Knowledge Points and the Reward System

Pete had wanted to help with what had happened to Rena's family, but there was little he could do.

At the end of the day, such things were not uncommon in Greenport. Goblins were naturally a greedy and fickle race, and the one the Stonemasons Brotherhood had encountered—Slyshadow Shatterstone—was one of the most shameless brokers among them.

Goblin brokers often had their own channels. They acted as intermediaries between clients and contractors, making money off both sides by collecting commissions and taking cuts.

Whenever people took jobs from brokers, the brokers would certainly find every possible way to skim and withhold money. Failing that, they would drag things out as long as they could, inventing all sorts of excuses to delay payment. Owing money and refusing to repay it was one of a goblin's most common traits.

Worse still, brokers often had no fixed residence, changing locations after every job. Once they got the money, they would likely charter the nearest goblin airship and flee to another part of the Prantis Continent for a vacation—and to lie low, lest their creditors come knocking.

Slyshadow Shatterstone stood out even among shameless goblin brokers because he had done something even more despicable:

Rather than lying low, he had hired Dursley as his thug, intending to brazenly refuse to pay the huge sum of compensation.

If Rena's family's troubles were to be resolved, the key naturally lay with Dursley and his Bloodfang Gang.

Unless they dealt with the Bloodfang Gang, they could not demand payment from Slyshadow.

The Bloodfang Gang was nothing like the handful of thugs Pete had beaten before. They had their own territory and supported several professionals. Whether in combat power or wealth, they were far beyond what the Stonemasons Brotherhood could compare to.

If they were to confront the Bloodfang Gang head-on, Pete alone would definitely not be enough.

Third-tier large-scale spells like [Hada's Hunger] could threaten the lives of the Bloodfang Gang's professionals. The problem was that while such spells were suitable for eliminating monsters like evil god cultists, Greenport prohibited their use against ordinary intelligent races.

If he truly used one on members of the Bloodfang Gang, people would most likely die.

That would not only make them mortal enemies of the Bloodfang Gang, but also get them wanted by Greenport.

Pete had come to Greenport to earn proof of being a third-tier mage. His monthly living expenses were barely over one gold coin. He had not come here to risk his life against people!

Pete: I sympathize with them, but I don't want to get involved. It's not worth it for me.

Noven: No, you do!

Noven had been using the [Eye of God] to observe through Pete's perspective the entire time. When he learned of Rena's plight, he immediately realized that his opportunity to spread the faith and gain new believers had arrived.

What did Rena and her father's Stonemasons Brotherhood need most right now?

Strength!

Wasn't the reason Dursley's harassment had left them helpless that ordinary people had no real means of resistance before professionals?

The way to break the deadlock was actually simple.

As long as the Stonemasons Brotherhood also had enough professionals, they could naturally eliminate the Bloodfang Gang's threat!

Noven was very familiar with this!

To give Pete the motivation to spread the "gospel of the God of Knowledge" to Rena, while the two drank in the tavern, Noven was not idle in the Divine Kingdom either.

Drawing on the information he had previously discovered regarding the consumption of divine authority, Noven decided to introduce a simple "reward system" among his believers at this stage.

Noven had no intention of becoming his believers' nanny. If they turned to him in prayer for answers whenever anything happened, then no matter how little divine power each prayer consumed, he would not be able to withstand the drain from such a vast number of prayers.

When Pete was his only believer, Noven had no choice. If he did not help him, he would not even have a source of divine power.

But once the number of believers grew through missionary work, meticulous care would not make them cherish it more. Most people would instead take it for granted.

Only by using a suitable system to turn a god's power into rewards could he properly motivate his believers.

Under Noven's design, whether believers sought knowledge of spells and combat techniques from him, information about particular matters, or anything else, they would all need to pay varying amounts of [Knowledge Points].

Want to become stronger? Want to solve your problems?

Noven could do it all, but believers first needed to work hard to earn points instead of lying back and waiting for divine help!

The [Knowledge Points] system had an immediate effect:

After receiving the divine revelation and learning Noven's "rules of faith," Pete decisively changed his original plan to stand by and do nothing about Rena's troubles!

He had already tasted the enormous benefits of believing in Noven!

The third-tier spell that had troubled him for so long—the God of Knowledge could help him learn it successfully.

The first-tier spells that gave him actual combat ability—the God of Knowledge could teach those too, and they were smoother and easier to use than the system employed by the followers of the Goddess of Magic!

There was no need to humbly beg the Weave for a response, and there were none of those constipation-like spell slot restrictions!

As long as his mind could endure it, he could enjoy the thrill of a true professional's combat, firing spells like an artillery platform!

If someone told Pete now that he could no longer use any of these things and had to return to the hard days of worshipping the Goddess of Magic, he felt he would surely go mad.

Pete even felt that the power of Noven, this God of Knowledge, was practically the temptation of an evil god from legend.

Mortals clearly knew that worshipping evil gods would bring grave consequences, yet they simply could not resist the temptation! It was too alluring. Once you got a taste, you could never quit, willingly walking toward corruption!

In short, if he wanted to keep enjoying the many benefits of believing in Noven, he had to work hard to earn more [Knowledge Points].

All he had to do was preach to Rena and find a way to bring her faith before the God of Knowledge. It was not as if he had to risk his life against the Bloodfang Gang right now. How was five Knowledge Points any different from getting them for free?

"Ahem!"

Pete cleared his throat, recalling the gestures he had learned in his noble etiquette classes.

"Rena, please allow me to take a little of your time. I would like to introduce you to a great being—the God of Knowledge, Noven!"

"If you are willing to offer faith to the God of Knowledge and receive His response, then I believe there may be a way to solve the problems you are facing."

Rena blinked.

"The God of Knowledge? I don't think I've ever heard of this god."

"It is normal that you have not heard of Him, because the God of Knowledge only recently awakened from a long slumber. Few people in this world still know His divine name. But as long as you offer Him faith, His great power can still help those in trouble."

Pete directly repeated the persona Noven had prepared earlier for his divine identity.

"To be honest, before you knew me, I was actually a mediocre mage with no real combat ability. It was the God of Knowledge who taught me the true mysteries of magic, allowing me to become the great mage you see before you."

Suddenly learning that there was a god she had never heard of, one who could solve her troubles so long as she believed in Him, made Rena feel as though a pie had fallen from the sky—too unreal to believe.

But seeing the sincerity in Pete's expression, hope rose in Rena's heart.

"I think... Mr. Pete, you helped us drive away those thugs before, and you saved my life too. You definitely aren't a bad person, so... I'm willing to believe you!"

"God of Knowledge... what do I need to do to offer him my faith?"