Reborn And Chosen By Three Gods

CHAPTER 6

Alex dropped the hem, then turned back to see the thoughtful expression on the man's face. "Could I get some background on who the Gods of this world are? I was raised to follow a singular God on Earth, and I have no clue who these new Gods are."

"Your world has only one God?" Silvain asked in surprise.

Alex was caught by that. "Well, truthfully, many people worship many different gods on Earth, but one of the most followed religions where I lived has a singular God. That's the one I... once followed."

Grakkesh gestured for them to sit in the chairs before the Commander's desk, so they did. Then he spoke.

"There are thirteen Gods on our world. Each represents different aspects of Magic and grants those they bring here abilities over those aspects,"

Alex blinked at the Dwarf with wide eyes. "Magic?"

Grakkesh smiled. "My gift is not something I can visibly demonstrate. Commander?"

Silvain frowned and held out his palm where a ball of flame suddenly appeared with no visible cause. Alex's eyes widened further.

The Guild Master nodded. "The Commander was blessed by one of our first and foremost deities, Phyrrenz. Based on the year's season, the God/Goddess/Neutral being is the Deity of Passion and grants an affinity for Fire and Lightning Magic. Phyrrenz sends us two to three new arrivals a week.

This is also the rate Hallestra, the Goddess of Inspiration, sends us new arrivals. They are blessed with her affinity for Air and Healing Magic.

Lushella is the Goddess of Water, blessing her people with Water Magic affinity. We receive one to three a week from her.

Macrus is the God of Earth, so Earth Magic affinity. One to two from him per week.

The God of Perception, Grolex, grants his new arrivals with an affinity to Wisdom and Stealth Skills. They also receive improved dexterity, making them highly skilled close-quarters Fighters or Archers. Only one to two arrive a week with his mark.

Julliash is the Goddess of Intellect, and her new arrivals are blessed with an affinity for Sorcery. One a week from her.

The next is Ophrax, the God or Goddess of Change based on the moon phase. Their blessing is an affinity to Scouting/Survival Craft. They're another deity who only sends one a week.

Saphra is a particularly popular deity who represents Strength and grants affinity to weapons mastery. Her people also have heightened strength and stamina. One new arrival a week will have her mark.

My personal favorite is Deshna, the Goddess of Charm. She grants an affinity for Music Magic and Leadership Skills. Only one new arrival per month has her symbol.

Wavesh is the God of Luck. His new arrivals have an affinity for Thief and Assassin Skill Mastery. Perhaps it is fortunate only one to two new arrivals every two months appear with his symbol."

Grakkesh paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts.

Alex chose this moment to ask for some clarity. "You keep mentioning the word affinity. Does this mean everyone has the same ability to use the magic gifted to them?"

The Guild Master smiled as if pleased by a clever student. "Not at all. They can use the magic, but their strength with it will depend entirely on them. Some will have great power and little control. Others may have little power but precise control. Power level and ability to control it varies greatly. Training and using these abilities strengthen them, making them more dependable, but again, not everyone will reach the same peak strength and control."

Alex nodded as this cleared up a few questions he had. The Dwarf continued.

"The last three Gods stopped sending us new arrivals many, many decades ago. All three did this simultaneously, and two were significantly popular, so their loss was deeply felt in our society.

Ffornexa is the God of Order. He grants affinity to Skill Mastery. That means all skills. Recipients of his mark can achieve Mastery of any skill they get training in. You can see why this one was popular. They also granted their recipients an affinity with Logic and Reason, though this sometimes conflicted with party members with Phyrrenz's Passion blessings.

Ullentra is the Goddess of Empathy and Compassion. It's said her new arrivals were very popular in parties of Adventurers as proximity to them reduced internal party tension. She was also the only Goddess that gave an affinity to Restoration Magic which could repair almost any damage."

The Guild Master stopped his instructions there with an uncomfortable glance toward the Commander, whose expression was grim. Finally, the Dwarf returned his attention back to Alex.

"The thirteenth God is Agron, the God of Chaos." Alex's eyebrows rose in concern, but Grakkesh continued. "His blessing granted his new arrivals with an affinity to Beasts and Transformation Magic. They could communicate with any creature and become it, small or large, and have its abilities." The Dwarf frowned. "There was a significant caveat to having this ability. Each and every being blessed by Agron used their ability to unleash terrible, chaotic violence. Friend and Foe suffered equally. No party would accept a person with Agron's Blessing as they couldn't be trusted not to turn on the party. After the massacre, they would all claim innocence, stating that Agron could not be controlled when his blessing was invoked. Eventually, new arrivals with his mark were immediately banished to the wilderness to survive or die. In all cases, their fate was the latter."

"But I didn't kill any innocent lives! None of the slaves were harmed!" Alex insisted desperately after he took a moment to absorb the Guild Master's words.

Grakkesh nodded with a small smile. "Yes, that's true," the man agreed.

"His actions against the Slavers and their guards were barbaric!" Silvain asserted.

"Not barbaric. Savage... and you can't disagree it wasn't justified," Grakkesh said firmly.

Alex looked at the Commander in surprise. "You want to charge me for their deaths? They were slavers! They did terrible things to so many people and were planning to do the same to me. It was self-defense!"

"Ripping people apart is not justice—"

Grakkesh held up his hands to quiet the two men.

"We are not to judge the Gods. In this instance, only the criminals received death. The sentence the Genthale Knights would have also applied. The matter seems to have reached its natural resolution, yes?" the Guild Master suggested.