NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: Hit By A Two-By-Four
Dominic exited the space and almost stumbled as his paws met the ground once more. His head was spinning with all the information he’d received and the choice he’d made.
Ultimately, he’d decided to agree to Selessa’s request, though not without making sure of a few things – and squeezing some concessions out of her. The most important thing that he’d wanted to know before even being willing to consider the idea, given everything she’d shared, was how much it would affect him even without doing any more than becoming her follower. After all, from the sounds of it, she was held captive by a particularly powerful set of deities who would all have a strong interest in keeping her that way.
She’d told him that while those within the priesthood of deities often gained the power to see the identities of the deities other priests worshipped, it was much less common for them to see the affiliations of simple followers. And even if he ran into someone who could see that affiliation, she indicated that the pride which had her captive were uninterested in newly-integrated planets. According to her, it would have to be an uncommon series of events which brought the fact that she was able to and actively trying to amass new power when they were certain that their prison was unbreakable.
He’d had no real way of knowing whether she was being honest than his own instincts, but those had stayed quiet ever since she’d started telling her story. Her demeanour, too, had seemed far more honest than it had the first time they had met.
Of course, she could just be a better liar than he was at sniffing out deception and had used a better level of deceit than she had at first, but he was still inclined to believe her. Ultimately, whether or not she was lying about the details of what had happened to her, or the enemies she had, her need for him seemed to be genuine. She was too desperate for it to be anything else. And too protective of her past and her secrets.
Not least of the protections, Dominic found out after agreeing to swear himself to her service, was that ‘Selessa’ wasn’t actually her true name at all. Apparently it was unusual for a deity to be able to operate under a different name than their true one, but it had something to do with the domains which she ruled or something of the sort which allowed her to. Indeed, the protections were so strong that Dominic himself couldn't remember the name she had whispered in his ear, the name he had used in his oath of service.
While it was called an ‘oath of service’, he hadn’t actually sworn to ‘serve’ her at all. That had been one of the concessions he had insisted that she give in exchange for any help. In fact, he’d simply agreed to keep her secrets in general and work to their mutual benefit. The only aspect of ‘service’ that he’d kept from the original oath was that he would offer a tithe from the Place of Power and that he wouldn’t speak badly of her to his own followers. Apparently those were the essential aspects which would allow him to be considered a ‘follower’, though not a particularly devout one.
Of course, he could choose not to speak of her at all, which as an unknown goddess, would essentially mean the same thing. And he hadn’t agreed to tithe any particular amount, but Selessa had made it clear that greater tithes meant better potential boons that she could offer him, so there was reason to consider upping his tithe from the bare minimum in the future.
Such a boon was the reason for why his head was currently practically spinning – and why the sudden reawakening of Leo within his mind felt like being bludgeoned with a heavy truncheon when he was already reeling.
‘Ow,’ Leo complained. ‘What have you been doing?’
‘Swearing myself to a goddess and being hit by a two-by-four of information,’ Dominic grunted in response.
In return for becoming a follower – if Selessa was to be believed, her only mobile one – she had granted him the answers to three questions. And she hadn’t just told him the answers, either. Instead, she’d shoved the information into his head. That was why he was reeling so much – his brain was still trying to make sense of it. He could almost feel the neurons in his brain being created to store everything he’d just learned.
It was efficient, the former-human admitted, but painful. A bit like the sensations he’d experienced when he’d first absorbed Lightning Discharge, though not as wide-spread or as strong.
Lying down and putting his head on his paws, Dominic closed his eyes and just tried to endure the influx of painful information. Leo, thankfully, stayed silent, though Dominic suspected it was less out of consideration for Dominic’s pain, and more because of his own.
At one point Dominic heard a whisper of movement near him and looked up with alarm. Fortunately, it was just Sekhmet. She looked at him in concern, but when he just sighed and closed his eyes again, she seemed to take the message that he wasn’t keen on communicating at that point. Bless her, she just lay down next to him and kept watch for him. After a moment, Dominic leaned into her slightly and she shifted to press back against him.
When the influx of new information finally abated and the pain in his head eased, Dominic still remained lying down. There was a lot of new stuff to sort through – it reminded him of his uni days. It was a bit like when he’d had a really interesting, really detailed lecture during which he’d taken as many notes as he could, never mind the cramps that pained his hand. And then afterwards, he’d had to reread the notes, sometimes multiple times to remember more than just the broad brushstrokes of the lesson.
Here, it wasn’t his memory that was the problem but his familiarity with what was now imprinted in his head. But ultimately it amounted to the same thing. Still, there was something he was eager to investigate. Multiple things, actually, but one thing which was right in front of him.
Standing, he paused for a moment to rub his head against Sekhmet’s in wordless leonine thanks.
‘Feeling better?’ Sekhmet asked solicitously.
‘Yes, thanks,’ he replied gratefully.
‘Where you went?’
It was a fair question – he hadn’t been sure whether his absence would have been noted or not. Apparently it had.
‘I can’t tell you,’ he replied ruefully. ‘I don’t know how to explain it.’ And wasn’t that the truth? How could he explain any of this to his Pride, even if he wanted to? After a moment of thought, he considered an analogy which might work a little. ‘Do you remember when I touched you and you went into a different space? It’s kind of like that – I touched the black stone over there and went somewhere else. But make sure that you never touch it, or any of those we want to keep alive, OK?’ He’d already warned the lionesses about it, but better safe than sorry.
‘Understood. Dangerous?’ she asked warily.
‘Not to me, since the fight, but to everyone else, yes.’ That was over-simplifying it a bit, as he now knew, but trying to explain the more complex explanation wouldn’t help at that moment.
Sekhmet still watched curiously as Dominic moved forwards and touched the Place of Power, focussing on seeing its details. Unlike the previous times, it neither sucked him in nor showed him a notification that its status was currently frozen.
Leo made an interested noise as the status screen unfolded before them.
[Place of Power ownership: Dominic Martin Cole / Leo
Status: Active – Unlocked
Level 1
Benefits: None currently available
Area: 42.3 km² (0.1 km²/day, 5%)
Owner: (5%)
Recognised (affiliated) denizens: 33 (30%)
Recognised (unaffiliated) denizens: 153 (10%)
Unrecognised denizens: 1827 (45%)
Deity ‘Selessa’: (5%)
341 PP/day ]
‘So this explains exactly why the canines were so far ahead of us despite our active attempts to hunt and increase in power,’ Leo commented.
‘Exactly,’ Dominic agreed. ‘Without even trying, they must have been gaining Prey Points every day, even when sleeping.’
‘And now we are the ones gaining the points,’ Leo noted with a hint of greed.
‘That’s the idea,’ Dominic responded with just as much anticipation. ‘Though don’t you think we should change the percentages a bit?’
‘Only having thirty-five percent going to us and our direct allies does seem a bit low,’ Leo acknowledged. ‘But wasn’t there some sort of warning about being too greedy?’
Dominic considered that, taking a moment to touch the information which had so recently embedded itself in his brain. He quickly realised what Leo was talking about.
A Place of Power was a bit like a…fertile land, planted with wheat. It could grow a bumper crop, and feed the farmer well. However, if the farmer ate all the wheat grains, he would have nothing to replant the land with afterwards. Equally, if he just grew crops and didn’t fertilise them, then the land would yield a smaller harvest every year until the land was depleted of all its nutrients.
It wasn’t a perfect analogy, but the Place of Power grew in power based on the land it covered, the number of denizens, and the quality of those denizens – meaning level and tier. Dominic could dedicate 98% of the Place of Power to himself and his Pride, leaving only 1% to Selessa – the minimum tithe – and 1% to the Place of Power itself. If he kept 50% of that power to himself, he’d be earning 170 PP per day allowing him to nap while increasing in level very quickly.
However, it would have the consequence of slowing the land increase to a crawl and leave nothing over for all the other denizens who were not part of his Pride. The amount of Prey Points that they’d earn wouldn’t increase much; they could even end up decreasing if large groups of unrecognised denizens left – they were here because they sensed it was a good place to be due to the extra-large trees, foliage, and the slow accumulation of Prey Points they earned just being present. If all that changed, and there were no other benefits to being close, they’d leave – and the power generated by the Place of Power would reduce with their numbers.
How it worked, that the Place of Power could generate Prey Points from the presence of different beasts without taxing them or something, Dominic didn’t know. That it did work was the most important point.
‘How about increasing our portion to 10%, the Pride’s portion to 40%, and compensate by reducing the kesh’s portion to 5% and the unrecognised denizens to 35%?’ suggested Dominic. Leo considered it.
‘I don’t know if it would work…but perhaps we should try. Will the kesh not be angry?’
‘Perhaps, if they even notice,’ shrugged Dominic. ‘With as many as there probably are, I doubt they feel much difference as it is. But if they do then we can use it as something to negotiate with later.’
‘If you wish to negotiate with monkey-like creatures at all,’ Leo huffed. ‘Otherwise it seems like a good apportioning of the available Prey Points,’ he agreed.
After mentally changing the percentages, Dominic closed the status screen. He knew that it would change later as the Place increased in level, and even knew a few ways to hurry that process along, none of which he could actually put into practice right away.
‘Right, we’re going to have to discuss our next steps and how we’re going to work them.’
‘You mean…?’
‘Yes. We need to go back to the dungeon.’
