Chapter 13

Lazarus did not immediately react to Jackson’s story. His expression was blank, but Jackson could see thoughts swirling in those eyes of his. Or maybe that was just because he was a spirit. When Lazarus did speak, his voice was measured, as if he were carefully picking each word.

“I have a lot to say on this, but I would like to table my comments on your tale for later. Instead, would you be willing to listen to my request?”

Jackson nodded slowly, wondering what Lazarus’s thoughts on his story were, but he did not press. He held up his hand before Lazarus started speaking.

“Hold on a moment; before you get into it, I have been neglecting my progress. I have some attribute points to spend.”

Lazarus raised an eyebrow, and then suddenly, his expression grew thoughtful, and he said,

“I really think you should listen to my request first; it might have more of an impact than you think.”

That piqued Jackson’s curiosity, so he nodded and gestured for Lazarus to continue.

“Before my transition to spiritual form, I put my coven into a kind of stasis; we call it the blood sleep. They are in a sealed realm, sealed with my own weaves. I cannot get to them myself, not without being taken there. I would like you to assist me in getting there. In exchange, I will bind myself to your service, assisting you with your progression and offering you my knowledge and guidance.”

When he was done speaking, Lazarus watched Jackson, waiting for him to make a decision. Jackson chewed on his lip. It wasn’t that he did not want Lazarus’s help; his offer was a good one; he just wondered if he could get a little more out of the deal.

“Can’t you help me fight?” Jackson inquired.

Lazarus shook his head.

“No. Even if I could, I would not. The Judge awards players based on the challenges of the obstacles and encounters they face. Should I help you in combat by taking such direct actions, you would never progress. You cannot cheat Eden’s Avatar, young fledgling.”

Jackson sighed; of course that would be the case. He thought about it a little more, but he could see nothing else he could get out of the deal, so he nodded.

“You have a deal,” Jackson confirmed to Lazarus.

Lazarus gave him a wide grin and flicked a hand towards him. Surprisingly, a message from the Judge unfurled in Jackson’s mind.

Lazarus has offered you a pact! In exchange for your help finding his lost coven in a sealed realm, he will become your guide and mentor on your journey through Eden and be bound to your soul. Doing this will grant Lazarus access to your player profile and all notifications related to it. This relationship will continue until such a time as you find Lazarus’s coven, at which point your Pact will be renegotiated. Do you agree?

Jackson read it over and gave his confirmation to the Judge. He wasn’t sure about Lazarus having access to his player profile, but as their conversation progressed, he began to like the ancient spirit, and the seed of trust had been planted. Plus, he could smash Lazarus’s skull if he wanted to, and he was certain that Lazarus would take care of it if he did betray him.

Lazarus’s eyes flashed the same color as the orbs that floated in the sockets of his skull. He grunted in satisfaction.

“Excellent. Your profile isn’t bad. I expected you to be a little higher level, but that’s okay; you’ll get there. I am surprised that you’re an enchanter; I have not seen that in a while. Now then, before you put points into your attributes, tell me what you know about them, fledgling.”

Lazarus’s tone had taken on a not a lecturing tone, but rather the tone of someone used to teaching or guiding. Jackson answered him,

“Not much. I know they are a representation of myself in a way, and I know they govern what skills I can learn. All of it has a kind of synergy with my Domain.”

Lazarus nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s right, though it isn’t everything. Attributes, more than anything else, are critical for your advancement,” Lazarus said.

Jackson blinked, trying to stay focused through all the pain and exhaustion.

“How so?” Jackson asked, rubbing his eyes. Lazarus watched him, clearly seeing his exhaustion, but he went on.

“You said it yourself; it governs what skills you can learn and use. Think about that,” he urged.

Jackson tried, and he honestly did, but the thoughts would not flow. He couldn’t see what Lazarus meant, and he told him so. The spirit let out an annoyed sound.

“I can see that your exhaustion is taking its toll. I prefer to guide my fledglings to the answer, but very well. Domains level based on your attributes, which are a reflection of your Domain and overall strength.”

A question occurred to Jackson then, cutting through the fog in his mind.

“Wouldn’t a player just naturally do that, though? After all, we get an attribute point at every level. Surely that’s enough that no one would ever have an issue,” Jackson asked.

Lazarus smiled, pleased at Jackson’s question.

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“It isn’t even close to enough, dear fledgling. To reach Journeyman Rank alone you need two attributes at level twenty-five. You do the math.”

Jackson whistled,

“That’s fifty points just to get to Journeyman. That is an absurd amount of points.”

Lazarus nodded,

“It is indeed, my dear young fledgling. Apprentice lasts until level twenty-five, and journeyman lasts until level one hundred. That is a whopping two-hundred points in attributes, just to get to Expert Rank, and most waste them, putting points willy-nilly into their attributes, and this leads to being unable to advance their Domain, and thus their growth stagnates.”

Jackson shook his head, both amazed and grateful. He could have fallen into the same trap without Lazarus.

“Is there any way around it? Any way someone can fix it, I mean?” Jackson asked.

Lazarus waved a hand.

“Sometimes the Judge will grant attribute scrolls as rewards for completing quests, dungeons, or particularly hard encounters. However, by that point, it would take a tremendous amount of work to rectify.”

Jackson leaned his head back, thinking, and finally, he looked at the spirit.

“How would you recommend I spend my points then?” Jackson questioned.

Lazarus’s eyes shone with approval.

“You need to keep your path firmly in mind. Too many try to go in too many directions. A warrior wants to throw fireballs, so he invests in his mind and will. Or a mage wants to wear plate armor and be able to select skills that help take hits, so he invests in strength and constitution, despite having several points in both mind and will. It happens all the time and in many different ways. The Eden Tree isn’t fair; you’re not meant to be able to do everything. Yet time and again, people try to anyway. My advice is thus, fledgling, know what kind of path you wish to walk and choose two attributes that represent that path.”

Jackson considered his advice, chewing on his lip. It was good advice, and his path was pretty clear as it was. He was good with weaving and enchanting. His class even had acolyte in the name, which was perhaps the strongest indicator that he was on a magic path of advancement, more than anything else. He had five available attribute points he could spend. He decided to split them between mind and will, putting two extra points into will. With that, he decided to bring up his profile; it had been a while since he had decided to look at it.

Name: Jackson Grey

Level: 15

Race: Human (Shown) Vampyre (Hidden)

Lives: 2

Domain: Aspects: Blood and Destruction

Class: Vampyre Acolyte (Hidden Class) Acolyte Class (Shown Class)

Attributes: Mind: 13, Strength: 12, Dexterity: 16, Constitution: 15, Will: 18

Skills: Minor Regeneration (Apprentice Level 1), Consume Blood (Apprentice Level 1), Hidden Bloodline (Basic Level 1), Analyze (Apprentice Level 6) Enchanting (Journeyman Level 1)

Weaves: Blood Lightning (Apprentice Level 1)

Eden Coins: 9910

Faction: Unsworn

A slight pang of sadness echoed through Jackson’s heart as he saw his katana skill stricken from his profile. He wouldn’t ever be able to pick up a blade again. Yet it had been necessary and right to make that choice. Lazarus clapped his hands,

“Well, that’s settled. You will need to continue this way; you’re already a little behind since your path has essentially changed a bit, causing your previous attribute points to be essentially wasted.”

Jackson hadn’t thought about that, but Lazarus was correct; by changing his path, it rendered the points he had previously spent wasted. At least the points he put into dexterity and constitution. Jackson sighed and slumped to the ground against a wall. He waved Lazarus away.

“I need to sleep. I’m too tired to think anymore,” Jackson said.

Lazarus held up a finger,

“Sleep won’t heal you, you know. Your minor regeneration skill will help a bit, but without blood or a healing potion, you’re going to be critically wounded like this for a long while.”

Jackson had stopped listening; his eyes, which felt like lead weights, were closing, and he allowed himself to fall into a deep slumber.

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The pain still throbbed like a constant burn when Jackson woke up. Despite that, he did feel a little better, in the sense that his thoughts flowed a little better and he no longer felt like he was slogging through a bog. In fact, he was fairly certain the pain had gone down, if minutely. Compared to where he was at, it was a vast improvement, and he almost wept from the relief that washed over him. Lazarus looked up; he was sitting on his sarcophagus. His expression was relieved.

“Finally! I thought I would be waiting for you to wake up forever. Did you know that you snore?”

“Har har,” Jackson said to him. He carefully unwrapped his broken arm and was surprised to see that it had set itself in place and new skin had regrown around it. The arm was still very much broken, and it still throbbed with absolute pain, but it was so much better than it was. He was hungry, though, so very hungry. He knew it was an almost unnatural hunger. He pushed it away and stood up.

“I think it’s time we got going, Lazarus. I still have a lot to do,” Jackson said.

Lazarus vanished and appeared in front of him, holding up a hand.

“Hold on, we still have a few things to discuss. One, you should put my skull in your bag. I can still see and talk to you even with it in the bag, since the Judge sees it as still being in your possession. Take care of that, and then I have something to tell you,” Lazarus said.

Jackson eyed him but did as he bade. Then he regarded him and gestured for him to go on.

“Abaddon is lying to you,” Lazarus said.

Jackson interrupted him with a question before he could continue.

“How so?” Jackson asked.

Lazarus glared at him,

“If you stop interrupting me, I can tell you.”

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Lazarus nodded curtly and continued,

“He doesn’t need you to receive the orb at the end of this dungeon; he could do that himself if he wanted, and if you had thought about that for more than five seconds, you may have realized that. Did you really never wonder why he could not retrieve this orb for himself?”

Jackson scowled at him but shook his head. Lazarus chuckled,

“I thought not. What he needs is for you all to progress and then die.”

Jackson goggled at him,

“What? Why? Why in that order?”

Lazarus’s expression grew solemn.

“This goes into dangerous information, Jackson. Information that very few know, and until you learn to protect your mind, I cannot give it to you. I need you to trust me on this. Suffice to say, Abaddon has very good reasons.”

Jackson chewed at his tongue at his answer, but it did reveal to him that there was clearly more going on than he knew. Which he found not at all surprising.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it right now, but I appreciate you telling me what you could. Now can we go?” Jackson asked.

Lazarus waved a hand.

Jackson turned and headed for the portal. It was finally time to move on.