Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Mistakes

Noah looked at Nae in silence, trying to think over what to reply. Failing to come up with anything, he simply shrugged in response.

“Do you know what a divine perk is?” Nae asked.

“Not really,” Noah said, glancing down at the woman.

“It’s a perk that you did not naturally have, but were instead given by a god. All clerics, paladins and such have divine perks, because their perks and paths are directly given by the gods they follow. But somehow, here you are with two divine perks on you,” Nae said.

“Wait, what do you mean two?” Noah asked, before pulling up his Perks menu.

Perks:

[Quest System]

[Inventory]

[Universal Language Comprehension]

[Identify]

[Voidborne (Hidden)]

[Fate Touched]

[Devourer]

[Avera’s Blessing]

Noah looked at the Avera’s blessing perk, before opening it up.

[Avera’s Blessing (Divine/Temporary)]

A blessing given by the goddess of wind and knowledge. You learn things twice as fast while the blessing is active and the wind follows you on your path.

“Huh,” Noah said, reading the description.

"I get Avera's given the Astral Rift, but what about the other one?" Nae asked.

"Actually, hold on. If you could see that, how come I still got in trouble?" Noah asked.

"Because gods are not allowed to interfere with state laws. Do you know how much of a mess it would cause if a god could just do whatever they wanted? There's rules in place and it doesn't matter if Avera likes you or not," Nae said, before glancing at Aurelia. "I believe you told the Governor about it?"

Aurelia nodded. "I did."

"Makes sense how you get off easy then. Also partly because what you did shouldn't have been possible in the first place. If elementals can open the rift it's a security breach. One that will need to be patched," Nae replied.

"Huh," Noah murmured, surprised. "I'm surprised gods don't have more authority."

"They do within their churches and temples. But if gods were allowed free rein, chaos would ensue. We don't want to return to that era of war again. It's why the Pantheon exists," Nae replied.

"Makes sense I suppose," Noah replied.

“Anyway. So, how do you have the other divine perk?” Nae asked again.

“Didn’t you say that information was private to me just a few days ago?” Noah asked.

“Sure, but don’t you want to know who else had Fate-Touched?” Nae said, eyeing Noah with a sly grin.

Noah looked at the woman, wondering if she actually knew something or whether she was lying. A moment later, he shrugged. “I don’t actually know. I don’t remember how I came here, my memories are all vague.”

Nae frowned. “Huh, you don’t seem to be lying. That’s a shame,” she said, kicking a rock aside in disappointment.

“Well, I’ll tell you. Do you know what an Ascendant is?” Nae asked.

“Those things with five question marks?” Noah asked.

Nae stopped. “You’ve met an Ascendant?” she asked, staring at him blankly.

“Uhh…” Noah said, glancing at Aurelia, who shrugged at him as if to say ‘don’t look at me for help’.

“Where? When? Who was it? This is important, Noah. Ascendants don’t just wander around like that,” Nae said, stepping closer and closer with each breath.

“It was a wyrm,” Noah replied, taking a step back from Nae’s sudden intensity. “We met it on our way here while hiding during the Eclipse. It let us go.”

“Of course it did, if you’re standing here. A wyrm… I had heard rumours but to think one was actually so close. I…” Nae frowned. “I’m not sure if I should even do anything. It’s not like we can do anything but pray if it decides it wants to kill all of us. And given that it let you go, I don’t think the wyrm wants trouble either.”

“It had an egg. It was protecting the egg,” Noah replied.

“Shit. Shit that’s so bad. If it’s brooding here then that means it’s dying, and using the last of its life-force to feed the egg. And the baby will likely be a legendary so if anyone stumbles there not only can they die, they may unleash a ravenous young wyrm onto us as well,” Nae said, biting her nails, before she turned to Noah. “You guys just keep bringing troubling news. I don’t know whether to be grateful or mad.”

Noah gave a nervous chuckle.

"So, who else had the [Fate-Touched] perk?" Noah asked.

"Ah, that. Ryugan. An Ascendant Monarch. Fate-Touched people have a stronger grasp on fate, so they influence things more strongly. But fate also has a stronger grasp on them, and can pull them in directions, if that makes sense. Some of the strongest people on Erandir were known to have the perk," Nae said.

The group walked into the guild soon, following Nae to her office on the fifth floor. Upon arrival, Noah noticed a man already seated inside. With platinum blonde-hair, a chiseled face, and silvery eyes, the man was the image of a prince. The white armor with golden trims only served to further the image.

[Hellion’s Paladin - ??]

“Apologies for the delay, Erwest. This is the party I mentioned,” Nae said.

“Aurelia Fauster, a pleasure to meet you,” Aurelia said, extending her hand.

“Erwest Ivan, and the pleasure is mine,” the man said, as they shook.

“Noah Brown,” Noah said, extending his hand as well. The paladin grasped it, giving him a nod.

When Noah tried to pull his hand away, he found the paladin staring at him, his grip tight.

“Is something the matter?” Noah asked, holding back a wince at the man’s tight hold.

“No, my apologies,” the paladin replied, pulling his hand back.

Noah felt a throbbing pain go through him where the paladin had grabbed him, but he ignored it. He’d anticipated there would be issues from the start.

“Alright, so, first things first. Noah? You’re grounded. You will not be allowed to go on this quest, and if I find you trying to anyway, I’ll send you back into the governor’s prison cell,” Nae said, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

“Wait what? Why me? I mean, okay fair, I made a mistake but am I not already getting a pay cut for that?” Noah said.

“Don’t why me you idiot. It’s not about the mistake, it’s about the fact that you put Aurelia’s life at risk alongside yourself. That is NOT acceptable behavior for an adventurer. You have talent, Noah, even I’ll admit that. But that means next to nothing if you cannot work with other people, and more specifically, cannot be trusted. I have no idea how Aurelia has not chewed you out more, and I’m half tempted to let her relax her Berserker abilities to be as mad as she wants. You would deserve it, too,” Nae said, snorting.

Noah looked at the woman unable to come up with a reply.

“If I may say something,” Aurelia said, glancing at Noah. “I agree, Noah has been reckless. At first I thought it was because he was unsettled. Brand new world, magic, I can see how it would be overwhelming, but clearly it’s more than that,” Aurelia said, glancing at Noah once before she returned to Nae. “That said, he has saved my life twice. And has been a good support. I’ve been through life or death with him, which is why, despite him breaking my trust, I’m willing to give him a chance. So if you’d allow it, I would like to have him with us on this quest. He will be invaluable,” Aurelia said.

Nae frowned, glancing at Noah before she turned to Aurelia. “Are you sure?”

Aurelia nodded. “I extended my trust to him when we escaped the cult. I'm willing to do it one more time. I think he'll not take risks like that again.”

"I won't," Noah nodded. "And I do mean it. I've been letting all the magic get to me, and I've been treating this world like a fun trip almost. Like it's not quite real. But that’s no excuse for my actions, and I can’t keep doing things like this. So far it was only me who got hurt which was easy to ignore, but this time I stupidly put your life at risk too. Things could’ve gone far worse than they did and I'm sorry for dragging you into the Astral Rift with me without thinking and putting you at risk like that,” Noah said, bowing his head lightly as he did.

"I didn't use my fire abilities and you lost your arm, you dragged me into an Astral Rift, almost getting me killed. I'd say we're even now,” Aurelia replied.

“Deal,” Noah said, smiling as well.

Nae coughed. “Great. Ignore my orders. But sure, if you think you can trust him I’m willing to give him another chance. But first, stand here. We need to get you two vetted by Erwest so stand here and don’t move,” Nae said.

“Vetted how?” Noah asked.

“You’ll see,” Nae said, and Noah walked up to where she had indicated, followed by Aurelia.

Erwest walked closer. “I’ll be using an ability of mine, which judges evil. So if you aren’t a part of the Abyssal Cult, or any of the other cults, or an undead, lich, necromancer, demon, or something of that sort, you will not feel anything but a warm light,” Erwest said.

Noah stared at the man, before his heart began to pound. Will my pact end up hurting me?

He stared at Erwest, feeling his heart race as he began to think if he should back down from the quest while he had the chance. Unable to move, Noah watched dumbly as a golden light manifested around him, before forming a brilliant beam.

Erwest lit up with a golden glow, as his armor shimmered before Noah found the same light gathering above him. Panic kicking him, he tried to step away.

“Actually I—”

Before he could speak, the light descended upon Noah’s head, as his world turned white.

You’ve been inflicted with [Light of Judgement].

Hellion’s Gaze judges you.

You’ve been found guilty.