There was no way Hal was going to just go ahead at this point. Flo had already dropped the hint that during his troop summon he could also gain a talent. He knew himself and he knew how unlucky he was. If he was actually going to receive a talent then he had to do whatever he could in his own power to stack his chances of successfully gaining a talent.

  'Flo, is there any way to increase the chances of gaining a talent during the troop summon?'

  Hoping that Flo would be able to give more information Hal asked a question very seriously. It wasn't that he was anxious, though, if Flo didn't know how to maximize his chances he would proceed with the troop summoning and gain a talent in some other way. No, problem.

  [There are two ways to gain a talent during troop summoning. The first way is to have a strong affinity with the god of death. The second way is to pledge something to the god of death in return for a talent.]

  Fortunately Flo really did know the circumstances under which he could gain a talent. And it was really very simple. Basically he could ignore the first way. If he had a strong affinity to the god of death he would have awakened a talent with the awakening stone. But since he didn't he was left with the second method. He would have to find something to pledge.

  'Flo, what would a god want? What can I pledge that a god would want?'

  [Lord, currently you have nothing that a god would want. Other than you soul.]

  The first part of Flo's answer left Hal feeling like he would just have to move on, but then she qualified herself. That was a very human thing to say and Hal wondered if she was subtly playing with him somehow.

  'My, soul? What would a god want with my soul?'

  Naively Hal asked a deep question.

  [Well, souls are the basic unit...]

  'Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have asked that question.'

  Realizing that he had just asked a question that was way to in depth for his current circumstances Hal rephrased his question.

  'What I mean is, can I gain a talent without giving up my soul? Even if it is another way besides this troop summoning token.'

  Hal didn't want to get into the details. He just needed the key points. Every moment that he slacked off here at the start the farther behind he would be later.

  [... The short answer is no. Everyone with a talent receives there talent through the power of a god. Basically if an individual is given a talent then the source of that talent has claim on that talent user's soul. That source generally being known as a god. That is except the death gods.]

  Now Flo was getting somewhere interesting. Talents, souls, and gods were all linked. What caught Hal's interest the most was the bit about the exception.

  'What don't death gods have claim on souls?'

  Thought Hal.

  [Lord, the gods of death do have claim on the souls of those individuals who are given a talent. It is just that no soul natively has a talent from a death god. A baby's soul is too weak to support and sustain a talent from a death god. The very nature of death is anathema to the source of life. Therefore it is impossible for anyone to have a native born death aspect talent.]

  'But you just said that if I have an affinity for death I could get a talent, isn't what you are saying contradictory? Wouldn't a person with an affinity for death be dead?'

  [Not at all. No being is born with a death aspect. However, there are many ways to gain an affinity to death.]

  Flo was very patiently explaining.

  'Can, I gain a death aspect now?'

  Suddenly there was more hope.

  [Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to measure divine energy waves. If I did, I would be a god. However, it is theorized that the act of pledging your soul to a death god would allow an individual to gain a death aspect.]

  This was back to the second method of gaining a talent. He was starting to go in circles. Unfortunately he didn't have time to do the research he needed to figure out how to preserve his soul in this situation. With the survival rate of .01% he was looking at death anyway. Hal figured he might as well bite the bullet and pledge his soul. It didn't soul like too bad a deal anyway. If everyone was claimed by the god who was the source of their talent anyway. What was the harm?

  'Alright, but you said there are death gods plural. If I pledged my soul to a specific death god would my odds of receiving a talent increase?'

  Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to raise his chances even more Hal asked another question.

  [Yes, there are many death gods wouldn't even notice if you did pledge your soul.]

  Okay, then this is the right direction.

  'Which god do you think would be the best to pledge to?'

  This was a key question. The truth was that he didn't know anything about any gods of death. If Flo was able to parse through all the data and provide a list of Gods that he could try that would be best.

  [Calculating ... 1%]

  [Calculating ... 2%]

  [Calculating ... 99%]

  [Calculating ... 100%]

  After getting off to a slow start Flo suddenly finished her calculations. It was almost as if this was a really easy question for her.

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  [Lord, the most appropriate god of death to pledge your soul to is Cernunnos.]

  'Cernunnos?'

  [Yes, he is a god of the underworld. He is also a god of the hunt, with aspects of wild, nature, and fertility.]

  Flo explained her reasoning carefully, but none of it seemed to apply to Hal himself.

  'Fertility?'

  [Yes, he is also a god of fertility. But that is not important, he is a lord of the underworld and therefore if you pledge your soul to him using the troop tokens provided he will be able to hear you. Also he has no living worshippers, so he will have every reason to accept your pledge.]

  This god Cernunnos seemed to have a lot of weird interests.

  'Okay, but is there any other gods that I can pledge to? I have five tokens, so if the first doesn't succeed then maybe another god will...?'

  [No.]

  Bluntly Flo rejected his idea.

  'What, you can't just say no! There has to be a second option.'

  Protested Hal.

  [These are gods, lord. Once you pledge your immortal soul to a god you can't take it back. No other god will have anything to do with you.]

  'There has to be a way.'

  Hal was not going to just give up and just accept failure if Cernunnos didn't accept him.

  [Well, Cernunnos is often more concerned with feasting and drinking then he is with the day to day affairs of his domain. This is why he no longer has any living followers. ... Anyways, you can't pledge to another god, but Cernunnos does have a few demi gods. If rejected it wouldn't be impossible to gain the interest of one of his demi gods.]

  Now, Flo was talking.

  'Oh? Which demi gods are we talking about?'

  [Death demi gods related to Cernunnos, there are four, Morrigan, Donn, Ankou, and Scathatch. There are a few others, but the web of relations between gods is pretty deep. I can only say with some certainty that these four demi gods would be amenable.]

  'So if Cernunnos rejects me, then if I can get the attention of one of these four demi gods, I will have another chance? Can you tell me a little about each of them?'

  Whatever Flo told him next was going to be really important, so Hal decided to listen carefully.

  [Sure. The Morrigan is perhaps the most powerful, if only because she still has the most living followers to this day. Her aspects are battle, strife, and fertility. She will fearlessly confront challenges and as a guardian of the underworld she leads the armies of ghosts, most prominently the banshees. Donn's aspect is simple, he is the Dark One. But there are positive sides to his nature, for example he will heal and teach healing as well as guide souls to the underworld. Ankou is the harbringer of death. Different from most gods he is only a skeleton, but does have dark cowl and a large hat. Often he is scene with a scythe as well. Basically he is the work horse of the underworld. All he does is appear when someone is about to die, collects their soul, and then leads them to the underworld. The clean up crew. Last is Scathatch, is a teacher. Basically those who follow her become elite warriors and after they die she escorts them through the valley of death to the land of eternal youth.]

  Wow, these demi-gods are morbid folk, but at least none of them are dragons or fishes.

  'Alright. I feel like my chances are pretty good then. Is there one of those demi-gods that you recommend that I try for first?'

  [I recommend Scathatch, then Donn, Morrigan, and finally Ankou. Scathatch is wise and while a god of death has many qualities that will be important for a struggling territory to defend itself. Donn is only slightly less powerful for you, even though it would be great to have healing powers, if you can't win in a fight what use are you. Morrigan is very powerful, but also just dangerous stay far away from her. And well Ankou is just weak. What little benefits he could provide your territory, anyway?]

  Categorizing these demi gods based on how much they could help his territory Hal thought that Flo's analysis was pretty spot on.

  'Alright, I will begin.'

  Without worrying about the outcome Hal moved into a kneeling position and folded arms to pray.

  [Lord, Cernunnos is a god of the hunt. He will respect you more if present yourself as a powerful young man.]

  Suggested Flo unbidden.

  'Oh, thanks, right.'

  The last thing that Hal felt was powerful. But he rose all the way to his feet and lifted his arms to the air, the first token on the palm of his right hand.

  "Oh, great God of Death Cernunnos! I beseech thee, take my soul and give me a blessing!"

  Calling out some random words that he thought would be good in this situation Hal felt a little self conscious. But after a few minutes there was no response.

  'Did I do something wrong?'

  [No, try again with all five tokens in hand.]

  Said Flo easily as if this tactic wasn't going to limit him in many ways if he failed.

  This time Hal raised up his hands again to the sky with all five troop summoning tokens in the palm of his right hand.

  "Great God of the Hunt, Cernunnos! I summon thee! Come forth and revel in the great hunt one more time! I stand at the beginning, at the remaking of earth! Before me is the great hunt! All humans everywhere seek to survive, but I seek to win! Come forth! Lead my fallen to your great underworld!"

  [...]

  Flo didn't say anything, but there seemed to be a pregnant silence from that area of his mind that he figuratively thought of as the seat of the system.

  And then the smell of cooking meat wafted on the wind to Hal's nose and he suppressed the desire to drool. The murmuring sounds of thousands of people laughing and chatting reached his ears in the next moment. Trying to focus on the words was impossible, Hal couldn't figure out what was being said, if it was even being said in a language that he understood. And then an oppressive weight descended onto his shoulders as a man with antlers and a torc around his neck appeared on a golden throne in the air above him.

  {Mortal, you dare summon me?}

  Now that Hal had gotten what he wanted he realized that all his previous plans and methods for guaranteeing benefits were all mere whims, flights of fantasy before a true god.

  "God of Death, I do summon thee!"

  But he couldn't back down now. Something within him pushed him to fight back and resist the urge to kneel prostrate on the ground.

  {You, a weakling, wish to make me believe that you can lead this new world to the heights? Do you even know the glory of the hunt?}

  Cernunnos spoke in loud voice, but glancing back Hal could see that everyone was still going about their business just like normal. They couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

  "Yes, Lord, I know of the hunt and the glory that it brings. I know what it means to track down and create the perfect piece of code that does what you want with the least amount of time, money, and memory. This is what I know! It is the modern man's hunt, but I do it will my friends everyday."

  It was a good question and the honest truth was that Hal didn't really know about any 'glory' to hunting. All he could say was that he knew the joy that came from a good day of work. Those days might be one in a thousand, but they happened even if the rest was just a grind.

  Curnunnos laughed at him. Deep belly laughs rolled out of his body shaking the air enough that the sound vibrated in Hal's eardrums in waves even after the laughter stopped.

  {I like you, mortal. I must say.]

  Hal had thought that Cernunnos was going to end this farce, but instead this God of the Hunt accepted Hal's answer, or at least he seemed to until the very next moment.

  {But this code? Where is the pain? Is this life and death that you call programming? No, even if I like you I can not accept you at your death into my Hall of Heroes. It would be a disgrace to all the other heroes that have come before you!}

  Swallowing Hal really was going to fall to his knees now. With failure what little strength he had was rapidly being exhausted. Desperate he played the one card he had prepared beforehand.

  "Wait! Great God of glory, allow me to serve your servants then. I will prove myself and when I have I will become a hero more than strong enough to sit down to eat and drink with you and all your heroes from begone ages!"

  This time Cernunnos heard Hal's request and remained silent. The warmth of Cernunnos' presence and majesty beat down upon him relentlessly. Until Cernunnos shook his head the antlers swinging wide with each turn.

  {As you wish. I would not wish my demi gods upon anyone, but if this is what you wish, then so be it. Come forth!}

  Booming echoes of Cernunnos' words reverberated one more time as suddenly his presence was erased and a chilling darkness replaced the light.

  A chattering, clinking of bones was heard in the distance and then a breathy voice spoke out.

  {Do you really offer the souls of your servants to me in return for my blessing?}