B1$H0P³

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Hu... what's this noise?..." muttered Gabriel covering his head with a pillow.

"That's the tower's cannon... it's 6:00 am" said an old man in the next bed.

That's just what I needed... "Thank you"

Hm… I thought I was going to die again... I am tired of being so weak... Crine, what happened yesterday?

'You couldn't take the pain of the transformation and passed out on the trip back...' said Crine, sipping his morning martini.

"That greedy.... hm… What?" seeing the expression of those around, Gabriel shut up and mentally asked, transformation?

'Yeah... but don't worry, it's barely noticeable...'

Shit... Gabriel quickly left the room and went straight to the bathroom mirror, it was still a bit dark in the bathroom, but some light was coming in through the high windows near the ceiling.

Facing the mirror was an ordinary teenager, he was a little thin and haggard due to the time he was in the hands of the kidnappers,175m, with messy hair, but as it was still short and the scars had faded, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

'Um... I don't see any difference in my face… I'm beautiful as ever.

'Look at your chest'

Gabriel took off his shirt and noticed that he now had a golden thing in the center of his chest, in the place where the goddess had hit him. What is it? Gabriel swiped his hand to confirm, but the golden scale contrasted too much with the dark tone of his skin to pass unnoticed. AM I TURNING INTO A SNAKE?

'No, no... Tss... and what is wrong with turning into a magnificent snake?' said Crine showing his fangs.

'none… Hm... so? What does it mean?

'It is the mark of the initiated'

Does it have any use? or?

'It opens up some good skills and spells, but ideally you shouldn't expose them around too much, the local churches might not be very receptive to a new religion...'

Ok, so I'll be like a missionary? and what kind of skills do I get?

There's one for finding treasure, one for healing and... it's all explained in the flyer, inside the book.

Cool, at last some good news... Where is the book?

Just hold out your hand and think of the Golden Book, and it will appear.

Golden Book?

A large golden book appeared in his hand, it was so heavy that if he didn't know what was going to happen, he would surely drop it. The cover was metallic and full of runes in other shades of gold, in the center was a '$' of white metal, the 's' was a snake.

.

Gabriel opened the book to the first page and saw the words written in gold with a beautifully crafted font:

.

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___T$$$i Sacred Scriptures

___________$

___Commandments and Teachings

.

.

At the bottom it had some illegible symbols. So, it's like the Bible?

'Almost like that... she never told her own story and... it's easier if you just turn the page'

The next page was packed with text and pictures.

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____Commandments and Teachings

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_____#1° You Shall Never Fail To Pay Tithing.

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.

Just what I imagined... and how much is the tithe?

'10% of everything you earn'

10% too? And how does it work?

'It is the standard charge among the gods, every semester you have to sacrifice 10% of your profit...'

What if I don't pay?

' :) '

Got it...

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___#2° You Can Kill And Break Deals, But From Your God You Never Steal.

.

'You're lucky she found your pathetic attempt, to steal in front of her, funny...'

haha... true.

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___#3° War Is Always Good For Business, But The Apocalypse Is Not.

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___#4° Do Good Regardless Of Who It Is, When It Is Profitable

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___#5° Always Tell The Truth, As Long As It Does Not Get In The Way Of Profit

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____#6° The Riskier The Adventure, The Greater The Profit, But He Who Lies And Hides Today Lives To Profit Tomorrow.

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____#7° Everything Has A Price…. Even A Space In The Holy Scriptures, Advertise Here And Let Customers From All Over The Multiverse Know Your Product, Stop Wasting Time And Talk Right Now To One Of Our Representatives About Our Special Offers.

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Just below this 'Commandment' there was a picture of a smiling Boy in front of a crowded shelf and next to the picture:

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_________ Omni MultidiMensionalMarkeT

_____ Here you can find the best items from over 100 universes!!!

_____The most trustworthy store on this side of the multiverse....

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"What? advertisements even here?"

Crine fixed the top hat with its tail. 'Of course, is there a better place?'

But.

'It's just that she only dictated the first one and came up with the idea of the advertisement, so she could collect more fees, all the other commandments were written by the apostles and pontiffs, the name is commandments only to make the newbies read...' Crine took another cup 'I also wrote one...'

haha... makes sense... come to think of it, these stores can be quite useful... Which one did you write?

'It's commandment 357, a few pages forward'.

Gabriel turned the pages. 'Is the whole book just commandments and ads?

'No, there are some basic recruiting tutorials, sales techniques, and in the back there are some spells... but for now, you'll only be able to read the initial ones.

Ok... Gabriel kept looking through the pages until he found it:

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____#357° She can touch your 'Tail' but never your Gold.

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There was a picture of Crine smiling and next to it:

_____ Crine Potions For All Occasions

____ Having trouble at 'H' time? contact us now e....

.

"WHAT? You... "

'What? Didn't you like my commandment?

No... it's just that I didn't expect it... you seem more...

'I don't know what you mean... my commandment is quite famous... Everyone says it is a better version of testament #10° Love Passes, But Gold Is Eternal. But it's overkill, you know, living without s...'

OK, OK I get it... So you know how to make potions?

'Hm? Of course not... I was reselling potions from dozens of universes, I had a whole network, from cultivation to transportation... and I had just moved up to the B1$H0P³ position, but there was a problem and I ended up...' Crine's expression was getting worse.

B1$H0P³? what's that?

'I'll explain later....' he picked up the third cup.

'Hm.. the goddess said she was going to unlock something for me and such, what was it?

'It's the Devour skill...'

What does it do?

'Grab a coin' As Gabriel went to grab one from his pocket and he continued, 'She must have really liked you to release this bonus so soon...'

Gabriel took a bronze coin from his pocket. 'Now what?

'Eat'

Really?

Just do it...' he said, taking another sip.

Gabriel turned to the sink and washed the coin before bringing it to his mouth, when it came close to his face. Wow? Why does this smell so good?

The action seemed automatic, without thinking he put it in his mouth and began to chew, the coin seemed to be made of jelly, it didn't seem to have any resistance in his teeth.

Physical Resistance + 0.02

Magic Resistance + 0.03

Only after swallowing and starting to see the messages Gabriel came to his senses.

Magic Output + 0.01

Mana Storage + 0.5

.

"What?"

'Tasty isn't it? and you haven't even tried gold and...'

Gabriel's heart began to race. 'Am I going to get stronger by eating coins?

Not only precious metals, the best ones are magic items and valuable things in general.

So that's why you keep collecting so much...

'Yes, and spells consume gold too...'

Gabriel started salivating looking at the other coins, he took another bronze coin and when it was almost in his mouth, Gabriel noticed, looking in the mirror, that his dentition changed, his teeth and tongue became pointed and metallic, the inside of his mouth looked like a black hole. Gabriel froze and felt a slight panic seeing the transformation.

BAM!

The bathroom door opened wide, Violet rushed in and started looking around, when she saw that he was fine she opened a smile.

"Gabriel, did something happen? Are you... hm?... why do you have a coin in your mouth?".

"I… I… was seeing if it's fake."

"What?"

Gabriel quickly shoved the coin in his pocket "This is the men's bathroom."

"I came to invite you for breakfast, but you weren't in the room, then I was told that you had gone to the bathroom and hadn't returned, I heard your voice from outside, but you didn't come out so I thought something had happened.

"Ah, nothing happened, I was just... let's go for breakfast? I'm starving".

Violet looked into his eyes, but decided not to question and turned to leave the bathroom.

"Do you already have plans for what to do from now on?" said Violet as soon as they left the bathroom.

"Not yet..."

"I haven't decided yet either... some are thinking of staying in the church anyway, others who still have family will try to find jobs in the city or on some plantation..."

"Got it..." Gabriel wasn't very interested in continuing the conversation, he had too much on his mind and what if he says something wrong and the others start shooting....

Violet didn't really realize any of that "But I was thinking about becoming an adventurer... and seeing the world" she looked at Gabriel with an expectant expression.

"Cool..."

"I heard the nuns saying and... it seems you are quite strong... and you even have a magic weapon" seeing that Gabriel didn't react "How about we go together? We can start with easy missions and then get some equipment, more companions... how about that?"

"Hm..." it would help to have a local companion, and also she is so... no, I can't let another pretty girl lead me by the nose like last time and worst she might cook with poison or shoot me just for fun…

" I'll think aboAhaaat "

Gabriel jumped behind the wall when he saw a group of nuns raising their guns.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG!