Watching the locals walk through the completed shrine was fascinating. Luna, Kyle, Sarah and I were officially, whatever that meant if there was no real society, turning over the shrine to the people. They had seen a bit of my work from afar but as I had requested, nobody had ventured inside while I was working. Now, the shrine was completed and people were observing it for the first time, while I was observing them in turn. And it was fascinating. They were fascinating and fascinated in turn.

Undisguised awe, mixed with trepidation and a whole host of other emotions were easily visible on the various faces and I couldn’t help but feel proud at what I had wrought here. Luna had provided some support, mostly by boosting my own magical ability, while Kyle and Sarah had added the blessing of Hestia to her shrine, but otherwise, this had all been me. Even the Blessing of Hecate was something I had been involved in, adding my own Astral Power to Luna’s working while studying the effect.

If nothing else, I came away with a profound sense of awe regarding the magical processes I could see, even if I barely understood them. Divine Energy was different from Astral Power in a fundamental way, that much I could feel, but the difference was somewhat like that of alcohol and water. Both generally clear, both liquid at room temperature and with a similar density but where one would burn, the other would not.

I could see, and feel, the Divine Power pour into the formation and sense just how little was lost in the process, allowing Luna to achieve a far greater effect with the power filtered through Lady Hecate than I could if the two of us had channelled our Astral Power directly. And that was ignoring the question of whether Lady Hecate had simply transmuted the Astral Power into Divine Power or if there were some sort of inefficiencies in the process. It was a little frustrating that I couldn’t get any adequate readings on the other side of the effect or any real understanding of it but I had a feeling no Deity would share those details.

Hel, most would likely slay me for the attempt, just like the Wolf had destroyed my Avatar when I poked around the Divine Blood within Ylva and stumbled into his domain. No questions, no warning or anything, just a smack and I was done for. It made me wonder why all my attempts to explore and understand Lady Hecate and Her power had been met with amusement and even quiet encouragement, to the point that a few of the dream lectures might have been rewards for my own experiments. It felt like such a strange departure from the whole ‘divine awe’ thing I had experienced, and was expecting, from other deities, it left me a little confused.

Maybe one day I would understand, both the magic wilded through the Divine power and the deities behind that power but I had some doubts. Did I even want to understand them, especially if it relied on the admiration and willing support of others? Knowing myself, knowing my problems with communication and people in general, could I ever get that needed support? Or would I, at best, turn into some sort of figurehead, a power supporting a message I didn’t care about?

It might be that this sort of question was best ignored, at least until I reached a far higher level of power and understanding, where I could start to grasp the concepts behind the powers involved, not while I could merely stare like some sort of rube visiting the big city for the first time. No, I’d have to wait until I could understand the magical pyramid schemes involved in building a Faith before I could even consider if I wanted to go down that path.

The more I watched the people, the more I began to wonder. What did they take away from the shrine, what did they understand? Were they merely seeing the physical, the crystalline structures I had used to stabilise the construction or could they see something deeper? Could they feel the magic woven into each and every stone, reverberating through the structure and changing depending on whether they were closer to the shrine of Hecate or the shrine of Hestia?

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How much of what they saw could they understand? Would they try to learn, watching and studying the magic that would undoubtedly linger here for years, maybe even longer? I didn’t know but I was curious. Sadly, I doubted I’d ever find out, unless I decided to visit this area again, someday in the future. Maybe in the far future.

Smiling to myself, I realised that the last two weeks of strenuous spellcasting might be the perfect opportunity to use the two free attribute points I had saved up. They’d either grant me an Intelligence trait or an Intuition trait and either way, it would be based on my recent activities. I had no idea how the system defined recent in that context but I felt that the last two weeks might be the best I could hope for. A long stretch of research and constructive spellcasting, with a bit of hunting thrown in right before. Far better than the fairly mundane travelling experience I could expect for the immediate future, as I didn’t plan to linger much longer. The shrine was completed and, maybe thanks to the attack I had created, the locals had managed to pull their collective heads out of their backsides and get organised.

Well, more organised, they still lacked the strict and structured organisation the community at Apple Gate Farm had created, but it was progress. Progress that made me feel they would make it through the winter, especially with the blessing of Hestia radiating out from the shrine here. Lady Hecate’s was much more focused on the library Luna and I had created, both deities putting their own spin on their shrines.

Nodding to myself, I opened my character-sheet and put the saved points into Intelligence. It was my primary attribute and pushing it to sixty felt like a fairly impressive milestone, at least given that I had achieved it at level sixty-five. Well, sixty-seven but that was only because I had kept the points in reserve while considering my options.

Moments after the points were assigned, a blue window opened and informed me of the trait I had gained. It sounded like another fairly interesting one, named Astral Infusion. It allowed me to infuse my Astral Power into objects, though what effects, other than lasting ones, doing so had wasn’t explained. It sounded incredibly similar to enchanting, but I doubted it would be that easy, though it also sounded similar to the Astral Impression trait I had gained some time ago, one creating a lasting impression on reality, the other infusing an object, whatever that meant.

Something to test later, for now, I wanted to focus on the ceremony Luna performed for Hecate and afterwards I would do the same for Sarah and Kyle. A part of me wondered if I had to make sure Luna stayed away from that one, I didn’t want her to witness something like their ritual to establish the blessing, but I didn’t know their plans. Hopefully, the family-focused part of Hestia’s domain would keep the whole thing family-friendly. Whatever that meant to a deity divorced from the pre-change culture I was still partially conditioned by.

At least Luna’s ritual was both impressive and aesthetically pleasing if one had the senses to enjoy it. I doubted most people here had, they would be able to hear her song, alongside the slow, deliberate motions of ritual dancing, but of the jumble of Astral and Divine Power flowing freely from her body and infusing the entire shrine, they could feel nought but faint echos.

Maybe even I could only feel parts of what was going on, divine magic being what it was, I couldn’t be certain I got it all. Maybe it didn’t really matter whether I could sense everything, maybe the real importance was that I could see, feel and experience my dear daughter doing her best. That should be more than enough to make me proud and it was.

And yet, the curious part of me wanted to see it all. To experience it all, to peer behind the curtain of divinity and learn all their secrets. Maybe even share them with some students, that way, I would have more people to explore the Arcane Path with.

But that, as with so many things, would have to wait for later. Much, much later, for now, I had a ritual to enjoy and given just how grande the working of my daughter was, it was an impressive spectacle.

Finally, the ritual wound down, the magic infusing the area swelled one last time and just as it reached its crescendo, I felt some power flow into me. An EXP award, not a tremendous amount but it was enough to bump me up two levels, though only because I had almost been at level sixty-eight already. Still, I was now level sixty-nine, a brief giggle escaping me at the realisation, only for the giggle to be washed away by longing for my Sigmir.