Chapter 45: Changing Powers

After the small episode that had passed, the group went back to their own thoughts again, as Doron did not know whether he should really change the power he had right now; in fact, he realised that ever since he came to this world, none of his powers were used as a control for an element; they were more like abilities, but what could he do about it? A power is still a power, no matter how it's used or what it controls.

He did not want to change the power of the Joker, nor did he want to deceive himself into thinking that this power was the best for him because he would know that he was just deceiving himself, and that would get him killed in the long run if he does not master the power in time, but with a god on his tail, he did not have much time.

He was like a kid who was given a gun that, when aimed at a target, would never miss, but there would of course be problems.

Firstly, firing a gun might look easy and all, but in the hands of a child who had never even used it before, he would just be putting himself in danger.

The force and the booming sound of the gun would both hurt his arms and his ears, and it might even send the kid into shock.

Secondly, against a veteran or even an adult, he won't even have the time to fire the gun before it is seized from him.

And the third thing: who would even give the kid a gun like that in the first place? What if he gets curious as to where the bullet comes from and then places the barrel of the gun at his face and pulls the trigger?... He just died without knowing how.

Doron was that kid; this power would kill him without him knowing how he died.

Or maybe he was some kid that was possessed by some demon from hell that gave the kid the power to somehow shoot guns like Deadshot. 

He was even wondering if the superiors of Iris who gave him this power were actually thinking at all. I mean, why give him a power that they clearly know he can't use in his current state yet? They gave it to him.

He looked at Iris, who looked back at him and nodded his head as they both stood up and left the campfire site for a more private place.

Meanwhile, high above Ravians, in the temple of the noble gods, the goddess of the divine was looking at Doron and his group with a sly and happy smile.

"So he is a sacrifice, but of what world?" She asked nobody in particular, as she was talking to herself. "Let me see what power he would get; maybe I can send a demigod that can counter that power, and who would have thought that the goddess of thieves and pirates would actually fall from grace?"

Falling from grace is when a noble god decides to join the demon gods, who believe that the realm menace is the saviour of Ravians.

"If only they knew how wrong they are," Celeste thought as she gazed down at Doron and Iris.

"My queen, why don't you send one of your champions?" One of the gods that were watching the realm menace spoke as he looked at the goddess.

"... I can't," Celeste said as she looked at the god. "And you don't need to know why, and also, put him in the same place as the god of spears." She gave her order as she pointed at the god, who did not know when to keep some questions to himself.

Doron and Iris made a distance of almost 300 meters between them and the camp; this was because of the demigod in their midst. Iris doubted if this distance was enough.

"Okay, this is a good distance," Doron said as he faced Iris, who looked at him with a smile as she opened her mouth and spoke.

"You won't get any attack powers if you change now, and you might not get any powerful abilities. I am sure you already noticed that you are only getting powers that seem more like abilities, right?" Iris asked as she waved her hands like she was chasing away a fly.

The ground opened up, and a root came out. The root actually had three flower buds on it, all with the same colour but different textures.

One looked like a football, not an American football, but a soccer football... I just confused myself here, but I am sure you guys get it.

The second looked like an egg as it was more of an oval shape with polka dots splattered all over it, and these polka dots looked to be shining as they gave off a neon blue colour.

And the third... The third looked like a normal flower bud.

Iris looked at Doron and spoke. "You have three powers to choose from: barrier, golem manipulation, and the other is just... uh, I actually don't know what it is; all I know is that you can summon bubbles."

Doron did not really know what to call the bubble power, but the golem manipulation sounded strong, or was there some kind of heavy weakness to the power?

"What are the downsides of these powers?" Doron asked after some contemplation as he looked at Iris and the root in the middle of them.

"The barrier power has none; it all depends on your power; the golem manipulation is, as the name implies, you can only manipulate golems; and the bubble power is, well, summoning bubbles," Iris said it with some uncertainty as she looked at her own system.

'It really is just summoning bubbles; there is no other description aside from that and I need to transform back.'

Doron fell into thought as he looked at the root with the strange-looking flower buds. The only way for him to know what these powers can do and what weaknesses he would have would only reflect on him when he absorbs the power, and let's let the system analyse the power.

He felt that the bubble power would be stronger than what Iris was saying, but he had only one chance to change his powers... Wait, what about the Joker's power?

"What of the power of the Joker? What would happen to it?" Doron asked when that question entered his head.

"It will be changed; why did you ask?" Iris tilted her head as she asked Doron.

"What kind of question is that? I don't want to lose the power to create anything I want; who would reject that?" Doron retorted as he looked at Iris like she was a fool.

Iris just rolled her eyes at him as she spoke. "Yes, you would lose the power."

{He won't}

She had not even finished her sentence when she heard a voice in her head that demanded respect and worship just from listening to their voice.

The voice was neither male nor female, as she could not really discern who it came from, but she knew that for this being to be able to send a voice transmission into her head, then this person was very powerful.

{But I can tell that your power is running thin and you have not been giving him powers daily, which is very bad considering who you are watching over. This should have been caused you to get suspended, fired or even even worse, executed, but we let you be, since you are one of our best Hostiam Custodis in the agency, but you are getting weaker, aren't you?}

The voice was so blunt and didn't mince any of its words when it kept sending invisible arrows at Iris.

[I...]

{No need to explain; after you leave this planet, get ready to pack your belongings} The voice said in a tone that clearly displayed his authority, and the only person that can fire a hostiam custodis is actually its founder, not its leader.

'The founder...' Iris, after hearing her verdict, just smiled wryly as she looked at Doron, who noticed how Iris's face kept changing, and now she looked like she had given up on life as she had a defeated smile on her face.

"You won't lose your powers," Iris said as she looked at Doron.

What the founder said was right; she was not really doing her job at all.

It seemed that Doron was more important than she had thought, as she turned around and headed back to the camp.

"Uh, aren't you going to wait till I pick a power?" Doron asked as he saw Iris start walking away.

Iris, who heard what Doron said, paused her steps and looked back at Doron, with her face blushing furiously. It was dark, so Doron did not really see the blush as she walked towards him with her head down.

"Be quick, okay; I don't feel okay." She muttered and sat down on the ground, not minding the dirt on her clothes as she placed her head between her thighs.

Doron did not really know what was wrong with Iris, but he knew that something was wrong; her condition changed; it was like she had given up on something.

'Should I ask her?' Doron thought as he looked at Iris and then at the flower buds on the roots, he already knew the power he was going for.

The b...

"Hey, you over there, give us all your money!!"

A voice broke the silence as a dozen men suddenly appeared in front of Doron and Iris, all holding makeshift weapons in their hands and half-wearing armour that looked like they would fail at any moment with just a single tap of a sword.

"I guess we would really have to face bandits this time."