“Well, how are things going down there?” Myriad asked him when Ben arrived that night, getting a shrug for the question.

“Currently examining the remains of the other talos with Verbum, but so far the chances of finding something new aren’t looking good. I was real thorough with Verbum when we examined Inux the first time. Even with as messy as the system can be, there just might not be much left to find, even from all of the other examples they have. Also, the few people I’ve spoken to haven’t exactly gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed so if I fail, I’m going to be making a quick exit.”

“It might just feel like you’re here to give them false hope after they’ve already finished mourning,” his god told him. “When you’re done, I’m sure they’ll all be a lot friendlier.”

“Well, we’ll see how things go, I guess. And up here? Anything exciting?”

“Good news for you, actually. A bit earlier, I was talking with another god who specifically wants to try and make a good impression on you before you ascend.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep, they asked if you’d be willing to renovate one of their churches. The payment’s a blessing.”

“Okay, now I know you’re fucking with me.”

“Honest, that was the deal they offered, and they made some pretty compelling points as to why. I know you’re not planning on subjugating the other gods and positioning yourself as our overlord when you die, and you know you’re not going to do that, but plenty of others are less confident no matter what I say on the topic. No matter how much I tell them you plan on keeping to yourself, your power and disposition are enough to make people nervous-”

“My disposition is fine,” Ben said in his defense.

“You’ve been working your way up to the ninth level of the third tier by torturing multiple gods,” his god rebuked him. “You’re completely insane, and you don’t even realize it.”

“Hey, I’ve had this argument before, and-”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware how you view things and how your actions compare to the rest of the divine of the world; that’s not the point. You make plenty up here nervous, but this is one god who’s trying to form a positive relationship with you who’d been remaining neutral so far, and a good sign that others might try to do the same in the future. You accept the job, and given how good the pay is, you better be accepting this job, then in the future, after the war, should things go our way, you might have more following suit who want you to see them in a positive light before you can get up here.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds like a bribe built on fear.”

“Technically, it might be,” Myriad shrugged. “But if it gives some others up here some peace of mind and also helps you, then I’d say it’s more than worth it. Besides, it’s a chance to show everyone just how good you are at what you do-”

“Which every god should already know, because I basically never stop working.”

“And it would potentially let them see that there really is nothing to worry about when it comes to you,” Myriad finished. “You go, do your best, and people up here will start to see that you’re a mostly normal person who’s perfectly willing to be reasonable about things. Please, Ben. Despite everything you do, people up here genuinely seem to be trying to accept you, just work on continuing to improve your image and do this.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“If I’m being offered a blessing, then of course I’ll do it,” Ben told him. “But… okay, you want me to do this to help with improving my reputation up here, as well as because a few others might want to warm up to me while I’m still mortal. I get it, so in that case, in the spirit of trying, I won’t rip this guy off either.”

“Meaning?”

“Even if he’s the one offering it, a blessing is worth more to me than a single church renovation, so, when I’m done and paid, you can let him know that if he’s happy with my work, assuming I’m still alive, then if we win the war, I’ll renovate two more of his churches. That seems pretty fair, right?”

“Fair, and unlike you.”

“Hey, if a person is willing to treat me fairly, then I’m willing to respond in kind,” Ben shrugged. “I’m used to you guys up here underpaying, not overpaying, and if I can come off on the better end of things with the collective gods of the world, then I’m going to, which I almost never do, by the way. You guys constantly get the better deal when we bargain and even then, so many of you are fucking miserable about it. On a one-on-one negotiation though, I’m a lot more likely to have better relationships with my customers if I’m not ripping them off. So you can tell them I accept and you can tell them I’ll even do a bit more than they were expecting so long as I’m not killed off, sound good?”

“Sounds good. I’ll let him know.”

“Cool, in that case, any idea of when I’m starting?”

“They were hoping for soon and asked for the day after tomorrow, if that works for you?”

“Yeah, when I’m done with Inux, I won’t have anything I immediately need to move onto next so that works. Bit of a rush job, though.”

“Mmh, I wouldn’t doubt that he’s been debating whether or not to hire you for a while, and realistically, the sooner this is done, the sooner his believers will get to enjoy your work. Plus, the quicker you finish, the less time there is for you to do anything that will make him regret hiring you and cancel before you can start.”

“Fair point. In that case, I’ll try not to have too much fun before I do any renovating,” Ben grinned. “I’ll let myself be interesting again once renovations are completed.”

“Infinite hells, tell me you don’t actually have any more chaos on your mind already.”

“Ugh, no, I wish. When this fails to awaken me, my options are going to be at rock bottom. I’ll have to spend some time thinking on it and experimenting, but I’ve got nothing that will immediately piss off anyone up here.”

“I suppose I’ll take what positives I can get then.”

“That’s the spirit. Anyway, tell me about this guy. Anything I need to know before I do my renovations?”

“Plyzar, a god of beasts and bloodlines, with a large number of his believers being tamers, farmers, and pet owners who believe in living in harmony with the animals around them. I’m not particularly close with him so I couldn’t tell you much more, but I’m aware he’s pretty open to whatever changes you want to make to the church you’re being sent to, and given the speed you can read at, you’ll have no problem flipping through his holy text when you get there to pick out any themes you want to apply. I don’t think this will give you too hard of a time.”

Really, Ben wouldn’t even need to bring materials; he’d be able to just materialize whatever he felt like while he was there, meaning there wasn’t much else to consider. A renovation, no matter the scale or complexity of it, was well within Ben’s realm of power. Even if he took his time, it would be over in at most an hour, even if he’d probably take a little longer, just to try to keep from looking like he was rushing through it.

“Fair enough. In that case, when can I meet this guy?”

“Mmh, don’t expect it to be soon, perhaps when he gives you the blessings if he’s feeling up to it. Don’t take this the wrong way, but even if he wants to form a positive relationship with you, he is scared of you.”

“What? Hurtful, I’m such a sweet little guy.”

“No, you’re horrifying, and since he’s trying to form a good relationship with you despite that, we’re going to be treating him with the utmost kindness and understanding, got it?”

“Yeah, chill, I’ll be on my best behaviour with him, both before and after I meet him.”