Path of the Deathless 323 Paragon [I]

“Father. Is it possible for a Pathbearer to beco a god?”

“Why do you ask, Udraal? Be honest. I can see that glint of ambition behind your eyes.”

“Gods don’t die. Gods don’t need to face the end. Gods don’t even need to split their souls. The Great One is a god. Even death could not eat them. If I could beco like the Great One, then maybe… there will be no end. And I will have no enemies.”

“Ah. Dear boy, you have no idea how incorrect the words you just spoke were. But I am glad you have such thoughts. It is good to consider all possibilities and realities. But it is just as important to face and feel the weight of all consequence. There are many things in which a mortal is different from a Divinity. Not all of them good, not all of them bad. To beco divine ans to sever yourself from the world more and more. You beco an island, a place for mortals to draw power from. You might be able to bestow upon them your Blessings and infuse them with your strength, but a Domain is a lonely thing to possess. It is not like a skill where you can use it regardless of circumstance, but rather it is the source—a wellspring that you must feed, lest you starve.”

“Starve?”

“Becoming a god makes you absolute within your own realm. But your realm is defined by Domains. If you are a god of war, then your followers and Avatars must be practitioners of war, or else you will shrivel and fade. And to perform an act that goes against the perpetuation of war will then deal indelible damage to your soul, potentially even ensuring your destruction. Gods are icons, my son. An iconography is vulnerable to defacent above all other damages. The power and privileges you gain co at the cost of freedom and agency. You cannot simply be pragmatic. You must commit, you must devote, for you are a god, and before you have any faithful filling your churches, you must be faithful to yourself. For what god stands as a heretic before their own Divinity?”

“Is that why you never beca a god, father? Because you want to remain free?”

“It is one of the many reasons. But also, becoming a god is not enough. You will be hunted, and should you lose your faithful and be severed from your final Avatar, then you will find yourself trapped amidst your realm of glory. Slowly, the light will fade, and finally, you too will be vanquished with it. You do not escape strife by becoming a god. You are condemned to it eternally. For when you et soone of an opposing Domain, or when you clash with soone who shares a Domain, you must fight. You must. The System yearns for strife, and two absolutes cannot coexist.”

“But what if you beco a Demigod. Both a Pathbearer and a Divinity? Like the Composer.”

“Ah, but she was born to such a legacy. There is no road between for us, Udraal. Divinity is absolute.”

“But we can split our souls, can’t we? So why not try? Why not steal the wonders of both?”

“Because if that is possible, then it is beyond our knowledge to achieve.”

“For now, Father. Only for now.”

—Udraal and Valor Thann

323

Paragon [I]

Path Evolution Reached!

Path Evolved: Archer > Paragon

Feat Evolved: Smite the Wicked (Unique) > Purge the Dark (Unique) - Allows the Paragon to infuse their attacks with Heroism that scours souls bearing a legend of wickedness. The fla you bear burns brighter with every vile soul you purge.

Feat Gained: Lend Thy Light (Unique) - Allows the Paragon to dwell within the soul of a virtuous Pathbearer. The Paragon will ignite the Pathbearer’s soul and cauterize their wounds while infusing them with Heroism. Your virtuous presence will banish the presence of evil within a Pathbearer or immolate a being of pure wickedness directly.

Skill Gained: Icon of Virtue (Master) 1

Skill Gained: The Dark Flees the Dawn (Unique) 1

Skill Evolution: Propagating Salvo (Master) > These Arrows, My mory (Heroic)

Skill Evolution: Mark of the Seeking Clairvoyant (Master) > The Prey that was Promised (Heroic)

Skill Fusion: Veilpiercer (Master) - The Shattered Star Unites (Unique) > Shard of Exalted Fla (Unique)

Curse Lost: [Error—Path Altered]

Skill Lost: Necromancy

Skill Replaced: Necromancy (Adept) > Rembrancer of the Fallen (Unique)

Skill Lost: Faith (Common)

Reconstructing Skills…

Na: Adam Arrow

Age: 20

Race: Changeling

Path:

Paragon

Domain:

Heroism

Feats [2/4]

Purge the Dark (Unique) - Allows the Paragon to infuse their attacks with Heroism that scours souls bearing a legend of wickedness. The fla you bear burns brighter with every vile soul you purge.

Lend Thy Light (Unique) - Allows the Paragon to dwell within the soul of a virtuous Pathbearer. The Paragon will ignite the Pathbearer’s soul and cauterize their wounds while infusing them with Heroism. Your virtuous presence will banish the presence of evil within a Pathbearer or immolate a being of pure wickedness directly.

Skills:

Climbing (Common) 9

Swimming (Common) 9

Cooking (Common) 4

Cleaning (Common) 12

Sewing (Common) 13

Knot Tying (Common) 15

Survival (Common) 16

Whittling (Common) 18

Leatherworking (Common) 2

Deception (Common) 1

… (Expand 43 Skills)

Angloish Literature (Initiate) 44

Foraging (Initiate) 41

Sketching (Initiate) 48

Pearlese (Initiate) 24

Bow Maintenance (Initiate) 44

Stealth (Initiate) 35

Camouflage (Initiate) 36

Tracking (Initiate) 37

Trapping (Initiate) 38

Bird Calls (Initiate) 39

Weather Prediction (Initiate) 40

Herbology (Initiate) 42

Anatomy (Initiate) 43

First Aid (Initiate) 44

Haggling (Initiate) 45

Gambling (Initiate) 46

Fletching (Initiate) 46

Star Navigation (Initiate) 41

Cryomancy (Initiate) 10

Pyromancy (Initiate) 1

Aeromancy (Initiate) 1

Acrobatics (Initiate) 39

… (Expand 61 Skills)

Pankration (Adept) 51

Historian of Old Arika (Adept) 67

Geographical Intuition (Adept) 88

Number Cruncher (Adept) 90

Physics Simulator (Adept) 91

Evasion Sense (Adept) 93

Twin-Fang Dagger Style (Adept) 94

Bladedrifter (Adept) 94

Slinglauncher (Adept) 97

Griffonback Rider (Adept) 97

Shieldbearer (Adept) 98

Stonemason Apprentice (Adept) 94

Cognitive Therapy (Adept) 99

Wine Snob (Adept) 100 [Skill Evolution Imminent]

… (Expand 33 Skills)

Icon of Virtue (Master) 1

These Arrows, My mory (Heroic) 201

The Prey that was Promised (Heroic) 203

Commander’s Foresight (Heroic) 166

Herald of the Deepest Fathoms (Heroic) 188

Phoenix Riposte (Heroic) 144

Seer of Horizons (Heroic) 200 [Skill Evolution Imminent]

Vectors of the Eternal Ascent (Heroic) 266

Rembrancer of the Fallen (Unique) 21

Shard of Exalted Fla (Unique) 207

The Dark Flees the Dawn (Unique) 1

Blessings:

Hero of a Thousand Fates (Unique - Standalone) - Stranger from afar, co to this verdant valley of stories and strife to walk your own Path in defiance of greater plots or divine sches. You bear a mutilated fragnt of a Highest Power within your soul. You have survived the will of the absolute, and erged whole despite them. The taint of the gods slides from you like water off stone. Walk your own Path, Hero. A fate all your own awaits at the end.

Curses:

[Immune]

Adam didn’t have the words. His Skill sheet had changed dramatically—in ways he couldn’t fathom. An ocean of questions drowned him.

Why was his race different now? What in the Broken Moon was a Changeling? How did his Path go from Archer to Paragon? Why did he have a Domain now? That was the purview of gods—and he wasn’t a god… was he? His smiting Feat had changed as well—it wasn’t just a single shot of destruction now. But channeling Heroism with his attacks? Getting stronger with every evil-doer he purged? Once more, that was sothing that a god might be able to do. And that wasn't even getting into losing his Faith Skill and seeing his Necromancy change… to whatever Rembrancer of the Fallen was.

And then there were his other Skill Evolutions and alterations. His flesh didn't feel so different, but his soul was changing. It was blooming around him. The Shattered Star that once hovered behind his head now fused over his body like an exoskeleton or a regalia, bleeding down from the constellation that rested upon his crown. A small incandescent dawn flared bright, a single spark over his crown. It cycled between white-gold and azure, and a faint spectral set of wings lingered beside Adam, spreading just wide enough that it made him seem like so kind of holy harbinger.

A sudden gasp of pain from the Culturist pulled Adam out of his ruminations. The new Paragon’s eyes went wide as the Legendary orc combusted before him. A brilliant blaze danced upon the Culturist’s body, yet it bore no heat and charred no skin. Instead, it boiled the Culturist’s soul, and the longer the exalted fla kindled the orc, the stronger Adam felt; the brighter the radiance around him grew.

Lend Thy Light (Unique) - Allows the Paragon to dwell within the soul of a virtuous Pathbearer. The Paragon will ignite the Pathbearer’s soul and cauterize their wounds while infusing them with Heroism. Your virtuous presence will banish the presence of evil within a Pathbearer or immolate a being of pure wickedness directly.

Trailing wisps of darkness oozed out from the Culturist’s being as he trembled and collapsed to his knees, the evil inside the orc sailing through the air as blackened rivers, like locusts fleeing from a star of judgnt. But the Culturist himself remained mostly unhard. Parts of him simred, but the bulk of his body glowed brighter when bathed in Adam’s light. If anything, the orc felt… purified. Cleansed of outside shadows. Suddenly, through his connection to the Culturist, a distant rumble of hateful outrage ebbed against Adam's being. It droned in his mind, but then, along with the darkness seeping out of the Culturist, it dissipated and fell silent.

The Challenger has taken note of your transgression, Adam Arrow.

“What… did you just… do to …” The Culturist was gasping for breath like a Pathless who'd just run a marathon, and his voice held a quaver of disbelief. He looked down at his smoking hands, opened and closed his fingers, and finally, almost unwillingly, gazed upon the radiant visage of Adam Arrow.

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The Dark Flees the Dawn (Unique) 1 > 3

Adam regarded his new notification with awe. “Well, that explains what you do…” He licked his lips as he examined the Culturist carefully. He could sense sothing in the orc—sothing he couldn’t sense before. There was a veil of soft light emanating from within the Culturist: a core that sang out to Adam like a desperate horn wailing for aid. It was infested and caged by darkness, but it was there—a delicate seed. A slit of light. It burned weakly, it burned with fragility, but it burned regardless. Defiantly. “I think… I think I can feel the Heroism inside you. I think I just burned away so of the Challenger’s influence. Or sothing. A notification said I transgressed against…”

Watching the Legendary orc’s face go pale did nothing to soothe Adam’s anxiety. “Adam… I can’t feel it.”

“Feel what?” Adam asked, uncertain if he wanted to know.

“The Itch,” he whispered. “I can’t feel it. There’s nothing there. My mind and soul feel cleaner… Like I just took a breath for the first ti in all my lives. I can’t feel him. I don’t feel him.” The Culturist’s expression changed from one of disbelief to wonder, and then to fear. It was like he didn’t know how to feel about this either. Because he didn’t. Because neither of them was prepared to face… whatever this was.

“I have a Domain,” Adam breathed, his words a re whisper. He still didn’t know how to process everything that was happening. “How do I have a Domain? I’m not a god.”

The Culturist went silent for a mont as he rose back to his feet, still staring down at his hands. But then sothing in his face hardened, and he t Adam's gaze. “Not yet. But you are divine. When I found you, there were pieces of severed fla buried in your flesh. You were burning from inside your soul. I thought it was going to break you further, but it didn’t. It reforged you. Or you absorbed it. I saw it glide up into your Shattered Star. Whatever Divinity truly reigns over the Fairwoods, you have a part of it inside you. That’s what I believe.”

“The beacon,” Adam muttered to himself. Flickers of mory returned to him. Monts of chaos. The battle. Falling. Shiv. “It’s the beacon. The ball of fire that rose up from the Watchtower. Shiv cut through it.”

“And so our deeds turn in circles,” the Culturist replied. “He changed in fighting and my orcs. You changed in his desperation to save you. And now I have been changed by your presence…” The orc grimaced, but he kept sothing of a smile on his face. “It hurts…”

That alard Adam. He tried to dim his presence, tried to do what Shiv did with his cutting aura—and couldn’t. If there was a way to turn his Heroism off, Adam couldn’t figure it out. “Maybe we need so distance. Maybe—”

“No. I like this pain. I prefer it. It makes feel right.” The Culturist let out a gentle laugh and closed his eyes. He held out his arms in an embrace of all Adam bestowed upon him, a man basking in the morning sun after a lifeti of imprisonnt. “I feel light. I cannot hear him, so close to you. The Challenger has turned away. The Challenger’s Domains… They… must be in opposition to yours.” The Culturist's eyes snapped open, and his teeth clenched. “The cur. He lied. He told centuries ago he was no God of Evil. He swore to that he was purely a God of Strife. He claid his nature was a neutral one. He lied… He lied… He lied…” There was a snarl of relief and hatred in equal asure in the Culturist's voice. “It wasn’t just our nature. It never was. All these centuries. I knew… No. I just hoped. And I was right. I was right.”

Sothing about the orc seed brittle just then, and despite everything, letting him sink deeper into his own tornt felt wrong. Tentatively, Adam reached out. There was a part of his mind that always suspected the orc was playing gas with him, trying to lure him into a false sense of security toward so sche of pointless cruelty.

That can’t be the case this ti. I can see it inside him. I can feel it. It is virtue. I know it is there. I can feel it. I don’t know how or why, but I know what it is, and it calls to . I can’t let it die.

As the Paragon touched the huge orc’s arm, the Culturist went still. Adam wasn’t sure what to say. Words to hurt or to reach soone’s heart didn’t co to him as easily as they did Shiv. He made do with sincerity. “Are you alright?”

And with sincerity alone, the Culturist’s soul roared with new vigor, fanned by the flas of the Paragon’s Skill.

Icon of Virtue (Master) 1 > 3

“I think I am better than I have ever been in all my lives.” The Culturist let out a grunt of overwheld emotion. “I ca here thinking I was to be the one to save you. The better part of pretended I was doing this because I had the capacity to defy the Challenger to choose. But truly… I wanted to make Valor feel like he owed . I wanted to tighten my control and influence over you. Perhaps make you sothing I could command. I believed that if I could pervert your nature, it might give an edge against him when we inevitably fought again. It would have hurt him. It would have ruined you. Even with the Itch quelled, I was only thinking about how to scratch it better in the future. It was always there. Even when dulled. But not anymore. It’s gone. In your light, it has burned away.”

Admissions spilled out from the orc in an unceasing tide. He ant every word, and darker truths withheld ca into the light without sha, spurred on by honesty and drawn forth by Adam’s light. “I was worried about sothing like that,” Adam muttered after a mont.

The Culturist nodded. “I know. It would have made whatever I did to you later hurt more. It would have twisted the heart of the Deathless as well, to have you seen ruined by my hand in so way. He imagines you to be his moral heart sotis. Do you know this? He would have been much closer to a monster without you.”

“There are others,” Adam replied, trying to avoid the burden the orc was placing on his shoulders. “Valor. Uva. Weave. They would have—”

“The Seeker’s heart is a spot of coldness,” the Culturist interrupted. “She does not care if Shiv is a true monster to those she despises, so long as he does not prove dangerous to those she cares for and holds just enough humanity to nurse her passions on. And, in honesty, she is the most vicious among you three. She is just not so loud about it. She cares about a few things, but beyond that, her affection becos clinical at best.”

“Uva is not a monster,” Adam almost growled. “She’s a damned hero, and I won’t hear any more of it. I wouldn’t have a ho if not for her.”

“You wouldn’t. And I didn’t say she is a monster. I said she is vicious and cold. That doesn’t an she cannot be heroic. It just ans she has a higher capacity for darker acts than either you or even the Deathless. That doesn’t make her like . But it also ans she would not restrain the Deathless once his blood gets going. You do. You care. And so he reins himself in, so that you do not think lowly of him.”

Again, the orc could have been lying, but Adam’s own Psychology Skill had guessed as much. He'd just underestimated how much passive influence he had over Shiv.

“It’s also why he didn’t hesitate to save you. He could have eaten that piece of paper himself. He chose you. Uva wrapped herself around you—shielded you with her being. Because they both believed in you, valued you more than themselves.” The Culturist let out a laugh. “What is your new Path?”

“Paragon?” Adam said, trying to hide a lump forming in his throat.

“Paragon. How fitting. Tell the rest. Tell your other changes. I suspect I will not be as much help as I previously anticipated, but I will grant you what knowledge I can. And afterward…” The Culturist suddenly turned away. He stared off into the distance, peering through columns of trees.

“What?” Adam strained his hearing—cast his Awareness outward. “Is there soone coming? Are we in danger?”

Silence was the orc’s response. “I… am not sure. This might not be good for your morale, but though I’ve adventured across many dinsions, I have avoided the Fairwoods. And for good reason. Even a Legend can find themselves trapped in a fate far worse than death here.”

“You’re right, that’s not any bloody good for my morale at all.” Adam sighed. “Might be Evanescia looking for the pieces to her tower.”

“Could be. But I still find myself uncertain as to why she hasn’t already found us. She is greater than a Legend here. She holds influence over Divine power. She was willing to inflict brutal torture upon you.”

“Indeed. But maybe…” Adam considered sothing. “She’s called the Usurper-Narrator, not the Usurper-Author, isn’t she?”

The Culturist nodded in agreent, and a wide grin spread across his face. “She is called that indeed. You think the Narrative is hiding you from her.”

“Could be,” Adam said. “But let’s not count on it. If you think soone is scrying for us, then I suggest we move. Find a more secure position. Maybe higher ground.”

“Ah. Well. Perhaps, but I suspect that will be hard.”

“What? Why? We’re in the middle of a forest—exposed from all angles. Frankly, I’m not sure—”

“Stomach.”

The randomness of the Culturist’s interruption threw Adam off. “Excuse ?”

“We are not in a forest. We are inside a stomach. This is the gut bio of a great dragon. I hid us here deliberately.” The orc’s eyes turned to crescents as he smiled gleefully under his cowl. “Co now, Paragon. I would not leave you in the open like so. There is a reason why I brought us here.”

The Paragon blinked. “A dragon.”

“Yes. A Green Dragon. A creature that spreads the wilds wherever it goes. A particularly old beast, from the look of it. It’s the size of a large city. Its Awareness was respectable too—it almost noticed .”

This fell into one of the tis Adam realized just how fantastical his life was. “Right… Is it awakened?”

“Yes. It’s even dressed. It’s holding a lesser nation’s worth of gold in a large sack over its shoulder and flying across the land, trying to hire people to start a township on its back to clear out the overgrowth there. Effectively, it’s inviting parasites onto its body for the sake of a haircut.”

Adam imdiately realized his life was pretty mundane comparatively. “Well then. No better place to go over all my changes… Okay, are we really inside a dragon? You’re not playing with , are you?”

“Hardly, Young Arrow. And before you feel bad, it takes quite so effort to discover that the insides of a nature elental are actually just that.”

The Paragon sent his Awareness up through the foliage. What lood above wasn’t so much a sun as it was a brilliant core of concentrated mana. It even gave off the requisite warmth and brightness, infused all the vegetation with unceasing nourishnt. The absurdity of his circumstance inspired a thought in Adam. “Culturist. You think this is what the System is like?”

“A giant beast whose guts lesser reality dwells within? Yes. But maybe we are so small we amount to individual cells more than anything.”

That gave Adam a good dose of existential dread. “And what might a god be in a body like that?”

“Hm. An aspect of the nervous system, perhaps. Or sothing that coordinates the rest of the body. Sothing the entire thing cannot function without. But the thing about analogy, Paragon, is that it is only a mirror at best. Not the thing-in-itself. I—ah, I will have to loan you those terrible books Kant wrote. But later. Right now, tell of your new skills.”

For a few minutes, that was what Adam did. He still didn’t trust the Culturist completely, but with the Heroism within the orc amplified and the Itch repelled, Adam felt confident he wasn’t going to be scalped for pleasure any ti soon. On top of that, the Culturist’s eons of experience proved useful as he managed to identify so Adam’s non-Unique Skills and offer theories for those that were truly novel. Ultimately, however, the Culturist found himself astonished. This was as much a first for him as it was for Adam.

The orc claid there were indeed ways for a mortal to embark down the path of Divinity, but they necessitated power that made a Legend look feeble. That was the case of the Challenger. Other gods were more along the lines of the Great One—grand mysteries beyond the understanding of mortal ken, descendants from these higher gods, like the Composer, who were born to divinity, or leeches, like the Ascendants, who were siphoning Divinity from soone else’s story. Adam was closest to the last category, but he wasn’t nested in soone else’s skill. No. A sliver of Divinity had been embedded inside him, and he'd changed in turn. He was still his own Pathbearer, still living his own legend, and that relieved his worries.

For however much Adam still revered the Starhawk, everything he'd learned about the Ascendants made the prospect of becoming like them more nightmare than fantasy.

“Icon of Virtue is usually evolved from an Inspiration Skill,” the Culturist said. “To gain it through deed is rare, but possible. I suspect it erged as a leftover quantity of mana that wasn’t sure what to crystallize itself into at first.”

Adam nodded. “When the Challenger’s presence was purged from your insides, it leveled.”

“Ah. It amplifies the urge to do good in all those who are capable of goodness, and it creates a connective channel of power between you and those you inspire. The more noble-hearted individuals around you, the stronger you will be, and the more you inspire them to goodness, the stronger they will be. Good for generals and leaders—though I wouldn’t recomnd a general to gain such a skill.”

“Why?” Adam asked, confused.

“Because every ti I tortured a general with Icon of Virtue to death before their warriors, the army usually collapsed and had a collective seizure right after. The withdrawal and demoralization one feels when the Icon is defiled is quite severe.”

Adam just glared wordlessly up at the orc.

“Honesty cos with grim realities sotis,” the Culturist answered with a weak smirk. “I’m still an orc, and even now, I don’t think those actions are beyond , if I think they would be effective enough.”

“Yes. Thank you for reminding ,” Adam deadpanned. “I see now why the Heroism inside you is just a narrow thread rather than a massive sphere.”

“That, and I must question what Heroism truly ans,” the Culturist countered. “It seems your Heroism ans the act or potential of valorous deeds and virtue—to do righteous things rather than great ones. Classical heroism would not have held the sa connotations. But this begs the question, does this Domain lean more toward goodness or righteousness? There is a difference—”

“I know there is a difference. I have taken courses on philosophy.” Adam thought back to his ti at the academy. “Goodness is defined by an elent of morality and pure virtue. Feeding soone. Offering alms for the poor. Dedicating one’s life to service. But righteousness can be asured by a tric of unpleasant necessity. Sacrificing an army to protect a large city against their will is deeply amoral but strongly righteous. But I suspect that is not what my Domain represents. I think mine is the urge to do right, damn the fates, damn the System.”

“I agree,” the Culturist replied. “And that worries . Do you know that a god going against their own Domain in an unforeseen way can beco an act of suicide for them?”

Adam did not, in fact, know that. “It… can…?”

“Yes. It’s not often ntioned as, 'what God of a Thing simply decides they wish to defy that which they represent or abandon their own Domain?' But if one does—or if one is sohow deceived into performing an act that ruins their own divine legend—then sothing in them will fracture. It is one of the ans through which a mortal can damage a god aside from Animancy.” The Culturist frowned. “Or Shiv just tearing into them, for that matter. It is disturbing how his Unique Skills make him more and more capable of stabbing and mutilating everything—including ideas themselves. If only the rest of us could have been so fortunate.”

“Not exactly the sa words I would use,” Adam muttered. “So. If I seize a cookie from a small child, would that break my soul in half?”

The Culturist's mouth fell open slightly. “I… am uncertain. Perhaps not? You do not seem a full god, but this can only be discovered through testing.”

“I’m not sure how much I want to test this.”

“It’s best to know. I recomnd that you commit a small act of evil. Just to see what happens. Kill soone's beloved pet and see if one of your skills shatters.”

“You think murdering soone’s pet is a small act of evil?” Adam almost facepald. Sotis, the Culturist was terrifyingly insightful. Other tis, his orcish perspective resulted in monts like these.

The orc frowned. “Is it not?”

“Culturist. How should I put this… If I killed a nobleman’s prized steed or so Young Lady’s pet puppy, they would go from rely wanting to humiliate to trying to enact a large act of evil on .”

“Truly. Hm… That explains a great many things. We orcs do not often take pets because—”

“Yes, yes, another orc would do unspeakable things to the pet to hurt you. What a wonderful life you all live.”

He nodded. “You understand.”

“I was a happier person when I didn’t. So. Any idea about the other ones?”

“I know about one of your other skills,” the Culturist answered. “A very strange Evolution. Rare too. Do you have a Tracking Skill?”

“Yes, but it’s Initiate-Tier.”

“Ah. How odd. The Prey that was Promised is usually a Divination-Tracking Skill Fusion.”

The Paragon pulled up his sheet and confird that the Tracking Skill was still Initiate. “Not a fusion for .”

“Which is why I think it to be strange. The fact that you lack any Narrative Skills so far is also odd. I would think that the Divine Watchtower of a Narrative-driven dinsion would have given you a skill bound to the nature of a story. Perhaps one has not evolved yet. Or maybe your Shattered Star Unites caused them to submit to your nature instead.”

“Well, it was purified from the body of the Stranger after the Starhawk intervened on my behalf,” Adam recalled.

“Ah. Another set of conflicting skills. Fascinating. Regardless, The Prey that was Promised is good for you. Especially since it does not require overmuch understanding of Divination. You can still cast spells at baseline, but if you know a great deal about soone’s history, personality, and can guess at what they might do next, you should be able to mark their location and track them so long as you remain within the sa dinsion.”

A rush of adrenaline went through Adam. “I can track Shiv and Uva with it?”

“You should be able to—”

The Paragon exploded into action. Summoning his Divination mana, he let out a gasp as a violet field ford around his body. A magical projection of Adam took shape—and it had a Divination arrow drawn. But he didn’t just radiate Divination. There was an outline of azure incandescence that emanated from him like vapor. “Bloody hells, the Feat wasn’t lying. It’s like everything I do has a bit of Heroism inside it.”

And a bit of his Heroism continued trickling toward the Culturist, spilling into that single shard of goodness which lingered within the orc.

“I can feel it too…” the Culturist breathed. “It’s always there. Always.”

Later, Adam commanded himself. Think about the implications later. Find Shiv and Uva now.

Concentrating his Divination, his magical avatar drew its bow back and turned, seeking a target. “Alright. Personal history, you said? What Shiv might do?”

“Yes,” the Culturist replied, leaning in, his breath bated in anticipation. “If you two have history, that makes it—”

Almost imdiately, Adam felt sothing. A cord of Divination tore out from him, and it speared out through the woods. Adam’s senses reeled. It was like a portion of himself was accelerated outward with his magic. Images flashed through Adam’s mind. It was like a rope made from his own history was lashing outward, slicing magnetically toward the monts he shared with Shiv. He recalled their ti on Blackedge—seeing Shiv as a near-feral Pathless street rat; hating him. And then there was the attack during the Festival of the Eclipse, Shiv’s fall, Adam’s capture, and then everything that followed. Weave. Passage. Theborn. The Dragon-Knights. Confriga. The Recollector. Blackedge. The prison. The capital. The return. And now.

The chain of Divination uncoiled further and further. Seconds turned to minutes. Adam’s anticipation built. He wondered if Shiv wasn’t here. He wondered if—

And then he struck sothing dead on.

Sothing that promptly shredded Adam’s Divination mana like a falling blade.

But it couldn’t touch his Heroism.

The Paragon’s lip quirked upward as a notification appeared before his vision, as he gained a glimpse and received a hint as to where Shiv was.

Found you.

Within the jaws of dawn, the Court of Sumr has caged and chained a beast unlike any other…