《Divinity Skill》Chapter 2- The Value of Water
Advertisement
Erin woke in a field. The field consisted of dead grass, and shriveled shrubs, but Erin thought it could still loosely be called a field. As he shook the grogginess out of his head, Erin noted multiple popups including the one he had seen earlier, still waiting to be acknowledged.
Erin tentatively opened the description page for the Divinity skill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Divinity: holds the power of a corporeal god. As skill level increases, amount of divine energy, and control over this energy also increase.
Warning: This is a forbidden skill. System administrator has been notified.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unsure what to think of the warning, Erin opened the description for Divine Body.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Divine Body: This entity is a divine being given corporeal form. At current divinity level, the primary noticeable trait is immortality against aging. Further benefits of Divine Body may be unlocked as Divinity increases.
Warning: Divinity skill is forbidden without god level clearance. System administrator has been notified.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erin dismissed the window, and shrugged. Standing, he scanned the horizon, and began walking toward what seemed to be a small town in the distance. “Well, not much I can do about it. Best case scenario, Almera is the system admin, and she won’t care. Let’s hope for that.” Erin muttered to himself as he walked. It took him over two hours before he finally reached the town. Erin had never walked for so long, and he was unsurprised when popped up after the first thirty minutes. Supposedly, it increased your walking speed by half a percent per skill point. After an hour had passed, Erin was desperately fighting off the urge to dump his reserve of skill points into the walking skill.
Erin noted other things in his travels. He occasionally passed by farms, whose primary crops seemed to be cactus. There were people pulping the cactus, baking it, he even saw a woman extracting fibers from cactus that she then spun into cloth. None of these workers acknowledged him in any way besides glancing up to see who was passing by, then returning their attention to their work. Erin could see the lines of stress and hardship that had settled into the faces of the farmer-folk that he passed. There were even some whose lips, and skin were cracked by extreme dehydration. Erin shuddered slightly, and looked away when he saw these last, disturbed on some fundamental level by the grotesqueness of the sight. Erin was momentarily grateful when he arrived at the gates of the town; that gratitude quickly squashed by the hostile bearing of the guards.
Advertisement
“You want in, you pay the toll. One quinn for a day pass. Ten for an extended stay.” One of the guards said disinterestedly. It was at this moment that Erin realized he had no money. In fact, other than the clothes he was wearing, Almera hadn’t provided him with supplies of any kind.
“What do I do if I don’t have any money?” Erin asked hesitantly.
“Another beggar eh?” The guard snorted in disdain. “Well, you can always pay the toll in water. The extraction process is unpleasant, but it’ll get you an extended pass if there’s enough of it.”
“Er, extraction process?” Erin balked.
“First time? The water mages rip the water right out of your body. Not enough to kill you, but you’ll probably want to have a lie down somewhere after. Just don’t do it in the streets or you’ll be kicked out of the town.” The guard didn’t seem gleeful at the idea of his misery, merely disdainful, and disinterested.
Erin sighed in resignation. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
The guard nodded, and grabbed a cube with a button from his pocket. The guard pressed the button, and placed the cube back in his pocket.
“Alright, now wait here. The mage will be out in a minute. If you need to lie down after they’re done, do it outside the gates, and somewhere off the road.”
Erin nodded, and stood in awkward silence with the guards for the three minutes it took the water mage to arrive. The water mage was a wizened old man with a crude, knobbled cane, dressed in a thin green robe. It took Erin a moment to realize that the robe was green because it was made from cactus fibers.
“Another beggar?” The mage asked, cackling joyously.
Advertisement
The guard nodded. “Seems like a newbie. Go easy on him.”
The mage snorted, but didn’t otherwise reply; pulling out a small jug that was attached to his belt. “Hold still, this is going to hurt. A lot.” The mage said, cackling.
The mage was right. Erin lost track of how long he spent feeling as though every cell in his body was bursting. Despite knowing it was likely only a few seconds, Erin felt like hours had passed. Hours of tortured agony that left him weeping on the ground. When it finally ended, the pain vanished like a dream; leaving behind only a numb exhaustion.
“Hm, not bad. Nearly filled the whole jug. Definitely an extended pass for this one.” The mage cackled. With that, he walked away, back through the gate to the town.
The guard nodded, and disappeared into the town for a moment while his partner watched over Erin. Erin was still curled in a ball on the ground when the primary guard reemerged with a piece of green paper. Seeing him lying there, the guard kicked him in the stomach. Not hard enough to do any damage, but enough to cause pain. It woke Erin from the dream-like state he had been trapped in since his exsanguination.
“You wanna pass out, do it somewhere else. Now take this. It’s good for a month. If you scrounge up the money, you can renew it, or extend it at any guard post you see. Just don’t bother the patrol guards, they can’t help you.”
Erin nodded as he pushed himself to his feet with great difficulty. When he finally reached a fully upright position, his vision swam; causing him to miss the outstretched paper when he tried to grab it. The guard snorted derisively, but grabbed his arm; shoving the paper into it with his other hand.
“Now either get inside, or go pass out next to the wall over there.” The guard told Erin, pointing at a patch of wall twenty feet away. Erin nodded blearily, and stumbled to the suggested sleeping position. Reaching the patch of dry dirt, Erin fell over; losing consciousness within moments.
Advertisement
Book Worm
Jared Jotter book entuthsiast extreme, found himself in a place not quite like his home, and with mysterious Forces playing with his Fate.Everything he wants is for people to stop bothering him and to read a good book, that is if he coulnd't find a more exciting hobby in this new World .
8 207Rise of the First Necromancer
Asrael Nessarat awakes on a sandy dune with a mouthful of sand and nothing but tattered rags in his posession. As the High Magus of the school of Necromancy, he once aspired to prove to the Emperor that magic still held a place in their society. But that day came, passed and inevitably accelerated his kind's downfall. Now; they are hunted, strung up and burned on pyres throughout the Empire by the Emperor's holy Inquisition- an efficient and ruthless army hell-bent on bleeding every last droplet of magic from the lands. With nothing but a mouthful of sand and tattered rags; Asrael is determined to seek the one thing his cold, still heart desires. Vengeance. This story can, at times, get very dark. It is not recommended for the faint of heart. This is not a story of an overtly powerful wizard who can pulverize his enemies from across the world, nor is it in any way, shape or form a joyous tale. We follow Asrael as he and his companions explore and seek to change an unjust world, where kindness and acceptance are exceptions, rather than the rule. If you are looking for a story to inspire hope or joy, this is not it. If you wish to read about likeable, heroic people, turn around. If you wish to see good battle evil, where the cut in between is clear, then this is not for you.
8 111Sunflower Phoenix
Maribelle will seek to topple the heavens and obtain omnipotence, an ambition that begins with her wishing for the freedom of the banished god she calls her friend. Ferris will seek to protect Maribelle’s humanity, yet he is destined to lose his own, his spirit slowly subsumed by that of a being from the beginning of time. A great war is coming, orchestrated by the calamity that slumbers, as it has been a thousand times before. Gods will walk the earth with their chosen ones, the dragons will slaughter indiscriminately, and the krakens will emerge from the deep with their undead creations. When this cosmic game begins, Ferris will play to win, and Maribelle will flip the board. Right now, though, things are simple. Maribelle is just a lively little girl living with her mother in the village of sunflowers. Ferris is her adopted brother, hiding his troubled past. Ferris trains his magic to an unnecessary level of power, greatly overestimating the required qualifications to join the adventurers guild. Meanwhile, Maribelle picks fights with thugs. There is fresh curry on the stove, and a wounded mother is reading her book. The crackling fireplace reminds her that her beloved son is about to leave home.
8 116Addorn: "The Freed of The Void"
Have you ever wondered why the Dwarves in games, movies, and comics, were so great at developing weapons or in some cases creating technology that was so far ahead of their time? Or even why they seemed ruthless and resilient, always somehow surviving even if it meant living underground to survive? And also why were they always in most cases described as greedy for gold or other luxuries? This is the story of the legendary race and the truth behind these stories that followed after this tale.The story begins with the Humans finding out the earth will be decimated, by a cataclysmic event that had happened millions of years ago, in 2 years time. Followed by the awakening of a man, or in this case an infant boy, reborn into a world of myths, legends, and fantasy, only to be a King of legendary proportions.
8 147A Demon Within
Reagan is at the head of the Trusted Steel Company, a mercenary group that has been growing in the last years. At about one hundred men now, they have a decent reputation. As mercenaries, they have been through a lot of dangerous missions, but always won out in the end. Only this last mission they have taken is shadier than usual. What are these priests of Kathar really after out here in the jungle? What is lurking in the ruins before them? WARNING: Contains Gruesome Scenes/Violence
8 165Assassin's Creed: Outlaw - Book One
King Richard has embarked upon the Third Crusade. Whilst Altair Ibn L'Ahad fights the Templars another assassin comes to the shores of England.Assassin Yughi Gal comes to England in search of an artifact known as Ra's Will. He will find that the Templars are strong in England's cities and in their forests. His journey leads him to the heart of Nottinghamshire. There he finds support in his quest from an outlaw band under the leadership of Robin Hood.In the course of his quest Yughi will have to tread the thin line that separates Assassin from Outlaw. Along the way he will learn the staggering depths of the Templar schemes. Defeating the Sheriff of Nottingham will only be the beginning. Assassin's Creed Outlaw is an original fan-fiction adventure blending the lore of the Ubisoft series with the Tales of Robin Hood.Disclaimer: I don't own Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed is the property of Ubisoft, the franchise and its associated characters are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This non-canonical fan-fiction is for entertainment purposes only.
8 92