Chapter 28: Chapter 27 – An angel and some chatter

On the outside the Church of Truth had looked normal. Fitting in quite nicely with the rest of the buildings in the area. However once our group stepped inside a completely different view greets them. The entrance hall before them is the epitome of a silver lining. On the side are Greek style pillars made of marble with silver trim. In the center there is a bunch of couches to use while waiting with silver tassels. At the back it even appears that the reception desk is made entirely of silver. Though it isn’t until Rosha takes a glance up that they notice the most impressive feature.

Jason is just standing there, taking in the surrounding scene when he feels a tug on his elbow. Rosha is trying to him and James’s attention and once she has it a quick point upward shows him why. On the vaulted ceiling above is a mural the likes of which he had only seen in the oldest churches during history class. Even more impressive is it seems to only use silver and yet still shows a massive scene through the interplay of shadows and textures.

It takes a while but eventually our group gets distracted from the scene. The System finally seems to admit they are out of combat and the victory screen pops up that they had previous bypassed.

Escape Successful 23 kidnappers avoided 2 kidnappers incapacitated 4 kidnappers killed 3 silver coins 11 copper coins

Near Death Experience +10 HP +2 Toughness

Sustained Sprint +3 Toughness +1 Strength

James and Jason both seem quite immersed in their screens. Apparently something important was gained for both of them. Rosha however isn’t and slaps them both on the back of the head, “We’re here you idiots. Time enough to stare into space later.” and she drags them both towards the reception desk.

Behind the desk is an angel with silver hair and wearing a silver dress. As the group approaches, she greets them though it quickly devolves into a bit of rant, “Welcome to the Church of Truth. As your new let me inform you right up front, we don’t do healing here. Yes I know our churches offer it in bigger towns but we don’t have enough divine casters here to cover that and our actual work.”

This outburst stops Rosha in her tracks. Not exactly what she was expecting from an angel. James nudges her to the side and takes over, “Well luckily we are here to turn in a quest and not get healing. In fact we just need to deliver a letter from the captain of the guard though we will need to wait for a response of some sort. Chain quests never end this easily.”, Then he holds out the note so as to show the angel who it is addressed to.

The angel pauses and takes a deep breath.  Looking a bit calmer it responds, “Ah, okay I will call”, and it checks the note, “the head of our magical truth department. He is currently”, and the angel pulls a planner out of the air. It takes a few moments to flip through the pages before continuing, “in a meeting with some of the other heads but they should wrap up soon. You will need to wait about 10 minutes before he is free. Please proceed through the doorway behind me to the waiting lounge. While the silver looks splendid, I find most people prefer wood panelling and plush leather chairs.  Oh and yeah, sorry about the rant. Some days it seems every other request is about healing.” and with that the angel motions the group through what they only know realize is a doorway and not a fancy mural.

0nce in the lounge Rosha turns to the other two, “Okay what so enthralled you about your victory screens? Though feel free to keep it on the down-low. Even if we are in the Church of Truth and they have tighter vows on keep personal secrets than doctors.”

James shakes his head, “In the long run not much for me. A skill ranked up and I got a bit of treat with it.” Then he turns towards Jason, “You however seem to have all kinds of weird stuff happen to you. Do you feel all right telling us what's up?”

With a sheepish grin Jason decides to speak up, “Well I just almost doubled my Hp. Mind you it was under the nice big bold lettered words of ‘Near Death Experience’ so difficult to repeat. Also it isn’t quite like one of you getting it. This bonus puts me more inline with my level.”

Rosha looks suitably impressed by this revelation, “You did get right up in death's face there. Do you think your new skeletal prowess helped you not lose an arm?

“Not with the big damage blow. It was strong but not completely chop an arm off strong. I don’t think they wanted any of us dead. Never know where we might have our spawn points set after all. Though back to the topic of my skeleton it very much is why I was willing to just grab the sword. I probably would have lost a finger otherwise.”, though at this point he runs his hand through his hair and flashes a sheepish grin, “Not that I knew it at the time. I got a little reactive there.”

James sighs, “They definitely wanted us captured and not killed. Just me alone would be a problem as they don’t know if I still have my spawn set to be the dwarven outpost. It it was a dead or alive sort of thing they would have sent people past the first bottleneck. Though luckily they don’t have any professional kidnappers in whatever organization they have after us. Otherwise they might have been able to send some level 49 monsters packed to the gill with CC skills and spells.”

Rosha seems to nod in agreement but Jason cuts her off, “Don’t count on that. What we saw isn’t the most they can send at us. Likely all we saw was what they were paid to send after us. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a regional thieves or assassins guild. The wolfkin brat probably hasn’t even told his father yet. What we just saw might be the equivalent of that group throwing their pocket change at us. On the final day we probably will need some serious protection. That is when his father will likely be informed and we get to truly experience what throwing money at a problem is like.”

After thinking about it they all agree that is the most likely situation. Though now that they got the heavy stuff out of the way the group settles down for some light chatter. With that the ten minutes are finally up and they are called into a meeting room. As they are heading there though Jason remembers he hasn’t looked at his screen in a while and pops it up to take a glance at it.

 

Basic Info
Name: Jason	Level: 3 - 98%
Legal Status: New Player	Title: N/A You are reading story NeoRealm – Staring Back Into the Future at novel35.com
Bonuses
Knowledge Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one. Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills   Discovery Bonus: +1% success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill Control of Experience intake
Living Amber Skeletal System   Description: This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic.   Effects: Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person's actual bones. Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item   Bonuses: +5 [base] toughness +5 [base] hp
Organizations
Adventurers Guild	Basic Member	Rank F
Odd Ones Out	Team Member	Leader