Chapter 28: The Question

The city walls were being rebuilt and the new goblin tribes were receiving instruction on what to do around the city, the children of course were permitted to play, something that they rarely ever had time for in the past.

After Scitus spent some time with Seresa, thoth and Hera, telling them the plans for the day he went back to Sia who he found laying on the grass with her legs spread open like a child. “what do you want to know?” Sia rubbed her eyes and wiped the drool on the side of her cheek and looked to Scitus, looking like she had no idea where she was. After a moment her eyes shined bright, showing that she has fully woken up.

Scitus looked at her unsightly mannerisms and wondered why he ever thought she was royalty of any sort.

“oh your done.” She stood up, wiping dirt off her clothing, she wore black cloak and brown leather pants her shirt was also made of brown leather though its color was slightly bleached from sunlight. Around her waist was something similar to a corset but Scitus thought it was more likely a fashion choice rather than an actual corset.

“oh, have you fallen for my beauty.” Scitus looked into her eyes, his dead-pan expression told her everything she needed to know about what he thought of her. “yeah, thought as much.” Scitus heard a slight aura of self-deprecation In her words.

“My first question is how did you heal the dread sickness?” He stared at her, waiting for her to say something more but nothing ever came. “I have no idea…” he didn’t say anymore than that.Sia stared at him, then she pressed her fingers against her brows in frustration.

“Dread sickness, its an incredibly deadly disease that can at best be stopped if the symptoms haven’t become too extreme but…” She looked at the goblins working on the walls. “Some of them were near rotting and the second they entered your territory all of their wounds were healed in a matter of seconds.”

Scitus smiled not understanding her meaning, “This is the healing ability all gods have.” He said awkwardly smiling at her as if to say, I thought this is how it worked.

“Don’t fuck with me. At best it would take a week to heal broken bones with a gods passive ability, but you healed those goblins over there in seconds.” Scitus didn’t understand, this was a simply an ability all gods had, he was sure of it. That is when it hit him, the reason his healing powers were so strong.

“I think I know why.” She waited for him to speak, “tell me, do you know what disease is?” she raised a single brow,” from what I understand it is caused from corrupted mana that is found in filth.”

Scitus finally understood, magic is stronger when you understand the actual result of it or the process. His healing power was so powerful because he knew what bacteria was and how its elimination is the cure. There were also viruses and parasites. His medical knowledge allowed him to unknowingly have incredible healing powers, though unknown to him at a higher mana cost.

“No,” Sia perked her ears up, wanting to know the truth, her heart began to pump from the thought of new knowledge. “There is something called bacteria, it has nothing to do with magic.”

“What?” all her life she thought sickness was caused by corrupted mana but it had been a lie, what was bacteria and what was its purpose, was it sentient did it wish for the destruction of all living things?

“what is bacteria?”

“They are organisms that can’t be seen with the naked eye, you need a..” Scitus stopped talking as soon as she saw the lightbulb dangling above her head.

“a microscope. Yes I’ve heard of it, its used to identify something called microorganisms.” She had heard of it, scitus was about to ask where she heard of it when she answered his question herself.

“DAMMIT!!” She stomped her foot and walked speedily in a circle as if deep in regret. She looked back at scitus, stopping in her tracks. “There was a god that was born not too long ago, he invented something called the microscope.” There was someone else besides him who had knowledge of advanced technology. Scitus wasn’t too surprised considering the way he, himself, arrived to world, this was an opportunity, an opportunity that was quickly crushed by Sia’s next words. “He was killed and his land was taken by a different god a few months ago.”

“that’s..” she didn’t let him finish. “But you know how to make a microscope, right!!??” her eyes were glazed over with excitement. This was when Scitus discovered that Sia was a woman who thirst for knowledge. She didn’t care if the Book of gods was of any use to her, she simply wished to know.

“I do, bu…”

“Then lets hurry up….”

“Shut up for second will you…” the two grew quiet and her childlike curiosity was replaced by seething anger, but she did not attempt to attack, nor did she think it. Scitus was too valuable to her, for her thirst for knowledge.

“I simply don’t have the technology for it and frankly it isn’t my number one concern right now.”

“But what is more important than knowledge?”

“military might.” She understood what he meant, any new discovery would be useless if what happened to the previous god happened to Scitus. First they would have to create a strong military that could deal with external threats and then and only then could science be a stronger focus.

“Someone’s here.” Her anger replaced by concern, moved her into action.

“What is it?”

“there’s someone in the woods.” Sia already had her casting hand ready, that is when a single elf girl walked out of the forest, Sia cast her fire ball spell.

“Wait!!” Scitus pushed her arm to one side causing the fireball to strike the ground, burning several inches into the dirt floor. The smell of burnt grass and dirt lingered in the air for a few minutes thereafter.

“she is here to make a deal with me.” She warned Scitus of the ogres, giving Scitus time to arrange the defensive strategy.

“an elf is making a deal with you?” Her manner of speaking hinted at knowledge Scitus did not have. do elves dislike gods? He thought.

“What is it?”

“there are no elves in the oasis.” Sia had already casted another fireball and was ready to use it.

“I see the blood witch is here.” The elf called her by a different name, the name she hated the most, a name that was given to her by the people under Miar, the benevolent tyrant as some of her neighboring gods called her.

“She tells me there are no elves anywhere near here.” The elf’s expression did not change, she remained calm. “well I am her am I not?”

“are you really an elf?” The young woman straightens her back and raises her head as if to look down on Sia.

“I am, and while we are on the subject of lineage,” she turns to Scitus, “Do you know who her mother is?” Scitus stared with disappointed eyes at the elf wondering if this was going were he thought it was going.

“shut up about my mother!! Or I swear.” The elf smirked “Like mother like daughter.” This ignited a fire inside Sia, Scitus could see the fumes coming off her and for moment wondered if he was imagining it or if she really was fuming.

“I AM NOT MY MOTHER!!”She screamed at the top of her lungs, her face had become a significantly different shade of red than normal. Nearby goblins turned to look at them, Robin was nearby making sure it didn’t get to rowdy, prompting the goblins to go back to work.

“shut up, both of you, I don’t care of either one of your lineages.” Scitus finally stepped into the conversation, annoyed that two adults were acting like teenage girls in a fight.

“So tell me the truth.” He looked at the elf and she back at him, not lowering her head for a single moment.

“I am an elf, but my family is not.”

“then what are they.”

“Drows.” Sia said, her face still red with wrath.

“you mean dark elves?” Scitus responded with a question mark clearly above his head.

“yes, that is what my family prefers to be called.” The elf and Sias gaze meet, the air grew thick from the tension.

“Drows are what we call our criminals.” She said, this time not bothering to break her gaze from Sia.

“Seresa come here for a moment.” Seresa had been busy explaining to the newer goblins on what to do, she was on her wits end and was very happy to leave if even for a moment. “uh, you take over elder.” Maxwell was still referred to as the elder from time to time, it was a sign of respect, respect that had not been lost for him.

“pushing this on me, elder by ass.” He understood her intentions perfectly, he dropped the logs he had been carrying and began to instruct the goblin tribes.

“yes master.” The elf broke her gaze from the Sias gaze and turned to the goblin. She smirked in amusement, what would the goblin say she wondered. Sersesa quickly became agitated, she was being looked down on, both literally and metaphorically. Seresa smirked back, she would show the elf how far goblins could go.

“tell me, what did robin tell you of how the leader of the ogres looked?”

“His skin was bluish grey, he had long ashen hair. He had a large scar on the back of his neck…” Both Sia and the elf had eyes filled with shock. The goblin was speaking the mortal tongue. Scitus had Hera teach her since she was far ahead in the English classes. Scitus knew that the elf would look down on the goblins. She was looking down on him after all. Seresa was there to prove that the goblins were not inferior in intellect to the elves’ nor the dark elves.

“So it seems one of your…” the elf broke from out of her trance to speak. “No, that wasn’t one of ours.”

“there isn’t another drow tribe for miles of this place.”Sia said smirking with a malicious look in her eyes.

“my family are elves just the same. And I know who your talking about, he is my brother and he was banished from the tribe” she looked at Sia as she spoke, “he is a true drow. ” She meant that he was branded a criminal by the tribe.

Scitus nodded, deeming it an acceptable answer.

“very well, I’ll allow you to stay in my land for warning me, but remember that I don’t completely trust you, and if any of you hide from me, Sia here will kill all of you.” Sia, she had never heard that time before, but he knew it was referring to the Blood witch. She turned to face Sia, who had smug expression on her face.

“We’ve done her no wrong.” Her gaze turned cold.

“If you kill all of them, I’ll make sure to have a microscope ready for you by the end of the year.”

“Deal!!” the elf began to sweat. The blood witch alone could fight an entire army, her people would be slaughtered.

“of course you can just leave my land, that works too.” the elf’s gaze shifted to Scitus, she was furious.

“fine!! We’ll make sure to not hide ourselves.”