Pathway & Divinity

As Vali stood still pondering over everything that had come to light in the last few hours, he kept his thoughts deeply hidden, even though the tree had given him some time alone. He would be a fool if he blindly believed everything the tree said, though it was a fact that it was extra generous with him.

He considered the possibilities of the 'world seed' parasitizing his soul, taking over his body gradually, and few other thoughts that would make most people call him a lunatic. But in the end, he erased all the 'crazy' thoughts and concluded that the tree was actually on his side.

'With its powers, it wouldn't even need to blink to erase my existence, and the other possibility is me being a pawn in one of its games. Of course, there's also the unlikely chance that it could've seen something of the future me, and was just sowing good karma.' thought Vali inwardly, as he concluded his paranoid thoughts.

Either way, there was no harm in the near future, and he could search for problems with the 'gift' when he grew stronger. Right now, the seed was an absolute necessity that would make everything a lot easier, and he would have to take a tiny 'leap of faith'.

Vali had just finished clearing his head, when he looked around wanting to get this over with. He also wanted to get as much info as possible from such an unfathomable existence, before he departed.

He had just looked around for a few seconds, when the flora started swaying and the sound of the dreamy voice returned, "It seems you've finished analyzing everything I talked about. Since, you haven't made any objections then we shall start."

Vali who was already prepared, calmed his mind, to receive his new 'world seed'. Suddenly, a tiny circular object appeared in front of tree, resembling any other normal crop seed. He completely activated his eyes and focused on it, leaving him inwardly shocked.

When he had probed the seed, he found himself being drawn into it, falling into a boundless universe, and passing through huge dimensions that distorted the way he viewed the world. He soon returned to reality, after shutting his eyes.

He opened his eyes and looked at the seed with caution this time, as he observed the fairies that were surrounding him before, now crowding around the seed. They seemed to have become excited as their chatter increased, along with the awe in the tiny faces.

They didn't dare touch it, though that didn't stop them from observing something akin to 'world wonder' to them. The seed slowly flew towards him, before it phased through the centre of his chest before he could even react.

He could feel something touching the very core of his existence, fusing with it an excruciatingly slow pace. As that happened, he could feel something changing within him, completely rejuvenating him, and healing miniscule wounds that he never knew existed.

As the seed started fusing with his soul, it started swallowing his 'magical container' and in the process, started replacing it. Soon, the container was gone and the seed took its place as the source of all his magic.

The seed soon pulsed, sending a wave of magic throughout his body, making it overflow with it. A sense of freshness and power washed over him, as he closely kept an eye on all the changes in his body.

As he felt the abundance of magic spreading to every corner of his body, he was now confident that he could use magic with ease. This was completely different from those born magically talented, as even they didn't release magic constantly, which passively overflowed from their bodies.

He activated his eyes and he could 'see' raw magic for the first time. He could see the red fumes that practically overflowed and leaked from the pores of his body. Seeing his predicament, he calmed himself by sitting down and entering meditation. He then attempted to control his magic, preventing it from leaving his body.

He was surprisingly successful, as he controlled the overflowing magic to return to the source, which was the seed, after nourishing his body. Extremely satisfied by what he had received, he looked towards the tree, completely unbothered by the stares from the fairies which were filled with awe.

"Thank You, I appreciate the gift! Though I need to know if you have any control over this seed?", asked Vali, with a meaningful look in his eyes and a blank expression on his face.

The plants surrounding him trembled, as the voice exclaimed in its signature dreamy voice, "You worry too much, child. Once the seed completely fuses with your soul, it is inseparable from you, unaffected by outside influence. The process of complete fusion should take a few years, and you should remain in this space till it's complete, for it's a lot faster."

"How faster?" asked Vali with impatience in his face, for he had prepared to leave this place as soon as possible. Remaining in the presence of a being that could read most of his thoughts, made him immensely uncomfortable.

"Staying here for 2 or 3 years should save you several decades of effort if you decide to leave. The seed shall completely become one with your soul faster, because of the environment." replied Yggdrasil after a few seconds.

Vali had already deduced that this place was some kind of an astral plane, where souls can exist and roam freely. After all, his other half in its soul form, used to be one of the inhabitants of this place. He also saw some of the fairies enter astral form for a few seconds, and he figured that they were immune to physical damage.

Since he was going to have to suffer mentally over the next few years, he decided to milk the tree for all its worth. As a tree that has existed for probably forever, and a cosmic existence, there was probably nothing it didn't know.

But he also knew that it was pointless, asking it about things above his 'pay-grade'. He could already picture the tree refusing to reply, so he decided to go with the simple questions that would benefit him,

"What's a divinity? And how is it formed?" asked Vali in a curt manner, as even though he had all kinds of knowledge about this universe, including events of the past, present and future; the knowledge of gods and other higher beings were pretty obscure.

Yggdrasil had already perceived his intentions of benefitting as much as he could, from this encounter as possible. It didn't really mind his intentions, instead decided to help him, by providing him with the knowledge that would prove useful.

It made sure not to talk about things above his level, and thought of ways to dumb it down for a being of his level to understand. After it finished arranging its thoughts in a split second, it replied to Vali,

"Since you've asked, I shall enrich your knowledge with what is of use to you. There are an infinite set of specific laws required for a world with sentient life to function. It applies to the universe, multiverse and so on, as well. These laws are not a part of the fundamental forces of the universe.

To put it simply, divinities are the blessings provided by the laws of the universe, a being is a part of. These blessings when provided to the being, take the form a divinity depending on the law that provides the blessing.

The laws have no sentience, and the blessings are completely dependent on fate, luck and external influences. So, when the blessed being grows stronger and attunes to his/her own divinity, he forms a deeper connection to that particular law, which was responsible for his divinity.

Though, most blessed beings aka 'gods' never progress further with their divinities. Training their divinities and attuning it with the laws, requires prodigious sensitivity towards it. This entirely depends on the soul of a being.

So, most gods grow stronger as they age, owing to their stronger souls and experience."

Vali had just received a lot information, clearing his mind akin to a tiny ray of sunlight which pierced through the clouds, on a cloudy day. He then went on to question the tree on the other obvious holes in his knowledge,

"So, what about faith then? Most gods depend on it for strength, and some on the continuation of their existence."

Yggdrasil, having seen through his problems once again, decided to keep it simple and move on to the topic it wanted to take about, so she spoke with ponderous tone,

"Faith is pretty useful for beings on your level of existence. When several beings worship a blessed being(GOD), the accumulated faith helps in refining the soul at an unremarkably slow pace, but still improving the speed at which their soul grows.

While this is useful for lower beings, it is a path with a very low potential leading to a severed future. It cannot make them take the evolutionary step, and become a higher existence unless they're favoured by fate. They simply possess the ability to use more of their divinity, owing to their soul being refined by faith. But, after a point it wouldn't help any longer, and the path of faith would have to be abandoned eventually.

As for the beings who depend on faith to prolong their existence? They have already more or less perished, becoming puppets to the thoughts of their believers. They might barely hold on to their existence with their will, by competing with the will of their believers whose thoughts and prayers constantly erode it.

In the end, they more or less become emotionless puppets waiting for their end, remaining in existence till their last believer ceases to exist. So, in my opinion, using faith to prolong your life is completely pointless."

Without waiting for Vali to butt in, the tree continued with what it wanted to say,

"You're a unique existence even among most abnormalities. And this doesn't even take into account the fact that your souls remained in existence incomplete, waiting to become whole again. The reason is simple, your divinity of vengeance, is not a blessing from the laws.

When a god possessing a divinity, seeks to improve his power, he attempts to further his understanding on that corresponding law, his divinity is a part of. You were born into existence with a direct connection to the law of vengeance.

Even I cannot sense the reach of such a connection. It's like you're a part of the law itself, completely different from those blessed gifted with a tiny fragment from the laws. To trivialize it, you're a part of the ocean, while the other gods are tiny droplets in a river, attempting to get a glimpse at the laws, which is the ocean.

And even if they grow stronger, there are other impossible obstacles stopping a person from possibly perceiving the laws, but you aren't nearly strong enough to hear about that.

Just know this, to become a being capable of perceiving the laws, you have to become a higher existence. For comparison, you would have to become stronger than your father, to take your shot with the laws.

And to become a higher existence, you would have to create your own path, via magic, technology or whatever extraordinary aspect you have access to; because, in the end they converge at the same point."

Vali who was overloaded with a tremendous amount of knowledge, patiently listened to every word the tree said, carefully memorizing each and every word with care using his mindscape. He knew that the key to becoming a fearsome existence, lied in the teachings of the tree.

The oceans in his mindscape churned as he processed everything the tree had just imparted. He was washed over with a feeling of uncertainty, when the tree spoke to him about his uniqueness with 'vengeance', but his eyes said otherwise as they had showcased a glint of determination.

And when it spoke about him creating 'his own path', Vali knew that he was on the right track as that was what he had always planned to do. Becoming a higher existence was just a step in his journey, and he was confident that he would have to take such a step more than once, to reach his end goal.

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[A.N]: I put my own spin on the whole 'divinity' thing, to better suit the end-goal of my story. ;) In another 2 chapters, this volume should end. Ciao!

As for the delayed updates, I'm just taking it slow with the writing, to not compromise on what I reluctantly consider to be 'decent quality'.

Hand over the power stones! NOW!

[ P@ treon.com/7rox ] or [ buymeacoffee.com/7rox ]

Won't be posting any advanced chapters there, though you can donate 3$ and buy me a cup of coffee for the time I've spent writing, if you're interested. Peace.