Chapter 23 Church Reactivation

Today we'll have 3 chapters.

Why?

Well, remember that we have power stone goals!

100PS - 1 Extra Chapter

350PS - 2 Extra Chapters

550PS - 3 Extra Chapters

900PS - 5 Extra Chapters

I doubt we'll get to 350 anytime soon, but I'm honestly surprised we managed to reach 100 so fast!

We started on Monday but we already have this much... It's oddly rewarding.

Thank you all for the support, I'll continue to try my best!

Anyway, as I said last time, we were starting the plot for real now, and this is pretty much a buffer chapter in between.

I'll post the next chapter soon after some rest like usual.

Enjoy!

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"Haaa!"

David took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled.

It had been too long... Way too long.

He was back at where he belonged, the surface, the world beneath the golden sun...

But the longer he looked at the church the deeper his face fell.

"I don't want to be the gloomy guy here but... This place looks like crap."

"It's been a very long time since you've last been here David..."

"Besides, the village's current condition is very bad… You'll see it all soon anyway."

Dale continued walking forward as he dragged Caladgolg behind him, making a long gash on the stone ground.

He tried to lift it, but after several tries, he found on that leaving the sword on his shoulder pad worked well enough, albeit he was sure this was going to cause some damage to his back in the long run.

Despite his recent Stat increase, Dale felt that the sword hadn't gotten any lighter...

"In any case, it's about time you go back into "prop" mode, we can talk more later okay?..."

"You... You can do that much, right?"

"Yes, I can…"

"But I must enforce what I said before."

"Leaving me as a decoration on a sparkling stand won't do a thing."

"My power comes from the prayers of the people. We can't rely on my Boss for this unless the conditions align... So the more people you manage to pray to me, the stronger I will get."

"If we are lucky and gather it fast enough, it may be even possible for me to deal with whatever is on the 10th floor on my own… But that is unlikely..."

"In the past, I wasn't able to do so, much less now, we would need to push ourselves above and beyond for that to work, but its an option, if we assume those creatures got weaker over their long isolation."

Dale nodded, keeping this at the back of his mind.

But then, David seemingly remembered something as he added:

"Oh yeah… If I am not mistaken, there is something that may help us nearby…"

"How so?"

"You said it yourself, this town is secluded but it was still a very important place nonetheless."

"Materials from abroad normally took a long time to arrive, but during the golden days, this town was mostly self-sufficient, they had no need to rely on others for sustenance and development."

"I remember several interesting places that may help this town recover… In the case they don't already know or if it has been destroyed over time…"

"Even if such things have been depleted, they may still have some things to salvage from inside."

Dale thought for a moment and said:

"Are you talking about the mines and such things?"

"Yup… But those are secondary, from what you told me, this is now a small village so even if we found a mine, it would be useless. The most important thing would be… The foundation of this place."

The Golden head stayed silent for some time, its gaze turning hollow.

After a while, his eyes sparkled with light as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh... This is awkward..."

"Did something happen?"

"... Looks like my power wasn't the only thing that was eroded, it seems my memories are a bit jumbled up as well…"

"Give me some time to think, a few days should be enough."

[DING]

[Chain Quest Activated, Golden age]

[Return the Village of Resko to its former glory ?

There are no requirements, this mission can be done however you see fit, the more you do the better its final rewards shall be.

Keep an eye out and do your best!

]

'A quest without requirements... This must be it.'

'Resko's Main Quest.'

"Golden Age... I have no time to waste…"

"Just call me if you need me for something."

With that, David remained still like a statue and even when Dale knocked on its face, it remained unmoving… Although his eyes moved to look at him in annoyance before they went back to how they used beefore.

It seemed David was still very much aware of his surroundings, another thing to consider.

With a stiff and painful shoulder due to Caladgolg resting on it, Dale made his way down the mountain carefully as to not fall due to the extra weight he was carrying…

…

/A few minutes later.../

"..."

"..."

Dale could now be seen in front of the Mercenary Guild with a small crowd around him, including several Elders.

These were the people of Resko, around 100 people, most of them were in their middle age, there were about 20 or so old people above the age of 60 and 15 or so children below the age of 16.

This left around 55 to 65 adults if you included the young adults between the ages of 16 and 20.

These people followed Dale here as he made his way to the Guild to report his findings, and due to how small the Village itself was, information traveled fast...

"Hum..."

In front of him was Misgurd who had his arms crossed as he looked around with an annoyed expression.

He didn't know what to think or say, nor what to think.

"Since everyone gathered here on their own I will ask now… What is this all about, kid?" He asked as he looked at the sword behind him

'What an unusual weapon, where did this kid get that? It's not like that would be a hard thing to miss, given its size...'

'Albeit... I imagine he got it in the same place he got that.'

He already knew what this was likely about just by looking at what Dale had on his waist.

But he felt the need to hear it from him directly, he needed the full story.

/CLANG!/

Dale nodded, plunging Caladgolg onto the ground.

Together with his heavy armor, he looked like a fairy tale hero as he stood there in front of all of them.

And although he felt rather embarrassed to speak in front of so many people, old and young alike, his helmet gave him a slight sense of security...

"Earlier today, you asked me to find the Icon of the Church, right? I found it." He said as he raised David in the air for all to see

'This is embarrassing...'

It was faint, but since it was in the middle of the night, David seemed to shine...

"Ohh!..."

"A miracle!"

"This is…"

The villagers had many reactions, a few couldn't believe it, and some even cried, especially the older ones that knew more about the Village's history.

Misgurd on the other hand, frowned.

"Kid, I have nothing against you and I know you are being sincere, so tell me how."

Dale nodded, but before he said anything, he looked at a small family on the side.

One old man in a wheelchair was being pushed by another old woman.

Next to him was an adult with a crippled leg, followed by a middle-aged woman hugging a young teen.

The young teen gave Dale a thumbs-up when everyone was distracted, making him a tad annoyed.

'This kid left a lot of things from me... If I knew even half of what to expect, I might've brought someone with me...'

'Though it worked well nonetheless...'

'Really, what a troublesome family.'

When the rest of his family noticed Dale's gaze, the old man let out a sigh, he asked his wife to push him and he made his way to the center of the circle next to Dale and Misgurd.

"Old Terry? What is this about…" Misgurd asked in confusion

Terry looked at the villagers and his family before he said:

"I can explain this on his behalf… And I also have a confession to make…"

Terry started to go over his story.

He told them everything, even the fact he was the son of the Cardinal, making him, in essence, the representation of his father's sins.

For many years, each descendent of his family tried to retrieve the Icon hidden in the labyrinth, but in the end, they failed.

He spoke with great sadness and disappointment, but also happiness for having riddled his bloodline with this responsibility.

"I… Didn't want anyone else to risk their lives for something that may not even be there… I…"

"This is enough Terry."

"?"

Dale turned around to look at another Middle aged man.

He was tall and strong like Dale, but he had a long unkempt beard and a scar on his right eye, he had certainly lived for a rather long time.

He wore a simple but unkempt white shirt and brown pants, together with a long circular straw hat atop it all.

His hair was slightly gray but not fully, he looked imposing yet gentle due to his relaxed gaze.

"Village Head!" Misgurd blurted out in surprise

"?!"

'Village Head?! This guy? He looks younger than my dad!'

(Image)

/Pat pat.../

The Village Head patted the crying Terry's shoulder and looked at Dale.

"I've heard quite a bit about you young man… Despite it all, I would like to apologize… Normally I would welcome any outsider in everyone's stead..."

"But I thought you were up to no good and in the end… I once again apologize, you did us a great deed, but so far, I have only given you my skepticism."

He did a slight bow, making Dale stay there feeling awkward.

"It's nothing, I fully understand your conditions and I would be fine with you not trusting me… I will make you believe in me through my actions and not just meaningless words."

"..."

He looked at Dale and smiled.

"Words also carry power... Though we aren't here for a lesson."

"… May I see it?" He asked as he looked at David

Dale nodded.

The village Head grabbed David and inspected it for a few minutes, and said with emotion:

"It's true… The missing holy Icon!"

/Cheers/

The villagers suddenly clamored, some started to pray while others cried even more than before.

Dale felt this to be rather strange but he understood these villagers were probably very religious.

What he found funny was how some of the younger Villagers looked at him.

In this sort of place, it was normal for them to marry at the young age of 17, so there weren't that many girls available…

But the few that were, including some even younger, were already looking at him with some interesting glances… Especially the guys.

/Tap…/

The Village Head tapped his shoulder and said with a smile:

"Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you…"

But Dale whispered something to him:

"I don't think it's time for you to thank me yet… I really need to talk with you…"

He was a bit surprised but he nodded because he also had some things to ask this young man, though now wasn't the time.

So he raised his voice, saying:

"Everyone! I will now officially reactivate the Church, anyone willing to participate may come, otherwise, goodnight to you all!"

He looked at Dale and then at Misgurd, who immediately understood his intention, dragging Dale towards the Guild.

The Village Head turned his face to the Church's Hill and looked upward as he made his way to the church, with a big crowd behind him.

But a few teens remained behind, staring at Caladgolg with mixed expressions.

"I don't like this." One of them said as he crossed his arms

"What do you mean?" One of the girls asked as her expression soured

"Tsk that arrogant guy… Everyone suddenly treats him like that just because of an old object… I bet we could've gotten it back if old Terry hadn't been so conservative..."

"He was thinking about us! Did you see his son's leg? We never knew what made it that way, but now we do, and yet you have the audacity to say such a thing?!"

"You should go and apologize!" She exclaimed in an angry tone

The other girls nodded energetically.

Though... Most of the boys seemed to agree with him, albeit a few understood her words...

So as to not get dragged into the crossfire, they took a step back.

"Humph..."

The boy moved forward, approaching the blade.

He had black hair and sharp eyes, looking at the sword with longing and envy.

He was just too young to understand reality...

'If I can wield such a thing I can do everything he did as well!'

He, together with some other boys made a line, one after the other, they tried to lift it from the ground, but it was futile.

They almost caused an accident when one of them had the great idea of digging around the sword, making it tip to the side and almost squashing one of the girls in the process.

As such, after receiving a collective beating from all of the livid girls, the boys were left agonizing on the ground with tears in their eyes...

Their sense of competitiveness only led to it pushing aside the very thing they wanted to impress...

Because since then, they were all ignored by the angry girls…

And their attention ended up concentrated on a single person...

…

/Back in the Guild…/

Dale, Misgurd, Tina, and a few old men and women were now all waiting for the Village Head to come back

Dale was a bit tense, but also relaxed.

After everything he went through, sitting around a table with fellow humans made him have the urge to close his eyes and take a breather.

Meanwhile, as he had nothing to do, he tried to ask them questions about everything, but they just said to wait for the Head so he remained silent.

It was some very awkward 10 minutes...

[DING]

[The Icon has been returned to the Church!]

[The Church of Resko has met the minimum requirements to function]

[The Church has been partly reactivated, please select a priest for it to resume proper operations]

[Class Change is now possible in the Church.

Special features such as the Trade Market can now be accessed through the Church by paying the necessary fee.

The Church will provide blessings and help in dealing with the villagers' stress on a daily basis.

The Church's influence is rising, repelling ferocious beasts and suppressing chaotic forces under its scope.

The Church's Patron God rules over the domains of Stability and Prosperity; its influence is now spreading throughout the village and its immediate surroundings.

All of the following activities shall receive a permanent boost: Construction speed, Material acquisition speed, Fertility, Crop growth speed, Crop quality, Cattle growth rate, Cattle health…

Your reputation rises massively! Resko Reputation +15*2=30

]

"..."

'Finally… Something to stimulate my boredom.'

'The Church... Good, several of my problems have been solved with its activation.'

'After this is over… My first stop will be the Church…"

"It's almost time for the items to be sold in the auction… I wonder how well my other items sold?'

'I also want to get my first true Class... Being a Fallen Noble won't help me at all... I need something with more substance.'

'I can't wait…'

And like that, Dale focused on reading the system messages as everyone waited…

…

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Notes

Remember to drop by those stones!

I'm not asking, this is a robbery!