by Elian Tars
I felt at once that my weight had decreased. When I opened my eyes, I saw the world in black-and-white. I decided to check the Twilight Wanderer’s main feature. Approaching a wall, I boldly made a step forth. I walked through the wood without feeling any resistance and almost fell because of the difference in height. I looked around. A villager with a scythe passed me by, paying absolutely no attention at me.
I quickly made a couple of steps back while the skill was still working. There was a little problem; because of the difference in height my feet and ankles were below the floor level. As soon as I imagined myself lifting my leg, putting in on the floor, and pulling my body up, I found myself back in the room and in one piece.
A totally crazy thought crossed my mind. If there were no physical barriers for me in this condition, did that mean that was standing on the wooden floor only conventionally? Then…
I concentrated again and imagined that I was walking up imaginable flight of stairs, and I got some seven inches above the floor. I tried to go higher, but the skill times out and my physical “shell” came back. I plopped down on the floor, unable to fight the force of gravity anymore.
The experiment was successful. But now I had some more pressing issues.
I took out the energy source out of my inventory and put it in the center of the room. There was almost no space left.
Looking attentively at the sac, I asked: “What is it?” There was no information again.
“What am I to do with you?” I sighed, talking to the tadpoles. Did it seem to me, or did they really get bigger? Their skin was definitely shining brighter than before.
But no matter how long I observed it, I couldn’t understand how to recreate it. I had some idea, but I decided to ask our energy specialist for his opinion before I do anything.
“Hey,” walking out onto the porch, I called Rira, one of the younger villagers, who was passing by. “Could you tell Kane to come here?”
I thought that I was being a bit rude, making her run errands for me, but being the Senior Disciple, I couldn’t run around the village myself looking for the necromancer. Besides, the girl clearly didn’t mind helping me; she smiled, bowed and almost ran in the direction from which she had just come from.
Sitting on the bed and looking at the sac, I waited. About ten minutes later, there was a knock on my door and a melancholic voice said:
“We’re going in.”
I greeted my companion and Mara with a nod. The guys did the same, immediately losing any interest in me when they saw the energy source.
“It looks even more… Magnificent up close,” Mara said quietly after a few long seconds of silence.
“Yeah,” Kane agreed. With an effort, he took his eyes off of the sac and looked at me.
I understood the necromancer’s silent question and said:
“I wanted to hear your opinion. Do you have any ideas on how to recreate the source?”
Kane became thoughtful and silent.
“You have no ideas at all?” Turning to me, Mara asked with the usual chuckle in her voice.
“I know as much as you do,” I replied.
“O-o-oh,” she drawled. “So you do know something?”
Maybe if I was a teenager, her constant teasing would tick me off. Currently, I couldn’t take seriously the babblings of someone’s ill-mannered broad. Feel angry or offended? Old Man, forbid. Put her in her place and show her who the boss here is? I really didn’t want to stoop so low as to use the “bully-alpha male” tactics. So what was I to do then? Ignore her from time to time but pay attention to the important things.
So I stayed silent, keeping my guesses to myself. I didn’t hurry Kane either, giving the necromancer an opportunity to think about it calmly.
“I suppose our Patron didn’t give you any clues?” he asked when Mara had almost burnt a hole in my face glaring at me. As soon as the necromancer spoke, the girl stopped frowning and focused all her attention on him.
“No”, I answered.
“Hmm…” Kane buried his fingers into his black hair. “I don’t know what to do. I can just can tell you what I would do if were you.”
“I’m listening,” I said patiently.
“I would cut the sac open and pour the contents into a pit,” he answered calmly.
“Why do you think the tadpoles would survive that?” I asked. I had something similar in mind so his words didn’t surprise me.
“Pfft!” Mara snorted. “They are not your usual tadpoles, but a powerful source of energy. They obviously wouldn’t die that easily.”
I slowly nodded, agreeing with her. In the end, they told me nothing new, just confirmed my theory.
“I assume that we won’t need a big pit?” I asked, looking at Kane again.
“Most likely,” he nodded. “That lake in the forest didn’t look quite natural. The source can probably change the environment to suit its needs.”
“Then let’s go find a suitable place for it,” I offered, putting the sac back into my inventory.
We were out the next minute. It stank of burnt flesh and Decay. The closer we were to the bonfires, the more stifling the smell was. Kane and I would grimace now and then; Mara just chuckled looking at us.
A couple of people were standing near the fire-pit, heads bowed in mourning. Women were crying, men were clenching their fists. I recognized Shawn. Noticing us, he turned the villagers’ attention to our group. They bowed and whispered words of gratitude. Though the pain of bereavement was tearing the people’s hearts, they understood that there would be no one left to burn and mourn the dead had it not been for us.
“Senior Disciple, Disciple, Mara,” leaving his friends behind, Shawn walked over to us. “How can I be of assistance?”
“We’re just having a look around the village. You can join us if you want,” I took in the situation quickly. If I was going to make a fully legitimate chief out of this man, the rest of the villagers should realize his worth and position.
The four of us walked round Ilyenta three times. I was surprised, and glad, to see that not all of the locals were grieving and mourning. Yes, people were walking sullenly down the streets, but almost half of the villagers would smile, bow and sincerely thank us when they saw us. Mara suggested that they were those who hadn’t lost their relatives and friends. The rest of the villagers were more reserved with expressing their support.
And there were totally disgruntled people.
“You were late!” A boy of about twelve years old suddenly ran over to us. Taking a swing, he aimed to hit me, but Shawn stood in his way. “Let me go! It’s their fault!” the boy shouted, trying to get round the future chief from the left. But Shawn easily subdued the troublemaker. “Let me go! Let me go!” the lad cried. “If they had come earlier, my mom would have been alive! Alive! Ali-…” his voice faltered. The boy trembled, started crying and went limp in the man’s hands.
“Forgive him,” Shawn glanced at us warily.
Before I could say anything, Mara made a resolute step forward and, taking the boy by the chin, lifted his head and looked him in the eyes.
“Listen to me, puppy,” she hissed. “Your mother died because she was weak and because you’re also a weakling who couldn’t protect the dear woman. The fact that you blame us for your mistakes just shows your worthlessness and weakness. If somebody agrees with him,” the girl said loudly, looking at the onlookers who had gathered around us, “then it applies to you, too! Cry-babies and wimps piss me off!” she spat.
I looked at Kane with reproach. The necromancer just shrugged and, taking his girlfriend by the wrist, pulled her to himself. Mara didn’t resist, and let the frightened boy go, demonstratively paying no attention to the other people.
Had she given in to her emotions, or had she planned it all beforehand, I didn’t know. Whatever the case was, the girl did the right thing. We had no strength and no time to protect the village personally. But the Old Man needed the flock. It would be great if they could take care
of themselves. With that in mind, her impulsive performance couldn’t have come at a better time.
Meanwhile, more and more astonished villagers gathered around us. Everyone wanted to know what the noise was about. Those who were present from the beginning eagerly shared their impressions with the newcomers.
It was time to take the bull by the horns.
“People of Ilyenta,” I loudly began, “perhaps my companion’s words seem rude to you, but she is right. You have to become stronger so that you could fight off the decayed beasts; so that you do not to tremble in fear and be helpless.” The people became quiet and listened attentively to my every word. “I understand that this is a very difficult thing to do. But remember that you are the Followers of the Great God of Darkness and that he is always watching after those who are loyal to him. He told me how to make you strong,” I lied. “And I’ll be happy to do it.”
Chapter 19
The Energy Source
The villagers took my words with caution, but nobody thought to refuse to help me. The sturdy men quickly dug a deep, six by six well in the form of a cube.
By the time they had finished, the whole village gathered around, enthusiastically making guesses about what we were going to do next.
“I tell you, it’s is a punishment pit!” a lively old man was convincing the gathered people.
“No, it’s not, uncle Bob, it’s too small for punishment. I’m sure they will throw the ashes of the decayed there, use it for some rituals,” a young man about eighteen years old suggested.
“What the hell are you talking about, genius?” a handsome man, one of the four brave fighters, shoved him in the ribs. “In that case, they would’ve dug a pit first and only then would they have burned the creatures there…”
And so, and so forth. Of course, nobody was close to having the right answer. But most of them concurred with the opinion that if the pit was being dug on the edge of the village, at the place where dissenters used to be executed, it was definitely for the sake of some sort of a ritual.
Speaking about executions, Shawn told us about them during the tour round the village and the surrounding area. Many years ago, when a Disciple of Ilonida squad came to the village with a small squad and ordered the villagers to reject their Goddess, only three of them didn’t betray Healissa. They, as an example for the others, were quartered one by one on that clearing. Should the energy source be recreated at such a place? Kane was sure it should. He claimed that the almost simultaneous execution of those three people could have triggered a burst of energy. Not really a “burst”, but definitely something that didn’t exist in any other place.
“Isn’t that energy evil? Murder and all,” I asked in astonishment, receiving a sullen look from Kane and a chuckle from Mara.
“Life energy of three living beings abruptly returned to the world around them. That’s all. It’s simple as that. If any sort of energy can be considered “evil”, it can only be the energy that’s being destructed by Decay.” Kane explained.
It made sense to me that a God’s temple should’ve been the most conventional place of power suitable for becoming a full-on energy source. Kane claimed that the village’s sanctuary was the worst candidate for it. At night, Karus’s energetic defense barrier was destroyed by the decayed, and the Old Man had only recently become the Patron of Ilyenta and didn’t have time to fill the local temple with his power.
“Energy isn’t always the same,” the necromancer continued talking in riddles. “It’s… Hmm… Individual for all Gods, except our Patron. Do you understand? Even if Karus’s barrier hadn’t been broken yesterday, his temple still wouldn’t be a source.”
Once the “suitable source” was ready, I asked the men to stop digging. One of them was helped out of the pit, and more than two hundred couples of eyes were observing me impatiently.
Thanks to Mara’s sharp tongue, the preparations were spontaneous. However, I did manage to ask Shawn a couple of questions as I needed to understand their way of life. Who did they answer to? Did anyone else protect them? And why did people stay here, living so close to Decay?
Aside from religious divisions, there was the usual administrative structure. Though Ilyenta’s residents prayed to Karus, they paid taxes to Baron Alv Gotz, the governor of Shelt. He had a right to rule the local lands, as well as those where burnt Listeri was, I supposed. The fact that Gotz was a Follower of Rugus didn’t prevent him from collecting money from the Followers of Karus.
However, the baron didn’t protect the villagers at all. They could send a courier, asking for help against a newly formed group of bandits, but their main enemy was the decayed and nobody wanted to fight those creatures. One couldn’t really raid their den.
The villagers couldn’t leave their home land as they were not wanted anywhere else. Get away from the border? Everything was already occupied there. The whole village couldn’t move to another place; they would be kicked out. Of course, there were those who, alone or with a partner, left in search of a better life. However, nobody knew what happened to them afterwards. Shawn thought that many of them were dead by now. The lucky ones settled in other villages; the less lucky joined brigands.
“So, Senior Disciple,” the future chief sighed, “life’s a hell of a difficult thing. No matter where you go, it sucks. But we live somehow, little by little. And now, thanks to you and the God of Darkness, we’ll live in clover!”
Remembering the man’s words, I stopped a couple of feet away from the pit and loudly said:
“People of Ilyenta! Thanks to the God of Darkness and his Disciples, your land will be the place of eternal prosperity! See it for yourselves! Hail Darkness!”
Taking the energy source out of my inventory and putting it on the very edge of the pit, I materialized a knife and, overcoming momentary hesitation, pierced the muddy membrane of the sac. I then made a big cut without touching the tiny, neon tadpoles.
I put the knife back into my inventory at once and opened the sac with both hands.
Crystal clear water gushed out, taking the tadpoles with it. I could’ve sworn that the water started to swell after having filled the pit, getting bigger in size, like a living creature. The muddy had been much smaller than the cubical well, but when the last drop of the magical liquid fell into the reservoir, it got filled to the brim.
“What’s that?” people started talking in astonishment, coming closer.
“Water?”
“What for?”
“What are those creatures? Aren’t they dangerous?”
“Hey, look! It’s growing!”
They were right; one of the tadpoles rushed up from the bottom, getting bigger in size and taking the form of a huge frog. It shot out of the well like a rocket and landed with a flap some three feet away from me.
Tree Frog Guardian
Level 51
HP: 2540/2540
It looked exactly the same as his decayed brethren, but unlike them it was in good health; its neon skin with black spots shone on the sunlight, and its bright cerulean eyes were clear.
People gasped and took a few steps back. The Frog examined me for a couple of seconds and then bowed in gratitude.
“R-r-i-b-b-b-i-t!!! Thank you-u-u, the successor of the will of the ancie-e-ent. You saved us. And no-o-ow we will restore our La-a-ake of Gra-a-ace. We allo-o-ow you. O-o-o-nly you-u-u-u,” it emphasized, “to take its wa-a-a-ater. A li-i-i-itle. But e-e-e-every day. But we’ll pu-u-u-u-nish those who da-a-a-are to touch the la-a-a-ake.”
I had no time to ask it anything; the amphibian thanked me again, said goodbye and jumped back into the water. A couple of seconds later, I realized that the well became much deeper and wider than before. It had to; this behemoth wouldn’t have enough space to move otherwise. I could see the Frog through the clear water and even now it took up almost all of the free space at the bottom of the well.
A system message notified me about the completion of the quest and XP. There was nothing interesting aside from
that, so I closed the message with clear conscience.
I looked into the waters of the Lake of Grace, asking the system to identify the water and the tadpoles. Nothing. Well, we’ll figure it out little by little over time.
“So what, now we have a monster living at our doorstep?” a scowling woman asked cautiously.
“And it’s gonna eat us if we come closer?” another woman added.
I glanced at them, thinking that I needed to nip the discontent in the bud and find the right words to calm the people.
“Quiet!” Kane spoke before me. His voice was so authoritative and sharp that people forgot their bickering at once and warily stared at the necromancer who pointed at the odorous blossoming bush about fifteen feet away from the lake. “Look there! Before Daerk created the Lake of Grace, there were dead and dry sticks instead of flowers and green leaves. Don’t take the Frog as a monster. It’s the guardian of the Lake. A lot of noblemen would be glad to have such a powerful energy source in their castle. However, the God of Darkness chose you and gave you such a wonderful gift. Don’t complain! Accept it with gratitude.”
“Thanks to the Lake, there will always be life around your village!” Mara announced in triumph. “There will always be food, and the cattle will breed. Isn’t that what you were dreaming about? Isn’t that what you want?”
The villagers started nodding, agreeing with her words. They looked at us with even more respect, and at the source with reverence.
“But the creatures of Decay are creatures opposite to life itself, they will try to destroy the Lake of Grace,” I said strictly. “Our duty is to protect it. Besides, haven’t you already decided that you wanted to become stronger so that you could defend yourselves? Your nearest and dearest? And win?!” Getting them to nod in silent agreement, I continued: “With the skills the God of Darkness gave me and with the Lake, you can train faster than even the strongest fighters!” Making a dramatic pause, I looked appraisingly at those present and solemnly added: “I need four volunteers,” I stopped my gaze at the four men that showed their worth during the battle in the temple. After a moment’s hesitation, they stepped forward.