by Elian Tars
“We are ready, Senior Disciple!” they said. “What should we do?”
“Fight!” I said firmly. “Divide into pairs and fight till your opponent falls unconscious.” The villagers stared at me with astonishment, not in a hurry to fulfill the order. “Don’t be afraid to get hurt,” I added. “The powers of Darkness will heal you. Don’t you trust the God of Darkness? You aren’t worthy of his powers if that’s the case. You aren’t worthy of being saved. So? What say you?”
Instead of answering, a red-bearded man punched the sturdy, fair-haired fellow next to him in the face. A villager with a burnt face joined the first man, and a man with a pockmarked face joined the second. The teams were thus formed and the fight began.
The fistfight wasn’t spectacular at all; none of the villagers had special, close combat skills so there was no blood. The men just took away each other’s HP. These illiterate people couldn’t read the word “health”, but they saw the different-colored bars and understood what the red one was for.
So, the red bearded man won. Experience and resolution decided the winner. Now it was my cue.
“You fought well!” I said loudly. “Normally, it would take you almost all day to restore your stats after such a fight. But thanks to the powers of Darkness…”
Lifting my arm in front of me, I began casting Tranquility of Darkness. Low-leveled villagers had a small amount of HP, so I healed all four of them using my upgraded skill within a few minutes. I asked them to confirm that their “red bar was full”.
“Senior Disciple, that was amazing! But why do we need it?” an uncertain, female voice sounded from the crowd. “What was this fight for?”
“It wasn’t a fight, it was training,” I corrected her. “And you all need it for survival. You must be thinking that only a lucky person can become a strong warrior. But that’s not true. You are all equal. Your strength is defined by your level.”
“We know that!” said a young man. “But common girls and boys like us can’t even see those levels, let alone get them!”
“Yeah, that’s right!” the other villagers supported him.
“Noblemen can see them, but we can’t!”
“We can’t! That’s why we are weak!”
It was interesting to watch the commotion and realize how they perceived the world and their place in it. But if I continued looking at them as if they were lab rats, the situation could get out of control.
“ENOUGH!” Shawn roared at the top of his voice before I could say anything. “Don’t embarrass yourself in front of the Disciples of our Patron! Honestly, you’re barking like brainless mongrels without even hearing the man out!”
Shawn made a mistake; he was aware of his authority, but the people hadn’t accepted it yet. They opened their mouths with the obvious intention of telling him what they really thought about him.
“My friends!” I quickly said. “Shawn is right. You started forming your opinion too early. Each one of you will soon be able to see their own level, unlock special skills and become stronger. In order to do this, you just need to reach level 15. Then the powers of Darkness will teach you how to read, and you’ll be counted as true warriors and defenders of your village and your families.”
Of course, the powers of Darkness had nothing to do with it. Rather, it was this world’s order. I had asked Kane before if most of the town guards were illiterate despite being level 50, and if they were being sent somewhere to study. The necromancer looked at me as if I was a child, sighed heavily and told me that if a person hadn’t learnt to read and write themselves, they would be able to read system messages and study their interfaces after reaching level 15. After reaching level 30, they would be able to read everything, including descriptions of other people and even books.
When I heard about it, I remembered my first meeting with Ilsa. The girl had been level 30. She must’ve just gotten the ability and hadn’t completely gotten accustomed to it, which is why she read my name in syllables.
A system message suddenly popped out in front of my eyes, interrupting my thoughts.
Attention! Your point of resurrection has been destroyed. You have lost 10% of rebirth energy.
Chapter 20
The Potion
What? Again? Damn it! Berg? Or maybe…? Okay, calm down. Act as if nothing had happened. I need to finish everything here and then check the cemetery. It isn’t far from here.
Coming from the side of the woods, Vella, having taken a nice stroll, was now proudly walking in my direction, paying no attention to the villagers who were making way for her.
“We’ll start training tomorrow,” I quickly said. “Maybe today we’ll have time to arrange a few fights. But first we need to make a timetable, so that training doesn’t prevent you from working in the fields. I’m putting Shawn in charge. Consider him to be your new chief,” I declared and glanced at the villagers. Nobody dared to openly argue with me.
Having spent a couple of minutes talking to the new chief of the village, I came to Kane.
“Can you go with me somewhere? It won’t take long, we’ll be back by evening.”
He scrutinized me for a few seconds and then nodded.
“Where are you going, huh? Spill it!” Mara, on the contrary, was inclined to pry. But as soon as the necromancer put his hand on her shoulder, she got silent and turned away. “Fine, if you really need it… Let’s move.”
“Thank you.”
Kane managed to summon the zombie-bull, but Horn was now just level 30. The necromancer explained that it takes some time to fill a Wight with energy and make it stronger. However, this didn’t have any impact on Horn’s speed.
A couple of hours later we were at the cemetery.
“What the…?” Mara refrained herself from cursing. “Why would anyone want to destroy all of the tombstones and even the crypt?” she turned to Kane with a surprised look on her face. He was staring at me thoughtfully. Following his stare, the zombie sighed and nodded. “I get it. Though it’s faint, I feel your residual energy’s trail,” she told me. “Was your resurrection point somewhere around here? Some people believe that Gleams can rise from tombs. Is it really true?”
“Partly,” I nodded, looking at the rubble. That was all that remained of the crypt.
“I assume,” the necromancer spoke, “that you called us to come with you in case of an unexpected fight?”
“That’s right,” I answered.
“Next time, tell us about it beforehand, please. Did you really think that I would refuse if I knew that we might have to fight?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, not mentioning that that was exactly what I thought. With his sensory abilities, it was impossible to catch Kane off guard. If he felt enemies beforehand, he would have been ready to fight, or would have offered to retreat. My omissions hadn’t influenced our safety. But what if he had decided not to risk it…?
On the other hand, he went with me to Ilyenta and lost a lot of his zombies there. And I barely gave him anything in return for everything he did. Still, the destruction of my resurrection point threw me off my game.
“I’m sorry,” I said, sincerely this time. “Please, don’t hold a grudge against me.”
“Never mind that,” Kane gave waved his hand and frowned. “Do you know who did this?” Kane nodded toward the destroyed gravestone.
“No.”.
“That’s what I thought,” he sighed. “You wouldn’t have rushed here at a breakneck pace otherwise, risking bumping into a God.”
“A God?” I asked. “Are you sure? What God?”
“I’m sorry,” the necromancer shrugged indifferently. “There’s only a residual trail here, I can’t tell for sure. I’ll remember the feeling. If, by any chance, I meet the owner of this energy, I’ll most likely recognize then. However, I need to meet them personally.”
Crap… Last thing I needed were Gods destroying my resurrection points. How did they find me anyway? Could they find all of my resurrection points? Was Berg also in d
anger?
God of Darkness, I know you are watching me. Maybe not right now, but you can read my thoughts later. Look after Berg. I beg you, I requested, forming an image of my Patron in my head. I hoped that he would hear it.
“Can you where this God is heading to right now?” I asked Kane.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated melancholically. “Too much time had passed.”
“Let’s take a look around. While we are here and all,” Mara offered, getting round the destroyed crypt. “Maybe we’ll find something.”
Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything. Trying to look confident, I climbed onto Vella’s back and said that it was time to return to Ilyenta.
We rode fast. Everyone was silent. On our way back, I thought that I could have taken a piece of somebody’s tombstone from the cemetery and do with it as I did with the tombstone of Berg’s wife.
However, I decided not to risk it. What if this mysterious God could feel the moving of the feeble print of their power? The power that destroyed the tombstones could’ve been partially saved in the stone fragment. In that case, I would’ve brought something akin to a tracker device right into the Old Man’s congregation.
And who was this God anyway? Who could I have pissed off so much that they would start methodically destroying my resurrection points? Aside from our Patron, I had only met Einar and Rugus personally. From those I haven’t met personally… Karus could’ve decided that we had crossed his path. However, my first resurrection point had been destroyed much earlier.
Maybe it was some other God who’s Followers I fought or had just met? It was possible, but not logical. Figuratively speaking, from the God’s political point of view, I didn’t meddle with anybody’s interests.
So what, did they plan on taking revenge on the Old man through me? Now that really made a lick of sense. Though it seemed to me that the God of Darkness behaved quite inconspicuously, he might have gotten spotted. Or maybe he just piqued someone’s interest, and that someone decided to prevent our Patron from getting stronger.
When we came back in Ilyenta, my mood got a bit better. Enterprising villagers made me feel glad. Shawn managed to incorporate training into the local way of life after all, and people had decided not to dally. As a result of that, about thirty wounded were waiting for me upon my arrival, who, with the chief’s approval, fought valiantly on an open field, in a Battle Royale with only one winner.
Casting the accelerated regeneration on everyone, I asked the Rira, who was standing nearby, where Ilyenta’s cemetery was, and set out there in Vella’s company. According to local mortuary traditions, the dead were usually buried, but potentially contagious ones who died from Decay or illness were burnt.
I chose one of the tombs at the center of the cemetery and, investing 30% of my rebirth energy into it, made my second resurrection point. I had 20% of it left in store, just in case.
When we got back to the village, I asked Shawn to bring me “the cleanest vessel in Ilyenta” and after getting an old carafe made out of muddy glass, I went to the Lake of Grace.
I deliberately didn’t renew the Tranquility of Darkness that had been cast on me, remembering that HP had restored faster near the sac while I was in the decayed lands. If what I saw back then was true, the regeneration near the Lake had to be even faster.
And it was. Even though I was fifteen feet away from the water, my mana regenerated at the speed of one point per twenty seconds. I assumed that the other stats regenerated at the same speed. It couldn’t be compared with my Tranquility of Darkness, but for the low-leveled villagers even this speed would be like a gift sent from above. Not to mention that a whole bunch of people could be healed near the source at the same time…
My bad mood was completely gone.
The Guardian didn’t get out onto the shore, but it kept a watchful eye on me from the bottom. Giving it a nod, I filled the carafe and went home.
It was difficult to keep a straight face. I wanted to immediately start my research, but that was not a proper way for a Senior Disciple to behave. The villagers looked at me with respect, and even with reverence, which was a bit strange. Such low leveled were supposed to be running away from a person with level 6 Gloominess. Was it because we all served the Darkness? Maybe I didn’t look disgusting to “my people”?
Finally, I arrived home. Letting Vella into the house, I looked around and tightly shut the door. Pulling myself together and looking at the water again, I asked: “What is this?”
The Essence’s Storag
Interestingly enough, the system didn’t identify the carafe itself, just the lake water within it..
Inscriptions were always logical in this world. As there was no further explanation, I had to figure how to use the water on my own. What was this “storage”? What exactly is an “essence”? The tadpoles were an energy source, and they needed water to live. That much was obvious.
But what was the use of that? What sort of “essence” could be kept in water?
Though the names of item and abilities were often logical, they couldn’t be called straightforward. For example, my Power of Light was undoubtedly a very powerful skill, but calling it Powerful Beam of Light would have better conveyed its meaning.
Essence… Storage… Was it really necessary to use it as a “safe”? Couldn’t it become a base for this essence, its shell, a container for it? An idea occurred to me on my way home. If I was wrong, I would lose a little bit of the magical water, which wouldn’t be too bad because I could get more tomorrow; maybe even today. The daily limit that the Guardian had set for me wasn’t really clear.
Pulling myself together and banishing all of the irrelevant thoughts, I splayed my fingers and turned my hand toward the carafe’s spout.
Tranquility of Darkness.
The crystal clear water swallowed the black smoke in no time, becoming thick and black like ink.
Simple Tranquility of Darkness Potion
Doses: 150
Allows you to use “Simple Tranquility of Darkness” within one minute after consumption.
Effect 1: It has 75% chance to increase the regeneration of all main stats of a “Follower of Darkness” up to 20 points per minute.
Duration: 10 minutes
Effect 2: When at 75%, it has a chance to slow down enemies of a “Follower of Darkness” up 50%.
Duration: 2 minutes.
The carafe held about three liters. So, one dose was about twenty milliliters. I needed to quickly find out how I could drink per day.
I rummaged through the cupboards of “my” house and put a clay jug and a few pots into my inventory. This stuff must’ve been used for a long time, as was evidenced by the cracks and scratches. My crockery didn’t differ much from Shawn’s carafe in appearance, so there was no sense in running around the village and looking for something prettier.
Putting an effort into keeping a straight face once again, I steadily walked in the direction of the Lake. Approaching it, I took out the jug with the intention of using it to pour the water into the pots when the Guardian decided to greet me.
“The ance-e-e-stor of the wi-i-i-ill of the ancient,” it spoke in its usual drawling manner, jumping out of the lake and plopping down onto the shore. “Don’t be gree-e-e-edy,” it took some water with its two webbed feet and continued: “Tha-a-at’s the last of wha-a-at you can ta-a-ake today.”
“Thank you,” I decided not to argue and stretched out the jug so that the amphibian could pour the precious liquid into it.
Back home, I used the last of today’s quota and made ten more doses of the Potion. In conclusion, I could make one hundred and sixty doses a day. The question was — where would I keep them? I could ask Kane to send bats to the nearest town and steal empty phials from there, but how would they be able to bring that many phials in one go? And if they were flying back and forth, someone could spot them.
Yes, that was definitely an absurd idea.
Should I go myself? It would take time, and I didn’t
want to spend money…
I spotted an empty mug on the table. I pulled toward to me and poured the Potion from the jug into it.
Simple Tranquility of Darkness Potion
Dose: 0,1 dose
…
Simple Tranquility of Darkness Potion
Dose: 0,2 dose
…
I filled it up to one dose and hid the unremarkable mug into my inventory. I moved to the center of the room with the intention of doing a somersault, but the ceiling was too low. So I squatted, rolled over my head, planted my feet against the wall and, pushing off it, rolled back to my initial position.
I stood up straight and took the mug. Not a drop had been spilled. Seems like I’ll have to teach the villagers how to use an inventory.
I decided to have a meeting with them. I was about to walk out of the house, hand on the doorknob, when something funny, but not very appropriate, happened.
I couldn’t say that the words that popped up in front of my eyes were totally unexpected. From time to time I looked at the Needs menu and saw how one of the bars was slowly decreasing. And if such needs as Food, Sleep or, for example, Adventures and Self-Realization existed and were satisfied constantly, the other ones…
“Well… What am I to do about it?” I muttered, glaring at the system message.
Attention! You haven’t satisfied the “Physical Pleasure” need for a long time. You have become irritable. You lose one percent of intelligence for every unrealized percent of the need.
Chapter 21
A Little Problem
I opened the unfortunate Needs menu. Carnal pleasures were in the red zone. I was happy to see that each Need lowered at its own pace; Food, for example, was half, while Physical Pleasure had a quarter of its bar left.
Damn it! I hadn’t had any problems with it for a whole month! The damned game rules of this world! How could they give me such a strong “debuff”, just because I didn’t have a girlfriend? They cut 75% of my intelligence! And my mana decreased by 4, damn it!
