Calamity Awakens

Waking up with a splitting headache as I looked up at the ceiling. Just as intricately carved with relief carving as the pillars were. The same scenes replayed itself over and over again.

I groaned as I sat up against the wall where the room began. The invisible pressure noticeably gone.

"Would you like some water Mr. Greyson?" Gerold said as he handed me what looked like a clay cup.

"Yes please, thank you Gerold" I groaned to him. "Dont suppose you have anything for this headache too.?"

"No, Mr. Greyson, the only thing that can fix that is time outside some very rare spiritual ingredients."

As I took a gulp of the water I looked back to the figure and saw him striding toward me with a smile on his face.

"Superb effort Harold, simply superb. A deep baritone sounded out. The voice sounded pleased. "Now I can only guess you have some questions and I can answer most of them. Let me help you up." His hand outstretched, his voice amused.

As his hand met mine the pain vanished. My eyes widened and if possible God smiled even more.

"Rare ingredients indeed" the God said smiling, "Lets get out of this room and we can talk."

I followed numbly behind him, my eyes drawn to his exposed back beneath the folds of his toga. He exited the throne room by an even more intricate door behind the throne if possible. My eyes had no time to study the door as we walked past it. His back rippled with a musculature bodybuilders would have killed for back on Earth—but it was the scars that caught my attention: corded and healed, crossing one another like the memory of wars long past. This was no soft god. This was a warrior, with his own stories.

My internal musings were interrupted as we walked through the halls. These walls were more simple, no longer covered in detailed relief carvings but scenes of single warriors against what looked like teams of warriors. Some wore full plate, others robes that blazed with fireballs and lightning. Knives glinted in the hands of shadowed figures. All of them faced one lone warrior—sometimes victorious, sometimes slain. I couldn't help but think about what these depicted and was tempted to ask if I thought they would answer.

"Come on in and take a seat Harold, I'll answer your questions as much as I can.

"Gerold, can you get us two fingers of that amber liquid I like so much?"

He said with a smile and sigh as he collapsed into a simple recliner by a fire. The room was a simple seating area, the walls filled with old books. The kind with the large spines and there was one of those ladders that traversed the walls. What caught my eyes though was the window that looked out into a void, the darkest black I have ever seen that seemed to invade the window. The darkness seeping in and a fire crackling in the hearth valiantly trying to keep it bay.

"Take a seat Harold, " the God said again patiently. I know you have been through a lot in a short amount of time." " First I'd like to extend guest rights to you again formally and I know you are unclear on what that means but first and foremost it means you are safe from me and mine and I am responsible for your safety."

Gerold came in with two glasses of an amber liquid that had shining flecks inside it. I took a glass from his hand. "Thank you Gerold" I replied, still not quite sure how to respond to all of this. "This is all outside my purview and I've been scrambling for a way to have any kind of control since appearing here."

I sipped the glass and immediately felt a sweet heat travel through me. "That is good," I said to the robed figure in front of me. "Thank you for Guest rights, you're right that I don't know what that means exactly but if it's anything like the older stories and legends say from where I came from I can guess enough from the context."

He replied with a soft smile, "Good, now I've gone by many names but my name is Verordeal, and I am the God of Calamity. But please call me Vero. My domain sounds unpleasant and it often is I admit, he said with a frown and stern voice. "However, it's a necessary evil, something I think you are familiar with."

I took a second to think about what he said and formulate my answer. If what he said was true then this man, this God, this man, Verordeal, could be responsible for more deaths than I have a number for.

"I am responsible for more death, chaos and destruction than even I know how to account for. I say this not to scare or impress you…. but so you know exactly who you are dealing with right now to allow you to make as informed a decision as possible.

"I'm guessing you have some kind of job offer for me" I said connecting the dots, shuffling in my chair in the unwieldy kit.

"I'm sorry, let me fix that. My boots and kit vanished and in their place the same clothes I was in for my death appeared. Rugged and comfortable. "When I pulled your soul here, it had to go through its own ordeal and you automatically appeared in what you were most comfortable in to fight that ordeal. For you, that is the kit you have worn to fight your own battles."

"So I am dead right now then?" I replied with a small smile.

Vero replied with his own smile, " If you choose to be, I can send you on to your own afterlife, for you I believe it to be your sector's ruling Hell God. You did some very bad things to a great number of people."

I frowned as the memories came back, "Yes I know I said softly, can you tell me if that last strike was successful?"

"You killed all but 4 of your targets, a very successful and well planned strike if I do say so myself" he said matter of factly. However you also killed 53 unintended people. Your name is cursed where you came from and will only be more cursed if you decided to work for me. "Though I hope you do"

"That's… a lot," I said, staring down at my hands as the guilt stabbed me. "Fifty-three unintended. That's not just a misstep." Then seeing the crux of the matter immediately,"So I work for you doing evil innumerable or I go to hell and live in pain for eternity?"

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I replied darkly, "Not much of an option, is it?"

I had left one life doing evil for evil people and now seemed to be getting recruited to do the same thing for another. I glowered over my drink at Vero, thoughts already going to dark places.

Vero looked at me over his own glass as he sat in his recliner. His face was golden and lined with both smile and frown lines. He looked weary and tired, not the same immutable character I had seen on the throne.

"I am not an evil God, I fall within the neutral Gods and do not belong to any of the pantheons. I bring my calamities evenly and without bias." I believe you are making assumptions based on the moralities and ways of life from your own uninitiated world." "Let me explain before you continue down that line of thought I can see you following even now. The additional lives lost in your strike were mostly aides to your targets or security for them. Though one of your targets did have their family visiting them at the time of your strike. They all lost their life."

The guilt struck me anew, that was never intended but I knew there would be extra deaths when I made that plan. I just didn't plan on being alive to deal with the aftermath. My thoughts caught on to the word uninitiated and tried to extrapolate from that what it could, my mind already in crisis mode moving the feelings to the side to deal with later. Obviously there were things going on here that were not known back on Earth. These are things that used to be back in stories and books from my world. A figure reincarnating and fixing his life or becoming a gods champion and fighting his battles in the mortal world for him.

I took a sip from the fantastic drink and said "Please continue Vero, but know that I will not commit atrocities for you willingly I said firmly."

"I would be disappointed with you if you would, no one should be causal with that level of death and needless destruction."

"You should know that we live within a universe that is ruled by a central God. The original God you could call him but that would not sufficiently describe his power. Below him are the various Pantheons of Gods, some of which I think you are familiar with from the lore of your world."

"Now, our universe of thousands of worlds and even more countless uninhabited worlds is not the only universe, there are 10's more that I know off and I'm positive there are more that I don't know of. And among these universes is war incalculable by beings of immense power. Each universe has a method of gaining power of which I know you will be familiar with. Like the stories of your world some gain levels, some contemplate the Dao and cultivate. Some are a mix like this universe. The original purpose of my domain was to cultivate people and talents for the Great War as it is called. I would send calamities to people, groups and empires for them to overcome and gain power. In defeating a calamity you have the opportunity to gain resources and power from the system and the various calamities you defeat. That is the purpose of all the gods among our system and universe. Cultivate power and talent across our universe but most of the gods have forgotten their purpose, they scheme and bicker amongst the pantheons and within them. Spending lives and resources while we lose worlds in the universe. Fortunately we are on the edge of known space so our universe can expand in the opposite direction all while we lose worlds to the other universes.

My thoughts raced with the new information, "why does the central god not stop the gods from fighting within each other if he is all powerful?"

"It is part of the system he built, he will not stop free will, content with allowing bad decisions and hoping they use it as a lesson. I believe." Vero said. "The pantheons decided thousands of years ago I had too much power, too much influence. So they levied what sanctions they could against me. My calamities had ruined too many of their schemes and power structures in the chaos they created. They all but cut off my supply of divine power and only after 1000's of years have I built up enough again to summon you, another calamity I can once again send out."

"I will not be your tool to deal death and destruction" I said vehemently. Vero regarded me calmly. Seemingly not surprised by my outburst.

"I never wanted you to be a tool of death. That's not your role, and it's not the lesson I need taught.", our central God prefers to build elites rather than legions and armies of less powerful people. Our system is designed to build powerful singular combatants we historically formed into teams we used to defend our worlds. Our elites were the best in our section of the universe. That still holds true but will not soon with the losses we have taken to the infighting. Our Gods stopped taking the field to hold back their Gods or our equivalent. Only some still take the field against them and we are losing."

"I need you out there testing people groups and empires. Gain your own power so you can test more powerful groups. If you fail you reward those who defeat you and if you survive and win you will gain your own power. If along the way you mess up the games my fellow gods play then all the better. And in the end I will win both ways. Either you will make others more powerful or you will be more powerful. The hardest paths make the hardest men."

"Where are your other calamities?" "Why are they not out there doing this for you?" I asked curiously.

"A couple of my more stealthy ones are but they are more focused on scouting and gathering information for me, the majority I have sent to the front lines to hold back the hordes. Their purpose is subverted. Both to keep them hidden from the other gods so they can survive but without being able to bring calamity they can not gain more power."

"I also will not force you to do this, If you decide to do this I will allow you to pick your targets, and based on your deeds from your world you have some very good class selection choices I can allow you to choose from. I choose you cause another brute will not help me, I need someone who can pull victory from defeat. I need to force the gods to be reminded of their purpose and motivate our central god to play a more active role in our universe."

I took a sip as I contemplated the new information trying and failing to remain calm, hell or endless war and battle only to survive and lose only to do it again and again. " I am not sure I want another life of war and pain. How long do I have to decide?"

As a soul I can only keep you here for so long but I can allow you a couple days. I can give you some quarters here, I will allow you access to the library and Gerold can answer any other questions you may have. Just know that every moment I am forced to keep you here is less power I can funnel into reincarnating you and powering your class choices."

My thoughts raced as I thought about my actions. I took a sip of the fantastic amber drink feeling the heat from the drink race through me again just as the heat from the fire held back the void coming in the window. I thought about everything that has happened since I've come here. " How long do I have before the most powerful class choices are lost to me?"

Vero smiled mischievously at me, his scared eyebrow stretching with his smile. "You have… about fifteen seconds to decide."

My heart lurched. "Son of a… You bastard."

I felt excited and panicked again. I stood up feeling my body stretch with no pain for the first time in forever. "Fine, I will do this work for you but I will not play these politics for you and I will choose my own targets. I will be your calamity and may god have mercy on anyone I choose."

Vero's smile grew wider as I felt my body grow heavier, the space around me more solid again. I settled onto the ground somehow even more. Everything seemed more real, more vibrant, the void deeper, right before I passed out once more.

Vero looked at Gerold by the door, take him to his quarters. Gerold hesitated. "Are you sure it was wise to underplay our situation? He'll be hunted."

"That's what I'm counting on," Vero said. "He's my gamble—and if he wins, we all might."

The hardest paths make the hardest men. We must break the games my brothers and sisters play or we will lose it all.

"Take him to his room then be there when he wakes up, guide him through his first system prompts, he will have a million questions but I need him out there bringing ruin both so he can gain power but also so that I can once again generate my own."

Gerold bowed low, "As you command my Lord"