Neiro and his siblings are now three years old and so, both they and their parents are now going to the village church where they will be listening to sermons and stories told by the priests and nuns there.
It is also the place where they start their mandatory education once they are five years old.
-"Papa! Papa!"
Bertholdt had a giant grin plastered over his face as he held Vamas' hand while they walked towards the church while Anastasia followed close behind with Neiro and Lana.
-"Your father really likes being called 'Papa' by your brother sir. It seems that the nights you spent teaching him how to say it were not wasted."
Stephen followed the happy family, moving right besides Neiro's face. He was in a great mood as he finally managed to complete one of the tasks needed to get his next training video.
It was very hard to find the proper tasks for Neiro as if they were too easy then he would simply reject them, stating that if these points can be acquired so easily then they have no value to him.
As a compromise he managed to issue three easy tasks by making their requirements simply be celebrating his birthdays, telling Neiro that the points are his gifts. The fourth task was to make Vamas' first words be 'Papa' and to say it in front of Bertholdt.
That task was deemed acceptable by Neiro because he was actively trying to teach Vamas how to talk. thus being a 'task' and not 'playing'.
The other tasks were much the same, with them simply being simple 'tasks' or small 'celebrations', like when Neiro's baby teeth started growing.
-'It was a fun thing to do and it also made my father feel happy, the points are secondary to that. Now if I remember correctly, there are 5 main Gods in charge of our continent, correct?"
During the years leading to Neiro's 3rd birthday Stephen had told The Anomaly about many things, from basic geography, math, history and even about the different Gods that rule over the continents.
The continent of Yvon has 5 main Gods with their own pantheons, they are:
-Natir, god of the elves and nature, wind, archery, hunting, foraging and alchemy. His churches are mostly seen in the Midoro Empire.
-The twin gods Reptos and Amphora, the gods of the reptile and amphibian folk residing in the Empire of Amphora. They are the gods of water, Spring and Winter, sleep, fishing and the reptile and amphibian folk. Their churches are seen in the Amphora Empire.
-Pamit, goddess of dwarves, earth, metallurgy, fire, crafting, farming and war. Her churches are mostly seen in the Empire of Tectonia.
-Campbell, deity of humanity, teaching, cooking, commerce and emotions. Campbell is the gender-less, carefree deity of humanity, said to have been too lazy to choose between being male or female and so they chose to be both and neither. Their churches are mostly seen in the Aurora Empire.
The Goddess Bianca is a minor goddess in Campbell's pantheon, with her being in charge of the emotion of Levity, and she is also the same goddess that requested the services of Icy Sky inc. in order to raise her standing among the gods to the top of the planet.
The power a deity holds is based on two factors, they can either be belief-based deities or self-actualized deities. Belief-based deities gain power from the faith of their followers, allowing them to gain and use Divine Energy through this faith.
Self-actualized deities are simply beings that are either born deities, have become deities by ascending or by using artifacts, potions, etc. These deities gain and use Divine Energy by converting other energies into it, like Mana or Ether.
So long as a Belief-based deity has enough followers then they are essentially immortal but their power also fluctuates based on the level of faith and their amount of believers.
On the other hand Self-actualized deities can get stronger on their own but do not possess the level of immortality Belief-based deities possess.
Bianca is a belief-based deity that lost almost all of her power from the loss of her planet and so she used her last slivers of power to teleport to a random planet in an attempt to save herself, leading her to end up on Midor and to be taken in by Campbell out of pity.
When Stephen told Neiro about the tasks he had to complete in order to get his next training video, gain access to more information and possibly unlock new features, and when it came to increasing Goddess Bianca's followers he looked a bit confused but after a few seconds he then said:
-'Why would she need my help to get more believers? Can't she simply perform some miracles in order to get more? Plus I think a deity should be more capable than a mortal when it comes to getting believers.'
Stephen then explained how belief-based deities are shackled by what their followers believe their abilities are. Bianca being the Goddess of Levity, she can only subtly control emotions and induce a sense of carefreeness into people, which is not the best emotion to induce when you want more believer.
The mass majority of her power is currently coming from Campbell and this power has been used to make herself look eternally youthful, change her appearance and to heal others and other things that cause her to not really care that much about other things.
Why care about aging when she is a goddess with eternal youth?
Why care about her beauty when she can freely change her appearance?
Why care about injuries when she can heal herself?
But this has also led to her believers to think:
'Why care about worshiping and performing holy quests for a goddess that also does not care about us?'
Bianca does not truly care about her believers, the only reason why she wants more is because she is used to having more. She is undependable, childish and carefree.
Or in Neiro's and most of the worlds words:
'A useless goddess'
As Stephen and Neiro finished recounting some of the basic information related to the deities of Yvon, the Smith family had already gotten inside the church and sat down on the pews, with Anastasia and Bertholdt making sure that they are all dressed properly and Neiro's younger siblings, Lana and Vamas, looking at the small paintings and statues provided to the church.
They were all dressed in their best clothes specifically reserved for when they go to church, with the triplets wearing simple woolen clothes made by Anastasia with tender love and care. She had braided her golden hair in a modest fashion while her husband made sure to properly comb his hair.
The other churchgoers greeted the Smith family with polite smiles, coming by themselves, with their spouses or their children. They were not all friends and some were dressed noticeably better than others, but they did not insult them out loud for Campbell had taught that what separates Sentient beings from other animals isn't their intelligence, but their ability to control their thoughts and emotions.
To shame another in front of a group is a telltale sign of not being able to control their desire to show their superiority, thus making them inferior to those that know that they can also become as miserable as the ones they mock.
They will still mock others of course, but in subtler ways, that is if they are smart. If they are not, then...
A warm hand touched Anastasia's shoulder and when she looked at who touched her, her calm expression almost immediately soured.
-"Oh Mrs. Smith I have not seen you in such a long time! How have you been? I bet it must have been exhausting taking care of three active children, I can barely take care of my little Raymond so I have no idea how you managed to care for all of them and make them feel loved. I saw from a distance how Bertholdt was so happy while he was with one of your sons while you had to be with your other children."
The owner of the chipper voice that subtly insulted Anastasia was Sofia, a mother in her mid 40s with a 6 year old son called Raymond. She is the wife of one of the village lumberjacks and has lived her entire life inside GreenWood village.
She wore a long light brown skirt that went down to her ankles with a purple blouse. She had dark brown hair and bright Vintu green eyes, with her son taking strongly after her.
Her husband, Thomas, was also standing besides her alongside his son. He had light blue eyes and light blond hair with a large, muscular body and a small beard. He was visibly uncomfortable with his wife's behavior, this being the reason why he spends most of his time in the forest while his son remained with her, but he did not have the social skills required to make her back off without angering her.
Both Thomas and Sofia were commoners and so they did not posses a family name, that is usually something only nobles have but other people can gain them as well. Soldiers that have achieved incredible feats or loyal knights can gain last names as a reward for their deeds, while bastards of noble and royal families have their own last names based on the kingdom and empire.
As an example, the last name 'Stone' is reserved for bastard children from the Tectonia Empire. These last names are given in order to show that while they are below pure-blooded nobles, they are still above commoners.
Sofia always felt inferior to Anastasia due to her greater beauty, being jealous of her even with their 10 year age difference. When Anastasia was around 20 years old, Thomas had a crush on her and was planning to marry her but when she enlisted in the army, he decided to choose the second most beautiful girl in the village at the time. Sofia.
When Anastasia returned with her very own husband and a last name given to her for her deeds in the war between the rebelling Rain kingdom, Sofia was seething. When she saw her pregnant belly and learned that she was having triplets, she went to the church and prayed all night for her to die during childbirth.
Instead of dying, Anastasia instead lived, had three beautiful and well mannered intelligent children and was enjoying her retired life, living off of the money she received after her service was over.
And so she started trying to find any fault with Anastasia's life, and when she saw how Vamas was 'being treated better' than his siblings, she did not let the chance slip and started subtly insulting her, basically announcing her doubts over her capabilities as a mother.
Anastasia and Bertholdt both realized what she was subtly implying and while Anastasia was managing to control her temper, Bertholdt was ashamed of how his behavior basically gave Sofia free arrows. Just as he was about to speak out he then saw Lana open her mouth and say:
-"Just becawse you can't waise your son pwoperly dwoesn't mean mommy can't!" (Just because you can't raise your son properly doesn't mean mommy can't!)
Sofia, Bertholdt, Anastasia and Raymond were all shocked while the people that heard what Lana said were trying hard to not laugh, with some even letting out a few quiet snickers.
The three adults were surprised that Lana could understand what Fiona was implying while Raymond was shocked by something else.
-'Before she said that her brother leaned in and whispered something to her! He was the one that came up with what she said!'
While adults were supposed to have proper control over their emotions, children were not expected to, and were instead encouraged to act this way in order to better cherish their childhoods, that is why her parents or other adults were reprimanding her, for someone that chastises a child for acting like a child is worse than someone that cannot control their emotions, and thus, worse than an animal.
Unfortunately, Sofia did not agree with this teaching of Campbell and was about to yell a few obscenities at Lana, but just as she was about to the head priest of the church entered and went to the altar, where the holy book of Campbell and a statue showing the deity of humanity teaching the first humans were on.
Thomas quickly took his son and wife to a pew further away from the Smith family and both Anastasia and Bertholdt told their children to be silent as the Head Priest was about to start reciting the Holy Book of Humanity.
Meanwhile Stephen let out a breath he didn't know that he was holding, feeling exhausted due to Neiro.
-'That woman is lucky she didn't speak or she would've died a gruesome death, she is already unlucky enough to have failed the test.'
That's right, Neiro whispering into Lana's ear the insult directed at the woman was a test to see if she was so pathetic that she would lash out at a three year old child for something they said.
Neiro noticed her subtle jabs at his mother and that displeased him, but much like how adults shouldn't interfere with fights between children and instead let them solve their problems on their own if possible, he also thought that children should let adults resolve their own problems without dragging children into them.
And so if Sofia were to stoop so low that she would involve Lana into her one-sided rivalry with his mother, then he would get involved.
If you were to ask Neil for the reason why he made it so that Lana said it instead of him was because he was known by his family to be a calm and respectful child, so it would be odd for him to suddenly insult someone.
Of course, if you were to instead ask Stephen, he would say that the real reason was because Neiro thought it would be funny to hear his sister insult someone to their face and they had no way to rebuke them without making themselves look bad.
-'Stephen, show me the status window of Sofia and the Head Priest.'
Stephen didn't actually have the ability to show the status windows of others but The Status Window still showed their statuses anyway.
-'On whose side are you anyways? I am supposed to be your boss not him!'
[Sofia Status Window]
Name:Sofia
Species:Basic Midorian Human
Stats:
STR(Due to her age and lack of training, she is weaker than the average person):0.8
AGI(Due to her lifestyle and lack of training her reaction speed is much slower than the average person):0.6
DEX(Due to her ailing joints, she isn't as flexible as in her younger days.):0.6
END(Goes to sleep earlier than most):0.9
THG(Slightly less tough than the average person, with a better diet she would go back to normal):0.9
PER(Her eyesight is slowly starting to worsen due to working under candlelight):0.7
WIS(Has an inferiority complex and if someone were to question her capabilities then she gets very aggressive and defensive):0.6
CHR(More attractive than the average person, her age has decreased her beauty):1.6
INT(Due to choosing to live most of her life inside of GreenWood village she isn't as knowledgeable as other people, although she likes to pretend she is):0.8
LCK(Having been born prettier than most girls she could be seen as lucky but due to living in the same village as Anastasia, she was always the second best at anything she tried. Her last attempt was at being a better mother but even she knows that she would not be able to raise three children.):5
Mana Capacity(having no particular talent at spell-casting nor having the money needed to buy mana training methods, her mana capacity is rather small but the same amount as the majority of commoners that do not fight or use spells for a living.): 50/50(Full)
Trait(s):
-
Skill(s):
-Active:
-
-Passive:
-Sewing(Adept):Works as one of the village seamstresses and thus has experience sewing up clothes, crocheting and other things, but she is by no means an expert.
-Cooking(Adept):Cooks the meals for her family and so she knows how to cook most commoner foods available to her.
-Investigation(Beginner):Has started trying to find any negative qualities in others in order to feel better about herself.
-Sneaking(Beginner):She tries to sneakily listen in to the conversations of others to dig up dirt on them.
Title(s):
-
[End Status Window]
[Fabian Status Window]
Name:Fabian
Species:Basic Midorian Human
Stats:
STR(Can use small amounts of Divine energy to boost his strength):5
AGI(Has a higher reaction speed than most):3
DEX(Has worked in a circus before he was taken in to become a church leading to him being much more flexible than most people):10
END(Due to performing religious fasting he has trained himself to reduce his needs for nutrients and sleep):10
THG(Has gone through warrior priest training but ended up failing to become one, due to their training techniques his body is much tougher than most):8
PER(Has good hearing so he can listen in to the conversations within the church.):5
WIS(Is a learned man and the one responsible for the mandatory education of GreenWood village so he is smarter than most):10
CHR(Not particularly handsome but not ugly either, just average):1
INT(Has read many religious and educational texts in order to become Head Priest of the GreenWood Church):10
LCK(Average luck):1
Mana Capacity(Has expanded his mana core in order to properly convert mana into low quality Divine Energy): 350/350(Full)
Low Quality Divine Energy Capacity(Has gained a low quality Divine core by becoming a Head Priest, allowing him to store, use and convert Low Quality Divine Energy):100/100(Full)
Trait(s):
-Low Quality Divine Core:Possesses a low quality Divine Core, acquired through a special ritual. Allows the holder of one to use Low Quality Divine Energy.
Skill(s):
-Active:
-Animal Healing Magic(Adept):Allows him to heal animals by using High Quantities of Mana or Lower Quantities of Divine Energy, healing wounds and greatly strengthening the natural immune system of the animal while also working as an alternative to food, water,air while also healing the target's fatigue.
-Divinity manipulation(Beginner): Allows him to transfer Divine Energy to his deity of choice and to use Divine Energy as an alternative to Mana.
-Divine Fire(Beginner):Allows him to burn Divine Energy in order to create Divine Flames. Divine Flames are effective on beings that the user perceives as 'demonic', working on a low conceptual level. Divine Flames burn the soul instead of the body so most fights used with them leave intact corpses.
-Passive:
-Preaching(Adept):Has the ability to preach inside small, village churches, allowing him to better inspire and convert people that have weak wills or agree with his messages.
-Teaching(Adept):Has the ability to teach other people how to read and write in Yvonnian and Aurorish along with how to count, add, subtract,multiply and divide small numbers.
Title(s):
-Head Priest of GreenWood church(Given by The population of GreenWood village, The Church of Campbell)
[End Status Window]