Chapter 314: The Goddess of War

Kellar woke with a heavy body and a dry mouth.

He had slept. A whole day, maybe more, because the light through the gap was different and the air smelled of noon.

Ophelia lay beside him, face down, one arm hanging off the pallet.

She was not the same woman.

The bones had stopped showing. She had flesh where she had been edge before, her breasts twice the size, her hips wide, her back round. She looked like she had been born twice. And she glowed, a low still gold that ran over her skin as if her blood had turned to light.

The staff floated above her. It covered her body with its brightness and did not move.

Kellar sat up slowly.

"So that is the power of the Bear God?" said he.

"Surprised?" said a voice at his side.

Kellar jumped.

"Shit!"

The cat was white, translucent and the size of a loaf of bread. She sat in the air at the level of his face, tail curled around her paws.

"You should show up more normal, system," said Kellar. "I nearly shit myself."

"I was saving Divine power," said the cat. "That is why I had not come out. Now I have some strength to materialize a little more."

Kellar stared at her. Then he looked at the staff, and at Ophelia, and at her again.

"Are you the Bear God?"

"You can call me Goddess of Nature," said she. "Every descendant of the forests and the seas calls me that. Though each one gives me the shape I use to come near them. The deer god is also me. The bear god. The eagle god."

"Dragon god?"

"You mean that giant lizard?" The cat snorted. "No. He is the son of the god of destruction. A god who loves to destroy what he built. He is a bastard."

And she stomped the air with her front paws, furiously, looking cute.

"Goddess of Nature..."

"Shhh." Her tail bristled. "Do not go on. I know what you are going to do and no, I cannot answer things. You know what I want you to know and you do not know what I do not want. That is how it has to be."

"Fine," said Kellar, reluctantly.

"Do not get sad. I came to tell you something important."

Kellar straightened his back.

"Tell me, goddess. I am your servant."

"That is more like it. That is the correct attitude." The cat sat up straighter. "The important thing. The world is suffering changes, so I need you to spread more of my power if you want to survive. Spread my faith over the whole world and exterminate the other faiths."

"Of course, goddess," said Kellar. "That is what we will do with all our strength."

"I know you try, but it is not enough." Her voice went low. "Sometimes being as peaceful and kind as you are is not enough. There are other ways. So to motivate you I want to introduce you to someone."

Something took shape at her side.

It was a small tiger, red, with black stripes. The size of a hunting dog, with a head too big and legs too thick.

"What a pretty tiger," said Kellar. "What is it? Is it going to be my new pet?"

The tiger vanished. It appeared at the level of his head and struck him.

Kellar flew, spun twice across the floor and took out the candlestick, the clay dish and half a bench.

"Great shaman!" Grok shouted from outside. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes!" Kellar coughed and pushed himself half up. "We were just being a little rough in here. Do not come in! Whatever happens, whatever you hear, do not come in."

"Forgot to tell you," said the cat. "She is the Goddess of War. You should be careful. She is not as kind and pretty as me."

The tiger fixed its eyes on her, furious.

The cat rolled her eyes and walked through the air to Kellar.

"The point is that you have done good things, but you are on the defensive all the time," said she. "Your idea is to close yourself off, develop slowly and expand. A solid plan that I would normally approve, but time is short. So from today you will also take missions from her. You must understand what all this is about, right?"

Kellar looked at the tiger.

"Yes," said he. "You want me to start conquering and destroying other tribes to subdue them."

"You hit the nail on the head," spoke the tiger. Her voice was rougher than the cat’s, and lower. "Building and development strengthen her. Courage, however, strengthens me. The more you fight and the more blood you spill, yours or your enemy’s, the stronger I will be."

She came closer. The huge head hung in front of her paws.

"So I will give you a unique blessing. You already have the Overlord mace, but you are such an idiot you do not use it. Do you think that shitty ability that only raises your strength is all it has to offer?"

Kellar did not answer.

"It was as simple as killing everything you hunted with it and you would have ascended again already." The tiger hit him on the knee with her paw. "I hate damn cowards."

Kellar lowered his head.

Fighting hand to hand was not that fun. He was still traumatized from having been at the edge of death in his first days, and he did not want to fight more than necessary. He preferred to stay back, use the blessings, bombard with curses and magic attacks, and only in an extreme case land the final blow with the mace.

"Now you understand, right?" said the tiger. "Fine. I will give you my blessing. I do not have a complex system like her, too much level, boring. Mine is quite simple."

[Blessing of the Goddess of War received.]

[Blessing of the Goddess of War]

[All your stats increase in relation to the level of the blessing of the Goddess of War.]

[Current level: 1]

Kellar felt his whole body swell violently. His skin broke out in red tattoos, an extensive pattern of runes that climbed his arms, his chest, his belly, his face.

The runes began to enter him and vanish slowly. It was as if they pierced him from every direction.

Kellar folded over and did not scream.

[Missions of level]

[Conquer 10 tribes]

[Fight with your hands in the conquest of the 10 tribes]

[Spill blood in combat]

[Warning. If the user hides behind his army during combat, he will suffer a divine penalty.]