Pathfinder: Sacred Order - Chapter 37

“How the heck do you understand any of this?”

Jack asked Jacob as he held a golden sheet of paper with strange symbols on it. The text was beyond him and led him to believe it was a whole nother language.

That was not exactly the wrong way to think, as it basically was another language.

Jacob shrugged.

“There really is not anything to it, you just replace the symbols with letters. Like this symbol is actually an E, while this one is an I. Once you realize that, reading it is not as complicated as others make it out to be.”

It was not hard for him to read it, considering the fact that he helped Becca, George, and Eric create the language. It looked cool, but it was a lot of work. A lot of players would never be able to read the characters, but they could look at them and wonder ‘What does this mean?’. It was more for lore than anything else.

Learning it was highly confusing but after months of work, Jacob became adept at it. While it was not second nature yet, he could still read the symbols at the pace of a child’s reading speed.

What he did find strange was that the symbols to him did not look like symbols at all. They looked like plain text, which allowed him to blow through the scriptures with ease.

He questioned if it was due to the trait he picked up. It was Nessa’s Blessing, so that might have something to do with his understanding of the symbols.

The only real problem he was having was the scriptures themselves.

Currently, three sat in front of him, but one was the basics of meditation and how to feel the forces around you. To allow yourself to become one with the world. The second scripture explained how to use the force, whether it be for internal use or external. The last one was a tier-one spell called Heal.

There was a phrase one had to chant, as well as have a profound understanding of the first two scriptures.

Jacob felt that he could skip all of that due to his high proficiency in light magic, but that was not working.

Learning skills would be a lot harder than he first assumed. Still, it should not take him that long.

There were a plethora of skills one could use with any form of magic, and learning just the ones in the light category would take ages. Jacob would be set just learning this one spell for now, and return when he needed another.

Jack shook his head and placed the scripture on the bed next to Jacob.

Two light taps came from the wooden door before Jacob said come in.

A veiled woman approached, and it was not Leah.

There was only one other person that he has met so far that wore similar clothing, which meant this was the other woman who was here when he first woke.

Bowing her head lightly she looked at Jacob.

“I apologize for my behavior earlier.”

Her voice was somewhat light as if she wanted to speak in a whisper.

Jacob himself did not mind, as he was not truly a noble. Even if he was, her actions earlier would not bother him at all.

If anything, he should be blaming Vulcan for his unsightly appearance.

Weakly, he fanned his hand.

“Worry not, all is forgiven. This here is my guard, Jack.”

Being introduced, Jack just did a small tilt with his head.

He was not too interested in the woman dressed in all white. From what he knew, these women were all pure virgins who would stay unmarried their entire lives. Same with the bishops, and pope. Each person who gave up their normal life for one in the embrace of the almighty mother vowed to never marry, or seek the pleasure in another’s embrace.

Frankly, he thought it was stupid. But, to each their own.

Amelia looked over at Jack and did a light tilt with her head as well to respond.

“I have some news that I would like to share with you lord. However, I would like a favor in return.”

Jacob’s eyebrows furrowed.

What information did she have that he wanted? He just woke up for crying out loud, there was no way she could have anything for him.

Still, she did pique his interest.

“Speak, what is this favor of yours?”

She was glad that he took an interest, it would give her a chance to do what she set out to do.

“It is really a minor favor…”

Amelia led on as she twiddled with her fingers in a cute manner.

Jacob said nothing, either she told him what she wanted or not. He was not going to play games with her.

“I would like you to save my mother.”

Honestly, Jacob assumed with the way the veiled woman was speaking she wanted him to join her in some major scheme. Something like overthrowing the current bishop, which is why he asked what her favor was.

As long as he could accomplish it, he did not mind wasting some time helping another.

“And what trouble is your mother in exactly? If it was an illness, I’m sure with your standing here in the temple you should be able to heal her. It is a privilege given to all members of the order. Considering that, that means that she is in some other sort of predicament. One that the order will not get involved in.”

Amelia nodded at Jacob’s words.

But she feared that he would still decline, and if that happened she may lose her mother.

“Yes, the temple cares more for their face more than anything else. My mother owes a debt to a man named Ash. What started out as a small debt has now increased by a massive amount. Recently she has told me that he wants her to sell herself to pay it off.”

As she spoke, Jacob could hear the pain in her voice. This young woman cared deeply for her mother.

His eyes looked over at Jack, but Jack looked emotionless.

His facial expression was the same as it was before, he was not interested in her story. To him, someone being in debt and doing a job for the person they owed was normal. Her mother just got caught up in a bad situation, but it was not anything out of the ordinary.

Even Jacob did not think that much of her problem. She only needed to pay her debt and they would let her go free. However, he knew how the world of prostitution worked. It was something he researched in order to make this world feel more life-like.

The person in debt would have a high interest, while they worked and received relatively small pay. This was so that the person who they owed could control them more easily.

While it would seem like they were making money, in the large scheme of things they were making nothing. In the end, their debt would continue to rise and sooner or later be forced to sell their organs.

This world definitely was not kind, but it was filled with many opportunities.

“How much does she owe? And why do you believe that I will be able to help you?”

“She owes two hundred and fifty silver my lord. I assume that you can pay off her debt, which is why I asked you.”

Amelia was very honest with her words.

Jacob found it amusing. She was a novice at scheming. If she was like him, she could just tell him what she knew and if it was worthy he would already owe her.

Just like he did with Diana.

Still, her words tugged at his heart a bit. While he would not believe every word she said, he did believe that she needed help.

“And I assume you to believe the information you hold warrants two hundred and fifty silver?” Wuxiaworld for visiting.

“Yes. I am certain.”

Amelia was not stupid enough to tell him the information straight up. She would wait until he agreed, then she would let him in on what she knew.

Thinking about it for a second, Jacob nodded.

“Alright, you have my word I will help your mother.”

He could not see it, but Amelia’s face brightened up.

“I overheard the bishop speaking, he plans on forcing you to join the temple. He even asked Leah, one of the priests, to seduce you so that you will be more inclined to join.”

Amelia quickly spoke what she knew, while withholding some things.

“How can the bishop force a noble to join? No one would consent to that.”

Jack snorted.

Jacob was silent for a moment, but he could understand. It was not really him they wanted, but more so what he possessed.

“It would not be forcing me if I mutually agreed. He thinks me to be a simple boy who will give in to lust. Throw a woman at me and make it into a scandal. Knowing how it would look, I would have no choice but to agree to his demands to save my own reputation.”

Pausing, Jacob looked towards Amelia.

“Still, his plan would fail because I honestly do not care what others think of me.”

“Leah did not agree, she went against his commands. I do not know what other plans he has, but they are bound to be as sinful as the one he suggested. Considering that you are blessed by the mother, I assume he will begin contacting the higher-ups.”

That was what Jacob feared.

Dealing with the bishop was easy, but dealing with the archbishop, the deacon or even the pope! Now that was something else.

He could not help but regret his decision at picking up the priest class and that blessing. Maybe he was too hasty and should have delayed leveling up until after he was healed, or at least not picked up the trait right away.

It was rare, and any character that happened to have it always emerged from the temple. This gave them the belief that it was actually Mother Nessa giving them her blessing. Which more than likely led them to think that only someone from the temple could receive it.

Now that he has shown them otherwise, they would use any means necessary to have him join their order.

“We should leave before they arrive.”

Jack suggested.

Jacob wanted to agree with him, but he still needed to study the scriptures. Not only that, his body was not in the condition to travel.

“I would love to, but we can’t for now. Let me learn this spell then we can leave.”

“My lord, what about my mother?”

“It will be dealt with. Give me her name and location, she will receive the money to pay off her debt.”

As soon as Amelia could breathe a sigh of relief, the wooden door slowly creaked open.

Jack, Jacob, and Amelia all turned their heads.