Three days was a lot of time.
There were a lot of things that I was able to predict thanks to my knowledge of the future. One of the problems with that is that some of my interactions with this new timeline would most definitely change some of the events that will unfold. One such example of this is the fact that I'm now being hunted by everyone. Well, maybe not everyone.
It looks like being treated as a warrior by the Veldans had its perks. The only explanation for how I could have survived these three days without being killed by the Alorae must have been thanks to them. They could have easily taken all of the points for themselves if they really wanted to.
"Status Window."
There were several blinking notifications that were calling to me. I had a feeling that something else changed because of me.
Notification
You have killed a player possessed by their sponsor. For this incredible feat, you have been granted the following:.
Title: God Slayer
+50 distributable stat points
Passive Ability: Divine Sense
[Casting Time: None] [Cooldown: None] [Duration: Passive]
Gods can no longer sneak up on you. You passively sense the presence of any player possessed by a god within 100 meters of you. In addition, you can focus on a player to know if they have a sponsor. If that player has a sponsor, you are granted basic information regarding that player's sponsor.
Notification
An additional unique skill has been earned for the feat of slaying a player possessed by the God of Slaughter.
Passive Ability: Slaughterer's Thirst
[Casting Time: Instant] [Cooldown: 1 minute] [Duration: 5 seconds]
After slaying an enemy, you absorb a portion of their soul, healing you by an amount relative to the soul's value. This ability can only activate once per minute.
Notification
You have slain Levon De'Orlath; Slaughterer's Thirst is activating.
Notification
Error, Levon De'Olrath's soul was burned as an offering for the God of Slaughter. Looking for a new target for Slaughterer's Thirst.
Notification
The God of Slaughter has been selected by the system as an acceptable target for Slaughterer's Thirst, absorbing a portion of the God of Slaughter's soul.
Notification
The God of Slaughter's soul cannot be absorbed. An anonymous god has sponsored a legendary soul as compensation. The user will be healed an amount relative to the value of the sponsored soul.
My jaw dropped as I saw the new notifications. There were several others that detailed the amount of healing that I received. Some god out there must have been very satisfied with how I dealt with the God of Slaughter. They even sacrificed a legendary soul so I could receive a full heal.
Souls were a form of currency for sponsors; it determined how many points they were able to expend to add or change rules in the games. I don't know the exact value of a soul, but I know that a legendary soul was worth at least 500,000 points. This was enough to add a small sponsored rule change or a sponsored objective to the games. It wasn't a small amount.
Killing players did not offer any additional experience, so it was only done in order to gain points from the God of Slaughter's sponsorship. There was very little benefit in killing a player, but it looks like there were things to be gained by killing a player possessed by their god. It was a nice thing to discover that there were things I could still learn about the Five Seasons.
I had not known about this from my last life because I had never killed a player under the effects of a soul burn before. I had also never spoken to a player who had accomplished this either. The fact that I got exactly what I needed at the right time makes me feel suspicious. My mother always told me that good things do not always come because they are deserved. She always told me to earn what I work for, or else there may be a hidden price to pay.
"You've been staring at your system window for a while; what's up?"
I looked over at Punisher. He had probably been through a lot the past few days—a lot more than I had gone through, considering that I knew much more than I needed about this place. "Sorry, I have a lot of things on my mind right now. It was only a stroke of luck that kept me from dying back there."
"So that Lemon guy, are there others besides him that the God of Slaughter can possess?"
"It's Levon. The God of Slaughter can do that as long as he gets a player to agree to accepting the Soul Burn skill."
"Can any sponsor offer the Soul Burn skill?"
"Yeah, but they only do it so many times. I don't know how much, but I think it costs a lot of points."
Punisher looked concerned. "Well, that God of Slaughter seems to be swimming in points. So what now? We going to talk to that Stormhammer guy now?"
I nodded. "Yes, At'tok Krosfah."
Punisher laughed. "Dude, that sounds like your Orc Paladin."
"You won't believe me, but he even looks like my Orc Paladin a little bit."
"No shit? Really?"
I closed my eyes and nodded. "Yes."
Punisher smiled and crossed his arms. I didn't say anything else and just stood up. "Alright, let's go see him. I need to thank him for keeping us safe these past three days."
Punisher and I both stepped out of the tent. The Veldan that had entered the tent earlier was standing a few meters away, speaking with another Veldan. He noticed us exiting the tent and motioned for us to follow him.
The Veldan camp was huge, stretching far into the forest in every direction. It took a few minutes of travel from within the camp before we reached a tent that was several times larger than the others.
"Only Ronan Wilde may enter." The Veldan leading us extended his hand to block Punisher from continuing.
Punisher stepped back and had a sour expression on his face. "Hey Ronan, I'll just wait out here. Hollar if you need anything."
I nodded. "Sure, I'll try not to be long." I then lifted up the tent flap and stepped inside.
"Ronan Wilde. I'm glad to see that you are well." At'tok Krosfah was sitting atop a makeshift throne made out of different monster parts. He looked down at me and smiled.