A Bright and Shiny Life

As much as I want to just go back to my dorm to relax bathing, studying, sleeping and tending to my plants until it's time to spy on my friends again, I should go to the irregular lecture. I suppose I could skip it, as the mandatory part of it is the associated assignments which will be posted on the nexus, but I don't know what the subject is so I can't guess if I'll be able to complete it with my prior knowledge.

The mandatory lectures are a sort of filler measure and advisory opportunity mixed in one. They occur every two weeks and are meant to cover a variety of topics whose basic proficiency is deemed essential but not demanding enough to be a whole course. Many of them will doubtlessly be redundant with my selected courses, but it's also meant to familiarize us with our 'main teacher' who we can go to for general advice.

All in all, it seems rather tedious, especially with everything else going on, but I suppose it could be unexpectedly helpful.

The classroom is small, fitting about twenty students of which the only one I know is Preston.

"Hey," I say as I sit by him.

"Hey," he says back with a nod.

"So, what do you think the lecture is going to be on?"

"A friend had hers this morning. She said it was on divine contracts as civic duty or something and I think they're all supposed to be the same for each year."

"Makes sense," I say, ignoring a sudden ominous feeling in my stomach.

The class goes quiet as a young man in his twenties wearing overly formal mage robes with a faint sheen to them walks in with an overenthusiastic smile. "Hello class! I'm Jacob Goodenhal, your general studies teacher. I'll be overseeing all the little lectures you have to have that might not fit into your other classes. My office is one floor up, and I should be in there from lunch to supper each school day, so make sure you drop on by if you have anything you want to talk about; anything at all – school or not."

Instantly, I find him the most annoying teacher so far. Which is unfortunate as supposedly they try to have each student keep the same main teacher each year. I'll have to try to finagle my schedule next semester to cover this time with my selected classes…

Though I suppose I may be hasty in my resolve. He seems like a new teacher, no doubt given this class as practice for whatever subject he'll be teaching. Hence his over excited attitude, as if we were much smaller children who needed to be motivated for proper interest. He definitely has not spent much time with our age group since leaving it.

…Though I suppose his attitude does work on at least one of his students. I glance to Preston to silently share annoyance, only to find him smiling with the same timbre as Jacob. A bit disconcerting to see the reaction, but I suppose not entirely out of character.

The teacher continues. "Now our first lesson will be on religious contracts. It's assumed that most of you have bound yourselves to one or more deities during the entrance exam, so you likely know most of the basics. However, our empire views contracts with the gods as very important not only for the benefits they bring individuals but as a collective show of reverence. As such it's important to clear up any misunderstandings you might have on the subject.

"Well, enough of the why, let's get on to the how. Unfortunately, our scheduled speaker had a sudden issue to deal with and couldn't make it. But that's all right, since a very qualified replacement has volunteered to take their place. Now, let's all give an attentive welcome to the Sun God's favoured and Supreme Hierarch of the Imperial sect, Johnathan Rakenhal!"

Sigh, why did I have to be right? The snake… no, worm – I need to acclimate myself to the local culture, even in thought. The worm almost certainly arranged the 'sudden issue' in order to enact some plan to pressure me to reveal my contracts while having deniability about denying my request not to bother me about it.

This speculation is quickly confirmed by the creepy smile he directs towards me as he walks in, though doubtlessly he would say he was not smiling at anyone in particular.

"Now then," he begins, "let's start with why you should all make contracts with gods. The answer is of course because the gods gain influence, in our world and theirs, the more people act in accordance to their associated concepts. So, if a civilization excluded a deity from its official worship it would have cause to treat them as enemies. This is why the empire has erected temples to every known deity in the capital, even dark gods such as Vanocaur and Garlken."

"What about Anar?" a student, who I think I recognise from Applied divination, asks. No doubt the god is on their mind after the Count's sensationalist depiction of me.

Johnathan smiles politely at the interruption and shakes his head. "No, not Anar. Never him. Besides history's indication that his favour seems even more dangerous for a society than his enmity, his domain has complications that would make official reverence almost sacrilegious to him.

"This is one of the many misconceptions I'm here to correct today. You see, while you often see the domains of gods described as neat little lists of words, in fact, like interpreting symbols for advanced alchemy, a divine domain cannot be accurately understood on a linguistic level. So whatever list of concepts you may see, a more accurate one can always be made.

"For example, a scholar recently pointed out that while the god Chaundax is typically associated with a scattered array of concepts: Medicine, debate, music and archery – all of that can be better understood as facets of the singular concept of 'movement'."

I glare silently at the mention. I mean, 'scholar'? I specifically said I got it from elsewhere. Annoyingly, his smile widens at seeing my expression.

"Anar, on the other hand, while often described as the god of ambition, sacrifice and pomegranates, has an adversarial tint to each of those concepts. He is, in essence, the enemy of all, and so any attempt to befriend him runs into a paradox as doing so would be against his domain and thus be an act of offense. Even his cultists aren't favoured in the way those contracted to other gods are, instead treating the arrangement as purely business."

Someone else raises their hand in question, but waits to ask it until acknowledged unlike the first one. "But why would they contract with Anar if they don't gain favour with him? If sacrificing for him won't improve their lot in his afterlife?"

The sun priest smiles reassuringly. "That is another common misconception about making contracts with gods. Most think that making one contract sets your destination after death in stone. This simply isn't true. Indeed, even if you only contract one deity your entire life, your behaviour under said contract might still fit better with another deity and so draw you to them. It's true that the act of contracting by itself will create a pull on your soul and make it more likely to end up with the boon granter after death, but it doesn't instantly override the actions taken during the rest of your life.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"That said, Anar sacrifice creates a particularly strong pull on the soul, and most who commit them end up in his embrace by deluding themselves they can quit the practice and flee to Tacyn before it's too late. The devious irony is that some actually do, providing hope to those considering the foul act. In a way, Tacyn's foolish mercy has caused more to end up with Anar than Anar has."

Silence descends upon the room at the light blasphemy, but he just smiles and continues as if he's above such matter just like his god. "Now then, with the two big misconceptions out of the way it's time to move to the crux of the lecture. Everyone is assigned to form a new contract with a deity and write a report on the rationale of the choice which you will discuss personally with me once you're done. Alternatively, you may say why no deity is suitable given your present circumstances, though that would require much more extensive reasoning. Technically the irregular assignments aren't due until the end of the semester, but it's best if you do it before your next one in two weeks so they don't pile up."

Surely, I imagine the smirk directed my direction.

With that, the… worm goes through a list of likely candidates for us to select with his own takes on their domains and requirements. He is rather good at this part, explaining clearly if succinctly the advantages and disadvantages of each deity with some novel takes on their domains, but I don't take much in as my mind reels from the trap.

How much of this is his doing and how much is him just taking advantage of a situation? It's illegal to coerce someone to reveal their contracts, in part to allow worship of the more benign dark gods. It seems however that the Sun's favoured has found a way around the restriction to satisfy his curiosity about me. He can't coerce me to answer about old choices, but he can make me tell him the rationale behind a new one in his official capacity as a religious advisor in a state run school. Technically I don't even have to say which deity I choose, though the rationale should make it obvious, and is the important part besides.

Presumably, everyone in my year has to do this, so the only question is if it's something standard or if he used his influence to introduce it to everyone just for me. After all, it's not a bad assignment, my own difficulties notwithstanding.

The lecture ends with me exhausted with paranoia, my mind desperately going over each deity for one which will provide the least clues when selected – naturally excluding any that he suggested.

"You look tired," Preston states.

I flash a reassuring smile then immediately slip the mask back off. "Yeah, I don't know. You could probably tell from our fight in the exam that I'm heavily contracted, so finding a new god that won't disrupt the balance might be hard."

"Yeah, I guess I'm kinda the same though not really…"

Oh really, that sounds interesting. "Want to go to the nexus chamber for a study session?" The classroom is open for our use for another hour during which the general teacher will be available to ask questions, but I think I'll like the atmosphere there better.

He pauses to consider then smiles as if deciding the suggestion was pleasant. "I'd be delighted."

We get a table on the opposite side of the room to where the applied divination group tends to sit. Not wanting to think about something so tedious as food I order the free meal then lean back on the cushioned bench rubbing my eyes. I really need to sleep before tonight's activities.

"So, what are you thinking?" Preston asks.

I shrug. "I don't know. Probably something mental or maybe something unusual like Palgia. I do have one of her associated spells already, and binding myself to her will make it easier to advance it. Besides, I'm not taking any combat classes so anything physical would be a waste." Not to mention being an easier clue.

He smiles, though tries to suppress it. "Oh yeah, Ligryn told me about your misunderstanding with that class."

"You know Ligryn?" I ask, failing to think of a time I've seen them together.

"Hmm, oh, we're in the same sword club and I recognized her from your group. Speaking of which we meet tomorrow if you're looking for something physical to keep in shape."

"I'll think about it… Have you been seeing Ser Terrance much? You said you got along after our match?"

He nods. "Yeah, we've had a few spars, though he always wins. Bart too, now that I think about it. He usually wins too though I got one on him."

"That's good. I only have the one class with Bart, so we haven't seen each other much."

"Oh, he's in the club too."

I suppose that answers my hidden question of if he's part of Ser Terry's 'conspiracy', and good enough reason to try the club too. "It's not too intense?"

He smiles bitterly. "Nah. Technically all the clubs have to let in anyone who wants, but I could tell all the intense ones would ask more than is reasonable from a page. Some would be trying to push me over while others seemed like they thought I shouldn't have been let in and wanted to prove it. Probably why Ligryn joined the club too since there aren't too many of us who made it."

"Makes sense. I guess I'll give it a look."

He smiles more normally. "Great, I'll be looking forward to it."

"So, what about you?"

"Hm?"

"The god you're thinking of?"

"Oh, right, um…"

"You obviously don't have to say if it's personal."

"No, it's not… well I guess it is a little, but that's fine. I presently have a basic contract with the Laughing Mask. I qualified for intermediate after the exam, but I don't know if I'm going to take it. Like, they only want me after I proved myself and not when I actually need the help? I thought gods were supposed to be different."

I shrug. "Not really, especially if you subscribe to the theory that they were all people. But even if their thoughts are completely alien, they still have to deal with us, so are bound to be influenced by how we think."

"…Yeah, maybe a bit pessimistic but I get it."

"But the Laughing Mask? I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. They're my father's god, and I guess I just picked them to maybe understand him better. They haven't been too demanding, so I saw no reason to change when that failed."

"You don't understand your father?" I ask, keenly interested in a relationship that I cannot remember ever having.

He laughs. "Does anyone? But in my case, I always thought that the Laughing Mask suited him even less than they do me. I thought choosing the same god would help me get why he keeps with them, but no such luck."

"He won't just tell you?"

He laughs again, but softer and more bitterly. "I don't even think he knows himself."

"I see… What about your mother's god?"

His face turns even sourer with no sign of laughter now. "…She wouldn't take me."

"…Right," I say, unsure what to. Gods seldom outright refuse a basic contract.

He smiles, reassuringly. "It's fine… but what about you?"

"Me?" I ask, trying to coalesce my thoughts about the deity selection in a way that doesn't seem suspicious while still reciprocating the information given.

"Yeah, your parents. What are they like? I don't think you've ever really talked about them beyond the basics of their rank and territory."

Oh, it's worse than I thought. My mind goes over their files, but it's rather sparse on our supposed relationship. "They're normal," I flounder.

He scoffs. "Nobody's normal."

I smile at that. "You're probably right… I was going to try to become a knight you know, hence my adequate sword skills, but I changed paths when I realized how unhappy flinging themselves against that wall made them… I wonder if they resent me for escaping."

It's a good lie, I'll have to pat myself on the back for coming up with it later… Was I thinking of Gebal when I made it?

He gives an understanding nod. "Yeah, my dad is like that too, in a way. Though worse since he never even became a page, though he goes through cycles of trying. I don't know if it's better or worse to only have one parent stuck since he's always comparing himself to my mom."

I nod in my own understanding thinking of Gebal's relationship with his much more successful sister.

The conversation drifts towards the technical aspects of the assignment and lasts about an hour before I excuse myself citing tiredness. In some ways I feel exhausted from the lengthy conversation, though in others I feel refreshed.

Regardless I quickly fall asleep working in the bath, though I fitfully wake myself repeatedly in fear that I missed the appointment, but only an hour had passed each time. Eventually though I wake and find it's time to go.