Diluted Divinity

Auriel finished his food and shook a small bell to call Daisy. 

The scared maid came inside while looking down at the floor without lifting her head. 

Auriel sat on his bed and pointed to the chair for Daisy to sit down, which she did immediately, trembling more than before, and bowing her head to the limit. 

"Look me in the eyes," Auriel ordered. 

Daisy lifted her head nervously and looked into Auriel's eyes which were shining like amethyst, ultimately hiding her eyes. 

Auriel sighed after seeing the excessive fear in Daisy and rubbed his forehead, then he handed the scared maid a paper and pen. 

"Write what I, my brother, and step-sister have been doing for the last week. Then write what my father was doing and how my relationship with my family is." 

Daisy wore a confused expression but she didn't ask anything and wrote down the things that Auriel asked. After all, questioning the order of Auriel, who was rumored to have a short temper, was a death wish itself. 

'She is good and can stop her curiosity. I might be able to use her.' Auriel thought,  then took the written paper with his thick hands. 

'Hmm, how strange… According to Daisy, I was staying in this room for a week without stepping out of my door. And weirdly, my relationship with my father is neutral, with my brother can be said to be good but with my step-sister, it is the worst. Probably the original Auriel harassed her because of her beauty and her being an adoptive sibling instead of being a blood sibling.' Auriel thought and lifted his face to Daisy. 

"Do you have something to say?"

Daisy quivered once more but this time she didn't hide her eyes and forced open her lips, only to speak quietly. 

"I have a message from the master."

'The master must be Duke Weaver.' Auriel thought and gestured for Daisy to continue. "Go on, say it."

Daisy extended a small note to Auriel with a shaking hand, which Auriel took with a swift movement. 

Then he read it without waiting for a moment. 

[Don't make me wait for more than this. Use that in a day or else I will personally put that down your throat.] 

The note wasn't that long but it was enough to make Auriel think about what he needed to use it. He had an idea about what was this 'that' but he decided to ask Daisy. He thought that she had the trust of Duke Weaver himself as she was trusted with a note like this. 

"So, what do I need to use?" 

But all Auriel got for the response was the trembling voice of Daisy. 

"I- I don't know…"

Auriel sighed again before getting up from the bed and standing in front of the maid. 

Then he lifted his hand, making Daisy flinch, and put his fat hand on her head, slowly patting it. 

"You can go now, but if I hear from someone about how you speak about the things I asked you…" Auriel said but didn't continue his sentence as the meaning was clear for both of them.

The maid got up with trembling legs and made her way to the door and left the room, leaving Auriel alone again in this luxurious but lonely room. 

Though Auriel didn't care about this, he was already used to being lonely. So, without waiting he began to search through his drawers and wardrobe to find something with unique looks.

And after searching through the entire room, he found a glass tube under his bed. 

This glass tube was filled with water but there was a golden hue inside it, making Auriel feel something familiar, something sacred. 

"Is there divinity inside this water?' Auriel thought and opened the lid of the tube, then he sniffled. 

But there was no particular scent on the water, it seemed to be just plain water but it was easy for Auriel to notice the familiar aura. He had lived with the Gods for 40 years and even though it was rare, the gods also bleed and from the aura he was feeling, Auriel was sure that there was a divine blood of a God in this water. 

'This is the thing the Macien kingdom uses to make people a Candidate?' Auriel thought with shock. 

He didn't expect that someone would be brave enough to use God's blood to be a Candidate as it would be suicide. 

A single drop of the blood of a God was enough to kill thousands of humans because of the divinity inside of it. Normal humans weren't strong enough to withstand the divinity or absorb it, let alone drink it like juice. 

But Auriel decided to drink this water because he could feel the divinity inside the water was minuscule as if the divinity was diluted millions of times. This was likely because Auriel knew that the Macien kingdom was rising in power at an abnormal rate. 

Though he didn't care whose divinity he was about to use and drank the entire tube without wasting a single more time. 

Then he lay on the bed and braced himself for the pain that he was expecting. 

"Agh!" 

A pain-filled groan escaped from Auriel as he clenched his hands and teeth, and endured the pain without screaming. 

Fortunately for him, the pain didn't last long and it passed after a torturous minute. 

Phew… 

Then Auriel let out the breath he was holding and got up immediately and went to the mirror, looking at his reflection with expectation. 

There he saw a blackish red symbol that looked like a pen and a pitch black question mark symbol etched onto his forehead, shining slightly red and black respectively. 

"Hahaha! Now all I need to do is awaken my potential." Auriel laughed with joy with a slightly twisted smile on his face.