I shook my head, walking together with Lifre and Tsubaki through the white halls of the research facility. Chelsea had taken the bone wand with her to conduct some additional tests to determine if the wand posed any additional dangers to the facility. Before she left, however, I asked if she would give us tools with which to travel between worlds, similar to Lifre’s dagger.
Chelsea didn’t have any problem with that, and immediately produced a pair of golden coins, one for myself and the other for Tsubaki. Apparently, this was the standard form of the world transit token, which was used in the remodeling of the Fairy Rings.
“Is there anywhere else you want to take us?” I asked, looking over at Lifre, who had a thoughtful expression on her face.
“Hmm… nope!” She shook her head quickly. “Nobody else asked to urgently see you when you came back or anything, so it’s fair game now!”
The three of us made it back to the elevators, taking a ride to the exit of the facility. Once outside, Tsubaki channeled her powers through the coin that she had been given. Doing so was an unfamiliar process for her, so it took her multiple attempts to establish the void gate. When she did, however, the three of us walked through, finding ourselves hovering in the air high above Ashtanu.
The only reason I knew that we were even in Deckan was the rich aura of dimensium that filled the air. Combining that with seeing the mighty palace rising in the distance gave me enough to guess our location. However… everything else looked completely different.
Outside of the city, there were untamed forests that spanned to the horizon, giving way only when the ocean began. For the city itself, the older buildings had entirely been replaced with towering spires and sleek designs, flying vehicles zooming along throughout the city. I could still see the holographic advertisements that I saw previously, but they were now far more prevalent.
If there was something sad… it was that despite all of this, the number of people that could be seen in the city felt… almost empty. Whether it was the amount of foot traffic or the flying vehicles, it felt as if there were not nearly enough people for the scale of the city.
I took a deep breath, sealing a portion of my abilities and changing my appearance into that of a black-haired kitsune. When Tsubaki saw this, she immediately followed suit, her outfit altering into a long, black dress as her facial features shifted. Only Lifre showed no intention to change her appearance. But, then again… “Since it looks like you two want to explore, I’m gonna go off and take care of some stuff, ‘kay? There’s adventure just around the bend!”
After she said that, she cut open another portal to jump through, leaving the two of us to descend from the sky. As we passed down below the top of the city’s skyline, the view seemed to shift, the buildings beginning to eclipse our view. Even the most extravagant cities from my past life would not have a view like this.
Additionally, I hadn’t been able to tell from above, but I could feel myself and Tsubaki passing through a projected display that covered the city. When we looked up, we could see what looked to be a news report covering the sky. A one-way display for important news?
Well, it was likely used primarily for important news. At the moment, it was reporting the weather, so anyone who looked up would be aware that there was a storm scheduled to start in twenty minutes.
Once the two of us landed on the city’s streets, we noticed a few people sending glances our way, before moving on along their own paths. There was… I wouldn’t say a depressing aura to the city, or even particularly a gloom. Instead, it simply felt like people were used to the current state of things.
Tsubaki trailed just behind me as we walked, maintaining her position even when we were in disguise. I closed my eyes, releasing my World Sight to sweep through the city. Given the scarcity of foot traffic, I wasn’t worried that I would run into anyone. However, I quickly found myself puzzled as I understood the layout of the city.
Udona? I called out, immediately feeling as if my thoughts had reached her. Why aren’t there any schools in Ashtanu?
For the Goddess of Education, I could not imagine her giving up on something as simple as schooling for children. Surely she didn’t just put basic knowledge into spheres and send them to kids to have them learn, right? No matter what happened, I couldn’t see her wanting things to evolve in that direction.
Hmm? Oh, that’s actually pretty simple. Because of the last invasion, there was a massive decrease in population throughout many worlds. To avoid children feeling isolated from their peers, most worlds now conduct schooling in the Virtual world. It’s easier for teachers to design a specialized curriculum, and they can reach more students at once.
While children receive their basic education in the Virtual world, their real selves are undergoing practical training. For example, the children of Ashtanu are currently out in the forest to the east, observing the local flora and fauna under the protection of one of Accalia’s Huntresses. They will probably have some archery training before returning to the city.
I gave a nod when I heard that. I hadn’t seen any children in the city, aside from those with longer lifespans like the elves. As for those, it was likely that they were old enough that they had already completed their education, and had just not reached physical maturity yet.
I see… when we arrived here, I almost thought that we had entered a city from Fragments of Acidia.
There was a small chuckle from Udona when I said that. A lot of the more recent architectural designs in the Metong systems are inspired by them. Because the civilizations in Acidia expand across the stars, they had to adopt a modular design for their buildings, so that they would be better able to build regardless of where they wished to settle. Since they helped us rebuild, it’s only natural that we share the same style.
I nodded my head once more, thinking it over. In that case, is there anywhere that you think we should see while we’re here? I asked, Udona falling silent as she gave it serious consideration.
Go to the very center of the city. Look for the temple, it will have a statue of me praying in front of it, carved from dimensium. After Udona said that, I relayed our destination to Tsubaki, the two of us shifting course.
As we weren’t in any particular hurry, it took us more than half an hour before we found the statue that she had spoken of. Unlike most buildings in Ashtanu, this one had a fairly steady flow of foot traffic. I could feel that there were a large number of gods and fallen deities among those entering and leaving the temple.
When I stepped inside, I saw that there were statues made from dimensium featuring every god or goddess in the Greater Pantheon, all with their heads lowered in prayer. At the far end of the room, I even saw myself standing, hands behind my back with my eyes closed. Each statue stood at least five meters tall, and that was for the smaller ones like Aurivy and Scarlet. Tryval’s stood more than ten meters, as another example.
Looking around the room, I noticed that there weren’t any elevators or stairs leading to other floors, or even any doors to other rooms. Instead, people simply walked to a statue, bowed their heads, and placed their hands on a pedestal in front of it. As soon as they did so, their bodies vanished. When people wanted to leave, they would appear in the center of the room, where a large space was cleared for their arrival.
“Hello, there.” A voice called out to Tsubaki and myself. I turned, seeing a kitsune with bright red hair walking over, a smile on her face. She wore long, green robes, and had bright green eyes. “Is this your first time visiting the Greater Temple?”
“That’s right.” I nodded my head simply. “I’ve been a bit out of touch with the world for a while, and haven’t been out of Fyor lately.”
“No wonder.” She nodded her head. “My name is Priscilla, a priestess of the church. Would you like me to introduce you to the temple?”
“That would be appreciated.” I smiled back at her, and she turned to lead us away from the door.
“After V-Day struck, many facilities in the world were destroyed, including most of the temples. Rather than rebuild them separately, the surviving leaders of each religion sought an audience with the Greater Pantheon, asking permission to build a unified temple. Here, we can show our solidarity as one people, regardless of our individual faith.”
“Each of these statues contains a teleportation spell, which allows a person to visit a different floor, where specialized facilities are made for each god or goddess present. There, they can learn the individual doctrines, and even undergo training to become a formal priest or priestess of that deity. If the deity in question shows them particular favor, they may even be selected as a personal disciple. Though, I must warn you that this is a rare occurrence.”
“I see…” I looked around the room, picturing what each of their floors must look like. However, there was one thing that I couldn’t understand. “What about the Keeper’s floor?” Like the others, there was a pedestal in front of my statue, though very few people walked towards it compared to the others. “I’ve never heard of the Keeper publicly accepting a priest, aside from those in Olympus.”
Priscilla blinked in surprise, before nodding her head. “That’s true. Of the Greater Pantheon, it is said that the Keeper is the most silent. Many say that he is mourning the losses after V-Day. Some claim that this is normal, and that he has little attention to spare for the mortal world as he performs his duties. Typically, any newcomer to the temple will visit the Keeper’s statue at least once to try their luck. Otherwise, the only ones that frequent the floor are those who wish to keep it properly maintained.”
I nodded my head, thinking. “In that case… may I ask which deity you are a priestess of? My apologies, I do not wish to assume.”
Priscilla giggled lightly. “I have taken the trials of priesthood for every deity of the Greater Pantheon. This is standard for those that work in the Greater Temple for a long time like myself. Rather than favoring a single god or goddess, I devote myself to understanding all of them and how they work together.”
I gave a small smile as I thought about that. “Then… could you introduce all of them to me? It’s been a while since I learned the recent trends with regards to the widespread religion.”
Priscilla blinked in confusion, but maintained her smile as she nodded her head. Despite how long it would take to discuss each deity, she was happy to do so.
By the time Priscilla had finished describing the primary rules of the final goddess, Scarlet, more than an hour had passed. She had only rarely seen someone so interested that they stayed to hear a lecture for so long without already being a member of any one religion. And she could tell that these two were not formal members, given that they seemed genuinely surprised by some of the commonly known facts about the Greater Pantheon.
“I believe that I have covered everyone.” Priscilla folded her hands in front of herself, her smile blooming even wider.
“Impressive.” The man said with a nod of his head, his gaze roaming across the various statues. “It’s nice to see that there are people like you here to take care of things.”
Priscilla wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but took it as the compliment it appeared to be. “Thank you. Do you have any particular deity that you would like to offer faith to?” She could sense that the two of them were already gods, but it was common for even gods to serve a religion.
The man among the duo thought about it for a moment. “Maybe next time. Our trip here took longer than I expected, though I am quite satisfied with the results. Hopefully, next time you will have even more to tell.” He said with a meaningful smile, confusing Priscilla as he turned to leave with his partner.
“I believe that I covered everything…” Priscilla said, tapping her chin in thought. As she did, her eyes suddenly widened, a message window appearing in front of her.
|
You have completed the Keeper’s Trial. You have been chosen to receive the position of Priest for the Keeper. Do you accept? |
Priscilla let out a shocked gasp, immediately rushing out of the temple and surprising the other attending priests and priestesses. When she arrived outside, she looked around, unable to find the duo that had just left. However, she could feel the fading energy in the air that typically marked a teleportation.
Priscilla bit her lips gently, thinking it over. Naturally, she chose to accept. When she did so, she felt a rush of information flooding into her mind, knowledge that had been prepared beforehand. The Keeper did not have his own doctrine, he did not have any requirements for his followers. Instead, he offered a simple truth. Due to his nature as the Keeper, there were often long periods of time that he was unable to closely observe the world.
After she accepted this information, Priscilla became aware of the blessing that came from being the Keeper’s priestess. Within her mind was a library, every book containing a different divine domain. As the Keeper’s priestess, she could create one ability for every domain present, which would occupy a single page of the domain’s book. Afterwards, she would be able to freely use the abilities that she had created.
“Priscilla?” Another priest of the temple walked out, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. “Is everything okay? It is unlike you to rush out like this.”
“It… yes, it’s fine. More than fine.” Priscilla responded, her face lighting up. “I just… the Keeper chose me.” She had to check to make sure that there was nothing in the information that she had been given about keeping this a secret, and only when she had done so did she reveal this truth.
“The Keeper chose you? As what?” The man asked, eyes wide. There were only a few things these words could mean, given the context, but each was more surprising than the last.
“I am the priestess of the Keeper, chosen by him personally.” She answered honestly, turning to face her fellow priest. She spoke in no uncertain terms, knowing that he was similarly a priest of Irena, and possessed the power to see through deception. This was a major event, one that she had no doubt would change her life within the temple.
