The Cult of Phien. My first encounter with the frightening group gave me all the reason I need to be wary of them. They held the means to control large numbers of people, an entire village in fact. And with the entirety of Arak village under their control they did absolutely nothing except…worship a totem. Seemingly harmless but I am no fool, I could imagine plenty that they were a plague.

Fortunately for me, the Following managed to save my hide from said plague before it took me as it was plainly intent on doing. Talk of things like the Cult and the Following only served to inspire me to seek strength. If such powerful people were to set their sights on me, not the simple pass by like my experience with both was, but like a predator hunting its prey. To survive I would need strength, to triumph I would need much more, much, much more.

But I expect I would get it, after all, that is what this wolf, this would be Patron God of mine Lotar is asking of me; to triumph. The resulting power given will be undoubtedly well enough to undertake the task. Right?

"No." Lotar rumbles. He'd grown several feet more and now lay around the tree and shrine like a dog guarding a bone. His fur shone even more, and the mana exuding from his presence alone was, intoxicating. It is as though the longer he was here the more his power grew.

"What do you mean no?" I ask from the floor. I was getting dizzy and had to take a seat somewhere.

"I mean no. You are strong for a mage, strong enough to feel my presence and not convulse which is an admirable trait for anyone who would seek to be my Warlock. I can give you all the power your body and mind can handle right now bu-" Lotar licks its fur and yawns, "But the Cult is entirely different. They are individuals worshipping a being vying relentlessly for Godhood, this being will and has enslaved nations to simply obtain worshippers, their minds conjoined into one with a single purpose; to serve. Their Patron is not so considerate of the vitality of mind or body. They are powerful. And a great hinderance."

"And what are your goals? Its pretty obvious this being, the Cult has pissed off a lot of people, there's another group going after them, the Following, they destroyed an entire village of the Cult and saved my life. Can't you just leave this to them and have me pursue your true goals?"

Lotar scoffs, fluffing its tail about in the air, "My true goals are whatever we agree on pact. You could not comprehend my intentions even if you were to be privy. Will you serve my purpose and destroy the Cult of Phien in exchange for power?"

I would. Of course, I would. The power Lotar gives me now is only dependent on what he can channel through me without tearing me apart, it stands to reason that that would increase the stronger I grow personally. In truth, it seems Lotar is a crutch, albeit a powerful one. But best read the contract first.

"And how will I find the Cult?"

"That is not my problem."

"And if I don't find the Cult and destroy it? What about the power then?"

"What I have given, I can take." It growls, annoyed by my questioning, "The more Cult members you kill, the more access to my power you gain, the more you have my favour."

"And how do I know when I need to kill another Cultist? How do I know when I am out of favour with you?"

Lotar grins, that frightening grin scares even more so now that its teeth are the size of my body. "Like a wolf starved of its prey, you shall feel a hunger, a desire, burning deep, and hot through your body and you shall know no relief till you sate the thirst for the blood of your prey."

And there's the catch! Insanity by supernatural hunger.

"All you need to do, is eat the flower." Its voice is soothing, seductive, promising, guaranteeing power beyond my scope of imagination.

And all I have to do is eat the flower.

The flower, white stained with the crimson blood of the wolf, of Lotar had begun to grow. It stood taller now, amazing it stood at all, it grew roots as well.

"My blood is nurturing. Take the flower before it grows too big to swallow."

Lotar is right. I wouldn't want to choke down a large tuberous plant, better to keep it small and quick.

I stood and trot on to the shrine with the wolf backing the large bowl. Closer look tells me how nurturing Lotar's blood really is. I could see the roots of the flower grow, continuing to push it upright and dig into the base of the bowl. The roots throbbed and sucked up a lot of the blood, the white petals seem to absorb the blood staining them into itself with greed. It is hungry.

Like I was. Like I would be. Is this power really worth all that hunger?

Right now. It is.

I grab the flower by its stem and rip it out of the blood, stuffing it into my mouth with vigour. Its crunchy. It tastes like…chicken?

"Why does this taste so good?"

Lotar looks confused, "It doesn't."

"It really, tastes like the best chicken ever." I keep chewing, trying to refrain from swallowing.

Lotar smiles, "Ah, it must be the Enchantment by one of my warlocks. She hated the taste of the plant, said it tasted like death and void. So, she made it taste like the best meal she'd ever had. A brilliant mage that one."

Soon there wasn't anything to chew on. I swallow and I wait. I don't feel any different from before though, I haven't even gotten a notification.

"Nothing is happening. Are you sure it worked?"

Lotar scoffs, "Its working fine. You just need to do one more thing."

"And that is?"

"Well you have to find a Cultist and kill them in my name, for my sake. Only then will the power, my power in you be revealed. Spill me some blood and you shall be given the power you desire."

I can't help groaning. This feels very much like a scam but at the same time…

"And where do I find a cultist?" I sigh.

"I thought I told you I don't care how you find them." Lotar yawns, stretching its limbs and thumping around the mountain for yet another comfortable position to lie in.

"So, how the hell am I supposed to become your Warlock!"

Lotar groans, tired. "If it troubles you that much, I'll help you this once. There's a village not far from where you came, the Cult has taken over it. Arak village I believe I'll send you back to where I picked you, the material plane tires me so, another thing I have to fix."

"Wait no! I've been ther-"

Lotar waves its tail and, in a flash, it's gone and I am standing alone in a field of tall grass and weeds.

Upon taking in my surroundings, breathing the air and feeling the ground through my boots. I sense a presence and realize I'd been missing something all this time.

"Anselm!" I yell. Immediately I feel his presence stronger and closer to me, then I activate Summon Spirit on him.

"Where have you been! You fainted, got dragged away by a wolf that appear out of nowhere and then you disappeared with said wolf!" he screams.

"How long have you been hanging around here?" Is the first thing out of my mouth.

"What? I don't know. Hours? The sun is coming up so I've been here for some time." He floats down to me and takes me by my shoulders, "What happened to you though? I thought I'd never see you again."

I snort, "Missing me, are you?"

He lets go of me and frowns. "If you disappear, I don't think I'll ever find another Necromancer willing to even summon me for two minutes."

"Right." I mutter, losing all humour, his life, his experiences were all dependent on being summoned. After all I've learned from Ioina Village I doubt there are others out there capable of summoning spirits like I do. "I'm sorry. The wolf took me to its shrine for a sort of…ritual."

"I heard." He murmurs. Right, he was watching. "It intends to give you power then. Did you get it? You don't seem any different than before." Anselm critics, circling around, examining me.

"I'm not." I grumble, shooing him away. "At least not yet."

"What do you mean. Going through puberty again?"

"I roll my eyes at him and answer. "No, the ritual has already taken place. All that's left is for me to complete my end of the bargain to get the power that he imbued in me."

"And what's your end of the bargain exactly?"

"I have to eradicate the Cult of Phien."

"What!" his eyes nearly pop out as he exclaims, "The Cult is large, powerful and very large. Did I mention that they are multicontinental?"

"I just have to kill at least one Cultist in Lotar's name to activate the power is all. But from that moment on I'll have to go on killing Cultists to retain his favour and power. I don't have to eradicate the Cult in my life time. At least I don't think so."

"Don't think so? You didn't get the details?"

"I did, I did. It's just. Ugh! Whatever, let's just go. We need to find out where the nearest nest of Cultist is. I need to know if this is worth it."

"Sure, but don't say I didn't tell you so when you find your soul serving meat to a white wolf for eternity."

I roll my eyes again. But deep down, I am worried of that happening.

***

By the time Lotar returned me to where he'd plucked me from, several hours had magically passed it seemed. Anselm's sense of time is broken so I couldn't actually confirm this but the sun rose up just as I was thinking about setting up camp.

Giving up on the idea of getting any rest, especially any safe rest with the sun lighting up everything, I continue on with the journey to…somewhere.

I still haven't the slightest clue where I should be headed. But the path is clear, broken with previous attempts to improve the infrastructure and the stubborn, resilient flowers that broke through the stoned path, but it is clear.

I don't have to know where I'm headed, I just need a general direction and a vague expectation of what I am to meet. All which I had.

Just keep moving forward and I'll meet people who can give me actual directions. At least, that's it for the primary goal; becoming some well-off noble. My secondary goal however, destroying the Cult of Phien.

Honestly, I don't expect to find them by looking, they felt real, they are real and yet they felt like the subject of rumours, things spoken in the dark, in secret and by candle light.

And yet they were a crisis of this world, a scourge important enough to warrant the attention of a being like Lotar. Although, I'm not sure how much he ranks on the power scale, he is certainly otherworldly enough to throw someone like Perlman out of the water.

With a heavy sigh I release a ball of mana and summon Anselm, the road ahead is barren with life, there's nothing but stone, flowers and grass set on the sides.

"What's got you down?"

"What's your guess?"

"Could be anything, outside circumstances affect you a lot you know? You're hungry, you're scared, you're mildly love struck, hungry again this time for power. Oh, and recently, it's all just been power."

I click my tongue, "You always have something to say, don't you?"

Anselm grins, smugly impervious to the scorching sun and every other natural element. "But I do know what's troubling you. That wolf, right? You want to back out of the insane deal, don't you?"

"What? No. Well, I'd definitely appreciate a change in the terms, the Cult is…daunting to say the least. There's so little we know about them and that last encounter with them doesn't exactly make me eager for another go."

"But regardless you're still going for it." Anselm sighs.

"What are you huffing about, you're the one who's immortal."

"That's not my problem, my problem is you likely dying. I can't intervene without you summoning me so my convenient immortality doesn't extend to you." He grumbles.

"Right." Anselm's only true concern was my survival, it would be touching if it weren't self-preserving. Though, I couldn't blame him for feeling so, I definitely don't understand what it's like to live in just outside of touch but, I could relate to wanting to protect a way of life. And his way of life just happens to be me.

"Sorry, I'll be careful. But I have to do this."

"Sure, whatever, there's a fort ahead."

"What? A fort?"

I poke my head out and look over the horizon. True to his word, there is a large construct waiting ahead. I can't tell a lot from where I stand but I am hopefully.

"Who do you think is in there? What should I expect?"

He turns to me and gives me a tired look, "Soldiers."

Right. It's a fort. "So that means people."

"It means hungry people," he groans, "Especially if there's a war so keep your coin tucked safe and away from sight."

"You think they'll rob us?"

"I know they'll rob us."

I gulp but head on anyway. It'd suck if they tried to rob us, but I'm prepared to defend myself and eager to test out my dagger.

***

As we trekked the road ahead, watching out for whomever would hid behind rocks or in the thin bushes that sparsely covered the road, I got anxious with very step.

Anselm is very certain that whoever we find in that fort, broken down as I now began to see it to be, would be thirsty or greedy enough to attack and rob us of everything remotely robbable.

It's good I can expect the worst but not so good that it's all that lies ahead.

The fort is on a hill, or at least elevated from where I stood by a significant amount. I imagine this to be a natural defence. Speaking of defences, there's a large, wide wooden wall with spiked pikes lining from end to end. There's a lot more wood littered around but it seems like some siege destroyed all of that.

This is something I can understand with easy. Total War games are very educating. There was a battle here at some point, and this fort lost.

I walked up closer to the broken, defeated fort, to its walls. There's no entrance here, but there is a smashed archer's perch. Archery or Magic projectiles? I'm not sure, it could be magic projectiles. This world seems to be set beside itself with magic worship and fear.

To the extent that races are segregated or rather, enslaved and prevented from developing any potential for power. Humans, very impressive when it comes to subjugating others.

I turn and start to look for the entrance, it couldn't be to the back else I would have seen it coming so it'll have to be at the front. I start to follow the path, the wall to the end when my ears perk at the whistling sound coming straight at me.

I tense and immediately an arrow lodges itself in the wood ahead. My head whips around as I look to find my assailant, meanwhile I try to look for cover; it doesn't take a Total War game to let me know archers do heavy damage to exposed infantry.

I can't find anything. The sun is blinding and even worse, they could have already determined to kill me and that shot was not a warning.

I found a large rock and slapped my back to it. Breathing in I call out, "Hey! Hello! I'm just a lone traveller now, I'm not looking for any trouble. I was just a bit curious you know?"

There's a bit of silence but that's expected. Wouldn't want to give away their position now. Besides, I need some time.

I summoned Anselm again, wisely, he appears right be for me and immediately goes invisible.

"I'll scout them. Wait here."

I nod and feel him fly off. Turning invisible and flying would put a huge drain on the mana his has to make him tangible but, it'll be worth it if I come out alive and well.

Then I hear it again; the whistling. I duck and the arrow barely lodges itself in the rock. They could see me here? Shit.

I move out into the open again. There's no cover left. I'd have to make a break for it but I know I wouldn't make it. There could be more than one archer and there's got to be someone on foot.

"We can see you wherever you are, adventurer." It's a feminine voice, calm with a pinch, dab and whole bag of arrogance in it. "There is no treasure here for you to loot. Fall over and die."

How polite. I'm not sure how true that saying is about bullets and zig-zag motion is but I'm willing I could substitute an arrow for a bullet in this situation. I jump out and start moving in the most random movements I can think of.

"I'm not an adventurer. I'm just a traveller trying to get to the next town or village. Don't shoot!" I turn around as I'm doing some form of hopscotch all about the place.

For my troubles I get another arrow flying at me. It misses completely. Huh.

"I shouldn't be worried, you're a bad shot anyway!"

I hear an enraged growl from over the wall and someone jumps to their feet. It's a woman after all. Her hair whips around her head as she cries out and nocks her bow, "Just stand still and I'll show you a good shot!"

CRACK

She doesn't get the chance to show me that shot. Her head snaps back violently with a bone scratching crack. Her body falls limp immediately and she falls over the wall like a marionette cut off from its strings.

"Nice." I pant, taking a break from the erratic dancing.

"Watch out!"

Too late. I'm tackled to the ground by yet another growling person. This one straddles me and immediately starts punching my face. Giving me no time to recover.

I'd forgotten what being punched felt like. It's a different kind of pain, an attack on your face. Getting some of my bearings I try to block the heavy fists from landing any more solids on me.

I'm not successful, but I didn't need to be. Anselm come flying at the man, shooting him off of me with the force of his weight and his speed.

I groan as I get up. My eyes were shut for the duration of the beating I just received but upon opening them I find I'm surrounded. Anselm is still beating the shit out of the man who just beat me but they don't pay that any mind, they have their bows drawn and pointed at me, the swordsmen among them have their weapons drawn and are glaring at me and finally there are several spearmen.

A complete encirclement.

I sigh. This is not good.

Anselm gives one final grunt and stands over the man whose face had just been pulped by his fists and that one rock nearby.

"Anselm?" I call out. "We've got some other problems."

He turns, looking about us and groans, "I shouldn't have let you come here."

"I shouldn't have let me come here."

"Hush you adventuring blight!" this time a man speaks, a swordsman. He must be the leader because his armour looks so much better than the rest. "If you want to live, you will strip."

I blink. Strip? Did he say strip?

"I'm sorry what?"

"You heard me. Both of you, especially you!" He jabs his sword at Anselm, "I want your armour, rather, some of us could better use it."

"For banditry and thievery no doubt." Anselm spits.

"The Kings lapdog will understand nothing of the plights of the nation, the army provides, it takes from all and gives to none in the name of protecting the kingdom. Strip! I am so inclined to change my principles and have you fired on like the scum you are." The man sneers. There are couple of jeers and curses that all call for the latter action to be taken.

"Anselm, you're running out." I whisper.

"I know."

"So, let's make this quick."

"You'll die." He says through gritted teeth.

"I'll die trying to live a life with clothes on my back."

Not waiting for another response, I summon mana into both my hands and shoot it out in speed. "Death Grip!" I call out as my tendrils latch onto the necks of two of the three archers, with a squeeze I snap both of their necks instantaneously.

Anselm jumps at their leader before anyone knows what's happening, and with a sword in hand, though I'm not sure where he picked that from. He lunges at the man, his sword hammering against the man's hastily lifted one. He begins to float around, spinning and swerving in the air like a mosquito who'd just gotten away with a pinch of blood. The advantage is clear.

The others roar into action, most haven't realized that two of their archers are dead, I look for the next and fine him pretty easily, not wanting to waste my mana I quickly latch onto him and another swordsman coming my way. Squeeze and dead.

Absolutely no resistance. It's like they didn't even have mana to fight back like Perlman did. Still, no one seems to realize what's happened until another swordsman comes at me.

I dodge, deftly, surprising even myself. Taking advantage of the opening I slap my hand on his head and, "Soul Drain!"

Frankly, it's my first time using this skill on a living human. It's unnerving how quickly the skin crumbles away, and the muscle shrinks to the point of being wisps on the skeletal bone that now loosely wore the brown leather light armour.

"AHHH!!" the resounding screech comes from a swordswoman who falls to her knees, her sword clattering to the floor.

"It's a mage! It's a mage!"

They begin to look about themselves but I'm not satisfied leaving them in shock and awe. I latch onto two more with Death Grip and snap some necks. They fall beside their comrades like rags.

Even more screams. Immediately there are desertions, too quick for me too kill. But quick enough for me to feel relieved that my less than awesome powers struck fear into these people.

I look over to Anselm and find the bandit leader in a haphazard shape. It looks like Anselm took slices of him for a barbecue, yet he was still alive. Anselm's nowhere to be found though, ran out of mana.

"Please…Kill me." The man begs. It's the quickest downgrade I'd seen honestly, from making demands to pleading for mercy.

Anselm was very angry at this man though, for him to come out like this. Knowing him he probably did this with the intent of making him suffer.

I have mercy though. With a quick squeeze I put him out of it.

"Summon Spirit."

"You should've let him suffer."

"This side of you is new, Anselm. Merciless? Yet you wouldn't help me steal a few coins from the villagers in Ioina."

"It's not a question of mercy. This is justice, justice against those who would do harm to the livelihoods of others without any remorse." He stares pointedly at me.

"Whatever." I grunt. "The entrance is right ahead. I can be a robin hood and return all the stolen goods hoarded in there to the poor of the next village or town we come across." I give a forced smile as I say this.

"And risk yet another ambush from these guys? Sure, why not? After all you weren't just almost killed." He laughs a dry sarcastic laugh.

"Oh, I'm feeling plenty confident I can take these guys on. They're afraid of mages, can you believe that? I'm a mage Anselm." I grin.

Anselm rolls his eyes. "I'll scout ahead." He mumbles, flying off.

I smile to myself and start off on my own work. Looting their bodies. They've got to have something of worth in them, right?