Gestation by John Gold (love books to read .txt) 📗

∞ ∞ ∞

You are now a vessel of divine energy.

∞ ∞ ∞

“All of your energy into this crystal,” Bernard said, focusing on new elements of the magic sign that he was drawing. Rachel obediently drained her mana into the crystal.

Almost an hour went by, until the box they had was almost full of crystals.

“Leon, it’s your turn. Lie down on the stone.”

The girl’s father bowed to Leon, a man thirty-five years old with a powerful demeanor. He turned out even to have the first and highest level of citizenship.

“Level 77 - nice work! This is going to hurt, so get ready.”

“This is nothing compared to what I would be prepared to do.”

Leon lied down on the stone, which let out another wave of light that engulfed his body.

“Let’s begin.”

The crystals full of divine energy started burying themselves in Leon. He cried out and reflexively tightened up, though he didn’t get up. As soon as his health approached zero, Rachel’s father healed him just enough to be able to take one more hit. That continued until the last crystal cut short Leon’s life there on the sacrificial stone. Suddenly, the room was flooded with light pouring in from the windows.

∞ ∞ ∞

Global message: A new god, Leon, appeared in the small pantheon.

∞ ∞ ∞

It had worked! For the ritual to work, they’d needed an innocent child who would lie down willingly on the altar of the god as a sacrifice. The one bringing the offering had to be innocent as well, becoming holy as the soul of the victim was taken to Hell. The saint cоuld receive divine energy from any altar or the sacrificial stone of their god, or, as in that case, a god without a firstborn. They use that energy to carry out the word of their faith and create miracles. Rachel had just become one such saint, and she’d charged the crystals with the energy of the divine.

The high priest of the temple had the strongest tie to the god, giving his blood the same. The final part of the ritual was to create a twisted seal that could be used to summon the divine avatar. Then, all the energy was poured into the person lying on the altar at that moment, which enabled Leon to become a god. The magic crystals served to temporarily store and then transfer the divine energy.

All of that had to be done within an hour after the death of the firstborn. They’d made it in time.

“Merlen, thank you. Everyone, thank you.” Leon, glowing brightly, addressed everyone in the room. “Just like I promised, you will all be acolytes in my cult, and top acolytes at that! Bernard… Where’s Bernard?”

Everyone looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. The mage had left without saying goodbye as soon as the ritual was complete.

“He ran away!”

“Hm, smart guy,” Leon laughed. “I guess he realized that we weren’t going to leave any witnesses. Nate, you can let the kids from the street go. We don’t need them anymore. Merlen, let’s go up to my office. We need to discuss finances for all the work we have to do.”

Rachel was overjoyed. She was the illegitimate daughter of Merlen Ruzh, the financial director and a shareholder at Star Ship, her mother a wide-romping woman who slept with him once. For all her seventeen years with her mother, Rachel had the fifth level of citizenship, subjecting her to constant abuse, betrayal, and intrigue. She’d worked the previous two years in her father’s office. Using flattery, lies, and her body, she’d been able to skip a few rungs on the career ladder, keeping her close to her father. Everything Rachel had done was designed to capture his attention. As soon as Merlen found out that she was his daughter and had access to the beta test for Project Chrysalis, he offered her the role she was currently playing, not to mention a promising future. Her job was to find the right child for the ritual and get him to the sacrificial stone.

“One more step down.” Rebecca Ruzh smiled.

∞ ∞ ∞

It turns out that psychologists can be useful. After telling her what I thought about women, I feel better. The pain Eliza caused by telling the other orphans that I’m not mute is gone. Still, I’m not going to talk with her. She can do whatever she wants with that.

I spent the two hours profitably. No, I’m not going to delete my character. It’s my family, my parents, my house, my city, my village. I’m going to fight for my place in the world. I got to Hell, so I can get back, and they’re not the only ones who can kill. Until Level 5, I won’t get debuffs for not eating, and I won’t die of hunger. What I can do is keep progressing. I have books, time, and desire; I’ll find a way and build myself an advantage. And then I’ll avenge myself.

∞ ∞ ∞

Damage taken: 500 (ignored: 421)

82/200

Resistance to physical damage +0.02%

Physical damage ignored up to 442/second

Resistance to mental damage +0.01%

Mental damage ignored up to 2/second

Survivability +1

That’s new. So, my mental body takes part of the damage. The most important part is that everything improves: my main and additional attributes, my skills, and my resistance.

You got a debuff: Astral anchor

Effect: You can no longer go farther than 30 meters away from where you currently are.

Duration: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds… 58… 57…

∞ ∞ ∞

Vaalsie’s making himself heard again. That’s fine though. I’m not in a hurry. Hell can wait for the great Vaalsie. I won’t be going anywhere until I can move around freely, and I’ll be leveling-up everything I can.

One thing I don’t like is how easy it would be for someone to notice and kill me. I look around, noticing a lone cliff with a convenient overhang. As I walk over, I notice that I’m leaving tracks in the ash. Thanks for that, father! I brush them out. Then, directly