Merchant Of Yliaster

The aftermath of the godly interaction was strange, as there was an unspoken awkwardness in the air, as the priests stared at the fainted cultists on the ground with a thoughtful expression.

Some of them looked terrified, and some of them just looked numb. One second, they were covered with the light of the headpriest, and in the next second, they were surrounded by an impenetrable darkness.

While the darkness didn't harm them, it didn't mean that it wasn't hard on their hearts, as these were just priests who spent their time in this church, praying and doing priestly stuff, and definitely not fighting against dark assassins.

The shadow mana around the cultist's body was slowly dissolving, and Maxwell made the process faster by relaxing his hold on the area. With this, light returned to the place. Albeit still a bit dimmer than before, as most of the blinding torches were now extinguished.

Maxwell was still thoughtful, but it didn't take him long to realize that he needed to say something. All of the priests were looking at him, gaping like they had seen death itself. Neivor was definitely in a better state compared to others, but even the man seemed exhausted. Well, I destroyed his shield, maybe that has a backlash? Maxwell thought.

He felt a bit about doing that previously, but what's done was done. Before he could understand what was happening, Neivor's shield was already gone due to the amount of darkness he summoned. He tried a different way of summoning darkness just now, and it worked flawlessly, albeit maybe a bit too much.

He made the darkness mana consume the light mana, and due to light not being able to exist without the mana type it was connected to, this caused darkness by the absence of light. With his abilities, he could also make the light mana more docile for the darkness mana, so the ability was especially effective with the delusion.

Apart from the disturbing title he got from this encounter, there was also a single but interesting level up.

Occult Knowledge Leveled Up 15→32

It has more than doubled? Maxwell was not sure if there was anything that warranted such a change, but he guessed meeting a god would not be an experience regular people had been through usually.

Neivor, being a lot calmer compared to his fellow priests, approached him as he stared at the unconscious forms of the cultists. The man seemed to be a bit reluctant to talk, as his lip twitched for a moment, but he had no other choice, as he was the leader.

"I can see why our God wanted me to find you. I will refrain from using your name, as that seems to cause some unpleasant effects from what I see, but we sincerely thank you for your assistance. "With the man's words, the book strapped to his belt released a golden glow.

Title Acquired: Honorary Bishop Of The Heavenly Church - Planetary

Honorary Bishop Of The Heavenly Church - Planetary: From now on, you are an honorary bishop of this planet's branch of the Heavenly Church.

"What's with the planetary?" Maxwell asked. The title was simple, and it was particularly uninformative. It didn't even mention what he could use the title for.

"On this planet, you are considered a bishop. If you ever go out to the greater universe and find one of the stronger branches of our religion, your rank will be… calibrated according to the bishops of that church. Upper tiers live longer, and have more achievements, so our ranks and theirs don't really align." Neivor spoke, his serene air returning bit by bit.

So, gods can really give information to their believers. What the man just said proved that he could receive concrete information from his god, while regular people like Maxwell, if one could ever categorize him as such, weren't even sure that there was a wider universe outside.

Due to his unusual interactions with beings beyond his comprehension, Maxwell already had a rough understanding of the universe, or multiverse, he found himself in. But for the other people, the only way for them to receive this knowledge would be through religion at this stage.

In a way, this meant that he was scammed to a degree, as there was nothing about this in their agreement, but he didn't care much. He was a bit fed up with godly confrontations today.

"What are you going to do with the cultists?" Maxwell asked. Glancing at the people on the ground. They were completely devoid of energy, as they gave it all to summon Zeylin, but they were healthy otherwise. Some who were killed by Zeylin to prolong her stay were gone without a trace, though. Maxwell found himself not really concerned about that.

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"The kingdom hardly interferes with the wars between religions, so we will handle this ourselves. We will screen them for mental manipulation, and if we find them irredeemable, they will be sent to God." Neivor said with a determined tone. This is the most brainwashed he has ever been. Maxwell commented in the privacy of his mind.

"I see. I hope he likes the cargo you are sending." Maxwell said sarcastically. He could see a twitch on Neivor's face, but he managed to keep his serene expression, albeit in a strained fashion.

At this point, it was not a secret that he disliked religion. For a person who protected a dying world for years, the idea of a religion worth being a part of was offensive. Even if there was such a religion, it was clear that the particular god's influence didn't reach Zephyr. If anything, the system was the closest thing to a universal religion.

He was already surprised that there were no cults forming around the system. Considering the state of technology in this world, Maxwell expected that there would be a group among the nobles who would eventually worship the system as a tech god.

It was a paradoxical thought, but for the commoner without education, the supernatural was already real before the initiation in the form of superstitions. Initiation would only make them feel right and accept the system as a different part of this world's perspective.

Educated, on the other hand, knew that there was no such thing as supernatural before the system's arrival. For them, the system was the closest thing to a god there could ever be. Of course, Maxwell was just theorizing. With the advent of Etherium back on Zephyr, the same thing happened among the scholars, so he could see that happening here too.

All those rational scholars back then were completely lost when it came to understanding how Etherium worked, and it caused some amount of deification of the Etherans for some among the higher society.

Maxwell always found the idea distasteful, as the world suffered way too much under the Etherans for them to deserve any kind of good reputation. The battle was never on the ground, but many good soldiers died in space during their invasion.

He silently parted from the priests, as he was still too tired from the day's ordeals to have further interactions. His soul still felt heavy, but he was feeling a bit better after his soul cannibalized the others. He was not sure what he should feel about that.

After changing back to his usual self in the forest, he returned to The Nest. Even before reaching the building, though, he could sense that there was an irregular crowding on the exclusive floor. Is there something special today? He thought. The night was still young, as he didn't spend much time dealing with the cultists, and it was possible that some kind of event was going on.

He could actually check it with his dominion, but Maxwell found that sometimes, seeing things with your eyes was more fun. There was no need to put the fun out of it after all.

As the elevator's door slowly opened, a different scene welcomed him to the exclusive floor of The Nest. Where Nesha usually cooked with her interesting kitchen, now stood a small stage about 30 centimeters above the ground. There was a big crowd surrounding the stage, and a pleasant melody was ringing through the room, carrying the unmistakable tone of a chorded instrument.

Maxwell's face lit up with surprise as he saw the person who was playing the lute, as he could identify the instrument now. A familiar face was there, and people were looking at him like he was a god who descended from the heavens. He observed the man.

Nero - Bard - Level 34

He leveled up really fast. Maxwell noted. It was also not hard to see that the lute the man was playing was made from the very same wood he left beside the man when he saw him in the forest. He thought that the man looked extravagant before with a mage robe, but it seemed like that was him being conservative.

Right now, he wore an extensively decorated dress robe decorated with motifs. The clothes, for some reason, also glowed faintly with a yellow light, matching the yellow hair of the man. In the split second Maxwell analyzed him, the man too noticed him, and Maxwell could see his eyes widening.

To his credit, he managed to keep his composure as he kept playing without missing a note. He was not singing, but that was probably due to the late hour. People around, too, had a tired look, as if they were cheering for a long time.

Among the crowd, he could see Nesha and Devon too, as siblings were watching the crowd with a smile from the sidelines, as Devon was telling something to the woman. Maxwell approached them, and it didn't take them long to notice him.

I hope hugs are not expected. Maxwell thought as he watched the siblings get up from where they were sitting. Maxwell really didn't want to hug people, as Felix was still in his liquid form, covering his body. He really didn't want people to think that he was covered with slime or something.

Fortunately for him, a brief handshake was all they had, apart from Devon smacking his shoulder like he was his best friend. Maxwell actually could feel the impacts with his insane health pool.

"Welcome, where have you been? I hope it was worth missing Nero's performance." Devon said, smiling.

"Well, I guess it was," Maxwell said, and grabbed a drink from the tray nearby before sitting down beside them. "Was this planned?" he asked Nesha, who was clearly waiting for him to initiate a mental connection.

"Not really, Nero drops by whenever he feels like. He usually cannot shut up about it, though, so he brings his own crowd. Fortunately, he is thoughtful enough not to bring anyone without access." Nesha sent back, as she kept watching the performance. There were no hints in her body language that she was conversing with someone. So nobles are natural politicians? Maxwell thought as he sipped his drink.

I think I can get used to this. He thought, closing his eyes and listening to the music. This was his first time listening to music since coming into this world, and the experience was delightful.

For the first time in decades, he could actually enjoy it without thinking about the responsibilities of tomorrow.