Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

After managing to drift off so peacefully despite the day she’d just been through, realizing that she wasn’t genuinely asleep to escape the trauma of it all, it felt almost mean to lose that chance at some peace, but she also knew where she was and tried to not give that feeling away too much, even if her mind was doubtlessly being read.

Instead, she focused on the goddess who’d brought her there, bowing deeply as she did.

“Anailia, I guess I should have expected to see you after today.”

“You’ve had quite a busy one, nobody would fault you for having other things on your mind,” the goddess chuckled above her, her snake-like body moving to coil around Thera comfortably in a way that felt far more loving than it might have looked to any outside observer. “Thera, congratulations. The first of my children to grab godhood with their own two hands. I just wish my husband could have been here to share in this momentous occasion.”

“Getting it was more stressful than I’d been expecting,” Thera admitted, while her goddess just smiled.

“Reaching such a level without some sort of stress to surpass those limits would be an even greater accomplishment. While I can’t speak from experience, an awakening like that typically takes a strong enough drive to surpass an outrageous goal, along with the buildup of experience one needs in their skill. With how long you’ll have to work on whatever you desire, the idea that you could get there for other powers through effort alone isn’t impossible, but to do it so quickly was always going to need something more. Still, you saved your love and reaped the benefits of such an accomplishment. You should be proud.”

“I am, but… what now?”

“Just what do you mean by that?”

“I mean, I’m a soul mage now, right? The gods were hoping for this, that’s why you all let Ben talk you into awakening my magic inclination and everything. There must be some expectations about what I should do now, right?”

“Mmh, I suppose so, but that’s nothing you need to worry about immediately. After what you’ve been through, I won’t let anyone bother you so soon, and in a few days when we have a proper meeting about it, well, I think I’ll make sure your partner is involved. He does have a charming way of trying to make sure things go in his direction.”

“... I’m not sure if this is the sort of thing that Ben should be starting trouble with other gods about.”

“That’s not entirely the issue. Thera, you’re now going to stand among us as an equal, which means you’re going to need to begin to lose the reverence you hold for the divine, but expecting you to do that immediately is simply too much to hope for. Considering your lover’s nature, having someone with no reverence by your side might actually make things smoother. At the very least, it will mean I won’t need to look after you alone.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to become anywhere near as casual about it as he is.”

“You’d be surprised. The more you act with us, the easier it will get, but the boy says it enough that you have a good foundation. Just consider us as people, myself and every other god you might interact with, and respond to their actions as you would a person. If you can keep that in mind, you’ll be in a better position to expect proper treatment, even if some up here might take offense to that before you properly rise to godhood.”

“Alright, I understand what you’re saying and I’ll try, but at this point, unless I’m killed, I can’t even begin to guess when I’ll actually ascend.”

While dying horrifically in the third wave was the most likely option and would leave her in the higher realm far sooner than she wanted to hope, the opposite end of things meant that she couldn’t begin to guess how long it would take to die naturally instead. Though she didn’t know for sure, she and the great spirits had always assumed that her base lifespan might surpass a thousand years, with no real way to guess the upper limit without first living it out, but all of her second tier awakenings had already essentially doubled the length she’d have and now with a third tier one it would be closer to tripled. Maybe that meant she might have three thousand long years ahead of her, or maybe that meant she’d have more than ten thousand; there was really no way to know. In either case, it couldn’t help but feel a bit soon to begin shaking off her devotion to the gods of the world, but Anailia just shook her head at the thought.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Some might not like it, but the ones that matter won’t be against it,” Anailia told her. “You’re my child, and whether you join me up here in a week or a thousand years from now, you’ll have myself as an ally. Though, how much you’ll need any ally is already in question considering what else came with your awakening.”

“Hmm? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Your parental races aren’t just of my line, and it seems that your mixed heritage was still enough to get you the same unusual title your partner did for his own kind. First spirit goddess. When you’re already so loved by them all and considering that the spirits don’t give faith to any normal deity, I wouldn’t be surprised if you get to enjoy the benefits of their love after all you’ve been doing for them. Never before has a mortal had the chance to ascend with such a large faith base and when one considers not only how much you might be able to keep growing it, but also the love you’re getting from the elementals too, it seems hopefully that you’ll be quite powerful when you do finally join me here. Something to look forward to at the very least.”

All of that had gone completely unconsidered by Thera until then; that new title completely forgotten about among everything else but threatened her with a headache as she thought about it. She didn’t know if Anailia was right or not; whatever faith the spirits had was directed to their great ones to go completely unused when spirits like her father had no power over such a thing. There was no denying that she was loved though; would the spirits of the world worship her once she ascended? If they knew it would help her then it seemed likely the answer would be yes, at least until they grew bored of it, but it came with a bigger problem too.

They’re not going to start calling me goddess while I’m still alive, right?

Princess was already too much, even if she’d resigned herself to it, she didn’t think she could handle an upgrade to that particular title, even if she clearly wouldn’t get a choice in the matter. The spirits of the world would decide what they wanted to call her without any input on her part; all she could do was try to put up with it.

“... I guess we’ll see how that turns out then,” she eventually settled on saying, trying to push that small worry off until it seemed like it would matter. With the skill master Zandale going around teaching people spirit empowering and all of the great spirits kept in the know, chances seemed good that a major accomplishment like that would soon spread anyway, she could only hope that the more reasonable of them would keep the others from going too crazy.

A small, private hope in her heart that left her goddess to laugh around her, an undeniably bad sign for whatever she’d eventually have to deal with, she still chose to ignore it in favour of talking with Anailia a bit longer, shifting the topic to anything else.

“Is there anything else you think I should be aware of, then?”

“Aware of? No, but I have one last small piece of advice. When word gets out about your new realm of power, and trust me, from the connections you have, it eventually will, don’t let anyone get away with trying to control you.”

“Is that really a problem third tiers have?”

“I’ve already told you about how you’ll need to act with the gods, but the important point here is what you’re a third tier for. A soul mage, the only skill at that level valuable enough that all of the gods ensure there’s one living in every generation, no matter the amount of work we all have to collectively invest in it, and beyond that, you’re now one of the small handful who have awakened a unique variant of the skill beyond just simple soul magic. The other gods will desire to put you to work as much as the mortals will crave your help. And now, as we near the end, you’re not only the third one we have, but with the mana you hold, you are going to be our most powerful. You’ve become an outstanding resource, but before that, you are my daughter, and that matters far more to me in the end. Unless you want to suffer through unending work, never seeing your loved ones again in the time we have left, you must be able to tell people no.”

“... I understand, thank you for the advice.”

Anailia was correct, after all. Thera’s level of power, both in skill and in sheer mana, was now enough to put the rest of the world to shame, and she was as well aware of the value of soul mages as anyone else. If she allowed it, the world would take her completely, forcing her to admit that her goddess was correct earlier as well. As fundamentally wrong as it felt, she could no longer let herself be controlled by the will of the gods now that she would one day stand among them.