God Class, page 8
Soon, the flickering light of the flames was nothing but a small, dim hole at the end of a long tunnel.
H’alik sat down at the edge of her bedding and crossed one leg over another as she glared out at her open door. Her fingers coiled into one another and interlocked on her lap, and she ran a tongue over the front of her teeth in anticipation. It was rare that her scouts would bring a human back alive, other than to throw them into the mines, but this one was particularly interesting. His abilities intrigued her or baffled her to be more precise. The power to remove something entirely was something that her people had never heard of before, and it called to a dulled flame within her belly. That flame had been the destruction of humankind, and if this was a new power they had brought to the table then she would see her flame reignited and her job carried out.
This power could be like his. The foul one. The wretch who would soil this world, burn it to ash, and rebuild it in his image. Was this human boy just like that man? Would he carry out the same atrocities? She pondered this as she waited for the boy to be brought it. Either he was like the cruel human man who ruled this world, or he was something else entirely. Either way, her daggers were hungry and would one day taste his flesh. She stroked the hilt of one dagger, begging it to allow the boy to show his worth first.
Her eyes narrowed after a few necessary moments in solitude as they watched the commanders drop the human to the ground right outside of her door. The weak man fell to the ground without even catching himself, then hobbled back to his feet and glared at the commanders who wandered off behind him.
She grinned as he wandered carefully into her lair.
“Shut the door, human,” She beckoned and flicked her eyes.
Silas looked at her, raised a brow, then looked back at the door.
“And… how exactly do I know you won’t just kill me and… well, eat me, the second I close it?” He asked, careful not to aggravate the dangerous being before him.
She grinned again and ran her tongue across her teeth once more, this time purposefully doing it where he would notice.
“Human,” She began, low and slow, then dipped her shoulders and leaned forward. Her grin widened and she winked one eye at him. “If I wanted you dead, I would have done so before my people. If I wanted you eaten, I would have roasted your flesh myself and shared you amongst my flock. No, you have nothing to fear as long as you do as I command and refrain from any… unwise actions. Now, shut the door.”
Silas thought about this for a moment. She was right. Logic said that she would have no reason to kill him behind closed doors, especially after several of her people had witnessed him use an ability to completely destroy one of her commanders. If she wanted to bolster her status even more then she could have easily dispatched him right there on the spot, showing her followers that they were in capable hands. This didn’t exactly give him the sense of peace he wanted, but he could not argue the fact that he was still alive and relatively unharmed for the time being.
He turned, grasped the large sliding wooden bulwark that served as the door, and dragged it with all of his might. He was shocked at the weight of the thing, only moving mere inches at a time despite him putting all of his newfound strength into it. Silas was more than a little embarrassed when a long, long stretch went by with him grunting and huffing just trying to get the door closed. It finally creaked and snapped into place, and he released a pent-up sigh in relief before turning back to the leader.
Silas snagged a moment to survey the room before giving her his full attention. It was still the same carved stone walls just as the rest of the cavern had been, but this area seemed just a bit more stylized than the rest. The floor was still dirt and stone, but a sprawling carpet of dried and stitched animal hide stretched from the door to the bed in a large area. The rug was a patchwork of thick brown bear fur, beige deer fur, and a lush gray that may have been from a wolf. A bed was carved from a stone platform from the wall and was adorned in a sewn burlap that was thick and plush, possibly filled with additional fur. There were also wooden stools around the edges of the room and some small tables that held candles and scribbled notes on rough parchment. The candles made it finally click for Silas on the smell; honey and vanilla lingered in the air when the rest of the caverns had smelled of blood, mold and rot. There were even maps nailed to some of the walls like tapestry depicting the region. A brief glance to one on his left pointed out Perlavore, where his internal mind voice had mentioned he was, and on it he could see the thick brush of what must have been the forest. He made a mental note to get a better look at that map if he managed to survive.
After a long beat of gazing around the room, the Goblin leader cleared her throat as if to pull his attention back to the present.
“Ah, yes. Your… highness?” Silas attempted to address her properly, only to be met with a scowl.
“Your human hierarchy does not hold court in our ranks,” she said, spitting her words like burning acid. “We have no queens, no kings. I am simply H’alik, the Hob of the Charred Bone Clan. My position was given on strength and merit. Not on petty principle and privilege like your feeble race. I claimed my rank in single combat against our former Chief, Agak, who was a mighty Goblin Commander, and he won his place by spilling the blood of Thradz, champion Hob of the Scouts. Thradz was one of the founders of Charred Bone, a warrior who made this forest our home.”
She spread her hands out wide as if displaying the cavern in all of its glory. H’alik then gazed back down at Silas and sighed with a softer smile on her face.
“Thradz was also my grandfather, and a fool. His passion for… humans was created our bloodline. It is what created me.”
Silas gulped at her sinister grin. He could almost smell the toxic mixture of resentment and pride that oozed from her lips.
“I see…” Silas said, pondering over this information while being a little unsure why she shared this at all. “Well, clearly you are quite the powerful person then. What do I call someone of your… uh, wisdom?”
“H’alik,” she said in a cold tone.
“Alright then, H’alik it is the,” he said and gave a reassuring nod. “Well, as I said I really can’t help you right now. I know you want to see my powers but honestly… I only have the one, and it really won’t be ready for quite some time.”
If this were the real world, he would have cringed at the idea of saying honestly then telling a bold-faced lie. This just could not be helped though, not with his life and even the lives of others potentially on the line. H’alik was clearly intelligent, much more so than the people working for her. If she found out about Morning Star, she may carve him up on the spot. There was no way to get around her knowledge of Obliterate, not with how many scouts had witnessed it firsthand. Morning Star would remain his trump card for the time being, while [Obliterate] would serve as just a distraction.
H’alik curved a lopsided grin at Silas and chuckled. “I know this. You do not need to repeat yourself, human.” She stood up from the bed, letting her leather attire readjust to her form as she stepped toward him again. “Do you find H’Alik to be of a simple mind?”
The room was much smaller than the cavern had been, with little to nowhere left for a retreat. It was actually only slightly larger than his hospital room. He still took a step back from her, still feeling the burning sensation of the cut lingering on his cheek from just a handful of minutes earlier. She strode over in small steps, her golden irises fixating on him and eyeing him up and down. Her armor revealed much of her legs and he could see her muscles tense and contract as she walked over, giving him an odd mix of being almost lured and also terrified all at once. She held out a finger with a long nail at the end and placed it under his chin, holding it up and in place so he could not look away from her.
Lust? Fear? It was worse than puberty, and way more deadly.
“What I want… What I truly want… is power of my own, human,” she said in a whisper, smiling with her sharpened teeth. “I want to wield this power of yours. I want to share in its wealth. Tell me of how you acquired such a thing, where you came across this boon.”
Silas choked on his words for a moment, his eyes vibrating back and forth in fear. He flexed his hands at his sides, feeling the sweat on his palms and the icy grip that held his spine.
“I don’t know, I swear,” he said quickly. “I just woke up in the forest and could do this, it came out of nowhere.”
“Woke up in the forest you say,” she repeated softly. “And before you awoke in my forest?”
“I was… I was in a hospital,” he answered, then shook his head. “A place for sick people. I was very sick back where I am from, but when I woke up here in the forest, I wasn’t sick anymore. That’s when I found out about the power. I’m not sure where it came from or if it can be taught to another. If I can ask, H’alik…” He paused, licking his lips and taking a breath. “What is your current level? Or your class?”
She cocked an eyebrow upward at that remark, then placed the finger that was under his chin on to her own.
“Hmm,” she crooned. “I do not know what these things are, human. I do not have time for human games either. I want you to share this with me… this gift that you have.”
[You have been offered a quest!] His internal mind voice said and snapped him out of fear’s stranglehold. [The Gift That Keeps on Giving: One. H’alik, high Hobgoblin of the Charred Bone Clan, has asked for a gift. As a Deity, you are capable of offering one Minor Bestowment on to another sentient being once per twenty-four hours. To complete this quest, please gift H’alik with one Minor Bestowment. Reward: 9,000 experience points, 3,000 base experience multiplied by 3x for Universal Understanding. Notoriety +100, and an additional +10 for each sentient being that H’alik tells about your gift. Accept quest?]
Silas was a little more than taken back by this. So far each of his quests had been completed without his prior knowledge, only randomly stumbling on them after already meeting the completion conditions. This was the second time he had been offered a quest, but only the first time he could really study it, which changed the game for him entirely. Judging by the panned look on H’alik’s face he could tell she was not aware of what had just happened and decided to keep it that way for now. He also chose to mentally accept the quest while he was at it.
In most games, accepting a quest and not completing did not matter unless specifically stated in the conditions. In this case there was not a direct path for failure, he could simply never do it and it would just linger on he assumed. Silas also acknowledged the fact that he had no idea at all what a Minor Bestowment was since it didn’t appear when he viewed his active and passive skills. Before he decided whether to actually give whatever that was to H’alik, he needed a little more information.
Mind voice thing, he beckoned to his own mind. Information request for Minor Bestowment.
[Request accepted], the voice answered. It seemed almost a little bit happier that Silas had actually asked a real question of it for once. [Minor Bestowment is an ability of the Deity unlocked at level ten. Ability information is as follows:]
[Ability: Minor Bestowment. Type: Celestial. Rank: Chaotic. Cost: 90 Mana. Cooldown: 72 hours. Effect: Deity offers a single bestowment on one sentient creature. The nature of the bestowment varies based on the recipient, and they will receive randomized perks, statistical boosts, and a class. Note: This is a Chaotic rank ability and as such can alter the nature of the world itself. Note: This does not count against the Seven Gifts of Divinity]
Silas pondered this for a moment or so as the Goblin leader stared into his eyes with an imposing gaze. She had lips drawn up in a half-smirk, an eyebrow cocked, and an aura that was meant to entice him and immobilize him; he was more than a little upset that it seemed to be working. Still, this was a big decision he could not make lightly.
On one hand, if he offered the [Minor Bestowment] he would almost assuredly be deemed as a useful asset, or at least a helpful pawn, and would most likely be saved from the stew for a while. It may also buy him an ally as he builds himself up and learns more about the world, and a leader of an entire Goblin clan would not be a bad ally to have.
Then, there was the other hand. The hand that wanted to raise up and smack his lights out for even considering such a thing. These were Goblins, and not the fun kind. They killed and ate humans. They ate children! Aligning himself with their cause and increasing their strength by a potentially deadly margin would only mean more death and destruction in their wake. Images of burned villages, dead kids, and fat-bellied Goblin grins raced through his mind at full speed.
Silas clenched his jaw and balled a fist at his side. He wished he could be the selfish one, the person who looked out for number one above all else. He had friends like that growing up, the same ones who stopped visiting him at the hospital early on and the same ones who would hog loot, kill-steal, and just ruin a perfectly good gaming session. Silas could never be like them no matter how hard he wanted to. He was the guy who picked his role last in tabletop games and MMOs so that he could round out the party as needed. He was the one who purposefully got hit in dodgeball right after one of his friends did so that they wouldn’t be alone on the sidelines. He metaphorically shook his head until a planned form.
First, he reviewed his current stats.
Name: Silas
Class: Deity
Worship: Not Available
Level: 9
Notoriety: Unknown
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 22
Vitality: 19
Intelligence: 29
Wisdom: 19
Luck: 2
Silas felt a sense of relief seeing his stats begin to round out more. He also noted that he had 14 unused stat points to be allocated and all of the ability points he had accumulated. Definitely useful, they would give him a great boost especially in his current situation. Silas noted to take care of those after he left the grip of the Goblin leader and instead focused on his level. It was 9, which meant Minor Bestowment would be available in only one more level.
Then it was time for phase two.
“H’alik,” he said, then stumbled over his words. “I mean leader, that is…”
She sank herself beside him, skin and armor pressing against his until he could feel her body heat warming him and her breath on his cheek. He wanted to make a joke and ask if it was a dagger in her pocket or if she was happy to see him, but she probably wouldn’t get it. Silas gulped, took a breath, and kept his eye on the prize. She was the leader of a brutal clan of murderers, and chances are she was a master of manipulation from that experience. He would not allow himself to be distracted by the fear of a brutal, horrible, nightmarish death.
“The good news is that I can grant you some of my power…” He said, looking around expectantly. “However, this gift is only available once per week, and I have to train a little bit more as well, in order to reach a new level. A new threshold I guess you would call it. I…” Silas sighed nervously and then composed himself. “I request three days’ time, in order to continue to focus and increase my prowess enough to be of use to you. In three days, I will be able to grant you the power you seek.”
Silas mentally grinned at himself. He sounded calm, reassured, and ready. He had even dropped his voice a little for the reply, which gave him a fake husky baritone, but he convinced himself it had been fitting. By the look on H’alik’s face, it may have even worked. Time was what he needed, and he may have just purchased some.
“Human…” She lulled, then raised her soft, green finger and rested it on the side of his head. Her black nails bit gently at his skin before tracing down the length of his face, down his jawline and coming to rest at his chin. Her eyes spoke in fire, even as her expression remained indifferent. “I do not broker deals with your lying and cheating kind. You shall have two days. If this gift is… powerful, then maybe we can renegotiate your terms and your life.”
His internal smile faded a bit at losing a day, but he accepted it. It had been less than a day since he had changed over to this weird dream world, and he had already made so much progress. Two days should be more than enough to grant him a single level, in which Sile he could move forward with phase two. He stuck his hand out toward H’alik as a gesture of goodwill, while simultaneously hoping it would pry her away from him a bit and offered her a cool smile.
She clasped his hand in her own gently and then added a slow squeeze.
“I will have my commanders escort you to our human holding area, but be warned…” H’alik dropped her kind, flirtatious expression in favor of the cold glare she had presented in the cavern before. “If you try anything, if harm comes to my people while you are in our care, I will filet the flesh from your bones myself.”
“N-Noted,” he answered and gave a nod. “My name is Silas, by the way.”
H’alik eyed him for a moment longer, ignoring his comment entirely, before calling for her two henchmen to return. The lumbering figures moved the door with ease then each grabbed one of Silas’s arms in their grip and walked him back out again. He had enough time to look over his shoulder and see the Goblin leader curl her fingers in an ominous wave towards him before she slid the door shut once more.
Silas let the goons schlep him through the dark cavern halls and allowed his mind to settle down and focus again for a moment.
What the Hell are the Seven Gifts of Divinity?
