I simply shrugged. “Anyone with half a brain and heart would have done the same, I'd imagine,” I said as if stating the obvious. “That is where you are wrong, Thoma,” the Master shot back. “For this was no ordinary grunt you'd find on the battlefield. He was the Lord of Codrean.” the Master said in an honorific tone.

I raised my eyebrows. “The Lord of Codrean, Master?" I asked. “I thought lords weren't supposed to do battle. They generally sit in their comfy, little castles and large rooms surrounded by whores and wine, while the lowly soldiers get thrown into the shitstorm that is the battlefield,” I said bitterly. I had known a lord once before, but that had been a few years before I was recruited into the synners.

The Master simply nodded and said nothing, agreeing with what I said.

“This lord, however, was well known for being able to see the true nature of people. While he didn’t know who they were, exactly, he could tell they were no ordinary beggers. From the moment he saw the first bow lower than anyone had ever bowed before, he knew something was different about them,” the Master continued. “Wish I'd been born with that skill,” I muttered under my breath.

The Master heard it, but said nothing. “In any case, he invited the beggar and the other five who'd been standing in awe just a few feet away to join them for supper. The disguised gods agreed, and the warrior led them to the makeshift lean-tos they constructed after the attack,” he continued.

“Food was scarce, but they happily shared the little supplies they had left. The following morning, the beggars decided to leave the small settlement, but they wanted to speak to the lord first. He revealed that they were in fact gods, and that for his altruism and kindness, each one would bestow a single gift to him and to five of his other warriors. The Lord of Codrean was taken aback at the news, and instantly took a knee, bowing his head. The god who had been speaking to him told him to rise and that he needn't kneel. He then summoned the other gods to bring their gifts,” the Master said, taking a breath.

“What were those gifts? Surely, they must have been unparalleled by anything we know of, ” I said, hoping he would give me the answer to that question sooner rather than later. The Master simply nodded in agreement, and folded his hands on top of the desk.

“To the Lord of Codrean, the leader gave the Realmwalker Blade, capable of cutting through the fabric of reality if one were to infuse some mana into it.” he began.

“To the largest and strongest of them, the second goddess gave the Fate-bearer Shield. She had forged it from the bones of a great serpent, it negates all magic used against it. It could even use the negated spell’s mana to heal the bearer and those around him.” he continued.

“The third god gave the Night-kissed Mantle, to the woman who had been an assassin for the Lord for over a decade. This mantle coated the user in mana, making them virtually undetectable.” he grinned with the last word.

“The fourth goddess approached the archer, and she granted him the Nethersong Mask. It allowed for a vast improvement in eyesight, as well as produced an autonomous beast-claw made of pure mana for offensive or defensive purposes.” he continued.

“The fifth god took pity on the most severely wounded of them, and, after healing his wounds, granted him the Dreambinder Jerkin. It would allow the wearer to phase through any physical attack not infused with mana.” he said with a slight tone of jealousy.

“The sixth goddess noticed one of the warriors wielding dual-blades, and thus produced the Benevolent Ring. It could populate items already acquired out of thin-air after being stored within the ring,” he said.

“However, the leader of the gods decided to bestow another gift, not just for the warriors but for everyone. He moved towards the warlord with a plant in bloom and a parchment with writing on it," the Master said.

“A plant, Master?" I asked, entirely bewildered by what I’d just heard. “Naturally, after hearing about all of these magnificent weapons and such, one must wonder what a plant has to do with all of this,” the Master said. “A plant?” I asked again, still in disbelief.

“Y-yes,” the Master replied curtly. “As unlikely as it seems, that plant is what helped make us what we are. The plant and the parchment were the gifts the leader brought, though one is useless without the other," he explained.

“The plant had been blessed by the gods, and if properly prepared using the instructions on the parchment, it allowed the user a greater affinity to tap into the Ethereal realm. If incorrectly prepared, the user could suffer a fate worse than death, being neither living nor dead,” he said, and I felt a small chill go up my spine.

“That said, it is not impossible for one to connect with the Ethereal without the plant’s blessing. It simply speeds up the process. This gift is what sets us synners apart from other warriors, as we can train with mana from a young age as opposed to the decades of learning normally required. The ability can be passed down through direct bloodlines of those who have consumed the plant, but one must never take this gift lightly. It was bestowed upon us by the gods to help us defend our homeland. Do you understand, Thoma?” the Master asked. “I do indeed, Master,” I replied. “Good,” the Master said.

“Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully,” the Master said in a voice that made the hairs on I's arm stand up like a wooden palisade. “I have two things in store for you, but only after we visit Coltend, as I would not have you do anything tonight. I would like to give you a choice,” The Master said seriously.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? I thought.

“I want you to know that I will have to either punish or test you for your insolence tonight. However, since this was more of an accident as opposed to a willful happening, I will tell you the two options,” the Master said.

I felt more scared than I ever had in my life. Both the Master and Bernar, who was standing two paces behind my chair, sensed it, but showed no sign of doing so. “One is to spend a week in solitary confinement with only bread and water as sustenance, and the other is to hunt down the creature in the cave that lies just outside our fortress," he said methodically. I still couldn’t understand the reason for a hunt being considered a form of punishment. “So, which will it be?” the Master asked.