Van stopped and waited for Ren to catch up, wondering what was so important.

“Van… There's something I need to talk to you about.” Ren said once he caught up. He then opened his mouth, closed, then opened his mouth again then sighed in defeat. “This isn’t going to be easy, especially since you're so against it. But…” He looked Van in the eye. “I think it’s about time you start thinking about what you're going to do about your godlinghood.” now with a serious expression.

“After everything that’s happened, the attack, you awakening all your bloodlines except the godling one and a few others, and well… just a crap ton of other stuff I had to deal with behind the scenes… I think it’s time you start working on awakening your divine powers…”

He then noticed the look on Van’s face, clearly unhappy with what he was saying. “I know you don’t want to hear it. Being a godling sounds like a lot of responsibility, and then there's the politics that comes with it. Not with just nations, countries, and organizations, but with other gods. But this is important! You already saw Anna and what she did. She turned her entire soul realm into a temple to you! And there are people praying inside of it! Like it or not, you are going to awaken your divinity sooner or later. So I think it’s time I start telling you about it so you're prepared.”

He then sighed, “but, If you want to save this for later… I can’t stop you… just please be aware I strongly recommend that you hear me out…” now patiently waiting for Van’s reply.

Van frowned, he really didn’t like the thought of being a godling, and not just because of the responsibilities and politics of it all. There was just something about it that scared him that he just couldn’t put a finger on. Like if he were to accept he would become something he was not, or that he would be repeating a mistake that always ended up badly for him. There was just something so un-enticing about it that just welled up from within him, like an aversion to something you're allergic to or you see as foul. An innate dislike that he was just born with…

But illogical reasons aside, there really wasn’t a reason why he should refuse Ren’s help in this case. At least it was clear by Ren’s expression that he was serious and just genuinely wanted to help in this aspect. He knew that Ren also didn’t like this, and wouldn't do this unless there wasn’t any other choice.

And finally, and more importantly… he wanted to know what his godling hood was all about. Perhaps this was another one of those ‘curiosity killed the cat’ moments, but he had to know.

After much thinking, Van took a deep breath and looked Ren in the eye. “Alright, I’ll hear you out…”

Ren nodded, “thank you…” he then straightened himself. “Let’s take this back towards the temple, it probably would be best if I tell you what being a godling implies there.”

After that, Van and Ren, alongside Kassandra who tagged along just to see what would happen, left and flew over to Anna’s temple. Entering the temple, Anna was surprised to see them back so soon until Ren explained why they were there.

Once she heard Ren’s explanation, her expression turned serious and she led the way towards the altar near the back of the grand hall that was raised up on its own platform where the emblazoned black sun was risen for all to see. Once there, Ren began his explanation about what it meant to be a godling and all that it entails.

“Van, the first thing you should know is that it still could take you many years before you fully awaken to your godlinghood.” Ren said, turning to look at him when they stopped near the altar. “But it’s still going to happen, so the first thing you should know about is what it means to be a godling, followed by how a godling gains strength and finishing with how to use that strength gathered.”

“It might take a while to explain everything, are you ready?” Ren asked, waiting for Van’s reply. Van nodded, ready for whatever Ren was going to say, though he couldn’t deny he was a bit nervous. “Good…” He said, then took a moment gathering his thoughts before he began.

“The first thing you should know about what it means to be a godling is to know that you are basically the lowest rung of godhood out there. After godling, there is demigod, minor god, lesser god, true godhood, greater god, high god, arch god, god-king, god-emperor, creator god, and absolute god. These are the ranks you should be aware of when it comes to godhood, with each rank being able to do more than the previous ranks below it.”

“Now, what it could mean to be a god… can differ between religion to religion,” Ren said, now taking on a more scholarly tone. “For some, it’s a transaction, you pray a certain number of days, or do a certain ritual, give a certain sacrifice, and you get the blessing. For others, like for example a fire god, it could very well be that your entire being is made of fire, so you need your followers to sacrifice firewood just to keep you alive.”

“Gods can come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. And all of them have their own needs and wants. Some are tied to a place or concept, others can do what they want or are bound by certain rules they must follow. Some are born from people, others are born from ideas. There is literally nothing that can’t be a god, and just as well there is nothing that can take the place of one god no matter how similar another is, even if they do the exact same thing. All gods are unique and different. Except for one thing…” raising a single finger.

“All gods need faith or divine energy… the way they get this divine energy can differ from god to god but the most common way is to get it from worshippers who reinforce your existence and power through their belief. The more people you have believing in you, the more power you gain.”

“Let's start now by having you access the interface right here in the temple. Go ahead, try it out for yourself.” Ren said, motioning Van forward.

Van felt a little unsure, but he did what Ren asked anyway. Moving closer to the altar, he willed a panel to open and it did, displaying a bunch of information about him and his current rank of godling hood. Showing that he was still unawakened but had about a few dozen followers already.

“From here you can set how you get your faith energy,” Ren said, picking up from where he left off. “You can get your faith energy from rituals, actions, prayers, and more. Let’s set it up while we're here.” looking at the panel alongside Van.

“Some examples of faith could be things like your follower's hunting game, fighting monsters, or even reading books. If you deem it something as an act of faith for your followers and they do it with you or their faith in mind, you can get the faith energy from said action. Of course this only works with those who know you exist and or intentionally doing said action with you in mind. It won’t work with the unfaithful, or with those who know you exist but don’t believe in you, have another god, or are an atheist.”

Van looked over the panel and it’s options as he listened to Ren ramble on, wondering what he was going to set as a faith-based action. Thinking long and hard about it, he decided to stick with the tried and true ‘prayer’ method. Nothing more simpler than people just praying to you, or at least that was what he thought.

Ren nodded at Van’s choice. “Very good, pretty basic, but you are unawakened and it’s pretty simple and straightforward so it’s probably for the best. As you grow and figure out what kind of god you want to be, you will open up more options for your worshipers to pray to you with. If for example, you want to be a scholarly god, you will gain the option for your worshipers to give you faith energy by studying. And if they do that, you can set it up as you grow in power to make it so that they learn at a faster rate the more they believe in you, as a form of incentive for them to pray to you more.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“It’s very important you figure out what kind of god you want to be. Because it can affect what powers you gain and how that will affect your followers as well. Want to be a god of fire? Then you have to give blessings that center around fire and receive offerings based on fire. Want to be a god of water and earth? The same. The more things you add to your portfolio though, the more you expand your reach and the wider the net to get more worshipers, but at the same time, the more complicated things can get as well.”

“Finally, as you accrue faith energy from your worshipers, you can return a portion of it, once it’s been processed by you of course, back to the worshiper in a form of a blessing. You can also designate certain individuals to be a conduit for your blessings, such as a priest or priestess.”

“Making a priest or priestess costs faith energy, and it must be of someone who genuinely believes in you. There is a certain amount of faith it takes to make a priest, but you can also pour more energy into them to make them stronger. And just like gods, priests differ from each religion, and the benefits they gain, or in rare cases lose, can change based on the god. Each religion also has its own hierarchy, or in some cases, none at all, acting more like a life choice than a religion.”

“Why don’t we continue where we left off and have you set up what kind of doctrines or tenets you want your worshipers to follow, as well as the hierarchy of your religion. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake, you can change it again later if you want.”

Van tapped a few buttons and took a look at the options available to him. Obviously, his first tenant was going to be that his worshipers shouldn’t kill unless in self-defense. But then he thought about it and that very well could mean they couldn’t hunt either. As he went down the list, he became more and more aware of the detriments that some of the doctrines could have, such as no alcohol, did it mean literally? And what would happen if a follower accidentally broke it? It seemed there were consequences for breaking the doctrines as well from what he could read.

In the end, he decided to go with the safest option of making a doctrine where his followers shouldn’t discriminate against each other or kill each other. Considering how many different races were in the world, and how discrimination could hurt his religions' growth and cause divisions, he wanted it to be known he was against it.

After that, he looked towards the hierarchy part of his religion. He didn’t want things to be too strict, but at the same time, he wanted a clear line of command. First was the follower, someone new to the religion but has been praying a little. Then the faithful, followed by the believer at the top as the lowest rung of his hierarchy. He made it so that half of all prayer went back to them and once a certain amount was accumulated, they would receive a blessing that increased all their attributes by five percent. Meaning once someone was at the faithful rank they will have a five percent attribute bonus, and at the believer rank, they will have ten. After that, he may make a store that they could follow, where prayer can be exchanged for blessings or something.

After that was the neophyte, then the cleric, followed by the priestess, great priestess, high priestess and arch priestess with a final rank of saintess at the top of the religion. There were also going to be offshoots and branches such as healer, holy warrior, holy knight, and paladin, as well as a few more.

Van was actually having a lot of fun setting up a progression system for everyone. He could kinda get now why Ren loved making video games in his free time. Faith was the points used to progress in your class, but it was also the thing used to cast certain faith-based spells and so much more. After perhaps playing around too long with it, he was done and Ren nodded approvingly.

“It seems you are on your way to becoming a god of order. Now let's see…” taking a look at the top right corner of the panel where the faith points were displayed. “It looks like you have enough faith energy to promote someone to a neophyte directly. Why don’t you use it on Anna? Though I must warn you that it will only affect this portion of Anna, it wouldn’t affect all of them.”

Van thought about it and turned to Anna. “Are you fine with being a neophyte? I know it's not a cleric or priestess, but it's the only one I can afford right now,” he said apologetically.

Anna smiled, “I'm wearing this for a reason right?” showing off her priestess-looking garb. “I wouldn’t be if I didn’t want to do this,” she said

Van felt a little silly for asking, and with a few quick clicks, he felt the energy of this hallowed place start to concentrate around Anna and become a part of her. After a few moments, Anna had changed before his eyes, he could feel the strength and power she gained, and her clothes changed a little as well. Gaining a more regal, gothic, and mysterious look to them, also sexier for some reason… with the spear staff thing now looking like it belongs with the ensemble more than ever, almost as if it was meant to be. A strange tattoo also formed on her chest, one of a blazing black sun that quickly disappeared. He also felt a different kind of connection from her, similar to the soul bond they shared but also not. And it was now entwining together to form something else...

“Very good!” Ren said, “Now why don’t you set up some spells she could use?” he prompted.

Van looked back to the screen and found several new options available. Messing around he created a simple healing spell that cost a little faith energy.

Once he was done with that, he heard a ding and suddenly a torrent of energy took the entire temple. Changing it and making it grander and even more foreboding with a sense of sacredness that now seemed to permeate the place.

“It seems that now you have completed the setup for your godlinghood you have jumped closer to awakening it…” Ren said with some thought after the changes had finished, looking around at the semi-new temple that changed a little.

Anna though seemed the most surprised, blinking around like she couldn’t believe what just happened. Which made some sense since this was the core of her soul realm, it would be weird if something just changed it all of a sudden without her input.

“Van…” she said in somewhat of a daze, “I… think I awakened to a new power!” as things began to click in her head only she could sense. Van looked a little worried by how out of it Anna looked, but then intrigued with what she said next, wondering what new power she could be talking about.

After a few more blinks she slowly regained her senses again, but this time she made a motion and moved her hands, making a strange-looking mirror appear. “I… I think this power is actually for you… it’s based on my power and our new connection with each other…” she said as Van drew in for a closer look.

Van saw himself in the mirror, it was very odd, almost like the him in the mirror was just as real as he was. Tentatively he moved to touch his mirrored self, only to quickly draw his hand away when he felt warm flesh instead of a cold surface, making everyone else who was watching also nervous. Slowly, after a few minutes, Van was beginning to feel a strange sense of connection with this mirror self. And soon pulled his other self from the mirror, much to the astonishment of everyone.

“Van, explanation?” Ren asked as he looked worriedly at the mirror Van.

“I think… this is a copy of me… but almost in the same vein of Anna… we are connected mentally, I feel what he feels.” he then turned to Anna, “Anna, please don’t move, I want to try something…”

The double then, as if sensing an instruction, moved over to the nervous Anna. slowly it touched her cheek gently and Van could feel it as if it was with his own hand. “Fascinating…” he said under his breath as he looked at his own hand that now had a ghost feeling of touching Anna’s cheek.

At first, Anna was a little freaked out by this, but soon she quickly got used to it. Looking into double Van’s eyes and seeing her master in them. It then clicked that this definitely was similar to what she experiences, and when she noticed Van looking down at his hand in wonder, a mischievous smile took her face and she had a wicked idea…

All of a sudden, Van jumped several feet in the air wide-eyed, scaring Ren and Kassandra. When he landed he covered his arm and rubbed it as he felt something painful take it. He was confused and freaked out as to why something like this was happening until he noticed Anna pinching his double self. When he noticed, she pulled away and began to laugh at his reaction.

Van frowned and rubbed his arm a little more. For some strange reason… he wasn’t really mad though, the other him felt more like a doll that he could control with his mind and feel what it feels.

With a thought, he ordered it to slap Anna on the ass earning a small ‘eek!’ from her. After that, he chuckled and walked up to it. “Damn… this could be really useful… I can be in two places at the same time and feel what it feels and see what it sees.” he then smiled. “You, my friend, are going to be very useful…”