My Time At The Empty Church

Making my way through another main street, as I read through the various signs around me, I heard a ring in my ears, as a notification appeared abruptly.

[Alert!

Passive Language Acquisition Level Null → I

Effect: Reading, writing, and listening to people in a foreign language — any language the user has yet to master to perfect fluency — becomes easier to understand. Level I grants a 10% improvement to the rate of language mastery.]

Funny… Even though my proficiency in Passive Language Acquisition rose out of null, I barely felt a difference in my ability to read the characters I came across. Occasionally, I would hear a few people talk around me and listen in on their conversations, but most of the time, in a sentence of ten characters, I would be lucky to catch one or two familiar sounds.

Dejected, I made my way through Orario's busy streets, silently trekking through the shortest path to Hestia's Ruined Church. When I finally got there, a smile appeared on my face after having confirmed that the Church had yet to be burned down. Things were looking good for now, so I proceeded with a slightly optimistic outlook.

Arriving right before the entrance, I called out, "Hello? Hello? Anyone here?" Sadly, I couldn't even string together a formal "Is there anyone home?" with my less than proficient Japanese. Hatefully, I cursed my previous life's choice to improve my Chinese before Japanese. Back in at university, as a nineteen-year-old sophomore, I took Beginner Chinese 1 and 2 in my first year, and around the time of my death, in my second year, I began taking Intermediate Chinese 3 and Beginner Japanese 1.

Calling out for what had to be a whole minute, I received no response. Naturally, I came to the conclusion that either Hestia had not descended from heaven yet, or she had left her home for whatever reason. In any case, the Church wasn't closed off, its entrance doors literally opened as if welcoming anyone and everyone. Thus, I felt no shame in potentially intruding as no one and nothing was there to stop me.

Walking into the church, I shook my head at its interior's dilapidated state. Rotten and chipped pieces of wood made up various benches where the masses should have sat; many benches having entire chunks of wood missing. Paintings which would have been priceless pieces of art lay to waste by the walls of the church, as pieces of shattered stained glass sitting atop their surface reflected bits of the sunshine from outside.

Making my way deeper into the church, I kept calling to see if there was anyone present. I made it all the way through the main corridor of the church with no response, but I distinctly remember that the living area for the characters that resided in this church was in the basement. So, to clear any doubts I made my way over to the top of the stairs leading up to the basement and proceeded.

Standing before a closed door that directly led to the basement, I made one more attempt to call out for anyone present to no response. Opening the unlocked door, I instantly knew someone was living here as there very obvious clues everywhere. Not only was the place arranged as a hospitable environment, presenting a stark contrast when compared to the decrepit church up above, but there were also clothes set to dry, a bed, sofa, and even a refrigerator.

Now knowing roughly where I stood in the timeline, I closed the door and walked back up to the Church's prayer room before leaving the inside of the church. I was looking for a favor from a Goddess, so that last thing I wanted was to come off as a thief or intruder. Thus, to kill time for either Hestia or Bell to arrive — whichever came first, I didn't care — I first walked around the church grounds, absorbing Magic as there was nothing else to do.

Before I started my walk however, I looked at the sun's position and guessed it was around 1 or 2 PM. But, since I had the Skill Conjuration ability, I wished for a skill that would always let me know the time. Again, the result my Skill Conjuration threw at me, left me speechless…

[Skill Conjured: Sense Of Time (Locked)

1st Degree Prerequisite: Temporal Manipulation (Locked)

Temporal Manipulation can be unlocked at Magic Manipulation Level: A]

Shaking my head, I began stripping the world around me of its magic free-flowing particles. My Magic Manipulation Stat being at Level E, magic harvesting didn't exactly come lightspeed fast. It took around five or six minutes to clean off an area of one cubic meter, but Hestia seemed to be very busy today…

After evening rolled around, as I absorbed what had to be my 80th cubic meter of magic particles, I began having thoughts of leaving to try my luck in the dungeon. I didn't know when that goddess might turn up, and even if she did arrive, there was always the chance she might reject me for whatever reason. Time was ticking and I was still a mortal. Sustenance was still an important deal to me. My Magic Manipulation skill had improved to Level D, and though I wasn't a fighter, if it was for food, I don't think I'd hesitate to hunt monsters for money.

In the end, however, I decided to keep waiting for a while longer. Resolving to leave only if one of two things happened. If Hestia didn't show up before my Magic Manipulation increased to Level C or the twilight arrived, I was leaving. I kept walking through the Church like a lawnmower, carefully picking up any scrap of magic within the range of my manipulation and just before Sundown passed, my Magic Manipulation broke through.

[Alert!

Magic Manipulation Level D → C

Effect: Allows the user to sense and gather normal quality magic from his immediate surroundings. Range: 10 m (meters) away from the user's body

Status

Name: Nathaniel Keter

...

Magic: C → B]