Chapter 4 – Patronage (1)

After blacking out in the white interrogation room, Rain's next awareness is a cold, hard pressure along his back. Startled by the sudden change, his eyes instinctively snap open. 

'Huh...I don't even remember closing them.'

He realizes that he's laying on a stone floor, looking up at a grey ceiling. Rain pushes himself into an upright position, and takes a moment to look himself over. His grey tracksuit has been changed into a tunic and leather-like pants. Lifting up his tunic to inspect his former wound for the first time, he only notices flawless pale skin. 

'Wow...the Marking really did heal me...'

Satisfied he's in okay shape, Rain turns his attention to his surroundings. He's in a large, circular chamber, with black walls and floors. Comparing them to the ceiling, he notices that it's actually emanating a soft light uniformly across its surface, explaining its lighter coloring versus the walls and floors. 

'Hmm...I was wondering what the source of light here was after Aron said there aren't natural heat sources like torches. Does the ceiling just glow naturally? Is it magical in nature?'

Continuing his inspection of the room, Rain's gaze is drawn to a black, stone column rising from its center. Water is cascading down the column into four channels on the floor, which split off to four different exits from the chamber. Strangely, Rain can't identify any opening that the water is coming from. It's almost as if the stone column is sweating the water out through its very pores.

Before he can contemplate it any further, however, his hearing is accosted by an unnerving whispering. The whispers seem to overlap and grow more intense, until he hears an ethereal voice in his head. It's simultaneously calm and eerie, neither feminine nor masculine. 

[An echo of the gods' age welcomes you, Hopeful.....your Trial in the Labyrinth awaits. Come forth and accept patronage.]

Hopefuls are what the Echo calls Marked who haven't completed their trial yet, but people on Earth don't really bother with that term since new Marked almost immediately fall into a coma. Then, they either die or complete their trial and become Champions. So, there's no point having an extra word for them. 

'So...this must be the famous Echo. Creepy...'

Climbing to his feet following the Echo's invitation, Rain scans the room nervously. After a moment, one of the walls in the room begins to shimmer ominously, and a series of dark blue runes appear on it. At the same time, five chests materialize along the wall below the runes. 

Rain approaches the wall cautiously, staring at the runes in confusion – he's heard that Marked are supposed to have an intrinsic understanding of them, but they just seem like gibberish to him. 

No sooner than he thinks that, the creepy whispers of the Echo begin again. However, instead of hearing the Echo read the runes to him, the runes seem to...change. Not physically, but as though they suddenly become more familiar to him. Focusing on the runes again, Rain is surprised to find that he can read them now. 

Order is the backbone of existence, but choice is the essence of life. In the face of one, the other seems like chaos. Some choices bring suffering, some bring salvation, but all grant freedom. Thus, I bless you with freedom. Freedom to suffer or survive by your choices. Of the five before you, choose three. 

Rain stares at the passage for several minutes...dumbfounded. 

'What kind of sloppy, poetic bullshit is this?'

Given the description and the chests in front of him, this must be the point at the beginning of his Trial where he receives his first Relic. However, if he's understanding the runes' meaning...it sounds like he's going to get three! That realization quickly makes him forget his disdain for the poetic runes.

'I can't believe my luck! Oh man, I could get a weapon, armor, and maybe even something to cook meat with.' 

After the initial excitement wears off, though, a seed of confusion starts to take hold in Rain's mind. As far as he knows, the Echo is only supposed to grant Marked a single Relic, so...why the exception? Also, the runic descriptions sound strangely...flamboyant...personal, even...not at all like the dispassionate, matter-of-fact words of the Echo. 

'I wonder...'

After one completes the Trial and becomes a Champion, they acquire supernatural abilities of a certain type, called a Lineage, and of a certain rank, called a Bloodline. The current understanding among the scholars on Earth is that this is because the abilities of each Marked are associated with an otherworldly god. Over the decades since the first Marked appeared, information from the Echo, from runic descriptions of Relics, and from other sources have shed light on the legends surrounding these deities. 

There are seven known gods: Storm, Beast, Desire, Sun, Sea, Death, and Fate. Among them, Death and Fate are by far the most famous. Death, because it has been linked to the Fel, and Fate, because those of its Lineage are easily some of the most powerful Marked ever produced. They can possess prophecy, foresight, and even alter the probabilities of future outcomes. Needless to say, having that much control over your enemy's actions is broken as hell. 

The gods are also rumored to have had numerous children with varying levels of power. The strongest offspring were the daemons, then the titans, demigods, and finally the paragons. This is where the Marked ranking system used by the Echo derives from. Your Lineage can have a Bloodline, or rank, of Paragon, Demigod, Titan, Daemon, or God, in increasing order. Marked with better Bloodlines have stronger and more potent abilities. 

This strong relationship between the seven mythical deities and everything having to do with the Marked is what piqued Rain's interest in the runes above his chests of Relics. The Echo called the Relics 'patronage', and the runes seem to imply they were left by someone or something other than the Echo. He can't help but wonder if the Relics he's looking at were actually a gift from the patron deity of whatever Lineage he will awaken at the end of the Trial. 

Rain lets out an exasperated sigh.

'See, this is one of those things that I'm sure is commonly known by the more to-do of society, but that I'm completely ignorant about. I'm pretty sure I'm right, though...these Relics are a gift from the deity responsible for my Lineage. Whatever it is.'

As his confidence in that conclusion rises, so does Rain's giddiness. It's for one simple reason – out of all the gods that could have written those runes, Fate makes the most sense. All that talk of choices and order...it doesn't fit with any of the other six. If he's right...

'Oh man...I'm going to be so rich if I survive this...'

A sly smile involuntarily worms its way onto Rain's expression for a moment, then he shakes his head and forces a more serious demeanor as he mutters to himself. 

"That's if you survive, Rain. You haven't even started your Trial yet. Now...let's see what Fate left for me!" 

Rain moves to kneel in front of the middle chest, and throws open the lid. Immediately, he hears the whispers preceding the Echo. 

[You have acquired a Relic...]

As the words of the Echo fade, the runes on the wall above the chest begin to shimmer, then morph into another block of text. 

Item: [Glorious Pebble] 

Prestige:  Champion

Type:  Tool

Effects:  -none-

Rain reads over what looks like the item summary on the wall. Prestige is the ranking of the item, and it follows a similar nomenclature as Bloodline: Champion, Paragon, Demigod, Titan, Daemon, and God, in increasing rank. So, the "Glorious Pebble" is of the lowest rank. More importantly, it has no listed effects. Curious to get to the bottom of the Relic's intended purpose, Rain glances into the chest...it's empty. 

'Uhm...what?'

He reaches into the chest, feeling around for the item he's sure that he's overlooked, but there's truly nothing inside. Rain sits back on his feet and sighs thoughtfully, taking another look at the runes that seem to describe the Relic he should have received. 

'Hmm...maybe it immediately bound to my soul, like Aron was talking about before. Do I need to summon it?' 

Unfortunately, he has zero idea how to do that. After a moment of reflection, Rain glances at the name of the item again and holds out his hand, palm up. Then, he imagines what he wants to appear there. 

'Glorious Pebble...Glorious Pebble....Glorious Pe-'

At first, nothing happens. But after a few heartbeats of focus, Rain's Mark warms slightly and a small cloud of dark mist suddenly appears in his palm. It begins to swirl and solidify, and after a couple of seconds a smooth, black pebble is resting in his hand. He feels a burst of excitement at having successfully summoned his first Relic, but it's quickly replaced by confusion. The item indeed looks just like a pebble. He turns the dumb ro-..the Glorious Pebble...over in his hands a few times, inspecting it. As far as he can tell, though, there's nothing special about it. Rain clicks his tongue in disapproval. 

'There's got to be something to it...no way there'd be a Relic this useless.' 

Glancing back up at the descriptive runes on the wall, Rain notices that the item's name is different from the other runes. Its glow is fading and brightening periodically. Reaching his hand towards the runes instinctively, he feels his Mark warm up again as his hand nears them. Then, the wall of runes changes. 

Glorious Pebble

An ordinary fragment of the walls of the Labyrinth. Isn't it so fun to behold? What a lovely souvenir. 

Rain stares at what's obviously meant to be the item description for Glorious Pebble with a deadpan expression. 

'You've got to be kidding me...it's literally that useless.' 

Becoming increasingly frustrated by the almost teasing description, Rain can't help but feel some resentment towards his patron deity. 

'Whoever my deity is, they're a real asshole.'