Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

"This is the ship that carries hundreds of people across the sea, and allows people to explore islands and catch fish."

"If you choose this, then I will teach you how to build ships of different sizes, how to sail on the sea, and how to identify the direction according to the stars and the compass."

After placing a few chess pieces on the wooden boat, Ryan blew lightly on the sail, and the boat spun around the edge of the wooden basin.

Looking at this scene, Ender was a little moved.

There is a river next to the tribe, so he knows that it is difficult for humans to stay in the water for a long time. But with this thing called a ‘ship’, all these problems can be solved.

But after hesitating for a moment, Ander shook his head.

"Master Priest, I remember that the Creator once said that the great God-King forbids humans from approaching the ocean."

Exploring islands and catching fish sounds very useful, but the prerequisite for everything is to be able to set foot in the ocean, which is not needed for small rivers.

However, in order to prevent the secrets related to faith from being leaked in advance, Zeus not only did not build a temple for his adoptive parents and publicize their names, but also set the sea as a forbidden area for humans.

It is impossible for a mortal to disobey the God King's order, so this thing called a 'ship' will naturally have no use.

"Then let's look at the third one, but this is the last one."

After being rejected twice in a row, Ryan still showed no sign of being angry. At this time, the desktop was quite empty, with only portraits of different sizes remaining.

Some of them are tall, some are bold and burly, and there are men and women. But for some reason, Ender always felt that they were a bit similar to the statues in the temple.

"The third one is drama. And these in front of you, I call them puppets."

"A complete drama requires 'actors,' but puppetry is different. It does not require the help of other people. It is a drama that can be performed by yourself."

As he spoke, Ryan's fingers trembled slightly. There was no extraordinary power, but the puppets in front of him suddenly moved.

Ender was shocked at first, but after careful observation, he soon discovered the secret inside.

Thin, transparent threads extended from Ryan's fingers and were tied to the puppet's joints. A slight wiggle of your fingers will make the puppet dance accordingly.

"Perform the past and make up lies. You can use puppets to replace lives that exist or do not exist in reality, and use puppets to act out scenes that have happened in the past or that only exist in your imagination."

"If you choose this, then I will teach you how to select materials, carve, how to make silk threads, and how to arrange a play."

"You can choose to use them to sing praises to the gods, or to interpret the world in your heart. No matter what you choose, it all depends on your own ideas."

"Sing praises to gods and interpret the world?"

His eyes brightened, Ander couldn't help but repeat Ryan's words.

Chess and sailing are both fun, but they both have their drawbacks. In contrast, drama not only has 'value', but is also very interesting. Looking at the puppets dancing on the table, a sincere sense of yearning sprouted in Ander's young heart.

Although he hasn't tried it yet, he already kind of likes this feeling. With the move of your fingers, everything can be performed as you want, which sounds extraordinary.

"I choose the third one."

"confirmed?"

With a smile, Ryan's expression was somewhat meaningful.

"Whatever you choose, you can't change it. I will teach you the relevant knowledge to repay you for the hospitality you have given me these days and in the future. But after you learn this, the rest of the way depends on you. Go by yourself."

"I am sure."

He nodded affirmatively. Among these three choices, the last one was undoubtedly the one that suited Ender's heart the most.

Learning skills is still such an interesting thing. At this moment, he feels that he has really been favored by the gods recently to be able to encounter such a good thing.

"Well, in that case, starting from tomorrow, we will officially start classes. But before that, you go and chop some wood and come back."

With a smile, Ryan pointed to the wooden frame that Ender had just put down.

"As a beginner, learning knowledge is important, but practice is also essential."

"Huh? Okay then."

His face was a little bitter, but Ander still put the bamboo basket on his back.

If you could learn the skill by chopping more wood, I don’t know how many people would rush to do it.

Carrying the bamboo basket on his back, he walked out of the small courtyard. Behind him, watching Ander's retreating back, Ryan rubbed the puppet in his hand.

From a purely audience perspective, Ender's choice was not very good.

Nowadays, humans are prohibited from sailing, but in the future, the ocean will become an indispensable part of mankind, and even at the end of the Bronze Age, it will not be without its uses. Nowadays, human beings cannot talk about spiritual enjoyment, but in the future, chess will definitely become a more widely circulated form of entertainment than opera.

But Ryan felt that maybe for Ender, his choice was not wrong.

After all, there are gods in this world, and Ryan will not treat him like Hecate. Think about it this way, some seemingly good choices may be mistakes.

"And he-"

Knocking lightly on the table, Ryan looked through the wall at the stone house next to him.

The owner of the house is called Cologne, the ‘second class’ of bronze humans, a ‘craftsman’ responsible for making stoves, and a student of the priest of the Temple of Hestia, the god of fire and protection. Of course, the most important thing is that he is the bronze human who refused Ryan’s stay.

The reason why he was ‘coincidentally’ chosen before was because in Ryan’s perception, he was the one with the highest ‘qualification’ among the nearby humans. However, despite this, Cologne’s actual height is very limited, at least far from being able to directly carry the power of the godhead.

But now, from Ryan’s transcendent perspective, he unexpectedly discovered that Cologne and Ander had a fateful connection at some point.

Although this connection is still weak at present, it is not surprising that the more ‘rewards’ Ryan gives Ander, the more obvious this connection will be.

“Destiny is really unpredictable.”

He shook his head slightly. Although Ryan could solve this problem in advance, he still did nothing. When he left, Ander would no longer be the weak child he is today. By that time, he could solve this problem by himself.

So from that day on, Ryan, who had obtained a new identity as a "priest", did not hide his existence, but taught Ander the knowledge of drama openly.

In the remote residential area of ​​this tribe, there was suddenly a priest who did not stay in the temple but lived in someone else's house. This was an abnormal thing, but under the suggestion of the mind, the nearby humans naturally accepted this.

They were just a little envious. A kindness made the child named Ander gain unexpected gains.

But this was all. At this time, the lack of spiritual and material life made the bronze humans have no clear understanding of "class". They envied Ander more because he could get in touch with new things that ordinary people did not understand.

Compared with the stereotyped life, the freshness brought by this special skill and the admiration of others were the source of the human beings' desire for the "craftsman" class at this time.

In this way, more than 20 years passed in a flash.

······

"Good morning, it looks like this year's harvest is pretty good."

"Yes, thanks to the Creator's gift."

"."

Wearing a linen robe and walking on the bluestone road, Ander, who has entered his youth, greeted passers-by in a familiar manner.

More than a decade later, the settlements of bronze humans have been rebuilt again and again, and even many smaller strongholds have been separated, occupying the outer areas of the plains. Ander also moved with them.

Compared with the past, the area near his new home is much more lively. Although this place is still not the core of the tribe, it is no longer the periphery.

After all, as a performer of "puppet show", Ander is now famous in the neighborhood, and even many priests from nearby temples come here to admire his performance.

Especially in the opera "Titan War (Part 1)", Ander used puppets to replace the gods, and performed the story of how the king of the gods was born in a cave with the help of fate, grew up secretly, met various gods, and finally rescued his brothers and sisters with the help of the ancient gods.

I have to say that although it is very different from the facts, it looks very much like that at first glance.

Moreover, the humans at that time had never seen such an art that transcended the times, and they were amazed by it. Ander was also sought after by people, and he was like the first "star" in the ancient times.

There were even more than one priest who had seen Ander's performance and said that they would report Ander's existence to the high priest of the main temple, and let him perform this drama to the gods at the annual grand festival. But for some reason, when they returned to their homes, they would always forget about it inexplicably.

But it doesn't matter. After all, the priests are not as enthusiastic about "dedicating drama to the gods" as imagined. It's just a way for them to show their "piety".

It's good to remember it, and it doesn't matter if you don't remember it. There are even many priests who think that drama should be enjoyed exclusively by them.

I have what others don't have, which can reflect the difference from ordinary people. Some people even think that it should be artificially stipulated that only priests can have certain things, and others cannot use them casually, so as to reflect the dignity of those who are close to God. However, the Creator is still there, so in the end no one put this matter on the table to talk about it.

Ander also knew about this matter, but for him, he didn't care who the performance was for.

"Uncle Cologne, good morning, I didn't expect you to come back here today."

Walking around the corner, and nodding to several bronze humans one by one, Ander unexpectedly saw his old neighbor, but he was just stunned for a moment, and smiled and greeted him first.

It was a coincidence that because they were both "craftsmen", even if they moved to a new place, the places where both parties lived were not far away, but they were no longer neighbors.

"Humph!"

However, in the face of Ander's enthusiasm, he only responded with a cold snort.

Cologne glanced at Ander coldly, his lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he still didn't speak, but turned around and left directly.

"Ah..."

After sighing, Ander did not say much. After all, it was not a day or two since Cologne had been dissatisfied with him.

At first, it was just some quarrels. Later, as Ander's fame grew, Cologne's dissatisfaction with him became more and more intense.

Just like the same priests, the status of the priests in the big temple responsible for annual festivals is often higher than others, and the priests responsible for the priests and kings are higher than other gods. The same is true among craftsmen.

Seeing that he missed out on a benefit due to his temporary choice, Cologne did not dare to attack the strange priest, but this did not prevent him from targeting Ender.

But this kind of targeting is obviously meaningless, so as Ender's reputation has grown in recent years, Cologne rarely even returns home.

Fortunately, it was very difficult to build a stove in this era. Whether it was made of copper for household use or stone for public use, it could not be built in a small room. Therefore, even if you live where you work on weekdays, it will not affect life in Cologne very much.

"Mr. Lane, I'm back."

After walking for a while, the door of the house was already in sight. But Ander still knocked on the door next door first, and then said hello respectfully.

"Come in, the door is unlocked."

Squeak——

After hearing this, Ander pushed open the wooden door and walked into the courtyard.

Because they moved to a new place, Ender and Ryan naturally became neighbors.

Although Ander spent more and more time performing alone as he learned more and more, he still remembered to visit his teacher as soon as possible every time he came back, even if the teacher had never recognized him as a student.

"Mr. Lane, this is a specialty of Giant Wood Town. I brought some back to you specially."

After walking into the small courtyard and looking at Ryan sitting on a recliner reading a book, Ander said with a smile.

The term "town" is only a description of the new settlement and has no similarity with the villages and towns of later generations. Jumu Town is a newly built small settlement, named after its proximity to an ancient forest.

As for the so-called specialties that Ander brought, they were the cores of ancient trees there, which were perfect for making wood carvings.

"You have a heart."

Nodding and signaling Ender to put things down, Ryan looked away from the book in his hand.

"Since you are here, let me tell you about your trip as usual. Over the years, your reputation has become more and more famous."

"It's all thanks to Mr. Lane's teachings, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today."

Ender's tone was sincere, and he didn't mean to be complacent. He knew the origin of everything he had today.

Ender then told Ryan about what he had seen along the way, including the reasons for the establishment of Giant Wood Town, the dirt roads connecting several settlements, and the 'cars' that were pulled by livestock and could be used for transportation.

In the past, it was only heard that the sun god and the moon god had their own sacred chariots. It was said that one of them was born in the last era and the other was born decades ago, but today's human tribes also have their own chariots.

During this trip, Ander experienced it. However, perhaps because the craftsmanship was not yet complete, he only felt bumpy. On the contrary, several people traveling with him enjoyed this novelty.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Lane, I don't know why, but there seem to be several disrespectful things happening recently."

As if he remembered something, Ender couldn't help but said:

"Some people actually think that there is no need to spend so much material sacrifices to the gods, and humans can live a good life themselves."

"Don't they know that it is the existence of the gods that prevents natural disasters from coming and prevents the increasing number of monsters from approaching human residences?"

At this point, Ender also couldn't understand what those people were thinking.

During this trip, he learned a lot of things that were difficult to access in the center of the Aurora Plains, such as how dangerous places outside of human activities were.

Giant eagles that can control light, water monsters that can flood rivers, giant beasts that are tens of meters tall, some of them have been contaminated with the divine blood scattered in the divine war, and some of them contain special cursed substances in their bodies. They are not like them at all. Animals that humans come into contact with are generally docile and harmless.

Although Ender is not actually afraid of them now. He can scare away those beings, but he also knows how harmful it is to ordinary people. If no one stops them, ordinary humans will be vulnerable to them.

Nowadays, several of the expanded towns of mankind were established under the leadership of the Creator, and only after the temples of the gods were built did the new towns become safe.

Those monsters were instinctively afraid of the divine aura left by the gods in the statues, so they stayed away from human settlements. It was after knowing this that Ender understood deeply that human beings could not live without gods.

"People will always get used to it, Ender, and today's humans are also very well protected. They don't understand how dangerous the world is, and they don't understand how hard-earned their current life is."

Shaking his head slightly, unlike Ender, Ryan was not surprised that someone would have such an idea.

"By the way, how's your new script going?"

"I don't have a clue yet. I want to use a puppet show to recreate the past life of the golden humans, so that people can understand the lives of previous generations of humans, but there are too few records from that era."

"The Creator rarely talks about what happened at that time. It is said that it was because humans at that time were limited in their thinking?"

He said with some distress, and Ender was also a little helpless.

Of course he could make it up as he pleased, but Ender didn't want to do such self-deception.

"Don't worry, you can compile 'Titan War (Part 2)' first. As for the Golden Age - maybe after a while, you can directly bump into a golden human."

Smiling and comforting, Ryan seemed to remember something, and handed a blank notebook to Ander.

"By the way, this is for you."

"What is this? Why is there no word in this book?"

Ender took it with a little curiosity.

He had seen books before. As early as the Golden Age, humans had learned the crude papermaking technology, but it had never been used on a large scale.

Humanity's demand for paper stems from the need for large-scale writing, for the purpose of communication and knowledge dissemination, but now humans who live in settlements and have no descendants do not have this demand for the time being. Moreover, compared with paper, stone carvings and sheepskin are obviously more durable.

"This is for you, a blank notebook with endless pages. You can write your own script on it. Compared with sheepskin scrolls, it is easier to carry and easier to write."

Waving his hand, Ryan leaned back on the recliner.

"Okay, let's stop here. You've been out for a long time, go back and rest, I won't waste your time."

"How can it be considered a waste of time to communicate with Mr. Ryan."

After smiling, Ander also got up and left. When he reached the gate of the courtyard, he was about to turn around and close the gate, but when he saw Ryan lying under the shade of the tree, he suddenly felt a little dazed.

The ages of bronze humans when they were created were not the same, even if they were the same batch. This time, he was invited to perform in a distant place, and he saw a human who had begun to look a little old.

There was gray in his hair, wrinkles on his cheeks, and his strength was not as great as before. Looking at him, Ander felt awe for time and life for the first time.

He didn't know if he would be like this in the future. Although Mr. Ryan said that he would have a long life in the future, he still had some emotional ups and downs.

But Mr. Ryan was different. More than 20 years later, he seemed to be the same as when he first met him, without any change.

"It is said that priests can get special favor from the gods. Maybe this is the reward Mr. Ryan got."

"But then again, which god is Mr. Ryan a priest?"

This thought just flashed through his mind, and then it was subconsciously skipped. Ander closed the door with his backhand, and then walked towards his own residence next to him.

Physical fatigue was secondary. This long journey really made Ander feel mentally exhausted.

Now, he planned to have a good sleep first.

······

Ander returned to his own courtyard, and in his dream he still remembered the history of the Golden Age of Humans. He took Ryan's words of "seeing a golden human" as a joke, after all, everyone knew that the Golden Age had long been extinct.

But what he didn't know was that just before and after, not far from the Giant Wood Town, a man wrapped in animal skins was staring at the primitive wooden wall in the distance, lost in thought.