Chapter 62   - The Power of Belief

“What do you think the Guide is, Kai?” Virya asked.

Kai’s barely managed to suppress a shrug. Wouldn’t it be nice to know? Not wanting to offend the mage, he tried to give it some thought. It was unlikely she expected a particular answer from him.

“In the archipelago, people believe it’s the gift of the spirits to guide and protect us.”

“And what do you believe?”

“If the spirits were truly responsible, then it doesn’t make sense how everyone else beyond our islands has access to the Guide too.”

Virya nodded. “Yes, there is hardly any religion that doesn’t claim their pantheon is responsible for the Guide or at least its origin. It’s better to avoid entering a theological debate with them. They don’t usually take it very kindly when people point out the fallacies in their reasonings.

“The simple truth is that no one knows for sure.”

That’s very illuminating and helpful…

“That being said,” Virya continued speaking giving him a meaningful glance, “That doesn't mean we don’t know anything.”

Message received loud and clear. Kai schooled his expression.

“Let’s start from the very beginning. No records of a time before the Guide have ever been found. It’s commonly accepted that it has always existed in every corner of Elydes. Countless theories have been brought forward over the millennia to explain its origin. Most didn’t present more proof than the hubris of the authors and were soon forgotten, but a few stuck around. I met many scholars who dedicated their whole long lives to proving these theories. It would require years of study to properly grasp the topic.”

Kai paled a little. “Years?” Why couldn’t anything be simple?

Virya looked at him amused. “Don’t worry, child. I don’t expect you to become an expert or even a novice in the subject. I’ll make it very simple. Let’s disregard any religious explanation. Have you noticed anything strange or unusual that could shed some light on the nature of the Guide?”

Obviously, she can’t just tell me. That would be too easy. No, she had to turn this into a test.

Sighing internally, Kai analyzed the question. The problem wasn’t finding something unusual—his existence was an oddity in and of itself—but identifying what Virya was looking for amidst all the bizarre events he had witnessed. Magic and thousands of other things appeared unusual to him.

Something that’s weird about the Guide… How about everything? Just miss an HP bar and it would look like a game interface.

Kai racked his brains for an answer but couldn’t find anything that satisfied him. He could bet it must be something so obvious he would never think of it. Virya had gone back to browsing her book as she waited for an answer. Kai wasn’t going to complain, it beat having her stare at him the whole time.

“Do you want me to give you the answer?” Virya raised her eyes from the tome and asked after a few minutes.

“No,” Kai snapped before realizing who was standing before him. “I mean, it’s not necessary. I can do this.”

The mage gave him a long look. “I’ll give you a hint—”

Thank the spirits.

“—It’s definitely something you noticed.”

Wow, that is so helpful…

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he failed to answer correctly, but it would hurt his pride. Wasting time on pointless speculations had been half his life. Virya told him he knew the answer, but finding the right nugget amidst the sea of junk was all but easy.

Focusing on Meditation, Kai quieted his swirling thoughts.

Come on. Think brain. How can she be so sure I know the answer?

Recalling the exact wording she had used for her initial question, Kai realized he neglected a particular detail. Together with her hint, it pointed in a very clear direction.

Spirits, I’m an idiot.

“Is it Favor? You told me it’s also known by other names, such as Luck and Fate. If we disregard a religious explanation, why would people who are born on the mainland have a different name on their status? I also met a merman who told me their Guide doesn’t use colors and that only humans use that grading system.”

Now that he thought about it, this deserved some more study. “If someone built the Guide, why are there all these variations? It would be much easier if everyone used the same names or meanings in different languages…”

Lost in his line of reasoning, Kai didn’t even notice Virya had started to smile and continued to think aloud.

“You also told me the Guide has always been there in recorded history, but the Baquire Archipelago had been inhabited by humans for less than a thousand years. Before that, my ancestors might not have even used the word Favor, which is deeply linked to the spirits that inhabit these islands. The easiest answer would be that the spirits are responsible for influencing the Guide. However, if we don’t consider a religious explanation, then it means people's beliefs can directly affect the Guide.”

“I told you, you knew the answer,” Virya said, leaning forward to pinch his cheek too fast for him to react. “Took you long enough, but at least you put together the pieces of the puzzle on your own. I shall consider it an adequate answer.”

Kai massaged the offended cheek, glaring back. If it had been anyone else, he would have also given them a piece of his mind. It was so damn annoying when adults did that.

Virya laughed. “Come on child, don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“Sure, dear… you are definitely not pouting.”

Kai crossed his arms in front of his chest. Recognizing he was on the losing side of the argument, he cut his losses. “Anyway, how does this all connect to divinities and Favor? I’m a bit lost.” Virya might be the only person who could make him feel like a child to this extent.

The mage chuckled at his clumsy attempt to change the subject. “Be patient, dear, we are getting there. Where were we?” Virya leaned back in her chair. “Oh, right. People's beliefs can influence the Guide. It would be easy to attribute the changes to the whims of gods, but that has been proven false. There are many records where the change had nothing to do with religious dogma. Some scholars have also carried out some experiments with questionable ethics to test this. I won’t annoy you with the details, just know that the gods seem to have a surprisingly small influence on the Guide of sapient beings.”

Virya paused and Kai took the chance to ask some questions. Things were just getting interesting. “Is it only possible to change names and such or are there more… pragmatic alternatives?” His mind was already getting in motion, looking for potential exploits. “And what are the conditions for these changes to happen? How long do they take and how many people?”

“If you are hoping to increase the number of skill slots by believing it hard enough, I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

Kai tried to hide his disappointment. It had been a very long shot. For once, Virya didn’t use any half-terms - there were no chances of that working.

“Many religions and empires have tried to manipulate the beliefs of the masses to gain some kind of advantage, but none have ever made any progress that I know of. Same with trying to manipulate attributes and professions. Some things can’t be changed.”

“But then what’s the point? This doesn’t leave anything useful.” Kai protested. All the exploits he had thought of were erased like footsteps by the shore.

“Can you really not think of anything?” Virya looked at him amused. “I can tell you know this one too.”

Not this again!

Virya’s orange gaze observed him carefully , taunting him to ask for help. Making full use of Meditation to keep his cool, Kai got to scouring his mind. Again. This time it didn’t take as long since there were a lot fewer possibilities.

“Can we influence the restrictions about age?”

Virya’s lips curled showing her pearly teeth. Kai put his hands on his cheeks as a preventive measure.

The mage let out another laugh, rhythmically tapping with her nails on the table. “Yes, you can. It’s almost impossible to gain any benefits from the Guide. Creating restrictions, on the other hand, has proven much more feasible. Almost all sapient races have some kind of seals of age, even if they vary widely in the fine print. Among humans, the most common thresholds are at seven and fourteen, but there are a few differences. Some populations reach theirs sooner, others later. Some only have one threshold instead of two. And no, you can’t wish this one away either.” Virya preventively answered.

“Cosmetic changes are the easiest and fastest to achieve, restrictions are much harder. If every person in the archipelago decided to change the seals from seven and fourteen to five and ten…” Virya stopped for a moment to think.

“It would probably take around a century before something happened. But it never runs that smoothly. Convincing hundreds of thousands of people into believing something for so long is challenging even for the most autocratic and fanatic kingdoms. A few thousand people who wish for things to remain unchanged would be enough to stretch the timeline. Maintaining the status quo is always easier.”

Here we go, all my hopes are dead.

From what he could see this new information didn’t offer him any advantage. “How does the ability to break the seal early add to all of this?” Kai asked. He was sure most people on the archipelago didn’t even know it was possible.

“That is indeed what makes age restrictions so interesting. The possibility to break the restriction is something so niche and quite complicated to wish for, and yet it has been recorded in every human population. It’s hard to imagine someone was able to convince everyone to create it. But just because something is difficult, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Once put in place, it would be even harder to get rid of it. Even if people forget about it, that doesn’t mean it will cease to exist.

“One theory is that all the current human populations scattered on Elydes have a common ancient origin. That’s who created this failsafe. The other explanation is that it was some safeguard inherent in the Guide from the very beginning.”

Kai put the pieces together. “So are there people who believe someone built the Guide?”

“As I’ve said: they are just theories. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Keep in mind that no definitive evidence has been found yet. It’s all speculation for now. There is still so much to say, but I have given you enough to think about for a while.”

A few hundred times more than enough.

“Let’s wrap this up, going back to our initial question: how do gods, Favor and the Guide link together.”

Oh, boy. I need a new brain.

“One of the few certainties is that people’s thoughts have power and a direct impact on the world. Not only that, the convictions of entities long gone still have ramifications today. I’ll skip over the details for your sake. We can go back to this another day.”

May the spirits be blessed.

“From those two assumptions and a few others, people have long hypothesized the existence of a realm overlapping with our own, where all the beliefs and thoughts of the planet's inhabitants gather. It has many names, some call it the Cognitive or Hyperial realm, the place of dreams and ideas. The collective consciousness of Elydes.

“Most scholarly circles have accepted its existence. Some people go as far as to claim it’s more than a theoretical concept used to describe a complicated phenomenon, but a real place you can go and visit. I still have my doubts. Most believe they are just the ravings of some lunatics who drank too many recreational potions. What I know is that even if it’s not something you can visit, its existence would explain a lot of things.

“How the Guide can work and evolve, reaching every corner of the planet. How something esoteric like Favor could work. And how gods are just beings that have gotten access to this realm and learned to siphon part of its power.”

Kai felt like his head was about to explode. Too many thoughts and speculations were screaming for his attention. This had gotten too abstract and abstruse.

“I wasn’t joking when I said you would need years of study to get even an initial understanding of all of this. I believe this is enough for now. Is everything clear?” Virya said with a smirk.

No, it’s not.

Gathering his thoughts, Kai left aside all the complicated theoretical implications and focused on what he really needed to know. What was the knowledge that could actually help him?

“So, to create a god is it enough that a group of people believe it and puff, a new wild god has appeared?”

Virya burst out laughing. “You should be careful with casual blasphemy. Obviously, it’s more complicated than that. There are several conditions for a divine entity to be born. Convincing a lot of people into believing you are one is not enough. Maybe if you had millions of years and millions of sapient beings at your command that could work.”

The mage turned more serious. Any trace of mirth gone from her face. “As I’ve said, this is a very delicate subject. I guess you can imagine how it’s going to end if the wrong people learn that you know of this.”

Getting killed would probably be the most merciful end. It was quite surprising Virya had shared this with him. Or was she confident enough not to worry even if someone discovered it?

“I think you know enough to get into trouble. We can wait a few years for the rest. It would be very inconvenient if you caused a crusade to eradicate the misbelievers on the archipelago.”

Kai gulped. There had been no hint that it was a joke.

“Anything else?” Virya's tone made it clear the right answer was no.

“What about my blessing?” That had been the initial question.

“What about it? How much Favor did you get?

Hesitating for a moment Kai answered. “Three.”

Virya raised an eyebrow. “That is more than I thought. For a small local deity that must have been a considerable cost. You must have made an impression or… Tell me you didn’t make a vow?”

“Maybe… It was something very generic. What happens if I break it? Do the spirits take their blessings back?” Kai asked, getting a bad feeling.

“Just don’t break it and everything should be fine,” Virya said, standing up and slowly walking away.

“What is going to happen if I break it?” Kai asked again, more panicked this time.

Virya smiled at him. The next second, she was gone.