He followed her to a small building. It reminded him of a church from the outside. Inside they found a row of pews facing a lectern at the front of the room. The eight walls of the building were covered with more than a dozen shrines. The tiny shrines were each very different from each other, but Hugo could tell they had religious significance. A three armed statue with a huge headdress sat next to a large mask with sinister eyes. There were two statues of gods sitting cross legged, one fat, one thin. Just beyond that was a human hanging from the letter T. He was fairly certain the tree in the far corner was supposed to represent The Mother.

“This is the school temple, a place of egalitarian worship. Some gods appreciate a loud and riotous worship, but most don’t. So we ask you to be quiet and respectful during your time here,” Sage Preot quietly said. She led them to the far end of the building, passing a student that was kneeling in front of one of the shrines.

She knelt in front of the tree and whispered a few words, then scooched over one spot then repeated the action. She looked up at Hugo and said, “You can worship too, if you want.”

“No thanks, I am good,” Hugo said. He had grown up in an atheist family and the death of his father had removed any lingering faith in the gods.

She sat on the front pew and motioned for him to sit next to her. Once he sat she said, “I usually have an impressive mystic introduction, but you are a month late, so you missed the good stuff. I will just skip to the basics. Every ritual is predicated on three pillars. The pact with your patron god, your sacrifice, and your oblation.”

She held up three fingers and lowered them as she talked, “The pact with your patron god is essentially faith. You have faith in your god, and obey its tenants, your rituals have more power. Next is sacrifice. It’s the physical materials that get used up in the ritual. The better the material and closer to the intent, the more powerful and long lasting the ritual. Finally, there is your oblation, it’s the ritual itself. It isn’t just ritual circles, it can be sung prayers, words of power, and precise dances. Each pillar is important, and they all contribute to the efficacy of your ritual.”

She gestured for him to follow her up to the lectern. She pointed at a small ritual circle and said, “This is my ritual, dedicated to the goddess Athena. I carved it with these small ears to help me speak softly and still have everyone hear me. The ritual also has to incorporate Athena herself, in this case I carved owls and snakes around the border. My sacrifice for this is an olive leaf. It’s one of the cheaper sacrifices, but it has to be a leaf from an olive tree, no other leaf will work.”

She placed the leaf in the center of the ritual on the lectern and whispered, “Will everyone that can hear my voice raise their hand please?” The three students on opposite sides of the room raised their hands. “Thank you, you may go back to your worship.”

“One of the reasons my faith in Athena is so useful is because she is a goddess of knowledge and learning. Many of my most powerful rituals help me teach my students better, sometimes directly imparting knowledge. It’s important to choose gods to worship that you think will align with your future goals. Consider all aspects of that god. For example, both Horus and Vishnu are good gods for sentinels protecting the city, but only Horus will allow you to fly. Think about who you would get along with, now and in your future as you decide on your pact.”

Hugo nodded along, but saw a problem right away, “What if you don’t believe in the gods?”

“Faithless people don’t get the ritual domain, but I get what you are asking. What happens if a ritualist loses their faith later in life? Their magical power significantly diminishes. Some lose their magic altogether. It’s why regular worship is important. I also recommend that students diversify their faith,” Sage Preot said.

She gestured to the tree shrine as she continued, “I know you already worship The Mother, but as soon as you hit rank eight, I recommend picking a second patron god right away. That way if you do something that The Mother might disagree with, you can still power your rituals with the help of another god. For example, The Mother strongly believes in the survival of the fittest, the weak must be culled. But if you want to save the life of one of your screw up classmates, you would have to choose between your own magic and his life. If you also worship one of the pacifist gods, like Eldath, you don’t have to worry about losing your magic. Just don’t choose Yahweh, he doesn’t play nice with the other gods.”

Hugo tried to stay calm amidst rising panic, “That’s not what I meant. I mean, I have the ritual domain, and I don’t have faith. I don’t believe in a single god. I just don’t believe any of them are real.”

“Oh. Well. Shit,” Sage Preot said, “I have never run into this problem before. Come on outside so you don’t blaspheme in the temple.”

Once they were outside again, she looked up to him and said, “Are you sure you don’t have any faith at all? I could get you in touch with a priest or two if you think that might help. I want to help you out. Because a ritualist without faith is well and truly screwed.”

Hugo’s heart dropped. He thought about it for a bit and said, “I honestly can’t think of a single god in that church that I believe is real. Not even The Mother. I have seen her in person, and I believe she is mortal as you or I.” The symbiote was even going to die soon. Real gods don’t die. “It’s not just that I have never had a prayer answered, it’s that I have never seen or felt the influence of gods. I think they are just the embodiments of people’s fear of the unknown. They don’t want to be alone in the universe so they make up gods to watch over them.”

Sage Perot used a swear word bad enough to make his ears burn. “There are countless evidences for divinity all around us. The beauty of nature, the power of magic, the joy in a child’s eyes. The whole world shouts out the truth, but you cannot hear it. Faithless like you are truly sad.” She looked away and took a deep breath, “But I know I cannot convince you in a day, and no one can manufacture spiritual awakenings. We will just have to work with what we have.”

“Does it have to be faith in a god? Can it just be faith in general? Like faith in yourself?”

She tipped her hand back and forth, “Eh, yes and no. The important thing is the faith. But it needs to be unwavering faith. I know of some ritualists that put their faith in themselves, but they lost their power after their first mistake. That’s a path that only works for the purest narcissists.”

Hugo could think of countless mistakes he had made over the last few years, faith in himself wouldn’t work.

They sat there in silence for a few moments. Then the sage’s eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers, “How about the Acomarians? Their worship is rare for a reason, but they are gods. You can see the evidence of divinity in your stat screen. I know you don’t have much experience with their divine system, but even you can admit they are gods, right?”

“I guess so,” Hugo said hesitantly. He did have plenty of experience with the Acomarian system and he could say that he was blessed by them. And he did have faith that his domains would always produce magic. Then a thought occurred to him, “Wait. The Acomarians aren't gods, right? They are just powerful immortals. Sage Marta even said that they made mistakes with the system.”

“Who says gods can’t make mistakes?” Sage Perot said and put her hands on her hips, “And what do you call an immortal being with the power to change the world around you? A group of beings that came here to help the people of this world live a better life?”

Hugo nodded to himself, that did sound pretty godlike. And he did have plenty of faith that the system they created would work. He had just as much faith in them as he did that the sun would rise in the morning. “Alright, yes. I have faith in the Acomarians. I will choose them. How do I do that?”

“Well, you don’t. Not yet. Your choice in gods will influence the effects of your magic. You need to do some reading and prayer. You need to get an idea of what the Acomarians did, how their ideals might shape your magic. It also impacts what you can sacrifice in your rituals. Come with me, I am going to drop you off at the library. You need to spend a serious amount of time reading and worshiping before you are ready to make your pact. There is a reason most ritualists don’t pact with them.”

...

“Alright, once you have yourself centered, close your eyes and make the pact. Don’t leave this room right after the vision. Take your time. Properly absorb its impact on your soul. There is a bucket here in case you throw up,” Sage Perot said kindly.

Hugo closed his eyes and lay back on the couch. He tried not to think about how suspiciously nice the sage was being, and what that might imply. He mentally pulled up his Acomarian screen and selected the option under Pact. There were dozens of choices, and they actually helped solidify his faith in the Acomarians. Most of these gods on this list weren’t ones that the nox worshiped. They were added as choices after the riese and humans were brought to this world. He was pretty sure that some of them were gods of species he had never met. The system constantly updating like that must be a sign of their divinity.

Eventually, he selected the Acomarians themselves. Suddenly, everything disappeared. He found himself floating in a void, not quite black so much as entirely devoid of color. Hugo would be freaking out if she hadn’t prepared him for this. He felt a headache brewing. There was a sound in the formless void, like whispers of insanity. He tried not to focus on it.

A white light pierced the darkness, and grew closer to him. Slowly, the light enveloped him. He felt a warmth from the light, a sense of safety and care. Three shapes resolved from the light, gleaming bright people. He couldn’t make out any details, just three glowing people. All of a sudden, voices came at him, buffeting him as they spoke as one, “Welcome, mortal. Make your pact.”

Their voices shook him to his core, and when the reverberations stopped he repeated the oath he had prepared with Sage Preot, “Acomarians, great and true. I freely and honestly covenant with you. I will uphold your values and promise to be a positive influence to all the peoples of this world. I ask to borrow your power in that endeavor. I will worship you now and forever. This I swear, amen.”

Nothing happened for a moment. Hugo had been told he would get a feeling of acceptance. Rarely, some people would hear a word or two in agreement. He just had to be patient.

“Hugo Rebane. We see you. We accept your pact,” the voices said from all around him.

The light quickly receded and the vision ended. Hugo lay on the bed in shock. He started shaking as adrenaline coursed through his body. After a few moments, he turned over and threw up into the bucket. He put his head in his hands and started softly crying.

It was good that he had the small room in the temple to himself. He was going to need a moment. He shivered. The vision was expected. It was supposed to be overwhelming, it was how the system connected to your inherent faith. What shocked him to his core was the fact that they called him by his real name. The Acomarians talked to him directly and called him Hugo Rebane.

He might need more than a few minutes to come to grips with this.