Earth? What?
“Your body died there, just like you remember. I brought your consciousness to this world.”
What? Why?
“I can't openly describe it, as it would cost too much, but you can try to figure out the truth from various clues I may be able to provide.”
The god, Delahar, stops talking, letting me think it over. I knew I died on Earth, so it isn’t a big deal. More importantly, being transmigrated by a god…
“Am I some sort of hero? Why me?” I ask.
“No. I don’t have any grand tasks for you. This is why I picked you. You have been the first person to check all my conditions. You are competent enough to survive initial conditions upon your transmigration, but lazy enough that you won’t achieve anything grand in your new world.”
I’m insulted. I’m not that lazy! I swallow my anger, though. Let’s not antagonize a friendly god.
“So, why? Why do all this?”
Delahar scratches his beard. “The cheapest route should be to give you the blessing right away.” He waves his hand in my direction, and the number beside his flickers.
710369
“Check your status screen,” he says.
He used around 250000 EXP for something. I reluctantly check my status, hoping that it isn’t completely wrecked.
Name: Smag the Warlock (Common)
Age: 1
Race: Hobgoblin Grand Shaman
Level:13/20
EXP: 0
Strength: 18
Vitality: 38
Endurance: 12
Dexterity: 35
Intelligence: 71
Will: 71
Affinity: 47
Health:192/192
Stamina:139/157
Mana:480/480
Traits
Iron Stomach 27/27 (Uncommon) – Resistant Stomach, Efficient Stomach
Vitality Mana Affinity 18/18 (Legendary) – Poison Crusher
Combat skills
Spear Fighting 29/29 (Common) – Strength I, Strength II
Sneaking 28/28 (Common) – Silent Walk I, Silent Walk II
Hiding 27/27 (Common) – Temperate Forest Monster Lore I, Silent Breathing
Tracking 14/14 (Uncommon) Intelligence I
Strategy 38/38 (Rare) – Will I, Lieutenants I, Command Range I
Sword Fighting 34/34 (Common) – Basic Sword Moves, Deflecting I, Grounded Style
Dodging 23/23 (Common) – Strong Legs I, Strong Legs II
Magic Skills
Mana Sense 0/51 (Uncommon) –
Mana Manipulation 0/51 (Uncommon) –
Vitality Buff 0/32 (Epic) –
Vitality Clot 0/32 (Very Rare) –
Vitality Bank 0/27 (Very Rare) –
Soul Perception 0/31 (Very Rare) –
Move Soul 0/25 (Very Rare) –
Rune Basics 0/48 (Uncommon) –
Transplant Soul 0/26 (Epic) –
Vitality Mana Control 0/39 (Legendary) –
Crafting Skills
Wood Working 29/29 (Common) - Mana Wood Reinforcement I, Rune Carving
Fortification Construction 15/15 (Rare) – Intelligence I
Trap Making 23/23 (Common) - Will I, Will II
Leadership 37/37 (Uncommon) – Will I, Loud and Clear, Eye for Managers
Rune Scribbling 0/46 (Uncommon) -
Bone Working 19/19 (Common) – Dexterity I
Plotting 36/37 (Uncommon) – Acting I, Relationships Analyzer I, Relationships Analyzer II
Flesh Working 25/25 (Rare) – Anatomy I, Addons
Hedge Alchemy 15/15 (Common)
Titles
Blessed of Ymthys
My levels of magical skills are all zero, just as expected. I just sacrificed them all. There are three unexpected things, though. First, the EXP number is just beneath my main level. Secondly, I can see the caps of my skills. Thirdly, I have a title. Blessed of Ymthys.
Who is Ymthys? The rest is what I would expect from getting a blessing from a God. This is what Invitar’s blessing should have given me as well.
I can’t help, but ask. “Ymthys? Aren’t you Delahar?”
The god smiles. “Yes. Ymthys is a Dark Goddess. Her powers are not centered on faith, though. She only accessed her account in the system once before, or at least that’s what I’m seeing from the logs.”
What? I’m confused. “Is she your wife, or something?” Why did he give her blessing to me?
“No. We are enemies, actually.”
“You hacked the system.” I say. There isn't anything else that I can think of as a possible solution.
“…”
That should be confirmation. He said before that he can tell me when my guess is completely off, but if some of it is true, then he will just keep silent. Just like now. “What do you need me for?"He said he didn't have any tasks for me, so why call me here?
“You are a bug, or maybe, I should say, a Trojan horse.”
“In the system?”
“…”
I need a moment. What does that change? Gods are fighting each other, and someone decided to use me in his fight. An ant can be easily squished in such a fight, but this guy just wants me to stay put, which is good for me. Wait!
“But why did you trigger this discussion right now? Couldn't you let me create my new skill?”
“There would be no new skill. You were lucky with Transplant Soul. To create a new skill, the system uses all your skill experience and, in proportion, matches the sacrificed EXP from each skill with the required knowledge. Your recent attempt was a disaster.”
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The number flickers down. It decreases by one or two every time Delahar says something, but this time I lose over thirty thousand.
688679
“The main reason for this situation is that you are aiming for immortality, or at least a pseudo version that’s available in your place. That’s contrary to staying low and put. System is going to take notice of you.”
“So, you want to stop me?”
“You have a decent chance, so no. I will help you. Your life is fleeting, and soon I will have to create another Trojan horse. It's easier for me to help you. I just have to fool the system. That’s why I give you that blessing. All greater blessings are a bit different, each having something unique to each god. I designed the Greater Blessing of Ymthys to fool the system.”
I frown. “I don’t have the Greater Blessing of Ymthys.”
“The greater version costs fifty million EXP. Sacrifice it to Ymthys through your blessing, and I will upgrade it. Make sure to do so before even attempting to create your immortality skill. When creating it, use the skill creation option as well, and I will help you modify it.”
“Oh. Thank you? What about the remaining points?” I point at the number.
“We need to zero them. I can’t leave any trace of activity in Ymthys account. Ask until that number reaches zero.”
I nod. Fair enough. “What about my skill for dragging the souls of my subordinates to me? Can you help me with that?”
“Sure.” He scratches his beard again. “This way should be best. It gives you a framework and allows you to upgrade the skill on your own later.” He waves his hand, and a stream of information enters my mind.
You have learned Soul Enthrallment(Heroic) skill!
You have reached the maximum number of magical skills! Replace your current skills or refuse to accept the new skill!
That’s… marvelous. I didn’t even think about such an approach.
202404
At least I’m doing a good job of zeroing that number. I think back to the solution. Rather than scaring the soul, Delahar proposed a shell of neutral mana. There’s a number of runes on it, meant to keep it on a soul like armor. Then, I can write runes on that shell. He also gave me a rune for entanglement mana. I sigh. I will have to analyze the skill later. I drop Vitality Bank for now, replacing it with the new skill.
Delahar is still waiting. What should I ask about? What will help me the most?
“If you don’t mind, are you Bright God? Should I pray to you?
“No. Never pray to me, and never even say my name. I’m not a Bright God nor a Dark God.”
“What? A third faction?”
“…”
“Does that mean you are hostile to both groups?”
“Yes.”
“Is your faction that powerful?”
“No. I’m the God of defense, protection, and castles. In my own castle, I’m strong enough that even if one faction attacks me, I’m confident in slaying at least a few gods before perishing.”
“So your faction is not very strong.” I conclude.
“Yes. I can’t rival either group. That’s the reason I’m hacking the system, even though it’s not my specialty.”
“Can you say it now?” I look at the number. 201264. It didn’t change much.
“You already know it, so I’m not informing you.”
Having God as a conversation partner makes me want to ask all sorts of questions now.
“Can I return to Earth?”
“No. The laws of both universes are fundamentally too different. Only information can be passed.”
I frown. “What about my soul?”
“As I said, only information. Besides, your universe doesn’t have souls, or at least, I never saw them.”
Oh. “Then, how do I have a soul?”
“…”
“Am I a clone?”
“…”
I take another look at the god. I don’t think he tries to hide anything from me. Rather, he wants to tell me but can’t. Shit. What a messed up situation!
“Did you create my soul?”
“…”
I sigh. “Do I get any benefits at least? A cheat of a divinely crafted soul?”
“In a way. I made it similar to the soul I once had as a mortal. It’s free of all external influences, except the system.”
“External influences?”
“…”
Right. That was a stupid question. I need a question that can be answered yes or no. It’s just that I have too few clues.
“Actually, why are you telling me all of that? Aren’t you afraid that other gods will catch me and read my memories?” I bet they can.
“It’s an open scheme. It’s not my first attempt and probably won’t be the last. They just don’t know if I’m already in or not and how I did it this time. As for the reason, the more you know, the easier it will be for you to stay hidden.”
I stay silent for a while. It's a lot to think about. “What is the system?” Given that Delahar hacked the system, it's probably true that the gods created it. "What's its purpose?"
“I can’t access your memories right now, but given the content of your status screen, you must have found a civilization. What do gods desire?”
I frown. “Faith? But why do they need a system for that?”
“You have too little credit for me to answer that.”
I grimace. Wait! “Souls! I had an option for a perk to sacrifice souls to a god.”
“…”
I noticed before that souls don’t disperse. While they slowly decay, at some point, they just disappear. It seems like the system's doing.
"Why do gods want souls? Do they create an afterlife, or maybe just eat them or something?”
Delahar smiles for the first time. “This is a question I wouldn’t be able to answer, even if you had infinite credit. At least, not through the system.”
It's certainly about power, then. Delahar said that Ymthys power is not about faith. Souls? Something else?
189327
“Why is credit lowering so slowly?”
“Nobody expected we would talk about Earth. I also barely answer anything, letting you figure things out on your own.”
“Is the system bad or good?”
“…”
Right. It’s a bit too much. I should just ask for something else. I can slowly digest that information later. I already have my Soul Enthrallment skill. What do I need next? I suppose I can always ask for a bunch of runes.
“Can you give me runes for soul magic?”
“No.”
“Are they too expensive?”
“I can’t give you those.”
A restriction? How annoying. What else? “How about a way to turn an enlightened person into a monster?”
“It will be cheaper to fill in the blanks. By using the skill creation function, I got this for Soul Enthrallment. That’s not the case for everything else. Explain your progress.”
I explain Anastasia’s situation over the next five minutes.
“Gods streamlined the realignment. Let your subordinate pray to a Dark God. After that, just do what you think. The system will help.”
“Should I let her pray to you, Invitar, or Ymthys?”
“Not me. I’m not Dark God. Invitar would be fine. Ymthys less so. That’s increasing our chances of being found out. Remember, I will lose millions of years of progress, and you will die. They just need to type kill Smag in their console.”
I nod. That’s fine.
172153
Delahar scratches his beard. “Since you have a problem asking more questions, let me explain something. I originally planned to say this during our next meeting, but it’s fine now as well. 6th tier beings are all checked by system managers. The goal is to recruit the most promising as agents. You can never reach 6th tier. That would expose you instantly. If you reach 5th tier, don’t be too eye-catching as well. Great achievements can catch their attention.”
21485
“Don’t kill those agents. You don’t want attention. Don’t abuse your reincarnation too much, at least until I can explain the dangers better.”
538
Delahat scratches his beard again. “You need magical knowledge. Seek it in the ruins in the south.”
0
I look around. I’m back at my house. I probably never left. I sigh. That’s a lot to think about.
The next day, I try to create the shell of Soul Enthrallment skill. I can recognize around 60% of runes, while for most of the rest, I have some understanding of what they are doing. The inner layer of the shell is symmetrical to the outer layer of the soul. More specifically, it’s nearly the same. A few symmetry mana runes I know about seem to be enforcing those symmetry further. That’s not the end. There’s another set of runes that I think correspond to something like attaching or binding mana. Symmetry magic is already doing it, producing attachment mana, which powers up attachment runes, which place the shell firmly over the soul.
The shell itself is solidified by a strange mix of order and earth mana runes. I guess it’s compound magic. I need to study it.
The last part is a set of runes to entangle my shell with another shell. I need to create a unique symbol on both shells that would work as an entanglement between them. The more unique the symbol, the better. Ideally, there should be only two symbols in the whole world. I’m fairly sure my marriage with Axi will produce more entanglement mana, effectively making the magic stronger.
Soul Enthrallment 1/6
All that studying raised my cap to six. I have yet to assign any experience. I have waited a day to collect enough EXP before experimenting.
You have killed 3 1st tier monsters! You have earned 246 Experience Points!
You have killed 4 2nd tier monsters! You have earned 3140 Experience Points!
EXP:3386
I can now manually assign those points. I first check my main level.
Level:13/20 14658/28000
I need over 13,000 more Experience points to level up. That’s fairly easy—just a few days. This means most of my EXP has been eaten by my skills.
Mana Manipulation 0/51 0/50
Let’s pay.
Mana Manipulation 1/51 0/51
The required EXP increased only by one. I’m planning to keep Mana Manipulation, so let’s keep paying.
52
53
54
56
58
60
63
66
70
74
78
83
88
94
100
107
114
Mana Manipulation 20/51 0/122
EXP:2015
I check Mana Sense next. It’s also an uncommon skill.
Mana Sense 0/51 0/50
I pay. The thresholds are exactly the same.
Mana Sense 20/51 0/122
EXP:644
Rune Basics 0/46 0/50
The same. It seems the amount of EXP is the same for all skills of the same rarity. My highest level of uncommon skill is Leadership.
Leadership 37/37 0/364
What about my other skills?
Sword Fighting 34/34 0/76
Dodging 23/23 0/39
Hedge Alchemy 15/15 0/20
Common skills are cheaper, as expected.
Fortification Construction 15/15 0/200
Flesh Working 25/25 0/458
Strategy 38/38 0/1370
Rare skills are more expensive. It also seems the amount is rising faster. Fortification Construction and Hedge Alchemy are at the same level. Sword Fighting is less than four times Hedge Alchemy requirement, while Strategy next level requires nearly seven times the Experience Points.
I try to push EXP into Hedge Alchemy.
You have already reached your maximum level for this skill.
It was worth a try. Since I have a lot of skills at a low level, I can make a comparison.
Soul Enthrallment 1/6 (Heroic) 0/1001
Move Soul 0/25 (Very Rare) 0/250
Rune Basics 0/48 (Uncommon) 0/50
Transplant Soul 0/26 (Epic) 0/500
Vitality Mana Control 0/39 (Legendary) 0/2000
So, there’s a basic amount for each rarity. Interesting.
Vitality Mana Affinity 18/18 (Legendary) 0/6068
That’s the highest amount of Exp for the next skill level out of all my skills. I sigh. I need to gather fifty million EXP for the blessing. It would be good to have at least a few more millions for my questions. I make some quick calculations. At the current rate, I should be able to gather around a million EXP a year. This gives me fifty years of farming EXP. In practice, it will be sixty, maybe seventy years.
How can I gather more EXP? Efficiency? If I could gather all the resources of our hunting grounds… at best two million per year. Most prey is already given to me. It’s still an upgrade, so I will try to work on it.
I need to go to the Roheb again. First, I need to figure out how long I have to live. It should be enough to ask for information about all the monsters around, including goblins.
Second, I need to start gathering information about the ruins Delahar mentioned. I would need to go there, sooner or later. This is another matter for the Adventurer's Guild.
Third, I need to figure out a paralytic poison. This would allow my tribe to capture all the monsters and deliver them to me.
Fourth, I need a scapegoat for my new knowledge about how to turn Anastasia into a goblin. I’m not planning to ever mention my encounter. It’s best if there’s not even a trace of it. After visiting Roheb, I can tell I found some obscure clues.
I need money. I sigh. It’s all about money again.
Reaching my maximum level will require at least around one hundred EXP. Probably more. I can gather that in a month. Depending on how much thresholds will increase, I can evolve in two to three months. Since I can allow other people to also kill the same monsters, producing orcs in my tribe should take only a bit more time. In a year, we should be an orc tribe. This means we can migrate deeper into the 2nd tier zone, or maybe into the 3rd tier zone. That should increase EXP gains.
Good. Now, how can I produce a lot of money relatively easily?
I suppose that’s the universal problem in both universes.