"Yes God, the new members who passed the examination yesterday are awaiting Your call," Enri's voice was crisp, filled with respect. She then added, with a slight hesitation, "And Lady Lakyus wishes to ask when your training will begin."
Enri raised her head, glancing quickly, uncontrollably, towards Leinas who stood gracefully beside Kael, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. There was a kind of new aura enveloping Leinas this morning, which did not escape Enri's notice.
Recently, the influx of people from E-Rantel participating in the Church of Destiny's membership selection had increased. Although there was a certain threshold, several individuals managed to pass the test every day, showing surprising enthusiasm.
To avoid wasting valuable time, Kael would conduct a blessing ceremony daily, transforming qualified individuals into his followers. Afterward, these new members would depart for the outskirts of the city for level-up training with the seniors from Carne Village acting as their team captains.
Since Kael planned to quickly take over the Katze Plains, a region rife with undead and threats, the newly joined members with combat intentions were uniformly designated by him as cleric-warriors. For now, they were managed by Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, the leader of Blue Rose who had now become one of the God's followers. Lakyus was fully responsible for their training and guidance.
Initially, training should have already begun, but due to several force majeure factors—referring to Kael and Leinas's morning incident—Kael, the person involved, had not yet appeared. The cleric-warriors, lacking items and resources (loot from undead), naturally could not begin leveling up.
Kael took a magic bag from his spatial backpack, a seemingly simple charm pouch that held infinite space, and handed it to Leinas. "Leinas, take these items with you and meet Lakyus, then go directly outside the city to begin training." Kael instructed.
"After Enri and I finish the ceremony, we will come to you with the new members."
"Yes!" Leinas respectfully accepted the magic bag, nodding briefly. She then activated Sixth Tier Magic [Greater Teleportation] and departed in a flash of light, without hesitation.
Kael gazed at the spot where Leinas had vanished, and a helpless smile played on his face. Although the two had already established a "negative long-distance" relationship—a term he used to describe their contractual relationship, without true emotional ties—and both knew it was clearly not love, Kael still hoped Leinas could harbor different feelings for him. After all, for both of them, the other was the first "partner" in life in this strange context, and held a certain special status.
What made Kael slightly regretful was that he had checked Leinas's memories last night—a skill he used secretly—and found that Leinas only regarded what had transpired between them as a contractual relationship, without any hint of romantic emotion whatsoever. Just an obligation, Kael thought, slightly disappointed.
"Forget it. It's already in my mouth. It won't disappear. There's still plenty of time to come," he muttered to himself. Dismissing the lingering thoughts in his mind, Kael walked towards the entrance of the underground palace and greeted Enri, "Let's go, Enri."
"Yes." Enri nodded obediently, the reddish shadow on her ears still not entirely gone.
The Church of Destiny's assembly hall, once the lobby of a grand mansion in E-Rantel, had been revamped with Kael's change of ownership and vision. Its staircase and adjacent room walls had been torn down to create a vast indoor space, large enough to host meetings and grand ceremonies.
Currently, dozens of people had gathered in the venue. Among them were men and women, aged between sixteen and forty-five, all new church members who had passed yesterday's initiation test. Their faces were filled with genuine excitement, a new hope radiating from their eyes. Although they conversed among themselves, they were all very careful about the acoustics and lowered their voices to a level that wasn't noisy, a sign of deep respect.
At this moment, a familiar golden light appeared at the entrance on the other side of the venue. Everyone who noticed this immediately lined up in an orderly fashion, as instructed by Enri earlier. They waited solemnly for their God's inspection, their breaths held.
Having performed it several times already, Kael no longer felt the novelty of today's transformation ceremony and simply regarded it as a routine matter to be completed. His face was calm and authoritative.
After gracefully flying to the podium near the wall where the ceremony took place, all the new believers diligently worshipped him and sang hymns to the Gods, the lyrics filling the room with sacred echoes. Then, Kael activated the [Divine Power of Destiny] effect within his body, forming a large magical circle that radiated on the floor, transforming the new believers into his legitimate followers.
After completing this operation, Kael disregarded the followers who were stunned by the transformative power. He asked Enri, as usual, "Is there anyone noteworthy among this group of believers?"
What was meant by 'noteworthy' was three specific situations: someone with a special identity that could be leveraged, exceptional talent in a certain field that could be honed, or possession of a rare innate supernatural power.
"Yes, God." Enri seemed prepared for this question. After nodding heavily to Kael, she turned and waved to the crowd, a gentle gesture.
Then, Kael saw a girl her age walk out of the team's ranks and kneel respectfully before him. The girl had a different aura, a mixture of nervousness and determination.
"Great God of Destiny! Your follower, Cecilia Veron, sends her sincere greetings to you!" the girl said, her voice slightly trembling but clear.
"Alright, rise." Kael nodded, a simple, calming gesture.
"Grateful!" After expressing her thanks, Cecilia stood, her eyes fixed on Kael with unconcealed nervousness. She said nothing more, waiting.
At this moment, Enri introduced Cecilia to Kael. "Yes God, Cecilia comes from an ordinary village. She was a Silver-ranked adventurer in the Adventurer's Guild previously. She possesses the natural ability to reduce the time required to learn magic."
Enri continued, her tone softening slightly, "She became a professional in order to save her sister who was kidnapped by a noble, and she joined the church to seek the power to save her sister."
"Yes." After listening to Enri's introduction, Kael nodded in understanding, a faint frown appearing on his brow. However, a slight surprise flickered in his mind. He had no impression whatsoever of the name Cecilia Veron, but based on Enri's description, he immediately recalled a character who appeared in the original Overlord work—Ninya, a member of the E-Rantel Silver-ranked Adventurer Team, Darkness (Sword of Darkness).
In fact, if Kael had not interfered in this timeline, Ninya's original fate was to be brutally killed by Clementine, who kidnapped Nfirea. And the sister she wanted to save, Tuareninya Veyron, was eventually rescued from a brothel in the Re-Estize capital, Re-Estize City, by Sebas Tian, the grand butler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Tuareninya even became the only human maid from the New World to join the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
However, these things were unlikely to happen in his new timeline. So, Kael only needed to focus on the present and the potential before him.
Cecilia's natural ability was not weak, in fact, it was very strong. It could shorten the time required for someone to learn magic by half. People in the New World leveled up through learning and training, so if the effect of this innate ability were translated using YGGDRASIL game definitions, then it would roughly be equivalent to reducing the experience points for magic profession advancement by half—an extraordinary advantage.
Therefore, for Kael, Cecilia's personal value was very high, and she could immediately be included in the primary training roster.
After deciding this, Kael pulled out the [Ultimate Magic Book]—a mysterious grimoire exuding an ancient aura—and released [Innate Ability Copy] to record Cecilia's innate ability onto himself. This was an invaluable skill, capable of mimicking natural talents.
Having done so, he said to a slightly panicked Cecilia, the girl's eyes wide due to the copying process she didn't understand, "Cecilia, Enri will arrange someone to help you find and rescue your sister. You must dedicate yourself fully to the church and the God in the future. Do you understand?"
Cecilia was stunned when she heard this, her jaw slightly agape. A promise she had never expected.
Enri beside her reached out and gently nudged her, then offered thanks with a smile on her face, signaling Cecilia to respond as well.
After realizing what had transpired—the promise to save her sister—Cecilia immediately knelt and prostrated herself before Kael with great enthusiasm, tears almost welling in her eyes. "Thank you for your kindness! Great God of Destiny!" she cried, her voice filled with profound gratitude and an unwavering oath of loyalty.