Blessing of the Sun Goddess: Activated – Uses remaining – 2

Haruki blinked...

A familiar diziness entered his mind, setting his stomach rumbling again. It seemed he was standing in the void...

"Wait... Standing!?"

“O-hai-o!” A lively, feminine voice called out from behind him, as if singing to a child.

Haruki stopped mid wretch and turned to find the speaker. Before him stood the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life! Her vibrant golden hair, straight at the stop and curly at the bottom, gave off a holy, yet familiar aura. She felt like a warm sun. Haruki had seen this appearance before...

“Nice to finally meet you Haru-chan!” she said with a giggle. “Or would you prefer I use your old name...”

“No no, Haruki is fine...”

At this point, his head had become clouded and muddy. During his two lives, he'd never seen or felt anything that would indicate any gods existed, so he'd always thought them similar to unicorns or ghosts. Simply a spooky story to scare the children. But now, there was one such god, standing before him. Any doubt was removed when he noticed her face bore a striking similarity to a certain ring...

“My name is Sara. Actually, I'm the newly appointed goddess of this world. The old one... ran into some issues and won't be back again.”

The goddess placed one hand on her chest in a strange salute.

*PON*

As her ample bosom bounced and jiggled from the impact, Haruki's eyes both followed along unconsciously, as if glued.

His scattered neurons finally converged into a single rational thought. A sudden rush of overwhelming emotion found him unconsciously kneeling, bowing his head.

“Goddess-sama”

He rarely remembered honourifics before, but he certainly wasn't going to forget in the face of a Goddess! Before, he had considered himself an atheist, but now, he had been shaken to his very core.

Sara sighed, then motioned softly with her hand. “It's ok, you don't have to be so formal. Just call me Sara and treat me how you would someone from Earth. This is a secret not many know, but most of us gods used to be mortals, just like you. Every one of us has an ego, so we're nothing like the God you're thinking of.”

She finished with a sly wink and Haruki found himself lost in her alluring grey eyes. Her entire body overflowed with a gentle, mature sensuality, which left Haruki struggling to contain his impure thoughts.

“I've been watching you for sometime, watching you grow. I would have tried to help out sooner, but I only arrived here the same time as you did. I barely even had enough time to give you my blessing and select a suitable vessel for your soul to be reborn into.”

Haruki's head filled with hundreds of questions, but he started with the most logical first question:

“Why me? Is this normal?”

Sara began pacing slowly, her golden hair bounced and rippled against the harsh darkness of the void. Her charming figure caught his eye again briefly, but he summoned all his strength to mentally slap himself.

'Argh, stop! She's a goddess... What if she can read my mind!?'

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Sara gave her answer with a proud smirk.

“If I hadn't helped, your soul would have entered the cycle of rebirth normally. Over time, your memories of life would have faded away. After many years, you would be reborn normally, living whatever life you're given."

Haruki nodded vacantly, still stunned over the whole ordeal.

"But because I forcibly intercepted your soul and blessed you, you've kept your memories. As for why I did this, I have two reasons. The first is simply because I need an Envoy on the ground. A god entering a material plane would likely cause it to unfold and collapse on itself, so I need someone like you to be my eyes and ears.”

The lump in Haruki's throat grew even bigger as those words poured over him.

'The envoy of a Goddess...'

“Of course, there's no need to rush your choice. You aren't even at the age of ascension yet! As you train, simply give some thought to the idea. The next time we meet will most likely be in another few years, so we can always discuss it further.”

Sara bowed slightly. She was obviously somewhat hesitant, judging by her stiff movements.

'It must be a big deal if she's acting that awkward... A Goddess' Envoy, huh?'

Haruki had to admit, the thought was certainly romantic, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the pressure. After hearing that he had plenty of time to think about it, he calmed down and managed to finally breathe again.

“Eto, what's the second reason?” he asked after a while.

“It's a secret!” Sara smiled cheekily and waggled her finger, as if telling off a small child.

“I will tell you in time, but for now, your lovely friend is still crying over your body... We should make this quick. Firstly, the ring. Use a drop of your own blood. Blood bindings are common on most magical items. It's not much, but it should be quite useful on your journeys.”

Haruki paled at the thought of having to cut himself, but nodded firmly.

“Second, about your blessing. When a mortal dies, their soul takes immense damage. Normally, this is healed during reincarnation, but since you were intercepted directly, you're still quite damaged. The blessings help prevent some damage, but if you use them all up and die once more, not even the Overgods could save you... Your soul would forever be destroyed.”

Haruki's mind chilled for a brief moment as he pondered her words. “So, basically, don't use up my blessings or I'll cease to exist, yeah?”

“Yes.” Sara nodded sternly. Her previously laughing eyes were deadly serious. “Losing your soul is the end, Haru. However, some theorize it's actually closer to eternal pain and suffering...” She shuddered at the same time as Haruki.

“Noted...” Haruki weakly breathed a small sigh, shaking violently at the thought of eternal torment.

'I'll pass on that particular hell, thanks. I'll just have to make sure I don't die again...'

Taking a moment to pluck up his last remaining shreds of courage, Haruki hesitated for a moment. A light sweat beaded on his forehead as he spoke.

“Eto, may I ask what your intentions are?”

Perhaps it was too bold a question. Haruki felt his gut clench for a moment, but Sara blew it away with a burst of warm laughter.

“Haru-chan. What would you say if I told you I wanted to create a god?” and she smiled ever so innocently, leaning forwards as if she were casually offering some juicy gossip.

As Haruki was busy choking on his own tongue, Sara doubled over, roaring with a laughter that would easily beat either of his fathers. Even the void shook and trembled around him. After taking a moment to collect herself, Sara wiped a tear from her eye and turned back to Haruki with her tongue poking out.

“Nah, I'm just messing with you. While I do have that goal, it's not even out of the first stage yet. It's many millions of years from completion. For now, I suppose I can tell you a little more about gods."

Her face grew a slight darkness to it as she contemplated her next words.

"Earth itself actually used to have several gods. Much more like the greek gods than your current religions claim. Grudge's festered with boredom or rivalry and soon, the heavens themselves were cast into a vicious war. In the end, the only one left was Epimetheus. He only survived because he was so inept, the others chose to ignore him.”

Haruki felt a slight pang of comradery towards such a pitiful god...

“The basic purpose of all gods is to gather faith energy. Most sentient lower races produce it and gods need it to function. Simple as that. Out of the 52 universes in this multiverse, every universe should have least one god. If anything, we're more like symbiotic beings. We take care of our universe and it nourishes us in return.”

After hearing this, Haruki felt like a vast weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It's not like these were some unfathomable beings who couldn't be understood! They were just like him, only with a lot more power and a strange appetite for the faith of mortals.

'I can totally handle them being weird symbiotic aliens if they take on this sort of form... If they were strange Cthulu beasts, it'd be a different matter entirely.'

“I can appear that way if you wish...”

Sara let out another sparkling laugh as Haruki stiffened up. “Time's up, I'll see you again soon, Haru-chan. Have fun and be safe! I'll answer more questions next time.”

Without a moments hesitation, she leapt into the air and performed a flawless spinning kick to his chest, blowing him backwards into the void with ears ringing from the impact.

'That crazy goddess! That kick hurt like hell! Then again, if she really can read minds, I kind of deserved it.'

Haruki woke up next to the river. A faint sobbing could be heard in the distance, punctuated by anguished screams.

Getting up sluggishly, Haruki realized he was by his usual spot. The sobbing sound was coming from Suzu...

She was covered in blood, head to toe. Haruki's heart froze for a moment in panic, but he couldn't see any injuries on her body.

'Must be the wolves blood...'

After determining she was fine physically, he sighed with relief and called her name softly. Not getting a response, he walked a little closer and tapped her shoulder.

“Haru....ki?” Suzu turned with a blank expression, tears filling both eyes.

'Wow, she looks pretty rough, I must have been gone only a few minutes.'

“I'm ok, Suzu. I'm not dead.” As if to punctuate his words, suddenly the body beside Suzu turned white and exploded into a puff of ash and smoke.

“Haru..ki... not... dead?” In a complete daze, she hadn't quite accepted it yet. He just nodded and crossed his arms heroically, as if showing off his healthy form.

More tears burst from Suzu as she lept up, grabbing Haruki in a tight embrace. He managed to wiggle his arms free and wrapped her up in them gently.

For what felt like an eternity, they sat there in each others arms. Suzu had calmed down, so he explained the situation. The goddess, the blessing, the ring, everything. She looked a little strange at first, but seemed to accept it after quizzing him harshly.

“Haruki, thank you. You held them off...” and she began to sob into his chest once more.

They both started shivering as it grew late, so after pinky promising to never mention this to anyone, they said their usual goodbyes. As she turned to go, Suzu quickly hesitated, pulling herself back into Haruki's chest once more, as if confirming he was really ok. After nodding her head, satisfied, she smiled back over her shoulder, running towards the town gate.

'I hope she makes it before they close for the night...'

Haruki wandered over to the dead wolves, figuring he should check the bodies. He had noticed some white orbs floating into his chest during the battle, which he assumed was exp. So it made sense for there to be loot, right?

'Ooh, a couple of pelts, wolf meat, a few copper and a shitty grey dagger. And a ruby!? Excellent, I'll sell this all at Touhama and make a killing!'

As he hurried in the front gate, Haruki noticed his father standing by the front door, leaning against a wooden support. Spotting Haruki, Ketrel let out a devilish grin.

“You made sure the lass got home safely, right?”

His question hit a sore point, Haruki winced as he took a few points of mental damage. “She's fine, I saw her to the un-wooded part of the road and she's probably tougher than me anyway.” he replied with a cheeky grin.

Ketrel was originally from the Eastern country, Stonehaven. The people living there were mostly Barbarians and Dwarves, so most of the women he'd grown up with had also been far stronger than him. To a half blood Barbarian, it was only normal.

“Make sure you look after her, a fierce woman makes an excellent wife. Your mother still manages to scare me sometimes...” Ketrel sheepishly scratched at his beard. “Enough of that. In a few years, I will be leaving for a while. I have to square some old debts, but I should be back well before your day of ascension.”

Ketrel had never travelled much since Haruki was born. At most, he'd travel for a week, but he would always rush back home.

“Debts from the adventuring days?” Haruki quizzed. A favour for a comrade might be the only thing that could pull his father away for so long.

Ketrel nodded silently. “When you're 10, we'll take you to the academy, but shortly after you start, I plan on heading off. I wanted to ask you before then... Have you thought about what weapons you wish to use in future?

Haruki nodded decisively “In my left hand, I will wield my dagger. They won't expect me to be left-handed if my sword is in my right.” Ketrel nodded. “Yes, it would certainly throw many people off, but don't rely on it, Haru. Overestimating yourself is the fastest way to fall.”

'Yeah, you don't need to tell me that after being eaten by fucking wolves...'

“In my right hand, I would prefer a long-sword or rapier. I'm quite curious to try one out, actually. I want to build my fighting style around parrying and agile counter-attacks. Fast strikes from strange directions, that sort of thing.”

Ketrel thought for a moment, then nodded at the sound logic his son had given. Speed is life on the battlefield.

“Hoh, a rapier, eh? Those old codger's at the academy might not be able to teach you such a delicate weapon. How's a long-sword sound for now then?”

“Uh, that's fine?”

“Good. Good. Then, let's go in and have dinner, lad!”

Dinner was a cheerful affair, full of teasing and laughter. It was the perfect way to unwind his stressed out nerves after the earlier disaster. While he wanted to sit around with his family for a while longer, he also needed to sort out some things in his head. In the end, his need for answers won out and he retreated upstairs to his darkened room.

As he lay comfortably on his bed, he began replaying his conversation with the goddess, considering his options.

'I have no idea what being an Envoy would entail, but she said she would explain it later, right?. I can ignore that for now. Ahh, blood. That's right.'

With his dagger, he made a small cut on the back of his arm, flinching at the sensation of cold iron sinking into his flesh. He wasn't terribly fond of pain, so intentionally cutting himself took a lot of his willpower. However, he somehow managed to do it without accidentally cutting his own arm off. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Haruki flicked a single, little droplet of blood onto the ring-face.

*WHOOSH!*

A small yellow light burst forth from the ring, enveloping his blood with a crackle and pop. Shrinking, smaller and smaller, it formed into a bright yellow sphere roughly the size of a pea. With a disturbing slurping sound, it was sucked into the ring. As the light extinguished, Haruki couldn't help but feel a little grossed out...

*Ding!*

Item soulbound.

“Inspect”

Ring of the Sun Goddess 50/50 (Legendary)

Soulbound to Abe Haruki.

A relic of the Sun Goddess Sara.

Her warmth and kindness watches over us all.

Made of pure mana, it cannot be removed

or destroyed by mortal hands.

Stats unlock after level 15. (Unidentified)

'I really DID get a cheat item! Shame I can't see the stats for another few years... And at least I won't lose it, if I can believe the flavour text...'

With a swift flicking motion, he removed his ring and gently threw it across his room. Zwap! The ring appeared back on his finger before it had even bounced once. Haruki grinned stupidly to himself, alone in the darkness.

Feeling restless, he decided to go for a walk outside. The cool night air was quite refreshing, making him feel at home. In his past life, he had often wandered around at night, staring up at the stars and feeling insignificant. But now, the stars themselves looked so very insignificant compared to everything he had seen.

He jogged around for a few hours, enjoying the tranquility of night, dancing in and out of the shadows. Previously, he often did this as well. Telling himself it was army training, mostly he was just bored and couldn't sleep. In his old body, his knee's clicked and his ankles clacked as he walked. Any stealth training he tried to do was ultimately useless, so he never took it seriously.

'Not so here... If I get the chance, I should learn some more about stealth and subterfuge. Can't kill what you can't see...'

With his nightly wanderlust contented, Haruki casually strolled towards home. As his head hit his pillow, he immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

For 3 days after the incident, Suzu didn't show up at her usual spot, so Haruki instead filled his time with reading and training to calm his nerves. The next day, Suzu was simply there, waiting for him as if nothing had happened. As they chatted happily, Haruki was relieved to see that she seemed to be ok.

'She's seen real battles before... And she has killed... I guess I really was worried over nothing.'

As they talked and talked, Suzu stealthily crept closer and closer. Before he knew it, Haruki's hand had been captured in hers.

'Or maybe I SHOULD be worried... Was she ever this clingy before?'

Somewhere in the distance, he heard the sound of faint sirens on the wind.