< 11 : Apostle, Eutenia Hyrost (1) >
-You have reached level 5.
-<Eye of the Observer (Lv.4)> has grown.
-<Eye of the Observer (Lv.5)> has been achieved. You can observe the continent with a clearer vision than before.
Several days have passed since I hunted the elite monster.
About ten days in game time, I guess.
During that time, I had been hunting steadily and finally reached level 5.
Level 5.
It was a low number for a game level, but it took longer than I expected to achieve it.
Maybe it was because the karma requirement increased as the level went up, and also because the villagers who were converted to karma did not respawn in the village.
Unlike other games, there was no clear space that could be called a hunting ground.
I had to explore new areas in order to hunt.
At this point, I wondered what part of this game was idle-type.
-“Thank you.”
However, level 5 showed more drastic changes than before.
First of all, <Eye of the Observer> evolved and started to display rough dialogue contents.
Now I could understand most of what Eutenia was saying.
A whole five letters of dialogue were fully displayed.
Compared to the crude speech bubbles with two letters that used to appear, it was a huge improvement.
“She’s more polite than I thought.”
Considering how she used to say things like “Bread. Thanks.” all the time, her personality now seemed completely opposite to what I had seen before.
Apparently, Eutenia was a courteous character.
It made me feel bad for mistaking her as rude because of the low-level <Eye of the Observer>.
It was not like I gave her a lot of bread, though.
I left Eutenia alone as she thanked me for the bread, and scrolled down the message tab to check the next message.
-Warning: Excessively biased karma in one direction may trigger <Causality Adjustment>.
-<Karma’s Nickname> has tilted.
-<Karma’s Nickname: Offering> has been activated.
-From now on, you can obtain karma or items through offerings directed at you.
Next, there was a change in the skill <Karma’s Nickname>.
The warning about <Causality Adjustment> was the same as before, but this time there was one more thing added.
A skill called <Karma’s Nickname: Offering> appeared.
Offering usually refers to a ritual of presenting offerings to transcendent beings like gods.
It seemed that I could receive offerings from other characters since this skill was activated.
Of course, the only being who could offer me anything right now was Eutenia.
“Offering, huh. The only thing I can think of is the magic book.”
The only item that came to my mind was the [Magic Book: Barrier] that I had given to Eutenia.
Even that was something that I could only get back if I could communicate with her at least minimally.
I decided to skip over the offering part for now.
I moved the scroll to find the next message.
As I scrolled down, a new skill with a name I had never seen before greeted me.
-You have acquired <Apostle Selection (Lv.1)> skill.
-You can select an apostle by spending 200 karma points.
-The karma requirement for <Apostle Selection> will double every time you select an apostle.
The name of the new skill was <Apostle Selection>.
It looked like a skill for interacting with characters just by its name.
According to the description of <Apostle Selection>, I could designate one character as my apostle.
Apostle.
It usually means someone who acts on behalf of God’s will.
Then, if I made Eutenia my apostle, would I be able to convey my will to her completely?
I wanted to test the skill on Eutenia right away.
“It’s a bit annoying that it costs 200 karma points, though.”
Karma was needed to raise the player’s level, but the accumulated karma did not decrease and remained as it was.
It did not seem like my level would go down if I used up the accumulated karma points either.
It was a resource that had no use anyway, and there was no point in saving it up either.
After thinking for a while, I decided to try using <Apostle Selection> skill anyway.
Click.
I clicked on the skill icon of <Apostle Selection>, and a target marker appeared that allowed me to select a target.
I overlapped the target marker on Eutenia’s head and used the skill.
-Do you want to select [Eutenia Hyrost] as your apostle?
-You need 200 karma points to select an apostle.
-Yes / No
When I used the skill, a message popped up asking me if I wanted to register Eutenia as my apostle.
My answer was obviously ‘Yes’.
I clicked ‘Yes’ on the new window, and the screen flickered for a moment as Eutenia looked up at the sky.
A large question mark was floating above her head as she looked at the sky.
-You have selected [Eutenia Highlost] as your apostle.
-You have spent 200 karma points to create a new divine tool for your apostle.
-[Divine Tool: Grimoire] has been bound to [Eutenia Hyrost].
-[First Apostle: Eutenia Highlost] has become your apostle.
-Due to the effect of <Apostle Selection>, you will share your mana with the selected apostles.
-Due to the effect of <Apostle Selection>, you will be able to send separate messages to the selected apostles.
Several messages appeared one after another as the skill was used.
The contents of the messages were all unfamiliar to me.
I used karma points.
I created a new divine tool.
Most of the messages were about that.
As the parade of new messages passed by, the last one was an explanation of the additional effects of <Apostle Selection> skill.
I would share my mana with the character who became my apostle, and I would be able to send messages to them.
As if to prove that, a small chat icon appeared above Eutenia’s head.
“Does this mean I can talk to her if I press this?”
The chat icon only appeared above Eutenia’s head, who became my apostle.
I could easily guess that I needed to use this button to talk to my apostle.
It was amazing that I could communicate with an AI character who was only observable before.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt curious.
I clicked on the chat icon above her head to talk to Eutenia.
Beep.
And a warning message popped up on my screen when I clicked on the chat icon.
-You need a divine tool as a medium.
It said that I lacked a divine tool as a medium.
If I scrolled up, I could see a message saying that I had created a new divine tool.
And below that, there was another message saying that the divine tool was bound to her.
I couldn’t help but scratch my chin as I saw the message about needing a divine tool.
“Could it be in the inventory?”
There was one place that I could think of.
If I had acquired a new item by using the skill, the item would probably be in the inventory.
I opened the inventory with a slight hope and checked it out.
Sure enough, there was an item that I had acquired in the inventory.
The name of the item in the inventory was [Divine Tool: Grimoire].
It was an item that gave the wearer a trait called <Shadow Touch>.
“True to its name, it’s really unfriendly.”
No matter how I thought about it, this game was very unfriendly.
It was so unfriendly that it would probably rank in the top 10 of unfriendly games.
I gave a bitter laugh and dragged [Divine Tool: Grimoire] in front of Eutenia.
Thud.
The newly made item fell at Eutenia’s feet.
*****
A dark cave with human warmth left behind.
There, Eutenia sighed and tore off a piece of baguette.
Her worried eyes looked at the magic book lying at the entrance of the cave.
After Cloud’s investigator fell, Eutenia had one thing to worry about.
She had been surviving thanks to the kindness of the great being who cherished her.
But she couldn’t rely on the help of a transcendent being forever.
“Sigh… This magic won’t be much help to you.”
She looked at the magic book in her hand as she sighed.
A magic book containing barrier magic.
It was something that the great being who watched over her had given her.
She didn’t know his name.
She hadn’t even seen his face.
Yet she could easily guess that he wanted her to learn this magic.
And his action did help her.
The day Cloud’s investigator came looking for her.
He pointed his sword at her without any reason, and barrier magic protected her from his attack.
If she hadn’t learned barrier magic, she would have surely lost her life to his attack.
“What can I do to help you?”
Eutenia’s eyes, lost in thought, looked at the sky outside the cave.
She had lost her family and her neighbors.
Now she had only one thing left.
If she lost that last thing too, she wouldn’t have the confidence to live on anymore.
For Eutenia, who had lost everything, the existence of the great being who watched over her was special.
Even if he was a devil, she had no way out of his shadow now.
Of course, she didn’t think that he was a devil who had been taking care of her so far.
-“Eutenia Hyrost.”
-“Accept your fate.”
As if answering her wish, a voice reached Eutenia’s ears as she looked at the sky.
Her heart started beating wildly at the voice that came to her.
She wanted to see his face.
She wanted to hear his voice.
She had thought such arrogant things hundreds of times before.
Yet she couldn’t hear his voice until now.
This moment was very touching for Eutenia.
“Ah… You were watching over me after all.”
Eutenia’s body was wrapped in light as she spoke with emotion.
A warm white glow that enveloped her whole body.
Eutenia felt like she was embraced by someone in the bright light.
From within the dazzling light, another voice came to her ears.
-“Become my apostle.”
-“Revere me. Worship me. Offer me.”
-“Sing a hymn of life.”
Apostle.
The moment she heard that glorious name, Eutenia felt an overflowing mana in her body.
A new connection with a great being was formed.
And through that connection, infinite mana flowed into Eutenia’s body.
First Apostle, Eutenia Hyrost.
That was the new name given to her.