Chapter 19: Trust

  We went to my room, where I sat on my bed while Lay took a seat in the nearby chair.

  Only then did I realize—my room was an absolute mess. Clothes scattered on the floor, notebooks filled with sketches piled haphazardly on my desk, and an empty pte I had completely forgotten about.

  Damn it. I should have at least tidied up before inviting her in.

  I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Well, too te for regrets now.

  “So, yeah… something happened. No, scratch that—many things happened. But I think I know what you’re referring to.” I said, my voice measured.

  Lay tilted her head slightly, waiting for me to continue.

  “Say… what do you think about gods, Lay?” I looked at her, curious about her reaction.

  She blinked, clearly caught off guard. Whatever she had expected me to say, this definitely wasn’t it.

  A shadow crossed her face as if she had remembered something unpleasant.

  “Well… not much,” she admitted. “When I was younger, I wanted to believe in gods. I wanted to believe they could help me… free me, even. But that never happened. No matter how much I prayed, all I got was more despair.” Her voice was calm, but I could hear the bitterness underneath.

  Great. This was off to a fantastic start. Then again, I couldn’t bme her.

  As for me, I had never given the idea of gods much thought. Sure, I liked mythology stories and fantasy games, but believing in deities? That had always felt like fiction. Something detached from reality. My imagination and my drawings—they were the closest things to a world beyond my own, but I never thought I’d actually touch something divine.

  “…I see,” I said finally. “Sorry to hear that. But, just like me, you heard Fenrir’s voice that day, didn’t you? That means at least some of these stories are real.”

  Lay frowned, contempting my words.

  “I mean… maybe?” she said hesitantly. “He definitely wanted us to believe that. And yeah, he was incredibly powerful, but… what are you getting at?”

  I exhaled slowly.

  “Well, the thing is… the day the apocalypse happened, I received a private message. Not the same voice everyone heard. Something different. And what it said… I still struggle to fully understand.”

  Lay’s frown deepened.

  “What did it say?”

  I hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward slightly, meeting her gaze with seriousness.

  “Before I tell you, you need to swear to me that you won’t speak of this to anyone. I’m only saying this because I trust you, Lay. Because I believe in you.”

  Her expression hardened with understanding, and she gave me a firm nod.

  “I won’t, Elian. Trust me. I’m your friend, and I’m your ally,” she said with conviction.

  Alright. Here goes nothing.

  If I couldn’t trust her, then who could I trust?

  After all, wasn’t that part of what I needed? To find happiness? Ha…

  I exhaled sharply before continuing.

  “The message told me that I’m one of the seven divine candidates. Apparently, the system is meant to guide me toward godhood. I also have something called a domain—it’s tied to my ability: creation. I think… I think that’s what I’m supposed to become the god of.”

  Lay’s breath hitched. She lifted a hand to her forehead, as if trying to process what I had just told her.

  “You’re… basically telling me that some higher existence is pushing seven people toward godhood, and you’re one of them?” She let out a long breath. “Just what is happening to this world…”

  She sighed again, rubbing her temples before looking back at me.

  “So… what does that mean exactly? What does it do?”

  “Well, sometimes it gives me missions. And there are extra elements in my status that don’t appear for others.”

  “I… see,” she murmured. “I always knew there was something different about you. I thought it was just because of your ability, but I guess I wasn’t completely wrong. Still… if that’s the case, what changed now?”

  “Well, it looks like I reached the first divine rank,” I admitted. “I’m still not sure what it means exactly, but apparently, I’ll be able to perform small miracles once I recover a bit more.”

  Lay stared at me for a long moment before exhaling slowly. A soft smile tugged at her lips.

  “That’s… incredible, truly,” she said. “In all honesty, I’m gd it chose you. You’re a good person, Elian. I’m sure Larry thought the same.”

  Larry…

  Maybe he did. But I wasn’t anything special. I wasn’t some destined hero. I was just a guy trying to get by.

  I pushed the thought aside and forced a small chuckle.

  “Alright, enough of that,” I said, shifting the mood. “This conversation’s getting way too heavy.”

  "More importantly, what did you mean when you said I seemed different?"

  Lay looked at me, pondering for a moment before responding.

  “Well… the feeling I get from you is different. I think your presence has changed… How should I put it? You have... More charisma than before?”

  Hah, well, that’s a nice bonus!

  I took some time to expin the differences between our status screens.

  “Achievements, huh? After defeating the Wolf of Destruction, I unlocked one. I got an achievement called Fate Breaker.”

  Neat. That probably means anyone can unlock achievements or titles if they meet the right conditions. Also, I’ve been thinking about this for a while—there seem to be two kinds of achievements. The regur system achievements and the ones that seem exclusively given by my divine system. If I’m right, then only the st three I received were true achievements: [Giant Syer], [Sword Progenitor], and [Fate Breaker].

  “To think you already had this from the beginning… cheater!” she huffed, pouting at me.

  She sure can be cute sometimes. She usually keeps that cold and composed demeanor, but every once in a while—especially when we’re alone—she lets this side of her slip through.

  “What can I say? Mortals like you should be content with what they have,” I said with a smirk.

  “Oh? Someone’s getting a big head now.”

  “Maybe you should show a fragile phoenix how strong a Divine Awoken is then.” she teased, stepping closer with a pyful glint in her eye. Wait… wait, she doesn’t want t fight, right? She wouldn’t—oh, shit, she would!

  “Hahaha, I would, but you see, the nurse specifically told me I shouldn’t fight today!” I hurriedly blurted out, raising my hands in mock surrender.

  “Since when do gods listen to some puny nurse?”

  “Ahem, what can I say? You mortals just wouldn’t understand.”

  Before she could push the teasing further, I decided to change the subject—fast.

  “Your spear… It’s the one I made when we were fighting, right?”

  She paused, then reached behind her back, pulling out the scarlet spear.

  Whew, I successfully changed the topic!

  “Yeah. It didn’t disappear. I asked Cire about it, but it seems this is way beyond her expertise. I… can almost feel it breathe, Elian. It’s like we’re connected. It’s amazing.”

  That’s… interesting, to say the least. Unfortunately, I can’t remake something like that. At least, not yet.

  She stared at the weapon in her hands, almost mesmerized. The way she held it, as if it had always belonged there—it suited her. I was gd she got to keep it.

  After a while, she looked up at me, her expression more serious this time.

  “But, more seriously, Elian… I… kind of understand that you need to become stronger, especially after the whole Fenrir incident. But please, don’t hurt yourself recklessly…” She hesitated, gripping the spear a little tighter. “Your Surging Bze… You could have asked me for help. You didn’t need to suffer like that! It’s almost like you see yourself as a tool and not a human being sometimes…”

  …Well, shit. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

  She’s right. But… as for my well-being, does it even matter? Nobody ever cared before. And neither did I. As long as my body allows me to accomplish what I want, that’s all that matters, right?

  “I can tell—you don’t care about your well-being.” Her voice was quieter now, but firm. “I can tell, just like me, you have your own past. And that past made you who you are. But, Elian…”

  She locked eyes with me, her gaze intense and unwavering. “It doesn’t matter what anyone said or will say. Maybe you never cared about yourself, maybe no one ever did—but now… I do. So, if only for my sake, take care of yourself, will you?”

  “I…” What is she—

  She didn’t wait for my response. Instead, she simply gave me a sad smile before turning and leaving my room, leaving me utterly speechless.

  She… cares about me?

  Because I saved her once or twice?

  I felt… weird. A warmth that I didn’t quite recognize stirred in my chest. What the hell was this feeling?

  Haaaa, this is annoying. And then she just leaves like that? Tsk!

  I need to think about something else. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I know!

  My free points.

  Let’s see…

  Alright, I think I’ve got it. My new stats look like this:

  Attributes:

  Energy: 190/190

  Agility: 40 (+9)

  Strength: 30 (+7)

  Endurance: 29 (+7)

  Intelligence: 38 (+2=4)

  Creativity: 50 (+5)

  Since my creativity was already so high, I put fewer points into it than usual, but it’s still much higher than the rest. Obviously, I invested the most in agility, but I can’t let my other stats fall too far behind. As for intelligence, I feel like it’s good where it is right now. I mean, it’s already pretty high.

  Hmm… looks good. What else? Well… there’s the blessing, but honestly, I don’t feel like looking at it right now.

  I can’t test this miracle thing yet… I can’t train physically either… And I definitely don’t want to go outside with all those stares getting on my nerves!

  AAAAA! So annoying!

  I know!

  I’ll just train by making swords. Hehe. Maybe I can also work on controlling my sub-ability? Yeah, let’s do this!

  Three days passed just like that.

  Will woke up yesterday morning. I expected him to have a million questions for me, but… he didn’t ask a single one. Either he respected my secret, or he just didn’t care. Honestly? If it’s him, I wouldn’t be that surprised.

  I also learned something new. Apparently, we’re alive because. When Mikes ran away, he actually reached out for backup once he made it to the dorm. But from the way he’s been avoiding me, I guess he feels a lot of shame.

  Personally, I don’t hold anything against him. Even if he hadn’t brought backup—wanting to survive is normal. No, actually, I’m gd he ran. If he had died as well…

  Apart from that… Gah, just thinking about it pisses me off. We made a whole show in front of everyone, acting like heroes. It makes me want to puke.

  Haaaa…

  Anyway, I was pretty much fully healed now. The only problem? I still couldn’t access my divine energy. I could feel it now, but something was still blocking my control over it. Still, it was improving each day—I should be able to use it soon enough.

  Oh, right. Turns out Cire was…

  Angry.

  Well, whatever. It’s about time to go hunting, I thought as I undid my sword, having spent the st few hours training in my room.

  I pced my hand on the door and—

  [The tutorial phase has ended. Be ready, mortal. The first phase of the apocalypse is coming.]