The Fallen Part Three-A Pity

Akiva continued along the river for two days and nights, never growing tired or hungry. He didn't think much of it, however. He never had neither eaten anything or slept during his long life. All his time outside of battle had been devoted to the worship of his God.

At the end of the second night, Akiva saw light in the distance. Curious, he walked towards it.

Akiva had never met any being aside from his God, demons, his fellow angels, and the Enemy. And even then, he had never really spoken to them.

So, rather than go straight up to a human, he chose to watch from a distance and figure out how they behaved.

He arrived at a large town that bustled with activity, even at night.

He looked all around the area and watched as people bought and sold everything from shiny rocks to animal carcasses. He watched as several people stole from others, while others seemed to be good Samaritans. He saw brothels and slave shops, banks and butcher shops. The whole town seemed to slant towards darkness and depravity, in Akiva's opinion, but before he could enter the city he needed to do several things.

'I'm going to need clothes and something to sell so I can purchase anything I might need.' Akiva thought for a bit before turning and heading back into the forest to hunt.

He had developed his ability to track back when he still relied on his Lord to see. Now, he was tracking without any guidance from his Lord and he felt proud of how quickly he was able to adapt to using his eyes.

Akiva went and caught himself an old buck and remembered he didn't know how to fashion clothing with it.

Heturned to the store to see if he could get clothing there.

He found that a whole set of wool clothing was two coins, and a buck sold for fifteen.

He sold the buck and got himself a set of clothing before prowling the forest once more to catch another animal he could sell for human currency.

Instead of finding animal tracks, however, he found widely spaced footprints from several humans, which indicated they were either running from or chasing something.

Curious, He followed them.

When Akiva caught up to them, he saw two scruffy-looking men wearing leather armour stripping a woman of her clothing as she struggled desperately to free herself.

[New Quest: Free Her

Description: Protect The Damsel In Distress

Rewards: Random Choice Item(Pick Two)]

"Are you not afraid of tainting this world that our Lord has created for us?" Akiva asked after he read the notification, furious at the men who were tainting his Lord's world.

"Ha ha ha!" A man laughed raucously. "The Lord you speak of abandoned us millennia ago."

"The Lord did no such thing." Akiva pulled his spear from his inventory and twirled it in front of himself. "You have turned your back upon the Lord. Let her go and I'll let you live to repent."

"You'll have to fight us for her." The men, angry their 'quality time' with the helpless woman was interrupted, violently crashed a fist into the side of her head and let her flop onto the ground, unconscious.

"You'll regret your sins when I send your souls to be judged." Akiva said coldly as he walked slowly towards them, brandishing his spear.

"You can try, kiddo." The men chuckled.

"I'm older than both of you combined." Akiva retorted as he easily slit the throat of one of the men, leaving them to bleed on the earth. "Any last words?"

"Go to hell!" The man charged Akiva, hoping to catch him off-guard.

"So, not a word of repentance." Akiva skewered him easily before quickly pulling out his spear and stepping back to avoid getting blood on himself. "Pity."

[Quest Complete: Free Her]

Akiva peeled the leather armour off of the men, cleaned them, and put both sets of armour into his inventory.

Disposing of the bodies was as easy as throwing them as hard as he could through the trees.

Akiva then put the poor woman's clothing back onto her body, sat on a log and waited for her to wake up.

Only when the sun began to peek above the horizon did the woman begin to stir.

Akiva remained seated and continued to wait patiently as she slowly came to.

She sat up, gently touching the side of her head where a sizable lump had formed.

She opened her eyes and they immediately found Akiva.

"W-what are you?" She asked, terrified.

"Fallen." Akiva answered with the race that appeared in his status window. "How are you feeling?"

"Are those horns?" She pointed to the sided of his head, her terror morphing into excitement.

"Yes." Akiva sighed. "You didn't answer my question."

"What's with your veins?" She asked, staring at his black veins that stood out starkly against his pale skin. "Are you sick?"

"I don't know either, and no, I am not sick." Akiva decided he shouldn't talk with mortals any more. "Answer my question, please."

"Oh. I'm alright." Her eyes locked onto his and she gasped in wonder. "Your eyes glow silver!"

"Do they now?" Akiva asked, getting up and brushing himself off. "Now that I see you're okay, I'm going to get back to hunting."

"Wait!" The woman reached out towards him, even though he stood further than she could reach. "Take me with you!"

"Why?" Akiva looked at her curiously.

"You're strong and I feel safe around you." Her voice trailed off towards the end of her sentence, though Akiva heard her perfectly well.

Akiva paused, wondering what the Lord would want him to do.

His wondering was interrupted by another system notification.

[New Quest: Her Safe Return

Description: Return The Woman You Saved To Her City

Rewards: 5 Coins]

"I'll take you to the city, but after that we'll part ways." Akiva walked to her and helped her up.

"My name is Elise. What's yours?" She asked, looking up at Akiva, who stood a whole two heads above her.

"Akiva." He walked towards the direction that the city laid without checking to make sure she was following.

"Hey wait up!" She scurried after him, lightly jogging to keep up with his pace.

Akiva slowed his pace to make it so she was walking at a fast pace to keep up with him.

"Why did you save me?" She asked him, staring at every inch of exposed skin he had.

"It was the right thing to do." Akiva responded immediately.

"Righteous, aren't we?" She teased.

"Yes." Akiva responded, scanning the trees for any threats that could pop up.

"Are you any good with that spear?" She asked, pointing to his spear still held in his hands.

"I killed the two men assaulting you with it." Akiva responded emotionlessly.

"Y-you killed them?" Elise asked fearfully. "How can you be so nonchalant about murder?"

"Every sin has a punishment." Akiva shrugged. "They attacked me first, as well."

"But why did you kill them?" Elise demanded, remembering he wouldn't hurt her.

"Because the Lord has let this world be filled with sin and shadow." Akiva shook his head at the state of the world he had seen so far. "I don't know why my Lord has sent me here, but I will do everything in my power to purify this world."

"That...How can you do that?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. "The world is a massive place, and you can't remove every bit of sin from the world."

"But I can try. And I will do everything I can to do it in the name of the Lord." Akiva's determination wasn't dampened in the slightest by her words. "Even if it means my death."

"You're utterly devoted to your cause." Elise seemed impressed. "But what about grey areas?"

"There is either sin, or lack thereof." Akiva said. "Black or white. There is no in between."

"What about justified sins? Like how you just committed murder?" She poked his argument like it was a balloon she hoped would pop.

"Everything I do is in the name of the Lord." Akiva responded, now aware of a flaw in his beliefs.

"So it's not a sin if you do it for God?" She persisted in her argument.

"Yes." Akiva nodded, resolving the paradox in his mind.

"So indiscriminate murder, if it were in the name of God, wouldn't be a sin?" She kept showing him the same large flaw in his beliefs, enlarging it each time.

"It would be a sin." Akiva protested. "But I'm doing God's will."

"So you can claim that it's God's will and rape someone?" She asked. "Or would that still be a sin?"

Akiva fell silent, mulling over her words.

"I do it in the name of the Lord and because I believe it to be right and just." Akiva said after a while.

"But what if God doesn't agree with your actions?"

"Then I will adhere to his wishes." Akiva responded resolutely.

"But what if your belief in righteousness and justice shows that his wishes might not be right?" She made Akiva's arguments look like a colander.

"I'd follow my Lord." Akiva responded without hesitation.

"How will you be sure your decision will be the right one?"

"I won't." Akiva said. "But I will trust in my Lord."

"Blind trust has caused the downfall of many."

Akiva didn't respond to that.