Drunken Blessed

When the light finally faded, Terran opened his eyes. "What!?" The view baffled him. He was no longer in the small hotel room but instead surrounded by trees that extended their reach hundreds of meters into the sky. The trees formed a canopy that completely blocked out the sun, the only light originating from glowing flora.

Yet, that was not all. After looking down, Terran noticed that his entire body was illusory.

"Is this the so-called retribution for calling Gaia dead? No, it can't be. This place looks too sick to be a punishment!"

Not sure what to do, he did the only thing he knew how and moved forward. Despite the lack of sun, the ground was littered with flowers and various plants. The forest seemed endless, and yet there was no repetition.

Minutes passed, and Terran was starting to get bored. His Illusory body passed through everything except for the ground. For this reason, he was left astonished the moment he stubbed his toe. "Ouch! A rock?" The object was indeed made from stone, but its surfaces were flat.

Kneeling down, he inspected the object. "This is-- a broken tablet?" Flipping it over, he found more runes similar to those that appeared on his back when using the insignia.

*Ding*

<New system quest available.>

--

Quest Name: Puzzle

Description: Find all the tablet pieces in Gaia's Prayer Forest and put them back together

Additional information: The user must grasp their pendant while praying to enter the forest. WARNING: While in the Gaia's Prayer Forest, the user's true body will be vulnerable

Time Limit: None

Reward: Unknown

--

"Huh, so there are more of these lying around this forest?" Terran then tried to pick up the piece of the tablet, which was roughly a square foot and a few inches thick. However, its weight was immense. He could not even feel it budging in the slightest. Without being able to touch the trees or other objects in this world, he could not use them to create leverage. "What's the point in giving me a quest that I cannot complete?" Yet apparently, the system assumed this was a rhetorical question as no answer followed.

Terran's frustration did not last for long as he thought of something else. His first quest had an unknown reward. That quest had been relatively simple and easy. Yet, its reward was amazing, giving him the ability to steal and upgrade blessings. While the last quest was easy, this quest was currently impossible. How grand would a reward be for an impossible quest?

Accepting that he could not move it with his current strength, Terran did his best to memorize his surroundings before moving on to look for other fragments. While he could not move them yet, it would be great to locate them all.

However, Terran did not get very far as a voice entered his head. At first, it was faint, but steadily it got louder and louder until it was the only thing his mind could focus on. "Terran, wake up! This is not your time to nap!"

As the voice got louder, ripples appeared in the world around him. The further they spread, the more incoherent his surroundings became. His vision once again went white, and he once again opened his eyes, this time back in the hotel room.

"How could you fall asleep in the middle of your prayers! What do you think you were doing?"

"Praying?" Terran responded questioningly, unperturbed by Sophie's nagging.

"Oh really? You know, most people do that while conscious! Tends to work better!"

Terran could only shrug, he had been praying, and it was evident that it had been what took him on his mind trip to the forest.

Seeing Terran's indifference, Sophie let out a deep sigh. "Look, I am only being harsh because I want you to have a good life. It is impossible to cheat a god. If someone stops praying, it is possible for their blessing to be retracted in their time of need. It is basically a death sentence! If you manage to anger one enough, you can even receive a curse. Additionally, you can forget about ever receiving a second blessing!"

This was all news to Terran, but he still shook his head inwardly. While this may be true, he believed his situation was different. He had never prayed in the past, yet he was still here today. In fact, before knowing what it was, he had wished countless times for his regeneration to go away, and yet it had continued to save his life, time and time again. The thought even crossed his mind, that just maybe, it was in fact a curse. But, of course, that's not what he said out loud.

Instead, an innocent expression formed on his face. "I'm sorry Miss Sophie, I didn't know! I'll pray every day in the future! Do you think Gaia will forgive me?"

At this point in time, a voice was heard in Terran's head. <Hehehehe.>

"What the hell, Did the system just laugh at me!? You're a little robotic shit that ignores 95% of my questions, but now, all of the sudden you have a sense of humor?" However, only silence reigned in Terran's mind, which only brought him further frustration.

Sophie was glad to see Terran coming around. "It's ok, I'm glad to hear it! I'm sure the great mother will be very forgiving!"

After the two showered and ate breakfast, they left the hotel and set out to drop Terran off at the academy. It turned out to be very easy to get in once you were registered as a blessed. The night before, they had called admissions. After Terran provided his blessed ID, he only answered a few other questions.

Unfortunately, the school year had started three weeks prior, so Terran did not have much say in his class selection. His schedule and dorm room number had been sent this morning, and he was set to move in today. He didn't even need to pick up a key as his blessed ID could unlock his dorm room.

----

"Are you excited for this new chapter in your life? Yes, not everything will be easy. Howbeit, if you manage to blend into the majority while making a few good friends, I'm sure you will make some great memories!"

The pair were walking through the tall buildings of the Oasis. They had left the hotel and were on their way to Palm Academy, the school Terran would soon be attending. Sophie was currently attempting to give her advice while not ruining the mood, but she could not tell if Terran was picking up on her hints.

"Ye—"

*BOOM*

An ear rattling explosion drowned out Terran's response as a wall of fire shot out from an apartment building only a block away. A few passersby were caught in the blast leaving them dead on the spot. However, some others were not as fortunate, they had been ignited and were currently running around like headless chickens. Screams filled the air, as panic ensued on the surrounding streets.

Contrary to one's fight or flight instincts, Terran was quite intrigued by the fire. One thought ran through his mind, "Did those flames originate from a blessing?"

It did not need to be explained why powerful blessings would curry his attention.

Besides curiosity, Terran felt another emotion. However, it was not sympathy for those that had lost their lives or were burning alive. In fact, he was surprisingly undisturbed by those dying in front of him. Instead, he felt sadness. This was because he was sure Sophie would pull him away any second now from the live-action show unfolding in front of his eyes.

Yet, another surprise came as Sophie's next words left her mouth. "You should watch this; it will be a perfect example of why you should never use your blessing to spread chaos in the Oasis!"

Terran glanced at Sophie after hearing her odd comment. Of course, he was not one to argue as they were on the same page. Both wanted to see what would happen next.

"WHY WOULD YOU CHEAT ON ME JESSICA! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! Hic! WERE OUR VOWS A JOKE TO YOU!"

Brimming with anger and sadness, one voice managed to make itself heard over all the screaming.

As the people in the immediate vicinity scattered, three figures at the center of the madness could be seen clearly. The only one standing was a short man wearing your standard wife-beater tank top. Burn scars covered his hands and forearms. One of those hands held a broken liquor bottle while the other held a small metallic object. His arms flailing by his side as he delivered kick after kick to a burning corpse.

Next to them was a woman, exposed to all as the only thing covering her body was an expensive set of red lingerie. However, anyone in a healthy state of mind would not find her sight attractive. She currently sat on her knees, black and blue with bruises as blood dripped down from several deep scratches, her cries louder than any of the terrified spectators.

"Please stop! He was just a shop employee helping me try on a new outfit for you! You know I love you!

"Shut up you unfaithful promiscuous whore! Hic! Ignoring this dead toy of yours, you really think I wouldn't know about you and Benson! Hic! What about Demarcus! Hic! Jayden? I can go on for days!

However, the drunk blessed with a severe case of hiccups did not have days as a dozen guards wearing sleek black uniforms materialized out of thin air in the empty street. Three large white letters were embroidered onto their uniform, FBI.

The officers from the Federation of Blessed Individuals didn't even bother making contact with the crazed man. Instead, one simply pointed what looked to be some sort of radar scanner at the man.

The next sentence Terran could only hear as he stood a few meters away from where the guards had appeared.

"Blessed, ID F73-899G-MK2, has been identified as the terrorist. Please proceed with Protocol Sever!"

At this moment the drunken blessed noticed the officers. Immediately a light of fear flashed in his eyes.

"No-no-no! Hic! This is a misunderstanding; It's a personal matter, a lapse of judgment! Hic! Please, I'm a pathfinder! Let me work to pay off my mistake!"

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Author Note: If you have enjoyed the story so far, please consider dropping a power stone or leaving a comment. Those small things go a long way to help the story! ^_^