Side Story- A different believer

What would drive a person to abandon a god they’d served faithfully for years? Money was a part of it. As an enchanter of Anailia, Valaria had been promised by the queen of the nation herself that she would want for nothing when it came to resources if she showed her dedication to achieving results, that was how desperately Pelenia wanted to have people capable of producing resistance braces, and it seemed the various heads of each lower branch of the government agreed. They wanted enchanters with dark resistances of at least fifteen so that even if the full effect of a person's charm wouldn’t be able to be completely suppressed by the braces made by lower-level enchanters, they could still potentially be made to block out enough of it that that they would be able to remove all but a bit of the effects on contact, a problem that could be remedied with the aid of some modest clothing to be on the safe side. As a succubus with a reasonably high dark resistance of twenty-seven, she’d been given a blank check the moment she agreed.

That wasn’t what made the decision for her though, far from it. No, the decision was made after one particular dream on the same night the request was sent her way. She found herself in a deep, empty void, stretching on seemingly forever, though she only became aware of it when she looked back on the memory. Such a small thing was impossible to see at first glance with the blinding radiance that had been in front of her.

She’d only caught a glimpse before she’d been forced into a respectful bow by the presence alone, but what she’d seen was beautiful. A lithe but powerful body, smooth scales she was sure would glitter in the light if it could get through an already divine radiance, her heart was seized in that moment. Trembling with emotion, she dared not speak for fear of saying something wrong, as her god Anailia sat before her.

“Hello child,” She said kindly, sounding every bit the mother goddess stories said she was. “I’m here to talk to you about a request you’ve received.”

“Anailia, it’s an honor,” She managed to get out. “But please, bear it no mind, I would never betray my faith to you after so many years of devotion.”

Her god gave out a small, charming laugh, and she was captivated all the more, at least until she was shaken to the core by what Anailia told her next. “I know you wouldn’t Valaria, your devotion is as plain to me as it could be, which is why I came to you to make a request in person.”

“Anything.”

A small smile formed on her god’s reptilian lips as Anailia lowered her head down to her own, placing a small kiss on her brow.

<ACQUIRED ANAILIAS BLESSING>

She felt tears of joy form in her eyes. To receive the blessing of her god, what an honor! There was no request that was too big if it meant being gifted something like this, and she waited for her god to speak once more, to let her know what task could possibly repay a gift of this magnitude.

“Consider this more a parting gift, mother to child. Valaria, as my first and last request to you, give up your faith in me and convert to the god Myriad.”

“...If that is your request then of course I will obey.” She said, but inside she was torn apart. Had she done something wrong? Had she been such a poor believer her god wanted her out of her faith altogether? She’d always said her prayers and given her faith the best she could, but should she have tried to do more? She wanted to cry at the thought and did her best to hold it all in, but Anailia saw through the strong front she tried to put up.

Placing her tail around the small succubus, Anailia did her best to reassure her. “You’ve done nothing wrong and have nothing to worry about child, I wouldn't have gifted you with my blessing if I didn’t think your faith was true. This is a request I have to make for the good of all my children. Despite our numbers, we’re restricted to small corners of the world lest our racial characteristics damage the minds and lives of all the other innocent races throughout the land. For centuries I’ve watched you all endure it, but now that there’s a true solution beyond those ridiculous cloaks it needs to be grasped.”

“I understand,” Valaria said, still unable to look at her god. The succubi had been confined to their lands for long enough. The cloaks were unreasonable to make given the materials used and that the entire enchantment could collapse after days of work if even a single mistake was made, there would never be enough for everyone to move freely. Considering all of that, how could she not do this for the good of her race? Still though, despite all of that it hurt to know she’d be parting with her faith, her god after all these years.

Anailia, sensing all of this within her believer, gave a few final words of encouragement. “No matter what god any succubus worships or what path they choose to take, they will always be my children, and you will always be my child, if you ever doubt that, let my blessing be the proof you need.”

Not just comforting, it was also a goodbye, and as Valaria woke up she finally allowed herself to cry.

---

After she’d calmed down she sent a prayer to Myriad and accepted him as her main god of worship in her heart, going to sleep again shortly after and finding herself in his realm.

It had been shocking. All her life and she’d never been given any notice by the gods, and now she’d met two on the same night. He didn’t have the same radiance as Anailia, but she still felt the divinity from him, even if it was to a lesser extent. It was to be expected after all, Anailia had been a powerful god, and she’d been told that Myriad was a minor one, almost no believers to his name.

What she hadn’t been informed of was his appearance. It was more than a little surprising to see a floating cube before her at the time, but gods came in all shapes and sizes, just because it was unexpected didn’t mean it was unacceptable and she quickly got past it.

He’d apparently brought her there solely to talk. There wasn’t much information available on him and knowledge of a god helped solidify faith, she thought that was all there was to it, but over the next few months she kept being summoned in her dreams. It was only about once a week, maybe for an hour or so at a time, but even just meeting with her god for a second time had been shocking, never mind the fact that it continued on after that. Perhaps strange and confusing would be a better way to put it. She’d never heard of a god devoting so much time to their believers, but she couldn’t deny it was strengthening her faith. For the shiny metal cube she worshipped to take an interest in her life, spending time chatting about her week and remembering what she’d spoken about previously, it felt more like making a friend than being devoted to a god, but then maybe that was part of his appeal. Small gods likely had more time they could devote to their few believers compared to gods that had them in the tens to thousands, but she couldn’t deny it made it easier for her to open up to him.

As she drifted off to sleep for the night, she thought that despite how painful the change of faith had been for her initially, maybe it wasn’t so bad, and she woke within Myriad's realm.

Having grown used to this by now, she quickly prostrated herself, respectfully keeping her eyes from her god's divine figure as he began to speak.

“You know Valaria, I think I mention every meeting you don’t need to greet me like this.”

“To do otherwise would feel disrespectful, Myriad,” She told him, still bowing down. “To stare into the face of divinity would be too much for me.”

“I understand that’s the normal response, but I’ve gotten a bit too used to my apostle’s attitude. You can be respectful without being so distant, you know?”

“I understand,” She told him, finally looking up as her god created a chair for her to sit in. This had become the typical routine upon meeting, something her god had failed to get used to from all of his new believers when he would make time for them. “In that case, have you found any way I could be of use to you in the week since we’ve met?”

It was hard to accept they were just meeting casually, and she always asked for a way she could show her new god her worth before getting to the small talk, each time being told that the best thing she could do for him was to continue giving her faith. At least, that was how it would usually go.

“Actually, I have a way I can be useful to you,” He told her with cheer. “Your skill is ready.”

<ACQUIRED SKILL CONNECT LEVEL 0>

She didn’t know what to say. Getting the skill just like that, all for giving her faith for a few months. It made her feel a little guilty. She’d been asked to convert specifically to get it. Her new god wasn’t dumb, he knew why she’d converted to him and yet still gave the skill so easily, after a few measly months of prayer. That wasn’t even considering the fact she’d gotten his blessing days after converting. It actually left her worried for him. Would Myriad be okay? Wouldn’t people eventually try to take advantage of his kind nature? Wasn’t that exactly what she was doing.

Guilt started to claw at her as she thought about it and it took her a moment to realise that her god was speaking.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, calm down,” He told her gently. “You haven’t done anything wrong, I’m aware of why I’ve gained the believers that I have and I don’t hold it against anyone so you don’t need to feel bad about the reason you joined my faith, alright?”

She gave a small nod, embarrassed to have been completely seen through like that but at least reassured he wasn’t mad.

“Alright,” Her god went on. “Now that you have it, why don’t I tell you a little bit about the skill. As you know, it allows the user to make resistance bands by feeling the target’s mana when you connect to them. You may have to level it up once or twice before you’re able to use it to create the enchantment you’ll need, though it’s hard to be sure since my apostle discovered the application of it when he was at level two. For now, you’ll be a bit more limited in what you can do with it. It will let you sense the emotions of the people you use it on, though as it grows you’ll eventually be able to hear and see the thoughts of the people you connect with. Other ways I’ve seen it used at level zero would be to connect with plants as a way to communicate, as well as a bug killer.”

“I’m sorry?” She asked, not sure if she’d heard correctly.

Myriad just chuckled. “If there’s a vast enough distance in the two minds then one can damage the other. In the same way it wouldn’t be safe for you to connect with me or any other god, the simple mind of an insect can’t handle exposure to yours. Of course, you’re free to attempt to grow it in whatever way you deem fit.”

“Of course, I’ll get to work on it right away.” She said, gratitude seeping from her voice. “There was just one more thing I’d like to ask about if possible…”

Of course, her god saw right through her. “You’ve heard about its potential to use in enchanting by borrowing the skills of others I take it? Pelenia was aware of its potential, of course she would let you know.”

“Ah, so it's true then?” She asked, hoping she wasn’t coming off as greedy or overbearing.

“It is. There’s some rules associated with it but we can leave that for later. What’s important is leveling up the skill so you can make use of it.”

“I understand,” This raised more exciting possibilities for her work than she dared to hope. There was no denying the fact that once she was able to, the majority of her work would become making resistance braces for the nation, but any other work she’d be able to get would greatly improve. As things stood, her current job was water mage so she could focus on making water-based enchantments, but she almost had enough experience to complete it. The moment she did, she’d have to switch to one that would provide bonuses to it as fast as possible so she could start leveling the skill up, both for herself and for her nation.

“That might be a little hard,” Myriad said, reading her thoughts. “It doesn’t look like there’s any job specifically associated with the skill upon receiving it, but if you practice it with plants you should be able to access tree tamer. Though it hasn’t been tested yet, since the job appears due to use of the skill it should provide bonuses to the skill itself.”

“Then I will devote myself to getting it.”

“I’m sure you will,” He said approvingly. “Just one last thing before you wake up. Be sure to check your mail.”

“Um, okay?” The request caught her off guard. Of all the goodbyes she could have gotten, who would expect that? Still, she felt herself come to consciousness with the morning sun, and after washing and getting dressed went out to see what could be there that was so important her god mentioned it.

She wasn’t one to check her mail often. The majority of people she knew and cared about lived in Anailia as well, many only a short walk from herself, so when she did get mail it was typically from distant colleagues she had a correspondence with sharing enchanting techniques they found interesting. She did in fact have one of those letters waiting for her, probably having been there for a few days at this point, but the second was far more curious.

With no name or return address to say who it had come from, the only markings on the outside were for the delivery address, her home. It was undoubtedly the reason Myriad had told her to check her mail and her interest was thoroughly piqued, but she restrained herself from opening it immediately, instead going back inside to sit down, collecting herself first before tearing into the envelope.

She read through the letter twice, needing to go over it a second time to be sure she wasn’t reading it wrong.

“Ha, there’s no way,” She muttered, unable to believe a skill like this had just been given to her. If the letter, supposedly from the apostle of Myriad themself, was to be believed, her new skill wasn’t just powerful for an enchanter like her, it was life-changing.

A smile stretched across her face as she decided she could take a few days off of work after informing Queen Pelenia she’d acquired the skill. She had plenty of money saved up and no active contracts, how could she waste her time hoping someone would stop by to have an item enchanted or buy any of her wares when she had a skill like this to train?

Authors note

And now the second patron voted side story is here! It's a day later than planned, some stuff in life delayed me a little, but it's good to have it out. I'll have the next poll up in a week but until then hope you all have an excellent day!