Pantheon Online

Chapter 10 - Miracle

Ania could not explain why but the golden face did not scare her at all. For some reason, she even safe and warm in its presence. Her hand instinctively rose up inside the sack to try and caress that face, but an indescribable sensation forced her to stop partway.

"Are you… a God?" Ania whispered with a hint of reverence. Everyone had heard the stories of how the Gods once wandered the mortal planes. However, it had been a long time in human history since anyone had claimed to have ever seen a God. Leaving them to become something of a myth or legend rather than real.

Colt hesitated when he saw the look in Ania's eyes. He knew she was an NPC, but it was all just so lifelike that it made him feel uncomfortable. 'It's just a game. I just need to complete this quest and figure out what to do next.' Colt quietly told himself. 'Ugh, this is going to be so cringe-worthy.'

"I am Exile. I have heard your prayer and come to your aid. If you wish to be free, then you must follow my instructions." Colt tried his best to sound authoritative and mighty while trying not to be embarrassed by his own performance.

"Of course! Whatever Your Almighty asks of me, I shall do my best to make it happen!" Ania sounded somewhat fanatical as she praised Colt to the heavens.

"Good, this pleases me. I shall let you know when to escape. Be prepared." Colt decided to take advantage of her unreasonable belief in him to move the situation forward as quickly as possible. Mainly because he could not bear to put up that act any longer.

'I wonder if I was too over the top.' Colt practically gagged as he thought about his acting skills as he pulled his face out of the sack. He glanced around and noticed that the one called Aegir had sat down on a frozen rock at the far end of the camp from them.

Harald had released Ania from his grasp when he had rolled over to go back to sleep. So as far as Colt could see, this might very well be Ania's best chance to escape. 'Let's see what Minor Miracle can do.'

Colt activated the skill, and a pulse of golden light erupted from his body, washing over the entire camp. None of the NPC's seemed to notice anything as a series of notifications popped up on Colt's interface.

[Filtering potential Miracles to match the surroundings… Filtering complete… Please choose from the following options…]

[Snowstorm: Requires 5 DP and 3 Authority]

[Summon Wolves: Requires 1 DP and 1 Authority]

[Sudden Death: Requires 10 DP and 5 Authority]

Colt clicked his tongue as he read over his options. The first two were pretty self-explanatory, but the third one had him slightly worried. 'Not that it really matters since I can only choose Summon Wolves anyway.' He was somewhat ticked off that while Minor Miracle said it required no DP, nothing had been mentioned of the actual Miracles themselves as needing it.

Colt promptly chose the Summon Wolves option after only a slight moment of hesitation. He was actually feeling quite eager to see what a God could do for himself. Even if it did appear to be the weakest Miracle. As soon as he confirmed his choice, he felt as if some kind of energy had gone down in his body while the wind howling around him suddenly changed direction.

[A local wolf pack has suddenly picked up the scent of nearby humans. These wolves are grateful to you for providing food to sate their hunger. Any mortals carrying your divine scent will be safe from them.]

Colt frowned as he read the notification. It was kind of cool that the winds had changed to send Harald and his goon's scents to the wolves, but what was his divine scent? Was that the Blessing he had bestowed on Ania? It was kind of weird for the developers to refer to it like that.

Colt waited silently for a few minutes before the heart chilling sound of howling wolves echoed throughout the frozen forest. 'So it takes some time for the Miracles to happen. Though it could be to do with whatever I choose.' Colt was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly remembered that he had to warn Ania of what was happening.

The howling had caused Aegir to become alarmed. As his expression turned into a mask of fear, Harald and the other one struggled to get up on their feet. Soon, the howling came from all directions as Colt used Oracle to warn Ania that she would be fine.

'Even though Lord Exile says, so it's hard to imagine that they won't tear me apart as well.' Ania shivered within the sack as the sound of men yelling filled the air while wolves growled and yelped.

Colt was actually struggling to watch the scene that he had caused. The developers had gone all out with the realism as Harald lost an army to a hungry wolf. Strips of flesh now dangled from the stump left behind as blood fell freely, dyeing the snow a crimson red.

The wolves howled excited as human blood was spilt, and Aegir's corpse was dragged into woods with half of his throat ripped out. So far, it had cost the wolves three of their pack to bring down two of the hateful humans who used steel to bite back at them.

Harald's complexion had paled significantly as he swung his sword wildly to try and deter the pack from attacking him again. His expression was grim as his eyes scanned his surroundings for anything that he could use.

His eyes brightened when he noticed that Ania's sack had not been touched. 'If I can just reach her, I can use her as bait to escape!' Harald slowly edged his way towards the sack while inflicting several cuts on a few different, brave wolves that tried for an early kill.

Harald swung his blade and tore through the sack's material to expose Ania to the open air and hungry stares that surrounded them. "Prove yourself useful and survive long enough!"

Harald chuckled darkly as he planted his boot in her ribs, sending her sprawling in front of the largest, pure black-furred wolf who had been watching him for a while. Harald could almost smell the scent of his house again at that moment as Ania's eyes widened in fear.

The alpha of the pack sniffed the air casually before baring its teeth in a vicious snarl! Harald chortled as he turned to flee into the forest, only to hear a loud thump from behind him. Before he could even turn his head to see what the sound was, he was thrown to the ground by a heavyweight landing on his back.

Ania was frozen in shock, with tears running down her face as she watched the alpha pounce over her to land on Harald. The black-furred menace let out a long howl, and the rest of the pack rushed in to tear Harald to pieces as he screamed in pain and terror!