章 42: The lack of a Soul
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/At the same time, back in the Church…/
Dale stood next to the stairs leading to the catacombs, gazing into the darkness below with his arms crossed.
"He's gone."
'I wonder how he'll do…'
But his thoughts were cut by a certain talking head...
"Hey… How long are you going to stare down there? Don't you have places to be?" David asked, trying his best to speak without having the copper coins fall into his mouth
Dale raised his head, switching his sight from the dark stairs to the shiny altar where the golden head known as David lay.
"Not for long, but as I promised, I'll wait for that guy here."
"Yeah yeah, I figured as much… So before we… COUGH! Cont... Urg... Continue… How about you help me by getting me out of this mess?" David requested as he choked on the coins
"Of course, but I'll have to leave organizing this for later when I put the Altar back in place, otherwise I'll have to do that twice…"
'I'll have to assign someone to take care of this place, I can't stay here everything I send Rody down there.'
'It's inefficient.'
"I'm sorry for this, and at the same time, I'm not." David said as he looked at Dale
Dale's eyes rolled at the unusual sight, but he still did as he was told and easily helped him by pulling him out of the coin pile.
...
"Phew, much better."
"Things are only going to get worse though, without a priest to remove these, you'll eventually be overrun by these coins…"
"At least, I believe the Village has more coins than your Altar can take…"
"That I know, that was why I said it was okay for you to pick them up… Since there is no priest, I am the sole person in charge of well… Myself.
"Normally, having a non-priest take the offerings would be seen as sacrilege, but due to the lack of one, me appointing someone for the job will have to do."
But Dale simply shrugged.
"Even if I can avoid the wrath of God by having your approval, that does not mean I can avoid the wrath of the Villagers, so without a proper reason, these coins won't be leaving this place anytime soon…"
"But if that is good enough for you, I'll try to talk with the Village head and see if he has a solution for this."
David let out a small sigh and replied:
"That'll do, but I believe this is our second time talking about this."
"Let's talk business…" David said with a smile
Dale nodded with a smile.
"First things first, what I said last time we met, I'm still trying to remember everything, but I remembered several things… Would you like to hear them?"
But Dale simply said:
"It depends, there is already a lot on my head, and unless it has something to do with the monsters outside, the Catacombs, or the mineral mines outside, then I would prefer if you remained silent…"
David's enthusiasm was suddenly extinguished...
"So forget about it, I simply remembered a few details about the infrastructure of the city, and in a sense, it can be said to be connected with the Catacombs."
"... Sigh, fine, tell me what you remember..."
'I'll have to start writing some notes just in case...'
"As you know, Resko does have a sewer system, and although the rivers that used to pass below it have already dried or changed course to somewhere else, they should still be somewhat in operation given some of the old wells still work."
"And although it's true a lot of Resko is somewhat buried in sand, it may be possible to access some of its old buildings via this same sewer system…"
"Uhum, I thought about that before..." Dale replied with a nod as he sat on a chair neaerby
"Even better then, so pay attention."
"I believe that there may be an entrance to it in the Catacombs due to bits and pieces of the conversations of the Priests that used to live in this place."
"It's definitely something worth taking a look into.."
After Dale heard that, he nodded once again, saying:
"Another reason to keep an eye out on that guy."
When Dale spoke of Rodi, David couldn't help but ask:
"Speaking of him, what's his deal? How did you come across such an odd... Man?..."
"What do you mean? He's an outsider like me… But a bit worse?" Dale replied in confusion
"No no, not like that, I'm not talking about his capabilities, and I can assume he is an outsider pretty easily based on his mannerisms…"
David looked at the sides sneakily as if the next thing he was going to say was to be kept a secret…
"What I am asking is… What is he?"
"?? I don't quite get your meaning?" Dale asked as he scratched his head, even more confused
'Could it be that Rodi has some sort of Special Class or item he got in the tutorial? Making him something not Human?'
David rolled his eyes and said:
"No, you idiot!... URG! Can't you tell?! He doesn't have a soul!!"
"This is what I am asking you! How did you come across a man without a Soul?"
"What?!"
'Doesn't have a soul?!'
"Like… An undead? Or necromancy?" Dale asked in deeper confusion
"Yes, just like that… That was why I was asking you… Because that man seemed to be following your orders pretty thoroughly so I thought…"
"You think I am some sort of necromancer?"
"Not quite... Because the relation between you as a necromancer and him as a servant is a tad odd… Forget it, I was a bit out of my mind on that one."
"There's no way you can be a Necromancer..."
"Even if he was my thrall… Wouldn't that be against the Divine? You seem pretty calm."
"Huh? Why?" David asked as he raised an eyebrow
"Isn't Necromancy banned or something?"
Upon hearing this, David closed his eyes, letting our a sigh.
"It seems we are talking about different things."
"First, it seems you have no idea of what I am talking about, and that is fine, it would be strange if you could see or detect souls."
"That's correct, I am a warrior and not someone versed in the Arcane…" Dale said as he scratched his head, a bit frustrated though, still, he accepted he wasn't very knowledgable
'I am a big fan of magic, but playing as a mage requires a lot of preparation, much less a mage with high physical capabilities.'
'Besides, I have yet to even hear a wisp about mages or magic, making me think that magic or such arts are quite the thing in this game.'
'The most I heard about it was when I entered the compounds of the Catacombs and met with those creatures and David.'
'But can all of that be classified as a Wizard's magic?'
"That I can see Dale, so let's go over the second thing."
"Necromancy is a very broad school of magic, and most of it is indeed frowned upon and even prohibited, but there is a very specific minor school of necromancy that is allowed and even used in rituals in many religions."
"The dead and the afterlife are often sacred things and the art that involves them is thus considered holy by many… If done correctly..."
"And put emphasis on the word, CORRECTLY."
"That man you call Rodi… I saw no Soul in him, but his body was perfectly fine, it... Moved perfectly."
"His thoughts were normal, apart from a few things... But way way better than most."
"It's way beyond what I would classify as Necromancy and that was why I downgraded myself into asking a brute like you to see if you knew something."
"That I… Hey! Do you want to suffocate in the pile of coins again?" Dale asked with a frown as he started dropping coins on David
/Clink clink clink.../
"It was a joke! Nooo!"
...
Dale made sure to bury David in the coins and let him suffer in there for a few good minutes…
"I yield! I yield…" David exclaimed as he was removed from the pile
"Let's go back to business and forget about this then." Dale said with a frown as he dusted his hands
"Cough cough!"
"So uh… Oh yeah!"
"That outsider, he is different from you… I can't tell if he is a puppet or just some sort of Unique being I've never seen before, but I think it may be wise for you to stay far away from him."
"Necromancy of such Level… If it can even be called that, is something that I would not like to mess with, especially with the being that can create such a phenomenon."
"I can assure you, even if necromancy has advanced by leaps and bounds in the time I was sealed, such a thing can't be caused easily!"
"..."
This made Dale frown very hard as his mind went into overdrive.
'This can't be possible, Rodi is without a doubt a gaming streamer, I can even confirm that if I log out of the game.'
'If he has no soul, then why do I have one if we came from the same place? Unless this is some sort of coincidence that comes from the real world.'
'Perhaps Rodi is special within the real world... But that seems very unlikely as that would mean a whole other heap of trouble...'
'And David talked about puppetry? Is he talking about how Rodi is in fact… A game character being controlled by someone?'
'If that is the case, then this would've gone beyond the 4th wall of this game by making mention of a being controlling the player… Unless this has some sort of convoluted lore explanation.'
'In the first place, David is not supposed to be a normal object, but one of the Holy items of the Church representing a God.'
'I don't know how strong or influential said God is, but depending on how everything aligns, this lore explanation may fit...'
'But what if it isn't that? For what reason would the developers make their own characters react like that?"
"Of course, this could've been done by the main AI responsible for making most of the game, but still…'
'Unless…'
"Dale? You here?"
"Hum? Ah, yeah, I was just a bit focused… As for what we were talking about, leave it to me for now, I'll keep an eye on him for now."
"Also, Rodi will probably come back here frequently, so if you can…"
"Yes, I'll try and figure out what his deal is, but don't give me too much faith as this isn't my forte." Replied David as he nodded, or tried to at least
"Aside from that… I've been meaning to ask, why did you go to such lengths to give him such a dangerous job?"
"You mean the Catacombs? He wanted something to do and this meets all of his requirements while also benefiting the village…"
"Cut off the act, I know you care about this place, but you wouldn't do it like that."
"We literally met yesterday…"
But David cut him off once more:
"I have a good eye for people's personalities and intentions, and I can clearly see that your intentions are convoluted…"
"You talk as if I was some sort of devil…"
"Don't get me wrong, I can see that your intentions towards the people of Resko are mostly that of kindness linked to a somewhat mutual cooperation and an alignment of interests."
"While his' are more centered around himself and his own goals..."
"But what I want to understand is why are you so wary of him?"
"You've even made it seem as if he was doing something of extreme importance…"
"What did you say... 'Cultural importance'?... 'History of Resko'?... Don't make me laugh!"
"As if any of that mattered right now, so come on, tell me, what are your true intentions?"
"..."
Dale let out a sigh of helplessness, opening his mouth to speak:
…
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Notes
Hey! I forgot to say I'll be making Rodi's image soon, so if you have any base image, I would appreciate it.
Regardless, have a nice day everyone!
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