Needless to say, knowing the fact that the massive, and certainly difficult to remove, effigy of Arcana was gesturing the universally recognised sign in the Queen’s direction didn’t help matters, especially after her previous teasing warning about someone noticing the magical light show of the previous night. Now there was this; a statue of Arcana herself showing the city of Ercheat the good old ‘fuck you’.

  If stress truly could trigger sudden and violent hair loss, Theo had to prepare himself for early onset baldness. Supposedly, this thing was a reward. ‘Fuck you right back’ Theo thought as secretely as he managed. Arcana probably couldn’t read his mind. He hoped.

  Messages were still pending, awaiting his review, but first he had to explain all this to his fellow villagers. He faced them as they kept gawking at the effigy, finding Wen’s eyes focusing specifically in the middle distance as if searching for a fly or something.

  “Interesting,” she said to no one in particular.

  “What?” Theo asked as he approached her.

  “The bonuses the statue is givin’ the town. I was thinkin’ of tearing it down since it took the spot I was eyeing for my inn, but… Maybe it’s worth it.”

  Theo eyed the statue again before he dove back into the System to see what she was on about. He searched for the Town System integration first.

  Congratulations! Sigil Lake has constructed an Effigy.

  Note: Main Town Religion has been previously set to ‘None’. As an Effigy is always constructed to respect a certain deity or divine entity, Sigil Lake’s Main religion has been changed to reflect the Effigy constructed. Please also note that it could be considered very odd to not choose a religion and then immediately construct an Effigy as the first construction of the town. Only mentioning it.

  Main Town Religion has been changed to The Scorned Witch with an Attitude.

  Note: Many Towns are multitheistic in nature, and no religion should ever exclude the belief in others. Choosing a Main religion usually offers bonuses depending on the deity in question, but does not exclude other beliefs. To gain and retain such bonuses, there must be churches, artworks, shrines or the like raised in the name of the chosen Main religion.

  Congratulations! You have founded a new religion based on the deity The Scorned Witch with an Attitude. You may name this religion as you wish. You have automatically been raised to the highest position of this new religion. You may choose to raise other devout followers to key positions in order to spread the name of The Scorned Witch with an Attitude.

  Congratulations: Sigil Lake has been designated the birthplace of the religion devoted to The Scorned Witch with an Attitude. Special titles relevant to this religion have been added.

  Effigy (The Scorned Witch with an Attitude): The Witch has been wronged and is never afraid to show this to the world. Who would dare to offend the goddess that is above all beings, yet not above a petty squabble?

  Effigy provides a Town-wide +1 mana regeneration per minute to all registered villagers.

  Effigy provides a +0.33 mana regeneration per minute to all non-villagers.

  Effigy provides a -1 mana regeneration per minute to all Ercheat-registered inhabitants.

  Effigy may affect other buildings, worksites or dungeons within its area of effect as they become available.

  Congratulations! You have been granted the title Shepherd of the Scorned Witch. Mental +10. Mana regeneration +0.2.

  Theo was nearly dizzy from the stack of messages pressing themselves into his vision the moment he started reading through just the first few. There were still more to go, one of the Boons provided by Arcana included, but he had to take a breather.

  “The mana regen thing?” Theo then asked Wen. It was among the only bonuses actually provided to the Town and not to himself from the latest onslaught of System messages. He barely remembered them conferring before reading them.

  “Yeah. Dunno much about the magics, but it seems quite high. ‘Sides, an effigy this good constructed in a fresh town? Not an easy feat. Arcana seems to be rootin’ for you.”

  Theo sighed. It was growing more and more apparent, the effigy being only the latest and the most obvious of clues, that Arcana had a personal involvement elsewhere. She was just using him to get back at them. He didn’t know this, but he was pretty sure. She wanted him to ‘spice things up’, she’d said. She seemed to be doing all the peppering herself, throwing in some chili seeds in there. And now he wanted to plant some chilies.

  “Rooting for herself, more like,” he responded. He waved her confused expression away.

  He didn’t know how much mana he’d regenerate over any particular amount of time, but would a single point per cycle really amount to much? Perhaps he could hire someone who knew this kind of thing later when they got their town-central building up and running. They had an effigy which provided increased regeneration, after all. Perhaps that would draw a few mages here by itself.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Theo?” Wen then asked, shaking off his internal musings. “Arcana just revealed her presence to the world after so many years without a single sign of her. For your town. Heck, for you! None of us have any use for mana regen!”

  “I do,” Grace interjected with a low voice so as not to be too large an interruption.

  “I see your point,” said the man with a resigned nod. “Grace, you probably know more of Arcana than any of us combined; why would she do this?”

  “My entire life she’s been ignoring us, so I really wouldn’t know, would I?” the adventurer answered. “But… I will sadly have to agree with Wen on this.”

  Wen frowned as if the words tasted weird in her own mouth despite them coming from the ‘other one’.

  “It really seems to me that She of Storms has her eggs in the near adjacency to your basket. If that wasn’t clear enough for you, she’s betting on you.”

  “For what? She just told me to make things more fun,” Theo complained.

  Grace’s face turned pale as a ghost during a winter snow storm. “She… said?”

  Theo didn’t much like the intonation and suddenly increasing volume of the word ‘said’. It somehow reminded him a bit of a scythe’s blade carving through innocent blades of grass. Then he realised he’d just admitted to having a casual talk with a goddess to the cleric of said goddess as if it was no big deal. He had forgotten he’d only shared that with Wen and Willam. Grace wasn’t the only one around, either, so his mistake was multiplied.

  “You know, her voice being the whisper of the wind and my ears being, uh… oddly tuned to that sort of thing? You know, saying it out loud, maybe it was just my very vivid imagination!” He lied poorly.

  “I’m an Apostle of the Voice of the Wind, Theo! You know what that title gives me?” she asked with a boisterous voice. “The ability to see you’re lying to me!”

  “That’s not a thing,” Wen whispered into Theo’s ear.

  “That’s not a thing!” Theo argued against Grace.

  “No, I mean… Ugh, I mean that I know you’re lying! Arcana doesn’t do that,” Grace countered, her wisdom and knowledge of all things Arcana a full bottle of water when compared to Theo’s half empty glass of luck and fate.

  “Fine. It’s easier this way anyway! Arcana sent me here. I’m not from this world.”

  “You’ve been isekai’d?” Grace asked, her pale face that had grown redder by the second then calmed and turned a pinkish hue. She was quickly going through all the colours. A bit of food poisoning and she’d get that yellowy tinge.

  “Why does everyone call it that?”

  “I mean, that’s what it’s called?” Wen assisted the cleric before she got confused as to why she did.

  “You knew?” Grace turned to face the ‘other one’. Her stare was fierce and unrelenting.

  “Of course. We’re close like that,” Wen growled from the bottom of her stomach.

  “Meaning that now I am as close,” the adventurer then winked bitchily. There was really no other word for it. It worked, and Wen froze. “So, tell me about her! What’s she like, what did she say? Why did she send you here? Oh, I knew sticking around would be rewarding, I just didn’t know it would be so soon!”

  Theo started ignoring her after that, because she certainly didn’t stop there. It was kind of fun seeing Wen and Grace interact this way, and he was about 90% sure it wasn’t just some alpha male nonsense confidence-thing because they were practically fighting over his attention. It was like seeing a couple of sisters fight over the TV, or that teddy bear they had to share, or that boy who-... Okay, it was maybe a little bit that confidence thing as well.

  He’d get time to tell her about all of that later. For now, there were more messages to read through. When would this night end?

  Welcome back. The first Boon is granted to you personally. This Boon has been personally handpicked for you by Arcana herself. Do not forget this.

  Note: Frankly, I find you undeserving of her attention.

  Boon has been applied: Her World’s Apprentice

  Her World’s Apprentice (Boon): Since you have been dabbling in World Magic for a short time, it’s time to make it official: World Insight Trait gained. As an added bonus because of your excellent performance on Arcana’s simple task: Prime Sheep Trait gained.

  World Insight (Trait): Your knowledge of the wheels of the world is incomparable. It’s barely there, so I am unable to compare it. You may now not just pierce the veil, but have insight into your experiences on the other side.

  Prime Sheep (Trait): A follower of Arcana of the most devoted kind, a servant of blind commitment, a believer of an unwaveringly loyal type. A sheep of Her. You lead the way to her pastures, and the rest will follow. Her Prime Sheep, unless it fails its mission, is Arcana’s most treasured follower.

  Note: You are racking up a few of the more special kinds of characteristics. If you want a reminder of these along with your stats, try opening the Advanced Stats window.

  ‘What even are these traits?’ Theo thought to himself.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Grace asked. Her face was flush with red as she seemed to have caught on to his ignoring her. Wen seemed content, though. Why couldn’t these two just get along? As it was now, there was always one of them that was either angry or upset.

  “Not really, no. We’ll talk about it later. Right now, I need some sleep!”

  Theo was of course not going to sleep again right away. He was truly too tired to interact with anyone else for the time being, but he had more stuff to do. He longed to get everything regarding the System out of the way so he could continue forging his own path. Okay, it was turning out to be more Arcana’s path that she was forging for him, but he wanted to think he had at least some part in what direction it was taking.

  He tiredly waved goodnight to his friends and fellow villagers, most of which looked at him understandingly as he went back to the barracks for some well-needed rest. The remainder of them couldn’t withdraw their eyes from the effigy that had been magically created from nothing in the middle of the town.

  It wasn’t often effigies were built anymore, much less such grand ones as this. It had likely never happened to a Town before, either. This was certainly not something one would even see in a City, unless it rivaled Ercheat’s scale. It might even be the grandest effigy on the continent. What had they all signed up for?