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"… Really?" Mark asked, trying to keep his face from showing his deep disbelief on camera. There were a lot of people on the other side of the video call.

"100 Healthy Bodys a day. That's all you want?"" That's all we want," said Sentinel Saikou J owa of Aluatha, of Freyala. The slightly purple man looked pretty much the same as Mark remembered, back when he first met the guy in the starter days of the Battle for Memphi, when he was trying to convince Mark to turn himself in to Aluatha.

Others on the Collective call looked a bit more ragged, like the other guy Mark had met way back in Memphi, and who was actually sitting on the other side of the conference room table. Executioner for Drakarok, Walter Volkov, former Sentinel of Okuana, was still a big man with old scars all over his face and hands, but he looked like he hadn't slept properly in months, which was rather true.

Godking Dominant had kicked out or killed every single paladin, priest, and big-time parishioner of the God of War and Murder in the days following Mark's release of the Documentary of Endless Daihoon. Walter blamed Mark in an offhanded way for what had gone down with his entire life, but Walter knew he was effectively blaming a tiny rock for not holding back an ocean. He saw, now, the rot at the center of Okuana, and he hated every part of his former home.

Other people at the meeting included Lola, whom Mark hadn't seen nearly enough in the last few days. Lola kept her head high and her back straight, looking at the cameras ahead, her visage poised in the square of the screen that currently belonged to her. Mark was in a meeting with the Collective, taken at the Church of the Pantheon in Dawncoast. Mostly, it was him sitting in front of a camera, in a conference with a lot of the major players of the Pantheon in Daihoon, and of Aluatha.

Some of the people in the room with him and half of the people on the screen were mostly spectators, for all people of the Collective could look in on these sorts of meetings when they wanted to look in, because that's how the Collective operated. High Paladin Azocar Sanchez of Hearthswell, and Sir Galen Green-shield, High Priest of Verdago, were in that later category, sitting there in that room. Some very famous names up on that screen were the High Priestess Holy Mother Julia Garin, of Freyala.

She looked regal in her gold and white dress, while her son, the superhero Justicar, Serge Garin, stood to the side in his extremely-paladin armor. The guy was big in the Hero/Villain Program and also a major player in Crystal Tower. Mark hadn't seen them in a year. Another person he hadn't seen in a while was the former consort of Drakarok himself, when the god was a mortal man named Alexander Volkov.

Currently, the woman went by the name Redwolf, and she lived in a recently-rejoined part of Memphi, that used to be called Wolf Bayou, until the Gate District of Memphi had reabsorbed that whole section of land to expand the city and to make the Gate District. Redwolf's real designation and name was 'High Priestess Kendrai Redwolf'. Her eponymous mask was pulled to the side, sitting on top of her pale, girlish face. She was not happy, but at least it wasn't pointed at Mark.

Mark was pretty sure that if looks could kill across the Two Worlds, then Redwolf could do it. She could already pop the brains of kaiju from kilometers away, if they had brains. Mark was old enough to know that while most people had brains, if they used them then that would have been a deviation from the norm. People from Okuana were watching this meeting. Mark had mixed feelings about that.

They had briefly argued about everything to do with Mark empowering Aluatha at the expense of Okuana, but Mark briefly didn't give a shit about them, and told them as much before any of that really got going. There was one Sentinel of Okuana, Vinceni Charo, of Hearthswell, whom Mark had talked with before and whom he was starting to hate, which was still a weird feeling for him. Other people were much more familiar with that feeling.

The (Ex)Sentinel of Okuana, Navaloka Volkov, had butted heads with Vinceni before, too, and she was also glaring at Vinceni… maybe. Mark wasn't sure. There were a lot of faces up there. This was a big meeting. Sentinel Saikou had led Aluatha's Sentinels and Paladins in their presentation of what Aluatha's Chosen wanted from Mark's Skilling efforts, but Mark was having trouble accepting their decision. Mark said, "I can do more than 100 Healthy Bodys per day." Maybe, actually. Mark wasn't too sure about that.

What he was sure about was, "I can make real powerhouses, like Shawn." Redwolf pressed the button in front of her, along with a bunch of other people. Redwolf took priority, according to the moderator overseeing today's big discussion. Redwolf's screen was soon framed with light as she said, "Drakarok will take all the Bi-Talents you want to give us, but we're not doing Tri-Talents anymore." Other people were furiously pressing their buttons, trying to speak.

But Mark was allowed to speak next, since he was the focus of the meeting. The button sitting in front of him lit up, letting him know he could speak if he wanted, so he tapped the button and his image lit up with a white frame. Mark asked, "What's wrong with Tri-Talents? I theoretically could have been paladin'd, if I didn't already have a Natural Power." Redwolf tapped her button and responded, "It's a matter of advancement. Shawn can never be more for Drakarok than he is right now.

We'd much prefer Bi-Talents that might one day ascend to full Retribution so that we can fully march on Dominant and kill every single tree with the eons of Retribution he has rightfully gathered—"" Point of order," said the moderator, while many people from Okuana were smashing their 'I want to talk' buttons.

"We're not discussing the war today." On the other side of the table from Mark, Walter huffed, speaking under his voice, "Kaijushit." Mark thought it was kaijushit, too. They were absolutely discussing the war, but they were doing it obliquely. Mark's button lit up again, but he let it go; his question had been answered. The gods wanted Bi-Talents so that they could support those people themselves, instead of limiting the power they could grant.

It was probably the whole 'fourth talent' problem, where humans all monsterized if they got 4 Talents. … Mark still hadn't experimented with having 4 Talents yet. Maybe he'd do that when he went out to hunt monsters later— Vinceni Charo, of Hearthswell, Sentinel of Okuana, lit up on the screen. It was his turn to talk, Mark supposed. A bunch of other people were visibly disgusted. Redwolf threw up her hands and walked away, but she left her screen on. She'd be back.

Vinceni tried being calm as he asked, "Will you be allowing people from Okuana to come get Skilled in the myriad ways you say you'll do?" Mark's button lit up.

Mark controlled his rage down to a simmer as he tapped the button, and said, "The Pantheon might not choose a side, and that will be good for the many people who live within the borders of both empires, but Okuana killed the Fates of Xerkona, of which I am the Inheritor for, and therefor I will not be giving Okuana, or anyone who lives within Okuana's borders, any assistance at all with Skilling.

Please leave Okuana if you are able, and if you cannot leave because you serve a sacred duty, then please try to keep people safe and out of the war." Vinceni looked distressed, but also diplomatic and thankful. When the option came for him to respond, he said, "Thank you for recognizing the sacred duty of Hearthswell, and the Pantheon." The moderator opened the floor again. Saikou Jowa asked, "Will you be able to provide the requested Healthy Bodys to Aluatha's Chosen?"

A hundred Healthy Bodys per day, for as long as Mark could keep going. That is what they were asking for. It was a big ask. Mark had to think, so he Unioned with Alacrity and Slowness to give himself more time. Quark was right there with him, illuminating some numbers they had already gone over during other Alacrity/Slowness moments. 100 Healthy Bodys a day. It was a small number. Healthy Body was a 'weak' Power and kinda easy to get.

But it was, in truth, a very large number for Mark and a very strong empowerment of the world. Quark had done some calculations with Mark's time-to-harvest for the last few Healthy Body takes from the slaughterhouse. To get 100 Healthy Bodys Mark needed to kill 250-300 cattle per day. That meant that the slaughterhouse would need to increase its output by a full 50%, from 200 to 300, and, assuming Mark could pull out a Binding from a cow in a single minute, that meant 300 minutes per day of killing cows.

3 hours, at the minimum. Probably closer to 4 hours per day. It was currently Friday, March 4th, 2050. It had been a few days since Mark had Skilled the first round of soldiers for Walaria, and more would be coming in, soon, but Mark had been practicing pulling Healthy Bodys from cows and he had gotten pretty good at it. Not 1-minute-per-cow good. But close. He could get there eventually.

But, assuming that Mark was Skilling 100 people with Knacks, meaning 100 people who never went through Tutorial, and who were just using the Chosen System, he would be effectively 'minting' 100 'new' Paladins per day. 100 people who were already in the Chosen System, but who had been relegated to back-end work, in small hospitals and healing stations and the like. Not full paladins or priests at all. But they would be full paladins or priests when they got a Body Power. Right now they were just Knacked.

Chosen with Knacks were a subset of the population who had only ever had a Power Level that was supported by their Chosen Power, giving them a 1 in every part of the Power Hex except Natural, which had a range of PL from 30 to 70, depending on how far they had gone with their god. With Healthy Body, Mark would be giving those people a Body at 25 and then a 15 in Arch and Shaper, and 10s in Mind and Arcane.

Those people would also have a Healthy Body, which was not the best Body Power, but it was still really, really good. And you could evolve it, eventually… somewhat. Tartu had never managed to evolve his Healthy Body, but he was still trying. Healthy Body and a Chosen Natural Power wouldn't make great Paladins… … Though Lola was a pretty great paladin, even without a Power of her own at all. Anyway.

Such people would still be Paladins who could actually go out and fight on a frontline somewhere, with a real Power Level that would protect them from most casual harm. That was big. Digging more into the numbers, it got a bit more complicated. The Two Worlds had maybe 5. 3 billion people. The official count of people was off, and everyone knew it, but these were the numbers that were used in high level discussions of this type, where people were organizing systems and trying to make systemic impacts.

This world war was going to have a major systemic impact on everyone, so 5. 3 billion people was 'close enough' to the real number. 3. 3 billion people on Earth, 2 billion on Daihoon, with the average daihoonian being vastly stronger than the average earthling. Like, Power-Level-20-on-Daihoon compared to PL-1-on-Earth kind of stronger. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

That 2 billion on Daihoon was further split to 850 million in Aluatha, 1. 15 Billion in Okuana, and an unknown scattering elsewhere. The average Okuanan was comparable to the average Aluathan, though Okuana had dryads and Aluatha had nothing comparable at all. Both sides had archmages, though. Would adding 100 paladins with a simple Brawny Power be enough to make any real impact at all? Oh yes, they would make impacts. Mark was sure of that.

But when compared to making true powerhouses that could hold back monster waves all on their own? … Shit. And these guys were asking for a lot of work from Mark. 4 hours a day was a lot in a warzone. Hmm... Back to the numbers on the wall. Only 10% of people on Earth took the Tutorial, but 35% of people on Daihoon took the Tutorial. On Earth, those Tutorial takers end up with some kinda Brawny Power most of the time. On Daihoon, it was much more complicated than 'you get a Brawny Power'. So there were about 1.

3 billion people with Powers in the Two Worlds. A fifth, basically. But most of those people with Powers lived on Daihoon. Many people with Powers, from Earth, went to Daihoon; just look at Mark, Sally, Eliot, and Isoko. Derek too. Many such cases. So about 1-in-4 people on Daihoon had a Power. Chosen paladins/priests were 1 in every 100-5000 people, including people with Knacks, depending on the situation. Most paladins moved around a lot, while priests stayed where they were.

Here in Dawncoast it was 1-to-100 norm-to-Chosen. So, just looking at Dawncoast, with a population of 130, 000, that meant 1, 300 Chosen. If Mark added 100 more Healthy Body paladins to the score every day, instead of just normal paladins, those guys would absolutely make differences, everywhere… But... no. Mark had to say 'no' to this massive request. Mark ended his Alacrity/Slowness, pressed the talk button, and said, "I am afraid I cannot do this level of request. It's too much of an obligation."

Some faces slumped. Redwolf was back, and she sighed a little, while the guy from Okuana looked relieved. Mark continued, "However, I would like to suggest something else. Give me 25 Chosen per day to Healthy Body, and do some recruitment for more people and let's Healthy Body those 25 entirely-new people as well, or something like that. You can figure out the exact ratio. Might only be 49 Chosen and 1 other person.

Maybe you have acolytes that never quite wanted to come into the fold, or never saw much point to it? People who hang on to the sides, who don't want to truly commit? People who are nevertheless good, useful people, who don't have much in the way of Powers at all. I want those people, too, because I want to expand the full number of Chosen as well. You guys figure all of that out and I'll do 50 new Healthy Body Chosens per day, for at least the next week, up to Gate Day, at no cost."

Mark finished with, "I have other obligations both with Skilling, and with other organizations that I must attend to now, so that is my final offer." The viewers had Thoughts about that, but most of them, based on their faces, were considering how to proceed. They were not going to try and change Mark's mind. Saikou got to speak next, and he decided to say, "The Chosen of Aluatha thank you for this generosity, and we will accept it." Mark nodded, and then tapped the button to indicate he was leaving the conference.

His image dimmed around the edges and he stood— The image of High Priestess Holy Mother Julia Garin, of Freyala, flickered with white. She was going to talk. Mark sat back down. Julia Garin simply said, "Thank you, Mark." And then her image went grey, too.

Mark nodded, and then left the conversation, many images on the screen dimming and then fading away altogether, and pretty much everyone in the room decided that was all they needed to see—" We want real killers too, Mark," Executioner Walter said, across the table, turning off his image. The rage in his heart flexed out of his control just a little, aiming barely at Mark and then out into the rest of the world. The very air felt retributive, like prickly sandpaper. Walter rumbled, "Wait a minute, please."

Walter glanced back at the blank screen. Azocar and Galen and Lola watched, but did not say anything. A new call was coming through. Walter answered it, and the screen shifted around. Instead of a conference call of hundreds, it was just 3 people. Walter, the Ex-Sentinel of Okuana, Navaloka Volkov, and Redwolf took the screen. Redwolf still had her wolf mask pulled to the side of her face, over her hair. Redwolf said, "Hello Mark. I promise this won't take long. We want Soul Kill." Mark had a deep moment.

Then he said, "If you got someone you can truly trust with that one, and if they're going after people who need it, then you can have it, alongside whatever other Talents they need."" We want Psychokinesis, too," Redwolf responded. Now that … Mark had trouble agreeing to that. Mark had gotten Psychokinesis from one of Walaria's rescues the other day, and that Power had driven that guy crazy when he wasn't shavallian'd up. Or, more accurately, it drove him and everyone around him crazy. Literally.

Psychokinesis allowed one to pilot around the thoughts and feelings of those around them as though those thoughts and feelings were extensions of one's own body. Psychokinesis was inherently dangerous." Psychokinesis is not like other Shaper Powers. It's the ability to directly rip at the vector of the mind, turning people away or focusing them or… or at lot. But mostly it's Walaria's to hand out, too. It came from her reserve."" If we get her to sign off on it, you'll do it?"

"… Yes," Mark said, making a tough call. Redwolf took a deep breath, like she saw a road opening up before her. Walter relaxed a little, and Navaloka Volkov looked secure— Mark suddenly realized something. Walter and Navaloka both used Drakarok's last name, meaning they were high in the Church of Drakarok, but Kendrai Redwolf, the High Priestess of Drakarok, did not have Volkov for a last name. Redwolf nodded a little, and it was almost a bow.

"Thank you." Mark asked, "Is your last name really Redwolf, or is it Volkov?" Walter and Navaloka eyed Mark just a little. Redwolf paused, and then she laughed once.

"Yeah. It's Volkov. But it's still Redwolf, too." That felt like enough interrogation for Mark. Mark said, "I look forward to giving Soul Kill to a person and hearing about them killing Dryads and Dominant."" And more than a few governors who allowed this shit," said Navaloka, the former Sentinel of Okuana. She had a serious grudge against a lot of people back in her former home. Mark said, "Death to all monsters." Redwolf spoke seriously as she said, "Death to all monsters." Navaloka nodded a little.

Walter ended the call then told Mark, "Thank you." … Mark asked, "Was the demon killing stuff ever real?" Lola, Galen, and Azocar, once again, were bystanders. Walter's hatred spiked, but not at Mark.

"It's better for that chapter of this war to be forgotten, Mark." Mark moved on. He waited outside of the conference room, but he poked back into the room with his Union, at Lola. Soon, Lola joined him, saying, "50 'new' paladins per day is a big promise." Mark smiled softly.

"I'd like to make one right now, if you want, Lola. It's just Healthy Body." Lola shook her head.

"No thank you, Mark. Not right now." Mark steeled himself, preparing to say something he knew he couldn't take back. Mark said, "Your inability to accept my help in this manner might be because you came back wrong from your resurrection, and so you need a Healthy Body in order to think straight. It's brain chemistry stuff, and I saw it a lot when I healed those people with harmful Powers. A lot of them saw things a lot better once they were out from under the horror of their brain chemistry."

Lola eyed Mark sternly, rhetorically asking, "And you think Freyala has left me bereft of the ability to heal myself from the common, mortal issue of bad brain chemistry?" A bit tougher, she drilled, "What was the very first Union you learned, Mark? Good/Bad, was it? Perhaps! So how about you leave this issue alone." The air was cold. Mark pulled back, giving space as he said, "I understand. Sorry, Lola."" You are forgiven." Lola asked, "Where are you off to next?""

Off to the slaughterhouse, to ask about increasing production."" Then I will see you on the morrow." The air was still cold.

"… Want to grab lunch tomorrow? Somewhere nice?"" Yes. Call me tomorrow when you are not too busy."" Okay." Mark smiled a little. Then he got the heck out of there. Mark flew through the sky to the slaughterhouse, warm sun on his face and body, but he still felt something like ice knives lodged into his chest as he thought about Lola.