Chapter 91: ~Registration.~ (1/2)

***Norfolk, Sarn***

***Ascathon***

“So? Everyone ready to be introduced to the upper pantheon of gods?” Lidith grins while she looks over Celestial, Jazira and me.

Jazira is the only one who seems to be excited about the whole event. She is actually clapping her hands while hopping up and down.

“The reaction is much weaker than I expected.” Lidith sighs and pulls a grimace.

“What do you expect? I am managing a country. It was very hard to create enough free time to visit this party of yours. Are you sure that it's really necessary to stay for the whole duration of one week?” Celestial grumbles.

I nod. “I have some very important experiments on my schedule. To be honest, I am not that eager either.”

“Jeez. You guys are boring. Don't you know there are other things in life besides work?” Jazira points up to the sky. “Come on Lidith! Show us the way! Let's go!”

“Alright, alright. Everyone, hold onto me. I'll take you there. Just remember the pathway I use, so that you can go back on your own if the need arises.” Lidith signals for us to come closer and we form a circle around her.

I press my lips together and hold onto Lidith's shoulder. As soon as everyone is ready she pulls us onto a pathway and the world around us disappears. I am still not used to the pathways. They defy my understanding of reality.

But I have no time to ponder over the strange behaviour of this phenomenon. The world around us reforms almost instantly and we are standing on a big plaza with hundreds of people. There is a single huge pyramidal building in front of us.

Most of the people are headed for the entrance to the pyramid. When I take a look around I immediately realize that there is no horizon in this world! Instead the ground curves upwards as it increases in the distance.

Where I would expect the sky, I find oceans and continents instead! A single star is lighting the sky. “Holy shit! A Dyson Sphere!” The words escape my mouth.

“Ha! I knew that you would be surprised, that's why I didn't warn you. The host of this party is Sous. He invited us into his home. Sous is a very lazy character.” Lidith explains happily.

“How many people are living in this place? Isn't a Dyson Sphere big enough to take in thousands or millions of worlds?” Celestial gasps.

I shake my head. “You may be right for the theoretical construct, but this one has to be a miniature version. And I think that the light in the sky isn't a real star either. If this were a real Dyson Sphere, we wouldn't be able to see the continents on the other side. It's still huge nonetheless.”

Lidith snorts. “You take the fun away from it. It's just big enough for a few hundred worlds. The star is an artificial construct. And for your question. Sous lives and works alone. He doesn't like mortals or anyone else.”

My gaze wanders to Lidith. “He built his own Dyson Sphere for himself? Just how powerful is this guy?”

Lidith smirks. “He is a little more powerful than the average god, but he isn't in a whole other dimension. His home may be impressive, but he accomplished it by investing a huge amount of time and resources. And he employed other gods too. It's not like he did everything on his own.”

“You can employ other gods?” Jazira looks at Lidith with newly sparked interest.

“Of course. I already mentioned that you can trade valuables with other gods. Who says that you can't buy their working force? Many gods don't have much else to offer. Not everyone is a talented artificer or a great artist.” Lidith walks off and heads for the pyramid.

The three of us follow her and we row up with the other gods. It's a very boring display. Even the gods didn't get rid of bureaucracy.

When we finally reach the reception, Lidith places both hands at the edge of the receptionists writing table and smiles at the goddess who notes down the guests. Her childlike body is a hindrance in some aspects.

The goddess who is playing the receptionist takes a bored look at Lidith. She looks human, but her hair is shining and changing its colour like a rainbow. “Name?”

“Lidith the Red!”

The receptionist types the name into a computer terminal and takes a closer look at Lidith. “I thought you were bigger. The stories don't give a proper impression of you.”

“Why 'the Red'?” Celestial looks confused at Lidith, who starts to smile and waves her hand. “Forget it, just old stories. A stupid nickname which stuck to me.”

“Next!” The receptionist looks annoyed at us.

“Ah, I forgot! These three are new. They need an ID!” Lidith gestures at us.

“All three of them!?” The receptionist gasps.

We all nod and the receptionist waves us behind the counter into a small room. “You need your divinities checked and then my colleague will give you a proper analysis of your potential.”

I grumble. “That sounds time consuming and boring. Why do we need an ID in the first place? I thought there are no big political groups within the ranks of gods?”

“There are still some groups which concentrate on trade and prefer to talk to someone with an identification.” She turns to the table with the couch within the room. An elderly guy with wrinkles and grey hair is lying on the couch. He is snoring and has his eyes closed.

The receptionist shakes him. “Wake up! We need three IDs.”

The guy yawns and sits up. Then he focuses on us. “So much work! I thought I had signed up for the best job ever! How can there be three new gods at once!?”

Receptionist scowls and leaves the room. “Do your work, or we switch places.”

The old fart looks at us and waves his hand. Three stacks of paper pops up out of nowhere and he throws them at us. “Fill out the forms.”