Grav’al of the Kel’dun moved with the best combination of stealth, and speed that he could. Never before had a raiding party been so utterly decimated as the one that had faced the strange pink creatures. Grav’al blinked back his sorrow at the death of his clutch-mates, a single membrane sweeping from the left to cover his eye without obstructing his vision.

Pausing, Grav’al carved a mark of mourning into a nearby tree. The mark consisted of two triangles touching at the points. A line ran between the two triangles, intersecting the point where the tips met.

“May you find peace beyond the line that divides us.” Grav’al intoned ritualistically in his species’ guttural language. Repeating the process, Grav’al created one mark for every lost hunter. With a roar of sorrow, Grav’al thrust his hand forward; igniting the tree with a fireball to create a funeral pyre.

“I burn your memory so that I do not yearn to be reunited early. When we meet again, it will be with the meat of my kills stacked high.” Grav’al intoned, kneeling with his head bowed. Idly, he wondered whether the strange pink creatures they had killed would count toward the feast beyond the veil. After all, they had simply evaporated into puffs of mana when killed. Pushing this thought away, Grav’al rose, and began stealth-running once again. He took bitter joy in the wrath his expedition leader would visit on the unknown beings. Shuddering, Grav’al felt the thrill of hunting strong prey deep in his gills.

-----------------------------------

Jaden sighed, holding his head in his hands. Next to him, Niko patted his back sympathetically; perched on the same log he was sitting on. Lois had wandered off, muttering something about giving them alone time.

“Just… seriously, what the hell.” Jaden muttered, watching the mana devotions increase as Four spread the “good word” about their benevolent god.

Jaden sighed. “I specifically told Aki not to make me a god. I’m definitely not a good enough person to be responsible for an entire species.”

Niko made a sympathetic noise, switching from patting his back to rubbing it.

“I mean, what am I going to do with an entire religion?” Jaden glanced at Kyle, who stood silently in the background. “What are you at now Kyle? Five hundred mana?” Jaden asked.

“It’s getting close to six hundred my lord.” Kyle replied, shrugging apologetically.

“That’s more than all three of the actual humans in our party combined. What do I do to… is reward the right word? Damn, now they’ve even got me thinking like a god. I was about to say reward their devotion, which just makes me sound like an entitled asshole.” Jaden fumed.

“Maybe different god?” Niko asked, pausing in her sympathetic ministrations.

Jaden blinked. “That’s a great idea. A god-emperor is nothing compared to an actual god.”

Jaden began muttering inaudibly as he flipped through his deck. Finally, he sighed. “Damn, I don’t have anything that fits. I’m just gonna have to wing it.” Putting away his deck, Jaden’s mind raced, trying to think of something suitable before his face broke into a wide smile.

“Hey, Kyle, I’m gonna cut you off in a second, and switch you to a normal land card fuel source. That ok?” Jaden asked, already trying to work through the possibilities of what he was about to do.

“As you wish my lord.” Kyle responded, sounding ambivalent to the loss of power. Jaden nodded; casting a Plains card with all of his personal mana, and linking it to Kyle.

Cutting off the flow of devotion mana to Kyle, Jaden felt the bliss of mana high again as he enacted the next part of his plan. Allowing himself to fall to his knees, Jaden pulled out his deck; holding it up to the sky. “I believe in the heart of the cards!” Jaden called out, channeling the mana from his worshippers into the statement. Mist began pouring out of him as he continued calling out his devotion, accompanied by the river of mana flowing through him. Slowly, the mana formed into a seductive-looking redheaded woman with long wavy hair, and coffee brown eyes. She was dressed in a long fur coat that seemingly had nothing underneath without ever actually revealing any of the important bits, and wore white gloves.

Smiling, she bent down to inspect Jaden. “Rise, my child. I do not reward idleness.”

Jaden smiled widely as he locked the mana flow into place, ensuring that she would be maintained by the mana from his followers. “Holy crap, it worked!” Jaden cried excitedly. He turned to Niko to voice his excitement, but deflated when he found her glaring at him. Jaden coughed awkwardly when she raised an eyebrow at him, turning back to the goddess, who was smiling seductively at him. “As my only follower, I name you my prophet.” A prompt appeared a second later, punctuating her statement.

*************************************

Title gained: Prophet, level 1

Prophet: You have been recognized as a prophet of ???, Goddess of the Heart of the Cards. As she gains followers, so will your own power rise. Each level of this skill will grant a 10% increase to the prophet’s mana growth speed. The requirement to level up increases by factors of 10.

Level: 1

Followers for next level: 10

Current bonus: 10%

*************************************

Jaden nodded awkwardly. “Alright, er, do you want me to name you, or would you rather name yourself?”

The goddess pondered this for a moment, tapping her lips with an index finger as she thought in a way that drew Jaden’s full attention. “I suppose it is your prerogative as my only worshipper.”

Jaden already had a name prepared. “In that case, I name you Chance.” He said solemnly.

Chance wrinkled her nose in distaste. “A bit on the nose don’t you think?” She asked; the seductiveness gone from her tone.

Jaden shrugged. “I’ve actually known a few people named Chance over the years. Though admittedly they were guys. Anyway, it just seemed right.”

Chance stared at him with an unreadable expression for several seconds, then reached out her hand. Thinking he was going to be rewarded, Jaden’s body straightened unconsciously. Lightly, Chance flicked him on the nose.

“That’s for giving me a man’s name just to satisfy your childish sense of humor.” She muttered darkly. A prompt appeared as she flicked him.

*************************************

You have been cursed by a higher being. For the next hour, you will be forced to speak whatever is on your mind. Essentially magical tourettes. Enjoy.

Goddesses note: If you actually want my favor, you have to earn it. Have fun with your girlfriend ;)

*************************************

As Jaden was reading the prompt, Chance disappeared with a flash of light.

“Is it too late to switch gods?” Kyle asked wistfully.

“Quiet you.” Jaden muttered.

Niko strode up to Jaden, and poked his chest. “Mine.” She announced authoritatively. Jaden glanced down at her. “Your hands are so pretty. Like, they’re smooth, and elegant; but also strong. I like that you could probably bench-press me, but you’re also very feminine.” He blurted out. Jaden blushed slightly as Niko recoiled slightly in confusion. Sighing, Jaden made the curse notification visible so that Niko could read it. A moment later, she burst out into uproarious laughter. “Why hide thoughts? So romantic.” Niko sighed wistfully.

Jaden shook his head. “Wait till I get to the really crass ones, and you won’t be so flattered.”