pushed away the old one. Rather harshly so.”

“Wait. He is not an Alpyrean god?”

“Nope.” Mr Montgomery frowned. “I believe he belonged to the old Barbadians before our settlers even came here. Or actually I don’t know how long he dates back, but according to the legends he was banished and robbed of his powers by Sigmar and Ecoleon a few millennia ago, along with most of the other old gods.”

“That can’t be,” Liam said, shocked. How could a banished god be able to make him a cultivator? Only the real gods were supposed to be able to grant their blessings. And most importantly, what did that mean for him?

“What got you so interested in theology all of a sudden?”

“Oh nothing, Gravitas is just a name I picked up on the streets. Some local priest preaching about it.”

Mr Montgomery raised an eyebrow. "A priest talking about deities like Gravitas? Boy I doubt this priest would spend more than a week with his skin still on his body." The man chuckled softly. "You used to be a better liar."

Liam felt himself blushing. It had been a long time since he had blushed. Mr Montgomery was one of the few persons that ever managed to make him blush.

“Oh,” Liam swallowed. “Guess I must’ve misheard it then.”

“Misheard it big time. Most of the local priests wouldn’t even know who Gravitas is anymore, or any of the other old gods for that matter. The few who might still know would rather kill off all the notions about them.”

Liam swallowed heavily.

“So if one were to tell you that he, suddenly and unexpectedly, became blessed by the very same god we just talked about. The one that you just said should be extinct by any measure of the imagination. What would be your reaction?”

Mr Montgomery's face was free of expression. “Are you pulling my leg?”

“It’s just a hypothetical question.”

“Well,” the man stroked his chin. “I would tell them that they either are pulling my leg, or are deep into shit. If Gravitas and some of the other old gods were still around, I don't think our Pantheon would like that much, but moreover I think we would have quite different problems then.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that there was a reason the old gods were banished, and the Primordial ones with them. They were supposed to be more monsters than gods really. Beings controlled by their lusts and desires, imprinted by the barbaric Barbadians that used to rule here before us.” Mr Montgomery stroked his beard. “If the old gods still walked, I think that wouldn’t be very pleasant for us.”

“Is that why our Pantheon banished them? How would they even do that?”

Mr Montgomery shrugged. "If I could answer you that question, I would be no mere library scribe. That is what theologists have debated about for decades. As to why, well most preachers are pretty clear on that. It was to save humanity of course. I would advise you to be careful about anything regarding the old gods though."

"Well if they are gone they can't really hurt me anymore can they?" Liam asked, knowing full well that these gods were not really gone as much as Mr Montgomery thought.

The old man shook his head. "It's not them I'm talking about. Its the nobles. The nobles and the church. I can't believe they would look too kindly upon those things becoming public knowledge again."

Liam swallowed heavily and cursed his luck. He suddenly felt less excited about his prospects as a new cultivator. Of course he got one of the evil and long believed dead gods to choose him.

“Well thanks for your help old man,” Liam clasped a hand on the back of his neck. “That was all nice and interesting, but I think I will heed your advice. Thanks again.”

That was enough help for him for now. He didn’t want to get the old man involved, and now he at least had a starting point to start combing through the stacks of the archives. Liam was about to turn, but a bony hand gripped his wrist and held him in place.

“Liam,” Mr Montgomery looked at him coldly. “What is this about? You know you can trust me. I've helped you with the Bakersville incident and the Feludan gang.”

Liam hesitated. There was a time when he would've trusted Mr Montgomery. A time when he was almost a father figure to him, when times were easier and less complicated. There had been laughter between these shelves.

“It’s alright.” He muttered. “This is different. Better for both of us if we keep you out of it.”

Even in the beginning he hadn’t wanted to tell Mr Montgomery everything. He himself wasn’t sure about the consequences of becoming blessed when he wasn’t a noble, it wasn’t something he had ever heard about in this part of the empire. Now with the fact that his god was apparently some extinct deity, he was even more sure he didn’t want to endanger Mr Montgomery.

Liam looked up to the man, but only found eyes full of understanding and kindness.

“Liam, I see there is something tearing you apart. You have that same look that you always had when there was something troubling you and you didn’t know how to deal with it.”

Liam sighed. The man truly knew him too well. And if there was one person that was able to shine some light on his questions, and that he could trust, it was Mr Montgomery.

“Ok…” he receded. “I think it goes without saying, but you can’t tell anybody about it.”

“I won’t” Mr Montgomery smiled. “Librarians oath.”

Liam chuckled. Then his chest tightened. He wasn’t sure where to even start. The story had become a huge cluster in his stomach since the day before, and he had become so used to keeping things down.

In the end he just started talking.

By the time he was done, despite his story being rather short, he was out of breath.

“Oh boy,” the old man shuffled over to his desk and procured a pipe. He carefully kindled a match and lightened it. After a long, hollow, drag, he exhaled a stream of smoke.

“That is indeed bigger shit than the Bakersville incident.”