Why did he automatically assume that it has to be something called the Eye of Truth? She thought it odd that there weren’t multiple methods to determine who someone actually was. DNA analysis, fingerprinting, and ocular scans could all identify who someone was using different technology. Ada was surprised that the gods or demigods here had such limitations when the world was rife with what was locally conceived as magic. Perhaps she should start a database collecting people’s information here using technology instead of magic. Would that mark the beginnings of a surveillance state?

Ada mentally chuckled at the thought deciding for now to do nothing in that respect. However, she would like to be able to have census information though on the populations around to understand the distribution of followers of various deities as well as socioeconomic statuses of their citizens. That might be something the Academy library has in one of their records.

Arbon was staring unblinkingly at her and Ada returned his stare. His intense stare was a little off putting and meant one of three possibilities in her mind. One, this was just his means of expressing curiosity. Two, the Eye of Truth required her to look into his eyes to work. Three, he was a reptilian and decided to finally reveal himself at this moment. She thought the third reason was the least likely. In any case, the mutual intense stares felt slightly awkward but Ada was not going to avert his gaze. She had never lost a stare down contest even if that wasn’t on this demigod’s mind. ignored the feeling and activated the systemhelper in her mind.

...

...

...

Good that I extracted this information way beforehand so I don’t have to dig for it. Good that there are obvious sections by location and epoch divided by five EOL control characters. God didn’t want to give me the obvious keys to access a decent database but I’ll be thankful for some aid in text parsing.

Ada was thankful that she has learned how to separate the commands of systemhelper from her thoughts. Otherwise, she would have been flooded by a long sequence of errors from the poorly designed program. Her train of thought continued.

But who exactly is he? I have a few guesses but I don’t want to say anything until I’m certain. Neither Master Arbon nor Master Obar is his real name from what I could dig up. As a kid, I loved reading about characters with secret identities. Let’s go down the list.

Sword of Retribution

This is a demigod born from a large group of mortals filled with righteous rage. Typically, this is from an aftermath of an incident of mass oppression, destruction, or death. These deities are powerful upon birth and have a natural affinity with all weapons but in particular the sword. They will disappear once the anger dies away completely either from total elimination of the enraged mortals or until the perceived justice is delivered. Their capabilities mostly concentrate on combat and they have no qualms on delivering justice in whatever form to those who have wronged these mortals. Some have also known to be quite adept at deception.

Rebirth of Knowledge

When civilized people have descended into savagery and then a collective effort by mortals to rebuild ensues, this deity might be born. The deity is driven to reclaim the knowledge before the destruction and teach those to the mortals who are rebuilding their world. Depending on how much knowledge was lost, this may take a long period and hence they may persist for decades if not centuries. They are often known to be scholars and are not born with any combat abilities. When they do learn combat, they can become very skilled but their nature remains in their reluctance to kill or destroy.

Reclamation of Faith

When the gods lose followers, they also lose power. Some less scrupulous ones will convince their followers to willingly sacrifice their souls which will temporarily reduce their powers further but in return will create a deity after enough souls have been sacrificed. Note that the god or goddess cannot force a mortal to do so but rather the mortal has to wholeheartedly be willing to do this on his or her own. From birth, this deity is driven to populate and convert as many followers as possible to the particular god or goddess. With a wide range of abilities, this deity is frequently implanted in vulnerable populations desiring belief or in places useful for the particular god or goddess. A significant downside is that the deity’s power and existence will fade without periodic transfer of power from his or her creator.

“Have you completed your spell?” Arbon interrupted her musings.

“Still trying to do the finishing touches,” Ada lied. She asked a question which could filter out some of the choices. “Out of curiosity, I just noticed that you don’t have your sword. For someone who has mastered the sword, I find that very strange.”

“A scholar should never carry a sword into his temple of knowledge. In fact, I have no weapons in this building at all.”

She glanced around and gestured with her right hand. She hoped she didn’t appear condescending but she wanted him to continue talking about his sword. “And you consider your office your temple of knowledge?”

“I find myself spending much of my time here so it should more aptly be called my abode. Perhaps I am being a tidbit pretentious but I would consider this place of abode my temple. It is where I get most of work done and where I feel most at peace.”

“What if someone breaks in here? Don’t you feel safer with a weapon kept ready at hand?”

Arbon shrugged. “I have other less lethal ways of defending myself. As I am sure you’re aware, a demigod usually depends far less on weapons than his own inherent capabilities.”

If I ask him what his abilities are, he would be a fool to not realize that I’m fishing for clues. She posed what she hoped was a less obvious question. “Is this philosophy what you teach the students as well? I’m sure they don’t have your capabilities.”

He nodded sagely. Ada imagined him stroking his beard though he did nothing of the sort. “Of course. I believe that teachers have a duty to impart strong morals to their students. With great power comes great responsibility as they say.”

“Are you quoting Spider-Man?”

“Spider-man?”

“Nope, I guess imaginary superheroes aren’t a thing here. I do think either the Bible, Quran, or a Greek philosopher said it before then.”

“Those must be wise men from the Divine World. Here, I believe the philosopher Thera first said it two millennia ago.”

Ada chuckled at the thought of anyone in the Marvel universe being considered a wise man. Then, she nodded. “An example of convergent evolution of philosophy.”

Arbon stared at her for a moment and blinked. “Maybe but I believe we are getting off track. You’re quite competent with multitasking.”

Ada accepted his unfounded praise. “Thank you. It came as part of my package as a Divine. Without further ado, I present my conclusion. You are the demigod called Rebirth of Knowledge. You were born from the ashes of war to bring back civilization.”

Arbon looked momentarily surprised and then chuckled. “Not many have called me by that name. That is quite the mouthful and I would prefer to not reveal my identity yet so I would prefer if you keep calling me Arbon.”

Ada nodded. “I can do that. Your secret is safe with me.”

“What I am surprised by is that the Eye of Truth can discern that. It’s strange since Serina confronted me decades ago and she could not see this.”

“Maybe the Goddess of Truth isn’t as powerful in finding the truth as you think she is?”

“Or maybe you were not using the Eye of Truth. I have heard that gods transplanted from the Divine World may have vastly different powers than those born here.”

That much is very true from the little I have seen. She said aloud, “All you need to know is that I have my ways of finding the truth.”

“Now that you know who I am, what will you do with me?”

“Well, if you’re talking about whether I’m going to imprison you or kill you, that’s the last thing on my mind. You’re actively trying to help society grow which fits what my plan is as well. And you’ve been quite accommodating our intrusion here. I can use your help though.”

Arbon sighed since he probably anticipated it. “You want me to give you full access to our knowledge and our artifacts. And you want our help in your fight against the other gods. Unfortunately, the latter may be nigh impossible.”

“Yes to the former but probably no to the latter. I was thinking more of right now.”

“Right now?”

“I need your help with figuring out what to do with my Cloud Palace.”

He looked genuinely surprised. “A god needs my help with her palace? I think I can suggest a few architects.”

“No, I don’t need designers or architects. At least not right now.”

Arbon appeared curious. “What do you need?”

“I’m hoping you can float around some ideas with me even if you don’t have an obvious solution. Pun intended by the way.”

He glanced over at a small analog clock resting at eye level on the closest bookshelf. “I have at most an hour until I teach my first class.”

“Well, then, looks like we need to get started.”