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Torn God: Watcher of Deep Places (Web Novel) - Book 5: Chapter 23 Disguises [Part 1]
Book 5: Chapter 23 Disguises [Part 1]
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
A wise warrior does not burden himself with more blades than his hands can wield, nor does he train beyond the needs of his duty. To hoard weapons without purpose invites paranoia; to practice endlessly without cause wastes one’s strength. The farmer sharpens his plow, not a hundred swords, for his task is to till the earth, not wage war. The scholar refines his mind, not his spear, for wisdom, not battle, is his calling. Just as the archer does not carry more arrows than he can draw, so too must one prepare only as necessity demands, lest preparation itself become obsession.- The Principles of Conflict by General Damien de Savant circa 234 AC.
I prepared, for war was coming to Al-Lazar, and the people of the city made sure no one could ignore it. Come sundown, the streets filled with the eerie cadence of death laments—an unsettling twist a call to prayer. In their strange logic, these “pre-grievings” supposedly purged the anguish that would otherwise cloud a man’s mind when real blood was spilled. They believed it better to get the sorrow over with before the fighting began. To prepare the mind for the possibility of death.
Yet more pressing to me personally, these endless wails were ruining my dinner. I sat in my room, trying to enjoy a meal alongside my ward, Larynda.
“They had this sort of thing back in Ansan?” I asked, setting down my spoon to glare at the curtained window where the noise droned on.
“Can’t really say,” Larynda replied with a shrug. “Never heard of it. In Ansan, Tides usually fight outside their borders, crossing the Grass Sea and all to attack them is sort of difficult. It’s quite the endeavor. So no, I don’t think they did.”
“Lucky, then,” I muttered. “You were spared this horrid caterwauling.”
Larynda cocked her head. “It’s not meant to be pleasant, I’m sure. It’s grief, after all.”
I sniffed disdainfully. “I find the whole ritual absurd. Grief isn’t something to schedule. It’s part of life’s joy—the unpredictability of it all. Yes, even the end.”
She gave me a sarcastic grin. “Oh? Death is meant to be joyful? And you’re a grief expert now?”
“I never claimed to be, and I never said that death was a happy occasion. How would you feel knowing that tomorrow you would die?” I retorted, tapping my fingers irritably on the table. “But I do know this noise is ruining what should have been a quiet meal. Enough about their odd customs. Did the libraries have what I asked for? Did you get the book?”
Larynda nodded, passing me a thick leather bound tome. “They did, though it cost me one silver piece just to get inside—and one gold for the deposit.”
I waved a hand dismissively. “Take what you need from the drawer. Keep the gold when you return the book.”
Larynda cleared her throat in a pointed, exaggerated way.
I sighed. “Fine. Take some extra for your Alchemical research. I guess there must be some advantages to having become a man of no small means. Still, quite the greedy one, aren’t you? And do not forget that it is my coin that feeds and clothes you.”
She shrugged. “Anyway… here’s what I learned from a few books and my time in the Guild: there’s an ancient city beneath the waves. Once the water recedes, the guild calls the places that open up ‘Trials.’ And…”
She began rattling off details with the proud flair of someone who reveled in their knowledge. As a Silver-Ranked adventurer, I let her have her moment. After all, even half-elves were just as prone to pride as a full-blooded human.
According to her, when the tides pulled back, the Mer clashed with the city-state of Al-Lazar for control of these Trials. The Trials closer to the sea were almost exclusively dominated by the Mer. Those nearer to the original shoreline fell under the range of Al-Lazar’s many war engines perched atop the city’s high walls, making them easy to hold.
These Trials were distortions in reality—what another game world might call “dungeons.” They could manifest as nearly anything: a shimmering door, a twisting spatial rift, or a hidden passageway. No two Trials were the same.
It made me think. Was the Dust Dream I had experienced a more esoteric form of these Trials?
The Adventurer’s Guild in Al-Lazar held near-exclusive access to these places in exchange for pledging to defend the city in times of war. They cataloged every possible location, though not all appeared each time the sea withdrew. The guild measured a Trial’s threat level by its “resonance.” A distortion harmonizing with copper posed a low-level challenge that fresh recruits could potentially handle—if Luck was on their side—whereas one resonating with mithril heralded mortal danger, the kind that only the greatest of heroes might survive. Larynda beamed as she explained this was the basis for the guild’s ranking system.
The casualty rates, she added soberly, were off the charts. Most rewards consisted of mundane items that could be pawned off to more eccentric collectors. Fewer than one in a hundred returned with worthwhile loot—genuine magical and useful artifacts. Veteran teams sometimes killed each other over such treasures. Some Trials appeared only once and vanished forever, leaving behind more questions than answers. Scholars theorized they were twisted echoes of ancient battles, important historical events, or scenes from legend.
Another working theory was that the Gods, despite their power, could not directly influence the world without cost. A Trial was a way they could empower their believers, albeit indirectly, with the cost of such intervention falling on the poor mortals.
Overcoming a Trial meant the rare chance of a powerful reward. Not that I needed to add another magical trinket to my growing collection, but the idea of it certainly had my interest.
Of course, I had no intention of actually stepping foot inside one. There was, however, more than one way to skin a cat. According to Larynda, the word was that more fresh adventurers were streaming into Al-Lazar by the prospect of less competition. I could easily make use of them.
