45. Priesting and Smithing

Flora opened the door and found a girl in a yellow robe standing before her.

The girl had copper red hair and black skin. Not black like Africans, but black like a cast iron pot.

Name: Deriga Ticet

Class: Novice

Title: Novice

Level: 4

Rating: C

"Hello, my name ..." The girl trailed off and stared with wide eyes at Flora.

"Hello, dear. How can I help you?"

"My Goddess!" Deriga wanted to kneel, but Flora caught her.

"Oh, my! That's a misunderstanding! I'm not Evailyn! My name is Flora. You may call me Auntie Flow!"

The girl was still gaping at her, but at least she stood straight.

"Oh, wow. Nice to meet you, Auntie Flow! I'm aspiring to be a priestess of Evailyn. I got a vision earlier while praying. The vision said to help you build a cathedral and give you that."

Deriga handed Flora a package. It was wrapped in colorful paper with little toasters printed on it. Flora cooed in delight.

Carefully, she unwrapped it and found a box with a few booklets in it.

'Class Priestess of Evailyn'

'How to Consecrate a Place of Worship'

'Bible and Rites of Evailyn'

"Ah, our Goddess ist the best!" Flora exclaimed.

After opening the first booklet, a stream of messages appeared.

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You gained the class 'Priest.'

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Class: Priest

Branch: Divine

Passive:

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Affinity / Resistance Faith

Active:

Bonus for Faith Skills

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You gained the skill: Smite.

You gained the skill: Bless and Condemn.

You gained the skill: Fortification of Faith.

You gained the skill: Levitate.

You gained the skill: Thaumaturgy.

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Flora to Aitoshuri: "Good call!"

Then, she opened the next book, 'How to consecrate a Place of Worship'.

After browsing through it, only one message appeared.

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You gained the skill: Consecrate.

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The last booklet, 'Bible and Rites of Evailyn', was unexpectedly thin, mainly if you were used to the Christian bible. Flora scanned the book and got another skill.

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You gained the skill: Pray.

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"Do you want some refreshments before we crank up the holyness of this place, sweety?"

"No, thank you, Auntie Flow."

"Alright, but let me at least show you around that you know with what we are working."

Flora gave Deriga a short tour and explained the function of each room.

"Everything is empty at the moment. I just build this place today. So we have our work cut out."

Deriga nodded, but she was smiling and marveling at the windows.

"It's gorgeous! I love it!"

After browsing the booklet, Flora got a better understanding of what to do. They left the building and walked to the first corner.

"This place is dedicated to the Goddess Evailyn." Flora chanted, and Deriga repeated it, then Flora cast the spell.

<Consecrate>!

They repeated the process for the other corners and then went to the Roof.

The roof garden was a field of bare ground with a small wall surrounding it. Flora wanted to take her time planning the outline. Maybe a few crops and some flowers, definitely some herbs, a nice stone path, a bench, and a bit of water?

They marched from corner to corner, chanting and then went down to the first floor, where the teleportation circle was located to include this part in the consecration, too.

Evailyn had been right. Flora wouldn't even have known how to exclude her living quarters if she wanted to!

After they finished their rounds, a glow washed over the whole building.

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Rejoice! The church of the Goddess Evailyn gained a new place of worship: The Cathedral of Home Appliances!"

You consecrated a place of worship: + 5 levels to faith.

You own a place of worship: + 5 levels to faith.

You created the first place of worship of Evailyn in the Metaworld: + 1 OV to faith.

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A new buff appeared on Flora's Hud:

Consecrated Ground: + 3 OV to all attributes.

Flora had the urge to throw a party. Only two followers celebrating seemed underwhelming for the glory of the occasion. Unfortunately, Robby, Eddie, Svetlana all had prior appointments or were offline.

So Flora made do with just the two of them. She toasted some bread and spread Nutella over them and offered Tea, Coffee, and fruit juice.

"Is this a toaster?" Deriga stared at the device, fascinated.

"Yes, sweety. I really don't know if I should be appalled by your question or flattered. Toasters are the most wonderful devices! I got a note that I built the first in the Cetviwos, so how do you know of toasters?"

"They were mentioned in the early scriptures of the Goddess Evailyn. Unfortunately, they never took hold in our world, because everybody knows a bit of fire magic. At least enough to roast something."

"Magic is incredible! It's a wonder that household appliances even found their way into the Cetviwos."

"Yes, they are not very popular. Because in most cases, magic is more accessible."

"In my world, earth, home appliances played a huge role in the emancipation of women. The work was divided between man and woman, with homemaker activities predominantly assigned to women. Cooking, cleaning, and especially washing took the whole day. There was simply no time for women to do anything different. That changed when home appliances became cheap enough for the average household. Women could now spend their time on different endeavors."

"Oh, wow. I can't imagine needing a whole day for this boring stuff! I bet the church of Evailyn would be super popular in your world."

"Are man and woman equal in your culture?"

"I don't know what you mean. Men are men, and women are women. There aren't many jobs that have gender requirements. Some jobs don't take women when they are on their period and don't have spells to cover it, like some hunting parties. I read statistics that women have a better growth on magical attributes and men on the physical ones, but there are some great female warriors and male priests."

"So what kind of appliances are there in the Cetviwos?"

"All the ones depicted on the windows for areas where magic doesn't work well, like space stations, starships, and heavy metal areas. Then magical appliances like freezing cabinets, cooking pots, hot stones, cleaning cabinets..."

"Do you mean that the pot get's hot and cooks its contents? And what are cleaning cabinets for?"

"Yes, the pot is used for cooking. A cleaning cabinet is a normal cupboard which contains runes for cleaning. When you change into your PJ, you put your worn clothing in it. Or dishes after eating. Every shelf has those runes. They are great against dust and dirt."

"Amazing!"

"Why do you like Toasters so much? They didn't contribute to freeing up the women, right?"

"Yes. Because toasters are the most luxurious of all home devices: You could eat bread without toasting it. But it's so much more delicious toasted! Nobody needs a toaster to survive. It just increases your quality of life. Toasters are a symbol of the abundance we live in. And that's great!"

Deriga nodded earnestly.

"The three main statutes of the church of Evailyn are:

Respect the tools that improve your life

Live in harmony with magic, technology, and magetech

Strive to better your home and yourself."

This time Flora nodded. The points were very Evai. They might not only relate to household devices but the coexistence with AIs as well.

"This Nutella toast stuff is so delicious! I totally understand your fascination!"

Flora grinned, satisfied. Another one converted to the awesomeness of toasters! But then she paused because she was unsure if she could count someone who was already a member of the church towards her conversion rate. "Why did you join the church of Evailyn?"

Deriga's face fell.

"My family has the tradition that the first child serves the family, the second the country, the third the Divine. I'm the third child."

"I'm sorry, dear. What would you rather do?"

"Don't misunderstand me! I love my Goddess and her cause! My passion is pottery, so the Goddess Evailyn is a good fit. I just don't like the priest stuff, like preaching and all the politics."

"Maybe that's why Evailyn sent you to me! Here you'll have time to invent some devices using pottery and probably enchanting! Please ask if you haven't got any ideas. I've already got three just speaking to you about it."

"I would love that! My rune and enchantment skills are low, though."

Flora remembered that she had bought a book about enchanting and fetched the Library-Container.

Not only did she find this book, but two books about runes and one about smithing as well!

'I really should read more.'

Of course, Flora lent the three tomes to a beaming Deriga.

After the meal, Flora printed a bed for Deriga. They put the interior furnishing off to the next day because it was already past Flora's bedtime.

Flora moved the training coffin to her new living quarters. With Aitoshuri's connection in mind, she changed the auto-mode to Energy-Storm and added the auto-mode for Plasma-Sword-Dance for her body in the workshop.

She rested in the meadow again, with Aitoshuri reading and Aidan playing with the Blade-Roller-Extreme. Because she had mana to spare in the simulation grounds, she activated agility boost. Just to test out if it would have any effect.

The next morning, Flora gave Deriga a budget of 50 000 VirDias to make a list of items they needed to equip the cathedral.

Flora knew nothing about the rites of Evai, so she was looking forward to what Deriga would come up with.

Of course, Flora would design the central statue herself. She already had a good idea about it.

"But, please, dear, wait with the purchases until I upgrade the printer. I want to have the best quality for our cathedral. Additionally, I want to make as much as we can ourselves because I'm a cheapskate and want to save money! But one could also argue that we should be able to furnish a house as priests of the Goddess of household appliances!" Happily, Flora rambled, while toasting breakfast. "Alright, Evailyn is not the Goddess of Do It Yourself. But the core of home appliances is that they enable you to handle minor work by yourself!"

Deriga nodded yawning while hanging on her cup of tea for life. Flora realized that the Novice wasn't a morning person, and much of Flora's monologing went over her head. Therefore she cut the conversation short and ported to the Garage.

Flora's teacher turned out to be a grim woman with the same matte black skin color as Deriga, but only 1.30m tall and twice as thick. Flora was too much a millennial to ask if they knew each other or if Ruth Schlosser was a dwarf, but the questions burned in her thoughts.

They started with smelting, then casting and hammering and at last grinding.

"Ma? Are you free to speak?" Robby's long-missed voice sounded in Flora's mind.

"Huhu, Sweety! Yes, I'm just grinding!"

Robby laughed. "Look at you! Already using gaming terms!"

"What gaming terms? I'm taking smithing lessons, and at the moment, I'm grinding down a metal stick."

Robby coughed. "Never mind, my bad. I thought you were slaying mobs."

Flora shrugged and smiled. Then she realized that Robby couldn't see her.

"So everything is set for tomorrow? Do I have to bring special equipment for our trip to the caverns?"

"Can you breathe underwater?"

"No!"

"I'll send you the skill. You could buy some oxygen potions as well, just in case your mana runs out. Swimming gear, of course, is a must. The water is quite cold. Therefore a wetsuit will serve you well."

"Concentrate! You have to feel the metal and not peel it like a banana!" Ruth Schlosser bellowed.

"Alright. Do you have some furniture in the guild store? I need tables, chairs, a sofa, maybe a bed, some rugs and a kitchen for my new lair."

"We do. The tour starts at 10 o'clock and ends at noon. Afterward, I want to collect some things in the caverns, but then I'm free. I'll show you the selection, and I'll help you to transport the stuff to your lair."

They said goodbye, and Flora focussed on her lesson again.

Afterward, she went to the manufacturing line.

Daily Quest: Stand in line (The Garage)

Description: Join the manufacturing line for the hoover quad. Report to Hangar 34 to get your place.

Rewards: Reputation with the Garage

Difficulty: B-E

In the hall, she swiped her badge to check-in. A menu appeared, and she selected that she wanted a smithing job of any difficulty.

There she found metal sheets and a manual that told her in which shape the should be.

Flora shrugged and got to work. Cutting the sheets one by one, polishing the edges, and cheating with the spell Transform when errors occurred, she finished the quest.

"Milady, here you can acquire the classes Mechanic, Electrician, and Technician. And most importantly, if you impress the examiner, you get the questline for Technomancer."

"Let's dazzle them!"

Flora found the room for the examination behind a shimmering portal door. Before entering, she put away the mech-suit. The metal handicap in the Garage was high, which was proper training, but some spells turned out wonky. For the examination, she wanted to perform at peak.

The tester was a middle-aged man with dark blue skin and black hair named Foreman Snoralga. After shaking hands, he pointed to a workbench with some parts and a blueprint.

"Assemble that in 10 minutes, and you are good to go."

He looked around to locate his chair and sat down.

Meanwhile, Flora had finished the job.

When he looked at the workbench, he sprang up.

"Did you cheat?"

"No, sir."

"Deep-sea monster dung! Here are some new parts, lady!"

This time, Snoralga remained standing with his eyes glued to Flora's hands. Five seconds later, the next machine was done.

Carefully, he tested the propeller.

"Perfect! Impressive. You are here for electrician and technician, too, right? Let's see how you do in these departments!"

Flora aced the following tests, as well.

"Give me your badge. I'll unlock the libraries for you. There you can find some handy mana skills and blueprints." He swiped the badge over a device. "Listen, Lady. You did some good work with the test and the dailies, but to know for sure if you are the right one for the job, you have to complete a weekly quest. Those damn MI guys are breathing down my neck and giving me lip about the quality of the people I have sent them! I see you registered a bot for the Robo-Melee. If you do well, come back, and I have an opportunity for you."

"Sure, boss. I'm looking forward to Saturday's fights!" Flora grinned.

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You gained a new class: Mechanic.

Class: Mechanic

Branch: Technology/Crafting

Passive:

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Mechanics

Active:

Bonus for Technology Skills related to mechanics

Bonus for Crafting Skills related to mechanics

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You gained a new class: Electrician.

Class: Electrician

Branch: Technology/Crafting

Passive:

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Electronics

Active:

Bonus for Technology Skills related to electronics

Bonus for Crafting Skills related to electronics

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You gained a new class: Technician.

Class: Technician

Branch: Technology/Crafting

Passive:

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Mechanics

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Electronics

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Smithing

Active:

Bonus for Technology Skills

Bonus for Crafting Skills

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Flora looked over the passive bonuses for Technician and discovered that you could connect the class to Smith.

"Can I do the smithing examination, as well? I just started to learn it today, but these tests seemed to be simple enough."

The guy shrugged. Although Flora needed nearly the full 10 minutes, she managed to finish hammering out a dagger, and the next class notifications appeared.

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You gained a new class: Smith.

Class: Smith

Branch: Crafting

Passive:

+1 Training efficiency modifier for Ability Smithing

Active:

Bonus for Crafting Skills related to smithing

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