[Year 11 Month 4]

Mari was asked to check the items in their inventory, while it's still autumn, it's better to prepare for winter. Winter lasts for 3 months and worse 5.

She checked the items, from dried food, hunting tools, weapons and newly accounted-for minerals. She also took into account their newest invention, the fertiliser, well it's nothing new, they just decided to stockpile for today.

"fruits would go to waste if let be… mm… "

Mari then looked beside her, there Lazarus smiled and returned her gaze.

"Any ideas?"

"Dry it, like the rest of the meat."

"Hmm…"

"Or powder it."

"Powder?" Mari tilted her head in curiosity.

Lazarus nodded, according to some imparted knowledge from his father, fruits could be dried, crushed and then powdered for later use. He explained this to Mari with an excited look.

"Oh! So we could add it to water… that sounds refreshing!" Mari cheerfully took notes.

Lazarus looked at the back of her head, he noticed that her hair was getting longer before he noticed it he touched her hair and Mari, who didn't notice flinched.

"L-Lazarus?"

Lazarus noticing what he did, coughed and removed his hands. "I just noticed your hair is getting longer."

"Oh…! Well yes, it is!" Mari cheerfully said with a blush on her cheeks. "Don't I look pretty?"

"...Always."

Silence prevailed for a minute, Lazarus didn't know why he said that, but he knew it was a word he thought and processed before coming out of his mouth. It sounded like it was flirty for Mari who was now blushing.

"Ah! I'm done checking things, I'll go back now, see you later Lazarus!"

Mari ran, her heart beating in a way she couldn't understand. Lazarus stood there and looked at the warehouse. He shrugged and started cleaning up before leaving since he created this situation himself.

Mari on the other hand, ran home to complain to her mother. Her mother was a bit baffled at how her daughter was acting but then, she became mischievous.

"Mari…"

"...?"

"You're in love!"

"W-what!? I-I can't have feelings for the son of our god!"

"He wasn't forbidden though?"

"H-huh?!"

"You just assumed that he was forbidden from a Union. I mean, you didn't expect to fall didn't you~"

"M-mom!"

"Aiya, go confess and stop being a coward. How long has it been since you started telling stories about your sweet Lazarus to me every time you go back home?"

"Uh… w-well…"

"Every time you get home Mari, I will always hear how Lazarus is amazing, so go confess or I'll ask Sanya from my friend and ask her to confess to him."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Ugh…."

"I'm not joking!"

"W-wait! I'm not prepared yet!"

Mari was able to stop her mother from sabotaging her love life, though it didn't stop there. Lazarus was tasked to handle this village and assign tasks related to handling their talents.

So far, a few villagers had their Skills grow without the blessing of their patron God, though that made them more grateful as Lazarus himself was created by their patron God. He himself is viewed as a deity, a relic given by Hadro to the villagers, so she feels reluctant to do it.

So she waited. Sometimes even blatantly avoiding Lazarus. Of course, that did no good for Mari, cause her mom called Sanya to seduce Lazarus.

“Wha- S-Sanya!?”

“Woopsie she’s here, See you around Lazarus~”

Sanya giggled and moved away as Mari was staring daggers. Lazarus stared at Mari and smiled a little. Some pieces of memories resurface once in a while. It was from his father, Hadro. The memories of a distant land, a place where of his father's origin.

“What were you talking about?”

Mari came into his view, she was so close that she was only arm's length away. Lazarus looked at her carefully.

“Secret.”

Lazarus placed a finger on his lips, his orange eyes looked at Mari with fondness. He knew a few things from the memories he seemed to have inherited, one of them being the push-and-pull method that was randomly slotted to his memory. He decided to put this into practice and what do you know, Mari became emotional.

***

“My memories huh?”

Hadro muttered, he certainly did read about a book called Arts of Charisma and it entailed how to be a leader, to seduce, to persuade, etc. he didn't know that the part of seducing would be the one slotted into Lazarus' mind.

“The push and pull method only works if the recipient already has feelings for you.”

“That's why I used it on Mari,” Lazarus shrugged “She avoided me for a week and it felt lonely.”

Hadro looked at Lazarus incredulously, this guy is only 2 years old… he shook his head. In the end, Hadro created Lazarus as an adult not knowing he would materialize, if he wanted to be treated as an adult then he should treat him as one, despite knowing that he didn't give him any childhood as he was an Aiden which are made to be slaves in the first place.

In the end, Hadro shook his head, Lazarus was his son. He was a piece of him and that was it, Hadro didn't desire to lord over Lazarus or the other Aidens he created. They were piece that were taken out of him therefore they were his children, he may command them but he will not lord over them.

“Anyways, Lazarus, I feel like you're missing something from that story”

Hadro nudged his chin towards the pregnant Mari.

“Ah yes, tradition said that before a man and a woman had a child they must be in a Union… the groom must receive a bone necklace from his father while the bride must receive a bracelet from their mother. As you can see Father…”

“Ah… when do I have to give it?”

“W-well… let me ask the elders of the village.”

Lazarus took to the elders to ask, Hadro already prepared the necklace in its corporeal form, using his "He's hard at work huh?"

Thanks to his Subject Domain «Particle» he can easily manipulate anything, from the particle of bones to the wave of liquids. He easily made a necklace made of bones by using vines tied together with the Snake bones he killed earlier. Not so later, Lazarus returned to Hadro.

“We could do it now, the elders will only recite for good blessings, one to have good fertility but it seems that isn't needed.”

“I see.”

With enough SE the necklace materialized in front of Lazarus. Lazarus was surprised but was able to recover quickly and picked up the necklace. It seems… pristine. Lazarus’s eyes sparkled.

“Come, Father, see the ceremony!”

The ceremony was simple, Lazarus and Mari were just given boiled water from the river mixed with herbs and some berries. Hadro was curious so of course he naturally looked into it. Especially when the wedding was his son.

The necklace that Hadro gave Lazarus is held by Mari who was smiling bashfully after being teased by the villagers including her mother. The bracelet that is made from yak fur and ikkin teeth was held by Lazarus. The Ceremony started after an Elder told them to exchange items officially tying Lazarus and Mari together in a knot.

Simple Hadro thought so and watched the wedding ceremony, it was soon accompanied by a small feast. If it was the village 12 years ago they would only celebrate by eating fruits and nuts that the groom and bride gathered, but now? The feast contained a variety of meat from the village or hunted by hunters. A gift for the newlyweds, the Orcs also gave gifts after learning that Lazarus was Hadro’s son, they treated him with reverence.

Need to check those Orcs later.

The Orc's gifts are simple. A furnished table to eat upon, their cuisine which is filled with soup that is made with a variety of herbs and vegetables. When the Orcs arrived at the Village they introduced a bunch of things to the village, sharing their culture. It was a boon for the village, especially for Mari, she learnt that the mages use simple mathematical formulas to perform magic. If Hadro was born in this world instead he would become an archmage.

Anyway, the ceremony was over and the village had a feast. Hadro saw the immediate changes in the village. After the wedding and weeks later, some Orc farmers looked at the land and some of them were flabbergasted as they saw the land.

“There’s traces of farming here.”

One orc said as he surveyed the land.

“Are you sure? The village people don't seem to know.”

“Yeah, those aren't erosion, those are irrigation channels.” he pointed near the river.

“Something happened here.”

“Yeah, stories tell that a demigod tried to control the humans here but that was it, no context, just myth.” the other replied.

The Orcs nodded and continued their work. Hadro contemplated, surely there is some forgotten history here. But it was too vague to understand, so he just set that aside and decided to continue with his worries first. The monsters in the Demon forest are multiplying, the spewing hasn’t stopped yet. The only reason the village is safe is because of the newly acquired powerhouse called Arkum and the Orc warriors.

“Time to address the problem.”

Hadro’s status labelled him as a lesser god, instead of a minor which previously was. To go up he had to have 100 soul points, which was, in conversion 100 soul energies per point. He conveniently only has 10,000 SE in him right now. If he upgraded himself to a minor god, he would finally be able to do what he was supposed to.

There are three types of energy in this world. Mana, Vim and Aura. depending on the energy the god chooses to manifest they could build their power system. Yes, that's right, their own power system. So those who follow said god will become with the power system. The world has a standard power system on hand.

Mana, Vim and Aura are all interconnected, for those diligent and tenacious can build their power system within their bodies. One could build and guide their own power the way they wanted to paint it. However, it is very hard without the system, like learning how to do cursive with your non-dominant hand or with guidance from a system thanks to a god’s system, it is possible but extremely hard.

Both aim for the same end goal, however, it would always end with the one with guidance finishing faster than the one without.

Hadro looked at the amount of Soul Energies he had, he sighed and started releasing them, by the knowledge given by the abyss he started transforming. The benefits of the ascension would be good for his own and his believers, though he didn't know what bad it would bring he just had to withstand it. The best he can.