1 The Beheading
"Brook, on your side!" The large man swinging a halberd shouted.
"Thanks! Almost got hacked there," Brook beamed a smile while thrusting his sword to the creature in front of him.
The world had turned to become a battlefield for most people, as the gods have reconnected their source here in Earth. Powers and abilities were given to humans through an interface they called System. The System was a unique identity, even to gods themselves, as it functioned on its own.
"Nice kill, man," said the robust guy. "The offer is still up for our guild, you know. You'll have an army of yours to lead."
"Again, David," he heavily sighed. "I don't want to be restricted, and I don't want to bear the responsibility for my men's deaths, you know that. Plus, I have to hide my identity."
David Fletcher, the guildmaster of Avarinth, a clan that sided with the Malum Dynasty, had invited Brook to lead in their conquest. There were two known sides in the realm of gods, the Bonum Faction that boasts of its goodness, and the Malum Dynasty that seeks to wreak havoc. These two groups had been at war ever since time immemorial; nobody knew what the source of conflict was, even the oldest gods.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"That's because I am. Now let's get the loot before it disappears."
The guilds in this world could only invite people of the same side, meaning that if a Malum god sponsored somebody, that somebody would only beallowed to join guilds led and founded by the same faction. There were loopholes around this system as some of the gods who stays neutral infiltrate the opposing group – this is where the Neutrum Allegiance comes in.
The Neutrum Allegiance is unknown to the world, its identity must remain a secret, and only few gods and their sponsors know of its identity. Only important and high figures knew of its capabilities, such as having the ability to create the System which made it comfortable for gods to find and contact their sponsor.
"I admit that you're one of the best and capable sponsors of the Malums, but you're one hecka stubborn man."
"Come on, get packing before it turns dark."
Brook was sponsored by a Malum god that had a prominent position in the Neutrum Allegiance; however, the god wanted to remain anonymous. To help him, the god provided several information about the new world order and other stuff such as the total number of sponsors of the allegiance. The allegiance was composed of 27 gods, carefully handpicked by the founder to guide and monitor the situation between the gods, which means that there were only 27 Neutrum sponsors.
The world was in a vulnerable position, moreso that the gods have reconnected. When somebody had found the link, it also opened world portals from other galaxies and universe, hence the foreign creatures. It also brought back the artifacts that used to exist, but up till now only ten of the many artifacts had been found publicly.
"Your sword slices those creatures as if their tofu," David praised his weapon. "Your god is generous, ain't it?"
The weapon he's holding now is an artifact that was not publicized. Every artifact had the ability to disguise their aura, make it look normal, but in the eyes of a true expert, they would instantly know of its origins.
"Yeah," Brook lied. "Hey, I need those fangs for the apothecary to finish the potion I requested. Pass me those."
David threw the sharp silver fangs of the wereman to Brook without any care. He opened his inventory and placed the shared loot in it.
"You leveled up?" He asked noticing the wide grin apparent on Brook's face.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm only a level away for my class change."
Everybody started with the generic class their god gave them, and you can upgrade your class, based on your personality and fighting style, if you reached level 30. Currently, Brook was level 29, and only needed to level up one more to undergo the trials for the class change.
"You ready for the trial?" He asked with worry all over his place.
"Ever since I was born," I said.
"May your god be lenient on you," he laughed in my misery. "The trials would be a life or death situation for everyone, hope you have good luck."
"I don't need good luck," I retorted. "My wit is enough."
"Geez," he wiped his nose with his large burly hands. "Those Bonum idiots attacked our camp last night, they're really persistent."
"What's with the war anyway? Can't you guys live in harmony, despite what the gods want?"
"With the perma mission of hunting the opposite side and the generous rewards, everyone would be willing to hack and slash."
The perma mission, also known as the Hunting, was given on both sides as requested by the gods. The gods were mandated to not kill in the heaven realm, that's why they used humans as their avatars and persona. Being a Neutrum sponsor, Brook had certain abilities that made him stronger than average and concealment of identity to everyone except fellow Neutrum sponsors.
These Neutrum gods remained anonymous to their sponsors, and with the restriction of only having one sponsor, it made them more disguise themselves. The absolute rule between their sponsors was that killings of the same kind are not permitted or else their souls will be banished from every realm.
"Bothersome," I told him. "Especially those mages with their staff – they hurt a lot."
"It's easy to catch them," he said. "Lure their shit out and prevent them from casting or just remove their tongues."
"Hah! I assume you collected Bonum mage tongues."
"That's right, do you want to see it?"
"God, no!" I exclaimed in disgust. "Anyway, see you soon."
The two went on separate paths, David taking the Pertruse path leading to one of his cities, and Brook traversing on the path that goes deeper into the forest. Brook took a rest somewhere as he sat on the branch of a tall tree.
"System," he called out.
Name: Brook Pfeiffer
Age: 23
Alignment: Neutrum Allegiance (Malum Dynasty)
Guild: None
Level: 29
HP: 119
MP: 72
Physical Damage: 10
Speed: 3.7
Defense: 3.2
Magical Damage: 1.1
Strength: 100
Agility: 37
Endurance: 32
Intelligence: 11
Available points: 0
Total points: 180
Brook allocated his five points with his usual system, three on strength and one on agility and endurance. Every five levels, he puts one point into intelligence to increase his output of mana. Per level up, your HP would increase by three and your MP by two; this is besides the fact that increasing your endurance and intelligence have an effect to your HP and MP respectively.
One point of endurance would equal to two additional points of health to the base stats, and this is also the same to intelligence.Every point of each stat would be converted to its respective effect in real life. For example 1 strength would equal to 0.1 damage.
"Brook," the voice of a god inside my head said. "You must leave there quickly! A beheader is approaching you and it's killed already one of the sponsors in our alliance. Quick, you must go now."
