102 Doctrine (1/2)

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, and obviously, so very many things were lost in a transition from the rigidity of code and programming to the chaotic perplexities of real life.

”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?”