After leaving the merchant’s house, Aren made his way to the Broken Blade Tavern and was escorted to a private backroom where the group was. Estella was also present. They seemed to be deep in conversation, after supposedly they had interrogated Estella and her intentions, and before long, after greetings were out of the way, Aren’s exploits had shocked them once again.

“So, you didn’t pay anything? At all?” Nissa still couldn’t believe what Aren had just told them. Not once, but twice.

“Yes. Completely free.” Thrice.

“Six hours?” Nissa queried again, eyes wide in disbelief.

“More or less.”

Fang shook his head. He was also having difficulties believing such a seemingly ordinary thing. For Aren, at least, it was ordinary.

It turned out that spending six hours with a trainer would cost any one of them a fortune. Upwards of a thousand platinum coins, at minimum. Although they were far more skilled than Aren, even at his level, it wouldn’t come cheap. Contrary to what Aren expected, learning main class abilities was actually cheaper than learning secondary abilities. The reason was simple: Trainers found the secondary skills to be boring to teach, so they drove up the prices. It was such a ridiculous reason that, considering Elzo’s personality, it made perfect sense to Aren.

“That was fortunate, but we can no longer afford to train with Class Trainers. From now on, we are on our own,” Fang said, tapping his index finger against the circular table. “If we can afford them, we will buy class tomes, but our training will mostly be done amongst ourselves.”

“Why?” Aren asked, but he could already guess. Actually, the question was entirely pointless. He knew the answer.

“Aurora’s Favor. Free lessons are a dead giveaway. We cannot afford that,” Fang explained and the others nodded in agreement.

“But how will we learn new abilities?” That is really what Aren wanted to ask.

“When we get a clan stronghold, we will hire trainers. Then it will be free either way,” Fang said.

Aren nodded and then glanced at Estella who was quiet the entire time. Not just quiet, but she didn’t even seem to be paying attention. Was it safe to talk about Aurora’s Favor in front of her?

Fang noticed Aren’s inquisitive glance, looked at Estella himself and smiled. “She knows. We told her.”

Estella seemed to come back to reality, looked at both of them and smiled.

“You convinced her to join the group?” Aren asked, pleased.

“And clan,” Estella confirmed. “Our paths and its limitations are the same. I don’t see any reason to refuse.”

Nissa smiled, happy for some reason. “She is also a Master in Swordsmanship and Hand to Hand Combat. You can learn from her in the meantime.”

Estella nodded. She was the quintessential expert. Mithril rank adventurer, ex Officer of the Army — no wonder she was so experienced. It was hard to believe that Estella agreed to join a group so far below her own skill level.

“What about you guys, though? Who will teach you?” Aren asked. Only he and Damien used similar weapons.

Estella smiled — and she had a beautiful smile — and shrugged. But Aren knew she was hiding something and expecting it to be revealed at any moment.

Fang licked his lips and gave Aren an approving nod. Good job finding Estella, his eyes said. His words explained why: “One of Estella’s blessings is called Arsenal of the Righteous. First of all, it allows her to use any weapon skill she is aware of at the level of her highest weapon skill, while her main weapon skill is considered two ranks higher than it actually is. So she can teach us at the Master level, but she can teach you at the Supreme Master level.”

Aren slumped back into his chair, his mind blown to smithereens by the crazy ability.

“The downside is that she can only improve her own skills in service to Aurora. So no training, no epiphanies, no nothing,” Fang explained and Estella nodded.

“Ouch,” was all Aren could say in regards to that. “Wait, how does this help Cass? She is a mage.”

Fang smiled, and that approving nod returned with a vengeance. Even Cassandra seemed ecstatic about something. The only one who didn’t react was Damien, while Estella seemed increasingly more embarrassed.

“Her second blessing is called Mastery of the Righteous,” Fang said, and paused for long enough to allow the words to sink in.

Aren could almost imagine what a blessing with that name would do. He leaned forward on the table, waiting for Fang to speak again. Fang took his sweet time. He enjoyed being in the center of attention like this, Aren knew this for a fact. With each passing moment, Fang’s smile was bigger and bigger.

“The blessing has a reciprocal aura-like effect,” Fang explained, using some non-Singularity terms. At least, Aren thought that aura was not a real thing in Singularity. “Firstly, there is Unity, which raises our abilities by several ranks — I am not sure how many — as long as we share the same ability with our benefactor here.”

Aren nodded. He understood perfectly. Thanks to Arsenal of the Righteous, Estella knew virtually all weapon skills. Unity, in return, boosted all of them by several levels when Estella was in a group with someone else.

“In return, all of Estella’s skills are boosted by an amount based on our relative skills and the number of people in our group,” Fang said.

Aren nearly choked on his apple juice when he heard the words and his brain processed what that meant. He gawked at Estella, as if she was an alien God. No wonder she was a Mithril rank adventurer. Unity was broken to hell and back. How was this fair?

The idea that Estella might be a Calamity also popped into Aren’s head, and if it popped into his head, then it surely did not pass beneath Fang’s notice either.

“What’s the downside?” Aren asked. There had to be a hefty downside.

“I am not finished,” Fang said, and Estella continued smiling innocently, in a not-so-innocent way.

Aren nodded, signalling Fang to continue.

“The aura is not the only thing. While Estella is in our group, our learning rate is multiplied by an absurd factor, slowing down as we approach Estella’s Class Rank,” Fang said.

Aren burst into laughter, his eyes clouding up with tears from laughing so hard. He couldn’t believe that Estella’s former friends kicked her out of their clan. Idiots! Serves them right for being so petty.

And what an incredible ability that was! Aurora sure didn’t hold back when she was giving gifts to her favored children.

“Of course, Estella learns even faster than we do, based on the inverse of that same factor. The slower we learn, the faster she does,” Fang said. “After all, she must always be the vanguard — the tip of Aurora’s slaying spear.”

Aren nodded vehemently. He understood the concept and the idea behind the blessing. Unity, it was such a great description of what the ability did. It made the faithful as strong as the prophet, and ensured the prophet would always be the one to know the path forward. It was disgusting and beautiful at the same time.

“What is the downside?” Aren asked again.

Fang sniffed, leaning back in his chair. “We don’t know.”

Aren blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we know one of the effects, but not the main downside,” Fang explained. “If we fight creatures weaker than us, we suffer the effect of Humility of the Righteous, and all our skill ranks are cut in half. We also cannot attack adventurers who follow the Light Pantheon. If we do, we get the Repentance of the Righteous, and we lose, temporarily, all of our skills.”

Aren hissed at the thought. Those were some hefty drawbacks.

“We tested it,” Nissa said. “Fang attacked me outside the city, and the moment his naginata hit me, it felt like a love-tap. Then he couldn’t even swing it, or hold it. It was as if he had forgotten how to use it.”

Fang nodded. “But if we get attacked by weaker monsters or adventurers, none of the downsides apply.”

Aren nodded. “So what is the real downside?”

“Like I said, we don’t know for sure,” Fang said and Estella nodded in agreement.

“But there is one, right?” Aren asked.

“Oh yes, of course there is at least one. We just can’t tell what it is,” Fang explained. “The ability, more or less, says that the path of the Righteous is one of self-sacrifice, and can never be easy or simple.”

Aren pondered the explanation and understood, in a way, what the problem was. Self-sacrifice, those words had a certain connotation to them that Aren found the whole thing suspicious and quite dangerous — especially because he was a Calamity.

“I know for a fact that if I stay for long in a city, my reputation degrades and my devotion to Aurora also suffers,” Estella explained. “That is not all, I also bring bad luck.”

Fang nodded.

“What do you mean by bad luck? Isn’t Aurora the Goddess of Luck?” Aren asked.

Estella nodded. “How do I put this. Monsters attack, crops die, people have accidents — and they all know I am the cause. Bad luck.”

Aren understood now why Estella had a terrible reputation. It wasn’t just that she had to protect monsters from adventurers and denizens, but she was a magnet for bad events.

“But you could stay in Pallas?” Fang asked.

Estella nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t have that blessing back then.”

“Maybe you have to be a wanderer,” Nissa offered an interpretation.

Estella nodded. “I think so too. I think, in general, I — and by extension we — are no longer allowed to take it easy. We have to always put ourselves in danger, and challenge the most powerful of opponents, for the sake of others.”

Fang nodded. “I think you are right.”

Aren also agreed with the words. It did make sense. But that didn’t quite explain the self-sacrifice part. Was it really just enough to always help others, and to fight tough opponents? Aren felt like there was more to it, and this was because of his unique knowledge of the power of AI.

The LAGI running Singularity was just as capable of manipulating the future as Leviathan was. The fact that Estella generates events — what she called bad luck — was the work of the LAGI.

Was it possible that the LAGI was guiding Estella down a path — possibly one of certain death, like the death line?

Aren chose not to share his thoughts. His group mates might find the idea of manipulating destiny to be absurd, or worse, assume Aren had intimate knowledge with the subject. Even though Aren told them about the death line, that was orders of magnitudes less serious than what Aren was thinking about.

But if it was true, then Estella’s and Aren’s meeting was pre-ordained and decided by the LAGI. The fact that she was in that cathedral when Aren emerged may have just been coincidence. Or, it could be something much worse.

The simple fact that Estella’s blessings were so perfect for Aren’s group did not sail past him like a ship in the night either.

Before he could truly become a paranoid lunatic, Aren put the thought out of his mind. Sure, the possibility that the LAGI was influencing events was not zero percent, but the better question would be: Why would the LAGI care? Besides, Estella got her blessings way before Aren had done anything meaningful in Singularity.

“Either way, our path is pretty clear. We can no longer stay in Leone. Let’s make the clan, sell the loot, and figure out how we will build the stronghold in Rakab before someone else does,” Fang said, standing up.

The others nodded in perfect unison and moved to their feet as well.

Fang turned towards Aren. “You’ve thought of a name, yes?”

Aren blinked. “What? Why me? I thought you were the leader.”

Fang shook his head. “Of course not. You have to be the leader.”

“Why do I have to be the leader?” Aren protested.

“Because of your fame, silly,” Nissa cut in. “Your fame will become Reputation for all members.. It is easier to explain away why we are so well-liked.”

Aren shook his head. “Hold on, that won’t work then. I can no longer obtain fame. I forgot to tell you, but, I think none of us are able to acquire fame anymore.”

“Another blessing?” Fang asked.

Aren nodded. He didn’t just forget to tell them. He didn’t want to tell them. This wasn’t Aurora’s doing — it was Priscilla’s. And he wasn’t going to reveal a single detail about her to his group mates.

“Either way, that is even more reason to make you our leader. The fame effect works both ways. The more famous the members of the clan, the better the reputation the clan itself will have. For now, that will have to do,” Fang explained. “With me and Estella, it should be enough to get us going until we figure out the new blessing situation.”

“We could invite Ame too…” Nissa offered, her voice low and cautious.

Fang’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at Nissa. It looked like Fang might explode. After half a dozen seconds, Fang sighed and nodded. “I will send him a message.”

Aren didn’t know what was going on between Ame and Fang, but the fact that Fang agreed to invite Ame made it very clear that fame was extremely important to the group.

“So, the name?” Fang asked.

Aren thought about it for a moment. He came up with several, extremely stupid names — so stupid that he didn’t share them. To put it bluntly, Aren was the worst at naming anything. He just didn't have a single creative bone in his body, as his in-Singularity name would suggest.

Aren stumbled backwards half a step, enough to prompt Nissa to put a hand on his shoulder and look at him with a worried expression. She didn't ask, but the question was evident in her eyes: Are you all right?

< In this world-line, you are on the right path, but no matter how far you walk, it will not be enough. You cannot reach her. >

Aren fell to his knees, even as Nissa's fingers hooked into the collar of his new shirt, and tried to keep him steady, unsuccessfully. Aren's vision shimmered and for a moment, he saw the world the way he saw it in the real world; a dimensionless blob of photons.

Suddenly, he remembered the merchant family and their lost son. Aren sympathized with them, but now he felt something different. Pity? It wasn't that he wanted to remember it; he was forced to. And that pity wasn't his. Was it Leviathan's? And it wasn't just the merchant family; that thought extended to encapsulate all those who were lost to the Orkin Horde Invasion; to all those who fell to the powers and influence of dark Gods and otherworldly entities; to all those who died fighting against the demonic incursions. And in the core of the black heart of pity was rage.

"Aren?" Fang asked, standing up to his feet.

But Aren couldn't hear him. His mind was swimming in the oppressive blanket that was Leviathan. Aren remembered Fang's words once, about the Plane of Shadow, and how its energies stuck like tar to everything. Aren now felt the same way, submerged in the tar that was Leviathan, and it stuck to his bones and the marrow in them. There was but a singular thought in Aren's mind. How?

Finally, he felt the tyrannical weight lift from his mind, and in its absence, Aren felt as if he was floating. He felt liberated to the point that he actually cracked a weak smile, much to the confusion of his worried group-mates. Perhaps it wasn't just Leviathan's presence that felt so heavy, but the pity and rage he felt. Those couldn't be Leviathan's feelings; it had no emotions. Right? Somehow, Aren suspected that it was the collective emotion of the denizens that lived in this world; their rage at being suppressed and abused by orcs, demons and, in some cases, other adventurers. Aren could understand that pity and rage; in fact, he felt similarly in the real world. At a critical time, Priscilla came to him and absolved him of his dark and self-destructive thoughts. She healed his wounds; she gave him meaning and weapons to pursue that meaning; she exalted him.

Subconsciously at first, but then very consciously, Aren plunged his hand into his pocket and his fingers found the object they were looking for. It was a special item, and it always remained on him. It was probably enchanted in such a way that he could find it in a pocket or satchel whenever he looked for it. It would appear there, as if it had always been there. He wasn't sure how it was possible to lose it, considering its strange, fleeting nature, but Priscilla told him to keep it safe.

[ Black Rose of the Exalt: A crystallized vestige of calamitous destiny. Forged in the Plane of Lightning, it acts as a unique conduit to its annihilating energies. ]

Exalt a Forsaken Humanity. Was Leviathan just using words that he knew would resonate with Aren?

Slowly, Aren rose to his feet, nodding to his worried comrades as he became aware of their expressions.

"I am fine," he said. "More importantly, I have a name."

"Oh?" Fang hummed, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if Aren was actually fine.

"Exalt," Aren said. "We will be known as Exalt."