We made it back to our camp, and I immediately put the crown on a pedestal. “Gah, I feel dirty just carrying that thing, and I used telekinesis the majority of the time.” I said, shaking in disgust. I checked my stats, wanting to make sure that I had enough oomph to take out the crown. “I don’t have enough spirit. I’m going to need to activate Shalora’s Gratitude. Do you want me to do it here, or go deeper into the jungle so it doesn’t affect you?”

“Just do it here. Shalora wouldn’t give you a skill like that if it could kill anything nearby.” She said, waving off my concerns. Shrugging my shoulders, I activated the skill.

Shalora’s Gratitude activated!

For the next minute, you will absorb health and spirit from all life nearby. You may not use this skill again for a month.

Uses remaining: 4

Something opened up within me, and it felt like I was a small void, gently sucking things from the life surrounding me. I couldn’t see it, but Elendria’s face let me know she could at least see part of it.

“Beautiful.” She whispered, head swiveling all around. While she was watching, I was looking at my stats. My health had recovered already, and thanks to the skill my spirit was rising swiftly. By the time the minute ended, I had gone from 37 spirit to 437 spirit, and was just below being topped off. While my spirit wasn’t quite full, there was another portion of me that felt like I had eaten too much, making me feel quite lethargic.

“Did it work?” She asked, and I nodded. Using a bit of telekinesis, I picked up the crown and pulled it toward me.

“Divine light to the crystal, and divine flame to melt the crown?” I asked, getting a confirmation nod from her. Taking a deep breath, I split my mind and went to work. A beam of light shot out of one finger, and I could immediately feel the resistance. It was like I was trying to push through webbing, and I could tell that even though some of the beam was being used to fight against the webbing, a lot was getting through and creating havoc within.

The other portion of my mind held my other hand palm up beneath the crown, and created a circle of divine flames so hot they were nearly plasma. I had expected to immediately melt the crown, but it seemed like a bit of the curse was desperately fighting against the heat. Smart, for it to protect the crown as well as it could. Too bad for the curse, I could maintain an assault from two directions without losing too much. It was only able to fight on one line effectively, and no matter how swiftly it switched back and forth I was gaining ground on both fronts.

The shard cracking was the first part of the curse losing control. That crack disrupted a portion of the webbing that was fighting the light. The newly slackened portion allowed my spell to generate a bit of momentum against the web, and it ripped when it was pulled taut again. In desperation, the curse moved to protect the crystal, and portions of the crown started melting rapidly. Paralyzed by indecision, as both aspects that were vital were swiftly being destroyed, the curse shrieked before being completely obliterated. With nothing to anchor to and already heavily damaged, the strands of darkness simply unraveled and drifted off in an unseen wind.

Hidden quest completed: Free my Soul!

You were tasked to free undead souls from the curse of the Solaris Empire. As the curse has been broken, your hidden quest has been automatically completed.

Total souls saved: 17

Reward: Mage’s ring of desperation

experience

Mage’s ring of desperation

Growth item

Mana is the lifeblood of a mage. Running out in battle without any allies nearby is a guaranteed death sentence. To combat this, the Mage’s ring of desperation was created. A mithril band inset with crystallized mana, it acts as an instant mana potion. It will hold half of your mana pool, and you can drain it instantly to recharge your mana so long as you are below 10% total mana. Once you are again at full mana, the ring will recharge at ¼ your mana recharge rate until it is full once again.

Ancient lore quest completed!

Despite the odds being stacked against you, you have managed to free the capital of the former Solaris Empire of the dreadful curse that was afflicting it. Vitae rejoices, grateful that a terrible evil has been corrected. Enjoy your rewards, for they are well earned.

Rewards:

Curse breaker title

Ownership of the city

Le Fae’s Amulet

Divine band of recovery

The curse on all magical items in the city has been broken

Experience

Unknown reward. Claim in the divine realm.

Special reward

Going far beyond any requirement, Elendria has shown absolute dedication to her evolution. It is exceedingly rare to find a soul destined for Mahapadma. She not only located it, but sent it to receive its reward.

Reward:

Increased attributes upon level up

The cooldowns for Frozen Judgement and Frigid Future have been reduced from one month to two weeks

Curse breaker

A title given to those who manage to destroy the highest tiers of curses. You gain increased resistance to all curses lower tier than your strongest dispelled curse (Epic) and an increased chance of breaking lower tier curses.

Le Fae’s Amulet

Legendary

Le Fae was one of the most prolific planeswalker families of all time. In this amulet lies their knowledge of planes and the interconnections between them. Used properly, it can guide you to finding the safest route to any plane you wish to visit. So long as you remember that ‘safest’ is a relative term.

Divine band of recovery

Legendary

This item has been crafted of the rarest materials on Vitae. Mithril harvested from meteorites, the metal having been bathed in cosmic energy for millennia. The sapphire in the band was formed in the great mana wellspring in the deepest part of the ocean. The ruby was formed in the heart of the most powerful volcano, long lost to time. And the diamond from the crushing depths of the center of the world. These combine to help the wearer recover after battle.

Effects:

Out of battle recovery of health, mana, and spirit multiplied by 10.

Oh I was so very excited by the rewards, especially the divine one. Hopefully I could break the system. I felt a pull to the divine realm, and I could tell that Elendria felt it as well. “It’s ok. Go ahead and store your items, and we can come look at them later.” I said, smiling at her. She had also received several small items, and I was assuming they would be legendary as well. Between one blink and the next, we were transported to the throne room of the gods.

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

“Once again, we find ourselves in your debt Sean.” Shalora said as we appeared. “Elendria, you have done your people a great service. And like Sean, we find ourselves in a bind. We can’t reward you properly, as we are currently in conflict with Apophis.”

As she spoke, I started tuning her out a bit. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and I was going to be prepared this time. I concentrated on my aura, something I hadn’t used very much, and did my level best to fuse it into my mana armor. While I was at it, the split portion of my mind was doing the same to the mana armor I was creating around Elendria. Maybe it was because I had done it before, or maybe I was getting more sensitive, but I could feel the greater presences approaching rapidly.

“Be prepared Elendria, we have some greater gods incoming.” I said, chuckling as she sidled closer to me.

“Is that why you gave me the mana armor?”

“Yep.” I agreed as the two beings appeared. Once again it was the white god with the steampunk armor and the lizard gunslinger.

“You again.” The white one said.

“Sean. That aura is coming along nicely.” The gunslinger said with a grin before turning to the assembled gods. “Lemme guess, same deal as last time?”

“It is as you guessed.” Shalora spoke. “Sean and Elendria together broke an epic curse with a divine twist, freeing a city of thousands from undeath and the theft of their karma.”

“Theft of karma?” The one on white asked, eyebrows raising. “That is a dangerous thing to be playing with. How do you plan to prevent this in the future?”

“That is beyond our purview.” The gunslinger said.

“Maybe yours, but not mine.”

“Each god and goddess will train a group of people in karmic magic and the detection of karmic magic.” Shalora explained. “This is under the assumption that what was found once may be found again. This group will then go out and police the usage of karmic magic. Those who abuse it will be put to death.”

“Are you sure you don’t wish to just destroy the knowledge?” The white guy asked, and I got annoyed.

“Of course.” I interrupted, getting a glare from him, shocked looked from the assembled gods, and a smile from the gunslinger. “Just look at my world’s history. There are plenty of examples of different cultures with no contact discovering the same thing. Changing it from some physical occurrence to a school of magic doesn’t guarantee that it won’t be discovered again. And if you destroy all evidence of it, then the expert in karmic magic would be the bad guy. Do I need to get the crayons out to draw a picture of how bad it is when the bad guy knows the most about a powerful school of magic, and you have no way to counter it?”

At the mention of crayons, two things happened. The gunslinger absolutely lost it, guffawing at his counterpart. The steampunk knight, I couldn’t refer to him as the white guy anymore, it sounded too racist, unleashed his full aura on me. It felt like I was being crushed beneath the weight of a mountain, one that had a god stomping on it. “You would do well to maintain a tone of respect, mortal.” He commanded.

“Oh?” I managed to choke out, coughing with the effort. “By respect, do you mean blind obedience to whatever you might say?”

“Enough.” The gunslinger said, negating his partner’s aura. “Sean does have a point, and you are overstepping. Now, we need to reward these two. I see you still have a portion of that scale of Apophis. Are you standing in as his representative again?”

“No.” The steampunk knight said immediately. “I let it slide last time, but this time I refuse to allow him to stand in for Apophis. You will find a different representative.”

“Of course.” I quickly agreed, giving him a slight bow. I turned immediately to Elendria, placing the necklace over her head. “Elendria. By the power invested in this shard of a scale, I hereby nominate you as the representative of Apophis for these proceedings. Let any followers of Apophis object at this time.” I said, looking pointedly around the room. The gods of Vitae were petrified, the gunslinger was looking like the cat that stole the cream, and steampunk knight looked like he had just sucked on a lemon.

“You had best watch yourself, mortal. Even now, you press your luck.”

“Oh relax!” The gunslinger said, slapping his back. “You’re just mad that he got you again, and with the same damn loophole!”

“No, I am mad that he is wasting his potential. He could be a great force for the light.”

“Bah, that’s no fun. He should-“

I interrupted the fun once again, “He should be looking at a list of possible rewards?”

“Very well. Impatient mortal. We can’t offer the same rewards as previously, as these souls aren’t beyond salvaging from the trauma some of them received. Give us a moment to generate the list.” Steampunk said.

“Before you do that, I could save you some time. Would it be possible to increase my constitution gained per level again?”

“Absolutely not.” Steampunk answered immediately.

“Well, how about reducing the requirement for me to obtain an adaptation. Say, dropping it from fifteen to five?”

“That is impossible as well.” The gunslinger answered. “You need a certain amount of resilience to withstand adaptations. Lowering that by 2/3 is not an option.”

“Alright, give me a moment then. I need to check out some things.” While they were compiling a list, I was going through my status. I smiled as I saw that I had gained three and a half levels. That should give me enough constitution to get the first level of chimeric body. I dropped 75 total points into constitution, keeping 14 free points for use where I might need it and asked the system to use my next five adaptations on Chimeric Body.

Error!

Chimeric body requires 5 adaptations. You have currently applied 21 of 25 adaptations. Insufficient adaptations to apply Chimeric body.

Synergy detected!

One adaptation point has been spent on a complimentary skill!

Minor shapeshifting can count as 1 adaptation towards Chimeric body!

Fusing skills.

Minor shapeshifting has now fused with Chimeric body I.

You have 1 adaptation point remaining

Total adaptations: 25/50

Oh thank all the gods of luck! I flopped down into a seated position, not really caring where we were. I had almost used all of my adaptations, and didn’t even know it. My arms were shaking, hell my whole body was shaking.

“You ok Sean?” Elendria asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Gaah!” I shrieked, jumping a bit and spinning in place. “Gah, sorry Elendria. You scared the bejeezus out of me.” I said, slowly standing as I tried taking deep breaths to calm my heart.

“Sorry about that, but are you ok? You sort of spaced out there.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m fine.” I reassured her. “Just, came a bit closer to an unseen disaster than what I had been originally expecting. Nothing to worry about.”

“And I’m telling you, we can’t give them any technology from our world!” Steampunk’s voice cut through our conversation.

“And just why the hell not? He’s already gone and created a magical version of the railgun! We would just be gifting him his weapon as an enchanted item instead of making it from magic every time.” Gunslinger countered. “Just having one of them won’t violate the strictures.”

“No, but what happens when he figures out how to make them himself? If he can make one out of magic, and we give him a working version in an enchantment you are damn near guaranteeing that he will reverse engineer it. Then we have to deal with world contamination!”

“Or it could be a natural progression of this world! Why not skip the explosive powders and go straight to electromagnetics?”

“Because! There are a lot of foundations that need to be built first! You can’t just give a caveman a gun! You will stifle their need for invention!”

“Steampunk’s right.” I interjected. “On all counts. I would most definitely reverse engineer your railguns. It would save me a hell of a lot of time. And it would stunt the people of Vitae. We learned by advancing our technology through trial and error. Once it reached a point where we had conquered certain frontiers, it stagnated. Why build a better corn plant to feed the population if it will drive the profits so low the farmers go out of business?”

“That, is a rather shitty example.” Steampunk said after a moment. “Why wouldn’t you want to feed people?”

“I doubt we have enough time to discuss all the flaws in capitalism. Have you guys decided on a list?” I asked.

“For Elendria, we have. She may choose between the static boost per level to the attribute of her choice, or she can choose the esoteric knowledge. That would give you an urge toward ancient bits of lore from the souls you have saved. This would only apply on Vitae.”

“No chance of skills?” I asked, remembering they had offered me that.

“None. These souls are not beyond salvation. Stripping the knowledge of their skills would cause undue harm.” Steampunk explained.

“Don’t worry. I don’t need any of their skills.” Elendria said. “Give me the intelligence boost. It’s seven stat points per level, yes?”

“It is. Aaaand done.” Gunslinger said, sending a ray of energy into Elendria. “Now, your turn. Would you like another attribute boost?”

“Well, are there any ways to combine my two reinforcement circles? I know I can link the attributes to their related one, like intelligence and wisdom, but I want more. Like linking wisdom, intelligence and dexterity and agility to say constitution?”

“No.” Steampunk said. “I see what you are trying to accomplish, and I won’t allow it.”

“You won’t allow it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Gunslinger. “Does he have that authority? I though the only one capable of determining whether a reward was fit or not was the representative of Apophis?”

“Heh, you have a point, but he hasn’t crossed too far yet. Keep pushing though, and you might get some concessions.” Gunslinger chuckled. “Besides, you don’t want me to step in, forcing you to be indebted to me, do you?”

“Fair enough.” I nodded, before looking back at Steampunk. “Fine. You want to keep throwing roadblocks my way? How about this then. Let’s just increase my attribute points per level.”

“Denied.”

“Why?”

“Denied. Free attribute points are too powerful.”

That sparked a devious idea, but I needed to keep him off balance. “Fine. If free attribute points are too powerful, at least let me link two attributes so that adding points to one adds to the base points of another.”

“That would still effectively double your attribute points.”

“Yeah, if I dumped all of them into the same stat. What kind of an idiot does that?” I asked.

“Enough! You aren’t getting any free attribute points! End of discussion.”

“Seriously? You’re just pissed that I’m going to exploit a loophole.”

“Well, you do have a penchant for doing that.” Gunslinger chuckled, getting a glare from Steampunk.

“Yeah, and it seems he is using advanced knowledge to limit my possible rewards, instead of allowing the representative to do their job.” I said, glaring pointedly at Steampunk.

“You have knowledge that the representative doesn’t-“ He started, only to have me hold up a hand.

“And that is the representative’s problem. If Apophis wanted a more strident defender of his interests. That is neither my problem nor your concern. You are supposed to supply options for suitable rewards, not interfere!” I snarled at the end.

“And checkmate.” Gunslinger smiled. “He’s got you, and rather flawlessly.” As he said that, the entire palace shook with a terrible force. Everyone save Gunslinger looked absolutely terrified.

Review in progress.

Your interaction with the higher god has been reviewed, and your accusations are substantiated. Linking Wisdom and Constitution to obtain free attribute points will not be allowed. Reduction in the Constitution required for adaptations is. The requirement will be lowered from 15 to 12, and will be applied retroactively. No further rewards will be offered.

“And there you have the issue with the higher ups.” Gunslinger said with a sigh as Steampunk disappeared. “They will interfere, but you might not get a choice in what they offer. Well, my work here is done. If you want, as a special thanks for watching my counterpart get in trouble, I can add knowledge of my plane to your amulet.”

“Cannibalistic lizardmen with railguns? Yeah, count me in.” I said with a grin, and he shot a beam of energy into the amulet.

“See you soon.” He chuckled, before disappearing.

“Boy, what metal did they make yer nuts out of?” Bruin bellowed when all the higher tier gods had departed.

“Oh it must be nice to be able to goad the higher up ones like that.” Lokir said from somewhere behind me, while Arianna dropped off her throne and stormed over to me.

“Just what the hell were you thinking? You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“I thought the gods would be beyond something like a heart.” I said.

“WE ARE!” Arianna shouted. “And you still almost gave me one.” She said, pulling me into a hug. “I know we haven’t been the best to you, but you are our only chance. Even if we had intervened, we couldn’t have protected you.”

“She’s right.” Shalora said. “Now, is there anything we can help you with? There is a bit of time before you have to return to Vitae.”

“Well, I was going to ask about the maximum number of adaptations I could get, but I found Chimeric Body and hit the old limit. So I know the original max was 25.”

“Wait a second.” Lokir said, launching himself over to us with a flip. He got right in my face, and scanned around my body from top to bottom. “How in the world did you manage to get 25 adaptations in only 21 levels?”

“Well, I found the Divine Vessel adaptation. So that let me go ahead and pump all 27 of my stat points per level into constitution. I need to crunch some numbers to find the maximum number of adaptations I can get. Unless you suggest spending the thirty adaptation points to get the full Chimeric body?”

“We can’t tell you anything about possible hidden paths.” Lokir said, then stage whispered, “But it usually does benefit to finish out a multi-level adaptation.”

“Alright, so that will be plan one. Oh, I also have a question about the path of divinity.” I said.

“Sorry, much as Lokir would love to twist the rules, not even we can aid you with questions like that.” Bruin said. “Some paths you must walk alone through the darkness, for only finding your way can reveal your true self.”

“Alright, no worries there. I know you guys are the light pantheon, and Apophis and Gunslinger are probably dark pantheon, but the system mentioned a third. I’m assuming a gray pantheon is not technically required?”

“Well, to be fair you don’t even have to have light and darkness.” Arianna explained. “Vitae has never had a dark pantheon. Our sister world that Apophis is attacking from has never had a light pantheon. But these are things you don’t have to worry about. I take it your next stop is the elf kingdom?”

“Smooth with the topic change, but yes, we are heading there next. Any tips?” I asked, looking at Shalora.

“Head to the Heart of Birch first.” She said. “The oracle temple is stronger there, and should be able to fill you in. You will need information, and a reason for heading to Comfort’s Embrace.”

“Ok, sounds good.” I said, giving her a slight grin. “Though I am not the best at infiltration missions. I feel like smashing things from a distance is going to be more my style.”

“Oh I wouldn’t be too sure.” Lokir chuckled. “You did a fine job sewing chaos and mayhem at Two Rivers. You even got a magical slave collar removed, took out a corrupt branch of the adventurers guild, stole their money, and started a riot to cover your escape.”

“Yeah, but you forget the whole time I was just waiting to be discovered and unmasked.” I said.

“Ah, but there’s the thing. You weren’t were you?” He asked, smiling and giving me a playful shove. Through a portal. “Mind that first step!” He called as I fell backward into a massive puddle of mud. Elendria giggled as she followed me through.

“I’m going to get him one of these days.” I muttered, using a bit of conjured water to wash the mud from my clothes. As I was doing that, Elendria set up camp and I looked over the final disposition of my stats. I dropped my 14 points into constitution, and took the second level of Chimeric body.

Chimeric Body II

Your body grows ever more adaptable. You can now survive twice as many adaptations as before. Minor shapeshifting has upgraded to Lesser Shapeshifting. You can now carry one more preset identity. Up to 30% of your mass can be drastically altered.

Name: Sean O’Carrol

Age: 33

Titles:

Chosen of Ariana

Blessed by Lokir (hidden)

Otherwordly traveler (hidden)

Summoned Hero (hidden)

Grandmaster Sage

Divine mage

Heretic

Shalora’s Gratitude (4 left)

Calamity Bane

Curse breaker

Attributes:

STR – 20 (472)

AGI – 58 (175)

DEX – 60 (177)

INT – 48 (472)

WIS – 75 (176)

CON – 404 (472)

END – 42 (176)

Health: 2550/2550

Mana: 15410/15410

Health regen: 0.628/min (x10 Trolls regeneration)

Mana regen: 713.63/min

Spirit: 520/520

Spirit regen: 19.2/hour

Level: 21/100

Exp to next level: 61%

Free attribute points: 0

Major adaptations: 3

Adaptations used: 30/100

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

Six days later

“I have to admit Sean, you really have come a long way with that forest elf disguise.” Elendria said as we silently moved through the forest.

“I wish it was all me, but that second upgrade gave me some instincts about certain things. I can tell the most likely location for dry twigs and leaves, which is really helpful when moving through a forest.” I said, smiling at her. We had slowed down and decided to take a slow march into the Heart of Birch. Flying elves weren’t all that common, and word would immediately get back to Elendria’s brothers. Instead we worked on our woodcraft, or at least I did. It wasn’t too unusual for a pair of elves to disappear into the wilderness for a while before returning. So I was going to be Kutkh, a forest elf returning from absorbing the essence of the forest. Elendria was going to be Glacia, an Abyssal frost elf who happened to run into me on my way back to civilization.

“Either way, you aren’t quite the bumbling fool you were. Now we need to get you a medium draw bow and a quiver of arrows to complete the disguise.”

“Medium draw?” I asked, looking at her. “I’ll have you know I could probably handle a more powerful bow than that.”

“You can.” She emphasized, poking a finger into my chest. “Kutkh can’t. He specialized in dexterity and agility, meaning he can’t hold the draw on a war bow long enough to aim accurately. So you are stuck with the medium draw bows.” She said with a grin.

“Fine, fine. Do we have a reason why I don’t have my bow or quiver anymore?” I grumbled, giving in to the inevitable. She was the expert on elves.

“Displacer beast attack.” She shrugged. “You managed to hold it off, but it broke your bow. Somehow you managed to get your quiver in its mouth to save your life, giving me a target to kill. It did manage to claw your chest, which is where those scars came from.” She said.

“And you are sure that I would have gone for a quiver as a shield instead of say, a belt knife?”

“Oh most definitely.” She agreed, then dropped her voice, “We need to be quieter. There are other elves about.” Our conversation stopped, and I kept an eye out. It didn’t take us but another half hour of walking before we came to the elven city, where I did my best not to react to its beauty.

The outer wall was a super thick hedge with vicious, toxic thorns. Instead of gatehouses, they had the vines. When the city was open, they withdrew underground. When the city needed to be sealed, two-inch-thick vines would erupt from the ground, intertwining and forming a woven barrier of plant that would take hours to chop through, even with an enchanted axe. They had a waxy coating to prevent fire, and hooked thorns to catch and slow down attackers.

Inside the city were really two separate cities. The branches of trees held lightweight houses that the middle and upper classes lived in. These were considered more of the private quarters, though a plethora of small businesses could be found hawking wares and food from among the catwalks. There were hanging vines scattered throughout, but using them without being a part of law enforcement would gain you a hefty fine. If they caught you, of course.

The lower city consisted of the slums, which were ramshackle shacks built just inside the hedge wall. As you moved closer to the city center, you would find several temples and some of the larger establishments like the adventurer’s and mages’ guilds. Here the mages actually refused to have a tower, instead making their home inside a massive hollow tree that had been alive for centuries. It thrived off of magic, and the mages were more than happy to send it their overflow mana in return for the stable ambient field that was maintained inside the tree. This allowed for the most sensitive of experiments to be conducted.

And at the city’s center were the government buildings and noble estates. These human like buildings with an elven twist towards avoiding straight lines where possible was where all the deals were made. Much like any other government, the art of bribery was paramount. Of course, being on the outs with the king of the elves, the Oracle’s Temple was forced to relocate to one of their smaller locations, near the hedges. This was our destination, but like life, there was always going to be a distraction.

“Chicken man! Chicken man! Bwack Bwack!” Elendria and I were the only ones in the street, but movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. There was a small elf child rocking back and forth in his chair, staring at us. “Bwaaack!” He called, and we started walking in his direction.

“Hush now Jeshua! You’ll go disturbing people again.” An older lady, stooped with a hard life, came over and handed the boy a plushie. “Here, play with your toy while Auntie finishes the laundry.”

“Chicken! AAAAAAAAH!” The boy cried, spinning the plushie in a circle for a second before biting down on it. “Hiiii chicken.” He said as we walked up.

“Oh, please don’t mind him my lord and lady!” His aunt said, hustling over and getting between us. “He’s been like this since birth, just a bit touched in the head as the humans would say.”

“Wanna see wings!” He said, squawking and flapping his arms. “CHICKEN!”

“He doesn’t-“ She started, stopping as I held up a hand.

“It’s ok. Hey there Jeshua.” I got down to his level, but he refused eye contact so I didn’t try and force it. “Why do you think I have wings?”

“Saw the silver chicken!” He said, rocking back and forth as he sucked on the plushie.

“Please my lord, he don’t mean no harm.” His aunt pleaded.

“I know he doesn’t. Glacia, would you shroud us in a bit of fog please? And don’t worry, I have no intention of harming you and Jeshua.” I said, patting the woman’s hand.

“Jeshua, were these the wings you were talking about?” I asked, unleashing my wings.

“Uh. Huh.” He nodded.

“By the gods, not again!” His aunt wailed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “He can see things that are hidden. I’m sure the Oracles would gladly take in a child like him.”

“We’ve tried, and they keep rejecting us!” She cried. “Poor Jeshua. At least he doesn’t understand most of their hatred.”

“I see.” I said, straightening up. “Glacia, let the fog drop. We’ll bring Jeshua and his aunt with us, and have some words with the oracles. If they won’t step in and take this gifted family, I’m sure someone will.”

“Why?” His aunt asked. “We aren’t anything to a powerful pair such as yourselves. Jeshua is level one, and will never grow beyond it.”

“Will that matter? His sight is powerful, far more than I think even you realize. He shouldn’t be forced into a mediocre life while his caretaker slaves away to make enough money for them both to live.”

“I need Jeshua’s special chair.” She said, but I grabbed her arm.

“I’ll handle it.” I said. “Jeshua, have you ever wanted to float?”

“Bye Bye yard! Gonna float away forever.” Jeshua said, waving behind him as I lifted him and his chair with a bit of gravity magic. A mana belt just for safety, as he easily bent down and grabbed his toes. “Byeeeeeee!” He waved from under his chair as we made our way down the street. The Oracle’s Temple was going to have to answer some hard questions.

Arriving at the temple, we must have made an odd crew. Elendria and myself leading, with Jeshua floating behind us as his aunt hovered nearby. A young acolyte paused her sweeping the walk, smiling at us. “Welcome to the Oracle’s Temple. How can I help you today?”

“Oh? You didn’t see us coming?” I asked, getting an elbow in the ribs from Elendria.

“Behave.” She warned.

“Of course, my lady.” I said with a flourishing bow, getting a growl of frustration from her.

“We are here to see the head oracle.” Elendria said.

“I’m afraid she isn’t-“

“Enough Lyandra.” Came a surprisingly young voice from the doorway. A ratty curtain with an open third eye was pulled back, and a thin blonde elf stood there. Her eyes were milky white and unseeing, but I could tell she knew exactly where we were. “Oh good, you decided to bring him. Please, come inside and introduce yourselves. Lyandra, I believe the herb garden needs weeding when you are done.”

“Yes, Oracle.” The girl said with a bow, staying that way as we passed her and entered the sanctuary.

“Come. Though this is a temple that focuses on sight with the third eye, you would be surprised at how often the walls sprout ears.” She said, leading us through a twisting path that eventually led down underground. At the bottom, we passed an unmanned guardroom and entered a large chamber lit with a few magic crystals.

“If you would, put Jeshua in the middle here.” She indicated an area cleared of the soft pillows that littered about, suspiciously large enough for his chair. “So, what shall I call you?” She asked, smiling at me.

“I am Kutkh, this is Glacia.” I said with a decent bow. “A pleasure to meet you, Oracle.”

“Indeed. And a pleasure to meet you Jeshua. Would you mind if I test him?” She asked his Aunt.

“I don’t know, we’ve done it before.”

“No. I need to do some house cleaning, but the acolyte that was supposed to be testing young Jeshua here completely missed it, seeing only his surface. Though I see the damage has been done. If you don’t wish to have him tested, this is as far as it will go. I will still be sending you a stipend though.”

“Why?”

“Because he deserves it. And if he has the skills that young Kutkh here thinks he does, then he will be welcomed by any of the divine temples.”

“All right. Please test him. Just, can I remain his caretaker? He has trouble with new things.”

“Of course Norlain. Jeshua shall remain in your care no matter the outcome.” The oracle said, patting her hand. I don’t even think she realized that the Oracle knew her name without being told, though I got a wink from her. She knelt beside Jeshua and spoke softly, “Jeshua. Would you let me see your status?”

“Okay!” He agreed, his rocking stilling. “No purple eyes.”

“Of course not Jeshua. We won’t be letting purple eyes stay here anymore.” She said, closing her eyes and concentrating. “Ah, you were close. It isn’t just that which is hidden. Jeshua has the Essence Eyes. He sees the true nature of those around him.”

“But, what does that mean?” Norlain asked.

“It means that he has a place in this temple for life, should you and he wish it.” Oracle said. “We might need him to occasionally look at something, but we will keep him as sheltered as possible. If you’ll excuse me, I need a word with the two that brought you here.” The Oracle stepped away, but it was fine. Norlain was silently weeping as she gave Jeshua kisses on his forehead and rubbed his head.

“I know your time in that city was harsh, but our situation grows more dire by the day. Your brothers fabricate excuses to raid or temples, purging us from the capital. The only one they dare not purge is the Royal Soul Seer, though even I don’t need my sight to see her days are numbered.”

“Do you have any plans for getting us into the city?” Elendria asked, taking the lead as we had discussed.

“No. A dark energy clouds our sight of the city. We see but shifting shadows and blades in the dark. We stopped scrying weeks ago, when one of the blades pierced a sister’s eye. She will recover, but it will be a long road.”

“Very well. We shall stay here a night. Replenishing our food and sleeping in a bed will do us wonders. In the morning, should you not have any suggestions, we shall make our way on our own. If you are truly as hunted as you think, we might stand a better chance without your aide.”

“A fine plan. You would have made a fine queen, though it was only the barest of threads that would have led to such a future. Weep not dear, for you were meant for far greater things than a simple queen.”

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

Unknown location, Unknown POV

I sat calmly in the lotus position, my mithril scrying bowl filled with blessed water in front of me. Comfortable cushions surrounded me for when those annoying nobles came for their futures to be read. I would have banned them long ago, but their custom paid the bills. Silk walls of pale green and blue separated me from others with the gift, though mine was by far the strongest. I relaxed in the strands of fate, making sure there were no problems with the weave.

“Ah, they are finally on the move again.” She spoke from the shadows behind me. I might have been the strongest with the gift, but She was the gift, or at least its twin.

“And how can you tell? Not even your own sight can follow him.” I said calmly. That was the trick, maintain calm.

“True. But there are very few who can hide even temporarily from me, and I have developed my own tricks to get around those limitations. If you want, I could teach you.”

“And take that first step into the darkness? No, thank you.” I replied.

“Fine. Consider this one free then. If you can’t see someone, but need to track them, how do you do it? I keep a select group of people in my sight. If one of them disappears, and yet their weave is intact, then I know my target nears.”

I sighed in frustration. Two things worked against me. First, the only part of your own weave an oracle was allowed to see was their death. Altering that gave you a new vision of your death, and only that. The other thing was her power. A skilled oracle, or a powerful oracle, could hide their own threads from those beneath them. She had both skill and power on her side, so there really was no way out. “Why do you enjoy tormenting me so?”

“It’s in my nature.” She said. “Besides, you are better to pull these little pranks on than the others. Whether or not to take my advice is going to bother you for days. They just accept it with a shoulder shrug. You fight back.” She giggled.

I took a calming sigh, and decided to just play her game. She was already playing anyway. “So where are they close to? The humans? Here? Stoneheart?”

“Heart of Birch.”

“The elves?” I asked, a bit shocked. “But why all the way out there? I thought they would head straight to Comfort’s Embrace?”

“Who knows?” She chuckled. “I’m sure they will be coming here next though. You’ll just have to be patient.”

I shook my head at her, and went back to the weave. Growling in frustration when I couldn’t steady my mind enough, I packed my supplies up and headed back into the temple.