(Lian Li POV)
It was interesting to see how my sisters dealt with the problem of gaining their own group of followers.
Manami went with the carrot and stick approach with that group of long eared people living in the forest while I went with the saviour approach with that group of girls.
Kiyomi found a bunch of sea creatures that were highly intelligent and basically awed them with her power until they submitted to her.
They even made a shrine of her in an underwater cave and worshipped her through it.
Don't ask me how they did it because I wasn't sure either. I was already surprised that Kiyomi went underwater to find these creatures.
Eris had gone another route by searching for beings that weren't totally sentient yet, which she found in some kind of floating spirits in some forest.
With her domain and her other personalities working together, she managed to guide them down the path of achieving sentience and they regarded her as their Goddess and started worshipping her without much prompting.
I'm honestly surprised that she would go that route to be honest, but I suppose that was quite effective even if it took some time.
Tsuki had gone for a more orthodox method where she found a small village where the people there were still in the hunter-gatherer type of lifestyle.
She appeared before them by descending from the sky and gifted them the knowledge of agriculture, teaching them how to cultivate the land and farm by implanting the knowledge directly to them and creating the first farms.
That quickly gained their worship and they collectively regarded Tsuki as their Goddess.
And with that, we were now left with Brendan, Elaria and Diao Chan who have yet to ascend to divinity.
That was when the first surprise came.
Brendan pulled out a bottle of Origin Liquid and Lilith frowned at him, "So you're going to take the easy way to ascend?"
Brendan shook his head, "This bottle was not given to me by Master, I brewed this one myself."
The demoness widened her eyes at the bottle that held the liquid of Origin, "Truly? If that is true then I'm honestly impressed! I can't even tell the difference! That's really amazing!"
Our alchemist, who had every right to be proud, simply shrugged, "I guess?"
Elaria leaned towards him with a serious look, "So you're saying… You managed to brew a potion that lets you do anything you want, including changing the reality of the entire Universe itself and the only thing you can say is 'I guess'? If I didn't know you, I'd slap you right now."
Brendan scratched his cheek, "Master did guide me the entire way after all… If not for Master, I would not even be able to do something like this in a million years, especially that day where Master brought me to find the missing ingredient."
Brendan certainly is modest, maybe he learnt that from Master as well?
Tsuki tapped her chin, "If I remember correctly, you need to think of what effect you want the Origin Liquid to achieve, right? Do you just think about ascending while drinking it and then you will become a God?"
Brendan shook his head, "That's what I thought initially as well, but I don't think it's that simple. If it was, I would just be a God comparable to the other Gods stuck below the Supreme Gods. That's why I believe there was more to it than just this."
"Eh? In that case, what else do you need?"
Brendan lifted up the bottle and unstoppered it before placing it on the ground, "I believe I need to make this Origin liquid resonate with me and turn it into something that is unique to me instead of still retaining most of Master's essence."
Elaria leaned forward with an excited look, "And how would you do that?! This is the part that I'm stuck on too!"
Our alchemist smiled, "Well… The simplest answer is to add something of yourself into the mix."
He materialised a needle in his hand from his storage ring before pricking his finger with it, allowing a drop of his blood to drip into the bottle.
Almost instantly, the liquid inside the bottle turned iridescent and the bottle shook quite violently before suddenly stopping. The liquid inside the bottle then settled on a leafy green colour that glowed rather noticeably.
Elaria gasped, "That's it? But I've tried that so many times before and I'm still… You know what? You're going back with me to my lab after this! I need your help with mine!"
Brendan seemed a little surprised by the invitation but he nodded to show that he understood.
On the other side, Diao Chan also seemed to have a revelation of her own as she started muttering to herself, "I see… So the Spell I'm crafting… The only thing that was missing… Was myself!"
Oh wow, not only did you manage to create this thing, you even seem to be helping two of your sisters ascend too. You really don't give yourself enough credit, Brendan.
All of us watched as he took up the bottle of green liquid, sucked in a breath, and poured the liquid down his throat without a second thought.
Soon enough, the entire bottle was empty and Brendan stored the bottle back in his storage ring.
We looked at Brendan expectantly… And nothing happened.
"Umm… Is it a bust?" Tsuki asked.
Brendan tilted his head, "What do you mean? I've already ascended. I am the God of Brews."
"Eh? That's it? Where did all the lights and power surges and all that go?!" Eris asked with Bait's voice.
Brendan blinked, "Umm… I could do that too if you would like… But when it comes to Origin… There isn't anything fancy you know? Things just come into being just like that. So… I've already ascended."
As though to prove his point, a green aura started to materialise around him and I recognised it as his divine aura after experiencing several examples of it from the other Gods we've met.
Muon gasped, "To think a mortal could actually ascend to Godhood this way… All Creator's disciples truly are amazing…"
Brendan coughed to hide his embarrassment, "Umm… As I said, it's really nothing much… It's all thanks to Master's guidance that I can even do this."
Lilith slapped him on the shoulder, "There's a limit to how modest one can be! But putting that aside, I would normally ask you to go out and get some followers right now but I think you need at least a day to adjust to your new Godhood don't you? In the meantime, why don't the rest of you go and gather more followers while Brendan here helps the other two ascend as well?"
That sounds like the best thing we can do right now.
Heh, to think Lilith even doubted us when we started this, we'll make her eat her words!
