Looking at the system’s alternative, it was quite a sum, but it wasn’t enough to make me think twice since I generated more than half the amount in a single day; it was a reasonable purchase.
After deciding on the purchase, I turned my attention back to the old man, still looking at the altar with an expectant gaze "Get up, and have the others move away from the altar", I commanded, and, of course, they followed, each person getting up and moving a great distance from the altar, a moment after seeing that they had all moved back.
I said to the system internally, ’Proceed with the construction’, ignoring the now familiar feelings of divine energy leaving me.
Suddenly, the air around the altar stilled, like the quiet before thunder, and a haze began to form despite the absence of heat. Moments after ground began to tremble with a low, reverberating rumble, as slabs of unblemished ivory-coloured stone began to form, each one stacking over the other in a solid cuboid engraved with golden pentagonal patterns; the ground in front of it was no longer lumpy soil but pressed-down, levelled earth. The entire transformation was watched in silent awe by the surrounding villagers.
[#+2 devotees from casual followers#]
After the unexpected notification, I proceeded, "Will that be all?" I said, then paused, awaiting a possible response that never came "I’ll take your silence as a confirmation of my assumption; the awakening ceremony shall hold tomorrow," I added, finally, before the altar went still, a quiet since I had withdrawn my presence from the mortal plane
"System, show me my status profile" Now fully within my divine realm, I needed to go over how many faith points and how much divine energy I had lost.
___________________________________________
‡Profile‡
Name: Astrael
Title: God of Shelters
Divinity Rank: Minor God [0.3]
Domain: Initial mortal region (Vastyi Village)
Authority: Shelter (EX)
Followers: 40 (7 Fanatics / 10 devotees/ 23 Casual)
Faith Points: 50 (Used for Skill upgrades, miracles,...)
Divine Energy: 2/500 (Used to manifest divine abilities...)
__________________________________________
’So I basically used up my entire reservoir,’ I thought ’At least it wasn’t for nothing, I gained 5 more devotees in turn, I should consider it an investment- yeah, that’s the word, ’investment’, especially with the forthcoming awakening ceremony,’ I said internally, looking down at a group of children, huddled closely around each other but amongst the group, there were 3, each one with a distinct golden glow around them. Come to think of it, each person in this village glowed around them, some just brighter than others, some just very dim to the point of almost going out, an example being that old man.
"System, is that glow a measure of lifeforce or something?" I asked, a bit concerned that my first fanatic- I mean worshipper- might be on their deathbed sooner rather than later
[# No host, although that is a part of your Godly Authority, that glow represents the latent talent waiting to be awakened in each person; the other the person gets without awakening, the dimmer the glow, and the lower the chance of ever awakening. On the other hand, a dim glow in the children doesn’t mean the same; it just means their talent won’t be as... ’amazing ’ as the ones with brighter auras. Just focus on any of your worshippers, and their needed information will be revealed #]
__________________________
Name: Freya Glacei
Age: 15
Talent: Unawakened (S-rank)
Potential: SSS-rank
Faith Level: Devotee
__________________________
Name: Aspen Verdant
Age: 16
Talent: Unawakened (S-rank)
Potential: SS-rank
Faith Level: Devotee
__________________________
Name: Kazel Siol
Age: 15
Talent: Unawakened (S-rank)
Potential: SS-rank
Faith Level: Casual
__________________________
|The next day|
Down in the mortal plane, the Vasyti villagers were bustling around, setting right everything they could lay eyes on or think of, all in preparation for the awakening ceremony. Occasionally, you would hear the adults say all sorts of things to the children, things like;
*Pray to Lord Astrael, that you may awaken a great talent*
*May Lord Astrael bless your awakening*
*Don’t go around doing anything naughty today, else the great one won’t let you awaken a proper talent*
The level of seriousness some parents held, you would think the faith of the world rests on the shoulders of their children and what they awakened.
Noon came in the blink of an eye; the sun, despite its glare, was warm and gentle on each person beneath it, an underlying effect of my authority, and with noon being here, so was the awakening ceremony. The children and adults alike gathered around the altar, children of the eligible age at the forefront and others at the rear; each child stepped up one by one.
The first to go was a black-haired girl with deep green eyes and a timid and cautious air around her.
"Slyva," {A/N: No, I didn’t mean Sylva/Sylvia} the old man said, in front of her, holding the orb down to her level, "Place your palm on this orb. I have read in old tomes that the process is otherwise painless; it’ll feel like a warming current flowing into you and unlocking what you have deep inside, so you don’t need to be scared" The man reassured the shy girl. He never read any tomes, but he had faith in me, but also said it to reassure the girl.
"Alright, Elder August", she replied, steeling her resolve and placing her palm on the orb. At first, nothing appeared to be happening; the orb was cold to the touch, until a warm energy flowed into her, a faint gasp escaping her mouth, with a faint popping sound, similar to the cavitation of joints coming from her.
After a brief moment of focused inspection on the orb, the old man—now known as Elder August—spoke up, "Congratulations, young one. Great Astrael has indeed smiled upon you. It says here you awakened a B-rank talent, Hearth Keeper. It is a life profession, but it is still invaluable. As a Hearth Keeper, the food you cook will restore stamina, mana, and strength faster, as well as provide minor buffs to those who eat it. That’s a very valuable skill to have, especially if your peers awaken combat or mythic talents, and especially at this stage in the village’s development.
"You may step down now, or you may meet with one of the adults to help you better know the herbs, spices and plants of this village, and how they are processed"
As Elder August spoke, Sylva’s face was a mural of joy, she always loved helping her dad cook especially after the plague made her mom deathly sick, was she good at cooking, not at all, but the joy she felt every time she cooked, was like a little hearth warming her up from the inside out, walking down from the alter, she head towards an auburn haired man, his eyes sharing the same green hue as hers, and his smile basically radiating tangible joy as he took her in his embrace, before getting up and leading her towards a black-haired lady.
Next was a boy named Igris; his soft, sculpted, tall, heavyset build was a visible contrast against the wiry or lithe builds of the other children. This same contrast is also what got him known as a ’gentle giant’ amongst his peers, considering that they were all of similar age, and he acted like it, but he just didn’t look like it. He walked towards the altar, softly tapping a younger boy who obstructed his path, a silent gesture to get him to make way.
As he stepped onto the altar, Igris’ heart was a pounding drum within his chest, but regardless, he placed his hand on the orb without waiting for the instruction of Elder August. The process was otherwise similar to Slyva’s awakening, down to the warm current flowing into him and the soft popping sounds coming from him. But similar usually means there’s a minor distinction worth noting. Halfway through the awakening, a pained grunt escaped Igris’ mouth as he clutched his chest with his free hand, as the thrumming within his chest intensified into pounding, the warmth increasing just enough to be uncomfortable, but not unbearable, the heat refining his body from the inside out, sculpting his already heavyset body.
’If only my transformation was as ’nice’ as this’, I thought as I watched, remembering the excruciating pain I felt upon becoming a minor god.
After the process let up, there was a brief, tentative moment of silence, with Elder August examining the results on the orb. Elder August spoke, "Congratulations, Igris!!! Truly, I am happy for you. You awakened an A-rank talent, Forge&Frame," He said with a pause, giving the boy a moment to process the first part of the reveal.
"This talent gives you an intuitive understanding and innate synergy with the processing of minerals and wood alike. With this skill, you could craft weapons, tools, or even basic furniture, with your imagination and available materials as the limit. This skill also lets you manifest a crafting station using ambient mana and metaphysical energy. The sky is your limit, Igris; reach for it"
Subsequently, two others, twins, went after him, one awakening as an architect with the talent—Foundation’s eye—and the other a builder, with the talent—Hands of Stone—both also scaled at A-rank.
Now, there were only 3 children left: Freya, Aspen and Kazel.
Freya, despite her coloured complexion, was a slightly pale-skinned, silver-haired girl with piercing, deep blue eyes that seemed to see more than they were meant to, went up next. Like those before her, she too repeated the process, but just as the warm energy from the orb flowed into her, a physical manifestation oh so similar, yet oh so different from Igris began to take place, as the air around her plummeted several degrees, thick layers of rime spread across the floor with her at the epicentre and in almost no time, the pillars where covered in hoarfrost as well, Elder August stood with his mouth agape, his feet partially frozen to the ground, but his shock wasn’t due to the display, well, partially, it was partiall from the scene at hand...But mainly, it was because of what the orb displayed.
"Freya, my dear", he started, his voice weak and trembling from the cold and mixed emotions of shock and something somewhat like ecstasy, "Well done, truly, you have become this village’s first S-ranked awakened", and with that, a sentence so easy to say, yet too heavy to hear, Vesyti’s first S-rank talent was born.