Al made sure to smile with his eyes as well his mouth. Doing the latter while failing to do so with the former wasn’t good.
The Americans needed to see him as a friendly face, not merely as a strong arm to crush their enemies. Especially, now that they had forsworn their promise to aid the Americans in their quest to unite the tattered remnants of their once great nation.
His assessment on that account, based on their armies and their cities, was that great for this world was equivalent to middling across the handful of pantheon worlds he had traveled to over the years as an eidolon.
Their story was much the same for any world graced with the spires’ presence.
“What are you waiting for?”
His liaison whispered.
Al was crouched on one knee with his hand resting on soft dirt.
It had rained recently.
The first he had experienced on this world.
Normal rain was the same on many worlds.
Fortunately, this one lacked melting rain or rain that woke the buried dead.
He turned and made direct eye contact before speaking.
“I am waiting for your soldiers to get in position,” he held up a finger and pointed to his ear.
“Oh, right, you’ve got super senses.”
“Just hunter’s senses honed over a lifetime. I need not use Skills to listen to the boots crunching fallen leaves. A beautiful color are they not?” he remembered to interject obvious observations of the surrounding environment to show that despite his divine power he saw things in much the same way as mere mortals. “Don’t be nervous, friend Ronald. These Meat Parades will trouble me not. In fact, is the captain certain that he doesn’t want a leveling opportunity for his men?”
“Yeah, thanks, but we’ll pass on that. We’re pretty green. Most of the vets are still allocated to Rightful Destiny. Reports said that these cannibals are old ones dating all the way back to near the beginning.”
“I believe I have faced one of these Meat Parades from before I was ascended on a world far removed from this one.”
“Yeah, you told us. Let me tell you, the guys in intel got freaked out over that. How one of our natives got all they way to that world? That’s the kind of question that’ll keep a guy up at night.”
“He was in service to the Dominion of Immortal Light and Joy. It seemed not entirely willing.”
“I know, crazy right. I don’t know anything about a dominion thing, beyond rumors. Not high enough up the ladder yet.”
“You shall ascend with time and diligence!” he raised a thumb.
A local affection indicating, among other things, approval.
His lavender-skinned fist was almost as large as Ronald’s head. The color went all the way up to his elbow, where it faded into streaks, merging with the dark brown skin he had been born with.
Years with Adras’ divine blood within him had slowly changed his physical form.
He was much larger than he had been.
He stood head and shoulders above even the tallest American. Doorways forced him to duck and turn his shoulders at an angle rather than walk through squarely.
He had kept closer to his former proportions. Though, just as impressively muscled as Theron, he was closer to a lean forest predator than a hulking behemoth.
He had let his blue-purple hair grow longer. The curls evoked the classical depictions of Adras. As did the short beard.
Of his face, only the areas around his eyes, nose and mouth remained dark brown.
The soft dirt in his hand was reassuring. It grounded him with the knowledge that one world was not that different from the next.
“You are a go,” the captain’s voice crackled in his ear.
“These communication devices are inferior to the gems I am familiar with,” he didn’t press the button on the mic around his neck, so only Ronald heard.
“Hey, feel free to share.”
“Hmm, perhaps when our bonds have been secured.”
He rose.
Ronald’s eyes widened.
“Go time?”
“Watch closely and keep a steady hand on your recording device, friend Ronald. For you shall see an Eidolon of Adras unleashed.”
He had already helped them kill monsters, but those had been trivial affairs.
The monsters had burst like fruit left in the sun and torn like wet paper in his hands.
The forest gave way to a clearing filled with uniform cabins.
It was familiar sight.
He knew it without needing Ronald’s explanation.
Other worlds also maintained campgrounds that catered to those that didn’t truly want to experience the wilderness.
He had never begrudged them their softness, for he knew what lurked in the true wilds.
“Meat Parades!” he roared. “You have been judged murderers! You ate of the forbidden flesh! Come! Face justice!”
A cabin to his left exploded.
“Ah, you are the same as the one I slew!”
The behemoth rivaled him in size, though was grotesquely proportioned.
One couldn’t miss that over-sized mouth filled with sharp teeth as the jaw distended like those crushing serpents.
The wild charge seemed like that of a crazed animal until he noticed the others fleeing the ruined cabin in the opposite direction.
“No escape.”
He became as the star in the center of the system upon which all the celestial bodies orbited.
It was one of Adras’ gifts, one which he had yet to progress beyond a rudimentary understanding.
The behemoth shot toward him like a missile.
He punched.
The grotesque mouth snapped shut, shattering teeth on his arm while his fist continued all the way through the back of the behemoth’s head.
The body was dead weight and he shook it off, fighting against his own pull to free his hand and step on the corpse.
All things within his radius flew to him.
Broken cabins and their contents, leaves, branches, tiny woodland animals, some mutated, some not, the cannibals.
He stopped his borrowed power before he was buried in rubble.
The inexorable pull had drawn the cannibals close enough.
Sensing that escape was impossible they turned to fight, transforming into their grotesque combat forms.
They leapt at him like cornered rodents.
Claws and teeth scraped against his bare arms.
“You are weaker than expected.”
He clapped one’s head between his hands, popping it like a grape.
“Or is it that I am stronger?”
He pulled one’s head from her shoulders.
“More the latter than the former. For I was a mere mortal when I fought your kin. The divine flows through my veins now, but I can’t help notice that you are a bedraggled lot, like harried prey ever increasingly driven into the killing ground.”
He stabbed his fingers into a chest, ripping through thick muscle and snapping thicker bone.
The cannibal had ribs like steel plate, though it availed him not.
The last one quailed as Al’s foot descended.
Al stood alone in the silence with only the stench of death to keep him company.
Though not for long.
“Clear?” the captain’s voice crackled.
Al pressed the button on his throat mic.
“It is done. I have slain the Meat Parades. Justice is satisfied. Their victims know peace in whatever afterlife your people belong to.”
The soldiers came out of the forest with their weapons drawn and ready.
They had been wise to keep their distance.
The noise they made would’ve been detected by some of the cannibals judging by the structure of their bat-like ears.
“God damn! Al! That was insane!” Ronald said.
“One should take care invoking the Gods, for they are always listening.”
The young man paled.
“But, fear not, friend Ronald,” he added hastily, “I am Adras’ Will and I act in his name.”
“Appreciate that, but I’ll do better about that, you know, just so I don’t accidentally insult… er… Adras or any other ones.”
“Another cell down,” the captain grunted.
The stern-faced man always looked like he tasted something sour.
“I understand that these Meat Parades were once a greater threat.”
Al knew the answer. It had been part of the briefing. He was merely making conversation as was accepted socially. The Americans weren’t that different from the humans on his home world and the other worlds owned by the pantheon.
The captain looked anywhere except up at Al’s eyes.
“They were.”
Al recognized the man’s discomfort and generously allowed the disrespect.
Another eidolon wouldn’t have been as forgiving, but Al still remembered what it had been like standing next to Theron when he had still been a simple mortal when he had already known eidolons existed.
It must have been doubly difficult for a man that had known no real Gods to stand in the presence of that which was closest to the Gods.
The captain gestured to the empty lots where cabins once stood.
“Good job. You’ve cleared the area, so you saved us the trouble.”
The debris made an almost perfect circle.
“Gonna be tough finding anything in this mess that could point us to more cells. Excuse me, I’ve got to coordinate my men.”
The captain tromped off.
“Yeah, on behalf of the American people, I thank you for your service today and I look forward to more amazing displays!” Ronald smiled.
It reached his eyes.
Al returned it.
“Yeah, the Meat Parade was a pretty big deal around the Mississippi River,” Ronald continued. “We figured they used boats to travel up and down to raid settlements for people… for… uh… food… and converts. Mostly, young people they could indoctrinate for the latter. The Blessed Sacrament they called it. Bunch of blasphemers. Though, I guess you can’t argue against results,” he gestured at the corpses, which had slowly returned to human form in death. “They did get power out of it. Not worth it if you ask me.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“What led to their decline if not your forces?”
“I don’t know. Don’t have the clearance. I’m the guy everyone else gets to order around,” he shrugged.
“I understand. I was once subservient to all, at least that’s what it had felt like at the time. It is pleasing to know that despite being of two different worlds our peoples are similar.”
“Yeah, it’s good that we can work together with our shared values and all,” Ronald said. “I do hear rumors though,” he lowered his voice. “So, the Meat Parade was a terror up until maybe twelve to fifteen years ago. I was still a kid in the bunkers, but we heard things filtered down from the soldiers that went above ground. There was some kind of fight in Kansas over a city between the Christian cult controlling it and the Meat Parade. Something about a golden angel showing up. We think whatever came out of that fight was the beginning of the end for the cannibals. There were less parades, there were less of them over the years and now, hopefully, these are the last of the terrorists. Should be easy to keep them from popping up again. Just keep an eye out for cannibals.”
“A wise decision. There are spells that can detect the nature of what one eats.”
“Are you willing to share that info?”
“I will speak to Sunor’s Will. It might be that we don’t have the means to teach the knowledge. I have never been a spellcaster.”
The angel was a new bit of information that piqued Al’s interest.
He knew of only one type of angel and the connection to the Meat Parade was glaring like a burning lighthouse on a storm-whipped shore.
“What’s next for us?” Ronald said.
“I go where your people need me.”
“This stuff seems like a waste of your strength.”
“It is never a waste to remove dangerous monsters that prey on innocent citizens.”
“Oh yeah, I agree, but these might be the last flesheaters over Level 40. We can handle the rest. Got to level and get stronger for the coming wars. I mean, we can’t let you guys do all the heavy lifting, right?”
“My strength, Adras’ strength is meant to lift those that can’t lift themselves,” he said solemnly.
“I know!” Ronald snapped his fingers. “Recruiting. We’re having a tough time getting people to come back and be Americans again. If they knew people like you were on our side…”
“Yes, to be a shining beacon, an exemplar for mortals to aspire to is one of my order’s mandates.”
Ronald snapped his fingers.
“What about the R.F.C.?”
“I have heard of these Real Freedom Championships.”
“You can participate. They send out enchanted glass orbs all over the country so people can watch. The dragon-president doesn’t give a shit. Even we get free orbs,” he rolled his eyes. “It’s obvious that she’s just doing it to rub it in our face that she’s taken over Florida.”
“I have been commanded not to seek this dragon.”
“Sure, to hunt and kill, but the championships are a sporting event. You have those on your home world?”
“I have yet to journey to a world without.”
“Okay, so then it’s fine. She fights in the Gold Division One Versus One. You can fight her in that. Obviously, not to the death, but you can show everyone your strength. If you beat her then…” he spread his hands.
It took a moment for Al to parse the gesture.
“You’re suggesting that victory over the dragon, though merely sport, will hasten the process of reuniting your scattered nation?”
“It’s just an idea, but I think it’s probably a better use of your time and power than killing monsters and murderers that don’t even make you sweat.”
“You’re words have merit. I’ll consult with my superior and I’ll commend you to yours.”
----------------------------------------
The Eidolon of Sut gazed over the room full of children.
Even with the stooped posture he affected he stood head and shoulders over the tallest specimens.
He noted that the vast majority of the volunteers were of the darker-pigmented variety.
Such was expected for a primitive society.
But he couldn’t abide it.
Pigmentation was irrelevant to his work.
It was what lay within that determined success or failure.
Will mattered about all.
Fortunately, for the children he was a master of his craft and a few preliminary tests would be all it took to rule out those unlikely to thrive with the procedure, let alone survive.
However, that wasted precious time, which he didn’t have.
Fortunately, there were plenty for him work his craft upon.
Only a few would succeed, but that was good enough for the present.
He beckoned his liaison with a crook of his long finger.
“I have provided you with the means to perform the first test.”
“Yes. We’re screening the volunteers according to your instructions.”
“And, yet… this is the fifth batch and I see the same issue repeated.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. We’re following your instructions. You have to understand that our mage-types aren’t close to your level. They’re doing their best.”
“Four previous batches. Only ten percent of each batch was suited to the procedure. Do you understand what would’ve happened to these braves volunteers had providence not nudged me to check the simple work that I had entrusted to you?”
The stone-faced liaison gazed up at him, but wisely refrained from answering.
“Agony beyond what you think you can endure. Then death. A waste of resources for everyone. My rules are simple. The subject must have a chance of success. They must volunteer of their own free will with a full understanding of what the procedure entails. There will be no coercion of any kind. No threats, no bribes, no promises. And no orders. I am starting to think that you Earth humans did not pay attention to my words. Perhaps, I will look elsewhere. Now, go and repeat my words to your superiors.”
“I have my orders,” the liaison said.
“Then the work does not begin.”
The muscles on the liaison’s neck tensed.
Truly, it was fortunate that the humans on this world were essentially the same as the humans on the pantheon’s other worlds. The differences were superficial. Facial features, hair color and other irrelevant traits that didn’t affect his work.
“You will remain simple primitives if you do not abandon your pointless biases. Remove the skin and you won’t find differences. You are all the same within.”
The liaison spun smartly on his heel and stalked out.
“You,” he pointed a crooked finger at the closest volunteer. “Approach.
The young woman set her jaw and marched forward.
“Now,” he smiled, looming over her. “You volunteered for the procedure?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Why?”
“To do my duty, sir!”
“Please, there is no need to shout. I am not your superior officer.”
“Sorry, sir! Sir.”
“And you understand what it entails?”
“They told me what I need to know.”
He waved a hand, casting a bubble of silence the likes of which the primitive mages and primitive technology couldn’t penetrate.
“There, no one can hear your words. So, I demand that you tell me the truth. Not what you think they or I want to hear. There will be no punishment for you. On my word and on my God’s name.”
“You can give me animal powers, but I lose my classes. It might not work and I might die. Also, it’ll hurt a lot, regardless, but I’m good with that. I’ve got a high pain tolerance. Even without the Skill, so it’s not a big deal that I lose my classes. I mean it’s not instant thing, right? So, there might be overlap where I still have the Skill?”
“How old are you in the reckoning of your world?”
“Sixteen.”
“So, not a true child, but still young. You do not truly grasp what you have volunteered to endure. Do you do this out of your own will? Your superiors know that I will not abide coercion in all its forms.”
The child hesitated, which was answer enough.
He pulled out a circle of colored glass, shifting through the myriad colors of existence, holding it to his eye, he scanned the girl.
“You are suitable. However, you are not here of your own free will. So, I shall give you the choice. Proceed or depart. I will ensure that you will face no repercussions.”
“How strong will you make me?”
“I cannot say until the procedure is underway. The range of possible outcomes is as vast as the river that splits your land. Then there are the specializations to take into account. I can only promise that it is my utmost endeavor to bring you to match your spirit perfectly and thereby bring you to the height of your potential. That is the challenge, the art, in what I do.”
“So, like, they said I could be as strong as a Level 30.”
He sighed.
“If you are meant to be a warrior, then that is the lowest possibility. Level 50 equivalent is on the higher end. And if you are that one special grain of sand on the beach, then you might have the chance to reach beyond 60 and above. To be as myth.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely still in.”
“Are you certain? The path I offer is quicker to power than the classes. However, if you are in the majority you will be forever stuck underneath a ceiling you can touch, but not breach.”
“I’m okay with that. I mean the charts say I probably won’t hit Level 30 until I’m, like, 30. And I can’t really make things easy for my family until at least that. I’d have to hit 40 to make sure that my little brother and sister don’t have to fight. If I do this…”
“They bribed you with your family’s safety?”
“No… not exactly.”
“Then they implied that participation would provide benefits.”
She didn’t answer, which was enough.
“I’m tempted to reject you—”
“Please, don’t!”
“Do not interrupt.”
She wisely remained silent.
“However, you are a suitable volunteer and I deem you have the requisite will. The pain will be unbearable and it will seem to last eternity, but if you have truly have the will… if you truly wish to sacrifice yourself for your family then you may have what is necessary to endure and triumph in the end.”
“I do.”
Her gaze never wavered.
“Once the procedure begins there is no stopping it. Death or success. That is all. If you understand then step through the door,” he gestured.
She nodded once then walked around him, opening the door without hesitation and vanishing.
No one else was allowed inside the section of bunker he had claimed and altered for the procedure.
The Earth humans had tried and failed to gain access.
It was for their benefit.
The sight of his flesh golem assistants would’ve been too much for their youthful sensitivities.
The child he had sent in was immediately rendered unconscious by an automated spell as the golems prepared her for the arduous and lengthy process.
Whether she lived or died, he’d honor her sacrifice by offering her family a place in Sut’s embrace.
In exchange for faithful worship he would provide transport to a world where they wouldn’t have to fight nor live under duress. They would be given leave to contribute in the ways they wished to further Sut’s will.
“You are next,” he pointed at the well-built young man with skin as dark as the ebon pools beneath the City of Sut, Twentieth of Its Name on the World of Sut, Fifth of Its Name.
“Unfortunate,” he murmured as he scanned the young man through the myriad glass. “You are unsuitable.”
“What? No—”
“Go,” he waved to the exit. “I will see to it that you and those you care about face no repercussions. I do not waste. Next.”
Out of thirty there were only four suitable volunteers.
If the next batch was not an improvement then he would address his complaints directly with the leader of the primitives. Regardless of the commands laid out by Sunor’s Will.
He had sworn to abide by the words of their appointed leader, but ultimately, his God’s interests trumped all.
----------------------------------------
“Hurry up and wait, huh?” Contrary flicked a knife over her shoulder.
Nicholas caught it between his thumb and forefinger.
“Thanks,” he used the perfectly weighted blade to carve the skin off the apple.
“Um… lieutenant…”
“Let me guess, Kev… you don’t want to say anything, but your class compels you?”
“The skin contains nutrients,” the younger man grinned sheepishly.
“It’s not the class, but the kid’s need to be like a mother hen,” Rico knuckled Kev’s head lightly. “And you keep forgetting… no ranks when we’re not on.”
“Technically, we’re on the hot seat,” Nicholas cut the skinned apple into thin slices, almost to the point of translucence.
“Are you eating an apple or making a pie, cause I don’t see no crust?” Rico said.
“It’s practice, oh, and Kev, I’m eating the skin last.”
“Cause he’s a weirdo like that,” Contrary flicked another knife.
“Hey, watch it! You could put someone’s eye out,” Rico plucked the blade out of the air.
“Then don’t walk through the throwing lane. You see anyone else walking through?” Contrary scoffed.
The others had made a game of it at first.
The rules were simple.
Don’t get stabbed while making the catch look casual.
A panel of judges scored it from 1 to 5.
Then Contrary started using Skills.
Naturally, the contestants used theirs.
Then Contrary used her best ones.
Naturally, the contestants got stabbed.
It was good for the healers at least. They got to practice and cycle their mana.
Captain Patriot had put a stop to it.
The contest.
Not Contrary throwing.
It was good practice.
“Hey, Nicholas,” Rico flicked the blade in an arc.
“What, Rico?” he caught it and flicked it right back to Contrary, who added it to the handful she juggled lazily while reading.
“You bored?”
“Why do you ask questions when you already know the answers?”
“It’s rhetorical. Philosopher tactics. You know how it is. Anyways, how about we give it another go?”
“You’re gonna have to be specific cause…”
“We got nothing to do, so, why don’t you give it another shot?”
“Specifics?”
“The creepy mad scientist alien. Find out what he’s doing to our guys.”
“I got caught the first time I tried. And orders are orders. No one’s even supposed to look in his direction.”
“Sure, but that was before he really got started, maybe he’s distracted now. C’mon, it’s been a month and no one’s come back. You can’t be cool with this?”
“I don’t know enough to know whether to be cool or not. But, it does bug me that they switched it up like that,” he snapped his fingers, “from really wanting to find out what he’s doing to not even wanting a sniff.”
“And there’s all those animals they keep shipping,” Kev said.
“I don’t even know where to start with that,” Rico threw his hands up.
“Lt. Death’s Dancer!” Captain Patriot suddenly appeared at the doorway.
Everyone snapped to attention.
Contrary’s knives clattered.
“As you were,” she said.
“Captain?”
“My office in five.”