Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

The final preparations were taking place before we began the next part of our journey, and I was left with nothing to do once again. It allowed me some time to review the events of the last few days. First of all, our convoy had grown to numbers that hadn’t been seen in this world for decades, and the size of the group had long since eclipsed the diameter of illumination that my halo could provide.

The fact that I could still function after all this time was because of a few things I had learned. Meditation was now a key part of my routine, but I also found I could function best when I kept my mind focused solely on the various tasks at hand, no matter how small or trivial that would be. If I allowed my mind to wander even slightly, I risked being overcome by emotion, and Vadeem could snap me out of one of those spells only so many times when he was out of sight most of the time.

What was surprising, however, was that during my sessions of meditation, one of my skills had upgraded. I guess hard work, no matter what kind, pays off eventually. It was my innate talent, the one that was first unlocked by Noe. My old skill, Calm Mind, had somehow turned into something new altogether.

 

Awakening Mind (B rank Innate Passive): User has endured many hardships of the spirit, and has gained a supernaturally resilient mind. User can use their willpower to temporarily overcome cognitive disruptions, and can think logically under almost any situation.

 

I hadn’t even known that skills could upgrade, but Noe did not respond when I asked her to explain what was going on. Noe rarely talks much these days. In fact, not very many talked to me these days. Vadeem had been more than busy acting as our vanguard to chat with me, and aside from the regular updates from the Regressor’s side, I had been left mostly to myself. It allowed me a lot of time to get used to that new skill, and to observe my new surroundings with renewed clarity.

Patar had given the orders for each individual village to rotate their positions within the convoy so that each person could take their turn to recover under my light. Every time a new group would come over, a representative would bring me one of their most treasured possessions - which generally amounted to shiny trinkets and the like - and the amount of junk that had accumulated at the foot of my rickshaw was starting to become a problem.

In fact, even the size of the platform I was sitting on had grown to almost impractical proportions. Each time I would enter a village, the people who stayed behind would “upgrade” the thing and now I had to be carried by no less than 14 people. There was a small shrine located directly below my new throne, and an entire squad of the various village elites were tasked to guard me. It was honestly too much.

That was why I was almost dancing with joy when I was told that the Deep Woods were too dense for any kind of travel other than by foot. However, the dangers that we had expected to face also meant that a large portion of our forces were left behind, these ones being those who were deemed too weak or sick to pull their own weight in a struggle. Patar had left them with a skeleton crew of defenders, and tasked the more able bodied among them to build a new settlement so that they could await our glorious return.

I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I wouldn’t be returning one way or another, since our task had always been to clear the Trial. The very last instructions that were left for this group was to keep a flame lit by my lantern going, and to ensure that it never goes out. The Promethean fire should help the spread of their mutations, although it didn’t have the power to cure like my skill did.

A distant bell tolled, signaling the end of the preparations. It would only be minutes before we departed now. I shook my head and focused on my present situation again.

There was one thing that I wanted to check out before I went in further, which was the new ability I had unlocked through my Soul Title. It had seen a rapid growth spurt partly from my own endeavors, and partly from this mysterious Prophet figure who was spreading my worship in some other place. My new title looked like this.

 

Primary Soul Title: Level 10 Xollon Idol [Devourer of Truth]

Progress to next level: 55,402/100,000

Progression requirements: Have 100,000 individuals idolize you

Title Passives:

• Xollon Anatomy Stage 1: Your body has begun to incorporate a Xollon’s internal anatomy. You take 10% reduced damage from all sources and are unaffected by most poisons.
• Xollon Physiology Stage 1:
   Your body has started to incorporate a Xollon’s external anatomy. You can utilize and extend your primary feelers through your human hands.

Title Skills:

• Idols Voice (Soul Passive)
• Secondary Xollon Form (Level 10 Soul Active): The user assumes the Secondary form of the Xolloid Race. The user gains all the physical characteristics of the race and will have all physical attributes increase by a factor of 5 for the duration of the skill.

Transformation Time: 6 hours

Cooldown: 12 hours

 

Aside from the fact that the cooldown doesn’t seem to be going down any more, 12 hours seemed to be the minimum that it could reach, and the increased skill duration, a new passive had popped up. I forced myself not to think about any of the implications of those titles and only on their practicality. I can worry about everything else when my emotions are not all over the place.

I had noticed earlier, after one of my many meditation sessions, that a strange gash had formed on the palms of my hand. It was near undetectable to anyone else, appearing like one of the natural wrinkles on my hand, but I knew that it wasn’t there before, and I could feel something wiggle just underneath the surface. It had taken me a moment to figure what had happened before I saw the levels I had gained with my Soul Title.

Noe had long since stopped giving me notifications, but I knew instinctively that she was still with me, and that I could still use her skills. It was like she had fallen into a deep slumber. It was lonely without her.

Once again, I did not allow myself to think about the implications of Noe’s absence, choosing again to simply focus on the raw data. It was tiring going from one extreme to another, to go from feeling so much emotions to the forced nothingness that I was enduring now. I sighed and chose to not dwell on it.

Checking to make sure that no one was looking too closely at me, I looked at that new gash in my hand and tried to move the wiggling sensation underneath the skin. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, no different from taking a step forward with my legs or lifting a cup of coffee to drink with my arms, the gash opened up, and a slender Xollon feeler appeared. It was the same one I had when I activated my Soul Title’s skill, albeit shrunk down a considerable bit.

Yet it felt just as deadly. I could feel its deadly serrations and sheer power, and just like how I could always feel where my arms are without looking at them, I knew that I could stretch my new feelers out to several meters.

A wave of uncontrollable joy started to spread in me, but once again I closed my eyes and forced those feelings away. It had become more manageable ever since I had obtained that skill upgrade, but I felt my willpower quickly sapping from the constant need to regulate my emotions. Whatever was causing Noe to change so quickly was affecting the speed that I experience these changes as well, but at least I now had a way to mitigate some of that.

I had to remind myself that I had only obtained a new tool, nothing more, nothing less. I just needed to come up with an explanation on why I had tentacles growing out of my hands, but any number of reasons could be used, such as gaining a new skill through level ups, or simply getting a new title due to all the worship I was receiving. I doubt even the Regressor would make the connection between a weak human being and the godlike Xollons off a single tentacle.

“Hey, Walter, just wanted to check up on you before we head off,” Vadeem said as he approached my side with the twins in tow. Lately those two would follow the big man like baby chicks. I have no idea that he was so good with dealing with children, and he was even able to develop a rudimentary method of communication. I would have been more impressed, however, had his new sign language consisted of more things than the flexing of random muscle groups.

The twins, and most of my followers now that I thought about it, had improved dramatically over the course of our travels. Not fully healed, that would take a lot longer, but better. The twins now had a healthy, albeit pale, complexion, and I could see the stubble forming on their heads where new hair was growing. Their faces were still marred by some of the oldest scars, but the worst of the damage had been fixed, and they wouldn’t be too eye-catching even in modern society. These changes also made me finally realize just how young they actually were. No wonder Vadeem was so protective of them.

And it was under his care that they had even regained some of their lost weight. The food from his storage had done wonders. However, the mutations might have disappeared, but the damage done to their vocal cords or mentality could not be fixed. They were still always on edge, although I could see that they allowed themselves some rest when Vadeem was near.

“Walter?” Vadeem asked again, seeing that I was still deep in thought, “Should I come back later?”

“No, sorry Vadeem,” I answered as I snapped out of my lingering thoughts, “What did you say again?”

Vadeem showed a concerned look, but quickly caught himself and changed back to his usual jovial smile. It was clear that he didn’t want to concern me any more than necessary, given my unnatural state.

“Just wanted to see how you were doing was all,” he said, tone light, “I saw you’ve been keeping to yourself these days, not that you can do much else with all those people orbiting you!”

I smiled back, “Yeah, just been meditating lately, trying to keep my emotions in check. I figured if it worked for all those monks then it’ll work for me.”

“And is it?”

“Looking good so far,” I answered, “As long as I keep my mind clear I should be fine. I also have a skill that helps keep me focused, so don’t worry too much about me.”

He nodded, “Hear anything new about Jae-Hyun and the others?”

“No,” I shook my head, “At least nothing new. Last time he checked in with me he said they’re at the Temple, but he’ll be busy for a while. He wouldn’t give me any specifics, but he never does. Communication’s been scarce since. He say anything to you specifically?”

“Nope,” he sighed, “It’s pretty much the same. But don’t you find it weird that only Jae-Hyun’s talking in the party chat? I can understand Yoona staying quiet, but Noel?”

I frowned, that was strange. Noel’s not one to stay quiet in any situation, yet I haven’t heard from her since the start of the Trial. Jae-Hyun had said that he managed to find the others, and there was no reason for him to lie, especially when it came to his sister’s well being.

“The whole situation’s already messed up,” I answered, “I think Jae-Hyun’s dealing with as much, if not more, trouble than we are. Let’s just focus on our part and trust that our leader will fix things on his end. We'll know everything once we meet up in any case.”

“Not much else we can do,” he grumbled, “And tell me honestly, what do you think our chances are with our little ragtag group of fighters?”

He gestured at the quickly assembling squad of soldiers, and they looked…

“Not good,” I answered honestly, “They’ll fight to the death, for sure, but I don’t think many of them will make it. They need more time to heal and recover, not to mention how thin most of them are.”

“Agreed,” Vadeem muttered, “They’d need two or three months at minimum to recover to any kind of fighting strength.”

“But we don’t have two or three months.”

“No, we don’t,” he grumbled, “Just expect some heavy casualties if the rumors about the Deep Woods are correct. Will you be…”

I nodded and cut him off, “I know the expectations, I won’t let it affect my emotions.”

“Alright,” he said tentatively, “Just stay close to me, you still don’t have a weapon.”

“No,” I answered, “I have that part covered as well.”

I help my hands palm facing skywards, and willed the feeler to exit my flesh. The black limb moved rhythmically, oozing some of the classic Xolloid secretions and looking deadly. My tentacle wiggled a few inches out of my palms before I allowed them to retract back into my arm.

Vadeem took a step back with a terrified look of concern on his face. He stared at the tentacle before eying me up and down with a grimace. Even the twins showed a rare hint of worry in their eyes.

“Walter…” Vadeem said, teeth clenched, “Our situation might be worse than I thought.”

“It’s just from a skill,” I said, unsure why he was acting that way, “and now I have a way to defend myself.”

“Just from a skill? Growing black tentacles out of your arms is a skill?”

“It’s from the title I got from the villager’s worship,” I clarified.

Vadeem took a deep breath, his face still showing immense concern, but finally nodded, “Yes, from the worship of mutated villagers in a world consumed by supernatural darkness! Do you not hear yourself, Walter?”

He took another deep breath before composing himself, “Never mind, we can discuss this after we’re done here, when we’re out of this damned void. We'll get you properly checked out then. It’s clearly affecting you in more than one way. I know you can’t emote right now, but… forget it, now’s not the time.”

I looked at him in confusion, unsure what he meant, but quickly shook that thought out of my head. I can worry about Vadeem’s concerns later.

The last of the able-bodied fighters were in place, and it was finally time for us to enter the Deep Woods proper. I took my position at the front of the gathered people, ignoring the whispers of awe and worship, and addressed the gathered warriors one final time.

“My followers!” I said, trying to infuse as much awe into my voice as I could, “We now march towards the abyss! Be prepared for anything, but know that we all stand ready to face the Darkness and bring Light to the last bastions of Humanity! We march to bring Light back to this world!”

The last sounds of cheers faded, and I took the first step into the unknown.

 

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