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SoK Chapter 141
🕑 Added 2025-05-08 15:00:10 +0000 UTC“Yeah,” Gus said as he gestured to TJ, “this is TJ, and he’s pretty strong. Brought these other people with him too, which could be promising too.”
TJ Appraised the man that was almost a foot taller than him with a quick thought.
Zealot (Copper (I)), 28
He felt his eyebrows raise as he saw that Sven was higher level than him, and not by a little. On top of that, he felt… something in his Bloodline towards Sven. What that was, he wasn’t sure, but there was something vaguely competitive towards the leader of this little settlement that was fighting to get established. Sven had been nothing but friendly, and the people who’d met him seemed to speak about him favorably, but TJ didn’t like something about the way the large blonde man looked at him. It felt as if he were looking down on TJ, and he wasn’t ok with that.
“You are Copper. That is good!” Sven smiled widely as he addressed TJ. “I am glad you have come. Since you are Copper, you will be one of our leaders. Talk with me, what is your Occupation? With your Class, there are so many things you can become, so I am excited to learn what you can do!”
“I can do a whole lot of things.” TJ shrugged, noncommittal. “I don’t know if I want to share everything the same second I walk in here. I am curious about how you were offered the Overwhelming Origin Class, and your reason for not accepting it, since I’m sure it offered some better things than whatever your Zealot Class was.”
Sven stood a little taller, more curious than merely excited. He looked at Gus, who immediately shook his head and raised his hands in denial.
“I didn’t say the name of the Class!” Gus protested, looking at TJ as if he were trying to get the larger man in trouble. “I just said what you told us to, that you’d been offered a Class for being one of the first. He said the name of it, and that he didn’t take it either.”
“Alright then.” Sven nodded and looked at TJ as if he were an equal for the first time. TJ only realized then that part of the reason that he’d been so uncomfortable was that Sven had been looking at him the same way that he’d been looking at Gus—someone who’d only barely gotten to Copper. He didn’t have the time to unpack that strange feeling, but TJ rolled his shoulders and extended a hand to shake.
“Like Gus said, I’m TJ.”
“It is an honor to meet you, fellow Participant TJ. Now, I believe there is a conversation that you and I should have right now. After all, I would be amazed if there is anyone else nearby who will have gained the same opportunities that you and I have.”
“... Sure.” TJ agreed after a moment’s hesitation. “I’d like my companions here to stay close, though, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Of course. Gus, find Raya, have her present what options will be available to TJ’s companions if they choose to join with the New Republic.”
“Sure thing, Sven!” Gus replied as he herded the four people just a little ways away, still within eyesight. Mimi and Sam looked at TJ for some reassurance, and he nodded once to calm them. He wasn’t sure if that was his best decision, but he was fine to keep an eye on them from a little ways off. As far as he could tell, there were various Copper tiered people here, and if they wished him and his people harm, as frustrating as that would be, all that he could reliably do was escape if Sven was as strong as he appeared to be.
Turning his attention back to the man in front of him, TJ watched as much of Sven’s casual demeanor drained away. Once his companions were a couple hundred feet away, Sven was, for lack of a better way of saying it, a lordly person.
“You were one of the first 4,000?” Sven asked. TJ stiffened as he realized how Sven was testing him. Not only was the man in front of him obviously strong and a charismatic enough leader to be creating a little town in the remains of the apocalypse, he was also clever and cunning.
“No.” TJ answered. “I was not.”
Sven chuckled. “Then, like me, you were one of the first 5,000.”
“You decided to toss me a bone there, huh?”
“You could say it in that way if you so desire.” Sven smiled in a distinctly predatory way. “You are clever and strong, but I must say that there is something much more mundane that I feel I must ask you before I continue on what I wanted to truly say.”
“And that is?”
“What is your Bloodline?”
“You consider that to be mundane?” TJ scoffed. “It’s a revelation of the simplest path laid before someone to gain godhood, and with how much information the System will supply to someone, that’s offering much more than just a name.”
“Oh, yes. You are one of my own kind.” Sven nodded appreciatively. “However, it was a question of mere curiosity, and I shall provide my own in response. I am Sven Ard Larssen, Zealot of the Jormungandr, the World Serpent, Son of Loki and Angrboda, He who would devour the heavens.”
TJ had expected some level of deceit from Sven, but his own Bloodline confirmed the statement as truthful. He could feel the pride in Sven’s blood, the need to exert strength and dominance over others, to prove himself superior.
“I thought the Jormungandr was a monster, not a god.” TJ answered instead of providing his own Bloodline. Sven didn’t seem to mind, and grinned widely.
“There is much we do not understand, but I am sure there were many who ascended to the ranks of true Divinity that were not hailed as gods to those who opposed them.”
“I guess that’s true.” TJ nodded. “I am Thiago Jorge Harris IV, Neophyte of Kukulkan, The Feathered Serpent, the god of the skies and winds, the long path between the spirit and the body.”
“Ah. That now makes sense to me, TJ.” Sven replied. “It was your scent, it smells of… not kin, not foe, but one who walks a similar version of my own path.”
“Ok. Now, why did you want to talk with me alone? You have to know that people will be able to easily overhear us from a long way off, given what people’s Perceptions are like now.”
“I will extend trust to you, TJ.” Sven said before he answered. “I have a great amount of belief in the necessity for civilization to be reestablished in a form that suits the new world. As such, I am putting most of my work into the establishment of a religion. A pantheon of those who will quickly ascend to Divinity needs to be formed, and people such as yourself are perfect additions to my pantheon that I wish to create. You knew what the Overwhelming Origin Class was, and you were wise enough not to select the Class. Therefore, you are powerful and you are worthy.
“I have asked that others step away from us because, as a part of my Monarch Occupation, I am able to maintain secrecy within conversations, so long as nobody is within a certain radius. You can watch your followers out there, and see that they are safe, but we can have the real conversations here while they are learning how they will fit into the new world. Perhaps they will prove themselves to be some of the elites of the world, and they will join our pantheon when they are ready. If not, they will be provided a safe, productive place in the world while those who are capable will protect and provide for them.”
“Wait wait wait.” TJ raised his hands, unsure of what exactly Sven was saying. “You’re skipping some steps here. I know about pantheons, and I get why you want to make one. What do you mean by… all the making people be in a safe or controlled position.”
“That is not my intention.” Sven shook his head. “Anyone who wishes to leave the New Republic will be able to leave whenever they please, and unless one initiates competition or conflict with us, I don’t see any reason why we would do anything against them. But you have seen the options available at evolution. There are those weak options, such as a mere direct upgrade to your Class or Occupation, and then there are the influential ones. My Class grants me 118 Attribute Points every level. The base Copper tier Zealot upgrade offered me a mere 80. Every two levels I gain in my Class will count as three for someone who can only choose the base Copper tier Classes.
“People who have no future cannot be treated the same as those who do not.” Sven shrugged. TJ thought about interrupting, but Sven continued speaking with passion.
“I will not share my Divine Authority with someone who shows no promise. If one merely achieves progress at the barest level, they will only be granted the barest level of support from me. I will keep them safe, because they deserve to be safe, but they will not be given Silver equipment when they struggle to fight against Dirt tier foes. It would harm them much more than it would help! People will be treated with the same level of value as they provide to those around them.”
TJ opened his mouth to argue, but felt the hypocrisy before a single word formed on his tongue. It was just an extension of what he’d said should be done in Pine. But that it was tied to someone’s achievements, to their Class and Occupation quality, that was what grated on TJ.
“I… don’t know if that’s a bad idea.” TJ allowed. “Even so, I don’t think I can agree with it. If the Tiers keep scaling like they did to Copper, then each new tier will be more and more impactful than the last.”
“No.” Sven denied. “That was something I asked the System about extensively when these thoughts began to fill my mind. The jump from Dirt to Copper is only surpassed in the qualitative change present in the jump from Rhodium to Ruthenium, the initial entry into true Divinity. The evolution to Copper tier is perhaps the most important one, period, as it will dictate your future.”
TJ filed that thought away, and instead sucked on his teeth for a moment. After thinking for a short time, he sighed. “I don’t… I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking of doing the whole ‘rebuild civilization’ thing, but it’s probably necessary. I think I was just hoping someone else would do the hard work for me and I could just capitalize on it.”
“It is not an invalid path, that of the conqueror.” Sven shrugged. “I do not think it’s the best one available to you, but then again, I do have a bias. I do wonder why you did not take the Overwhelming Origin option when it was presented to you, if that is your desire.”
“I have people I care too much about to leave behind.” TJ gritted his teeth for a moment before relaxing. “How about you?”
“It is a trap.” Sven replied simply. “Perhaps that would be the ‘optimal’ choice, but it would no longer be me that sat on the Throne.”
TJ thought about saying more to Sven, but instead of that, he decided to not argue but think of what he could and would do moving forward, with Sam and Mimi, with Junior. Seeing this, Sven nodded once with solemnity and stuck his hand out again.
“I believe we will have a relationship moving forward, so I will merely say ‘I will see you soon.’”
TJ shook the Zealot’s hand, unsure of what he should believe.
