Help Me with a Prophecy

Seek help from the other two? A little girl who liked adventure stories? A man who seemed easygoing? How could they help me? Ieta Cavendish froze for a moment, full of doubt. Then he turned around and repeated his request with a slight change.

"I'm looking for help promoting the Steam Engine. I'm willing to offer compensation you'll be satisfied with, provided it matches the help you give."

Ieta Cavendish turned to Jiang Hao. "Your Highness, I'd like you to witness our agreement. I'll pay them fairly."

Good. The organization is one step closer to taking shape. Jiang Hao looked at Ieta Cavendish and nodded. "I can witness it for you."

Only after Ieta Cavendish and Jiang Hao had finished speaking did Avram Krell ask quietly, "Have you become a Highness?"

A Highness? Was this aloof, mysterious man about to become a Demigod? Fiona Russell fixed her bright, curious eyes on Ieta Cavendish.

Ieta Cavendish instinctively tensed at Avram Krell's question, but he quickly remembered where he was and relaxed. "Not yet, but soon."

He added, "I've already earned the world's recognition. Once it takes shape, I'll automatically gain control of it."

The key to claiming authority is to play the role. The key to mastering authority is recognition... Jiang Hao recalled the words written in the Book of Sedir.

So "recognition" means recognition by the world... I didn't expect an answer so soon. What a pleasant surprise. Jiang Hao showed none of his excitement or delight.

He was playing the part of a god, and a god would not get excited over something so basic.

"Those who claim authority are demigods; those who master it are true gods!" Avram Krell recalled the words from the Book of Sedir and recited them aloud.

So this aloof, mysterious man was about to become a True God.

The Highness in ceremonial robes is definitely a True God. The mysterious gentleman is nearly one too, and Mr. Paper Man is so learned he seems to know everything... Fiona Russell suddenly realized she was at the bottom of the class.

After a moment's thought, she asked, "Mysterious gentleman, if I help you promote the Steam Engine in the Violet Kingdom, how high can you raise my class level?"

"That depends on your current level and how widely you can spread the Steam Engine."

"I'm currently a level 11 Planar Traveler." Fiona Russell proposed a hypothetical. "If... I mean, if I could make your Steam Engine commonplace throughout the Violet Kingdom?"

Ieta Cavendish gave Fiona Russell a surprised glance. Planar Traveler was a branch of the mage class, and a rare one at that.

After thinking for a few seconds, he said:

"Level 11 makes you an intermediate-level professional. Under the conditions you described, I could raise you to level 21, making you a Legendary professional. But I have only two ways to do it, and one may be dangerous."

"Could you explain both methods?" Fiona Russell asked curiously.

Jiang Hao listened to their conversation, curious himself.

The classes of this other world had forty levels. Levels 1 through 4 were apprentices, 5 through 9 were low-level professionals, 10 through 14 were intermediate-level professionals, 15 through 19 were high-level professionals, level 20 was a master-level professional, and levels 21 through 40 were Legendary professionals.

Demigod and True God had no class levels. Their power was measured by a different system.

Jiang Hao was also curious about how an intermediate-level professional at level 11 could be promoted to a Legendary professional at level 21.

Ieta Cavendish gathered his thoughts and said, "The first method is to wait until I become a True God. You would take Priest as a secondary class, and I would bestow divine grace upon you, raising both your primary and secondary classes to level 21."

"The second method is for me to send a squad of knights to protect you on a journey to the Abyssal Blood War Battlefield. Killing there earns you rewards from the Abyss, and its power can raise your class to level 21."

"The power of the Abyss may make you violent, bloodthirsty, insane, self-destructive, and averse to the power of the forces of good. But once you leave, you can go to a Temple of any good or neutral god to be purified of those effects."

"The fighting on the Abyssal Blood War Battlefield is unpredictable, though. Not even a god could guarantee your safety."

The Abyssal Blood War Battlefield... Fiona Russell remembered how bards described it.

A bottomless pit, a battlefield soaked in blood. Hundreds of millions of creatures from the lower planes fought there. Killing never stopped, betrayal could come at any moment, and even gods could fall there.

The first method is safer. Fiona Russell said, "Thank you for explaining. Please wait for good news from me."

"I look forward to it." Ieta Cavendish smiled and nodded.

Once they had finished, Avram Krell fell silent for a moment, then smiled gently. "I can help you promote the Steam Engine in Dalair, Yorks, and North Berdo, three of the Seven Northern Kingdoms. In return, I need you to make a prophecy for me."

A prophecy? Does he know who I am? Ieta Cavendish studied him warily. "What prophecy?"

"I'd like you to divine whether the One God worshipped by the Church of the One, which is active in the Kingdom of Khedag, is a True God. If so, what is their real divine name?"

Ieta Cavendish thought for a moment. "If that's the god you mean, I can give you the answer now as an advance on your payment. But you must lay rails along the main transportation routes of at least one of those three kingdoms and introduce Steam Trains."

The Cavendish Family pays close attention to the gods... Of course they do. They've always been trying to resurrect the Lord of Dawn, and they have the Prophecy Crown, a Divine Artifact. Naturally they would keep watch on the gods. Avram Krell nodded. "Agreed."

Ieta Cavendish chose his words carefully. "I can't tell you the divine name outright. They would sense it. With His Highness here, we have nothing to fear from them, but there's no need to invite unnecessary trouble."

Caution is a virtue, Jiang Hao thought approvingly.

So they really are a True God... Avram Krell's face darkened. He was about to become a bishop in the Kingdom of Khedag, and his predecessor had been assassinated. The thought gave him a headache.

"They are the master of illusions, the master of the Dark Sun, the architect of conspiracies, the deceitful liar, and the patron of murder!"