All the stress must have built up in me because I had passed out before I could even get a chance to read more of Fienna’s book. I was instantly in my memobrary the moment I laid down. Recently I would have gone to research something with the kingdom, but it was really just too stressful and I had told my people to rest so I should as well.

The best way I knew to get my mind off of things was to work on a new theory or spell. It was a good plan but I had no clue where to begin, so I just walked around aimlessly in my memobrary as my body rested. It was kind of lonely in there. The real library had bears. If only I could bring them here or make my own.

I can make my own! Well maybe. I couldn’t have a soul creature inside my mind, but I could mentally forge a figment. The idea had merit, so I did research on minds. There was loads of texts on mental persuasion, crippling people, and melding, but when I came across a book on mental guidance, I was heading in the right direction. “Guiding Your Inept Pupils By Dready Velkin” talked about ways to impart a copy of part of your abilities into a willing mind to chide them when they make mistakes.

If you could impart them on someone else, why not yourself? I could make little mini me’s in my head that had different sections of my mind. I could probably even mix and match. That still left the issue of giving them some semblance of sentience, though, so I had to continue reading through more texts. “Ghosts Of The Mind By Edded Iselly” talked about how mental ghosts and how they are a figment of your thoughts. Even though they weren’t actually real, you could communicate with them, making you think they were a ghost when in reality you were just talking to yourself and were likely feeling some sort of guilt or other strong emotion about someone and couldn’t resolve it.

So if I used the first book to impart my skills on to myself, then make it part of my own mind from the second book, I could create a sort of mental being that combines the two ideas. I may even be able to learn new things from them and increase my own capabilities or at least have someone to talk to who knows all the books I have read. What if they could control me, though? I would have to put in some sort of mental blocking. Luckily, the first book covered how to ensure not to let it override the target’s mind.

People had gotten into trouble in the past for cloning one’s real self too many times. Plus, they would always get in trouble and you’d get all the blame even when not there because it was you or at least your fault for making them. This new spell allowed for mental clones so as long as I didn’t let them out I didn’t have anything to worry about. That’s it, that’s a good name!

I put together the spell piece by piece and cast ‘Mental Clones’. As the mental me took shape, I completed the spell by thinking about what topics I wanted to be a part of it. When they took form, it was still and unmoving. I wasn’t sure if it had worked.

“Hi, I am Bookstrid. I will be going to read,” she said before grabbing the closest book and plopping down and reading.

That was what my heart really desired, to just read. “Hello, I am Astrid. I see your reading ‘Delli’s Dillarious Dailies’.”

“Yes, it is a great book from the point of view of a free flow thinker. There is this really interesting part where he thinks he is king of all the lands and writes a book of laws when really he just annoys everyone in his parents’ house,” she said matter-of-factly.

“It was really funny when the other people in the house benefited by being able to follow noble etiquette easier when they confronted nobles outside of the house,” I replied, bringing up my favorite lesson on of it. Sometimes faking it can help you make it.

We talked about that book and many others for several more hours throughout the night. My time with Bookstrid was much needed; it felt like I was getting to know myself better. I definitely had to come up with a list of different mental me to make. There were so many possibilities and we could all talk about all sorts of books. I could probably assign them tasks too. It would be a trusted way to get feedback on how I wanted to do things since they were me.

Once my body had recovered from all the stress, it was already morning and I had to get busy with the council so I used the earlier idea of reading while walking. I pulled out Fienna’s book and made a copy of it before reading. I didn’t want any issues like last time. With my active abilities, I could have the book in front of me and have it flip pages at will.

It was great that I now could read again even while busy. Since I am the goddess, I could just say it is a part of my visage and what I do. I was sure there wasn’t many people that could do such a thing and I felt bad for them. Maybe there was some way for me to develop a gem that did something similar for people. It would definitely be popular with anyone that liked books.

No one was talking to me as I was walking through the tunnels with the book in my face. I would need to put it down if I want to engage with people more freely, but this had its benefits as well. For some reason, people thought I couldn’t hear them, so they were talking about me and the recent happenings.

I hadn’t made it two steps forward before I blushed at the contents of Fienna’s story. Books normally didn’t bother me like this, but imagining her writing it felt different. Especially when the MC was very similar to Fienna. It felt like a self insert which was fine to do but when the scene she is writing is a sort of flirty, it feels like I am watching her romance blossom with a made up knight.

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The knight was a good person, but felt a little unrealistic for modern times. I hadn’t seen anyone dressed like that in a few thousand years. Maybe it was common to write in a pre apocalyptic setting. Those would have been better times but I was hoping to get a better sense of how people saw the modern nobility from her book. Oh well, I guess I will enjoy their blossoming friendship.

I made a slight detour to one of the medical rooms we had set up. It was a little small but had a line of people in certain levels of disarray. Some were leaning on the wall, some were holding their arm in a sling, some were coughing, and some were even amputees. There was never a time that I had seen so many injured at once but I wondered why they weren’t healed yet. I knew I had given instructions to heal them for free.

I walked up to the next person in line whom was wearing an eye patch. “Hello, may I go in with you? I want to figure out what is going on in there.

“Why yes, Lady Astrid. It has been slow going but the healing that has been provided is a mirracle. We will be able to live normal lives again. The healing you provided has been a life changer. You are truly divine. Ugh, sorry for saying you’re divine,” he said apologetically, looking nervous. I must have scared them into thinking something bad would happen if they used such terms.

“You need not be so nervous. I am glad to hear about the healing, working so well. Why do you worry so about calling me divine?”

“We worry you will leave us behind. The other deities never paid attention to us and we don’t want to lose you. You have been around a lot less and we don’t want to lose your favor. You made it clear to the council to not refer to you as divine.”

There were some nods in the crowd, agreeing with what he said. I hadn’t abandoned them, but the fear of losing a powerful ally scared them. It was more likely about falling out of favor of their deity. I had been reading more on that topic and from what I could tell, a lot of the gods of the past were mean. It wasn’t anything personal. I just didn’t have the time to be everywhere at once. So I thought about it for a moment before giving a line from the book “The Goddess’s Love” which was about me. They may recognize it so it may make it easier for them.

“Fear not, for I am always with you. I may not always be able to act, but through knowledge and perseverance, we shall survive.” They all clasped their hands together. I felt like I should let go of the whole not being a goddess thing. I was getting power from it which would allow me to help more people and get more books. The people would listen to me if I asked them to go away if I was stressed so it was time for me to grow up a little. “Let it be known that you may call me goddess and the divine. I will not leave you high and dry, but I may not be able to give you my full attention. There are many things I must attend to produce our desired future.”

Everyone looked at me with a glimmer in their eyes. I could see the twinkle in them. Part of that speech I had stolen from an old political book called “How to Sway the People.” Just when I thought about continuing on, the door swung open.

“Next!” a voice rang out.

A fox tailed otherkin and her parent walked out. The child was running circles around her mother. “I can walk again, Mom!”

The mother had a wide smile on her face as her child whirled around her. When she saw me, she stopped her child. “Thank you, Lady Astrid, thank you so much.”

“Yeah, thank you, you are the best goddess!”

The mother blushed and was about to speak when I waved it off. So cute!

“Let’s go, honey.”

I went in with the man with an eye patch and saw a worn out Guye sitting in a chair. He was drooped down with his eyes barely open. The person at the door went over and whispered in his ear. He jolted up. “I apologize, Lady Astrid, for being so informal.”

“You may call me Lady Astrid or Goddess now if you would like. What is going on? I see there is a huge line and you look like you’re about to pass out yourself.”

“Yes goddess. The healing you provided us is beyond belief. It is curing all aliments and fixing age old wounds, even lost limbs.”

Apparently they were going to switch to that as soon as possible. “Yes, That is what a high heal does. Isn’t that what the healing gems do?”

“They can but it would wear out the whole medical team to cure an illness. To regenerate missing limbs would take magic on par with nobility. The efficiency is wonderful. We just have a limited supply so I have been applying as little as possible to the correct spots to conserve what we have so we can heal everyone.”

Apparently those stones weren’t as good as I thought or maybe people’s magic was low. I wouldn’t know till I got my hands on some of those stones. Crates and crates of high heal potions started appearing before Guye, stacked neatly when I willed it so. I had lots of them in storage since I drank them like water while I was doing dungeon runs.

“This should last you longer. Just come to me when you need more. For now though, go take a nap in that chair before the meeting. We need you rested for the council meeting on what to do about the kingdom. I will work through the rest of the people in line.”

“Thank you, goddess,” he said with the same look in his eyes as the last time I made him cry. My heart twinged at that memory. He sat down and leaned back, dozing off in the blink of an eye.

This situation needed to be fixed so he could rest so I raised my hands and cast a small ‘Zone of Regeneration’. I constricted the size to conserve my mana. I wasn’t sure how my divine energy worked yet, but I still didn’t want to directly rely on it till I got a handle on it. One after another, people were returned to full health.

The line of people quickly cleared. They thanked me as the goddess as they came by. It was getting easier for me to accept the title. I wasn’t sure if I had overcome my anxiety or it was merely an effect of some sort of divine calling. It could also just be that I knew I would be getting more books out of it as well.

Once the line cleared up I cast ‘Quick Rest,’ which allowed a person’s nap to count as a full night of sleep but it wasn’t good to use too often due to side effects. I woke Guye up. “They are all healed. You did a good job without me there, but please consider your own health. If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I would do.”

“Yes, I will do better next time,” he said ashamedly, looking from side to side.

He didn’t need to apologize, but I felt it was best to leave him to his own feelings. I didn’t want to put him on the spot in front of others, so I said, “It’s time to go to the council room. Feel free to come when you are ready.” I left but he was following right behind me. On the way, I pulled out Fienna’s book so I could get a few more pages in before the meeting.