The misadventures of the necromancer

The journey had been relatively short. And after everyone took a few sips of potion to recover from the bear attack, there were no major delays.

For a while, Mira had tried to return to the topic of the magic she had witnessed. But since Nero maintained a relentless pace, making conversation difficult, she seemed to have given up on bringing it up—at least for now.

Even so, it was almost nightfall when Nero finally stopped in front of a new cave. On the outside, it looked no different from the others they had found around here since they arrived.

Nero looked at the modest cave entrance and in the distance at what appeared to be three long, thin rocks pointing toward the sky, side by side.

“The Three Needles,” exclaimed Whit beside Seres, who looked in the same direction and seemed to somehow recognize the rocks.

“Yes, they look like it. And I think they are. But sometimes this place is confusing and one can be misled,” Nero said in his slightly annoyed tone.

“We’ll only know for sure once we go inside,” Nero concluded, nodding toward the cave entrance. And so, they headed into the cave.

Remembering what happened in the last one, Seres briefly considered suggesting having the mule lead the entrance. But he decided not to—after all if Nero thought it wasn’t necessary, it would be hard to disagree with the powerful necromancer.

Nero led the way, followed by Seres and Adar, while the priests brought up the rear. Once again, Nero had instructed the mule to stay back.

The two priests had had some time to recover from recent events but still walked with some hesitation and unease. Seres and Adar tried to comfort them with small reassuring smiles, signaling for them not to fall behind.

Despite their hesitation, Mira—though without much energy—threw out, “So this time it’s for real?” After all, she now had a real sense of Nero’s abilities and had to realize that conflict would be unwise.

“Mira, calm down,” Whit tried to calm her down, while she gave him a frustrated look and stayed silent.

With that, they passed through the cave’s entrance and began to penetrate the darkness, which felt even more oppressive as night approached.

This time, they didn’t pull out their torches, because with Nero’s powers revealed, he simply instructed without even turning around:

“Blondie, handle the light.”

Which prompted Seres to extend a hand at his side and invoke:

“The last light of magic.”

Creating a floating ball of light that illuminated the space around them.

“You too?!” Mira grumbled in surprise, realizing Seres also knew magic.

He didn’t know what to say and turned back feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Well, yeah.” What else could he say now?

Nero, unconcerned, continued walking deeper into the cave, which stretched further than the previous ones, ending in what looked like a bend in the distance.

When they reached it and turned the corner, they found themselves facing a massive cavern, where some natural light filtered in from an opening above. But what truly amazed them was the entrance of a temple carved into the far wall of the cave.

A row of eight columns seemed to support a beautifully adorned roof with reliefs Seres couldn’t clearly see in the dusk. But even in the dim light, his jaw dropped. In the middle of the columns was a dark space leading inward.

“Everyone copies Petra, huh?” Nero commented in his usual tone, looking at the structure ahead.“But it’s impressive, isn’t it?”

Something Seres could easily agree with.

“What’s Petra?” Whit asked.

The type of question Seres and Adar had long since learned wasn’t worth asking. From Nero’s tone, they could tell he was mostly talking to himself and so he would rarely clarify those statements.

“Well, here we are. The grand and majestic Temple of Divine Trials,” Nero declared instead, using both hands to present the view ahead.

“Let’s set up camp and then decide what to do,” he announced.

“Right. I’ll go get the gear from the mule,” Adar said, beginning to turn back.

That’s when a burst of bright light erupted behind Seres. Before anyone could react, Adar was launched through the air like a ragdoll in Nero’s direction, crashing painfully near him with a cry of pain.

Seres ran to help his friend, now lying on the ground groaning.

Behind him, he heard a surprised Whit shout, “Mira!!”

Reaching Adar’s side, Seres knelt down and grabbed him.

“Adar! Adar! Are you okay?”

Then he heard someone approaching at a run. Looking up, he saw Mira running straight at Nero. She extended her hand and shouted something Seres now recognized—as what he’d heard just before Adar was attacked:

“Palm of Salvation!”

Seres felt an indescribable force being released—something he could only describe as otherworldly. Her palm struck Nero’s chest, and a blinding light flared momentarily. Again, Whit shouted, “Mira!!”

When his vision returned to Seres, the scene in front of him was... somewhat ridiculous.

Mira stood with her hand on Nero’s chest, staring in confusion at her own hand and at Nero’s face. Nero, in turn, calmly looked at her hand on his chest, then at her face.

Everyone remained frozen in a kind of trance, broken only by Adar’s groans of pain.

Finally, the moment was interrupted by Nero’s calm, almost amused voice, while focused on Mira’s hand:

“You know, if the roles were reversed, I’d have been slapped by now.”

Mira stared at her hand, still on Nero’s chest, clearly not understanding what had just happened.

“Nero… Lord Nero, surely Mira has an explanation for this…” Whit stammered, running to the usual 'Lord Nero' that people used when they understood Nero's power while trying to justify Mira’s actions.

At last, she pulled her hand away taking a step back, visibly shocked.

“What kind of dark god do you serve?”

Nero in turn simply laughed joyfully at the comment.

“Ah, you're asking why your ‘divine palm’ variant didn’t work.”

Mira took another step back, apparently horrified by the response.

“Well, the answer to that is: none at all,” he said, still smiling.

“Sure,” Mira replied, clearly skeptical.

“No, really. I’m being honest,” said Nero, relaxed.

“You have to understand, your little miracle just channels some of your faith to power your… well, your attack.”

Seres watched Nero, surprised he was even explaining this—it was a rare opportunity.

From beside him, through the groans, he heard Adar say, “Potion.”

Looking down, Seres saw Adar fumbling for something in his pocket—he still must have some of the potion left, from after the bear fight. So Seres went to help him get it.

“Maybe the better word is devotion, not faith… But it doesn’t matter,” Nero continued, after taking a moment to think.

“What you shouldn't know is that the effect of those miracles also depends on the faith of your target.”

“What?!” Mira and Whit, the priests, exclaimed in unison.

“And not faith in any specific deity. Just… faith. If you believe in any god, miracles work fairly consistently.” Nero spoke as Seres finally found the potion.

“And unfortunately for you, the faith of Nero here,” he said, gesturing at himself with both hands,

“is basically zero. So your bonus attack? Also basically zero. Pretty convenient in these situations. The only downside is if I were relying on help—like your healing miracles—they’d be almost useless on me too.”

“What you're saying is ridiculous,” Mira muttered, probably thinking he was insane.

“Fine. Don’t believe me. Just know—you can’t take me down.” Nero shrugged as Seres uncorked the potion for Adar.

“But, wouldn’t it be better to explain yourself? Attacking someone like that isn’t exactly polite,” Nero asked in a cordial tone—but his face and voice turned cold.

As Seres helped Adar finish the potion. And Mira said nothing, Whit tried instead:

“I don’t know what happened, but nothing terrible seems to have occurred. Adar is drinking the potion and should recover soon…”

“You don’t know what happened?” Nero interrupted with a short laugh.

“But I do.”

“Damn, that hurt. I think she broke something,” Adar muttered, his pain finally appearing to be easing.

“Your little friend was in a hurry to get into the temple, weren't you?” Nero asked Mira directly.

“You’d never let us in,” she snapped.

“What's with the 'us'. Why are you speaking in plural?” Nero smiled. She threw a heavy glance at Whit, who still looked confused.

“Not that it matters. Because you’re wrong. I’d be delighted for you to enter the temple.”

His serious face made Seres believe he was telling the truth.

“Oh sure, you don’t care about missing out on a divine blessing,” Mira retorted with irritation and doubt.

“Of course, I don't care. I can’t go in. If I could, why would I bring you all here? You needed me to find the temple. But I never needed you for that.” he responds looking amused by her.

“Why can’t you go in?” Whit asked as if that was the only thing he heard until now.

“Two reasons,” Nero said, raising two fingers.

“One: I’m too powerful. This temple has an entry max level. It’s only worth coming here early in the beginning.” Before anyone could really understand what he just said, he proceeded.

“Two: Nero here has already been through the temple, and you can only undergo the trials once. If I remember right, I got something that speeds up magic recovery.”

He lowered his fingers and turned back to Mira:

“So, I was wondering how to convince you to enter. After all, you’re the best candidate to take the risk.”

“Risk?!” Mira and Whit exclaimed together.

“Yes, risk. This isn’t the Temple of Divine Blessings. It’s the Temple of Divine Trials.”

He gestured to the temple.

“Whoever enters is tested—and might fail. Ending up even dead.”

Turning back to Mira, he added,

“But I can guarantee the rewards here are far greater than at the Temple of Blessings.”

“Really?” Mira asked almost timidly. Nero simply nodded. Meanwhile, Adar seemed to be recovering and began trying to stand up.

“I’ll go,” Whit announced, his face solemn, as if preparing for battle but fully accepting the risks that might come.

Mira turned to him, her expression complex:

“No, you won’t. This is my chance. I even tried to attack someone like him…”

She motioned toward the indifferent Nero.

“I was planning to use the distraction to rush inside the temple. But here we are.”

She let out a heavy sigh and continued calmly:

“Since we met, I’ve been chasing after you, Whit. But you’re always ahead—and part of that is because you had the chance to be blessed and I didn’t. You’re my best friend, but I need to take this chance. I’m sorry.”

And with that, she turned and headed toward the temple entrance.

“Mira!!” Whit called after her and began to follow—but stopped, simply watching her walk away.

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