Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) by Dakota Krout (best romantic novels in english TXT) 📕

into this effort. You’re attempting to avoid a civil war… but I thought this was an Oligarchy? Beyond that, do you even know which deity I am the Champion of?” Joe already knew that he was going to try to make her the High Priestess. Having control and direct access to the entire theological aspect of a society was too good of a chance to pass up, and she was going to bring in just… so much.

“Occultatum,” she answered easily, unstrained even though she had remained in the position for over a minute at this point. “I read the message, just like everyone else. As to the Oligarchy, I am a clan princess. Though our ways have changed over the millenia, the great houses have not given up all of their traditions.”

“Are you aware of Occultatum’s domain? The rewards and detriments for joining with him?” Joe’s questioning was half-hearted, and it showed.

“Does it matter?” She gazed up with her eyes shining, full of ambition. “Whatever it is, there have to be benefits. Anything is better than letting only the Elves have divine support. Imagine the Legion becoming supported by clerics again.”

“The healing spells are pretty potent,” Joe admitted easily, his final resistance shattered. “Okay. I’m sold. I’ll ask; the worst he can do is say ‘no’. Tatum, Dawnesha Embertank wants to join your faction. Pretty sure you’ve heard her offer, what do you think?”

Query has already been used today! Cooldown: 21:34.

“Oh.”

“O-oh?” Dawnesha’s eyes filled with fear when no notifications appeared. Her lips quivered, fearing the rejection she was sure Joe had just gotten. “Wh-why not?”

“It’s not a ‘no’,” Joe assured her, causing her to take a deep breath of relief and pull on her mustache with anxiety. “We can try again tomorrow, in about twenty-one hours. I already used up my ability to… convert things today. With the… shrine. Yes.”

“Oh… that makes sense.” She stood and smiled weakly at him. “Then shall we meet at the Grand Temple on the morrow and hold a ceremony for the conversion of both at the same time?”

“That sounds… great.” Joe nodded furiously. At the sight of her expressive and hopeful face, there was no way that Joe was about to tell her ‘I can’t make you into a priestess and fulfill your lifelong dream… because I already used my power today so I could ask about the breed of my new cat’.

Chapter Thirty-One

Joe stared at the new clothes on his bed as he heaved for breath. Steam was coming off his skin, and he was currently regretting telling Havoc that his characteristic training had stagnated. The Dwarf’s response had been a kindly smile and a curt ‘walk to your room’. Then he had left, striding quickly out of Joe’s field of view.

The human hadn’t expected that as soon as he turned away from the Dwarf, a… golem of some kind would attach itself to his body. His limbs were bound to each other, and it was trying to force him into a fetal position. Joe had needed to use every ounce of physicality he had just to remain standing. Walking up the stairs and down the hall to his room had taken the entire training time required for the day—four hours and three minutes, thanks to his Artisan Body—and as soon as the golem sensed that he had gained his points… the constriction ended.

Characteristic training complete! Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution +2!

Skill increase: Artisan Body (Beginner II).

“Couldn't I have gotten that skill increase during training? Oh yay, I can get two points per day, and that little monster knows it.” Try as he might, he couldn’t find the golem after his training ended. All that remained was his moist human self that was steaming mad, as well as just plain steaming. “It’s still on me, waiting until tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Meow.” CleoCatra didn’t seem to mind his suffering. A hiss announced her desire for food, but when the human set some in front of her, she sniffed it and walked to a different spot.

Joe ignored the cat and donned the tailor-fitted clothing that had been procured since the meeting yesterday, once again pleased with the self-cleaning function of his Neutrality Aura. The pure white monster-silk shirt and pants were… weird. Comfy, though. New shoes and socks completed the ensemble, with his usual black robe to top it all off. The new clothing increased charisma by ten percent when worn as a whole set, with no other benefits aside from not getting arrested for indecency, but they still made Joe feel strange. “Time to go and get a huge jump forward in bringing Tatum back.”

The nice thing about a golem wrestling him for an hour was that his mind had been taken off the very public event that he was supposed to be performing at in just a short while. That was gone, so all he could do at this point was power on. Clean, trained, and rested, Joe started walking. “Mate, I’m gonna need a strong brew.”

The coffee elemental swirled around and up his arm, and Joe searched for a coffee cup to put him in. Sadly, there wasn’t one remaining in his ring, so Joe ended up drinking coffee from a bowl. While he was fine with this, it seemed to upset Mate a little, showcased by the overtly bitter flavor. The Reductionist studied the little brown bean-eyes that were staring at him pleadingly, and Joe knew that something had to be done. “I’ll work on getting you a proper cup sometime soon, okay? There’s a lot going on, Mate!”

*Blub*. Mate… agreed? Or perhaps Joe was simply ascribing emotions and thoughts to it, but at least the small elemental went back into his sleeve without an issue. Either way, Joe did not have enough time to deal with every single problem that cropped up. Wearing his black-over-white clothing, he made his way up the slopes and closer to the center of the city. The capital was situated so that every new District had