“I should think your choice obvious, Avatar.”

Callan blinked at Kivi. She stared back at him, expression unreadable. Finally, he said, “I would counter it’s not, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking you in the first place.”

“Hmm.” Kivi considered him for a moment. “You say you were offered four choices—the same two previous orisons, along with this Rock Fling—”

“Sling.”

“—Rock Sling, yes. And Heat Stone. So yes, the choice is obvious.”

Callan resisted the urge to scrub his face with the palm of his hand. “Do you want to try that a third time? A little slower, maybe?”

“You should take Rock Sling.”

“Okay. Thank you. That explains everything in a nice, succinct package.”

What are you talking about, Mortal??? That doesn’t explain anything!

“I know that, Xeph!” Callan threw up his hands and started pacing back and forth across the small guest house while Kivi watched him from the bed. “I was being sarcastic! You know what sarcasm is, I know you do, I’ve heard you use it before.”

Hmmph. Maybe if you enunciated the tone of your voice properly—

Callan turned back to Kivi. “Explain your reasoning, High Priestess. Because honestly, Dveorgvision feels like the solid choice.”

“Dveorgvision offers us no significant advantage against Veritas.”

“Yeah, and we won’t be fighting Veritas forever. I’m trying to think in terms of long term here.”

“True, but we will also be fighting Zavastu again, eventually.” Kivi stated it like such a known fact that Callan couldn’t bring himself to argue. Honestly, even on his more optimistic days he felt like a fight with the fire goddess would be inevitable. No way someone that powerful just took what he’d done to her priests lying down.

And if the wind god Athakolu was willing to follow Veritas all the way to some remote plateau in the Badlands just to finish the job, he didn’t doubt for a second that a temperamental fire goddess would do the same.

Luckily, that was a problem for a much, much later worry. He turned his attention back to Kivi. “Alright, so Dveorgvision is lacking in combat applications. There’s still Heat Stone.”

“For which the future combat applications are unknown. Even Xeph admits he doesn’t know how much work it would take for you to make it combat-feasible.”

Technically, all I said is that I was unaware of which tier it advanced past the melting point of stone, Xeph grumbled. I imagine it will have combat applications well before then.

“Yeah, good point, Xeph.” Callan grinned at Kivi. “See? Xeph agrees with me. Also, Heat Stone would give more than combat flexibility. There are also its uses around the temple.”

“Except we are already retrofitting the temple to allow for more conventional cooking, and whatever source heats the water for bathing appears to still be functioning. I do not see us gaining any advantage with that particular orison in the short term.”

Right. Curse the longevity of dveorgan construction.

“Furthermore, even Xeph acknowledged that any improvements to Heat Stone would apply only to you. Priests such as I would be stuck with the most basic version of the orison, at least for the next several years. I do not think we have that long until Zavastu retaliates.”

She’s mostly right, Xeph noted. Should you tier up the orison sufficiently, certain benefits will flow to our priests regardless. But it is highly dependent on significant increases to our follower counts. Which I don’t foresee in the near future, not with the limited population of the badlands as it is.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be hitting the next tier any time soon, either.” Callan still hadn’t forgotten about the massive increase to follower counts required by his Gypsum tier. Another hundred followers just to reach the second level? It was insane.

“So that rules out two of the orisons,” Kivi said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, fine. But what about Caltrops? That could be useful for fortifications, both here and around the temple.”

“Yes, this is true.” Kivi paused a moment before adding, “But I fear it would be mostly useless against Zavastu’s more elite troops. Do you recall the Flameform her archon possessed?”

“Sure. Hard to forget a set of friggin flame wings,” Callan noted dryly. Then it clicked. “Oh, right. They’d just fly over them.”

“Exactly. But with Rock Sling, even the most untrained of priests immediately has an applicable weapon for taking them down. Or just an attack that can be used from a distance. We already possess multiple tools with close-range applications. Rock Sling is the only orison that expands those options.”

Callan held up his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, I get it, High Priestess. You know you could have just told us all of that in the first place, right?”

“Yes, well, as I said, I thought the answer obvious.”

“Of course you did.” Sighing, Callan pulled up his interface again and found the menu for his new orison. He selected Rock Sling.

That left him with eleven points of faith to spend. As Kivi watched with an amused expression on her face, Callan continued pacing, discussing his next move with Xeph.

“I kind of feel like it might be good to raise my new orison a few levels, but I’m guessing if I do that, I won’t be able to bring either of the other two up to Gypsum tier.”

Correct. With each tier, there is an additional cost to all things, be they your stats, bounties, or other gifts. Both in conviction and in faith.

“Yeah, I knew about the conviction already.” Callan recalled the first time he’d tried raising his orisons to the next tier. No paying in installments. “But what about faith? How much is that going to set me back?”

Why not see for yourself. You have the means and resources now to unlock the second tier for Shape Stone and Wurmchain, even if we lack the faith to actually utilize both of them.

Callan glanced over at the sack of memory shards that Belinda had sent over. With his conviction pool completely drained at the moment, he’d need to eat twenty of the prickly things to unlock both orisons. Despite his efforts, a sigh escaped his lips.

Mortal?

“Just... steeling myself, is all.” He picked up a handful of stones.

What a strange expression. Is the act of turning yourself to metal a figurative gesture, or...?

Rolling his eyes, Callan didn’t answer, instead swallowing down one handful of memory shards after another. That finally brought his pool up to a full ten points.

With that, he summoned his first orison and confirmed an unlock. His conviction all drained away.

The orison: Shape Stone has now been unlocked at the Gypsum tier!

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Would you like to improve the orison: Shape Stone? Cost = 10 Faith

Yep. It was just as Callan had suspected. Just reaching the next level of Gypsum required ten times as many followers, so why wouldn’t upgrades?

“Please tell me that stat upgrades also don’t go up that much,” he said, trying to keep the strain out of his voice. Xeph chuckled.

Would you like me to lie, or...?

“Xeph.”

Do not fear, human. While there is an increase in stat costs at each tier, it follows a different progression than your orisons. After all, as I’ve said before, the intention is to have an avatar focus on improving their physical traits, so they are better prepared for wielding the powers that come with the later tiers.

That mollified Callan somewhat. He turned his attention back to his orisons. “Which one should I raise to Gypsum?”

If you wish my opinion, I recommend Shape Stone. You are not quite prepared to handle the additional strain of Wurmchain. Once you have mastered adjusting the chain length, then it will be a viable improvement.

“Okay, fair enough.” Callan confirmed the message. It winked away, to be replaced by another.

You have improved the orison: Shape Stone to Gypsum — I

Apotheosis cost adjusted to 10% per eight cubic foot of stone.

Range improved to 25 feet.

Total cost = 10 Faith

That faith cost made Callan wince, but dang if that wasn’t a significant power improvement just like Xeph had promised. From one cubic foot to eight—he did some quick math, and realized it was now a 2x2x2 foot cube. Plus the improvement to range, too.

Nice.

That left a single point of faith. He flicked it into raising his newest orison another level, just to see what the effect would be.

You have improved the orison: Rock Sling to Talc — II

Range improved to 11 feet.

Total cost = 1 Faith

Okay, that was about what he’d expected. A little improvement in utility, but not much. He’d probably have been better off dropping the point into Fortitude, but that might have just been his cynicism talking.

Stretching, he turned towards Kivi. “It’s done.”

“Excellent.” She rose from the bed. “Come. Let us go see what this new orison is capable of.”

“What, like, right now?”

Kivi glanced at him curiously. “Of course. Unless you’re urgently needed for work in the fields?”

Realization dawned on Callan. A grin spread across his face. “I guess not.”

“Then we shall collect Paeral and Sworv and see about mastering our latest ability.”

----------------------------------------

“Watch, brother. I can easily beat that pathetic toss of yours.” Sworv scrunched up his face in concentration. A moment later, a rock roughly the size of Callan’s fist appeared, hovering beside Sworv’s shoulder for a moment before zipping off. It dropped to the ground some ten feet away, right next to Paeral’s stone.

“You were saying?” There was a definite note of laughter in Paeral’s voice. His brother let out a harumph.

“Need I remind both of you that this is a test of your new ability, and not a contest?” Kivi said, frustration obvious in her voice. Both brothers shrunk in embarrassment.

Sighing, Kivi took aim, then released a stone of her own. It was slightly smaller than the one created by either brother, but it still flew just as fast, landing between theirs with a soft thunk.

“Nice, High Priestess.” Callan raised his hands and sought out the new ball of glowing light inside of himself, finding it, he watched as a circle expanded outward, showing the range to which he could fire. The edge of the circle ended just a foot past the stones of the priests.

“Hurray for upgrades, I guess,” he muttered, then activated the orison. At the same time the circle disappeared, a stone materialized beside his shoulder before blasting away.

Alert: 10% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 10%

“Excellent work, Avatar,” Paeral said appreciatively as the stone landed past all of the others.

“Yeah, well, there are advantages to being an avatar, I guess.” Callan tried to sound nonchalant, but it was hard to keep the grin out of his voice. Not only did his stone go farther, but it was easily the biggest of all four of theirs. Though he suspected that was more an aspect of his own innate strength than from upgrading the ability.

Unfortunately, his grin didn’t last long. As he’d known already, he could only fire the stone twice without risking apotheosis. That shouldn’t be a problem, after all the two brothers could only fire one stone before requiring time to rest, but Kivi...

Dangit if the high priestess couldn’t manage three stones.

“Why?” he asked Xeph, while the two older lud jabbered excitedly about this discovery. “Shouldn’t I wield the most power as the avatar? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Kivi, but...”

You wield more power, but spread across many areas. It is not just your orisons I have gifted you with, but also your manifestation, your dispensations, not to mention the increase to your physical attributes. Would you trade all of that for the ability to fire a stone one more time?

“No, I suppose not.”

Do not dwell upon this discovery overlong, mortal. The high priestess possesses a great innate strength, yes, but she does not have nearly so far to climb to reach the heights of her power. With practice and devotion, she might fire a fist-sized stone another one or two more times, but it shall never become more powerful, not until you and I gift her with the potential to do so.

Callan didn’t argue further, half because he acknowledged what Xeph was saying, and half because he realized that more than that, they needed whatever advantages they could get. If Kivi could fire three stones, all that meant was another tool in their belt.

“Ah, Avatar?” He glanced over and found Paeral looking up at him. Kivi and Sworv had both moved some distance away and were currently engrossed in examining the leftover stones. Kivi’s face was screwed up in concentration, likely trying—and failing—to manipulate one with Shape Stone, while Sworv was banging two of them together. To what purpose Callan could only guess.

Turning his attention back to Paeral, he said, “Yes?”

“Apologies, we haven’t had much opportunity to speak since coming to Aos.”

Callan blinked. “Did we need to?”

Immediately, he felt bad about saying that. After all, it wasn’t as if he didn’t want to get to know Xeph’s priests better—if only to avoid any future issues with family clashes and such. Still, with everything going on in Aos right now, he kind of needed his focus.

His worries were ameliorated as Paeral waved a dismissive hand. “No, no, I suppose not. It not your duty to worry about one as insignificant as I.”

“Uh, sure. So, was there something you wanted to talk about?”

Paeral bobbed his head. “It is just... I was initially concerned about this whole matter with the other avatar. The fact that you did not share this information with us until after our arrival. Almost as if you were afraid that we might turn tail and run.”

Callan shifted uncomfortably. That had been the reason, or at least one of them. Before he could say anything, Paeral continued, “However, after much introspection, I realized the truth behind why you remained silent, and I wish you to know that I understand, and bear no ill will towards you or the high priestess. In fact, I commend the wisdom of your decision.”

Oh no. Callan suspected he knew where this was heading. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “And why is that, do you think?”

“Well, the answer is obvious. Though somewhat groundless. I am not such a fool that I would have revealed your true plans to my brother. A fact which I’m sure you’ve learned over the course of our journey.”

As he said this, he cast a scowl back at Sworv over his shoulder. Callan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Inside his head, Xeph’s laughter was like a rumbling echo through a subterranean cave.

Is this that déjà vu you speak of, mortal? I feel I am beginning to understand the term.

“Yeah, for once you’re actually catching on, Xeph.”

Indeed, I—wait, what do you mean, ‘for once’?

Callan turned back to Paeral. “So you think your brother would have turned tail and run back home?”

“Of course?”

“Funny, he said the same thing about you.” The words were past Callan’s lips before realized he had spoken. Paeral’s face immediately ballooned with anger.

“He did, did he?”

Before there was a chance to try and patch the situation up, the lud turned away from Callan and stormed over to his brother. “Sworv!”

“What is it now, brother?”

“You arrogant Daisa! How dare you speak of me as if I were a... were a...” the lud appeared so overcome with rage that he was unable to speak further. Sworv immediately filled in the gap.

“Daisa, am I? Need you forget, brother, I am now Leadership, same as yourself! So be careful where you go casting such accusations, lest I call you before the council of elders for slander. What would your precious wife think of that? Or her mother? Hmm?”

“You leave Revak out of this!”

“I try to, but you seem intent on forcing her into every conversation we have. And while we’re on the subject of lower caste, need I remind you that your wife is still a lowly Bii—”

Paeral growled and raised a hand. His Wurmchain formed inside it.

Mortal!

“Already on it!” Callan lunged forward, seizing Paeral by the wrist. The lud stared at him in shock, though whether it was for Callan or himself was hard to tell. The chain dissipated into sulphureous smoke.

“Avatar! I didn’t—I never meant—”

“Yeah, I think we all know what you meant.” Callan glowered at both the brothers in turn. “I’ve had it up to here with your bickering—it’s an expression, Xeph, not a literal measurement. Don’t even start!” He shook his head. “Listen, I was waiting until we returned home to announce this, but I think it’s time we all had a little talk about this caste system of yours.”

“Avatar...” Kivi said warningly.

“Your objections are noted, Kivi. And dismissed.” He locked eyes with the brothers. “Listen, Xeph and I have decided—”

“Avatar!” Lisson came running towards them, skidding to a halt a few feet away, hands pressed to knees as he heaved for breath. A moment of sucking at air later and he glanced up again. “You need to come with me right away!”

“Why, what’s going on?” Callan asked.

“It’s Rictee! He’s been murdered!”