Chapter 1: My Temple

Well, that's enough reminiscing... How long has it been since I found this world? I think it was maybe a century... In that time I learned all about temples. Places of worship where gods live. Empty temples that have yet to be dedicated to a god, well, let's just say any god could move in and become the god of the temple.

I also learned that the Grivain, as I called them are actually known as jinrav, a tribalistic race that can be quite violent. I am quite glad I didn't associate myself with them. Anyway, as of late, I've been temple hopping, seeing what societies there are, while also gaining power from offerings given to the temples.

Oh, right. That's something I have yet to explain... Gods such as myself gain power from mortal races such as the jinrav, humans, elves, dwarves, etc. There are a lot of races... Apparently gods of creation commonly create random things just to see what they do, something about boredom, I believe.

I have noticed that humans commonly have very diverse cultures and people compared to many other races, so I think I have finally decided! I will live as a god of the humans. In fact... The humans only have ten gods currently, it seems most gods don't like them, though I can't see why.

Ah, also, the gods tend to not gain believers from multiple races, as conflicting beliefs between races cause friction, and quite a lot might I add... Most races are separated from each other by natural borders, but humans and oni, they're quite close together and have a lot of skirmishes, they almost went into full-blown war a few times...

Well, that's enough history for now... Let's go find an empty temple. I traveled around a human country that borders an oni country, and eventually, I found an empty temple. It's in a nice farming village and it seems they want a god of the harvest to move in...

Unfortunately... I'm not one, in fact, I have no clue what kind of god I am as of now, but I presume that if I stick around this temple for long enough, I'll find out. I entered the temple. It isn't anything special, just a bunch of stones piled on top of each other to make a large structure. Well, I say large... It's only around 300sqft...

Not the nicest temple I've been in, but it isn't the worst either...

...

Its been a few days, and it seems that the village chief had the temple constructed in hope of increasing their food supplies. I have yet to speak out, but I have gotten a few offerings and prayers. Well, a lot, actually... These people are hopeful, I feel kind of guilty for taking this temple despite not being a god of harvest...

A few hours later, a young man, around 20, entered, I have heard his name a few times. "Levin." I said. Immediately, the young man fell to his knees. "There is no need for that, for I am not the god you are searching for." I said. He stood and looked at the altar of which I was currently sitting, though I knew he couldn't see me.

"What do you mean by that? Although we created this place of worship in hopes that we would find a god of harvest, we knew that we most certainly would not find one." Levin responded, leaving me kind of surprised.

"If you all built this with the assurance of never getting what you hoped for, then why did you build it in the first place?" I asked. Humans are certainly peculiar...

"We may have wanted something and knew we would never get it, but that would never stop us from trying. Although ideally, having a god of harvest would be wonderful, any god would be useful, even if only to give us false hope." Levin responded.

"You humans... Are confusing, to say the least." I responded subconsciously.

"It's just... For a few years, we've experienced bad harvests, all we have left is our hope... So, we are pouring it all into this temple." He said. I took another look at the man and noticed that he is quite thin, with little to no fat and muscle.

"I see... Then I shall do what I can to help you, though, even now, I have no idea what I am the god of..." I said.

"We will surely be grateful for even an attempt." Levin responded as his blue eyes lit up a little. Humans are baffling... Despite already knowing I am unable to increase their harvest, he is sure that I can do something...

While on my travels, I learned that all gods can leave their presence somewhere, if it is in a place of worship, then I can still gain power from prayers and offerings, so it's a useful thing to do, though I can only leave my presence in one place with the power I have currently...

I left my presence in the temple and went to their fields. Where do I even start in my attempt to raise their fields? I started looking around their fields and after a few moments of inspection, I noticed small insects attacking the roots of the crops.

I went back to the temple and saw that Levin had just finished his offering and was about to leave. "Levin." I called out. Almost immediately he looked back at the altar.

"Yes, lord of the temple?" He responded. Hmm... Lord of the temple?

"It would appear that there are small insects attacking your plants, but not above ground, they are attacking the roots." I said. Levin fell to his knees.

"I see... So that's why we've had so many crops die, and that's why we've had so many failed seedlings..." Levin said. "I will inform the chief immediately, though I do not know what we can do about it..." He said with a slight gloom to his expression.