I had to Craft Aiko a pair of snow boots, and some gloves. Frostbite is a bitch, and I was beginning to realize Crafting was free. Construction was also my friend. I probably needed to spend more time fiddling with Destruction as well.

“Thank you,” she said.

We made our way back toward the Mandir.

“This shouldn’t be like a thing. Right?” I asked. I was pretty sure entering the Mandir was going to be a thing.

“It’s not like one of us killed a pillar of the community?” Angelica pointed out. She seemed to be coming more out of her shell, and that meant trolling me.

“Is this going to get violent?” Aiko asked. She seemed more curious than concerned.

“I hope not?” I said like it was a question. It probably was going to.

“I give it even odds,” Angelica said. “Lola clearly wasn’t angry. Most gods are pretty quick on the retribution side of things. That said, somebody is probably gonna try something. Like a drunken brawl.”

“So we want to get into the Mandir quickly, so when something stupid happens, everyone is protected,” I started walking faster.

Aiko started jogging to keep up with us.

We got to the edge of the mandir no problem. Just one violent encounter with a snow lion. It bit me. So I stomped on it a few times. I hardly broke stride really. After stepping into the effect of the Mandir we were stopped by an unlikely pair of assailants.

“Halt!” Bob said. The kid looked scared. I mean he kind of always looked scared, but now it was of me. ouch.

“Really, Halt?’ Angelica asked. She was trying to not be mean.

Gisele looked uncomfortable as well, “We are not supposed to let you walk around her unsupervised.”

“Oh that’s easy,” I said not halting, “Come along then.”

“Huh?” Bob asked.

“You need to supervise us, let's go,” I coaxed.

“I don’t think that is the spirit of our orders,” Gisele said following me.

“Tell them I tricked you,” I offered. “Do you guys know where Brand is?”

“You are being rather blunt,” Aiko said, jogging back up to my side.

I was being a bit forceful, but it was for the sake of not kicking the shit out of people.

“I think he is with the gunsmith. Janie and him took a lot a damage stopping the artillery barrage,” Gisele managed. “Are you Angelica De Leon?”

“Yeah,” Angelica said as we kept walking.

“That’s so cool! You’re so cool! Bob, it’s Angelica De Leon!’ Gisele gushed.

“Aiko is a high priestess of Adora,” I said, before Bob or Aiko could say things that would result in altering my course.

“Ooooh!” Gisele managed. Wow, that girl’s eyes were round.

“Bob, she’s a high priestess. She could marry us,” Gisele said, clearly excited.

Bob paled.

“Logistically,” Gisele amended. “I was not proposing. Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I knew what you were saying,” Bob managed.

…unless,” Gisele began, “nah. That would be crazy,”

Oh shoot, that is Minoru’s house. I considered for a moment. I made a b-line to his door. I knocked. After a moment I knocked again.

“I'm coming, damn you!” Minoru yelled. He continued to mutter inside the house, “it is the middle of the night. What sort of stupid assho-oh hello.” The door opened and Minoru looked up at me.

“I owe you a pact,” I explained.

Minoru blinked at me, “Would you mind coming inside?”

I ducked into Minoru’s house. Angelica followed me and closed the door behind us.

As the door closed I heard Aiko say, “I will not perform a marriage without performing a basic compatibility test on the would-be couple. How long have you two been together?”

“Four years,” Bob said.

‘Fifty-three months,” Gisele said at the same time

‘Fifty-three months,” Bob said just as the door closed.

Minoru’s parler was chock full of plants. A few were wrapped in plastic. The place had a pleasant floral scent. A rocking chair was near a fireplace. A couch faced the fireplace with a coffee table between them. A loveseat also sat next to the table.

“Please sit,” Minoru said. It took him some doing but he was able to eventually lower himself down into the rocking chair. He settled in, then frowned, “I should light some candles.”

“If you are alright, we’re fine,” I assured him sitting on the couch. Angelica sat on the loveseat.

Minoru considered standing then thought better of it, “You said you were here for a pact.”

“Yes, I am here to form a year long pact with you,” I explained.

“Why?” Minoru asked. The old man seemed almost doubtful.

“Lola, brokered the agreement. After Rachel turned Madigan, Chet, and Waldo to my custody, I was asked to form a pact with you and Seth Cohen,” I said.

“So that is how I found myself being accused of false testimony,” Minoru sighed.

“I am sorry,” I started.

Minoru raised his hand, “Don’t be. I would say anything if it meant Madigan’s death. It is fitting all I had to do was tell the truth.” He was quiet for a long time. “You killed him, Madigan. He is dead? I was swept up in the crowd and could not see for sure. I have heard rumors though.”

“Yes,” I admitted. I considered explaining myself.

“Good,” Minoru nodded. “You pulled the weed up by the root. What do you want?”

“Honestly, I just want you to try and teach as many people your skills with plants as possible,” I said.

“Of course,” Minoru agreed immediately.

“Is there anything you want from this?” I asked.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Minoru shook his head, “You avenged my son.”

“We need to define terms,” I explained. I appreciated him not trying to gouge me on this, but I don’t think he realized the opportunity this could be for him.

Minoru considered, “I will accept anything else you are willing to offer, and will submit to any stipulation you require in a pact.”

“That seems a little one sided. You are just letting me set the terms,” I objected.

“You avenged my son,” Minoru repeated.

How do you argue with that?

We made the pact. I gave him the regeneration ability, and the increased Body Attribute perk. I just required him to try and teach his skills to others. Just like that. The pact was sealed.

As the old man’s attributes surged he gasped. After a moment he spoke, “It doesn’t hurt.” He gingerly poked at his leg.

“Lola claimed the regeneration will undo some of your aging. I don’t know by how much, but by the end of the year you should be feeling better than you have in a while.” I told him.

A sad and profoundly tired look crept into Minoru’s eyes, “that is the problem with living gods. They never let their followers go if they can help it. The quiet may often be still but in the end they let you rest.” his eyes drifted to a picture on the wall.

I glanced over as well. It clearly was a picture of a much younger Minoru. He had the same balding head and mustache, but his hair was dark black. He wasn’t wearing glasses either. Beside him stood a young woman with curly black hair smiling brightly. She had both her hands on the shoulders of a boy, maybe seven or eight. She was holding the kid still in the picture. The kid had the grin of someone trying to smile because they were told to. A front tooth was missing. In his hands he had a baseball and glove.

“I can do another year,” Minoru told to himself.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“I do not,” Minoru said. He was silent for a long moment, “I do not mean to be rude, but could I please be alone?”

We stepped back out into the night. As the door closed behind us a prompt popped up.

Chino Minoru is now your follower.

“You think it’s alright to leave him alone?” Angelica asked.

“I don’t think he is going to do anything drastic,” I said. I considered touching the connection we had through the Commune skill. No. He promised a year. I could give him a night of piece.

Aiko was talking with Gisele and Bob. she had the two holding hands.

“Are you marrying children?” I asked. Choosing to engage with what ever fuckery this was than consider the emptiness of Minoru home.

Both Gisele and Bob were quick to point out “We are not kids!”

“This is a communication exercise,” Aiko explained. She showed no signs of guilt. That didn’t mean we hadn’t just caught her doing something weird. That said, everyone seemed fine.

“Let’s go talk to Seth then.” I said. I didn’t wait for input from the others and started making my way to his shed.

We didn’t run into any trouble on the way there. The other three Mystic Troopers were outside.

“Yeah, yeah, “ I said when Valorie opened her mouth, “Halt.” I walked right past them. I knocked on Seth's door. When no answer came I turned the knob and entered.

Seth was sitting on his bed. He stared down at his journal. He was writing something.

“Seth,” I said as I approached.

He looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, “She’s alive.”

“Are you alright man?” I asked.

“She hates me,” Seth said. A tear dripped down the side of his cheek.

“Seth she doesn’t understand,” I started.

“I need to talk to her,” Seth said as he tried to stand but I stopped him.

“I don’t think she is ready to listen,” I explained.

“What should I do?” he asked me.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Seth broke down. For a long time he just cried and held onto me for support. It’s funny, not in the haha sort of way, but in the obnoxious reality kinda way. I was supposedly some sort of powerful creature, but the best I could do here was not let my teacher fall on the ground.

In the end I just told Seth the same thing I wished someone could tell me, “She’s alive. That means there is still hope. It’s a faint hope, but it’s there.”

After a while Seth managed, “you’re right. I need to figure out something to-”

“Let’s take this one step at a time.” I cut in. I gently guided him back to sitting on his bed and crafted a chair from the stone of the floor. “You want to reestablish a relationship with Rachel. Right?”

“More than anything,” Seth said, nodding.

“That said she has been fed years of Technacoast propaganda and believes you to be a traitor, and some issues from her childhood have clearly festered.” I continued.

“That seems correct,” Seth agreed.

“The Technacoast issue may be resolved. Is that Authority person good on follow through?” I asked.

“So long as not pissing you off and holding that deal you made over your head is valuable, yes,” Seth said.

“Okay so then it is just a matter of talking to Rachel without her trying to kill you,” I observed.

“That would be ideal,” Seth agreed.

“So we need her to come back to the Mandir to talk to you,” I continued.

“How do we do that?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I am just work shopping the issue as we go.”

Seth sagged.

“I am going to meet with her tomorrow, well, this morning. Maybe you could write a letter.” I offered.

Seth shoved the journal into my hands, “Give her this.”

“What should I tell her?” I said, pulling the book into my inventory.

“Tell her it is my sketchbook, and it has drawings of her mother. Tell her she is welcome to come speak to me,” Seth said.

“I will,” I promised.

“When,” Seth pressed.

“Later in the morning,” I said. “It's the middle of the night. Get some sleep.”

“I can’t,” Seth said.

“Alright then let’s try something different,” I stood and with an effort of will and a successful Destruction check turned my chair to dust.

“What?” Seth asked.

“I am going to try and teach you a cosmic martial art,” I said walking to the middle of the room. “Train with me, and I will give the sketchbook to Rachel. Let’s call that part of the pact.”

Seth stood nodded, “I agree”

As the pact sealed, another prompt appeared.

Seth Cohen is now your Follower.

I stood before Seth, “The first step of the Unrelenting Glacier is Crushing Defense. The entire point of this martial art is turning defense into a means of attack and punishing aggression turned on you. Try and strike me and I will demonstrate.”

At first Seth was half hearted, he would sullenly reach out toward me. I blocked these ‘attacks’ and countered with a slap to his torso. I dampened the attacks to deal zero damage. Seth quickly grew annoyed with this, but rather than withdraw some competitive or driven part of his awoke to the challenge.

After a few minutes Seth had his game face one. His punches were increasing in both speed and precision. I continued to block everything he threw at me. Slowly, minute by minute, Seth began to block my counter-attacks. I change incrementally as well. My stance shifted subtly to mirror Seth’s as he became better and better at block. Things narrowed down to a constant exchange of attack, block, counter-attack, block. It was also like a dance. Strike, redirect, strike. As Seth became more capable of blocking my retaliations, my movements became smoother and more efficient. I wasn’t just leaning on the system, I was developing the skill within myself. As I improved, so did Seth.

New Achievement!

No Substitute!

You are a teacher! Enjoy paying for the school supplies and the 53 hour work week. Seriously though you are one of 5 beings that has taught a cosmic Martial art to another. Normally those are like the secret recipe: a trade secret that you just don't share. I am sure that won’t be a problem.

Reward:

XP withheld. Please contact you Narrator for assistance. I wouldn't bother though. What’s about to happen isn’t going to be stopped because of a level. Something you still haven’t done by the way. Anyways…

Have a great summer!

Oh good the prompts were threatening me again.

“Will you be okay till I can talk to Rachel?” I asked Seth.

“I will be… well a mess,” Seth admitted, “But you gave me something to do other than just scribble on paper.”

If something bad was about to happen, I really needed to get the rest of the group together.

“If you need me, the Commune skill can get us in touch. I might be too far away, but I will do what I can,” I said. I felt like I should be doing more. I understood -well comprehended- what Seth was going through. The weight of dread a parent feels when all they can do is wonder about their child…

Seth hugged me. After a moment’s delay I hugged him back.

I stepped out into the snow and found Angelica signing autographs. The Mystic Troopers were more than a little star struck.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“It's the Hero of The Fantasy Coast,” Valorie almost cheered as Angelica signed her shirt with a felt marker.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked Angelica. Since everyone else unhelpfully assumed I had the vaguest idea what was actually happening.

“Signing shirts,” Angelica said, being deliberately unhelpful.

“Why?” I asked, setting myself up for further punishment.

“I am kind of a big deal,” Angelica dutifully provided another nonanswer.

I could feel the clock ticking. “Let’s go get our Brit.”