I’m done with this piece of shit. 

Not even in heaven are printers willing to work, huh? 

Amara snorted as she sorted the piles of pages. After numerous paper jams and the sudden new error on the screen, Amara finally lost her patience.

I’ll just get one of those big copy machines later. 

Once she was done Amara returned what she took from the researcher’s desk on Ramay, along with a copy of her own research. Bored out of her mind with copying and paper jams, Amara brewed a pot of tea and went back to her living room. 

Now then. Enchanting.

Picking up the books on enchanting, Amara sank into the sofa and began reading. 

‘...the amount of mana required to imbue an item depends on the item and the experience of the enchanter. The size of the item that is being imbued has the clearest correlation with the amount of mana needed, with larger items requiring more mana to be filled. More experienced enchanters are capable of imbuing an item with more mana than their inexperienced counterparts, enabling the item to channel more mana in turn. Thus, unintuitively, the mana required to fully imbue an item doesn’t decrease, but instead increases with the enchanter’s experience…’

‘...enchanting an item requires the enchanter to draw an unactivated Magic Circle, which is attached to the imbued item with the class skill Enchant. However, items are limited to what kind of enchantments they can hold, as they can’t hold an enchantment that needs more mana to invoke than the item can channel. Attempting it will result in unforseen sideffects, including but not limited to: no effect at all, the item breaking, shattering or exploding, spontaneous activation of the enchantment...’

‘...when enchanting, the enchanter needs to have twice the mana pool of the spell that is attached, as they first need to form the Magic Circle, followed by Enchant which will require the same amount of mana as the spell enchanted onto the item…’

Amara considered for a moment as she drank her tea. An idea on how to try out enchanting came to her as she looked at the cup in her hand.

Mana Sight.

Amara gathered her mana into her hand, and imagined the mana entering the material of the cup.

Imbue Mana.

Amara watched as the mana seemed to flow from her hand into the cup, gradually dyeing it blue. After a few moments the mana had covered all the material, making it all the same hue. Once the deep blue had settled evenly everywhere, the shade began fading and became paler until the cup seemed to have returned to its original colour. The class skill didn’t cancel however, and continued draining Amara’s mana even though the mana had stopped moving from her hand into the cup.

Amara immediately cancelled the class skill once she realized the cup was fully imbued and sighed. Wasteful. Oh well.

She cancelled Mana Sight, and noticed that the cup had kept a very faint blue colour after being imbued with mana before she deactivated her skill. Amara activated Mana Sight again, and took a closer look.

Is that…

She used Farsight to Snatch a magnifying glass from Earth, and took a look at the mana inside the cup. Although it was on a very small level Amara could see that the mana hadn’t settled consistently everywhere, but instead had formed a network inside the cup. 

Interesting. 

Her curiosity sated, Amara put the magnifying glass down and cancelled Mana Sight a second time.

Now then. Let’s try enchanting it.

Drawing upon her mana again, Amara began drawing the magic circle for the Heat spell. 

Enchant. 

Amara felt a sizable chunk of her mana flow out of her, which made her conclude the enchantment worked. 

Time to test it! 

Amara excitedly poured tea into the cup, before holding it up in front of her.

Let’s see if it can heat the tea up.

Amara activated Mana Sight before she let her mana flow into the cup. She watched as the mana slowly filled the cup, and how the distorted magic circle that followed the curvature of the cup lit up.

Heat.

Amara felt how the enchantment began draining her mana, and how the magic circle on the cup activated. Yet the tea didn’t start boiling. It didn’t even steam, causing Amara to frown and increase the flow of mana into the cup.

Suddenly the cup cracked with a sharp shrill, broken shards and tea falling onto the table as the handle she was holding onto burned her. Amara dropped the remaining piece reflexively and grabbed her pained fingertips.

Divine Regeneration.

Amara sighed as the pain disappeared, leaning back as she took in the mess on the table.

I guess I should’ve expected that. The cup is enchanted, therefore it heats the cup, not what’s inside. Not directly anyway.

Lesson learned. Enchantments do exactly what it says, just like programming. There's no such thing as bugs, only features.

Maid Service.

[Ding!]

Amara’s displeasure grew when she saw that Maid Service had removed pieces of the table as well as the broken pieces and water, as if large parts had been shaved off. 

Dammit. Looks like I’ll need a new table.

Nothing’s going my way today.

Guess I’ll take a break. I need to refill my mana anyway.

Amara used Mana Funnel to begin refilling her mana, and got a new cup from the kitchen before she settled back onto the sofa. 

Now then...got a few hours to spare before I can try enchanting again. 

What to do…

Amara sipped on the tea as she considered her options, but soon her foul mood caused her thoughts to divert. 

Dammit. I’m lonely. 

I miss Fluffles. 

Ezme should still be on Ramay. Maybe I should take a look and see what she’s doing.

Amara activated Farsight, and started looking for Ezme but found no trace of her in the royal palace. Temple most likely then.

Diverting her vision to the temple in the city, she noticed a hole in the ceiling which made a grin spread on her face. Found you.

Inside, she found Ezme in conversation with a group of priests.

[“...another question?” (?)]

[“Yes?” (Ezme)]

[“Whether...extramarital intercourses is something that’s acceptable. If the public finds out that the goddess does it, some will argue that they too-”(?)]

[“We haven’t had intercourse!” (Ezme)]

[“Oh? Then, how did the bed that you and Lady Amara used break?” (?)]

[“T-that...it’s a misunderstanding.” (Ezme)]

[“I see. Then...how far have you and Lady Amara gone?” (?)]

[“That’s none of your business!” (Ezme)]

[“Lady Ezme, of course it’s our business. We’re your most faithful followers. As we're writing a new gospel so that the devotion of the people is strengthened, we need to know. Or is it strictly platonic love? Perhaps the gods...don’t feel any need for physical contact?” (?)]

[“That can’t be true, Archbishop. After all, we saw how the goddess clung to Lady Amara in her sleep, she clearly has a need for physical contact.” (??)]

[“They are but paintings. They weren’t real- Lady Ezme?” (Archbishop)]

[“W-w-w-we…” (Ezme)]

[“Hoho. So the paintings are depictions of actual events? This is great news! We can add it into the gospel!” (Archbishop)]

[“NO! I forbid you to put that in!” (Ezme)]

[“Lady Ezme. We must have something regarding how far your relationship with Lady Amara has progressed. If you will not tell us anything, I don’t think there’s anything else we-” (Archbishop)]

[“We’ve kissed! Okay?!” (Ezme)]

[“Ho. Ho-ho. Is that so, is that so. In that case, Lady Ezme?” (Archbishop)]

[“What!” (Ezme)]

[“...In your first kiss, who kissed who?” (Archbishop)]

[“T-that doesn’t concern you!!” (Ezme)]

[“Ho. Indeed. Lady Amara was the kisser. As expected.” (Archbishop)]

[“T-th-th-that’s....rude! You're being rude to your goddess!” (Ezme)]

[“Forgive me, beloved goddess. However, this is good! Lady Ezme, is Lady Amara a good kisser?” (Archbishop)]

[“...” (Ezme)]

[“Ho-ho-ho, indeed she is. Do tell us.” (Archbishop)]

[“...I’ll be going now. Insolent mortals! Argh!” (Ezme)]

[“No! Lady Ezme, we need to know more! Was it a peck on the lips, or did it involve tongue?” (Archbishop)]

[“I’m going!! Good-bye!” (Ezme)]

[“Lady Ezme! Ah...she’s gone. Tsk.” (Archbishop)]

[“...From the looks of it, Lady Amara is indeed a good kisser. I believe it would be a safe assumption to say that it involved tongue. I don’t think the goddess would be so flustered otherwise.” (??)]

[“Indeed, I’d say so. Let us begin on new drafts for the gospel.” (Archbishop)]

Amara cancelled her Farsight with a wide grin on her face.

Ah, Fluffles. You’re adorable.

I miss you even more now.

Amara sighed and looked over the book on enchanting before picking one up, her mood greatly lifted after watching Ezme’s conversation with the priests.

Let’s see what else I should try enchanting.

 

 

 

_______________

 

 

Studying enchanting for a few days, Amara realized that the difference in complexity between getting an enchantment and regular magic circle to work as intended was larger than expected. 

The enchantments like Strong Edge of Flaming Edge on the weapons Amara had snatched in the past, were much more complex. Their magic circles looked like they had an additional sector to them, with additional lines of symbols in the angelic language that specified how the enchantment should behave.

I’ll have to grow my mana pool. I’m extremely limited with what kind of enchantments I can make right now.

Watching the success of her latest attempt, an adaptation of Flaming Edge, Amara felt satisfied. Flaming Edge was essentially based on the Flame spell, with additional sections to make the heat and flame appear around the edges, outside the blade. As such, making small adjustments to the Flame spell had been easy.

Amara sighed and cancelled the mana flow to the kitchen knife, causing the licking green flames along the edge to disappear. Amara touched the blade with her fingertip, satisfied that it didn’t feel very warm. 

I really have a hard time understanding how someone managed to come up with these complex enchantments, without knowing the angelic language. I won’t believe for a second that someone managed to get to this point by trial and error.

Amara opened her status page and saw that her mana was almost completely drained again.

With a familiar routine Amara began refilling her mana, and contemplated what to do. 

Should I try making an enchantment with divine power?

Might as well. I can’t do any enchanting for a few hours anyway.

To enchant something requires the class skills Magic Circle, Enchant and Imbue Mana...can I create divine skills with the same purpose?

But how? The classes aren’t related to divine power, but to mana…

Amara frowned as she tried to think of a solution.

As there are enchantments based on divine power, it has to be possible somehow.

Maybe I can do like I did when I learned my first mana spell? If I force divine power into a magic circle, will it activate and give me a new divine skill?

I guess to do that, I need to be able to see divine power.

Amara brought forth her divine power from dormancy and focused the flow into her eyes, while imagining seeing divine power like a gas just like she had done with mana.

Divine Sight.

[Ding!]

Immediately, Amara’s vision was filled with light that blinded her. Squinting didn’t help her get used to it, even after waiting for a dozen seconds.

Well. At least it works. A bit too bright though.

Amara focused her mental image of the divine power’s brightness decreasing, and its intensity gradually faded until she was able to see more than just light. 

What Amara saw made her confused at first. She thought something was wrong with her eyes at first, before realization dawned on her.

Her sight was covered with what appeared to be a golden starshower. Tiny elongated dots of light with trails were coming at her from every direction. The sight left her in awe.

That’s...the prayers?

It’s beautiful.

Although Amara couldn’t receive divine power while it was being channeled, she could still hear the prayers in the back of her mind. Ever since Amara had learnt to ignore them, she hadn’t thought much about the people in her domain. 

Seeing the prayers arriving by the thousands every moment, Amara started to feel guilty. 

All those people are actually praying to me. To me.

I haven’t chosen a mouthpiece yet, so I still haven’t told them anything. Are they still asking for answers? Expecting me to save them?

After cancelling Divine Sight, Amara sank back on the sofa and closed her eyes to immerse herself into the thoughts that were arriving, for the first time in a long time.

Listening to them is like an emotional roller coaster. 

Amara sighed and realized some of the more powerful prayers had caused tears to roll down her cheeks. Amara knew the emotions in the prayers weren’t her own, but they felt just like it. She wiped her cheeks as she continued listening to the prayers.

Some are still asking for answers or begging me to save them from the demons. But mostly it’s just people praying for whatever miracle they wish for at that moment.

Guess mortals are pretty adaptable. It’s been just over a year, and people are continuing their lives as if nothing happened.

Amara shifted between listening to all of them at once and listening to specific, emotional prayers that drew her attention. While listening to them all at once, it was simply too much for her to hear the words of everyone that prayed to her, but the emotions they contained delivered the message clearly.

I’ve never really cared about anyone else, but feeling how some of them are hoping for me to help them...

...Can I really do this? On my own? Am I going to be enough?

...I wish Ezme was here.

Amara sighed and wiped the fresh set of tears that emerged from the corners of her eyes as she felt hopeless and lonely. Even though Amara knew that listening to the prayers was causing her grief, she chose to continue listening. 

Even if it was a responsibility forced on me, and even though I still don’t feel like I’m responsible for them...I feel a little bit like I owe it to them to listen.

Maybe I should do this from time to time to keep up to date on how the people in my domain are feeling.

Amara lost track of time as she listened to the prayers, and let words and emotions pass through her without focus. It wasn’t until Amara noticed an anomaly in the flow of prayers, that she paid attention. If listening to the prayers all at once normally felt like listening to an out of tune radio, the anomaly that occured was as if one suddenly got close to a radio channel frequency.