Only specific skills depended on your Patron. In other words, if anyone in this dark world decided to be an atheist, they wouldn’t be a burden. You could access some skills with the help of different items; for example, I unlocked Blind Eye after putting on the Ring of Rascal. Some skills would be unlocked after upgrading everyday and personality skills; like War Horseman that appeared after my Riding reached level 5. Some skills could be unlocked only through training, especially if you had a mentor. Berg unlocked some of his special bow shots training at the shooting range at the ranger’s camp. However, “unlock” and “learn” were two different things. The second was impossible without the first. In order to “learn”, you had to spend skill points in the menu of those skills. So, no matter how much time you spent on training, everything had a limit. You could either max out a couple of skills, or you could spend points on learning a bit of each.

Why I had decided to pay special attention to the rules of the game in the middle of the night while hiding in the trees not so far from the Listeri Cemetery you might ask. I needed to know what my new companion was capable of after being separated from his former Patron and how separating a Follower from their God affected their skills.

“I was just an ordinary Follower, so I didn’t lose much,” the ranger said.

Of his God’s skills he had a skill that allowed him to hit several enemies with one shot; one maiming shot that went right through an enemy’s knee, dealing some extra damage and slowing them down; and Hunter’s Hunch with which he could detect invisible enemies. It was based on hearing and its range covered an area that was divided in three, 100 ft zones. The closer was the zone to Berg, the more difficult it was for the enemy to hide from him. These were useful and valuable skills. Especially the last one.

But here’s the most interesting thing… According to information that Berg got from the Old Man and that he passed to me, once separated from the Patron, the skills you got from them would stop working, for they would lose the connection with the deity’s power that fed them. A new Patron could reset them all, returning to their Follower all of the spent points, or they could try and modify them according to their element.

As a result, Berg’s Hunter’s Hunch became All-seeing Darkness. The skill’s range had shrunk to 150 feet and there was no zone division. Though the limitations of the skill were the same, it now depended on how thick the surrounding darkness was. My companion could easily pin down the location of a fly in pitch darkness, not to mention that he could detect enemies even if they had upgraded invisibility. However, he was as blind as a newborn kitten during the day. Therefore, we would have to stay in the shadows. The skill wouldn’t work to its full extent, but it would work.

The Maiming Knee Shot became Horror Shot. It didn’t slow the enemy down anymore, but it dealt the extra damage and made the enemy run away while the effect lasted.

The Old Man didn’t try to change the third skill; he just removed it and returned the skill points to Berg.

Berg knew how to spend them — our Patron gave him a couple of passive skills and the opportunity to learn Eyes in the Dark and Dark Side of the World. Berg upgraded the first skill to the second level —All-seeing Darkness couldn’t be activate at all times — and the second one he upgraded to the third level. The remaining skill points were not enough for anything else.

It was funny that the ranger didn’t get the Tranquility of Darkness. Not to mention the Elusive Darkness. As far as I understood it, the Old Man couldn’t give us all of the elemental skills that he had. There were some limitations. However, I was convinced that Berg would get more skills after getting an Altar and earning enough faith points through praying. I didn’t know why, but it seemed to me that they would be quite different from the ones that I got from our Patron.

I told the ranger to remain hidden in the trees near the cemetery. He would be invisible for those who couldn’t see in the Darkness, while being able to keep an eye on the spot where Una’s portal had been. The girl said that she would appear at the same place. But who knew what kind of company she would bring back with her and what their intentions would be.

My desire to clear my head was stronger than my desire to sleep. That’s why, after deciding on a secret meeting place in case we needed to hide from Una, I went deep into the forest. I decided to go south-east, for I had already explored the north-eastern region last time. The Wolves in that area could still be in their “calmed” state. There was no need to disturb them.

Once the cemetery was several feet behind me, I slowed down my pace and slowly came to a stop. I exhaled, looked up at the sky, and stretched my neck… Finally, I was alone. So many things happened during the last couple of days.

But I will reminisce when I retire, if I’m alive by then. There were more important things to do right now.

“Look, Bon,” I called my “source”. “We need to talk”.

Silence.

I spent half a minute trying to call him mentally, but he refused to answer.

“We really have to discuss a lot of stuff,” I spoke aloud. “I don’t think that you like being denied control over your own body. I’m not pleased with this unwanted transfer and with the thought that you can take over. Well? Let’s talk. Do you hear me?”

This time I waited for a whole minute. Alas…

I cursed and started walking. Fine, I had other business to do anyway.

I took out the Altar of Darkness from my inventory and, still walking, said,:

“Thank you for the given powers! I dedicate my escape from the baron’s superior forces and Berg’s and Una’s rescue to the Darkness! Hail Darkness!”

The black wood got pleasantly warm, and a system message appeared in front of my eyes.

You have received 40 faith points.

That wasn’t bad, my gift was duly appreciated. I almost had the same amount of points I had before using the Call of the Patron.

I smiled, put the Altar back and opened the Elemental Types menu. There was a sign in the third column.

Lives saved by the pure being: 187

The addition of more than 60 souls could be explained only by the fact that the world counted the Warrior of Decay not as one, but as tens of souls, for it consisted out of many bodies. But even after such a gift I still needed 113 defeated enemies to activate the Altar of Light.

I thought about seizing the moment and spending that half an hour I had on something useful. But the Wolves were now avoiding me instead of attacking. They were smart creatures that stayed away from those whose level was almost four times higher than theirs. I didn’t have time to look for willing victims to help me progress.

I heard a nasty, but too familiar clicking noise. I turned around and chuckled — eight cloudy eyes belonging to a puny Little Spider Changed by Decay were staring in my direction. Clacking its mandibles, it rushed at me, paying no need to the huge difference in levels.

Moving out of its way, I took out the pitchfork from my inventory. Strike. Strike. Victory.

I totally forgot that these creatures felt at home here. This was the third time that I found myself near the cemetery and the third time I got attacked by a small creature of Decay. Was it a coincidence? I thought not. I was sure that this was how they usually behaved.

I looked in the direction of the cemetery and listened. There were no sounds. If Una had come back and Berg decided to trust her, they would have followed my trail. I would have heard them and went back. I had about twenty minutes left.

Getting a rough estimate of where the Little Spider had come from, I trotted over in that direction. Seems to be east… Thanks to the Tranquility of Darkness I had no problems with energy. After upgrading the skill to the sixth level, it restored thirty points of each stat per minute. I had almost completely recovered all of the HP that I had spent on teleportation.

I took out the map of the area from my inventory. I didn’t know how much time had passed since it was printed, but according to it there should be no Decay anywhere nearby. But I could clearly smell that specific scent.

I sped up, defeating three Little Spiders on my way and arrived at the edge of the dead forest in about eight minutes. According to the map there was no Decay there, but it was already spreading from the north. I went south, parallel to the border of the Decay. I doubted that I would be able to see the place where the decayed lands ended as I was short on time. I hardly had enough time to reach it, I had to go back.

I got lucky! Two hundred yard ahead was a completely different scenario.

“A few minutes won’t make much difference!” I thought without breaking my stride.

I was a bit excited. As soon as I started feeling that I was about to get a hold of another secret of this world, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest. At least, my mind was focused and mindful of the surroundings. Another Little Spider appeared…

For a while now I had been curious about the principle that defined the spreading of the Decay. It definitely wasn’t spreading in a single wave. It was as if it was throwing its tentacles forth and then pulling its main body after them.

I wasn’t that far away from the truth. Reaching the furthest point of the decayed lands, about a mile away from the cemetery, I smiled smugly. It really was a “tentacle”. Or, at least, 50 yards long “appendage”. From my current location I could clearly see the “living” part of the forest.

So from where was the Decay stretching its arms?

I turned around and looked south. What was there? No matter how hard I looked I only saw the usual forest — high trees, hills, grass… While I was looking, a small cloud passed over the moon, obscuring it for a couple of seconds, and a hundred yards ahead of me I spotted a flicker of light. Eyes in the Darkness did its job. Something was hidden there.