The goddess, Elise looked on as Mash finished his sculpting. On the other hand, Mash looked at his sculpture and thought that he had done a pretty good job. The statue had originally just been standing in the center of a pretty much empty room. It was also the only source of light for the room too. It was far more mysterious and ominous before. The strange, impossible to identify, piece of white stone made the god seem much more terrifying than what Mash had just finished. He had made a fairly accurate replica of Elise’s real appearance.
She was a fairy. A literal fairy, and even if he made the sculpture as big as a normal person, it still seemed cute. Even if her eyes seemed to contain full moons, they were large, and she had a youthful face. The wings and spring dress that Elise wore made her seem kind of like a noble child. Even if he used the full height of the child, the goddess still appeared young. Adding the final detail to the sculpture. It was as good as he was going to get. As far as recreation went, it was almost perfect. Priscilla’s ability to recreate things was incredible, but he could do nothing to replicate the mystical nature of the goddess.
Elise didn’t mind, and she was smiling a little as she saw her new statue. Mash turned looking over the others. Luke and Luna stared at his creation, both had surprised expressions. Mash grinned proudly before speaking.
“I introduce the real Elise. A replica of her that is.”
His sister stared at her statue. She spoke with some trepidation and her voice shook a little. She probably couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was drastically different from the previous statue after all. Would that cause problems when someone else entered? The goddess seemed happy, so he doubted it.
“That’s the real goddess? Really?”
She sounded disbelieving, and he could understand why. For all of the goddess's beauty, she looked extremely young. If her age-matched her appearance, she would be a little younger than Mash himself. Although, that was probably related to her race over anything else. He wasn’t as worried about becoming an immortal anymore. Even if it happened at that very moment, then he would still look older than Elise. That was a vain thought. One that vanished when Elise spoke.
“Yes, it has been a long time since I had last seen my own form.”
Mash stumbled away from the statue as it began to move. Elise had moved into the statue, and it moved as she spoke. The puppet gained life as she entered it. A trick much like his imitations, but it was probably closer to the possession or something. It reminded him of ghost stories, and the suddenly animated nature of the weird statue surprised him. The mouth and eyes even imitated normal motions, but Mash didn’t think the sculpture he made should have had that capability.
He tried to understand what was happening. Looked through his domain and tried to follow any traces of mana. As he stared at the statue, he noticed how his vision didn’t match what his domain was sensing. It took a second, but he realized that it must be an illusion, some kind of magic to make the statue appear like it was moving. It was a good trick and her magic breathed life into his sculpture. She smiled happily, but Mash was more focused on the magic she was using
It reminded him of his recent experiments. He had needed to blend three different types of magic to make the working imitations. Elise’s possession and imitations were even more complex. It was only two different types of magic, but each was extremely complex. The illusion was a single type of magic; light if he had to make a guess. However, it was the complex blend of the mana that was truly impressive. Color, size, shape, and movement were each handled perfectly. It didn’t even seem like she was struggling in the slightest. Rather, she was just glad to have a body that didn’t look like a monster anymore. He had to wonder why she hadn’t done it sooner. There would certainly be other sculptors who could do better than him.
“Why didn’t you get someone to do this before?”
The casual nature of their conversation made him feel like he could ask the question without worry. Elise didn’t seem to mind, but her smile dwindled a little. The way it drooped so naturally was impressive. There had to be some kind of mental link with the illusion.
“I am invisible to any with such a class. Not many can see me. Even I cannot properly perceive my own body. I believe you and the king are the only ones in this kingdom with the ability. Many could feel my presence, but to get such an accurate sculpture would’ve been impossible. Also, not many would be willing to work with such valuable material.”
That final bit was said with a small smile. Mash wondered if it was a joke or something and raised an eyebrow. He had assumed that it was pretty expensive, but that didn’t mean much. He had gold, and even if it was stone from the moon, it was just some stone. Although, he was curious enough to ask about it.
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“How much exactly?”
“Such a large piece of purified moonstone would be worth several million gold.”
Elise shrugged as she revealed the amount. Her smile hadn’t changed which made him think it was a joke at first. That changed when he noticed the expression on his sister’s face though. Her normally flush features had become pale, the blood had drained from her face. Mash didn’t want to believe it.
“Wait, you can’t be serious, right? I mean why would you just let me cut up something so valuable.”
Elise shrugged her shoulders.
“I could have secured more if needed, and you did suggest that you would pay for it had you failed. I would not have minded a favor from people with such grand futures.”
Despite attempting to be casual with her explanation, it came off as a much more manipulative and well-calculated maneuver than it probably was. It was probably true that she didn’t care all that much. He doubted there were many things she actually needed gold for. Plus, she could probably get more of the stone too. The conversation didn’t really have anywhere else to go. There were a few more words exchanged, but it ended with one statement from Elise.
“There is still the matter of the reward. Is there anything you would like?”
Elise spoke to Mash calmly, but she was obviously very curious. It seemed like she was expecting something from him. He had no idea what she wanted him to ask for. Maybe he should’ve thought more about what to ask, but he didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
“Answers to some questions?”
He phrased his own response like a question. It might have been a blind hope, but he had so many things he wanted to ask. Elise’s expression changed, and she frowned a little bit. His response was clearly not what she wanted. Still, he knew that she would have access to so much information. Even if their conversation had been casual, he expected that she knew a lot of the secrets behind the class system.
Her gaze drifted upward, and she raised one of her stone hands to her chin. She was still thinking about how to respond. Mash wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Elise made it seem like this was the most annoying thing for him to ask. He could have asked for something simpler but had been told to absolutely not try and eat some of the goddess. While he didn’t want to eat people, he wouldn’t mind getting a small nibble of a god. He couldn’t imagine what someone like her would give him.
“Just ask your questions, and we will see if I can answer them. I do know a little about you, and there are some things I can’t say.”
Mash wondered who could impose rules on a god and only had one suspect in mind. That naturally led him to ask the most relevant question.
“Do you know the world owner?”
He had yet to find any clues on the being that owned this world. He assumed there was one but didn’t actually know. Even if the goddess didn’t know, he wanted some confirmation either way.
“I know of him, yes. However, I may not speak of him until you get past level 200.”
Elise’s response did give Mash some validity for what he knew, but also brought up another plethora of questions.
“Why level 200?”
This question makes her glance to the side for the second. It was this gesture that made him think that she must have established a mental link with the puppet somehow. He looked at her, his gaze like a hopeful puppy. The information about classes above level 200 was nonexistent. No one at the level shared anything. Not the names of skills or classes. This was the first time he had ever heard a real mention of the level. He wanted more information though. Elise smiled a little.
“This much should be fine. Level 200 requires more than just killing monsters or clearing dungeons. Once you get to 200, to actually advance is more complex than before. That is usually the final class people can get. You can keep leveling certainly, but you can’t advance your class normally anymore. Once you get to 200, the advancements are a matter of quality.”
Mash ate up the information, committing it to his memory. Well, Priscilla committed it to her memory, which was basically the same thing. Elise was telling them a lot, and he was more than a little grateful for the information. Any hints on how to advance at that level would be huge, and an advantage that most would not have. He had to try and get more.
“What level are you? And is the quality like upgrading your skills?”
She shook her head slightly. It wasn’t a normal rejection though. Her head bobbed at an odd angle as if he was partially right.
“I will not tell you my level, but it is above 250. Though there is not much to gain once you get this far. As for your second question, you are partially right. Altering your skills is possible and it might work. However, that will depend on you as well. You and your friends are on the right track, just keep going and you will eventually get there.”
That was some good confirmation to have, but he still wanted to know more. He was going to push for more but paused as she raised her hand.
“I can’t say anything else. I’m sorry about that. Although, I think I have said enough.”
She wasn’t going to give him the opportunity to dig for more information. Mash sighed but nodded. It seemed like they were out of time, and he knew better than to ask for too much. Honestly, he didn’t really need or want any reward. He was just being opportunistic. The goddess was nice, and he liked her. He didn’t want to put her in an awkward situation, and he was more than happy with the answers he already received. Luke and Luna seemed just as satisfied, although Luke’s gaze was focused elsewhere. Mash wondered what he was looking at and felt some of Elise’s mana hanging in front of Luke. A secret conversation between two gods? He wished he could listen in but settled for just saying his goodbyes.