Chapter 61: Divine Quest, Divine Epiphany
’Alright. This is it.’
Axir selected Librated Forge Protocol — Prime 9-star.
’Next, a defensive card. That Wisdom Tree Seed is in a harsh level 500 area. If I want to survive there and acquire it, I’d need a solid defense. Librated Drift won’t be enough to keep me safe.’
...
Time passed.
It would roughly take half an hour to one hour of focused thinking to acquire an Inspiration for a Unique deck.
Axir intended to fill up his Unique deck completely, and it took him almost four hours.
Siddha and others had already returned around an hour ago. The game returned them to different places on the new Earth with the same criteria. They arrived next to the people closest to them or people they held most dear.
Axir had exchanged words with them, and he told them about how to generate more cards of their Unique Decks.
With the Abyss Gates opening tomorrow, Siddha and others didn’t want to waste time and began meditating to acquire Inspirations.
’I wonder what kind of decks those monsters got?’ Axir was eager to see what they acquired, but he was not in a hurry.
It was 8:21 in the evening.
Axir and others would be able to log in once the clock hit 12:01. And 14 hours after logging in, Abyss Gates would open.
Axir got up and stretched his body.
The girls had long finished their meditations a couple of hours ago and went to hunt and forage in the wilderness with a group of people frome community to procure food.
Many people had also started farming in the empty plots outside the town.
Axir scanned the town and saw that people were generally happier and relaxed.
Nobody had mobile phones or any technology in the New World. No need for money, no need to do jobs, no need to hear shouts from superiors, no stress.
A new world, a new beginning.
They grouped up, talked, worked together, and were having fun as there was much to do to rebuild the world.
’Now then, what should I do for three and a half hours?’ Axir walked to the edge of the garden and then took off to the sky.
He flew high up and saw several places lit far from each other under the night sky.
The sky was clear, and the moonlight and brightness from stars were at their highest in this part of Earth.
[ A tale has been borne out of the belief. Elevated to divinity through faith. Player Mary has successfully manifested Jesus of Nazareth the Christ, and acquired his Prime Boon. ]
Axir blinked. ’Well, well. It seems more historical figures might manifest depending on an individual’s belief. The player’s name is also Mary. A deliberate connection to Mary Magdalene, the most devout disciple of Jesus, according to what I read.’
But just as Axir thought it was over, one more world announcement rang.
[ A tale has been borne out of the belief. Elevated to demonic through obsession and fear. Player Ripper has successfully manifested Jack the Ripper and acquired his Prime Boon. ]
’What the fuck?’ Axir was dumbfounded.
It seems serial killings were about to begin in a certain part of the world.
Axir suddenly frowned. "Jack the Ripper was unidentified...wait, don’t tell me his Prime Boon deck will have a card with the power of not being found out? That would be crazy."
Prime Boons were unique decks that could be modified, their cards evolved, removed, and all that with the help of their givers by completing the quests they give.
’Hmmm, I shouldn’t judge early. It could be a good person obsessed with a mystery murderer...’ Axir stopped this train of thinking as he wryly smiled. ’Manifesting a being requires deep belief...and Jack the Ripper himself is a demonic entity according to the game, so he wouldn’t choose a good person to give his Prime Boon. And his quests must involve demonic acts since he is a demonic entity.’
Axir was tempted to find this player, but he didn’t know where to start, and he doubted he would get an answer by asking the player through the game’s message system.
’There’s devils, and now people can manifest demonic beings they have belief in...’ Axir sighed.
[ God Ra wants to converse with you. Do you accept? ]
Axir blinked. ’Yes.’
The surroundings changed.
A bronze gold figure appeared before him, imposing and regal with a blazing solar disk that had a cobra of living fire coiled at its edges.
"Axir Grimspire. I am not here to offer you my Prime Boon as I have heard from others that you wouldn’t accept us. However, I sense the desire to do just in your heart. So I am here with a request."
Axir was surprised. "Please, I am all ears."
"My devotees, the people who believe in us, are in danger. There is a devil amongst them, tricking them, about to ruin all of them. As we are unable to intervene, I ask you to rid that devil before a catastrophic harm is inflicted on my devotees."
[ You have acquired a Divine Quest. Upon completing the quest, you can acquire a Divine Epiphany from God Ra, the Eternal Sun King. ]
’Divine Epiphany? That’s new!’ Axir’s eyes gleamed. ’How does it work?’
[ Divine Epiphany can be applied to any card and evolve it, giving you three divinely blessed options to choose from. ]
’That’s crazy. I suppose divine blessed options are always better than normal Epiphany we get via resources...unless there’s specific effects and theme I want.’
[ No. Divine Blessed options will always be better, especially from Tier-1 Gods. ]
Axir’s eyes glinted at that response.
"I accept the quest," Axir answered the God Ra.
"The arrow will lead you there. Bless you. May you succeed and prosper in your endeavors." God Ra pointed his palm at Axir, giving him blessings before disappearing.
Axir could now see a magical golden arrow in front of his eyes.
’Let’s complete a divine quest.’ Axir grinned and flew.
With his current speed, he arrived at the location within a minute.
It was a rather big settlement with over twenty thousand people.
It reminded him of an ancient Egyptian town, but evolved with magic.
The house and everything were made from crystal, stones, and wood.
’So who is the devil here?’ Axir first scanned the entire settlement with his Mana Field to see if he could sense the devil presense on anyone.
But he failed.
’And it seems I am not getting instructions. Welp, gotta do the work for Divine Blessing.’
But suddenly, Axir felt a strong and familiar presence. He was still high up in the sky, but the presence was getting closer to him.
He blinked once, and a figure appeared in his field of view.
Siddha, with wings made of exotic light beams.
"So you’re also here. I suppose we are here for the same thing." Siddha chuckled.
Suddenly, a black ring manifested nearby, pulsing with neon blue patterns on its edge.
James stepped out.
"Hey, I am not letting you get that Divine Epiphany."
"Teleport?" Axir blinked.
"Spatial Ring—Prime 2-star card." James smiled. "I just finished triggering my first Inspiration and got this as my third card of the deck."
"Same." Siddha smiled. "I wanted movement and flight first, hence I focused on getting inspired about it and got this Wings of Brilliance—Prime 4-star card."
"Tsk. So what else can it do aside from flying?" James asked.
"Shade light on the darkness." Siddha laughed and vanished, his voice lingering. "The divine epiphany is mine, boys."
"It seems we are late to the party."
Sakamoto arrived, black feathery wings on his back.
Then Ling, Maria, and Robin all three arrived on a white cloud that seemed to be in control of Ling.
"Well damn. Looks like it won’t be as easy as I thought." Axir wryly smiled and also vanished, entering the big settlement below.
[Axir: So, how many of you got Prime Boons and joined the factions? I didn’t see the announcements of any Prime Boon aside from beings who manifested from the Void of Belief, so the game might not announce names of players who acquired Prime Boons from Gods that are already here.]
[Ling; You are correct. I got the Prime Boon of Queen Mother of the West. This cloud is from her deck.]
[Siddha: I acquired the Prime Boon of Lord Vishu.]
[Sakamoto: I got Prime Boon of Amaterasu.]
[Maria: From Nyx here.]
[Robin: I got one from Vidar, the son of Odin.]
[Axir: Vidar? That’s a Tier-2 God. The one prophesied to kill Fenrir in the Ragnarok after Fenrir kills Odin. But I suppose these prophesies won’t be coming true.]
[James: I got Prime Boon of Space God Antariksha, so I joined the Deva Mandal faction with Siddha.]
[Axir: So that’s how you teleported. Noice.]
[Siddha: What about you, Axir?]
[Axir: I won’t be accepting Prime Boon of any god. My goal is a bit...different. I’ll have Prime Boon of the entity I manifest via Void of Belief.]