NOVEL NEXT 64. Is That You?
[Level up!]
Unified Wanderers is now level 10.
Savior is now level 4.
Firecaster is now level 7.
+6 Power (Magdalena).
+2 Resilience.
+2 Resilience (Violet).
+6 Awareness (Magdalena).
+2 Ego.
+2 Ego (Violet).
Unified Wanderers has reached its maximum threshold. [Upgrade] or [Fuse] the class to unlock further progression.
I stare at the words in my mind, uncomprehending. What was once a thing of comfort and joy now terrifies me. The Goddess has welcomed me back into her divine embrace, but it's all wrong! I'm not them! I'm me! Reflexively, I turn to the [World Engine]'s summary—an irrevocable truth that defines who I am.
[E'ava'al'n Ke'ena'a: Tier 1 Human]
[Class Slot 1: Tier 1 Unified Wanderers]** - Level 10/10
[Class Slot 2: Empty]
[Attributes]
Power: 2
Resilience: 32
Awareness: 2
Ego: 32
Will: 2
[Skills]
Locus of Thought
The Beaten Path
What?! No! Human?! No no no no no! I'm a Fa'aun! Change it back! Change me back!
[Tier 1 Human does not currently qualify for species evolution.]
I'm not one of them! I'm not a [Unified Wanderer]!
[Unified Wanderers is permanent and may not be removed.]
Please! My Goddess, you know me! I have to believe that I was brought back for a purpose, but how can I serve that purpose if you deny who I am?!
[ERROR: Cannot assign class: Priestess of the Great Wheel to Entity#null.]
[Priestess of the Great Wheel is permanent and may not be removed.]
For a moment, my panic is replaced by confusion. What?
[E'ava'al'n Ke'ena'a: Tier 1 Human]
[Class Slot 1: Tier 1 Unified Wanderers]** - Level 10/10
[Class Slot 2: Empty]
But it's not assigned?! I try to look at my list of classes, ignoring the bizarre list of options unlocked by the monsters I'm stuck with and focusing only on that which is mine. The part that's me.
[Tier -1 Priestess of the Great Wheel] - Level -1/-1
The more I look, the less sense it makes. Negative one? No grade? That's wrong! Fix it!
[ERROR: Cannot assign class: Priestess of the Great Wheel to Entity#null.]
[Priestess of the Great Wheel is permanent and may not be removed.]
Shut up! You stupid machine! Stop lying to me!
No, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that! I would never dare to denigrate the Goddess' divine work. I just...I want to be me again.
I let out a shuddering sob, and pain erupts through my body like lightning, drawing my attention to the material world. No, it's not my body. It will never be my body. I refuse to accept it.
But I am within it, and I am in pain. It's even worse than before. Their bones are broken, and their organs are failing. It would be faster to describe which parts of the body I'm in aren't broken and failing. I weakly crack my eyes open, but I can't see anything but blurs and blobs. Not an injury—this body's eyes are weak.
So I can't see anything. I can't move. I open my mouth to call for help, but only manage a wet gurgle. Can't speak, either, and wouldn't be able to communicate even if I could.
This is it, then. I'm going to die again. Why? Was it truly just random chance? It hurts to think about. How pathetic to come back from the dead only to die a meaningless death a second time. If only I had my old skills—but there's no guardian to save me this time.
Wait.
I try to look at my former class, but the [World Engine] refuses to show me. But I know my skills. I was a Priestess—a healer. Perhaps not one of the best, but I knew my craft, and I was—I am devout and faithful.
The rangers are wrong—the Goddess has no flaws, and neither do her designs. I forgive them their lapse of faith, of course. It's only natural to doubt. I was guilty of it myself just now. But even in the shadow of the Great Wheel, the Goddess' light shines through.
[Skill - The Beaten Path: Gain the effect of one skill from a previously mastered class. Can be changed at will.]
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I trust the Goddess. I trust that she knows me. I trust that she has put me here for a reason. I do not know why I'm meant to save monsters like the ones I find myself trapped with, but if that is Her will, then so be it.
[The Beaten Path (Reverse Entropy)]
Power flows into me from beyond and reaches across the convergence point to recall the missing parts of this body. Blood unspills and bones reset, wounds close and flesh knits together, and even shattered glass fuses itself back into the frames still resting on this face.
I pick myself up and look at my surroundings now that I can see again. There's rubble everywhere from the ceiling collapsing. The way back into the labyrinth is sealed—good riddance. I never got a good look at the place where I was murdered, but a candlelit labyrinth in a convergence point is exactly the sort of place deranged cultists would set up shop.
In the other direction the tunnel is partially sealed as well, debris and rubble piled up in a way that will make passage difficult, but hopefully not impossible.
Honestly, how have those rangers not understood that the other occupants of this body are completely insane? Possibly even demonic—though I suppose the Goddess wouldn't have sent me to rescue them if they were. Definitely heretics, though—that was chaos magic for sure. Why either the Goddess or the rangers would tolerate them is beyond my understanding.
Speaking of the rangers, where are they? I stumble around unsteadily, still a little woozy even after healing myself. Oddly, I don't feel as clumsy in this body as I did the first time. It still feels wrong on every level, but at least I can move around.
It's dark—almost pitch black apart from a few scattered candles providing a dim glow. I reach down to pick one up and nearly scream when the hideous worm creature slithers out from the rubble next to it and wraps around my wrist. I fight the urge to tear it away and hurl it against a wall, shuddering as it completes a few rotations then releases me.
It's just the—the creature. Nipper. It won't hurt me as long as it still thinks I'm one of them. How do I know its name? More importantly, what sort of lunatic names their pet after the fact that it bites?
Not important. I take the candle and explore the gloom, searching for any sign of the rangers as Nipper follows close on my disgusting, stumpy heels. I find the mage first, her pretty white fur standing out in the gloom. She's unconscious—probably concussed—but otherwise looks relatively unharmed. Nothing stands out on the surface, no bleeding, and her breathing is normal. She'll be fine for now.
I continue my search, occasionally stopping to move a bit of rubble, in case someone was buried. When I find the leader, I'm surprised to see him not only conscious but silently staring right at me. He's clutching a nasty wound on his side, blood still leaking from between his fingers, and one of his legs is broken in a compound fracture that would have me braying until my throat was raw. He's also missing a horn, but I think that's an older injury, and not urgent in any case.
Draga nods stoically, as if he's not nursing injuries that would leave most people permanently crippled.
"You made it," he grunts quietly. "Uninjured? Or did you use that skill of yours again?"
I don't know how to answer that. Literally, I don't know how to get this body to speak. Everything from the lips to the throat—even the tongue is subtly off in a way that I don't know how to account for. Rather than embarrass myself with apeish hoots and grunts I just pretend not to understand. If the rangers have questions about me, let the body's other occupants try to answer them.
Kneeling down next to him, I gently lay a hand on his broken leg, and even he can't quite stifle the wince of pain.
"Don't bother," he sighs. "Your skill won't save the leg, and it'll just knock one or both of us out."
I roll my eyes. Don't compare my Goddess-granted gifts to hacks like that battlefield medic. I channel my thoughts into [Reverse Entropy] and his leg twists painlessly back into shape. At the same time, his wound stops bleeding, removing even the stains upon his russet fur. My magic doesn't repair his wounds—it undoes them. As if they never were. A shame about his horn, though—that one's too old for me to fix.
He stares down at his leg in disbelief, then narrows his eyes at me.
"That's a priestess skill," he observes. "And a rare one. How did you do that? Have you had that the entire time?"
Once more, I feign ignorance, smiling apologetically and shrugging. It's not that rare. Most simply aren't devout enough to commit themselves to the Goddess and her [World Engine] at a young enough age to qualify for it. Although come to think of it, the high priestess did tell me to keep it a secret.
Oh well, she can scold me later, if she's even still alive.
I turn to look for the last ranger when I'm interrupted by a voice in my head.
"Maggie?" she asks uncertainly. "Vi? Is that you?"
I freeze. This has never happened before. I didn't question the fact that I'm in control again, nor that I've been welcomed back into the Goddess' grace—one should count their blessings, after all—but now I'm forced to directly face the question of what that means.
...
Right, I have no idea what that means. I can be awake at the same time as them now? Do...do I try talking to them? Should I hide? How do I hide from myself?
"Uh, hello?" the voice prods. "Anybody home?"
I don't know what to do! I don't know what to say! Nobody warned me about this!
"Are..." she trails off hesitantly. "Are you...new?"
Aha! A way out! Yes, that works. Let them think I'm one of them or something. I just need to heal that last ranger, then I can...I don't know. I don't want to live in this horrible body, but I don't want to be stuck in that half-dream again either. A problem for later.
I ignore my guest—or host maybe—for the moment, and resume my search. Draga joins me, helping me move rubble aside as we try to find the final member of the rangers.
"Okay, weird," the voice in my head mutters. "But thanks for healing us. And Draga too. Though if you can heal Talla, you should probably do that before spending too much time searching for Saban—her light would help a lot."
Oh. Right, it would, wouldn't it? I just triaged her out of habit, but I suppose there's no reason to leave her unconscious. I'm annoyed that the heretic has a point, but I'm not going to leave someone to suffer out of spite.
I duck back over to where I left the unconscious mage and hesitate. Wasn't she conspiring with the other occupants of this body? And why is the church allowing outsiders to use magic? Healing magic, no less! Between that and the fact that a man is leading these rangers I have to wonder if society hasn't completely degenerated since I died.
Gah! I don't know what to do! What would the scriptures say? The Goddess is merciful and kind, but this woman might be an enemy of the church! I wish I'd studied more.
"What are you waiting for?" the voice asks.
I huff. Don't you act like this has nothing to do with you, monster! Goddess, if you're listening, please give me a sign! I miss the days when the [World Engine] would grant me divine missions. Just as I'm considering whether to try using one of my old skills to receive holy guidance, Draga calls out from the pile of debris sealing the labyrinth.
"I found him! Come help me dig him out!"
Oh, blood and acid! I don't want to dig out the rubble with just the two of us. I take the mage's hand and channel my skill into her, watching as she slowly stirs back to consciousness. Her eyes flutter open and meet mine as they adjust to the light. She blinks once, twice.
Then snarls angrily and headbutts me.