Chapter 195: Chapter 36 Puppets, Sailboats, and Chessboards_3

“I… choose one?”

With a mixture of surprise and hesitation, Ande, still a child at first glance, had taken a liking to these various ‘toys.’ But he knew such exquisite items must be rare, and he didn’t know if he should accept this gift.

“Yes, of course, but they are not toys.”

Tapping the table with his fingers, Laine said with a smile.

“In fact, I am going to teach you a ‘skill’ as a way to repay you for the disturbance these past few days, as well as the ‘rent’ for the time I will be staying with you.”

“Skill—you are a ‘Priest’!”

Blurted out, though not knowing what ‘rent’ was, Ande understood what skills were. Admiration gleamed in his eyes, and he inadvertently began to speak respectfully.

Though Bronze Humanity remained primitive, with the development of the tribes, a hierarchy had begun to emerge. Undoubtedly, the Priests were the highest-ranking individuals under the creator. They could communicate with deities, follow alongside Prometheus, receive teachings from the creator, and convey his will.

Besides the Priests, the next tier was the ‘craftsmen.’ All the skills humans possessed came from the old times, from Prometheus’s teachings, and clearly, the Forethinker could not teach the tens of thousands of humans following him at the same time.

Moreover, different skills required a varied number of people. Unlike herding or farming, bronze smithing, temple relief carving, and some tool-making methods were knowledge only a few needed to master; there was no need to disseminate it to all of humanity. In such situations, Prometheus came up with a solution.

He selected the most intelligent among humans, who were also the predecessors of the Priests. The Forethinker sequentially taught different skills to them, then had them pass these on to other suitable humans. From then on, Priests, those with special skills, and ordinary Bronze Humanity formed the most primitive three classes. However, due to the presence of the creator, although the former had a higher status, there were yet no oppressive relations among people.

In Ande’s eyes, he had originally thought that Laine was the second type, but now he realized that Laine, claiming to teach him skills, might very well be the first type.

After all, only a Priest has the qualification to impart knowledge.

“Well, a Priest, huh… Strictly speaking, you could say that.”

Nodding lightly, no one had ruled that he couldn’t be his own Priest. So, although the Bronze Humanity’s tribe didn’t have a Temple belonging to him yet, Laine accepted the role.

As for the fact that no one recognized him before, it wasn’t that much of a concern. Even if he couldn’t use Divine Power, a little mental suggestion was enough to make others overlook this issue.

“So, do you want to learn?”

“Yes!”

Although many thoughts flashed through Ande’s mind at this moment—perhaps the ‘big brother’ in front of him was, just like the gods test humans with the amount of Sacrifice, previously testing whether he was a helpful child. Maybe the uncle living next door would regret it; he actually rejected the stay of a divine Priest…

But no matter how many thoughts he had, Ande agreed eagerly and without delay.

“Since that’s the case, Ande, which one will you choose?”

With a light click on the table, Laine asked again.

But this time, Ande didn’t look at the wood carvings on the table with the attitude of viewing toys. At this moment, they represented the inheritance of skills behind them, and they were likely just learned from the creator by the Priest before him.

After all, these items in front of him were different from every skill that Ande had known before.

“Then, great… Priest, what knowledge do these wood carvings each represent?”

Although he liked the look of each one, since Laine said he could only choose one, Ande naturally had no reason to be greedy. He simply had no prior experience with these and didn’t know what these things were.

Facing Ande’s question, Laine didn’t plan to keep any secrets. He first pushed the chessboard in front of him, along with the set of chess pieces on it.

“The first one is Chess.”

The wooden chessboard was filled with stone chess pieces, each with a different style. There were ‘King,’ ‘Queen,’ as well as ‘Minister,’ ‘Knight,’ ‘Slave.’ Current Bronze Humanity undoubtedly couldn’t grasp these concepts, but they didn’t need to.

After all, the rules of the chess game were just that, someone who doesn’t know what ‘chariot,’ ‘horse,’ ‘cannon’ in Chinese Chess are will not be prevented from learning the game’s rules.

“It’s something for entertainment; it can bring joy and satisfaction to people. During its use, people will follow special rules to command the chess pieces on either side, letting them ‘battle’ each other on the board.”

“Whoever captures the opponent’s ‘king’ first wins the game. People can enjoy the happiness of victory, and if they wish, they can also prepare a small prize beforehand.”

Speaking with a smile, Laine explained what ‘Chess’ was, trying to make it understandable to Ande.

“If you choose this, then I will teach you how to make the chess equipment, how to define different game rules, and the key to winning against your opponent.”

Hesitating for a moment, as interesting as it sounded, Ande felt that ‘Chess’ didn’t seem as useful as skills like smithing tools or brewing Nectar. After all, humans at the time didn’t have much demand for entertainment.

“Hmm… What about this one?”

Feeling that the first option wasn’t quite to his liking, Ande glanced at Laine’s expression, thinking he was being covert, and then pointed to some other items on the table.

“This one is a boat, a tool for traveling on water.”

Still smiling, Laine reached out and picked up a wooden basin filled with water, then put the wooden boat on it.