World Keeper

Chapter 40: Dual Domains

Setting up a room for Bihena was a simple matter, though it allowed me to practice altering the Admin Room. In the end, I created a room which I felt fit her. A wide room, larger than mine and Terra’s, but also more simply decorated. The bed was not as large or extravagant. There was a wardrobe, but I did not fill it, allowing her to do so herself. I put a large, circular rug in the center of the room.

Once the decorations were set, I attached it to the hallway outside my own room, placing it next to Aurivy’s. I was a bit concerned that Irena and Tryval didn’t have their own rooms, but I doubted that Tryval would want to stay in the Admin Room either way. As for Irena, I needed to find something out before I did anything about that.

Thankfully, the answer was easy to discover. With just a quick run down to Terra to ask, I found out that I could connect Irena’s room in the afterlife to the Admin Room. However, only those with access to the Admin Room can use the door. For anyone else, the door would simply seem to open to a solid wall.

Next… I guess I should take advantage of this Godking thing, huh? I sighed mentally, remembering the secondary benefit that Grimor had told me about that achievement. Although it was not directly listed on the achievement prompt, it also gave me the ability to assign each deity a second domain for free. Which is nice, because normally extra domains would cost twenty points each.

I had to take some time to think about what I wanted to give each deity. I wanted to make it something which would help their people, while also being something that would fit their personality. This was naturally easier for the few that did not have a personality yet. First, I fast-forwarded the world by a couple of weeks, that way the humans wouldn’t get too suspicious about this change happening the same day the Bihena descended.

Let’s make Ryone the Goddess of Magic, then. Even if Terra naturally knows all of the spells and the different meanings behind the formations, the rules prevent her from teaching me. However, if I assign a goddess to the domain of magic, then that goddess can research and put things together herself without facing any such restrictions.

Hmm… Aurivy can get Travel as a second domain. Judging from her love of anime, she is not opposed to discovering new things, and travel is something that will be a great benefit to the halflings. With how much they move around, it fits them perfectly.

Bihena… I want to give her something like Patience, but that really doesn’t seem to fit her personality much. How about… Peace. Giving Bihena two opposing attributes seems like it may cause conflict, but really the two compliment each other more than anything. She is a goddess who can be a powerful assault, while making sure that the battles are fought for the proper reasons. And, this won’t be limited to only the humans, as she is the goddess of all battles.

Tryval, I kind of want to make the God of Sex… but that is just going to leave a massive scar on history. Imagine the other races finding out that a horse is the god of sex. Please, spare me from that kind of culture. So… I thought about the way that Tryval had acted, and the things he had done until now. I could think of two domains that fit him. Either nobility, for how he acts, or fellowship, for the goal of bringing centaurs together. Ultimately, I chose the latter, hoping to use that to stop discrimination between the centaurs.

Tubrock… the dwarves are without a doubt the most scientifically minded so far, so I should focus on that. Let’s give him Innovation. Out of all the races, only the dwarves had discovered smelting, and were actively researching it. It only made sense to have them as the inventors.

For Irena… well, there aren’t a whole lot of things that will directly help her in the afterlife. If anything, Justice would fit her the most. Hopefully, with it, she will be able to see into a person’s past. That should be able to help her govern the daeva and the dead souls.

Aside from Terra, I had given all of the currently sentient gods their new domains, and I wanted to save her for the last. All that was left at this point was to give the beastkin goddesses their domains. They are a more united community, so I could give them domains to help each other out, rather than focusing on their own traits.

For Udona, the kitsune Goddess of Life, let’s give her Entertainment as a second domain. That should help their cultural growth a bit, I think. Keliope, the ursa Goddess of Strength has the feel of an Amazon, so let’s give her fortitude to help her people be the warriors of the beastkin. Accalia, the lycan Goddess of the Hunt… hunting will probably become outdated eventually, once the world develops enough, so let’s give her something that will get stronger when that happens. I decided to grant her the Wisdom domain as her second.

Now, finally, for Terra. She was the Goddess of Fate, and the only currently sentient goddess for the beastkin. Naturally, I couldn’t give her something half-assed as a domain. However, the beastkin already had most everything they would need to grow as a people between the other goddesses.

Ultimately, I decided to give her a domain which I felt most complimented her current abilities, without overly stepping on the toes of any of the others. So, I assigned her the Stories domain. While it might seem similar to Entertainment, I felt that it was sufficiently different. Especially at this stage, where the only stories that exist are the legends that people come up with.

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Everyone felt a small chill going down their spines, all at once. They weren’t sure why, and had mostly cast it aside for a while. However, eventually everyone noticed that the deity that appeared in their minds seemed more powerful than before, more grand.

Among the elves, they noticed that Magic had been added to their goddess’s domains. Naturally, they believed that this was the heavens recognizing their efforts to further the study of magic. This belief caused them to fully immerse themselves in the magical arts, going so far as to replicate the leather scrolls issued by the quest system, in order to leave behind notes. With that, even their written language advanced by leaps and bounds, practically overnight.

Halflings had a fairly casual reaction. Perhaps, the greatest change for them was that many seemed to accidentally acquire the Priest class, simply by roaming the wilderness as they always had, while following the directions of their Goddess. Of course, how could the heavens always answer the call of man? While many were overjoyed from simply being able to converse with the Goddess of Love and Travel, others felt more calmly about it, understanding her position and not wanting to waste her time with idle chatter.

Perhaps the ones who took the change the most severely were the humans. Their goddess had just descended a dozen days before, forcing all ongoing battles to a halt. Now, everyone had had time to go back to their respective homes and report this fact, when suddenly the image of their goddess changed. No longer was she solely a force for battle, but also a force to maintain peace.

Many minds felt this to be contradicting, that one person cannot represent both aspects. You cannot call for peace while walking amidst a field of blood. However, they were forced to accept this, for now. None had forgotten the words she had left behind, and none doubted that she would truly be willing to carry out her threats.

For the centaurs, there were mixed feelings regarding the new power which Tryval held. Those of the variant city immediately began proclaiming their willingness to follow this new direction, while the standard herds hesitated. They had not truly grown accustomed to the existence of their unfamiliar kin, and could not entirely accept fellowship with them yet. However, they knew from stories of old what would happen to those that angered the God of the Plains, and could only hide their unwillingness in their hearts.

Next were the dwarves, whose reaction was among the least between the different races. They had no word to describe the new realm of power their deity held, but they knew its meaning. However, this did not change their daily life. They still mined their mountains and lit their forges, finding new and interesting shapes that they could bend their metal towards.

For those in the afterlife, given that they were a conglomeration of every race, they naturally understood that it wasn’t just their own god or goddess that had obtained new power. Every deity had been enhanced, and it made them look at the statue standing in the Temple Square with even more reverence.

Among the spirits, many began working to build around the statue, with permission from Irena. They were going to create the first true temple, a place to worship all gods, as well as the mysterious figure that was shrouded in mystery. Many didn’t understand why Irena would look at their work with a complicated gaze, but many stories began to spread.

Some said that the sculptor that made the work was a secret lover to their goddess, and that she was reminded of both him and the man who held power over her whenever she looked at the statue. The cold image of the goddess was replaced with the figure of a troubled girl whose heart was torn between two men for those who believed this story. Others, suspected that the man who sculpted the statue may have been an emissary from the hidden king of the gods, and that Irena was not sure if he would approve of a temple surrounding his work. Yet, she never moved to stop them, for whatever reason.

Finally came the beastkin. Like in the afterlife, the presence of four races gave them the knowledge of four gods expanding in power. And, similar to the afterlife, they began to have the desire to erect shrines for their goddesses. Although there was no memory of their goddesses directly interfering with the course of history, they would forever know of their power.

Among the beastkin cities, more than half began gathering as many as they could find with even the most primitive crafting abilities. Even if it was a statue of sticks and rough stones, they would place it in a seat of power within their walls. Doing so caused them to feel a strange warmth, and made many receive such classes as Priest or Sculptor.

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I gave a small nod after I confirmed the changes, but when I looked up, I found four women looking at me in a slightly irritated manner. All four of the sentient goddesses, even little Aurivy was among them. “Big brother, why’d you suddenly give us all a new domain?” She asked, a small amount of frustration in her voice.

“Well… I mean, isn’t it a good thing?” I was a bit confused, not understanding why they seemed upset. Having a second domain would only increase their power, right?

“Muuu…” Aurivy puffed her cheeks up, pouting slightly as she looked to Terra. However, it was the newest goddess that spoke next.

“You idiot, now we have twice as much work to do!” Bihena shouted out, throwing her arms into the air. “Especially me, now I have to manage both war and peace! You made me the fucking god of politics!”

Terra nodded her head lightly. “I’ve got it easy, at least my new domain isn’t widely used yet.” She gave a light sigh, shaking her head. “Really, Dale, you know how to give us more work.” She looked at me, smirking lightly. “Though, I do approve of the domain, just not the suddenness of it.”

Next came Irena, who had her arms at her side, looking conflicted. “I suppose you had the best intentions, but this is going to play havoc with the underworld, you know?” Aurivy leaned over and hugged Irena’s waist as she said that, causing the daeva goddess to relax slightly, petting her head.

“Gah, I can already hear all of their voices!” Aurivy complained, shaking her head and burying it in Irena’s side.

Terra looked at the halfling goddess, kneeling down and patting her back. “It’s okay, Rivy, I’ll teach you how to block out the prayers. That should help some.” She offered a gentle smile, and Aurivy turned around to cling to Terra instead, as if the hug was her way of thanking her. Of course, by the silly grin on Terra’s face, she was more than happy to accept this reward.

“Anyways, Dale!” Bihena shook her head, as if trying to bring back the tense atmosphere that began to fade away. “You need to consult us when you’re doing sh*t like this! It’s bad enough that we didn’t get a say in what domains you gave us, but we didn’t even see it coming until it was too late! How the fuck are we supposed to react to that?!”

“Ah… sorry about that. Didn’t think that there would be that side to it.” Honestly, I was still unclear on exactly what responsibilities the goddesses had. I mean, the ones still waiting for their personalities naturally weren’t doing anything. Yet, life did not end with Udona’s inactivity, people still hunted without Accalia’s guidance. All that I really knew was that they could influence those domains, and that they would receive the prayers of people following their domains.

“As long as you understand.” Bihena huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Without waiting for the atmosphere to lighten again, she immediately stormed out of the room. “Now I’ve got to manage all the fucking empires…” She muttered quietly under her breath as she left, drawing a giggle from Terra, who was still happily holding a pouting Aurivy.