Mash was not sure how to respond to the god. There was a proper way of address that his sister had told him, but he was too stunned to think of it properly. The god’s nature made his mind swirl a bit, and he found himself asking an odd question without much thought behind his words. It was more of a statement than a question, but he said it like a question.

“You’re not human?”

His tone explained that he wanted a response. Luna and Luke stared at Mash like he was crazy, but he was certain that they couldn’t see the ephemeral being. Their focus was on the stone sculpture, the strange puppet that seemed to have been carved from moonstone. To them, it seemed like that was what he was looking at too. Although he was able to see the real nature of the god and was staring openly. It took a second, but the god responded without seeming to mind his informality.

“I was human once but am not one any longer. I believe you are in the same situation. At least you can still be seen.”

That last comment didn’t have the same mysticality as the rest of her speech. Thus far she had spoken like some kind of mystical entity that had to know more information than she should. It was the slight tinge of envy in her final statement that revealed her humanity. He was relieved to hear that she was once human. It meant that God wasn’t just some random creature. The way she explained it, she couldn’t do anything about her strange situation. Whatever she had become, it was something that inherently couldn’t be seen by normal eyes. If she was using this weird puppet that probably meant she couldn’t make herself visible either.

“Why did you get such a weird puppet?”

His question earned him a glare Luke while Luna just seemed confused by the situation. She didn’t seem as tense as Luke which made him think that she had met with the goddess more than once. He pictured his sister speaking to a statue while the real goddess hovered nearby. He just couldn’t understand why the sculpture was so terrible. Did she want to make it seem like an abomination?

“It was too much work, nor am I talented at sculpting.”

That reasoning was surprisingly stupid. He wanted to ask why she hadn’t just left it to someone else but guessed that would’ve been pretty awkward for her. The goddess seemed a little childish, and he felt kind of bad for her. He didn’t really know who a god could talk to casually but imagined that a future godlike Luke and his sister were good choices. Mash started at the stone abomination and felt some pity for the goddess.

“I could probably fix that. Make it look the real you. I mean.”

His sister decided that she was tired of being left out of the conversation and interjected herself into it.

“What are you doing?”

She stood and grabbed Mash’s shoulder and started to shake him a little. She looked at him like he was a psychopath. He had assumed that she had been able to hear the conversation but didn’t think so anymore. Mash was about to explain, but the goddess interrupted his sister.

“Luna, I have been speaking to him. I will accept your offer, but you would need to pay reparations for failure.”

Mash looked at the moon fairy and raised an eyebrow at her. When she spoke to everyone’s ears, her voice was slightly different. It regained that strange mysticality. He wondered why she was speaking more casually to him. Was it because he could actually see her? She made it sound like no one had been able to do that. That would probably make her feel pretty lonely, but then again, he might just be projecting.

“How much will I get if I succeed?”

He hadn’t been planning on asking for remuneration but changed his mind once she brought up the cost. This sounded much more like a bet. She doubted his ability, but he knew that he could recreate her visage accurately. Well, Priscilla could which was basically the same thing. His sister who was still grabbing his shoulder squeezed. She was probably trying to hurt him, but she didn’t have enough strength to do that. Mash rolled his eyes at Luna. He wanted to explain how ridiculous she was being and share what the goddess really was. He did exactly that, using Priscilla to tell both Luke and Luna the truth.

[The goddess was a human at some point. A childish one at that. The statue looks nothing like her either. She is like this weird spirit next to the stone.]

Mash noticed the goddess’s gaze focus on him and realized that she had probably sensed that. He was in her domain, so of course, she could tell when he was using magic. Despite having a domain himself, he was not used to hiding from one.

“I am open to human conversation but refrain from insulting me if you would. Also, please do not spread the truth without my permission. The only reason I am willing to speak with you like this is your unique position. All of you are likely to walk a path similar to my own. “

She spoke with that formality that she had before. It was annoying to listen to and reminded him too much of Jeral.

“Can’t you talk normally? And the reward was mostly a joke. It should only take a few seconds to make the puppet.”

Mash walked over to the Stone statue. The goddess slowly drifted to his left to get out of the way. She stared at him carefully. He wasn’t sure if he overstepped his bounds, but he felt like the goddess appreciated the casualness of his words. The goddess didn’t feel cruel or anything. He felt a connection with her. They were both once humans. Even if he still looked like one, he wasn’t, and eventually, people would come to know it. Honestly, after the incident at the entrance, rumors would probably start spreading already. Mash felt bad for the goddess who could not be seen by others.

“Sorry. It is a habit; I am unused to meeting those who would become like me.”

Mash didn’t react. He was focused on the white stone that was in front of him. It was white and weirdly porous. Plus, it was emitting a gentle white light. The stone was probably pretty valuable, but he didn’t think it mattered too much. For better or worse, he felt somewhat comfortable around the god. It was kind of like when he met Daniel. There was just something about her that made it seem okay.

The situation was a little different than the one with Daniel though. For one Mash could tell that he was weaker than the little moon fairy. The quality of her mana was suffocating and oppressive, and the only reason he could resist was his encounters with even more powerful beings. His domain still let him get an idea of just how powerful the goddess was. She might not have the physical strength to overpower him, he bet that she had plenty of ways around it. Although, he wasn’t planning or preparing for a fight. Again, he felt weirdly comfortable around the goddess.

Mash started working on the sculpture, cutting it into a white stone with a wooden blade. He needed to put some sharpness enchantments on it. The stone was harder than it looked. With all of the pores on the stone, he thought that it would be pretty soft. That was proved wrong, as he struggled to cut into it. Even with the enchantments, the stone still felt hard. It was like he was cutting through clay or something.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop. The horrified look on his sister’s face was humorous. She looked like she wanted to yell or punch him, but she knew that it was too late to stop anything. As he cut the stone to better match the appearance of the fairy, he had Priscilla direct most of his movements. He physically moved his body, but she basically outlined the path his limbs should take. Ignoring his sister’s pale face, Mash addressed the goddess again.

“By the way, what’s your name? your human name, I mean. Also, I’m Mash.”

He spoke while continuing to cut the stone. It was a little awkward to introduce himself at this point in the conversation, but he still did it. The sound of the stone chipping wasn’t very loud, but occasionally a big chunk of stone would fall off. The question had just popped into his head. There was something wrong about thinking about this person as only a goddess. She was human once and was obviously trying to find people who she could interact with normally. Mash wasn’t the most perceptive person, but he could tell that she was lonely.

The statue was coming along quickly. It was harder than he expected, and he slowed down significantly in his shaping of the stone. He knew that he could manage something half-decent with Priscilla’s help, but this was turning out way better than he expected. He had been told once that he had some talent in art, but he never really believed it. Honestly, with how well he was doing, he wondered if the artistic skill was something he had picked up from one of the many things he had eaten. Maybe it was just Priscilla. Whenever he made wooden sculptures, he relied on her ability to project images into his mind.

The goddess was watching him work and was hovering beside Luke and Luna. They were also watching him silently, but they seemed much more apprehensive of him. The fact that they weren’t stopping him made him think that goddess was stopping them. Mash had explained the situation through messages, but they didn’t trust him at all. The goddess who was carefully watching his progress replied easily.

“My name was Elise. I guess it still is, but I do not know how many people would be willing to use it.”

She sounded sad yet hopeful. Sad for the forgotten name, but maybe it wouldn’t stay forgotten. Mash didn’t think he could just become friends with the goddess and doubted that he would see her very often. However, he would at least address her by name, even if that might bring more animosity. At this point, he doubted that many temples would like him very much. He continued to work on the statue, while he tried to talk about more mundane subjects.

Mash asked about Luna and the temple. He asked why Elise had become a goddess. It turned out that it just kind of happened. She was offered the class and accepted it. The process was just that simple. Things like creating a temple or garnering followers were not something gods needed to do. The more Mash asked about the gods, the more subtle hints she gave about him becoming one. That naturally brought the discussion to the main topic.

Luke and Luna had been worried the whole time, but they had relaxed a little as Mash talked with Elise. The simpleness of his conversation showed them that they didn’t need to be so careful. They had interjected a few times, but now the conversation moved towards Luke. The only reason they had gotten this audience was to discuss Luke and not a sculpting session for Mash. Mash listened at first as they discussed what it meant to become a god, the responsibilities, and the duties of the class. Also, he was surprised to hear that the class could level without killing monsters or people. It would open up new paths for levels much like his sister had. There was a large list of limitations though, and he idly worked as he listened.