GodTalk: Flood of Faith
The letter envelope quietly floating in the bottom right of my vision. I clicked my tongue softly at the sight of that envelope, which hadn't appeared for thousands of years. The so-called Creator God, who had dropped me into this world and then gone radio silent for ages... What the hell did he want now, sending this thing?
I forcibly suppressed the flicker of irritation rising in my chest and tapped the envelope with my finger.
Congratulations!
Intelligent beings have mastered writing.
They have taken their first step into primitive faith!
Thanks to the faith of these intelligent beings,
GodTalk has been activated.
Boost that faith directed toward you!
The path to omnipotence is not far off!
This is an automatic message.
Tsk. Look at this. Now he's just sending auto-messages? Or did he schedule this ages ago, and it's only popping up now that writing spread and triggered the activation? Ugh... What the hell does that Creator God guy even want from me? No clue at all with my current perspective.
I let out a small sigh and neatly folded away my thoughts about the Creator God, shoving them into a corner. No point stressing over an inscrutable existence—it'd just be a loss for me.
More importantly, GodTalk... Come to think of it, the first message from the Creator God when I opened it originally mentioned something like that. I scrolled up in the open messenger to check the very first message I'd received.
By the way, this is a messenger made for gods.
Its name? GodTalk!
Right now, it's just you and me using it.
But someday, if gods pop up in this world, they might use it too?
Judging from that part... yeah, it was meant for this from the start. I closed the message window. A messenger for gods, but I had no idea how to use it...
✉️ Another message window popped up in the corner of my vision. This time, a little number sat in the corner of the envelope icon—like an unread message count in a chat app. That number... 10, 30, 50, 100... What the—? Why's it keep climbing? It shot up relentlessly until it hit 999+ and stopped.
What is this...? It looked like an uncountable pile of messages had stacked up. Gulping dryly at the oppressive number, I cautiously tapped the envelope icon with my finger.
A message window unfurled before my eyes, its length impossible to gauge. The recipient's name at the top: Genesis Divine Dragon. And the senders? Countless Lizardmen.
Hmm. So... every single prayer the Lizardmen sent to the Genesis Divine Dragon was listed here. Glancing at the timestamps, it seemed they'd been piling up steadily until GodTalk activated, at which point they all flooded in at once.
All the prayers from Lizardmen believing in the Genesis Divine Dragon, from the moment they started their faith right up to now, gathered in this one window... H-how am I supposed to read all this...? Even if I stopped time, it'd be impossible.
I was seriously considering ignoring every last one when I noticed a filtering function for prayers in the message window. Of course. No way could anyone answer every prayer. The trivial ones get skimmed, right? Yeah.
For now, filter by the Lizardmen's Great Tribal Chiefs, and only check the really desperate ones. Luckily, the filtering was super detailed—I could even pull up ones laced with genuine sincerity.
Hmm. So... "Ooh, Genesis Divine Dragon! Are you sleeping?!" That's a recent one from a Lizardman Great Tribal Chief, huh. A prayer calling for me. Makes sense—I haven't done much for the Lizardmen in the last few centuries. They must've felt neglected, like yesterday's leftovers. Should've shown my face now and then?
But with other races demanding attention, the Lizardmen got pushed aside. I figured they'd handle themselves fine, so I didn't worry much.
Hmm... Maybe the Lizardmen's faith in me—their faith in the Genesis Divine Dragon—is fading? I checked the prayers received under the Genesis Divine Dragon name... no, title.
There were tons from way back, but the frequency was dropping bit by bit. Yep... Recent ones were sparse. The Lizardmen's faith in the Genesis Divine Dragon had noticeably waned.
Ugh. I never particularly loved the name Genesis Divine Dragon, but... prayers to me dwindling? Kinda bugs me. Right. I've been busy with other races, ignoring the Lizardmen—so maybe I should start helping them out little by little?
But help how...? No idea what they need right now. They're physically strong, no food shortages. Tech-wise, they're content with obsidian stone tools, so no further progress...
Oh, right. How about blessing one Lizardman? Hold a martial tournament or something, pick the strongest, give 'em the title of Great Warrior, and toss in a blessing to restore their faith quick.
Hmm. Mix in something else? They use spirit-borrowed shamanism, so create a Great Shaman title too? Make Lizardman rulers a trio: Great Tribal Chief, Great Warrior, Great Shaman? Separation of powers? Nah, not quite.
Great Warrior from a festival tournament, Great Shaman as the one with top shamanic talent... Great Tribal Chief stays hereditary. Hmm. And that obsidian spear I fixed myself way back—still passed down? If it's with the Great Tribal Chief, better make a new weapon for the Great Warrior...
Can't exactly tell 'em to share the obsidian spear. Gotta think on it. What weapon to give the Lizardman Great Warrior?
No, change gears. Instead of handing down a weapon, bless whatever weapon the winner already uses? Unlike the hereditary Great Tribal Chief, this is a tournament prize—tailor it to the victor. Better than fixing one weapon type; bless something they're used to.
That'd suit the new Great Warrior too. Plus, strengthen their body. Hmm... Since they're Lizardmen, evolve their flesh into something dragon-like? Not a true dragon, but with draconic power? Plenty valuable.
Good. That wraps the Great Warrior. Next, Great Shaman... Hmm. Pick the one with the best talent? Hereditary Great Tribal Chief, self-made Great Warrior via strength, talent-picked Great Shaman... Nice balance.
For the Great Shaman, direct line to me for chats, teach what they need on the spot, refine their shamanism... Yeah. Knowledge over material aid seems best.
Great Tribal Chief's fine with hereditary power. Alright. Direction set—now finalize slowly and relay to the Lizardmen... No, not all of them. Just tell the Great Tribal Chief. Next festival, hold a top warrior tourney, pick the best shaman potential for direct chat with me.
On the final day of the representative Lizardman festival, the White Flower Festival, a martial tournament selects the Great Warrior representing all Lizardmen.
Only Lizardmen may participate, and the victor earns the honorable title of Great Warrior plus the Genesis Divine Dragon's blessing—evolving beyond mere Lizardman into a dragonkin.
Of course, it's a temporary blessing, lasting only the one year as Great Warrior.
But even a one-year blessing can't be dismissed. Upon receiving it, the body reverts to its prime, all physical ailments vanishing cleanly.
Records tell of a Great Warrior with severe heart disease and other issues, yet unmatched in skill. Blessed by the Genesis Divine Dragon, all problems resolved. A year later, when another took the title and the blessing departed... his body remained perfectly cured, inexplicably.
Simply becoming Great Warrior and receiving the Genesis Divine Dragon's blessing cures even trivial ills like disease.