Chapter 5 Amoris Becomes the Goddess of Chocolate

I made it to the merchant highway before nightfall, but there were no kindhearted humans to teach me the practical skills of camping. I did detour a bit for water. Even with my lack of basic camping skills, I knew water was important. I was successfully able to put water into my inventory without it first being in a vessel. I didn't really have a concept of how much water would be needed. Was water free access in Yellow Springs or did you have to pay for it? So, I sat by the stream for a while watching the quantity number tick up. The problem was when I took it out of my inventory it looked like my hand had become a water faucet. Still, it was drinkable and I was able to wash up by rubbing my faucet hand over my body and through my hair.

There were more than a few Green Tailed Apes. My Level had risen to 8 by the time night fell. I had made due sleeping in a meadow off the side of the highway. There had been a slight rise of a hill and I slept out of sight of the highway on the other side of that hill. I had some paranoia that people would walk past in the middle of the night and try and rob me. Not that I had much to rob, but it's not as though a bandit would believe a person when they said they had nothing to steal. Oddly enough, I did manage to sleep quite soundly.

With my increase in stamina and agility, I was able to maintain a decent jog along the highway with frequent stops and small detours. If I went for too long my legs would start cramping and I'd become winded. The short breaks helped keep my progress steady enough that I would reach Yellow Springs by late morning or early afternoon.

I opened my main menu again as I loped along and just stared at my progress debating if I should continue to allocated my Exp or save it up. I had gained a large Exp bonus for killing a Lv 12 Red Wolf while I was at level 6. So I had gained 3000 Exp with one kill. Half the Monster Kill Exp still going towards my level up and half into my Exp.

The Red Wolf had been eating an Ape at the time. I snuck up on it and used Skull Bashing. It turned out that when activated Skull Bashing was a technique used in Basic Sword. So when used it raised the Sword skill. I had also gained a new title and increased my Racial Ability Stealth.

Name- Eri Veritas

HP 640/640

Level- 8

Age- 18

Race/Species- (Human) Unknown

Gender- (Male) Unknown

Occupation- Unemployed

Exp- 4587

Physical Power- 44

Stamina- 78

Defense- 102

Agility- 175

Intelligence- 23

Magic Power- 8

Metal Rain Lv 1

Skills

Staff Fighting Lv 2

Basic Sword Lv 3

Skull Bashing Lv 1

Martial Arts Lv 2

Spear Lv 1

Stalking Lv 1

Jumping Lv 1

Running Lv 2

Pain Tolerance Lv 1

Rock Throwing

Dancing

Harvesting

Racial Ability-

Hidden Among the Masses- 20

Stealth- 43

Titles- Devotee of Amoris

Enemy of Apes

I opened my inventory and while still maintaining a steady pace I began to read Introductory of Races and Species through the transparent screen. I could still see where I was going through the screen so I didn't have to worry about running into a tree. The road was flat enough, but I did have to watch out for ruts left over from wagon wheels going through thick mud. Thankfully, the road was currently dry.

I had skimmed through it the first time and hadn't really read much. I had a general idea of the races and species in the book but hadn't read any of the actual information pertaining to each race or species. I was half hoping for a clue as to what my own race was.

I could be fairly certain the species was humanoid, so I skipped to the humanoid races first. Zyanthropes were first as the second most populous humanoid race. A Zyanthropes were any humanoid that showed characteristics of animals. This race had multiple sub-races and the racial ability changed with each sub-race. Cat People had high Stealth and Nightseer. Dog People had higher Physical Power and Stamina than normal humans. Lizard people had high Defense and Immunity to Poison.

There were Tiger, Fish, Bird, Snake, and Cow people too, but they were rarely seen outside of Zyanthropes territories. Each one with their own racial abilities. There was a comment near the end of the section about there being even more sub-races than listed, but they were rarer and often lived in isolated communities even within the Zyanthropes territories.

I was fairly certain I wasn't a Cat person. While a Cat person has Stealth as one of its Racial Abilities there would be no need for a Cat person to hide its identity. The Zyanthropes had a tumultuous relationship with the humans as a result of many wars fought over the years, but that still wouldn't explain the need to hide one's race.

Dwarves were third. I was not a dwarf. I was far too tall. I skipped over Dwarves since the information about them was the same knowledge as on Earth. They had great smithing abilities, lived in mountainous territories, liked to drink, basic knowledge really.

Demonia, Not to be confused with actual demons. Demonia are a race stemming from human demon breeding. Appearance is varied among the Demonia, the only consistent racial marker they all carry are horns. Every Demonia has a set of horns, though the appearance of the horns also varies depending on the demon parent.

Demonia are a magically superior race second only to Elves. Each Demoni has it's own personally unique Racial Ability. This ability is always magic based and is dictated by the type of demon the parent was. Some Demonia live in peace with their demon parents. They live in the far southern territories and don't encourage travelers. Note: Demons who live among the Demonia are placed under strict magical control. For the most part, demons who live among the Demonia are safe to interact with. However, that would require entry into the Demonia Territories first.

Neither of my Racial Abilities was magic based, but being Demonia within a human territory might be reason enough for the concealment of the race. After thinking about it, I left Demonia as a slight possibility, even if I didn't have horns.

Elves are highly logical thinkers. They very rarely act on emotion and are often described as being cold and calculating. However, they are also deeply curious people and young Elves venture out into the world to satisfy that curious nature. This may be a product of their very long life spans.

Even though they are very long lived Elves have very low birth rates. An Elven child will never be seen by any other race. They are carefully protected and are not allowed to leave their forest even with parental supervision. This practice most likely stems from the Elves curiosity. Children are often unaware of their own mortality when combined with an Elf's curious nature, the children have a high mortality rate. When an Elven child dies, it is said that the entire race mourns their loss.

The Elves have the highest potential for magic among the humanoid races. Elven magic tends to be either elemental, nature, or spiritual magic. While they can learn other magics, they mostly concentrate on those three categories. This is due to their Racial Abilities.

The Elven Race Ability can be any combination of three. Nature's Child, a power that allows for the manipulation of plants and wildlife. Elemental Child, a power that allows for the manipulation of the elements earth, water, air, fire, and metal. The sixth element, void, can be used by Elves but is not an element boosted by Elemental Child. Spiritual Child, is the manipulation of spirit energy. Elves with this ability can summon spectral entities and are adept at healing. All Elven priests are required to have the Spiritual Child ability, but not all Elves with the ability are priests.

I wasn't an Elf, thank Amoris she didn't mess that up. I really didn't want to end up an Elf. They had always seemed so cold and alien in most of the fantasy stories I had read. I'm sure that there were perks to being an Elf, but being detached from my feelings didn't seem like a good trade to me. I always thought of Elves as similar to Vulcans.

I came upon a herd of sheep grazing along the road. A young man with brown hair, brown clothes, and brown skin was sitting on an embankment watching them with his black and white shaggy dog. The dog gave a bark as I approached. I slowed down and waved at the young man. He waved back.

I was more than a little excited to meet my first real Elrich person. I decided on the spot to talk to the young man. I was getting hungry and it seemed to be a good time to rest. I probably had another 2 hours of running before I reached Yellow Springs and it wasn't as if I was in a hurry.

"I was just thinking of stopping for lunch. Do you mind if I join you?" I called to the young man. He gave a weary look at first then looked me over from head to foot. Assessing that I wasn't a threat he agreed and waved me over.

"You're the first traveler I've seen today," He remained sitting but held out his hand for a shake. "My name is Henry and this is Tick." He nodded to the dog.

A display slightly different from usual suddenly popped up.

*Name- Henry

Level- 10

892/892

Human- Male

Age- 19

Shepard

Companion- Tick (Dog)~

So I could see the basic stats of people I met. Knowing that I was at about the right level for my age range also was good information. It was likely the same information the guard would see when a person touched an All Seer. So my Gamer Glass could act as an All Seer. That was interesting. I really should finish that tutorial.

"I haven't passed anyone either. My name is Eri. I'm not from around here. Yellow Springs is ahead right?" I already knew this, but explaining that I had a transparent map in my head would make me sound like a lunatic. Besides, it never hurts to be friendly to the locals.

"That's right," Henry nodded as I sat down."Are you going there for the hot springs or looking for work?"

"Work mostly, but I wouldn't be against trying out the hot springs as well. I have some strawberries would you like some?" I asked him.

"They are looking for laborers to help fix the town wall right now, you should ask the gate guard who you should talk to if you need work immediately. Otherwise, there are always job postings at the tavern in the town square." He paused looking at me. "You don't have a bag, I thought I had just missed it with all the running around you were doing, but you really aren't carrying anything, but that staff. Where do you plan to get your strawberries from? Thin air? Magic?" He looked at me with a teasing smile and a bit of sarcasm.

"Something like that." I pulled two handfuls of strawberries out of my inventory. To him, it probably did seem like I pulled them from thin air.

"Would you look at that. What kind of magic was that if you don't mind my asking?" He held out his hand for the offered berries.

"It was a gift from a god, it's called Inventory Bracelet." I held up my wrist. Henry's eyes went wide.

"A Blessing huh? You're lucky, Blessings tend to go wonky more often than they are helpful. I'm sure they mean well, but I wish the gods would put a bit more thought into the gifts they bestow upon us poor mortals." He sighed. I didn't bother to correct his misunderstanding. The Item Bracelet was a gift from a god but wasn't really a Blessing. It seemed like too much effort to explain the details. So I asked another question.

"Did you receive one of those wonky Blessings?" I bit into the berry. Amoris was correct, the strawberries of Elrich were incredibly tasty.

"Unfortunately, I was given a Blessing from the God Beurn that gives me a sort of affinity with sheep. Sheep really like me, they never wander off, and my sheep will always produce the best wool. It's not that I'm not thankful for the gift, it's provided a decent living." He sighed again.

"That doesn't sound so bad," I answered.

"No it wouldn't, but the sheep really like me. Even sheep that aren't my own flock. The sheep from other farms inevitably end up coming to me. They get my sheep pregnant. Then I get angry shepherds showing up at my door calling me a thief. I was nearly killed when I first got the Blessing."

"Killed! I wouldn't think shepherds to be homicidal types."

Henry laughed, "Most of us aren't, but stealing another person's livestock is a crime. One night all my neighbor's sheep disappeared. He had about 40 just up and vanish in the middle of the night. He shows up at my place and finds all his sheep sleeping peacefully with mine. So he confronts me, punches me in the nose, and runs off to fetch the guards from Yellow Springs. I was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging for stealing 40 sheep. No one had ever heard of a Blessing for sheep or of the God Beurn."

So Beurn wasn't one of the major gods then? Just how many gods were running around this world?

"What happened next? Since you're still here I guess something happened?"

"Sheep, my sheep, and every other sheep in the area showed up to my hanging," he laughed. "They had to believe me at that point. I had been sitting in the town jail all night it's not like I could have gone out and stolen all the sheep in the area. My conviction was overturned and the local shepherds have all begun tagging our sheep. So when one shows up at my home that's not mine I can return him to where he belongs."

"That is quite the Blessing," I nodded. I could understand how Henry would have mixed feelings about Blessings. "What did you do to get the Blessing in the first place?"

"Hu," he let out a breath and wrinkled his forehead, "I don't really know to be honest. I was laying in the pasture with Tick and suddenly the god shows up. He points at me, says 'I, Beurn, God of Herds, bless thee in my name. I grant thee the protection and love of sheep. May your wool be thick and your lambs be strong.' Then there was this flash of green light that hit me right in the head and then he was gone."

"That sounds familiar," I commented.

*Skill Gain- Small Talk~

What kind of useless skill was that? I was distracted by the alert and missed Henry's next question.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I was remembering my Blessing. Would you repeat that please?"

"Don't worry about it, I was just wondering who gave you your Blessing and if you had any more of those strawberries. Those are really good for being out of season."

I handed over more berries while I decided how much to tell Henry. He seemed like a nice guy but explaining that the bracelet had been a gift from one god but given by another might seem odd. I wasn't yet sure how involved the gods were with mortals. So I decided to lie a little.

"It was given to me by Amoris." Not quite a lie, but not the entire truth. I gave the cover story that Amoris and I had worked out before I was reincarnated. "I was orphaned when I was a baby and the nuns at the Orphanage of Amoris raised me. As a departing gift Amoris gave me her Blessing."

The last bit still was not exactly a lie.

*Skill Gain- Deception

*Skill Gain- Poker Face

Oh, that was interesting. Deception allowed for lies to be believed no matter how fantastical and Poker Face somehow physically boosted Deception. I knew that a Poker Face on Earth was a way card players were able to lie without showing facial tics. This probably worked the same way. You could lie all you wanted with Deception, but if your eyebrow began to twitch every time you lied people would catch on. While I didn't want to become a world class liar I also didn't want people questioning my motives and personal history. I activated both skills and allocated Exp bringing them both to level 1.

"You must be from further away than I thought. I don't think there are any Orphanages of Amoris in this territory. We have temples," he paused, then changed his train of thought, "I guess that Winter City could have one. I've never actually been to the territory capital, so I'm not certain."

He glanced at me and asked the question with his eyes.

"No, I've never been to Winter City either. This orphanage is far to the north nearer to the kingdom's capital, but not really in King's Cross." I was looking at All Map Exploration and had found an orphanage run by the Temple of Amoris. I glanced at the information and continued my lie. "It was an orphanage set up by the main temple in King's Cross, but with real estate being so expensive in the capital they decided to build it further south. We earned an income from growing and selling strawberries in the capital."

"That would explain why you have so many strawberries. I had heard they were favored by Amoris." Henry laughed biting into another one.

"I know, you would think the Goddess of Love would prefer chocolate or something," I commented thinking that chocolate was the go-to romantic gift on Valentine's Day.

"Strawberries are a little heart-shaped," he said then looked at me. "What is chocolate," he pronounced it chalk late, "is it something from the capital? I've never heard of it."

"You don't have chocolate here?" I asked. Surely, Elrich had chocolate. I searched for chocolate on my map. Nothing. I repeated the search and tried again. I searched cocoa and repeated the search. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. Then finally I got a ping. Cocoa Fruit, grown in the far south. Was a delicacy in Demonia territory. Very difficult to grow as constant flowing water and steady heat are needed.

I actually said a small prayer of thanks to Amoris for supplying me with an unlimited amount of hot cocoa. To me chocolate was life. On Earth, I had little mini candy bars in every drawer in my apartment. My glove compartment had my registration and a bag of chocolate. I always had a bar ready to go in my pocket.

*Title Gain- Grateful Petitioner~

"Where I come from chocolate is given to someone as a gesture of love and romance. So that's why I thought it would be something Amoris would be the patron of. As to what chocolate is, it comes from a fruit that is grown in Demonia territory. I've never actually had the Cocoa Fruit, but I've had chocolate bars and hot cocoa. At some point, someone decided to try drying out the fruit and turning it into a powder. They then mixed the powder with sugar and melted it together with milk. When the mixture hardens it creates chocolate. It's really sweet and very good. I don't have any chocolate with me, but I do have some hot chocolate mix. It also uses powdered Cocoa Fruit and sugar. You are supposed to mix one packet in with either warm milk or hot water."

"I'd like to try it," Henry said eagerly.

"I don't have water, milk, or a way to heat it," I told him. However, I did hand him 5 packets and explained how he could make it when he got home. He looked at the packets and smiled.

"You said that giving this to someone was a sign of love?"

"Well, giving chocolate to someone usually is. I think hot chocolate would be a good gift." I handed him 5 more packets for his romantic endeavors.

"This isn't expensive, is it? I don't have much coin on me, but I can pay you."

"I have an infinite supply of strawberries and hot chocolate as part of my Blessing from Amoris," I held up the bracelet again. "You probably could sell it around here, but I don't know how much you would receive. Since you don't have anything like it here you might be able to earn some money from it," I shrugged. I hadn't actually thought about selling the hot cocoa packets. If I was desperate for money I guess I could sell the strawberries and cocoa. I did have an infinite supply after all. I felt a bit stupid for not thinking of it before.

"If Amoris Blessed the bracelet with an infinite amount of this hot chocolate. Doesn't that mean she is the patron goddess?"

"You could be right," I said. Chocolate was more my thing and she was just being nice adding to my inventory but letting Henry think that didn't hurt anything. Besides strawberries and chocolate were amazing together. If the idea of giving chocolate to someone you loved caught on then chocolate would probably come under Amoris' power anyway.

"Can I ask you another question?" Henry asked, "Are those clothes also from the capital? I've never seen a shirt or pants cut like that before, and those shoes look dangerous."

I had completely forgotten that I was still wearing my hideous purple shirt and khakis. I certainly didn't match Henry with his brown clothing that made him look like he stepped out of a Renaissance Fair.

"No, not really. This was my uniform at the orphanage. The pants are cut short so that we didn't snag them on the plants."

*Deception level up.~

Hey now, I hadn't been lying that much. It certainly wasn't enough for a level up. What was with this arbitrary way of distributing Exp? Sometimes a skill leveled up on its own, and sometimes I had to feed it Exp. What a crazy system. On top of that, I had no way of knowing just how much Exp would level up a skill.

Henry was nodding away like my explanation made perfect sense to him. We talked some more about chocolate and Amoris. Then I left him standing on the side of the road with a sack of strawberries, the sack had held Henry's own lunch.

I had learned some important information from Henry. I had also gained a few new skills that would come in handy. While I still felt bad about using the skill to deceive people, I felt that it was a necessity since I couldn't actually tell anyone I was from another planet. They might not have an Area 51, where they performed autopsies on aliens, but they had magic. Who knew what kind of experimental magical labs there could be.

There was a public library in Yellow Springs. It would probably be a good idea to make that stop high on my list of priorities. I really needed to learn more about this world. I also needed a change of clothes. I hadn't even thought of my clothing not matching in with the locals. I'd hate to lose my shoes though. I was sure they didn't have Nike's in Elrich. Another ping interrupted my thoughts.

*Incoming Message. Please check your inventory.~

*Items Received. Please check your inventory.~

Incoming Message, what on Earth, or should I say Elrich, was this? I opened my inventory and found another letter waiting. I tapped on the icon to read it.

*Dear Eri,

It feels like it's been a while since we last spoke. Your reincarnation went well enough considering the circumstances. I will admit to a slight error on my part. As you have noticed you were granted four divine Blessings instead of three, because of this my power was insufficient and you were caught in the Abyss for longer than anticipated. I do apologize for that, but since the benefit was an extra Blessing I hope you will forgive me the pain you went through.

I was listening to your conversation with the nice shepherd boy. You should be pleased to know that I love the idea of becoming the Goddess of Chocolate. I had always envied Earth's St. Valentine for cornering the market on tasty love tokens. You are correct in thinking that chocolate goes well with strawberries and I am grateful.

I have decided to help the shepherd. He is in love with a girl from the nearby town. I will be visiting him shortly. I plan to tell him that if he gives the chocolate to the girl, and she accepts it, that I will personally bless their love and their eventual marriage.

I will also correct the poor child's Blessing. Sometimes it does happen that a particular Blessing becomes a burden. We try to correct these mistakes as best we can. He will no longer be burdened with his neighbor's flocks, but I will leave the rest of the Blessing intact. The young couple should have a decently comfortable life with his sheep being of an increased quality.

I predict chocolate will become fairly popular. I plan on sending messages to all my Oracles telling them about the wonders of chocolate. I will be gifting all temples with a small supply. I will also inform them about the Cocoa Fruit. I have worked out your plan to turn the fruit into chocolate that tastes even better than the chocolate on earth. How to make, prepare chocolate, and successfully grow the Cocoa Trees will all be included in the messages.

However, growing the trees and obtaining the fruit will be difficult. I have faith that my followers will be up to the task, but it may take years. In the meantime, I have added another infinite item to your inventory. It's a standard sized chocolate bar processed from the Cocoa Fruit. You may choose from dark, milk, or white chocolate. I hope you like it.

Don't eat too many you'll get fat!

All I ask is that you sell these bars to my temples at a discount. I have informed my Oracles of who you are. I have also told that little white lie and explained that your Inventory Bracelet, and the infinity items in it, are all part of a Blessing from me. Temple Priests will be trying to contact you soon. With this, you shouldn't have to worry too much about money for the next few years.

I have also added a change of clothing to your inventory. I should have had you change before your reincarnation. I had the clothes already picked out and everything. Good news is that the boots I had prepared will feel and act like your athletic shoes. It has been requested by the Godly Council that I ask you to use your inventory to delete your current clothing items. Having items transferred from one world to another is taboo. If you fail to do so we both might be in trouble. As of now, they have recognized that the slip up in no part was your fault. Currently, I am holding all of the blame. If you fail to delete the items after receiving this message you will be partially responsible as well.

I will be watching over you and I look forward to your progress.

With Love,

Amoris XoXo~

*Title Gain- Oracle of Amoris~

Name- Eri Veritas

HP 640/640

Level- 8

Age- 18

Race/Species- (Human) Unknown

Gender- (Male) Unknown

Occupation- Unemployed

Exp- 4514

Physical Power- 44

Stamina- 78

Defense- 102

Agility- 175

Intelligence- 29

Magic Power- 8

Metal Rain Lv 1

Skills

Staff Fighting Lv 2

Basic Sword Lv 2

Skull Bashing Lv 1

Martial Arts Lv 2

Spear Lv 1

Stalking Lv 1

Jumping Lv 1

Running Lv 2

Pain Tolerance Lv 1

Deception Lv 2

Poker Face Lv 1

Rock Throwing

Dancing

Harvesting

Small Talk

Racial Ability-

Hidden Among the Masses- 20

Stealth- 43

Items Equip

Inventory Bracelet

Blessing 1- All Map Exploration

Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level

Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level

Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses

Titles- Devotee of Amoris

Oracle of Amoris

Grateful Petitioner

Enemy of Apes