Chapter 1 – Path of the Fool
“I play Fusion of Two Virtues to
combine Lux and Nox to summon Dominus, Lord of Light and Dark from my deck. In addition,
I give up half of my hit points so that Dominus has over eight thousand attack.
Your move,” my friend says with a smug expression on his face.
This game still confuses me will
all its summoning and how certain decks work. It’s why I like playing simple
decks even if they aren’t the most powerful. My mind went blank not too far
back with how many cards my friend activated to get to this point in the game.
His smug expression must mean that he’s confident that he’ll win. I vaguely
remember him telling me that he can use Dominus’ effect to sacrifice the cards in
his hand to negate the effects of the same card type that I use. Oh, well. I
guess it’s time to trust in the providence of the cards as they say.
“I play Pot of Lucious Excess to
draw two cards,” I say.
“Not so fast. I use Dominus’ effect
and get rid of my magic card from my hand so you can’t use it,” my friend says
as if he just won.
“Okay, I play another Pot.”
“You’re lucky I don’t have another
magic card to sacrifice.” I draw two cards and then two more cards and then
another two cards. “Wait, you can only draw two cards, not six.”
“Well, the card says I can draw two
cards. It doesn’t say how many times I can draw two cards.”
“Hold on, that’s not how-”
“And now I’ve drawn all the pieces
of the Almighty and win as a result of its effect.”
“Alright, alright. I see that you need
more time to get used to this game. We’ll try playing with another deck of
mine. See how you like that one.”
“I’m sorry, but you know I must
leave town for now to help others who are in need.”
“I know that. Can’t you stay a bit
longer? You can’t keep going from place to place all the time. You’ll
eventually have to rest.”
“I know, but I still have many
evils that I must atone for and I feel a calling in my heart to keep going. Something
is going to happen soon enough. I can feel it. The Absolute is pulling me
forward to a breakthrough.”
“I’d believe it better if the
Absolute weren’t pulling you in this neutral territory where neither the Church
nor the conceited kingdoms rule.”
“The Absolute works everywhere in
the world even if it isn’t obvious.”
“It’s obvious for people like you
with Heart Absolute abilities. For normal folk like me, it hardly is.”
“You’ll get your Heart Absolute
ability soon. I can feel it in your heart.”
“I hope that’s the case.”
“It is the case. I’ll see you
around, friend.”
“See you later, Nelson. Be sure to
stop by my house first so we can even the score between us.”
“I’ll be sure to.”
When I walk outside the bar, I am
immediately greeted by the people I’ve helped, to which I say my goodbyes. They
wish me well and hope that I come back soon. I’ll likely come back sooner than
they think since I’ve mostly been traveling between certain towns, settlements,
and farms for the past five months. When I walk outside the bar, I am
immediately greeted by the people I’ve helped, to which I say my goodbyes. They
wish me well and hope that I come back soon. I’ll likely come back sooner than
they think since I’ve mostly been traveling between certain towns, settlements,
and farms for the past five months. There are more places than most that I'd
like to go back to. Not every place has nice people, which is to be expected in
the neutral zone, however, there are some places that I'd rather not revisit
for now because I messed up in helping them and would go back when the
wounds of the past are healed.
Speaking of that, I still have much
to make up for. Thinking of what I specifically did just complicates things.
What's the use of remembering the mistakes of the past anyway? They only bog
down my efforts to erase the consequences of them. I've already done a good job
of making a new name for myself. The Nelson of old is dead and gone while the
Nelson of today is a completely different man. At least I hope that this is the
case.
“Help! We need...help...” a man
says that's coming my way.
On the way out of town, I see a
group of injured people limping in. No, they aren't injured in the physical
sense. They appear to have been attacked by the vainglory judging by the black
spots on their skin and erratic behavior. Many in the town back away from them
and look at me. Okay, I get it. Here are more people that the Absolute has
given to me to heal. Walking to the possessed, I keep a safe distance as they
keep walking forward.
“I can help. Just try to control
yourself while I do,” I say.
“We'll try. What are you going to
do from there?” one of them asks.
I can hear the voices of the
vainglory tempt their hearts and tempt mine. They tell me that I'll fail and
that I'm no good to anyone. It's all nonsense and I have to stop listening to
them.
“You'll see or rather hear.”
With all the confidence and care my
heart can muster, I begin to sing a song.
“Try and try again
Failure is not the end
Forget about what happened back
then
Leave your mistakes behind and
ascend
A new day is here
A second chance is given
What we need to do is clear
Be brave and don't give in
My help is always near for you
There is nothing to fear
Now is the time to be true
Because you are held dear
I know the past is like a chain
And life is difficult without a
friend
But there is much to gain from the
pain
All wounds will one day mend
A new day is here
A second chance is given
What we need to do is clear
Be brave and don't give in
My help is always near for you
There is nothing to fear
Now is the time to be true
Because you are held dear
It won't be easy, life is a fight
There's always more work to do
But we can make things right
And begin brand new”
The dark spots on the possessed disappear
as well as the hands of the vainglory on their hearts.
“Thank you so much! You’re the
answer to our prayers sent from above!” one of them says as they hug me.
Many in the town behind us cheer over
the results of the successful exorcism and tell me I should stay to celebrate.
I deny it and let them know that I need to help many more like them, which they
reluctantly accept and let me go. Still, I can’t escape the gifts of the town
as the carriage driver I pay to take me to the next town wants to give me a
free ride there.
“You either take the offer or you walk,”
the carriage driver says.
“Okay, fine. Thank you,” I say.
“It’s my pleasure after all you’ve
done for me and mine.”
There’s no use arguing with this
guy, so I keep quiet, sit back, and enjoy the ride while trying to get some
shut eye. Some time passes before I feel a hand wake me up. Looking around, I
see the driver still focusing on the road and no other passengers in the
carriage. I know this guy would take wanderers to safe places if they were
lost, but it looks like I was just imagining things.
Before I go back to sleep, the
driver says, “You should stop by someplace nice next. You deserve it.”
“Thank you, but I have a lot more work
to do before I do that,” I say.
“No, I insist. You have no mistakes,
no evils to do penance for. You never did.”
“What makes you say that?”
Something’s wrong. My senses are
dull even as I try to wake myself up.
“You were right to claim power the way
you did. Don’t you long for the days when your voice manipulated rather than
exorcised or raised spirits?”
“No. How do you know so much?”
“I just know. I also know that you
treated your subjects as they were meant to be treated, as tools for the
betterment of humanity.”
“No, you’re wrong.”
My strength is slowly returning.
Just a little longer until I can do something about this guy.
“Am I? You’ve had me driving you
around the same towns, helping the same people, solving the same problems, and
only now are you going somewhere different where you will likely do the same
thing. The Church and its faithful are incompetent and hardly do anything to
help these people because the land isn’t under their control. If you were in
charge, things would be different and better. You know it’s true.”
“Silence, demon. I won’t listen to
your lies.”
The driver turns around revealing
the dull light shining from his eyes. He’s possessed by a vainglory for sure.
Seeing the man’s eyes makes me want to believe him and think that I could
change the land if I were in charge, but I’ve already proved in my past that
it's not true. The song I want to sing is stuck in my throat as if it were a stone.
I silently pray for the strength to get it out and eventually it does.
“Fill my heart, True Love
Descend upon my heart from above
Claim it for your own
Make it your throne
Correct my wrongs
To you, do I belong
Fill me with true light and dark
So that I may play my part”
After singing the short prayer, the
vainglory leaves the man’s heart, takes away its hands from mine, and goes back
to the hellish Land of the Forgotten where it belongs.
Now that the man has his mind and
heart back in his control, he jolts as if waking from a nightmare, and then
says, “Are you okay, Nelson?! I’m sorry I let that thing get to me.”
“It’s alright. I’m used to them
trying to catch me when I’m sleeping,” I admit.
“I’ll be on guard better this time.
I swear it.”
“I know you will. Just try not to
excessively worry. They’ll get to you that way.”
“Of course, of course.”
Maybe I should take my own advice.
I always say not to worry about my past, but the demons of it come back to
remind me of it and I’m tempted to go back to my old false self. The neutral
zone would be better if I could-No! I’m not going to do it again. I’m not going
to let my past define my future. As long as I keep doing what I’m doing, the
old me will never come back. I’ll never become that falsehood again, and the
ruin I’ve brought to the world will be healed.
I’ve gotta keep my hopes up. I’ve gotta stop thinking about what causes me to worry and get some rest. Still, the vainglory in this area is a problem and no matter how many I exorcise and convert people so that they can defend themselves against the demonic, they still are a problem. Perhaps this is how I earn my redemption by dedicating my life to the purification of this land. The future is where my salvation lies and it’s always getting closer with every breath. I only wish it can come sooner.
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