Scholar with Book [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPEHdNHeRcHyHw9fc_Kn9JzTP3Oelt4M3AXt7uZRBbNeacYdRvbl8zkqrlXjBpUovRaKRrUQLV0Po1UMIks8xhwYJfq_h-_rXqQXrfeGwJ7kHY-KwW4EZqevJwMmPkqDRYrrU2c3kObhxZC7t5cgya0=w661-h992-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Scholar was happily watching one of her favorite people in all of Pyrin carefully recording the results of his latest experiment in a notebook when she felt the ripple of dimensional forces practically tearing a hole through the Veil and shoving a soul through it into their reality.
She would never forget that sensation. It meant a new Wayfarer would soon awaken in their new body here and hopefully bring her so many new things to learn about!
It was always fascinating for all of the gods to watch as a new soul arrived in their influence. They could sense the soul’s general disposition and sometimes they could even sense if there was a past life attached. Those types were always extra fascinating to them to watch how it might manifest in this one.
There was also a brief moment that could feel like an eternity to them in the Celes where they could not only read what the soul would manifest for its Natural Talents but also reach out and touch that soul, adjusting those Talents in various ways.
It would cost them a decent amount of Aetherius, but sometimes it would be well worth it. It cost even more to do something like that to a Wayfarer though than it would a regular soul being born. Wayfarers were harder to adjust because they had their memories intact and a fairly clear image of what kind of person they were.
The only time it had been basically free for them to play with a Wayfarer’s Talents was when the very first Wayfarer appeared in this world. He had arrived with a unique Talent that gave the ten strongest deities almost free reign to design his other four Talents together.
This current Wayfarer didn’t have that kind of broken Talent but she did have her own form of game-changing, world-breaking, and formerly-thought impossible Talent of her own.
Scholar practically squealed at the other deities watching from within the Celes, “She can resurrect?! How insane is that?! Undertaker! How is that possible?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” the god solemnly replied in his soft baritone. “The only answer the Aether is giving me is that… well, perhaps that’s not really for you to know.”
Scholar whined, “That’s not fair!”
“Well, what is the Great Beyond telling you about that book Talent of hers? That seems more within your domain.”
The little goddess’ attention returned to the Wayfarer again and every single one of her Projections around the globe echoed her cheer of delight at the discovery of the Wayfarer’s [Guide Book] Talent. “Oh! This is so perfect! Not only does she obviously love learning, but we can totally give her some quests directly through it! For cheaper than a normal person, too!”
“I think that Talent is missing some useful features for it, though,” Traveler contemplatively said in that androgynous voice that many kospers and tuzospers shared. “I think I may hold off on tweaking it, though. It might make a good bargaining piece for marking her soul later. Most Wayfarers share that sense of wanderlust I already feel within her.”
Destroyer gave a mental eye roll they could all feel as he asked, “Planning to guide her path already? Shouldn’t you all at least wait to see if she needs our help before putting your paws all over her soul?”
“I’m sure you just don’t want them powering up another hero that will fight against you,” Sovereign quipped. They all knew that particular god wouldn’t be offering a Soul Mark, but there were other offers he could make, and it usually didn’t bode well for the rest of them if Sovereign found someone to favor.
“I’m sure you all realize by now that it doesn’t matter how much you power them up. I still win in the end,” Destroyer replied with a smirk that only faded when Cultivator’s overwhelming sense of disapproval filled the reality-spanning conversation.
The Celes was a plane that was overlaid upon the Mortem, the name given to the realm of mortals. Here was where gods were normally born and they were part of its very fabric. They were naturally non-physical beings that were aware of everything within their influence. That influence could actually be sensed within the Celes, if there were other beings that could access it. As it was, only the physical bodies of those few who became Ascended deities had been able to access it to confirm that fact.
“It’s odd to see an Aurabreaker,” Hero interjected into the silence, redirecting the focus back onto the Wayfarer’s Talents. “It can become very powerful should she fully unlock those.”
He was actually projecting his body within the Celes next to the brilliant pillar of shifting rainbow light that announced to the world where the Wayfarer would arrive. Scholar had noticed how most of the Ascended deities liked to do that, even if nobody could see that Projection within the Celes outside of a designated Sanctuary.
Projecting a form within the Celes didn’t cost Aetherius, and Sanctuaries were an interesting blend of the two planes. Beings on either side could be seen and interacted with by both sides so long as the deity it was gifted to allowed for it. Projecting into the Mortem, however, did cost them and depending on what they did or said during that time could cost them even more.
Champion formed her own Projection to stand beside the god that raised her to Divinity and pointed out, “Limit Breaking isn’t all that rare among Wayfarers in general, but I agree the Aura version isn’t as common as some of the others. Are you hoping she will fight for our cause?”
Hero smiled at her. “I always hope that with every soul that arrives; Wayfarer or not. However, I’ll admit that a soul that won’t immediately cross the Veil from making a heroic sacrifice is very appealing.”
“Oh!” Avenger said in the next moment, his own Projection forming beside them. “She’s a scrawny little thing isn’t she? I feel like they somehow look smaller without any hair.” He glanced in the direction they could all sense a group of mortals coming from, and he mused, “Perhaps, that merc will share her Prism Brush to help her regrow it?”
Hero shook his head. “You and I both know that’s not worth the price of her falling into their clutches.”
“It might not be that bad,” Scholar said as she made her own Projection nearby. All three gave her child-like form a dubious look. “They’ll make sure she arrives at a city safely, at least,” she tacked on, unsure if she should add the rest of the thoughts she had gleaned from the group of Magi and Mercenaries.
“I don’t have to read their minds to know that will be a terrible idea with this particular group,” Hero retorted. “They don’t care about her wellbeing in the slightest. I don’t want to have to send one of my few Paladins just to break her out of a Magi’s laboratory or a Merc’s basement.”
“Hasn’t stopped you in the past,” she pointed out. “I even remember you getting around some of that Quest cost by convincing that elf, Dylan Meyrick, to simply write a letter that got the Purifier’s now-Fallen Paladin involved with a rescue mission a few years ago.”
Hero narrowed brilliant blue eyes at her. “I’d prefer to avoid trauma before it happens where possible.”
“Oh come on, a few pokes and prods to get some samples before you call in the Paladins will hardly be traumatizing for an immortal Wayfarer. They usually come from much worse places and…” Scholar’s words died as Champion took a step forward to glare at her, reminding her that the goddess had once been one of the few Wayfarers that had longed to return home. Sometimes Scholar really wished she could read the thoughts of the other deities to know the better way to respond.
“We don’t know what she’s come from,” Avenger said, placing a comforting hand on his former lover’s shoulder. “We do know that most people that experience forced confinement do not walk away unscathed, even if they bear no physical scars.” He leveled his own glare at the goddess as he added, “And I will definitely make sure that those who harm this Wayfarer get everything they inflict returned. Perhaps even you someday should you not reign in your more zealous followers.”
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Scholar gave a long drawn out sigh. “Fiiine. I’m still going to ask her all the questions as soon as I get her in one of my Sanctuaries, though!”
The trio watching her thankfully shook their heads and chuckled at her antics. They knew she would make good on that promise, at least. Movement at their feet from the awakening Wayfarer caught her attention and she excitedly bounced up and down on the pads of her feet. “Oh! She’s waking up! She seems confused… Oh! She’s thinking about the Night Witch!”
“Morgana?” Hero asked with a raised brow, glancing toward Champion. “She’s from Earth?”
“Not sure,” Scholar replied with a shrug. “She’s thinking the name ‘Morgan’ which is close, so maybe? I can’t estimate the timeline difference yet. Remember how similar Terra was to Earth from Luzero’s memories? It could be another version of that.”
Scholar paused as more confusing thoughts filled her own senses from the Wayfarer’s surface thoughts and she translated for the others, including the Confidant who always seemed to judge every word that she dared utter. “She used to be sick, so probably no obvious magic like Terra or Earth.”
The Wayfarer sat up and looked around the clearing in confusion, not seeing any of their Projections standing around her on the Celes layer of reality.
“I think I’m going to try that fancy new book Talent to save her the pain of capture,” Hero said with a tone of finality, and he gently brushed his ethereal hand against the soul they could all see within her.
A glowing book popped up in front of the young woman’s view that they could all read even without a Projection.
New Quest: Choose Your Path
You have arrived in a new reality! Choices need to be quickly made.
Objective: Choose your new path in this world within the next five minutes.
Path 1: Battle against the approaching Casters and any who might seize control of your fate.
Path 2: Flee the approaching Casters and take control of your fate.
Path 3: Abstain from acting and allow your fate to take control of you.
Path 4: Capitulate to the approaching Casters and relinquish control of your fate to others.
Reward: Common dress.
“Well, that’s just cheating!” Confidant shouted at them, indignation dripping in her mental voice.
Hero grinned at the two minor deities beside him. “It didn’t cost as much as I expected either. Using vague wording helps. The limited timeframe and cheaper reward also helped a lot. It did cost a bit more to give more options, but I think that cost was negated by the options being so broad that my own desires for her choice were obfuscated.”
They all watched, and Hero winced slightly, as the Wayfarer got angry at his first attempt at a quest being so vague and not guiding her to do anything. She decided to explore her new abilities instead of making a choice right away, but began sobbing after a moment.
“What’s wrong now?” Hero asked in concern.
“Does she miss home already?” Champion asked, taking a step toward the young woman.
Scholar just stared at the Wayfarer with her mouth agape before slowly trying to explain. “She had Soul-Body Dysphoria in her old world. The transmigration completely changed her body to realign it… I didn’t know it would do that.”
The trio of Ascended deities looked down at the Wayfarer with a mixture of pity and curiosity. As they all sensed the approaching group that the Wayfarer seemed oblivious to, Hero gave an annoyed huff and brushed a finger against the book.
Warning! Three minutes remaining on the quest: Choose Your Path.
Scholar giggled. “How much did that cost?”
“Not much but it still did to nudge her,” he explained. Raising an eyebrow at her, he asked, “Is it costing you anything for her to learn about herself from it?”
“Nope. The information is basically coming from her anyways. It also feels similar to that Faerie Guide Talent I helped make before. It’ll tap into my world notes like the Knowledge Tablets do.”
“Lucky bonus for you as she learns all about everything.”
She grinned. “I knew the little bit I spent to make those notes in the first place would pay off.”
Hero nodded back at the Wayfarer they had all learned was named Phoenix Fraser, who was silently staring at the book, and asked, “What’s she contemplating about now?”
“Who she should leave her fate in the hands of,” she answered with a shrug. “You probably shouldn’t have made it so vague. She seems pretty young. Her thoughts are… almost too naive and innocent. I don’t think she’s experienced much of her own world let alone ours with its Castes and levels of magic.”
“Which choice do you think I should take that would result in maximizing the chances of my fate being what I really want it to be?” Phoenix asked the [Guide Book], and all of the gods projecting a form grimaced at the question while they felt plenty of other deities grin delightedly.
This young woman was willing to put her fate in the hands of a power the gods all had access to influence.
The approaching group of Magi and Mercenary Casters distracted her from the book, and Hero quickly touched it again with a single word.
RUN.
She obeyed.
The deities all watched with various levels of interest as the Wayfarer fled through the forest. Scholar might not have been able to read their minds but she was positive many of them were already plotting various ways to use this newest Wayfarer. She was just as guilty if she was being honest with herself. Already she was working behind the scenes to shift some of her people around. Especially the ones nearest to her current location.
Unfortunately, the closest major city was Blomsterang to the west and she didn’t have a high Caste Disciple there at the moment. With the Soul Reaper war in its second year and the blood moon imminent, most of her people were securing their vaults of knowledge to prevent more loss of information.
As Phoenix rested against a tree and checked her book again, seeing the quest completion, Scholar glanced over at Hero to ask, “What’s with the Mana Bits?”
“The base quest cost for us. The dress was more specific to the completed objective. It feels like that’s where the real variable is. It needs to be equivalent to the challenge at the very least. I think more if it’s impeding on another’s domain. We may have to test more.”
“Well that should be easy enough,” Warrior said as his own projection materialized beside them.
Phoenix was just asking her book more about what her Natural Talents did. Scholar piped up before Warrior could mess with the book, “Hey! She’s in the middle of learning right now!”
Warrior ignored her protest as he tapped the book when Phoenix asked how to loot things, short-cutting Scholar’s properly prepared explanation about how the aura rests upon the skin to give a snarky response instead.
Try your hand.
Warrior chuckled, “Oh, that is fun. That didn’t even cost me anything since it just summarized your asinine drivel.”
Scholar scoffed in offense. “It is not drivel! Nor asinine! It was a very thorough detailing of how—”
“That’s nice. Nobody actually cares though, Scholar,” the god interrupted as he reached out to touch the book again and she stepped in his way.
“Look! We can’t overload her!” the goddess stressed. “She’s confused and scared and trying to figure out the very basics! We can’t all just pile on quests and make her brain melt!”
Warrior raised a brow but seemed uncertain as he asked, “Do you think that would actually happen? I’ve seen death by brain meltage before and it is not pretty.”
Scholar blinked at the god for a moment. Wondering if he was messing with her or actually as muscle-brained as some of his followers were. “It might,” she ended up replying with a serious nod. “Who knows with Wayfarers. Somebody makes sure I’m never given many chances to study their physiology,” she added with a pointed look at Hero.
He rolled his eyes in response. “I don’t care how much you beg me. I’m not going to let you experiment on them.”
She huffed. “Well you don’t get to hog this one! She likes learning, which means she’ll love me and I’ll love her too!”
Rebel surprised them all by appearing next and smiling at the child-like goddess. “Don’t worry, Scholar. I can sense the defiance simmering within her. I don’t think any of us will be able to ‘hog’ her, as you put it. I think she will always fight for the freedom to choose for herself.”