Let's check out the temple first before exiting the village. I entered the temple, and in it, there where many stone statues. There were two big ones of average man's height, one male, and one female and several ones, a little smaller than the two in the center, surrounding them.
The big male god was depicted as a man in his ripe years with a long beard and a hood over his head. He was masculine and in his right hand there was a bolt of lighting and in the left an oak branch. This was obviously Perun God of Thunder and stormy skies, Ruler of Gods, protector of the world and vanquisher of unjust. Goddess next to him was his wife Perperuna, Goddess of Rain. I only recognized it is her because she wore similar cloak as her husband.
Six more figures were standing there, three on Perun's side and three on his wife's side. On Perun's side, the first figure was that of a bear. That was Veles Lord of the Forests, god of animals, fields, and forests. He is known to transform in any animal form as he was their protector but was often described in a bear form.
Next to him was a figure with Sun behind him with a hammer in one, and a sack of gold in another hand. That was Horz, Sun God and god of miners, blacksmiths, God of Wealth and Luck.
Last male figure was similar or almost the same, depends on which angle you are looking from, to the figure before it. This figure had a moon behind him, with two crows on his shoulders. He had seven swords on his waist and one big in his hand. On his forehead, there was a black band. This was Yarilo, Moon God and also God of Wrath and War.
First of the female figures was a beautiful woman with lush bosom and enchanting smile. She was covered in fern, grass, and flowers, with hair also full of flowers long to her knees. In one hand she was holding a cluster of grapes with a little swallow on her index finger and on the other there was a bouquet of flowers. She was Vesna Goddess of Fertility, Spring and Marriage.
Next to her was Devana Goddess of Hunt and Love. She was a beautiful naked woman with deer horns and bow and arrow in her hands.
The last goddess was ugly in comparison with the rest. She had a big head and long arms almost claw-like. This was Mokosh, protector of women and their destiny and also spinning and weaving.
As I was looking at all the gods I did what was most logical doing in a temple, I prayed.
I prayed to Perun for his protection and his wife for a safe journey. I also prayed to the rest of the gods. From Veles and Vesna I asked forgiveness if I take something from their domain. From brother gods Horz and Yarilo I asked for good luck and strength in battle, and from Devana and Mokosh I asked for some luck with women. The last request was purely on a whim though, something like,, when in Rome do as Romans do".
Just as I was thinking about exiting the temple a system notification rang in my ears.
, Congratulations you are the first player to pray to gods, gaining the title,, First Believer". Also gaining first prayer buff and opening two new stats Luck and Fate. Gained 10 Luck and 10 Fate points. Luck and Fate points cannot be raised through leveling up, only in special circumstances."
I was surprised to say at least. First thing I did was to send my two buddies a message to tell them to pray to gods to gain buffs. Then I took a look at all the notifications. First were stats, two new stats appeared just like that. I noticed that praying opened them but I gained them because I was first. Maybe second player praying to the gods will gain 9 points, third 8 and so on. This was a big gain. I had some idea what is luck about, but I had no idea what is fate supposed to be for. I will found out sooner or later. Next was prayer buff.
, For the next seven days your every stat will be increased by 20%, all equipment requirements will be 50% lover and all rewards and experience will be doubled."
Wow, that was all I could think to say, For a beginner, this was a godsend. Let's check out the title.
, First Believer
Every time you pray to gods this title will double the effect of the prayer and all permanent blessings will have half the requirements needed to gain."
I had my mouth open for at least a minute before I came to myself. This was nuts, absolutely crazy. If buff was having a lottery ticket with one missing number than this title was a jackpot.
What am I waiting for, I must use this title and buff as soon as possible. I run out of the temple like the devil himself was after me. Players who were still in the village must have thought I found something in the temple and run into it. But when they saw that the temple was still empty, they cursed behind me. I didn't care as I was running towards the north gate.
Before I had a chance to leave the village one of the guards at the gates called out to me.
, Traveler can you slow down a moment I need your help!"
A quest I thought. It seems that luck started working.
, What can I do for you?"
, Can you go to the fields and find village chief and when you find him tell him that merchant friend came to our village, but has to go quickly to the next. Chief will reward you if tell him this."
, Of course, no problem, which way are the fields?"
, Thank you, friend, go east from here and in 10 minutes you will make it. One of us would go but we need to guard the village."
I didn't wait for another second, as I ran east to the fields. I even forget to ask the guards are there any monsters or beasts on the way, but since I got the first quest I didn't care. As I was running I took a look at a quest window for details.
, Message for the village chief
Find the village chief in the fields and tell him about the merchant who is waiting in the village.
Quest difficulty: Easy
Quest reward: 50 EXP points and 5 copper coins."
It seems that the reward isn't bad, I can only find out when I find the chief. As I traveled to the fields I saw players going in and out of the forest in the north of the village. They were moving in groups, as solo players would find it difficult to gain levels by themselves. But it seems that they found weapons if regular wooden sticks can be called weapons. But who knows maybe in groups sticks can be useful. I also tried to find something and after a few minutes traveling to the fields, I found one stick by the road. It was a regular stick, with a length of a walking cane. I tried to use the Appraisal on it.
Wooden stick
Attack 0-1
An ordinary stick.
The only thing that was not ordinary about this stick was that it even didn't have a rarity. Usually, weapons had a rarity. This only shows that a stick isn't a weapon. I don't think I can kill an ordinary monster with it.
I was starting to see fields in front of me. They were quite big, maybe three to four times the size of the Little Rock village. People were working in them, there were both man and women and young and old. Almost all the village was here. I finally arrived and the only thing to do was to find the village chief. There was one middle-aged man not far from me so I went to him to ask about the chief.
, Excuse me, guards from the village sent me to give the chief a message, do you know where he is?"
The man looked at me for a moment, probably to see if there is any treat coming from me, but as he saw that I don't have any bad intentions he answered my question.
, If you are looking for chief you will find him over there." he said and pointed his finger at a tall tree that stood somewhere at the end of fields. I looked over there and saw few people sitting in a circle eating and talking about something. I said my thanks to the man and moved towards the tree. That was oak far as I can tell, it was very big and it made a large shadow, which allowed people to rest in hot weather. I saw one man sitting with his back to the tree. He was an older man, had a long white beard and a wise expression on his face. This should be village chief I thought.
, Excuse me chief" I said and all of them turned their heads to see me.
, Young man what can I do for you?" asked the old man. Good, this is the chief I thought.
, Respected chief" I continued,, I am a traveler that arrived at your village this morning. After I finished my prayer in the temple I wanted to go outside to make myself familiar with the surroundings. As I was exiting the gates one of the guards asked me to tell you that the merchant came to the village and that he is in a hurry to go to the next village. He said that you should come back quickly, so I ran here from the village to give you this message."
, What?" asked chief a little surprised,, he is already here, he should have arrived tomorrow. Are you sure about this young man?"
, That was the message I wouldn't dare lie to you chief." Now that I think about it there was some commotion in the village among the players maybe they realized that a merchant was there.
, All right young man I can see that you are trustworthy, as a thank you for your service here is a little reward." I heard a,, ding" and a notification showed up in front of me.
, Quest completed
Message for the village chief
You have been rewarded 100 EXP points and 10 copper coins"
Chief gave me a little leather bag from which I could hear the rattling of the coins. That prayer buff was certainly a good thing to have. I saw that my experience was one-tenth away from reaching level one. I should try to find something to gain more experience to level up. As I was looking for things to do the village chief and two younger men started going back to the village. Before they went on their way chief talked to me.
, Young man can you help us in the fields it is sowing time and we need every help we can get, we will provide you with a meal every day until the end of the sowing." A new quest arrived just at the right time. Let's see details first.
, Help in the fields
Villagers of Little Rock village are sowing wheat, help them until they are finished.
Difficulty: Normal
Reward: 500 EXP points per day, the reward will be gained on the last day of work."
500 EXP points a day with the buff that is 1000, so at the end, I will earn a lot of EXP points. In the meantime, I can find beast or monsters to catch and further raise my level. Not bad at all.
, No problem chief, I will start right away."
Chief thanked me and quickly headed towards the village. I turned to the rest of the villagers and asked. , Well, what should I do now?"