Handcrafting a Talent Detection Array

Rena was delighted to receive a response from the God of Knowledge, but when she saw that the method required her to undergo a vocational talent assessment, the joy in her eyes immediately dimmed, replaced by disappointment.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing the change in the girl's mood, Pete asked.

"The God of Knowledge suggested that I undergo a vocational talent assessment, but... I can't afford the testing fee," Rena said regretfully.

Pete understood.

Vocational talent assessments had almost nothing to do with ordinary families. The testing fees were prohibitively expensive.

This was different from testing one's affinity with a specific god alone.

Other than the "easygoing" Goddess of Magic, who did not care much about her believers and allowed them to come and go freely, most gods on the Prantis Continent were actually rather petty.

Mortals had to offer their first formal prayer to a god and establish a connection before they could sense the exact degree of affinity they had with that deity.

If their affinity was low and they intended to abandon their faith to "turn to another god," then aside from losing the blessings of their current god, they would also be "blacklisted" by most gods for a time.

At the shortest, it would be a year. At the longest, several years—or even longer.

During that time, mortals who had abandoned their faith would become "godforsaken." No god would be willing to accept their prayers, nor could they receive the blessings of any god other than the Goddess of Magic.

Moreover, the gods would remember their history of abandoning their faith. If they wished to become true believers, fanatics, or even holy spirits in the future, the higher they aimed, the harder it would be for faith-abandoners to advance.

The reason was easy enough to understand.

From a god's perspective, someone who kept hopping between different gods was clearly an uncommitted fence-sitter. Since they could abandon their former god, perhaps one day they would abandon their current god for the same reason.

Naturally, the gods disliked such opportunistic behavior.

Therefore, choosing one's faith was an extremely important matter for mortals. They needed to thoroughly understand the characteristics and influence of the corresponding god. If they only discovered after praying that the god was unsuitable, most people could only resign themselves to it.

After all, if they did not intend to become vocational practitioners, even shallow believers could enjoy the most basic, faint blessing. Switching faiths would not make that much difference.

Of course, if they wanted to embark on the path of a vocational practitioner, it was best to choose the god most suited to their development path from the very beginning.

To find the god with whom they had the highest affinity, they needed to undergo a talent assessment ritual.

A true talent assessment ritual required a true believer of Phil, God of Justice, to preside over it.

The subject would enter a specific ritual array, and Phil's believer would use divine magic to request that the God of Justice cast down his gaze. With his boundless divine power, he would comprehensively evaluate the subject's affinity with every god.

However, true believers of the God of Justice were exceedingly rare.

The requirements to become one of his true believers were extremely stringent. One had to conform to the doctrine, act fairly and impartially, show no favoritism, never lie or deceive, uphold promises and oaths, and maintain order.

Only a small number of people could meet those standards.

As far as Pete knew, there were only a handful of true believers of the God of Justice in all of Greenport.

Hiring one of them to perform divine magic and assess someone's vocational talent would cost an astronomical sum for ordinary people.

Pete frowned. "That can't be right. The God of Knowledge knows your current circumstances. He shouldn't ask you to do something you can't accomplish."

"Besides telling you to undergo a vocational talent assessment, what else did the God of Knowledge say?"

Rena hesitated. "Um, there was another sentence below it. It said I needed to pay 5 knowledge points."

"Mr. Pete, what are knowledge points?"

Pete patiently explained, "The God of Knowledge told me that he will not help us unconditionally at any time. He wants us to make our own efforts."

"The God of Knowledge watches over his believers. If they act according to his doctrine and offer him faith, he rewards them with knowledge points."

"Don't worry about whether your affinity with Noven, the God of Knowledge, is high enough. As long as you have enough knowledge points, you can exchange them with him for whatever you need."

"How many knowledge points do you have now?"

Rena calmed herself and focused inward.

[Current knowledge points: 10]

"I have 10 points! It seems like when the God of Knowledge accepted my faith, he said it was some kind of new believer benefit reward!"

Pete clicked his tongue. He was a little envious at first. He had gone through the trouble of preaching to Rena and had only earned 5 knowledge points, yet Rena had received 10 points simply for becoming a believer.

But then he thought of how, when his life had been in danger, the God of Knowledge had directly given him a powerful third-tier spell. The [Arcane Missile] he had later used at the police station and to defeat the thugs had also been directly granted to him by the God of Knowledge.

Comforting himself that way, Pete felt more balanced.

"Try spending the required 5 points and see what method the God of Knowledge gives you," Pete suggested.

Obediently, Rena closed her eyes and tried to call upon Noven.

As her thoughts shifted, a notification arrived:

[Believer's request detected.]

[You have lost 5 knowledge points.]

[Reward: Principles for Creating a Vocational Talent Assessment Array, Basic Assessment Method]

Rena's eyes widened in astonishment!

"Mr. Pete! The God of Knowledge gave me... something called the Principles for Creating a Vocational Talent Assessment Array. There also seems to be some matching assessment method!"

As she spoke, Rena discovered that she could view more detailed information in the notification.

"It says in the principles that we need an empty room of at least 50 square meters, then use mage-imbued paint to draw an array proportionate to the room..."

"...Prepare a silver scale, a longsword, and a statue of Phil, God of Justice, and place them at the array's three ritual points. Um, it seems their weight and materials also need to be specifically calculated according to the scale of the array."

Pete was dumbfounded.

He had undergone a vocational talent assessment once when he was in the Rayak Kingdom. Of course, the result had been terrible. He was not particularly compatible with most vocational paths. No matter which profession he chose, it would be difficult for him to advance to the third tier.

To satisfy the noble inheritance law, he had to reach the third tier in at least one combat profession. That was why Pete had ultimately chosen the comparatively less grueling Goddess of Magic, whose faith he could abandon at any time, and followed the mage path.

He remembered that the talent assessment ritual back then had indeed included things like a scale, a longsword, and a statue in the array!

If the information provided by Noven, the God of Knowledge, was all accurate...

Pete thought of a possibility so exciting that it made him tremble:

Could people like them, who were not true believers of Phil, God of Justice, actually handcraft an assessment array and complete a vocational talent assessment themselves?