I returned to the real world as sober as I’d been the moment I’d stepped into Cosmo’s bar. With what was coming, I wish I wasn’t.
With heavy steps, I trudged back to the inn, not knowing if Aerion was waiting for me, or if I’d find an empty room. I barely even noticed the thunder and the rain.
I thought back to the sixth floor. To the castle where I’d Initialized Aerion.
Did I regret it? Of course, I did, to some degree. But that was hindsight speaking, wasn’t it? If I hadn’t Initialized her back then, we’d both have died. We were surrounded and injured, and we were up against Hobgoblins. Sure, I could have run. But even if I was alright with that, I’d probably have been hunted down by those Hobgoblins the moment they killed Aerion.
There was no question—Initializing her had been the right move. So was saving Emma. She would’ve been a powerful ally, if only she’d survived.
I reflected on every choice I’d had to make in the Trial, and found that I actually didn't regret a single one. From meeting with Aerion, to learning about the world, to the cog carts to the dragon fight and everything in between.
Did we have to be more careful going forward? Absolutely. I'd done things more recklessly than I'd have liked, and no, things hadn't gone perfectly, but given the ridiculous situations I'd been thrown into, I didn't know that I could've done better. As I'd found out, making decisions under pressure was a lot harder than doing them from behind the comfort of a computer screen.
If Aerion was gone, I’d… I honestly didn’t know what I would do. I didn’t want to lose her. She was, maybe not yet a friend, but someone who I’d survived with. We’d bonded. We made a great team—one that would only grow stronger the more we worked together. Moreover, I’d have a tough time navigating this world without a guide.
The worst part was she wasn’t even angry with me. As far as I knew, Aerion liked me. She respected me. To lose her over some ridiculous misunderstanding?
I couldn’t accept that.
I arrived at the inn and paced up to the second floor where our room was. If she was gone, I’d track her down. I’d find her, and I’d—
I opened the door, and froze.
Standing before me was… Someone. Someone I barely recognized.
Aerion stood at the window on the other end of the room, looking out at the rain, wearing a plain gray one piece dress. Her hair had been brushed, and now that it was straighter, it fell almost to her shoulders.
“Uh… Aerion?”
She turned, and I was immediately struck by her face.
“You look… different,” I said.
Older. More mature. All of a sudden, the girl I’d initially thought of as a boy in his mid-teens now looked like someone in her late teens. Possibly early twenties.
“Makeup,” Aerion replied. Her voice was the same, but there was a calmness to it I wasn’t used to. Coming from this new look of hers, it carried far more weight.
“The Sanctuary pools restore you to the condition you were in when you entered the Trial. I’ve been wearing makeup this entire time.”
“To… make yourself look younger?” I asked. “Or to make yourself look like a boy?”
“Both,” she replied with a small shrug. “There are certain people from whom I must hide. By altering my age and dressing like a boy, my chances of discovery are lower. Besides, it was you who assumed I was a boy. You never asked.”
“Fair enough,” I replied, omitting that I’d known for a while. I was already walking on pins and needles as it was.
“Listen, Aerion,” I said, making eye contact. “I’ll find a way. I don’t know how, yet. But I will.”
“Do you know why the gods summon Champions?” Aerion suddenly asked, staring into the pouring rain outside, her mind a million miles away, lost in thought. I doubted she’d heard a word I’d said.
“I don’t,” I replied, not knowing where she was going with this.
“Every century, give or take a couple of decades, Axius suffers a Cataclysm. A disaster of untold proportion. Cataclysm dungeons appear in random locations, incubating hordes of monsters. Endless hordes that then break out and roam the country, razing cities to the ground. Millions perish to starvation and bloodshed alone. Tales tell of refugees standing in lines that stretch as far as the eye can see, and for miles beyond. Local economies take decades to recover. Some never do.”
My blood ran cold as she talked. I’d read this script before. I knew where this was going.
“Do they have a leader?” I asked apprehensively.
“The Archon,” she confirmed. “The hordes are weak at first, but grow stronger over time. Eventually, the Archon appears. Boon and Blessing holders can drive off the weaker of them, but against the stronger ones?” She looked to the ground and shook her head. “We are powerless.”
Aerion turned and met my eyes. “The Champions are summoned to defeat them. Working together, they have to drive back the Archon every cycle. Without them, our world is doomed.”
“Drive back?” I asked. “Not defeat?”
“All the gods summon Champions. All but one,” she replied with disgust.
I felt my mouth go dry. There was only one god Aerion hated so vehemently.
“The God of Order.” I finished for her.
Aerion nodded. “He has never once summoned a Champion. Without Order’s Champion, the others are doomed to fail. The best they can do is weaken the Archon and drive it back to the world from which it came.”
“And with the seventh Champion, they can defeat it once and for all…” I completed.
Aerion walked up to me, and looked up at me, eyes full of resolve. Gone was the confused girl I’d left.
Aerion had made up her mind.
I stiffened, ready to hear her ultimatum.
“Perhaps you are Order. Perhaps not. But this is bigger than you. It’s bigger than me, and it’s bigger than the Champions. I don’t know why you’ve suddenly decided to start helping the world. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The millions of people that die during Cataclysms might be a drop in the ocean to a god—I wouldn’t pretend to know. Even so, it matters to me,” she said, staring back at me with heavyset determination. “With this power, I have the chance to save the world. Forever.”
“Does that mean you’ll stay?” I asked, feeling the faintest glimmer of hope flare in my chest.
Seeming to lose some of her resolve, Aerion averted her eyes.
“I…” She trailed off, her voice sounding small and sad. She glanced back at me, staring for a moment before seemingly finding her resolve again. “I think it would be for the best if we—”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Aerion, look.” I cut her off. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m sorry I don’t have any easy answers right now. I really am. There’s so much I’m dying to have answered as well, but the damned god who brought me here won’t say a thing!
“Two hours ago, I didn’t even know I was a Champion. Let alone anything about Cataclysms and Archons. I know so little about this world and its people. But I do know this. I’m sick of my life not having meaning. I accepted Cosmo—Order’s—offer because I wanted a chance to live in a world where I could make a difference. And it seems to me like I’m in a position to do just that. We’re both working towards the same goal here. We can go it alone, or we can do it together, as a team. And maybe I can't give you definitive proof right now, but I think I might know how to get it.”
The idea came to me when Cosmo let slip a detail about how Blessings worked, but it was only now that things clicked.
Aerion threw me a skeptical look and was about to reply, but I beat her to it. “Can gods accept Blessings from other gods?”
This was the moment of truth. If Cosmo had lied, or if Aerion didn’t know, this wouldn’t work. But if she did…
“Of course not,” Aerion replied. “There was even a well-documented case of Passion trying to bless Order once. She was madly in love with him at one point. It failed. Rather spectacularly, in fact.”
My heart skipped a beat. “That’s what Order said, too. I mean, about blessing another god.”
Aerion frowned. “I find that hard to believe.”
“No need,” I said excitedly. “I got a message in that Trial telling me that I couldn’t accept another Blessing because I was a Champion. But I did get a Blessing, only, it converted to experience. Which means I should be able to dedicate it just like you did. Let’s go to the temple right now. I’ll prove it to you.”
Aerion gave me a conflicted look before shaking her head. “It doesn’t work that way.”
I frowned, stopping myself even as I turned for the door. “Er, what do you mean?”
“You relinquished the dedication to me. The Trial must have recognized that you contributed most to its completion, which is why it gave the privilege to you.”
“Er, sorry? Privilege?” I asked. “What does dedicating a Blessing even do?”
Aerion’s eyes narrowed. “It places your name on a list of delvers. Your name will appear in every temple in the world, showing the number and rank of your Blessings. It is quite the honor to be listed. Which is why the temple will no longer let you make a dedication.”
“I see…” I said, thinking it over. “Wait, that just means that I have to make the dedication next time, right?”
“I suppose that would work...” Aerion trailed off.
She stood there for a moment, looking befuddled, before her eyes widened and she deflated.
The resolve she’d carried through this conversation suddenly fled her. Her gaze fell to the floor and she muttered something under her breath.
“Sorry? Didn’t quite catch that,” I said, a bit worried by the abrupt shift in demeanor.
“I said I wondered how I could possibly have two Blessings,” she replied, her voice firm once again. “I mean, if I was a Champion, then that shouldn’t be possible…”
“Wait. Does that mean you’ll be staying?” I said, not daring to get my hopes up.
“Seeing as you would have no way of keeping up any sort of pretense if we clear another Trial… And I don’t see what you could possibly gain from all of this… Unless, of course, it is only to—” Aerion shook her head, as if clearing her thoughts.
Looking back up at me, she gave me a hesitant smile. “What I’m trying to say is that as long as we are working towards the same goals, I’d be happy to stay together… Greg. We are a pretty good team, after all.”
“So, we’re good, then?” I asked.
Aerion gave me a small smile, letting the tension dissipate from her face. “We are.”
I heaved a sigh. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.”
We stood there for a moment in silence. But it wasn’t an awkward silence—not entirely. It was comfortable. The sort of silence you only get with someone who’s been through hell with you.
“So,” I said.
“So…” Aerion replied.
“What now?”
“Now?” Aerion said, sounding like she’d aged ten years. “Now, I repeat your own words from the Trial. I am filthy. I am drained. I want a bath. And then I want twelve hours of rest. Rest...” she trailed off, a wistful expression on her face.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, looking out the window. The rain had stopped, and rays of sunshine pierced the dark storm clouds, bathing the street in light.
The fresh, humid scent of after-rain drifted through the window, tickling my nose. It was like the world had been cleansed.
“But after… After that, you mind if we go outside? There’s a whole world to explore, and I’m dying to see it.”
Aerion gave me a small smile. “Sounds like a plan.”
— —
As far as baths went, this one had to be one of my worst.
As far as my enjoyment of baths went, it was by far the best I’d ever had.
Given that they heated the water with a fire, Aerion said such things were extravagant luxuries in this world. Which meant they were expensive. And rare. This inn was one of the few in town that had them, and according to her, not cheap, either. Still, it was worth splurging for. We'd earned it.
The bathroom had no shower, or even a bathtub. No, what they gave me was a half-full wooden bucket of boiling water, another wooden bucket with lukewarm water, and a large mug to scoop it with.
Oh, and a stool, on which I sat buck naked.
After diluting the hot water, I got it to the perfect temperature.
It was just a mug full of hot water. No fancy rain head shower. No steam room. It wasn’t even magical.
It was the most blissful sensation I’d felt in my entire life. It made my already weakened body feel like jello.
That was a realization I’d had the moment I’d stripped off my armor and clothing.
My stats had reverted back to my mundane self's numbers. It was interesting—the stat accumulation through the Trial had been so gradual, I hadn’t really felt their effects. But going from a combined stat total of 84 back down to 60 was very... disconcerting. Especially since my Vigor had dropped from 18 to 5.
I melted under the hot water, pouring it slowly so I could extend that feeling.
The good news was that the moment I put my Initialized clothes back on, my stats jumped back to what they were, and I felt strong again. No earning my stats like I had to do the first time around—that was thankfully a one-time thing. It looked like once I reached a certain stat number, that was what I’d return to, so long as I equipped gear that got me to that number.
Anything higher, and I’d have to work to earn it before I could reap the benefits.
That was great news, though it did leave me vulnerable while not wearing stat-enhancing gear. It was something I’d always known about, but this was the first time it actually affected me.
I scooped another mug full of hot water, and another, and by the time I realized it, I was half-done with the thing.
The bar of soap was surprisingly sweet-smelling. Like apricot and honey. But I washed off the surface vigorously before using it. The thought of communal soap fucked with my modern sensibilities.
I’d heard that the stories about medieval people lacking any sense of hygiene were blown out of proportion. I could only hope that was the case. If not, I was going to have a hard time.
I used the same soap for my hair, working up a lather and scrubbing it in. There was so much grime and soot from the forest fire that it took three rounds to work it out.
I zoned out after a while, and thoughts of Aerion and Cosmo drifted into my head.
There were so many questions, I didn’t even know where to begin. Why had Cosmo, or Order—I didn’t rightly know what to call him—withheld details about me being his Champion? About Aerion? About this world? He must’ve known I’d find out almost immediately.
But above all the other questions, I wanted answers to two important ones.
What was Cosmo’s agenda? And why did he summon me to this world?
For now, I had answers to neither. Which really sucked. It put me in this awkward position of not being able to trust my patron deity, while also being unsure things between me and Aerion would ever go back to being how they were.
At least we’d made up. As I picked up the bucket and dumped the remainder of the hot water over my head, my concerns seemed to fade away.
My eyelids started to droop as I dried off and made my way back to our room.
Aerion was already asleep, snoring softly.
I stumbled to my bed and crashed.
It would be alright. Everything would work out—I’d make sure it did.