God of Systems: Maker of Heroes and Villains

[A/N: This chapter will be longer than usual since I'm a bit too busy today and wanted to finish the tarot reading scene in one chapter. GT crossed 10 yesterday so look forward to an extra chapter. I'm taking things slow for a while so it'll probably come out in the next 3 to 4 days.]

A little more than four months ago.

Norn got off his mule carriage and looked around before heading over to an inn. His goal was clear, and that was to kill the man who was responsible for his sister's disappearance.

As he walked towards an inn that was nearby, he saw an old man waving at him. He squinted his eyes and looked at the man who was standing in front of a very shabby tent. The first thing he wanted to do was to ignore him and simply walk away, but he felt something tug him toward the man.

In just a second, the thought of ignoring the old man had completely disappeared from his mind. He stood a few meters away from him and asked, "Do you need something?"

"No, my child. It's you who needs my help." the old man said, his eyes twinkling as he smiled, "I see a mysterious red fog behind you. It smells like blood and... it looks like a shadow. If you come inside, I'll read your tarots for free."

Norn clenched his fist as he looked at the old man, wanting to punch him in the face for trying to waste his time, but a part of him wanted to know. It wanted a form of hope, and also answers.

"Okay." he said and followed the old man into the tent. There wasn't much inside, just a small table, three chairs and an oil lamp.

The fortune teller old man took out a deck of tarot cards and shuffled them before spreading them neatly on the table.

"Please pick three of them."

Norn nodded and lifted his hand up. He slowly pushed his finger onto one of the cards and dragged it out of the neat pile before doing the same with the second card and the third.

He then looked up at the old man in front of him, waiting for instructions but he got none.

Instead, the fortune teller placed his hand on the first card and flipped it before nodding silently.

"Hmm... the reversed lover as your past. It means that you were in a relationship or bond that isn't healthy, mutual or in other words, a forced relationship. It also means that you experienced separation, or lost from someone close to you." he said as he stared at the card and then slowly raised his gaze to meet Norn's eyes.

Norn shifted uncomfortably, 'Sister... no, this could just be a fluke.'

"Continue." he said as he frowned, feeling both excited and anxious.

"Sure sure." the old man said as he flipped the second card, "The tower as your present huh?"

Norn silently waited for him to continue, but the man slightly frowned instead of speaking. Just as Norn was about to ask what was wrong, he apologised.

"Oh sorry about that, I got lost in my thoughts. Okay, so where were we? Oh yeah, the tower... it represents destruction, and chaos. Right now, it probably feels like everything you know is crumbling. Something drastic may have happened recently or is about to."

Hearing this, Norn couldn't help but clench his jaw. He had lost his sister and it indeed felt like everything was crumbling. The rage in his heart did feel chaotic and unquenchable. He didn't say anything and nodded as he pushed the last card towards the old man.

With a slight smile, he took the card and flipped it before nodding, "Okay, so future is the moon. It symbolises uncertainty, secrets and the unknown. Whatever you plan on doing or you might do in the future, the there really is no answer to how things will end. It's a mix of both good and bad, which means anything can happen."

As he said this, the old man looked up, his gaze landing on the empty space behind Norn as he frowned, "... I've never seen a case like yours. Maybe I should help you out a little and of course, for free." he said as he fished around in his pockets trying to find something.

"Found it!" he said as he took out a small piece of wood. It was rectangular and was around one centimeter thick, with a simple human carved into the wood's surface.

It was basically a stickman, but with thicker sticks. He then glanced at Norn as he pushed the wooden piece towards him, "Here, pluck some of your hairs and put them into the space where the man is carved in." he said before looking around.

Norn didn't want to do it, but he felt a strange push mentally. Looking slightly dazed, he plucked a few strands of his hair and put them onto the wooden piece.

The old man on the other hand, took out a beeswax candle and melted it before letting it drip into the hair. Once he managed to cover all the hair strands, he stopped and gave Norn a small knife.

"Blood next. Just a few drops are fine." he said, his voice calm and hypnotic. He watched Norn nod silently as he grabbed the knife and did as he was told.

Droplets of blood fell onto the wax and it didn't stop until the carved human indent was completely filled up.

"Okay that's enough." the old man said before taking the knife from Norn's hand and used it to pierce his own thumb. He then pressed it against Norn's forehead before pulling back, "Use the blood that's still dripping and press it against the place I just pressed."

Nord immediately did as he was told and the old man smiled, "Good, now think about the goal. The one thing you wish to do at the moment."

'My sister... I want to get her back. But if I can't do that, I'll kill the person who made this happen... I'll kill the leader of the gang no matter what!'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

His rage boiled and so did his fears.

The old man grinned as he saw the liquid on the wooden piece solidify, transforming into a jelly like substance.

"Great, now pick the cards again young man." he said as he shuffled all the card and placed them on the table, looking hopeful.

Lovers, tower and the world.

Continue reading at empire

This was the set that Norn picked up this time. The old man nodded and smiled, "The world, this means that everything will end once you've achieved your goal. It's a good sign... and you may leave now."

Norn silently stared at the three cards in front of him and nodded. Once he left, the old man smiled as he grabbed all of his cards and stuffed them into his pocket.

He turned around and looked at his shadow which grinned at him before waving it's hands.

'To think that there's someone out there who can send weird creatures to follow behind others... this is interesting. Maybe I'll watch and see if I can play around a little.' he thought as he walked out of his tent and kept his eye on the red mist that was behind Norn.

He then glanced at his shadow and pointed at Norn, 'Follow him. If this kid dies, then the person towards whom his anger is directed towards, will also die. My lovely art of soul bind is just amazing.'

As the shadow slithered towards Norn, the old man's appearance changed almost immediately, making him look like a young teenage girl.

**********

In a dark underground room, there were four men who were sitting in front of a table. They stared at the crude plan that their leader had written on the paper, a plan to expand their slave trading business.

"Tch, why do we even need all this damn businesses brother? Can't we just loot the entire place? We're gangsters, not businessmen! We should be spreading our name, making people fear us... but just look at this garbage!" a white haired guy said as he stabbed a knife on the table.

Another man who looked similar, spoke, "You wouldn't understand so just shut up. The only reason you're here is because you're my brother, you dumb shit. These two here are stronger than you and they also know how to use their brains. Ptui!" he said and spit on his brother's face, as he scowled.

The other two snickered and were just about to make fun of him, but to their surprise, the leader began to cough.

"Kuk... keok!"

Dark red liquid splattered onto the paper as he struggled to breathe and then a hole appeared on his neck, which began to spurt blood like a fountain.

The leader's brother watched this and the shock on his face suddenly turned into a grin. He ran his fingers through his hair, soaking them with blood, 'Heh, you played things safe and someone targeted you. I've always been right brother. Always.'