My World Traveling System: The Harbinger of Death

Chapter 15: The Dangerous Dungeons

Frank received the information about the existence of a God, the God of Beasts, Abraddon, through Gwendolyn's mouth. Although he had experienced a lot of fantastical things, the existence of gods as a fact was still a shocking thing for him.

Even more when it was considered that this world was supposedly generated through an APP.

He wondered if the System itself was the one that created this world, meaning that it could even create Gods, or that the System only connected him to parallel worlds that were incredibly similar to the settings of such Apps… Although Terra did not have anything in common with the Farming Town App.

Frank began to wonder if the other worlds, such as Camelot, Abyss, or Gaia would even have such similarities with the games… well, with the existence of Ruby, he had confirmed that Gaia, the world based in the Monster Catching Master App, had the same monsters than the game.

But about the other worlds, he was simply clueless.

Just what were the odds for a parallel world to even exist while having similarities with a phone game?

However, Frank did not have much time to delve into such thoughts as he decided to speak, asking Gwendolyn a few questions.

"Abraddon… I see. But what does that God have to do with me? Sorry for being rude, but wouldn't it be blasphemy for me to treat the god that created beast-people as my father when I am a Human?" asked Frank.

"So you're sharper than I thought," said Gwendolyn while sipping some more orange juice.

"Is there any benefit that you get from introducing me to that religion, miss? I know that religion might be something pretty big in some societies, but you've been a very nice person, and I haven't seen you acting with such fanatism…" said Frank.

"Exactly, I am not really a fanatic, I am just part of the faction of the Beast God Abraddon for obvious motives. It is the faction of my father and also the faction that wants my race to be treated as people. Do you see it? Gods had barely spoken with us and had let humanity do as we pleased for thousands of years, now religion is simply used as a tool to control the masses. The Kingdoms governed by Humans and Elves follow their own religions, manipulated so conflict can arise, giving them a reason to attack their neighbors and gain territory, riches, and a better life quality… That is how this world works, by being part of a religion, you simply gain benefits in the country that uses follows such religion. In Terra religion is strong, despite the gods barely speaking with us" said Gwendolyn.

"I see… Now I kind of understand… Sorry for being overly rude, miss Gwendolyn" apologized Frank.

"No problem. You are a sharp boy, and I do not mind those that seek the truth and ask their questions, expressing their thoughts and opinions. Such people are always welcomed in my house. Now, you need to join the Abraddon religion asap. Simply put, if a guard of the Nation finds that you do not have a mark of the church, you will be most likely treated as an outsider and throw into jail" said Gwendolyn.

Although people seemed to live comfortable lives in the Nation of Abraddon, where Gwendolyn, Cathyl, and many other beast-people existed alongside other races, it was a nation that was extremely strict with its religious rules, and due to many cases where outsiders infiltrated inside to cause mischief or chaos, it was made as to the law for any citizen above five years old to require the Mark of Abraddon, a simple tattoo made with magic inside any church or shrine by a Priest or Priestess.

Frank now needed this, as Gwendolyn had noticed that he was way past five years of age yet had never done the ritual, she wondered if that was simply a mistake of her sick mother or that he grew in a small town where everyone knew about him, so they never were concerned about him being an outsider.

Although such possibilities could be true, Gwendolyn needed Frank to register into the church of Abraddon as a citizen of the Nation. And also, if possible, into another thing.

"I am quite surprised that you've never taken the oath and the tattoo, boy. It is something necessary for you!" said Cathyl, showing Frank her right hand, which had a small tattoo resembling the head of a lion with a long and golden mane, this was the appearance of Abraddon in many churches, an enormous lion.

"I see… I am sorry, I grew in a separate area from the city, and I lacked spiritual education, so I never thought that it was necessary to even need religion to become a citizen… My mother did possess a strange tattoo, but not my siblings" said Frank.

"Well, even I have it!" said Annabelle as she showed her mark as well in her right hand.

"Anyways, we can do that tomorrow morning, there is a small shrine with a nice priest that would be willing to do it for a few copper coins… That will be your discounted pay by the way" said Gwendolyn.

"T-Thanks for your generosity, miss Gwendolyn…" muttered Frank with an apologetic expression, he felt like he was already being kind of a burden to Gwendolyn.

"And another thing! You'll have to register in the Guild as well if you want to start taking requests, while doing farm work you'll have to do some request for me, and we'll split the rewards, how's that?" asked Gwendolyn.

"Wait, split them? Can't I take it all? I will be doing it all after all, right?" asked Frank.

"Well, and who's giving you shelter, food, and even paying you for something I could do instead?" asked Gwendolyn.

"That's a good point… half of it is already very good, thanks," said Frank, realizing how much Gwendolyn was doing for him.

"Don't worry, you won't be given the task of killing a pack of wolves or eliminating a tribe of Goblins, just simple stuff like carrying luggage around, going to pick up mushrooms or fruits in the forests around, fishing, crafting, and so on. You will be learning all those basics, boy. With your Spatial Storage Magic, it will be an easy job for you to do most of those things, actually" said Gwendolyn.

Frank then finally understood why Gwendolyn was being so nice… Spatial Magic, the Inventory he possessed, which Gwendolyn thought was the precious and very rare Spatial Magic.

It seems that such magic or ability was incredibly treasured in a medieval fantasy-like world such as Terra.

"So that's why she is willing to do many things for me… Inventory seems to be a very miraculous thing in here. Well, not like I am complaining, just doing all out of goodwill would be incredibly unrealistic for her, especially when I was trying to rob her weeds a few hours ago" thought Frank as he drank orange juice and ate a piece of pancake.

"It seems that with Inventory alone, I am already very useful in here, and based on her thoughts and actions, it is even worth sacrificing money for me only for such an ability… Perhaps she wants to convince me that she is the best option available for me before someone like a Merchant with way more money could try to buy my services…" Frank assumed.

"Although I kind of wants to explore more of this new world, I have no plans in moving out for a while, especially because I need to forge a good relationship with Gwendolyn to unlock the App Shop Function…" thought Frank as he decided to ask a question regarding what Gwendolyn had just said.

"Goblins? Packs of Wolves? Are there quests regarding the extermination of creatures? …like monsters?" asked Frank, who did not know about the existence of monsters in Terra, but received an unexpected confirmation by Gwendolyn when she said 'Goblins'.

"Indeed, the Adventurers Guild pay way more for Monster and Beasts Extermination requests. Although animals are our siblings, they can be too aggressive at times, and we have to sacrifice them to ensure our survivability. Such teachings are included into our religion as well, so there is nothing wrong in fighting and killing animals if you do that to survive, or for the survival of others" said Gwendolyn, thinking that Frank had thought that she was contradicting her beliefs due to his ignorance over the teachings of the Abraddon Religion.

"I see… and what about Goblins?" asked Frank.

"Goblins are fiends born from the Chaos Goddess Axitl, they are created inside the wicked dungeons, places where the Goddess of Chaos has placed countless trials for a mortal to go through. Her intentions seemed rather mysterious in the religion that prays upon her, but it seems that various believers had explained that she only had the intention of not letting humanity become weak and too conceited by the virtues given by the other Gods… and the approval of the other Gods seemed mutualistic in such tales, approving of the existence of monsters as trials for our lives," said Gwendolyn.

"What a strange group of Gods… they give everything to their children but then realize that this is kind of bad because they grew too concentrated, so they decide to just slaughter them while masking the actions as 'trials'… What a bunch of crap" thought Frank as he faked a smile and an understanding nod.

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Author's Note: If you like the story please give any powerstone you could spare, if we reach a nice number there will be bonus chapters at the end of the week, it all depends on you!

Thank you very much for reading!