Chapter 166: Prep For War; Enlighten Me (P2)

It growls, eyes setting firmly in a death gaze at Anselm.

"Oh, have you've never met Anselm before, have you?" I chuckle, "Well, here he is, Anselm. I'm sure I've spoken about him once or twice to you."

"You have?" Anselm sounds surprised, but I ignore him as Lotar's glowing eyes seem to brighten up.

"He has the stank of Frozia." It booms.

Without looking I can see the face Anselm has on at the very moment; indignant and insulted.

"That's because I am a servant of the Goddess herself, you should know to speak kindly of her in my presence."

Lotar's growl has a tired theme to it, "Your Goddess is nothing more than a washed up, defeated deity hanging on to her piece in this world. Anera has defeated her on this continent, and she is soon to do so in many others."

Well…Lotar speaking up to Frozia? That's a surprise, the last time it found itself even near her presence it begged me not to pray to it anywhere near her.

And now…? I wonder what's changed.

"And you…" It directs the same intense light of its eyes at me, "I realize you would never truly consider siding with that dried up, so called Goddess who can't even lift a finger to aid truer causes than her own greed, but I also realize I should set you straight."

If Lotar could get any bigger at the moment, I'm sure it would, "I am a Deity."

I gulp as I attempt some ill-advised humour, "Thanks to me."

It blinks…almost shrinking as it wasn't expecting me to talk back at it. 

"Not entirely."

"But I'm the reason you got that push, no?"

It falls silent, giant wolf grass head bobbing over me.

"Very well. Thanks to you." I smile, "I am a Deity, and thanks to you I have to take active part in preventing a certain other insane Deity, you might know him by the name of Phien? From furthering his goals any further than he has in these realms."

"Oh."

"This means that not only am I focussing my power to my follower's prayers as best as I can, I am also combatting a Deity that far surpasses the power of the washed-up Goddess your spirit companion has handed his soul over to."

"My soul?" Anselm yelps, "I haven-"

Lotar's booming voice doesn't let him finish, "So attempting to get my attention by threating to severe our pact, will not help you."

It's Wolf head leans even closer to me and I can smell the early morning dew and rain on it.

"Do you know why this is?" I don't answer. "It is because I am currently the only Deity out of two if you count your friends counterfeit as one, that supports your continued survival, that wants to see you live until a natural, undeniable death has come to fruition."

Ah…what resounding support.

"If you want to keep me alive then why don't you help me out by answering why the System failed to protect me against Serue's attacks."

"The System? Serue? Pardon me if I've been too busy protecting you from the unseen to watch your life play through."

I fix its glowing red eyes with a glare and say with challenge, "The System or as you probably know it, the Mark of All."

At this, it pulls back. 

"I would make a guess and say that Icicle told you all about it."

I nod.

"Very well, I will answer your questions. But not that I do not have time in spades." It proceeds to sit, finally done with the threats and ready to be receptive.

"Serue, the Mayor of Aste. I fought him and it turns out he's an illusionist. He put me under an illusion and have me paralysed and helpless with my own dagger pressed against my throat by the time I realized."

"Apparently, I only woke because he ran out of the mana needed to keep me in the illusion he placed me in, but he had plenty to strip me of my motion. I saw the alerts, the warnings from the System, Serue had broken through several of the Systems defences against my mind, defences that have only ever been broken down by the Beta in Carbina."

At the mention of the Beta Lotar sniffs, "You left that thing alive because you were weak and too afraid to kill it, you are aware that it will be the first of many Beta's to come after you."

I nod and shake my head, "Yes, but right now I need to know what else the System is vulnerable to."

Lotar stares down silently at me for a moment, its head tilted slightly to the side.

"It seems, as expected, the Goddess," it spits out the word with spite abound, "Failed to explain what the Mark of All is, perhaps she omitted this out of her own greed to know all or simply forgot to mention it but…the Mark does not act as a shield for you, it's function is to prepare you, to prepare your senses and give you an affinity to all the things it deems necessary."

"Its goal is to gift unto you the senses fitting of the lowest sort of Deity."

"A Lower Deity? Like you?"

Lotar chuckles, "No, not a lower Deity."

"But you said that was the lowest level."

"Yes, for my kind. For spirits, for beings previously immortal. For a mortal like you and a human no less, you would start off as a Demi-God."

Ah…Demi-Gods, that sounds like not fun.

"Doesn't sound as glorious if I'm being honest."

Lotar levels me with an incredulous look, "Achieving true, clean immortality and power beyond that of any human in this realm is not…glorious?"

"I mean, I won't be world breaking, will I?"

Without a mouth I can't rightly tell if the Wolf is grinning, but its eyes dim and shine along with the atmosphere of mirth I feel.

"You must not realize then, that Phien was once a human like you."

My eyes widen at this.

"You mean Phien? The God of the Cult, the fallen God…was a human like us?" Anselm speaks for the first time in a while.

But I'm grateful, he communicates my question just as clearly.

The light of Lotar's eyes begins to dim, "Unfortunately, that's all the time I can waste on you for now Asher, the Mark of All is not an invulnerable God shield, think of it as the lessons you would take before an exam."

Lotar chuckles at the look on my face as the grass that makes its form withers and falls away, "Exams aren't exclusive to your world."

"Goodluck not dying, Asher. I can only protect you from Phien for so long, the rest of the challenges you meet will be up to you to conquer."

With those hollow, quiet words, the last stalk of grass falls onto the pile and we're left once again with each other's presence.

"At least, now you know right?" Anselm shrugs.

I let out a tired sigh and wipe my face with my hand. "Yeah, now I know."