Bjorn and Fjora stared down at a small village from a nearby hilltop. The sun was rising, and smoke rose from the homes where the inhabitants were already awake for the day’s work. Fjora wore a frown on her face as she studied the newest-looking building.
“That’s definitely a temple, right?” She asked while studying its strange architecture.
“Yeah, blasted elves have already come this far,” Bjorn murmured as he kept watch. “But there’s no sign of the pointy-eared bastards.”
“So what? You think they snuck past us and headed deeper in?”
“Can’t say for sure,” Bjorn grumbled as he looked around. “Do you know of any other villages nearby?”
“Nah, the nearest settlement is a few days from here on foot,” Fjora replied. “We passed by it on the way here.”
Bjorn hummed to himself as he studied the first people to show themselves. Each one of them went to the temple before going about their business. ‘Where did they go?’ Bjorn wondered.
“Should we report back to Lady Ania now? This village is her job and we still have a long way til we cross the border.”
Bjorn stayed silent as he thought things through. ‘Ania brought enough warriors to keep her protected without our help. She can handle herself well enough, so she should be fine. But something isn’t sitting right with me.’
“You report back to Ania. I’m going down there to take a look.”
Fjora cocked an eyebrow, before shaking her head at his decision. “It’s your call. Just don’t go getting into trouble.”
Bjorn nodded as he watched Fjora leave. Her footsteps made a crisp crunching sound in the fresh snow as a bitter wind rolled in. ‘Let’s hope I’m wrong about this place.’ Bjorn sighed as he headed down the hill.
Meanwhile, Exile studied Dretheir as the dragon used a mental link to talk to his goddess. ‘So, he’s an oracle.’ Exile frowned as he imagined an army of those creatures descending on Skardia. ‘Looks like I need to move my plans for the Mortal Realms up.’
“My goddess would like to arrange a formal meeting in a few days.” Dretheir suddenly said. “We will remain here until then. She hopes to negotiate with you on several matters.”
Ciena frowned as she glanced at Exile for his reaction. ‘Negotiations sound better than a war. However, in a few days, this dragon will recover. So what’s her plan?’ Exile glanced at the sky as he weighed the pros and cons. ‘I wish I could ask Mikari for his opinion, but I can already guess what he would say.’
“Very well. I’ll meet with your goddess here in two days. Until then, your people will stay on the ship.” Exile said as he glared at Dretheir. “I’m aware you have already turned down our hospitality when offered to wait on the shore. So this should be acceptable to you.”
Dretheir looked reluctant to accept, but Exile had left him with no room to argue on that point. The dragon accepted the terms and quietly returned to the sea to rest.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t meet on better terms.” Ciena sighed as she offered her hand to Exile. “I’ll stay here until the meeting and keep an eye on things. You and I can have a proper discussion when you visit my home.”
“Sounds fair, and thank you for saving my people,” Exile replied as he shook Ciena’s hand. “I look forward to talking with you in a friendlier environment.”
Ciena smiled before flying down to the city and taking a place next to the captain. ‘Hopefully, I’ve made the right decision. We can’t afford another shit storm right now.’ Exile groaned as he released his Avatar spell.
‘They’re not here yet.’ Exile sighed in relief as he made a list of things to do. ‘First, I’ll need to create a disguise version of Avatar. Then, I need to look into upgrading Skovi, and Bjorn. After that, I’ll need to consider teaching rune magic to the Skardians.’
‘I’ll also be busy with enchanting gear, but I can’t afford to let those things slide for much longer. I’m sure something else will come up soon enough.’ Exile groaned as he slid off the bed and headed for the workshop.
Once there, he immediately started his work on understanding the Avatar spell. He remembered his conversation with Allevia and took her advice as he tried to recreate it using runes. ‘Sooner or later other players are going to start creating spells and likely enchantments too. I have to get ahead of my competition as soon as possible.’
‘But this isn’t easy. I can’t imagine how the others are even going to get started. I can help everyone in Ragnarok, but that’ll lead to another situation where the other Pantheons will threaten to suppress us again. By the time that happens, there’s bound to be other Tier 2 players in Skardia.’
Exile felt a headache coming on as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘It’s not just that. I need to make time to train with Paul. I think I’m starting to understand what Arthur meant when he said running a team is completely different to being its captain.’ ｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏ𝚖
He shook his head to chase away those distracting thoughts as he forced his mental energy into the shape of a rune that meant Avatar. However, the energy flickered a few times before vanishing!
‘Damn it! There’s a deeper meaning to this spell.’ Exile groaned as he reviewed what he knew. ‘It creates an ethereal body that can’t interact with the mortal plane or be seen unless the mortals are devout enough.’ Exile stroked his beard for a moment as he glanced out the window. ‘I’m trying to create something that can be seen by everyone, but hides my divine status.’
‘I’ve been looking at it all wrong. I need to dissect the spell and find the meaning that allows my consciousness to descend. Only after I’ve identified that part can I start working on the other meanings it needs to hold.’ Exile thought as he studied the spell book.
‘But, there’s another option. An advantage I have over other players. Sure, I’ve been creating rune spells. But I haven’t attempted to create a rune of my own meaning yet.’ Exile chuckled to himself as he realised he could make the whole process easier if what he planned would work.
He reactivated the book and chose the option to create his own rune. ‘Now, the shape of the rune is what defines its meaning. Or so the game would have me believe. But what if the meaning comes first, and the rune is just a container.’ Exile nodded his head as he reviewed the process for creating spells.
‘I’ve always let the runes decide the outcome. So how do I go about giving meaning to a rune that does not exist?’ That was the hard part of his thought process. He figured that somehow he had to imbue his mental energy with a meaning. However, he had no idea if there was a set way of doing it.
Hours passed as Exile toiled to get the process right. Usually, it ended with a rune that just held divine power with no effects. He could only curse as he ran up against that wall in his attempts. ‘There has to be a way. Am I just not imagining it clearly enough? Or is it limited by my understanding of the effects I want to happen?’
Exile had a hunch that his original runes could seriously increase the power of his spells and supporting features. Not to mention being useful for bringing his runestones and enchantments to another level. ‘This has got to be the path I’m meant to tread with this Authority. I just wish there were some kind of manual.’
A deep groan escaped his throat as he stared at the blank page after deleting his latest failure. ‘Let’s try again, but this time I’ll imagine the whole sequence of the Avatar spell replaying in my mind. With some luck, I’ll find a way to move forward.’
Exile felt a deeper connection as he let his mental energy flow. He knew he had succeeded in creating a version of it, but now he had to decide what kind of rune to use. ‘I should keep it simple and just use the rune for Avatar. Once I check its effects against the original, then I can decide what I need to work on.’
Exile bent the mental energy that held his image of the Avatar spell in shape. Sweat appeared on his forehead as he felt that energy fighting against him. ‘Why’s it so difficult?’ Exile wondered as he heard clicking in his mind. A pounding headache appeared as he wrestled with the mental energy.
‘What the hell is this?’ He wondered as a searing pain roared behind his eyeballs. ‘It’s almost like the world doesn’t want me to succeed!’ Exile cursed as he pushed on. Soon, he heard breaking in his mind as the energy stopped fighting him.
A golden rune floated between his palms as he opened his eyes. The light it gave off was so bright that he had to squint to make out its shape. ‘I can’t believe it. It worked!’ Exile laughed loudly as studied the rune in amazement. ‘Now, the question is how it compares to the original.’
A deep frown appeared on Exile’s face as he studied the information the book gave him about that rune. The frown turned into shock as he felt like he was going to collapse. ‘That can’t be right, can it?’
