by Dakota Krout
“Are you aware of Occultatum’s domain? The rewards and detriments for joining with him?” Joe’s questioning was half-hearted, and it showed.
“Does it matter?” She gazed up with her eyes shining, full of ambition. “Whatever it is, there have to be benefits. Anything is better than letting only the Elves have divine support. Imagine the Legion becoming supported by clerics again.”
“The healing spells are pretty potent,” Joe admitted easily, his final resistance shattered. “Okay. I’m sold. I’ll ask; the worst he can do is say ‘no’. Tatum, Dawnesha Embertank wants to join your faction. Pretty sure you’ve heard her offer, what do you think?”
Query has already been used today! Cooldown: 21:34.
“Oh.”
“O-oh?” Dawnesha’s eyes filled with fear when no notifications appeared. Her lips quivered, fearing the rejection she was sure Joe had just gotten. “Wh-why not?”
“It’s not a ‘no’,” Joe assured her, causing her to take a deep breath of relief and pull on her mustache with anxiety. “We can try again tomorrow, in about twenty-one hours. I already used up my ability to… convert things today. With the… shrine. Yes.”
“Oh… that makes sense.” She stood and smiled weakly at him. “Then shall we meet at the Grand Temple on the morrow and hold a ceremony for the conversion of both at the same time?”
“That sounds… great.” Joe nodded furiously. At the sight of her expressive and hopeful face, there was no way that Joe was about to tell her ‘I can’t make you into a priestess and fulfill your lifelong dream… because I already used my power today so I could ask about the breed of my new cat’.
Chapter Thirty-One
Joe stared at the new clothes on his bed as he heaved for breath. Steam was coming off his skin, and he was currently regretting telling Havoc that his characteristic training had stagnated. The Dwarf’s response had been a kindly smile and a curt ‘walk to your room’. Then he had left, striding quickly out of Joe’s field of view.
The human hadn’t expected that as soon as he turned away from the Dwarf, a… golem of some kind would attach itself to his body. His limbs were bound to each other, and it was trying to force him into a fetal position. Joe had needed to use every ounce of physicality he had just to remain standing. Walking up the stairs and down the hall to his room had taken the entire training time required for the day—four hours and three minutes, thanks to his Artisan Body—and as soon as the golem sensed that he had gained his points… the constriction ended.
Characteristic training complete! Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution +2!
Skill increase: Artisan Body (Beginner II).
“Couldn't I have gotten that skill increase during training? Oh yay, I can get two points per day, and that little monster knows it.” Try as he might, he couldn’t find the golem after his training ended. All that remained was his moist human self that was steaming mad, as well as just plain steaming. “It’s still on me, waiting until tomorrow, isn’t it?”
“Meow.” CleoCatra didn’t seem to mind his suffering. A hiss announced her desire for food, but when the human set some in front of her, she sniffed it and walked to a different spot.
Joe ignored the cat and donned the tailor-fitted clothing that had been procured since the meeting yesterday, once again pleased with the self-cleaning function of his Neutrality Aura. The pure white monster-silk shirt and pants were… weird. Comfy, though. New shoes and socks completed the ensemble, with his usual black robe to top it all off. The new clothing increased charisma by ten percent when worn as a whole set, with no other benefits aside from not getting arrested for indecency, but they still made Joe feel strange. “Time to go and get a huge jump forward in bringing Tatum back.”
The nice thing about a golem wrestling him for an hour was that his mind had been taken off the very public event that he was supposed to be performing at in just a short while. That was gone, so all he could do at this point was power on. Clean, trained, and rested, Joe started walking. “Mate, I’m gonna need a strong brew.”
The coffee elemental swirled around and up his arm, and Joe searched for a coffee cup to put him in. Sadly, there wasn’t one remaining in his ring, so Joe ended up drinking coffee from a bowl. While he was fine with this, it seemed to upset Mate a little, showcased by the overtly bitter flavor. The Reductionist studied the little brown bean-eyes that were staring at him pleadingly, and Joe knew that something had to be done. “I’ll work on getting you a proper cup sometime soon, okay? There’s a lot going on, Mate!”
*Blub*. Mate… agreed? Or perhaps Joe was simply ascribing emotions and thoughts to it, but at least the small elemental went back into his sleeve without an issue. Either way, Joe did not have enough time to deal with every single problem that cropped up. Wearing his black-over-white clothing, he made his way up the slopes and closer to the center of the city. The capital was situated so that every new District had a wall protecting the inner portion. At the very center was the keep, a single building that was meant as the last refuge of the Dwarven nation, which was large enough to hold all of them, if the need arose.
The next ring down contained the noble quarters, including the Royal Palace and council chambers. After that was the Religious District, which had been empty for so long that it had been converted into parks and green space. Joe was on his way there now, but he had to pass through the Living District, where he was currently, as well as the Tradesman District. It was going to be a slow trip, since he needed to hoof it on foot.
Mounts were not really a thing, since most people could run as fast as horses after they had reached a certain level of strength and dexterity. Using animals or automations had just never really come up. No one was going to sacrifice their training time for comfort, not when their entire worldview revolved around war.
The roads within the city were delineated pretty clearly. ‘Messenger’, ‘high speed’, ‘jogging’, and finally the last one, the ‘walking’ lane, which Joe entered. Since there were very few restrictions on spatial devices in this Zone, he didn't need to watch out for carts, wagons, or any other vehicles. However, he did need to watch out for the Dwarves moving at ‘walking’ speed.
“Slow Bro!” A bearded Dwarf that Joe could barely see laughed at him.
Another zipped past him, shouting, “Bald Bro! Get in the children's lane if you can't keep up!”
Frankly, Joe had not even noticed the children's lane, but even now that he had, he wasn't about to let go of his dignity so easily. He started running, letting mana flow to his feet as he switched over to skipping. That was when things got weird.
The Dwarves that had been zipping past him just a moment ago seemed to pause as his speed reached theirs, and then Joe was flying past them. Seeing this as a challenge, the Dwarves abandoned the walking lane and began chasing after him, taking the jogging lane and sprinting as hard as they could. It appeared that the lanes were meant more as ‘top speed’ lanes, because most of the hairy people that were moving along the running lane were still going much faster than the sprinting Dwarves in the jogging lane.
“What is going on right now?” Joe was less concerned about the other people; instead his mind was entirely focused on analyzing what had changed. “There’s no reason I should be this fast. I’ve been actively adding my jump to everything since I first found out that I could. I'm skipping and supplying mana… but I've done this practically…! Is it… oh!”
That was when Joe remembered his massive increases in his physical characteristics. “Jump is modified by strength and dexterity! This is awesome!”
Seeing as he was nowhere near the fastest person on the road, he had no good frame of reference for how fast he was going. Still, Joe approached the Religious District far sooner than he had expected. He had planned to ask directions from there, but a solitary building was visible in the green space between the defensive walls. Just as he was debating getting off the road, he saw that there was an exit onto a street that had clearly been crea
ted recently. Jumping over the other lanes of traffic, he landed on the fresh cobblestone and sprinted toward the Grand Temple.
Before long, he approached the large crowd, but they parted when they sighted the expected bald Human coming toward them; Princess Embertank had prepared them well for his arrival. Joe slowed down and attempted to appear grand and serious for the occasion, but he couldn’t stop a huge grin from spreading his face. This was his ticket back into having a deity on his side again! The Princess was flushed, her mustache quivering with excitement and nervousness. She swallowed deeply, then curtsied lightly toward Joe. “Is everything ready?”
Joe checked his cooldown timer for Query, letting the last few seconds tick away before nodding. “Ready.”
“Then let’s go inside.” She led the way into the Grand Temple, the huge doors swinging open with a simple gesture from her. The crowd followed behind them, strangely silent, at least for Dwarves. There were only a half-dozen belching tournaments, three farting competitions, two fist fights, and one count of drunken warbling.
The inside of the temple was strangely plain. Huge marble columns supported the ceiling, and everything was accented by alternating black and white colorations. Joe raised an eyebrow and gestured at the surroundings, and the princess knew what he meant immediately. “This is the standard, basic template for a Grand Temple. We add nothing, simply providing the raw materials and space for whatever deity is going to control it.”
That made sense to him, so Joe questioned no further. They walked up to the blank slab of an altar together, and he turned to face the Princess. “Ready?”
“For literally my entire life,” she replied with a fire burning in her eyes.
“Okay then.” Joe took a deep breath and intentionally verbally activated Query. “Tatum, this Princess wants to be your High Priestess here. You in?”
Query successful! Tatum groans at your lack of proper ceremony, but has excitedly accepted.
New achievement: ‘You join me, I make you OP.’ You have converted your first follower on a new Zone, and they have become the High Priestess! Your reputation with Occultatum has increased by 1,000! New reputation Rank: Extended Family. You have gained 10,000 experience!
You have regained level 20! Cleric spell ‘Planar Shift’ is once more available for use!
“Abyss, I didn't even see that it had been blocked,” Joe muttered, quickly coming back to the present as the princess was coated in a column of darkness. It wore off a moment later, and she graced at him with a bright smile under her fluffy mustache. The only physical change that he could see was that her eye color now shifted slowly between a deep blue and a mysterious black.
“I finally… finally will be able to fulfill my life goals. Thank you, Joe.” Before she could get all teary-eyed, Joe nodded stiffly and smiled.
“Congratulations, princess.” He put his hand on the altar and motioned for her to do the same. “Sorry, but this next part is gonna suck.”
“Success is its own reward, and even if it is not perfect, I am just happy to advance,” the newly-minted High Priestess stated boldly.
Would you like to capture this Grand Temple for Occultatum? Yes/ No.
“That’s great, Princess. Just remember that.” Joe accepted the prompt, and both winced as their bodies began leaking power.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Princess Priestess had a surprisingly large pool of mana, which Joe realized was likely due to her lifestyle as a Noble since birth. Between political intrigue and her life's mission of becoming a priestess, she had likely focused all of her spare time on increasing her intelligence and wisdom.
Even still, the two of them alone did not have the power to convert the entire Grand Temple. As their power swirled out of them, other Dwarves stepped forward from the audience and lent their own energies. Soon, the entire structure had been converted. As an unexpected bonus, as soon as the temple was complete, the entire Pantheon that Joe had formed in the previous Zone became represented here.
One of the altars blazed with red fire, representing Tommulus, Greater Deity of Fire and Berserkers. One of the altars sprouted into a woman-shaped tree, as Spriggan, the Minor Deity of Nature and Fertility, took shape. Finally, an off-tune bugle blast heralded the arrival of Hansel, the Greater Deity of Bards, Teachers, and Political Assassins.
A stunned silence fell as hundreds of Dwarves saw the choices that were suddenly before them. All sounds had ceased, beyond Joe and Princess Embertank’s labored breathing.
“Wait a blasted minute… we wanted one, and four pop in! These deities are multiplying like cockroaches!” A typical Dwarven grumble eased the tension and made the group chuckle. Joe sat down and listened to the conversations around him as he skimmed through the notifications that had appeared.
You have earned a reward from the continuous quest: Reclamation of the lost.
Critical success! You have captured the only Grand Temple in the Dwarven territories, and your Pantheon currently has the majority of all Dwarven parishioners!
Buff applied: Faction Lead I. As you are the champion of the dominant faction in this Zone, you have been granted additional power to fulfill your duties! Total mana +1,000! This buff can increase in power. Please note that the current Zone is considered as two separate Zones until the war has been decided!
Joe groaned in pain as his body swelled up like an over-inflated balloon. For a long moment, it appeared as if he was having a body-wide allergic reaction. Then the new influx of mana found the proper channels within his body and seamlessly integrated. He glanced over at Princess Embertank—no, High Priestess Embertank—and knew that she was undergoing some changes as well. “Increased stats, or a direct addition to your power?”
“Stats.” She groaned as she held her head. “And so many quests! I’m also back to level one.”
“What? Why would that happen?” Joe scrambled to his feet just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. “I've never heard of that-”
“Oh, calm down. It was my choice.” She stood on shaky legs as she held her head. “It's not like I lost all of my stats or anything, but I had to give up all of my previous class skills and abilities in order to become the High Priestess. It's going to take a lot of work to become powerful again, but at least I am not really starting from zero. I've never heard of a level one person having over a hundred and fifty points in each of their characteristics.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” Joe carefully stated, still uncertain of what to do next.
“I also inherited the ‘Paying a Great Debt’ quest. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that we should be able to finish that quest off in about one-and-a-half to two weeks.” The High Priestess’ assertion made Joe freeze once more, and he hurriedly pulled up the quest.
Paying a Great Debt. By choosing to remain faithful to your chosen deity, you have agreed to take on their debt. Find a way to pay off 13,000,000 Divine Energy. Current DE generated: 1,536,750/13,000,000.
Altar: 11
Shrine: 22
Temple(small): 1
Temple(mid-sized): 3
Temple(grand): 2
Champion defeated: 3
Followers: 310
Joe confirmed that he had only gained roughly eleven percent of the total Divine Energy he needed, then looked at the Dwarf for an explanation. She waved around the room, and smiled brightly. “I have roughly a quarter of a million followers that will be joining this pantheon over the next few weeks. After they have all converted, since followers generate twenty-five DE per day, we are looking at six and a quarter million DE per day. Expect this quest to be completed likely earlier than I even mentioned.”
“So many…” Joe whispered in a shaky voice. “I had expected it to be years.”
“This will be me doing my duty, but you are always welcome to grant me bonuses for a job well done.” She winked at him, her charming disposition slightly offset by the glorious mustache she was sporting. “Now, if you don't mind, I have so very much w
ork to do.”
Joe nodded and walked away as she began to open the altars for conversion. The Dwarves that had been waiting passed along information they found, and soon there were four lines for each altar. Unsurprisingly, the longest line was for Tatum, and the shortest was for the Spriggan. There were not many Dwarves that wanted to empower nature when their opponents were followers of Gaia. Before he left, he swung by the altar just to double-check that there wasn’t anything waiting for him.
Laying his hands on the altar, the Reductionist felt only a warm glow of happiness and acceptance. He had quite a while to go before he was able to get a new cleric ability or spell, since he had only just regained access to level twenty. Joe patted the book-shaped altar, looked around at the newly-made Juggernauts and small Tree Ents that would protect this place, and decided to leave.
He trekked along the pristine new road until he found his way back to the main street, and further into the Tradesman District. Entering the forge, Joe found most of the Dwarves staring at him with absolutely gloomy smiles pasted on their faces. A few started walking toward him, and one held out a hand. “Candidate! It would be a true joy for me to be able to teach you about seniority and-”
Grandmaster McPoundy’s door popped into existence and the Dwarf himself stepped out. “Joe, it is good that you are here! Today, you choose the item that you receive as a Candidate, and our next encounter will only be in order for me to hand over that item after it is made. Get in here so that we can get this over with.”
Joe heard what he was saying, but it sounded like a prepared speech, stilted and wrong. Before he said anything, he joined the Grandmaster in his small pocket dimension, then let his words fly. “What was that all about?”
