Chapter 4: Lily’s Sword

A loud screeching pierced Dale’s ear.

“What the fuck! Why do you always have to explode my god damn head whenever you come back?!” Dale asked, clutching his head in pain.

He unfortunately hit himself with the chain around his wrist, which just hurt more.

“Sorry. Faulty mic. At least it’s working. I get a ton of interference in this room.” God replied.

“I’m not even going to try and understand that nonsense,” Dale said.

“Anyway, I’m bringing Lily over. Just needed to let you know so it doesn’t freak you out.” God said.

“Wait! Before you leave! Can you at least take off these chains?!” Dale asked.

He held up his hands, once again rattling the chains attached to his wrist.

“No can do, chief. Sorry. It’s not up to me. Or, rather, I can’t.” God said.

“What? What do you mean by that!” Dale exclaimed.

His question was met with silence.

“Hello? Wait, did he leave already? Fuck!” Dale said, pulling at the chains with frustration.

“Nono, I’m here. Sorry, I forgot that you couldn’t see me. I was shrugging my shoulders. Also, I’m not a he. Hmph.” God said.

“Shrugging your shoulders?” Dale asked, his brain unable to process this information for literally no reason.

He stared at the chain on his wrist, lifting his shoulders upwards.

He shrugged.

He squinted, realizing he was a complete moron.

“Shit. You meant that you didn’t know how to. I’m right, aren’t I?” Dale questioned.

“Well, kinda! You’re wrong! Lily should be able to remove them.” God said.

Dale let out a laugh.

“Well, that’s pretty convenient. It’s always her, isn’t it.” Dale said, softly smiling.

“It really is. But there’s a reason for that.” God said.

“Is it because she reincarnated?” Dale asked.

“No. Well, sorta. She’s the hero. As such, she has a natural affinity for anything that has to do with major gods or minor gods. Those chains should snap off the moment she touches them.” God said.

“What do you mean by that? Major and minor gods? It’s not just you?” Dale asked, somewhat surprised by this new information.

“Wow. Well, I guess you did move out to the middle of nowhere before you were taught any of this properly. But still, you know nothing at all about this religion? Seriously? how long has it been since you got here? Haven't you seen at least one church in the city?” God asked.

“If I did, I wouldn’t be asking! Just tell me already!” Dale said.

“Fine, fine. Okay, so it’s like this. There’s one main god, a decent amount of major gods, and quite a few minor gods. Each minor god can grant a blessing to one person, giving them permission to lead and represent that god's worship. Or, at least that’s how it normally is. Major gods can grant multiple blessings and have an avatar that represents them in physical form. So those with a blessing represent the religion and an avatar represents the god itself. Basically, once everything merges properly you’ll be the avatar of the main god. Another example of an Avatar of the main god is the hero. So unless Lily chooses to worship another god, she’s also an Avatar of the main god.” God said.

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“Wait, hold on. Didn’t you say there could only be one Avatar for each god? How can both me and Lily be avatars of the same god?” Dale asked.

“I never said that there was a limit on the number of avatars the main god can have. You didn’t listen to me. But I’ll make another thing clear. You weren’t chosen by the main god to be an avatar of the main god.” God said.

“What? How is that even possible?” Dale asked.

“Teaching you all of this would probably take years, so I’ll answer one more question before I leave. As for the question you just asked, there are a few things that are major factors. One of those is how you become an Avatar of god in the first place. Usually, it’s passed down through some sort of object. A necklace, for example. Do you really think that a god’s just going to come down every time one of their Avatars or the people they blessed dies? No. The same is somewhat true for The Hero as well. Unfortunately, for the most part, it’s something that changes the properties of their magic and mana completely, completely fusing with them and disappearing upon death. But it has quite a potent effect." God said.

"Lily is on a different level compared to most people, in terms of fighting prowess. For example, you know how the mana bar in your menu is blue? Lily’s is silver right now. That means it's been affected by external factors and is slowly leveling up. As it levels up her spells grow in strength. As well as how often she can use them." God said.

"But that doesn’t exactly explain how you became an Avatar of the main god, now does it? Well, first, there are precedents of mana lingering after death, or crystalizing. This leads to quite a few problems, but the main one is that technically a hero’s mana can also crystallize or linger after their death. And it has crystallized before, a long time ago." God said.

"What happened to it? That crystallized mana of the long-dead hero? It was surgically merged with your mana. You are an artificial Avatar of god. The first one ever, actually." God said

"In other words, you’re an abomination. Something that shouldn’t exist.” God said.

“Then why aren’t you doing something about me? Wouldn’t you want me gone?” Dale asked.

“I’m not doing something about you, because this is actually beneficial to me. I’ll tell you why I don’t want you gone yet after I bring lily here.” God said.

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Lily was in her room, putting away her gear.

She put her sword in its sheath and hung it above the fireplace.

“That’s a pretty nice sword.” God said.

Lily froze, frowning.

“Yeah...It is. Do you mind if I bring it along with me? It’s part of the clothes I was going to wear today.” Lily asked.

“Eh?.... That sounds rather dull, but I guess if it’s a part of your outfit it’s fine. It’s pretty sturdy for a prop though.” God said.

Lily picked the sword off of where she had hung it, affixing it to her waist.

“You ready now?” God asked.

Lily nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Lily said.

“Try smiling. Scowling like that just looks intimidating. You don’t want to scare Dale off, do you?” God asked

“Sorry. I’m just a little bit stressed.” Lily replied, replacing the scowl with an obviously forced smile.

Her attitude still felt aggressive, and the smile made it worse.

“Lily...You suck at this.” God said.

Lily reddened.

“W-well, excuse me! I’ve never done this before! I’m not exactly sure how I should act.” Lily said, brushing a hand through her hair.

“Your hair looks fine. Just relax a little and you’ll be fine.” God said

Lily relaxed a little bit but still seemed ready to cut something down at a moment's notice.

“Better?” Lily asked.

“Good enough. I guess. You really need to work on being more feminine. And that outfit...No, nevermind. I guess it’s fine.” God said.

God sighed.

“No matter how much I fuss, I’ll probably just make it worse. So let’s go before that happens.” Lily answered, trying to smooth out her clothes.

She adjusted her sword to make it easier to reach.

“Jeez. Fine, hold your breath. This might knock the wind outta you if you aren’t careful. I'm bringing us to Dale.” God said.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s just g-” Lily started, suddenly glowing.

Space around her distorted.

It was nauseating, but it worked.

When she opened her eyes again, they were suddenly in a large cathedral.