Chapter 1457 - Blessed Ones (Patreon)

Rather unsurprisingly, it garnered a lot of attention when one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – beings of Venus made his appearance. The massive snake slowly rose from the depths around the island, facing all the observers from behind Jake.

Parts of him wanted to turn around, but it would look a lot cooler if he didn’t, so Jake continued facing them as the Great Sea Serpent fully emerged and started making its way over. As it did, the peak A-grade didn’t hold back as his aura flared throughout the island, and immediately, Jake felt it, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Gotten noticeably stronger in just a year...

For a peak A-grade that couldn’t get stronger through levels anymore and was significantly limited in Records, the Blessing and guidance from the Malefic Viper clearly had a far greater effect than usual. While no levels or stats had been gained, monsters famously had far more passive skills than enlightened races. Skills that sometimes increased the effectiveness of stats, or granted other bonuses.

Even if active skills had been improved, it added to the overall aura of a monster as their Records had grown. The Great Sea Serpent was truly a brilliant example of this, as it slithered its way through the toxic sky while allowing its aura to wash over all those present.

Jake observed the onlookers and the shock on many of their faces, including those of the Grand Weaver, the Venusian Oracle, and the Warlord. All three of them hadn’t really changed their expressions before now, or at least they had been subtle enough for Jake to be unable to detect them, but now, despite him not being good at reading them, he could clearly see the effect the Great Sea Serpent had on them.

A perfect time for him to continue.

“The Great Sea Serpent understood immediately and was willing to serve the Malefic One. He felt the power of a god, and embraced it, receiving a Blessing that has allowed him to grow and become greater than what he was.”

On cue, the Great Sea Serpent also unleashed the aspects of its aura, indicating he had a Blessing. Even if these natives of Venus didn’t know what a Blessing felt like, they could clearly detect its strong similarity to the aura Jake was letting out, and this was part of the reason why he had even flared it in the first place.

It made it easy to compare and instantly identify that Jake’s aura was clearly superior, and the Great Sea Serpent taking a subservient position as his body shrank and he landed behind the ritual circle only communicated it further.

“Blessings are not simply a temporary boon or a simple skill, but a fundamental establishment of a relationship between Patron and a follower. Its significance is enough for the system to even recognize it as something that can be seen using Identify. Something it seems many of you have already realized.”

It was a bit of a gamble, but Villy had clearly assumed that some of the A-grades present had upgraded their Identify skill to a rarity where it would allow them to see Blessings. As they had never encountered Blessings before, they naturally couldn’t have purposefully aimed for that kind of upgrade like Jake did, but often if one upgraded it enough, something like Blessings would simply get automatically included.

Evidently, the gamble paid off as the Great Sea Serpent didn’t try to hide his status in the slightest. Jake still kept his level and Identify result hidden, all by design. He wanted to at least create some doubt regarding his true level. Plus, it was kind of a power play that not a single being was capable of Identifying him.

“With a Blessing also comes a new skill, its power dependent on the level of the Blessing. However, the most crucial benefit of a Blessing is the Records gained. The Records of a being with a Path far beyond your own. A proven Path that has led to the peak. A Path you will be able to follow aspects of, as parts of your Patron's Legacy become available to you.”

Jake turned around and looked at the Great Sea Serpent, feeling a little nervous at acting like an arrogant young master in front of the snake. Fortunately, the peak A-grade was seemingly fully on board with this little ceremony they were putting on and didn’t seem the slightest bit offended that Jake was effectively using him as a prop.

“Demonstrate, if you will.”

The Great Sea Serpent allowed his body to grow toward his original size again, his aura spiking to its peak once more as he lowered his large head towards Jake.

“As the Chosen commands.”

It was a simple response that Jake didn’t put much stock in, but the reaction of the natives of Venus was quite something. He saw shock surpassing anything he’d seen prior, and several looked outright horrified at what the Great Sea Serpent had said.

Jake quickly realized why they were so surprised, though. To them, the Great Sea Serpent was a being at the apex of existence. One of the strongest creatures that had ever lived, and likely would ever live. He was someone none of them dared to make an enemy of, and all respected, due to his immense personal power.

So watching someone like that bow respectfully to a mere B-grade had to be shocking. Even if Jake’s entire speech should have made it clear why someone like the Great Sea Serpent acted as he did, seeing was believing, as they say. And now, it was an undeniable fact that the Great Sea Serpent did view itself as a servant of Jake, or more accurately, the multiversal faction he represented.

The shocking events only continued, though, as the Great Sea Serpent did as Jake asked of it. The massive snake flew into the sky as his aura grew even more, and Jake saw a very familiar skill. Scales on the Great Sea Serpent’s body started changing color, growing darker, before becoming a familiar dark green. At the same time, the peak A-grade breathed in, and as he did, it felt like a black hole had appeared in the sky.

Jake felt the toxins in the atmosphere rapidly being extracted as the Great Sea Serpent sucked it in. Once more, Jake recognized it as a pretty standard display of Palate of the Malefic Viper, or at least a variant of it.

Seeing these two Legacy skills, Jake wasn’t surprised. Pretty much all venomous snakes had a skill to refine and improve their toxins, so it made sense that the Great Sea Serpent had a skill somewhat similar to Palate of the Malefic Viper. Given that, upgrading it with Records of the Viper was only a solid next step, especially given the world he lived in.

The same was true for Scales of the Malefic Viper. As a scaled creature, the Great Sea Serpent naturally had skills to enhance them. It was a testament to the peak A-grade's talent that he’d managed these two upgrades in so little time, though, and it wasn’t even certain these were the only ones.

While Jake wasn’t surprised at this display, the same couldn’t be said about the attendees of the ceremony. He even saw a few instinctively take defensive positions as the aura of the Great Sea Serpent continued to grow as he sucked in toxins, before he finally stopped. When he did, his scales also started glowing, echoing with power as he had seemingly infused them with much of the toxin he’d just absorbed.

“Before I was given a Blessing by the Malefic Viper, I was also skeptical,” the Great Sea Serpent began after his display of power, which to Jake didn’t really look that impressive. However, based on the reactions of the A-grades, they had clearly seen something they found shocking and were now listening even more attentively than before.

“I grew up in this world, saw those who stood at the peak, and strived to one day be among them. I achieved that dream and reached what I thought was the apex of power. At least the highest anyone had ever achieved. Yet I never found myself content. I knew there had to be more. Then... the integration happened, and we were given hope. A hope to go beyond what I am. In my search for power, the Malefic One found me. Reached out to me through the very core of my existence. At that moment, when I first felt the presence of the Malefic One, I knew that, without a doubt, what I thought was the peak was in reality nothing. That despite all that I had achieved, in front of the Malefic One, I was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust. Yet he saw value in me and gave me a Blessing and a task to serve his Chosen in his efforts to make our world realize the opportunity given to us.”

Jake hadn’t been informed what the Great Sea Serpent would say before hearing it just now, and he had to admit, the snake was a lot better at talking than he would expect from a large snake. The words also didn’t feel as scripted as the ones Jake spoke, making him question whether Villy trusted this A-grade snake more than him.

Because if he did, that would be totally justified.

“The Malefic One found not just me, but some of the Nomads through our innate bond with him. As a kin of snakes, he is connected to all of us through our Records. He is our Forefather, and without him, there was a chance we wouldn’t even exist. Now, with his Blessing, we are all greater than what we were.”

These words prompted others who also had Blessings to make that known in a clearly planned display of auras. The Chieftain Jake had interacted with during the preparations of this ceremony, as well as several other Tribe Leaders and top figures of the Nomads, all made their presence known. All of them were snakes, and as the Great Sea Serpent’s words had also hinted at, Jake finally understood how he had blessed them all and spread his influence to Venus.

Seeing as they were snakes or at least creatures with many Records related to snakes, they shared a connection with Villy in the same way that Jake shared a connection with all humans of the multiverse. Unlike Jake, though, Villy was an overpowered Primordial, and through Jake, he had probably tracked down the stronger natives of Venus he had a connection with and appeared to them. Jake seriously doubted any of them had needed much convincing after that, as the mere presence of a Primordial tended to be more than enough to sell a Blessing.

Anyhow, Jake just took in the atmosphere for a while as he bathed in the many auras of those Blessed while also making sure his own was mixed in there, overpowering them all to once more show the contrast.

They allowed this to continue for several moments, giving the Venusians and Arachnecs time to react and discuss among themselves. While many of them had probably expected it, this was an outright confirmation that the Nomads had already joined hands with the Order of the Malefic Viper, making matters very complicated.

Even if they refused and continued trying to force Jake, they now knew that they would make powerful enemies. They were also the kind of enemies one really didn’t like: fanatics. Assuming they thought that Jake and the Great Sea Serpent had just used some fucked-up mental magic or something, the truth remained that the Nomads had fully bought into the religion.

Standing there, Jake did start to wonder if this wasn’t straying a bit from the original goal of just recruiting people into the World of the Exalted Prima. Getting the natives to join the Order felt more like a long-term goal to him, and not something he felt they needed to rush, but this was clearly done to force them to make a choice sooner rather than later.

That, or maybe it was just done to protect Jake? Yeah, that also seemed probable. If it made so that trying to exploit him would make them too many enemies within Venus, that should disincentivize the natives to cause trouble, especially coupled with the theoretical threat of this Order of the Malefic Viper lurking in the outside world.

Looking up at the Great Sea Serpent, Jake nodded and spoke. “Enough. The point has been made.”

Right after his words echoed, the aura of the peak A-grade disappeared alongside all the other powerful A-grades who had been flaring their power. It all happened in an instant, yet again communicating Jake’s power over them, and cementing their faith in the Order and him, as its prophet.

“As you heard, the Nomads have already joined us. My Patron felt a certain level of kinship with the young spawn with whom he shares some Records, allowing them this honor. I should also make it clear that the Nomads have already volunteered to join me within the World of the Exalted Prima and supply us with whatever we might need.”

Now this sentence, Jake definitely knew the point of. It was there to clarify that while recruiting the Venusians and Arachnecs was certainly welcome, it wasn’t a necessity. That even if both races left at the end of the ceremony, Jake would still get what he’d come for. What’s more, it would mean that had Jake’s words been true about this being a great opportunity, the Nomads would benefit massively while the other factions would gain nothing.

It wasn’t really a threat, but it was hopefully giving them a bit of FOMO – Fear of Missing Out – should they choose not to take part.

Speaking of fear, as Jake reached this part of the speech, he kind of ran into a problem... because he realized that he was pretty much out of lines. He’d said everything the Viper had told him to say, and he only really had one sentence left, after which he would either have to improvise or follow the leads of others. Something he definitely didn’t like.

Shit, he wasn’t even sure why he needed the special ritual circle he’d laid down to resonate with Invocation of the Malefic Viper yet. Parts of him wondered if it was just that there was some sort of last resort the Viper could tell him to trigger should the need arise.

Wait, why was Villy being so damn quiet throughout all of this? He was clearly watching, and he’d clearly given plenty of guidance to the Great Sea Serpent and potentially other A-grades present.

Still, Jake could only continue as before, speaking the final line of his speech.

“I have conveyed what I wished, and now the rest is up to you. Make a choice that will decide the futures of yourselves, your race, and potentially this entire world of yours. Today, I’m asking you to voluntarily step up and prove yourselves worthy. Giving you the opportunity of a lifetime. Next time, I cannot guarantee it will be a request.”

So, yeah, that was definitely a threat, and Jake wasn’t sure how smart it was to end a speech like this that had otherwise been relatively peaceful with a rather overt threat. Alas, such was Villy’s plan, and Jake had no intention of arguing.

He took in the atmosphere for a while, trying to get a read on what kind of discussions were going on. For a few seconds, he also considered whether he should leave the stage, given he was done speaking; however, just as those thoughts appeared, the snake god who had silently just been observing thus far let himself be known.

“Oh no, you stay right there,” he said in a cheerful tone. “Gonna need you for this next part.”

A feeling of dread washed over him as Villy continued.

“This is a religious ceremony, is it not? Can’t have my Chosen not take part when the prayer begins.”