Greed: All For What? - Chapter 1743: Unconditional Faith.

This is not her natural strength. Axec was at level 44 when they told Warshaw to choose her. It was their blessing that improved her so much and grated her access to Mana. That access to Mana is why they are confident that she will beat every challenger tomorrow.

She doesn’t have a class yet, which means she won’t be able to use mana techniques and skills. But just the natural endowment of mana will help her heal and recover her stamina faster.

The council members are older and so are more skilled. But they don’t have mana. That means they won’t have the replenishment of stamina and the boost to power that mana grants. If that boost increases to 10% in the two days they have, Axec will have another edge over her challengers.

Sure, it would have been better to choose one of the council members as their champion, but they didn’t do that because strength is not the priority. Faith and obedience to the gods are the priorities.

They couldn’t afford to kill the blasphemer immediately or curse him, but they had to make a show by selecting someone that is unlikely to become a council member and make that person become the chief. It indicates that with the support of the gods, anything is possible and will teach the mortals to always trust in gods and obey them.

It is the best that they could do, being that it costs less and is most efficient. If they had enough divine energy, they would have killed the blasphemer and selected a stronger person as chief.

That method would be swift and thunderous. Their current method might be efficient, but it is slow, and risky. But most important of all, it gives them two days to acquire more believers and gain divine energy.

When the day of the challenge comes, they believe that they will have much divine energy to make actions that will prove their existence and power beyond any doubt, reasonable or unreasonable. So they are actually looking forward to the challenge, not anxious about its outcome.

Axec finally recovered from her stupor. Warshaw was waiting for her.

The old orc asked, “Do you now know where my confidence lies?”

Axec nodded. “I do.”

“What do I rely on?” Warshaw asked.

“You are confident that I will win because of mana.”

Warshaw said with disdain, “You are wrong. Mana is just the blessing from the gods. What I rely on is the gods themselves. They chose you, so you will win in two days. That is divine ordainment. You owe everything to the 9 Crowns. They can give and take away.”

Axec nodded in agreement. “The gods are all powerful.”

“Of course. That’s what gives divine ordainment its legitimacy. Even if you were not blessed, you would still win. The gods could have killed that blasphemer today, but it is his destiny to be killed in the challenge by your axe. That will show the legitimacy of divine ordainment and give glory to the 9 crowns.”

Axec nodded in agreement as her confidence also soared. She was beginning to have some faith.

Warshaw said to her, “Come with me to give worship to the 9 crowns.”

Axec was brought to the shrine of the 9 gods, where she bowed.

She swore solemnly, “If I win the challenge and become chief, the whole tribe and my life will belong to you. I will give my all to you.”

Warshaw frowned. She didn’t like how that promise was phrased. She believes that everything already belongs to the gods. They don’t need someone to give it to them. It is the opposite. The mortals are to hand over everything they have so that they can please the gods. Everything in all of existence is for their pleasure.

As a zealot, she didn’t keep her displeasure to herself. She made sure to lecture the future chief about how to respect the gods. This lecture was not a simple act of mentioning Axec’s error with her promise. It was an in-depth analysis that took 10 minutes and would have continued for longer if Hogglings hadn’t arrived.

“Meditate on what I have told you. Your acceptance of the gods will improve your connection with mana. Think of mana as the power from gods. If you try to get closer to the gods, then you will get closer to Mana.” Warshaw said to Axec before she left her to minister onto Hogging.

Hogging was also blessed by the 9 crowns. It improved his stats and his resistance to the poison. He reached level 50 immediately. It is the limit of what orcs are capable of, and he even gained access to Mana. All of these made him confident of surviving for 3 days.

Legion spent 1 divine energy to acquire that outcome. It is likely that Hoggings will be able to heal himself in 3 days. If not, 3 days is more than enough time for them to establish their church and gain a steady source of divine energy. So they will be able to heal him then.

It shows just how powerful the gods are. A simple blessing, when used right, can acquire them the loyalty and faith of a peak fighting force as a guardian for their Oracle and a chief of a tribe.

With Hogging protecting Warshaw, she won’t die before they have made full use of everything she has to offer. And with Axec, they will have the whole tribe under their thumbs. So they are off to a good start. It all hinges on Axec winning her battle in two days.

In the meantime, some of the rewards for their hard work came in. Warshaw was poor, so she couldn’t offer more than her best bull. Axec is a hunter, so she had more to spare. Hoggling, on the other hand, is very rich and also very grateful to the 9 gods. He was willing to offer everything he still owned to the gods.