Zero Potential: Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Chapter 33

With Marianna there, Terra knew what she must do. Just as so many instructors and dignitaries had done so in her past lives, so too must she now. Seeing the glowing eyes of Marianna, a true sign that she was the new chosen one of the Gods, Terra lowered herself bending the knee and lowering her head she did what so many had done before.

Just by assuming the position of supplication, and truly wanting to swear fealty, the words came to her.

“I, Terra Rose, do hereby swear my life, my sword, and my blood to you, oh chosen one.” With that, the next part came to Terra, this was the part where she had some freedom to choose how much of herself, she would swear. There was a minimal Tier of fealty, where she could swear to offer her shelter and resources where applicable. The mid-Tier where she could choose to impart training and offer herself as an ally. Usually, the second Tier of commitment was enough to earn a happy afterlife with the Gods. But for Terra, she still remembered the way the Gods saw fit to watch after her, even going against the God of Corruption, where the two worst curses of the undead were denied to her, allowing her just to be an Immortal instrument of theirs. Having experienced the Gods grace not once, but twice in this lifetime alone, she felt compelled to give her everything to destroy the being of supreme evil. That was why she mentally chose the third Tier of supplication.

“I will grant my life, my knowledge, and my training to you. I will be by your side, until the being of supreme evil is finally destroyed.” Terra said, stating the words to begin the process of enacting the third Tier of fealty. Of course, with an oath so powerful, there had to be safeguards in place. The Gods did not want the Chosen one to go drunk with power, as such anytime people made such a deep oath of fealty, there were safeguards that must be enacted.

With that, Marianna paused, as the words of the Gods came to her seven-year-old mind. Words and concepts that were beyond what her mind should be able to comprehend were suddenly made clear. As Marianna was left with a choice to make. Did she accept the oath as is, meaning that Terra Rose, a person who protected her not once, but twice. A person who found her secret and risked her life to keep that secret hidden. A person whose only actions so far had been altruistic, for the seven-year-old the chance to have such a valuable person on her side forever was a dream come true. In fact, it was something that she had prayed for, especially with a few of the worst dreams she had, where she was forced to fight with Terra when she was older.

Having seen visions of what a future without Terra as a sworn ally would be like, Marianna couldn’t help but feel relieved that her prayers had been answered. That is why, despite the warnings that appeared before her, she decided to go with her mind over the warnings that her gut was still telling her. Her gut told her to be wary, but she denied those niggling doubts by choosing to make a potential enemy her sworn ally.

“I, Marianna Montague, do hereby accept your oath of fealty, and I too promise to honor your training, sacrifice, and commitment. Promising to never cross blades or break your trust, so long as I to shall live, in this life and all other lives.” Marianna said.

Chime.

With that there was a deep pounding of a gong. To others off in the distance such a sound would just sound like a distant thunderclap, but for everyone in the room it was a pure crisp sound that was recognized by the Gods.

Sacred Pact Forged: The Gods have heard, witnessed and accepted the sacred pact forged between Terra Rose and Marianna Montague. This is a third-tier commitment on both parties, meaning that these oaths will bind one to another for all times. With this, Terra Rose, you can rest assured that even if the Hero restarts their life, they will be forced to follow the oath that has just been given. Any breaking of the oath will mean a loss and reduction of her overall potential. So too will you be forced to give her your unconditional fealty in all lives, suffering backlash from the Gods if you choose to stray from the path. Note: This blessing supersedes all previously made contracts. With this, all pacts made before your confirmation with the Chosen Champion have hereby been annulled.

Shatter.

With that announcement, Terra felt layers upon layers of her mind shed away. In a way it felt like her mind had molted away the previous bonds and limitations of her past. Suddenly things became clearer, why she had such a strong resistance towards stating anything overtly critical of the ruling leaders of the Belaton Empire. Why she only injured, versus killing Professor Chan, despite his clear insistence on using killing intent behind each of his strikes. Terra felt so many things shed away from her mind that she was momentarily taken aback.

Pausing Terra suddenly realized how free she was now. Before she had been bound with hundreds of lifetimes worth of pacts. Pacts that she herself had to keep and maintain, even when the person who she swore to in a previous lifetime had moved on. These were painful lessons to learn overtime, often costing her. But now she was free, well she was still bound to her original mission of destroying the being of supreme evil. No wait, that fervent need for such an act was no longer her true driving goal.

Thinking back, she did remember that many of her pacts she had agreed to had that as a clause, to strike down the being of supreme evil. Those pacts were so strong that even in new restarts she felt compelled to follow such an order.

Suddenly the memory of her being forced by the King of Belaton to accept the oaths of each and every member of the military rang out in her mind. At the time she thought it only natural to do so, even with the Gods warning her about such commitments. Now that she no longer had the burden of maintaining such oaths, she realized how it had all been a trap. One that bound her to never raise a hand against the King or the soldiers of the empire, lest she be labelled a heretic and eventually lose all her strength and power from breaking oath after oath. Or worse, being labeled as a being of evil herself.

With that revelation coming to her mind, she also felt the shackles on her mind begin to tremble and quake.

Oath-Remover Synergy noted. Your loosing of your oaths from your previous lifetimes has helped to unseal your memories. Current unlocking progress (2 / 5).

Suddenly even more memories about what she saw in those underground chambers came to the forefront of her memories. She realized that this time the warning that she wanted to seal away was the fact that if she broke more than ten of her previous oaths, she would first be branded a heretic, which would then spiral out, once more people saw her. As she would then be forced to kill more of her native forces to escape, thus spiraling further down the path of either heresy or being powerless. If she followed the path of heresy, she would have eventually turned into a being of supreme evil.

Having that revelation come to life, that she had been on a path to become a being of supreme evil did startle Terra slightly, as she knew mentally, she would not have been able to handle such a revelation. Having this seal in her mind broken, Terra began to understand the gravity of what she had learned in those chambers.

Anger filled her mind, but also, she felt it was the right choice as such a revelation would have been impossible to avoid if she had continued with the information that she had unlocked.

Thinking this, Terra wondered what else lay behind the other sealed compartments within her mind. Mentally she was relieved to know that for the moment she had somehow avoided an impossible catastrophe, but what other potential catastrophes were hidden from her. What other secrets might she unravel as time went on.

Drip.

There was a tickling sensation as liquid poured from her nose and violently splashed to the ground.

Blink.

Terra had to blink, as she focused to regain control of her mind, body, and thoughts. The world spun, at least that is what Terra felt had happened. She had so many thoughts all at once, that she was losing track.

Then suddenly she realized where she was.

A soft hand caressed her back. Initially she wanted to spin away, but then quickly realized that it was the soft hand of Lady Montague. Turning to her, she saw a look of concern on her face. Only then did Terra realize that trickling sensation under her nose was blood. She was bleeding.

Fortunately, her innate healing abilities of her Immortal status made it so she was able to recover, but that only made her wonder how bad this all would have been if she had not somehow managed to become Immortal. With her mind in this state casting spells such as healing would have been nearly impossible, meaning she likely would have died from this event.

Was this a failsafe, a way to eliminate previous Chosen Hero candidate who ultimately failed in their conquests? Or was there something less impactful for this?

So many questions filled Terra’s mind, but for the moment she was at a loss for what could happen. Terra looked up and locked eyes with the young Marianna who looked shocked at what was happening. For a moment Terra paused, wondering why she would be frightened. Then realized that her state might be frightening for any little girl to see.

“Don’t worry, I am fine.” Terra said, smiling and raising a hand up to try to dab away the blood that was still pouring from her nose, ears, and even a bit from her eyes. Well the moisture from her eyes might just be tears.

“You, you’re bleeding.” Marianna said, fear evident in her eyes.

“Again, I’ll be fine.” Terra said.

Knock, knock.

Then before she could say or do anything else there was a knocking on the door.

“Who could that be?” Lady Montague asked, clearly wondering why someone would try to disturb them at this late hour.

There was a moment of hesitation. Terra for her part rose to her feet, already feeling better as her innate healing bestowed by her Immortal blessing already began to work.

Lady Montague, seeing that Terra was upright and suddenly ready for any type of altercation that might arise, went to answer the door.

There on the other side of the door was the last person that Terra or anyone else had expected to see.

On the other side of the door stood Professor Helga, as the door opened, she made a quick scan of the room, her eyes going wide with shock as she looked at the newly enhanced Terra, who had specks of dried blood on her face and ears.

“Perhaps we could talk?” Was all the old professor could think of to say.

Seeing the look on Professor Helga’s face, particularly the way her face went bleached white at the sight of Terra, Lady Montague waved the old professor in.

Then once the professor had crossed the threshold of the room and made it a few trembling paces forward, she stopped, staring directly at Terra. That is when the old professor said something that no one had expected.

Looking directly at Terra, professor Helga lowered herself in supplication, then stated with her voice full of regret, she spoke, “Master, please forgive me, but we have lost track of your daughter.”