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(Vol 5) Chapter 44: An Order Never Short Staffed
🕑 Added 2024-06-14 15:13:30 +0000 UTCHaving no mercy with her glare for Dax, Sammy scoffed at the latest lame response. “Yes, that! I’m waiting.” Sammy crossed her arms.
Sighing again in frustration, Dax flopped back in her chair, her face pointed at the ceiling. “I’m sorry! I was worried it would upset you… but it’s just something I want and feel would be best… it feels like what I’m supposed to be — to do.”
“If I let you, that is.”
Dax’s head came back down, though she didn’t look into the mirror. “Yeah… if you let me, Goddess.”
It was Sammy’s turn to sigh. “I need more of an explanation than that. You’re not just some random person in the order. Do you realize that?”
“Of course I do, Your Majesty. That’s part of the reason, ya know? You already have Oliver leading more and more Crusaders from Mot Mekess, and he’s a great leader. I want to start my own order. With your blessing.”
“You can start an order while still being a full member of the main church. You’re already a key leader!”
“I know, I know… but this would be in service to a higher calling that I feel strongly about. Besides, it has more deniability, right? It isn’t immediately connected to you. And there might be other benefits of the division. If you would trust me with this…”
Dax finally met her eyes in the mirror and took a deep breath. “I would do everything within me to make it worth it. Make it worthy. To make you say in the end, ‘Dax, I’m glad we did this. Well done.’ I guarantee it, actually. Yeah! I promise you, Goddess. Not only will you not regret it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself! Haha…”
Dax’s attempt at levity at the end hit the wall of Sammy’s unyielding glare, and Dax trailed off with a wince.
Part of Sammy wanted to just sigh and say ‘fine’ because she was an understanding and compassionate person who wanted people to pursue their dreams. But another part felt too much intrinsic loss for a valuable One of Hers. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t really lost — this was a supernatural being’s selfish side wanting all the pieces to line up how she intended for the game.
This was not intended.
Two sides warred and Sammy felt about ready to pop. Practically snarling, she said, “Sure. Yeah, sure. Sure! Whatever! Pft. Why not? You can be the first of the Big Breasted Battler Brigade! The Cutting Crusaders of Cleavage! Brand new full frontal tactics to go on display!”
That’s not what I intended to come out of my mouth! Uggggh! Me and Goddesshood mix into the strangest things.
To the petty barb, Dax was stunned senseless for a moment, blinking in confusion. Then she looked down at her nearly flopped-out bosom and quickly covered it with her hands self-consciously.
Her cheeks turned red as she lifted her head. Nonetheless, she cleared her throat and said with a careful, diplomatic tone, though with sarcastic undertones, “Why, thank you, Madam.” She bowed her head respectfully. “Your generosity knows no bounds. I’ll certainly consider your suggestions carefully.”
‘Always finding her own order to carve out.’ The Fortuneteller shocked Sammy like a sudden ambush with the dark utterance. ‘You left the window open and now she makes a new house. There is nothing for it but to bless, hope, and move forward. We’ll as soon move the world from orbit as get anything from her if she digs in her heels. Make the folly, make the fool’s dress to dance along.’
Oh, it figures! Of course, I have to deal with another critique because of this shit.
Sammy’s eyes narrowed at Dax. “You’re definitely next after Orswyth and Carlisle.”
Dax frowned. “Next? What do you mean-”
Sammy disconnected from the mirror before Dax could finish — another petty maneuver, but it was extremely satisfying. Let her stew or investigate it herself! Meanwhile, Sammy went ahead and approved the transfer request, however much it annoyed her.
Whatever. I’ll hold her to her promise, in any case. Results better flow like liquid fucking gold.
The quest “Pantheon Pillars” is complete. 50 FE (Pantheon) gained. 2 exp gained in [God/Goddess/Demigod] for all Pantheon members (retroactive for new joiners). Pantheon Level 2 reached. Iconic Skill selection available. Grant Prayer (Pantheon) now available.
New Quest unlocked: “Pantheon: First Acts” — Establish 99 Followers, grant 33 prayers or perform miracles, and have your Followers complete 7 total Pantheon-related quests.
Rewards: +50 FE (Pantheon), +2 exp in [God/Goddess/Demigod] for all Pantheon members, Pantheon Level 3 (Domain #2).
Hmm. Prayers and quests. Sissy Red will lead the way with this one, right?
“Yes, I will lead the way with this one,” Redberry soon sent back to her after a query. “Just do… two quests. And we’ll just say ‘some’ prayers. Mostly to be acquainted with it. Though technically, if you want it done quickly, you should max out today.”
“Right,” Sammy replied confidently. “Sure, prayers. Quests. Um… how do I do them, again? Refresh my memory.”
“You’ve done them before, my silly Moth — assigned them to others — just without realizing it. The System doesn’t tell you outright what they get. At best, you’ll get the vaguest idea without hard numbers. Of course, they could just tell you, but most find that a bit crass or even have superstitions about speaking it. ‘Jinxing’ as it were.”
“So… just make something up for people to do within the Pantheon. Something like that?”
“Invoke [Goddess] and your authority within the Pantheon. Possibly other helpful traits if relevant. Use your instincts.”
“Ahhh! Yeah… phew! That’ll probably make it really easy comparatively.”
“Indeed. Do check out the suggested options for the Iconic Skill. You have to pick something relevant conceptually to the Pantheon, regardless.”
“Mmn.” Sammy thought about it for mere moments without even looking at the suggestions. “I’m thinking [Favored Weapon: Staff]. I’ve heard polearms and spears can be used with it, so it isn’t just a wizard thing.”
“Skills are generally broad, so yes, there is a lot of overlap. Someone would need to have basic proficiency with the actual weapon and use the right class. A [Wizard] could use a point on the end of a balanced pole, but not a halberd, not without great penalties to Invoking with their class. A halberd-using [Knight] could make use of that Favored Weapon skill as a kind of adaptive technique, though it would be unlikely a specialist doesn’t already use the Polearm version.”
“Oh. So, useful in some cases. Got it.”
“It’s a fine choice. It would be beneficial to a lot of your members. Clerics, druids, wizards, they could all benefit.”
“Yeah, and me, too. Hehe.”
“The most important member of all.”
“Alright, thanks again, Red. I’ll catch you later.”
A playful mental wink flashed through Sammy’s mind. “Only if I let you, Moth.”
Before anything else, she checked out [Grant Prayer (Pantheon)]:
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Grant Prayer (Pantheon)
3 times per day, or for 1 Pantheon FE (to a total maximum of 10+ Pantheon level times per day), any member of the Pantheon may grant aid to any mortal conducting in matters related to the Pantheon’s Edicts. This adds 1 Effective Class Level for the purposes of the request and generically protects them in addition, providing plus 1 Effective Levels to Armor as a (Pantheon) modifier. The latter effect lasts for a maximum of 1 hour.
The mortal will sense a divine presence granting the boon, and a nascent two-way communication will persist for 24 hours (at the same level as an initial Follower).
This buff is compatible with Religious Experience buffs, but not other Prayer Boon buffs.
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Okay, fairly self-explanatory. Hmm, (Pantheon) modifier? That’s pretty unique, so it should stack with a lot of other stuff. Cool. Now we just have to find out how to grant this to people… eh. Later.
Sammy also glanced at the ‘suggestions’ the System offered for Iconic Skills, which was actually labeled ‘Pre-Approved Selections.’ Survival. Acting. Leadership. Brawling. Sentry. Tactics. Fortification. Hunting. Masonry. Carpentry. Farming…
So much basic-ass shit! I guess that’s the name of the game for independent communities.
She went with [Favored Weapon: Staff] and it was approved immediately.
Bada bing, bada boom! Well, no time like the present, right?
Sammy immediately organized lessons and mass sparring sessions to commence at the mutual site where the gift exchange had occurred — it continued to be the premier focal point of Pantheon activity, fast becoming a village unto itself.
For her part, Sammy arranged a sparring session even more immediately for herself, sensing she was already on the cusp from her own frequent use and experience. Fortunately, they already had a staff master in Geirkos, the [Crusader] Remus, who’d been training Orswyth to adapt his polearm specialty to the use of his new, necessary Relic staff.
Two birds with one stone. Might as well invite Orswyth. Afterward, we can do that other thing.
Though already busy in the morning, Sammy insisted Orswyth show up to begin honing his own skills to advance them eventually. He’d already obtained [Favored Weapon: Staff (Expert)], so it was going to take a while to bump it even further to (Master). Master normally required level 10 in a singular class, so the benefit of a ‘bonus potential level’ from Iconic Skills was quite significant.
Getting advanced lessons and a training session from a master of the staff was a tremendous benefit to Sammy, and due to her durability, armor, and levels, Remus was able to go nearly full-force cracking on her without any risk. He even cracked a practice staff on her shoulder early on, at which point he called for a sturdier sort of staff.
Meanwhile, she did hold back on her own strength, though it was a moot point considering she could never hit him.
I rely on dirty tricks, cheats, and gambles too much to handle someone versed in straight, honorable duels. Besides that, the lack of stakes seems to debuff me. Knights are just gifted at the formal stuff.
What really mattered, though, was she learned from every hit, every block, and dodge, with Remus pointing out the ‘how and why’ to everything judiciously. Orswyth also offered commentary from the sidelines or demonstrated his own tricks of the trade from a different perspective.
The skill [Favored Weapon: Staff] has been added as a non-class selection.
Sammy went a little longer beyond the point of getting the skill, to get a leg up on (Expert). If she wanted to go for it, she’d need to do a lot of training and utilization in combat, thanks to not having a truly dedicated martial class to lean on. [Goddess] was great for the basic raw levels, but it quite simply did not have class skills. [Wizard] and [Bard] had precisely zero chances of having [Favored Weapons] at all, and [Rogue] did have specialty varieties, but not Staff.
Sammy eventually broke off when she noticed Remus getting fatigued. After a short break, a bit of training commenced between Remus and Orswyth, which Sammy observed with diligent interest, as they were two highly skilled users showing off advanced maneuvers that looked like planned movie choreography to Sammy’s eyes. But it definitely wasn’t.
It was nearly all a series of blocks and whiffs in an unending sequential torrent. Remus had to work to teach Orswyth, as he more than held his own, but then again, Remus had to pull every strike due to the old man’s persistent strength debuff. In a real fight, he’d just overpower him physically…
At one point, they did address this, Remus stepping up his strength application to help train Orswyth to avoid it. Mostly this was with ‘empowered dodges’ essentially, utilizing the staff to deflect while side-stepping or retreating, and avoiding any super direct hits that would damn his chances. Orswyth did not always succeed in this realistic simulation of combat, and he kept himself protected with wound negations by necessity.
Still, it was heartening to see Orswyth stall and avoid a superior foe realistically, without always draining the negations. He had really accepted his weakness and worked around it.
Thanks, Remus. This might end up keeping our Big Bird’s head on his shoulders one day.
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