68 Goddess

'Crap, did I seriously die again?' Jim awoke to find himself drifting once again, although his wounds were rather serious he didn't think they were fatal, so this had come as a surprise. Suddenly, he felt another presence, it felt like he was basking in a gentle and warm light.

???: "What...are you?"

Jim: "I'd like to ask the same of you. I am..or used to be, a human, name's Jim."

???: "Human? I've seen many humans, you don't remotely resemble them."

Jim: "I don't know what I look like to you, believe me or don't."

???: "...Very well, I cannot introduce myself, as I have no name. Others have referred to me as a goddess, but I have never met another like myself, so I don't know if this is true."

Jim: "It's going to be difficult to talk to you if you don't have a name. How does Aura sound?"

Aura: "Others have given me hundreds of names over time, I no longer care."

Jim: "Alright then, are you the one who summoned Suzuki?"

Aura: "I did invite one human to my garden recently, I did not check their name."

Jim: "Garden?"

Aura: "Is there something wrong? This is the best word I can think of."

Jim: "Is there a name for this garden?"

Aura: "No, I truly don't care for names."

Jim: "Okay, I'll just call it Aura's Garden then. Suzuki said you asked him for help."

Aura: "Correct, invaders have been ruining my garden."

Jim: "Why don't you just kick them out?"

Aura: "I do not have full control over my garden. I require others to handle the problem."

Jim: "Suzuki said you didn't actually tell him what the problem he had to solve was."

Aura: "The invaders are hidden from my perception, I had no information to provide."

Jim: "So you sent him in unprepared."

Aura: "Incorrect, Waiting would not have improved the situation. A portion of my power was imparted upon him, that was the best preparation I could provide."

Jim: "Alright, I understand now."

Jim took a moment to think what to chat about, he wasn't sure how long he'd be here.

Jim: "Are all the monsters in your garden sent by the invaders?"

Aura: "No, the invaders may be utilizing them, but they are an anomaly that have existed in my garden since the start."

Jim: "Anomaly? So you didn't make them?"

Aura: "They are closer to a natural event, the energy you know as mana has a tendency to clump together. Extremely dense pockets of mana will undergo a variety of processes, often resulting in the birth of a monster. They tend to mimic nearby creatures, altered in some way."

Jim: "How did you bring Suzuki from Earth to your garden?"

Aura: "Earth? I did not know the name of that place. Occasionally I investigate other places and take references to improve my own."

Jim: "Okay, but why Suzuki?"

Aura: "He happened to die while I was searching for a solution to my problem, the quality of his soul was good, so I made an offer."

Jim: 'Soul Quality...?"

Aura seemed to have no intention to explain further, Jim wondered if he had been questioning her too much and caused her to run out of patience.

Jim: "Thank you for answering my questions, is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

Aura asked hundreds of questions, she seemed particularly interested in the places he had been to. Jim was rather confused after finding her to be quite sociable, he had an impression that gods would be disconnected overseers, unconcerned with the thoughts of others.

An unknown span of time passed, Jim felt something tugging at him.

Jim: "Looks like I have to go."

Aura: "Visit again!"

Jim: "Mm."

Jim felt something break around himself, his eyes opened. He felt...good, really good. 'I'm back at full power? No, stronger.'

[Name: Jim Garrett]

[Species: Lower Divine Sura]

[Level: 14]

[Cultivation Realm: Peak Golden Core]

[Divinity: 5,130]

[Strength: 90,000]

[Dexterity: 70,000]

[Vitality: 100,000]

[Agility: 70,000]

Investigating his body, he was shocked to find that he didn't have 2 arms, he had 6. 3 on each side of his torso, the additional 4 moved naturally as though he had been born with them. He quickly withdrew some stored clothing and put it on, all of his clothes had been destroyed by the energy that reformed him.

A sense of understanding pervaded his mind, he knew things intuitively. The composition of the soil beneath his feet. How mana would interact with substances. He only needed to reach his mind out and knowledge would flood in.

Celes: "Master!"

Turning over, he saw Celes running towards him. At the same time, he saw something else. A golden light, brightly shining around her. It was alluring, comforting, like a warm blanket that wrapped around you. 'So this is her soul, I see.'

Jim began looking around, several people were nearby, gawking at the spectacle. He seemed to have emerged from an enormous crystal, it had broken apart as he did so. 'This was created by the system, it served as a shell to protect me as my body was reformed.'

Celes reached him and hugged him close, Jim smiled and returned the hug.

Jim: "Sorry for worrying you."

Celes: "Mm, just don't die."

Burying her head in his chest, he stroked her hair while becoming accustomed to his new senses. He could tell the past of the people he looked at, how they would react to situations, the kind of thoughts that went through their heads. It wasn't the same as mind reading, he couldn't hear their exact thoughts, it was more of a general feeling of what they tend to think.

Jim spotted a few people with malicious intent, he would have to handle them later. 'You want to harm Celes? Nobody touches my woman.'

The chaos seal was still activate, but its effects were greatly reduced by the divinity stored within himself. He would need to remove it completely, eventually, but for now his power was sufficient. 'I don't need the system to do it anymore. If I direct my divinity and divine fire correctly, I can eliminate the chaos energy over time.'

Celes had calmed down, Jim brought her back to his house, they met Suzuki on the way.

Suzuki: "Jim? You're...Gold."

Jim: "Well, yeah."

Jim's skin had become golden colored, his hair looked like golden thread, his pupils were gold. It was like someone had taken a spraycan and went to town on him.

Zana: "That's!"

Zana had come over, the instant she spotted him, she fell to her knees and pressed her head to the ground. Jim felt a sense of reverence from her, she seemed to feel required to do these actions.

Jim: "Zana? What are you doing?"

Zana: "Forgive me, Lord Sura. I did not know."

He felt a sense of fear from her now, she was terrified and unwilling to stay, but forced by some compulsion to do so. Jim's mask of deception had also been destroyed by the energy that reformed his body, but he felt he knew the principle it acted on. Shifting his divinity around, he managed to appear as his human form again.

Jim: "Zana, look up."

Trembling, her head slowly lifted, a breath of relief escaped from her lips when she saw his appearance had changed.

Jim: "Firstly, I'm not really Sura, I won't hurt you. What was that about? Please explain."

Zana: "Really? ...We Immortal Silver Foxes were not naturally formed. The Sura Clan created us as livestock long ago, it was only by chance that our race survived, I had thought the entire Sura race was extinct..."

Jim: "They are, I merely found some things they left behind, please don't worry."

With tears in her eyes, Zana seemed to have been traumatized by this experience. Jim could now tell an instinct of obedience was placed within the foxes, observing closer he found the lack of cultivation speed was also by design. 'Damnit, I didn't know the Sura were such bastards, at least they're all dead. No, maybe not all of them were bad, if they're like humans then they'd be a mixed bag.'

Jim: "Suzuki, I've regained my powers, you should be back on Earth within the week."

Suzuki: "Wha-you serious?"

Jim: "We should solve the problem Aura has first."

Suzuki: "Who?"

Jim: "The goddess that brought you here, I had a chat with her while in that crystal. It seems to be rather draining for her to move people between worlds, so I'll handle bringing you back."

Celes: "Master, you met the goddess?"

Nodding, Jim had an air about him that showed he had done something natural, in contrast to the bombshell he just dropped.