FAITH

For the past three days, her family had fallen into a routine. They worked from dawn too dusk, raising the levels of the respective skills albeit slowly, while their level remained stagnant at level 1.

Herbology was actually not that bad of a class to have, just like Colea had once said before, there’s just something about plants that you couldn’t help but loose yourself in. But apart from that every moment with her master had been a pleasure, and not just from the fact that she learnt new things everyday. But because she was 100 % sure she had a crush on the nerd like beauty.

But her crush aside, Faith loved the effects she had on the plants, she loved how much she had grown in such a little amount of time. Being a herbalist did not just mean that you grew plants with special properties, but you also had to learn how to use them, and also learn how to maximize their effects in their raw form. Herbology was also a kind of healing class, the clerics aside most doctors were actually herbalist. They were not as mainstream as a cleric, but since not everyone could afford to get healed by a servant of God, they had to make do with the herbalist doctors around.

“Skills.”

[STEADY HANDS: LEVEL 1: PASSIVE(GENERAL): INCREASE STABILITY AND MASTERY OF ALL TOOLS AND WEAPONS BY 2%. FOR EVERY LEVEL GAINED INCREASE DAMAGE AND EFFECTS OF ALL TOOLS AND WEAPONS BY 5%]

[GARDENING: LEVEL 1: PASSIVE(GENERAL): INCREASE THE GROWTH RATE AND QUALITY OF ALL GROWN PLANTS AND VEGETABLES BY 5%]

[HERBOLOGY: LEVEL 2: PASSIVE(CLASS): INCREASE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND AFFINITY WITH ALL NATURAL HERBS AND PLANTS BY 6%, YOU HAVE A 2% CHANCE OF CULTIVATING RARE HERBS.]

[HARVEST: LEVEL 1: ACTIVE(CLASS): INCREASE HARVEST SPEED AND TECHNIQUE BY 10%, REDUCES CHANCE OF HERB BEING DAMAGED DURING HEARVEST BY 2%. INCREASES FOCUS AND INTELLIGENCE BY 3% FOR 30 SECONDS.]

[INSPECT: LEVEL 2: ACTIVE(GENERAL) : REVEAL AND UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL, AND NATURE OF ALL THINGS ON ZION. THE LEVELS, ATTACK, DEFENSE, HEALTH AND SKILLS OF ALL BEINGS AND THINGS CAN ONLY BE INSPECTED WHEN THE TARGET IS AT LEAST FOUR LEVELS ABOVE YOU. PERCEPTION INCREASE BY 5% FOR 20 SECONDS.]

Faith had come to realize that herbology seemed to have an effect that so far, Zion has not been able to instill in her……… a proper sense of belonging. With each passing day that she spends in the herb garden, she grew in her knowledge of herbs, their effects, and their uses.

There was a certain method, and classification to herbs or other plants with differing properties. Herbalists believe that there was no herb that was a higher grade than the other, each herb has its own unique properties that complement and accompany other herbs of differing properties. For example, the obsidian red rose had a higher probability of causing hallucinations in living beings, in its raw form it was quite dangerous, but after going through processing from an alchemist there would be a certain decline in its effectiveness. However, the grey valley rose thrives and brings out its full hallucinogenic properties when mixed with other herbs. This flower would use the effects of other herbs to augment and strengthen its own properties. Its effect were known to be so powerful that a long time ago, it was used to create a potion that was so powerful it was able to actually affect reality and make the hallucinations of twelve year old boy become real.

But even if she was so good with herbs, there was a saying in Zion, behind every good alchemist, was an equally good herbalist. Because of what her class entailed, she was expected to partner up with an alchemist. The herbalist provides the herbs while the Alchemist process them into something else.

Faith did not like the idea of playing maid to somebody else, she was already a servant and had absolutely no hope of growth until her contract with the Olagoke’s come to an end. So until such a time when she would be free of her servitude, she would much rather prefer being a solitary slave, than a glorified assistant who mind you was still a slave.

“Faith, it’s time for your daily lessons, I hope you’ve prepared.”

At the sound of Colea's voice, everything went to hell. Faith was young, but she could unequivocally say, that she was madly in love with the nerd like goddess standing in front of her. She had not spent much time with Colea, but she had come to a certain understanding of her character.

Colea was like a grown up five year old, everything and anything would capture her attention, and unless she chose to be absolutely focused, Colea was someone who had a really short attention span. But such character did not make her stupid, on the contrary, it made her adorable.

“Today’s lesson would be about a plant known by many names. Some call it the catalyst, the origin, the base, and the first, it is believed that the plant I’m about to teach you about, was actually the first plant to have come into existence. As such apart from its herbal properties, a lot of the mystics and researchers on Zion think it holds the secret of the universe and her creation. Are you following.”

Faith nodded her head in complete attention, Faith was many things in life, and one of them was a bookworm who had a love for history. She loved to know the story behind every object or person she has had the privilege of coming across. She belived that everything and everyone had a story to tell, and it was from that story that you could truly understand the person in front of you. Their story will tell you how to judge them, if to trust them, and when to love them.

The world was never kind to Faith, and she had no intention of being kind to the world either, but she also had no intention of isolating her self from the world. Because quite frankly, whether she was on earth or Zion, they both had something to offer, a story to tell. And Faith was a sucker for a good story.

“ Any way this plant has had many names over the thousands of years since alchemy and herbology have existed. But the most commonly accepted name of this plant is the [BOND VINE].

The bond vine grows to almost twenty feet long, before it starts to shoot out leaves of varying colors, each of those leaves each has a specific effect and property attached to it. The bond vine blooms a flower once every three years, and every time that flower blooms the special effects of the leaves are increase one hundred fold, making their value priceless at that moment. The flower that blooms will have the characteristics of being a perfect combination of all the characteristics and effects of the leaves that are a part of the vine.

The bond vine is the most basic, and also the most complex plant to have ever existed on the face of Zion. The bond vine can grow alone in the wild, but it has to survive under the nourishment of blood and soul essences, so it would probably be found on old battlefields, forbidden graveyards, or under the protection of a particular monster who wants to harvest its plants and flowers for its own evolution and growth.

However the bond vine can be subdued, in fact it is the most important part of the herbalist class apart from having your own journal for documentation.

Once a herbalist reaches a certain level, and has proper knowledge about plants, their effects, their habitats and the effects brought about by their natural combination, then that herbalist would be given a seed at an auspicious moment in nature.

The seed would be given when the forces of nature, magic and any other supernatural event align. It boost the power of the gift and gives the seed a unique property conversant to that supernatural event. And then the seed is given to the young herbalist to nurture and grow.

But it has to be done inside your body.”

“Wait what?” Faith interrupted. Whether it had another meaning from what she was imagining, Faith did not relish the idea of having a ‘seed’ put inside of her. Whether it was literally a seed, or just a sexual reference, Faith did not want to have a seed penetrate her and then grow in her body. She was not ready to be a mother to a human, much less a vine.

“Oh don’t worry Faith the procedure is completely harmless, there’s hardly ever any complication during the ceremony. Any way as I was saying, the seed feeds on your blood, and the blood and essence of other creatures. The bond vine can only ever have twelve leaves in the duration of its life span, the first three leaves decide how the remaining nine would turn out. You would have to nurture the first three leaves by feeding them only with the essence you want to serve as the base for your bond vine.

It could be anything from an essence of fire, to an essence of poison. Then after the three leaves have come into existence, the other nine would be made from a combination of the three first leaves. Each subsequent combination will create a new leaf, with a new effect, until all leafs are completed.”

Faith felt rather enlightened, as someone who has played a lot of games, before Zion became her reality, Faith knew the bond vine was just a fancy name for the soul weapon of a herbalist. It might not be called a soul weapon exactly, but it’s a weapon that can evolve and grow with its owner. The bond vine of herbalists was probably nurtured and grown to help improve other plants, or foster effects that were quite helpful to herbs in the long run. However, Faith had something else in mind after listening to what Colea had to say about the Bond vine. Faith knew she was not the only one who realized, that the bond vine has the potential to be the most powerful weapon on the whole of Zion. With the proper nurturing, the first plant in existence, will be the most powerful weapon in existence. And this was more her style, rather than just sitting around gardening. She had gained a certain affection for this class, but Faith still very much wanted to crack monster heads and go on adventure.

“Any way, Faith my dear beautiful student. In less than twenty days there’s going to be a supernatural phenomenon that is only seen once every three years, the great moon would be waking up from her slumber, unleashing a wave of powerful moon energy and magic onto Zion. That is the perfect night to get your seed. So we must get you ready.

[SYSTEM ALERT: QUEST]

[TYPE: CLASS]

[GRADE: F-E]

[IN LESS THAN TWENTY DAYS FROM NOW, THE GREAT MOON ARTEMIS WILL RISE FROM HER SLUMBER TO BATHE THE WORLD IN HER SUPERNATURAL GLOW THERE BY BLESSING ALL THINGS ON THE FACE OF ZION. YOU WILL RECEIVE THE SEED OF THE BOND VINE ON THAT AUSPICIOUS NIGHT FOR THE BETTERMENT OF YOUR CLASS.]

[CONDITIONS: YOU MUST HAVE REACHED LEVEL 10, AND YOUR HERBOLOGY SKILL MUST BE AT LEAST LEVEL 2, A HIGHER LEVEL, MEANS A BETTER BLESSING. YOUR JOURNAL MUST HAVE PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF THE TWELVE BASIC HERBS OF ZION AND THEIR EFFECTS AND HABITATS.]

[REWARDS: + 3000 EXP, + 10 SKILL POINTS, BOND VINE SEED(MOON BLESSED), NIGHT VISION(MOON BLESSED), MOON WORKER, HERB BAG(MOON BLESSED)]

There was a lot of advantage to be had with completing this quest. She might not be able to go above level ten, but the Olagoke’s had brought them into Zion at the worst possible time. There was no way that should this quest be completed, that they would not be able to get stronger. It might not be as much as expected, but it would be a whole lot more than their employers needed. And it would most definitely make life a whole lot easier for them. But with all this aside, Faith was now left with a very big problem. How the hell does she get to level 10 in less than twenty days.

ESTHER

Being a cleric was not at all as holy and as doped up as it was hyped about. In just three days, Esther has had to rebuff advances from six different apprentices just like her, and two senior priests, one of them was even a woman.

Don’t get her wrong, Esther was not a saint, and she took pride in the effects her body had on men, and now it seems also women. But she has always attached a kind of reverence for religion, even though she has had less than stellar experiences with it. She loves the idea of believing in something bigger than herself, that regardless of whatever sin or atrocity she might have commited, there was always someone up there watching out for her and ready to forgive no matter how much she fucked up.

But this people have perverted the very idea of sanctity, to make it short and simple the church was corrupt, and even the head priest seems to be turning a blind eye to the whole thing, or it might be that he was a part of the whole thing. But there was hardly anything she could do about it, she had zero influence in the church and she also had no idea how things worked here. It would take a significant amount of power and connection to be able to influence change in this place.

However that was all in the future, she had her hands filled enough as it is trying to understand the principles and laws of holy magic and how to channel it.

The priests of the church, which all round up to an insignificant number of four including the head priest which makes them five, did not believe in holding the hands of their clerics. The only help they had rendered so far was to dump Esther in a very dusty and on its last legs dump of a library to study books on the principles of holy magic. In other words, and a significant amount of air quotes ‘she has to rely on her perception and faith to master the way of God.’

So now here she was, with a dusty and moldy book sitting in her lap, about to do the thing she absolutely hated the most in her life…….study. Esther was not academically oriented like her younger siblings. Nathaniel was good with art and always knew how to see life in a different way. Faith was more calculative, principled and had a completely cynical view of life, making her have the air of an isolated genius who felt she was better than everybody. And she hated both of them for it.

Her brother always felt he knew what was right and understood how the world works, even when the idiot was nothing more than a junkie and miscreant who wasted his time as part of a cult that did nothing but smoke, sniff, fuck and bully little kids all day.

And then there was perfect little faith, who always felt like she was better than everybody and considered her own family a curse and a burden she had to deal with. Every other member of her family thought that Faith had to be protected so that their sins would not rub off on her, but all those idiots could not seem to notice that Faith was just as broken as the rest of them.

Esther let out a sigh of exasperation as she shifted her focus back to the book in front of her. The problem with her family is that non of them were willing to truly acknowledge that they were messed up, and even if they did. All of them even her were comfortable enough with the current status quo. They were not happy, but they were so afraid of what could change that they would much rather remain together and miserable, than separate and happy.

Esther blew over the surface of the book pushing a cloud of dust into the air cue in a session of coughing and sneezing while she cursed every book in the dusty library and its maker. And after that was over with, Esther with an intense shudder dove into the knowledge the book had to offer, spending hours learning and studying as if her life depended on it.

Every form of magic and energy in Zion had their own unique principles and governing laws. Just like the laws of physics back on earth, Zion had her own set that explains and determines the flow, use and effect of all magic. But each school of magic’s approach are unique in their own right, based on the sense that no two type of magic were the same.

Witches cast spells differently from mages, warlocks or sorcerers. Clerics and any other profession in connection to religion depend on their power of faith and belief. If it was any other game, you would never need to worry about principles and laws, all you had to do was call out the spell and you have fireballs exploding in the face of anybody you see.

But Zion was different, there was a distinct need to understand the skill or spell. Knowledge is not enough in this case, or just saying the spell out loud. Zion regardless of its origin was nothing short of another reality, technology or not, this was a real freaking world and it did not work as expected.

Zion was not rigid and set like any other virtual reality game ever made, there was a surprising amount of flexibility that even earth itself could never have been able to offer.

The mind has become a part of the template that Zion was made and built on. Her perception of Zion was as real as earth if not more clearer, and as such she and every other bozo out there who have come to see Zion as another reality would have to do one thing in it……live in it.

Esther already had knowledge about her spells and skills, what she really needed to learn now was how to activate them. And the only way she would be able to that is if she learnt how holy magic worked, and how to channel it into her skills and bring them into reality.

The dusty book in front of her for the most part was quite helpful, if you disregard the fact that sixty percent of its content was religious hogwash, as it was probably written by someone who had a hard on for religion.

But that aside the book explained holy energy as an entity very different from any other form of energy used for magic. The closest comparison would be dark energy, which comes from the big bad down below. Zion was run on the religious principle of the one true God and the devil. But caught in between this two was a host of other gods, demons, devils, spirits etc.

However holy energy is channeled directly from the celestial plane by the help of an object which could be considered a bridge or a gateway to the celestial plane or heaven. The best way to explain it is to think of the celestial plane as a big drum of holy energy and wonders, and Esther was just a small cup. However she can not just dunk her self into the drum to get power, she would be vaporized in body, soul and spirit. So this object would serve as a funnel or a nozzle to a tap, that systematically let the energy of the celestial plane flow through it and into Esther.

Esther as a cup would slowly grow accustomed to the energy, and then her capacity for it would increase when she gets to a higher level, and along with it, the intensity of which the energy flows from the celestial plane would increase. And it will be so until she becomes strong enough to serve as her own funnel, having the capability of tapping into the celestial plane at will without the need of a funnel.

But that was a long way into the future. But what she has been able to glean from the book was that holy energy was the most light and yet solid of all the source of energy. Very few people would understand that holy energy can be used for both attack and defense, it can be used to heal and according to the book even curse.

The best way to understand this energy was to have a mind that was quite flexible. Clerics are expected to be weak and gentle creature that only know how to heal. However their faith demands that they, at the drop of a heart can become warriors for their faith. You have to be soft, but be ready to go hard at the drop of a hat.

The first step was to understand the nature of the spell you want to activate, then put yourself in the right mindset to draw the energy from the celestial plane.

Esther took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She shifted the books on the table and set them aside to prevent any sort of damage during her little experiment. And then contrary to what anybody could expect, Esther jammed a wooden fork into her hand.

Her muffled scream resounded through the clustered alcove of the library. It was painful, but it was even more horrifying for Esther as she watched the eating utensil sticking out of the back of her hand. It was safe to say at this point she was regretting going through with this course of action, she was sure there was a better way to do this than trying to mutilate herself. But what’s done is done and she had to make do with what she had.

She painfully pulled it out of her skin and threw the fork far across the room like it was the source of all her misfortunes. Then she covered her injured hand with the other and closed her eyes again. She moved her connection to the brass cross hanging around her neck in a pristine fashion. There was a tiny white crystal embedded right in the middle of the cross, and right behind it, there was a lot of unintelligible engravings and symbols that always seemed to light up in the dark.

Esther was a little anxious due to the wound on her hand, however she knew that was not going to be helpful to her at the moment. A cleric had to be calm when they were healing, because they usually always find themselves in positions where they had to heal somebody under duress, or when the healing is really urgent and you had a panicking and heavily injured patient.

The heal spell could only be performed with a calm heart and steady mind. The power to restore is the power of creation itself, and if a cleric is not careful during the healing, the spell could cause a backlash and the cleric would take on the wounds of the patient among other worse experiences.

Esther took a few deep breaths as she successfully ignored the pulsing pain in her hand and focused on the cross. She felt it grow hotter by the second, but it was not so hot that it was uncomfortable, on the contrary it felt really comfortable and served to sharpen Esther's focus. Then she let out a sharp gasp as she had a sensation of falling and warmth.

She was startled by the feeling and her heart began to beat fast again, at the cost of cutting off her connection to the celestial plane. The feeling of falling only lasted for a moment, which meant that she had successfully made a connection with the celestial plane, and the feeling of warmth was most definitely the holy energy she has heard and read so much about. She let out a breath and opened her eyes still very conscious of her connection, she looked at her covered hand and whispered the word.

“Heal”.

The effect was instant, which should not be surprising. In Zion unless it was a spell that required an incantation, every skill and spell was instantly cast. There was no cast time, or cool down time. The only thing holding you back will be your Mana or energy pool.

Her hands began to glow a golden white light as she felt a soothing warmth flow through her hands. It tingled a bit and itched a lot, but once she raised her no longer glowing hand there was no wound on it, not even a scar.

“Well that is most certainly impressive.”

Startled, Esther quickly jumped up from the creaky hard chair she had been sitting on for the past few hours. The head priest was standing right behind her, and he seemed happy about something.

“Your devotion to understanding the way of God and the control of holy energy is inspiring. Of course I’m sure there would have been better alternatives than shoving a wooden fork into your hand, but it got you the result you were looking for. So tell me child how does it feel.”

Esther felt apprehensive about saying anything, she did not really have a trust for authority figures, especially when she made it a part of her life to destroy them. But in the end Zion was a game, when things happen like this, it was usually the precursor to a quest. So because of that Esther decided to answer.

“It was different than I expected. At first I felt like I was falling, and then I experienced such warmth and clarity of mind that made me feel somewhat sanctified. Like I was blessed and removed from all the troubles and chaos that comes from reality. I felt peace.”

“Indeed my child, that is how connection with the celestial plane and power of God works. He puts your fears away, and puts into perspective who you really are. But the celestial plane is not just home to the Almighty God alone. There are dozens if not hundreds of lesser Gods and beings who serve the path of righteousness and the good of all.

As a cleric, it is also your duty to understand their ways, to understand their will and learn to use their powers and gifts for the betterment of humanity and every other race of our fair world of Zion. In a little over sixteen days from now we’re holding a special service, a benediction and christening of sorts for the clerics that have shown great promise. I would like for you to be one of them, however you have to prove yourself worthy of such a gift. The service of the moon goddess Artemis always brings great joy and blessings to the people. It would be such a shame if you can not partake in it.

See to it, that you’re strong enough and worthy enough to partake of that service. I will leave you to you’re studies young one. May the Almighty guide you.”

[SYSTEM ALERT: QUEST]

[TYPE: CLASS]

[GRADE: F-E]

[IN SEVENTEEN DAYS THE GREAT MOON OF THE GODDESS ARTEMIS WILL HANG OVER THE NIGHT SKY FOR SIX HOURS BEFORE GOING BACK INTO HER SLUMBER NOT TO BE SEEN FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS. THE CHURCH HAS ORGANIZED A BENEDICTION SERVICE TO BLESS AND DEDICATE THE MOST PROMISING CLERICS THAT HAVE CHOSEN THE PATH OF GOD. YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS ONE OF THEM, BUT YOU HAVE TO PROVE YOUR SELF WORTHY OF SUCH A POSITION.]

[CONDITION: YOU MUST HAVE REACHED LEVEL 10, AND ATTAINED LEVEL 2 OR ABOVE IN THE SKILLS HEAL AND NURSE. YOU’RE REQUIRED TO KEEP YOURSELF PURE AND HOLY IN PREPARATION FOR THE SERVICE, AS SUCH YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE ANY CARNAL ACTIVITIES, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT MEAT, OR KILL ANY LIVING THING, EVEN AN ANT.]

[REWARD: +4000 EXP, +10 SKILL POINTS, ROSARY OF ARTEMIS(LESSER), MOON LIGHT, MOON GUARD, MOON SHIFT.]

The rewards from the quest looked really great. Apart from the rosary, every other thing given was a skill or spell. But the conditions listed however, seemed like torture to Esther. It was why she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“What the fuck is this!”