Una must have learnt that from Rugus. But where did he get the information about the artifact’s location? This question really bothered me. I saw the system message that informed me that Bon got a Fraction of Rugus. But I checked my inventory long ago; there wasn’t any Fraction there. The sorceress said that it was returned to her because she was killed by a Follower of Rugus. The most obvious conclusion then was that Bon was, or rather, had been, a Follower of Rugus. The least possible conclusion was that the Old Man was Rugus himself and I was, by extent, also his Follower.

Was that ridiculous? It was ridiculous enough. However, the lilac sand did vaguely resemble the magic of Darkness. And Rugus himself was our official ally.

“Besides,” Una continued without taking her watchful eyes off of me, “after hearing the story about the level 130 creature, I really doubt that it’s wise for the three of us to go into the Territory of Decay alone.”

“I have to agree with her, Bale,” the ranger said, still keeping an eye on her. “Even the five of us almost died there. If it weren’t for Mayor Elliot’s help, we would all be dead by now.”

“Do you think so?” Una chuckled. “Do you remember, Berg, how you got away from the baron?”

The ranger shuddered involuntarily. Memories of that seemed to be quite unpleasant.

“You have a skill that allows you to open portals, don’t you, Bon?” a sly smile touched the girl’s lips.

Portal? Was that a word from her past life? Or did such phenomenon really exist in this dark world? I should find out.

“No,” I shook my head. “But you seem to be able to do that...”

Una glared at me for a couple of seconds before sighing helplessly.

“Don’t be so nit-picky! I really can’t open portals,” I chuckled.

“But you can teleport yourself to your resurrection point,” she smirked. “And as for your question — yes. I can do it. But it leads only to Rugus’s Abode. That’s where I invite you both. The Great One’s trusted Disciples will gladly fulfill his wish and provide us with everything we need in our quest to get the part of Zurtarn.”

A crowd of lunatic Followers of the God of Control? What a great place that had to be. Especially remembering how other God’s temples affected me. Of course, a God’s personal presence hurt much more, but their temples could also make me lose quite a lot of HP. I knew what I had to do.

“Be in no hurry to refuse,” Una said as soon as I opened my mouth. “The Great One saw what Einar’s aura did to you and asked me to tell you that he would diminish his presence in the Abode. Yes, there will be some sort of a residual effect, but it would be quite weak. Your regeneration should be able to deal with it.”

“Did he just tell you that?” I smirked. The girl blinked in confusion.

“Yes, he did. So what?"

I said nothing, just chuckled. Though my Old Man was looking after me, he still didn’t use me as a transmitter. Was that a good or a bad thing I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to live being some supreme creature’s eyes and ears. I liked freedom; even a feigned one.

But let’s get back to business… I definitely needed some new clothes. The rags that I was wearing gave no stat bonuses. It would be useful to get my hands on a Glozeysk Crystal. Without one, I would have to spend a lot of time fighting and regenerating.

It would be reckless to go into Rugus’s lair while Elusive Darkness is still in cooldown. Though the Old Man called the God of Control and his Followers our allies, he did so with obvious reluctance. And if they betray us… It wouldn’t be smart to kill me, but they could get rid of Berg. I didn’t want to lose him in such a stupid way. However, I shouldn’t miss an opportunity to get stronger at the expense of others. I also needed to activate the Altars of Light and Twilight… Damn! What was I to do?

I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand at the last moment. I hadn’t slept for a very long time. It would be a pity to get a debuff because of that. Fine. Then that‘s settled.

“I’m sorry, Una, but I don’t think that we should all go into the most holy place of the Great Rugus. Go alone. If possible, bring back a piece of bark the Wisdom Tree.” What? They were offering help, and I had all intentions of using that. I wasn’t going to let the cat out of the bag in front of everyone I met. I had to learn how to stop being paranoid of every rustle, and how to get as much as possible out of every situation. Yes, I would have to reveal some of my secrets, but I could get much more in return. The rest of my secrets would remain safe.

She fell deep into thought and seemed to be looking through me. I was sure that she was getting useful advice from her Patron. She reminded me of a computer downloading a software upgrade.

“Okay, Bon,” the girl nodded after a while. “Wait here, I’ll be back in an hour with the gifts. You can have some rest until then.”

“Deal,” I replied. Yielding to the feelings that were gnawing at my heart, I added: “Just don’t call me like that. I’m not Bon.”

“Huh. Ookay,” the sorceress chuckled and, raising her hand in front of her, began creating a portal. Lilac grains of sand danced in the air, rushing from her fingertips to create a broad archway. It took her about thirty seconds to do her magic. Looking at it, I came to a conclusion that the skill would be useless during a quick escape — the spell required too much time to cast.

Finally, the arch glowed with a purple light; the girl waved her hand and, after stepping into the magic haze, was gone together with the portal.

“Do you trust her?” I immediately asked Berg. I clearly remembered how she left me in the mercy of the wolves. I remembered how she used her healing skills. How that correlated with the God of Control was beyond my comprehension. There were too many mysteries about her. I was afraid that she would stab me in the back… Though we were not match for her in a fight, and she must have known it. I wanted to believe that she wouldn’t betray us, but it was quite possible that she would use us and leave us with nothing.

The ranger put his bow back in his inventory, stretched his neck and sat on the grass.

“More or less. In fact, she was Mayor Elliot’s right hand. If she wasn’t a Gleam she would have died with him there,” he shook his head and then materialized a piece of jerky and a flask with wine. I sat beside him, and took out my supplies as well.

“Do you think Godwin is dead?” I asked. Berg nodded, looking angry. “Tell me, why didn’t you leave him like the others did?”

I needed to understand his motives. I needed to decide whether I could trust him my life or not.

Berg took a sip of wine and shook his ginger mane.

“I like being alive,” he answered. “But I want to choose by myself what to do and whom to follow. I want to do the right thing. I would have never forgiven myself such a vile betrayal. I would rather die than live like a rotten scum,” he looked away. Did he get embarrassed? As if confirming my thoughts, the ranger stared at me again and blurted out: “You do understand what I’m talking about, don’t you? You also didn’t do their bidding and saved Anda and me… or Una, I have no idea what her real name is.”

“It was a big risk,” I replied. “You could have died.”

“But I survived!” Berg chuckled. “And Anda… Una shouldn’t have survived such a transfer. I have no idea how you found out that she’s a Gleam, but you did the right thing.”

I gathered my thoughts and carefully asked:

“Where did you get that?”

“The Great One told me to explain to you some obvious things.”

Confused, I shook my head. I put my hands up in front of me.

“Stop. Wait. You’ve heard my question. Please, be so kind as to answer it as clearly and as detailed as possible.” I was afraid that we would have problems with communication, but I had expected them to be related to some other issues.

Who could have thought that this gloomy fellow could come up with such rubbish? Maybe he didn’t have much experience talking to others.

Berg spent some twenty seconds gathering his thoughts and then told me what, from his point of view, our getaway and the later events looked like. Everything fell into place; while the archer was rolling on the grass, wrapped in black flames, the Old Man’s powers were fighting with his former Patron’s powers. Having easily won, the Darkness told him that if Berg had been a Disciple or a Gleam, his Patron would have appeared in person. Common Followers were just a congregation, but Disciples and Gleams were a wealth of information about their Gods; incomplete and fragmented, but very dangerous in the hands of wrongdoers. Then the body of the poor Follower could then burst from the collision of the Gods’ energies. The Old Man couldn’t just let him go after transferring him through the Darkness because my spell had filled Berg with Darkness from head to toe.

The Old Man asked his new Disciple to tell me all about it and to explain everything I needed, even if it all seemed like common sense to Berg.

Lost in thought, I scratched my head as I listened to my companion’s story. My Patron wanted me to broaden my horizons, which is why he provided me with a guide. He wasn’t able to do it personally. For some reason, the time he could spend talking to me was limited. That’s why, for example, he passed information about Elusive Darkness through his Disciple.

This made me happy. It turned out that taking too long to guess how to save Berg they way I did was a good thing. If I had cast that spell to transfer Anda/Una, she would have died a much more terrible death. Yes, she would resurrect, but there was no guarantee that she would have done this as easily and effortlessly as she did. Still, the influence of a Gods’ power on your soul definitely had some impact.

And the most important thing… My last-chance skill turned out to be a last-chance weapon. You couldn’t transfer Gleams and Disciples with the help of Elusive Darkness without hurting them… What if I did it deliberately? What if I clutched their hand when fleeing from a stronger enemy and pull them into Darkness? Even if they were a common member of the congregation, they would still lose their ties with their Patron! And what would happen, if I, let’s say, fill a Warrior of Decay with Darkness?

“Oh, by the way,” Berg broke the silence, “the Great One asked me to tell you not to use that spell on creatures of Decay. But I don’t think you would ever need to save them,” he chuckled, putting the flask back into his inventory.