Chapter 57: Communing with a Higher Power (Patreon)

Elise looked at me with hope in her eyes. She had gifted me her rare one and only payphone token to help get us out of this mess. I couldn’t tell her that most of the phone call had been taken up by the Officiator complaining about the reviews he and I had gotten. Though, she could probably tell just from hearing my side that it hadn’t been a very productive conversation.

Still, I’d gotten one lead from it. I moved to the second statue and brushed away the snow covering it. The shrine was a grey oval-shaped piece of stone with symbols carved onto it. My fingers tingled when they touched it, indicating the power that it held.

“The Officiator said that we can use this shrine to contact a god for help, but only ones we’ve contacted before,” I said.

“I haven’t made contact with any gods,” she said. “At least, not that I know of.”

“You’d remember if you had.”

I only get to communicate with one, so I had to choose wisely.

Gundred was discounted immediately. I could use a little conquest right now, but she’d been far too aggressive and strange in our last meeting to assume that she’d be of any help. The god had also taken my refusal to join her service more harshly than any of the others. My guess is that she’ll never offer me help ever again. Adalmar might be a possibility. With his Bellicose Hammer, he clearly loved to fight. The only question was, did he aid others in fighting, or is it just all for himself? I shook my head. It didn’t matter. Adalmar had been explicit when he’d said not to call on him.

Roan was harder to predict. He was clear about the fact that he was looking for soldiers, but he hadn’t offered anything in return. My guess is that you had to sign up before you received one of his blessings, but there was no guarantee that it would be of help to me. Doubly so, considering he’d reached into the tower to prevent Hugo from fighting Ostorox. If I joined Roan, I’d likely be told to do the same and be forced to wait for the golden elevator to unlock the next floor like every other chump. It wasn’t an option.

That just left Yakeshi and Samara.

Things had ended with Yakeshi on a somewhat positive note, but would he be able to offer me something useful? The last time it had been vague advice about paths. It could be risky to go back to him only to hear about how I should dedicate myself to a purer path. On the other hand, Samara would definitely help me, but only if I was willing to pay the price by joining her. A choice that hadn’t sat right with me before, now disgusted me after seeing what Roan could do to Hugo.

In the end, I realized that debating it with myself was pointless. I couldn’t guarantee a positive outcome, so I went with my gut and slapped my hand on the shrine. I closed my eyes and mentally called out to the god I believed was most likely to help.

The temperature became warmer, and I felt the sun on my face. I opened my eyes to find myself stood in the garden on top of another mountain. Yakeshi was sat on a stone in a meditative posture but his eyes were open and his sword lay across his lap.

I know that time can move differently here than back where my body was, but is he really going to make me wait again?

“I can hear you frowning from all the way over here,” he said. “Well, get on with it. What brings you back here?”

“I need help killing a powerful creature.”

“Why? For revenge over the death of your friend?”

“You were watching?”

He nodded. “I reviewed the events just as you spoke now. Did you come here hoping that I would grant you some ultimate power to defeat the little infant voidling?”

Infant?

“I don’t know what I was hoping for, but I have two other friends waiting for me on the Stairwell. The only way back to them is through this thing.”

“Revenge for your dead friend and heroism for the alive ones. Yet there’s more I sense you’re holding back.”

“I…” I was about to say that that was everything, but it wasn’t true. I’d encountered Ostorox three times now. Each time narrowly escaping with my life. It felt wrong somehow to run away from it again or avoid it entirely with the elevator.

“It is my enemy,” I said finally. “And I hate running away from a fight unless the odds are overwhelmingly not in my favor.”

“Ahh, but isn’t that your situation now?”

“That will depend on how this meeting goes.”

Yakeshi laughed. “Oh yes, that fire inside of you. I can see why the others were so interested in you.” He paused for a moment. “I wonder if it was the System that saw it in you first?” He dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. “But that is not a topic that you need to concern yourself with now. Watching more of your fighting, it’s clear that there are parts you cannot help. Your blood healing is a passive ability acting automatically without your consent and so long as you avoid intentionally drinking the blood of another sapient species, I think you can avoid the darker paths.”

“So beasts like the Trean didn’t count?”

“Did it feel any different to your usual blood healing?”

I frowned. “No, I guess it didn’t.”

“Trust me, you’d know the difference. I’ve never experienced it myself, but from those who have, the word euphoria is often used. It takes over and you eventually become something that you hate.”

“I’ll stay away from it,” I promised.

“Good. Now you have a void spawn to kill. How are you going to accomplish this?”

My frown returned. “Er, that’s why I came to you.”

The god’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Use your head. What are its weaknesses?” he demanded.

“I don’t know.”

Yakeshi let out an exasperated tsk sound. “Sit down and close your eyes.”

I did as he said and then asked, “do you want me to meditate for the answer?”

“You do not have the time nor I the patience to get you into a no-mind state. Instead, think back on your last encounter. Not just what it did, but what did the creature avoid doing?”

I recalled how Ostorox would use the shadows to hide. How it would use bait and then attack with its tentacles. It often favored grabbing to either eat or crush them between their spikes. It’s strange though, how it didn’t attack when we first entered the room. Perhaps it was too far away in the darkness? And then we were separated into melee and ranged groups. It went for the ranged group first. It avoided directly attacking until it could strike from the darkness.

It doesn’t like the light, I realized. I told Yakeshi as much and he nodded.

“I have a magic user with me that can produce light,” I said. “Maybe it living in darkness for so long makes it sensitive. It’s something, but I don’t know if it's enough to win.”

“It is rare that you will feel the level of certainty that you want in the battles that are worth fighting. Being a true warrior means carrying the fear alongside you and choosing to fight, anyway.”

“So is that it?” I asked, feeling a little let down.

“No, your instincts to avoid the tentacles and go for its eyes would be a wise decision to follow through on. Also, your sword is damaged.”

The change of topic threw me off and for a second I thought he meant my sword was broken. I unsheathed it and found it the same as before. He must be referring to the notch Anders had carved out of it with his axe. It looked small enough, and the rest of the blade still held a keen edge. I was confident that it would serve for the fight ahead.

“You will eventually need to have it repaired or replace the weapon with something else,” Yakeshi continued. “If you choose a replacement, then choose wisely. A fine choice could take you to greater heights, while a poor one will be your undoing. You demonstrate good instincts in this area. As long as you keep listening to them, you’ll make the right decision.”

I nodded in appreciation. “Thank you, I—”

Suddenly, Yakeshi threw a pebble at my head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Idiot! That doesn’t mean to get complacent. Sharpen your blade and your mind more often. Include meditation as a daily practice and come back to me once you’ve unlocked your next sword technique.”

Before I could respond, I noticed that my vision was getting darker, which indicated that our conversation had come to an end. I couldn’t help but notice and feel a little annoyed that it was always they who ended it.

I shivered as the burst of cold hit me as I returned to floor 96. Elise had made a small fire somehow and was stood over it, warming her hands. I raised an eyebrow at her. There weren’t exactly any trees around.

“What?” she asked. “You don’t keep firewood in your inventory?”

That… was a good point. I should keep more survival supplies in there for times like these.

I sat down by the fire and asked her as many questions as I could think of about her abilities and what other loot she had. I did the same for her and slowly, a plan began to form between us.