Deities?

"No." I reply, a hint of anger lacing my word.

I never did.

I was apathetic to there being a god before.

But after experiencing the cruel hand fate had dealt me with, I rejected his existence.

God's are supposed to look over their subjects.

And even if God showed himself to me, I would consider him nothing but the devil.

He took everything away from me.

Why should I accept the existence of someone who destroyed an innocent child?

Arthur replied a bit later, "I don't know, do deities exist?"

Gramps keeps staring at me, before he spoke, "Brat do you remember when I told you about a wolf god we elves worshipped?"

"Yes, you said you referred to him as a god because your people used to worship him for a while." I answer, my face settled to an emotionless one.

Where is he going with this.

"I lied."

"What?"

"I lied about me not knowing if he was actually a god."

"So you do know?"

"Yes, I do. And the answer is, yes he was a god."

"So gods exist huh?"

"Yes, they do. And he was not the only god."

"Hmm?"

He pointed towards a sleeping Sylvie.

"You think Sylvie is a deity?!" Arthur choked.

Ignoring him Virion pointed at me shadow.

"Zeke? A deity?" I asked more calmly than Arthur.

Hey! I take offence to that!

"Deities are not what religious books say about God. They are beings capable of ascending past their mortal body and completely harmonize with mana. Dragons are beings with an inherent potential to become deities. We used to worship a being similar to Zeke, do you think we would have worshipped just about anyone? These deities can't be shackled by the limitations of a S-Class, or SS-Class mana beast. They would be on a level beyond White core." He scoffed at his own two hands as he said that.

There it is again, the stage beyond White core.

"Here we are, Elves, Humans and Dwarves, just barely able to scratch at the power of a white core. And out there entities exist, each being beyond the White core."

He shifts his gaze to Arthur this time, "You know about the war between the three races, along with the war between the humans and elves. Compared to what this continent was during ancient times, they seem like minor skirmishes. We were nomadic back then, never once staying in a place for longer than necessary. The Humans, Elves and Dwarves travelled separately due to our differences in appearance and culture. But whenever they met, they were on decent terms, we had to. We traded resources and raw materials. This was the beast era, where mana beasts ruled the land. This was the era in which we worshipped the Wolf God."

"That's weird. Weren't they able to fend off the weaker ones?" I ask.

"No, they couldn't. Have either of you noticed the painting in the main hall of the Royal Palace back in Elenoir?" He asked abruptly.

"You mean the enormous painting in the living room? I did notice it, but couldn't really make much sense of it." Arthur replied.

"It shows someone bestowing the elves with two orbs of light. That's all I could understand." I comment.

Virion nods, "Each of the three royal families has a painting like that. It shows a deity providing us with the tool to put an end to the beast era."

I raise an eyebrow.

So this deity is actually helpful?

"This deity showed itself in front of the ancestors of the three royal families, bestowing them with six artifacts distributed equally. The head of the Glayder family received two, the ancestors of the Greysunders family received two, and me forefathers, the head of the Eralith family also received two." Virion smirked at Arthur's expression, but seems off put by my impassive face.

"Does nothing surprise you brat?"

"Oh I'm surprised alright, I'm just better at hiding it than him," I point towards Arthur, whose face was the incarnation of surprise and confusion.

Virion grumbles before continuing, "This happened centuries before I was born, the knowledge is passed down from King to King, so it might not be completely accurate. The three kings weren't meant to use the artifacts on themselves but rather on their most trusted, most powerful subjects under a soul oath through a knighting ceremony. With these artifacts the three races were bestowed with the power to protect themselves, and gain the upper hand against the mana beasts and other ancient monsters that existed back then."

"I would assume hand the three races divine artifacts only invites more war and chaos. I don't know about the elves, but greed isn't a rare thing among humans." Arthur commented.

"Greed is common in every race. We only stayed in the capital of Elenoir, that too near the castle. There must exist elves with greed, arrogance, all of that. No offence Virion."

"None taken. Besides that's exactly what happened. Until the end of the beast era humans, elves and dwarves worked together to increase their area of dominance, driving the surviving mana beasts to what we call the Beast Glades now. However shortly after that, greed did attack the three kings and their subjects. Other than power, the artifacts also gave them insight on how to use the energy making up the world, what is now known as mana. The three pairs had different attributes which were divided between the three races, separating us even further. This resulted in : The Dwarves who believed they were beings closest to the earth should rule the continent. We Elves thought that since we were the closest to living beings, we should be ruling the continent. The Humans reasoned that because of their ability to utilize all four elements, the deity wanted them to rule the continent." He glanced at Tessia once.

"Lemme guess, a three-way war?" I commented.

Virion nodded solemnly, "The war lasted longer than the time they drove the mana beasts into the Glades. So...going back to your question, care to take guess?"

I open my mouth to speak but Arthur beats me to it, "Those six artifacts that the deity bestowed on the three kings were used on the six lances to boost their mana core levels to the White stage all the while preventing them from going against the council due to the soul oath? They were probably selected from among candidates raised closely by the royal family and knighted after they were deemed to be worthy." (What is this? Thor? 'Whosoever holds this hammer; if they be worthy shall possess the power of Thor!')

"Damn you're on a roll." I mutter.

"Precisely, each of the lances were secretly raised as candidates to wield an artifact. And only after we discovered the new continent, did the three Royal families chose to unite."

"I've got one more question. People were knighted in the past as well right? So, how is it that we are only hearing of them now?" Arthur asked.

"Think about it Arthur, if the existences and identities of the Lances were publicized then the other royal families would surely try and have them neutralized. And if the masses were to know about the artifacts, well you said it yourself, greed isn't exactly a rare thing among them." I explain in place of Gramps.

"He's right, if it was revealed then I wouldn't be surprised if coups were to be held, hell some might go as far to erasing the entire royal family, hoping to be the new masters of the artifact." Virion added.

He then looks at a sleeping Sylvie, before turning his gaze to Zeke, "They have the potential to ascend to deities. It might take them years, or it might take them centuries. Either way they will get much stronger. As must you. I have a bad feeling that changes are going to happen, and we will need you two to fight them."

If Zeke has the potential to be a deity, does that mean Noctis was one?

And he was trapped in the area between the Elshire forests and the Beast Glades.

He blamed someone called 'Indrarth' for keeping people away from there.

Come to think of it, could he possibly have meant Sylvia?

Sylvia...Noctis...are they the deities?