Element Database has levelled up!

  Soul has levelled up!

  Progress Garden has levelled up!

  Progress Garden has levelled up!

  You’ve destroyed a heart of a Divine!

  Vlidask has been notified.

  Deep Flesh Amalgam has been slain!

  You’ve absorbed Divine mana into your soul

  Divine Skill Selection available!

  Warning: Due to absorbing Divine mana before your soul is ready, your pool of Divine mana will run dry in six days. Skill selection must be accessed prior to that occurrence.

  Synexus looked at his notifications after Vlidask left and then discussed future plans with Gene on their way back up the tunnel. The entire party was done smelling the lingering stench of decrepit flesh and decided that they should head back up.

  Ten minutes into their hike back to the surface, they ran into the army of city and royal guards that they had gathered. Due to the excitement, Vorin had actually forgotten all about them and felt bad telling them that their assistance wasn’t needed after all.

  Eldrin, the royal guard captain, waved Vorin’s worries away and said it was still necessary for them to push forward to ensure the blight had been dealt with. Before they moved on, however, Eldrin sent four guards to accompany the party into the city to act as their escorts, so no one questioned them. He also said that the King would like an audience with them in a few days to show his gratitude.

  Synexus made sure to transfer all his stone trees into his Progress Garden on their way back and instead laid down more glowing mushrooms to make the armies return easier. The guards accompanying them thanked him and said Eldrin would surely appreciate it.

  Before they reached the surface, Gene gave Synexus an in-depth analysis of Divine skills and he was surprised to learn that they aren’t like regular skills at all. When he got the notification he almost immediately jumped into the selection, but now he was glad he didn’t. Divine skill selections are normally only given to those class masters that push way beyond the normal apex of their class. Only the eight Divine had ever been offered one. This was simply because your soul needed to be opened to mana more, and you needed to come in contact with Divine mana which normally would be created within one’s soul when they were ready. Obviously, Synexus’ situation wasn’t normal at all. His soul had become attuned to mana when he mastered Mana Weaving within his trial. Then when he used his sensors on the Nothing Stone, a small portion of the Divine mana within the heart was absorbed into his soul or at least that’s Gene’s best guess.

  They had a long discussion about the possible repercussions of going through with the Divine skill selection this early on his path. Gene advised to simply let the Divine mana dissipate over the six days. Synexus would need to make that decision himself, however.

  The way Gene explained Divine skills was that they were designed to benefit all class chosen rather than the class chosen who had obtained the skill selection. Instead of selecting a skill from a list, the class chosen or normally the class master would use their will to create a skill with assistance from System. Now, this skill wouldn’t be a normal skill to be used by the one who created it, it would act more like a new function of System itself.

  Each of the Divines had gotten the chance to add a function for all class chosen to use. The stats were each an individual function chosen, same with the achievement function and the interface function.

  This was incredible to Synexus and he understood why Gene was worried. If he went ahead with the selection, then a new function would be added to System for every class chosen. Each Divine, the Coalition, and anyone else with power would be searching for the new Divine that they would believe had ascended when in reality it would be a level 20 that probably had a bit of help from System thanks to his heritage.

  Even with the obvious danger, he still wanted to go through with it. This was his chance to make a real change. His class revolves around progress, and this was a way to help billions of class chosen achieve just that. Hundreds of ideas flooded his mind for possible functions, but he put them to the side when he finally felt the fresh air brush against his skin.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  He hadn’t realized it, but they had been down in the tunnels for nearly sixteen hours, and it was now nighttime. Moonlight streamed down from an unobstructed sky, and he reveled in it for a moment. Kumo had even opened her eyes to look up at the sky with him even though she was still being carried by Prith and Vorin.

  “Wow, that feels great!” He said in a cheerful voice to the others.

  “You know what will feel better? Laying in an actual bed in an inn.” Zuls slapped him on the back and started walking towards the stairs.

  Everyone shrugged then nodded and followed.

  A wide staircase carved into the mountainside itself was the only way to reach the gates of Goldhill. And although it was awful after the day they had, finally moving up the stairs toward the city felt amazing.

  Synexus focused on every detail as they ascended. Beautiful metalwork lined the staircase and the stairs themselves had been engraved with all sorts of different languages. Up ahead he looked at the gate and how perfect it looked. It was clear that artisans working with metal as a median were prevalent within the city.

  Once at the gate, the group wasn’t even stopped thanks to the clearance provided by the guards escorting them. Yu being with them wasn’t even a problem like it could have been in Port Palm.

  Their escorts led them through the city towards one of their best inns. On the way there they passed several taverns still open with people dining and drinking outside on firelight lit patios. Synexus even saw some of his bamboo variants in the form of tables and lanterns.

  Most of the shops were closed for the night, but the party still remarked on the sheer number of blacksmith forges they passed. Forges were only equaled by the heightened number of jewelers they saw. It made sense since the city was built on a network of mines.

  The city itself was fascinating with beautiful stone roads that looked like they were made from one giant stone. Synexus even asked Gene if they knew if it was the top of the mountain itself that they carved into neat pathways. To his surprise, the owl didn’t know.

  Metalwork was prevalent wherever the party turned their heads, and beautiful sculptures of various ores, stones, and metal lined the buildings. It almost seemed to them that the citizens were competing with one another to see who could display the best art.

  In the middle of the city square was a giant metal statue of a dwarf holding up a two-handed axe. The dwarfs’ feet were set in a fountain that held magical water. Its glow radiated outward and lit several benches surrounding the fountain. Synexus almost wanted to go touch it to add the water to his collection skill, but he knew there would be time for that in the coming days.

  When they arrived at the inn, the whole party stared up in awe. Atop the Dragon’s Fire Inn was an ornate bronze statue of a dragon with its wings spread and fire pouring from its mouth. When the bronze jet of flame met the roof, beautiful filigree in the wild shape of flames cascaded down the entire side of the inn. Furthermore, it had been enchanted to give off a slight orange glow. To visitors it looked like they were walking into dragon’s fire, hence the name.

  Luckily, the entire top floor of the inn was available and Synexus gladly paid for an entire week. He knew the party needed to recover and there was no sense in rushing their departure. Of course, there was the threat of the Coalition finding him; however, it was a huge city, they weren’t even sure if the two had been there yet, and a part of him wanted to confront them instead of fleeing. He knew Gene would argue the idea until they both couldn’t speak anymore, but he wasn’t afraid. To him there was still a chance to peacefully resolve things. The only reason he didn’t just announce himself to everyone to bring them in was because he was afraid it would be dangerous to not only his friends, but to Motholo as a whole. That’s why he decided to stick to the plan of remaining hidden.

  It was funny, but that last set of stairs up to the top floor of the inn were the worst to climb even though they had climbed through miles of tunnels and the massive staircase leading up to the city. They were all exhausted and their minds were finally able to start shutting down for some proper rest. Each of them stumbled into one of the empty rooms and found their beds. Synexus took Kumo to hers before finding his and falling asleep.

  Morning came without incident, and it was clear that most of the party was still asleep. Synexus stood at his open window and breathed in the morning air while feeling the heat of the sunlight on his skin. He had missed the sunlight.

  After checking on Kumo, and making sure she was doing okay, he went downstairs to find Shell who was clearly already awake. He asked the person at the bar, and they told him to check in the dining hall. That was where he was headed next anyways thanks to the enchanting smell of several kinds of foods coercing his nose.

  Dozens of people were sitting around long tables eating and talking. Shell was sitting alone at the end of a table and Synexus scared her when he sat down.

  “Sorry, I figured I’d join you.”

  “Oh, Synexus! You’re up! I was just deep in thought.”

  “What were you thinking about?”

  “Yesterday. Ever since I met you, my life has been weird. But I suppose that’s adventure!”

  “It certainly is! You seem well-rested.”

  “I am. Sleeping in a bed again was fantastic. I only woke up early because I didn’t close the curtains last night and the sunlight wouldn’t heed my threats to go away, but I slept enough anyways. I came down early this morning to make an arrangement with the owner of the inn. He said I could keep my room for the week if I play a set each night on the ocarina.”

  “I know you like to play, but if you wanted to rest, you know I already paid for all the rooms.”

  “It’s more for my skills to be honest. I do need to start making my own money though if I’m going to be travelling around with all of you.”

  “You just want to show off your skills on the ocarina.”

  “There’s that too!”

  Both of their expressions turned into smiles before they started eating what the inn staff had brought them. They both ate and remarked on the incredibly moist sweet rolls they had been given while they waited for the others to wake up.

  Synexus was on his third roll, and his mouth was full of a big bite when he heard his name being called out from across the room. When he looked up, his eyes widened, and he hurried to swallow his breakfast.