7. Learning from the Pros

Location: Aqua's Place

"Now hero! May you be victorious and defeat the demon king... I bid you farewell!", A blue-haired goddess commanded with grace.

"YES! I WILL, GODDESS AQUA! I WON'T WASTE MY LIFE AGAIN! I WILL DEFEAT THE DEMON KING AND FULFILL MY DREAM OF HAVING A HAREM!"

A pillar of light lifted the person into the air and transported him into the distance, successfully reincarnating him.

After the light disappeared, Aqua's grandeur instantly faded, She couldn't help but snicker, "Too bad that world barely has any woman."

She went to the back of her chair, picked up a sake bottle, and drank like a true incapacitated drunkard. After finishing the whole thing, the bottle disintegrated into dust. "Seth! Keep them coming!" Aqua shouted, and a few bottles gently descended from a small tear in space. "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Aqua Slurred.

—

"Ugh… She's treating me like her personal booze dispenser. My creation power still gives me nasty headaches outside my realm." Seth held his head dizzy, watching Aqua from a hidden mirror dimension.

"At least we now know it's not worse than before." Eris nodded with understanding, Aqua had suggested/ordered Seth to keep making liquor by using his power as 'training', Seth at first completely disagreed since Aqua's intent was truly obvious, but after thinking a bit, he agreed because he couldn't ignore the possibility that it could indeed be trained.

"Though I have to admit, when it comes to reincarnating people, she is no joke."

Eris giggled, "It's true, Aqua can 'convince' almost everyone to 'isekai' to the least chosen worlds, others sift through souls and worlds, Aqua gladly accepts the leftover and unwanted ones since the more she sends, the greater the bonus - in the form of liquor of course."

Seth thought, She took all the bottom rung who no other gods bothered to isekai, that's how she got her role here, by quantity. Reminds me of a certain slayer.

—

After taking her customary swigs of alcohol, Aqua hid her bottles. "Now, what's the next world? Ooh! This one has my GREAT RELIGION in it! Hmm? Does the demon king still exist there? Well, nothing wrong with sending more."

She returned to her seat, "Now, who is the next guy, Mitsurugi Kyouya? From his life story, he's just your average high schooler, nothing impressive except that he is a little muscular."

She snapped her finger; a magical wisp entered the place, and a teenage boy emerged from it. Aqua with a graceful smile, welcomed him, "Greetings Mitsurugi Kyouya, welcome to the afterlife. I am sorry to inform you that you have died."

So, for the umpteenth time, Aqua started her reincarnation process.

—

"Wait, Religion?" Seth inquired.

"Oh right, we forgot to mention that," Eris replied, making a fist on her other palm.

"Seth, a god gains believers to gain 'faith', which serves as an additional source of power to us. Although Gods are already strong, 'faith' can further amplify their power," Eris explained.

"So you establish religions in these worlds and get a continuous supply of faith?" Seth quickly grasped the concept.

Eris nodded and continued, "Faith can come from fame, infamy, and anything that makes people think of anything related to you. Through trial and error, we've found that religious fervor is the most potent form."

"I understand." Seth turned his body towards Eris, "Do you have a religion?"

"I do have one," Eris replied.

"then how do you rank position among gods?"

"It usually varies, most of them are based on power, though not just based on raw strength or combat ability. It also includes influences, skills, indispensability, and more." 

Seth asked, "Is Aqua Religion big?"

"No, but it's v-very devoted," Eris answered, almost stuttering.

Seth smirked in his heart, I see.

"Though I'm still confused, she is still 'lackluster' in the other departments except for artistry and this." 

"Seth! Don't underestimate Aqua too much." Eris warned him.

"I am not; I just see that you are better than her." 

"I… Ah… Whahh…," Eris's face turned red and stammered, while Seth only smiled.

Silence fell as they continued watching Aqua 'reincarnate' the teenager. As they did, Eris turned thoughtful, "Seth?" 

"Yes, Eris?" Seth replied.

"Do you have any intention to build your religion?"

"I don't know. It seemed like a hassle, and my intuition (divinity) said I didn't need it. Plus if I do, I might be labeled as an evil or heretic god." 

"No, you're a good person, and I know it." She made eye contact with Seth.

Seth decided not to go further and redirected her attention, "Let's go back to watching this show." 

Eris nodded and they went back to watching Aqua 'hoodwink' random people. Seth reminisces about the events days ago.

—

Location: a really big market

They arrived at a very open plaza hanging above a sea of clouds, filled with bright glowing festivities.

"Come on Seth! There are still lots of places to visit, this is my favorite place, the Grand Market."

Eris as a mentor was also tasked with introducing Seth to places. The grand market is open to the public, even to outsiders or criminals. As long as the involved party is not a threat to the omniverse and not causing trouble or harm.

Eris held Seth's hand as they whizzed through the cheery market.

Eris brought him to some stalls and shops selling exotic foods, beautiful boutiques, and maybe a jewelry or two, though they were only window shopping. 

Seth was inspecting a glowing gauntlet when he heard Eris yelp, Seth instantly gave the gauntlet back and ran to her.

He noticed a crowd had circled Eris and one other person wearing Chinese clothes with a ponytail reaching his back, "Milady, As expected of the kingdom of gods, you are one of the most beautiful woman I have ever met, Would you allow me, Zhang Gu Se, the first disciple of the great **** Sect second elder, have the honor of the afternoon with you?"

Seth saw Eris looking flustered and conflicted at this. He understood what was going on.

He shouted, "Eris! There you are!" attracting the other's attention.

Seth without hesitation held Eris' hand, and because of the awkward situation instinctually moved closer toward Seth.

SETH!

"Calm down Eris, only goodhearted and noble cultivators can enter here. However, we should still tread carefully since some are temperamental. We don't want to make this frisky."

Sorry… it's just I have met a few… persistent ones in the past.

"Oh forgive me, You must be blessed by the heavens for having a beauty as your partner. And it was uncivilized of me to interfere." the cultivator apologized cordially.

Seth and Eris looked at each other for a moment, they wanted to deny it, but….

"Haha, as an apology, why don't I bless you two with fortune and luck, our sects are famous for it." He then waved his hands and chanted.

Golden Chinese words and symbols circled Seth and Eris, but midway it broke. The cultivator coughed slightly and a hint of red stained his lips.

"HEAVENS! I blessed you two with great luck, but I almost received backlash."

Seth and Eris stared at each other, instantly knowing what was happening. Giving a blessing of fortune to a goddess of fortune is pointless. Seth thought.

The cultivator instantly knelt on the floor and hit his head on the ground three times. 

"I thank you two sweethearts for opening my eyes! Our sect spans many heavens or in your terms 'multiverse', but you two made me realize why my master made me go on this journey! I am a frog in a well! Experts here are as common as the clouds! Now will you excuse me, I can't repay you now, but I have other ways." He threw a sword out and jumped on it, he whizzed away at the speed of light.

"It's over right?" Eris asked.

"I guess so, I sensed no malicious intention from him. We were lucky, he was just really altruistic." With this potential mess subverted, Seth decided to continue holding Eris' hand. They continued their merry window shopping. Seth smiled at how sweet she was, enjoying her company.

"Seth! How are you doing!" A muscular middle-aged man called out to Seth while he held Eris' hand.

"It's been a while since you came to sharpen your sword skills with us." The man went closer. Seth let go of Eris and gave him a manly handshake.

"Don't worry dude, it's just I still have to go to more places."

The blond man nodded, "Heh! I thought my deep mastery of the sword scared you away."

"No way man," Seth replied confidently, The man hooked his arm into a headlock around Seth's neck, pulling him away from Eris.

He whispered, "So you're dating Eris officially now?"

"Bahahaha!" Seth has to release that, "We only knew each other for days, I do kind of like her but that's too fast. You could say there's progress, but still not there yet. I'm still a bit indecisive about this."

The muscular man gave Seth a hard slap on the back, sending him back to Eris, "Have fun you two."

"By the way, why are you here, shouldn't you hang out with the other battle gods?"

"Hmph, who says a god has to only like the thing they are a god of. I am searching for new delicacies here." the muscular man waved goodbye.

After that chat Seth went back to Eris, "I think we had enough adventure around here, I still have to learn how other gods did their 'isekai'."

Eris nodded, a portal opened, and they entered.

—

Seth and Eris found themselves in a very pink girlish bedroom. A bratty-looking goddess lounged on her bed. Resembling the stereotypical high school queen cheerleader.

"Oh Heeey girl!" She jumped off her bed, giving Eris the most typical excited girl hug.

Eris also did the same, "It's so good to see you again! How long has it been since we hung out?"

"GIRL it's been forever, though I'm not totally in the mood to hit the mall. But, you know, we girls have to have a get-together ASAP!"

"Sure, but first thing first, today's your turn," Eris replied.

"Oh yeah… I signed up for this. Come, boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?" Eris looked confused

"Oh chill, girl, everyone knows that you two are, like, so close together," she spoke loudly.

"SETH AND I AREN'T DATING!" Eris proclaimed.

"Really? These few days, you two are like two peas in a pod. Honey, you're a match made in heaven, looking so good together." the teenage-looking goddess continued.

Eris tried to rebuke, but Seth put his hand on her shoulder, "Just tell them we are not currently dating when they ask. Adding more will cause misinformation" 

"BUT! But…" Eris persisted, but with Seth's patient convincing, she calmed down and relented.

"You sure you two aren't together? you two are so in sync. I can see sparks of love," the teenage goddess pointed out how close they were. Seth gave an expression as if saying 'See' and Eris just sighed. 

The teenage goddess showed her laptop and phone screen to them. "Doing the 'isekai' thing is such a turnover; luckily, we have the technology for it." programs are processing which candidates fit her criteria. Invitation messages and emails are being automatically sent out.

Seth gave her a look, she responded, "What? Work smarter, not harder. I just got my nails done."

Seth asked, "How about our 'cheats'?" 

the teenage goddess showed her phone, "Wanna try?" *tut-turuu* a cute spin-the-wheel game popped up on the screen. "It could also be a lucky draw or gacha. Don't worry; this is a demo."

Seth tested four times and got a library, a monster-taming system, a farm, and nothing (failed). "Not bad," Seth commented.

"I know right? If those oldies asked if this was too random or carefree, just say that if the person got it, they are fated, if not, then they're not. Now, sweetie, that's all of it for today, seriously, like, that's all I did for this gig." She created a portal and shoved Eris and Seth out. Eris and Seth found themselves in a shopping center.

"Eris. I got some big things, and sorry, but your company won't help at all. I need to like fully focus on this matter alone! Hey, at least I'm bringing you to the best hangout place around here. Ta-taah… ."

The portal closed, and Seth and Eris can't say much about it. They decided to window shop the place and visit their next expert.

—

In a corridor lined with doors. A bespectacled man was reading a newspaper at his office/ receptionist desk. He glanced at Seth and Eris, let go one finger from his newspaper, and pointed to a door on his left.

Seth and Eris followed suit, entered the door, and found out they could see the corridor, but those inside couldn't see them; it was like a one-way mirror.

The blond man revealed a note he had printed, allowing Seth to read it. It was a questionnaire that only 2 possible answers for each question. The final question asked 'Do you know how this world ends?'.The blond man made a light wave, The note turned transparent and vanished.

Seth realized that the note was likely for the 'isekai' process, and was sent to a person.

The blond man signaled for Seth and Eris to be quiet and focused his view on the end of a corridor. A bloodied samurai emerged from it.