Chapter 20 – The First Steps
Bel had nightmares again, but these weren’t the end of the world sort of. Nor were they about death and destruction. These were nightmares like he had back on Earth, a lifetime ago. Bel dreamt that something was wrong but he didn’t know what. A strange feeling of forgetting something important haunted every scene he was experiencing.
Bel was back in his mother's kitchen, the large area occupied by several people. His mother was there of course, as well as his younger sister. Devon was sitting across from his mother, wearing his armor while she was wearing the summer dress he last saw her in. The one with flower petals at the hem.
Several other people were moving in his periphery, the elf for one, watching him. His cousin James who he hadn’t met in several years. A strange assortment of people with nothing in common except they were all looking at Bel with judging eyes, barely concealed anger simmering behind their neutral expressions.
“What is it? What did I do?” Bel asked pleadingly, their eyes boring into his soul.
“You know what you did Belmont.” Bel’s mother's voice was dripping with acid, and her bright eyes normally so cheerful were like two cold icicles.
“Am I late again? You know I get distracted a lot.” Bel was getting desperate, he needed to know, what had he done. Why was everyone hating him?
Bel turned from the room just to avoid the stares of everyone present. Instead, he moved into the old dining room. It looked the same as the last time he saw it, with the dark wooden furniture and the mix of modern and old art on the walls. The fireplace was burning and shadows were dancing in front of it, as the rest of the room was dark, the windows covered by thick drapes.
The room was full of people, old girlfriends, his friends from college, Sarah and John the ex-inquisitors. All of them were looking at Bel, accusing him with their eyes. It was too much, he needed to escape. He felt his heart beating faster and faster when suddenly he woke.
Bel sat up clutching his heart, it was beating so fast it hurt. The heavy breathing didn’t subside and he was about to roll out off the bedroll when he remembered what his old therapist had taught him. Taking a deep breath he held it in for three seconds. He then released it for three seconds and then he repeated himself. Slowly but steadily his heart rate went down, the fear and adrenaline subsiding. It had been years since he last had a panic attack. Not even everything he endured in the dungeon affected him this much.
Bel didn’t notice his surroundings and so he was quite startled when someone whispered close by.
“Nightmares?” Bel flinched and followed the voice. It was the elf who sat across the slowly dying campfire. He noticed the smirk on her lips at his reaction but it soon went away and she looked... guilty?
“Yes, old ones. From before I came to this world.” Bel whispered back. He didn’t trust this woman yet but he needed to speak with someone other than Ignatius or Solomon. The two minions were nearby, he could sense it. He wondered what they were doing but he trusted them and put it out of his mind for now.
“We never really escape our past do we?” She whispered back. Bel felt that she wasn’t talking entirely to him.
“I guess not. I haven’t had this problem for years. I thought I had outgrown it. Although who can blame me for being a little rattled by my experience.” He chuckled without mirth. Bel was staring into the fire, reliving the dungeon all over again.
Liara was struggling internally before she decided.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She finally asked after a few moments of silence.
Bel looked at her a little startled and confused. He thought she hated him. Her offer didn’t feel forced though, it felt genuine somehow.
“Thank you, but I’m not ready for that yet.” He was genuinely touched by her offer, but the wounds were still too fresh. Crows laughing face flashed before his eyes. Bel knew he was something of a broken man at the moment, he also knew that he wouldn’t stay that way forever.
Liara nodded at the response, she felt that it was too early as well, but she needed to offer at least. It was who she was and no heretic would change her, she was certain of that, she thought as a strange feeling wormed its way into her heart.
“Then you should try to get some more rest, it’s only been about two hours and I’m going to get Korgan to take the next watch. I’ll have the others exclude you from the rotation tonight.” Bel nodded at her words in thanks. He was feeling even more tired now than when he went to bed.
Laying back down it didn’t take him long to fall into a deep sleep. Liara watched him for a few minutes more before turning toward the edge of the light from the campfire.
“What do you think?” She asked Morgana as the red-headed woman stepped into the light.
“I think he’s broken in more ways than one. Just like the rest of us. I don’t know what Devon was thinking but this entire endeavor is balancing on the edge of a blade.” Morgana was speaking quietly, her otherwise boasting attitude dimmed by what had happened the last few days.
“You’re probably right. We’ll just have to keep an extra watchful eye on him.” Liara said as she looked at the sleeping man again.
“You should do that then, you seem to love keeping your eyes on him, don't you?” Morgana said while smiling from ear to ear. She knew immediately that she had crossed a line as the tall elf turned toward her, her eyes burning with anger.
She held up her hands to apologize and before her friend could go off she spoke.
“Devon wants to speak with you. He’s with the undead at the entrance to the cul-de-sac.” She moved to the side giving the elf plenty of space to get up. Liara arose without a word, making her way over to her friend. The heretic must have been more tired or rattled than she thought. He didn’t seem to have noticed that Devon and Morgana were missing from the camp.
As she passed the snoring dwarf she kicked out, the man grunted and flew awake with wide, ready eyes. Perhaps she kicked him a little too hard, but the damn dwarf was hard to wake in the best of times. He grumbled for a few moments before sitting down at the campfire and feeding it a log.
Liara could hear the two oddballs whispering to each other as she made her way over the dark terrain. The light from the moon and campfire was enough for her elven eyes to see clearly. She made her way over to the entrance with sure feet.
When she neared the bend leading to the tunnel, loud noises could be heard. The sound of metal hitting metal and stone splitting could be heard. It was muffled by twists and turns of the terrain, so it didn’t make its way to the camp.
As she rounded the corner fully she was met by the giant Draugr merrily swinging its giant mallet at a few stone-splitting wedges. He was tirelessly working, because he was undead, and he seemed genuinely happy about having a task to do. The cursed skull was floating nearby providing illumination and conversation. By the look on Devon’s face, Liara suspected a bit too much conversation.
“How goes it?” She asked as Devon and the skull turned toward the sound of her feet.
“Milady we should be ready to collapse this tunnel and bury this entrance to this wicked placed by morning.” The skull answered in its archaic and scholarly voice.
“You’ve made good progress then.” She was surprised at how much they had managed to accomplish in such a short time.
“Yes well, Solomon excels at these sorts of tasks. You may say that this is what he was created for... and not much else.” The draugr kept swinging with a smile on its face, ignoring the barely veiled insult.
Liara ignored the skull, she was surprised that it felt so normal to talk to something so wicked and unholy. Instead, she looked at Devon. The man was thinking, she knew him well enough to see that something big was coming.
“You wanted to speak with me, Dev?” She asked quietly.
“I’ve been thinking Lani.” He used his nickname for her, she knew then that she wasn’t going to like what came next.
“Merikh is probably back at the capital already and the more time he has to work his mouth off, the harder it will be to get the kill order off of us. I need to go, now tonight. I need to speak with Woden as soon as possible. I promised to teach Bel how to live in this world and I intend to follow through with that promise. However, I can’t do that if we’re all dead. I’m taking Morgana and we’re going to Linchester now, then we’ll take either a mana ship or portal stone to the Capital.” He didn’t add that he would leave Liara here alone, to keep an eye on the heretic and the deserters.
The elf went rigid and several emotions flickered across her face. She was about to speak when Devon raised his glowed hand. She snapped her mouth close so fast that her teeth rattled louder than the mallet for a second.
“You will take the group to Linchester and then from there, you will catch a caravan or escort mission to the small town of Dunhaven. It’s located on the edge of the zone, close to the still unclaimed and unnamed Bronze territory to the north. The town is up and coming and so new faces are still welcome. Make sure you don’t make too many waves though.” Devon's tone brokered no argument, he had set his mind on this plan.
Liara only nodded, keeping her discomfort and anger inside.
“As you say Party Leader.” Devon flinched at the honorific. The elf was angered with him, he could tell. There would be hell to pay later.
“I am sorry Liara. I think this is the best course of action. I know your history with heretics but there is something different with this one. I just feel it, like a message from Dawn herself.” Liara frowned at the mention of their Goddess. Invoking her name now felt cheap somehow.
“I trust you, Devon, you haven’t led us astray yet.” She said with a sigh.
“Good. Morgana and I will meet you at Dunhaven in three months if everything goes as planned. You still have my Death Stone so you’ll know if something goes wrong.” Devon looked his best friend in the eyes. They both knew what he meant by wrong.
Ignatius had been silent the entire time, his eyes never leaving the couple and his mind captured everything. As the conversation ended, he turned back to Solomon, continuing his story from when he visited a neighboring university and became so inebriated that he stole a goat from the city lord.
Soft footsteps followed by heavier steps of something larger reached them. Devon and Liara turned toward Morgana and Fang who approached. Morgana had her gear on and she was carrying Devon’s pack. The Paladin hoisted his pack on his back before turning toward the tunnel.
“Three months. No longer.” He said as a farewell before starting the climb up the tunnel. The redhead Ranger and the wolf just behind him. Morgana waved to Liara as she passed and the elf nodded farewell. A knot of worry in her stomach, a worry that this was the last time that they would meet.
Bel awoke a few hours later with a yawn. He felt much better now and the rest of the night was uneventful and his dreams were peaceful. He gave himself a good stretch as he sat up. All that was missing was a warm shower and some breakfast, then he would be ready for whatever this world would throw at him. The sound of five people hurling made him flinch and look around. The ex-inquisitors were laying on their sides, faces contorted in agony, their mouths spewing forth a white substance.
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The smell that hit Bel’s nose made him gag. It wasn’t a lot of vomit but it smelled worse than anything he had ever smelled so far. Without hesitating he rose and ran to the closest person. Bull was sweating and squirming, he seemed to be asleep still, like whatever was happening to him originated in his dreams. The man was huge, even bigger than Solomon. He had a hard face, one made for war, but his voice was soft and gentle. The first time Bel heard him speak he thought someone was using Bull as a ventriloquist doll.
The man felt warm to the touch but he didn’t respond to anything Bel did. He even took out one of his precious potions and fed it to the man but nothing happened. He looked around franticly searching for the others, he couldn’t see anyone except the unconscious five, so he shouted.
“Help! Someone help!” A few seconds later and heavy feet could be heard as Korgan the dwarf approached from around the bend.
“What in all of Mo is going on here!?” He shouted in his hoarse voice. He stopped suddenly as he saw what was happening.
“Liara, get your skinny ass over here, now!” A moment later the lithe elf appeared, she took one look at the scene and ran over. She pushed Bel away gently before she started to examine Bull and the others.
Several minutes later she rose and backed away from them. Her face was expressionless.
“I can’t be sure since I’ve only read about it. But I think they are fine, they are just losing their Classes granted to them by Dawn.” Her lips were tight and a tenseness could be seen at the edge of her slanted eyes.
“What? They are losing their Classes?” Bel had no idea if this was a normal occurrence but by the looks on the elf's face, it wasn’t.
“I believe so. I’ve read about the phenomenon but it’s incredibly rare. I haven’t heard of it happening to anyone in the last hundred years or more.” Her voice was flat, Bel thought she was angry for some reason.
“Will they lose all their levels and skills then? Will they become regular humans again?” He asked worriedly. It was hard to survive in this world with powers, without them, being hunted by the largest church in the area was suicide.
“No. They are Awakened by the System. No God can change that. They will receive new classes based on their affinities and choices.” It was Korgan who answered. He seemed less boisterous than normal.
Bel sighed with relief. There was nothing he could do but wait. He decided to get breakfast going. He had no experience with cooking in the wilds but he made due, after about five minutes Korgan couldn’t take his fumbling anymore and took over. Bel smiled and sat down to watch.
“Are you also part of the Church of Dawn?” Bel asked after a few moments of silence.
“No laddie. I’m a true dwarf, free and traveling. I don’t require religion to know my way through Eshander. When my time comes to descend into the Caves of Mo then I’ll do so with an easy heart for I have lived a good life.” He spoke while working, searing sausages in a pan and warming bread at the same time. He brought out a cutting block and started to cut up tomatoes and some kind of vegetable that looked almost like a boiled potato. Bel’s mouth was starting to salivate.
“What are the Caves of Mo?” He asked to distract himself from the food.
The dwarf looked at him for a moment before answering.
“I didn’t believe you at first but I do now. When you said you weren’t from here.” He added the vegetables to the pan as he spoke.
“The Caves of Mo is the birthplace of the Dwarfs and the Earthen kin. It is where we were first chiseled into existence and it is where we go to be returned to the stone. It is the first world to be spun into existence according to the earth priests.” His voice was deep and Bel found it oddly soothing listening to the man, almost like listening to Ignatius drone on. Bel wondered what he and Solomon were doing. Korgan continued and Bel brought his focus back.
“They say that when the Gods first willed themselves into existence, Folkor the God of Earth hated the cold of nothingness, so he draped himself with warm earth and hard stone, building a world around himself, and so was the first world born. It was from his creation the others knew how to create their worlds.”
“So Folkor is the God of the dwarfs? What other Gods are there? I know about Dawn and Death of course.” Bel knew the answer but he still wanted to hear from the more knowledgeable dwarf.
“Well there’s those two and the dead one as you say then there are Swana Goddess of Water and the Sea, Eyrul God of Fire, Iruthel God of the Forests and Tree huggers, Hyala Goddess of the Air and Morkin God of Monsters.” He listed them on his thick callused fingers.
Bel recognized the names of the mobs in the dungeon and the type associated with them, as well as the few tidbits he and Ignatius had managed to talk about.
“They all govern their worlds plus have a stake in this one then?” Bel asked.
“Pretty much, although their presence is not that common, this much divinity as of these last couple of days is probably more direct intervention there has been for the last decade. The Gods prefer to leave us to our own devices. Mostly.” He added the last part while staring at Bel who blushed and looked away.
He hated himself for feeling guilty, none of this was his fault. The dreams came to his mind then but he ignored them. They were just dreams and he deserved to live just as much as anyone else. He stared back then defiantly.
Korgan chuckled with a smile.
“Don’t worry lad. I trust in Devon and he trusts you... for now.”
Bel just nodded. Korgan was finished with breakfast and started to plate up the food when the first of the five woke up. Francis sat up holding his head, a groan escaped his parched throat. He looked ten years older and his face was ashen.
“Damn that’s sucked. Never have I dreamt such vile dreams. And what is with this taste?” He dragged his arms across his tongue trying to get the white sludge off. Korgan handed him a skin filled with water and the young boy rinsed his mouth several times.
“What do you remember?” Bel asked the younger man.
“I was in a courtroom, on trial for sedition and piracy. The judge was my mother, may she walk in the Celestial Territories as we speak. She sentenced me to exile for eternity and some other words I didn’t understand. Then I felt myself grow weak as if my attributes left me. Suddenly my strength returned and now I feel somewhat fine.” Francis got a faraway look that Bel recognized as someone reading their status.
“By the Rest. I’m a Blade Dancer. What happened?” Francis had a wild look on his face. Bel tried to explain it as Liara had but after a few words, he waved her over and had her tell the poor boy her theory.
“How do you feel?” Liara asked after her explanation.
Francis was quiet for a moment before he looked the elf in the eyes.
“I feel free. I was never much of a believer. It was my father who gave me to the church since he couldn’t feed me and my brothers, not when there were spirits to buy at least.” The young man had a faraway look, memories resurfacing, years of abuse and terror. Then his face shifted and he steeled himself.
“But now I can walk the path I've chosen. I can live my way, and help everyone I want to, not just the ones the inquisition tells me to. That is if we aren't hunted down and killed.” By the end, his steely voice had lost some of its edge and fear could be heard peeking through.
“Don’t worry boy. Devon has gone to speak with the Highest One as we speak. He’ll put a stop to this nonsense, you’ll see.” Korgan said with a soft smile.
“Wait, Devon’s gone? Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Bel frowned at the others who looked at him.
“I’m sorry laddie, but he gave orders that you should not be disturbed until you had a good night's rest. You’ll see him soon again.” Then the dwarf explained the plans so far. He also added that Bel would be taught the basic spoken and unspoken rules as well as the etiquettes of Eshander.
“Fine, I just don’t like to be kept in the dark about what’s going on. Let’s drop this train of thought and wait for the others to wake up.” The others had started to toss and turn.
“By the way what levels are you in Blade Dancer? And is that a good Class?” Bel looked at Francis expectantly. The trio before him looked at him with shocked expressions for a moment before Korgan chuckled and shook his head.
“First thing you do is surprise me even though I shouldn’t be surprised. The biggest unspoken rule is that you never ask a person their level. Classes are okay for the most part but levels and skills could be fatal if your enemy learned what you could do. At higher tiers, you will have a harder time concealing your capabilities as your aura will give away much information no matter how good your aura control.” Korgan's voice was hard to hear as he stuffed his face with sausages. He swallowed and continued, not bothering to wipe the grease from his beard.
“We are friends here and companions so we will show each other our status screens later. I’ll tell you how it's done. But never show it to a stranger or a person you don’t trust. We are showing great trust in you so don’t make us regret it.” He stared daggers at Bel who only raised his hands, he knew what was at stake here.
“To answer your question. Blade Dancer is a common class on the Rogue Path. It’s an offensive class made for duel-wielding blades and avoiding taking damage by being mobile. I have a high dexterity score for my level. I am level 16 now after that fight with the devourer. I gained 8 levels to it and my cap increased to 50! It was at 12 before.” Francis said, he smiled and seemed happy to share his progress.
“Your cap? What’s that?” Bel knew he was capless and he remembered Ignatius word, he was not going to reveal everything about himself, not yet. So he acted that he knew less then he did.
“A cap is the highest level you can grow to. It is depended on what level the elite creature you slay is.” Liara said as she joined the conversation. She didn’t seem as angry this morning. Bel wondered why.
“Oh, that’s weird. What does it mean to be capless then? Crow spoke about how he would be rewarded with it.” Bel lied and at first, he didn’t notice the silence so he kept going.
“Also, how many attributes per level is normal? I get +1 to all attributes per level plus three free ones to assign as I please. Is that a lot?” He finally looked up as he realized what he said, and the three people before him were looking at him with red faces and shocked expressions. Korgan was so red Bel thought he was having a heart attack.
“What?” Bel shrunk back from their expressions.
“Are you telling me that you gain 8 attributes per level? How many skills do you have?” Korgan almost didn’t get the words out.
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t have that many skills though, not like you guys who have been at it for years with proper training I assume. I only have seventeen skills right now.” Korgan squeaked and fell off the log he was sitting on the sound was strange from such a compact and gruff person. Francis was no better off and seemed like he was alternating between fear, anger, and awe.
Liara composed herself first and looked Bel in the eyes.
“Bel. Please show us your status, the whole thing... please. I know I'm asking a lot from you, but it is for your safety as well as ours. Focus on the object showing your status and will it into the material world. Like this.” She waved her hand and a white marble tablet appeared before her, it slowly turned around showing Bel her status.
She was a Priestess of Dawn and her level was 23. Bel noticed that she had much lower attributes and fewer skills than him. He frowned and focused on his status. Then he willed it forward and the black scrolls burst alive with green and black flames. The thing was visible to the others now he could tell, they shuddered when they looked at it.
He hesitated at first. Fortunetly his status didn't mention his capless nature. Warring emotions roled within him. He chose then to give them a modicum of trust and he slowly turned it around, showing them everything.
Name: Bel - Bringer of the Apocalypse
Class: Necro-lord (Path of the Summoning Warrior – Death Specialization)
Tempering: Bronze (Bones, Flesh, Blood)
Level: 30
Unassigned points: 0
Wealth: 120 Copper Coins, 86 Silver Coins 2 Gold Coins
Items:
Healing Potions Tin-Ranked x2
The Necro-Lord Set - +9 Willpower +5 Strength +5 Dexterity
The Necro Blade – Authority of the Dead
Garments of the Necro-Lord – Self-Cleaning, and Self-Repairing
Assortment of Books and Notes
Attributes:
Strength: 60 + 5
Dexterity: 50 + 5
Constitution: 60
Intelligence: 44
Willpower: 105 + 9
Skills:
Class:
Death Strike level 7
Deathless Gaze level 11
Bone Storm level 21
Summon Undead level 25
Bone Shaping level 18
Life transference level 16
Necrotic Bolt Level 9
Eyes of the Dead level 3
Imbue Undead Level 9
Summon Servant level 1
Hordes of The Necro-Lord (Passive) Tin Rank + 50 Summon Pool. Summoned minions are 5 levels higher than the summoning skill and you can equip any minion with tier-appropriate equipment.
Neutral:
Mana Mastery level 25
Identify level 18
Meditation (Active) - Tin Rank
Battle Meditation (Passive) - Tin Rank
Blades – Basic (Passive)
Shields – Basic (Passive)
Pugilist – Basic (Passive)
Summoning Pool 0/71
Permanent Summons: 2/3
Ignatius Pennyfeather the Third – Servitor Flameskull
Solomon Pompilis – Juggernaut Draugr
Tempering:
Bones – Death Magic +5 Strength
Flesh – Pure Mana + 7 Constitution
Blood – Pure Mana + 7 Constitution
Traits:
Apocalyptic Being - +1 to all attributes/level
System Breaker – You ignore the rules of the Gods
Avatar of Death and Destruction - +3 Free attributes/level
Unstoppable Will- +25 Willpower
Pain Tolerance – Increased resistance against pain
Korgan and Francis both gaped at what they read. Their minds blank from shock. Liara only frowned and nodded.
“This explains a lot. I don’t think you understand what all this means. Death has given you so much of his essence that your advantage over regular awakened is insane. You have the attributes of a person of almost Iron tier while still being just above Bronze. You've tempered yourself fully and ascended a tier at the same time giving you even greater strengths. And that brings us to the next thing. You’ve been doing this less than two days, or three months in the dungeon, and you are already a fully tempered bronze tier in a tin rank area. You Bel, are a monster.” There was no malice in her tone only a wary fear and exhaustion, but Bel’s face fell at her words. Was he that strong?