Chapter 159 Touring the Religion

Anna guided him throughout the temple complex, making sure he had a good idea of the layout and where everything was. “This here is the cafeteria, and this is the training hall, and this is the library, and this… this is the baths…” turning to him with a wink, “want to check it out…?” She asked coyly.

“No… but perhaps you should…” Van shot back, considering her state of undress.

Anna gave a playful pout in return and continued to show him around the area. “This is the armory, and this is the garden, and these are the dormitories.” finally finishing her hour-long tour. She then opened one of the doors revealing a couple of insect-kin mid-way through undressing.

“And these are some of our new followers!” Anna said happily.

The insect-kins in question looked up in shock at so rudely being walked in on and stared at. Then their eyes widened when they landed on Van, since they had no idea who he was or whether he was their god or not, which froze them in place as they had no idea how to act or react in this strange situation.

“Sorry… excuse us…” Van said, closing the door to give them their privacy. Noting the one strange insect-kin with short white hair, red eyes, black sclera, and cute little fangs. “Was that one some sort of mosquito-kin?” he thought as the door clicked shut.

“Please don’t do that.” looking at Anna with an admonishing tone. “It’s rude…”

Anna just continued her playful smile. “It’s fine…” she responded in good humor, I just wanted to show off their new dress uniforms and priestess attire! Didn’t know they would be changing, honest!” though she didn’t sound believable.

Van sighed a little, Anna had changed much ever since they came here to the forest. It was nice that she loosened up, but perhaps it was a bit too much… “Just show me the rest of the place.” asking more to move this along, though he was also a bit curious to see if there was anything else to see.

Anna did so, now also doing an explanation of everything that has happened recently and how they’ve grown. As well as what things they learned along the way about properly organizing themselves and making sure everything went just right. Her talks went on for about twenty minutes, going into detail about what things they will need for future growth and what they have so far been able to handle themselves. They walked around the block a few times, as Van listened in and made sure to provide more help in the future.

As they walked, Anna opened up another door that introduced a class of some sorts of new people that have come to the religion and seemed to be in the process of being instructed by another Anna about how to pray and feel the connection to their god, aka Van, and use the spells made available to them. All of them were wearing some form of black and white uniform dress that didn’t have the gold highlights or stitching that the priestess Anna or the regular Anna was wearing.

“Hmm… maybe instead of neophyte… it should be initiate, then neophyte, and then acolyte… after that can the main classes of the religion, starting with cleric…” Van thought on the spot as he watched the class with interest. Already excited about applying new rules and regulations for some strange reason that he couldn’t place. Being suddenly inspired at that moment.

In fact… he did that right now! Now it went from follower, faithful, believer, true believer, initiate, neophyte, acolyte, and then cleric. And while he had the panel open, he made sure to raise the rank of his priestess Anna from neophyte to acolyte.

“O-o-oh!” Anna’s eyes went wide as a rush of energy filled her and she became stronger. “Warn a girl before you do something like that.” she with a smile.

“Sorry…” He said as he realized he jumped the gun. He then turned back to the class as it paused due to the Anna that was teaching stopping mid-sentence as her eyes flickered. She shook her head after a moment and went back to explaining the feeling and connection one should have with their god.

Van used this opportunity to do what he did with Lyn and her followers. Concentrating, he focused on his link to the girls now closing their eyes and trying to focus on their connection with him. After a while, he was able to feel a few pinpricks from them as they tried to draw his faith energy into themselves and use it for a spell. Normally, this would be an automatic thing, but now that he was aware, it became hard for them to cast a spell without his express permission, which he allowed. Causing the room to light up with a dozen or so small light spells.

Except for one girl, who looked really sad, and raised her hand.

“Yes? What seems to be the matter?” The Anna teaching the class asked her student.

“Mistress Anna… will Van really love us all?” putting some emphasis and reverence on the name ‘Van’. “I mean… there are just so many of us… will he really have enough room for us in his heavenly harem?” Looking worried that she might be left out. “And even after praying so much… Can he really help us… be better…” looking down, obviously hiding some deep issues.

Van noticed then that it was the mosquito-kin from before, they must have spent so much time talking and walking that their class must have started while they were away. She must have not put two and two together and not realized the male she saw was actually the person in question she was asking about.

He looked sadly at the poor girl, clearly hiding some of her fear, but also gave a sideways glare towards Anna that demanded an explanation on that, ‘heavenly harem’ part… though she tried to play it off by acting cute…

“Of course he does…” Teacher Anna said, “you just have to believe… close your eyes… and you will definitely feel him…”

The mosquito-kin didn’t seem to completely believe her, but closed her eyes anyway and hoped and prayed for the best.

Van felt that heartfelt prayer and sighed inwardly, a little conflicted on what he should do. It was so clear through her heartfelt prayer that she wanted someone to love her, so as embarrassingly as it was, he used their connection to tell her what she wanted to hear.

The mosquito-kin girl's eyes shot open wide and she had a shocked expression on her face as if she couldn’t believe what she heard. “I heard him! I heard him! He said it! That he does love me!” She then closed her eyes and cast a spell, allowing faith energy to flow through her and light up the room, much to her surprise, as if she still couldn’t really believe what was glowing right before her eyes.

Some of the girls in the room looked jealous, but most congratulated her.

Van ignored the knowing look that priestess Anna was giving him. “It was… just to test my powers is all…” he said, though the small smile on Anna’s face made it clear she didn’t believe him.

“Right… just to test your powers…” keeping her opinions to herself. Come on, let’s go get something to eat. I’ve been practicing my cooking, I think you’ll be in for a treat!” grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away, much to his relief.

The two then sat down at the cafeteria, a few eyes on them, wondering who that male was with the head priestess of the religion was, and why she was naked... The two talked about a few things, Van actually enjoying the food that chef Anna cooked as they did. He wondered what else he could learn from the book Ren gave him, but also thought that maybe he should spend some more time upgrading his religion as well.

“Anything else I can do to help you here? Or to improve the religion? I feel like you would know more than me at this point.” Van asked her, thinking about it after a while since he was here and had the time to help, why not help? “Also, can you please put some clothes on…” becoming a bit more self-conscious about all the gazes on him.

Anna pouted, but with a snap of her fingers, she wove the ambient spiritual energy into a new set of clothes for her, while also cleaning herself up a bit.

Van’s eyes widened a bit at that, he had no idea she could do such a thing. “How did you do that!” He asked in surprise.

Anna smiled. “Since I’m a special chosen of yours, I can also manipulate some of the energy of your soul realm. It has done wonders in helping shape this place up and make it ready for converts and the such. It also comes in useful in situations like these.”

“Huh…” Van thought about it and brought up his hand, with a will, a small smooth stone formed in his hand. “Another thing I will have to practice with…”

Anna watched him with interest, and when he finally seemed finished with his experimenting did she answer his previous question. “If you want to help… I suppose the best for the moment that you could do is to give a few more spells…” thinking it over a bit. “Just having a light and healing spell seems a bit too… sparse…”

Vam thought about that and realized she had a point. Opening up his panel, he began to look at the list of spells he could add to his religion and paused, a little lost on what he should add. After some thought, he chose some practical spells, one for mending items, a cleaning cantrip, and finally a spell to produce a small shield. He thought about adding maybe an attack spell but already seemed to have hit a limit on spells allowed for his religion so far. Something he wasn’t even aware was possible.

But there was something else he could add if he spent a few faith points… finicking around with his panel, he set it up so that the strange spear and priestess clothes that Anna wore, could be summoned through faith energy. This way, those who were initiate and above, could always have a set of clothes for themselves and a spear to protect themselves with if they just spent the required faith energy for it, and it leveled up with them as well.

Another thing he realized he could do, was set it up so that they had a special connection to his soul realm. By creating a spell, they could summon prepared meals to their destination once a day. This would help them out on the field during long trips, though he didn’t tick that box just yet, considering he would have to become more powerful first to do so.

“Whoa! Nice!” Anna exclaimed as her eyes flickered and she felt the changes. “This will be very helpful in the future! Thanks a bunch!”

“No problem,” Van replied, a little embarrassed by how enthusiastic she was about the upgrades he gave. He then turned back to the panel wondering what other changes he could make. Sadly… that seemed it for now… he could choose an affinity, maybe fire or blood or what have you for his religion, which will make spells learned from that affinity easier to master, but he didn’t want to be tied down just yet to something like that.

He also saw that he could not only choose an affinity, but also something akin to a profession or trade, maybe make it easier to learn runes, or make potions, grow herbs, or craft tools. But again he decided against it… he knew he must be some sort of god of order… but that doesn’t mean he knew what else he wanted to be or what skills he wanted his followers to have… so far he had only chosen the safest options, but that will change once his religion grows a little more.

“I think I’m done for now…” Van said after a while, turning back to finish the meal in front of him that he almost forgot.

Anna smiled. “That’s fine, you did a lot as it is, with this, we should be able to go a little longer without your input. What are you going to do now?” also now finishing the last of her meal.

“I think I’ll go somewhere nice and quiet and read the rest of this book Ren gave me,” Van said, taking the last few bites of his meal.

“You could read it in the garden area. There’s a really nice bench you can sit down and relax on.” Anna replied helpfully.

Van thought about it and shrugged. “Sure… I don’t have anywhere else to be I suppose…” He then yawned, only now realizing how tired he was.

Anna giggled. “I’ll also prepare a bed for you later. You look like you could use the rest.”

Van was going to turn her down but then decided against it. He was actually pretty tired, perhaps a good read and a nap was what he needed. So he thanked her and followed her to the nice garden she showed him earlier. Once he sat down on the bench, she left to attend to her duties as he opened up his book to read what else he could learn.

“Hmm…” Van thought as he read, and the hours went by, casually he opened his hand wide, palm pointed upward, and gathered the nearby spiritual energy until it formed a leaf that shattered into pieces before it had a chance to fully take shape. He then tried again, forming a crystalline egg that shattered revealing a butterfly that broke apart a few seconds after.

“It seems my understanding of what I am making is also taken into account on whether or not it forms… perhaps if I make something I'm more familiar with…” He then tried making a sword, something he had trained for years with, shaping the energy until it finally seemed to create something similar, though not as sharp.

With a thought he let it break and went back to his book reading further. “Let’s see… what else… ah!” his eyes alighting on something interesting. “Spiritual familiars, or spiritual helpers, and spiritual guardians, whose task it is to help nurture and protect my soul realm. The thing that Ren turned Kassandra into. Let’s see…”

Van read a bit more, and tried again in making an egg, popping out a crystalline butterfly. “If I make them through the system, with the intention of making them spiritual helpers, it becomes a lot easier… I wonder how many I can make and what they can do?” Then went back to reading.

After a while, he closed the book and started to pop dozens of crystalline butterflies. “Go out and multiply a few times, then search out any faults or cracks in my soul realm and heal them. Also… take these seeds and plant them, spread them out far and wide. And finally…” he took one of the butterflies and shaped it into a form of a crystalline fairy. “You will be the leader, I gave you a bit more intelligence than the others, use it well to protect my soul realm.”

The crystalline fairy nodded, and helped take the seeds from Van’s hand, and flew away with the many butterflies he created. “...maybe I should warn Lyn about the new butterflies and fairy…” realizing that it might cause a panic if a bunch of strange crystalline creatures started flying all around the place.

Closing his eyes he did just that, explaining to Lyn and the others in his soul realm that he created a few helpers that would go around making sure that his soul realm was nice and healthy. More importantly, he made a few flowers that were to be planted and protected at all costs since their task is to grow in faulty areas and spiritually use their roots to keep things together while also producing energy for the nourishment of his soul realm.

Lyn and the others got the message and immediately started asking him questions about it for what felt like a few hours. After a while, Van was finally let go after a few realized how tired he was and planned to ask him a few more questions later.

Van thanked them and got up, wondering where he was going to take a nap when Anna came by and offered a nice comfy bed for him. In all honesty, he didn’t feel like he should intrude more than he already has, but she pointed out that this place was technically for him, so that it wasn’t a problem.

Too tired to argue, he decided to take the offered bed and was guided to a nice room a few floors up overlooking the area. Falling onto the bed, he was surprised to find how comfy and inviting it was like it was made just for him.

He was just about to fall asleep right away when a few Anna’s in sleepwear came over and snuggled up with him. Apparently, it was their turn for rest as well and hoped he didn’t mind.

He did, a little, but that didn’t stop him from getting comfortable and falling asleep right away. His last few thoughts were about what else he was going to learn from his book, what he was going to do when the advance party arrived, and a few other things he wanted to do to help improve his soul realm. But finally, almost against his overworked mind, he fell into blissful blackness…

Varenes

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