N/A: The pace will be a bit fast during the early history days as we might be skipping time periods.
The caravan had arrived at the city. The old man chief asked Tianzun, "Tianzun, what will you do after? The King, I heard dislikes useless people. Do you have a talent?" The chief looked worried, if it as the King in his younger years they wouldn't worry as much.
But recent years the rumors had spread, the king had become a tyrant. They were valuable to the people as they were a source of trade but the young man, Tianzun?
Tianzun smiled "Yes, I am a seer. I tell fortunes, see omens and predict the weather, of course I can do other things related to it as well." The old man looked shocked, "Are you a messenger of the gods? A prophet?"
Tianzun chuckled, "No I just read fate, that's all. And nothing is all powerful, divination is not all powerful and one shouldn't rely on it too much."
Soon the gate to the city opened and the bustling crowd of people exhibited a wonderful quality of life. A gentle voice soon called out followed by guards.
"Hello, distant travelers. While I would love to introduce you to Uruk's culture, the king has deemed it a rare occasion to personally review you. Please come with me to the ziggurat."
Tianzun simply continued to walk as his intuition did not trigger any danger senses. The throne soon came into view as the crimson eyes looked down on them.
Tianzun followed everyone and simply kneeled as he left the speaking to the old man chief. Tianzun simply lowered his head as much as possible to avoid the gaze of Gilgamesh. From what he heard, if the king was unhappy he would kill randomly or even torture for fun.
The audience soon finished without a hitch as Tianzun lampooned at the thought of being killed for passing gas which some unlucky lad had the unfortunate fate bestowed upon him.
"Wait." The caravan halted as Gilgamesh demanded them to stop. Tianzun began to believe that he had been singled out an was about to be beheaded only for him to ask for a tribute.
The chief maintained composure as he selected the most expensive items he had in the bags and presented them to the king before bowing and returning to leave.
Tianzun left as Gilgamesh asked Siduri to settle everyone in the city.
"That was intense. How are you so composed?" The old man wiped his sweat as he looked at the unbothered Tianzun. "If I knew I would be dying, do you think I'd be willing to walk into the ziggurat?" He asked while concealing his own nervousness.
"Right, almost forgot, you are a seer. Then perhaps would you tell me which item would sell the most?" Tianzun raised an eyebrow as he asked, "May I borrow your necklace for a moment? It's for divination purposes."
Tianzun raised the necklace and poured some spirituality into it as he kept asking the question, "What is the most successful item."
He raised the necklace as he passed the items one by one before the rotation of the necklace reached an all time peak.
"This one," Tianzun said as he pointed to the covered package. The old man chief smiled, "Then I guess we will see if you are right. If so perhaps I might come for more advice."
Tianzun smiled politely implying that he did the old man a favor "I'll be charging for all future divinations. Treat this as a gift from friend to friend."
Of course the old man was not a friend and while he did bring Tianzun with the caravan, he really didn't need to remember to calculate all that.
Tianzun soon settled down in the lodgings provided by the city. It was a small house, nothing grand but it was good enough.
Tianzun gave it some thought before carving a plaque and placing it outside his window. "Divination Reader, prices vary."
Due to lack of sufficient funds, Tianzun could only bite the dust and wait for his first customer. The golden light of dawn graced the windows of his room as he woke up.
He felt a distinctive change, another part of him felt whole. It was the same as every time he had performed divination for someone. The door knocked a few times as he opened up only to see a small line of people waiting.
The old chief was the first in line. "Young Tianzun, your divination was accurate to the very last detail. These people are all here out of interest and they have questions as well."
With that the old man soon left after giving him a few silver coins. A return he said for the divination before.
Tianzun stared at the line before waving people in one by one as they discussed questions and he answered them to the best of his abilities. With each new divination, something in his soul shifted. He felt more whole and could roughly estimate he was almost done with "digesting" his role.
The crowd eventually thinned as the veil of darkness draped over the sky. Night had come and Tianzun was exhausted. His spirituality flickered like the dim candle lighting up his room.
His fingers tapped the wooden desk continually as he sorted his thoughts and plans. The divination room would serve as a source of income and a way of digesting his role.
A few more days would be enough with the amount of digestion he was getting per person.
Days passed and Tianzun's days became more hectic as his fame started spreading throughout the city he became known as an incredibly accurate seer gifted by the gods.
The last of the day's customers had come to an end as he sorted out his funds within his room. He was almost done digesting his role. So close but yeah another nudge was needed. It was at that moment that another knock on the door came.
Tianzun opened it to find a royal messenger standing outside. "The king has summoned you, your reputation has reached his ear. Be prepared by dawn tomorrow," the man recited in a monotone voice before leaving.
Tianzun could only curse under his breath as he had attracted too much attention.
He sat in his room in silence as he soon produced a coin.
He flipped the coin as he asked, "Will I die tomorrow?"
The coin spun and spun...
And it landed on the edge of the coin.
In that moment, he felt like he had ascended a higher level and in a flash of vision from the grey fog. The same card laid on the mottle copper table. The card displayed the next word with the number eight, Clown.
It was at that moment that Tianzun truly encountered what he had been telling others.
"Divination is not all powerful."
A full blown laughter and chuckle emerged from his perpetual smile. It was highly uncharacteristic but in moments where life and death are decided and fate denies him an answer.
He can only keep smiling.
//Next Chapter: A Smile Before the Throne//