บท 11: Prologue (11)

Temples were more than just places of worship in Battle of Eden and now in Twin Moons of Eden; Temples were where the Gods and Goddesses, Deities and more looked down upon the world and bestowed their blessings unto the mortals below, engaging in games and challenges between one another as they kept themselves entertained up on the far away realms of Bona and Mala, the two moons that hung over Eden.

Bona contained all the Divine beings that were Lawful in nature, be it the just, fair God of Judgement Osciran, or the vicious Goddess of Vengeance Nikrani.

Mala, on the other hand, contained all the Divine beings that were Chaotic in nature, which included the Goddess of Trickery Lokla or the God of Pillaging Treasuro.

Two different realms of Divine beings that had different plots and wants of the world, and stuck between them were the Neutral Divine beings, those that had no clear cut morality and could sway either way; Monentata, the Goddess of Merchants, was a prime example since she could cut you a fair deal or rip you off just for fun.

Was she morally good or bad?

Well, it was far too complex to categorize, so she fell in the middle, allowed to traverse both Bona and Mala however she wanted.

These twin moons of Eden were the focus point of the game - what with the name literally being Twin Moons of Eden: Online - and it made me rather curious to know what these two domains of morality would have to do with the story that the devs went with for this game; were the Terra Empress and Seraphim Lumina still around, or had they been replaced?

The devs released little info about the story of the game, their words being 'Play it to find out, and try and piece it together amongst one another too~!', which made all of us lore buffs and lore enthusiasts go insane since we had just barely finished crafting an entire timeline on the previous game, and yet now-!

Ahem... anyways, Temples were more than just places of worship in the game, and they marked themselves as a place where you - as a player - made some of your moral choices going forwards, since most people on Eden worshipped at least one of the myriad Gods above.

You could meet influential people at a Temple, as well as the more obvious and common benefit; you could level up here, which made Temples a hub for players in every city.

As if they knew that they'd become peoples favorite hubs, and because it made sense lore wise, Temples were some of the most beautiful structures in the game, with each one having a gorgeous style no matter where they were located.

The Temple inside Qingrad was no different; a towering stone chapel devoted to the Gods, it used arches and pillars to make each inch of the 'shell' of the Temple interesting, providing definition and depth to the building while the stained glass windows drew your attention.

The inside matched the exterior, with the lines of wooden pews facing the split altar already filled with people praying, bathed in colored light that streamed through the stained glass windows that were devoted to the more common Gods worshipped by the Beastkin.

Yngravia the Huntress, Lycan the Shapeshifter, Sirroca of the Winds, Kli-Kli the Wanderer...

There were many, and most tended to be neutral, but there were the two that personified the Lawful and Chaotic morality that were accepted amongst the world; Estrua the Radiant Maiden, and Renstrua the Bloody Paw, twins that led and protected the Beastkin through their hardships.

Warriors revered the Bloody Paw and prayed for even a sliver of her strength, while citizens prayed to the Radiant Maiden for guidance in life, hoping to perceive her light and follow it to a better outcome.

Two of my preferred Gods as well, since the twins were amongst the tamer of the many Pantheons, and since I preferred the Beastkin anyways thanks to their more accepting and open natures.

So when I walked into their place of worship and went through the normal motions of a worshipper - cleansing my hands and pinching a small leaf of Odeura to extract its sweet juice, which I rubbed on my neck - they nodded and looked away, returning to prayer and leaving me be.

Finding an empty pew, I clasped my hands and brought up my menu, closing my eyes and reading the notifications that began to pop up.

[Level 1 : 319 / 10]

[Leveled up!]

[Level 7 : 24 / 125]

[Six (6) stat points awarded for leveling up; Two (2) stat points awarded for reaching level 5!]

[Stats :

STR : 5 -> 6

CON : 3 -> 4

DEX : 7 -> 10

INT : 3 -> 4

WIS : 4

CHA : 8 -> 10]

I wanted to keep my stats weighted towards my primary stats, which were my DEX and CHA, since I would need to be efficient with my hands and be rather charming for the best experience as a [Swashbuckler], while the increase to my STR was for damage, and I just evened my CON and INT out with WIS.

This made my Falchion a bit more deadly, my spells a tad stronger, and it made any interactions I had with someone to be a little easier on me, since I'd appear just that much more trustworthy.

Besides that, I confirmed my theory that they kept the same leveling system in place experience wise, which was a relief since it meant I could easily tell how much longer I had for each milestone and so on.

As for increasing my stats past level ups, I could only hope that they maintained the traditional increases that were in the previous game, like weightlifting for STR or stretches for DEX.

Either way, with my level ups done I opened my eyes and stood up, staring at the beautiful Temple that would become my 'home' for leveling up before moving towards the door, heading outside and making my way over to the Supply Depot when I noticed that the sun was going down.