Chapter 461: The Holy Statue

Seeing his servant's troubled expressions as they struggled to respond to his simple questions, Aiden decided to not press the matter for the time being. Though he still couldn't understand it completely, he could clearly see the end results.

His accumulation of Faith was growing at an astonishing rate, the residents of Gupta were devoted, reverent towards him, and the appearance of the Holy Statue only increased their devotion. 

From the many flowers, clothes, minerals placed at the foot of his statue, he could understand that the simple prayers have evolved since his last visits, and a material offering was now probably part of the wishes.

This in turn seemed to have an obvious effect on how much Faith Aiden would receive from each of their daily worship. 

Aiden's expression eased, returning to his usual calm, nonchalant smile. Slowly gazing over each of his servants, he slowly closed his eyelids, heaving a long, slow sigh as his mind slowly reached its clarity. 

The previous concerns, the questions, the confusions simply wafted away like small puffy clouds under the summer's gentle breeze. 

He slowly inhaled another mouthful of the clear, fresh air, taking a couple of seconds to store it down in his diaphragm before taking his time to slowly exhale again. 

As he did, his mind descended even further, all unnecessary blockades, hurdles were blown away, his path towards this peculiar state was gradually cleared out.

As if by instinct, whilst still keeping his eyes closed and his mind floating across the dreamlike mindscape, this transcendental state, he slowly crouched down, sitting down on the ground cross-legged. 

He breathed again, slowly, enjoying every ounce of the fresh, unpolluted, energy-rich Haven air, as it filled both of his lungs. Seconds passed as he kept it inside, enjoying as his cells were rapidly reinvigorated, his spirit rejuvenated under its natural effects. 

With each slow, stretched-out exhale, Aiden's mind descended deeper and deeper into a new, peculiar state. 

With each exhale, Aiden felt the change gradually happening. Amidst the darkness in his mind, he could slowly feel it.

A connection. A link. A new source, the root cause of everything that was happening to him. A shared existence, a new-old presence.

It was himself, yet it wasn't at the same time. A paradox sensation, that, while it was confusing, it was also clear as the day at the same time.

With each exhale, he could feel as his mind slowly entered this new entity, this new solid object, multiplying.

Dizziness, the sensation of vertigo suddenly overwhelmed his senses, causing his heart to suddenly beat in a swifter, more agitated passion. His whole body was trembling, as his mind was suddenly overwhelmed with a slew of new information.

Whispers, prayers, pleas, and words of gratitude from hundreds of individuals suddenly filled his mind, quickly overwhelming his senses, causing his real body to shudder, his face to twitch and grimace under the sudden invasion.

Yet, Aiden didn't panic. Though everything was new, still, he had a basic understanding of what was happening.

He took a moment, slowly inhaling a large gasp of the Haven's air, taking his time to savor it. 

Once again, he began to slowly exhale, calming his senses, focusing on his mind that was now actually inside the Holy Statue, a part of his will was actually inhabiting it!

Through it, he could actually hear the various pleas, prayers, or whispers that were aimed at him. All the private, intimate talks that each and every devoted resident of Gupta shared with him, was suddenly clear inside his mind.

Though there were hundreds, no, COUNTLESS voices assaulting him at the same time, the system was instantly there to assist him, forcing order into the chaos, and projecting an interface for him so he could listen and process the words of the many with more ease, listening to one at a time.

The bell-like sound of his system broke his silent contemplation, informing him of the appearance of a new feature, a new option that has just appeared under the 'Domain' tab.

[Host's understanding of his Divinity has increased!]

[Connection with the Divine Will has been established!]

[The feature: 'Divine Will' has been unlocked under the Domain tab!]

[Note: Host can rely on this feature to listen to and even address the requests and pleas of the devoted.]

However, just as he was about to close the messages and return his attention to the 'Divine Will' that he connected to, another message suddenly appeared in his feed, shocking Aiden instantly.

[The skill: Divinity: Basic (Level 1) has been created!]

The last message has surprised Aiden, almost breaking his concentration.

Quickly he shook his head, clearing it from the unnecessary thoughts once again. As his mind connected with the will inside the statue once more, he focused on the various whispers. Yet, in just a few mere moments he was forced to take a step back and bring up the system instead, as the chaotic storm that the many voices simultaneous assault presented were just too much for him at the moment.

Instead, he focused his attention on the newly unlocked feature in his system. Upon his mental command, a semi-transparent screen appeared.

[ Status | Lab | *Domain* |  Activities ]

[ Info | Manage | World | *Divine Will* | Tasks ]

——

[Praises: 354

Pleas: 17]

The screen was pretty basic, the system categorized the various whispers into two main categories. One for the positives, the 'Praises', which were mostly just a variety of ways and even unrelated moments that the residents have wanted to be grateful for and say their thanks to their lord.

They were mostly a bunch of positive notes, the main driving force behind the rapid and continued increase in his Faith Points.

The other category, coined as 'Pleas' on the other hand were all the prayers where the residents were begging, requesting for some change, anything from the Great Lord. Though the positives vastly overwhelmed the negatives, Aiden was still mostly interested in those 17 requests. 

After all, these were the actual problems of his people, the residents of Haven. Resolving these problems would turn their plights into boons. He wanted everyone living in this plane to be satisfied, to be happy, to be detached from the worries of the old world.

Still, before diving into the individual woes, Aiden's attention was once again shifted, he focused on his actual connection shared with this Divine Will, his Holy Statue. He wanted to understand more, the whole concept, this shared consciousness, this second 'self' that he had was just too sudden.

Was this second will, this second presence still him, or another being? Was it truly sentient at all, or perhaps just a creation of his system, a doll, something similar to a computer AI, if he were to compare it to his 'old', urban world?

Before Aiden was confident in relying on it, he needed to know that this wasn't just another ploy, another tool made by the Mighty Entities that seemed to find enjoyment in toying with him.

Aiden sighed again, slowly exhaling the used-up air from his lungs as he concentrated on this new connection, this new link with the Holy Statue.

As he did, a muffled hum, a faint glow could be seen emanating both from his closed eyelids and from the center of the statue at the same time. They seemed to resonate, hum, and glow synchronously…

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