Cheshire leaned back in his chair with a content look on his face. The fates hovered around the periphery. If there was a way to seethe with anger while bobbing up and down, they figured it out. Cheshire paid them no mind. He focused his mind back on the mortal layer of the planet. Several gambling halls dotted across the landscape routinely feed his holy energy pool. He will need to consecrate several more to recoup what he spent bringing Deacon into existence.

“Hello brother of mine.” Said Amon God of Agriculture & Earth.

“Amon, it is so good to see you. What brings you to the mortal layer today?” replied Cheshire

“I felt an interesting power recently sprinting through a wheat field.” He said.

“Oh, what kind of power.”

“Felt like chaos to me. Do you have a pawn on the game board now?” Replied Amon.

“I in fact do. The agreed upon time has come at last and I am now, once again, all in.” he said.

“So, the gambit with Zageracks did not work?” Amon directed this question to the three fates.

“He did not eat him as anticipated.” Said the fates in unison.

“Then how did he survive?” Amon asked.

“Simple brother, my pawn made a bargain with him.” Cheshire answered before the fates had a chance to speak.

“Even better. The great game will be rid of your champion soon enough. Then its back to waiting for you.” Amon chuckled.

“Don’t be so stubborn, Amon.” Chastised Radiant God of the Sun & Fire.

“Sister, it is good to see you again. Please come and join us.” Cheshire offered.

“I am curious to see what you have done this time. It seems to be sleeping on a cot, no that’s not quite right. What is that thing?” Radiant asked.

“It is the back of a wagon. There is a twenty-nine-point-seven percent chance he rolls off.” Cheshire answered.

“Don’t encourage him Radiant. He’ll ruin your plans as well as ours. If you recall that’s why we kicked him out to begin with. The fates are all we need to determine what will happen.” Amon harrumphed.

“I quite like him.” Said Bael God of change & Death, “He has sent me many in such a short time. Only Mantarok has done better.

“Ok we can’t all be here, some of you must have things to do. Priests to entice, continents to shine on, radishes to grow, off with you now.” Cheshire said.

“I would like to meet him.” Bael said with a troublesome smirk on her face.

“No. Its too early and that will derail him from my agenda and put him on yours.” Cheshire replied.

“Don’t be so cruel little brother. I haven’t had a champion in almost as long as you.” Bael said.

The others left the game room of the heavens and returned to their normal machinations. Bael being interested in meeting Deacon was a monkey wrench in Cheshire’s agenda. While gaining her favor for the events to come would be handy his sister’s opinion could change on a dime. He’ll have to wait and see. Amon being the first to detect him wasn’t good either. Amon was very particular about the way he played the board. Cheshire’s agenda is rather all over the place and let’s just say some seeds may get unearthed. Gazing down at the little monk, Cheshire couldn’t help but wonder what he’ll do next.

Deacon started to come to with all the rumbling from the cartwheels. Looking around he noticed the world slowly passing by. He tried to sit up but felt absolutely awful. A quick look at his slate told him he was holding steady at ten percent health. Deacon figured now was good time to check his stats.

Attribute

Score

Intelligence

10

Strength

36

Speed

35

Agility

14

Wisdom

12

Luck

300

Alright then. Looks like I have 3 points so one is going into speed, one is going to wisdom, and one is going to agility.

Attribute

Score

Intelligence

10

Strength

36

Speed

36

Agility

15

Wisdom

13

Luck

300

Level eight is coming along nicely. There seems to be another notification from the fates.

New Title Acquired- The Mangler. This title has been awarded to you for brutalizing almost all your opponents for five straight levels. You are seen as a horrific combatant and have a plus five percent chance of scaring your enemies into fleeing while butchering your target.

Equip now Yes/No

Deacon clicked yes even though five percent wasn’t much it was more than he had before.

New Message from the Fates- It is surprising you have lasted this long. Don’t get a big head.

Deacon mentally thought every expletive in his repertoire. Now how is his skill progression coming. Looks like he’s eighty percent of the way to level two in Pressure Palm. That’ll be good, if he remembers correctly Robert said he’d get an effect at level two. Touch of the void and Spectral Dodge are both at fifty percent. It doesn’t matter the phantasm strike ability is at, he won’t be using that anytime soon. His breathing technique has reached level two. No upgrade though.

“Hey, am I strapped down or something?” Deacon called out.

“Shit, he’s awake.” Typhus said.

“Stay still you aren’t in good shape.” Elle replied, “We bandaged you up as best we could. That left arm of yours will need time to heal.”

“Where are we going? What happened in town? Is everyone else all right?” Deacon rapid fired off some questions.

“The fires were a distraction, that much you know. They were trying to rob the town, but they didn’t have enough people. Too many sacrifices in that mage tent I guess.” Elle said.

“They were like lambs to the slaughter. Except for the fight you and Elle were in. We need to talk about that some day but I’m just happy your alive, lad.” Typhus said with a fatherly seriousness Deacon wasn’t used too.

“We found all of Lao’s equipment. Its yours if you want it.” Armand finally spoke up from the front of the wagon.

“Nope. I wanted to give that to you. I think that sword would be a neat upgrade. Did you happen to find his neck hole by any chance?”