The Gods are Always Wtaching

Sponsors and Blessed Ones

Adam, Layla and Salma all filled their stomach with the meat from the snake's body.

Only after finishing their meal did they start discussing what they would do from now.

"So? What now?" Asked the little red haired Salma.

Her sister answered her.

"Well.. Now that we have a semi reliable source of food, I guess we can train for a while. This snake might have broken out of it's egg prematurely, so who knows when we'll get more food. There's still a lot left. Probably enough for two big meals. But letting it sit like this in the open might cause it to start rotting or something." Layla rubbed her chin.

"I think we should train a bunch now and then eat most if not all of it right after. We just ate so let's rest for an hour, train for a couple of hours, eat and then depending on how our stats have increased, we can think about wether we should actually start defeating the monsters from the Dungeon or continue training. Both of you have 26 Stat Points to appoint to something. Let's think about that. Salma, I think you should....Wait, Selma didn't you talk about a Skill earlier?" Adam was looking at Salma with a puzzled look.

Salma didn't follow the conversation at all, but once her name was mentionned, Adam got her attention.

"Yes! I did! It was a secret." Salma said chuckling.

"Why would you keep it a secret?" Layla asked.

"Well....It helped me win at Peek-a-boo a lot." Salma answered with a mischiveous smile.

"What? When did you get it then? And what is it?" Adam was feeling both betrayed and excited.

"Umm, I think my Sense thing was at like 25, maybe? Anyway, Kayla show them the Skill." Salma said.

A screen appeared in front of Adam and Layla.

[ Passive Skill: Cat Senses [E]

The user's eyesight, hearing and olfactory senses will resemble those of a cat. The user can see better in the dark, hear weaker sounds and smell odors that he previously couldn't. If certain conditions are met, the Skill can evolve.]

"The Skill can evolve. Isn't that super cool? Hehe am too awesome." Salma was chuckling as she saw their suprised faces.

"So you were cheating all along? No wonder I started losing so much I had to use my special boots." Adam at that moment, was a sore loser.

"Evolve? That's very impressive. Now am the only one who doesn't have any Skills." Layla said with her usual composed tone.

[The Everlasting Winter is cheering on character Layla.]

Layla looked up to the roof for no real reason.

"Is that how you noticed the snake?" Adam asked Salma.

"Maybe. I mean I can see better in the dark and stuff but it's not like I think about using the Skill. I just kind of see better than I used to." Salma waved her hands in the air as she explained.

"Makes sense." Adam said. He lowered his head and brought his hand to his chin. He started thinking deeply.

'Salma's Sense Stat is at 49 right? She might get a Skill at 50. But we mostly need her to have an offensive Skill. The best thing would be for her to use one Stat Point for her Sense Stat, hopefully get Skill. Acquire an offensive Magic Skill somehow and then use most of her Unused Stat Points on her Agility. Instead of Strength, she'll focus on Magic Affinity to...'

His thoughts were interrupted when Layla got up and started stretching.

"We can rest a bit more, you know?" Adam looking up at her.

"Our grandparents are probably worried sick. You've only been with us for a handful of days, but they really like you. And I think you like them too. So you should undertand. The goal is still to get out of here as fast as possible. We don't want them to enter a Dungeon looking for us." Layla said without looking away from Adam's eyes.

Just when Adam got up, the ground shook. They both fell to the ground and instantly positionned themselves in front of Salma. They took their weapons out and looked in every direction.

There was nothing.

A second later, a hologram appeared 5 meters front of them.

It was the same as last time.

But this time, they were more focused and less confused.

They noticed it's clothes.

Just like that day, the hologram started talking.

It raised it's arms as if to embrace them.

{Hello, dear mortals. I hope you haven't forgoten me. Well, if I am honest, I doubt that anyone of you has. Anyways, it has been 10 days since you last saw me and I'm sure you missed me a lot.}

Adam, Layla and Salma all relaxed. They sat down, confident that this being wasn't one they should be afraid of.

It continued.

{Since then, I hope you have all gotten stronger. Umm.. I'm not sure if I talked about the different Phases last time so I'll do it now.}

'You mean you forgot to do that?' Adam and Layla thought.

Salma was preocupied by the physical appearance of the hologram in front of her. She didn't miss any detail. It's short hair, the bottle on it's side, the clothes it wore, the halo of flowers on it's head, the slight red color on it's cheeks. She was extremely focused.

{The First Phase is the one your are in. Dungeons appear, you fight, blablabla. The Second Phase is the one that will start in 355 days. In the Second Phase, Dungeons will appear and you will fight.}

The hologram had an evil smile, especially while it said the last sentence.

{The difference is...well. In the First Phase, the truly courageous will fight. While in the Second Phase, you will all fight hahahaha. In 355 days, once a Dungeon appears you will have one week to clear it. Otherwise, the monsters will slowly but surely leave their world to populate yours. If you thought hiding from the Wolves in your little nest was the solution, that will be your undoing. Only by facing many Wolves, will you acquire the strength of a Tiger. Only with the strength of a Tiger will you survive, maybe even thrive. Well anyways, this is taking too long. There's additionnal stuff about Dungeons but whatever just ask the System.}

Just like that the hologram disapeared.

[Every God, Deity, Evil Spirit, Angel and Mythical Creature is looking at the hologram disapprovingly.]

They all looked at each other for a second.

"They...they're...they're gonna come out?"Salma muttered.

Adam looked at the sky through the holes in the ceiling.

He lyed down with his back against the ground.

"Hey! Hey!! Don't lie down! What the hell? How can the two of you be so calm?" Layla was more and more agitated.

"Layla. Ummm, we're still trapped here you know. We gotta make it out of here before thinking about the outside, or about what will happen in one year. Sometimes, you think about the future too much." Salma said in a scolding way. Adam was nodding along.

"In one year, monsters are going to be everywhere. How can you be so calm?" She looked at the two of them with disbelief.

"We're already in their nest, you know? We're inside The Spider Queen's Lair. In front of us and beyond this wall is The Great Snake's Den. We have to survive here first. I know you're very worried about Elizabeth and Calvin, but they're safe for now. We're the ones in danger." Adam said after sitting up.

"So what are you saying?" Layla asked.

Salma answered her.

"It means it doesn't change anything! The only difference is that, not only do we have to survive here, we have to continue getting stronger!! Until we can roar like Tigers!! -Roar-" Salma roared at the end of her speech.

The other two were staring wordlessly at the cuteness of the scene they had just witnessed.

Layla started talking.

"So not only us, but everyone has to get stronger. If there aren't enough strong people, monsters will escape from many gates. The goal is to clear them all in their first week. Otherwise...."

She was interrupted by a sudden earthquake.

The hologram appeared again.

{Oh, right. Completely forgot about that. Sorry to all the gods and the other less important immortals. There's one more thing you, dear believers, must know. And that is the existence of a feature, Sponsorships.}

Adam's eyes grew wide. He thought quietly.

'Could that be what Challenges and granted Skills are all about? A God challenges you or gives you a Skill so that later, it would become your sponsor?'

The hologram continued.

[A Sponsor can be a God, a Deity, or any of the other lower beings. Sponsorship offers come in as many forms as there are Gods. Some will challenge you before accepting you. Some will accept you for a reason or another. Some will beg you to accept them. A Sponsor can grant lots of Skills but also Titles to the character he chooses. Oh yes, once you have a sponsor, you shall discard all Skills granted by a different god. You become that god's Blessed One. He's, and he's only. Only one thing is true about gods, and that is that they want their Blessed One to survive and thrive. But for now, do your best to show your worth. But know that you should probably accept a blessing as fast as possible. You're mortals after all. Frail and weak mortals. That is all. Finally! I shouldn't have volunteered to do this...}

The hologram disappeared.

'Sponsors, huh? They want you to survive and thrive?' Adam thought as he looked at the screen in front of him.

They were direct message, that meant Layla, Salma and other gods couldn't see them. Only Adam and the one who sent it could.

[The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century is looking at you with great expectation.]

[The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land is watching you closely.]

[A Certain Evil is looking at you.]

[The Laziest of God's Archangels is curious about where your existence will end up.]

'Oh yeah. A Certain Evil.' Adam remebered the moment the challenge was issued to him.

He looked at the ground, at the two sisters and then at the roof.

'In a way, I am thankful to you I guess.'

Layla was also looking at the screen in front of her.

[ The Frozen Beast is looking at you.]

[ The North Wind is watching you.]

[ The Ice Dragon is watching you with the slightest interest.]

[ The Everlasting Winter smiles your way.]

'A Dragon? That's....But wait? Why are they all related to cold or ice? Does that have to do with me or is it random?' Layla thought.

It isn't random.

Salma was looking at a screen too.

[ The Goddess Of The Red Flame is looking at you.]

[ The Hawk That Overlooks All is looking at you.]

[ The Fox That Blesses Men is lowering it's head and shoulders in a playful manner.]

[ The South's Strongest Flame is looking at you.]

[A Certain Evil is looking at you.]

[ The Eye That Sees All has great expectations for you.]

After being read, the messages disappeared. The three of them raised there heads at the same time.

"Did you guys receive a bunch of messages too?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure if you can call it a bunch, but I got four of them." Layla answered.

"Me too." Adam said while looking at Salma.

She was scratching her head with her eyes narrowed.

"I think six? Maybe Seven. Or Five. Can't remember. Oh I only remember one! It was...."

A voice appeared out of nowhere.

[It is not recommended to share this kind of information.]

"Kayla?" Salma said as she looked at her wristband where the sound originated from.

"Yeah, I get it. We can't afford to offend them. Saying that you don't remember them would be pretty mean. Plus secrecy is probably important to them." Layla said as she looked at the ceiling.

"Guess so. Anyways, all of that meant that the ones who like us will come to us. All we have to do is put on a great show and display of our strength." Adam said while raising his fist.

"Yes! Just try not to cry if you're not chosen!" Salma said playfully.

Adam chuckled before looking deeply at the darkness, where a bit further, lied the spiderweb wall.

"Should we assign those Unused Points now?" Adam asked.

"Sure. I have 29 Unused Stat Points. Salma has 26 of them normally." Layla answered.

Salma energetically shouted "Yep! Yep!".

"Let's start with Salma then. Can you show us your stats?" Adam requested.

"Sure. Kayla show them my stats." Salma said.

[      Stats: Strength: 4(+0)

                  Agility: 5(+0)

                  Sense: 49(+0)

                  Vigor & Endurance: 3(+0)

                  MagicAffinity: 15(+0)

                  Mana: 10(+0)

                  Unused stat points: 26(+0)

]

"I think you should assign one point to Sense, making it 50. We'll think about the rest right after." Adam said.

Layla, understanding what he hoped for nodded.

"Alright. Kayla, one point in Sense." Salma said, completely trusting the other two's judgement.

[ 1 unused stat point has been allocated to the Sense stat.]

[ Sense 49---->50.]

[ Your Sense Stat has reached 50.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Sense Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Skill "Primal Instinct".]

"What? Um tell, us more." Salma asked.

The System answered vocally. The three of them could hear the answer.

[ Passive Skill: Primal Instinct[E]

The most primal, basic and important instinct present in all living beings. The instinct to survive and escape danger. This Skill let's the user instinctively know when it is in the presence of a great danger. ]

"Wow." Adam exclaimed. "That's so coool! Good for you!!"  He high fived Salma multiple time.

"As far as a Skill based on Sense goes, this is as good as it gets." Layla patted her sister's head.

"What now? What now?" Salma was excited. She wanted to acquire more of these Skills so that they would praise her more.

"Umm, am not sure." Adam answered.

"You still have 24 Points left right? Try using five on Magic Affinity maybe?" Layla suggested.

"Okay. Come on Kayla. Let it be something good. 5 points on Magic Affinity." Salma totally talked like a gambling addict.

[ 5 unused stat points have been allocated to the Magic Affinity stat.]

[ Magic Affinity 15---->20.]

They waited patiently for five seconds after that.

"What? That's it?" Salma was disappointed.

"Well, the odds are pretty low." Layla pointed out.

"True. Plus it's better to hop out quickly before you become an addict." Adam added jokingly.

The three laughed at his joke for a bit.

He stopped laughing once the image of his father passed by his mind. He remembered that his father spent all his time gambling and drinking alcohol.

Adam formed a fist with his hand and tightened it without realizing he was doing so.

Layla didn't miss that and put her hand on Adam's shoulder.

He nearly jumped back in suprise.

"What do you think Salma should do now?" Layla asked.

"Oh..Um.Right. Five more in Magic Affinity I guess?" Adam was at a loss for words.

"Okay. Okay. This time it'll be good. Come on Kayla, 5 on Magic Affinity." Salma was on her knees with her hands together. She was praying for a lucky draw.

And she got it.

[ 5 unused stat points have been allocated to the Sense stat.]

[ Magic Affinity 20---->25.]

[ Your Magic Affinity Stat has reached 25.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Magic Affinity Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Skill "Fire Enchanting".]

"Ho Ho Ho Ho!! The great Salma did it agaiin." She was more than overjoyed by her luck draw.

"Fire Enchanting? That's proper magic, right?" Layla was suprised.

"Yeah. Maybe. Salma? Info about it?" Adam asked with wide shiny eyes.

"Yep yep. Completely forgot. Kaylaaa, Fire Enchanting. Tell us everything."

[ Active Magic Skill: Fire Enchanting[F]

The ability to coat a weapon or armor with a flame for twenty minutes. The Skill's strength will increase the more it is used. Multiple weapons can be enflamed at the same time. Mana consumption: Depends on the size of the weapon or armor.The Skill's strength will increase the more it is used. ]

"Wanna try it?" Layla asked Salma.

"I dooo. It sounds so cool. Much cooler than Adam's creepy dust Skill." Salma said while pointing towards Adam's hand and laughing.

After she stopped laughing, Salma openned her storage and took out her Iron Dagger.

She held the dagger in her right hand, and put her left hand on her dagger.

Once she thought about her sword catching fire, she felt a great strength escape her body.

The Iron Dagger was now shinning. It was of a deep red.

The three of them had their eyes wide open.

"So bright...."Layla muttered.

"So cool..." Adam muttered.

"HAHA! I KNOW!" Salma shouted.

"How much Mana did it use?" Adam asked.

"My Mana bar is at 75/100." Salma said.

"So basically, you'll be able to enflame all our weapons. Since we're all using daggers." Adam said excitedly. " That's super super cool! Spiders are weak to fire too! This is such a lucky draw! We should go to the casino after this!"

"Yes! Let's! Let's!" Salma did not know what a casino was, but she was excited about going there.

"Salma, show us your stats." Layla said.

"Okay. Kayla show us my stats."

[      Stats: Strength: 4(+0)

                  Agility: 5(+0)

                  Sense: 51(+2)

                  Vigor & Endurance: 3(+0)

                  MagicAffinity: 25(+10)

                  Mana: 10(+0)

                  Unused stat points: 14(-12)

]

"How does the dagger feel?" Adam asked. "Try swinging it a bit."

"It's a tiny bit heavy. But it's fine." Salma said after swinging it with the tiniest of difficulty.

"Try putting two points in strength, five in Vigor&Endurance and the rest in Agility." Layla said.

Adam nodded to that and so Salma did as she was suggested.

"Show us my stats." Salma said.

[      Stats: Strength: 6(+2)

                  Agility: 12(+7)

                  Sense: 51(+0)

                  Vigor & Endurance: 8(+5)

                  MagicAffinity: 25(+0)

                  Mana: 10(+0)

                  Unused stat points: 0(-14)

]

"Looks a lot more balanced. An offensive Magic Skill would have been better, but this is fine too.  The Fire Enchanting Skill makes everyone of us stronger." Adam pointed out.

"Layla your turn!" Salma said as she pulled her sister's arm.

"Show us my stats." Layla said.

[      Stats: Strength:10(+1)

                  Agility: 27(+1)

                  Sense: 7(+1)

                  Vigor & Endurance: 26(+1)

                  Unused stat points: 29(+3)

]

"We're even in Agility...." Adam said while looking at the screen.

"Well that doesn't make me feel better. Since my stats are lower in everything else." Layla said.

"Layla! Make Agility at 30. Round number are always lucky." Salma said with the enthusiasm of an old gambler.

"Might as well make it 35." Layla said while sneering at Adam.

He laughed while repeating the words she had told him earlier.

"This isn't a competition. We are trying hard to survive." He said while mimicking her voice.

"True. 8 points into Agility." Layla answered while chuckling.

[ 8 unused stat points have been allocated to the Agility stat.]

[ Magic Affinity 27---->35.]

[ Your Agility Stat has reached 35.]

[ Your Agility stat has gone above 30.]

[Your Sense stat gives birth to a new stat.]

[You have unlocked the stat Dexterity.]

"What the hell? Am never getting a Skill am I?" Layla said jokingly, although she was a bit disappointed.

"Getting new stats is cool you know. It's thanks to those new stats that I got magic powers." Salma cheered her sister up.

"Can you ask what dexterity is about extactly?" Adam requested.

Layla asked, and the System answered.

[ Your Dexterity Stat determines your ability to perform difficult actions. It mostly revolves around how well you can use different weapons. The higher your Dexterity Stat, the better your control of weapons will be and the more natural using them will be.]

"That's pretty straightforward." Layla said.

"Yeah. So? You've got 21 Points left. What will you do?" Adam asked.

Layla stared at him for a second before breathing out loudly.

"Am not Salma, but that doesn't mean I don't want your opinion." Layla told him.

"Oh. All right."

They all looked at her stats together.

[      Stats: Strength:10(+0)

                  Agility: 35(+8)

                  Dexterity: 5(+5)

                  Sense: 7(+0)

                  Vigor & Endurance: 26(+0)

                  Unused stat points: 21(-8)

]

"Wow. My sister is so strong! You're going to be faster than the wind if you continue like this!"

Layla patted Salma's head and asked Adam.

"So? What do you think?"

"Unlike Salma, you have great Agility. Which means that your points should go elsewhere. Unlike the other stats, Sense is one where we can cover for you. Especially with Salma's Primal Instinct Skill. So I think you can pour more points into strength. Enough so that the Iron Mace feels pretty light in your hands. Since you Strength is at 10 and you can already swing it comfortably, I think you should put 3 points in there, and train to raise it by another two."

"Yep. That makes sense. What about the rest?" Layla immediately put 3 points into her strength.

"18 points left. Agility and Vigor&Endurance are high. Strength will be high enough once it reaches 15 I think. Putting 3 points in the Sense stat might help during battle if we are seperated. The last 15 points will get dexterity to 20, letting you fight a lot better."

"I was planning on practically doing the same thing except that the 3 points in Sense were going into Agility." Layla said.

"That's fine too. Maybe?"

"Alright I'll listen to you."

Salma felt left out, but she didn't mind.

[ 15 unused stat points have been allocated to the Dexterity stat.]

[ Dexterity 5---->20.]

[ Your Dexterity Stat has reached 20.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Dexterity Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Skill "Weakness Exploit".]

"Tell us what that is." Layla said.

[ Passive Skill: Weakness Exploit[E]

The ability to see and exploit the weaknesses of an enemy in combat. The Skill also grants the ability to notice opennings in the enemy's stance or posture. Weakpoints will be colored in a slightly red tone. Openings in a slightly green tone. The Skill will show no effect on enemies far stronger than the user. The Skill's effectiveness can increase with an increase in the Dexterity stat or other stats. ]

"I guess that means the Sense stat would help make it more effective. That's a reasonable supposition."

Layla took her Iron Mace out of her Storage and grabbed it with one hand.

It was a heavy, but she had gotten a lot stronger.

She could hold it in one hand and swing it, but that was a bit too hard. The momentum made her upper body follow the mace.

But once she held it in her two hands, she was suprised by, not only how light it felt, but also how natural.

It felt like the Iron Mace was part of her arms. She swung it veritcally, horizontaly, diagonally, took steps bakwards, froward and sideways.

She could perfectly control the weapon.

Plus, her aim was incredible. She tried swing the Mace towards a certain rock on the wall with all her strength and hit it dead on, while before, she would always be 5 to 10 cm away from it.

"That's a good skill. It's prefect for someone cool headed like you." Adam pointed out.

"It really is. Other than that, do you think I can borrow your greatsword to train?" Layla asked.

"Sure. My strength started at 15 and ended up at 22 by the time I was able to hold it properly this way." He took the greatsword out of his Storage and took a fighting stance.

His face was not red, his legs and core were not trembling and he was not sweating. That was proof that he had gotten stronger.

"So my goal is where you started?" Layla joked at the irony.

"Well I was lv7 after all. Back then, my Agility was only at 17 or 18. It was only a week ago though."

Adam handed her the greatsword, but once it left his hands, it fell to the ground immediately.

"Am booored!" Salma shouted while lifting her arms up. She was tired of being left out.

"Alright. Now that you're faster, let's play tag!" Adam told Salma as he advanced towards her and  lifted his arms to the sides like a bear.

Seeing that, Salma immediately started running away while laughing.

Adam followed her at a decent pace.

Not so fast that escaping would be impossible for her.

No so slow that she could take it easy.

Meanwhile, Layla stood with the greatsword lying on the ground in front of her.

'I wish I could run too.' She thought.