Divine Data Transfer starting.

  Note: Make sure you have enough mana stored for complete transfer.

  It seemed the messages started with a message he had received before the last message he’d seen, which was the prompt about the incomplete data transfer. Theo was more than a little upset that this message hadn’t popped up, but not as much as he was miffed about it not mentioning the required mana at all! How was he supposed to know how much he needed?

  Lingering Magic (Boon) has expired.

  Lingering Magic (Boon): The lingering magic of a Divine-tier spell runs through your entire body. Increases Mana recovery rate by 1000% until effect ends. Gives a chance of hallucination. Gives a chance to see through the veil. Gives a chance for a random, magical event to trigger in any of your affected limbs. Gives a chance for instant death that increases over time. Gives a chance for your physical body to explode. Gives a slight chance for spontaneous hair growth. Permanent Luck +10. Permanent Luck + 10%. Permanent Luck -10. Lingering mana remaining: 0.

  Warning! You have insufficient Mana for full completion of Divine Data Transfer. Mana will drain until Packet 1 of 2 is complete as it is within the safety threshold.

  This was probably followed by the warning he’d seen, which probably showed up due to his required input now that he thought about it. He had no wish for the System messages to intrude on him during high-tension situations, which this could be construed as. If it was battle, he certainly would like the System to bugger off, though he didn’t see himself in any immediate physical danger right now. If the System was following his wishes, then it had just done what it was supposed to.

  Congratulations! You have earned the Level One skill Mana Channeling.

  Mana Channeling (Level One): Mana. Channeling. Put them both together and you have Mana Channeling. All stats +5.

  Warning! You have reached 0 mana.

  Warning! Mana drain undisturbed by lack of mana. Starting Overdraw conversion.

  Divine Data Transfer complete!

  Theo felt the tension in his body even just reading the history of it. It was as if his body was still burning even now. He never wanted to experience anything like that again. Again, the System didn’t give any particulars about the conversion of his vital and physical energy into mental, but he had survived, which was the most important part. He could probably calculate it roughly based on the percentage of health and stamina he had reached, but as they were both simply stated as percentages, the value of one percent would change when he gained a skill. It wasn’t worth his time.

  After that message he had met with Arcana, back in her godly domain, though her hall was gone, replaced by mist. He hadn’t gained too much insight into her life before ascending to godhood, but she had confirmed that Wen’s story was correct enough where it mattered. Despite being ever-present to each other, she and Luni missed each other. Theo had been used, willingly despite his not directly knowing, as a way of communication, though he figured it was only a one-way message. Would it happen to him again?

  There was also Arcana’s lighthearted, almost devilishly good-natured warning. What if someone saw the light show he had inadvertently made in the middle of nowhere? She had mentioned that the Queen of Ercheat hadn’t consented to Sigil Lake being founded, but did that matter? They had gotten their hands on a town deed, why would it matter who signed it between the Queen and Arcana herself? Surely, if nothing else, Arcana’s will was more important than the Queen’s?

  Either way, he had been forewarned. He remained hopeful nothing too dangerous would follow, but maybe keeping Grace around wasn’t such a bad idea.

  Warning! Your Mana Network has been severely damaged.

  Note: Your Mana Network is what transfers all kinds of energy throughout your body, allowing it to repair and replenish its stores in a timely manner, if at all. A permanently damaged Mana Network is also lethal in its own right, so make sure you avoid this in the future.

  And there it was. The only consequence of his unknowing actions as of yet, with the exception of a trait he had no idea what actually did and a skill he earned for putting his entire mana network in danger. If Grace had told him the truth earlier, then the only reason that pink potion of hers had worked at all was because he had the mana channeling skill, which he only had because he put his body through that intense, lethal stress. Surprisingly, it had all worked out! Maybe he should risk his life more often?

  Arcana has deemed you deserving of rewards for fulfilling her divine request. She has been diligently paying attention, and has even written down some notes regarding your completion of her request so you can improve yourself further before the next time she comes calling on you. Would you like to see these rewards now?

  Danger! You are being force-fed an unknown potion.

  Note: Try to avoid this in the future. You never know who you can trust, after all.

  Potion effect activated: Essential Oil of Mana-Soothing

  Essential Oil of Mana-Soothing (Potion): This potion is made of all things sweet and nice for soothing or reconstructing your Mana Network. Truly an essential oil for those who have risked their magical future without being too vigilant.

  Your Mana Network has been repaired.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Again, Theo didn’t know what to think of the System. Sure, it had safeguards in place to protect him from what might be harmful… but it did so retroactively the way it worked now. It had warned him about being force-fed potentially dangerous stuff as he was fed it, but the warning hadn’t popped up. It had let him know something was happening, but he wasn’t in the right state of mind to read through the message at that time. Maybe he should read these messages as soon as he has time for them in the future?

  That seemed to be the end of the slew of messages, a nice haul for a single night’s worth of divine intervention, if he could say so himself. Only the rewards from Arcana remained, which was a nice surprise to find there near the end. He eyed the question it asked about wanting to see them. What kind of notes would Arcana have for him, though? They would certainly be bad, right? Were they even necessary to read? If anything, he was sure she would just mock him some.

  Before accepting the prompt with a ‘yes’, Theo shot up from his resting spot, realising his near-mistake. If it was anything like the previous night, why the heck would he do so inside the only building they had raised in the town? It was already ramshackle, why risk it tipping over from some divine blast of power? He got up, tiredness far from his mind as he headed back outside and looked over the mostly empty townscape. Only there did he feel comfortable enough to risk more godly hijinks. From there, he could see towards the centre of town and past that, the lake on the northern edge. It was oddly serene, especially considering what Theo was expecting to happen next. Then again, when had his interactions with the gods ever gone wrong?

  Oh yeah. It hadn’t ever gone well.

  ‘Yes.’

  Stupidity was a natural force to be reckoned with in and of itself, wasn’t it? While gravity, centrifugal force, maybe? And then the other sillier fantasy rules binding this world together acted on a global scale, stupidity was one of those constants that were global in spirit, but acted only locally; like the wind, the waves and that loud curse you hear when someone hammers their thumb. If, in two years’ time, Sigil Lake would fail the ranking, Theo figured that, if anything, he’d been incredibly stupid. Stupid gives and stupid takes away, everyone knows this; Theo wanted to focus more on the giving part.

  Congratulations! You have been granted notes on how to be a better servant to Arcana.

  #1: Always consider your main Target T

  #2: Increase your Range D of skills and abilities.

  #3: You are on the correct Vector K, but don’t stop now.

  Arcana has decided to grant you Boons-

  “Nope!”

  Yes.

  Arcana has decided to grant you Boo-

  “No, the last one nearly killed me!”

  Shush! Arcana has-

  “No, stop! I’m too young to die! How do I stop this?”

  Arcana has granted you Boons for your excellent performance. Two Boons have been personally picked out for you, so you better pay her due respect.

  “Is this you, Arcana, or is the System, like, totally biased towards you?”

  The second. Boon. is granted to Sigil Lake

  Sigil Lake receives Boon: Undying Loyalty (Boon)

  Undying Loyalty (Boon): Sigil Lake has proven its loyalty to Arcana, and Arcana has recognised their Undying Loyalty towards her. She has granted Sigil Town a mere flicker of her everlasting power. May Sigil Lake stand as the first true bastion of Arcana’s grace.

  The world shook. The sky once more threatened to shatter and fall apart, spreading shards of divine power onto the naked town below. Luckily, it didn’t so much shatter as it did leak super-divine excrements of power in the form of coalescing lightning and fire that burned Theo’s face even at this distance.

  The fiery storm, wet with cutting droplets of water and ice, fell to the earth smack dab in the middle of the town, scorching the area like napalm would a stack of prime firewood. The purply blasts of lightning danced around the swirling tower of fire and power, reflecting from the shards of ice and droplets of fire ever so slightly differently. Two sets of a heavy whirlwind storm acted as the driving force behind the others, funneling the flames down in a left-rotating spiral whilst the H2O circled to the right.

  The grassy ground beneath Theo’s feet rumbled in response to something unseen within the elemental storm, but for right now, the remainder of the villagers were quickly waking and running toward him. Grace was first to reach him, appearing beside him in a flash. The moment she appeared, Theo lunged away and shielded himself with his arms, though her smile was kind enough to settle his nerves back down pretty quickly.

  “The bloody hell is this?” Wen shouted as she came upon them. “Is this going to be a nightly thing?”

  Theo shrugged embarrassedly whilst Grace eyed him with obvious interest.

  “Being so close to the Lady’s power is… intoxicating doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

  Dust, gravel and patches of grass were torn out of the ground near the storm, the grass filled with orange embers and blackened blades, though remained mostly vibrant green. More and more brown dirt rose and spiralled the periphery along with the clear and blue water, all the while the lightning flashed and played wildly around it all.

  “This is some Arcana bullshit?” Wen then asked, words which would’ve mirrored Theo’s own thoughts on the matter if he didn’t already know. It was some Arcana bullshit.

  The storm raged on, thankfully never spreading too far, the watery second layer protecting the entirety of the nearby grassland outside the fiery vortex.

  “You did this,” Grace then said, externalising her reason for eyeing him with such… interest.

  “No, no. Arcana’s doing this,” he argued, though it was his reward in some twisted way, so his words were tinged with the sound of a white lie.

  The storm soon relented, and where the torrent of whirling flames had once made landfall from the sky above now stood Arcana in her grandest visage, just as he remembered her. Her entire being was marble white, yet so finely carved that Theo believed it to be the real thing for more than a whole second after laying his eyes on it. The statue stood tall and proud, nearing twenty metres high, if not more. She was dressed in the same, colourful dress he’d seen her wear, though its colours were sadly not partaking in the tribute to her magnificence. She wore decorative wristbands on both wrists, worth mentioning solely for the giant middle finger the massive sculpture held high in the air in a southwestern direction.

  “Theo… Why is there a giant statue of Arcana in the middle of our town?” asked Willam. As Theo and Grace stood with gaping maws at the thing, Wen added to his question moments later.

  “And why is she flippin’ off in the direction of Ercheat?”