Building a magic system on threat of destruction

Jack woke to light and sound. It was refreshing to not suddenly become conscious in a white void or a basement, instead, a quaint and mostly empty room greeted him. There was one window and bed, a small chair, and a table in the corner. No other furnishing adorned the room, save for a magic light in the far corner of the room. The sun had resumed shining brightly in the sky and the windows let in sunbeams that seemed to light the room unnaturally well. Outside Jack could hear Riniox barking out harsh-sounding words and could see people scrambling in all directions. He was too far away to hear what she was saying, but it seemed somewhat urgent. He rose from his bed and moved towards the door when there was a know. He opened the door and Jeler was standing there.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"It's Lexen, he's disappeared." Jeler had a grim look on his face, quickly escorting Jack downstairs.

The bore-bot trio weren't on the ground floor but Jeler didn't seem to be looking for them. He brought Jack outside and straight to Riniox.

Riniox nodded at the two of them before addressing Jack. "You alright?"

"Yeah, what's going on with all this?" Jack gestured to the mercenaries scrambling around, gathering horses and packs into an area.

"Lexen apparently left during the night. I'm sending a group after him to confirm that he really did leave."

Jack was confused. "Do you think he's just hiding somewhere? Why do you need to make sure he left?"

Riniox eyed him for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm worried that someone killed him during the night and is trying to cover it up."

Jack was shocked. Kill Lexen? The man was weird and slightly offputting, but why would anyone kill him? Even aside from that, the way Riniox had addressed the issue, it sounded like she genuinely believed someone had killed the demon. "I don't understand, why would someone do that? He just seemed like a really devoted guy traveling with some friends and priests."

Riniox and Jeler both looked at him surprised. "You don't know who he was?" Riniox asked. "That was the man who made it possible to kill the King of all demons. He's the most famous person in the world after you right now. The rest of his group that's still here? They are all the ones who killed the late King Plexion."

Jack was once again struck by emotion. Those people were the reason he was here. Lexen was the reason he was here. They had killed Plexion, the demon spirit that Jack had met before. "But...didn't the High Deity want people to do that?"

Riniox sighed again, "Look, Jack, I've got to organize this search party then go interrogate about thirty different people. That's a really complicated topic and I just don't have time right now." As she said the words, some of the horses suddenly spooked and reared up. Riniox darted over there and began barking out more orders, leaving Jack and Jeler by themselves.

Jeler gently guided Jack away from the working mercenaries before two priests from Lexens group ran up and kneeled before him. "Mighty servant of the most High of Deities, please bestow upon us the knowledge of where Brother Lexen has gone. We wish to join his holy pilgrimage and spread the system to every soul of Drowl."

Jack was taken aback, the intensity of their words frightening him a bit. He was about to respond before Jeler cut in, "Leave Jack alone, go and find him yourselves!"

The two priests backed off slightly, shooting dirty looks at Jeler before walking away. Jeler practically growled at them in frustration. "Couple of bloodsuckers those two. You alright Jack?"

Jack was feeling slightly overwhelmed. The people he had met so far had been kind enough, or at least neutral towards him. The worship that Lexens group had shown towards him was extremely uncomfortable, it made Jack feel like some kind of scam artist. He wasn't some powerful servant of God or whatever they thought, he was just a guy trying to survive. "I think so," he told Jeler. "Just...a lot of things happening all at once."

Jeler nodded understandingly before looking around. "Follow me," he said, gesturing for Jack to walk with him.

Jeler led the two of them up a winding path to a hill near the entrance to the valley. There was a man there watching a break in the cliffs that surrounded the valley. Jeler said something to him and the man glanced at Jack before bowing slightly and walking off toward the buildings below. There was a lone palm tree at the top of this hill, light shade on the ground from where it blocked the sun's rays. Short green grass covered the hillside and a gentle breeze blew by, smelling faintly of salt water. It was a beautiful day, small clouds dotting the sky and drifting lazily around the sun. Jack took in the sight and a measure of peace came over him. Jeler plopped down under the tree and patted the ground next to him for Jack to sit as well. Jack sat next to Jeler and waited for the cat man to speak.

After a long minute, Jack felt a bit awkward so he asked a question. "Why did you bring me up here Jeler?"

"...This spot always helps me feel better. I feel like I can get away from it all, you know? When things get too tough, or I'm trying to avoid RIniox, I come to a place that puts my mind at ease." Jeler smiled slightly as he spoke, reminiscing over some memories. "Anywhere we get stationed, I always find a quiet spot where I can just relax a bit. People call me lazy or soft, but I think most people don't appreciate peace of mind."

Jack listened to Jeler speak before turning his gaze back to the valley. They could still see the compound, but even Riniox's voice was a distant thing here. It was disconnected, some natural barrier between where Jeler worked and relaxed. Jack could understand that, he had never felt like he could relax at work. Every job he had ever had tried to make their employees get along and 'be a family' but Jack had always felt uncomfortable. This was a beautiful spot and he could see why Jeler liked it. Jack didn't know if his mechanical body could hold tension, but he felt some pressure release as he allowed himself to relax. The people, the pressure of building the system, his life being in danger...He felt like he had to sprint the whole way and never stop. This though? This was good.

The two of them sat there for what must have been an hour, not speaking. Just sitting and enjoying the beautiful day, not wanting to ruin it. Unfortunately, all things must come to an end, and Jack wanted answers. "Jeler, why would someone want to kill Lexen?"

Jeler took out one of his knives and studied it for a moment before tossing it in the air and catching it again. He didn't look at Jack as he spoke, continuing to juggle his blade instead. "Because he killed someone that people admired."

Jack didn't respond so Jeler continued. "Plexion was...well he was the most outspoken person in the world. He claimed that the High Deity was overbearing and that we should be free to do as we wished without having someone peering over our shoulders and whispering instructions. He made this huge speech to the whole country, calling out the High Deity as wrong and bad. And nothing happened to him, there was no lighting from the skies, no curses or punishments from the God of gods. I hear it was incredible, people cheering and going nuts. Everyone thinks it at some point or another, but no one actually talks about that stuff. He was a hero to so many, giving voice to thousands upon thousands of people." Jeler caught his knife again but didn't throw it. He placed his hands in his lap and just stared at the blade. "Then the High Deity had people go and kill him, he even rewarded the whole world for it. There are a lot of people who don't want the reward or who would love to see Lexen and his group dead for what they did."

Jack absorbed this information stoically. He had seen firsthand how petty and awful Deis could be but didn't think that he would treat his own people that badly. But the end result of the actions he had taken had meant the death of someone who had thought of Deis as a bad guy. Then instead of reprimanding the killers or acknowledging the feelings of Plexion's supporters, he gave out a huge reward instead. Jack had put himself in the position of that reward out of a desire to survive, but he realized that he had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Jack might become a target for people who loved and supported Plexion. He suddenly realized that was the reason he had been given Jeler as a bodyguard, Riniox had predicted that there might be trouble and moved to protect him.

"How does Riniox feel about this?" Jack asked.

"She's fed up. She sympathized with Plexion, but what can you do about it? She has people to care for and a job to do. Those things come first for her, taking care of the Battered Bracers is more important than getting personal revenge." Jeler said, still not looking at Jack.

"...And you, Jeler? How do you feel about this?"

Jeler didn't answer for a long moment. "I think that nothing I do will ever affect the High Deity. I don't think he cares if we're upset because there's nothing we can do to him."

The two of the fell into silence as Jack considered the words. Jeler wanted some kind of revenge against Deis, not the people who just did what they were asked to do. Could Jack help him do that? He wanted to escape from under Deis's thumb, but if he could punch the smug God in the metaphorical face first he would feel pretty good. Mentally, Jack added a task to his 'to-do' list. Help Jeler and the people of this world get their revenge.