Summoning Total War - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Prepare, Counterattack (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The ceremony for Athena, the goddess of wisdom, wasn’t that grand, but a majority of the adults in town were present.
The actual ceremony didn’t take that long and lasted for less than a minute. During the ceremony, a solemn atmosphere came over the temple, but everyone there felt a sense of peace in their hearts, as if a warm presence had brushed past them and touched their hearts and souls.
Even Murphy could feel this rush of special energy.
On the Strategy Map, he found that the gnolls gathering at a point near Athens seemed to be in a panic because the icons on the map signaled that the gnolls were in the middle of a backward retreat. The icons represented two groups, and one group was fleeing toward the mountain ranges, while the other was hiding in the dense forest.
Was this the power of the Gods?
Murphy was staring at the sculpture of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, in a daze when a powerful aura and a flash of radiant light came from the sculpture. The awe-inspiring pressure bypassed the citizens of Athens, and from the center of the town it spread fifty miles out from where Murphy was currently identified on the map.
This was a supreme power that carried with it the raging fury of thunder!
Even if the goddess’s power was weak, the awe-inspiring aura coming from the core of the sculpture of the goddess still had an impact on those evil gnoll camps. The powerful aura made the gnolls tremble with fear and urgently try to escape its range. These unintelligent creatures were more attuned to such primitive forms of pressure, and they also felt it more intensely!
In the last moment of the ceremony, a miraculous change seemed to take place in Murphy’s eyes, because he was now able to see a faint white light rising from the town citizens, who were praying outside the temple. These lines of light were either thick or thin and gathered into one singular body in mid-air. After that, under the guidance of the high priest, the light channeled into the sculpture of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, little by little.
The lines of light turned into spots of light and danced around the golden goddess sculpture like fireflies and illuminated the surroundings.
Once everything returned to normal, all the spots of light had been channeled into the sculpture of the goddess, and a small part of it had splintered off before entering the high priestess presiding over the ceremony.
When the ceremony ended, the long-lasting faint white light appeared on the sculpture of the goddess, which seemed to really radiate the radiance of the Gods!
The citizens of Athens looked at this faintly-lit sculpture in awe before carefully exiting the temple in small groups.
As Murphy looked at all this, his thoughts raced.
What was that white light?
Was it a visible materialization of faith? Was it a divine power?
Was the light from sincere believers brighter and stronger? If that was the case, then that would explain why there had been a brighter light gathered above the believers in the first row.
“Governor! The goddess’s strength has already improved. Hopefully you can construct a new temple as soon as possible,” the high priestess said with a beautiful, radiant smile. To the people, she looked like an apostle, and they were in awe of her and didn’t dare to blasphemy.
Murphy looked more closely at the woman in a pure white high-priestess robe. She had a gentle silhouette, and her entire body was soft, elegant, and feminine. As a high priestess and apostle of God, she had a sacred aura that made people feel close to her and caused them to feel some sort of attraction.
“Your power has become stronger?” Murphy asked doubtfully as he looked at this lady, who had a faint pure and white brilliance lingering over her body.
It seemed like the ceremony today had made Murphy feel a sense of attraction to this high priestess. Her face no longer had the calm expression it did before. Instead, there was a gentle smile on her face, and with her hands on her chest, she shouted: “This is a gift from the goddess!”
“Tomorrow, we will gather the manpower needed for the expansion of the temple, but our top priority right now is to exterminate the gnolls in the territories outside of Athens,” Murphy said in a deep tone of voice. Gazing at the gentle high priestess in front of him, he continued: “Because of that, I need the holy water to be made quickly. With the holy water, my soldiers will be able to fight fearlessly in battle!”
The high priestess looked at the handsome young man in front of her, and her gentle face revealed a trace of appreciation. She pointed at a few female believers who had yet to leave the altar, opened her mouth, and said slowly: “Their faith is extremely sincere, and they have the potential to be priestesses. With their help, the shrine will be able to produce its first batch of holy water.”
“Very well,” Murphy said, nodding his head before continuing: “In that case, I will round up my soldiers tomorrow.”
After saying this, Murphy turned around to leave.
“Wait a moment!” Just as Murphy was about to walk out of the temple, the high priestess seemed to recall something and stopped him. “Governor, you are Lord of this town. You need a gentle and virtuous wife so you can have descendants as soon as possible. Besides, you are already an adult.”
Murphy was stunned. He hadn’t expected this high priestess to bring up such a topic.
According to the thinking of ancient times, a Lord needed to have descendants, as this would signify a stable lineage. Having descendants would greatly help in unifying territories and rallying the hearts of the people.
However, as a modern man, Murphy wasn’t the least bit anxious about this.
Besides, the body he had crossed into had just reached the age of sixteen.
Seeing that Murphy seemed a little stunned, the high priestess smiled and pointed at the new priestesses, who were waiting below the altar in silence. She said, “These are the prettiest ladies in all of Athens, and they are all virgins. If you don’t wish to marry now, you can choose one from among them to be your servant to serve you sexually in your chambers.”
A servant in my chambers?
Was this like having a prostitute or “f*ck buddy” in ancient times?
Murphy looked at the new priestesses below the altar. Most of them were between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. They were beautiful. Their faces were youthful, and they had the innocence and beauty of a virgin. Under Murphy’s gaze, a hint of shyness appeared on the faces of the female priestesses, and they automatically lowered their heads.
After gazing at these young ladies, Murphy couldn’t help but set his sights on the high priestesses’ beautiful looks.
Murphy found the high priestess, with her mature looks and beautiful and feminine aura, more attractive than the other priestesses. Murphy couldn’t resist looking at her mature and exquisite, slim body, which was wrapped in the pure white priestess robe. She had soft curves, and a large chest and round buttocks, not to mention the aura she had as an apostle of God, which stunned him and made him feel attracted to her.
This was a woman as gentle as a stream, but she had a glowing aura.
She was a lady that could make people near her feel at peace. Like a spring breeze, she could whisk away all of people’s troubles.
The high priestess sensed Murphy’s gaze, and a blush appeared on her shiny white skin. She turned around and said in a soft, gentle voice: “I am the high priestess of the goddess. I have to retain my purity.”
Murphy laughed calmly. After that, he shrugged his shoulders and left the temple.
For some unknown reason, he suddenly remembered the dream-like scene he had when the temple was being built. The high priestess seemed to merge with Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
The ceremony made everyone feel at peace, which greatly eased their panic that had been caused by their entanglement with the gnolls.
As night arrived, the citizens who had been busy all day fell asleep and started to dream, except for the guards, who were still on patrol duty.
Back at the Governor’s Mansion, Murphy lay in his spacious and bright room again. The soft goose quilt quickly made him sleepy, but he still opened the auxiliary system to see what had changed.
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Temple: Temple of Guidance
Level: Level 2 Temple. (Can be upgraded.) (Remarks: This magnificent temple is always able to gain the admiration of mortals, thus increasing the chance of gaining believers.)
Deity: Athena
Her Job: Wisdom, Warfare, Peace, Abundance, Craftsmanship
Power: Low divine power, Thunder (This is the power of the king of the Gods of Olympus!)
Divine Power: Level 2 Divine Gift
Possessed clergy: 12 (Maximum trained clergy 36)
Number of believers: 846
The next level: Increase Divine Gift to Level 3, and training for Guardian Knights can be conducted inside.
Explanation: Level 2 temple grants priests with the magic ability to treat diseases and purify wounds. Through this temple that has been blessed by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, the priest can manufacture twelve ounces of holy water. Holy water can speed up wound recovery and treat minor diseases. The holy water loses its magical properties 24 hours after leaving the temple’s premises.
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Twelve ounces?
Murphy was unfamiliar with the imperial system, but he vaguely remembered that 16 ounces equaled one pound, and one pound was about nine taels.
In ancient times, numbers were all hexadecimal.
After another round of converting numbers, ugh, Murphy began to feel dizzy from all the counting.
The final verdict was that a level 2 temple could only produce a little over half a catty of holy water each day.
By increasing the number of believers, the “Low divine power (Critical)” had disappeared from the data in the auxiliary system. Obviously, the power of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, had increased because the number of believers had increased. The ceremony had proven effective. The number of believers had increased by over 600 in just a single night. However, this was a one-off event. In order to expand the temple, he first had to expand his territory. Without enough population to support the temple, all this was just wasted talk.
But the auxiliary system’s point about being able to train Guardian Knights had definitely piqued Murphy’s curiosity.
Based on Murphy’s estimation, these Guardian Knights would act as guards to the temple, so their combat effectiveness should be high.
It’s just that he was unsure if these Guardian Knights could be considered a part of his military forces.
If they were considered a part of his military forces, then did that mean he was able to recruit other units besides the Greek army?
With the promise of a bright future ahead, Murphy slowly drifted off to sleep and began to dream.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
However, on the other side of the mansion, Lady Elizabeth lay on the hard bed board and was unable to fall asleep.
At that moment, her heart was filled with regret and self-blame.
