Wearing the Goddess Anaheim’s gray robes and the gold-colored sash, Colin approached the Chapel’s front door. He’d been able to stuff most of his gear under the robes without issue, and what little he couldn’t, he left in his Dimension Bag. This meant that all of his enchanted throwing knives, magic rings, magic clothes, and both of his enchanted daggers. The only magic items he still had accessible on his person was the Silver Bracelet of Obfuscation and Mythic Xiphos.

Nox had advocated strongly that the sword would be more of a giveaway than the Daggers, but Colin refused to listen. If combat was going to be had, then he wanted his most valuable asset close on hand.

It was around eight pm-ish, and the city’s street lights were beginning to come to light, one magic lamp at a time as the magic worked. At the front door of the Chapel was a middle-aged man with a black sash that denoted him as one below the high priest in the area. Colin kept his pace slow and spoke, “Loki bar flærða tíma,” quietly as he approached the man.

He extended a hand to shake Colin’s, and he took it with a cheery smile. The black sashed man grabbed his hand with both and shook it vigorously, “greetings, Comrade. I don’t recognize you, are you from the Ivyshore Chapter or the SandalWood Basin perhaps?”

“No, Comrade. I’m from the growing branch in Willows Cross. I’m Chaplain Nadutost, it’s a pleasure to be here this evening,” Colin told him, while internally being a little surprised at himself. His voice was coming out smoother, and just a little deeper, his words came with an eloquence that he didn’t typically have, and the lie came out easily.

Your Deception skill is now level 6. The chance for people to believe your lies has increased by a small margin, the chance for lies to bring unexpected results has increased by a small margin.

“Ah, that must mean you know Juror Fran. She was a Servitor here before being transferred there. How is she doing?” he asked, releasing Colin’s hand.

Colin nodded knowingly, his instincts telling him that this was an appropriate thing to do here. “Maybe, we got a few Jurors within a few days of each other. Is she short, a little loud, stares at you as if she knows you did something wrong?”

The man’s smile widened, “that’s her. How was she doing when you left?”

“Well enough for a Juror, if you know what I mean,” Colin said, grinning and giving the unnamed man a wink.

“always zealous and bragging?”

Colin paused for a moment then followed the man’s lead as he burst into gleeful laughter. It was a moment that Colin was happy to let drag on as he took a few moments to allow his mana to recharge from the losses.

“Speak of them, and they shall appear,” the man said, looking behind Colin. “I’m Magister Mallik, it was a pleasure to meet you.” He stated with a warm smile, allowing Colin entrance so that he could attend to the next person who wanted entry.

---

3 Hours Earlier

“Walker!” Rielle announced as she burst into their room, Nox stepping out of her shadow the moment she closed the door. “Do you know what he had me do today?”

Colin looked up from the unenchanted dagger he was figuring out how he wanted to Inscribed. The orange mid-afternoon sunlight was coming through the window, helping Colin figure out the time. “Not exactly, I just know that the city guard went into the sewers trying to find a woman who was bitching about a Goblin and his crazy training methods.”

Rielle just looked even more annoyed. “We went into the Sewers and then to some kind of secret Undersewers where some kind of monsters appeared through portals. These... what did you call them?” she asked, glaring and turning to Nox.

“Velociraptors,” Nox stated blandly as if dinosaurs were commonplace.

“Yeah, Velociraptors, these two-legged, waist-tall lizards came out in portals and attacked while I did some weird… stuff,” she said, quieting down after noticing Nox’s stare. “It was exhausting.”

Colin noticed the interplay between the two but kept quiet about it. This was their business, and he had ulterior motives in waiting here for them. “I’ll bet, but moving past the Velociraptors, are you okay?”

She nodded, “more or less, I got bit a few times but was gained a new skill that I need to level up a few times before I will get useful. Oh, and I got to level 8 today as a bonus.”

Curious, he asked, “how many did you manage to kill?”

She turned to look at Nox, who responded with a grin, “seven were killed with the bow, five with her Heavenly Blight skill, nine with that sword you gave her from the Dungeon and killed one with her bare hands.” Nox was smiling proudly at the Death Fey, “so twenty-two total.”

Colin whistled appreciatively, “That’s impressive.” He said, genuinely happy in his acquisition of the Fey woman.

All the attention from both men made Rielle uncomfortable, her eyes on the floor as she spoke, “So walker… uh, what did you do today.”

“Really short version,” Colin stated. “I took care of a delivery, made friends with the Cult of Scylla, and got all the information from Henrietta concerning all our transactions. To that end, I need some advice and was hoping to run a few things by you guys.”

Both people nodded and gave the floor to Colin.

“So, I am going to do my Demonic jailbreak in a few hours, and I wanted to walk through my plan with you. May I?” Colin asked.

“By all means,” Nox said, grinning as he got a little closer to Colin.

“So, I took a look at the Chapel a little earlier and found it reasonably well watched. A High Priest is watching the front door and guards watching the other doors. The others are stealthed, but I am reasonably sure they’re there.”

“I’m following so far. What were you thinking?” Nox asked.

“The front door,” Colin told him. “You know that Channel Effigy Skill that I got? Well, apparently, Loki is listed on the gods I can channel, and I get an ability that amplifies the effect that my Charisma has with whoever I speak with.”

Nox was grinding his teeth at the mention of the god he hated but moved forward anyway. “So, you were hoping to just talk your way through?”

“Yes, that and a stolen outfit from their order,” Colin informed him, grinning from his seat. “I think I might be able to pull it off, plus, I’ve been learning about their little rituals and think that with all these things, I’m reasonably sure I can pull off the entrance.”

“As long as the man at the door doesn’t have the right skills to match you,” Rielle stated.

Colin shrugged, “I have to try unless you guys have a better option. Nox, Rielle?”

Rielle stayed quiet, but Nox shook his head, “The Church of Anaheim is a dangerous lot, DevilWalker. If they catch you at any point, they’ll likely be able to kill you. They are the Church dedicated to the Goddess of Arms and Combat,” Nox pointed out.

“Then, I suppose I better not get caught.”

---

Present

Now that he was inside, Colin knew where he needed to go. He looked about the large, clean, and ornate chapel hall that he was in and took in the room’s artistry.

As expected, pews sat across the room facing a centralized pedestal, all were made of a deep gray stone and perfectly smooth to the touch. There sat three rows of pews each about twenty to twenty-five feet across and had an aisle to each side. Along the outer walls, in front of the windows to the outside, sat carvings of their religion’s ancient weapons. Each side had a statue that mirrored it, and by the time you reached the pews, five different weapons were displayed. Colin could see his goal at the end of the room, where behind the podium where preachers would speak, sat a thick, iron banded door.

Colin had to pause at the end of the row as he recognized the weapon closest to the hall’s front. It was built to be a bit more ornate than the rest, with the statue having colored stone fitted in. It was black and steel colored with stylized runes carved into the flat of the sword. The pommel was made up of a large clear gem with an almost gritty coal-black center wrapped in silver bands.

The weapon, Lorelei’s Profane Nature, was just as epically bad-ass as he remembered before it turned into a Mythic Sword Blink in his very hands.

“Ah, are you new here… Chaplain?” a young woman asked to the side of him.

Colin turned to look at the curious young woman and nodded once to the pretty, dark-skinned, young woman in the same gray robes as himself. She wore a white robe, which placed her one level below him in the Church’s pecking order. “Yes, am. Was it that obvious?” he asked the Silver Tongue power that the Channel Effigy Skill gave him, encouraging him to smile at her.

“A little. Only new people or visitors tend to stare at the statues, that one in particular,” she stated with a smile. “Are you familiar with this weapon?” she asked, looking at the sword Colin was appraising.

He nodded, “a little bit. That’s why I am surprised to see a rendition of the weapon here, I thought it was the weapon of the last Demon Lord Ari.”

Her smile became radiating as she heard his words, “it was! No one is exactly sure how she got it, but it was one of five Mythic Weapons created by the Goddess Anaheim at the time of the World’s formatting. That’s the reason these weapons, even a Demon Lords, are immortalized as art here, at one of her Chapel houses.”

The World Formatting was, in simple terms, the time when the True Deities of the world created the system that everything worked with now. All the Gods and Goddesses had a hand in it, and all made sure to stay within their niche. As the Goddess of Arms and Combat, Anaheim focused on the weapons, armor, and rules for fighting in this world. The History book that he’d read through on his way here did not mention the Weapons, though.

“Why here? Why not have these immortalized elsewhere that is more important?” he asked, curiosity piqued.

She nodded in appreciation of the question, “This was the first Chapel house made in the city, and we had the only accurate account of one of the weapon’s last form and appearance. It was ruled by ArchBishop Raylene that this Church was to be a Pilgrimage site around… one hundred and twenty years ago, I think,” she said, unsure.

“I see,” Colin said, looking over the remarkable imitation of the weapon. “Do you know what happened to the sword?”

She shook her head, “No, we know the Demon Lord Ari was killed in Willows Cross, but the sword was never found. To be fair, though, the city was said to be nearly entirely rubble when the Hero and his Party killed her.” She shrugged, “we’re not sure if we will ever find the weapon, but we hope to find it intact.”

He gave her a small smile, “I hope so too. Thank you for the lesson, but I have business to attend to downstairs.”

“Then do not allow me to hold you here any longer, Chaplain.” She said, cheer in her voice as she gave him a respectful little bow and moved off into the pews to take a seat. He watched her go and wished he could have chatted more about these Mythic Weapons. One of these was giving him a power boost that would make every player jealous; what would two of these do?

Continuing to walk to the front of the room where he knew the stairs laid, Colin walked past many people. Most of them gave him polite and courteous bows or head nods if they were sitting, but none stopped him as he made his way to the door that sat behind the podium.

He stepped past the door and found himself at a trio of paths. According to the map he’d been given, the left way led to a storage room that housed mostly cleaning supplies, so he didn’t head there. The one in front of him led off to a hospital/ barracks/ whatever they needed it to be space. The one on the right would travel to a hallway that ended in a guard post before the stairs.

He took the right path and walked down it with purpose. Admittedly, a little excited to use something for the first time.

---

2 hours, 25 minutes earlier.

Henrietta was pissed when she entered and was even more so when she stomped out of the room. The message for her was simple, and she’d come through for him for a larger cut of the goods he’d stolen from the Prince. Which, she said, was nearly all fenced for Copper and would be done in a day or two.

What she’d delivered was a detailed map of the building that included the basement levels. There were many little notes from whoever did the scouting written next to key points in the structure. Every guard point was marked, every door, every room, and most importantly, the Demon. It was clearly labeled on the first sub-basement in a large space marked with the note, ‘ritual containment room? Demon.’

On the second sub-basement, several things were marked, and many of which were things he was very curious about. But he mentally moved past whatever the hell ‘Evil Eye’ was and focused on the largest room in the sub-basement levels. There was some detail to the drawing, a device or machine of some sort was directly underneath the Demon’s cage. The margin’s note for the room only stated that it was the power source for the cell.

There was a third sub-basement level, he noted, but the one that Henrietta and Georgia used to get down there must have not been able to get there. It was marked with a large question mark next to a ‘Sealed’ note.

“What do you think, Walker?” Nox asked, standing on the bed and looking down on the map where it laid.

“I think this will be interesting,” Colin stated unhelpfully, still absorbing the information. This was the last thing he needed to infiltrate the building. As he looked through it, he started to see a problem. “They have guards at the top of the stairs leading into basement levels. There’s no way around them and no hiding spots from here to here,” Colin pointed, gesturing to the ninety-degree turn into the passage towards the guard post.

“How long would you say this passage is?” Colin asked Nox, already reasonably sure of the answer.

The Goblin shrugged, “unclear.”

Then Rielle surprised them both and spoke up, “the map is decently made, but there are no markings to indicate distance, so my Cartography Skill isn’t giving me accurate information. Maaaaaybe fifteen feet, could be more, or could be less.” then she noticed that both men were staring, “what?”

“You have the Cartography Skill?” Colin asked, confused about this new information.

“Y-yeah,” she said.

“Why haven’t you told us?” Nox inquired, curious.

She looked away from them and said the three most obvious words in the English language, “you didn’t ask.”

Colin and Nox groaned at the same time, looked at each other, then broke into a short burst of laughter at their synchronicity. A few seconds later, Colin looked at her and said, “tomorrow, I would like to know what skills you have. But tonight… I think I have an idea for this passageway, but I’d rather not do it.”

“Why not, DevilWalker?” Nox asked.

He looked at the Goblin, “because I am afraid of what I’ll owe you,” Colin told him seriously. “I want Shadow Magic.”

The look in Nox’s face shifted from pondering to something a little darker, the light level in the room dimming in reaction, “explain.”

And Colin described his meeting with Dante, The Chronomancer, back before getting his Antagonist Class. How he’d explained what the subskills for what a couple of Magical Manipulation Skills. In the end, he’d chosen Kinetic Magic, but he still remembered what the other magic skills that he mentioned did.

“You do not realize what sort of favor you are asking for, DevilWalker. Unlocking magic in someone is not as straightforward as it seems. That… man must not have had some of the skills I do, DevilWalker.”

“What are you talking about?” Colin asked.

“Have you heard of the Core Fostering Ability?” Nox inquired.

Colin and Rielle shook their heads, so Nox continued, “It is a very rare ability within the teaching series. If I were to give you Shadow Magic Manipulation, It and its subskill would be stronger by a significant measure. The drawback is that it would require me to sacrifice a large amount of experience per level you’d gain,” Nox told him seriously.

“Oh. Uh, how much experience?”

Glaring at Colin, he answered, “ten thousand experience per level you gain, and I cannot control how much you gain. It is determined by your Intellect Attribute. One level per point,” Nox answered.

“Ouch.”

Nox nodded once, “so, before anything else. Are you sure you want this Skill?”

Now he was hesitating. He’d been playing the game and living this life for several weeks now, and he was discovering how hard experience could be to gain. Now, with what Nox was telling him, was it worth the sacrifice?

“What would you want for the skill?”

“Depends, how high is your Intellect?” Nox questioned back.

“Thirteen,” Colin asked, swallowing at what the Goblin could ask of him.

“There is something I haven’t told you, DevilWalker. When I died, I was using something that did come back with me when I first met you in the Dungeon under Willows Cross. It was a named spear called Lightsnuffer. It was actually how I got my last name,” he told them, a small smile spreading across his face at the memory. “Anyway, I want another one. That’s my price, DevilWalker. A spear of the same quality or better than my last one.”

“What quality was it?” Colin asked.

“Legendary, and it was made of Hallowed Shadow itself with a one-pound core of Sansinite,” Nox told him.

“Fuck,” Colin cursed. Of course, he realized most of what this statement meant. He recalled a conversation that he and Nox had about Sansinite and how rare of a material it was to find because mortals could not make it. Hell, Colin had only ever seen 43 grams of the stuff, other than his Mythic Xiphos, it was so rare.

“Timeline?” he asked.

“None, because you wouldn’t run out on what you are owe because it’s hard. Am I right?” Nox asked, pointing at him from his spot on the bed.

“Of course not,” Colin answered immediately. “I accept your deal,” he stated, and Nox was in front of him within a heartbeat. His palm pressed into Colin’s forehead, and was somewhat glad he knew that some pain was coming. But this time, it was worse, like many times worse. It felt like someone took a rusty nail and carved into every cell that made up his entire being.

After a subjective eternity, his entire body hurt, his heart was pumping wildly, and a migraine was plaguing his brain. But all that moved into the background for a minute as he read the following prompts.

Congratulations! Your Shadow Magic Manipulation Skill has been unlocked by Nox LightSnuffer, with a level 100 Shadow Magic Manipulation Skill and the Ability; Core Fostering 5.

You now have Shadow Magic Manipulation Level 13. You can create Shadow Magic Spells. You have unlocked a subskill for Shadow Magic Manipulation, Shadow Cowling level 13. The Shadows stick with you, providing a bonus to stealth while in any shadow. At level ten, lower light levels cannot dissipate the shadows around you, granting you a bonus to Intimidation and Identity concealment. This subskill gets strengthened the deeper the darkness you are in. MP cost/ second(as of level 13): 5. Time to gather shadows: 15 seconds.

“Whoa,” Colin breathed, taking in all the information. “This is alo-”

Achievement gained: No Practice Required. Practice? You don’t need no Stinking Practice. All magic skills take less Skill Experience to get to level 5.

With a grin, Colin, for the first time, really felt like he was somehow cheating the system.

---

Current

Dead ahead of Colin was the ninety-degree turn to the left, leading to the Guard post to the first basement. He took a quick look around the corner and found, around fifteen feet ahead of him, sat two grey-robed guards. Both were seated with their shortswords in their laps, ready to be drawn at the first sign of trouble.

Grinning, he brought up the memory of the second shadow magic spell he’d made since the first, Burst of Black, was pushed by the system. This spell was simple and titled ‘Quenching Dark. ‘Channeling the memory, Colin squinted a little at the mana light that hung from the wall on his side of the turn.

The nearest shadow snaked up like a wisp of smoke and wrapped around the light. After a few seconds, the shadow fell away, and the light had been staunched as well.

Spell name: Quenching Dark

Mana cost: Varied (dependant on the light source)

Casting time: instantaneous

Range: Line of sight and 20 feet

Duration: instantaneous

Effect: A focused glance at the source of light you wish to extinguish and an effort of will shall call forth the nearest shadow to put out the light source.

He checked his mana and found that this simple magic light had cost him thirty MP to turn off. Nox had warned him that this would not stop them from recreating, reigniting, or otherwise getting the lights back on, so he had to move fast to capitalize on the darkness. He took a moment to recharge him mana and then started turning off every light down the hallway. Glad there was only a half dozen from where he was to just past the Guards. The math said that putting out all these lights would negate all his mana, minus what he regenerated.

And so he got to work, putting out each light, waiting a moment to get a point of two of mana, then put out the next. The Guards immediately sprang to their feet, taking only a step or two away from their seats and drawing their shortswords.

“What’s going on?” the left guard, a human woman, asked.

The young male next to her answered, his voice like a dull ax, “I think the lights are going out, fellow Guard.”

She groaned as another light went out, “yes, they are. Do you think this is a malfunction with the lights or something worse?” She asked, another light going out and her sword flinching in its direction.

“I dunno,” he said, “whats a Mal- mal- Malfucksion?”

“Oh, for Anaheim’s sake,” she moaned, another light going out. With two left, Colin finished them, not rushing and watching his mana drop lower and lower. Once her was as low as it was going to go, Colin, dropping into stealth and crept around the corner. Once he’d gone a few paces forward, he activated Shadow Cowling and hurried past the two guards, neither of them the wiser.

The last thing he heard from them was, “go get Priest Felice, she’ll check the lights.”

A few seconds after walking past their seats, Colin was forced to turn off the Skill. With the light now upon him, he ducked low and remembered the map. It had stated that this floor was storage, mostly for the mundane religious items like uniforms, ceremonial weapons, and other things. He kept a wandering eye moving about for somebody working, going around, or just working and indeed noticed a few people.

All of them were older people, and all of them had metallic silver sashes around their waists, and all walked with staves topped with deep red crystals. If the ranking were given according to level, he needed to avoid these old codgers. So he looked towards the largest concentration of them, only four them working with some inventories, and judged the distance. With a thought, he used Quenching Dark and waited.

All of them exclaimed in surprise at the sudden loss of light, and everyone looked away from the stairs. So Colin hurried down into the first sub-basement level.

This floor was simple, with four large rooms locked behind thick iron bars, the staircase to the second sub-basement farther ahead, and a single woman in a sleeveless gray robe. The sash around her waist was gold like the one he was wearing now, but she had two axes hanging from either hip. He looked briefly for somewhere to dive and hide from her but found nowhere to go.

Her eyes lit up as they found him, “Oh thank, Anaheim! I thought I was going to start shriveling away from boredom. Please tell me you’re my relief,” she asked, groaning as she approached.

“I am,” Colin answered. “High Priest Mallik asked me to apologize for keeping you waiting. Your original relief fell ill.”

“No worries, just need to find a chamber pot any moment now, or I was going to have to squat in a corner. You good for a few hours?” she asked, then really took in Colin’s face. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Yeah, I’m new to this Chapel, got transferred from the Northern Chapel.”

“Ah, that would do it. Do you know the rules?” she asked, her foot tapping impatiently.

“No, could I get the quick version so you can go,” Colin told her.

“Do not talk to the Prisoner, no opening any of the cells, and apprehend anyone who doesn’t belong here. Feel free to use as much force as you deem necessary,” she said quickly. “Got it?”

“Yes, Chaplain…”

“Doris, and thanks again,” she said, moving off at a half jog. A few seconds passed, and she was gone, leaving Colin in a silent, creepy, and pitifully lit room.

“That was lucky,” Colin said out loud. “I thought we were screwed there for a moment, Nox.”

Nox stepped out from Colin’s shadow, Luck indeed. How many points did you put into your Luck Attribute?”

Colin checked, “four.”

“It could have been your Luck coming into effect here, or just actual chance. Luck is the only Attribute that isn’t governed by strict rules, just adding extra chances for things to work or not work. I once knew a Goblin who put most of her points intoLuckk, and she only got stabbed once. She claimed from that day forward that the bloodletting cleared her headache,” Nox told Colin, a grin across his face.

“So,” A smooth, slightly nasal, tenor voice flowed from the nearer, rightmost cell. “I take it that you are not any ordinary guard, are you?”

Colin turned away from Nox and approached the cell, his hand working its way into the robes and near this Mythic Xiphos and ready to swing if something sprang forward to get him. But what they found inside was, as recorded in the notes, a demon trapped in an intricate ritualistic circle. If this was Earth, he would have said it was satanic in origin but here… not evil.

The Demon, Sparhak, was seven feet tall and some change if he was an inch. Dusky brown-orange skin stretched tautly over its frame. Four arms were stretched across its confines. All were disproportionately long, with chitinous black plates sprouting like claws from its fingertips and spreading back like armor along the back of its arms. Then there was its face, It’s almost human face was marred by a four-inch-long beak of a nose and a second set of closed eyelids set into its forehead.

It’s eyes were locked on to him as he spoke, “I’m an Unordinary guard, Sparhak, and don’t you forget it.”

It actually scoffed at that, “aren’t you a little short for a Chaplain?”

“What, oh, the uniform. I’m DevilWalker, and I’m here to rescue you,” Colin said, his mind going through the rest of his plan.

“Who?” It asked, confused, and a little hopeful.