Chapter 41 -  Faith and Happiness

I open my eyes to the bright golden sun above my head raining down sunlight on HavenFall. The wolves were still next to me and I could see Gobi sitting at the door of the Goblin Hut staring at the curtain. I see Luke, Robin and Owen enter the mud house together with a worried Lucina walking past.

A blue screen pops up in front of me as I was observing everyone.

[ Congratulation Player Ian.

You have managed to interact with the main storyline. As the first player to interact with the main storyline you have been given a gift from Ariel, our goddess. ]

[ 1 x Ariel Statue ]

After reading the message, a ball of light appears in front of me. Dispersing into smaller bubbles of light and floating up into the sky, revealing a small stone statue. A girl with long hair dressed in a straight long ball gown with her angelic wings wrapping to the front. Her eyes were closed and her face was pressed downward towards her hands which she held together interlocking her fingers and above her head floating magically was a halo. I reach out and carefully grab the statue.

[ Ariel Statue

Faith + 5 per day

A statue of the goddess Ariel, praying for your wellbeing.

Placing the statue on the ground will cause the statue to enlargen to the size of an average human being. The statue cannot be moved after being placed. ]

The statue radiates warmth even though it is made of stone. It looks and feels like the NPC I met at the start of the game, it radiates warmth like a heartbeat. Another message appears soon after I picked up the statue.

[ World Main Storyline Mission (1)

Objective: ???

Reward: ???

A player has interacted with a King and 'they' have started to move. All players will be faced with their own trials and dangers. Wars and alliances will become necessary and the world the players know will start to become known to each other. Expand your power and your might and either defend or attack.

Have Fun!! ]

The main storyline mission had started and it was time to expand HavenFall. The last expansion helped with defense and now we need to focus on our offense. David, Lucina, Robin, Owen and old man Hus will have to stay back and focus on developing HavenFall while Howard, Luke, the goblins, the wolves and I will have to focus on scouting and figuring out the terrain. Hopefully, find more residents for HavenFall and clear any encampments.

For now, I need to figure out a way for the wolves to get some proper rest and a place for the statue. I saw that Luke had finished his talk with Robin and Owen and the couple had walked off towards the river leaving Luke sitting by the fire staring at the crackling embers.

"Luke...Are you ok?"

Luke smiles weakly at me and breathes out a deep sigh.

"I..I told Robin and Owen about what happened in the forest without skipping any detail. From when I woke up and noticed the Blood Ogre to when Oscar passed away. I told them about...about when I froze up and didn't move. About Oscar attacking the monster despite being scared and saving me. About me running...Running away…"

Luke covers his face with his hands and I could hear the soft sniffles coming from him. The wolves notice his change and walk over towards him whimpering with him. Rubbing their heads against Luke's body it was like seeing man and beast coming together and helping each other. I kneel next to him softly pushing the pups to the side to get closer to Luke and I place my hand on his shoulder.

"Luke listen. I know it is tough. I know this feeling does not go away. When you lose someone it's like a rope gets tied around your heart. Every time it beats a constricting feeling occurs. It gets heavy to breathe and tears form within seconds. I know how it feels but you cannot beat yourself over this. Oscar would not want you to constantly torture yourself over his death. He would move on and search for a goal and strive to achieve that goal. You...You can do the same."

I look into Luke's eyes as I say this staring into his amber eyes without faltering. I could see his eyes shaking a little. They were lost. Like he was looking into the abyss even though I was right in front of him. The Luke that received Aur's power disappeared and all that was left was a shaking child. It was depressing looking at him.

"Luke. I have a mission for you. You can choose to do this and you can choose to not do this. I want you to go around the forest and map it all out in your mind. Figure out where every turn will take you. What is behind every tree? What is next to each rock? Where it ends and where it begins. You however cannot come back to HavenFall until you have seen the whole forest and memorize everything that is there. You have until the sun sets to tell me your answer otherwise you will stay in HavenFall. You will not be able to exit HavenFall no matter what you do or what happens ok? I am going to figure out a place for the wolves now so take your time and decide."

I stand up and left Luke before he could say anything. I walk towards the cliff and next to the path down to the canyon I place the Ariel Statue. It expanded to a human-sized statue and with the golden sun positioned right behind the statue it looked like a goddess had descended in front of me.

[ You have acquired Faith ]

[ You are currently in Negative Happiness ]

[ Ariel Statue has radiated warmth into the residents of HavenFall ]

[ You are currently in Neutral Happiness ]

[ To check Happiness look at Status ]

I got bombarded with a series of messages from the system and after carefully reading them I open up my status.

Name: Ian

Race: Human

Faith: 5/100 ( Reach 100 to pick a Pantheon )

Happiness: 0 ( Neutral )

Health Points (HP): 10/10

Mana Points (MP): 0/0

Strength: 5

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Luck: 10

Equipment: Lucky Goblin Totem Necklace

The Ariel Statue had helped me come out of the Negative Happiness which most likely occurred from the collective feelings of everyone after knowing Oscar had passed away. I can only hope that everyone will eventually pick themselves up from this ordeal and come back stronger than before.

I notice next to the Faith was Pantheon. I was unsure of this terminology however, I do remember that the Pantheon was a temple for the gods. Assuming this means that once I reach 100 Faith I would then get to choose a god?

I decided to bench the thought for now since I need to wait for 20 days before collecting enough Faith. Looking over the cliff I could see Robin and Owen sitting on a rock by the waterfall. Robin was resting her head on Owen's shoulders and they were both just staring into the distance. Further away, near the mud kiln was David and Lucina. They were placing wood into the kiln and talking to each other.

The sun was slowly descending towards the horizon and with the limited light left, I walked down the path towards Robin and Owen. It was time to talk to them and find out about their thoughts.