I followed Hela back to the Dungeon, I went first in the city where I found many people greeting me, which was normal, but this time there were some people kneeling and it wasn't just the Dragonewt or the Blood Devils.
As many among them were considerably weaker than me, to say the least, I was able to feel and analyze their Auras like a poster, it was almost automatic because my Aura was so strong now, not to mention that they seemed to receive my Aura willingly unconsciously.
What caused me to become almost panicked was feeling the faith in these people who got to their knees, I also felt the faith in their Auras condense into energy that ended up flowing to me when my Aura touched theirs, this energy turned into Holy power when my Authority absorbed it, then I felt my sacred energy recover a tiny, almost imperceptible amount.
It took me a few seconds to process and understand all of this, my sisters talked about it, but even then they spoke very superficially, I think asking them to explain everything to me in detail might be too much for the amount of things I still need to learn.
"(So that was why my Holy Power's recovery speed was so strange without any standard, it wasn't just my normal Recovery and it depended on the people in the Dungeon as well.)" (I)
"Okay master... I mean Father?" (Hela)
"Huhh! Yes, yes, it's okay, let's continue." (I)
"Let's go to the Communal Temple first, I need to pray to the Demon Goddess of Death before the ritual." (Hela)
"Then let's go..." (I)
"Welcome Father." (Nicole)
"Hello, Nicole." (I)
"Why are you up so late?" (I)
"I woke up a few minutes ago, I had an idea to solve the elemental energy conversion from water to ice in my new project..." (Nicole)
"I get it, I'll let you get back to your projects, but find something to eat first." (I)
I leave Nicole behind while muttering various things, she got lost in her thoughts, so I left her alone as I continued to the Common Temple with Hela.
As soon as I entered I felt something different, something that shook me completely, I felt several presences turning their attention on me at the same time as my Authority seemed to interact with the Communal Temple itself, this time I didn't use my Aura, but somehow my Authority came out from my body in a natural way and interacted with the Communal Temple itself by mixing with it.
"This is what Divinity means, master." (Alice)
"Your statue is enshrined here and just like the statues of the other Gods, your statue was formed naturally using your power and mine as well as the others." (Alice)
"It has become a place that is under its Authority shared with the other Gods that are enshrined here." (Alice)
Alice appeared accompanied by Vanessa, the two were coming from inside the Temple, Vanessa was silent leaving only Alice to speak, the two were wearing the clothes of the Temple of Blood with the only difference being the Coats that each one carried.
"Good to see you, Dad." (Vanessa)
"Thank you for your concern." (I)
Vanessa steps forward giving me a hug as Alice bends down in front of me.
"No need for formalities..." (I)
"She does need some formalities, I am her daughter and a Saint of the Goddess Selene, so I can act this way with you, but I would never do the same thing with the Goddess Selene even under her request." (Vanessa)
"Alice represents you as a Saint, she is a living representation of your will and has accepted such a role, she can tone down the formalities a little if she so wishes, but she must always keep some of this formality as a sign of respect for you, this is part of her duties." (Vanessa)
"She is right, master." (Alice)
"..." (I)
When I look away from Vanessa's lecture on these things, I find in the corner of my vision a little behind me someone on the floor, when I look up I realize it's Eva kneeling and bowing with her forehead on the floor.
"It's no use talking to her, but trust me, she prefers it that way." (Alice)
"Please get up Eva." (I)
"As your Priestess, kneeling in her presence is my great happiness..." (Eva)
"That's enough Eva, if you continue you will shame the master in public." (Aline)
In the surroundings there were many people watching everything that happened, I must say that normally I don't care about people's thoughts of me, but I could sense that the strong presences within the Communal Temple were also paying attention, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed at this situation.
It was while I didn't know where to look that I noticed one of the presences divert his attention, I recognize each of these presences for having everyone's Blessings, then I look around me realizing the reason this presence has diverted attention from me.
"How long has she been gone?" (I)
"I waved her off as she seemed to be in a hurry." (Vanessa)
"We're about to leave this place, so she's right to be in a hurry." (I)
"Come on, let me show you where I put her Statue." (Alice)
"You seem to be having a lot of fun with this whole thing." (I)
"I like the master's reactions to all this, but I like more how everyone is easily accepting all this, even if it causes some misunderstandings." (Alice)
Alice and Vanessa told me that they have been waking up at dawn every day to explain to the people who come to the Communal Temple about my statue, this is because many are asking if I am a god, which cannot be left like that.
When I enter the main hall where the statues are, I feel my Authority being completely restricted to just one part, my Authority could not get near the statues and the area around them.
I also felt like the statues were fundamentally different before, I always knew these statues are different, but now I can feel as if they are alive, I feel as if they are mirror reflections of the Gods, it seemed to be just that to me.
When I focus on the statues it was as if I could see this reflection becoming more real and I felt my attention on one of the statues alerted the God in question that I felt looking directly at me letting a pressure fall on me just for that extra attention.
This was the God of Beasts, after I divert my attention I go closer to my statue which was the only place where my Authority formed a presence of its own, it was like looking into a mirror, it was too strange to get used to, I felt the same energy of faith that once flowed from the statue to me when I got close, that's when I felt my Holy Power fully recover.
My statue was in the middle of the small lake of blood that was still empty and with a path made so that people could reach the statue that is on an altar in the center of the lake.
"I'm ready to go, master." (Hela)
"Huhh yeah..." (I)
I follow Hela out of the Communal Temple almost in a daze from everything I felt here, but after leaving the Temple I felt my mind settle down.
With Hela having already prayed to the Demon Goddess of Death, Kalistos.
All I could think was that everything was ready, she also had a bag that she didn't carry before so she must have everything she needs and we left town while I was lost in my thoughts for a little while.
I thought a little about all this and decided to continue with Hela by going to the Undead floor with her, but on the way to the safe room of this floor, I suddenly feel a pull in two directions, this pull came through my connection with Layla and Nix.
This attraction was still weak, I was close to going to where they were when Fairy Empress Lorraine appeared beside me.
"It's not time yet, wait a little longer." (Lorraine)
After saying this she disappears without a trace, I was confused but decided to trust her word.
----------------
When we arrived at the Living Undead floor I felt the mundanes, I could feel a much stronger Death Aura, and the terrain was also different from before.
This reminds me that I gave Nix a list of changes to make some time ago in Dungeoneering, I have a lot of unused Dungeoneering Points accumulated.
I spent a lot of time thinking about various things in the Dungeon and just accumulated everything over months while thinking about my free time, I let Nix make the changes days ago before my evolution, as I hardly visit any floors other than the one where the city is, I hadn't noticed since that patch was the one that had the least changes.
"There's someone else here." (I)
I could feel an Aura full of death energy a little way away from us, it was exploding all over the place and I was able to feel traces of Authority that sent shivers down my back.
"It must be Ivan, he spends a lot of time here training, he knows I was coming and must have gone far away, his presence could interfere with the ritual." (Hela)
"So let's get started, do you need anything from me?" (I)
"Not only do I need to drink your blood to help build up my energy reserves for the ritual." (Hela)
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶