After checking with his Users, except for Nicholas who was still asleep, Jack checked on Veronica to see if she was done yet. When she came out of the bathroom, they headed down to the tavern to grab some breakfast. While they were eating, Jack felt Alexia going through some rough experience in the pod. Whoops, he thought, it does more than just one thing, I'll have to make it up to her later.

He enjoyed the meal and eats until he felt full. Feeling stuffed, Jack left a bit extra coin for the satisfaction of the meal. Stuffed he followed Veronica down to the Temple district. The largest holy space in the Kingdom, it was comprised of several long streets filled with different sized temples.

Some of the streets only had a few large temples on them, with hundreds of worshippers going in and out of them. Other streets had small temples, that only one or two worshipers could possibly enter. Each temple had a statue of their god planted in front of them. Each one radiated Divine Energy, they were clearly made by the gods themselves.

"Is there a place within here that I can get information on all the gods or do I need to go to each of these Temples?" Jack asked.

Veronica answered, "There is a central temple that provides information to worshippers who are looking for a god or goddess to follow. They have a library that is accessible by everyone that holds the information on the gods."

"While reading does seem fairly common among people, not everyone, can read. What do those who can't read do?" 

Looking at Jack, she said "The provide a questionnaire that can quickly guide you to the temple you need. Or you can pray to one of the gods of knowledge for guidance."

While they were passing a tall statue of a smiling woman reaching out with her hand, a purplish-red skinned person was thrown into the street from the temples entrance. A voice called out from the temple in disgust "Be gone with you demon, this temple has no place for your cursed kind." With a loud thud the door of the temple slammed shut.

Taking a look at this person, the first thing that struck Jack was their lack of aura. The next was how much they looked like a girl, yet by examination they were obviously a man. While the young man was standing, Jack saw that a pair of horns emerged from his scalp and went backwards. His long ash colored hair was tied into a ponytail.

Going up to him, Jack asked "Are you alright? You look like you took a pretty hard fall there."

"Yes, thank you for asking." The young man said cheerfully, dusting his robes off and turning to look at Jack.

Even his voice was feminine Jack thought as he said "I'm Jack, and this is my servant Veronica. Can I ask why you were thrown out of that temple?"

"I am named Maetrin, child of Naeztrin, who hold the sacred flame of our people." Maetrin said a bit proudly, then continued "I was attempting to become a follower of this goddess to learn to be a healer. Unfortunately, the priests did not wish this and tossed me out."

A little confused Jack asked,"I thought the healing powers come from the gods themselves, why don't you just pray to her and bypass these priests?"

"How I wish it was that easy. Unless the god takes special interest in you, if you want to gain powers from them you must go through their temples and become an apprentice then eventually a priest. Because of my race, I am however, having trouble entering a temple that focuses on healing." Maetrin said a little discouraged.

Jack frowned and said "What about another temple? Why don't the healing temples want to accept you?" 

"Sadly the only temples that would accept me are ones that focus on war, death, and the like. What I wish to pursue is a life of healing, however." Maetrin replied. "As for why, long ago my race aligned with a goddess of death and sought to bring ruin to the world. Now my race is tainted as far as they are concerned." 

Jack asked "Who was this goddess?"

"Don't know, all records of her were destroyed and she was sealed or destroyed a long time ago. So there is honestly no reason for this continuing harassment of my species." Maetrin said.

"This is an injustice. Who can deny such a pretty girl!" Veronica said.

Maetrin frowned and said "I'm a man."

Veronica looked surprised and was about to say something when Jack stopped her and said "I have a proposition for you, I know of a life goddess who needs a priest. While she is still weak at the moment, she would be able to provide you with healing powers."

"What is this goddess's name?" Maetrin said curious.

"Her name is Sara Everlai. She was a lost goddess and has only recently returned." Jack said.

Maetrin thought for a moment and said "I've never heard of her. Does she have a temple that would be able to train me?"

"Not at the moment, however, there is a way you can train her powers. She has made a contract with a System that will allow the Users of it to become her priests. All you need to do is sign up with that system." Jack said.

Maetrin looked interested and said "Why exactly are you telling me this?"

"First off, the Systems interests are mine as well; you would make a perfect User. Second, I am planning to go on an expedition with several Users to the north. I would like a healer to travel along with us. As such I believe you would be perfect for that role." Jack said.

A little confused Maetrin said "I don't see how I would be of much help, it would take weeks for me to learn how to heal."

"With the aid of the system, any User can learn skills at a rapid pace. While it will still take you time to become a master healer, you should be able to learn basic healing within days." Jack said.

"What exactly is this system? Is it a God?" Meatrin asked.

Shaking his head Jack said, "No, it's not a god. It's similar but different. The main difference is the services it provides the Users. Besides being able to learn skills at a faster pace, they can gain strength faster as well. Basically gods shape reality for their followers, Users shape reality with the system."

Maetrin sank into deep thought and finally said "Alright, I will sign up with this System to become a User, as I don't believe I will be getting a better offer any time soon."

Jack sent Maetrin a User contract. Maetrin took a few minutes to read over the contract and then signed it. Then Jack took a look over his new User's Status Page.

Maetrin asked "Jack are you named after this system or?"

"I am the System. To be specific, this is an avatar while i'm on the world." Jack answered.

Maetrin bowed and said "Thank you System Jack. I am honored that you have chosen me to be one of your Users."

Sensing a little bootlicking attitude coming off Maetrin, Jack said "Please don't do that. I can tell when you are not being serious."

Laughing Maetrin said "Very well Jack. I have chosen to a priest of this Sara Everlai. It seems you were not lying to me, for I have gained a basic healing skill. How curious indeed."

"Did you have a place to stay within the city?" Jack asked.

"No, I had come to the temple district hoping to get an apprenticeship by the end of the day." Maetrin said.

Jack said, "Well I'll get you a room at the Inn we are staying at. Are you interested in going on the expedition with us?"

"Yes, I think an expedition is the perfect chance to get used to my new powers," Maetrin said.

"For right now, I'm headed to the Central Temple to get more information on Gods. Did you wish to come with us? Or I can give you some coins to go to the Inn and get yourself a room." Jack asked.

"Sure, I do have some business there in fact. I do need to become registered as a healer. Which will cost me a fee." Maetrin said holding out his hand.

Pulling out a few gold coins, Jack handed them to Maetrin who placed them within his robe. "I was unaware Healers needed to be registered." Jack said.

"Technically they don't, but if you want to do healing as a priest in a city you must get a license." Maetrin said.

Jack asked "I have a User that can do some minor healing, she isn't a priest, does she need to get a license?" 

"No, as long as she doesn't claim her powers are coming from a god. Basically it's a license to keep the gods happy." Maetrin said.

They headed to the Central Temple, where they found a absolutely massive temple, on its walls were reliefs of gods and goddess carved into it. Jack recognized Aramin and Eramis near the top of the relief. At the very top was a strange missing place.

Jack asked Maetrin "What was that part?" Pointing at the missing place.

"It's supposed to be for the God of the Gods. The one who created all. Not even the current gods have met this one, they only heard tales of it so they leave a missing spot to honor it." Maetrin said. "According to the stories, this ancient god went to battle a source of corruption and perished with it."

Stepping through the marble pillars they entered a great hall with several stair cases going up. Maetrin said "I'll meet up with you here." He went off towards a section labeled registration. With Veronica, Jack went up to a counter labeled information.

Standing behind the desk were several maidens wearing pure white robes. One of them stepped forward and said "Welcome faithful to the temple of temples. How may we aid you today?" She said.

"First off, I am interested in learning more about the gods. Second, I know a couple of lost gods that came back. I would like to find out how to get them temples here." Jack said.

The maiden was silent for a bit and said "For general information about the Gods, I recommend heading to the library on the second floor. If you have a specific question we can guide you to the correct temple for the right answers. As to a lost god applying for a temple, they must apply with the Court of the Gods headed by the Goddess Eramis. Only recognized gods and goddess by the court are able to have temples in this district."

"Does that mean they can have temples elsewhere?" Jack said not really wanting to deal with Eramis again.

The maiden thought for a moment and said "My God recommends that they still seek an approval from the Court."

"Wait, did you just speak with your god?" Jack asked.

Nodding the maiden said "Yes, I am a mouthpiece for the Holy Libres god of Knowledge."

"Thank you for your guidance." Jack said and headed to the second floor passing several worshipers who were chatting at a table. On the second floor they were confronted by thousands of shelves filled with books. Turning to Veronica he said "Let's split up, to cover more ground. Look for mainly small-time gods and goddess that would be good for me to contract with. Look for ones that might be low on followers, they might be interested in getting access to a larger User base."

With that they split up and began to wander the shelves.

ElKriJa

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. This Arc will be a long one.