Hello, Gavin.

The voice is filled with the power of the Divine, and it’s painful.

I am Ekre, a god of adventuring, chaos, and vengeance, among other things. I don’t have very many followers – just one, my only Hero – but have been watching you for awhile. My bonus would provide a True Ward you can turn on and off, instead of having to wear the amulet when you want to prevent monsters from drawing near. It won’t work on elite or boss monsters, just like all True Wards, but you will be able to control the range. Monsters won’t attack you while it’s active. And, of course, you’ll gain Appraisal. Unfortunately, that’s all I can grant you with my Blessing, due to my small pool of followers.

I gained Divine Resistance the moment he spoke, and it’s already Level 3. That’s all from Dekami, no doubt.

“So… you provide me no benefit, and probably won’t ever provide me benefit?”

You’d be able to see your Appraisal Level.

I’m… not even sure how to react to this, and just stare at the bowl in utter shock at his offer.

“So you want to give me your Blessing, which will yield me no useful benefit that I don’t already have in some form. Am I understanding you correctly?”

Yes.

“Are you a fucking idiot?”

I’m a Divine Being. I can be whatever I want to be. Usually.

“And so you want to be an idiot?”

No. I just like you enough that I thought I’d offer you my Blessing. It’s not like you have to accept it. I won’t be offended if you don’t and try to exact vengeance on you, or something. It’s not like Dekami is going to come and offer you his Blessing just because.

“I thought the Dekami were people?”

They are. Then there’s Dekami, the Divine Being. They named themselves after him. They all have his Blessing, the irritating fucktwats. Pray you never encounter them.

“Are they evil?”

You’ll be tempted to smack them upside their heads, and they’re far, far more powerful than you could ever be. And they don’t have Bloodlines. Irritating fucktwats know they’re powerful shit, and I just wanna beat the crap out of them. The only reason I haven’t gone and taught them a lesson is because Dekami’s asked me to play nice. Only a few more centuries until my agreement is up. Uh… what the hell, Nies?

Yo.

Okay, that one’s a different voice. Ekre sounds like a guy in his late teens, possibly early twenties. He’s got a little bit of a deeper voice, but not a deep voice. This voice – Nies, apparently – is a softer voice, and sounds closer to me in age – possibly younger than me.

I’m offering him my Blessing. Get out of here.

Hi, Gavin.

Go away, Nies. Jeez. The only two times I ever offer someone my Blessing, some other being shows up. Last time, it’s Owen, this time, it’s a Divine.

The Oracle made an appearance? How did Max react?

Confusion and amusement, mostly. Now get lost. I’m doing an offer.

He’s rejected it.

That doesn’t matter. These are supposed to be Divine encounters, not everyone-show-up-and-make-it-not-really-what-it’s-for encounters. Only one Divine is supposed to be here, and that’s me. Now get lost, Nies.

But I want to offer him my Blessing.

Screw off. Dude! Did you seriously just enter my realm?

Yes. I’m going to tickle you until you shut up. It’s not like you have a useful buff for him.

I’m starting to like Nies. Even if he’s going to punish me hard if I don’t complete the Blood quest.

I’m not even in my realm right now.

That’s fine. I’ll wait. Oh, candy.

Get out of my stash!

Does Dekami know you got Owen to give you some of his homemade sweets? Oh, they’re strawberry-flavored.

Stop eating them!

It’s not like you like strawberry-flavored things. O probably knew I’d show up. This chocolate is delicious.

Nies has very little emotion to his voice. He sounds almost bored, and his tone is just bland. He’s got a ‘whatever’ attitude, I think.

Stop projecting into the realm, Nies. I’m trying to have a discussion with Gavin.

About the dimwits, I know. Hullo, Gavin. Want my Blessing? In addition to being able to see Appraisal, you’ll gain a useful buff you don’t already have. All System Quests grant double Experience and 1 LIF upon completion, along with certain other types of Quests, such as person-given. Blood Quests aren’t affected by it. It does have to grant Experience for that bonus, but the LIF bonus applies to all Quests that aren’t Blood Quests. That means it can actually be useful, unlike a bonus that grants the same effect that your amulet does, except with an adjustable range. And I actually have followers.

I have a follower!

You have a Hero. There’s a difference. His existence doesn’t buff your power.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Since when do you have followers?

I’ve had followers.

How many?

Two.

That barely qualifies for plural.

That’s two more than you have. And if Gavin accepts my offer, I’ll have as many Heroes as you, too. So I have two more followers than you, and might be having as many Heroes as you.

You’re hijacking my offer.

It was rejected. It’s no longer being hijacked.

He never actually rejected it, he just called me an idiot.

Pretty sure that counts as a rejection. So, Gavin – want to be my Hero and have a useful bonus?

What if he loses his amulet?

How many monsters do you know of that would be able to hurt him?

They can still hassle him.

Give him time, and he’d be powerful enough that most weaker ones wouldn’t even bother. I’ll also give you the recipe to craft a spatial ring, if you become my Hero.

Now you’re just straight-up bribing him. Plus, he can’t enchant things, and he’d need a pretty good ring for that.

It’s not as if he won’t learn enchanting eventually. Plus, spatial rings aren’t enchantments.

Yes, they are.

They are?

Yes.

My recipe doesn’t use enchanting.

Does it work?

Has every time I’ve tried it.

You’re a Divine. It’s going to work.

I’ve given it to mortals, too. Tristan Lighblade used it every time he crafted a spatial ring. Never enchanted them. Gavin’s wearing one of his earlier ones. The ones he hid with his Grimoires are bigger.

Are you eating my pudding?

Yes.

Stop.

It’s delicious.

It takes a lot of effort to make.

Delicious isn’t easy. Do we have a deal, Gavin?

Blessings aren’t supposed to be deals, Nies. We’re just supposed to offer it to them, and if they accept it, grant it, if they refuse it, send them back.

He rejected yours, but you haven’t sent him back.

Don’t give him the spatial ring recipe.

Why not?

Do you seriously want a boy like him having access to a recipe like that?

He’d probably just stick a bunch of food into it.

Don’t do it.

Okay. Sorry, Gavin, but O told me not to do it.

I’m not O.

O’s eating your pudding with me.

Of course he is…

Ekre sounds exasperated, and I’m trying my hardest not to laugh at their interaction. I’m pretty sure Nies is just trying to annoy him.

So, Gavin, do you want a useful Blessing? It’s not like you aren’t going to be getting Quests. Pretty sure you already have several Quests. The bonus comes from completing it as an extra bonus, so it doesn’t matter that you already have some, as you’ll still gain the bonus for those when you complete them.

“Sure.”

Okay. Just drip a drop of blood into the bowl, and I’ll be able to grant you my Blessing.

Don’t you be using my Bowl of Blessing for your own Blessing!

We’re already here.

Take him to your own domain, you thief!

We’re already here.

I prick my finger and let a drop of blood fall into the bowl.

Blessing Received!

Blessing of Nies: Completing most Quests, exempting some, such as Blood Quests, grants double Experience. Completing any Quest grants +1 LIF

Title Gained!

Hero of Nies: One who has gained the approval of Nies, the God of Blood Oaths, and received his Blessing.

Skill now Visible:

Appraisal 5/10: The ability to view some information about others

You weren’t supposed to go along with it, Gavin.

We were already here. It’s not like it’s a problem.

It is a problem!

Not really. You’re just trying to make it one. That was some nice pudding. I think I’m going to take a nap.

Nies! Why did you even offer him your Blessing? It’s not like he’s actually completed a high-Level Blood Quest! Yes, he’s got one, but he hasn’t succeeded yet!

But he does have one.

So do many others, Nies…

He’s also wrangled Blood Oaths out of quite a few people in a short time. I’m impressed. It’s not easy for a child to do that, especially when one of those people is a being as strong as Matthew. I’m taking a nap.

Get off of my bed.

I’m on your couch.

Pretty sure you’re on my bed.

You have a funny-looking bed, then.

Oh, you are on my couch.

Yo.

Don’t ‘yo’ me. I forgot that your face matches your tone… emotionless. You don’t even look content, after eating all my food.

I left the fish for you.

O won’t touch it, either.

You know he has an image to project.

So do I…

That boat sailed a long time, ago, Ekre. Now stop staring at me like that, and stop talking to me. I’m trying to sleep.

Go back to your own realm.

I’m already here.

Things go silent, and I’m left wondering what the hell is going on. Nies is pretty amusing, and I like the way he pretty much just ignored Ekre, but… did they forget I’m here? Ekre probably has to be the one to return me, and the others are probably getting worried and confused about what happened to me.

Oh, for fuck’s sake! I can’t believe I let him distract me to the point I forgot you were here. Sorry about that, Gavin. Returning you.

I receive a small shock as I return to exactly how I was when he summoned me to his realm, startling both me and them. Me from the sudden shift in my position, and them when I jump.

“Everything okay?” Warren asks me.

“Just a little bit of a shock,” I answer. “Time didn’t seem to pass.”

“What?” He looks a little confused, so I explain what just happened. “Father always told me that Nies was a bit emotionless when he spoke, and that he didn’t care too much about stuff. I’m surprised he took on a Hero. I’ve never heard of Ekre.”

“Ekre?” Dylan looks over again, having gone back to writing when Warren and I started chatting. “The God of Vengeance?”

“He’s a God of Adventuring, apparently,” I switch to English. “Though also chaos and vengeance. He offered me his Blessing, but then another Divine named Nies offered me his. I took Nies’s Blessing.”

“I’ve never heard of Nies.”

“He’s the God of Blood Oaths.”

“And he likes you?”

“I’ve apparently impressed him,” I say. “Though I think he also offered it to me just to annoy Ekre, since they both have such a small following that they only have their default bonuses given to their Heroes.”

“Ah, okay,” he says, then looks at the paper, scribbles something else down, then looks at me. “I’m done.”

He hands me ten sheets of paper, and I scan each spell and rune, learning the purposes of them and how they interact. Some are ones I already know. As I read, a sudden influx of knowledge fills me.

Dekami Runic Language is now Level 3!

Thanks. That’s kind of useful.

“These check out,” I send them into my spatial ring, then look at Dylan. “I’m guessing you want access first?”

“Yes,” he says. “I can give you more for Eli tomorrow night.”

I take a deep breath, then begin to speak the words of the Dekami Runic Language, forming the necessary runes within me and within Dylan. He gasps as I work the necessary magics, and when I finish, the remaining Mana necessary flushes out of me, and I feel the 10 LIF fade away as well.

That was exhausting, and I collapse onto my bed, resting.