Chapter Four Mage

Time passed quickly and with each prayer and sacrifice I received was used to strengthen Jasmine's talent for magic. There are two reasons why. The first one is pretty straight forward. She is going to be my first line of defense. Since magic is a thing in this world that means that monsters also exist. Now, that isn't a problem for now, but in the future. who knows. The second reason is very complicated. In this world mages are rare and anyone with talent for magic will automatically be crowned noble and if she becomes a noble and this is her village. This place will slowly transform into a city and I will thrive.

In no time spring was over and early summer was here. The village was in an uproar because of the harvest this season. It's been years since they had so many crops grow. This also meant that the nice uncle by the name Lenart started to pray to me for real again and everyday he would sacrifice something to me. The early plants that finish early summer were harvested and a big feast was held. Jasmine also made her parents worship me again and her siblings, she truly was a good kid.

The village became busy for the couple of months to come, as they harvested all the crops before they went by and like that the time of midsummer came.

I watched as a caravan of merchants and mercenaries arrived. They collected taxes and traded with the villagers. but that wasn't all! There was this weird hooded man that kept staring at Jasmine and even went so far as to follow her, so with no other option I told her to come to the lodge, to bring this man to justice once and for all.

With quiet steps Jasmine entered the lodge. As she opened the door a quiet creak echoed throughout the village and then she hurriedly closed it. She walked towards me and kneeled in front of me and said "How can I help you nature deity?"

As she asked me this a man sneakily walked up behind her and kneeled next to her to show his respect to me.

"I'm honored to be in the presence of this village's deity." he said with sincerity.

"Who are you?!" Jasmine yelled loud enough to startel some of the village folks outside.

"I'm Arogath, a wizard part of the mage order in the Shifao Dynasty. This young woman's talent for magic is praiseworthy and I wish to take her to the magic tower to raise her into a fine witch!" he said and I wasn't impressed.

"Why should I let you take my worshiper on a journey?" I asked, with an enraged voice.

"It will be beneficial for her and you! Witches and wizards are deemed important and receive nobility on their crowning as a mage. Meaning she will be a noble and a mage noble living in this village will bring all kinds of opportunities to your land sir!"The man said and he just so happened to hit my weak spot, that was exactly what I wanted.

"It's not my decision to make!" I said and turned my attention to Jasmine who stayed quiet under our conversation.

"Deity, if I leave, who is going to preach for you?" she asked, concerned about things that's not her responsibility.

"I already have Lenart who can take your place! If you want to go, we will not stop you and we can even use it to our advantage. Your ast words to the village can be some cliche words like. It's all thanks to the forest deity I can become a mage, please worship him, or something like that." I said, trying to act neutral while persuading her to go. Luckily she took the bait and nodded.

"What do I do now then?" she asked and I said "Get ready to leave, this old man will handle the rest!"

With my blessing she left me with the magician. He stayed on his knees waiting for what I was about to say to him.

"When will she be back?" I asked.

"She will be able to leave the tower for six months after reaching mana condensing. But then she will return and stay until she's a full fledged witch. The first one can take four to five years, with her talent maybe three at best." The man responded and I did an imaginary node.

"Okay, listen and listen well! Go to the forest and get a decently mana rich tree, it has to be young and small, can you do this for me?" I asked, to which he replied.

"It would be an honor to do the bidding of a god."

After that he left, leaving me to my own thoughts. With this I might be able to grow the village into a city much earlier than I thought.

Later that day the mage returned with the tree and offered it to me. As I took it in, I created a small totem out of it and gave it to the mage.

"Give this to Jasmine!" I ordered before going quiet to recuperate energy. I was fairly tired from that stunt.

"Very well, we will leave the next morning with the other merchants and mercenaries." He said and left me to my own.

The next day arrived quickly and everyone had been informed of the situation and were now having a tearful goodbye with Jasmine. She told them it was all thanks to me she was a mage and that they should start worshiping me again. Sadly she didn't get that much time to say goodbye and had to leave with the caravan.

Before the mage left he played with some kids and showed them a rainbow turning into a dragon and attacking them, but as it hit them, it turned into mist making the kids laugh.

"Will Jasmine also be able to do that?" The kid asked the mage excitedly and he smiled at him before saying "Of course she will!"

Shortly after his charade he left and that was it for now.

Days later the village was still in a good mood. They traded the crops for many useful tools and weapons. They bought some axes and spears. The hunter even bought a high quality bow with the construction recipe for arrows. Afterwards he went into the woods like a kid excited to test out his new toy and brought back one deer and two wolves. The villagers cheered for him when he returned and that night they ate the two wolves, but the deer was actually sacrificed to me. I wanted to cry when they gave it to me and thanked me for the harvest. The old deity still had an attachment to them as strong as family.

I made a promise to myself that night, I would keep them safe!

(Author here: No more chapters today enjoy :) )