Chapter 195

Chapter 195

“Uhg, why is everything so terrible,” Ben whined during breakfast, face down on the table. After a full week since his first crushing defeat he’d tried again each day, working on new tools and weapons he thought might give him an edge but completely losing in the process.

Abrus seemed amused by the fact he wanted to keep trying against him at his full strength and was happy to oblige, giving commentary on the few items he’d managed to get off that continued to be all but powerless against the spirit as they were easily avoided.

The only reason it happened before breakfast on this day was due to the fact that Ben expected to be extremely busy and wouldn’t be able to make time otherwise, but had still wanted to give his attempt and manage even the smallest of things before the spirit placed a single finger against his head.

Thera, sitting beside him, gave him a reassuring pat on his back. “Come on, it will be okay. It’s not like you didn’t know you wouldn’t be winning, right?”

“I mean, yeah but I thought I’d have a little bit of progress by now to make the defeats slightly less humiliating.”

“For what it’s worth I think you’re doing well,” The great spirit told him. “Most people aren’t willing to go against the full force of my skill again and again, you’ve got good tenacity.”

“And I’m rather pleased that you’re managing to keep my husband entertained,” Pelenia added. “Since the generals ever so politely asked if our army could stop having to try fighting against him all those years ago he hasn’t gotten to have this much fun in a while, so if you’d keep it up I’d appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on quitting,” He told them, no matter how defeats he ended with. “It is good practice to see my items in action, at least for the few I managed to activate, and I think I’ve been able to make some progress for how I build my enchantments at least.”

“Well tell you what, if you manage to land a hit before you leave I’ll give you a reward so don’t go giving up on me yet.” The spirit told him with a laugh. “I’ll make it worth your while.”Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“Deal!” Ben quickly agreed, eyes lighting up as he did. Even if he wasn’t going to win, it was a good extra bit of motivation for him.

They continued the meal, chatting about their plans for the day and discussing how their stay had been so far. Thera seemed to be making good progress with both her earth and life magic while Ben was doing his best to deal with the advances and subtle bribes that came with each person he made a brace for when the door quietly opened and one of the queen's aides ran in to whisper something in her ear.

Pelenia made a brief unhappy face before sending them on their way.

“Everything alright?” Thera asked her mother. In the past, if their meals were ever interrupted it tended to mean an emergency, but Pelenia waved away her daughter's worries.

“It seems security found an elf attempting to keep our home under observation from a distance. It’s nothing major since he was caught easily enough, though a little annoying we have to depend on Alfheimr to properly inform us of just what he was doing, but diplomacy is diplomacy.”

“Wait, why are you sending him back to Alfheimr?” Ben asked. He was already aware it was the home nation of the elves as a result of reading up on the race as a whole in his attempts to try and figure out Lehie’s age, but he would have assumed he would be sent away after whatever information they’d wanted was obtained.

“Extradition treaties. Since succubi have a decent chance of finding trouble in other nations if their charm isn’t properly suppressed, we have arrangements with many others for the safe exchange of prisoners in the event of any wrongdoing, with the trust that it will be handled appropriately. It’s not satisfying but it keeps things civil and safe for our people.”

“But how can you be sure that’s his nation? He could easily be from elsewhere.”

“True, but as a rule of Alfheimr all elves automatically receive citizenship. If he originally lived elsewhere then he’ll probably be allowed to return so long as whatever reason he was observing our home wasn’t anything too distasteful.”

The politics of the whole situation seemed like a pain and he was happy it was nothing he needed to worry about as he finished up and moved on to his main task of the day, heading down to his workshop, where just outside around thirty people were waiting. It wasn’t another group there to get braces and attempt to win him over though, it was his god’s other believers.

What sort of person do you think I am? He asked his god and getting no answer.

As he got closer, one by one each waiting believer shifted their attention towards him as he gave a friendly wave and put on his most winning smile. Myriad had told them what he looked like so he’d be easily identified and they knew who he was, there was just a single thing he found strange.

Why do they all look so worried?

He thought he picked up a guilty tone from the voice of his god, but as curious as it left him he pushed it aside for later. He had to focus on the task at hand, being an official apostle.

Still, a shame I couldn’t have forced this on Sachel. He gave as his final thought before speaking up to the crowd. “Hello everyone, I’m the apostle of our god Myriad, but you can just call me Ben. I’m also the creator of the resistance braces as I’m sure you all know, and seeing as how the reason all of you converted was because of that fact I’d be happy to discuss that with you, but I’ve also had a long, long week dealing with your various nations trying to ever-so-subtly convince me to move to their lands, so first I’m going to make one thing clear. If any of you do the same, you can leave immediately, understood?”

His god asked as the other believers' eyes widened and quickly nodded their heads.

I’m just setting the record straight. It’s hard to express what a pain in the ass it’s been to deal with, after this I’m not making them for anyone but Thera and I’ll just live off of the profit I’m getting from your other believers making them.

“Alright, with that out of the way let’s get to the main event. I hope you’ll all bear with me, this is my first time acting in such an official capacity as an apostle. Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard of the details of Myriad’s first church, right?”

Confused looks went around as one succubus spoke up. “We were just told the church would be coming to Anailia, I think I can speak for everyone when I say we didn’t really understand what that meant, but we’re here to give our faith.”

You didn’t explain it to them?”

He let out a long sigh. “Alright, in that case, you, would you mind coming up here?” He spoke to the succubus, a woman maybe a couple years older than he was, with long dark hair and a nervous expression. She did as she was asked, though looking hesitant the entire time as he took off his coat and handed it to her. “Due to some unique circumstances,” And some minor-

Minor sacrilege. “The church of Myriad is this very nice coat. With the defensive enchantments on it, not to mention the built-in temperature control and the fact that it will only become stronger as it receives more faith, I’d say you’d struggle to find a better coat in the world than this.”

“Anyway, as odd as it may seem, this is our church. Myriad can gather more faith than usual if you pray to it or while wearing it, so please, go ahead. Let’s see, I’d say maybe each person should spend ten minutes in the coat while the others pray before switching out, and while that’s happening...”

The eyes he was seeing from the other believers told him they couldn’t believe what they were seeing and he gave them a small wave, telling them to get started as he pulled out the holy book he’d written for Myriad, reading some of the more interesting passages from it as they began to pray while at the same time taking out a knife to add and break enchantments on it for the job experience.

“I do, thank you.”

“Good, in that case, who’s next?”

Hours passed and the lessons and advice stretched well into the evening until he managed to get through everyone, giving advice and answering questions as he went until everyone was done and they were able to call it a night.

He bid farewell to the others, though they still seemed uncomfortable with him, but there was a single one he stopped as they went to leave.

“Valaria, if you don’t mind I’ll walk with you, there’s something I want to discuss.”

A look of fear passed her eyes but she did as she was asked, not having it in her to disobey the request of her apostle.

If she’s scared it’s because of whatever you’re saying behind my back you jerk. Anyway, I’m going to do a bit of proper apostling so sit back and watch.

“There’s nothing to be worried about,” He told her with his best smile as he motioned for her to walk. “I’m actually really impressed with how good your enchantment was, not to mention the fact that you’re apparently the first of Myriad's new believers to get the skill to the second level. That must have taken a lot of work.”

“Oh, well thank you but I was just the first in Anailia to get the skill so I’ve had the most time to practice it is all. The nation was in a hurry to get us to develop it the best we can so we’ve been thoroughly put to work.”

“No need to sell yourself short, everyone else has had it almost as long as you but you’re still the only one to get it so high, you should be proud.”

She gave a small nod in thanks and wasn’t sure what to say. When Myriad had informed her of his apostle’s visit she hadn’t expected it to end in the one-on-one attention she was receiving and wasn’t sure how to interact with someone at the top of her faith.

“Anyway though, there’s actually something else I wanted to talk about if you’d be willing. I got the impression you might be struggling with something,” Admittedly the impression came from being told directly by Myriad, but whatever. “I just wanted to see if you’d want to talk. I am the apostle of Myriad after all, it’s important that his believers feel comfortable in relying on me.” And if that leads to you eventually taking the head priestess role so I’ll have even less work to do then all the better.

Are you saying you don’t want me trying to help her work through her issues?

Then just relax and let me do my best, it’s not like I’ll be able to get her to take it immediately, maybe just nudge her in the direction.

As he had his back and forth with his god, Valaria walked in silence, debating about opening up before she gave in and explained where her issues lay.

“It’s just... I don’t regret converting to Myriad, he’s been very good to me. Too good even, giving me not just a blessing and his skill, but also a quest as well. That’s kind of the problem though, even if he says not to worry about it, my reasons for converting had nothing to do with faith, it all came down to both my country, as well as Anailia herself making the request of me. As understanding as he is, it feels like I’m taking advantage of his goodwill when I feel like I haven’t been able to completely commit. All of my family and many friends as well give their faith to Anailia, even if it helps my people, it can feel like it’s created distance between me and them, you know?”

“So to sum it up, you feel bad because Myriad’s done so much for you, and you’re feeling some distance from others in your life?”

“I guess that’s right.”

He thought for a moment before answering, trying his best to put together some advice that he thought might work for her. “You know, faith can feel like such a complex and meaningful thing, but ultimately it’s such a small part of your life. After all, when you were worshiping Anailia, how often would you actually talk about her with your friends and family?”

“Um, I’m not sure.”

“But then it’s pretty safe to say not too often right? Sure, she was something you all had in common, but in the background, not as the foundation your relationships were built upon. Your conversion is so recent it’s probably at the front of yours and their minds, making it seem like a bigger deal than it is, but honestly try to ignore it and just act like you always would with them in the past. Who you are hasn’t changed, the important thing is making sure others see that.”

He could tell from her eyes that she was listening attentively and he knew he had her, so he pushed forward to the most important part.

“As for feeling guilty about how much Myriad has done for you, well I’d say he did it of his own free will so you shouldn’t let it bother you, but I know things are never that easy, are they? I’ve heard it said that too much kindness from one party can be a weight for the other if not paid back. If you feel guilty for how much Myriad has given you, why not do something for him? It just might make you feel better for all you’ve received.”

“But what could I possibly give a god?” She asked, completely pulled in by his speech. “What does one do for someone so far above them?”

“It’s actually rather easy,” He told her gently. “Even the quest is a way for him to reward you for doing something for his sake, but if that doesn’t feel like enough then I would simply say talk about him. Maybe not to your friends and family since trying to force your new god on them would have the chance of making whatever divide you think exists into a reality, but when you’re making braces for your people, take a minute to let them know that it’s thanks to the god Myriad that such a thing is possible and suggest they give just a single prayer of thanks. Gods need faith after all, and even if it isn’t as much, they can still get it from nonbelievers.”

She put on a thoughtful look and they continued to walk until reaching her home. Before she went in she gave him a small bow. “Thank you. For taking the time to talk, that is. I’ll think on what you’ve told me.”

“Of course, it’s my job to help his believers after all so if I was able to ease your worries even a little then that’s enough for me. You have a good night now.”

He walked away, not looking back for fear that it would ruin the atmosphere of the wise and helpful apostle he’d just tried so hard to set up until he was sure he was out of sight and gave a small cheer for himself. “Freaking killed it!”

All of my good apostle vibes can only truly express themselves when they’re directed to making running your faith someone else's problem. As an aside I like the idea of her as head priestess. Since the biggest group of believers you have is in Anailia it makes sense for a succubus to take the role, and since her people seem to be the most powerful of all those afflicted with passive magics she could probably do a good job leading your other believers too. Add that to the fact that she’s both an enchanter and having the easiest time of everyone leveling connect and I’d say it’s the perfect role.

Cool. One thing I’m curious about though. She said Anailia asked her to convert? I thought it was just Pelenia who made the request.

Even if it wasn’t an ideal way to spend the day it had been more productive than he’d expected and Ben couldn’t help but feel good as he neared Thera’s home. He’d finally made good on his promise to visit the other believers with the church to boost the faith Myriad would receive and even helped motivate a potential future priestess, not to mention spread the info on how to improve the braces a bit more, meaning that as soon as the others leveled up connect just once more they’d be able to help any member of their species outside of their current resistance range.

Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I’ve absolutely killed it today.

Grin plastered on his face, he made his way past a passerby to walk to the property gates, only to hear Myriad scream as he felt something pierce his neck.