I woke feeling refreshed and fit, and stretched until my joints popped. Voices came from the main temple room, but I ignored them and crossed my arms behind my head. I kept my eyes closed and took deep breaths, enjoying the relaxed feeling.

After I got up, I had no idea how long it would be before I could rest this comfortably again, so I was determined to make the most of it.

After a while, I remembered the ping I'd gotten from carving Barry, well Barry 2.0, but other than me who was counting. I opened my status and blinked as a bunch of lines scrolled by.

> Your title, 'The deliverance,' was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

> Your title, 'The deliverance,' was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

> Using a high-grade material, you have created a medium quality, large-sized artifact

> Woodcrafting 3/10 (passive increase in coordination and woodcrafting knowledge)

> Karma cost: 2

> Current Karma: 3

> Your title, 'The deliverance,' was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

I used karma? How? I tried to recall the process of crafting Barry, but all I got was a blurry memory of cutting and chopping and deep focus. I looked at the karma gains and got even more confused. A ping came from my status, and a new line appeared as I watched.

> Your title, 'The deliverance,' was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

What the hell is going on? Another ping came almost right away, and another line came.

> Your title, 'The deliverance,' was used to describe you

> You've gained karma: 1

My karma was now at 6, and I waited for a while longer to see if more would happen. Nothing did, but the muted laughter coming from the main temple increased in volume.

Fine, I thought as I got up, stretching again. My muscles weren't sore at all, showcasing the thickness of the grass I'd slept on, and I looked around the room for the first time. It was larger than my first apartment, and with some decorations, it would make for a good place to stay.

Well, for someone else, I grumbled as I turned around and walked out of the room. If only it had a hot shower. I could have used that.

As soon as I stepped into the main room, I stopped and stared in stunned silence at the group of massive, grey armored warriors that stood beside the entrance.

Stonites, I thought as I gaped at the heavily armored knights. They all had a pot helm below their arms and a sharp sword on their hips.

Haltir stood beside them, appearing to have been talking with the tallest of them. Both of them noticed me when I entered, and the familiar, towering Stonite stepped towards me with a wide but sad smile.

"Est!" he said, in a voice surprisingly soft for his huge stature.

"Bastian," I said, stepping forward and gripping his outstretched hand. "How did you get here?"

"Haltir's doing. He sent out the word over the mercenary network that he needed help from some Primes."

And Primes just come at his beck and call, I thought, shaking my head in disbelief. Bastian didn't seem ready to explain further, and I examined him. He was still as humongous and muscled as before, and his bald head shone. Still, his face was more creased, and small wrinkles lined his eyes. He seemed to have aged since the last time I had seen him. That had been when I fled with Barry from the combined assault of the other Primes.

I blinked. When I abandoned them...

"I'm glad to see you made it out of Ulderion's domain alive," I said, hoping the other didn't hold it against me. At the time, I didn't have much choice.

Bastian's smile froze, and he squeezed slightly. The power in his hand was immense, and it felt like I was locked between two toppling mountains. Had I said something wrong? Then it hit me, and I looked around the group, searching for a second familiar face.

"Valaria is in the Stone's realm now," Bastian said in a dead voice as he released my hand.

The big man looked into the distance for a moment, the pain and sorrow that washed from him so thick I felt myself turn sad. Then Bastian shook his head and gritted his teeth.

"I will see her again, eventually," he said. "Until then, I have a job to do."

Bastian didn't elaborate but moved back to the others, leaving me dumbstruck. I vividly recalled the strong connection he had with his daughter and the love they had shown each other. For a moment, I wondered if it was my fault, then the sickening feeling shattered as an inner anger slammed into it. No, I thought. If it was anybody's fault, it was the other Primes.

"Thank you for escorting me, my friends. Be safe on your journey back," Bastian said. The pain in his voice was still audible but had faded slightly.

The other Stonites seemed stunned. One of them, a grizzled old man who needed a shave, shook his head.

"We can't just leave you here! Have you seen what happened here?"

Bastian nodded. "I have, and that is why you can't stay here. You need to go into the wild and cull the most dangerous monsters around here. They need time to repair the wall and rebuild their defenses. If a monstrous flood happens now, or the blood rain season begins, Crouhal will be lost."

As Bastian spoke, the resistance on the other man's face faded, and when Bastian finished, he sighed. "Damn these times," he said before stepping forward and embracing Bastian in a bear hug. "Be safe, old friend."

"Fear for my enemies," Bastian said before stepping out of the embrace. "Go now. You know what the Stone said: Times are changing, and not for the better."

The older Stonite stared at Bastian for a moment, seeming to search for something in his eyes. When he couldn't find it, his face fell even more. "Let's move out," he said, turning to the others. Each, in turn, raised his fist at Bastian before falling in line. A moment later, they ran outside single file, quickly vanishing into the dense forest.

Haltir, who had been quietly watching the proceedings, stepped forward.

"I hope you slept well, Est. It might be the last sound sleep you have in a while."

I grimaced. The old soldier just perfectly mirrored what I had thought earlier.

"I slept like a baby," I said, looking around. Bastian was staring into the forest, lost in his thoughts. The rest of the temple was empty.

"Where is Laurel?" I asked.

Haltir sighed, and he gazed outside. "She woke early and said she was going into the city to find out more information on what had happened in Vorchal. She said she wouldn't be able to learn the spell fast enough and said you should just go to the library." Haltir turned to me, and his hand gripped his ax. "She looked like she was going to do something stupid."

The hairs on my neck stood on end. "You think she's going to try and find her sister right away," I said. It wasn't a question.

Haltir nodded. Then he began pacing, still gripping his ax. "I fear she isn't thinking straight. It's so unlike her, acting without thinking."

"She lost her mother," I said, and as I said it, I thought of Nana, her soul alive, but her memories gone. Had Rathica released her yet? No. She would have told me.

"I know," Haltir said as he moved towards the entrance to stand beside Bastian. "We seem to be losing a lot of loved ones lately."

Bastian just nodded, and an uncomfortable silence spread. After a moment, I couldn't hold it anymore and looked around for my things. It was time to leave. I spotted my ax lying on one of the tables in the corner. A small piece of cloth lay crumpled and forgotten beside it. Below it stood my backpack.

When I picked up the ax, I saw it had been meticulously cleaned, and the blade shone as if it had been oiled. I held it in one hand while putting the backpack on. For a moment, I realized that I now held all my meager belongings in the world. Had Earth been destroyed? Was there any chance we could ever get back there, even if in new bodies?

Probably not, I thought. Moving back to the others, I saw Bastian was holding his helm and a backpack.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

Bastian nodded, and the three of us moved back into the temple. The new tunnel wasn't long, and it ended with a familiar double door at the end. I put my hand on the door, blocking the doorway.

"Did Haltir tell you what is in there?" I asked.

Bastian nodded, and he took a furtive glance at the door. "He has. I've never heard of those Aucerion, but they sound dangerous."

That's an understatement, I thought, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

"I'll go in first. After I do as Rathica told me, I'll open the door again."

With my hand on the door handle, I hesitated. The memory of the massive snake that had chased me came back, and for a moment, I wondered if Rathica could be wrong. Then the feeling faded.

"I'll make sure the supplies get to Steadfast," Haltir said.

I turned to him, happy I had a moment longer. "Make sure Laurel doesn't go off on a suicide mission against Nimron."

Haltir's face turned ugly, and he nodded.

Seeing the other two stare at me, I took a deep breath and drew open the door. A massive snake head blocked the passage, two eyes staring straight into mine.

"I knew you would-"

As the Aucerion spoke, I steeled myself, jumped forward into the library, and slammed the door shut behind me. I couldn't have him try and influence the others somehow.

The snake's head was the size of a small truck, and I could have stuck my head in his nose slits without touching the sides. An odd feeling came from my mind, and slowly the small space in my mind that I had begun associating with my mindscape appeared. I felt something lurking around it, a massive presence that filled me with a horrible sense of dread. The Aucerion drew back as if to give me space, but the sensation of its presence around my mindscape only increased. The words Rathica had told me were at the forefront of my mind, and I didn't wait but started spewing them immediately.

"I agree to release you from your obligations to me if you agree to my terms," I managed to get all the words out, and as I spoke, the head drew closer to me again. It stopped when I stopped talking, and its tongue shot from its mouth, passing a handbreadth from my face.

"So it does talk, and it spoke with its Deity…" The Aucerion's voice sounded both in the library and in my mind, pressing against my mindscape. It reminded me of the fight with the Guidar. I could sense annoyance and anger bubbling below the surface of the massive entity.

Wait, why do I sense that? I thought. It wasn't the first time I'd sensed the thoughts and emotions of these powerful beings. With Rathica, I had thought it was because of the connection we had and with Ulderion due to the situation. But was that what was going on?

Not now, I thought, pushing the slowly rising curiosity down. Remembering the second line Rathica had told me, I opened my mouth.

"You may not-"

The snake's breath surged around me, suffocating me, as it roared in anger. "You puny mortal! You do not tell me what I may or may not do!"

The demonic snake loomed over me, the eyes staring at me as if I was an insect, a spec of dust. The presence around my mindscape turned into a whirlwind, pressing and slamming into the barrier around it. A ping from my status window was almost completely drowned out, and I grit my teeth.

Trying to ignore the roaring, I started again, this time determined to finish and stop for nothing.

"You may not, in any way, directly or indirectly influence the happenings of Kernstalion or my life!" I shouted the last bit, trying to be heard above the increasing roar of the snake.

The moment my last word came out, the roaring stopped, and it was suddenly so quiet it was shocking. Even the pressure on my mind-scape stopped.

"Bah."

The single word was spat out with such burning hate I shivered uncontrollably.

The Aucerion pulled back again, staring at me. Seconds turned to minutes, and I felt my heart rate slow down again.

Is it going to wait until I die? I thought, wondering if that was some loophole.

"If you take back your request, I promise I will make you the ruler of this entire galaxy after I am done with it," the Aucerion's voice had turned oily and soft like silk.

Sure, buddy, I thought, keeping my lips pressed firmly together.

The Aucerion didn't seem deterred, and he whistled an alien and dissonant tune. "Also, I will show you how to become a deity or demon and live forever."

I couldn't stop my eyes from widening. So one could become a Deity? That was the first I had heard of that, but Rathica had said these Aucerion's couldn't lie, and everything so far pointed to that being the case.

"Yes," the Aucerion hissed as he came closer, seeming to smell an opening. "A good secret, that one!" One of the two snake eyes was now an arm's length away from me, like a massive window. Ethereal nebulae of yellow and red, beautiful to the point of haunting, swirled around in them.

I didn't answer but averted my gaze to the ground between my feet, so I didn't have to look in the bewitching eyes.

"Not just the secret, then," he Aucerion crooned. "I'll tell you how to accomplish it? No mean feat! No mortal has ever managed it in this entire backwater part of the verse, the deityverse." For a moment, the honey-laced voice turned gravelly and mad. Then it turned back so fast I almost thought I'd mistaken it. "But fear not, I can tell you, guide you, nurture you!"

The words made me nauseous, and I had to swallow back the bile forming in my throat. The Aucerion seemed to misinterpret it as excitement.

"Yessss! Just say you take back your words, and you can have it all! Take back the words and say you agree!"

My teeth clenched, my stomach roiling, I kept my eyes on the ground. Moments passed, and slowly the Aucerion seemed to understand that I wasn't going to speak.

"No? You don't like my offer?" he spat, and as he spoke, his voice changed. A burning hate filled it, and I felt the presence explode back around my mindscape. "A threat then!?" the Aucerion screeched. "Know that there are always ways around any promise! If you force this on me, I will find a way to get back at you. I will have my revenge on the deities that locked me up here! If you dare stand in my way..." the snake's nose almost touched my forehead, and it took all my effort to keep my head down.

I kept quiet as the Aucerion continued ranting for a long time. At some point, I almost managed to tune it out, as I had long ago when Nana scolded me. I didn't even notice right away when the Aucerion fell quiet, but when I did, I instinctively looked up.

The snake's eyes were quietly observing me, and then it sighed, angry and weary.

"Fine, mortal," it said.

I could sense it wasn't fine at all. The hate had turned from a raging inferno into a cold thing below the surface of his presence. Somehow it was even more frightening to me. Rathica had better be sure about these guys, I thought, because I had the feeling he wanted nothing more than to eat me.

"I promise," it said, and a gong-like sound came from my status window.

Not sure what I had to do, I decided this was definitely not one of those times I could wait before checking my status. I called it up and noticed a few things immediately.

> 31/33: Muscle mass

> 03/120: Fat

> 30/40: Coordination

> 30/30: Stamina

> 06/30: Learning rate

> 444/444: Knowledge

> 04/30: Beauty

> 01/60: Grooming

> 07/60: Well spoken

> 6/100: Karma

A cloud hung behind my avatar, dimly glowing with a milky white light. Small specks of red light appeared and disappeared continuously. A new line had been added to my status values, but I ignored that as I gazed in dismay at the lines below it.

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

...

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

Ten lines in total, meaning I had lost ten bits of knowledge, and there was no way of finding out what! More lines below drew my attention, and I prayed to Rathica those would hold better news.

> You survived the presence of three distinct hostile entities an entire echelon above you

> Gained the title: 'Slippery minded.'

That's just useless, I thought angrily as I continued further down.

> Your mindscape has been compressed and purified by three entities an entire echelon above you

> Skill learned: Use mindscape

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

There was no information on the skill or how to use it, but the next lines scrolled into view, and I just gazed at them.

> You have made a deal with a creature an entire echelon above you

> The entity, Brouchialionarariziz, has committed to a bound deal with you

> For the duration of both of your existences, no matter in what form, it will be unable to harm you

> This extends to: The planet Kernstalion, anything that was on Kernstalion at the time of the deal, and anything that will be created, crafted, born, or summoned on it from this moment forth.

> Knowledge threshold crossed - knowledge lost.

Seriously? She could have told me about this, I thought as I re-read the lines again. When I was sure there wasn't anything I had missed, I closed my status screen and gazed at the empty room in front of me. There were destroyed wooden bookshelves, scattered books, and dust that swirled down, but no snake the size of a train.

I turned around, trying to locate it, but there wasn't anything.

It makes sense, I thought after a moment. After that Brouchia- I stopped as my mind skipped across the name a few times, seeming unable to even think on it. Brouchia would do for now. After Brouchia had made the deal, he couldn't very well stick around. Anything he did would influence me…

I turned to the door and sighed as I thought of all the knowledge I had lost. I would need to decide how to deal with this.

But first, we need to kill some Primes, I thought.