It was the second day after William had finished his training with Celine. He had just finished his daily martial arts routine and was waiting for the sun to rise from the East.
'I wonder what Mama is doing right now,' William thought as he took off his shirt and started to wipe his body with a towel.
He hadn't seen Ella for the past two years and his Grandpa only told him that she was busy training along with the rest of his herd.
After he finished drying himself off, William sat on the hill as the first rays of sunlight peeked from behind the hill to the East. Watching the sunrise, and sunset, had become a habit in this lifetime. It reminded him of the days back on Earth when he had missed many beautiful opportunities because of his illness.
While gazing at the sunrise, he heard the familiar sound of receiving a notification from the system.
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< Ding! >
< You've received mail from the God Shop! >
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"Mail?" William muttered as he opened his inbox from his God Shop. This was the very first time he had received mail from the system and he was very curious about its contents. He read the mail and was surprised when he saw that there was an attachment included in it.
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To our beloved Patron!
The God of Shepherd is currently celebrating his 3021'st Birthday. Due to this, his Excellency David, had decided to send gifts to his close friends and acquaintances.
As the number one provider of God Tier Artifacts since Time Immemorial, the God Shop was tasked to send the God's gifts free of charge!
Enclosed within this mail is the Artifact "Bell of Athanasia", courtesy of the God of Shepherd. It is a special artifact that is said to give happiness to the one who wears it.
P.S
All goods delivered by the God Shop are in perfect condition. We will not accept Claims and Refunds for any damaged or defective goods. We don't handle that sh*t!
Did you like our services? Please leave us a review on our website!. We will automatically delete 3 stars reviews and below. Anyone who dares to leave bad reviews will be cursed with not being able to raise their PPs ever again!
Your's Truly,
God Shop Manager
Serving you since Time Immemorial~
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"Bell of Anthanasia?" William summoned the bell from the God Shop and used his appraisal skill to check its information.
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< Bell of Anthanasia >
This bell used to belong to Amaltheia, who was sometimes called the Tender Goddess. She left the bell in the care of the God of Shepherds when she rose to the starry skies to become a constellation.
-- Grants +10 Enhancement Bonus to all stats
-- Nourishes the wearer's body to always keep it healthy.
-- Grants immunity to Poison
-- Enhances the effect of all nurturing skills
-- Grants ???? Form
-- ??????
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William read the information and agreed that it was a very good artifact. However, there were some question marks included in the information and he had no idea what it meant.
'System, is there something wrong with my appraisal skill?'
< To answer the host's question, the level of the Appraisal skill you currently possess is unable to translate the information of the artifact completely. This is a very normal thing, especially for sacred or divine artifacts that belonged to deities and Gods.>
'I see…' William nodded his head in understanding. 'I'm sure that Sir David would not do something detrimental to me. Ah! I forgot, I need to greet him with a happy birthday as well.'
William replied to the mail of the Manager of the God Shop and respectfully asked him to pass a message to the God of Shepherds. William thanked David in his letter and greeted him with a Happy Birthday. He also apologized and promised to make an offering the next time he went to a temple as thanks for David's generosity.
After sending his reply, he once again looked at the bell in his hand. From all angles, it looked like an ordinary silver bell with no special features. If not for the information he got from the Appraisal Skill, William would think that he was pranked by the God Shop.
"Meeeeeeeeh!"
A familiar greeting reverberated in the air and William hurriedly stood and looked at the direction where the call came from. There, he saw Ella running towards him in haste.
William grinned and ran towards his Mama and the two were finally reunited after two years of separation.
"Mama, I missed you."
"Meeeeh!"
"How have you been?"
"Meeeeh."
The two chatted for a long time as they asked each other what they had been doing for the past two years that they were not together. Ella told him that she and the other goats trained with Marcus and Thunder in the Northern part of the Hellan Kingdom.
She added that there were also many Angorian War Ibexes in the place where they trained.
William listened to Ella's story and frowned when he heard that they were treated as outsiders in the beginning. She even complained that they were attacked a couple of times by the Leader of the Herd of the Ibexes who demanded that they submit to him.
Naturally, none of the goats agreed to its demands because they already belonged to William's herd. That was where the problem started and they were continuously harassed during their training. Not only by the goats, but the Tribes who lived in that region as well.
Of course, Ella and the other goats tried to fight back, but they were severely outnumbered. There were only fourteen of them, and their enemies numbered in the thousands. How could they possibly win?
Fortunately, Marcus was with them and Ella told the red-headed boy that the Senior Shepherd of Lont had a long talk with the Chief of the Tribe.
After their talk, none of the War Ibexes and the members of the tribe harassed them ever again. This allowed the goats to train in the harsh environment of the Northern Region where blizzards and hailstorms happened on a regular basis.
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In turn, William told Ella his training with Owen, Trent, Dwayne, and Celine. Naturally, he downplayed the harshness of the training in order to not make Ella upset. The two talked for a long time until it was almost lunch time.
"Mama, I have something for you."
"Meeeeh?"
"This is a divine artifact and I want you to have it, Mama." William presented the silver bell to Ella and rang it a few times.
"Meeeeeh." Ella bleated softly when she saw the bell. Her instinct was telling her that it was a very precious object and she felt touched that William was planning to give it to her.
The bell was attached to a silver collar that automatically adjusted its size to accommodate its wearer. William lovingly adjusted the collar on Ella's neck and secured it in place.
"Mama, do you feel any discomfort?"
Ella shook her head and licked William's cheeks in reply.
"I need to go back to Master's house to cook her lunch. How about you, Mama?"
"Meeeeeeh."
"Alright, let's meet later this afternoon." William nodded.
Ella told him that she would go and look after the other members of William's herd who were currently grazing in the valley near Lont. She was the only one who returned to the town because she wanted to see how William was doing.
William gave Ella one last hug before he went to Celine's house. Ella, on the other hand, looked at William's retreating back with gentle eyes.
She bleated softly to say her thank you, not to William, but to David who had made her remember the things that had happened in the distant past. A past, when the Gods and mortals worked hand in hand, to build a paradise that she thought would last till the end of time.
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Somewhere in the Temple of the Gods…
"3021'st birthday?" Lily snorted. "What a load of crap. Can't you just be honest and say that you wanted to give him a gift? Why do things in a roundabout manner?"
The Loli Goddess was complaining because David had "tricked" William in believing that it was his birthday. Unfortunately, William had also forgotten that there were no birthday celebrants that sent gifts to other people during their birthdays.
Usually, the ones that would be receiving gifts were the birthday celebrants and not the other way around!
"Lily, you are a new generation goddess. Don't you understand the concept of paying it forward?" David asked.
"Hmp! Paying it forward? Do you really think that I'm a gullible child?" Lily answered in disdain. "I know you're up to something. An old schemer like you doesn't do things without a reason."
David played with his beard and grinned. "You think too much, Lily. It was just a gift."
"So you say, but I still smell something fishy." Lily narrowed her eyes.
David chuckled and walked away from the Loli Goddess in order to escape her interrogation. Truth be told, the God of Shepherds was only keeping the promise he made to his old friend, Amaltheia.
A promise that he had made thousands of years ago, when the universe was still young, and mankind was just starting to take its first steps towards the unknown.