*Author's Note: I had this chapter up earlier, but then as I went through it I made so many changes that it almost became a totally different chapter. So I deleted the old one and put this new version up. Also with edits this chapter is now also over 5k words.

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Ilum felt a little less broken, and a little more confident after speaking to the god.

-No, my god.

He realized that he could no longer claim to be atheist loose and god free. And yet he felt that Umbros was if not trustworthy, Hah!, then at least not out to use him and lose him. Which, considering his current predicament, was more than he could ask for,and after speaking to Elos it was maybe even more than he had growing up.

He stood up and moved over to sit on one of the pews. He had to think about what his next goal was, and what he needed to achieve it.

- First, my problems:

* I'm starving to the point of losing muscle mass

* My clothes are threadbare

* I have no way to protect myself

* Should I somehow miraculously reach Aodhan, I won't have money to pay for anything

Now for solutions:

* Loot the houses

* Loot the houses

* Loot the houses

* Loot the houses

Ilum got up and moved over to the door, he looked back at his family and realized that while it may impede him he still had one more need to fulfill.

He moved all of his families bodies out of the chapel and down the stairs, into the center of the plaza. He looked through the 'barricades' for a cart large enough. Then he made a quick trip back home to grab a shovel, he thought about changing his clothes but there seemed little point in getting them dirty as well.

Returning back to the square while munching on some heavenly cabbages, How could I have ever thought they were anything but ambrosia from the gods, he started lifting the bodies into the cart when he realized there was already a body curled up inside. Michael Sr. must have thought he could hide himself in the cart when things had gone south, although this obviously didn't work out for him judging by the intestines spilling out of his gut.

This brought on another wave of grief, as he recalled all the times he had enjoyed playing with his father. His father had taught him almost all he knew about life. From how to take care of farm animals to how to take care of his family. He was a good man, who deserved more than to die in obscurity. Pushing his feelings down he moved on with his task.He finished loading up the bodies onto the cart trying not to think of who or what they were, instead imagining that he was loading the cart up with fallen branches, just another part of village life.

He made his way to his favorite spot, where he had almost died yesterday. It seemed almost as if the world was mocking him with the scene of the rising sun. As if it were saying everyone could die and it wouldn't change anything in the grand scheme of things.

He took the shovel to the side of the hill facing the mocking sun, and started digging. Sadly this took a lot longer than one would expect of a son who had grown up on the farm constantly doing manual labor. As his strength stat clearly stated he didn't actually use his muscles much which in turn led to a poor stamina or vitality. He usually traded off his chores to the other kids, but seeing as how this wasn't exactly an option at the moment, he continued shoveling while taking frequent breaks.

A couple hours after noon he started to climb out of the pit he had dug. Looking back at it he sighed with relief, seeing that all four of his brothers, three sisters and both parents were able to fit inside. He took another rest before he started filling it back in. He ignored his screaming muscles as he stood up and thought about what he should say.

He felt a familiar pressure at the back of his head. He thought about how he had been able to talk with the god without letting him in all the way towards the end of last time.

-Maybe I could build a place in my mind for 'welcoming' such individuals. Such a skill, it would seem, is detrimental to my continued freedom. He thought while considering he had only turned sixteen a few days ago, and had already made the acquaintances of two gods.

He thought about his mind as a fortress with a moat, drawbridge, outer wall and finally a castle in the center. He imagined slowly letting down the drawbridge while at the same time opening a little bit of his mind.

“Hoh, that's an interesting talent you have there punk.”Said his old 'friend' Elos.

“Thanks, but onto business.” Responded Ilum quickly, hoping to curtail any long winded speeches from the loquacious god.

“Yes, I suppose this is business for me.” The voice resounded thoughtfully in his head.

“Could you do something for them, they were true practitioners of your Law.”

“Of course, I'm not evil, despite what you may think of me. I love my followers and your family were some of the truest.” Elos responded somberly, maybe even a little bit sadly.

“Then...Thank you Lord Elos” Ilum said while clapping his hands and bowing over them.

“Oy,oy, stop that- thank you for the respect but for some reason, coming from you that gives me the creeps.”

- Hah, maybe he isn't evil. He's more like a mischievous grandfather that never grew up. Ilum thought to himself.

- Crack-

Suddenly the dirt that he had piled onto the pit had formed into a giant slanted block, made out of the same white stone as the church. Written on it were the names of all his family, all of them except him.

“Thank you, once again gramps.” Ilum said cheekily.

“Gramps? Hmm, fine brat I will give you special permission to call me that. Also I'll give you a reward for your help in laying some of my followers to rest.” Responded the voice in his head, just as cheekily as Ilum himself. Then he felt the walls in his 'fort' collapse as they were blown away easily, also he felt certain sections in his 'castle' move farther away.

“What was that old man?” He asked forgetting about the previous sense of 'familiarity' from a moment ago.

“It's never a bad thing to know your limits brat. Also you have a long ways to go, so you need to stop having these pity parties. I made certain events feel like they were a long way off, but you can still remember them should you choose. I certainly didn't do this to help you though, or my brother, you got that punk?!” Elos responded.

-Yeah definitely a mischievous old grandpa. And was that a bit of tsundere play at the end... best not to think about it.

Ilum felt the pressure leave his head, and as soon as he did a fine golden dust started to fall from the sky. Reaching his hand out he tried to catch some but it just passed right through. He looked back towards the village and saw that it was covering the whole town. Bidding a last farewell to his family he ran to town to see what the crazy old god had done.

Reaching the village the first thing he noticed was that it didn't smell like an invading hoard of unwashed barbarians had passed by, nor did it smell like piles of dead bodies were rotting everywhere. Once he reached the main square he saw that the golden dust was actually being absorbed by the dead bodies and even the air.

“The bodies should remain in a form of stasis, at least long enough for some people to find and give them a proper burial.” Said Gramps, back in the front yard of his mind.

“How long do I have before said people get here.” Said Ilum nervously, as he still had his checklist to complete... well mainly looting.

“Don't worry brat, you should have at least one whole day until they get here. Dael only left here a couple days ago, and it should take about a half day for them to get here, which would put their arrival time around tomorrow afternoon.”

“So I wasn't the only survivor!” Ilum said excitedly. He was happy, even if it was only the Elos-fanboy priest.

“Why did you think I gifted you, just because you buried your own family? No, you saved one of my precious priests- even if it was that stupid fanboy one...”

“Oy, you can't say that.”

-Somehow I became the straight man here!

“Alright well I'm off to find my Assp-Hero, so you have fun looting the town, and I do believe that the barbarians hardly touched the underground storeroom. There won't be anything great, but enough to help you get where you're going.”

-I wonder if the gods are big gossips....

“Thanks Gramps, see you around, or whatever”

“Yeah, good luck.”

This time when Gramps left his head there was no proceeding miracle, and it felt like he was truly gone. Ilum got up and made his way back to the church and to the trapdoor under the altar. Luckily some lamps were still lit, though they didn't have much oil left.

Looking around the secret-room for the first time he was surprised to find how small it was.

-No wonder they fought each other, there's barely enough standing room for ten people, let alone the entire western district.

There wasn't much here except a few bodies that had been trampled as others had tried to escape the smoke, but at least it looked like these wealthy few had yet to have their corpses looted. Going through he was shocked at the wealth he found from these three bodies alone; sixteen gold pieces, fifty-three silver pieces, and three hundred and seventeen coppers. All together more wealth than his family had seen at any point in their lives, in fact if his father had sold all the farm animals and the farm itself, he might be able to get fifteen gold pieces for it. All together this bit of wealth added up to twenty-one gold, six silver and seventeen copper, because a hundred coppers equaled one silver coin and ten silver coins to equal one gold coin.

Not finding anything else of value he moved back upstairs. Then he did another shake down of everyone there. He didn't find much but what he did find was worth it, adding another seven gold coins to his growing collection. Tossing a boot away, he realized the barbarians must have been to stupid or busy to bother checking the bodies seriously, but then again he didn't want to spend the rest of his time digging through piles of corpses just to check their shoes. So figuring a life savings was enough gold to move on to another area to search.

He decided that to save time he would just move to the most likely place he would find the necessary items for completing his immediate goals. Finally he would go up the western path and ransack the homes of the wealthy. After reaching the western path he immediately went to the first house on the left.

-So, yeah, they were idiots.

The first thing he saw when he entered the front door was chaos, furniture was thrown around cushions were ripped and anything that could be opened was so. All signs that the place was thoroughly searched, except of course for the expensive silks, the hundreds of costly clothes, and the expensive paintings and statues.

-So if it wasn't shiny they didn't take it? Yeah definitely idiots!

Ilum felt the need for a break, so he threw a jacket off an ottoman, only for it to make a loud smack as it hit the floor. He quickly went over and picked through the pockets of the jacket, finding nothing. Still feeling the heft of the jacket he decided to feel the seams.

-Kaching!

There were large lumps in the lining of the jacket. Ilum ripped it up and gems the size of his thumbnail came pouring out the bottom of the jacket. He then ripped the seams along sleeves and the collar, with much the same results. Getting up he greedily looked at the other piles of clothes. Doing a thorough search he found several more jackets that each produced a couple hand full of thumbnail sized gems.

From what he could make of the room, it would appear the nobles stuffed the lining of several jackets with all their gems, then when the barbarians ripped the house apart they ignored the the oddly heavy clothes thinking that like the silk, they were just made of fancy cloth.

-This is too much wealth, I won't be able to carry all of this, so maybe I should take the silk and leave the ge- He abruptly stopped that train of thought when he felt someone bump into his 'fort' then leave.

-Hmmm, felt more like Umbros this time... could be this one of those nudges he was talking about.

-Okay, I guess I'll take the gems...but why? Hmm...maybe I should look at my stats again. Ilum thought while pulling out his tablet.

Status PlateName:IlumAlignment:Chaotic GoodLevel:1Class:AdventurerRace:HumanGender:MaleBlessingsOrphan of ChaosFame:0Infamy:0-Health:40 / 40Mana:72 / 72-Strength:12Agility:9Vitality:10Dexterity:9Intelligence:18Wisdom:10Leadership:0Luck:14

“Holy crap!” Ilum exclaimed. Almost all his stats had risen some even doubling.

-Must be because of all the physical labor I've been doing, but 'Luck' … hmm... must because of how lucky I've been or rather how stupid the barbarians have been. But that still doesn't explain the need for gems, I guess I'll look into some of my stats.”

HealthA person's Health stat represents the condition of the physical vessel, and is directly derived from their Vitality stat. Other things can effect your Health stat, for example some Potions can even give you temporary boost, while others can cure you completely.

-Nope

ManaMana is an invisible force that exists in all things, organic or inorganic. Mana is directly derived from your Intelligence stat, and it's regeneration is formulated with the Wisdom stat along with a common denominator that you are born with that cannot be changed.  Sentient species are capable of manipulating this force with chants, or spells, and some even at will. The manipulation of Mana is called Magic. Just as with your health other things such as Potions may effect your Mana stat.

-This isn't it either... although some of the words stand out, maybe this is what Umbros was talking about when he said you could tap on other things within the tablet. He thought while bringing his finger to press on Magic.

MagicMagic is the manipulation of mana. There are many classes of magic that all differ from each other; from the way one manipulate mana, to the ways in which one may cast the magic. Some magic doesn't even involve casting, but rather storing it in an other object. The amount of magic held depends on many factors, the most common of which is durability.

NoticeDue to figuring out a usage of the Status Plate on your own you have received +2 Intelligence and +3 Wisdom

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

-Hmmm, storing magic in other objects, I guess gems would be ideal for it. I'll have to look into this further when I get to Aodhan. Now what is this about a notice?

NoticesNotifies you of a change in your statusNotices:ONVibration:OFFNotification Time:15 seconds

“Vibration...hmm, let's try it out.” Ilum said as he pressed where it said OFF. After he had pressed it the plate started to shake violently in his hand for about three seconds, then abruptly stopped.

-Well I imagine that will be useful in the future.

Ilum went on to search the other houses, but found little else of value except a few more bolts of silk, but no more caches of gems. Surprisingly he hadn't found any weapons, all though he saw hooks and plaques where some might have hung. All of his newly earned wealth would mean nothing if he couldn't find someway to defend himself on the road.

His luck came through for him again as he reached the estate at the end of the lane. No imagination this time, this was an actual manor. However surrounding the manor were the bodies of the town guard still in their armor, and some still clasping their swords.

Ilum ran up and started going through and looting the bodies, sorting the loot by type. He had almost finished sorting through the bodies when -

-BVVVV-

-!@#$%

He nearly shat himself before he remembered the new setting on the tablet. Calming himself he pulled out the plate to have a look at it.

Notice: New SkillSkill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:LootingBeginner632%Due to excessive looting, it's no longer just a good way to get stuff, but a way of life. You have this down to a science. You gain an increase to the speed of looting, and a decrease to the likelihood of missing loot.

-Hah, well whatever, it sounds useful.

Ilum went back to looting, with apparent skill. Sadly he did not find anything that fit or anything that he could lift to use in battle, until he saw the mayor at the bottom of the pile.

For the most part the Mayor was wearing crap; silk robes and a velvet shirt. But gripped in his doeskin gloves was a beautiful saber. It was thin with a slight curve that just screamed deadly, and it had a thick hand guard that wrapped around a half the grip that came done to a slightly curved pommel. The best part about it though was that it was light!

Ilum pried the sword from the mayors hand and took a couple swings with it.

-SWISH-

When swung it felt like it was cutting the very air. It was the perfect weapon for him. He went back to the mayor's body to get his belt and scabbard. After punching a new hole in the belt he was able to equip it. He felt like a real adventurer.

He then went back to the central square after forming an idea thanks to all the bulky armor he couldn't equip.

-With my thin frame, I should go for more of a speed oriented fighter, so that means lighter armor.

After reaching the plaza he went towards the south near the southern exit where his father's friend Samuel lived. Samuel was a hunter, he would have plenty of dried, leather hides, and most importantly some leather armor.

He stepped into Sam's house and started collecting dried and salted leather and throwing it into one of the many leather rucksacks that Sam had laying about.  

Then he searched in the other rooms and found one that was filled with leather tunics of all shapes and sizes. He tried on a few that looked good until he found one that was slightly too big for him, figuring he would have room to grow into it as he started eating regularly, and building muscles as he quested. He then found the matching pants and went off to find some boots.

After fully decking himself out, Ilum ate some of the dried meat he couldn't carry, the salty taste making him thirsty. He went out back to get a drink in the well we he saw a stranger looking up at him.

His normally well maintained, long black hair, looked mangy. His forest green eyes nearly invisible behind his drooping eyelids and the many bags under them. His normally fair complexion, was marred by blood and grime.

He threw off the leather clothes and picked up the bucket filled with water, and poured it on top of himself.

After he finished cleaning himself, he dried off in the sun, trying to tame his hair. After feeling he was dried enough he put on the new black leather top and pants, the same shade as his hair.

He went back inside and cut a strand of leather off a hanging hide, then used it to tie his hair back. He grabbed the rucksack filled with dried meats, and grabbed some spare packs and headed out.

He started heading back towards the 'gem merchants' house, when he heard a whinny. He bolted for the nearest house and waited.

- I thought he said that I would have until tomorrow afternoon before anyone comes here.

He heard another whinny followed by some clopping, but it sounded like only one horse. He slowly peeked his head out of the house, seeing no one he moved up to the fence and crouched down.

In front of him was a lone horse. The craziest part wasn't that there was a lone horse in front of him, or that it was already saddled, no, the craziest part was that it wasn't a draft horse but a genuine racing horse and a palomino at that.

-It must have been one of the merchants' horses that was able to get away.

Seeing as how the horse was calmly drinking from the fountain, now was a good time to leave. He slowly went back inside to find something he could bait the horse with, and found some sugar cubes and an apple in the kitchen.

He calmly made his way to the fountain, holding both hands up. The apple in his left hand and the sugar cubes in my right, both palms flat up. He was about seven paces away from the horse before it noticed him. It slowly turned towards him and backed itself up against the fountain.

“Shhhh, shhhhh, it's okay. Here, have an apple.” He said in a low voice, while cautiously extending his left hand.

The horse looked at him, obviously afraid, but it's hunger won out. It took one last look at him, then ate the apple whole. As it was 'wolfing' down the apple, he brought his right hand up, and put it to the horses mouth. As it sniffed at the sugar cubes he started stoking it with his left hand.

“That's a good horse. Have some sugar, it tastes great.” Ilum said as he continued to stroke the horses side. The horse started to merrily lick at the sugar cubes.

After it had finished gorging on the treats I had brought, it looked back up to me as if asking for where the rest is.

-You sure were an easy beast to tame.

He grabbed the horses reigns and led it to Samuel's house and grabbed all the sacks he had left behind. Then he guided the horse to the neighbors house where he tied...her, yup her, to the fence post. Then he went inside to scrounge up some fruits and put them in empty sack, then he returned to the horse and tied the sacks onto the the back of the saddle. He reached into the fruit sack and pulled out another apple, and started to lift it up to her mouth, only for her to quickly reach down and swallow it whole.

“Alright girl, how about we give you a name?” He asked while gently stroking the side of her neck.

“I'll take your silence as a yes. Hmmm, you seem to like apples, so how about Apple-”

“Nay.” The horse neighed while scowling at him.

“You know it almost sounded like you said nay, and not neigh...but it's impossible to tell. Either way you don't seem to like the name. You like apples and you have a beautiful golden coat, so how about Golden Deliciou-”

“Neigh”

“Alright, alright. Maybe I should move away from apples-” He started to say, when he was interrupted by the horse vigorously nodding it's head.

“Okay. Let's see, with that energetic attitude you remind me of my youngest sister Ariel.” He thought aloud while feeling a slight twinge of pain in his heart, but not as much as he would have thought.

-Must be the work of Elos' parting gift.

-AHEM-

“ Also,” he continued, “Ariel means Lion of Elos, and with that golden coat I think it would fit you quite well.”

The horse stopped eating for a second to make one dip of it's head, as if in acquiescence of this name.

“Good, so Ariel it is. Now Ariel I'm going to need your help in transporting some stuff to another town, but I promise that I will protect you along the way. Deal?”

The horse looked at the sword on his hip, then at his emaciated figure and started to whinny, almost as if it were laughing. Then it looked at his somber demeanor, then at the sack tied to the saddle filled with fruit, then gave a nod of it's head.

“Thank you, Ariel. Now I know you're no draft horse but there are a couple more sacks I would like to fill if you think you could manage it.”

Ariel tossed her head, her mane flying, and started pulling at the reigns, as if saying C'mon already!

Ilum laughed and untied her reigns from the fencepost. Then he put a foot in a stirrup and swung his other leg around and into the other. He grabbed the reigns and turned her towards the western district, then they flew. At least that's what he imagined flying felt like, by the time he had gotten used to Ariel's speed they were half way up the western road. Then he had to turn her around and start heading back to that first house that could only belong to the gem merchant.

He swung off Ariel and proceeded into the merchants house and started grabbing gems and filling a  with them. He didn't really have a method or preference of gem, instead trying to get a variety based on their color. Still, with two large sacks mixed with gems, and some bolts of silk, he was sure he would have enough variance when he got them appraised to discover the difference in their ability to hold magic and mana.

Going back outside he found the greedy horse turning in a circle trying to get at the bag of fruit. He went up to her and put his bags down so that he could open of the bag of fruits and take out a pear for her to eat. While she was eating the it he started tying on the other two bags. Once that was done he swung his legs back into the stirrups and turned her towards the central plaza and then onwards toward the south exit.

He knew it was fast approaching midnight, but he wanted to be well away from the town in case he slept in. and people arrived. If they found him with his ill begotten loot, he shuddered to think of the ramifications.

He followed the tracks of the mounted barbarians south until they reached the forest then he urged Ariel west towards the fertile Bran River that bordered the northern half of town while heading east to west.

They traveled west this way for a couple hours. It was now a few hours past midnight and  he could tell that Ariel was growing tired, though she was trying to hide it. He pulled her closing to the river and slowed their pace.

“Go ahead and grab a drink.” he said while swinging off of her.

She went to the river and started lapping at the water greedily. He came up behind her and started untying the bags and removing the binds to the saddle, then he unbuckled his belt and removed his leather clothes until he was just in his skivvies. Once everything was removed and she had her fill of the water, he guided her to the shallow part of the river. He slowly forced her to walk into the water until it was below her shoulders and just below his chin. He started to rub into her coat, trying to loosen knots and get out the sweat that had built up over the days that she had been on her own. After several minutes of that, he left her alone to play in the river as she seem to actually enjoy the water now.

He grabbed some dried meat and ate it as he went to another sack and grabbed some spare leather hides and threw it on the ground. He thought about making a fire, but it was summer and it's light could only draw trouble. With nothing to do his mind started to wander towards the events of the past few days, which led to him remembering the image of his family huddled together in death, and as he did so he started to feel his rage coming back, stronger than he would have expected consideringthe gift from Elos.

He jumped up and moved over to where he had put the bags. He then grabbed his scabbard and unsheathed the sword, as it was withdrawn it sparkled in the moonlight. It's deadly curve seemed to calm him. As he took slow breaths trying to keep his cool, he noticed that Ariel had stop playing in the river to look at him. He waved her on as he took his sword and went a few paces away from the campsite.

-I guess sorrow can dull with time but the desire for revenge can only be satisfied when it is fulfilled.

When he was a few paces from the campsite with the sword still in hand, he figure that he may as well at least get used to the weight of it. He swung it around like he was chopping wood back at the farm. It looked horrible, and it felt awkward.

He tried to remember how the guards used to swing their swords and copy their movements.

-Swish-

-Yeah, this is better, but still...it's not quite right, is it because the swords are different...

-BVVVvvv-

Ilum looked over towards his pile of clothes and grabbed his tablet.

Notice: New SkillSkill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sword Mastery - SaberBeginner112%Due to owning and attempting to use a saber you have unlocked the very basics of this skill.

-I feel like someone is trying to insult me, but whatever I finally have an attack skill!”

In his excitement he swung the saber several more times until he was dry, and just when he was worrying that he might get sweaty again a wave of fatigue rolled over him. He went back towards the campsite, sheathed his sword, and checked his status before going to sleep.

Status PlateName:IlumAlignment:Chaotic GoodLevel:1Class:AdventurerRace:HumanGender:MaleBlessingsOrphan of ChaosFame:0Infamy:0Health:44 / 44Mana:80 / 80Ph. Attack:12 – 24Ph. Defense:18-Strength:12Agility:12Vitality:11Dexterity:10Intelligence:20Wisdom:13Leadership:0Luck:18

Prologue - Origin GoryBack to Main PageChapter 02 - Throw In the Cowl