The next several days were among the most difficult of my life. Goodlabor appeared as if it had endured a long siege and come out the losing end. The townspeople, of which there were barely a hundred who had survived the Shadowmurk, were a broken people. They were malnourished or in their mutated state had taken just barely enough sustenance to live.
I had set up a hospice in the Chapel. As it was amongst one of the few buildings spared from more serious corruption, I felt it wise to try and house as many of the most worse off survivors as I could. I cleared out much of the debris. Broken pews, old candelabras, anything that was broken and not too heavy was removed. I had some help in my efforts.
Maddie Koff, the one eyed woman, had been one of the first to recover her wits and was well enough to assist me. We worked mostly in silence at first, laying down bedding and cots until she felt ready to speak. Her voice was gravely and full of timidity each time she addressed me as if she was still unsure if I was someone who might, at any moment, try to harm her. Earning her trust would take time.
“F..forgive me, your Holiness. I only need take a short rest…”
I set down the blankets I had been carrying beside the broken statue of Qas and took Maddie’s hands in mine and looked into her one good eye, her other now covered by a band of cloth tied around her head.
“Maddie, listen to me. There is nothing you have to apologize for. Rest as much as you want, whenever you want, understand?” Maddie hands trembled and she nodded at my words. I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way, but there was still so much to do and my mind was on my tasks. I had spent a great deal of time going building by building, searching for supplies. Food, clothing, bedding, anything that might be of use. That and pouring every last bit of healing I had into the survivors, some of which were still unconscious since the day I had defeated Sneed. Some, I feared, would never wake up.
“And you need not call me ‘Your Holiness,’ Maddie. I am just a would-be priest and not even an ordained one yet.” I turned to go back to my chores, but Maddie clasped my hands tightly.
“You saved us, your Holiness. You. Saved. Us. That…that thing came out of my eye…oh blessed Ord…”
“Maddie…”
“It spoke to me. It would whisper to me constantly. Tell me to do things, horrible things I can’t make myself forget!” Maddie started to cry and I gently pulled her into my embrace. I shushed her and stroked her hair. It was strange, in a way. She was twice my age, but I was the one comforting her. All of this while we were surrounded by grown men writhing in their sleep from nightmares, groups of women clutching at blankets and staring into some far away place they refused to come back from.
Gods forgive me, I cannot leave these people like this.
I knew I couldn’t stay for much longer. I still needed to see to my own problems. Getting word to my family I lived, locating Hierophant Johannes and delivering to him the runebox in my Inventory. I had to find my way from Goodlabor to find help for these people and myself. I knew what my next best course was to take, but had yet to take the necessary steps. I needed to find the Abbey Sneed had mentioned.
“Sorry to disturb you, Brother Kenric. Might I have a word?” I looked up and saw Cole Norden standing in the Chapel doorway. I nodded and gently detached Maddie and handed her the bundle of blankets I had retrieved from an empty house.
“Maddie, please see these distributed to anyone who needs them.” Maddie nodded mutely and took the blankets without complaint. I watched her go for a moment then turned back to Cole.
“Did Suni and Fasil have any luck hunting us up some meat?” Cole grunted in his usual way and using his crutch hobbled over to sit upon the chair next to the cot he had so recently vacated after finally awakening.
“Aye, their snares snagged a few rabbits and even a marmot. Life is returning to the forest, Brother. They ranged a few miles south and along the coast. I might put my hand to trying to make a boat if I can get some help. Catch us some fish, mayhaps.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Cole.” I answered with a smile. Cole, Suni and Fasil were some of my success stories. Purgation had driven the foulness from them and Minor Healing had brought them back to themselves quicker than many others. The twins Suni and Fasil were a pair of young hunters and had pulled themselves together mostly thanks to each other. They had no other family and so had been grateful to find one another after awakening. Both had been a tremendous help in locating food. “I imagine if anyone can make a sturdy boat, it is Goodlabor’s Master Carpenter.”
“This was a good place once. It will be hard for many to see it that way again.” Cole grunted. I had learned Cole was a man of few words. He was missing a leg, the other having been…changed and subsequently removed by his own hand with an ax after he had come around. Thankfully I had been close by and had healed him, but his cot was still a bloody mess.
“Then we will trust in the power of hope. Every survivor is safe here in the Chapel and as more wake up you can help organize them to begin rebuilding.” I said after a moment of awkward silence.
“You leavin’ us then? Can’t say I blame you, Brother. You’re a youngin’ and likely want to get back to the rest of the brothers up at the Abbey.” Cole glanced over at the broken statue of Qas behind me. “You know, I can’t remember much of what happened? How long it’s been or even how all this madness started? It’s all just a blur that get’s further and further away with each passing moment. Yet, what I do remember is asking Qas the moment I woke up to explain to me why all of this happened? I’ve always believed in the Builder, you know? Always felt his way was the solid predictability of a well laid plan showing the way forward. A Carpenter dreams of what he’ll make each time he holds a new piece of wood.” Cole glanced down at his hands. “I’ve been picking up timbers, logs even a few sticks.” Cole looked at me and I was shocked by the steel in his eyes.” The only thing I dream of making now is weapons. Arrows, ax handles, sheathes, hell I may start making a bloody palisade around the town, although the former Mayor always said we would never need one!”
“What happened to the Mayor?” I asked softly. I recalled Sneed said had said something about a Mayor when I first arrived. Cole winced.
“I…I can’t clearly recall, but…I think that dog ate him, so Sneed made the dog the new Mayor. A sick joke.”
“I see.” Neither of us spoke for a minute. We had buried the dog, Pal, a few days prior. “As for the Abbey, I have never been there, but Goodlabor needs help and the monks there will surely give aid.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Cole muttered. I was about to ask him what he meant, but at that moment Fasil ran in looking excited.
“Brother Kenric! Leif is awake!”
I smiled and nodded. I had been hoping for this. I followed Fasil out of the Chapel and down the street to the Leaping Stag Tavern. This was another sizable old building where I had placed more survivors. I was pleased to see that even more townsfolk had awoken when I entered.
“I am Brother Kenric, I’ll see you to soon.” I said to one older woman who was sitting on a cot looking lost. I said the same to a few others all of whom were surprised, yet seemed pleased to see a monk, even if he was a bit young. I was in a hurry so could only smile and nod encouragingly as I hurried up the Inn steps and into one of the guest rooms converted into a recovery room. Suni was already there, holding the hand of a young, normal sized boy. Leif Welmer.
“Hello Leif, Ord bless the day that you return to us!” Leif’s skin was pale and the marks of his former mutation were still upon him. Scars, loose bits of skin, discoloration around his eyes and bald patches on his head all spoke to a long road to recovery still ahead of him, but when Leif looked at me I knew he had no memory that we had ever met before. “I am Brother Kenric,” I said kindly.
“Where is Pal?” Suni shot me a sad look. She and her brother had not been as mutated as the others, but recovering quicker than others meant she had to help deliver bad news to those whose loved ones either hadn’t survived, were still unconscious or missing.
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“Can you help Fasil chop the garlic for the potage, Suni?” Suni nodded and quickly left the room, leaving me alone with Leif. I signed and rubbed my eyes. “Leif, I’m sorry but Pal was very sick. He died.”
“Oh. Poor Pal.” Leif’s face was stone, but tears spilled down his cheeks. “Poor, poor Pal.”
“Leif, did you know that the Goddess Mir cherishes all the creatures of Aramyr?” I sat next to Leif and took his hand in mine, subtly casting Minor Heal. I was rewarded by seeing his eyes clear and lose some of their glassiness.
“She does?” I smiled and nodded.
“Yes, she even created a wondrous garden called Panacea with the help of her daughter Eui, the Elemental of Earth. That is where the souls of all the animals who were loved go.”
“That’s where Pal is?” Leif asked. I nodded.
“He is and you know what? He is up there right now, running and playing with all the other animals. Plenty of food, drink and shade to rest in. He will be cared for, Leif. I promise.” I stood up to leave, but Leif grabbed my hand.
“Thank you, Brother Kenric. You’re a lot nicer than the old Prior. He said that Pal served no practical purpose since he was so small.” I frowned.
“Ah, well I’ve never met this Prior, but I’ll be sure to tell him how wrong he was about Pal should we ever meet. I’m going to let your Father and Brothers know you’re awake. They will see you soon.”
You have gained +20 Faction Eui!
I left Leif to rest and headed back down to the common room to think. Fortunately, Leif’s Father and each of his older brothers had also survived. The Mother, unfortunately, was one of the missing. I didn’t have enough people capable of forming a search party and also despite my assurances that the Shadowmurk was gone, nobody wanted to venture deep into the forest yet. Even Suni and Fasil limited their hunting to a few square miles around Goodlabor.
What I needed to do now was find a quiet corner to take care of the business I had been forced to put off in light of more serious matters. Now that I had things mostly stable, I needed to look at the notifications I had been ignoring. I began with the most exciting one.
Achievement Unlocked! Cleanse the Shadow I
You have successfully cleansed Sector 13AX04 of Shadowmurk!
Reward: 2 Green Nodes, 1 Blue Node
Achievement Unlocked! Heal the World I
You have successfully healed 50 critically injured to full health!
Reward: 2 Green Nodes, 1 Blue Node
Achievement Unlocked: Where did that come from?
You have successfully defeated 1 Rare Boss: Elite Murk Worm Larvae!
Reward: 1 Silver Node
Lore: Silver Nodes will increase your base number of Active Spells by 10.
Advanced Lore: Insert directly into the central, Fate Domain, node.
Three achievements all in a row was astounding. More so the rewards, especially the increase to my Active Spells, but it didn’t stop there.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 10 in the [Prophet] Class! You must now choose one of three [Fate] Domain Foci! You have received 2 Green Node Points.
Foci: Prophecy
Description: You walk the path of Divine Knowledge. Upgrades Lore Sight to now see into an object or person’s future. *Note: There are many possible futures and it requires the wisest of minds to discern which path will reach the desired end point. Taking Prophecy will forever remove other Foci not of the Prophecy path. -300 Faction Light/Shadow/Elemental Pantheons.
Foci: Exorcism
Description: You walk the path Infernal punishment. Upgrades Purgation to now cleanse Infernal energy from the Possessed. Demons and Undead will tremble at your coming. Taking Exorcism will forever remove other Foci not of the Exorcism path. +200 Faction Shadow, -100 Faction Light, +50 Faction Elemental Pantheons.
Foci: Life
Description: You walk the path of Healing and Renewal. Upgrades {Unavailable} to now fully restore {Unavailable Information}. All will know that you hold the keys to Life and Death. Taking Life will forever remove other Foci not of the Life path. +300 Faction Light, -200 Shadow Faction, +100 Elemental Pantheons.
I leaned back in my stool and put my back against the wall. I had known that reaching Level 10 was a Class Threshold. When my brother Alaric reached Level 10 in his Knight class, he received a huge boost in his personal power or so he had bragged. I hadn’t realized there would be such a choice to make, however.
I saw the pros and cons in each of the Foci. Prophecy would bring my Lore Sight skill an unbelievable ability by granting me insight into the futures of others. Who wouldn’t want such insights? The lives I could possibly save…if that was how it really worked. There were ‘many possible future’ it read. It required the ‘wisest’ of minds to discern which future was achieved by following a particular path. I could only assume this related to my Wisdom attribute which currently sat at 43. A sizable amount I felt, but was it enough for Prophecy?
Then there was Exorcism. Had I such power when I faced the Hellblade or the Blight Ogre, they would have stood no chance against me. Or so I told myself. Demons and Undead? Ord’s Mercy, I wanted nothing to do with either, but I could no longer lie to myself. The Gods would likely pit me against such enemies in the future.
Life seemed more up my alley and was the logical choice for me. Yet, why then could I not see the Skill it upgraded? One could only assume it was because I had not yet unlocked it. Would I soon be able to? Finding Ara’s lost skills wasn’t so easy and then there was finding Ara’s Shards to gain the power to unlock them to begin with. This would be a huge leap of faith as taking this Foci would not grant immediate gains.
Yet, I have to consider the long game. Taking one Foci forever locks me out of the other two. Not to mention the Faction gains and losses. Losing 200 Faction with each of the Shadow Gods is going to hurt! Ord Mercy, Gor’s followers are going to want to kill me on sight again!
I didn’t need to make the decision right now this moment. It was enough to know I had more to think about. There was one final thing to check before I would start on my next series of Healing rounds. I walked outside the Inn to the sight of Sneed’s defeat.
The Elite Murk Worm Larvae’s corpse was long gone. As they did in dungeons, the body had eventually disintegrated, as had the broken pieces of the Hadaeon shard. A chest crafted of silver metal with golden hinges sat where it had first appeared. Nobody had touched it and even if they had, only I as the beast’s slayer could open it.
Before I opened the chest, I opened my Status and toggled off Purgation in favor of Lore Sight once again. I had wrestled with this decision, as I was still worried about outlying bands of Shadowmurk that still likely existed in other sectors. Yet, after a day I could always switch back and I still planned on spending a few more days in Goodlabor. After that, I would ask Cole or Maddie to draw me a map to find this mysterious Abbey.
You have unequipped Purgation! Please allow 24 hours before reequipping this skill.
You have equipped Lore Sight!
That done, I focused upon the chest.
Lore: Blue Tier Reward Chest. Drops for defeating Intermediate Dungeon Bosses or Rare Sector Bosses.
Advanced Lore: Rewards will vary by base Class- Chest for Priest, Leg for Fighter, Hands for Mage, Feet for Scout.
I grinned. It was good to have Lore Sight back. I opened the chest and couldn’t keep my mouth from dropping open as I removed the dark blue robe from the chest.
Robe of the Purgos Mystic
Grade: Rare
Item Level: 15
Protection Type: Light
Quality: Excellent
Primaries: +10 Wisdom, +10 Charisma
Secondaries: 10% Resistance to Acid, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Holy, Shadow, Water, Earth and Eldritch energies. -10% Resistance to Void energies.
Special Ability: Self-Repair
Lore: This robe is 1 of 5 pieces of the Purgos Mystic Set. Equipping additional pieces will unlock greater Primary and Secondary benefits.
Advanced Lore: The Purgos Mystics who once wandered Aramyr in the days before and during the rise of the Great Evil and the Coming of Ord wore these magical robes woven from pure nanite threads.
I was thrilled with the reward and equipped it immediately. Despite the drawback of being weak against Void Energy and therefore Shadowmurk I was optimistic about the rest of its protections and bonuses. I stared a moment at a word I recognized from my old world: nanite, yet I couldn’t bring its meaning to mind. I decided that if these robes were good enough for the Purgatorium Mystics who ushered Ord into the Heavens then it was good enough for me.
My new robe was comfortable and it added to my already impressive repertoire of equipped items.
Equipped:
Weapon: Staff of the Stone Bishop’s Bell
Body: Robe of the Purgos Mystic
Legs: Linen Pants
Feet: Blight Warden’s Boots
Finger 1: Ring of Light’s Promise
Finger 2: Nil
Neck: Nil
Head: Nil
Perhaps I’ll eventually look even more impressive than Alaric does in his armor? Won’t Errol be jealous!
I also had an inventory stuffed with items looted from the Kobolds and other things I had picked up in my journey so far. I planned on donating most of them to Goodlabor. Perhaps a blacksmith could melt down the swords and spear tips of the Kobolds and make better use of the metal? Nails and hinges, for instance. I would give the Firebeetle Honey to Suni. Perhaps she could flavor the potage with it?
I just need to remind her to keep it away from the fire.
Finally, I took a look at my current Faction standings and where I was to go next on the Faction Web Terminal.
Faction:
Mir: 250
Wik: 200
Eui: 105
Pyr: 25
Una: 25
Aqa: 25
Qas: 175
Sul: 200
Tek: 205
Hul: 135
Gor: -300
Cel: 60
My work healing in Goodlabor had pushed my favor with Mir to the top and I could now access her Tier II spells and was only 50 points away from her Tier III. I would also now have access to Eui’s full Tier I web and had several other Tier II decisions to make.
Not bad, Kenric.
Of course, all that could change once I chose my Foci. For now, I had nodes I wanted to spend and I knew just where to begin.
