Chapter 3: Gods and Geezers

Thadius suddenly found himself in dire straights.

His most loyal soldiers died left and right. His beloved queen was murdered before his eyes in the early battles of the war. Then, as if his suffering wasn't enough, he had even failed his king and forced him to take refuge in his castle.

When had it all gone wrong? How had he come to fail so completely?

It was all due to carelessness. What had started as a simple game of chess against an old man, had quickly turned into a struggle for survival.

'This is bullshit! I should have known that playing against an NPC was the same a playing against the computer!' Thadius groaned as he lost another piece.

He should have noticed the first signs of defeat when he saw the old man playing against himself. It was a strong indication of someone with knowledge of the game. Yet, Thadius hadn't seen that. All he saw was a lonely elder with no one to play with.

Little did he know, that the old man had only run out of challengers.

"We don't get many Travelers in these parts, especially not youngins like yourself." the old man held back a chuckle as he made his move, but his overgrown beard betrayed his mirth as it quivered.

'He's toying with me!?' Thadius thought as he desperately analyzed the field for a way out. 'There!' He moved his knight beside his king to protect him at all cost. With that, he could survive another turn and find some way to salvage the situation.

Unfortunately, Thadius realized his mistake too late.

After a second glance at the board, his fingers trembled. "My God, what have I done..."

"Youngin', I'm afraid it's time to end this." the old man said as he sent a knight to infiltrate the castle, assassinating Thadius' king with ease. "Checkmate."

*****

DEFEAT THE VILLAGE CHESS CHAMPION

The old man is still undefeated. You've failed this time, but he will welcome your challenge whenever you're ready.

DIFFICULTY: C

REQUIREMENTS: Offer to play against the old man.

REWARDS: Exp. + Title: Yune Chess Champion

*****

"Don't take it to heart youngin'. I haven't lost in a long time, ho ho." the old man chuckled and reset the board.

"What's your name, old man?" Thadius asked. Despite the crushing defeat, he still had a favorable impression of his opponent.

"Round here they call me 'Old Man Tony'."

"I will defeat you Mr.Tony, but until that day comes, keep that title warm for me." Thadius said, then started to rise up from the table when Tony suddenly stopped him.

"You just got here, didn't you? If you wouldn't mind my company youngin', I could show you around." Old Man Tony offered.

Since he had literally appeared out of thin air before encountering Tony, Thadius didn't see any reason to refuse. "I'd like that."

The two set off to explore the town while the sun was still high in the sky. Although it could be called a town, Yune was more like a small city. As such, it provided all the basic necessities for Travelers like Thadius. This was extremely important since Yune was quite a distance away from the larger cities.

Everything was centered around the fountain in the central square, with the rest of the buildings spread out from there. The first building was a blacksmith for armor, weapons, and repair. The second was the tailor's shop which was right next door. On the opposite side was an inn with a restaurant, and beside it was a potions shop. The rest of the square consisted of small stands and vendors to fill the gaps.

After the central square, the city was mostly small houses and residential establishments. Yune wasn't that developed, but the people had all they needed.

During the tour of the central square, Old Man Tony started talking about the local tales and lore of the city. One such tale involved the largest mountain of the nearby range, the Mountain of Yune. It told of how the Goddess of the mountain protected it, which was why no monsters had been seen there in years.

These little bits of legends and lore made the game more exciting and gave it flavor. Thadius wasn't the least bit interested, but he remained quiet and let Tony do the talking while he enjoyed the sensation of moving again.

The end of the tour brought them to the tallest building in the city. It was a white two-story building with open windows that let fresh air in. Besides the intricately carved mahogany doors, the milky-white stone made it look quite dull. The feature that stood out to Thadius was the young maiden selling flowers in the front.

"What is this place?" he asked after Tony had finished one of his stories.

"This is the city temple. We don't have the money to be buildin' churches for every single god, so this is all we got." Tony replied.

"You mind if we...take a look?" he asked innocently. He tactfully left out what he wanted to take a look at.

Old Man Tony's overgrown eyebrows furrowed, and he stroked his long, white beard as if troubled by something. Yet, he agreed in the end. "Alrighty."

As they walked towards the doors, Thadius made sure to cross paths with the flower girl along the way. Her head turned to them sharply as they drew near.

"Excuse me! Would you like to buy some flowers?" the girl said as she shuffled toward him with a flower held up. She looked roughly fourteen or fifteen years old. Her platinum blonde hair, angelic face, and blue eyes were a timeless combination, but upon closer inspection, Thadius could tell something was off.

She looked in his general direction, but it was as if she couldn't find him. Her eyes wandered to and fro, looking at everything and nothing.

'She's blind.' Thadius though sadly as he examined the flowers in question. Sure enough, the flowers were in a poor state as they had probably been in the sun for too long. Even the flower in her hand was a little droopy. He knew no one would buy these flowers now, no matter how long she stood here. Yet, he wondered if the girl continued to hold here despite that.

"I'm sorry, but your flowers are wilted," he told her honestly.

"Y-yes...I'm sorry." the girl said sadly as she moved to return the flower to her basket.

Seeing her crestfallen expression, Thadius couldn't let the matter rest. Try as he might, he couldn't ignore the whispers of his big heart. He shook his head and sighed as he reached for his for his coins. "How much for the rest?"

"Oh! It’s only fou- no, three coppers sir!" the girl shouted excitedly.

Thadius made a wry smile when he heard the price. Travelers of Chaos Online started with five copper, five pieces of bread, and a canteen of water. Thadius was about to hand over half his fortune to flower girl on a whim. He was already off to a bad start.

'It's worth it if it brightens her day.' Thadius thought as he shrugged off his reluctance. He grabbed her hand that held the flower and replaced it with the correct amount, but he let her keep the basket.

After tasting the coins for authenticity, she was overjoyed. "Thank you, sir!" she smiled brightly.

Feeling chivalrous after a good deed, he said, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Thadius."

"M-my name is Christina." she curtsied clumsily with her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She had been ready to stumble home as quickly as she could without even asking the name of her benefactor.

"How you'd end up selling flowers here Christina?" Thadius was curious as to why a blind girl would sell flowers so desperately.

"I-"

"Thadius...let's go inside." Old Man Tony cut in with a sullen expression.

'Why had he interrupted her story?' The whole situation had only strengthened his curiosity, but he turned to follow Tony into the temple.

"Wait!" Christina cried as she reached out. Thadius stopped in his tracks as she found him and cautiously raised a hand to his face. He could guess what she wanted.

"May I?" she paused.

"Sure."

She smiled again as she traced his face with her fingertips. After a few moments, she seemed to be content. Then as she reached down to pick up her basket, she leisurely slid her hand down his torso.

'Did...didn't she just cop a feel!?' Thadius stared uncertainly at the seemingly innocent girl. To his surprise, Christina had a small smirk on her lips, and her face flushed a deep red all the way to her ears.

'Guilty!' Thadius' jaw dropped.

"Thank you for your purchase!" Christina said hurriedly. Then, she quickly turned to make her escape.

As the blind maiden shuffled her way in the opposite direction, Tony called out to him again, so Thadius went to his side so that they could enter the temple together.

When they entered, Thadius was shocked to see how much better the plain temple looked inside. It reminded him of modern churches back home. There were neat rows of wooden pews and a stage in the very back. On the stage was the pulpit, where the preacher would give his sermons. The same white stone as the outer walls covered the entire floor, worn by traffic over time.

"This way," Tony called out as he made a sharp right. There was a staircase on either side of the double doors. Taking extreme care to hold onto the handrail, Thadius follow after the old man.

The second floor was littered with statues and people bent over in prayer before them. The sculptures varied in sizes, with the three largest statues standing in the middle of the room. It was also where the majority of the people were gathered.

"They are the three Greater Gods: Thena, Braumas, and Arka," Tony said, following his gaze. Upon seeing Thadius' interest, he proceeded to go into the lore.

Thena was the Goddess of Wealth and Beauty. Braumas was the God of Order and Strength. Arkas was the Goddess of Reason and Intellect. The Greater Gods were celebrated widely across the continent. No matter where you went, or who you asked, there was a high chance of finding someone who worshiped at least one of the three.

Below the Greater Gods were the Lesser Gods. They were more or less worshiped by specific professions or families. Bo, the God of Metal, was an obvious choice for blacksmiths. Tern was another favorite Lesser God as the God of Harvest. All year round, the farmers and their families prayed to him for a plentiful crop and good weather.

While Thadius listened to Tony and walked around, he noticed statues only a few feet high lined up against the walls in the back of the room.

"They are the Lower Gods. People only pray to them out of their own personal interest." Tony answered his curious look.

The Lower God statues were apparent victims of neglect because they were all covered in a layer of dust. When he pointed this out, Tony went more in-depth.

The statues were enchanted to reflect the power of the gods. So the more significant the statue was, the more power that god had at their disposal. Following this trend, the statues received treatment that reflected their status. Should a god get more powerful, their statue would change to reveal it, then the initiates of the church would attend to it accordingly.

The two slowly made their way to the very back of the room, murmuring until they stopped at the smallest statue they had seen so far. It was covered in more dust than the rest of the statues combined, and the cobwebs were hanging from it in thick layers. The Lower God wore a tattered sleeveless dress and an apron. She also carried a broom in her hand as if she were sweeping. Anyone would think she was a poor servant, much less a god.

"Who's this?" Thadius asked.

"Tegaia, she is known as the Goddess of Poverty..." Old Man Tony sighed heavily.

'Tegaia? No, Gaia. Like Mother of Earth? That Gaia?' Thadius' extensive knowledge from his favorite fantasy sitcoms had him skeptical.

"I don't believe there would be a Lower God with such powerful name..." he said.

Tony was silent for a while before he replied. "Christina was trainin' to be a priestess of this temple. She was devout, and she worked hard. Every day she would clean and maintain the statues, then she would pray to them. All of them. Prayers give them power you see."

There were well over a hundred statues in the room. Not only had Christina cleaned all the statues, but she also prayed to them in her spare time. Thadius sighed in amazement.

"The High Priestess came to commend her for her duty one day and saw her prayin' to Tegaia. She went into a rage, grabbin' a pitcher of holy water and throwin' it in Christina's face. Then she was accused of treatin' Lower Gods as the equals of the Greater Gods and was told that they would punish her for it. Sure 'nough, Christina's sight started to worsen until it was gone completely. I don't want to remind her of it. That's why I stopped you from askin’ earlier. But there's a reminder when she wakes every day, so I suppose it's useless..."

Thadius’ expression was rigid. Even if it was an overreaction, to take someone's sight was too much.

Tony continued, "She was denied further trainin'. So as penance and offerin's to the gods, she decided to raise money for the church by sellin' flowers."

"Hadn't she been seen praying to the Lower Gods before?" Thadius questioned.

"They did. But it was because Christina prayed to Tegaia that she was punished. Though...no one suspects it."

For such misfortune to befall a young girl over this unassuming goddess, Thadius knew there was something going on. "What's the story behind this goddess old man?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious.

Old Man Tony was quiet for a while this time as if he were deciding whether or not to tell him. When he spoke again, it was in hushed tones. "When I was a youngin', Tegaia was seen differently. Back then, she was the Goddess of Love, War, and Humility. But she has fallen far since then."

Thadius' eyes lit up. 'Goddess of Love? If that's the case...'

Thadius took out his canteen and wet the sleeve of his tunic. Then he began to wipe down the statue with care. He wiped off all the dust and cobwebs that had accumulated until he could clearly see the stone underneath. He heard gasps of surprised visitors coming from behind him, but he ignored them. Once he was done, he turned to the old man beside him. "Mr. Tony, you said prayers give them strength right?"

"Yes." Tony nodded.

"Alright then." Thadius nodded in return. Then took a deep breath and thought back to a year ago. Instantly, the image of a woman with red hair and tears streaming down her face was as vivid as if it were yesterday. Holding onto that vision, he gathered all his feelings in his heart and dropped to his knees. Then, he put his hands together in prayer.

---

In the Heavens, the Tower of the Gods stood majestically, overlooking the Plains of Peace. The entire structure had been forged of godsteel, which gave off the same divine radiance that the gods did.

On the lowest floor of the tower was a woman in a tattered sleeveless dress and an apron. She was very tall for a woman at six foot four(1.9m). Her shoulder-length auburn hair swayed gently when she moved, and her piercing grey eyes were focused. For the most part, she'd been having an ordinary day, sweeping the Tower of the Gods as she usually did. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was a spirit: some human who had died, gone to the Heavens and served the gods in the afterlife. Who would suspect that she was Tegaia, Mother of Creation, Goddess of Love, War, and Humility?

She was, for the most part, a Fallen God. She had been stripped of most of her power and forced to sweep the tower for the rest of her days. Most of the mortal world had forgotten about her, and those who remembered were just as powerless as she was. Even the gods that knew her thought it was unlikely that she would ever return to her former self.

Tegaia once believed, and hoped, that she would be powerful again. She wanted to purge the Heavens of the usurpers, and rewrite the injustices that had taken place in her absence. Yes, Tegaia had hoped for many things. But as the years passed, she had come to accept her fate.

It was because she had lost all hope that she was startled when a surge of power erupted in her chest.

"Hah!?" she cried as she braced herself against the wall. The sensation had truly overwhelmed her. Just as she was wondering if she had imagined that familiar feeling, a voice echoed in her mind.

*Goddess...my name is Thadius. Although I am a Traveler from a different world, I believe I have been your humble servant for a long as I can remember.*

Tegaia was brought to her knees by another surge of tremendous power. Remembering the sensation, she closed her eyes, and the vision of a young man in prayer appeared before her. 'A Traveler! They've finally come!?'

Tegaia had heard whispers of their imminent arrival all throughout the tower. The gods were wary, to say the least. Those with foresight had seen the coming of beings who would be beyond death, thus beyond their control. Anything beyond the control of the gods could only be dangerous.

'That a Traveler has prayed to me...' Tegaia was genuinely excited, but she listened attentively. She was curious as to what such a man would want from her. Suddenly, a wave of emotions racked her body and a sob escaped her lips. Then an uncontrollable torrent of tears streamed down her face. It was an emotion she knew well, remorse. The voice of the young man returned even stronger, but his emotions were also stronger. So strong that they had risen to the Heavens and influenced her.

*'Goddess...I ask for your forgiveness. I have selfishly cast aside a woman who loved me, for peace of mind. I pushed her away even as she pleaded to remain by my side. All I wanted was her happiness, and I caused her pain hoping she could obtain it.

You see goddess, in the world I come from, my body is dead to me. How can I love someone when simple gestures, such as holding hands or embracing one another, are entirely one-sided. How can I protect her from harm if I can't even rise from my own bed...*

The young man hunched over, fighting the tears and sorrow that threatened to take over. Tegaia cried in his place.

*Goddess, I also ask for your blessing. I ask that you bless my love and all those who resemble her. I know your strength has not yet returned, but as soon as you are able, please bless them.*

The vision Tegaia saw shifted to an image of a fair skinned woman with red and black hair. She had a smile that warmed the heart.

*Bless them goddess. For I wish the woman I love, and anyone who reminds me of her, happiness from the bottom of my heart. I thank you in advance. I am forever your faithful servant.*

As the prayer finished, the surges of power subsided. Tegaia stood up and wiped the tears from her face. 'Such passion from one so young...' she sighed in amazement.

It had been a simple prayer, but the results were enormous. Tegaia flexed her muscles. There was power in her limbs that she hadn't felt in years. Yet, if what Thadius said was true, that he was her follower from another world, then there was plenty more where that came from.

She quickly picked up the broken broom, which had not withstood her powerful grip during the prayer, and looked around the room. Thankfully, no one had witnessed what had transpired. If she was going to recover, then she would do so in secret.

A wry smile appeared on her lips as the subtle, godly light returned to her eyes. War was coming to the Heavens. But before that, there were things that needed be done.

---

"Phew." Thadius sighed heavily. He had almost broken down into tears in the middle of his prayer. Thankfully, he didn't. He was a man that preferred to do his crying in private.

***

Your earnest prayer has unlocked the 'Faith' stat.

+1 Faith

***

***

Your prayer has moved the goddess Tegaia to tears. Your emotions have reached her and she has granted you the forgiveness you seek.

+10 Faith

***

'Thank you, goddess.'

"That was a good prayer youngin'," Tony said as he walked up and patted him on the back.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop you know." Thadius shook his head helplessly.

Old Man Tony stroked his beard. "Ho ho, I know. But seein' you prayin' so earnestly got me thinkin'..."

"What's on your mind?"

"I have a request. I want to see Tegaia like she was when I was a boy. After what I just saw, I think you could do it." Tony said. The eyes hidden under his brows had a gleam of hope.

******

RESTORE TEGAIA TO HER GLORY

'Old Man Tony' has asked you to return Tegaia to her status as a Greater God through prayer. You will fail if you don't pray once every three days.

DIFFICULTY: Unknown

REQUIREMENTS: Befriend 'Old Man Tony' and pray to Tegaia with him as a witness.

REWARDS: Unknown

IF FAILED: Loss of intimacy with 'Old Man Tony'

******

Eyeing the vague quest description and the unknown difficulty, Thadius smiled. "That was my intention from the start."

****

Quest Accepted

****