Chapter 14

...

[Floor 2 – Day 2]

[Total Days in Trial: 43]

[Status]

Name: John

Attributes

Class: None – Skills: 2/6

Titles:

Perks:

Strength:

15

-

Lesser Analysis

Dexterity:

12

Archery 5

Constitution:

18

Resist Poison 9

Intelligence:

10

-

Wisdom:

10 [+2]

-

Wise man of the Mountains

Charisma:

10 [+5]

-

Ambitious [ACTIVE]

I woke up, extremely hungry and thirsty, but surprisingly not dying. And no longer lying in a doorway either, for that matter.

As I pulled myself up to a sitting position, I could see I was inside a room. Stone block walls and thick paned glass window greeted me, along with a simple bed laid out on the floor that seemed to be made of straw and roughly sewn cloth. Apart from that, the room was almost empty.

Across the room, I could see my bow and arrows waited. The bow was still strung up, and it rested carefully set on... what seemed like folded clothing.

“You’re awake. Thank goodness.”

I jumped as the voice spoke, seemingly from nowhere. Turning towards the sound, I found a small man seated beside me, dressed in clean white cloth. His eyes were milky, with no pupils visible, and his face seemed aged to the point where he seemed almost entirely wrinkles. Somehow in the darkness of the room, illuminated only by a single window, I'd completely overlooked him.

Lesser Analysis seemed to work automatically.

[Arthur Solius – Priest of Light]

A priest...

Some of my initial wariness faded. I wasn't certain what a "Priest of Light" was, but I could connect enough dots to assume if he had wanted to harm me, he likely would have done so already. While his eyes seemed to look in my direction, they hardly seemed to be looking directly at me. Instead, they lingered, unfocused, staring off towards the wall.

“I understand you may be confused." He spoke again, after the silence stretched. "I was concerned you might die during the night, but it seems that the Miracle was enough to stabilize you. The will of Light has pulled you through.” With his dark skin, old and wrinkled, I felt he almost seemed to be made of leather as he reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Tell me, child: what has cursed you with such a strange affliction? Never in all my years have I seen such a thing.”

“I…” My mind went blank. In truth, I wasn’t really sure what to say to that. Yet, at the same time, I was also feeling an odd tugging at my speech. Almost as if someone was whispering in my ear, words were coming to me.

I decided to listen to them.

“Merciful Priest, I was cursed by a demon. I barely escaped.” I winced at how corny that sounded, but the silent suggestion I'd heard had felt very confident.

“Ah, a demon...” The Priest nodded slowly, smile fading to a thoughtful expression. “So, the time has finally come. They approach our lands at last?”

“Yes.” I answered, awkwardness of the lie catching up with me, as another line floated up in my mind. “All the cities are at risk, I fear. I could not return to them, and fled here instead.”

Mentally, I reached for my Status Menu again, checking over my Attributes. There was no way I would have known what to say here, but it was clearly working in my favor that somehow I did. Scanning through the numbers quickly, I decided this had to be coming from my bonus Charisma, and maybe helped along by my Wisdom score.

“Ah… then it is as it was foretold long ago. I am saddened such a tragedy has come to pass in my lifetime.” The Priest murmured the words, shaking his head. “Fear not, child. The mountains have always kept such beasts at bay and the cities that guard the borders beyond them are strong. Our people will survive.”

“Is the… curse…” I fumbled a bit, my lies already feeling awkward. Lying to the old Priest felt quite wrong, but the urging of my newly found Charisma seemed to be encouraging I keep going. “Is the curse still present?”

“Yes. I am afraid so.” Rising slowly, the Priest withdrew his hand from my shoulder, bringing his palms together in a silent prayer. Then, he reached out once more, pressing his palm to my chest, nodded along with the pace of my heartbeat. “The wound within you is something that the Miracle I possess cannot cure, I can only heal what damage it causes. Perhaps, if we were to bring you to someone of higher status... I have heard rumors of such talents. Those in the order of Light, who can also Mend and Restore, rather than simply Heal.”

“I see.”

I didn’t, really. My mind was racing at the implications of what he'd just said.

He could heal me, even imperfectly? How did that work?

As if sensing my thoughts, the Priest answered.

“For the curse placed upon you... If there is a way to be rid of it, I suspect that you would need to journey to the Capital. There, perhaps a Bishop may be capable...” He frowned, perhaps considering his own words. “But that is quite the journey, and with demons afoot, I would not ask something so terrible of you.”

“I see.” I trailed off, awkwardness setting in. I felt that had sounded remotely like a line leading up to something unfortunate.

Perhaps the Priest could read that in my tone.

“Worry not, child. It is my duty to care for all who come to me. I will not send you away to die. To do such, would be a sin."

"You have my thanks."

"And you have mine. It has been quite a long while since I've had a true visitor. While I cannot cure you, know that I am more than capable of healing you each day. Such should be enough, until more help arrives.”

“When will that be?”

“In a few weeks, when I receive supplies from the church. We will need to discuss with the messengers what would be best when they arrive.”

"I understand." I bowed, again at the urging of that nagging feeling in my brain. “I feared I would not make it another step, when I found your church.”

It seemed that the influence of Charisma was quite strange. The words simply came to me. All I had to do was let them out.

“Church? You are too polite.” The Priest chuckled. “Perhaps, decades ago when Adventurers still set out to cross the mountains, it may have been close.”

He paused for a moment, laughter settling.

“Still… I am quite old. I have lived long, far longer than I have any right, and I fear that any day could be my last. Yet, it would pain me greatly to leave you to such a terrible fate.” He slowed his words, closing his clouded eyes as he gestured towards the ceiling. A soft glow seemed to emanate from his hand, as he spoke further. “There are crossroads in life that cannot be explained by ordinary means. Where chance and luck come together, for what many refer to as divine encounters. Those, which hold a deeper meaning; a spiritual meaning.”

I nodded, as he paused. While I was certain those eyes of his couldn’t see me, he smiled all the same. His hand rotated in a wide circle, odd trail of light following as it moved.

“Tell me, lost child: do you believe in destiny?”

“I-“ The prickling in my mind I was beginning to associate with Charisma, seemed to surge. Any hesitation I once had, was gone. I gave my answer before I could help myself. “I believe.”

“Of course.” The Priest nodded, satisfied with the swiftness of my response. “Of course you do. And the Light has blessed you for it.”

Gesturing towards the ceiling once more, I blinked as his skin seemed to glow softly in the room’s dim light.

“Lord of Light, Lord of healing, Lord of peace: Hear my prayer. I beseech you to grant this blessing.” His hand fell to hold just above my head. “Grant this child the right to become my final disciple, so that I may pass on your blessings to him, and he to all those who come after.”

The menu displayed the messages immediately.

[Class Offered: Disciple] [Class Rarity – Low]

The odd mental "Ping" noise rattle off again:

Accept?

Low rarity... I didn't know what that meant.

Not for the first time, I wished I had a little more information. Was this like Skills, where I might be locking myself out of future opportunities by taking it? Yet, the Global Broadcast messages I'd received from "RunnerGunner" had indicated that obtaining a Class was important.

Yes No

I pondered this for a brief second, before deciding it was worth the gamble.

Beggars can't be choosers, after all.

[Disciple Class - Granted]