"Big Brother, please become my follower," Lily said with upturned eyes.
William was sure that if he hadn't managed to see the Loli Goddess' true form then he might have readily agreed to her pleading.
"S-Sorry, but I'm not interested!" William looked around in desperation. He looked at his Brother Issei for help, but the latter only nodded his head with a smile.
"The Loli Goddess is also a good choice, Brother," Issei commented. "A few of my lovers are lolis. Not only are they cute and adorable, they are also very loyal as well!"
Lily gave William a big grin. "Big Brother, come, choose me as your Patron God. I promise that you won't regret it. Remember, jail is just another room. Out of sight, out of mind!"
Seeing that his sworn brother was in cahoots with the Loli Granny, William's gaze shifted to the one God that had never left his side since the day he stepped inside the temple.
"G-Gavin! Please, help me!" William pleaded.
"Why should I help you? Lily is a good Goddess." Gavin smirked. "The two of you are a match made in Heaven."
"Right! The two of us are a match made in Heaven!" Lily happily nodded her head in agreement.
William could feel that his body was slowly turning numb. Maybe it was due to his body's reaction to the Loli Goddess, or perhaps it was due to the divine essence that was being released by Lily at close proximity.
Out of desperation, William used a trump card that would ensure his safety.
"Gavin, if you help me then I promise to become your follower!" William roared.
Lily was taken aback by William's decision. This was the first time this happened to her. The majority of the people that had entered the temple would always agree to sign a contract with her the moment she acted cute and clingy.
It never crossed her mind that because of her actions, she forced William into a dead end.
"You heard him, Lily," Gavin stepped forward and pried the little loli away from William's stiff body.
"Che!" Lily pouted.
After being freed from the Loli-Granny's hold, William was finally able to relax. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before looking at Gavin with grateful eyes.
"Give me the contract," William said. "I will sign it."
Gavin didn't do anything and simply looked at William with a serious expression. He really wanted to give the boy his contract, but he didn't want to force him either. The God of all Trades knew that he played dirty in order to get William's promise and he felt very guilty.
"What's the rush?" Gavin cleared his throat. "It would be best if we talk about this while having good food."
"Sounds like a great idea." Issei nodded his head in agreement. He felt that something was amiss, but he decided to just follow the flow for now.
"I'm coming, too!" Lily didn't want to be left out, so she decided to follow them.
Gavin took William and the two tag-along Gods to the most popular restaurant inside the Temple. This restaurant was personally managed by the God of Cooking.
William's tongue almost melted when he took his first bite.
"D-Delicious!" William was in awe and devoured the food on his plate with gusto.
Although he was already dead, the food made him recall the time when he went to sleep while feeling hungry. The orphanage didn't have many funds and the food was limited. He would often share his meal with his little brother and sisters so that they wouldn't feel too hungry.
The three Gods caught a glimpse of his sad memory and ordered more foods to be brought to their table. They looked at the boy with pitiful eyes and decided to let him eat a lifetime worth of delicious food.
After the meal ended, William patted his swollen belly in contentment.
"That was the best," William said as he closed his eyes in satisfaction.
"Do you want more?" Gavin asked. "We could always order more."
"Thank you, but I'm already full."
"Alright. If you say so."
William glanced around the restaurant. Most of the customers were Gods. He deemed that most of the Chosen Ones had already chosen their Patron Gods and entered their cycle of reincarnation.
"Gavin, can you please tell me the duties of a follower?" William scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I don't really get this stuff. Is there something that I must do in exchange for your blessing?"
"Before that, let me tell you more about me." Gavin decided to come clean. He wanted William to choose him by his own free will and not because he was forced to do it. "After my explanation, you can decide whether you want to choose me to become your Patron God or not."
William was surprised by Gavin's demeanor. In the end, he decided to nod his head and listen to the God's explanation.
Seeing that William was giving him his full attention, Gavin started his explanation.
"As you may already know, my slogan is Jack of all Trades, Master of None. Just like your good Brother, Issei, the moment you sign my contract then you will receive my blessing. My blessing works like this, you will have a twenty percent increase in the experience that you will gain when you increase the level of your job class."
"Job class? Just like in games?" William asked. He had played RPG's before and he was quite familiar with the leveling concept. The boy had also read plenty of novels in regards to cultivation and virtual games, so it was easy for him to understand Gavin's explanation.
"Yes. That is the first benefit of becoming my follower." Gavin nodded his head in confirmation. "The second benefit is that you will get an extra skill point whenever your job class levels up. Isn't that amazing?"
"It is indeed amazing. However, I have one question."
"And that is?"
"Will your blessing apply to the world I am going to live in? I doubt that your blessing will be useful if I was reincarnated on Earth. Afterall, there are no monsters on Earth. You can't gain experience from killing monsters."
"Who said you only gain experience when killing monsters?" Gavin asked back with a knowing smile.
"You don't have to kill monsters?" William asked back.
"You don't need to kill monsters in order to gain experience to upgrade your job class. Remember this WIlliam, every world has its laws. I believe you Earthlings have a saying when in Rome, do what Romans do. The same can be said to other worlds. When you live in that world, you do the things that people do in that world, understand?"
"Yes."
"Good," Gavin continued his explanation. "The third benefit is this. Once you unlocked ten jobs, you will be able to merge them all together! For example, you can be a knight, a priest, a sorcerer, a druid, a dragon warrior, etc. etc!"
"That sounds too good to be true. What is the catch?" William was not naive. If everyone could have this overpowered ability then Gavin wouldn't be this desperate to make him his follower.
Gavin gave a wry smile as he decided to be honest with William. "The thing is, most people can only have one to three professions in their lifetime. Achieving ten professions or more is only possible for long lived creatures like the elves."
"So basically, if I'm not born an elf then I'm fcked?"
"Not exactly. Only the ability to merge the job classes into one will remain unreachable for you. The rest of the benefits remain."
"Oh, that's good news then." William felt relieved because the blessings that Gavin mentioned were not a bad deal. "Alright, where do I sign?"
"Are you sure that you really wanted to become my follower? There are better Gods out there you know," Gavin replied.
"It's fine. I trust you." William looked at Gavin seriously. "I believe that you are telling me the truth."
Gavin felt the stone in his heart drop. He waved his hand and a contract appeared out of thin air. He then handed it to William along with a pen. The God of all Trades did his best to prevent his hands from shaking. In truth, aside from William, he only had one last follower.
A God with no followers would cease to exist.
This was why he was quite desperate to recruit William under his wing. In the end, his honesty towards the boy made the latter choose him as his Patron God.
After signing the contract, William felt a strong connection between him and Gavin. It was a very warm feeling and it made him feel safe.