Unholy Player

A strange silence settled over the tent as everyone tried to understand the strangest words they had heard in their entire lives.

The Wanderer Merchant looked at Maruun's face, open and sincere, then at the other Practitioners, and found not the slightest hint of a lie in any of their eyes.

He lifted his black-furred hand, and a low light burst outward in a quick flash that made everyone clamp their eyes shut. For an instant, the tent went rigid with fear, certain the Adept had grown agitated and chosen to kill them.

When they opened their eyes, a heavy sigh escaped them as they realized they were still alive. The tent was unchanged, the cool marble still beneath their boots, and the world still intact.

"Sorry for that," the Merchant said, voice level. "I had to be sure none of you are under mind control. Now, can you explain in more detail? Begin at the beginning, from the moment you first entered the Sanctuary."

Realizing the Merchant was not threatening their lives but confirming their well-being, everyone relaxed again. The tightness in the room eased a fraction; a few breaths came out rough, like water released from a clenched fist.

Mirela and Lucen stayed silent, shocked and intent, desperate to hear the exact story, clinging to the hope that Adyr was still alive.

The tent soon filled with their account, every piece of it: the Tower of Worth; Thalira, Brakhtar, and Adyr rising to Rank 3; the Synergy Crystal they received as a reward; and finally, Adyr claiming the Tower of Worth itself.

They left out nothing. Words moved like a river over stones, steady and unstoppable.

It was not that they were trying to hide anything. As the Practitioners spoke one by one, they felt the words pour out on their own. In that moment, they understood the Merchant had not used simple deduction skill but a truth-binding one, a working that compelled anyone to answer every question honestly.

Lucen and Mirela understood it too. The skill was dangerous, able to unspool a life and make a person pour out every secret they had ever guarded. So they chose silence; there was nothing they could do but listen, keeping their mouths shut for fear that a single word would spill their own deepest secrets.

When they reached the part where Adyr revealed another bloodline talent, his Malice, a cold confusion rose through the group and pressed on their thoughts. Palms grew damp. A few gazes drifted to the ground, as if the marble could steady their sense of the world.

By contrast, the Wanderer Merchant remained calm. He stroked his goatee again and again, almost a tic, and spoke with measured certainty. "As expected, that young man's lineage traces back to an Elder Race. And the fact that he originates from the Central Region explains a lot."

"What do you mean, 'explains a lot'?" Mirela's eyes widened. "I thought it was impossible for a person to follow 2 paths."

"It is not impossible," the Wanderer Merchant said, shaking his head, "but it carries great consequences."

He gathered his thoughts and continued. "I have never seen such a person with my own eyes, but I have heard of cults that pursue this way, striving to adapt to 2 paths. Every story I heard ended badly. Each path has its own will, and each has a God who represents it. Trying to follow 2 at the same time brings only madness and the wrath of the Gods themselves."

His words made every chest tighten. Even his own face drew into a slight frown, as if a shadow had passed across his thoughts.

The 4 paths and the 4 Gods who own them were, unquestionably, the highest authorities in the entire world. They were the absolute rulers of every law that shaped creation. With such an absolute rule, no one would even think of disrespecting one of them.

"Among those stories are legends," the Wanderer Merchant went on.

"They speak of races as old as the ancients themselves, born in the era of creation and still living somewhere in our world."

He drew a deep breath and started reciting an old scripture: "God Astrael shaped the first solid form from the chaos, giving structure to the formless.

Goddess Aetheris gave inner depth to all that exists, shaping the unseen essence within the seen.

God Ignivar sparked the first motion within creation, awakening both flesh and soul.

Goddess Nethera, as the counterforce to creation, began the cycle of decay, undoing form so that renewal might begin."

He turned his gaze to Mirela and answered her question directly. "From this, you can understand that the first existences were created personally by the 4 Divines through their combined effort. The legend suggests that after everything was formed, the first to walk these lands, our true ancestors, were not merely followers of any single path. They were shaped by all 4 paths and held every power within their existence."

Understanding settled over the gathered like a soft weight. Some shoulders sank. A few heads bowed, not in worship but in the relief of sense made from chaos.

They had always believed that to worship one god while worshipping another at the same time was nothing but blasphemy.

Yet if Adyr belonged to one of those races created directly under the care of the 4 Divines, then it felt natural, almost rightful, that he could follow more than one path, that he might hold the right to worship multiple gods and walk more than a single way.

But there were gaps in their knowledge, and those gaps led their judgment away from the truth. In reality, Adyr was not following 2 or more paths; he was walking a single path and worshipping no god at all.

Of course, without this knowledge, what they believed was the truth in their eyes.

***

A/N: I'm dropping the 4 paths and their information below for you to check their descriptions again. I'll also write a detailed auxiliary chapter later explaining the entire power system (talents, innate abilities, bloodline talents, stats, and Spark skills) and some other things, so you can more easily follow the structure of the world I've created so far. If you have any questions, let me know, and I'll add them to the auxiliary chapter if appropriate.

[Astra]

- One of the four main Paths, created by the God Astrael.

- He shaped the first solid form from the chaos, giving structure to the formless.

- It represents everything physical.

[Aether]

- One of the four main Paths, created by the Goddess Aetheris.

- She gave inner depth to all that exists, shaping the unseen essence within the seen.

- It represents everything spiritual.

[Ignis]

- One of the four main Paths, created by the God Ignivar.

- He sparked the first motion within creation, awakening both flesh and soul.

- It represents every movement.

[Nether]

- One of the four main Paths, created by the Goddess Nethera.

- As the counterforce to creation, she began the cycle of decay—undoing form so that renewal may begin.

- It represents every destruction and rebirth.

[Primora]

-The One.

-They longed to exist, and I let them be.