[A few weeks after Neiro's first church visit, The Anomaly has come to church once again]
The Smith family has come to their village church once again, only to leave their children there for the day so that the parents can have a little alone time.
Vamas, Lana and Neiro were all feeling extremely sad, although Neiro's reason was much more different and yet very similar.
All three of them were sad, with Lana and Vamas clinging onto their parent's clothes and trying hard not to cry while Neiro had a distant, empty look on his face, making Stephen be very worried.
-"S-sir, I am sure that your daughter is doing fine, she has Mirelle after all! You don't have to worry so much about her."
-'She is currently eating grass while as she is trying to learn how to imitate a lana. What's making me so sad is that she didn't even act like my siblings when she left. I know that I hadn't talked with her that much within the last few years but it's still upsetting. Is it because I scolded her?'
-'How the hell do you even know what she is currently doing....Never mind.'
"My friend, you have to understand that your daughter is much more mature than your siblings, and so she can handle being away much more easily. How about you try and console your siblings when your parents are away? You know..stir up those paternal urges."
-'I suppose you're right... but never refer to me as a father figure to my siblings.'
-"Noted."
As The Anomaly and The System talked with each other, the Smith family had already arrived at the church entrance and as Anastasia and Bertholdt were about to leave, Lana's and Vamas' cries echoed out, grabbing the attention of some of the other parents that arrived and also Sofia, who just opened the door to let her son, Raymond, go outside to let him play with his friends.
As Sofia looked on at her son's small back, and as it slowly shrunk more and more as he ran into another part of the village, she heard some children screaming and crying. They were calling out to their parents and as she went to see what brought this commotion, her mood immediately soured.
She saw Anastasia Smith, that filthy barbarian that spot her sunlight, all of her chances to truly shine. When she saw how she was leaving her children at the church's doors, like most other parents, and how her children were crying so much, she could not help but feel good about her being in such a situation.
-'Serves her right..Look at her children, crying and calling out to their mother just because she was going away for a bit. My Raymond never did that when he was young, he was a smart and mature boy ever since he was a baby!'
She looked on at how Anastasia's children were feeling so sad at being separated from her. At how she was also slowly tearing up and how she hugged them tightly and whispered to them that she'll be back shortly, and that they should have fun at the church.
She felt a funny feeling in her chest as she looked on. The way her children's faces were filled with relief when she hugged them, how the oldest of the three wiped away their tears while trying to hide his saddened face.
He slowly turned to look away from his family as he hugged them. It was truly a touching sight, how he hid his smiling face from them by staring right at her.
...
Sofia tried to look around in order to make sure that there wasn't some funny sight around her, but there was nothing. Nothing but her.
When she turned back to look at them, she saw how all of the children had buried their faces in their faces, slowly wiping away their tears while Anastasia kissed each of them on the forehead and Bertholdt also wiped away his own tears after exiting the family group hug.
'That's right, Bertholdt was also there...Why was I only hearing them call out to Ana when they were also sad about being separated from their father?'
Her legs were shaking and as she looked at how the Smith triplets were happily waving their parents goodbye and smiling, she then looked back at the direction of where Raymond ran off.
'He never did that because...he was mature...right?'
She slowly turned away from the bright light of the village and then went back inside her home, slamming the door closed behind her. She had already forgotten about the weird sight from before and instead her thoughts were now completely about the way Anastasia's children looked. The scene of them being sad about their mother leaving being compared to her own memories of seeing Raymond sit in front of the church entrance.
He wasn't feeling sad that day and instead he was just chatting with some of the friends he made before.
As the door to Sofia's home was slammed closed, the Smith triplets were all happily waving at their parents.
Lana had a small smile as she was still feeling a bit sad about her parents being away.
Vamas had a slightly larger smile, hiding his own sadness in order to make his little sister feel happier and to look cool in front of his elder brother.
Neiro had a wide, happy smile on his face.
[A few minutes later]
All of the children that will be staying their day at the church, listening to stories and having small meals, were now standing at the front of the church. The tall building provided some nice shade for the children, protecting them from the late morning heat.
Vamas and Lana were still feeling sad about being away from their parents, but at least they had their older brother, Neiro, to cheer them up. It also helped that they had gone to the church before and their memory of being praised by their parents was associated with this location.
Lana had some difficulty speaking properly while Vamas and Neiro were now able to speak clearly after their first visit to the church. Lana didn't really like talking and instead preferred to communicate through 'presence'.
She had an easier time just simply listening and observing how other people are feeling and so she did not have to ask how they are feeling, and instead just acted. She couldn't outright sense what people are feeling, it was more like how interrogators can know how some people are feeling based on body micro movements, facial expressions and other small things.
For example, she knows that her elder brother, Vamas, was currently feeling very nervous. His hand was slightly put on his stomach as he was feeling a slight stomach ache while his breathing was slightly faster than usual.
She also knows that her Eldest brother, Neiro, was currently feeling happy. His cheeks were slightly flushed, his smile was casual and not forced like Vamas' and when she held his hand, she could feel that his heart rate was only slightly elevated.
She was a bit confused about why he was happy but once she saw his hand hover over her head, she slowly got on her toes in order to make herself taller. She wanted to be patted on the head and told that everything was going to be alright, but when she expected to feel the gentle weight of her brother's hand, she instead only felt the air brush against her hair.
She opened her eyes and saw that her brother was smirking, his hand already having moved away. Some of the other children saw this and laughed a bit at her for looking silly while Vamas was also trying to suppress a smile but was failing.
She got angry and then started 'lightly' punching Neiro as punishment, with him now starting to run away around the church, making her run after him with her weapons of mass destruction ready to inflict punishment.
-"Get bawck here Bwig Bwo!"(Get back here Big Bro!)
In response, Neiro simply started laughing even more and then flicked Vamas on the back of his head, causing him to start running after his elder brother alongside his little sister.
Stephen was smiling on the inside while his pale blue rectangular body floated besides Neiro. He was enjoying seeing his friend happy after what happened 1 week ago, the night of the day they went to church for the first time.
His friend had opened up to him, helping him with his confidence issues, and even though they were not yet gone, it had helped. He had seen Melissa's 'playhouse' which was simply a cave that had a former mercenary called 'Mirelle', who was now his friend's maid.
They then talked a bit, with Neiro revealing that he was letting his precious (and terrifying) daughter go and explore the Aurora Empire alongside Mirelle, and after saying their goodbye's, they both went back home.
That was all that happened that day.
-"It is pretty kind of you to distract them by playing with them like this sir."
-'Hm? No I just wanted to tease Lana. She was trying to look into what her eldest brother was feeling and so she got embarrassed.'
Neiro let out yet another laugh and then stopped as he saw his siblings panting and smiling. Some of the other children had also started playing with each other and so, by the time the church doors opened and the priests had finished preparing the building to house several young children, most of them were already pretty tired.
Neiro picked up Lana and carried her on his back as she was still pretty exhausted while Vamas followed closely besides him. He was the most excited one among the triplets since he wanted to listen to even more stories about some of the Church's past great warrior's.
The church pews were moved to the sides of the building and a somewhat rough carpet was put where they were before along with some simple wooden toys like blocks, a rocking horse and even a picture book drawn by Teacher Fabian.
As the children started playing once more, only this time with the toys available, Neiro led his children to one of the priests that was in charge of looking after the children. He was a young man in his mid 20s, wearing a simple light brown robe with a silver book necklace hanging around his neck.
As soon as the young man saw the Smith triplets come near, he put on a kind smile and then said to them in a kind, albeit slightly tired voice.
-"Oh hello, you three must be part of the group of children that are staying here for the first time. My name is Matthew, I am a Teacher in training."
Vamas, wanting to know more about the church, looked curiously at the young man and then asked him a simple question.
-"What's a teacher in training?"
The young priest was pleasantly surprised at how clearly Vamas was speaking for his young age as just a few days ago he had to hold a 'conversation' with another child that was speaking either gibberish or was speaking one of the ancient languages.
-"I am glad you asked. You see, a Teacher in training is a bit like a child, like you three. One has to spend time learning, maturing and many more things until they become a proper Teacher, much like how children have to study, grow big and strong and have fun in order to become proper adults!"
Of course, he was simplifying the process in order to not overwhelm them, and because he doubted that they would actually remember this after a few hours, but he still liked educating children about things they did not know.
It was one of the reasons for why he volunteered to be one of the priests in charge of looking over the children, even though he was also part of the group that moved the pews early in the morning and helped prepare it.
Vamas had a bit of a confused look on his face.
-'Like me? Does that mean they also have to learn how to go to the outhouse? Isn't he a grown up?'
Vamas gave Matthew a pitiful look and just as he was about to tell him that it was okay for him to still be scared to go to the outhouse alone, since he also needed Neiro to wait for him outside due to the scary noises at night, Neiro gently put a hand on his mouth and whispered what Matthew meant in his ear.
-"Ohhhhhhh. That's so cool! Can I also become a baby Teacher?"
-'A what? Oh he means a Teacher in training, that is certainly one way to call it.'
Matthew chuckled a bit about the funny term and then nodded his head.
"Of course you can, but only once you are an adult. You could also become an apprentice and help around the church once you turn 10, that way you might even be able to get a recommendation to Aurora Academy!"
'Of course, the actual odds of this happening are extremely low since this is just a village church.'
(Small explanation! The reason why Church apprentices have higher chances to get recommendations if they work in town or city churches is because children from such settlements tend to be from non-agricultural families, and thus have more free time. Commoners that are born inside village's tend to become farmer's and help on their family farms at a young age, and so they have less free time to do an apprenticeship.
This is also because churches from bigger settlements get more funding from the Cathedrals due to the larger number of people and the need to properly train healers and alchemists, as towns and cities have actual stone walls, and are thus can function as military outposts in case of war, as opposed to villages which at best, have wooden walls.)
Vamas' eyes started to sparkle with enthusiasm and curiosity as he heard something new, with Lana's eyes also slowly opening as he was curious about this Academy.
-"Auwowa Acwademy?"(Aurora Academy?)
-"Aurora Academy?"
Matthew was slightly startled when he heard Lana's voice but managed to not show it.
-"Aurora Academy is the most prestigious...school in the whole Empire! Maybe in the whole of Midor! It is inside the Royal Capital, within the Royal rim (Also called the Central Rim) of Aurorus within viewing distance of the Royal Palace!"
While his siblings were starting to get more and more interested in Aurora Academy, Neiro was looking up at the ceiling.
Stephen, curios about what new nonsensical thing that The Anomaly is doing, asked him.
-"What are you thinking about while looking so intently at the ceiling sir?"
-'Oh I just learned how to finish your two remaining tasks without me having to do some pretty boring things.'
Stephen, while elated, was also worried. Was Neiro going to create some sort of 'Super Priest' from his left leg that has the power to preach the good word of Goddess Bianca? Was he going to split himself in hundreds of copies and make all of the copies worship Bianca? He wasn't sure.
-"May I know what your plan is sir?"
-'Oh it's easy, but first, Goddess Bianca doesn't know what I am currently doing, correct?'
-'I feel like you already know the answer to this question but fine, I'll humor you.'
"She only knows that your body is currently alive sir, as always, she didn't bother to monitor Shinomura's soul and instead only opted to know whether your body is alive or not. Until you 'pray' to her, she won't have a connection to you as she couldn't bother monitoring you every day and instead decided to simply wait until you reported to her."
'At this point she should be called the Goddess of Laziness instead of Levity.'
-'Oh that's good, then the solution is simple. We'll be committing one of the crimes you told me about from your previous life. Identity theft and fraud.'
-"...pardon? We?"
[Later that day, after the Smith Triplets had come back home and gone to sleep. Inside the Divine Kingdom of the Goddess Bianca]
Divine Kingdoms within the Yvon side of the Divine Realm of Midor were large, floating landmasses which are populated by the Deity, their creations and the souls of their believers.
A soul can continue to 'live' after its body dies for quite some time, with the amount of time that they can live being capped by their Existence Rank.
They can extend their Soul Lifespan even after death, but due to the loss of their physical form, their progress speed is drastically reduced. This is until they reach the 'Soulful' Existence Rank, which then allows them to give their souls a separate physical form.
Of course, there are certain abilities or beings that can do this even before reaching the Soulful Existence Rank, but this is an example of how the majority of beings do things.
The size of a deity's Divine Kingdom is limited by how much Divine Energy they want to expend in order to sustain it. A Divine Kingdom isn't simply a floating island, it is also a place where a deity is most powerful and where they can stabilize the souls of their believers.
In this particular Divine Kingdom, which was the size of a village, around 200 meters (650-ish feet) in diameter, the Goddess Bianca was peacefully resting.
She did not have any of her believer's souls within her Divine Kingdom as she made sure to make it as small as possible in order to spend the minimum amount of Divine Energy to maintain it.
She was currently resting on a bed made out of clouds, lightly snoring and sprawled out in a rather undignified manner.
She had a very generic, albeit still extremely beautiful appearance. She looked like an 18 year old Caucasian woman with black hair, dark brown eyes and wearing a simple blue night gown. Since she was in the privacy of her Divine Kingdom, she didn't bother changing her appearance in order to appear more beautiful neither did she bother exuding auras, manipulating the environment with her presence or anything else.
She was a Low Demitic being after the 'unforeseen' and 'unavoidable' demise of her planet and only managed to remain at this rank due to joining Campbell's pantheon, barely stronger than their 'angels'.
From being a Medium Apotheotic being, she was a bit confused by the way the mortal's from Midor saw their deities. Only the heads of the pantheons were actually Apotheotic, and they were at best in the abysmal sub-tier.
When it comes to the sub ranks of Apotheotic beings, usually the difference is based on how much of a realm they 'control'.
Abysmal Apotheotic:A large country
Low Apotheotic:A continent
Medium Apotheotic:A planet
High Apotheotic:A solar system
Peak Apotheotic:Several solar systems.
It tends to vary, and this is only for faith-based deities which are weaker than self-actualized deities, but this is the usual. In Bianca's eyes, the pantheon heads decided to form an alliance of sorts, where they would keep their eyes on any being that manages to reach the Monstrous Existence Rank.
If they can be recruited, forcefully or willingly, then they become minor deities or angels once they reach Demitic Rank and remain there, if they cannot be recruited or the deity in question covets their ability, they get their abilities 'stolen'.
Since beings in the Apotheotic rank have the ability to manipulate what System holders call 'Skills' and 'Traits', they can 'steal' what is appropriate to them and then convert what remains into an angel or into Divine Energy.
But Bianca did not particularly care about these things, and so when the Realm Will of Midor offered her a deal since apparently it was good friend's with her Realm's Will, she was about to reject it completely out of fear of being seen as a possible contender by Campbell.
But then she had an idea. Since she was too lazy to take care of her believer's, but she also didn't want to lose her 'Divine' rank, she came up with a genius idea.
Make someone else do the hard work for her!
If she manages to secretly become powerful enough to dethrone Campbell? Good! She can be lazy while her new 'husband' pampers her.
If she only gets slightly stronger? Good! She can be lazy, have a free angel and also postpone her Descent by a few more millennia if she is lucky.
If she gets found out? Simply say that it was a Demonic Spirit trying to pass off as a believer of hers. It has happened before and 'Icy Sky' gave her a way to give her tool certain boons.
And the cost? Just a percentage of her Divine Energy gains upon the death of her tool or satisfactory completion of the request.
Foolproof! Her precious tool hadn't even bothered her with buying items or praying to her so she can slack off as much as she wants!
[Ring Ring. Ring Ring.]
-"uggggghhhhhh...Five more decades...."
[RING RING. RING RING.}
Goddess Bianca started, with much effort, to wake up from her precious 3 year short nap, slowly yawning and stretching before looking at the tool provided to her.
Besides making sure that she can give certain boons to her tool, it also alerted her whenever a purchase was made or when her tool is praying to her. It also has the handy feature of manipulating time in a very short area, allowing her to have more time to prepare.
Manipulating time is an ability which can be unlocked once someone reaches the Monstrous rank, but it can also be substituted by temporal spells, techniques, arts, abilities, etc.
'Why are you praying to me when you are three years old!? Couldn't you have waited a decade or two? Ughhhhh.'
Bianca used her Authority of Levity in order to calm herself down and then started morphing her appearance in her to appear more 'goddess-like'. Her night gown was changed for an ethereal dress made out of calmness and a shimmering veil made out of cheerfulness.
She then turned off the alarm for the tool and then went to sense the thread of intent coming from the prayer. She slowly opened her mesmerizing lips, preparing to respond to her tool's prayer, and then made the connection.
Immediately, she heard Shinumora's voice, the Japanese getting translated with the help of the tool.
-'Oh great and beautiful Goddess Bianca, I, your humble worshiper, seek your help with a problem related to the Divine Task of increasing the amount of your believers.'
-'Oh he already got the..what was it called...System Task? Yes that one.'
"I hear your plea, my dear believer, and have chosen to give you the answers that you seek. Ask, and I shall enlighten you."
'Ugh, why did they decide to make infusing your voice with power to be the normal way of talking with mortal's? Attention whore's.'
-'My question is a simple one, Goddess. Since I am still 3 years old and unable to properly help you, then may I use your likeness in order to fool a Teacher in training of the Church of Humanity to become your saint until I am strong enough? That way, I will be able to help the people of Midor by leading them to worship your Divine Grace.'
Goddess Bianca went silent at that and then started thinking, which she didn't really like to do.
-'That is.....a brilliant idea! As expected of my chosen mortal! To think the it would think of delegating this task to someone else! It is making me so proud.
However...is it really a wise move to possibly antagonize Campbell by 'stealing' one of his priests? Since that priest will end up performing 'miracles' in my name and whatnot then this will certainly lead to him becoming suspicious of me, especially since the things he will be using and doing will be from the things I've requested from Campbell.'
The Goddess, while not exactly the sharpest hoe in the tool shed, was not a complete idiot. Lazy? Yes. Suicidally idiotic? Depends on who you ask.
'Let's see...maybe I can do this by saying that the items were stolen from my vault? No that would be too convenient. Making him use things that the 'deities' from the other pantheons could also provide? No, the priest would still be doing those things in 'my' name. It is a smart idea, who knew that this Shinomura guy was this smart, but unless I am willing to take a risk, this isn't the best plan.
What if I were to ask him for a suggestion? No, that would ruin my image as a powerful, smart, beautiful, divine, spectacular Goddess.
Reject it outright? I don't really want to do that since that would mean I either have to wait a decade or two until he can start spreading my name, plus I think Basic Mortals die when they are 50 so that doesn't give me enough time.
...I mean...Campbell wouldn't notice 1 less believer right? Plus if he asks then I can simply act cute and say that I wanted another believer and since I liked this one, I gave it some gifts.'
After nodding at her 'brilliant' plan, she responded back.
"You have my permission, my dutiful believer. I will continue to watch over you and cherish all of your hard work."
A few moments later in Midor time she got some item requests, and after just making sure that the needed 'points' can be given, she approved the purchase and went back to sleep. deciding to wake up once her tool prays to her once again. Hopefully in a few decades.
[Back to Midor, Smith family home.]
Stephen was flabbergasted, confused, bamboozled and fifty other synonyms as he watched The Anomaly pray to the Goddess Bianca.
It was like seeing the Devil become a cool youth pastor.
Or a Swift & Angry movie which makes logical sense.
After praying for some time, The Anomaly immediately opened his eyes, went to the Stephen Store and started buying various items until he only had 5.000 Stephen Points, completing one of Stephen's tasks that were needed to see the next training video.(To spend 100.000 point at the System Store.)
The following items were bought:
[Touch of Levity: A skill which the Goddess of Levity, Bianca, grants to her ordained priests. It can induce a state of levity into certain people, making them much easier opponents to deal with or making panicked, sad, angry, stressed people feel calm and slightly. It can be negated or resisted if the target has emotions that are too strong, a high mental resilience, cannot feel emotions or Levity specifically, is already carefree.]:1.000 Stephen Points
[Elixir of Physical Strengthening:A high grade mortal elixir which can improve the physical attributes of the one that drinks it. Has minimal side effects like excruciating pain, impurity build-up and slight chance of causing heart attacks in beings with cardiovascular problems.]:500 Stephen Points
[Elixir of Mental Strengthening:A high grade mortal elixir which can improve the mental attributes of the one that drinks it. Has minimal side effects like excruciating pain, impurity build-up, slight chance of aneurysm, seizure, migraines and psychotic episodes.]:500 Stephen Points
[Mental Magic Spell Book:A spell book which contains the knowledge needed to learn various spells related to mental manipulation, ranging from slight emotional manipulation to weak brainwashing. It is a Noble spell book which can be bought at most Magical Libraries in the Noble section.]:1.000 Stephen Points.
[Mental Magic Affinity:Grants the chosen target Low Level Mental Magic Affinity, making the casting of such spells more easy.]:3.000 Stephen Points
[Mental Magic Resistance:Grants the chosen target Low Level Mental Magic Resistance, making the holder much harder to manipulate through Mental Magic]:4.000 Stephen points
[Crate of High Quality Healing Potions: A crate containing 500 bottles of High Quality healing potions, equal to Expert level healing spells.]:40.000 Stephen points
[Crate of High Quality Mana Potions: A crate containing 500 bottles of High Quality mana potions. Amount of mana replenished can vary on mana capacity, mana core, mana quality and many other factors.]:40.000 Stephen Points
[Abysmal Blessing of Bianca:Grants the target an abysmal blessing of the Goddess of Levity, Bianca.]:10.000 Stephen Points
[The items will remain inside the system until called upon, once called upon they cannot be stored back inside the system.]
Neiro slowly looked down and got off his knees, dusting himself off as he looked over to Stephen.
-'How was my acting?'
Stephen sprouted out a cartoonish arm and then gave a big thumbs up, trying to hide his confusion and nervousness.
-'How did he know Japanese? Did it work? How will he impersonate the Goddess Bianca?'
"Your acting was superb sir. May I ask what our next step is? I think Matthew has already gone to sleep."
-'No matter, I was planning to do it while he was asleep anyways.'
The Anomaly then told Stephen to simply deposit the needed items inside the room of the Teacher in training and place the skill's and traits inside him on his signal. Afterwards Neiro simply went back in bed, with his parents and siblings none the wiser and peacefully asleep, and then closed his eyes.
That night, a certain priest had a dream of the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, and he was told that he was chosen to be the Goddess Bianca's chosen Saint, with the Sacred Mission of spreading her faith across the Empire. As a way to make his start as a Saint much more easy, he received numerous items and abilities which he never thought he could ever gain even if he trained or saved money his entire life.
He then left a note, took a wagon and then left during the night, with his parting message explaining that he had found a greater calling, and after sincerely thanking Teacher Fabian and the Church for all their help, he left all of his worldly possessions behind, and started his new life as a chosen Saint.
[Meanwhile, inside Campbell's Divine Kingdom]
The Goddess Bianca had failed to account for a few things, but the most important things were the following:
-Campbell had made sure to keep a close eye on her treasury since she was known as a spontaneous Goddess.
-Unlike her, Campbell hadn't muted the part of their consciousness which was in charge of knowing the states of their believers.
-While Matthew, being a low level believer, would usually be ignored, due to Campbell having spoken recently with a Head Priest from the village, they had kept a somewhat close eye on GreenWood village just in case.
This all culminated in Campbell learning of the fact that several items were taken from Bianca's treasury, and then shortly after, they had lost a follower from GreenWood village, and when they checked Bianca's power, they discovered that her power had increased by the same amount as a single new believer.
This made Campbell raise a metaphorical eye brow at the situation. They hadn't sensed any consciousness descents from Bianca's Divine Kingdom, which were usually used when a 'deity' of her level would descend a part of her consciousness into the mortal realm in order to hold a proper conversation with someone or impart boons.
And so, either her gaining a new believer at the same time they lost one and while also she took out several items from her treasury...Or she had found a method to trick their senses.
This made Campbell smile as they moved their gaze towards Bianca's Divine Kingdom, and after enshrouding their intent with the help of their Authority of Emotions, they let out a small smile.
-"Bianca is much shrewder than I thought."
Campbell had now decided to pay some attention on Bianca to see what she plans to do next.
They hadn't decided to try and punish Bianca because they had lost only 1 believer, an extremely low level one at that, and because the given items weren't powerful enough to warrant attention.
Plus, they did not know if the thing that allowed Bianca to avoid their senses is a one-time thing or something that can be destroyed, and so instead of taking a risk, Campbell decided to play the long game.
She will slip-up, and if they lost a few tens of thousands of believers? They can simply issue an extermination order, saying that Bianca had decided to rebel, or accept the loss.
Campbell was a Teacher of course, and so they decided to make what will happen to Bianca...a lesson.