True Name Knowledge

Hearing Bahamut's request, Pete had no choice but to follow the method from before and try praying to Noven:

"God of Knowledge Noven above, if You can hear my plea, please tell me how I can gain Bahamut's trust!"

The major gods Pete had previously worshipped, such as the Goddess of Magic and the God of Radiance, had vast numbers of followers, so prayers required strict formats. Otherwise, it was difficult to receive a response from the corresponding deity. Outer gods were much more lenient in this regard; usually, as long as the divine name was correct, the prayer was complete and the request could be conveyed to the god.

Noven, who had been watching Pete's situation the entire time, naturally received his request immediately. Right after that, Noven experienced something similar to when he had obtained the spell [Hada's Hunger]. A new spell instantly became second nature to him, and he mastered it completely.

"True Name Knowledge?"

Noven was a little puzzled.

When Pete had been interrogated, Noven had already learned that the way to get Pete released was to gain the interrogator's trust. He had also learned the interrogator's name was Bahamut.

Yet when his authority activated now, it gave him a spell called [True Name Knowledge].

The spell was not complicated. In terms of casting difficulty alone, it was only at the level of a Tier 2 spell.

Its effect was also very simple. Through the power of arcane magic, it could perform something akin to divination, discovering and calling forth the target's true name. It could also see through disguises created by false names.

"If simply knowing someone's name is enough to gain their trust, why would I need a spell? Couldn't I just have Pete read out the name from the divine revelation?"

"Isn't that completely redundant?"

Noven could not figure out what this spell had to do with gaining Bahamut's trust. After all, his authority would only provide effective solutions. It might be a spell, or it might be having a believer complete some task. But it would not tell him why that solution worked.

Based on the information at hand, Noven began to analyze it.

"It definitely can't be as simple as knowing the true name. If it were, the authority of my divine office should have directly told the believer to say Bahamut's name."

"Instead, it gave me a new spell."

"The difference between calling it forth through magic and saying it directly... seems to be only one thing: the former can, to a certain extent, see through the other party's disguise."

Noven felt he had found a lead.

"In other words? This guy named Bahamut might be hiding something he doesn't want others to know?"

[Quest issued.]

[Quest: Learn the spell [True Name Knowledge]. Progress: 0%]

[Quest: Cast [True Name Knowledge] on Bahamut Conkduntesgrazchardon. Casts: 0/1]

Noven had not spent much time thinking in the Divine Kingdom, so Pete soon heard the familiar chime again.

"A Tier 2 spell? That's fine. I should be able to handle this."

Pete did not overthink it. With Noven serving as an external brain, all he had to do was follow the tasks in the divine revelation.

With his previous experience learning [Hada's Hunger], Pete was much more practiced this time. Using the same method, he began trying to manipulate the Weave.

As he sensed the ambient magical energy scattered throughout the surroundings and decoded the chaotic information he received piece by piece, Pete noticed a different detail.

"The magical energy in different environments produces different results after its chaotic information is decoded according to the format?"

Although this differed somewhat from the first time Pete had cast a spell this way, it did not affect the spell. He soon established a connection with the Weave once more.

Setting those doubts aside for now, Pete continued to focus on casting.

[Current Trust Level: 40%]

Although Bahamut, seated across from him, still showed no obvious expression, his gaze had become a little more focused. But the trust level displayed in the divine revelation would not lie, and Pete was delighted.

"The God of Knowledge really is reliable! I don't know why casting this spell can earn Bahamut's trust, but just completing the step of manipulating the Weave raised his trust in me. That means this method works!"

The spell model of a Tier 2 spell was far less complex than that of a Tier 3 spell. Though Pete was only a mediocre Tier 2 caster, he had at least properly mastered several Tier 2 spells before. This time, completing [True Name Knowledge] went very smoothly.

Without much effort, Pete felt a surge of arcane energy gradually gathering at his throat under the spell's constraints.

The instant the spell was completed, Pete opened his mouth uncontrollably and made a sound clearly different from his normal voice:

"In pursuit of truth here, I call forth the true name! Your name is—Bahamut Conkdun... cough! Cough cough! Cough cough cough!!!"

When Pete began chanting, something had already seemed off about Bahamut's once-calm expression. By the time the true-name portion began, Bahamut's face changed sharply. Without hesitation, he thrust out his right index finger and jabbed it through the air at Pete!

"Counterspell!"

Pete felt as though someone had suddenly seized his vocal cords halfway through speaking. In reality, it was even worse. Not only was his spell forcibly interrupted, but he could barely breathe. His throat burned with piercing pain, and it felt as if something had struck his head hard. His ears rang with endless buzzing, leaving him completely unable to focus!

"Cough... cough cough! Cough!!!"

As a purely "academic-type" caster, he had never experienced a real battle between spellcasters. Caught completely off guard by a [Counterspell] cast by at least a Tier 5 caster, what should have merely been a spell for interrupting another person's chant ended up locking him down for dozens of seconds!

More than half a minute later, Pete barely recovered. His face was full of shock. "No, sir! I prayed to the God of Knowledge just as you said, and this was the spell He answered me with. I did exactly as you asked, so why did you—cough... stop me from casting it!"

This time, Bahamut was brief and direct, speaking very quickly. "No need. I believe you have nothing to do with those evil god worshippers."

Pete Chinar blinked. "Huh? But I haven't finished the spell yet..."

"No, no, you've done more than enough, young man. I believe you. I believe you very much now, absolutely believe you! Here, just sign your name here."

Bahamut handed over the sheet of paper he had been using to take notes.

For some reason, Pete felt that Bahamut no longer sounded as composed as before. Instead, there was a trace of urgency in his voice, as though he were anxious to leave this place.

Only then did Pete remember to check the divine revelation again.

[Current Trust Level: 77%]

[Quest completed.]

"What happened??"