CH436

The notification asking to bring him up went off in his head and Ben let it take him after getting comfortable, closing his eyes and opening them again to find himself around what seemed like a large round table, hundreds of figures there taking a range of forms, all of them looking right at him, various levels of judgment clear in their gazes.

On either side of him, he had the two gods he was closest to, both Myriad and Helori, and he pushed his mind speed skills to ensure he’d be in a decent headspace for whatever was to come. He didn’t doubt that it would be a pain in the ass, but he was going to ensure he got everything he could out of it. If they wanted him to work then they were going to have to pay.

“So,” He began, happy to take the lead as he put on his best customer service smile. “I hear you’re all looking to hire me?”

“We are at least here to talk,” One told him, looking like a golem and acting as the representative for the rest in the hopes that it would make things go a little more smoothly. The mortal stood out clear in their minds as they all remembered just how their last interaction had gone and they weren’t interested in a repeat. “For now, why don’t you tell us exactly how much you’re looking to be paid for your work and we can move on from there.”

“Ah, of course, but let’s switch things up a bit first. How many people would I be helping? The world is pretty vast so I’m sure there’s more than a few I’d be trying to awaken. Of course, any of Jagal’s worshippers are getting a free pass since I already made a deal with her, it’s just the rest of your people we’re looking at.”

“While Jagal’s believers number twenty, we believe that there are approximately one and a half thousand other mages on the world who might benefit from your services,” The golemmous god explained to him.

The number made it extremely clear what sort of position he was in to negotiate. The gods had burned so much effort and faith only a few years ago to reach across realities just to get two hundred new awakened skill holders, and now here they were, asking him to personally make over a thousand more. Sure, the majority wouldn’t be ending with multiple awakened skills, nor attributes quite as high as what the majority of the summoned were blessed with, but it was still enough to permanently change the landscape of the world.

Wow, more than I thought. Especially for Jagal, I guess it makes sense since all of her believers tend to focus on constantly training to grow and protect their forests, but still.

<Technically, not all of them are people who might be awakened but it also includes a handful who have already awakened but haven’t succeeded at materialization.> Myriad explained privately, speaking in his head. <Including many of the summoned. Since you were able to help Thera get a level doing it, that means the chances of the rest of them getting one as well is high.>

“Alright, sounds like a fair amount of work, but nothing I’m not willing to take on. All it leaves is the matter of payment like you said then.”

He watched as various gods seemed to sigh, feeling that things were actually going smoothly and knowing that he was about to strip that from them. He expected to be negotiated down by a significant amount, but he wanted to start high enough that by the time it got to what he was really after it would be harder for any of them to argue.

“So I’m sure it’s not going to be a shock to any of you, but I’m already fabulously wealthy,” He began, watching as a hint of suspicion came into the eyes of the god leading the discussion.

“We are aware.”

After all, it was their last encounter that had helped make him all of the more so, none of them were going to forget it.

“So I don’t really need more money at this point,” He went on, ignoring the looks as those around were reminded of how things had gone when he’d made the potions. “I want something else to make it worth both my time and all I’ve gone through to get to the point where this is possible. Pay me in blessings.”

The table erupted into chaos at his words, which was no less than he expected. Blessings were exceptionally handy, helping a person raise both their attributes and levels easier without the limits or work that taking a job would. It was basically free growth so long as one was willing to do the bare minimum. Of course, Ben would be happy to do far more than that, but he knew the chances of him walking away with even a single blessing were slim. All this was was a road to getting what he really wanted.

He waited for things to calm down, his various minds killing time by pulling apart all of the various voices to see what they were saying, with most of them being firmly negative. Blessings were given as rewards from gods, they weren’t things for mortals to be demanding, no matter the circumstances.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He couldn’t help but feel some of their words pick at him, but he elected to be calm. He was going to be a good, reasonable little apostle and then go back to focusing on his own work the moment all of that was done, he’d just need to be relaxed, reasonable, and patient.

“We are not entertaining this thought! This stupid mortal is lucky he’s allowed to continue existing given the way he acts and that can surely change!”

…Well, that was a real nice second of resolving to be a reasonable person, but I don’t think I’m going to allow my very existence to be threatened without a word.