“How would I know?!” Ray shouted back. “I don’t even know what the hell it is!”
“The Hollow God is one of the seven primordial gods, arguably the worst of them!” Zenith cried.
“Seven primordial gods?” Erith asked.
Zenith looked like a ticking time bomb that was about to go off. “Was the education in that forest really this awful?” she asked with exasperation clear in her voice. She sighed. “Of course it was, even the 6th floor of the library doesn’t have that knowledge. Why would a collection of backwater clans that hadn’t produced an ascendant in years know it?”
“So, are you going to tell us what they are?” Ray asked.
“Only if you tell me what the hell you two did in the past two weeks.”
Ray told the story of what had happened since their last conversation with Zenith, culminating in the fight that had ended just under an hour ago, and finally ending with his skill selection.
“And there you have it. So, please tell us who is this Hollow God and what does he want from me?”
Zenith rubbed her chin in thought, now in a far calmer mood. “I’m impressed you managed to stave off his call. Fine, I will tell you about the seven primordials, and afterword, you will enter a contract with me that will result in your death should you ever decide to bow to any of them while still on this planet.”
“And why would I do that?” Ray asked.
“I assumed you would prefer it over dying here and now,” she said, unleashing a part of her aura.
Ray gulped and nodded.
“Good, now the seven primordials,” Zenith said, launching into a story that started long ago, before the system ever existed—the story of a cosmic entity responsible for setting the universe into motion.
“And after it finished its work, it fell into a deep sleep for more time than you could imagine until corruption started to build within it, and one day it fractured.” She continued the story, describing how the entity was split into seven parts. The seven primordials.
The Howling, The Twisting, The Thirsting, The Withered, The Gilded, The Sovereign, and The Hollow.
“A few thousand years after, your species began expanding amongst the stars.”
Ray opened his mouth, about to ask a question, but Zenith held up her hand.
“No, I will not elaborate about what I mean by that,” she said before continuing the story. “The Hollow God took notice of them, and not in a good way. He began consuming world after world, forcing your ancestors to fight back. They developed a weapon using what was left of the cosmic being after it was fractured. One that could change the fabric of reality to suit its users’ will, but before it could ever be finished, The Hollow God went to its siblings. He convinced them to seize control over it for themselves, and they nearly succeeded, but the creature of the weapon, the goddess, would not let it fall so easily into their hands. With the threat of all seven primordials bearing down on her, she sacrificed 90% of the population on this planet and forcefully bonded with a portion of the cosmic being’s power, and her weapon, the system.”
“So why do the seven primordials still seem to have power within the system?”
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“Because even with all her newfound power, she couldn’t keep them out completely, keep out the primordials and ever since that day, they have been struggling for control and slipping in their influence wherever they can.”
The room went silent briefly as Ray and Erith processed the information.
“Now for that contract,” Zenith said, and she paused momentarily. “Do you have a last name?”
Ray shook his head. “Only the families that formed the ruling class of our clan got last names.”
“Hmm, then I will grant you one,” she said before zoning out momentarily.
“Attention, system administrator, Zenith has granted you the last name Starforger.”
“Starforger?” Ray asked.
Zenith nodded. “You will understand it, eventually. Who knew you two rejecting my purpose would turn out this way?” she said with a devilish grin. “Now, back to the contract.”
Contract
Scale matriarch Zenith wishes to form a contract with you.
Terms
Should the individual known as Ray Starforger ever pledge himself to one of the seven primordials? He will forfeit his life and be absorbed into the system, becoming fuel for the goddess’s power.
Ray turned and showed the screen to Erith.
“I don’t–” she started before a simpler contract manifested in front of her. She looked over at Zenith.
“You didn’t think I meant Ray only, did you?”
She sighed and looked back at Ray with a nod, and they both accepted the terms.
“Good. Now I believe you two have a horde to finish off. If you manage to survive, come see me again.” Zenith smiled and waved her hand. She disappeared from the room without a trace.
Ray sighed and turned to Erith. “We’re going to need to get a lot stronger if we are going to fight any more of those things.”
“Yeah, and I don’t think we should go back to hunt members of the horde until we are ready for that.”
“Agreed, but we will need to find another way to gain levels, then.”
Erith nodded. “We could always go back to the monster hunter guild.”
“Yeah,? but that could take months, if not years, before we ascend.”
“Would that not be fine? We’re not on a time limit anymore.”
“I guess you’re right, but we should get some rest no matter what we do. It’s going to take a while before I’m ready to fight again,” Ray said, raising his left arm, now one hand lighter and Horde Breaker, which was still regenerating from the fight.
“Do you think it will be able to repair your hand?”
Ray sighed and shook his head. “It might have been able to if I still had the hand, but seeing as I’m still down a right arm, I don’t think it can heal missing limbs.”
“We should get some rest and go see Freia tomorrow, then.”
Ray nodded and collapsed onto the bed. “What a day,” he said with a sigh.
Erith lay down beside him and they slowly drifted to sleep.
When they woke up, Ray and Erith chatted for a while before deciding on their plan of action for today. They planned to relax, and when Horde Breaker was fully repaired, he planned to do his class evolution to ensure it could help him if anything went wrong. He had asked through the mental link if it was ok with that plan and got a short confirmation in return before it went quiet again. He sent another apology, but still got no response.
They walked around town while waiting and caught up with a few old friends. Ray kept his left arm hidden with a long red robe, which he had put on to prevent any awkward interactions about his hand until it was fixed. Around midday, Horde Breaker was finally fully repaired, and a sense of forgiveness and something else came through their bond.
The arm explained to the best of its ability that it never blamed Ray for what had happened, because it knew all too well what all-consuming hunger did to one’s mind. Ray’s jaw went slack when it explained why it wasn’t responding. It had split its mind between repairing itself and fending off the voice of hunger trying to affect Ray, only allowing it to give short replies when there was a brief respite from one of the two tasks.
“So that’s why the voice didn’t get worse,” Ray muttered, rubbing his chin. He sent another wave of gratitude through the mental link.
“What?” Erith asked.
“Huh, oh sorry, I was just talking to Horde Breaker.”
A smile flashed across her face. “So it’s speaking to you again?”
Ray nodded and explained everything that he had just learned.
A few hours later, they returned from their excursion, and Ray sat down, preparing to begin his class evolution. He took a steadying breath, and Erith sat down next to him.
“You got this,” she said with a warm smile.
He returned one of his own and made a mental note to stop by a necklace shop after the evolution. He took one last breath and, with a confirmation from Horde Breaker, began the class evolution.
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