Chapter 206: Convergence

Chapter 206: Convergence

Delta expected fanfare or a choir of holy angelic songs when she accepted her new role but nothing happened. She turned to Nu who stared back.

"Welcome to the show, now get your hat on and serve some Mother Wisdom. I'm going to do something interesting." Nu said bluntly and vanished.

"Maybe it's my imagination, but I am sure you are looking just this side of delicious now," Wyin offered and Delta remembered gods ate each other with tartar sauce and glee. So she covered her torso with her arms and gave the tree a suspicious look.

Delta thanked them for their council and the lore lesson on gods before she stepped away to play with her new menu tab. It was a small tab labeled 'Godly Duties'.

There were only two things in the drop-down section that appeared.

Follower Count: 64

Actions: Delta Bless. Cost 1 Fai- Man-

Points merged! Mana conquered Faith.

Total available Mana: four thousand (rounded to nearest hundred)

Actions: Delta Bless: 2 Mana.

Delta bless? That sounded fun!

Delta looked around and spotted a small squirrel critter minding its own business. Rolling her avatar's sleeves, she wriggled some fingers and pointed at the critter.

"Be blessed!" she called and instead of a magic beam of faith and compassion, there was more like a heatwave and the squirrel stiffened.

Nothing happened and Delta frowned as it ran off, likely confused at the woman screaming at it to be blessed.

"Maybe there's a trick to this thing?" she mused and walked the other way, trying the thing on some birds and insects as she went with the same result.

---

The squirrel ran through the bushes before it stopped and looked to the sky, its form rippling as it stretched. Nearby, Lyre watched as it expanded and began to snarl.

She smiled.

---

This god thing was bogus!

Delta had blessed ten birds, three squirrels, two foxes, and even some fish.

Weirdly, she was getting more followers, slowly, but surely. The second weird thing was the blessing was getting a skill description of sorts.

Delta Bless: To be more.

"Vague is not helping me give magic and I don't want to use this on Giant just yet," she muttered and sat near Bob's basin.

With some thought, she decided she was being too narrow-minded. She could bless more than just critters.

"Pablam! Tree blessed! Bam! Rock blessed! Dododododod, lots of grass blessed! Woopah! Water blessed!" Delta used her guns like fingers, firing the blessings out like a rapid machine gun pistol.

"Something happen!" she cried and flopped to the ground.

Godhood ranked up.

Gained the skill: Delta Adopt!

"New skill!" she sat up and Delta saw her follower count had surpassed 75 now.

"I adopt you!" she said to a rock she picked up.

Error. Rocks cannot consent to adoption.

Delta pursed her lips then used some mana to draw eyes on it and a smile.

"I would love to be adopted, golly jee," she said out the side of her mouth roughly.

Error: Rock is not sentient.

Delta could fix that! She lashed on some mana, shaped it, and even gave it the power to glow.

Glow Rock created: Made from perfect pebble. A druid weeps.

Glows.

So, if it glowed then light traveled fast, like thoughts, so if Delta just made the light into ideas then the rock might think? The screen nearby turned green.

"My game slowed down. Why are you trying to give a rock the curse of life?" Prim asked bluntly.

"I adopt you!" Delta pointed at Prim.

Prim is part of you. You cannot adopt your liver. Please don't try.

"I've been trying to get goddesshood to work but it won't. I've blessed a ton of things and nothing changed," Delta explained.

"You're a god now?" Prim asked in horror.

"And I really want Giant to have magic and a good time. All he wants is to have magic and it turns out magic is god sushi handed out on a global scale so I became a god to do the job myself," Delta said, waving her hands.

"Magic is dead god sushi?" Prim echoed in disbelief.

"And I suck at being a god. Is it my tone? Am I not judgy enough? I just don't think this rock has done anything worth being judged for and I would forgive it anyway because it's my rock," Delta finished, taking a deep breath.

"This must be like your art skills. They're... raw," Prim tried to say slowly but Delta remembered the islands and her face fell.

"What were you trying to bless?" Prim asked and Delta gestured to everything without shame.

"No, I mean, what aspect were you blessing? The tree, for example. The bark? The sap? The roots?" Prim clarified and Delta stared at her.

"I was supposed to be specific?" she asked, confused. Nearby, the tree groaned and its bark ruptured to reveal a pale spongy fleshy inside as white brittle branches replaced the old ones, forming dozens of cheery red mushrooms on its branches.

The trunk, where it was thickest, opened to reveal a bloodshot sideways eye that looked around without any sort of 'intelligence' about it.

"Oh. That is cursed," Delta said faintly.

"No, it's blessed actually," Prim said as she brought up the menu.

Greatly Delta Bless Tree: The Eyes See.

A blessed tree that blooms in death and destruction. It defends the land from attackers and screams to indicate the passing of time. Every hour it screams on the dot.

"I don't think I've improved the quality of life for this tree at all," Delta said slowly as she tried to pet it and it began to vibrate and secrete an acidic sweat.

"This is less 'bless by thy name' and more 'you stepped into a ring of mushrooms' sort of blessing. The terms are loose in what they actually do. The only thing separating a curse and blessing is the blessing has to not totally be malicious." Prim pointed out.

"I would rather 'wake up feeling great every morning' blessing. Can we set it to that?" Delta asked as the rock nearby grew segmented legs and a dozen eyes as it walked away covered in a giant mushroom cap.

Suffocating Rock: The Legs Move

A rock that looks for people to sit on. Not to harm them but because it enjoys comfy things.

Some of the birds she blessed began to molt and soon became wispy-white things that floated through the air on mycelium threads, looking like beautiful but disturbing spirits with an eye on each wing.

Threaders: The Wings Carry

Peaceful birds that sing by inserting their wing threads into your ear. Takes some practice to get just the right length.

"Prim, why the eyes?" Delta asked as she moved around the tree slowly.

"I have no clue. Perhaps your blessing allows them to see the beauty of the world the way you do?" She said then paused, "Not that beauty is something that is measured," she added quickly.

"I've committed a cardinal sin, I made RPG weak points," Delta mumbled as she stepped into a patch of grass.

She sat down to see a dozen blinking eyes with stalks of grass acting like eyelashes. The things blinked and brushed her leg in a gentle squeezing manner.

Grasping Straws: The Fingers Feel

Massaging grass that finds all lumps and knots. If left to do their thing, some say even your bones will become soft and relaxed at the end of the day,

"This is fine," Delta told Prim who didn't look convinced but did look pleased.

"Wonderful inspiration for my next mod," she said conversationally as a fox wandered past, pure white that looked normal otherwise.

"I wore her down and after winning the hand of the dark of my life, it was no trouble convincing a god to make me a saint," Wollom grinned and Alpha was smiling a little too.

"What's it like being a saint?" Alpha asked.

"Long hours with no thanks," Amenstar answered to his father's chagrin.

"Nothing really major unless I'm called down to end Abomination Dungeons. Made myself a name for that once or twice," the man admitted.

"Do abomination dungeons upset gods?" Alpha asked, carefully.

"Of course, Dungeons who break out of their confines and reach a god, and consume them, can create Abyssal Beings. Fallen angels and choirs with eyes of evil and unnatural dispositions. Gods value their self, their total sense. Other gods don't take that but Dungeons do," Wollom said firmly.

"What if they go abomination and eat a god, but don't mean harm?" Alpha pressed and the man humored his question but Amenstar was giving Alpha an odd look.

"Well, even so, a Dungeon that consumes a god will eventually bring their star closer. Drawing in the tear in the night sky until it ravages the land. The dungeon who consumes the god literally grows a massive spotlight on themselves and puts the land in danger," Wollom said, sipping his water.

"A famous case is the blasted lands of an ancient kingdom called Turtog; a dungeon must have consumed a new god because its star collapsed on that fetid place and left very little behind," the priest said and Amenstar hadn't heard this tale before.

"So, the god cannot go back, if it survived?" Alpha asked, his eyes alert.

"I'm not a summoner but I presume it can go 'somewhere' if it is rejected back into the Abyss. Not home, but somewhere." Wollom guessed.

"How did you know a star collapsed? Does it give off a unique energy?" Alpha pressed for more details, even taking Amenstar's father back.

"Yes, a god's star fell on that land. A thing of life and growth. It was a real shame," Wollom said sadly.

"But there are other things that eat gods, right? Other gods, for power?" Alpha looked nervous, bouncing his knee now.

"No, all gods must bend to the accord upon being summoned. The Shattering War made gods limited, even new ones," Wollom explained gently as if sensing Alpha was getting distressed.

"What's wrong?" Wollom asked and Alpha looked at him and there was clear distrust on his face. There was a pause.

"I'm going to do dishes. Amenstar, why don't you walk Alpha back to the inn. Enjoy the cool evening air together," the man said and collected plates and bowls

Alpha let Amenstar guide him out of the house and down the road before he sighed.

"I'm worried about Delta. She's dealing with... gods," he admitted and Alpha looked highly uncomfortable about admitting it.

"Listen," Amenstar began but he didn't know how to begin to assure Alpha that while gods were terrifying beings of power... they were muzzled, disarmed, and only able to get to you if you let them, but he knew that wasn't exactly true.

Alpha looked puzzled but tilted his head as if to listen for something.

Amenstar fought off a smile.

"I hear it, a whirring noise," Alpha said after a moment. Amenstar heard it a moment later, a whump of superheated hair and a strange chopping noise.

A girl suddenly crashed into the ground, creating a small trench which settled a second with splattering mud and water.

"The gods attack with feminine charms," Alpha said, drawing his own sword in sudden aggression.

"Ow..." the girl groaned, not sitting up.

At her side, a strange sword gurgled and then it began to speak.

"Please take... all baggage when you depart Gamma flights," the sword said in a daze.

"You said... this suit had... landing gear," the girl moaned as she shuddered.

"I didn't say it was 'good' landing gear," the sword muttered to itself. Alpha walked over and nudged the girl over, the sword still in her hand.

"Oh it's a boy," the girl muttered with enough mud on her face that it was impossible to make her features out.

"Another one, you and your cute boys... wait, I know this one!" the sword said and the girl winced as she stood up and Amenstar eyed the heavens to see if any more weirdos would drop out of the sky.

"Apple!" the sword seemed to call and Alpha frowned.

"That's not my name," Alpha warned and the sword laughed with sheer delight.

"Of course not, remember? I call you Apple because your name is-" the sword began before the girl twisted and tossed the sword into a nearby pond.

"Screw you!" the girl screamed, her face swelling from the impact.

The pond bubbled a few times before it began to steam uselessly but the girl was limping down into town, looking like her body was still shaking from the fall and perhaps the flight.

"Do you want the sword or the girl?" Amenstar offered.

"Girl. I do not trust swords that might be thrown at me by bodies of water without provocation," Alpha said with a frown.

Amenstar chose a rotten time to not ask for fish for dinner. Those bones would have saved him the effort of getting wet...

He sighed and began to wade into the water.

---

"Quack."

"I get that. Thanks, your Majesty," Beta muttered, looking at the ground.

"Quack."

"I'll tell him when I visit," Beta nodded as the Duke of Wrath continued to give her words of encouragement. He gestured past the massive pulsing tower of Delta to the horizon where a portal out of the Abyss would open soon. Beta's chance to get back to the world she was taken from by the ducks.

She flexed a muscle and from her back, elegant black wings formed like liquid.

Dark Drake Wings level 3: Progress gained. The presence of a majestic specimen has increased this progress greatly.

Turning, she moved with some speed, stopping before the tower as she put a hand on it and focused, causing the spongy flesh to collapse inwards into her own flesh until it became a second heart of sorts.

It beat like a peel of laughter.

She stared as a dozen eyes appeared on her flesh, more symbolic than functional...

"Weird," she admitted but didn't bother making them go away. She didn't even use her own eyes now.

She sniffed her arm and sighed as her entire body radiated the sulfurous air of the Abyss. A dozen baths weren't fixing this anytime soon.

All she had to do was roll up to Miss D, give regards from a Duke of Hell, pass on the Abyss tainted tower, and bail before she got emotional and punched someone.

Beta would then eat a tree as it was barbecued!

Beta just couldn't wait until-

---

Until they got their hands into the thick of it and showed these boonie folks and maybe that familiar aura... their many weapons. Gamma had evil necromantic sticks, and some demonic swords, oh they would love the spear of the saint killer they absorbed once, and while he was around try to find out whom they had to kick really hard for abusing their knockoffs for cheap labour.

Gamma couldn't wait-

---

Until he got back to Delta and figured out how to fight a god.

Alpha was mostly worried about that but something about the air was charged.

He knew that charge from the time before Delta. Unescapable questing. A touch of destiny.

Alpha had to figure out a plan! He just needed to figure out to-

---

"I bless thy leg!" Delta declared and the rabbit's feet grew fuzzy socks.

Something tugged at the back of mind as if she had something to do but getting Giant some magic for his growth was all she could focus on.

Nothing else could be that important right now.

Right?

She should really find that memo folder.

Something said it was important.