Adira slept with nightmares so often that she found it ironic for one to sleep at the same camp as her. Before she only dreamed that the monster was gonna hunt her while she was a kid. Now the dreaded arachne slept within reach.
The girl woke up in a cold sweat running her eyes to see if Skreetha crept on her, or if it was just a dream. A night sky welcomed her into its embrace. It was just a scary dream again, but one that pulled her out of sleep for a good while.
Adira sighed. Another night under the stars enduring the company of the cold stares from the Demigod of Darkness Salgos. He was always quizzical to find her awake at night. Luckily, not asking any questions. Actually, where was the Demigod?
The girl looked around and did not find his giant figure. His aura still lingered in the air. The one thing the huntress never expected to get used to. He was around but not in the camp. His absence made her uneasy. With nothing better to do, she picked her glaive and stood up.
She did not search for long. As she walked outside of the camp she heard his distinct voice. Coming closer Adira started to pick up on words. He and somebody else answering the Demigod.
“Biryar, Xylothos, Dolathor, and Desta. A powerful alliance. They robbed us all.” A fractured voice stretched through the air. As if the leaves of the trees were forming a speech. Salgos answered it.
“But mortals never change. They will lie and they will fight. How did you and Kargorath lose your power?”
“The System was made such-”' The voice stopped abruptly. And Adira felt something creep over her. “I sense curious ears joining us.” She was caught even before she began to listen. A pair of hands fell on her shoulder, long nails buried dangerously into her armor, almost piercing the skin. She was unable to run. The girl looked back only to find a figure covered from head to toe in rags and shadows. It was smiling deviously, that was the only feature discernable from the veiled man.
“You can not eavesdrop on me unnoticed, little one. I invented it.” The shadow whispered in her ear. The surroundings served as his voice, sounds reached from every corner of the forest. “What do you want me to do with her, my dear friend?”
Salgos stepped out of the night. He eyed the girl judgingly considering what he should do with her.
Adira did not mean to eavesdrop. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but her voice would not come out. For the moment she was stripped of her free will. She could not sense her class or anything else from the System. Not even her mana or health. The creature held the girl paralyzed. The cold realization crawled through her spine. She was not a Godslayer anymore as if System never touched her. Every fiber of her is submitted to the will of the looming shadow behind.
“She can listen.” Salgos had decided. The shadow scoffed in surprise and let Adira go. She felt how control over her body returned. She jumped awkwardly, not fully relieved from the paralyzing sensation. Still, the huntress pulled her glaive and pointed towards the figure. Only to find nothing in the night.
“I thought you do not like someone sticking their nose into your conversations.” The figure now stood side by side with Salgos.
“She is an ally.”
“I see.” The weird figure withdrew slightly. Adira managed to get a better look at him. He was wrapped in the cloak of night. Darkness flew onto him forming a dress. Standing side by side with Salgos he looked small, but that’s because the Dark Demigod was twice the normal height. The hooded man's image vibrated with slight movements blurring his contour.
“Why Gods' Alliance made the System?”
“Such impatience. You see, they robbed us of the ability to affect mortals outside of the System.” That caught Adira’s attention. To whom did he refer as us? The girl lowered her weapon and leaned closer. But the whispers of the man did not become louder. “They gave mortals these classes. Our blessings must pass through the System to change their class.”
“So they will get the power from it.”
“Yes. The power is now bound to the System. It circulates inside it, and only small portions are released to us.” Adira looked between the two talking like she was not there. The girl was more and more confused about why she was allowed in this conversation. Moreover, what it all meant.
“That is clever. So you want me to destroy it?”
“I do not want to ask you anything. I simply wish you to accept my proposition.” Destroy the System? But what is there gonna be if not the System? The voice of the Goddess accompanied mortals for millennials. Some say, from the beginning of age. Others, that the Goddess of Light defeated the God of Darkness and manifested herself as the System to aid humanity for eternity. The greatest sacrifice. Adira looked up to see if Salgos agreed to aid this malevolent figure against the System.
“I only want to save Celesia. You are a burden to me.”
“Well then. It is a shame you will not accept my oversight. I could have provided you with more information.”
“I do not change my allegiances like Gods do.”
“Your hate towards Gods is what makes you predictable. And trust me, they do predict what you are gonna do.”
“Leave.” It was the first time the girl noticed a hint of emotions in his voice. He was irritated by the man. Frankly, the huntress felt the same. The cloaked figure smiled and disappeared, but his voice still lingered in the air.
“Know this. They know you are coming for them. They are preparing. Some Demigods are already looking to kill you. This game is bigger than simple Gods. The big guys are involved. You would need allies to fight them.” His words left like a breeze, leaving the girl alone with the Dark Demigod.
“Who was that?” Adira felt nervous about God’s presence. Somehow she felt his presence under her skin the whole time she was around him. Only now the girl felt the grave feeling creep away.
“Trillesyn, the God of Lies.” The girl shivered recognizing the name. A God who actually communicated with humans for his own benefit. Usually, he caused catastrophes around the world. His lies led to the fall of many kingdoms.
“Did you believe him?” Learning about him, it was only natural to ask.
“He did lie, but the information he gave me is true.” The Demigod moved back to the camp not paying much attention to the huntress. Adira was still too curious to hold questions boiling on her tongue. Since the Demigod of Darkness was talking she decided to get as much information as she could from him.
“Why do you say I am your ally?”
“From worst places the darkness blooms. People carrying sorrow in their hearts are fallible to darkness. That is why I think you are an ally.”
“I am not your ally. If I was powerful enough I would’ve fought you.” The girl thought it was a good idea to be direct.
“Yet you are not powerful. You do not notice that, but only Darkness was your ally for a long time.” Adira frowned. Salgos was surprisingly accurate. Maybe his powers allowed to see inside of her, but the huntress was also able to see through his plan.
“And you want to use that to recruit me?”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I think you have the mind to understand my goals. I do not intend to make you take sides. My conquest against Gods is righteous. I trust you will see it that way.” Adira huffed, unable to agree with the Demigod. Maybe Galen could help her peel lies from the truths later, but for now, she was willing to play along.
“If you want to convince me you would have to tell me everything from the beginning.” Salgos turned. He looked at the girl evaluating her. His red eyes sparked under the helmet, and the Demigod nodded.
“I will show you.” He raised his arm. A black cocoon sprung from the ground. Slightly taller than the huntress. Then it came alive. A huge crack split it from the bottom to the top, leaking shadows like smoke. Adira immediately understood what it was for.
“I am not going there.”
“Be not afraid. If we are earning each other's trust, somebody has to take the first step. I allowed you into my conversation with Trillesyn. Now it is your turn to trust me.”
Hesitantly the girl looked at the inviting hole in the black coffin. Normally nothing in the world would make her go inside. However, when a Demigod of Darkness tries to buy your trust, normal is out of the picture. Knowing that he could have hurt her in myriad other ways the girl hesitantly stepped inside.
Cold shadows wrapped around Adira. The crack stitched together behind her with a slithering noise, entombing the girl. Completely blind she reached to the sides in search of walls. But there were none. The cocoon was much bigger inside. The young huntress stumbled in the dark, and walked a few steps forward, in search of support. It felt almost like walking on very viscous water.
“Forgive me if it will be painful. The System resists my intrusion.” The girl heard Salgos’s voice resounding around her. Her head started to throb. Invisible force squeezed her from all sides. It started to burn and Adira screamed in pain. The flames broke through a barrier around her and enveloped the girl like a layer of skin. The pain stopped and serenity surrounded Adira. She thought she died and that was the afterlife for how sudden the change was.
Before she cursed her trust to the Demigod the blackness morphed catching her attention. Somehow, with no light, the huntress began to see differences in black shapes. At first, they jumped like waves of the sea hitting the cliffs. Then the shapes started to gain forms, they changed from cubes and spheres to more complex objects, until they began to look like humans, and then like monsters.
“Mortals.” Salgos’s voice thundered again. “They are conduits for Gods' power. Without Gods, mortals are simply living creatures. They will not have access to mana.” The black sea flowed again. A powerful wizard stood in front of Adira. He wielded all four elements at the tips of his fingers. Spinning them proudly at his leisure. Another figure grew behind him. It looked wild and divine at the same time.
“When a mortal gains access to mana, he borrows the power of a God. Using it, his life force is taken to mix with raw mana. The result produces a spell. It's harmless for mortals. Their natural recovery allows them to heal without noticing. Everyone has their own limitations for how much life force they can spend at once.”
A stream of power grew from the wizard's chest towards the elements in his fingers, supplying and sustaining them. A thread reached from the God standing behind the man towards the power source in his body.
“That is why going beyond the mana pool causes exhaustion and internal damage in severe cases.” Adira guessed what it meant.
“We used to call it magical capacity, but you are right.”
“So if Gods supply mana, and we use it, then what is it for Gods?”
“You are asking the right question. Gods are getting the results.” The wizard’s magic shone brighter. Four strong streams reached towards God, closing the cycle. “When humans use their magic, they add their power to it. The amount that was initially sent comes back tenfold. That is how Gods gain power.”
Adira noticed that all of that could exist without classes and attributes. Which begged the question.
“But what does it have to do with the System?”
“Gods are giving blessings to mortals of their choosing. That is how mortals gain access to the magic of God. The more mortals use God’s power, the more powerful is the God. All Gods are fighting to control more mortals.” A cage appeared over the wizard, cutting the threads between God and the man. “This process was interrupted.”
Four figures appeared above the cage. The girl looked at the mix of their faces. But she did not recognize any of them.
“Every mortal is now powered by the System, not the God directly.” The magic began streaming towards the figures.
“The System sustains you. Grants you power. In exchange you fuel it. Every time you use one of the attributes you are given or spend mana, you take this power from the System.”
“Which is always.” Adira found it hard to imagine a situation where she would not use the System. It defined her powers and her physical abilities. Her every breath could be supported by the attributes she inherited with her class. That meant she was powering the System like a forest fueling the fire.
“Correct.” The figure of the wizard changed to Adira’s own image. The huntress shivered looking at the clone made out of shadows. It activated “Odium Steps.” A familiar golden light spread from its heels and radiant flames danced around the calves.
“Only Demigods could use “Odium Steps” and were not incinerated by it. Now somehow the System protects you from harm. You do not have as much mana as a Demigod, still you are alive.” Adira noticed a small gap between her clone’s body and the flames. Pure mana was repelling the effect of the magic. If what Salgos said is true then the protection must use a lot of mana.
The girl looked closer to the shadow clone. Her mind tried to focus on all the new information. At least it explained why her spells ate mana in seconds when even the weakest mages could spend all day casting magic.
Finally, Adira had to ask the question that bothered her the most since she learned about the nature of the System.
“Who are the Gods behind all of this?”
“It is the God of Order, the God of Chaos, the God of Choice, and the Goddess of Destiny.” When he called their titles, the figures controlling the System came to light one by one. Not only did Adira know their names but also what they looked like. The God of Order looked like a regal man with sharp and just features on his face. God of Chaos had red skin and a square rowdy face, but also closely resembled a human. God of Choice was a man who looked like his face was stitched together in the middle from two different faces. And the Goddess of Destiny reminded her of the wise old lady from her village, except she was not blind, and likely did not tell children the stories from past times.
“They formed the alliance and made the System. It involves the witch Celesia.” Salgos’s voice roared around Adira for the last time.
The shadows peeled away from the top to bottom. The black sky torn asunder releasing the girl from the embrace of the shadow-clothed cocoon. Her legs did not hold her straight, and the huntress collapsed on the ground. Adira’s body slowly recovered as if the power was pumped back into her like in a balloon. Finally, she managed to lift her head from the ground, pushing with her arms, and met Salgos’s gaze. She could have complained about the treatment she had, but there were more important questions.
“Why does the Alliance need all of this power?” Her voice was weak. Luckily Salgos heard her.
“It is the nature of Gods' game. They compete for power and influence. The more power they have, the more followers they can influence. They need to grow their power, otherwise they starve.” Adira nodded and sat on the ground. Suddenly she gagged and coughed out shadows of her mouth. The raw magical shadow burned in the air with purple sparks and disappeared. The Demigod noticed her uncomfortable state. “I know the procedure was not welcoming. Thank you for your trust.”
“You said Gods can starve?” The girl changed the topic.
“Starved, killed, or dethroned of their Title. Each God has its Title controlling a certain aspect of the world. Each God dreams to collect enough of his own power to overthrow one of the three Greater Gods.” Adira never heard of the Greater Gods. But when Salgos explained, she recognized them. The God of Nature, God of Time, and God of Space. The myths say all monsters and Gods of the world live on the body of the God of Nature. That’s how powerful he is. His existence alone supports the whole world that the Gods were using.
Legends say the three Gods fractured into many other Gods who are now known to people. As it turned out, the legends are not always true. According to legends, the Goddess of Light Visir must be the strongest God ruling over mortals. However, it is the alliance of four Gods that is in control of the world. Their System was thought to be a gift from the Goddess of Light. People believe they hear her voice congratulating them on leveling up, granting them more power.
“What will happen if you destroy the System?”
“I do not know what will happen to you. Probably everything would be back as it used to be.” Salgos did not actually answer Adira’s question. Probably for a good reason. He could not explain what it's like to live without the System himself. Same as Adira could not explain to him how it feels to have it.
“What will you do after you achieve what you want?” The girl asked, after settling aside the thoughts about Gods and their power struggle.
“If what I think about Celesia is true I will fight the Gods. I need an Empire of Darkness so I can rule over the world.”
That was not what Adira expected. So far Demigod’s motives sounded almost noble to her. He aimed to save his beloved witch. Now all of it got more twisted. The witch was tied to the System and it was unclear what would happen if they save Celesia. Possibly, the whole world is going to lose the support of the System. The girl did not want to know what it was like to live without her class and attributes. To separate right from wrong she must have someone to discuss it. Adira knew she could only go to Galen for aid. Which was a problem. For the past couple of days, her trust in the archer rapidly declined.