78 Divine Being

If Isaac chose to upgrade his body to a Divine Body, a lot of annoyances could potentially come his way. In his current state, where he still only had his blood upgraded to Ichor, controlling his Divine Aura and shielding himself from the dungeon's and almost anyone else's notice hadn't been difficult at all. But once his whole body underwent such a massive change, would he still be capable of passing himself off as an ordinary mortal?

Should he fail at doing so, he could basically forget about delving into the dungeon in as controlled a manner as before. While he had planned to agitate the dungeon anyway, by releasing his aura once he was in an area that he felt completely secure in, strong enough to face any potentially spawning foe, if he wasn't capable of controlling this aura, what he would have to withstand would be completely different from the experiences his students would have to go through - and he would also lose the opportunity to research all of the more common monster species in peace. Irregularities would become his new norm, and while fighting those was tempting and on his check list, he wanted the best of both worlds.

Additionally to the dungeon-related troubles, everyone around him would notice his peculiarities and instantly think of him as a god, a deity of this world. He would undoubtedly be approached by the rest of his new 'brethren' and be forced to follow their rules, whether or not he had actually fully become a god at this point wouldn't matter. This would heavily impact all of his plans.

Still, both of these huge problems could be dealt with. The first one would only require him to figure out a way to fully suppress his Divine Aura, which should be possible. After all, it would be a part of him, and a part of oneself could always be controlled. One only had to figure out the specifics and get a lot of practice. So should this turn out to be as major of a matter as it could potentially be, it would still only be a temporary problem - and more likely than not, this worst case scenario wouldn't happen.

Regarding the latter problem, this was also, yet again, a worst case scenario that was anything but guaranteed to occur. Even if it should, he could simply blur his existence and hide from all deities. This would restrict the amount of things that he could personally accomplish for a while, but as he could still use his subordinates to run errands, it wasn't a huge deal.

Lastly, once he grew strong enough, none of this would matter anymore - and the day that he would rise above at least all of the adventurers of this world wasn't too far off.

After having thought it through carefully, Isaac decided to go ahead with the upgrade. He had already restrained himself for weeks and although various annoyances could indeed end up arriving at his doorstep, it felt far more annoying to continue suppressing himself to his current state, while he had accumulated everything necessary to advance.

Around noon, once his subordinates and students decided to take a break and sat down to have a quick meal here in the training area, Isaac took out a couple of chairs and sofas to let them be more comfortable.

A few of the more perceptive ones quickly noticed that the current situation seemed a little similar to 'that time'... and their suspicions were soon confirmed.

"Most of you are already familiar with what is about to happen. But to those of you that have joined me recently, this all will come as a surprise or even a shock. Just… don't freak out, no matter what you see. And don't step into the void."

Mentally, Isaac asked Ais to intervene should anyone attempt to leave the safe area during the upgrade period and upon getting a positive reply, he closed his eyes and paid 15,000 AP.

[ 'Upgrading host's body to Divine Body' has been purchased. ]

[ Commencing temporary spatiotemporal displacement. ]

[ Upgrade process initiated. ]

From one moment to the next, everything outside of the courtyard had turned into a seemingly endless, black void. This sight, thankfully, didn't spook those who had been here before too much.

Aselina and Quinn, on the other hand, were utterly speechless. It was the first time in their lives that they had witnessed such an inexplicable change to their environment… and to be fair, the void also looked a little ominous. Still, remembering Isaac's cautioning words, they remained seated and only curiously and slightly fearfully stared at the endless nothingness that began just a few meters away.

Lefiya had learned her lesson from last time and didn't pay their surroundings any heed. Instead, she unblinkingly stared at Isaac's body, waiting for the main event.

[ The Skill 'Divine Body' has been obtained. ]

[ Divine Body: The user has the body of a divine lifeform.

While in the Lower World, heavy restrictions apply.

Cost of circumventing these restrictions: 500,000 AP

Current effects:

(Active) Exudes more Divine Aura.

(Passive) 25% buff to all stats. The user can control their Divine Energy to a degree. ]

[ The host will no longer be subjected to any suppressive effects when in Heaven or Tartarus. ]

[ Further upgrade has been unlocked. Cost of creating a Divine Soul imitation: 20,000 AP

Warning! Should this upgrade be bought, the Falna will be completely erased. Cost of preventing this from happening: 50,000 AP ]

Compared to before, the physical changes he experienced were far more prominent. Every single part of his body underwent an all-round improvement, starting from his heart and slowly spreading to the rest of the body. The energy that he had felt to be intangible before, the Divine Energy, was now something he was vaguely capable of controlling, and it imbued every single part of him.

Slowly, his body turned into this energy, losing its physical form. While he was still present, his form was now that of an energy body, not one of flesh and blood. This wasn't a permanent state, however, and rapidly, the energy body consolidated into a physical one again. While outwardly, his appearance hadn't changed, on the inside, every single slight impurity and inefficiency in his body had vanished and been perfected. Even though he had thought that he had already achieved this back in his old world, he had quite obviously been constrained in his thinking and knowledge somewhat. Some parts which he had thought to be natural and flawless had turned out to be the polar opposites instead.

Just this knowledge and the resulting even further improved control over his body were already more than what Isaac had ever hoped to gain from this upgrade. A wide smile spread across his face.

Because even the brain that his current body had access to was simply better in every way, he now felt all mental tasks to be a lot less taxing. They took up a lot less focus, comparatively. Like last time, his mental layer had also experienced further changes, slowly turning from something invisible that he had to instinctively feel into a kind of second body that he could observe in full detail using his mind. Every part of it now glowed slightly golden, while many more drops had begun to fill up the dried up sea of not yet circulating mana.

As if his very being had become a higher 'tier', the power that he felt to be at his disposal was so impressive that even all of this world's mortals added together wouldn't amount to anything more than an ant. Compared to the strength that he had been capable of wielding before, this was an increase of at the very least ten thousand times.

For the audience, the change to Isaac's body was even more visually impressive than what they had experienced last time. Just like previously, his body had initially turned transparent, then he had started to exude a golden glow and to be surrounded by an incorporeal mist of the same colour. But that had just been the beginning. When Isaac's body had lost its physical form, everyone was almost forced to close their eyes, as he had become a flickering, vaguely humanoid figure. His body had turned into a more condensed form of the golden mist and was incredibly bright. Still, the light they saw was gentle and didn't harm them, rather, it made them feel secure and relaxed, temporarily washing away their worries.

From the very bottom of their hearts, they felt a slight reverence sprout. Still, its effect was basically negligible, mostly due to the system suppressing this effect. As for those that weren't enjoying these benefits, Jakk and Lefiya, they actually felt the urge to worship this divine figure in front of them, but successfully held themselves back through sheer willpower. They knew that there was no need for them to do this, as Isaac wouldn't approve of it anyway. It was simply their instincts trying to compel them into acting this way - and such a fate wasn't something they wanted to accept.

When Isaac's body turned back to 'normal' again, it was plain to see that the golden glow that he gave off was far more intense than before. He was just like a torch in the darkness, blazing strongly and covering the entirety of the courtyard in pure and sacred light. Although he still looked just the same, anyone that looked at him in this state would undoubtedly call him a god.

Suddenly, the genuinely happy smile was wiped off of Isaac's face and replaced by a slight frown instead.

The restrictions that the system had mentioned before had finally come into play. Prior to this, he had felt like nothing in that world could even withstand a single flick of his finger, like he could decimate an entire continent with his breath alone. Now, however, this feeling was gone. While parts of it still remained, he could clearly feel that the improvement to his stats wasn't as mind-blowingly massive as what he had experienced before.

Even though it felt like a bucket of cold water had just been poured on his head, Isaac knew that this was only to be expected. Although he was currently not in the Lower World, the system would have him return there after this was over - so it would be weird if it hadn't taken the laws of the world that he would go back to into account. Had these restrictions not been placed on him, then he would be faced with these laws' suppression once he was back, and while he could shatter that and the very laws themselves with a thought, that would feel like cheating. It was only fair if he played along.

Just his very existence already broke whatever balance had been in play before. How was his system 'fair' in any way, shape or form? Well, as he had placed these shackles upon himself, he felt excitement. As he had to put in effort to amass AP to upgrade his capabilities, to Isaac, this was good enough. He wouldn't care about the feelings of others. Life wasn't fair, and he had made it all the way here purely through hard work. Of course, others would envy him, would feel like this was unjust, but could they even imagine the things that he had had to go through to get to this point?

While he wouldn't be able to experience the natural process of becoming a god if he simply paid his way there, he could just work on understanding the kind of being that a god was in this world once he became one. Then, he could figure out the steps that would have to be taken to get there the normal way. Effectively, he would be able to instantly arrive at the goal and be able to figure out the smoothest path there, enabling him to lead others to this destination flawlessly.

A heavy gulp interrupted his thought process. Yet again, Lefiya was the one to break the silence, her eyes sparkling with fascination.

"This time, you became a god, am I right!?"

With a smirk on his lips, Isaac shrugged. In his Status, the word 'God' had appeared next to the word 'Human', separated by a comma.

"Yes, partially. But not yet fully. Oh, and I'm not actually done yet, so please stay seated."

Seeing the crowd ready to surround and scrutinize him, he hastily motioned at the void that was still surrounding them. As the system was well aware of his intentions, it hadn't bothered to return them yet.

"Wait, what do you mean…?"

Shock flashed across Lefiya's face, while the rest of the group was just as baffled. Aselina and Quinn, who hadn't even completely come to terms with what they had just seen, turned a bit numb. This was just… too much at once. Still, both of them grew far more certain that they had indeed made the correct decision. After all, what kind of being was Isaac for him to be capable of doing what they had witnessed? They had no clue, they didn't even understand it. And he was partially a god now? What did that even mean!? How was that possible?

As he knew that explaining everything when the process wasn't even finished yet was pointless, because that would mean that he would have to waste his breath twice, Isaac simply shut his eyes again and paid yet another 70,000 AP. His enormous stockpile had dwindled oh so quickly.

He had already expected for the Falna to be in danger of disappearing once he became a god. Even though the price that the system stated was a bit steep, he had the resources and complaining about it wouldn't get him anywhere. What about the problems that would ensue if he placed an imitation of a Divine Soul on himself, basically in plain sight? He would just figure it out. If necessary, he could just blur his existence for a while. The encounter with Hel had made it abundantly clear that there were many gods who could gaze at his soul - and they would see nothing, arousing their suspicions. So having a Divine Soul's imitation would undoubtedly not go unnoticed by those deities.

But as he already had the means to advance another step further, Isaac didn't want to stop. He decided to go all in, consequences be damned. In any case, potential troubles wouldn't be something that he would be unable to deal with.

The reason he even had to create an imitation like this was that his actual soul was simply too much for any world to handle. Had this world been capable of even perceiving it - which was impossible and could never happen, even in theory - then its very laws would probably automatically classify him as the highest tier being to ever exist. Even that would be insufficient, but it would be the next best thing.

[ 'Creating a Divine Soul imitation' has been purchased. ]

[ Upgrade process initiated. ]

[ The Skill 'Divine Soul' has been obtained. ]

[ Divine Soul: The user has the soul of a divine lifeform.

While in the Lower World, heavy restrictions apply.

Cost of circumventing these restrictions: 500,000 AP

Current effects:

(Active) Exudes even more Divine Aura.

(Passive) 25% buff to all stats. The user's control over Divine Energy has been enhanced. Upon the destruction of the body, it can be reformed using the user's Divine Energy. ]

[ Due to their compatibility, the Skills 'Divine Blood', 'Divine Body' and 'Divine Soul' will be combined.

The Skill 'Divine Being' has been obtained. ]

[ Divine Being: The user is a divine lifeform.

While in the Lower World, heavy restrictions apply.

Cost of circumventing these restrictions: 1,000,000 AP

Current effects:

(Active) Exudes Divine Aura, dependent on the amount of Divine Energy.

(Passive) 100% buff to all stats. The user can proficiently control Divine Energy. Upon the destruction of the body, it can be reformed using the user's Divine Energy. ]

[ Further upgrades have been unlocked.

Cost of obtaining a Divinity of the user's choice: 50,000 AP

Cost of obtaining an Arcanum of the user's choice: 35,000 AP

Warning! If a Divinity or Arcanum that already belongs to a divine lifeform of this world is chosen, the one in question will be notified of the host's existence. Should they be able to snatch that Divinity or Arcanum, they will have the opportunity to improve their own. Cost of circumventing this: 500,000 AP ]

[ The Development Ability 'Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment (I)' has been obtained.

The same Development Ability has already been obtained before.

Proceeding to upgrade 'Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment (H)'.

'Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment (G)' has been obtained. ]

[ Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment (G): Enables one to interact with their surroundings by using mana. Reduction in mana expenditure: 3% ]

The visual effects of what happened weren't actually as impressive as before. Isaac's body had already gone through the most major of changes and almost all of the people present were unable to notice the Divine Soul that was starting to form. Well, there was one person that was able to see it, and that was Hel.

Needless to say, she had been rattled to her core during the previous events, enough to simply stare at everything unblinkingly and with indescribable shock written all over her face. The moment that they had been spatiotemporally displaced… her connection to her Divinity and her Arcanums had been completely cut off. She knew instinctively that if her soul was to be destroyed in this state, things wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't return to nature and slowly reform over thousands of years. Instead, she would disappear. Forever.

This kind of existential fear was something that she had never been confronted with before. Isaac's changes had also been impressive, that was for sure. She had been unable to explain how he was achieving this metamorphosis, but it hadn't rattled her nearly as much as having been separated from basically all of her power, being with her back against the wall. Thankfully, she was located at the outer edges of the courtyard and even though she was now visible, nobody had noticed her. Her black cloak helped a bit, making it easier to blend in with the endless void surrounding this place.

Once a roaring, gigantic and golden flame of life, a deity's soul, appeared in front of her eyes, however, her jaw dropped and she forgot all about the crisis she had been going through. Right in the space where she hadn't been able to perceive anything at all previously… was now a soul just like hers. It was pure and somewhat indistinct, and she couldn't make out any details about it. It seemed like a perfectly blank slate. Still, although she couldn't really focus on it, it was definitely there. What exactly was happening? Isaac didn't have a visible soul before, so how…? Something… something didn't add up here!

Instead of interrupting the proceedings, however, she simply silently paid close attention, afraid to disturb him. Afterwards, she intended to ask him about all of this in detail.

[ 'Trickster Goddess' Loki's blessing, the Falna, has been upgraded to a Divine Falna.

Once the host gains understanding of the substance it is made from and is able to control this substance, a Divine Falna can be bestowed upon divine lifeforms.

There are no other differences between a Falna and a Divine Falna. ]

Although the power coursing through Isaac's body had increased by a lot, all of the previous changes becoming even more apparent and the golden glow around his body turning increasingly potent, nothing much had actually changed about his body. Well, at least compared to the drastic metamorphosis he had undergone before. In any case, it wasn't like anyone could pay close attention to him, as the mist was now completely enveloping the entire courtyard, making it hard to see.

The biggest change besides the addition of a Divine Soul imitation was that his mental layer's body was now of a far more solidly golden colour. To what extent his mental layer differed from before couldn't yet be determined, it would require careful research.

When his Mana Cultivation's grade had risen, something had become abundantly clear. While not all of the mana cultivators of this world - if there even were any - were gods, all gods were mana cultivators. Of course, it was unknown whether all of them were actually aware of this, but some were sure to have gathered quite a bit of knowledge about this inherent part of themselves.

During this time's upgrade process, Isaac had felt his body trying to reject the Falna on his back, attempting to push it out, as if to remove yet another impurity - this, however, had been prevented. The Ichor it was made up from had increased in purity and lost its golden colour, turning completely white. It was as if Loki's blood had been refined time and time again, becoming something… more. What exactly that was, however, was unknown.

The system didn't even attempt to analyze it, even though it had done so when his goddess had dripped a drop of her Ichor on him back then. There was an explanation for this that was quite likely: When he had created the system, he had put a rule into place that required him to come into close contact with a higher tier being before he could upgrade himself to match it. If he obtained anything related to such a being via the system, a.k.a. not via natural means, then it simply wouldn't count.

'I wouldn't want it any other way. Well done, me!'

A satisfied smirk played across Isaac's lips as he mentally lauded his ingenuity. This restriction suited him perfectly. If he could just directly upgrade himself to be at the top of any world's hierarchy the moment that he entered it, it would remove huge parts of the joy that he would feel while exploring it. Now that he knew that he either had to follow the natural path to improvement of a world or at least meet with and fulfill certain requirements related to higher tiered entities before he could join their ranks, this made him relax.

In this way, he wouldn't lose interest in his journey. Otherwise, he could have just saved up enough AP to rise to the very peak before travelling to another world… which would surely become boring after a short while.

During the period of time when he had casually performed miracles that shouldn't even be possible, Aselina's, Averin's and Quinn's Loyalty plus Mina's Devotion had seen major changes. They increased by 10, 7, 10 and 2 respectively. An event as unbelievable as this one had left a lasting impression on them. It would be very difficult for anyone to forget such a sight in their lifetime.

Upon opening his eyes again, Isaac saw everyone staring at him with expectant looks, so he patiently began to explain the details of what he had just done while inspecting his Status. Of course, he didn't fail to mention that he was technically a god now… well, to be exact, an empty shell of a god.

[ Name: Isaac Blackshaw ]

[ Familia: Loki Familia ]

[ Affiliation: None ]

[ Race: Human -> Human, God -> God ]

[ Divinity: None ]

[ Arcanum: None ]

[ Level: 2 ]

[ Age: Unable to measure ]

[ Charisma: 19 -> 24 -> 34 ]

[ Divine Energy: 8540 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: SS-1014 (+ 11) (4278 x 2.0028) ]

[ Endurance: S-999 (+ 24) (4248 x 2.0028) ]

[ Dexterity: SS-1022 (+ 9) (4294 x 2.0028) ]

[ Agility: SS-1013 (+ 12) (4276 x 2.0028) ]

[ Magic: SS-1007 (+ 15) (4264 x 2.0028) ]

[ Magic ]

[ Anemoi Steps ]

[ Eyes of Hermes ]

[ Skills ]

[ Divine Blood (+ Divine Body + Divine Soul) -> Divine Being ]

[ Reverential Resonance ]

[ Development Abilities ]

[ Huntsman: H -> F ]

[ Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment: H -> G ]

[ Can be chosen from when ranking up: Archer, Hunter, Mage, Spirit Healing, Swordsman ]

During the past few weeks, his Huntsman Development Ability had its grade increased twice, simply due to the huge amount of Level 1 monsters that he had slain. The next Level's respective Development Ability, Hunter, had also become available for him to choose. Sometime during his Level 2 monster massacre, it had silently appeared.

As for the rest of the Development Abilities that were presenting themselves to him, he didn't even bother to look at them. He already had a few ideas as to how he would be able to obtain them without making use of the process of rising to a new Level.

Interestingly enough, the Divine Energy's value was the same as the total amount of his mana drops, the same as his Magic stat. It seemed like he didn't need to worry about having to figure out how to raise its limit. Together with his divine lifeform-related Skills, his Charisma had also seen a huge increase, which certainly would be able to display positive effects quite easily, should he find himself in a social situation of some kind.

During his detailed explanation, he also tested something that he had been worried about and soon grew relieved. The proficiency with which he could control his Divine Aura was incomparable to before and he could easily completely retract it. Just to be safe, he would still spend a couple of hours on growing used to how to instinctively do this, so as to not accidentally leak some during his dungeon visits. But after that, he should be perfectly fine.

'Speaking of, why are we still here?'

When he had already said everything that he wanted to, Isaac raised an eyebrow and stared into the endless void. By now, they should have already found themselves back at the Twilight Manor. All of his upgrades were finished, everything was dealt with.

'Wait… don't tell me…?'

Slightly shocked, he looked at Ais, not bothering to hide the inquiring look on his face. As she already knew what he was thinking, she showed a small smile and nodded slightly, then she stood up.

"Let's switch seats, it's my turn now."