“The Vicar had a collection of books, Brother. That’s the only library I know of. Up on the second floor of the Chapel.”

  Cel, grant understanding. Let it be enough.

  “Thank you Cole, I’ll look for it. How is the wound? Any phantom pains?” I had found Cole sitting just outside the Inn, tending a small fire he had built. The man seemed to prefer his own company, but I knew he was ready to help if and when any of the survivors woke and needed aid.

  “I’ll keep. Don’t worry about me.” Cole smiled weakly. “I just hope there are more that stay than go when everyone awakens.” I nodded and turned to head towards the Chapel, but Cole stopped me.

  “Brother Kenric? That Shadowmurk stuff…it’s not coming back, is it?” I frowned and shook my head.

  “I have purged it from this area, Cole. The Fel shard it came from is no more. It isn’t coming back.” Cole nodded, relief plain on his features.

  “I trust you, Brother. We all do. It’s just…”

  “I understand. Try to get some rest.” Cole nodded and I went my way.

  Why did I tell him that? I can’t say for certain it won’t come back. There are other Fel shards out there somewhere within the Shadowmurk. When I find them, I’ll use my Purgation skill. No matter how many times it takes!

  Yet, that was a problem too. There was a price for using Fate Skills and I was still uncertain as to what it was. I was being drained of something each time I used Purgation or Lore Sight. Whatever the resource was, I was losing only a minuscule amount with Lore Sight to not even notice, but a great deal of it when I had used Purgation and I had felt it then. In fact, after using Purgation twice, I had instinctively known I would only have been able to use it once more before being completely drained.

  I tiptoed past sleeping bodies, but was pleased to see that more and more people were sleeping peacefully and were showing more signs of recover. Mir willing, I would be greeting more of Goodlabor’s citizens on the morrow. The stairs to the second floor were hidden behind a door found near the broken statue of Tek. The door had no knob and been fashioned to blend in perfectly with the stonework of the rest of the Chapel, the same gray shade had made it near impossible to find. I wouldn’t have found the latch to open it without Cole’s directions. Fortunately, it was unlocked and it swung open.

  I had a set of well worn steps to climb next. Centuries of monks walking up and down had worn grooves into the smooth stone and I had to watch where I placed each foot. I held aloft the lantern I had borrowed to light my way until I reached the top and the former Chaplain’s, or rather Vicar Hamish’s, private room.

  Cole had described Vicar Hamish as a kind man, but more interested in his ale tankard than sermons. He hadn’t known what to do when Sneed had found the Fel shard and started preaching to them about Xat. Cole went on to say that one day he simply disappeared, then after that his memory became hazy.

  “I wondered if maybe he trekked up to the Abbey to ask the Abbot for help? They never got on, but they are the next closest settlement to us. Kore is a week’s travel south and west, but he would not have attempted that journey alone.”

  “What do you mean they didn’t get on?” I had asked. Cole sucked air through his teeth.

  “The monks up there are very…self-sufficient. They don’t like outsiders. In fact, I don’t think anyone from Goodlabor, even Vicar Hamish, ever set foot inside the Abbey. They would always send out a delegation headed by Prior Ullanis to meet with him. Sometimes they would come here to trade, but that was rare.”

  My mind had turned over what I knew about this part of Aramyr and I could not recall anyone ever speaking or writing about an Abbey in this part of the world. Not to say I didn’t believe Cole. It wouldn’t be the first time a monk or a group of monks decided they wanted to remove themselves from the world. Priests of Hul did it as doctrine. Still, I was curious as to what sect of Priests they were, but Cole was sketchy on the details. Apparently, they had only ever worn plain brown monk’s robes and no holy symbols of any kind.

  “What did they trade for?”

  “Butter and Flour mostly. They traded with an ale they brew. I think it was the only reason the Vicar put up with them. I could sure use a few mugs of it myself now!”

  Vicar Hamish’s private room was sparse, but he did have a writing desk and a bookshelf stacked neatly with books. I ran my eyes over some of the titles with Lore Sight, but nothing jumped out as anything special. Mostly old theological works, a few on farming and local fauna. I looked over his writing desk next and found his journal still open to his last entry as if he had only just left it a moment ago. I leaned over and read the last entry.

  I don’t understand what’s happening. I have prayed to Mir for guidance, but have received no answer. This strange fog makes my soul tremble and Sneed refuses to answer my questions. He keeps telling me that something called “Xat” is telling him that Mir is a lie! That she is no Goddess and that I must recant and accept this new truth. I always thought Miller Sneed a bit of a tosser, but he has become downright intolerable! I am going to swallow my pride and ask Abbot Caspendeau for help. That old brick has all the personality of a Swamp Ooze, but I am at the end of my rope. Mir protect us all.

  I reread the entry then did a double take when I saw the date he had written on the page. It was dated over a year ago!

  Did the people here spend a whole year under the Fel shard’s influence? Had the Vicar been successful, he would surely have returned from the Abbey by now. Something terrible must have happened to him.

  I flipped back through the journal, scanning through the entries, but only found one other thing of note dated almost three years previous.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I was ecstatic to discover the Monk’s Faith Test Dungeon and thought the Abbot would be too. Here was a chance for the younger monks from the Abbey to challenge themselves with the blessing of the Gods. I’m sure it is quite safe as far as Dungeon’s go. Everyone knows that when Dungeons form upon Holy Ground they have been blessed by the Gods. I found it quite by accident while cleaning the altar the other day. I shall forever wonder why Vicar Pollando never told me about it before he died? Perhaps he didn’t know? This is one of the oldest Chapel’s in Aramyr, after all. It may be that I am the first to discover it in centuries! That is why I was so confused when I received a terse letter from the Abbot delivered to me personally by Prior Sandoval that I was to forget about the Dungeon and never speak of it again! In addition to that, he said if I ever did tell anyone about it he would write to the Pope and have me excommunicated! Outrageous! This is why I left Sulheim. I hate politics!

  I shook my head in disbelief as I shared Vicar Hamish’s frustration. What a strange thing to say? I don’t know that I agreed with his statement about some Dungeons being blessed, but threatening excommunication for talking about one? Did I really want to meet this Abbot?

  For the people of Goodlabor, I have to take whatever help I can get. That means asking the monks at the Abbey for aid.

  Before I left, I removed Strategic Domination: How the Elves took Nephilim from my Inventory and placed it on the bookshelf in an empty spot. I said a quick prayer to Cel and waited. After nearly a minute, I received a notification.

  You have gained +100 Faction with Cel for placing [Tome of Lore: Strategic Domination: How the Elves took Nephilim] within the private library of a Vicar of Mir. Word of your donation has been noted in the Annals of Lore in the Great Library of Omnium.

  “Okay. I don’t know what either of those may be, but if Cel is happy so am I.”

  Still, even as I descended back down the stairs of the Chapel I was left with another question. If it had really been almost a year since there had been any communication with the Abbey, what was the status of the monks there? Self-sufficient or not, it didn’t sit right with me that these men of faith had sat behind their walls and done nothing while the region suffered under the Shadowmurk.

  “I’ll leave for the Abbey tomorrow morning. The sooner I find help for everyone, the faster I can journey to Kore and find a way back to Ordheim.” I opened the Faction Web Terminal and took Minor Mana Tap then the next two nodes in Cel’s branch.

  Cel Node 2: +8 INT, Cel Node 3: +8 INT

  I didn’t stop there either. I had enough to advance into Cel’s Tier II. All three were interesting, but it was the last one that drew my attention.

  Arcane Lock (2 Active)

  Mana Cost: 50 mana

  Description: Create a single, mana infused seal no bigger than 5 meters by 5 meters that will block physical, astral and mental intrusion into an area or upon an object.

  Duration: 24 hours

  Cool Down: Nil

  Purify Mana (2 Active)

  Mana Cost: *TBD

  Description: Unravel and replenish the ambient mana of an object or area which has become corrupted by invasive energies.

  Duration: Permanent

  Cool Down: 168 hours

  *Mana cost will be dependent upon size of area and level of invasive energies. Spell can be cast as a Ritual of Mana Purification with other Priests of Cel to greater effect.

  Mantle of Intellect (2 Active)

  Mana Cost: 125 Mana

  Description: Focus mana directly into your mind to temporarily increase your INT by 10.

  Duration: 4 hours

  Cool Down: 4 hours

  Not only had he raised his Intelligence by 16, but he could also raise it another 10 points with a spell!

  With this, using Greater Heal just got a lot easier.

  I spent a Blue Node to receive Mantle of Intellect and then paid 6 Green Nodes in the Mir Tree to increase my healing done by 1% and to increase the healing received by my healing target by 1%. Then, another Blue Node spent for Greater Heal. I also spent the Silver Node when I located my central Fate Domain node in the center of the web. It was just a matter of willing it and my base Active Spell total increased by 10 for a total of 19. However, I still had an extra card to play.

  I removed the Clear Secondary Node reward I still had and willed it near the central Fate Domain node. The Clear node immediately took on a silvery sheen and its glow grew brighter until…

  You have successfully attached a Secondary Node to a Silver Node! Your Active Spell total has increased to [21]!

  Excellent! Now, I can arrange my Active list.

  I added both Greater Heal, Minor Mana Tap and Mantle of Intellect. Then, as I still had 2 Blue Nodes to spend and I wanted to continue to build up my healing and protection power, I took the other Tier II spells in Mir’s tree.

  You have acquired Healing Spark!

  You have acquired Harvest Moon!

  Finally, I couldn’t ignore that I could finally progress with Eui, the Elemental of Earth. I had used her spell, Innervation, to aid Amara with her Stamina regeneration to great effect.

  Innervation

  Mana Cost: 40 Mana

  Description: Increase target Stamina Regeneration by 5% for 1 minute.

  Cool down: 5 minutes

  I purchased it for one Green Node and also immediately took her next two Nodes when they revealed themselves.

  Eui Node 2: +20 Max HP, Eui Node 3: +20 Max HP.

  I had spent all my Tier II Blue nodes at this point and had 6 Green nodes remaining. As I had raised my Faction with Wik nearly to Tier III at this point, I purchased his 3rd Node to raise my Dexterity further.

  Wik Node 3: +6 DEX

  I didn’t look at what Wik’s Tier II offerings were yet. I didn’t want to bemoan my lack of Blue Nodes by looking them over and not being able to purchase any. I banked the remaining 3 Green Nodes for now and looked over my updated Active Spell list.

  Active Spell Slots: 19 of 21

  Minor Heal

  Greater Heal (2)

  Healing Spark (2)

  Harvest Moon (2)

  Innervation

  Minor Cube of Confusion

  Minor Mana Tap

  Lesser Barrier of Light

  Lesser Shadow Leech

  Caretaker’s Guidance

  Mantle of Intellect (2)

  Fade(2)

  Congruency Darts(2)

  Good. I have 3 extra slots ready to go so I don’t need to drop anything just yet.

  A new robe, an impressive weapon and new spells and abilities under my belt. I felt I would be ready for whatever came next, Ord willing.

  I spent the rest of the day testing out the synthesis between Mantle of Intellect and Greater Heal. With the additional gains and the Mantle spell my INT was boosted to 44. This took my mana pool to 474 in total mana points! I was now able to spend time casting Greater Heal upon the few within Goodlabor, including young Leif, who still needed my care.

  I marveled as I saw the flesh upon Leif’s face stretch and settle back into the features of a healthy boy. I grinned and Maddie laughed in delight as the boy practically leapt out of bed and into his Father’s arms. I even cast Healing Spark once just to watch it tick down 10 seconds and heal an elderly farmer of half his maximum health in one go. The farmer sat up in wonder, finally awake.

  “It’s a miracle!” Maddie cried.

  “Aye…that it is,” whispered Cole where he sat, watching people he had known for years come back to themselves. “I’ve never seen the like, not in all my time here and abroad.”

  “It is a stronger healing spell,” I answered with a shrug.

  Cole watched Goodlabor celebrate and mourn those who had been lost, but mostly celebrate. Lost limbs, half remembered nightmares and the horror over the betrayal by one of their own was pushed aside to focus upon the joy of being with loved ones once again. As Cole watched Leif being passed back and forth between his Father and brothers he felt something stir within him that he thought he had lost forever. Hope.