Adam was sitting in a well made velvet chair in a small study. Books were present along the various shelves of the room, and a large oriental window granted a view of the training field and obstacle course down below. A cup of untouched, almost room temperature coffee sat on a desk next to him. He was fidgeting in his seat as Juhend continued to lecture him and Gusto, who was in a similar position in another chair beside him.
“And another thing, never listen to Tiny! Who in their right mind would climb down into the cellar of a stranger, knowing that there is a drake inside? Are you daft? Have you no common sense?”
Juhend sighed and pinched his glabella, his concern etched on his face.
“I am glad you two made it out safely, I apologize for thinking that a simple mission to pick up a book from a bookstore would somehow go smoothly. My divination beforehand did not come up as the mission being dangerous. I apologize for my oversight you two.”
Gusto coughed lightly.
“Mr. Sureb-”
“But you two clearly cannot be sent out on missions without further assistance from Hellig. I had thought that it would be a nice chance for the two of you to talk, given the situation with you and Jezebel, Gusto. A simple mission to collect a book! And my divination didn’t even pick anything up!”
Adam glanced at Gusto, who wore a look of shock on his face. While none of the group had necessarily known Juhend Sureb for a long period of time, they had spent a significant portion of time studying under his tutelage recently, and had even all gone with him on the Shift to the yuletide Realm earlier. None of them had ever seen him display so much concern, let alone raise his voice.
Juhend sat down heavily in a leather chair on the other side of a wooden desk cluttered with notes. Among them was a notebook with a wolf head design on the front.
“Let me be clear. I do not blame you two for the structural damage to the road, nor do I have an issue with you two killing a monster. You were defending yourselves, and as Passengers, you have an obligation to put monsters down when you come across them, so long as it is within your power. We are fortunate that it somehow was.”
Juhend glanced at Adam with that last sentence, almost imperceptibly pausing as he did so.
“However, I, as your mentor, have failed in my duties. The internal bleeding that you have received from the overuse of your powers Gusto, will require concerted efforts at healing beyond that of normal Passengers. It isn’t simply mending bones, you overused your abilities on top of taking a serious injury, we need to let you recover before you train again. At least a week.”
“Adam, your situation is even more odd. If I am to somehow believe the two of you, you managed to invoke the powers of numerous Realms in quick succession, without ritual components, sensory stimulation, or divine blessings. You then utilized these powers on pure instinct, with no recollection of doing so, in order to vastly overpower a monster that had just managed to seriously wound a trained Chosen. Is that correct?”
Adam gulped. It felt as if he was being lectured by a father figure.
“Y-yes, Mr. Juhend. I have no memory of the encounter once I prayed to the Many Winged Angel.”
Gusto shot Adam a glance and raised his hand. Juhend sighed and motioned for Gusto to speak.
“Mr. Sureb, Adam displayed powers beyond not just what I have seen, but beyond what I have read about. Its one thing for a Passenger to become a Chosen based on instinct during times of great stress, that is a documented phenomenon, but… Adam… You didn’t pray to the Many Winged Angel. I don’t know what you said, but it sounded like the words that come out of our mouths when we Shift.”
“Adam, you don’t remember the prayer you spoke?”
Juhend’s face was grizzled with concern over hearing the news.
“No, sir. I’m sorry, I really did pray to the Many Winged Angel though.”
Juhend stared at Adam for a long, uncomfortable moment before sighing and standing up.
“I can’t detect any corruption from you at all. It actually looks like you’re somehow less corrupted than before you left. Still, out of an abundance of caution, you should see the Emaciated Seraph in the tower here before I send you on your next mission. You are both dismissed.”
Adam and Gusto hastily got up, eager to be free of the complex dynamic they found themselves in.
After the pair left the room, Juhend Sureb, the head exorcist for the largest church in the cosmos, and a Passenger with many decades of experience in tackling unprecedented phenomenon, knelt down to pray to his Angel for guidance.
…
Jezebel Eremit had finally finished moving into her new house. The structure was relatively spacious, with three bedrooms (one of which was quickly repurposed into a drawing room), a large kitchen connected with an open floorplan to the living room, a small study, and a nicely sized garden. She resided at 1313 Everest Street in the town of Pasmerktas.
Pasmerktas itself was one of the cities that had sprouted up near Diell City upon the Empire’s founding. It boasted a healthy lumber industry thanks to nearby forests and its local economy was further backed up by noticeable local investment into education and finance, allowing a larger portion of the city’s population to be middle class than the average for the Empire. Its relatively small size when compared to other major urban centers in the area allowed for a peaceful, almost small-town atmosphere.
Only 37,000 or so people lived in Pasmerktas, though it did still have a train station that ran into Diell City a couple of times per day. The ride was about an hour, and stopped in numerous other villages and towns along the way before hitting the main metropolitan area. All other things being equal, Pasmerktas was a gem of the Empire, boasting some of the highest literacy rates and life expectancies in the Physical World.
For Jezebel, Pasmerktas was the perfect blend of city amenities and a peaceful, fresh start.
She had bought her house on Everest Street with the funds given to her by the Emperor. She had bought her entire house for 100 Gold Heads- a sizable sum that would have taken her decades to save for as a maid. Still, she had 9,900 Gold Heads remaining, in addition to her other savings. These were, of course, placed securely into multiple different bank accounts, and she planned to invest most of it into fledgling companies once she had time to hire an accountant and an attorney.
Jezebel had chosen a house on Everest Street due to its middle class nature. She had no desire to cement herself as a nouveau riche, nor did she want to try her hand at breaking into the nobility scene. Jezebel wanted to live a quiet life away from the drama of politics and Passengers. The house at 1313 Everest Street, with its half refurbished drawing room and its lack of books in the study, was absolutely perfect.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Jezebel was settling various cups, plates, bowls and utensils away when she heard a knock on her door. Walking over to open it, she was met with a pregnant woman in a pink dress, and a man in a fashionable suit and half top hat.
The man, who looked to be in his 40s, had slightly silvered hair beneath his hat with deep blue eyes, and positioned much of his weight on a solid, red wooden cane in his hand. The woman, who looked to be significantly younger, perhaps in her 20s, was clearly pregnant, with light blonde hair and hazel eyes that were strikingly rich.
“Why hello there, neighbor! We're the Verdammts from next door! We saw you moving in the past couple of days and thought to stop by!”
The man took off his hat and bowed, showcasing a bald spot at the back of his head.
“My name is Pierwszy, and this is my lovely wife, Anden.”
The pregnant lady gave a slight curtsy.
Jezebel, who was wearing a dark blue dress, curtsied back in response.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Verdammt. I’m Jezebel Eremit, I just got to Pasmerktas from Diell City.”
“Oh! Anden actually grew up in Diell City, we met when I was giving a lecture at the Diell Institute of Art. She was studying art history there, and I happen to be an expert on the subject.”
Jezebel smiled and gestured with her arm, welcoming the neighbors in.
“Please, why don’t the two of you come in and have some tea or coffee? I haven’t fully finished moving my things yet, so please do excuse the mess.”
Pierwszy shook his head with a bright smile.
“Unfortunately we do have to decline, we’re actually on our way to a nearby clinic. Anden is due to give birth any day now, and I want us to be in the building as soon as it happens! Though we will be hosting a gathering after the baby is born and would love to see you and your partner there, Ms. Eremit.”
Jezebel’s smile imperceptibly froze on her face.
“I’ll be sure to make it, though I’m afraid I am newly freed of romantic attachment.”
“Ah, I understand. Well, we shall at least see you once the babe is born. It was very nice meeting you, miss.”
With that, Anden curtsied very lightly once again, and Pierwszy removed his hat and bowed. The pair of lovers walked down the street, and Jezebel slowly exhaled as she closed the door. Walking upstairs and into her drawing room, she placed a canvas on her easel, dipped her paintbrushes in streaks of red, black and white, and began to paint until the evening sun set below the horizon many hours later.
She unknowingly, perhaps guided by her subconscious, painted an image of a babe in a white crib.
…
Adam was in the midst of his morning archery training when Juhend came out to the training field, with Hellig close behind. Putting down his bow and wiping sweat off of his face, Adam smiled at the pair.
“Good morning, Mr. Juhend. Good morning, Hellig. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you, how was Martes?”
Hellig shook his head solemnly. “Not great, Donnerstag is still mostly in ruins, and multiple other cities have been hit by terrorist attacks as a result of cultist activities. Monsters are also much more common in the country…”
Juhend tapped his cane against the grassy ground which, despite being wet with dew, and also being dirt, still somehow made the familiar sound of a metal cane striking a metal floor.
“Hellig, Adam, I’m sending the two of you on a mission this afternoon. As you know, the point of this task force is to investigate the attacks on Diell City by a cult that worships the Whispering Maiden. We have discovered a slew of monstrous entities in a relatively small geographical area in a Realm long believed to have ties to one of the Maiden’s Cherubim. I need the two of you to scope out the region in question and report back your findings.”
Adam tilted his head, a questioning look appearing on his face.
“Sir, after last time…?”
Juhend nodded.
“That’s why I’m sending Hellig with you this time. He has plenty of experience. You are both free to engage monsters while you are there, though try to not engage any cultists if you can, many cultists are low grade Passengers, and I have no desire to put you in harm’s way twice in a row.”
Juhend reached into his suit pocket and retrieved a small brown envelope.
“This envelope contains a powdered mixture of various plants from this Realm. It is capable of providing stronger sensory stimulation than the water from the lake here. If you need to use it, use it.”
Adam accepted the envelope with gratitude.
“Additionally, I will allow you to recite an honorific name should you come into grave danger. I can guarantee the entity shall respond.”
Adam, who had just put the envelope into his pocket, blurted out
“An honorific name, as in, the name of a divine being?”
Juhend nodded, his face grave.
“Indeed. An honorific name is the title of a being with some measure of divinity. The number of lines in a name corresponds to the position of the being in the divine hierarchy. One line denotes a Cherubim, two lines denote a Demigod. Four lines denote a True Divinity, a Devil or an Angel. Five lines is used when contacting the Many Winged Angel, the leader of the Accepted Pantheon.”
“What about three lines? And why do divinities have so many? I had thought they just had one name?”
Juhend shook his head.
“You are highly unlikely to ever encounter a being with three lines in their honorific name, it is a specifically rare type of existence. To answer your question regarding multiple lines, you can think of it like sending a letter to an address.”
Juhend materialized a letter out of thin air and started writing on it.
“When a being has divinity, it is capable of answering prayers. The more specific and directed the prayer requests are, the easier it is for the divinity to hear them. Divine beings do not have omniscience, and thus rely on worshippers praying to them in order to grant access to their senses or provide blessings. Of course, this must be related to the divine authority that the divinity oversees. The God of the Blasted Sea will not manifest light for you, unless you perhaps count a large amount of lightning as being sufficient.”
Juhend began to write on the letter.
“A Cherubim is like writing to a specific city. The message might eventually get to its destination successfully, but there are any number of other actors that may be able to intercept the letter. For this reason, an honorific name must be incredibly precise so that it is not able to be intercepted.”
Juhend tossed the letter to the wind, where it fluttered about.
“Unfortunately, even with the most precise of honorific names, a single- or double-line honorific is usually difficult to receive an answer from. Partial divine beings, like Cherubim or Demigods, have very limited power to work with. The more lines you have in an honorific name, the more precise you are, and thus, the more likely it is to get to your destination. Most rituals involving True Divinities only invoke three lines, as it is sufficiently precise and capable. Even in the upper echelons of the various churches, we do not know the full honorifics of the various True Divinities. To do so would be to know their entire authority and purpose.”
Juhend waved his hand, causing the letter to return to him.
“I am able to guarantee that this honorific name will grant you a response, so long as you have something from this Realm on you at the time. It is as follows:
Exorcist of the Angelic Wings,
Seer of Intuition and Fortitude.”
Adam’s eyes widened.
So he is a He! Mr. Juhend is a Demigod!
“Remember, you must be sure that you are within close proximity of items from this Realm for this honorific name to properly work, is that clear?”
Adam nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Get changed and ready, you’ll leave this afternoon, and I want you to read up on various medicinal herbs before you two depart. Oh, and make sure to see the Cherubim before you leave."
