Apocalypse respawn

The following days passed as they seized every opportunity in the area. Each of them had now benefited once from the opportunities in both zones. The return portals activated again, and Rargnes and Sengrar passed before the surprised gaze of the invaders, who expected to see a gang. What they saw were tied slaves of their origin following Sengrar.

They were to be sold to save up for buying new equipment and mana potions.

The sale concluded, and as they walked through a slave street corridor, Rargnes said, "I'm going to check something out."

"Aren't we supposed to head to another portal?" asked Sengrar. "To get stronger and defeat you-know-who?"

The portals were only open for a few hours during the tutorial; after that, they would need to wait for three days.

Rargnes looked around warily. "It's better to wait a little. I have something to check first. It'll give us a break. Either way, we'll have time to plunder the remaining zones."

There were only five portals - 15 days were needed to plunder all the zones before the end of the tutorial and opportunities. After that, they would simply have to go to the commander and find a way not to get killed by the bullets.

That's why he would need to make a lot of money to buy strong armor and gain energy by killing invaders.

"Can I come with you?"

"If you want."

A guard was never too much in this world, especially with Rargnes' physique. Sengrar probably wanted to learn more about magic. Rargnes might soon run out of topics to explain to him, given how quickly Sengrar was picking them up again.

This thought made him covet his powers even more.

They walked through the city that was filled with countless people. The town was more densely populated than his hometown. Houses were packed tightly together, some leaning, almost collapsing.

Rargnes scrutinized them closely and saw new life in them. For a moment... he would have liked to rest there when he had the time. These filthy buildings soon gave way to more spacious ones and paved streets. An immense temple built with countless carved stones stood in the center, next to the market.

Rargnes moved through the crowd toward it. As they entered the temple, Sengrar questioned him several times in a hushed voice: 

"What did you see in the trial to change so much?"

Rargnes kept quiet.

The clergyman briefly repeated Alain's words with more mysticism and mystery. He invoked their fear and then urged them to acquire energy in the wastelands after the tutorial's end, fearful of the system.

This religion revered the king as a perfect being who ignored itself - he didn't know how to translate it; the word meant both himself and herself. Thus, they had to accumulate energy for it to emerge, awoken by their radiance.

It was a significant difference from the village's faith. In it they had energy thanks to the king.

"The system betrayed the king with the prime minister," a strange statement to make, considering the prime minister ruled over the noble, but Rargnes never studied that land's politics. "One day, he will wake up! For that, sacrifice is necessary! All demons coming are proof of this! The possessions of goblins, too!"

He continued by announcing, one by one, the names of goblins considered to have lost their nature close to the king and having fallen as demons, thus able to tell lies.

They considered that a quality - thus, their death and discrimination might be powerful enough to awaken the king - while the goblins, especially Redstar was terrified by such goblins. 

They would make them untruthy, destroying their reputation.

"Get as much energy as possible! Honor your noble! He will win the eternal struggle of this era only if you sacrifice yourselves for the good king and not the demon! Thus, the king will be happy and wake up."

As people left the church in droves, Rargnes approached the priest. He waited on the side until the priest addressed all the locals, then, being the last ones, approached him.

"What is this about?"

"I didn't really understand this notion of sacrifice..."

"And I'm not surprised." The priest stared at him, then glanced at Sengrar with a smile. "It's the very difference between you and your companion. One of you is inherently pure, the other corrupted."

Rargnes blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Simply that you come from a bad place. You are a person of the wastelands, aren't you? These places have no basic energy. They are creations of the system, but the fact that you are here proves your worth."

After discussion, it seemed this religion first honored the noble, then goblins, invaders, emerging ones like Rargnes, and finally, humans from the wastelands.

"Sacrifice," the priest began, "is simply what happens when you die: since you are here, you will experience it! It's about bringing energy to those who can influence the king! So you must entrust them with your power to pass on goodwill to the king!"

"And we might entrust it to demons?"

"See! Demons hide within us!" his eyes widened. "they might take goblins or people as long as they take the energy!"

"And is this connected to the goblins -"

The priest immediately interrupted him. "Goblins have their own beliefs and temples. As for corrupted goblins, it is because demons take the best."

He remembered their hierarchy of honor.

The discussion continued among legends. This immediately made him think of the village and the particular energy they possessed, divided between pure and impure - it might be related to the believers of this world. They also feared the acceleration of the apocalypse by demons.

"But have we ever seen the king?"

The priest signaled no. "The king is hidden, just as demons hide in goblins to mimic him. They want to mimic him so ardently that they want to do good in his place and lose energy foolishly!"