Chapter 229: When Fortune Fails
“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.”
William Shakespeare.
Fortune also dashes them asunder. It all depends on how Lady Luck is feeling. Sleep did not come easily; I had too much energy. I also had too many playrooms—the Sea of Souls, my Soul, Mind Fortress, and Spatial Vault. I could go to so many different places without ever leaving my room, and Namir would never know. Yet when sleep finally claimed me, I had a rude awakening.
“I am not pleased.” Lady Luck resembled our current hosts as she displayed her displeasure with me. She towered above me in the void between souls. I felt even smaller in comparison despite the increase in my physical size.
“You are my champion; how could you let your luck slip.” She critiqued my stat distribution. “At least no single stat holds the highest position. But when it does, it should be Luck. In fact,” she continued, “I think I will have to insist that the next three levels of free points are added specifically to your luck stat.” she stated.
“Body and mind seemed more impactful seeing where I currently find myself.” I defended my choices. I would need both the physical stats for hunting and the mental stats for healing.
“Impactful? How many children do you think survive the sea of storms? Or being shipwrecked on the endless ice? How much evidence do you need to highlight the impact of luck.” She seemed almost angry at my hubris in myself or lack of belief.
“We were a mile short of landing on Little Wester. Where was the luck then?” I asked, cross at what I felt had been some godly machinations to remove me from my home.
“Luck can help you survive your choices, but it cannot change the ones you make.” She frowned as if that was obvious.
“So you had nothing to do with my removal from my home.” I frowned in return.
“Not me.” She answered hopefully honestly; none of my skills spoke to me in disagreement. But then she was a god.
“Sometimes bad weather simply is bad weather. There is no hand guiding it from above. I was happy to wait for you to depart on your circumnavigation at your own speed. With Long-Lived, you have time on your side. However, I can see that you have grown up slightly in terms of age. Hopefully, you can do so in terms of temperament as well and honour our bargain.”
“About that. . . “ I hesitated. “I was expecting a little more time and possibly preparation before I turned 10.”
“We play the cards we are dealt. You did make a deal with a god, after all.” She did not seem willing to consider a deferral. If not pleased that her horse had come in early.
“Yes, but I have nothing.” I bemoaned my change in fortune from Lord to beggar living of Giant's generosity.
“You have your stats and your skills. You are hardly without anything.” She raised an eyebrow at my humility.
“Yes, but . . .” I wouldn’t be convincing her anytime soon especially when she interrupted me.
“Enough. You agreed a favour for a favour. It is time to repay the favour.” She cut me short.
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“A circumnavigation, in your honour,” I confirmed, gently genuflecting.
“Perfect.” She clapped her hands. “It is wonderful to hear that you are willing to undertake this ‘quest’ for me.” She smiled suddenly, radiantly happy that her wishes were being followed.
“Why me?” I asked one last time.
“Why not you.” She replied, undaunted now that I had accepted this was happening.
“I mean, why not a Cardinal or Archbishop of the Lodestar Church,” I suggested.
“They are a little fixed in their dogma; they have their great eight, each with a cardinal or ordinal direction, but I am everywhere and nowhere. Where would I fit in their pantheon? Or understanding of the world? Besides, you needed the favour, and you have the flexibility of thought and skills to make this work.” She replied, piqued. “You were also the only outworlder unattached and available.” She seemed to mutter the last to herself. But as a goddess, I doubted she was unaware that I would catch it.
“Very well, can I at least have a month to ready myself for the journey?” I would need that long to get my feet under me.
“Of course, of course,” she placated before reminding me, “One month only, though.”
“What exactly do I have to do?” It was a circumnavigation which would be arduous enough, but I did not believe that was all I would be required to do.
“Circumnavigate the compass kingdoms and leave a little memento behind wherever you travel.”
“A memento? Don’t you usually pick up a memento rather than leave them behind?”
“Call it what you will, a token or two.” She shrugged.
“Any token in particular?” irked by her suddenly playful tone.
“Why, yes. I have one in mind.” She smiled.
“Care to share?” I asked.
“I thought you’d never ask.” She said as she shrunk until she was once more a similar size to myself. “Let me guide your hands,”
I watched as a stone statue was formed through me, shaped and carved in meticulous detail. The only distraction were the skills that appeared while she worked.
Ding! Stone Carving (Lv1)
The stone was shaped without a hammer or chisel but with fingers alone until it depicted the goddess of luck. As the statue, she stood gracefully with one foot slightly forward, confident and poised. Her body was draped in flowing robes that cascaded elegantly down to the ground. Her head was adorned with a delicate crown of laurel leaves. She looked down with a slight smile as if willing you to test your luck. While in her right hand, she held a cornucopia overflowing with gold and gems, in the left, she held an orb encapsulating a thunderous cloud of misfortune over a stormy sea. You could win either, and I wondered once more about her innocence in the storm that brought me here. The statue's base was wrapped in relief of games of chance, dice, playing cards, races, weather, wealth, and corn fields, all representations of good fortune. But below them, much like the lodestone beneath our feet, were depictions of adversity and the costs it could bring.
She withdrew her presence from my hands, and I contemplated her creation. “A token in every place I go.”
“Or two. You’ll have to practice.”
“Another statue?”
“Are you ready?” she asked before her presence enveloped my hands once more.
This time, a hooded figure emerged from the stone cloaked in a flowing robe that hid his face. Runes, Glyphs, Sigils, Enchantments and other arcane symbols adorned the robe placed in patterns resembling the constellations of the heavens. His legs were apart in a stable stance, while their right arm was outstretched as if caught in the midst of casting a spell, life blooming in his hand. The left arm held a wooden staff crowned in a shard of the Lodestar planted which seemed both his sword and shield. Circling the base, arcane symbols continued round and round without end as if they both flowed off the figure into the stone while being drawn up from the Lodestone itself. The enigmatic statue seemed to hint at and hide the secrets of the arcane.
As I regained control of my hands and contemplated our work. My musings were cut short.
“I think that is enough for today. I look forward to watching your travels. Try not to keep me waiting too long.” She said as she faded from my dream.
I awoke with a start to discover the figments of my dreams formed into reality. The two statues stood on my bedside table side by side. Quickly, I stashed them away in my vault.
Sleep banished, I contemplated my quest.
She never specified exactly which way round I had to complete my circumnavigation only that I had to complete one. And from the top of the world, what was to stop me from heading west and visiting my home on the way?
Either way it was going to be a busy month.
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