Max sighed as he stepped out of the capsule, the slime releasing its hold on him and falling back into place. Twelve in game hours spent cleaning up crabs from the farm and he was only partially done. About thirty of the Evil Spirits were crabs and they housed the area closest to the home where Alicia and her family lived, further out were the mid areas of the farm were, there were fox like Evil Spirits. They didn't fight back and instead ran away. He was able to figure out that they were the majority, with around fifty of them appearing.

It wouldn't have taken so long if the foxes hadn't spent so much time running away. He'd only managed to kill around ten of them before the sun began to fall in Aldemoor. When it got dark, the Evil Spirits were impossible to see, though Max found that his body gave of a soft glow, a sign of his divinity he supposed.

It was annoying though. The foxes became far braver at night and would attack him. He'd only catch a glimpse of their figures with through his glow before they vanished into the darkness once more. He had to give up killing them for the night. Unfortunately, Aldemoor had specific rules for logging out. One had to return to a safe zone before they could properly log out. It was designed that way to prevent logging out in the middle of combat and abandoning team members.

Unfortunately for Max, this meant he had to travel through the village and into the forest at night, back to his 'Shrine' the small box was similar to what Max understood to be a small shinto shrine. It was strange but when he stepped into the clearing where his shrine was he received a notification that he'd entered a safe zone.

Max loved the log out process. The second he placed his hand on the shrine and clicked the log out option, the shrine had grown and a doorway opened back to his game hub. It was a very smooth transition.

Now that he was out of the capsule, his body felt a little sore. The slime did a lot of wonders but staying in place for three hours was pushing it. He could upgrade to the shifting slime which would move his body at intervals, enabling him to stay in for the maximum eight hours, but that was costly.

Thirty two hours in the game was a long time to be awake. The capsule could theoretically simulate sleep, but it wouldn't be as effective. When humans sleep, the brain processes all the information from the day, using the virtual world to replace sleep would just constantly pile on more and more information without letting the brain process any of it. Eight hours in real time was the maximum, most people would be at their safe zones by then. If not, they'd be forcibly ejected from the game and their character left defenseless.

Max shook his head of those thoughts. Four hours at most was what he could stand. He did a bit of calculation in his head before nodding. He left shortly after it had gotten dark, that gave him about two hours before day broke in Aldemoor. It was stupid that he could leave with eight hours before morning and only have to wait two hours in real time. He could get something to eat, maybe take a quick nap, check the online boards for information on his own situation.

So that is what he did, he sat before his computer biting into a sandwich as he scrolled through information on the Selphas race, but no mention of the yellow lights. There was some mention of Deities. Many of the Light Faction such as priests and paladins prayed to various deities, there was even mention of evil Deities that the Monsters and dark races revered. Max was stunned at this information. He hadn't even considered that these were actual beings. Most games that used a religious background were just fluff for the abilities, but it seemed that in Aldemoor, there were really Gods and Goddess that granted blessings and curses.

No mention of Players being made into gods though. Either he was the first or the other Players like him were keeping their mouths shut about it. It was a strong class that was for sure, but it was dependent on followers. No one would willingly give away information like that. There were evil religions as well as good ones. To be part of the light faction was to be their enemy and a newly born god of the light faction would just be a sitting duck.

"Better to be quiet until I have a better understanding of my abilities and my surroundings" Max had temporarily attempted to leave the area beyond the village by following the road out of the village. However, he'd been stopped by an invisible barrier, attempting to push through the barrier actually caused him pain and lowered his health.

"Some kind of Local Deity thing?" Max wondered as he pulled his sandwich apart and popped the individual pieces into his mouth "Can't leave the place of my 'birth?" he sighed. He hoped that as he grew stronger, he'd be able to travel further.

"Oh shit. Do I have to get more shrines made for me? There are only NPCs in the village and no players to go out and actually build stuff for me" he groaned. Even if there was a player, there was a very high chance they wouldn't even be able to talk to him.

"I have to figure out how to change my name too" he said frowning. The game hadn't given him an option to pick a character name. If he was a deity, it was probably something he had to do once he got his followers to acknowledge him. Whoever heard of the great god Max?

He made a spitting noise as he laughed and accidentally sent a few pieces of chewed up bread and meat onto the screen "Shit!" he sighed and got up to get a paper towel to clean up "Last time I make a joke while eating" he mumbled.

Once he was done cleaning, he looked up a map of Aldemoor and frowned "Damn this place is big" he said shaking his head. He'd seen the planet first hand but it still amazed him just how big it was. This particular map was interactive, allowing him to scroll across the map and look at points of interest placed there by other Players who also used the map. Eventually he found his Village. It had been found by a player and left alone because it had very little to offer, a fact that Max wanted to change.

"Hmm, if I can gain enough influence...maybe I could cause the generation of quests?" Max looked thoughtful as he smirked. The Selphas people in the village continued to live through hunting, but the food obtained was less than the amount of people in the village. The sustained themselves on a mixture of hunting and farming, with farming being the majority.

Unfortunately, Max was weaker than the hunters of the village at the moment, even if he'd been just a regular player. The only thing he could do at the moment was make a quick note on the map, stating that the village needed supplies. Either an easy experience seeking Player or a good Samaritan would take chance to travel there.

According to the map, it was rather far from the nearest large city, though there were other villages along the way. Some minor dungeons as well.

"Can't wait to explore those" he said grinning. If he could extend his traveling range, he could go fight monsters in dungeons. Well, that was a goal for the future. Max checked the clock and nodded "Guess I'll take a nap" he said grabbing his phone and setting an alarm before heading to his room and lying down. It wasn't long until he fell asleep, more exhausted than he realized. His mind had been awake for twelve hours after all.

Funny enough, Max dreamed of using his tail. In the battles with the crabs and the foxes, he became quite adept at using it. It wasn't at the level of a limb he'd used all his life, but it was getting there. Similar to those who practiced another language until the dreamed in it, he was now dreaming as if he actually had a tail.

When his alarm went off, wakefulness eluded him for the moment, leaving him groggy. He stretched and sighed as he laid there. He'd always had a bad time getting up after sleeping, whether it be after a nap or a full nights rest, he always acted the same.

After laying there for a moment, and nearly falling back asleep, he got up and properly woke himself up before climbing back into his capsule. Once he was back in his virtual room, he saw that he had a message waiting for him, one of his friends sent it.

Hey man, I saw in my hub that you finally got Aldemoor! Congrats, its been a long time coming. When you get leveled up, you should find us and we can party up. Send us your location and we'll visit, maybe power level you.

Max smirked "If you only knew" he said softly as he quickly replied to the message. There wasn't much his friends could do to help him at the moment though he did tell them that he might be taking the religious path and that they should be prepared to build shrines to his deity when he had one.

It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but his friends liked to brag about a lot of things, their own exploits as well as their friend's. He told them that he'd join them for a dungeon run when he finally got out of his starting area.

Once he sent the message, he headed towards the game hub and activated Aldemoor. Unlike the first time he did, this time was much more reserved. A simple door opened, leading him back to the forest with his shrine as the doorway. When he returned, he found something strange about his shrine.

It had been decorated with a small red ribbon. He couldn't actually touch it but it was the thought that counted. It seemed that his efforts at restoring the farm didn't go unnoticed. From the looks of the ribbon, it most likely belonged to the little Selphas girl Alicia.

He chuckled "What a sweetheart" he said before shaking his head "At least she knows someone heard her prayers" he grinned and turned towards the village "Alright, lets kill some foxes!" he clapped his hands together and broke into a light jog. He could tell that he was a bit late as it was already nearing noon. It made him realize that Alicia must've gotten up early to check the farm and found it looking better before returning to his shrine to thank him with the ribbon.

"The people of this world work hard, even the children" he said frowning "I'd hate to let them down now" when he arrived at the farm he frowned slightly. The crabs had returned, but not in as great a number.

"How did they come back?" he asked himself as he moved close to one of them. He wondered if the other Evil Spirits attracted them to the location. He'd have to kill more than returned every day.

"Lets get started" his body shifted into a battle stance as he moved forwards and immediately used Tail Whip on the nearest crab, knocking it back before he charged forwards and used his fists to strike the creature. A few well placed blows quickly ended its existence before he moved on to the next one. He knew what it took to kill these Evil Spirits. He already needed to find a way to deal with the foxes, he couldn't waste time on the weak crabs.

Given his weakened status, Max was a bit surprised that he was cutting through the crabs with such ease, but he didn't look a gift crab in the mouth.

The foxes were the real trouble. From the previous night, he knew that their attacks weren't greater than his defense, but they attacked in groups when the sun fell. What they lacked in power, they made up in group tactics.

Of course, they had none of that during the day but the bastards kept running away!

Max looked at the glowing marble in his hand "Hmm, the Evil Spirits drop these and I assume this is also what they eat from the plants..." he scratched his head slightly before looking around "It would make a good bait, but there is no where for me to hide" the farmland was rather bare aside from the various small sprouts.

If he wasn't incorporeal, he could make some sort of trap...maybe...but he was so there was no point in thinking about it. Kicking at the ground showed that he wouldn't be able to dig a hole either as he couldn't move the dirt.

As he was standing there thinking, he noticed one of the foxes approaching him or, more accurately, the sprout he was standing next to. He didn't move as he watched the fox get closer and closer before it began feeding off the sprout's energy.

He'd never been this close to one of them before. He was sure that they were far weaker than the crabs, but their agility was through the roof. The second he moved towards one of them, they took off into the distance, closer to some larger spirits he couldn't quite make out. They only attacked him at night, but they way they moved closer to the stronger Evil Spirits made it seem like they were luring him into a trap so he never followed them further.

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Now it was strange. The fox was acting like it didn't even notice him. He gently moved his tail slightly in an experiment and the fox froze for a second as it looked around.

'No way...' Max thought 'They can't see me unless I'm moving?' the crabs hadn't been like that. They'd attack whether he was standing still or moving about.

It was easy to forget that these creatures weren't real animals, just the Evil Spirits mimicking the form of the animal. Max slowly shifted his feet, stopping every time the fox turned to face him. With a little bit of time, he was able to put himself in a position to pounce before pausing to wait until the fox was looking away from him.

Then he pounced, leaping forwards like a cat before landing on top of the fox. A solid five damage floated up with the addition of a critical hit notification. He quickly stood up and prepared to attack again when he noticed the fox not moving.

Status Effect: Stunned

A window appeared showing that he'd stunned the fox, though Max was unsure for how long and quickly used his Tail Whip to end the fox's life. It seemed to only have five defense and only ten health.

Picking up his loot he frowned "A lot of work to kill a weaker creature" he murmured before sighing. It had taken him a few minutes to get into position to attack the fox and now he had to move to another one and repeat the process.

When he was relatively close to another one, he pulled out one of the Source of Life marbles and set it on the ground before moving away and crouching down. He watched as the fox sniffed at the air, seeming to smell the pure life energy coming from the marble before moving forwards.

Max idly wondered if he also had the same smell. The marble gave faith, so maybe his body converted some life energy into faith? He had no faith so maybe the foxes couldn't smell him at the moment, something he was glad for.

When the fox was close enough, he bounded forwards and slammed his body onto the fox and stunned it again.

'This kind of sucks, at least with the crabs I was making good time, this is going to take me all day' he thought as he struck out with his tail.

He continued to do this for two more hours. He'd only managed to kill five more from the first two for a total of seven. Seven in two hours. It would take him about fourteen hours to kill them all at the speed he was going. The crabs themselves only took twelve hours and that had been because he was being cautious of attacks from others and often fought more than one crab at a time.

Max was grumbling to himself as he pounced and killed another fox. A noise echoed in his ears as another window appeared.

Through repetition and sheer focus, you have unlocked a new skill: Pounce

"Oh great, two hours and I unlocked a new skill" Max said rolling his eyes "Wonder what this even does besides making me a better attacker" he opened his status screen and tapped on his new skill.

Pounce Leap from one location to another using the minimum amount of sound. When used on an unsuspecting enemy it will inflict the Stun status.

Max laughed softly. It didn't do much in the way of combat, but it did seem to help with moving silently. He knelt down and activated the skill, his body glowed slightly as he kicked off lightly, sending himself shooting forwards before landing lightly. A quick check of his status showed that it used a bit more stamina than his Tail Whip skill, which made sense considering that he was using his whole body to move instead of just attacking with his tail.

The stun status was good too, Max had found that when pouncing without the skill, the amount of times he stunned a fox was only two out of seven times. Now it was guaranteed to stun all the time.

"Physical skills use stamina, but I don't use stamina moving around and doing the actions myself" he said. He lost the special benefits, the Pounce skill was effortless and quiet, but when he did it himself he made a lot of noise landing.

"Repetition huh..." Max said scratching his chin. It had taken two hours of constant pouncing to unlock the skill, though there was no punching skill and he'd been doing that a lot. Maybe there was a specific way to unlock a skill beyond repetition.

As he continued his fox killing endeavor, he couldn't help but wish he had a long range skill. He was a Deity but didn't have any evil purifying skills. He'd throw rocks if he could pick them up but, alas, there were no ghost rocks nearby.

After killing another three, Max sighed before looking at one of the marbles he'd gathered. He'd been using them to pep up the sprouts he found but maybe they could be of more use...

Turning around, he headed back towards Alicia's small farm house. He paused at the door and wondered about getting in. Despite the size, they did have windows so he couldn't climb through them...

Max slapped his forehead "Damn, right. Incorporeal" he laughed before gently touching the door and feeling his hand pass through the wood "Weird.." he chuckled as he stepped through the door. It didn't feel like anything, as if the door wasn't even there, though his vision was immediately blocked off for a second when he did so.

The room he entered was simple, a small living area connected to a kitchen area. He could see a wood stove and a table. On the other end of the living area was a small doorway leading into a bedroom.

The bedroom had two beds in it though that was about it. It certainly was a village, Max had heard form his friends that the cities had magical device that acted similar to modern tools. These people barely had anything.

Alicia was in the bedroom though he didn't see her parents. They must've been out working somewhere. The little girl had a book which surprised him. Looking at the title, it seemed to be a book on botany. Plant care. Max rolled his eyes "This girl really does care about her farm" he laughed before he pulled out a marble.

"You asked for a blessing, guess I'll give you one" he popped the marble into his mouth and swallowed it. As it passed down into his stomach, it broke apart into warm energy that filled his body.

His faith number went from zero to one. He grinned "Alright!" he said before bringing up the information on using his Blessing Skill.

Blessing Beings of great strength can bestow a portion of their power to give those lesser than them great benefits. The type of blessing depends on the amount of Faith used.

Selecting Alicia as a target for his skill, he held out his hand to her.

You've chosen to bestow a blessing upon the individual known as Alicia Valtores. Please state the nature of the blessing.

Max looking thoughtful before he looked at the book the girl was reading and nodded "Botany" he said.

The windows vanished as he said that, a soft white glow quickly enveloped the Selphas girl causing her to look up and gasp as the power flowed into her. The effect didn't last long but it was showy.

After it was over, a screen appeared in front of her.

"Oh cool, because I gave her a blessing, I can see her screen" Max said kneeling down to read what the screen said.

Due to your faith and determination, the Local Deity of your village has bestowed upon you a Minor Blessing. You have been gifted the Rare Skill: Botany.

"What the hell? I can't give myself skills but I can give them away?" Max said incredulously before shaking his head "Forget it, must be a special function of the game" he said. All he'd given was the type of blessing he wanted to get her. He thought it would give her some affinity with plants or something.

The little girl however was extremely excited, so excited that she'd stood up and began looking around for anyone that might have been in the vicinity. He shook his head. She wasn't going to find him.

It took her a moment before she smiled and sat back down "Status" she said though he didn't see that particular screen. He did, however, see the screen when she brought up the information on Botany.

Botany

The study of plants. This skill allows the user to further understand any plant they observe. Any plant touched by this skill becomes more resilient and less likely to die.

Notice: Due to being gifted this skill by a Deity, the additional effect of warding off Evil Spirits is given to the plant.

Mana Cost: 25 Mana

"Oh..neat. High mana cost though" he said grinning. This would help him a little bit, at least to protect the plants he'd already saved. Once she started using her skill, the crabs that reappeared wouldn't be able to attack those plants.

She was young though, he wondered just how much mana she possessed. From the look on her face, it wasn't much.

She then made a determined face and stood up before heading out of the house. He quickly followed her as she walked towards her farm. The closest sprout to her house was still a bit further into her farm. He looked around to make sure there weren't any Evil Spirits nearby. He didn't know if they could hurt more than just plants, but he didn't want to find out.

"Botany" the small girl said as she knelt down before the sprout. A soft green light flowed from her hand and into the plant before she paused. From looking at her eyes, Max knew she was reading a new screen. Probably the information on the plant.

Max was more interested in the very faint light that stretched out into a small bubble. A little bit of measuring put it at about three feet in any direction. Stepping into the bubble made him feel comfortable.

You've entered a warded zone. Health and Stamina increased by one second while within the zone.

Max grinned as he read the information that popped up. it wasn't much, but it was better than what he currently had. He wondered if the effect grew as Alicia's skill with Botany grew?

She was going to be surprisingly strong when she got older. After this quest was over, she was going to be his follower permanently as well. He'd wondered why his faith didn't grow every day but it was probably because he hadn't finished the quest.

He watched Alicia as she stood up and headed back home. He guessed that she barely had the mana to use Botany once and needed to rest but to his surprise, he could see her leaving her home a few seconds later, carrying a wrapped object in her hands. She was heading towards his shrine.

"Oh?" Max was a little confused so he followed her through the forest, trying to get a clue as to what she was carrying but it was wrapped up too well.

When they reached the shrine, she knelt down and began to pray.

It was a weird feeling having someone else's thoughts enter his mind. It had only happened once before after all.

'God, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you!' her voice was extremely cheerful. He wondered if he even needed to be standing there to hear her.

'The skill you have gifted me is great and will help a lot! But my dad said to never accept a gift without giving one in exchange'

Max frowned. What kind of teaching was that. The whole point of giving a gift was to express appreciation or thanks, or simply just love for another person.

'So I've decided to give you this. My dad is a hunter and this is one of his old bows. It is too old to be used in hunting but maybe it can be of used to you. Again. Thank you'

She finished her prayer and unwrapped the bow. Despite the fact that she said it was old, it looked nice, well polished and taken care of. It was a deep brown and the string was a bit worn but not entirely unusable. She laid it against the shrine and stood up before bowing and leaving.

Your Temporary Follower has gifted you with a tribute. Would you like to assimilate it?

The window appeared immediately after he moved closer to observe the bow. He quickly selected the yes prompt when it appeared and watched as the bow slowly dissolved into light before the light flowed into him.

"Oh shit! That is awesome!" he said as a new window appeared.

Old Selphas Hunter Bow (Assimilated)

A bow that was once used in great hunts. Continuous use eventually made it unusable in future hunts.

Assimilated: The bow has been claimed by a Deity and given new purpose. Because of this, it has been returned to its prime.

+6 to Attack +3 to Agility

Max laughed and clapped his hands as he read the information provided. His first weapon that wasn't his tail, and it was pretty good. It increased his attack to sixteen when equipped.

"This is so cool. So people can actually gift me items? Too bad I can't tell them what I want. I'd love to have a sword too" he said sighing before he held out his hand "Equip Old Selphas Hunter Bow" he said. It was a mouthful though, he'd have to see if he could change the name in the future.

A stream of lights left his chest and flowed into his hand, quickly forming into the bow he'd seen before "Neat...but what about arrows?" he asked as he tugged at the string. When fully pulled back, however, it quickly formed a small arrow out of light.

He released the string and watched as the arrow vanished into the forest. Looking at his status showed that his stamina had gone down by ten points "Of course it uses stamina" he said shaking his head "Nothing so convenient as something without a cost"

He could fire ten shots before he had to wait for his stamina to regenerate. It was time to test out this bow on some foxes.

When he reached the farm he was pleased to see that no crabs had respawed again. It seemed to be a daily thing. It didn't take him long to find a fox to practice on. Kneeling down, he took aim at the spirit and pulled the string back.

It felt so simple, the act of pulling the string was as natural as breathing to him. It was smooth and felt nice.

Moving his fingers away from the string, he let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and, with a solid thump, struck down.

"Ah damn, I missed" Max said sighing as he watched the fox immediately spring away when the arrow landed close by it. He'd thought that the game would automatically adjust his aim so that he'd always have a perfect shot. He'd been wrong. He couldn't aim worth shit.

The arrow had been close but that was only because he'd been pointing in the right direction. When he looked at the area he'd fired at, he also saw that it hadn't fell very deep into the ground. It didn't take long for the arrow to fade away leaving no evidence of its existence. It had been stuck in the ground but not physically.

Max rubbed his head, feeling a headache form as he tried to figure out why an arrow would pass through the ground and then stop. He eventually left it to spiritual stuff and ignored that problem.

His main problem was aiming. He only had ten arrow to fire and he couldn't waste them on missing a stationary target.

He moved forwards in search of a new fox to shoot at.