Re: Level 100 Farmer

Chapter 102 - Doctrine

Li crossed his arms, contemplating. He thought of what it meant to be to be have a follower. How it would affect him. What it meant for Azhar. But he quickly realized he simply had no idea about any of this. He only knew the magic of Eldenia in so far as it related to his game knowledge of Elden World. Ultimately, there were so very many things were lost in a transition from the rigidity of code and programming to the chaotic perplexities of real life that it was hard to tell what game knowledge applied here and what did not. 

"Tell me, what exactly do you want out of this?" said Li.

Azhar thought about if for a short second. "Huh, I figured that was gonna' be up to you, considerin' you're the spirit and all. But figure if I had to give an answer, then I'd say somethin' that'd give me strength?"

Azhar quickly continued, remembering Li's words. "I ain't askin' for power to fall straight into my lap or anythin'. I'll do any trial ya set me to do. Any offerin's or whatnot, I'll be down to try and get em' to ya."

"I see." Li raised a finger. "Firstly, let me be honest: this is quite new to me. How does this work? What's involved with you becoming my follower?"

"Nobody ever followed ya before? Even considerin' your power? Were ya asleep?"

"Something like that. The semantics aren't important. Just answer my questions, and we can get started on this."

Azhar nodded.

"Well, there's a pledge of faith, first off. Belief in what you preach and whatnot." Azhar furrowed his brows. "But beyond that initial pledge, it's different between all spirits and gods.

The temples round' here, the faith of the Sun, it's all bout' pledgin' yourself to the ways of Helius, and that means doin' general good like lookin' out for the poor, helpin' the weak, and whatnot. For me, the animal spirits wanted me to give em' blood offerings. Carcasses from monsters and beasts. Sometimes my blood. They're more primal, more bestial, more likely to up and eat your face off than give ya a feels good blessing."

"Where would I fall along that spectrum?"

"I ain't too sure. There ain't no faith based round' your kind, your unique brand of darkness, so no clue cause' the only thing similar to ya has been asleep since forever. Figured you'd have the best idea of what you wanted. I'd be willin' to get my hands dirty with sacrifices, so long it ain't involvin' other people."

Li waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing of that sort. I don't want to give you any false promises: I have never had a follower before, and I have never thought about having one. As a result, I simply haven't given any thought about what I want you to believe or what to do.

But you've shown enough resolve to me today to earn some of my respect. For that, I'll try and humor you, though you shouldn't expect any results."

Li nodded as he saw Azhar's eyes brighten up, an eager smile forming on his face. "Let's get the mechanics of this hashed out. How does this follower thing work? Will it draw attention to me any? If so, then it'll be hard for me to oblige you."

"Ain't nobody knows what you are now, so I figure so long as you ain't wantin' me to go bout' spreadin' your word or whatever, it ain't gonna change nothin' for you."

"No proselytizing, no."

"Alright, I ain't a fan of that too. Anyways, I don't know for sure bout' nothin', cause I ain't one of you, so I ain't got a clue how it's like. But from general observation, seems like all the faiths out there got a kinda doctrine ya gotta' follow. Somethin' that sets ya apart from nonbelievers and followers of other faiths."

"A doctrine?"

Azhar nodded. "Yeah. Rules for how to live, what to do, what to offer, and whatnot. Animal spirits were wild, not at all suited to civilization, so they didn't have any real rules for me to follow. Just wanted offerings. But the faith of the Sun wants ya to change the whole way ya live accordin' to their rules."

Azhar frowned. "Way too stuffy for me. Jeanne can do it cause' she's always been good at heart, but me? Ain't a single rule abidin' bone in my body. Though I guess she's a special case, too."

Azhar scoffed. "Plenty of priests out there that got a major stick up their arse, willin' to incinerate every nonhuman out there without battin' a single eye. Some of em' steal alms. Some of em' do things far, far worse to even the smallest of children.

Western people like to tell me my faith's barbaric. Savage. Ain't fit for 'civilized' men. But atleast it's honest."

"These priests that commit these crimes – do they lose their powers for them?"

"No. Some of em' nutjobs are way in over their heads and think their crimes are Helius's will or somethin'."

"I see."

Li found this interesting. So there were no set mechanisms by which gods gained followers. A god could set as loose or restrictive a doctrine as they wished. Desire offerings or none. Ultimately, then, it was all about faith, and that, Azhar certainly had. Nothing inspired more faith than explicitly knowing a godlike entity that could crush the entire country you lived in stood before you.

Li himself was interested in what it meant to have a follower. Inevitably, once he embraced his divinity, these things would happen. It would be prudent to get a taste of it now, and he seriously doubted, like Azhar said, that one follower who had no desire to evangelize would ever be a risk.

"Alright then, let's give this a try." Li shrugged as he tried to formulate some kind of half-baked doctrine for Azhar to follow, something that would give the man some kind of idea of what it meant to be his follower, but at the end of the day, he couldn't really think of anything.

In the first place, Li had never been a religious man, nor had he taken much stock into it. He had little idea of what it meant for someone to live by faith, in belief of something inextricably higher and perhaps, as in the case of Helius, largely intangible.

He had never been the center of attention, and even now, the idea of some kind of cult hovering around him put a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't want Azhar to go about spreading his name either.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he really was not suited to manning a religion. In the end, he gave up trying to think up some kind of religion and just loosed his own thoughts of the values he personally felt a doctrine should inspire. 

"Here goes for my doctrines," said Li. "Firstly, you don't mention me to anyone, although that much should be obvious.

Second, you do not spread word of me like some crazed fanatic. Keep what I say to yourself. 

Third, and I'm sure this will come as a convenient surprise to you, just live life your own way. I don't really want to tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing. I guess just try and have a good image of who you want to be and better yourself like you're already doing.

Fourth, and most importantly, this the one thing that I'm going to say that borders on a real rule. Respect the world. I've known far too many people had no appreciation for the beauty of life around them. Spend some time understanding that all of this, this nature, this clean air, this sunny sky, it's not here for granted. It's a precious jewel, so treat it as such.

As for offerings, well, I'd be more than happy to have you work on the farm when you want."