---Logan's POV---
I listened as Garble firmly stated, "My skill should be passable."
"Does dog paddle count as swimming?" Hedgehog asked, looking uncertain.
"Yeah?" I responded, wondering where this was going. As a veteran player, I knew we needed to assess everyone's abilities accurately.
Hedgehog scratched his head. "Hm... then moderate I guess?"
"Uh... why not trust in the omnipotent power of magic?" ProGamer_Daddy suggested, though I could tell he wasn't entirely serious.
I frowned at the suggestion. As someone who'd spent considerable time in the game, I knew better. "Then we might drown from exhaustion in the water."
I needed to make sure everyone was clear about our situation, so I reconfirmed with the group. "Neither ProGamer_Daddy nor I can swim, Hedgehog can't control depth, and Garble is the only one on our team who can possibly fight underwater. Right?"
It wasn't ideal, but we had to work with what we had.
Garble quickly added, "Just to be clear, I've never tried underwater combat before."
"No problem! The more times you die in the game, the more experience you gain!" I waved my hand nonchalantly.
Being a veteran player, I understood that death in-game wasn't the end—it was just another learning opportunity.
And I wasn't too worried—he had good skills anyway; he just needed experience. For now, he had the highest combat potential among us.
It didn't matter if the others couldn't swim.
We could still start preparing for the next version now.
"With new players arriving and updates about the God of Sea, I suspect the number of skills and spells we can choose from will increase too!" I said confidently.
Garble nodded in agreement. "If there really are new skills, we'd better pick something water-related."
I knew from experience that even the magic in Chronicles of Aeltia followed natural laws—something I'd learned through countless hours of gameplay and testing.
My fireball spell would extinguish when it touched water, and Garble's Windwalking consumed more stamina against headwinds. Only ProGamer_Daddy's holy light spell seemed unaffected; it could be used both day and night.
But underwater... I sighed dejectedly, thinking about all the time I'd invested in my current skill choice. "My fireball spell is already weak, and underwater it'll probably just be useless."
ProGamer_Daddy rubbed his chin and hissed, "Could fireball spells be a version trap?"
"Very likely!" Hedgehog analyzed seriously. "It's probably just bad skill balancing by the developers—they accidentally made it useless!"
"But the devs didn't want to give it up, so they made NPCs showcase the ultimate effects of fireball spells just to bait us!"
"And trick a few suckers into testing the skill. By the way, NeverShowOff, I don't mean you when I say suckers."
I knew he had specifically watched my recommendation videos and followed the experiences of us veteran players on the official forum. As someone who took pride in providing accurate game information, his words hit closer to home than I'd like to admit.
"Thanks, but you could've left out the last part."
Doubts crept into my mind, weighing heavily on my conscience as a content creator.
I had chosen fireball not only because of the legendary tale of Viktor burning worms but also for its functionality. Fire is the origin of civilization—it's both an attack skill and a survival tool. Yet after days of practice, my fireball could only function as a light bulb or lighter.
If I'd really chosen a version trap skill, where would my reputation as a game blogger go? All those videos I'd made, all that advice I'd given... Damn, I should practice my skill more before logging off today and increase my proficiency as soon as possible!
Besides skill choices, players who couldn't swim should also learn to swim. The thought of having to learn a real-life skill for a game was both amusing and slightly frustrating.
ProGamer_Daddy felt awkward. "Learning to swim just to play a game—that's something else."
"Isn't there a river near Honeyvale? Why don't we just take some time to go learn to swim there?" Hedgehog suggested.
"No!!!"
We'd learned this lesson the hard way, through experience that our newer teammate hadn't yet gained.
There was no room for debate on this matter—some things in this game weren't worth risking.
Hedgehog looked confused. "Why not?"
"Sigh! You're too naive!" ProGamer_Daddy covered his face with mock pain. "Do you remember my post about the monsters from the last update?"
Although we had earned rewards for discovering an iron ore vein, which gave us three chances to ask Viktor for help and a big pile of wood for construction tasks, ProGamer_Daddy had never given up on his dream of making a chainsaw.
Even now, I could tell he was still thinking about it.
The mines were sealed, but iron sand could still be sifted from the river and smelted into iron sheets.
However, we'd learned the hard way that the river creatures were insanely aggressive, chomping at anyone who got near them. Even approaching the riverbank invited attacks!
To avoid dying by "getting eaten by a fish," we had no choice but to stay far away from the river. We even bought drinking water from Edgar, which said a lot about how dangerous the situation was.
Hedgehog stared in shock. "Seriously? Didn't you guys go there once for the iron mine?"
"That time, only Viktor went in. Maybe fish in Aeltia don't like to chew on bones?" ProGamer_Daddy guessed, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Hedgehog slumped down, scratching his head. "Wait, are we this weak early-game? Who can we even beat right now?"
The three of us shook our heads.
Viktor kept hinting to us that Aeltia was a low-magic world, where magic and mages weren't omnipotent. But from our experience, not having magic or mages was absolutely a no-go!
Hedgehog pulled a leaf from the ground, stuck it in his mouth, and exhaled imaginary smoke. "With this kind of power level, we're supposed to save someone?"
We all knew that judging by the recent story, sea monsters were likely a magical creature race. Their innate abilities probably weren't much weaker than dwarves.
To save someone, we'd need the strength to rival the whole race—or at least escape from an elite squad unharmed. As of now, surviving a sea star attack would be a success!
Hedgehog gazed into the distance, suddenly feeling jaded. "I just realized the weakest thing isn't fireball—it's the entire human race…"
"Right?!" ProGamer_Daddy nodded vigorously. "It's a miracle humanity survived the Divine War!"
"Why are even the animals in the forest stronger than humans?" I chimed in, voicing my own frustrations. "Yeah, the devs need to buff humans!"
"With this ridiculous power imbalance, how are we supposed to fight anything?" Hedgehog protested.
---Viktor's POV---
In the shadows, I listened silently.
"..."
I shook my head, smiling.
"They still know so little."
I knew humanity's plight wasn't as bad as the players claimed. It was just that the Great Oak Forest was a special case—ordinary people weren't supposed to step foot there.
Humans had survived to this day. They were even the biggest winners of the Age of Fallen Gods, occupying most of Aeltia's non-monster territories.
"Can you come back to reality now?"
Edgar's voice suddenly broke the silence.
I snapped back to my senses, shifting my gaze from the GM admin panel to him, who was sitting nearby.
I smiled apologetically. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
The players were my biggest trump card. After revealing information about Sel'Kanus, I needed to monitor their feedback immediately.
Edgar sighed. He decided to skip the pleasantries.
"Now that no one else is here, tell me—what really happened during that flash of white light?"
"Just a resurrection ritual for a new god. You can't have lost so miserably!"
I pretended to act casually and shrugged. "Aren't I still alive? How can that count as a failure?"
Unfortunately, that didn't fool anyone.
Under his deathly gaze, my pretense collapsed within two seconds.
"Fine, it's a bit extreme," I admitted, stretching out my palm and looking at the cracks spreading across it.
It seemed as though a gentle touch would shatter it completely.
"There are two reasons. One, I'm really weak right now. Two, you'll have to ask Luminaris..."
Luminaris trembled, then abruptly raised his head. "Ask me?"
"Of course. The first thing about being sacrificed as a divine vessel is accepting divine power for transformation and assimilation, so the body can fully accommodate the resurrected god."
After all, not just any body could bear the presence of a deity.
I paused and fixed my blazing gaze on Luminaris.
"But why, this time, did the divine power get absorbed directly by me?"
After careful thought, this wasn't something Sel'Kanus could have orchestrated.
The only variable was that before the god-resurrection ritual, I had signed a contract with Aeceus' divine essence.
"Absorbed?" Edgar and Luminaris exclaimed in unison.
Edgar's eyes turned golden in an instant as he reexamined my condition.
"But your body is the same as before!"
Luminaris lowered his head, looked at his paws in disbelief, and rubbed his eyes.
"No, it's here! There's still a lot of it!"
I opened the system panel.
---
[Name: Viktor von Vinesse]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: ???/159 (Demigod)]
[Skills: Divine Insight, Shapeshifter, Multiple Avatars (9/1000)]
[Authority: Life Revival, Life Purification]
[Divine Power: 18,991]
[Followers: 9]
[Special Items: Int??dim??Net??Spirit??, Divine Contract (Reversed), Game Console]
[Status: Severely Injured, Weakness, Frostbite, Burns, Poisoning, Inner Sanctum Collapse, ...]
[Summary: Dying ??? Undead]
[Survival Time: ????]
---
Aside from the unreadable question marks and the baffling 1,000-cap limit on the Multiple Avatars, the updated divine power value had crossed into five digits.
After being used to single or double-digit values, I couldn't help feeling a little flattered.
I explained, "It's unsafe to keep the divine power on me, so I found a way to transfer it to Luminaris."
Divine power placed in a divine essence was as safe as could be.
Right now, Luminaris was essentially a living storage space for me, with no chance of betrayal.
I wiped at nonexistent sweat from my brow.
"Luckily, I reacted in time. I almost fell for this little thing's trap!"
He stared at the immovable divine power inside his body, drooling uncontrollably.
"Divine power... so much divine power... hehe!"
Just as Luminaris was gleefully daydreaming, Edgar suddenly grabbed him and started examining him thoroughly.
"Didn't you say the contract with the divine essence was one-way? Why is he still affecting you?"
"No idea. That's why I need you to investigate," I replied.
"Ahhh! What are you doing?" Luminaris cried in panic, clutching himself. "Violation! Kidnapping!"
But with no combat ability, he had no chance of resistance.
Even his essence was extracted and examined.
Edgar's gaze locked onto a golden thread, and he said grimly, "Found it!"
I willed it, and the thread detached instantly, landing in my grasp.
Seizing their moment of distraction, Luminaris squirmed free of Edgar's hands.
A pale-golden twelve-sided crystal fell to the ground, instantly transforming into a fluffy, spherical creature.
Cowering in the corner, Luminaris clutched a handkerchief and cried, "Wahhh... I've been violated!"
Now that we had what we were looking for, Edgar and I ignored him.
Edgar asked seriously, "Can you figure it out?"
I stared at the golden thread for a long time before a realization dawned on my face.
"Hair... So that's it…"
I had thought Luminaris' suggestion for me to become the God of Light was just a joke.
Turns out, he had actually sabotaged an earlier resurrection ritual for God of Light and taken the ritual's core medium—a strand of Aureal's hair.
He had even disguised his own aura as the hair's.
A disguised essence medium couldn't absorb or transmit divine power.
But he also prevented Aureal from receiving the power, thus halting the resurrection.
The problem was that this disguise ability had been transferred to me through the one-way contract, even fooling Sel'Kanus divine power!
Initially meant probably to help the God of Creativity resurrect, Luminaris had inadvertently driven me into the God of Light's embrace.
The divine power immediately switched allegiance and voluntarily submitted.
After explaining the cause, I sealed Aureal's hair in a bottle.
"Divine hair isn't easy to deal with. I'll keep it for now," I said.
"Alright. Let me know when it can be destroyed," Edgar replied.
"Why?!" Luminaris suddenly turned, aghast. "It's such a great source of divine power! I object!"
I replied coolly, "Objection overruled. My life matters too."
If this happened again, I'd actually turn into a slime.
Twice more, and I'd be done for.
After making Edgar triple-check Luminaris, I finally relaxed.
If he tricked me again, I'd have to punch myself out of frustration.
Tossing Luminaris aside, I focused on healing.
The five-digit divine power value began to plummet visibly.
[Divine Power: 18,991]
[Divine Power: 16,329]
[Divine Power: 7,211]
[...]
[Divine Power: 988]
"Nooo—" Luminaris dropped to his knees, reaching out and crying his heart out. "My divine power, my precious divine power!"
My body emitted a burst of white light, accompanied by the sound of countless tiny cracks mending.
A while later, the light faded.
I tested my movements, the faint cracking sound echoing as I stretched.
Good.
That feeling of being ready to shatter at any moment was gone.
Even my inner sanctum had recovered significantly.
It felt like I'd returned to the state I was in before enduring Sel'Kanus resurrection ritual.
My survival time had also increased by over 20 days.
I looked at the panel and sighed, "Sigh, my 10,000 divine power free trial is over."
Luminaris lay on the ground, soulless, like he had lost his very essence.
---
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50 advance chapters!
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