As Ram made his way to Craftsman's Corner, he noticed a large number of orphans lined up to collect food.
Guards were beating some of the orphans and old people who weren't maintaining the proper line.
Curious, he went over to look and saw large groups of orphans and other ordinary people surrounding a building that seemed to be a church.
Atop the building stood a massive statue, lifelike and exuding an otherworldly aura.
The statue, towering at 50 to 60 meters tall, had multiple sets of wings that evoked a sense of divine power and grace.
It was made of special materials and adorned with delicate gold accents. A large golden halo on top of the statue radiated a soft, ethereal glow, captivating all those below.
Ram's curiosity deepened as he observed the scene. "What's going on here?" he wondered. At first, he didn't find anything unusual about the people or the statue.
However, when he looked at the groups of people and the statue together, he noticed wisps of light golden energy surrounding the statue and being drawn toward the halo.
He observed carefully from a distance and found that every time a group successfully worshiped the statue, wisps of light golden energy were emitted from them and slowly moved toward the statue's halo, which absorbed them.
"That's strange," Ram thought. "Why can't anyone else see this energy?" After performing the worship ceremony, everyone in the group seemed to become slightly sluggish, as if they hadn't slept for a few days.
Some looked even more drained, their energy seemingly sapped by the ritual. The energy these people released floated and gathered around the halo on top of the statue.
Ram noticed that despite the large amounts of light golden energy gathered around it, others seemed unable to see this energy—only he could.
After worshiping, the group of people approached a counter beside the temple to collect free food, water, clothing, and other items.
However, Ram realized that this food wasn't entirely free. Each person in the group held a half-burnt or slightly burnt incense stick.
The amount of food or other items they received seemed to be based on how much the stick had burned.
Despite everyone worshiping for the same amount of time, the amount of incense burned varied for different people.
"Why does the incense burn differently for each person?" Ram mused. Initially puzzled, he focused more intently, using his spiritual eye. An attribute panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[ Name: Power of Faith (Conceptual Energy)]
[ Description: A small wisp of power of faith collected from pan believers, can be absorbed by Divine creatures to improve their strength.]
"What the...? What am I looking at?" Ram was completely shocked and at a loss for words.
"What is a Divine creature? And what is the power of faith?" As someone from Earth, he had read many novels and had some knowledge about Gods and faith.
But never in his wildest dreams did he think he would see such a situation here.
He was just a Tier-1 newbie who had stumbled upon something he shouldn't have. "Fuck, damn it! Shit!" he cursed himself and wanted to leave immediately.
Before he could turn around and leave, he suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body. All his senses were sending him a warning.
The source of terror was the statue. When he looked at it again, his eyes started to glow with a light blue ring inside the retina.
With the help of his Spiritual Eye, he saw the statue's true form: a humanoid metal giant, similar to a Mech he knew of, blending mechanical and organic elements.
The Mech's armor was made of some kind of white metal mixed with gold, adorned with elaborate detailing and layered plates.
It looked both ancient and futuristic, a blend of intricate craftsmanship and advanced technology.
The wings were not just decorative; they seemed to be part of its structure, with feathers made of thin, metallic blades that could probably cut through steel.
A new attribute panel appeared in front of him. However, this Mech seemed to have a life of its own. Its eyes glowed with an eerie red light, looking directly at him.
"What the hell is this thing?" Ram thought, panic rising in his chest. "Why is it looking at me? I need to get out of here!"
The moment the Mech made eye contact with him, Ram's eyes started to burn, blood leaking from them. His mind buzzed as if it were about to explode.
"No, no, no! This can't be happening!" he thought frantically. His vision blurred, and then everything went dark. His body became lifeless, lying there without any movement.
He didn't have much time to think about anything.
Everything happened before he could process it. From the moment his eyes met those of the Mech, his spirit exploded, and he died.
There were no special effects or dramatic scenes; he simply died from a single look from the humanoid Mech.
After killing him the Mech returned to normal, as if nothing happened and nobody around found anything unusual.
After his body became lifeless and fell, Linger, who had been hiding in his jacket, flew out with confusion all over her face.
She felt the connection between her, and Ram was still there but his body was lifeless. Panic set in as she hovered above his still form, her tiny hands shaking.
"Master? Master, wake up!" she cried through the mental connection they had, trying to shake him awake.
She poked and prodded, but he remained motionless. "What's going on? Why won't you wake up?" Desperation filled her voice as she continued her futile attempts.
Seeing no immediate response, Linger frantically looked around, then decided to move his body to a corner, away from prying eyes.
She struggled, but with great effort, managed to drag him to a safer spot.
Suddenly, a system notification rang in Ram's consciousness:
[ Ding, the host is dead.... Using the Recovery point...]
In an instant, Ram's body jerked as life was restored to him. He gasped, sucking in a deep breath as his eyes flew open. Linger, hovering nearby with a worried look, sighed in relief.
Creation is hard, cheer me up with power stones!!