The five nymphs stood in a row before Nairmis. He looked at them and said solemnly, "You have followed me for a long time. When I gave you your names, I promised to help you become gods."
All five nymphs gasped, their mouths falling open in surprise, before their bodies trembled with excitement. The surrounding spirits also raised their heads in disbelief.
"Now," Nairmis said, his gaze sweeping across each of their faces, "I ask you: are you willing to become my subordinate gods?"
Without any hesitation, the five nymphs dropped to one knee and said excitedly, "We are."
"Your Highness," Acenoe, the water nymph, raised her head, moisture shimmering in her eyes. "When you gave us our names, we knew we had chosen the right person to follow. Now that you are willing to make us your subordinate gods, we don't know how to express our gratitude, but we will always be loyal."
The other nymphs nodded vigorously beside her. "The same goes for us. We will follow Your Highness forever."
Nairmis smiled in satisfaction as he listened to their vows. The watching spirits had already erupted into whispered discussions, stifled exclamations, and envious looks.
A low stir passed through the surrounding spirits watching them. Their eyes were full of envy and longing. A nymph ascending to godhood had been unimaginable just a night ago.
Yet their master, the blond-haired Prince Nairmis, was bringing this miracle about with his own hands. They had come to the right place.
That conclusion spread through every spirit's heart. Their master was powerful, generous, and merciful, someone who truly rewarded his followers.
Nairmis looked at the five nymphs kneeling before him. He did indeed treat his own people well. Besides their being worthy of it, this was also a strategy.
Next, he needed to build a palace. He needed a stable management team, and he needed these followers to have enough motivation to carry out the tedious, arduous labor.
Granting them divinities and confirming their status as subordinate gods, letting them feel that they had a future following him, was more effective than any verbal encouragement.
Nairmis raised his right hand and touched his fingertips to the center of his chest. With a gentle tug, he peeled a strand of golden essence from the edge of his craft divinity, bringing a sharp stab of pain.
His healing divinity activated automatically, its healing power surging toward the wound to begin repairing it. Nairmis gritted his teeth and endured it, then lowered his gaze to the mass of golden essence in his palm.
His craft divinity encompassed far too many categories. Almost every concept involving these fields of production fell within it, making it ideal for creating gods wholesale.
Moreover, any gods associated with these fields who appeared in the future would strengthen the essence of craft and fall under his command.
Of course, if any god surpassed his accomplishments in craftsmanship, the craft divinity might detach on its own and fly to its new master.
But Nairmis was not worried. Papermaking alone was enough to lock the craft divinity firmly in place. Besides, he had other advanced crafts in his mind. He had more grounds for confidence than all the known craftsman gods combined.
For now, though, he needed to distribute this strand of craft essence in his hand. He continued peeling it away, condensing it into five separate points of light above his palm.
Then he opened his eyes and pushed the first point of light toward the water nymph.
When the point of light landed on her chest, it silently merged into her body. Acenoe closed her eyes. A golden sheen appeared over her body, and a divinity of weaving formed within her.
The second point of light fell into the tree nymph's chest, and Dryope became the goddess of making.
The third point of light merged into the flower nymph's chest. Antheia covered her mouth in delighted surprise. She had become the goddess of musical instruments.
The fourth point of light sank into the forest nymph's vine body. Hylea's eyes lit up as she became the goddess of tools.
The fifth point of light fell into the mountain nymph's chest. A warm brown hue appeared across Oreas's gray skin. She had become the goddess of pottery.
Nairmis withdrew his hand and felt that the core of his craft divinity remained stable. Although the separation of those five subsidiary divinities had taken a small portion of its weight, the main divinity remained intact, and he could still wield those authorities.
The five newly ascended lesser gods straightened. They still had the forms of nymphs, but from this moment onward, they were no longer bound to their birthplaces.
They were lesser gods. Although they were not much stronger than before, the structure of their souls had changed. They had gone from nature spirits to wielders of divinities.
This was a qualitative change. It meant they had freedom and could leave the streams, valleys, and forests where they had been born to follow their patron god anywhere.
"Thank you, Your Highness..." Acenoe's voice trembled as she looked up at Nairmis, moisture glistening in her eyes. "We..."
"Enough." Nairmis waved a hand, a gentle smile in his eyes. "Just work hard from now on. Now..."
He took out a sheet of untrimmed parchment and spread it over a rock, then picked up a paintbrush and quickly sketched several things: the dimensions of the stone, the specifications of the timber, and the quantity of clay.
The plans were crude, but sufficient for spirits with a basic capacity for understanding to make sense of them.
He stood and distributed the finished plans among his five newly ascended subordinate gods, having them lead the spirits in starting work.
The five nymphs accepted the parchment and nodded vigorously. The excited tears from their ascension still shone in their eyes, but now that sheen had turned into an eagerness to get to work. They headed off in different directions with the spirits assigned to them.
Nairmis watched them, a hint of a smile rising in his silver eyes without even his own notice.
"Go on, go on." He waved a hand. "Follow those five and do as they arrange. When you return, I'll have new tasks for you."
More than twenty spirits scattered through the woods, the stream valley, and the foot of the mountain. Busy figures and excited conversations filled every corner.
Nairmis nodded in satisfaction. He really did have a talent for leadership. He knew how to sell a dream, deliver on it, assign tasks, and make everyone feel that they might be next.
Then he turned, walked over to a flat rock, and sat down. At last, he had time to take stock of himself.
He had advanced too quickly lately, going from a mass of chaos qi to a third-class god, with barely a pause along the way to take careful inventory.
His body was like a room piled high with miscellaneous objects. Various divinities, divine natures, and divine power tangled together, some already formed and others still brewing.
Nairmis closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his body.
First was his innate divinity. First was his innate divinity, the emotion divinity. It was currently a lesser divinity, but only a step away from becoming a third-class divinity. Perhaps it could reach that level during the coming major event.
Next were his main divinities: craft, prophecy, wisdom, records, and beauty of the soul. All five were stable at the third class. The record godhead and prophecy godhead were the strongest among them, while wisdom was currently the most useful, but all were divinities with tremendous potential.
Then came his three lesser divinities. His healing divinity operated steadily, slowly repairing the tiny cracks left when fragments had been peeled from his craft divinity. His courage and music divinities rested beside it.
Last were the subordinate divinities of painting and cooking. Setting cooking aside for now, his music divinity and subordinate painting divinity were important aids in his obtaining another divinity.
Besides these already condensed and formed divinities, three masses of divine nature that had yet to take shape were floating within him.
His flame divine nature was the easiest to handle. As long as he began using fire on a large scale, it would naturally find where it belonged. The latter two were what truly gave him a headache.
Time divine nature and fate divinity. If these two masses of divine nature took shape, both would become top-tier divinities.
The question was how to make them grow. Both of their divine domains were very unusual.
Nairmis began to think. His wisdom and inspiration divinity began operating at high speed, rapidly consuming divine power.