Lowly Ascent

Flying over to the bookshelf, Cain used great effort pulling with his beak. He successfully removed one of the bigger books and spent even more time trying to open it without crushing himself.

When he finally succeeded, he began to read.

The book was an introduction to the occult, it talked about ghosts, entities, and gods worshiped by cultists. But the book even spoke of an orthodox god that had a massive religion all around the world.

The book quoted ancient texts hinting that the church's god was once nothing more than an evil god with a cult, but the cult brought in new members at an incredible pace due to the god's powers being numerous.

The book described how the power of healing allowed the church to get believers rapidly and that power allowed them to transform into an orthodox church.

Going on, the author seemed to have a deep hatred for the church, they believed it to be nothing more than a false religion like how nobles were once nothing more than peasants themselves. A true righteous god must forever be righteous. If it dipped its hand in evil it is forever tainted.

These were the author's own beliefs and they did go on to reveal many theories about the "orthodox" god's plans.

Each god had a different directive, some cults wished to destroy the world. Other cults had the desire to spread far and wide.

Yet no one knew what the gods truly wanted, first-hand information states that receiving a message from god is like trying to understand an abstract image, it was up to the one who received the vision to make sense of it. That was why so many cults were hell-bent on spreading because the leaders who were the so-called prophets wanted more followers.

Cain, who read all this, began to analyze the information. 

'Hmmm, although the cults noted seem to be old ones that were destroyed or went into hiding, this Church of the Vale is still popular today. I knew this symbol looked familiar, I saw it multiple times when flying throughout the city.'

'From what this book says, this church's god is called the Onlooker, a being who watched the birth of the world...'

Cain pulled down a few other books, none of them went into the so-called "Paths" Cain heard of, but they spoke of monsters like ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and such. He spent the whole day reading until Vincent returned.

"Rowan I'm ba- What the!?"

The room was a mess, Vincent's books were all over the floor with a guilty bird standing on one, trying to flip its page.

...

"Argh!"

Isaac hit the floor hard, Laimir stood over him looking down without emotion.

"Get up, two more times, and then we'll head to the learning room."

'Not the learning room...'

Isaac groaned as he stood up, his body wasn't as fit as he would have liked, he missed having a strong and inhumanly agile body.

'Seeing how I possessed someone, my body is somewhere else. But if I'm here the chances of that thief being here is high too. This is my chance to find and kill him, with the Bureau I have backing he doesn't have.'

The thought of the so-called "thief" being in the Bureau didn't pass Isaac's mind at all, he wholly believed that the thief was somewhere else.

This was in line with the memories he had, to that person, an organization was restricting more than anything, and he would rather start his own or hide within the organization until he tried to take it over. Either way, he would find out if the thief was in the Bureau in time.

Exiting a classroom, he could barely keep his body straight as he lumbered about like a zombie.

"Isaac, you don't need to act so childishly, the academy didn't teach you everything, this is required if you want to live long," Laimir said, behind him.

"I know, I just hate it anyway." Isaac's mouth made a sly smile.

"Hah...neverminded, we'll continue with the set schedule for a week and then you'll decide what paths you will choose. See you then." Laimir went off in another direction.

With that, his training continued, and the day he had to make an important choice came.

Laying on the mat, Isaac groaned while Laimir tapped him with his foot.

"Come on, you have to get up. The room was reserved but if we don't show you'll have to wait."

Hearing him, he slouched up, pushing Laimir's foot away. "Okay okay! Let's go."

They entered the hallway and walked at a brisk speed.

Along the way, Laimir asked, "So, you still plan to make a sacrifice, It's not ended well for a lot of agents."

Isaac bluntly said, "Yes, since I've done it once I can do it again."

"Haaah...I've heard those same words..." Laimir didn't speak again.

...

"Isaac Bur, are you sure you wish to proceed?" One of the attending scientists asked, he was there to make sure nothing went out of control, using special equipment to watch the fluctuations of energy discharge caused by the "trade".

"Yes."

"Very well, if you already know what to sacrifice, enter the capsule under the giant telescope." The scientist explained.

The Bureau was advanced in recon and analysis, it spent decades and millions of credits into it. One of the technologies that came out of it was the 'Sensors of Exchange', allowing the Bureau to tell if a sacrifice would go bad early on and take the proper percussions. It's saved hundreds of lives and reduced the mortality rate by 30%.

Entering the capsule, Isaac sat down and prepared himself. Although he had the terms of the sacrifice ready, he didn't know if the path would accept them and he might even have to lower his terms.

The Path of Sacrifice was joked to be an unknown entity, there was a saying along the lines that the path was like sitting across from a being beyond understanding, one that just wanted to see the sacrificer suffer.

This line of thought took off because it raised the success rate. From it, the Bureau learned the more losses, the more likely the deal would go through, but at that point, it wasn't much of a deal. This was why the Path was still called one of Sacrifice.

"Ready?" The scientist called out while he stood behind a console.

Laimir was on standby close by.

Isaac nodded and the machine above him whirled. He then began to harness his emotions. He spoke, rage filling his heart.

"I don't care what it takes, I'll give up my sense of taste, give me the power to kill that bastard!" He screamed out.

After a minute, no response came. Isaac tried again. More than ten attempts later, he still couldn't get a response and went to another line he memorized prior.

"I don't care what it takes! Take my sense of taste, take the warmth of familiar love, just give me the power to kill that bastard!"

Again, nothing. These lines were even worse than before, Isaac had lost compassion but now was trying to give up another thing in relation, this was a big no-no in the Sacrifice community. One of the main rules most followed was to sacrifice something new each time, repeatedly sacrificing limbs or certain emotions will lower the success and increase the danger.

'Not that either....damn it all!'

From that point onward, Isaac began to lower his requirements, from time to time he would switch them for other things but when they didn't work either he lowered himself again.

Before the words he spoke were in his favor, then they became fair, and quickly, Isaac began to lose ground.

It got to the point where he slammed his fist into the floor, what he began to give up were things he didn't want to lose, a real sacrifice.

The scientist sighed, "They're all like this, but they all understand soon why it's a sacrifice and not a deal. You lose far more than what's gained, and only afterward do you know the worth of the things you lost..."

In the capsule, Isaac screamed with the remaining willpower he had left.

"Fuck this! If you want something, take it, have it all! Just give me the power to kill that fucking thief who took everything from me!!!"

Again, nothing.

"Damn it all!" He slammed his fist into the tempered glass, cracks forming from his strength, his palms beginning to bleed.

Slouched on the floor, blood dripping, his lips wavered, and he shook as if it was below freezing. 

"Just... just give me power; power that will let me destroy anyone I come across. In return take anything, but please, leave my soul intact, leave my memories whole...I....I do not wish to forget myself again..."

A soft ring rang, ripples formed in the air and a small wormhole opened.

The entire time, the console the scientist was on read nothing of the situation.

"Did the talent he gained allow him luck as well?! Or is this some twisted form of talent as well?! Such a response...this is just like when our men went after that cultist Cromwell! But the response at that time had interference from his god, making it far more favorable for him..." The scientist watched in horror. 

Only when the wormhole manifested completely did the console begin to blare alarms, causing the whole chamber to go into emergency mode. Red lights flashed and blaring sounds resounded. 

A small, dried hand came out from the wormhole, Isaac could only see a little of what was on the other side.

'An open chest...with nothing inside except a heart. The heart.... cracked, dry, and lifeless as the open shriveled chest...' He tried to see more but the hand blocked his view.

Opening its palm, the hand unraveled and revealed a robotic arm. From the wormhole, another hand came and grabbed Isaac's arm.

"For the soul, a way of attack, and more importantly, defense." A hushed whisper resounded.

Riippp!

"AHHH!!!!"

Isaac clutched his arm as black blood flowed from it. The black flood funneled and entered the dry hands as the robotic arm floated and took his arm's place, embedding itself in him.

From the wormhole, the shriveled flesh gained a bit of life again, two or three wrinkles disappearing among the thousands of others. 

"Ah....ah.....phew." Isaac fell to the floor; he fainted.