Good, it looks like the boys reached some kind of misunderstanding. I can use this. Alicent thought as he glanced at the hazy image of the praying boy as he knelt before the dilapidated sandstone gates. As the other survivors ran around in panic and fear for their lives within the empty dessert space, in a haze of red, he was the only one standing calmly in reverence to this ‘Tuguluu’ he mentioned. If religion existed in this world, and this boy had mistaken him for some god, then perhaps controlling this small civilization would be far more straightforward than he thought.
Best they think us as gods rather then demons.
By using the vibrations in the air within his mist-formed body, like a speaker, Alicent transmitted his voice across, to every surviving settlement member. It was simple really, having read physics books regarding mechanical vibrations and sound particles, manipulating his blood particles to transmit sound wasn't so difficult, it was honestly easier than changing state. Making the sounds he wanted was a different matter, and even for him, took him years of practice. Yet he still found it difficult to emulate the higher pitched frequencies, so a lower more robust tone was all he could emulate. For this case, it would probably be beneficial..
Within him, he counted roughly fifty people, which was not a bad survival count considering the village appeared as if it could house a couple hundred people. Meaning around ten to twenty percent had survived. He could have perhaps saved more if he arrived a bit earlier, if he had been less careful with his scouting.
Alicent laughed inwardly–was he pitying these people? No, he knew the familiar emotion. The emotion that took him like a vice when he came short. When he felt he had failed to prove his worth. Self-loathing. One of the few feelings that followed him even after he had been saved. He had fallen short, unable to save those he had committed to wanting to save.
Just as quickly as the emotion clutched at his chest, Mawing its teeth at his heart. It dissipated into nothing, like sand blown away in the wind. He had learned at least one thing in the last hundred years, and that was how to quickly kill off such thoughts.
“Tuguluu!” Alicent voice was deep and charismatic to entice reverence, an act he had played many times before, and very quickly he got the reaction he desired. He decided to copy what they had called him, believing the term to have some substantial meaning in regard to their god.
Many survivors fell to their knees in prayer as they wailed in reverence towards him. The boy Alicent had been distinctly watching removed his black desert hood as messy tears poured down from his catlike green eyes and stained his olive, still-maturing face. He had strange but distinct obsidian black hair that resembled the sand at his feet.
[Conditions Met - Phantasmal Item A Bygone World Activating.]
[Establishing Connection With Lost Arks Divine Realm]
…
…
[Finding Most Significant Soul Tie]
…
[An Unknown God Has Granted You A Blessing]
…
[Lower Derived Skill - Blessing Of The Crux will Be Overwridden]
…
[Synching]
…
…
[Completed]
[Athenas Divine Knowledge Unlocked]
Alicent was internally shook as the status messages randomly appeared in his mind. The Phantasmal Item had other functions…?
No, It makes sense. Its abilities were still lacking in comparison to the other items Alicent had knowledge of. Just simple world transport, although impossible without the artifact, was still inadequate compared to other support phantasmal item functions. There was one such phantasmal item Alicent knew off capable of rewriting the Laws of nature itself. So simple world transfer on a limited number of uses seemed mediocre in comparison.
Perhaps The True Ability of the Item Required World Transfer to Begin with?! Its Purpose wasn't world transfer…No, it was simply a requirement...
Alicent fell into deep thought as the boy continued rambling in front of him. “Sand god—Thank you, our people failed the test you gave us and suffered deeply for it, I only pray that our small sacrifice is enough to sate your rage!” The boy wept as he clutched at the sand bowing his head.
I can understand him now? Alicent mused as he quickly Analysed the new skill in his status.
Race Skills - Passive
[Daywalker]
[Mystic Eyes of Authority]
[Immortal Being]
[Athenas Divine Knowledge] - (Tomes 2/8) -> The goddess’s wisdom is all knowing, her strenght all encompassing. She sees her Aspects within you and has granted you eight of her Divine Concepts.
Tome 1 - (Knowledge) -> Athenas Library Encompasses all things known. the insights of man and the universe. The Philosophies of gods and Stars. The makings of rules and Systems. A library that triumphs all others, the goddess of wisdom's herself.
-> Athens Blessing of Babylon(Current level - 2) - Grasp in completeness any language available in Athenas Library. Grant this knowledge to two individuals. individual cannot be changed once Allocated. [Slot1] -> [Slot2]
-> Key Of Athenas Sanctuary(Active - Current level - 2) - Gain access to the first two levels of Athenas Library. Further levels unlocked on each Tomes acquisition.
Tome 2 - (Will) -> A mind sculpted from the echoes of ancient wisdom is meaningless without the resolute will to forge it. Indivior in a part of Athenas indomitable mental fortitude and flaming will that plunged enemies armies to despair and allied men to victory with blazing hearts.
-> Trojan Horse - Stamina and health stats multiplied by a value of three.
-> Olympian Ward - Immunity to Darkness effect attacks.
-> Luminary Insight - Aptitude in the light element multiplied by a value of ten.
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
A skill like this… It even still contains all the benefits that the crux gave in the trojan horse skill with the first principal! Not only that, but it spreads its functionality of Language comprehension?! No, Even more surprising is the Key and the Light element Attribute.
The light element was a branch of the the chaos Primal Element along with Darkness. If Alices Abyss magic was a subsection of Darkness then time magic was a subsection of light. Light magic wasn't supposed to be easily accessible by monsters. Thought it did appear in small cases such as the healing of vampires since healing magic was after all, a subsection of time magic. That was more biological than aptitude based. Just because organisms were made of water didn't mean they had affinity for water magic for example. With a ten times affinity increase, If Alicent could acquire the knowledge, then powerful light aptitude skills were now available to him.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
And the key. Alicent didn't even dare to think what benefits a library with the secrets of the universe would contain. It even already parted him access to the first two levels.
Just what did that Phantasmal Item do?!
Alicent was rightfully shocked, An ability like this. If a skill appraiser could appraise it, Alicent estimated it was at least Divine tier. Skills in the mortal world couldnt go beyond this, yet of the divine tier skills that Alicent knew of none had up to eight separate extremely powerful effects.
Was this really just a phantasmal level item? For it to reward me with a divine tier skill. For it to give a half monster a gods blessing?
Alicent quickly calmed his heart and took calm calculated breaths. It had been a while since anything was able to stir his heart as much as today. He had just stumbled across an unexpected lottery ticket with unimaginable wealth and recourses. He was more shocked than elated, the fact that a goddess of all things decided to bless him, a half monster? Alicent couldnt help but laugh again internally.
Although monsters blessed by gods were extremly rare they were not unknown of. But it was well known how the gods favoured humans. At least that's how it was in Alicent's old world.
Could it be the world that's responsible, perhaps the gods of this world favour monsters more substantially, and that's why the artifact sent us here? In the first place, who is this goddess Athena? She escapes my knowledge of gods from our old world. Even with all those books I've read.
Alicent refocused on the quest at hand. For now, he wasn't sure what kind of information was available within Athenas library, it might not have any information that could help their current case. For now he should continue extracting what information he could.
But still…what is he talking about? The boy had been rambling about mercy and dedication for the last number of minutes. Perhaps he was scared of his gods sudden long silence.
Well, I might as well play along. Alicent had never played a god before, if there was one thing that brought him enjoyment, it was playing new roles. Gods had existed in his old world as well. Although they had never shown their faces to Alicent before, he was sure they existed since divine protections made it relatively obvious which races they sided with.
“Child, become my apostle and receive my divine blessing” Alicent's voice reached only the young child this time.
[Bloody Dilemma ]
[Mystic Eyes of Authority - Complete Charm]
By materializing one of his eyes in the bloody mist, Alicent activated his passive, Complete charm. Vampires were creatures feared for many things, and one of them was their mystic eyes, unique to each vampire. If one was unprepared, then even the strongest of individuals could easily fall prey to their power. Alicents' mystique eyes were simple but powerful, gaining complete control over those who looked upon them, being able to manipulate the subcounciouse itself, he could control everything from their emotions, down to their very perception of the world. Their only drawback was needing to gain the user's trust first.
The boy's eyes soon became hazy and lost focus as he stared with an ecstatic expression at the floating eye within the mist.
“What is your name and age?”
“Teqila, age fifteen,” Teqila answered as if in a lucid dream, his senses drunk. No resistance, it looks like he was more reverent than I thought, Normally the feeling of losing control over your senses would rouse some level of resistance, resisting the trust requirement and breaking the trance. It was the reason Alicent only used the ability in tangent with his sister's mystique eye, the weaknesses were too prevalent. By manipulating the boys subconscious, Alicent could easily make him ‘understand’ his home worlds language.
“How did you survive the attack and do you have any family remaining?” Alicent decided that it was best to use this boy in the future, therefore gaining his personal information was crucial.
“I was protected by you, the god of the black sand. Yes, I have one brother, but I'm not sure if he still lives after he abandoned me to survive.”
Abandoned by his brother? Alicent wasn't ignorant of human nature and its tenacity for survival even at the cost of human morals. Still, the fact that someone was able to abandon a sibling so easily made his heart clench slightly. A feeling that only happened at the thought of his sister.
Alicent internally sighed…No, it's not like all humans are like that. If not for this principal, he would have joined Targelia's ways of discrimination long ago. Thier were monsters with far more twisted values–but those were necessary for their survival. Full vampires were an example of this, but even they would never abandon one of their kin.
“Is this the only civilization within the desert? If not, do you know of any others?” Alicent thought it would be best to gather information on possible threats first, as well as generally scout out the surrounding lands for what could potentially be in store for them.
“Yes, this is but a small settlement east of the Balzith Empire. The entire Dessert is under emperor Balzinth the third’s domain and settlements like this are a common occurrence. We export Blacktanium as well as Black sandstone to the empire in exchange for food, water, and imperial protection.” Teqila continued. He's expanding on more than I tell him, he truly believes me to be his god…perhaps the mystic eyes were not even necessary. Well better safe than sorry.
“What is Blacktanium, and what is this imperial protection you speak of?” They were already stuck in this world, if a method of amassing power and capital was right under their feet, it wouldn't hurt to gather intel and plan for the future early.
“Blacktanium is a rare metal farmed only in the black desert, it can be used for the production of powerful armament weapons wielded by chosen, increasing their already profound abilities. Black Sandstone is the stone that makes up our buildings, Not only is it simple to create but it is incredibly sturdy and moldable when smelted meaning it can be constructed into nearly anything. It is of high demand on the market and the empire has a monopoly on it.”
Chosen are probably the warriors or ability users of this world, possibly with status and a high level. Though it's not impossible for them to be using a completely separate system from ours, but Armament weapons will certainly be something we must delve deeper into, could it be similar to Artifact weapons crafted in our world?
In Alicent's old world, Artifacts were either classified as support or weaponry artifacts, each with their own ranks and types. Both Camille's glasses as well as the phantasmal item that sent them here were classified as support Artifacts and were not directly used in battle but either to bolster a user's abilities or affect the world in a way that was non-detrimental to living organisms.
“Imperial protection is the shield towards barbarians, thieves and monsters that the empire extends to settlers who wish to create mining settlements such as this. Since most settlers descend either from refugees or merchant and nobility-bought settlers, either enslaved or employed, it is a good scheme to give one party more control over said recourses than the other.”
“Why are the people of the village so–weak, and should the Imperial protection you speak of not have protected this village from reaching such a pitiful state?” Alicent asked the second half of his question having already guessed the answer.
“Weak? Even those chosen with their awakened abilities would have found some difficulty combating such forces. To be eligible for the protection, Refugee settlements not under nobility or merchant licence must divulge eighty percent of their proceedings to the empire for free–under such conditions, very few settlements can maintain upkeep. Just to survive, this month we were unable to meet the quota p–pro—pro—----proviii–provisioned to us.” Teqila stammered as blood began to pour out openly from his eyes and ears.
Out of time. Sadly, normal humans would have their brains fried if they stayed under the effects of the mystique eye for too long.
Alicent asked one remaining question, a test to see if the boy could meet the standards he would set for this village in the future.
“...Do you hate your brother?”
“N-n-no, I l-l-love my brother dearly. He is the only family I have r-r-remaining”
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“Let us be heading back,” Alicent said as he walked passed the meditating figure of Repula, sitting softly in the sand. He had no plans to stay any longer, Just before he released Teqila, he had left something with the boy, a message stating that he had appointed the boy as his apostle. How the boy decided to use his newly gained power was dependent on him, but a planted seed was best carefully nurtured, hopefully, the returned harvest in the coming days would serve as a good basis for an adequate puppet leader and root of infection on the network of settlements.
“I'm assuming the trip was worth it, Alicent,” Repula said as he dusted the sand from his clothing as he stood up, calmly joining Alicent as they began a casual walk back towards their base of operations.
“Not perfect, we simply got lucky, If this was a settlement owned by a noble or merchant, it might have been disastrous. When will you stop blindly siding with humans, Repula.” Alicent had to admit that perhaps if not for this teacher of his, he might not be nearly as accommodating to humans as he was, but still, everything had its upper boundaries yet Repulas seemed to be non-existent. Obviously since he had decided to save them he had to completely commit to it now. It was one of Alicents rules.
“Not all lives were brought into this world equally Alicent. Yet they all have the right to fight for survival, whether it's long-lived mighty dragons, intelligent yet foolish humans, or pigs farmed in constricted pitiful conditions. A simple pyramid created by the gods, or perhaps a being that predates even that, what enjoyment could possibly be gained by following a predefined guidebook?” Repula's relaxed face suddenly took on a malicious smile as he spoke, sharp draconic teeth poking out from his gums. When he got too excited he tended to partially revert his transformation, it was why he always tried to keep a lid on his emotions. Apparently the stronger you became, the more difficult it became to contain its power in a smaller fleshly container.
“...uh-huh, speaking in tongues and rhymes when all you had to say was you wanted to save those humans. Master, you truly never change.” Alicent was used to such drawn-out, nearly meaningless responses from his teacher, today it was about survival of the fittest, and tomorrow it might be about racial dividends and war.
“Take my advice as you comprehend it, Alicent. one’s chosen path tends to only see the scenery available to it.”
The remaining of the trek home was done in silence as Alicent continued his plans in his head, his arms crossed as he quickly surmised a strategy to gather more intel in the most efficient and stealthy manner. He also revised his newly gained skills and looked through each of their effects in more detail. He had already decided how he would allocate the language comprehension to his guildmates. So the only other ability that could substantially save on time was reveled Sanctuary Library of Athena. He would have to check it out when he got back.
We cannot afford to be found out by this empire when we know so little about its power or structure. We also have to assume that nearly every other settlement could have ‘chosen’ at its doors or have some surveillance system in place to guard its mines as well as perhaps a communication network to easily manage its dispersed infrastructure. I should have gotten information on the size of the black dessert. It will have to wait until next time sadly.
That village looks like the safest possible source of infiltration currently. Although it wasn't a hundred percent certain that surveillance within the settlement didn't already exist, Alicent had made sure that his identity had never been revealed by moving in his mist form. Now, all he had to do was take complete control of the settlement through Teqila and slowly expand his control through a figurehead leader, it wasnt the first time Alicent had used such tactics. The entirety of the dessert region could be his and he wouldn't ever need to ever directly show his face.
“We are back, guild master.” Repula switched back to his old way of referring to him as they now stood before the tall, dilapidated twenty-story building that was the Unbranded guild. Alicent sighed again internally, the building stuck out like a sore thumb in the empty dessert. Just another problem out of many.