Chương 32: Chapter 31 - An Oath of Silence

Astra glanced at Eli across the fire before speaking." To my knowledge the Gods abandoned this world long ago and if the ancient tales are true, which are also quite contested, they left before the creation of this world as well. No one can agree on the state of the world or worlds prior to this, but the one thing most scholars do agree on, is that Caelwyn and its sisters were once part of a much larger world, prior to whatever apocalypse caused the gods to flee and abandon our ancestors.""

Speculation aside, we believe the Ancients were faced with a great and terrible evil, one too monstrous to comprehend and they were ill equipped to defeat on their own. Faced with the prospect of their own annihilation they performed a great and terrible magic of their own at great cost to themselves, sundering the world but allowing some of our ancestors to survive.""

This great magic reformed the great primordial world into four smaller realms each aspected to retain a source for one of each of the primal magics, Caelwyn, our realm, the realm of air, Verdalis, the orb you can see in the sky, the realm of earth, Soltheris the realm of fire, and Thallos the realm of water, and finally the infinite Abyss.""

It was into this Abyss where they cast the great enemy that threatened their world, hopefully locking the adversary away until after the stars grow dim and the final wind fades. Well if you believe the old tales after all.

As part of parcel of this whole tale as a final act of benevolence, it is said that the Ancients sundered the primordial magic itself, creating the great System to act both as a warden to watch over the Abyss and guardian for their descendants, ensuring that the torch of knowledge is passed through the ages so that we may never forget the strength of our arms or power of our sorceries." Eli let out a long, low whistle, " We have some wild origin stories on my planet too, but that one is fantastic."

He met Astra's eyes with a steady gaze, " So, is it true?" Astra sighed and shrugged, " No one can be truly sure, but the System is here? You can see Verdalis in the sky. Our scholars have found many old ruins with similar stories, and these are only the basis that most agree on, the rest of the story from the smallest details to the major forces have as many variations as stars in the sky.""

Personally I trust in what my eyes can tell me," nodded at Mira, " and in what those I trust can share from their experiences. In the larger tapestry of the Empire alone it is mostly irrelevant outside the scholars circles and some bickering between the various religions." Astra took a deep breath, " What I can tell you though is that the gods likely did exist, and likely still do.

You can find hints of their touch on the system, through odd references or messages, and their Godstouched occasionally appear among the rest of the mortal races."" Some were great heroes, some were raving madmen, and the stories say at least one was responsible for wiping a distant kingdom from the surface of the realm. No one is sure why, as they apparently didn't survive whatever horror they unleashed.

The somewhat good news however, is that most appear to just be lost souls taken from distant realms and dropped here for no discernible reason. For the most part the Godstouched seemed to be normal folk far from home, with a little higher than average talent for magic than the average citizen." Astra winced, "Which leads us to the worse part of this.

Rumors abound about the Godstouched, especially amongst the nobility, and while it's been generations since the last one came to the Empire, there are all sorts of tales of the fabulous wealth their otherworldly knowledge can bring." Eli nodded as he could see where she was headed, " And if they find out about me it would tip off a feeding frenzy." Astra grimaced at his words, " That is not entirely inaccurate.

I would hope that my peers would be above such things," Mira snorted and rolled her eyes, " but I have been disappointed before." Eli waved her off, " I understand, and I won't hold their actions against you. I was worried this might be an issue, and I'm not all that surprised, it's knowledge after all that is the true key to power." Mira smiled, giving him an approving nod, " Well said Mr. Mercer."

Mira nodded to Astra as she continued in her stead, " Following this line of reason, we would advise you to keep the truth of your origins concealed, only revealing them to those you are in whom your are willing to trust with your very life, especially considering that that in the wrong hands the threat may very well be just as dire."

Gesturing towards Astra, " As a show of good faith my Lady and I have decided to offer a System bound Oath, to keep the knowledge of your origin amongst ourselves, only disseminating said information to others with your express permission." Taking a deep breath Mira fixed Eli with a firm gaze, " For your elucidation, since I doubt you are aware of the nature of such Oaths, they are rarely taken in our realm and never without careful consideration.

The System itself adjudicates such Oaths and has sufficient power to administer significant penalties for a breach of confidence from the lowest creature to the pinnacles of existence, and in line with the even handed nature of the great System, both parties are required to consent to the agreement." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

She leaned back waving her hands, " The System provides many options for lesser contracts and more limited bindings, such as those used to secure trade agreements, with correspondingly lesser penalties of breach." Leaned forward once again, " An Oath is a much greater binding though, and I would like you to know the lengths my Lady is willing to go to secure your trust, myself included at her behest."

Mira held Eli's gaze with a serious expression, " Breaching such an Oath would cause the injurious party to lose many class levels, which is already a painful enough experience, but a complete or deliberately malicious breach could drop said individual to the bottom of their tier, which could very well be fatal." Eli recoiled, " Fatal?! I appreciate your willingness to keep my secrets, but I would never want you to risk your lives for them."

Eli shook his head, " Sorry but keeping my homeworld secret is just not that important. Thanks, but no thanks." Astra smiled at Mira, " I told you he wouldn't like it." She sighed and turned back to Eli while leaning forward, jerking a thumb back towards Mira." Disregard miss gloomy pants over there, that would only happen if we willingly betrayed your trust, explicitly with the intent to harm you. The system takes a dim view of such betrayal.""

She also failed to delineate the positive nature of such an Oath as well. Since the penalty for a breach is so severe the System itself will intervene to resist any compulsion to force a breach, and depending on how much force is used it may inflict damage on the person attempting to compel one of us into confessing your secrets, it can be quite useful in a dire situation."" I would just rather you take it as a sign of how much I would value your future friendship."

Sitting back once again, she took a sip of her tea, " Although I would request that you make an exception for my Father and possibly my eldest brother, the future duke, as explaining all this would be quite difficult otherwise."

She grew a mischievous smirk, before leaning her head back feigning a swoon while peeking at Eli from beneath a hooded eyelid, " Alas, otherwise they might believe I was relieved of my wits by some beguiling rogue from the depths of the Verdant Reach, falling prey to his sinister and devilish charms." Eli snickered at her theatrics before giving a faux benevolent gesture, " Done. Never let it be said I would ever do anything to besmirch her ladyship's honor."

Astra sat back up a giggle and an affected accent, " Much obliged Milord! Mira, would you do the honors?" Eli blinked as a window appeared in his vision. Ding [Entities Miralda Blackhall and Astra Emberholdt wish to swear a binding Oath with Entity Elias Mercer.] [Alert! Oaths adjudicated by the System are binding. Breaching this Oath will result in severe penalties to the instigating entity up to including the loss of single or multiple class levels and forfeiture of the related essence.] [Miralda Blackhall and Astra Emberholdt's Oath to Elias Mercer- The truth of the origin of the entity Elias Mercer prior to his arrival to the realm of Caelwyn will be held in confidence. Any information deemed of sufficient relevance to tangentially reveal said knowledge may receive a warning from the System depending on the nature of the infraction.] [Entity Elias Mercer has sole authority to both determine additional adherents who may be included in this Oath, as well as sole authority to release any and all adherents from this Oath.] [Entities Varren Emberholdt and Lucan Emberholdt have been designated as approved adherents, and may now be bound upon delivery of terms by an Oathbound Entity and their subsequent agreement to the Oath] Ding [Do you wish to swear this Oath?] [Alert! Oaths adjudicated by the System are binding.] Pretty darn cut and dry, surprised they would go this far for me. Seems simple enough though, Eli focused on the text and willed his agreement. A presence filled the campsite, similar to when Mira had flexed her power before, but a far gentler one. Where Mira's power had been the suffocating ocean pressing down upon him with all the subtle threat of a naked blade pressed to his neck, this an impartial and welcoming presence, but with a subtle power all its own.

Almost like a friendly clerk at city hall, ready to process your paperwork, but with the power to resign your case to bureaucratic hell with the stroke of a pen if you cross the line. Eli could feel the external force dipping into his core and linking a tether between him and his companions across the fire. Elias's awareness of the tether quickly faded as the presence receded, it was a subtle thing, but he could tell that if the tether snapped he would be able to tell the Oath was broken, and by whom.

Eli sat taking in the experience before looking up at the women across from him." Huh, that was a little more intense than I expected. Thank you for this." Mira nodded and Astra beamed a smile, Eli rubbed a thumb along the top of his mug before asking." Say, are these tethers common? Also it feels like I can tell the condition of them, would I be able to tell if you are in danger through them?" Mira snickered looking at Astra as she cleared her throat trying to hide a faint blush dusting her face."

Erm, No, they are not, a person might have no more than a half dozen in their whole life, if any at all." Glaring back at the smirk on Mira's face, Astra held her mug in front of her face, taking a suspiciously long sip before answering again." And no, that would require a very different sort of promise, although it is sweet of you to ask." Ok, I'm going to assume this is another cultural thing, I'll have to see if I can pry a couple answers out of Coop later.

Eli cleared his throat, changing the subject, " Well this has been enlightening, was there anything else you ladies wanted to discuss?" Eli grew a little worried as an almost feral grin of excitement spread across Mira's face, " Oh yes Mr. Mercer there is one more little thing."