[Blessings of the Gods: You may compel one Divine Being to bestow a blessing upon you and your territory.]
Shire stared at the activated, strange text, pondering which Divine Being he should choose.
Light and Justice, Battle and Glory, Earth and Life, Night and Destiny. These four Main Gods all possessed immense power, and the blessings they could bestow were undoubtedly formidable.
[The God of Light and Justice blesses you and your territory. Within your lands, evil creatures hostile to you will appear less frequently. Light will shine upon your subjects, strengthening their moral compass. Simultaneously, you are blessed. You will find your charisma influencing those around you; your subordinates and subjects will grow more loyal, firmly believing that you are their savior.]
[The God of Battle and Glory blesses you and your territory. Your vanguard will be all the more invincible, and wherever your banner flies, your soldiers’ hearts will follow. They will be less prone to routing, and their morale will be higher. Honor will be cherished by your subjects, and they will become more confident. Simultaneously, you are blessed. Your wisdom will influence your subordinates, making it easier for them to grasp combat techniques and fight for you.]
[The God of Earth and Life blesses you and your territory. Within your lands, the earth will become more fertile, and crop yields will be more stable and efficient. Your subjects will also be shrouded in the blessing of life, and their physical constitution will significantly improve. Simultaneously, you are blessed. You will find your own stamina has significantly increased, and you will possess strong Magic Resistance.]
[The God of Night and Destiny blesses you and your territory. Fate will favor your lands. Within your territory, natural and man-made disasters will be less likely to occur. Your subjects’ lives will become more stable, which in turn will bring them greater peace of mind. Simultaneously, you are blessed. Luck will accompany you, and you will receive a significant luck bonus when encountering major events.]
"I want all four of them," Shire said, frowning as he faced the agonizing choice.
’Battle and Glory can raise morale and even inspire my subordinates to learn combat techniques on their own. That’s incredibly useful for the goblins. They’re naturally timid, and they’ve only built up a little confidence after a few victories. If they were to face a stronger enemy or suffer heavy casualties, their morale would probably collapse in an instant. Plus, if they learn techniques on their own, I won’t have to throw so many Abilities at each of them. They’ll train themselves.’
"The War God’s blessing is pretty good; it’s what I need right now," Shire muttered to himself. "But the Life God’s..."
’It increases production and strengthens my own Abilities. I really do need to increase production. Right now, we’re just relying on gathering and hunting, but that method of production is too primitive. We have to switch to a more efficient model. It’s hard to rely on goblins for farming, so we can only depend on the little goblins and the Tree-men. With this effect boosting production, we probably wouldn’t have to worry about food anymore. And it also strengthens my own Magic Resistance and stamina.’
"Tempting. So tempting," Shire murmured, rubbing his chin. ’The Night God’s effects look pretty good too.’
’Fewer natural and man-made disasters in the territory... We haven’t had any natural disasters for now, but we’ve had plenty of man-made ones. If I had this Ability, would the number of Adventurer attacks decrease? And there’s a luck bonus for major events—that’s just too important. If my family had been lucky enough to avoid being framed back then, I wouldn’t have ended up stranded in this forest. I’d be waking up in a massive ten-meter bed, with twenty beautiful maids lined up to say, "Good morning, Young Master."’
’The Light God’s effects are also great. It would be harder for evil creatures to appear in the territory, so we’d only have to focus on gathering herbs and defending against Adventurers. I wouldn’t have to worry about a Magical Beast popping out of nowhere to attack my people. Not to mention, it increases my subordinates’ loyalty, making it less likely for a situation like the one with Scarface to happen again.’
"I want them. I want them all," Shire said, raising his hands and rubbing his face back and forth.
’And this effect is compulsory, unlike in the Human Kingdoms where a Bishop from the Church just spouts some nonsense like, "The Main God has blessed you," and then nothing happens.’
SLAP. Shire smacked his face, trying to calm himself down. "I can only pick one. I need to analyze this carefully."
’The War God’s effect would be a huge help for our ever-expanding group, but for now, our strength is sufficient. The effects of the Night God and the Light God are similar in that neither is an immediate necessity. The Life God’s effect, though, looks good. It not only boosts crop growth but also increases my own Magic Resistance.’
Shire glanced down at his chest. He had been a bit too arrogant in the last battle, putting too much faith in that so-called Forest Whisper. ’To think my Heart of the Brave was so easily forced into recovery... When Little John gets back, I’m going to train him to within an inch of his life.’
"But it wasn’t all for nothing," he muttered. He called up his status panel and looked at the ’Own State’ section.
[Own State: Advanced Transformation Curse (Negative), Heart of the Brave (Positive, Recovering), Mother Tree’s Blessing (Positive)]
[Mother Tree’s Blessing: You saved the Mother Tree, and with her, the entire Tree-man Race. They are endlessly grateful to you. The Mother Tree blesses you; her power will help you resist all attacks. All damage you take, whether physical or magical, will be reduced by 20%. As long as you maintain your friendship with the Tree-men, this effect will remain active, only disappearing upon the Mother Tree’s demise.]