6.42 – Holy Energy II

6.42 – Holy Energy II

"The first way is the most obvious," Aria said. "How else would you expect a deity to gain Holy Energy? Through the worship of their followers."

Zoey nodded; that announcement hardly caught her by surprise. "I'd figured it'd be something along those lines," she said. "Even wondered whether it would just happen, without needing a skill for it. " Though it turned out it would be through Aria. Zoey paused. "Speaking of, your skill description is telling you all of this, right?" Or was it just Aria's intuition?

"Its description, yes," Aria confirmed. "It's a longer one than most. Multiple paragraphs."

"What else does it say? Does it define what a follower is? Or what worship means? And how much we'll get?"

"No. It's more organic than that, I think."

That also didn't surprise Zoey, since all skills tended to be sparse on the exact details behind how they worked. They had to be experimented with or observed to be understood. Like with Delta's shadow.

"The daily amount increases based not just on how many followers you have, but also how fervently they worship you," Aria continued. "How strongly they view you as a growing deity. That will probably be the biggest factor behind how much Holy Energy we're gaining."

"Huh," Zoey said. "But what does worship mean, specifically?"

"Oh." Aria seemed surprised by the question. "The usual, I assume?"

"What is the usual?"

"How often they visit your temple, light incense or say prayers—"

"Prayers? For what?"

Aria shrugged. "Blessings in your aspect. So romantic pursuits." Her cheeks colored. "And with how closely related you are to Ephythithys, I assume certain other woes, like fertility issues or, you know ... whatever else." Her deepening blush made it clear what 'else' she was referencing. After a second of being flustered, she laughed suddenly. "I really need to become less awkward about this stuff," she said, "since I'm supposed to be your high priestess."

"You're in good company, at least." Zoey had hardly gotten over being flustered herself. She might never, honestly. Her class was just too ridiculous. Much less all of this upcoming 'goddess' nonsense. "It's a lot to take in."

"But yes," Aria said. "So long as they're thinking of you, praying, visiting the temple, or similar activities of worship and acknowledgment, then you'll be earning passive amounts of Holy Energy. Especially when your following is large, I assume it'll make up the bulk, if not nearly all, of your gains."

Worshiping her. That idea was almost too weird for Zoey. Especially because she'd always been rather irreligious—and the idea of starting any temple, much less one to herself, felt far more 'cult-y' because of that fact.

Then again, Zoey's previous beliefs didn't matter. Because gods and goddesses did exist. That wasn't something that could be disputed. She had literally been sent to a new world by one. What she had believed back on Earth was irrelevant; she had physical proof. Worship meant something different, here. Something tangible.

The girl was obviously not used to playing the seductress. Her blue eyes were wide and nervous as she awkwardly shifted her weight around on Zoey, her hands not seeming to know what to do—eventually clasping together in front of her, not even settling on Zoey's shoulders or hips.

Unfortunately, the timidity very much did something for Zoey. Her heart started slamming inside her chest, provoked by the priestess's proximity. Her cock throbbed at full mast inside her pants—which the blonde priestess was shifting her hips back and forth to rub against.

"And just so you know," Aria murmured. "There's one thing that's mentioned specifically in the skill. That gives a lot of energy." She leaned forward, lips drawing close to Zoey's ear. "Breeding."

A shaky breath escaped Zoey's lips.

"And I know you already took care of that earlier," Aria continued with a short, breathy laugh, "but how about we make sure it took?" She rubbed herself back and forward more noticeably, stroking Zoey's cock through two layers of clothing.

As attention-grabbing as the words were, Zoey's thoughts briefly cleared up. She blinked at Aria. Because she had just remembered something she definitely should have told the girl earlier.

"Oh, shoot," Zoey said. "I didn't actually—you aren't—" She organized her thoughts. "Before me and Delta, um, performed that ritual with you, we took a potion."

They might have been playing into the fantasy, as much for their own fun as for the ritual's sake, but Zoey wouldn't actually go around knocking up random priestesses. However wildly enthusiastic they were about it. Afterward, they'd been interrupted by Aria's father, and Zoey had forgotten to tell her.

"As in, one that makes us infertile. So you're fine."

Aria blinked. Her hips stopped moving atop Zoey's lap.

"Huh?"

"There's no way you can be pregnant," Zoey told her. "The potion makes it impossible. I would've told you earlier, but I forgot. That's my bad."

She stared at Zoey.

"Um," she eventually said. "Zoey, I don't think that matters."

"Excuse me?"

"You performed a ritual to the goddess of fertility. One explicitly blessed by her—one she showed up in person for. What would a potion matter?"

Zoey stared at her.

"What?" she asked dumbly.