The travel was uneventful, until we got to our transit airport in Madrid. We had to wait a few hours until we could go on to Athene, where we would take another plane to our final destination. We were waiting with a coffee inside the boarding gate, vaguely watching the informations on the TV hanged there. The news were mostly about the ongoing changes to society, the gods, and things like that, but most were terribly uninteresting. Governments trying to deny the events or scaring people into avoiding the gods, people calling it a hoax, interviews of some religious leaders, either agreeing or disagreeing with the events. Interestingly though, it seemed like the catholic church and most of the jewish rabbi were okay with the gods coming back, as both had a pantheon, even if they refused to say a lot about it. The few muslims interviewed seemed rather reserved, but there was no way of knowing why.

But really, the most interesting part was the one about the mediterranean sea. It appeared gods had some sort of land claims, and the contests that come with it. And one of those contest was going on around the greek islands, especially Crete and Chypre. Apparently, even if they were considered theirs by the Greek pantheon, several other pantheons, originating from the middle-east, claimed the inhabitants were originally theirs, and brought their gods here with them. It seemed hard to fully understand, but the important part was that small vandalism acts had been committed here and there, and people feared it would escalate.

I looked toward Audrey, but she was busy scratching a spot on the back of Giiru’s head, which he seemed to like a lot. I was surprised to see him not even commenting on the plane flight, but it seems he was uncomfortable in a closed space, so he’s unwinding now.

Those conflicts might start to spread, with the population movements we’ve seen since the last time the gods were here. I’ll need to be careful with this, not get roped in something.

We took our last flight, and landed in Chania around midday by local hour. We went and left our luggages at the hotel, before moving to the municipal library, find more about the local history, maybe some old ruins. There’s bound to be informations somewhere on a painting or a sculpture. For now Audrey decided to help me there, while Giiru went flying around, trying to feel the mana around here.

The library was a modern building, and after a few questions and a big smile, a guy working here led us to the upstair room, where the public archives and historical records were kept. There I began reading on the oldest records and stories, and Audrey searched for any mention of archaeological searches, or ruins found during roadworks, excavations, anything like that. Of course it would probably take us a couple of days to discover a consistent lead, so I instructed Primus to start searching for any hint on my two other divine quests. I don’t intend to disperse myself, but it can’t be too early to start.

A few days later :

It was longer than expected, but after unsuccessfully visiting nine different houses, and one underground parking, we finally have a solid lead. Apparently, while digging for the sewers construction, what seemed like old catacombs were found, but the budget, and the mayor at that time, didn’t allow any kind of prolonged effort on it, so they just enclosed it behind a steel door, and forgot about it. Giiru felt a very slight up in mana density when closing in that area, even if the difference is inconsequential. So we went to ask the mayor about visiting those, and maybe unearthing a few things for the town museum. The man seemed happy that we would be willing to do anything without asking for money, so he quickly agreed to send one of the sewer worker with us there, guiding us and keeping the door safe. Also checking we wouldn’t start stealing things I guess.

Next morning, we were ready to dive in, with Giiru already complaining about the stench. On the opposite, Ceadsul seemed quite happy to be able to avoid the sun rays. I guess even if it doesn’t actually hurt him, it’s still opposed to his nature.

A man named Petros was waiting for us in front of the mayor office, and guided us to the sewers entrance. We then walked less than a half hour, before he stopped in front of a dark alcove, and asked me to hold his flashlight while he opened the door. He had to force it a little, but it finally moved. He then said we could enter, and that he would wait here. We could call for him, and he would definitely call for help if he heard shouts, or if we didn’t come back by 5 PM, since he had only taken his lunch and one book to read, and nothing for later.

“You won’t have trouble eating your lunch here?”

“I got the Sewer runner class, whatever that is, and it seems it makes me able to ignore foul stenchs. Anyway, yes.”

Now that I think of it, I should probably study classes and skills a bit more, there’s bound to be some on which Giiru won’t be able to help.

For now, it’s exploration time! I didn’t turn on my flashlight, it would help my night vision progress, and Giiru insisted that Audrey should be able to navigate without it, even if she didn’t seem convinced at all. She was walking slowly, with her arms in front of her, her brow creased by concentration.

We started the exploration, and after a few meters, the walls stopped being made of concrete, but were made of skulls. I already saw this once in Paris, but it was still as impressive, and oppressive. The tunnel was barely large enough for one person to walk, and I had only a few centimeters above me. All around, skulls fixing us with their empty eye sockets. In the air the lingering scent of dust, dirt and mold. The ability to feel and see mana was adding to the eerie feeling, with each skull emitting a faint gray smoke.

“Hey, Giiru, isn’t it risky to have all that death mana here? I mean, it could create elementals, right?”

“Why do you think most people were burned before? Or at least purified before being buried? But yes, all your graveyards, catacombs and mausolei are disasters waiting to happen. Some might even turn into dungeons.”

Audrey suddenly intervened in a clearly excited voice.

“You mean dungeons are real?”

“Yes, though they’re rare. But if a lot of mana linger somewhere for a long time, but without being able to form an elemental by lack of affinity, it will start to coalesce in mana crystals. And if nothing stops it, they will in time turn into dungeon crystals, strange not totally alive beings that only react to mana, and always to try and get more. They usually hide themselves underground, and use the high concentration of mana around them to lure in living creatures. After that it depends, some try to kill the creature for its mana, others will let it be, especially if its a group or tribe, and leech the mana they release all the time. I’ve heard of sentient dungeons too, but I never saw one myself.”

“So this place could actually try to kill us?”

“No, the mana is far too recent for that, and the density is weak. Plus, the affinity is strong toward death, so probably no dungeon, ever.”

“Cool, cool.”

We had continued walking through the narrow corridor, and even if I saw several spots where it seemed there had been a caving in, I didn’t want to start digging my way in. We then entered a room where at least the walls were a bit further apart, even if the ceiling was still as close. Though there were still skulls on the walls, there were also stones on the ground, probably covering bodies. I started to read them (Thanks Will of the World for the translation system), but they just seemed to be mildly important people. However, I could still discern some variations from ancient greek in the writings. I couldn’t explain it, but I could feel there was a difference.

(Audrey POV)

I was following Sarah through those tunnels while trying to get a feel for Death mana. I couldn’t see it, since I didn’t manage to get the skill, despite Sarah’s explanations. However, I could still feel mana. It was strange, something between smell and touch. If I got close to the skulls, the air was… dustier.

I felt Giiru clenching on my shoulder and stopped moving. I was going to ask him about it when I noticed Sarah had stopped walking, and was listening intently. After a few minutes, I decided to interrupt her.

“What’s going on?”

“I hear water. Like a soft lapping… Small waves maybe?”

I listened, but couldn’t hear anything. I closed my eyes to help me, and got a wing in my face for my trouble.

“Don’t try, the girl’s a Truthseeker. Their perception is out of this world, some of them are even able to pierce divine illusions with their raw ability.”

“Come on! If I try hard enough, I might get something out of it!”

“And it will take you months. It’s inefficient. It’d be faster to earn a Water affinity and to perceive this water through it.”

During this, Sarah was still moving, following the sound she was the only one hearing. We went through several small rooms, all toroughtly similar and uninteresting. Skulls on the walls, dirt for a ceiling and tombstones on the ground. Still, I was glad she took the time to mark the way out, I don’t really want to spend days lost in here.

After a while, I started to hear the small sound too, and we soon were in a very different room, partially submerged. It looked a bit like the temple we visited on Atlantis. Same mosaïcs, same architectural style. Not gothic, what was the opposite again? I don’t remember…

But most importantly, frozen by surprise in the middle of the room, two children. Two boys, 6 and 8 I would guess given their size. I tried to pierce the darkness to get their features.

Night vision is now level 2!

+3 PER per level.

Looking back to the kids, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from squealing in excitement. They both had a dark tone of skin, sleek features and long hair. But mostly, they had some kind of fin on top of the head, like a fish mohawk, and deep black eyes without iris. I heard Giiru whispering to my ear.

“Fishmen. I had no idea they were still alive…”

Spoiler: Spoiler Sarah Lomrow Liberator of gods Global level 11 Truthseeker 13 Race Human*!* Affinities Darkness 20%

Death 15% Valkyrie 12 HP 1063 MP 2229,5 STR 173 INT 359,5 Luck 16,5 END 178 WIS 374 AGI 179 CHA 367,5 DEX 176 MEN 310 PER 274 Skills : Level Aïkido 4 Archery 6 Astronomy 2 Celtic language 3 Climbing 4 Dagger mastery 1 Darkness magic 3 Darkness mastery 3 Data conversion 4 Data eyes 1 Death magic 1 Death mastery 2 Decipher language 3 Drawing 2 Eagle's eye 2 Egyptian language 1 Empathy 2 Eyes of the Tomb explorer 3 Eyes of the Truthseeker 3 Geography 4 Germanic language 6 Hearth of the warrior 4 Hellenic language 3 History 7 Instinct of the Truthseeker 5 Latin language 6 Life conversion 4 Mana instinct 1 Mana sense 4 Mana sight 2 Meditation 3 Night vision 5 Orientation 4 Riding 3 Speech 2 Staff mastery 1 Trade (Mason) 1 Trade (Painter) 2 Trade (Sculptor) 2 Unarmed combat mastery 6 Perks : Curious mind, Divine quest, Focused Mind, Gotta befriend them all, Oblivious, Touch of the Valkyrie, Knowledge of the Divine, Divine Spellcaster, Elemental creator, Elemental necromancer, Elemental familiar, Apprentice elemental programmer, Herald of the Gods, AI familiar Titles : Liberator of gods, Tomb explorer, Library rat, Creator, High necromancer, Progenitor, Trailblazer, Mother of digital life, Apprentice programmer, First digital necromancer, First Lady of the internet