Chương 76: Chapter 75 - Veymur's Word.

"What do you want? I'm a bit busy at the moment." I have completely forgotten his name. Voren? Doren? Definitely was Toren.

"If you would be so inclined, Veymur requests an audience with you, allow me to guide you." The priest bowed deeply.

"An audience? You mean with Veymur of the mist? A meeting with a god?" Nythera asked incredulously. Does he want me to pray in front of a statue? Pretend to have a divine revelation in the temple? I don't particularly follow any religions but… Veymur did give me the blessing. Fine.

"Yes, milady has a blessing that radiates the love of our lords, it would be our honor to host you at the temple of Veymur" The priest bowed again and made a prayer sign, right hand clutched in his left.

"Very well, lead the way, I won't stay all day though" Nythera followed the priest down the alleys, stopping periodically for the priest to share a prayer with cityfolk. The temple sat empty, morning prayer time long since passed. The man-sized statue of Veymur was naught but stone-carved mists with two eyes peering out of the cloud.

"He awaits your presence" The priest gestured at the statue, a single sitting cushion waiting just a few feet from the base. Welp, sit in front of the statue for a few minutes and go I guess. I should be careful not to fall asleep. Do I need to fake a revelation of some sort? Maybe I can just tell him Veymur's out drinking or something. Nythera struck a meditative posture, closing her eyes she breathed in deeply. Don't sleep don't sleep don't sleep. How long is too long? A few minutes good enough?

Something white flew by the corner of her vision. Her head whipped to the side, but it was gone. She was standing, her eyes were open, she looked down, mists roiling beneath her.

"Where the fucking Hel am I?" looking back up, she was surrounded in mists, even a few feet in front of her was barely visible.

"Welcome to my audience hall" Before her, sitting on a barren throne of grey rock, was an aged man, with brown hair and oversized muscles. VEYMUR? HIMSELF? I'm going to die, aren't I?

"I must say, I have had very few visitors enter with the mantra "Don't sleep", it is nice to change things once in a while" Veymur took a deep yawn. Nythera's eyes darted around the place, too embarrassed to make eye contact.

"I'm sorry if I offended you" She barely mumbled out.

"Well, regardless, having a blessed one here is nice, the unblessed are typically too worried I'm going to smite them to have a conversation, and well, you're from a particularly curious place" The voice came out, a hoarse, dry rasping. Her eyes snapped back to the man. A long white beard attached to a shrivelled old face with a pointy hat now sat upon the throne. His legs did not reach the bottom of his seat. What the fuck? This is a completely different guy.

"Sit" he waved his hand, bones cracking from the first movement in a century or five. Nythera fell into a stone stool, far less comfortable and significantly lower than his throne. She made the mistake of losing sight of him. When she looked up, there sat a young woman, with flowing golden hair, her head resting on her hand, she looked to be incredibly bored.

"The rate of development of your domain is… satisfactory, watching your shenanigans has been more entertaining than most domains under my control" Veymur's voice was a haughty, shrill pitch.

"I am glad you are pleased with it, the blessing you granted me has been a great boon to my people" Nythera said, struggling to form words of gratitude.

"Other gods have taken notes, one's not of Kronan. Water flows and rocks crack. Ice is melting on the nexus that has not happened for many thousands of years" A boy's voice now, a young lad with messy brown hair and pinchable cheeks.

"Multiple pantheons really, if too many gods get involved it is going to become something of a mess. That is why I brought you here, to ensure we can resolve things swiftly and avoid any of the nasty business that takes place when three pantheons are warring over one tiny sea" Veymur had become an infant, clothed in lavish silken robes. His voice was barely audible, struggling with the limitations of the form he now inhabited.

"What do you have in mind?" Nythera held eye contact.

"A partnership, it would protect you, the primary power within that flux-nexus, from any godly forces. Once you claim the third island, getting into that place from the outside will become increasingly impossible" An old woman cackled, taking a bite out of an apple. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"I am interested, if you would be so kind as to inform me of the details, perhaps we could reach a deal" Nythera tried to suppress the eagerness in her voice. Another blessing? Godly smite powers? Do they have any cannons up here?

"You will be acknowledged as one of my priests, official title and all, but no responsibility to temple functions. The only rite you must perform is that of initiation. A very good offer if I do say so myself" Veymur smirked, the smile of the farmhand he had become not reaching his eyes. This sounds… too simple, too straightforward, would I be a system-recognized priest? Bound to his rule?

"I appreciate your offer deeply" Nythera bowed "But I must reluctantly refuse your offer."

"I will throw in an artifact wrought from starlight, something to crown your rule over the isles in my name" Veymur leaned forward in the throne.

"I am sorry but I must refuse" Nythera kept her head down.

"Final offer, a sword of starlight to go with the crown, capable of cutting through nearly any substance""I refuse" Nythera said flatly.

"Last final offer, A ring that grants fifty points in attunement and the ability to manually raise the stat" Veymur's tone carried a note of impending finality Fifty? And manually raise it? I could have… so much fucking flux, I would never have to worry about the cost of skills again, I could evolve Aether Cannon again and again without worry… This is a trap. I will not become his priest and his insistence to it is concerning.

"I refuse, but I would be willing to discuss another deal" Nythera raised her head and came face to face with an old man garbed in robes of silk, with a traditional crown resembling those of Vathrial's western lords.

"Hmm, very well, state your proposal, but if you try any tricks, I must remind you that despite my appearance, I am still a god. Do not forget your place." Here we go.

"There are other religions in my land, those outside Kronan, and they are numerous and powerful. I fear aligning with Kronan too closely could cause severe internal issues. Instead I will offer Veymur, the right to build a temple in every city in my domain, with materials and labors paid for by your temples. Furthermore, I will lower your taxes once I gain the ability to do so via the system" Nythera's voice picked up speed and volume as she went on. She paused and breathed in deeply.

"In exchange, you grant me something worth my time. Something useful. And you keep your followers placated and loyal." Nythera sank back into the stool, tension leaving her shoulders.

"You dare? To demand loyalty and "something useful" from a god while offering so little in return? The impudence! I could just kick you out this moment, or worse, send you back stripped of my blessing, replaced with an equally powerful curse" the mist turned dark, swirling like a stormcloud.

"A few measly temples and a tax reduction? That is all you offer to the likes of me?" Now let's find out if my bet pays off.

"Of course your eminence has truly great power, but the fact that I still sit here shows that you want something from me, and I, as a lowly blessed, can only offer so much without wrecking the domain you so covet" Nythera kept her head low, avoiding eye contact.

"Very well, you're better to me as a thriving domain, I will grant you a skill. This skill is the same my priests often carry, I think you will find it uniquely suited to your situation" Veymur waved his hand dismissively. Skill Granted! Mist-Shaper: Mist can be controlled with flux, 3 flux is consumed per second, scaling with the type of mist. The maximum distance is 5 meters. For every level, gain 2% distance, and -1% flux cost. That is a weird one, I wonder if… oh that's why he said "uniquely suited".

Can I just bring down the pure mists onto people and kill them with this? It would be a very effective weapon.

"I thank you deeply, Great Veymur, for such a mighty skill, but as you may very well be able to tell, my list of skills is already quite long and I am not certain I have the appropriate resources to take care of this mighty skill… might you have something else?" Nythera felt sweat drip down her face.

"You are the most impudent whelp that has ever set foot in my court, I give you my priestly skill for some tax breaks and temple rights, and you dare to ask for more?" The girl in the throne squeaked in anger. Dark mists swirled in her vision, peaking into her peripherals as if to grasp her from behind, like some giant claw.

"I am sorry if I offend you, I only seek the resources that would ensure this domain thrives." Nythera's sweat dripped off. The sigh of an old man came out as a wheeze.

"Fine, you may have some domain merit. Use it well, if you squander it on statues, we will meet far sooner than you like. The tax reduction will be 50% when you reach Count and can implement such." Domain Merit Gained x 50! By the gods, that is a lot of domain merit. At the rate I was getting it, maybe ten years worth of it? I'll have to ask Talvik what I should buy. OH, I was not expecting that!

"What just occurred? I felt a surge of system-energy in my abode. Something happened" The man in plate armor asked, but she could not read his face behind the visor. Title Achieved: Benevolence Have your subjects erect three statues of you without payment or coercion. +3 Authority.

"I just got a title called "Benevolence", apparently people put statues up of me?" Nythera said.

"Oh, really? Come on, did you just spend a token or something? What happened?" Veymur asked.

"No seriously, I just got a title" Nythera flicked the new title notification up so Veymur could see it. Veymur coughed, "Well isn't that something, your governance has gotten the Benevolence title and not the Malevolence one, or any of the variants, quite something" he seemed to be choking on something in his throat.

"On another note, did you get the artifact Luck was supposed to send you? Should have been a starlit tier item of some kind, I don't see it on you" His eyes, each a different color, narrowed in suspicion.

"What artifact? I never got any "starlit" tier artifacts. I am sorry to tell you, but I do not even know what starlit tier is" Nythera cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

"Nothing? No super powerful weapon or item of any kind? Nothing that made you question how that item even got there? You are certain?" Veymur leaned in as he asked.

"No, not a single thing of such power" Nythera shook her head.

"I am going to strangle luck" Veymur's palm met his face.