Saintess Summons Skeletons

Chapter 384: Scripture’s old enemy

Sofia started walking through the office. Thank you, but Pretending to sleep?

Richard kept looking into the abyss. Yes. For myself, I act as if I was going to sleep. I lie down, cut my senses. Its not real sleep, but it helps with organizing my thoughts, my wants, my memories. Sleep is important to the human brain. Cherish it while you still have it.

I never really saw it as something I could lose. Rather I have been happy that I can waste less time doing it now. But this does all make sense Sofia finally reached the desk, seeing that Richard wasnt moving, she moved around the desk to look out of the window as well. I see nothing.

There is nothing to see, right now at least. Sometimes a big creature swims by, if you dont look, you might just miss it. Richard turned his skull, he looked at Sofia with the dim lights within his eye sockets, But today is a good day, other interesting creatures have made their way into my office. Are you not going to introduce them?

Them?

Yes, the skeletons. Two of them.

Pareth And Bookie? He hadnt detected Bookie last time. Because he still didnt have a body?

Well, alright. Come out. Pareth appeared on the other side of Sofia, and Bookie was just in his book form, in Sofias hands. This one is Pareth, hes essentially in charge of keeping me alive. And that is Bookie, he is A book. A skeleton-summoning skeleton book. He has a more regular body too, but I guess he is being shy today.

Most interesting specimens indeed. Its only polite that I should reciprocate, then.

Two skeletons appeared behind Richard. One looked like a regular human skeleton, much like Pareth currently, and the other one was a bit taller, which Sofia understood to likely be from an elf, and was wearing flowing purple robes and dark veils hiding its skull.

I present Mountain, Richard started, pointing at the regular skeleton, He is my Pareth. Does not look like much, but his name is fitting, trust me. And the other one

Florencia. The skeleton presented herself with a nod. Army general. Pleased to meet you, young necromancer.

Pleased to meet you too

The two skeletons identified as [Supporter - Lv.500+].

You can go back to your things, Flor. Sorry for disturbing you.

The lady skeleton disappeared as fast as she had appeared. Mountain was still there, standing silently.

Is she one of your summons? Sofia asked.

You could say so? I created her soul myself. She is like my daughter, in a weird way. Her existence is very similar to that skeleton knight of yours. False life, born out of a necromancers hands.

I never created a soul, though

Well, clearly, you participated. You were not the one to craft the soul, perhaps, but it was created for you, sparked by you, and then, cherished by you. So its one and the same.

Thats I dont know. The ritual I used was one with Knowledges rune, so. If anything, his existence would be thanks to Knowledge. All I really did back then was to prepare the bones, carve the ritual, and offer some blood.

That is just as well. You were part of the creation and it is all that really matters. But I do have a question, can he not speak by himself?

He has never said a word. None of my skeletons have ever spoken, in fact.

None Well, for the other ones, whatever type of skeleton they may be, that is unsurprising. But for him He He is a person. He should be able to.

He should?

You should?

Has he never written anything either? Richard continued.

Never a single word.

Sofia and Richard both stared at Pareth.

After a long and awkward silence, Pareth shook his skull.

No? You clearly understand us, Pareth. How can one understand but not speak? You have put a finger on an interesting matter, Sofia. Let us see this to the end. Is he able to read?

Without a doubt, yes.

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Three sheets of paper appeared on Richards desk, one said Do not know how, one said Do not want to and the last one said Is not allowed to.

Go on, point. You can shake that skull of yours to communicate, surely you should be able to point. Which is it?

Pareth looked at the paper sheets, and after a few seconds, again, he shook his skull. Sometimes Sofia could feel Pareths emotions when they were very strong, but currently, nothing.

NO?! Ho ho ho. I see how it is. Not allowed is correct. This stink, yes, this stink of divine intervention! Knowledges rune you say? I would narrow my eyes if I still had them. I think I understand exactly what is going on, Sofia. This is a solved mystery.

Is it? So Knowledge is forbidding Pareth from speaking is what is going on?

No, not quite. It is much more interesting than that!

I dont get it

Well, you see, for Gods to breach into our planes, there are costs. Heavy costs.

I have the sudden feeling that you are about to say something ridiculous even for someone of your level. And Im not sure that I want to hear it.

Oh, dont be scared now. I know they say Knowledge is a curse. But we both know this to be false, after all, Knowledge isnt a Recessed. So, hear me out, young girl. Your skeleton

Richard paused for dramatic effect.

Is a demigod!

Sofias mind blanked a bit.

This is not quite the reaction I expected. Are you alright? For what its worth, this does not change anything for you at all, honestly. It really just explains why he cannot speak.

C- Can you Explain A bit more?

Its quite simple, really. Knowledge copied some part of your soul, added some of his being, just a speck of both, basically, and jammed that into a makeshift soul, which is much harder than it sounds, but it is the god of Knowledge we are talking about, then stuffed that into a skeleton. And there you have it: demigod!

Does that not Make him special in some way?

It does. I assume he must be extremely hard to definitively kill. And then, considering that his penalty is communication, I assume he inherited from the opposite in terms of divine boon. It is from Knowledge, after all, so Knowledge of some kind. Is he perhaps an expert in a specific domain?

Well He has always been good with weapons but I thought

Search no further, that must be his divine boon! The reason he cannot speak. He was gifted with the knowledge of weapon mastery, or something equivalent. Flor was born a blank slate. Much like a newborn. I taught her to read and speak myself. Pareth could have learned by himself too, but if you say he has always been good with weapons, you understand

I- I do. Thank you, I guess. It went in a direction I was not expecting, but that does explain some things. Is there a way to bypass the restriction?

Not without erasing his soul and starting over, Im afraid.

So hes never going to be able to speak?

Probably not Richard stopped and looked at Pareth for a few seconds. It might get better as he levels. But I would not expect much.

Oh That would explain a lot. This is why youre so much more alive now. Some of the restrictions have been lifted. Thats great news! Still Are you fine with that? Sofia asked Pareth.

Pareth shrugged. He looked at Richard, nodded, then turned his attention to the abyss outside the window.

Looks like a happy skeleton to me.

A demigod though How is it that no one else ever figured that out?

Its not that easy to guess, look at Flor, shes no Demigod, but her existence and Pareths are pretty much the same in terms of how they came to be. Knowledge helping create souls is not anything new either, but He just happened to add a little extra this time. Make no mistake, this does not make Pareth a divine being or close to it. He just happened to catch the whims of a God at birth and got some sneaky bits of divinity right into his soul. Comes with some benefits and some restrictions, but thats about it. There have been others before, there will be more down the line

Other demigods? Like who? Any known ones? Does it mean they all have artificial souls?

Well Elves, for example, all trace back to a common ancestor. A long-gone demigod created by the one and only.

Sun?

Right-o, this one. If there is one God whos meddled extensively with artificial life, its Her. From what I know, spliced the genes of one of the oldest vampires; She tinkered with it until the first elf was born. Rest is history. And no, technically that does not have to be with an artificial soul, Demigods can be born from completely normal parents, but that does not tend to happen anymore.

Why is that? I know the Gods can nominate people to be their Oracle at birth, so is it different?

Much different, how a demigod exists is somewhat of an issue with how the system is implemented. Messes with the scribes. So ever since the Gods have joined hands with the system, demigods have become rarer.

I see Pareth does not really have a scribe of his own, so that checks out And then Do all elves have some tiny bits of Suns divine essence in them? Does Pareth already have some of Knowledges essence, too, if I understand correctly?

The elves dont have shit, theyre a regular race now, a God meddling with your soul isnt hereditary. As for your skeleton, it is not that he has Knowledges essence More that How to explain this in simple words If people are books, Knowledge ripped off one of His pages and snuck it into Pareths book. Does that make sense to you?

Its not exactly clear, honestly, but I think I get the gist of it. Thank you for taking the time to explain

I just sated my own curiosity now, nothing to thank me about. Actually, I want more. Would you be so kind as to recount your chase after your sister? I have heard of the expedition from Nicet, and later about you and your sisters presence in Exidia, but I am missing most everything in between. As If had only read the first and last page of a book. It is unsatisfying.

Certainly. My finding her was in part thanks to you and Nicet, after all. But that story might take a while.

I have an actual eternity ahead of me.

Were you not busy with the Phageid?

... Such a pain.

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