8 - °Divinity for 'Chosen Ones'°

"Gods' stones come in different variations, but mainly in hues of blue and red. They may be called stones, but they are more like crystals. These stones have an intriguing way of coming to us. From the knowledge passed down, and research from the University of Divinity, the stones sprout from our earth and they occupy the center of their carriers, and their carriers come in the form of flowers."

To say that Gin was excited, would be an understatement. Crude as the situation was, right at that moment, he, a farmer's boy, was being imparted with information that shouldn't have had anything to do with him. Yet, there he was. His eyes glistened, but his mind showed no mercy by how it was failing to comprehend what he was hearing.

Crystals that sprout as flowers? That must definitely be a sight to see. Gin had read and heard of strange phenomenons, but those were easy to be disentangled with. Although, when the strangeness starts knocking at your door, it becomes terribly hard to wrap one's mind around. And, University of Divinity? The level of obsession over this Art must indeed be great to have such a big establishment dedicated to it. Gin honestly never knew what to expect, and he was glad that he didn't.

"Once the stones are collected, they are then stored in special Vessels. The selection of candidates to gain the Divine Art used to be easy, essentially all Schools of Life would gather proper candidates, and those candidates would be taken to awaken their Divinity.

"Now, well, if you have the necessary funds, then you can acquire it. However, you need to have the right foundation for it. The Noble Ward has the easiest access to the Schools which teach 'potential' candidates the Foundation for the Divine Art. And, those Schools are the only ones that can build the said foundations."

Il San stopped his speech as he continued to walk with Gin. He knew he needed to give the boy some time to digest the information. It wasn't easy to process the unknown facts and the brittle twists of what he had thought were common knowledge. Gin would have thanked Il San profusely if he had known this, his mind was already buzzing and making nauseating movements.

Some of the information was light enough to digest and helped him correct the bits and missing pieces about the Divine Art, but most of it made little sense. The Art needed a catalyst, the candidates needed a foundation, the Noble Ward got all the good stuff heavily self-contained there. However… What did a proper candidate entail, especially on the part of the 'Foundation'? Were the Schools of Life different from the University or were they a branch of said University?

It was common for singular schools in various regions of Yerek, where official scholar candidates got their primary education, to exist separately from the higher education establishment like the Royal University. The only difference being, those with remarkable results from their letters sent to the First Principles Order—a facility in the Royal Capital founded in remembrance of Sir Keran the first principle of a local school dedicated for official scholar candidates—could easily enter the University for further developments. The official scholar candidates needn't go to the University as the studies they received from the local schools were more than sufficient to snag a government post; provided, of course, that they top the ranks in the evaluation from the First Principles.

The one factor that made this work well for the candidates, was that they would get their studies from current official staff, but said officials held no weight to recommend the posts for the students as the First Principles did so and then followed by the appointment directly from the Palace. Therefore, even if a case of favoritism were to occur it wouldn't take the current official or candidate far. Gin had wanted to try out this path, but he found that governance wasn't his strongest suit, and the students rarely covered matters of literature or digests on peculiar matters or things of the Sado Era.

As for the former mentions, what were the vessels used to store such crystals like? Was holding the stones as they were dangerous? How was the flower 'collected', rather, as Gin believed this to be the right term, 'harvested'? On that note, was there a Divine Art Flower Farmer's Association in the myriad of things unknown to the common folk? Of course, Gin didn't have much time to ponder further as Il San went on.

"When the candidates are selected, they are taken to the University of Divinity and complete the Appointment Process by gaining the apprenticeship of a Priest. The Clergy are positioned at the beginning of the process of selection of the candidates, and the middle of Awakening the Divinity. Herein lies the crucial part," Il San stopped and turned his whole self to look at Gin.

Gin stumbled to a stop and fixed his gaze up at the old man. He had beyond half a dozen questions. So, the Schools of Life really didn't hold a candle to the University of Divinity, as they were for the preparation, whatever that was, of the students. However, Gin figured they were probably more than what he was being briefed about since something this big couldn't possibly hold so little. Also, additional personnel was involved other than Priests? So then, who were the Clergy? What position do the Priests play in the whole scenario, when disregarding what he previously knew? How come a lengthy process like the Divination of the Art, well, the Awakening of the Art, went unknown for so long? No, how about the other terms thrown at him, 'awakening', 'appointment process', and whatever else to come? Again, how come this wasn't known?!

"There are three opportunities for the Awakening of the Divine Art in people. These three times are important because that is when the Cosmic Flux events are more intense. These are showers of particular particles that fall to our Earth. They are the beginning and end of this world. They create and destroy. However, its destruction is obstructed by barriers that our gods had placed when the Second Descendants occurred for the creation of our very lives.

"When the shower happens, the candidates will be taken to the Palace where the Night of Immersion will be held. The candidates will each be given a gods' stone, and crash it. A fog-like substance will flow from the stone, we simply call it gods' dust, and be absorbed into the bodies of the candidates. The Flux particles that will be gathered in the area of the Night of Immersion will assist in the ease of absorption of the gods' dust. This will then start the process of the mutation, if you will, and the body's Divinity Properties will be awakened for the candidate to use the Divine Art. Common folks know this the 'Divination of the Art', if I'm not mistaken. However, the Divination comes as a separate process, altogether."

Il San paused again and stared at Gin. Gin had his mouth shut, the overflowing data frying his brain like a nice meat skewer. When Il San didn't continue to speak, he thought it was time for him to ask questions, however, Il San didn't give him the chance as he went on to share his last piece of knowledge for the time.

"The change isn't large or painful. No, in fact, it is filling. A missing part of you gets to finally be found and slowly accepted by the body. At most, you will feel a tingling sensation throughout the change which is then followed by comfort. When this is done, the candidates take a week for the completion of adjustments that the dust will make, and also the purification that the dust does for the body. Then, the Divinity will be fully awakened. Those who are in the School of Martial Arts will gain doubled strengths and some senses heightened.

"Those in the School of Thought will have their mental capabilities, such as increased information processing or power of memorization, raised to be twice that of their previous self. Those with crafting arts in the School of Crafts will have different creative abilities, and one of the said abilities is to reinforce their Vision back to the Earth. Say, if a Crafter wants a rose, they can draw it on a fine piece of paper, or bring it back to life—conjure it, as the School puts it—as another living species along with us. But, there are several imperfections with this, however, it's nonetheless miraculous. The Divine Art is impressive and much more than being compared to Gods, for us humans at least.

"Remember, these abilities may be great to our standards, but nowhere near what our gods can do. It's just a small smudge along the road of Divinity. But, that's just my thoughts on the matter."

With that, Il San suddenly pointed a finger to Gin's side. Gin followed the outstretched finger and with knitted brows, he saw a flower. He was confused at first, but when he finally registered the abnormality of the flower, his eyes widened.