Chapter 4 - Mana, Magic And Skill

Anemus was speechless, in all her life, she had never seen anyone achieve divinity, not to mention that Athena had also surpassed the lifespan of a High-Human, which was a mere one hundred and fifty years.

Athena was also speechless, not because she was impressed, but because she didn't understand anything she saw. The status was completely different from the game's info panel.

"Where are the attributes? Where are the strength and intelligence?" Athena said, staring at herself in the mirror.

"What can my mistress be talking about?" Anemus asked.

"Why are you talking like that?" Athena asked, feeling awkward with the way Anemus spoke.

"You are the first person who became a goddess I know."

Athena looked into the mirror again and saw two features that caught her eye.

"Anemus, how do I see the skill description?"

"Just open the parchment, ma'am."

"Stop talking like that, this is so weird!" Athena complained as she opened the scroll.

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Name • Athena

Race • High-Human

Class • Hermit

Gender • Female

Age • 341 years old

•Spells•

•Skills•

•Features•

Martial Energy • You haven't exercised in hundreds of years and that's why your martial energy is decaying. Skill usage limited to twice a day.

Magic Power • As a saint, you have an almost divine magic power and as long as you have mana you can cast any spell.

Immortal • Time no longer matters to an immortal, but an immortal can still die.

Small Deity • You became a holy hermit from having spent hundreds of years in isolation. You are the closest being to becoming a god.

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Athena read the parchment and felt relieved she hadn't become an existence she couldn't bear. Being immortal wasn't a problem for her, but a goddess was too much.

"Anemus, read on, I'm not a goddess." Athena said as she handed the parchment to Anemus.

Anemus read the parchment carefully and as if she let all the tension out of her mouth, she let the air escape through her mouth.

"Hmph! To think you became a saint by doing nothing." Anemus said, feeling cheated.

"Ehehe! I'm amazing!" Athena responded proudly.

"But with the amount of mana you have... Even though she's a saint, she's not the strongest. And look..." Anemus pointed to the description of the martial energy that was the lowest of Athena's characteristics. "You need to exercise."

"You're right, but why do I have so much magical power and martial energy?"

"I think you already had martial energy and gained magical power when you became a saint."

Athena sat up in bed and stroked Fotiá's sleeping face and turned her eyes to Anemus with an expression of impasse on her face.

"Anemus, if exercise is enough to increase my martial energy, what do I need to do to increase my mana?"

Anemus sat beside Athena with a complicated expression. "I don't know if you'll like the answer..."

"Even if I don't like it, I need to know."

Anemus sighed and looked into Athena's green eyes. "Remember I said that mana is something of the soul?"

"Hm..."

"To increase the amount of mana, a person needs to kill. Killing monsters and animals is enough, but inefficient and so the so-called power-seeking mages kill their peers." Anemus said remembering Hades.

After hearing Anemus' explanation, Athena's mind was flooded with thoughts.

'That didn't exist in the game... It would be so much simpler if that were the case, but you can associate it with the xp gain. I heard a rumor that if someone killed a human NPC, the amount of experience gained would be absurdly high...'

Seeing Athena so thoughtful, Anemus felt uneasy.

"Y-you're not planning on going back to being a psychopath just to increase your mana, are you?" Anemus asked, dismayed.

"N-no! I got tired of being hunted in every town I go to, but..."

"But...?"

"Criminals also meet the requirements." Athena responded with an almost evil smile on her lips and a glint in her eyes that made Anemus shiver.

"You really are him..."

Athena cocked her head to the side. "Did you still have questions?"

"Obviously! Would you blindly believe what you said?"

"I don't know..." Athena looked at the thatched roof of the hut. "Depending on what information the person provided me, maybe." Athena said and looked at Anemus with excitement. "Leaving that aside, teach me some magic!"

"Impossible... No wait! I can teach you a skill."

"Which?"

"Dimensional bag."

"And what does that do?"

"Really? It's in the name of the skill! It kills things!" Anemus said sarcastically.

"Huh? Really?" Athena asked expectantly.

"Of course not!" Anemus jumped out of bed, annoyed, and faced Athena. "Pay attention! {Dimensional bag}"

As soon as Anemus said the name of the spell with her hand outstretched, the space between her and Athena rippled like a puddle of water that had been hit by a drop.

Anemus stuck the small arm in the air, causing Athena's eyes to open in surprise as she saw Anemus' arm disappear and then Anemus pulled a sinister looking staff from there and then Athena understood that the skill in question was inventory.

"Ah! I was with you! I was already wondering if I left it in the bank."

"Using demon bones to make a staff was a disgusting idea." Anemus disapproved.

"But this staff is very good for large-scale spells. And it was very difficult to get the spine and skull bones."

Anemus held the staff in disgust and wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. "Will you want the things you left with me back?"

"Hm... No, you can keep them for now. But then, how do I use this skill?"

"Just a minute." Anemus threw the staff back into the bag and from there took out a purple parchment. "I will transcribe the skill for you to learn."

After a few minutes, Anemus handed the parchment to Athena and explained how to use it.

Athena read the parchment concentrating mana in her eyes and the parchment was consumed in a bluish flame.

"That's it?" Athena asked a little disappointed.

"Now activate the skill. When you want to close the warehouse, just stop mana consumption."

"Alright, I'll try." Athena reached forward with a handful of mana. "{Inventory}"

"Wh... Hey!" Anemus complained at the word Athena said, but was soon taken by surprise.

Instead of the 'dimensional bag' effect, a red wooden door appeared in the middle of the room, between Athena and Anemus.

"Ooooh!" The two said at the same time.

"But how?!" Anemus asked, incredulous as she walked around the door.

"I don't know, but it worked. However it seems less efficient than the 'dimensional warehouse'..." Athena said as she opened the door.

Inside the door was a room with five closed chests and some empty shelves. Athena opened all the chests and found thousands of gold coins.

"Oh! I don't think I'll have to work. If the inventory has all that, the bank must have even more."

"You've had all of this with you all this time and us eating fruit and stale bread?" Anemus complained.

"You can't blame me if Athena was petty." Athena said, and suddenly found herself wondering if there really was someone in this body or was it something like an artificial intelligence. "What was Athena like yesterday?"

"Hm... It was almost like a doll. She didn't talk much and spent most of her time sleeping. That's why she hasn't taken Fotiá hunting once in three hundred years." Anemus said as she tossed gold coins into her inventory.

"That's a relief, somehow... You can take an entire chest if you want."

With Athena's permission granted, Anemus conjured levitation on the chest and launched it into the inventory with a delighted smile on her face.