In the heavens, the gods watched down on the world as they did all they needed to. Preparing for the war wasn’t just something to be dealt with on their end after all, they needed to be sure their believers were doing their best as well, along with any mortals who’d been doing any work for them specifically.
Of them, the most important groups were the ones who had gotten to reap the benefits that killing the forbidden gods had brought. By enjoying potions that immediately boosted one's stats so significantly, everyone who’d enjoyed one was made to work all of the harder for it, with gods and nations alike expecting to see a payoff for the investment.
Of course, every tier three skill user got to enjoy one immediately, then it just came down to which of the tier two skill holders would get to partake of them as well, with many of the summoned making the cut by virtue of their already great power. For all the trouble the forbidden gods had caused with their choice, at the very least there was some good to be gained from it.
Aside from potions alone though, there were also the weapons that would be gained from making use of the skins and bones that were left. Weapons that needed to be split fairly across each nation, not letting any one gain more benefits than the others as various gods and rulers decided amongst themselves just who they would be made for specifically, and as the weeks passed and various orders were fulfilled, things began to calm down enough for each deity to stop restraining their people on one single thing. Contacting the unaligned awakened craftsman, the apostle Ben.
It was uncommon for anyone who had made the jump to awakening a skill to not tie themselves to any nation for all of the benefits it would bring, and rarer still for those who didn’t to be so publicly known for awakening. Joining anyone would lead to a level of wealth one normally wouldn’t be able to get otherwise at their fingertips when in return they’d be asked almost nothing, in the case of anyone with a crafting skill the only real drawback being that the nation who supported them would have their work as a priority, with the potential to ask them to ignore the requests of others depending on various factors and international relationships.
It was simply too good of a deal, with the only reason people hadn’t flocked to him despite knowing he only had a vague attachment to Anailia being that no god wanted to cause any distractions while the god bone weapons were being worked on, but even the ones who had voted to toss Ben into the infinite hells would want him if they could get him, and with most of the weapons almost done, they stopped holding their people back from trying to bring him into their fold, as other, less desirable intentions made themselves known as well.
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“Boss, I’m not sure about this,” One imp spoke up amongst their group. “We’ve heard the rumours, this seems like a quick way to be ripped in half before being tossed into the infinite hells.”
A round of agreement went up amongst them all, but their leader was taking no objections, smacking each of them silent.
“You can’t just focus on rumours you idiots, you actually gotta think a bit. The only part of this that’s gonna be true is that he’s an awakened craftsman and that he completed the trial, the rest is just fluff that got added on as the story went around.”
“But they say he’s an apostle boss,” One whined. “I don’t want to learn firsthand what an eternity of torture looks like.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“And he completed that trial,” Complained another. “There’s no way he’s weak enough for us, let's just pick a safer target, come on.”
Again, each of them, even those who stayed silent, was smacked as their boss ground his teeth, disgusted with their idiocy.
“Listen up you complete fools, the same things scaring you are enough proof that it’s nothing more than rumours if you’d just think about it for a little bit,” He took a moment, looking among them to see if any would get it but only finding confusion in their eyes before he shook his head and explained for them. “Look, you’re all worried about attacking an apostle, right?”
“Right.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
“Of course you are, ‘cause that would be insane! Nobody would do something like that, so there’s no way he can be one if someone tossed him into that trial. At the very least, anyone who did it would be smarter to off themselves before the gods could get their hands on them, you get it?”
“I guess that makes sense,” One muttered. None of them could imagine attacking an apostle after all for fear of the consequences, surely nobody else would do it either, no matter how much they didn’t like them.
“But what about the fact that he completed it?” Another asked. “That’s no rumour.”
“Sure,” Their boss allowed. “But again, actually think a bit and the solution is obvious. This is a trial that people have been failing for centuries as even the best warriors and mages planned all they could before attempting it, along with any other poor schmuck who was tossed into it like this guy. You want to know why he’s the only one who’s made it out?”
“I’ll bite boss, why?”
“‘Cause it has to be a crafting trial.”
The eyes of his five underlings light up in comprehension at what their boss was saying. Everyone knew that crafting trials existed. One of the thirteen tower trials was for crafting after all, but when one heard that it was a trial nobody survived, that potential simply slipped all of their minds, making everyone expect challenges of magic or combat instead of any technical skill like that. After having it spelled out to them though, it seemed obvious.
He could see the understanding in his underling’s eyes as he let himself smile, having that bit over and done with so they could focus on what was important. “So, now that you understand that it’s simple. We track him down, do a light break-in, take whatever he’s got that looks valuable and sell it off. An awakened craftsman without a backing, it will be some quick and easy money.”
“And if he doesn’t have anything?”
“Well, then things get a little messier, but it’s just a craftsman. We put him to work for a night, sell off whatever he makes when we get out, and if he’s agreeable he leaves with all his bones intact.”
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“You’re both sure of this?” Vulcar asked the two sobek with him. “You don’t have to join me in this, I can bear this sin alone.”
“Don’t be insane,” His first companion told him as he shook his head. “We need to make sure this gets done, and right. The slippery bastard has done too much to our god to just stay still. We’ve all seen that abomination in front of the church and we know he’s the one making it. Get rid of him and even if more need to be supplied in the future then at least the price and danger should drop.”
They all ground their teeth just thinking about it. The sight of the priests of their faith hanging out of a window to supply the floating statue with power, the sheer volume of damage the last statue had done to the first church of their god, with fear of it happening again keeping people from going as much to give their faith, all from the rage of a monster that needed to be put down.
“We both understand what needs to be done,” The second companion said. “Once he’s put down we’re all prepared to give up our lives, if just to get a bit of revenge. Even if Eneth can never thank us for this, we do it freely for him.”
Looking at the two with him, Vulcar could only nod. “We’ll need to wait for when the time is right, but in the meantime do what you must to prepare. We want this to affect our god as little as possible, no matter how hard it might be. Remember, we do it for him.”
“For Eneth.”