Cultist of Cerebon

While the effects of non-physical Stats tended to be more subtle than those of their physical counterparts, the strange effect that high Willpower had on dreams was quite obvious.

Although Willpower tended to make a person need less sleep, it also made a person more likely to find themselves aware that they were dreaming when they did sleep. Many people had mixed feelings about that feature of the stat, but Zareth was quite fond of it.

His dreams… tended to be unpleasant more often than not.

They commonly featured some of his worst moments in the Sunrise Slums, such as the brief famine that took place when he was eight years old. Even he, a person who was mentally an adult, had found it nearly impossible to endure the relentless grip of hunger and helplessness. He had seen more corpses in that year than in any other period of his life, as he frequently stumbled upon people who had collapsed in empty alleys only to never rise again.

Sometimes he dreamt about that fateful day when he’d been beaten within an inch of his life and thrown out of the Phantom Scorpions; the suffocating sense of betrayal causing him just as much pain as his broken bones.

Zareth wasn’t able to stop these nightmares from happening, but they were much easier for him to deal with when he actually knew that none of it was real.

It was only because of this peculiar perk of Willpower that Zareth was relatively prepared to handle the occasional visions that he’d begun to experience after becoming an [Atavistic Apostle], due to the Crowning Skill that came with it.

Atavistic Insight - Grants the Apostle an intuitive proficiency in deciphering lost knowledge, along with visions that guide them to unearth hidden secrets. +3 Spirit, +3 Willpower, +3 Control.

Zareth must have studied the Skill’s description half a dozen times by now, but the text was frustratingly vague when it came to the specifics of what it did. He was happy with the Skill overall, especially given his lack of nightmares and the significant Stat boost that came with it, but he just wished he had a bit more guidance.

After all, suddenly waking up in a library littered with the scattered corpses of robed lizardkin was more than a little disorientating, especially when you had almost no context to what was happening.

The only other living occupant in the library was a female naga dressed in ornate white robes who was furiously slithering around the building and searching through the books. Whenever she failed to find what she was looking for, the naga would snarl and throw the books to the ground before continuing to the next shelf.

What I wouldn’t give to go back to having the normal dreams of my first life, Zareth thought nostalgically as he studied his surroundings. Life was better when the worst thing I saw after going to bed was a horde of angry cats chasing me for sterilizing them.

At the very least, this vision already promised to be far more interesting than the only other vision that he’d experienced over the first month of possessing his new Class.

It had involved watching some ancient lizardkin ceremony from afar, the significance of which was lost on him.

Aside from that, Zareth sometimes also found himself hearing the unintelligible whispers of a feminine voice attempting to draw his attention. Suffice to say, [Atavistic Insight] was a bit more vague and unhelpful so far than he’d wished, which was why Zareth hoped that this vision would be different.

Unfortunately, Zareth wasn’t able to see much that would indicate what this vision was attempting to show him. He could tell from the naga’s robes that she was likely a priestess of Suhail, God of Sun and Sand, and that they were somewhere in the Qahtani Desert region given that the books were written in ancient Nephalan script.

Unable to glean anything more from the scene alone, Zareth decided to focus on the naga priestess and follow her through the library, as she was clearly the cornerstone of the vision.

Zareth soon noticed that she was speaking to herself under her breath in the naga language of Seshani. He wouldn’t normally be able to comprehend what she was saying, but some odd property of the vision allowed him to understand the sibilant words.

“Where did those damned lizards hide it?” the naga priestess mumbled, her tone a mixture of anger and growing desperation as she slithered through rows of bookcases.

The urgency in her movements and the occasional glances toward the entrance suggested to Zareth that she was expecting pursuers, most likely other lizardkin like those scattered lifelessly around the library.

Nearly a minute later, Zareth’s assumption was proven correct when another naga rushed into the room, and the startled priestess immediately threw a stream of white flames in their direction. The new arrival, a lithe male naga wearing dark blue robes, cursed and conjured a shimmering barrier of iridescent light as the priestess quickly cut off her attack.

If Zareth hadn’t already recognized the robes, then the barrier would have been enough to reveal the naga as a priest of Sarqalim, God of the Twilight Moon.

“Damn it, Ayesha. You’re meant to be destroying the books, not me!” said the male naga as he dismissed the barrier.

The female naga, Ayesha, sneered as she returned to her work. “I thought you were one of the lizards. We have little time before they regroup and hunt us down. If you don’t want that to happen, then I suggest you help me find the tome, Jazan.”

“You still haven’t found it?” asked Jazan, his expression one of surprise as he joined in on the search.

Zareth watched as the two naga scoured the library in an increasingly frantic manner until Jazan suddenly paused and reached toward one of the tomes that Ayesha had previously thrown on the ground.

“Here, I think this is it,” Jazan said excitedly as he opened the tome and began flipping through its pages. “It was hidden by some strange System magic that made it difficult to realize what it was, but Lord Sarqalim granted me the clarity to see through it.”

Zareth walked over to the naga and took a good look at the tome, hoping that he could get some context as to what he was supposed to learn from the vision. It was difficult to make out its contents based on a few short glimpses of each page, but he did notice several mentions of the Etherveil along with mentions of various landmarks corresponding with locations in the western side of the Qahtani Desert.

“Hmph. System magic? Then it seems like they’re adapting,” Ayesha said with a hint of disdain as she took the tome and began looking through it herself. With a nod of satisfaction, she closed the tome before looking up at Jazan with a steely determination. “This is it. This tome contains everything that the Nephalans knew about the Kethr’syssen.”

Zareth scowled in annoyance as the vision suddenly failed to translate what was likely the most important word that he had heard in it so far. Something similar had happened during his first vision when the lizardkin leading the ritual spoke an untranslatable term that Rizok later revealed was used to describe a particular insect.

Apparently, its shell was once used in a wide variety of ceremonies until it went extinct. Likewise, Kethr’syssen was likely a word that couldn’t be translated either due to not having an equivalent in modern Nephalan or because it referred to something that no longer existed.

Rather than taking the tome and leaving, Zareth was surprised when Ayesha threw it onto the ground before conjuring a stream of white flames from her hand that set it and several bookshelves ablaze. Once the tome had been turned completely to ash, Ayesha finished setting fire to every corner of the library before turning back to her compatriot.

“Take us from this place before our enemies arrive,” Ayesha commanded, her voice urgent as the sound of shouts and rapidly approaching footsteps grew louder.

Jazan nodded before he started chanting in a rhythmic manner, most likely in preparation for a teleportation spell. Zareth had never actually seen that kind of magic before and heard that it was supposedly incredibly rare, so he was quite interested in witnessing it firsthand.

However, Zareth was shocked when something entirely unexpected happened instead.

“Wait. Lord Sarqalim says that we’re being watched,” said Jazan, stopping his casting and looking around with a confused expression. “We cannot allow anyone to know what knowledge we were here to destroy.”

Zareth was confused at first, unsure about what the naga was talking about since he couldn’t see anyone else in the library. That changed when Jazan’s eyes suddenly began glowing with a pale silvery light and turned directly towards him. Astonished, Zareth barely had enough time to consider the absurdity of what was happening before the male naga raised his hand and unleashed a beam of light in his direction.

Zareth awoke with a start, eyes wide as his multiple hearts pounded fiercely in his chest, his tendrils extending from his body in preparation to defend against an attack that was no longer there. The faint burning sensation along his chest caused Zareth to look down to see a much larger body than he was used to and several bony protrusions that seemed to be slightly charred.

It took a moment for him to understand what was happening, but Zareth eventually realized that he had instinctively shifted into a more defensive form in his sleep. [Template Body] was one of the Skills which he had decided to use a Skill Point to acquire, and he had immediately added the augmentation templates that he’d designed for the military to it.

Note to self. Don’t underestimate gods, Zareth thought with a lingering sense of unease as his breathing calmed, and he shifted his body back to its usual form. Utterly ridiculous. How does something like that even make sense?

As he got up from his bed and walked over to the desk where he’d left his notebook, Zareth couldn’t help but wonder if nightmares might end up being preferable if visions risked being that intense. By the time he had finished writing down the details of his vision in English so that nobody but him could read it, Zareth had relaxed enough to focus on the implications of what he’d seen.

Making his way over to the bookshelf in the corner of the room, Zareth’s eyes drifted past the few books on history and magical biology that he’d been able to acquire before landing on a Seshani to Nephalan dictionary. Given that he lived in a city ruled by naga, it seemed like a useful purchase at the time, and he was glad to see that he’d been right.

“Let’s see here. Kethr’syssen… Kethr’syssen…” Zareth murmured to himself as he flipped through the dictionary and brought it to his desk.

While he wasn’t able to find the exact translation for the work, he did discover that ‘Kethr’ meant something along the lines of ‘nexus’ or ‘junction’, while ‘Syssen’ was the naga word for magic.

I suppose this means that I’ll need to consult with a [Mage] or a [Historian] if I want to understand what this means, Zareth thought with a hint of disappointment.

When he had chosen [Atavistic Apostle] as his Class Evolution, Zareth had perhaps underestimated how frustrating researching ancient knowledge would actually be. He had already encountered multiple dead ends while studying the tome of Meldorath, and Zareth could tell that it would take significant time before he managed to discover something useful.

Still, this latest vision involved the actions of the Conclave during a time period that was likely shortly after the System came into being. Zareth’s instincts told him that this line of investigation had the potential to reveal something truly consequential.

It’s not something that I’ve looked into before, but the Conclave’s strongest presence has always been centered around cities to the west, Zareth thought as he wrote down his theories. Are they trying to find something? Hide something?”

Unable to reach a conclusion on his own, Zareth put away his dictionary and notebook before deciding to go through his morning routine. He had a busy day ahead of him, so he couldn’t afford to waste much time speculating alone. He would bring the matter up with Rizok when the soldier returned to the spire, since he knew far more about this world than Zareth.

After getting himself some breakfast from the spire’s kitchen, Zareth quickly made his way to one of the largest and busiest rooms on the lowest floor. Inside, Vidhatri and the [Cultists] were all hard at work augmenting the most recent batch of soldiers sent over by High Command.

While the [Cultists] who had already acquired [Permanent Flesh Manipulation] were at work, those that hadn’t were constantly ferrying clumps of biomass from a giant pile of meat on the other side of the room. Meanwhile, a row of soldiers stood off to the side, each waiting for their own enhancements.

Vidhatri was clearly the one doing the most of the work, a wide grin on her face as six unnaturally elongated arms stretched out as she simultaneously augmented several soldiers who appeared slightly traumatized.

It hadn't been long since Zareth presented his augmentation templates to the military, and they had gone through a thorough round of testing. The result was that High Command immediately began sending a steady stream of their soldiers to undergo the process. General Nasrith wanted a certain number of soldiers augmented before launching his imminent offensive against the enemy coalition’s forces, so it was an all hands on deck situation for his cult.

It was truly fortunate that Vidhatri had arrived and was more than happy to assist, otherwise he doubted that they would be able to keep up. Zareth could tell with a quick glance that a few of the [Cultists] were dangerously close to suffering from Skill Exhaustion, so he decided to step in to help out.

While he couldn’t keep up with Vidhatri, he had enough Willpower to pick up the slack for quite a while.

“Go ahead and take a break, Tamir,” Zareth said as he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder before glancing at the young ogre next to him. “You as well, Nog. I’ll take care of things from here. Thanks for waking up so early for this.”

Tamir and Nog both expressed their gratitude before shuffling off, leaving Zareth to handle the soldiers they had been working on. After opening his third eye, Zareth was suddenly able to see everything inside the bodies of the soldiers, from their internal organs, to their skeletal structure, to the complex network of nerves and blood vessels that hid just beneath the surface.

After spending a Skill Point to upgrade his third-eye, all of his perception Skills—[Flesh Perception], [Magic Perception], and [Devotion Perception]—had been consolidated into [Eye of Cerebon] and had become noticeably more powerful. According to Vidhatri, those kinds of perception Skills tended to consolidate into something like [Sixth Sense] or [Comprehensive Perception], so the result was a surprise to both of them.

“Good morning, Senior Fleshwarper. How many more soldiers do we need to augment today?” asked Zareth as he moved toward the soldier and began forming redundant copies of their organs. “High Command has made it explicitly clear that they need us to keep on schedule.”

“So long as our supply of biomass remains sufficient, I will not rest until the Weaver of Sinews gifts have been spread as widely as possible!” Vidhatri loudly responded, her four eyes burning with fervor as she deftly manipulated the flesh before her. “I’ve rarely been able to so freely grant our god’s gifts to outsiders, especially with so few of them screaming at my touch.”

Zareth’s polite smile faltered for a moment as every soldier in the room shared unsettled expressions. He’d tried at one point to talk to the shivarath about the importance of public perception and received a vague acknowledgement in return… but the zealous woman was clearly too excited to remember what they’d discussed.

Thankfully, there seemed to be another matter which Vidhatri wanted to talk about that suitably distracted her.

“Where is your heathen guard, Apostle Zareth?” Vidhatri asked, a strange expression briefly crossing her face. “Our most recent sparring match was quite violent, so I would not blame him if he needs time to recover. Should he require healing, I could be convinced to assist.”

Zareth wasn’t quite certain if Vidhatri’s tone was as suggestive as his mind made it out to be, but also wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“Rizok should be back in an hour or so,” Zareth lied as he waved off the lizardkin soldier and moved on to a young female ogre who High Command had assigned to receive the Bulwark template. “It’s not as if he can stay by my side at all hours of the day.”

In truth, Rizok was currently off meeting with the Tessik, which was the name of his secret lizardkin and loosely translation to ‘The Keepers’.

Part of the cooperation agreement that Zareth had settled on with them involved the Tessik compiling all the information they could gather that was relevant to his cult, which Rizok was currently receiving.

Going out and meeting with them personally was far too risky, so Rizok would brief him directly in the spire once he returned. It was difficult to overstate just how important information was to Zareth given how political his life had become. Which was why he’d decided to wait until he had the full picture before making any definitive plans for his cult.

Zareth spent the next few hours assisting Vidhatri with the augmentations, occasionally taking a break as they processed nearly a hundred soldiers before they were done for the day. Since a lot depended on his cult making a big impression during the upcoming offensive, he was dedicating most of his time to aiding the army and completing the augmentations.

Even to the point of overextending himself and getting a splitting headache due to Skill Exhaustion.

“Well done, Apostle Zareth. Our god will certainly be pleased with this offering,” Vidhatri said, her arms snapping back into normal proportions as the final soldier left the room, a hint of weariness in her expression. “I still do not agree with your decision to deny your followers the rapture of a proper sacrifice, but I can see how your methods have their own merit.”

Zareth rubbed his temple, wishing that the shivarath would speak just a little bit softer.

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s good that you’re adjusting to how things work in Tal’Qamar,” said Zareth, genuinely grateful that he probably wouldn’t need to worry about Vidhatri running out into the city and ritualistically sacrificing one of the cult’s enemies. “If there isn’t anything requiring your attention, I’d appreciate some assistance with one of my projects in the laboratory as well as some advice on how to spend my final Skill Point.”

Zareth had found himself with four Skill Points when he’d earned his Class Evolution, as he’d already had one saved prior and the System awarded him with three more when he reached that milestone. He already had an idea of how he wanted to use the final one, but it was always a good idea to seek the opinions of more experienced people whenever possible.

“Of course. I am always available to help with such matters,” Vidhatri said decisively before turning to the [Cultists] still in the room. “Our evening lessons will be postponed until tomorrow. Rest and replenish yourselves, because you all have much work still ahead of you.”

A unified wince passed through the remaining [Cultists] at Vidhatri’s command, but none of them dared voice any complaints. She had amply demonstrated her competency at teaching them given how quickly some of them were leveling, so Zareth pretty much gave her free rein to do as she liked.

Up to a limit of course, but that limit was more than enough to prevent them from talking back to her.

Zareth took a deep breath, settling the lingering discomfort from his overused skills, and led Vidhatri down to the laboratory. The room looked distinctly different from how it did just a month ago, with Meldorath’s Heart growing significantly over that time and spreading flesh-like material all across the floor and most of the walls.

It wouldn’t be long before it spread to the lower floors of the spire and became impossible to hide, but Zareth would cross that bridge when it came. The more influential his cult became by that point, the less it would matter once High Command learned that the spire was transforming into a fleshy fortress.

“Let's start with my project first. We can talk about my final Skill Points later,” said Zareth as he approached a workbench with a spherical clump of biomass on top of it. “I know that you said that I would need to acquire multiple Skill Evolutions before the System offered a method to directly control and see through a golem, but I thought of a different way to reach the same outcome.”

One of the problems that Zareth saw himself having in the future was his relative inability to leave Tal’Qamar without causing significant problems for his cult. Being a leader necessitated staying close to his center of power, but he didn’t want to be completely restricted in his movements.

It was for this reason that Zareth ultimately wanted to create a flesh golem that could effectively serve as a second body. Vidhatri had made clear that doing so would typically require a significant investment of Skill Points as well as a Class Evolution specifically related to golems, but Zareth had another option.

One that had become available after spending another Skill Point to upgrade his [Eye of Cerebon].

After activating [Deaden Nerves] to eliminate the oncoming pain, Zareth reached toward his third-eye and calmly pulled it out with a few fingers, noting with interest how the optic nerve writhed as if alive once removed from his head. After taking a moment to observe the scene and confirming that his third eye had started to regrow back, he moved it toward the biomass and watched as the eye immediately burrowed itself into the fleshy mass like an animal that had found its natural habitat.

There was an instance of momentary disorientation as Zareth found himself looking at his own face before his vision stabilized. He could now see from his original perspective as well as the one embedded into the soon-to-be flesh golem.

Zareth turned all of his eyes to Vidhatri, which allowed him to witness the shivarath’s completely unimpressed and faintly confused expression.

Oh. I suppose to her, it just looks like I decided to pull my eye out for no reason, Zareth thought with a hint of embarrassment as he realized that his little display had fallen a bit flat.

After he finished explaining the most recent evolution to [Eye of Cerebon], she immediately understood his intentions.

Eye of Cerebon Evolution(s):

Eye of Cerebon - Allows the user to grow copies of this eye and imbed them in any piece of biomass, granting the ability to see through them. The number of eyes capable of existing at the same time scales with the user’s Willpower, and possesses all the abilities of the main eye. Warning. This Skill has been added to the System by an external Divine Entity without prior authorization. Results not guaranteed. +4 Willpower.

Zareth had immediately known that he couldn’t pass up that upgrade the moment he laid eyes on it. Especially given it made Willpower his highest Stat at a hefty 36, allowing him to not only create several eyes which he could use to spy with but also better protect his mind against mind readers.

“The Weaver of Sinews truly favors you. That is an incredibly useful Skill,” Vidhatri said with a trace of envy as she examined the eye with renewed interest. “Then I see your plan. You wish to combine [Create Lesser Flesh Golem] along with this ability to create constructs which you can use to scout or act in your stead without being present. An intriguing concept, especially if paired with the stealth capabilities of your so-called ‘Mirage Stalker’ augmentations.”

Zareth couldn’t help but feel slightly impressed by how quickly Vidhatri had pieced together his plan from a brief explanation.

“Correct. [Create Lesser Flesh Golem] allows me to operate a small golem as finely as my Control stat and its structure allows, but not actually experience its senses,” Zareth said as he began using his abilities to form small, bird-like limbs on the biomass. “With eyes from which I can see and fingers dexterous enough to manipulate objects or write, I can effectively be in two places at once. The only difficulty that I’m currently having is optimizing its ability to fly without compromising its stealth or ability to withstand minor injuries. It’ll require a careful balance of strength, flexibility, and perhaps an incorporation of unique magic imbued biomass.”

Vidhatri pondered for a moment, her gaze serious as she fixated on the slowly growing golem. “It would be difficult to add further magical properties without losing its stealth specialization. There is a reason why monsters are generally known for particular magical abilities and not a wide assortment of them. Magic favors purity and focus, not rampant diversification. I am no [Flesh Animator], but I am familiar with their work and can offer assistance in this matter.”

As he and Vidhatri worked on the golem together, Zareth once again found himself impressed with the Senior Fleshwarper. He could tell that her understanding of biology was not as thorough as his own, especially in regards to animals due to [Veterinary Knowledge], but she definitely knew all of the things that mattered when it came to creating a viable construct.

Zareth hadn’t exactly memorized the scientific history of his original world, but he was confident that Vidhatri knew more than anyone did during the medieval time period. Specifically, she had an astonishing understanding of the lymphatic system that helped him optimize the golem’s circulatory needs in a way that solved many of his issues.

By the time they were done, the two of them had come up with a design that looked somewhat like an eyeball with wings, though the actual internal structure was significantly more complex.

Its wings were webbed and leathery like a bat, which offered superior maneuverability at low speeds and was easier to form with their abilities compared to feathered wings. The wings each ended in two tiny hands, the digits of which were dexterous enough that Zareth was able to successfully have the golem use a quill to write a… mostly legible sentence.

Its main body was a mass of flesh that contained the eye as the most prominent feature, able to shutter over it like a giant eyelid. Inside of its body was a fairly sophisticated respiratory system along with a relatively unsophisticated digestive system that connected to a small toothy mouth. It possessed two birdlike legs that would allow it to perch and rest, while its skin had the same ability to refract light as the Mirage Stalker.

It didn’t have much in the way of offensive abilities, aside from a potent venom sac attached to its small claws and fangs, but that itself could be powerful when paired with its stealth.

All in all, Zareth felt a swell of pride as he finished testing the culmination of his labor. Having what was effectively an invisible flying camera that he could control with his mind to move about and manipulate objects would be extremely useful.

“Well done. It is one of the most well crafted flesh golems that I imagine you could create without investing in more powerful Skills,” Vidhatri said, nodding in approval as she studied the golem flying around the laboratory. “It will serve you well.”

Zareth couldn’t help but agree as he mentally commanded the golem to activate its light refracting abilities and sent it flying out of the laboratory. He wished to see how well it could do scouting Tal’Qamar and force himself to grow accustomed to seeing another visual perspective while focusing on a different task.

“It shouldn’t be long until Rizok arrives, and I’ll need to discuss some important matters with him,” Zareth said as he turned his attention to Vidhatri. “Before then, I’d like to discuss my final Skill Point.”

Atavistic Apostle Active Skills:

Ether Attunement- Infuse the body with Ether and enhance its ability to channel the Etherveil until it is equivalent to those of the distant past. Mutually exclusive with Divine Essence Attunement. +3 Spirit. +3 Willpower. +3 Control.

Divine Essence Attunement - Infuse the body with Divine Essence and enhance its ability to channel the power of divine beings until it is equivalent to those of the distant past.. Mutually exclusive with Ether Attunement. +3 Strength. +3 Vitality. +3 Agility.

Organic Renascence - Allows the user to recreate the biology of extinct creatures of which they have knowledge. +2 Strength. +2 Vitality. +2 Agility.

Whispers of Lost Tongues - Allows the user to intuitively learn dead languages. +3 Spirit. +1 Willpower. +1 Control.

Zareth saw no reason to hide the details of his potential Skills given how absolutely loyal Vidhatri was to Cerebon. She would sooner slit her own throat than do anything that would work against the god’s interests, such as recklessly spreading information about his Class.

Aside from those four new options, the System still offered all of the Skills that it had before, such as [Flesh Crafting], [Corrosive Bolt], and all the rest. It also offered a new Skill Evolution for [Create Lesser Flesh Golem], but Zareth was much more interested in the Skills specific to [Atavistic Apostle].

Not only did they give significantly more Stats in general, but the benefits of Skills like [Flesh Crafting] could be delegated to the other [Cultists] in his cult.

“The difficulty that I’m having is that I have no idea how useful each of these Skills would actually be,” Zareth said after he finished explaining his options. “What is the difference between the abilities of the Etherveil and the Divine Essence? How many extinct creatures can I actually learn about, and are they any stronger than creatures that are actually alive? Being able to learn dead languages seems useful, but wouldn’t it be better to hire a [Historian] or [Scholar] that specializes in that?”

Vidhatri’s expression was thoughtful as she silently considered Zareth’s quandary. “How strange. I am familiar with examples of Classes capable of channeling the Etherveil and Divine Essence, but they were all offered [Ether Channeling] and [Divine Essence Channeling]. I’m not certain of the differences between these Skills and yours, but those differences must exist given that these Skills are not exclusive.”

Zareth was surprised to hear that. He had already been doing research into the Etherveil and Divine Essence from the moment he chose his Class Evolution, but information regarding them was sparse.

“Your situation is quite unique to my knowledge,” Vidhatri continued after a moment of consideration. “Unfortunately, I know little about the practicalities of using those forms of powers. My suggestion would be for you to focus on researching those two Skills in particular. Not only do they offer far more Stats than Skills should for someone of your level, but their mutual exclusivity suggests that your choice will be highly significant.”

Zareth considered Vidhatri’s advice and found that he couldn’t help but agree. While neither of the Skills would completely prohibit him from channeling the power of the other, it did imply that he would need to specialize in one going forward.

That wasn’t the kind of decision to make when he had so little information about the strengths and weaknesses of both. It was something that he would need to focus on researching after the upcoming offensive, when his time wasn’t so consumed with working on the soldier augmentations.

Just as Zareth was about to respond, he paused as his flesh golem suddenly caught sight of Rizok approaching the spire.

Once he shared this information with Vidhatri, a glimmer of anticipation flashed through her eyes before being replaced with caution as she glanced toward Meldorath's Heart. “Are you certain that it is wise to allow the heathen here? As impressive as he may be, I question your willingness to trust outsiders.”

“You can question it as much as you like, Senior Fleshwarper. But I do trust him,” Zareth said firmly, unwilling to compromise on this matter.

Vidhatri may be higher leveled and more powerful than him, but he wasn’t going to let her make decisions about how he ran his own cult.

The two of them locked gazes for several moments before Vidhatri nodded in acceptance as they returned to waiting for Rizok’s arrival.

Turning his focus back to the golem, Zareth instructed it to fly into Rizok’s field of view and lead the lizardkin to the laboratory. Zareth found the clear exasperation that crossed the lizardkin’s expression as he stared at the flying eyeball to be far funnier than he should have.

“Why is it that whenever I leave, I return to find this place more bizarre than when I left it?” Rizok asked dryly as he stepped into the laboratory.

“I prefer the term innovative,” Zareth countered with a wry grin as he directed the golem to land on his shoulder, briefly petting the flying eyeball’s side as it leaned into his touch.

Flesh Golems were far from intelligent, especially ones as rudimentary as the one that he’d made, but [Create Lesser Flesh Golem] did imbue them with the capacity to respond to simple stimuli like it was doing now.

“Hmph. Our god is not bizarre. It is the rest of the world that is strange for not seeing his truth,” Vidhatri said with a scoff before a strange emotion crossed her face as she looked at Rizok. “How glorious it would be if you were among Cerebon’s chosen. There’s… so much that could be done to improve your flesh if you would only allow me.”

Okay. That's my cue to change the subject, Zareth thought with a trace of embarrassment as he saw the increasingly ravenous look in the shivarath’s eyes.

While Rizok might appreciate Vidhatri’s enthusiasm, he’d made it clear that he didn’t intend to worship any gods, and Zareth did have other matters to discuss rather than watch the two of them make eyes at one another.

“I had another vision this morning, this time about the Conclave,” Zareth announced as he interrupted before things could get more awkward.

By the time he finished recounting his vision, Vidhatri and Rizok’s expressions were both much more serious as they considered the details.

“I know nothing which could be described as a ‘crossroads of magic’,” Vidhatri admitted in a moment of consideration. “You would be better served asking one of the [Rishi Sages] about such matters.”

“Kethr’syssen? The word is familiar, but I’m not certain where I’ve heard it,” Rizok murmured, his eyes narrowing in thought before he refocused on Zareth. “There is a chance that this may be important to the current war. If there is something in the Qahtani Desert which the Conclave is extremely invested in hiding or protecting, then High Command will have underestimated their resolve to retain control over these lands.”

Zareth was unsurprised that neither of them had clear information to share with him, as he’d already expected that things wouldn’t be that easy. Just as he was about to respond, he suddenly noticed Rizok subtly gesturing toward Vidhatri with a meaningful look in his eye.

It took a moment, but Zareth eventually understood that he likely wanted her to leave so that he could share the information gathered by the Tessik privately. Personally, Zareth felt that Vidhatri was both trustworthy and useful enough to warrant sharing secrets with, so long as they weren’t going against Cerebon, but that wasn’t his decision to make.

Rizok had taken a risk in trusting him with the existence of his secret group, and Zareth had no intention of being careless with that trust.

“Senior Fleshwarper, Rizok and I have a few things that we need to discuss in private,” said Zareth, seeing no need to beat around the bush. “Would you give us a moment?”

Vidhatri’s eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze shifting between Zareth and Rizok, but she gave a curt nod before agreeing and making her way out of the library.

“Thank you. While I’m sure that her input would be valuable, my people cannot afford to recklessly trust outsiders,” Rizok said as soon as she was gone. “There are already some who disagree with my decision to reveal them to you.”

“Really? Is that going to be a problem for you?” said Zareth, worried that his new friend would get in trouble because of him.

“Nothing significant. My position in the military is not one that can be easily replaced, so there is little that my detractors can do to censure me,” Rizok said with a dismissive gesture before his expression grew firm. “But let’s focus on the matter at hand. There are several topics which we need to discuss, but the most important are those related to the war.”

Zareth nodded in understanding. The main motivation of the Tessik to ally with him was for the potential acquisition of a piece of land that they believed held historical significance to lizardkin. Given that this particular area was also in a high value location, they needed Zareth’s cult to contribute significantly to this war if they wanted any chance of getting their claws on it.

“Were you able to verify that High Command intends to honor their commitment?” Zareth asked.

That was one of the first things that he had asked Rizok’s co-conspirators to look into for him, given that their ambitions hinged entirely on High Command’s trustworthiness. It was unlikely that General Nasrith was simply using the promise of land to manipulate him and the rest of Tal’Qamar's factions, given the catastrophic consequences of breaking such a deal, but Zareth wasn’t one to take anything for granted.

“All signs point to them being committed to this course of action. The directive to take this path came from House Vhelan, and Lady Marilith very rarely resorts to such blatant lies, but that is not what I was referring to,” Rizok said as he walked over to a workbench.

Zareth watched as Rizok swept away the papers on the bench and cleared it of leftover biomass before spreading out a detailed map of the area surrounding Fal’Ashar where General Nasrith was likely to engage Tal’Qamar’s enemies.

“You managed to discover details about High Command’s offensive?” said Zareth, his eyes widening in astonishment.

These kinds of details were extremely confidential for obvious reasons and hadn’t been shared with Zareth despite his relationship with High Command. Possessing this map was a risk, but having specific details about the upcoming battle would allow him to come up with a specific plan to more effectively aid the war effort.

Zareth knew how important impressions were, especially first impressions. His first impression to the majority of Tal’Qamar’s citizens when he attacked the Conclave was one that resulted in his cult nearly doubling in membership within a single month.

This battle would make a big impression on not only many members of the military who hadn’t been in Tal’Qamar at the time, but would also display just how essential his cult could be to the city’s future. Not to mention spread news about his cult beyond Tal’Qamar.

“We did, though we’re not the only ones,” Rizok confirmed as he placed a few markers on the map. “We were given this by one of the kesh’sisk in House Khysar who sympathize with us, and it was almost certainly passed to other factions. I’ve always wondered why our enemies so rarely discover our plans given how compromised and corrupt High Command is.”

Zareth could hear a deep resentment in Rizok’s voice making it clear that this was a sore spot for him.

“I see. Well, you’ll need to explain this for me since I don’t exactly know how to read military maps,” said Zareth, changing the topic as he approached the workbench.

Zareth listened carefully as Rizok explained. Apparently, General Nasrith intended to take full advantage of the Desharin’s recent commitment to the war effort by taking a path to the enemy's position through a place known as the Sea of Dunes. This was an area rampant with Living Sands, which wouldn’t be traversable in most other circumstances.

Attacking from this direction would hopefully be a big surprise to the enemy and allow General Nasrith to storm several significant defensive fortifications around an oasis near Fal’Ashar. The information that Rizok had acquired included details about the expected enemy forces, so he and Zareth spent the next half an hour discussing potential ideas.

From swarms of warbeasts to sacs of diseased biomass that could be launched into the enemy lines to break their ranks, each of their plans was struck down for a variety of reasons. Tal’Qamar didn’t field a sufficient number of [Beast Tamers] to handle that many warbeasts, and most militaries in this region had multiple methods of dealing with ‘bio-chemical’ attacks.

Apparently, one of the city-states on the western most edge of the Qahtani Deserts specialized in [Alchemists] and caused a lot of problems in a previous war.

“What if I repeat the trick that I used during our trip to the temple?” Zareth asked, growing increasingly frustrated as none of his plans panned out. “I’m sure that there must be a few hives of System Spawn near Fal’Ashar. It wouldn’t be difficult to lure them with pheromones.”

“A competent military would have enough patrols of [Scouts] to see them coming from a mile away and would have their [War Mages] burn them to ashes long before they arrived.”

“Tch. What if I created a singular massive creature that could burrow beneath their fortifications?” Zareth asked, not even certain if he could do that but wanting to explore every option.

“[Geomancers] have been doing similar things for ages,” Rizok responded with clear skepticism. “Their tunnel would collapse on their head the moment they drew close to the enemy position.”

Zareth let out a frustrated curse and took a deep breath as he glared at the map. While he was able to come up with several ideas that he considered creative, his hopes were quickly dashed as Rizok made it clear that this world wasn’t populated by idiots.

If I want my cult to have an effect on this battle beyond the augmentations, then I’ll need to think of something that nobody else would have been able to consider, Zareth thought as his mind raced with ideas.

Eventually, one idea in particular began to stand out as potentially viable.

“Does High Command have any aerial forces capable of dropping things on enemy positions?” Zareth asked after nearly a minute of silence.

“Yes, though not many,” Rizok immediately confirmed. “[Aeromancers] are reserved specifically for scouting from a safe distance, as enemy [Archers] are guaranteed to target them in battle.”

“That’s fine. How common is it to use [Hydromancers] during battles like these?” Zareth continued, increasingly confident in his idea. “You said that Fal’Ashar is particularly good at conserving their forces during retreats due to their cavalry's speed and ability to harass pursuing forces. Wouldn’t it be easy to restrict enemy movements by mixing sand with water to create large fields of mud?”

Rizok’s expression was confused, but he still answered dutifully. “It is very common for exactly the reason that you describe, despite the relative cost of fielding [Hydromancers]. It is protocol to keep one [Hydromancer] in reserve throughout a battle to clear any potential route of retreat.”

That made sense to Zareth, and was another sign that his plan had the potential to actually work.

“One more question. Can a [Hydromancer] manipulate blood?” Zareth asked, growing excited as he awaited Rizok’s answer.

When the lizardkin confirmed that they couldn’t, Zareth felt a wide grin grow across his face as the pieces of his plan fell into place.

“Go and tell Vidhatri that she needs to come back,” Zareth said as he quickly retrieved a bit of biomass from his storage area and placed it on a workbench. “I’m going to need her help designing this if I want it to be ready in time for the offensive.”

As Rizok left the laboratory to do just that and Zareth began sculpting the pile of biomass into a spherical shape, his mind conjured images of what the battlefield would look like if his plan worked as intended.

It wouldn’t be quite as flashy as making a giant man-eating flesh house in the middle of Tal’Qamar, but he had a feeling that none of his rivals would be able to compete.

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