Everyone was stunned.
As everyone knew, there's no such thing as the wrong nickname, only a name that's mischosen.
In Faith Game, male players who chose to become priests were already rare, and even fewer chose to follow the god of BIRTH.
So when these two rare choices combined and appeared right in front of them, the odds seemed like hitting the jackpot.
The Goddess of Childbearing was the nickname players gave to the Birth Priests, because when they blessed or healed their teammates, there was a chance they might cause the teammate to "get pregnant."
This side effect from the god's Oracular Deed didn't actually lead to a real pregnancy. The organs involved weren't necessarily limited to the womb, and what was "conceived" wasn't necessarily a legitimate life form. The combinations of realms and gates could be anything, with appearances ranging from the bizarre to the utterly strange.
The reason for this was that the BIRTH god's will revered procreation, so when they used divine powers, it could cause all sorts of absurd "unwanted pregnancy" situations.
However, don't underestimate this accidental "pregnancy." Every "new life" conceived inside the healed person's body would increase their healing effectiveness by 30%.
So, Birth Priests were considered as wet nurses with an abundant supply of healing power.
Harriet was left dumbfounded, shaking his head so fast it looked like a fan spinning. "Bro, I'm begging you, don't heal me! I'd rather take a priest from an opposing faith than have you breastfeed me and make my stomach grow!"
The thought of accepting 'milk' from a male Birth Priest was worse than death to him.
If that happened, how could he ever face anyone again?
Was he supposed to tell people that he'd "carried" a male teammate's "child"?
Ugh—
Doreen was also shocked. As a priest herself, she knew how rare male Birth Priests were in the priesthood.
The odds of encountering one were as low as winning the lottery. She found it funny, but she also felt grateful to Sincere.
She knew he was trying to help convince the team to accept her, and she was thankful. But, with the other two players' faiths still unclear, she still didn't dare to reveal the name of the god she followed.
After all, players from the Downfall Path were often looked down upon. Even though she and Sincere didn't have opposing paths.
Camille, watching Doreen's internal struggle, realized that Doreen wasn't the God of BIRTH's mortal enemy. This revelation eased her tension, though she still wore a cold expression as she said, "I'm a Creation Hunter."
A Creation Hunter, a hunter who followed the God of BIRTH.
"?"
Another Follower of BIRTH.
Everyone was surprised that Camille, such a cold person, had chosen to follow BIRTH, but Harriet's face turned sour.
He, too, had realized that Doreen wasn't an enemy of BIRTH, but there were only three gods in each of the Life and Downfall Paths. This meant there was a 50% chance that the other party was his enemy.
Just as he was wrestling with whether to hide his own faith, Baldwin waved his hand, interrupting their conversation. "Path of Fate differences aren't something we caused, and we don't need to carry too much pressure. Since the two priests aren't opposed to each other, they can just handle healing separately."
Baldwin pointed to Doreen, then gestured toward himself and Frank. "Doreen will handle me and the mage, as for the Followers of Life, you all take care of yourselves."
Then, he turned to Camille and said, "Since you're a follower of THAT god, I assume you won't mind working with Sincere?"
Camille casually glanced at the fairly decent-looking male "Birth Priest," her expression unchanged as she gave a slight nod.
Camille's cold face didn't show any awkwardness, but Sincere's expression became quite subtle.
What was even more subtle was Harriet.
"I..." To be honest, Harriet really wanted to refuse, but he also knew better.
The time wasted at the start was already enough. Since everyone had agreed to the arrangement, refusing now would be a bit out of place.
The team couldn't afford to start with a huge divide.
If it came down to it, he'd just try to avoid getting injured too much.
He couldn't accept healing from a "male child-bearing Goddess," though!
Baldwin effortlessly took control of the team and, seeing that no one had objections, said to everyone, "Let's not waste any more time. The trial has between 30 minutes to an hour of prep time. We're still unclear about the cause and effect of this war, so we won't leave the area right away. During the prep time, everyone should aim to complete the Oracular Deed and then find a place to fortify."
The so-called Oracular Deed was a ritual in which players prayed to their respective gods for blessings.
When players chose to follow a god, that god would grant them an initial Faith Talent and, after completing the Talent Trial, further bless them with additional [Faith Talents].
Depending on their Path to Ascension score, each player could carry different numbers of talents.
These talents greatly enhanced a player's combat ability and served as the foundation for building their unique character.
Of course, the talents were divided into active and passive types. To use active talents in the trial, players had to first perform their god's Oracular Deed at the start of each trial.
For example, the Oracular Deed of BIRTH was "Embrace reproduction, create new life."
In simple terms, it meant mating.
To get stronger, you had to mate first.
As the primary god of the Life Path, BIRTH was the precursor to life itself, the origin of all things, mixing yin and yang, and advocating for reproduction.
Therefore, to request the blessings of BIRTH, you had to set the example yourself.
However, since trials were randomly matched and everyone was a stranger, no one would willingly overcome the awkwardness and embarrassment of helping with "mating" just because the Followers of BIRTH needed it.
So, completing the Oracular Deed was very difficult.
But humans are a creative species.
When something can't be solved the normal way, they often invent all kinds of workarounds.
For mating, there were many similar but spiritually equivalent actions, like...
Masturbation.
This great invention saved countless introverted Followers of BIRTH, but it also sparked some discontent among other players.
Someone once criticized the player who invented this solution in the BIRTH faith channel, angrily calling it sacrilege.
But this accusation was cleverly countered by a group of "cultists" with a unique perspective.
They claimed:
As long as they were thinking of their God while performing the Oracular Deed, it wasn't sacrilege but rather an offering.
As for what exactly was being offered...
Ahem, those who understood, understood.
No one could say for sure whether their God liked it, but the thing was, no one dared to claim the God didn't like it. After all, the God of BIRTH advocated for reproduction.
However... today's situation was different.
In the present scene, there were two Followers of BIRTH. And they were a man and a woman.
Everyone knew that there usually wouldn't be any danger during the preparation time before the trial began, so everyone dispersed in tacit understanding and started performing their respective "Oracular Deed."
Only Sincere and Camille were left standing in place, motionless, neither saying a word.
The awkwardness was intense, the kind where your toes could cramp from embarrassment.
Although Sincere smiled, his face was almost stiff.
He never expected that this cold, distant Hunter lady was actually a follower of "BIRTH." If he had known, he might as well have confessed his real belief earlier.
This was a disaster.
Fortunately, Camille didn't seem embarrassed. Her face remained as cold as ever. After noticing that Sincere hadn't made a move for a long time, she was the first to speak, though her tone was still icy. "Together, or separate?"
To be honest, Camille wasn't bad-looking.
Her short hair was neat and clean, her brows and eyes were sharp and cold, and most importantly, those long legs...
Tsk.
Since the girl didn't mind, maybe...
"Separate, I prefer men." Sincere awkwardly rubbed his hands as he said this.
"?" Camille's cold expression changed for the first time. Her suspicious gaze swept up and down Sincere, and then she let out a strange "Mm" before turning to leave.
Sincere watched her walk away and quietly let out a breath.
Damn, he almost got himself tangled up.
If he had agreed to her, and after the Oracular Deed, he didn't receive the blessing of BIRTH, wouldn't the lie he just told be pointless?
Getting caught in a lie wasn't the worst part; pretending to be a follower of BIRTH to perform the Oracular Deed...
Wouldn't that make him nothing more than a scoundrel trying to seduce a young girl?
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. Just as he was about to start his own Oracular Deed, he frowned, turned around, and said softly to a corner, "Was it nice?"
"…" Hiding in the shadows, Harriet didn't expect Sincere to notice him. He looked like he had seen a ghost as he shook his head and backed away. "Sorry, professional habit, not good, no no no, I mean that I'm not good-looking, you're good-looking. Buddy, I love women, really, we're not a match, a forced relationship never ends well. I'll leave now. My Oracular Deed is still unfinished, see you!"
Harriet scrambled away, and Sincere frowned as he looked at the spot where he had been hiding. It was an uncollapsed wall base forming a triangular shadow.
He walked over thoughtfully, kicked away the rubble under the shadow, and found a dead little white mouse beneath the ruins.
"So he is a Follower of Death, interesting."
The small incident didn't affect Sincere much. He scanned the area, confirming that no one was around, and slowly extended his right hand.
In the blink of an eye, a six-sided die appeared out of thin air in his palm.
The die's surface was pale, like bone, but the numbers on it gleamed golden.
Sincere smiled playfully and, with reverence, prayed to the die, "Lies of yesterday, mocked today. Yesterday I deceived a follower of BIRTH, so today... I am a follower of BIRTH."
As his words fell, an invisible wave of void energy rippled out from the die, slowly enveloping Sincere's entire body.
A flash of brilliance appeared in his eyes, and the light of BIRTH surged in his gaze.
The Oracular Deed ended, and the blessing was complete.
Today, Sincere was a follower of BIRTH, a Birth Priest.