Something seemed off about the group that was waiting for me, and it wasn't hard to put a claw on what it was.
They stood in a semicircle with their heads bowed, in the center of them stood a little girl in the most lavishly adorned robes I had ever seen. Unlike everyone else, she was staring straight at me with eyes that made me all but certain her apparent age was misleading. They seemed to bore straight into me, seeing through me in a way that reminded me of how Belua sometimes did.
I inspected her in return.
Level N/A Voice of Humanity
That was different. I had never felt the need to inspect a child before, so I didn't know if they showed as not applicable, but I got the feeling that something special was going on there. My suspicions were confirmed as I drew nearer to the gates.
I was still out of my normal Sense Concept range when the first wave hit me, making me almost trip over my own paws. I understood why everyone had their heads bowed, I was astonished that they were still standing. She was Holy, Divine, Pure, Powerful, Influential, and a whole host of other things that made me want to crawl the rest of the way to her on my belly.
The Concepts made me feel unworthy to look upon her in a way that Belua's never had. I was far from immune, I made the rest of the walk to the gates with my gaze on the road. I patted myself on the back that I managed to keep walking at all, Sturdy, and Enduring were likely the only things that allowed that feat.
“Good.” She said as I drew close, her young voice carried an authority, or perhaps an authority, that could not be denied. My heart lifted at the simple word from her, but she continued. “You made it with time to spare, I was worried you might be late.”
Her Concepts, that she showed either no inclination, or perhaps no ability, to control were drastically unlike Belua's. Belua made me feel loved, when I looked at her while under the effects of her aura, I was like a child looking at the most perfect mother one could imagine. The entity before me, made me feel like a peasant before an emperor. I felt a desperate need to please her, to prove myself worthy of the moments she was wasting on someone as insignificant as me.
Conflicting emotions warred inside me as a result of her aura. The fact that she was satisfied with my arrival made me profoundly proud, but the fact that she had worried I might be late made me want to tear myself apart to make amends. Thankfully survivor helped me limit my repentance to bowing before her as much as my harnessed state would allow, and exposing my throat.
“Come.” She said, and I heard her start walking into town, the other clergy's steps following a moment behind her. I was inches behind them, my eyes locked in the backs of the feet of the hindmost priestess. The guards closed the gates behind my cart, never uttering so much as a word.
Something deep inside my mind made me slow my pace, relief began to wash over me. The further away from the Voice I was, the less her aura influenced me. It allowed me to think more freely, allowed me to realize that I could eat her aura like I did mana. It was clear proof that what I was enduring wasn't something the girl had direct control over. I couldn't eat Belua's aura, same as I couldn't eat the mana in a spell that was being cast at me.
I licked my lips at the feast the entity was giving off, the mana had been so sparse I was worried I would starve before the mana beast finished properly coming into existence. This person leaked enough empowered Concepts to allow me to refill the energy I'd lost in the journey to Brightwood then some, just on the walk to the temple.
With hungry working overtime to ensure that not a scrap of the power that tried to influence me went to waste, I reached the temple with my head held high. I kept my distance when she came to a stop, staying where her aura was thinner, and edible. The look of surprise in her eyes when I met them was priceless.
“Strong, stronger than I thought possible with such weak Concepts. Is that the reason why you are her current favorite son?” She spoke loudly enough that everyone who happened to be nearby would hear her clearly, and we had picked up quite a following while we walked through town.
“I see what you are doing, I don't want your help growing my Legend, I'm not sure I like the idea of the Concepts that type of talk from you would bring.” My ears flattened a bit as I sent the message.
It was the wrong move, the girl laughed, and suddenly appeared by my side. Her aura was so much denser with no distance between us that my ability to consume it was instantly overwhelmed. I froze, unable to so much as breathe knowing I had been so rude to her.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Such a proud beast, keep your head up, I'm sure it pleases Belua. Let's get this cart to the doors of the temple so that our brothers and sisters in the Great Mother's service can see to the poor souls you rescued. I want to have a private chat with you about your current mission.” She was still speaking for the crowd, her voice was gentle and she sounded so sincere. I couldn't suppress a shiver when she touched my shoulder, and led me to the doors of the temple, my head held high and proud as instructed.
I dismissed my harness when she told me to leave the cart to the others, and followed her into a completely empty temple. Once the doors closed she sighed.
“I would like it if you relaxed as much as you can, I know my aura is a bit out of hand these days. This will be my final life, it seems I have reached the point where mortal bodies can no longer contain me. Despite her numerous failings, Belua is a good teacher, I am sure I will have it under control in a year or two.”
I raised an eyebrow, as I let out a breath and collapsed on the floor, sprawling out to conform to the very picture of a relaxed cat. The girl laughed.
“I suppose that is what I asked for. You look almost cute like that, despite the size.” The Voice of Humanity sighed. “Okay, now listen, as a Voice, it is my duty to see Belua's will done in the most efficient way I can. I won't apologize for adding to your Legend a little bit, but I do sympathize. I wanted to ask if there is anything you need in the short term to help you do your job. Consider it a pre-payment for your silence about the little hunt she has assigned to you. Don't be shy.”
“Mana crystals, monster cores, as many elements as you can find. The mana here has become so thin that I feel very uncomfortable. And books on higher tier mana and spells that I can read when I have the chance. My familiar probably needs some things, though he just evolved, and I have no idea what his new class would want.” I answered, quickly and honestly.
“Easily accomplished, is the turtle your familiar? I was wondering about him.”
“No, I rescued the turtle from the stone forest, he is friendly and wants to help the petrified adventurers. I think he fits the optional part of my contract quite well. I had hoped that he could stay at the temple and perhaps be convinced to become a resident of Brightwood. My familiar is the attendant.” I cringed at how mercenary it sounded when I phrased my decision to allow the turtle to come to Brightwood like that.
“A beast with a human familiar, Belua’a world sure allows for some interesting things. I would advise never calling him that to anyone else, no matter what.” She seemed displeased with the idea of a human acting as a familiar, so I sent her a full report on what Thorn actually was.
“Oh! That makes much more sense. Of course they would choose such an appearance if given the choice! That's definitely a secret though, I see that you probably have a problem with keeping those, Honest, I'm glad I never picked that one up. Good for you I know that one's counter. Swear to me that you won't tell a soul who doesn't already know that your attendant is anything but pure human.”
I swore, I made it an oath for good measure. She seemed pleased, I purred when she called me a good boy.
“Okay, that's enough, go home. I'll have a Sister bring you the things you requested before you retire for the night.” She opened the door for me, and I started to head straight home, just like she said. I barely noticed when Torill and Thorn started walking beside me.
I was all the way in front of the guild gates by the time her Concepts wore off enough for me to do anything more than think of how lucky I was to have been in her presence. Even then, I just gushed to my mate and companion about how amazing she was.
Thorn looked awed, Torill just nodded along, and led me to my room. She convinced me to take a nap, I agreed easily, the level of Concept contamination I was afflicted with made me feel a little drunk. I wondered if that was something unique to my species, like the ability to eat Concepts. Both Thorn and Torill had wisely decided to leave me alone in my room, so I had no one to ask.
Belua didn't visit me in her realm. I spent my whole nap trying to paint the Voice, but ripping everything apart as I didn't have the necessary skills to do her justice. When the Concepts wore off, I was a bit disgusted with how thoroughly I'd lost myself to them.
Torill was so sweet when she came in to check on me, and I mentally grumbled about my reaction.
“It's okay, Angel this is your first contract, you might as well be a mortal. She's so close to ascending that she is worse than a god, gods directly control their aura, she's just spilling hers all over the place. I hope I'm better at keeping my nascent authority inside when I get to her stage.”
“Thanks, I think the worst part is how mad I am at her. How many people followed us? How many people heard the Voice of Humanity say those things about me.” I closed my eyes, anxiety filling my heart. “What will they think of me?”
Torill walked over to me and put an arm over my neck, stroking my mane with her other arm. It was as close as she could come to hugging me since I had somehow stayed in my true form despite having changed in Belua's realm.
“Well, she made sure they'd further empower strong , that's for sure. Did you catch how she imbued that word? Other than that? Probably some form of holy, and maybe proud. Sorry to say but her words will definitely be a part of your Legend. Honestly, it's not so bad, everything she contributed was something I saw you picking up anyway.”
“You saw me picking up proud?” I asked, I didn't consider myself to be too prideful, the opposite, if anything. I was well aware of how inexperienced I was with the ways of the System, and Concepts.
“Some form of pride or vanity is a given considering your points in charisma. The adventurers who see you will all think something along those lines.”
My eyes widened. “You told me to spend points there! Why didn't you warn me?”
“Honey, I know you value honesty, so I'm going to be blunt. Neither of those Concepts would change you. I've seen you looking in the mirror when you think I'm not watching.”
“I care about my appearance! I need to make the right impression, don't I? And yeah, okay I like how I look. I think it's built into my species or something. But I don't think I'm prideful, I mess up too much.”
Torill kissed me on the side of my face. “Okay sweetie, I believe you. Are you hungry? I came in to see if you wanted dinner.”
“Of course I'm hungry, I can't wait to get rid of that damned curse.” I said, already in demihuman form, fully clothed, and standing by the door.
Torill giggled, and we headed down to eat.