141 [Bonus chapter]Zero [1]

"Now, the reconstruction of your body will be pretty similar to when you were sent here by Gaia the first time. However, although we will be changing the essence of your physical form, we can't alter it completely."

"What do you mean?"

'-She means that some of your characteristics will stay behind. Don't worry though, you will literally become a new person so no one should be able to recognize you.'

Sitting down at a table that Theia had put down in the middle of the temple, Loki had already left us to our own devices. Or rather, he had physically left but somehow still communicated with me mentally.

So while Theia was speaking some gibberish about everything and nothing, Loki was nice enough to tell me in a way that I could understand. Of course, I wasn't about to let her know about that.

"... also, this gives you the chance to gain a second element. Naturally, it would have to be something that shares some characteristics with your mist, but there are plenty to choose from."

As I had fallen deep in thought, or rather talking to another god, it wasn't until she started to speak about a second element that my mind woke up again. "I can have another element? Is that possible?"

Wearing a big smile, she appeared to be quite content with my reaction, her nose almost seeming like it would elongate because of pride. "Yes, my child. As it would seem quite suspicious if you just appear at the academy and have the same element as the one they fear, it would be for the best if you learn to use another element. Of course, as your alignment would be weaker than to your main element, it wouldn't be as potent."

"And it has to be an element similar to mist? That would mean it has to be either water or wind, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, these are the elements that you would probably have the strongest inclination to be able to manipulate. There is also poison, but I don't think it fits you very well..."

'Poison is an element? But why is she so reluctant for me to pick it?'

Thinking about how Theia probably still struggled with the fact that she was going to be an enabler of Loki's plans, she kept going with her explanation.

"Sadly, you cannot change your manuals, but as you have the [Conjurer]-manual, I don't think it should be an issue to fool people into believing that you are a mage of some kind."

"Hmm..."

Although it seemed like quite a good plan, I couldn't stop myself from feeling a bit stressed about losing all the progress I had made.

'-Don't worry about your manuals or your current power. Do you truly think I would let you throw it all away just for this?'

Making sure to make Theia believe that I was in deep thought, I stroked my chin a bit. '- What do you mean? Is there a way to keep my progress after remaking my body?'

'-Yes, that is so. You can think of it like... What was it again? Oh right! In your world, there are these games where you can save your progress. It's like that, except you will be able to choose which version of yourself you will be playing as.'

'-So I will be able to change forms? From this new form, I will get to this one? Aren't this about changing one's soul and stuff? Wouldn't that be dangerous?'

'-Dangerous, no. However, I have no idea what impact it will have on your mind. But that hasn't stopped you before, has it?'

The words he spoke weren't untrue. If there was one thing I believed in, then it would be the strength of my mind. Even after killing myself multiple times, I still felt like I was reasonably sane. Or at least I wanted to believe I was...

'-And I suppose Theia has no idea about this?'

'-Correct! And we should both pray that it stays that way, at least for a while. I have already had to deal with her anger enough times to know that I might not survive another bout of it. Of course, that would mean you die as well.'

Pretending to be finished thinking, I turned my attention to the goddess who had been waiting patiently for me. It did feel a bit bad to trick her like this, as it absolutely felt like she wanted me to lead a happy life. Still, if being stuck in a scheme made by gods was considered happiness, I wanted nothing to do with it.

'Though I guess I am probably not someone she should be trying to bless with happiness anyway...'

"Everything sounds pretty good. However, I think I need one other thing if this is going to work out."

A bit confused about my sudden inquiry, the goddess clasped her hands together, "What do you mean?"

Leaning back into my chair, I was just about to fix the one thing that had earlier led to my doom. "I want you to plant me into the church of Theia. As I assume you already know, I lost my head earlier just because people couldn't accept my existence. So I want you to make sure that I have some kind of history that will deter people from trying to kill me based on stupid whims."

'-Oh! I like it! I like it very much, my apostle!'

It didn't even take a second for Loki to realize the truth behind my demand, a truth that didn't have anything to do with me being worried about losing my head again. Thankfully, the goddess didn't seem to think along the same lines as us.

With a sad smile, it appeared that it wasn't quite as simple as I thought it to be, "I understand your worries, my child. But to do so would require me to tamper with the minds of a lot of humans... And that..."

Waving my hand, I quickly made sure to give her a way to fulfill my demands, "You can just tamper with the mind of one human. Make it so I was hidden from the outside world because I was something akin to your apostle, or my talent was too much. While you're at it, can't you send a premonition to the same priest that Kurat is being taken over by demons? I believe that the priest would be more than thankful just to hear your beautiful voice."

Taking a couple of seconds to think about it, Theia appeared to have gotten persuaded. Not surprising as her mind probably worked hard to justify trying to fulfill whatever I wanted, as she knew what could happen if I wasn't happy.

"That could probably work... And yes, it's a bit ahead of schedule, but it's probably due time to warn my children about the danger to come. Okay, that's how we will do it. Now, let's start reconstructing your body."

A blue panel showed up in front of me, giving me yet another chance at distributing my stats. A bead of sweat started to run down my forehead, and I had to try my best not to get swayed by temptation.

'-Don't even think about it. This distribution will not only apply to your new form, but it will also change the temperament of your current one as well.'

Somehow, Loki had already figured out that I was heavily struggling with not putting more of my stats into strength, which would let me at least regain my height from my life on earth. '-It will apply to my current form? So does that mean I should just spend them exactly the same way as last time?'

'-That would most likely be for the best. Strength is unnecessary for you, and stamina is useless because your physical form is based on mana. I guess you could choose to spend more on intelligence, but just don't throw away your power just for such a worldly thing such as height.'

Sighing inwardly, I quickly allocated the stats identically as to how I had done last time, with the difference of all my earlier stamina going into intelligence and mana. As I closed the screen and turned to Theia, there was just one thing left to choose.

"So, what element should we align your new body to? As I said before, you will still have your mist, but... I think you should probably hide it... Oh! You also need a new name!"

It was pretty funny to see how anxious the goddess became when she was thinking about what her children might do to me if they found out I not only looked like 'James Jackson' but also had the same element. But we had spent enough time chit-chatting, and it was time for me to start a new chapter of my life.

"Please align me to the water element. And for the name, let's go with something fun..."

Taking yet another second to think, it didn't take long until I came up with the most game-like name I could think of.

"My name will be Zero."