The resources before Eva suddenly disappeared as they were absorbed into her body, merging with the small fireball within. Like oil being poured on a bonfire, the fireball exploded, expanding rapidly many times within a second.
A wave of heat gushed out from Eva's position, sweeping through the entire Heavenly Palace and setting many things on fire. Draco quickly set up a barrier of water using his Subjective Magic around himself and the resources around him that he had yet to copy with a solemn expression.
Eva began to glow where she sat, a wreath of fire surrounding her that was tinged with a layer of white light. Within, the grain size fireball expanded until it became the size of a tennis ball, then a football, until it reached the relative area of a small city block.
Its intensity and power greatly increased as it grew, and the amount of energy flowing through Eva right now shocked her. It felt like she was a generator that could produce endless amounts of heat and Light Energy, literally infinite amounts.
Soon, the fire around her receded and the heatwave calmed down, though most things within the Heavenly Palace had already been charred black. They were lucky the building was extremely large and well-sealed enough that the heatwave hadn't expanded outward, or it could have led to unfavorable consequences for the rest of the Inner Universe.
Draco released his shield and waved his hands. A gush of energy swept through the entire palace, restoring everything to its former state and returning the whole place to a state of perfection.
As for Eva, she checked the details of her Sun Seed.
「Sun Seed – Fusion item (Tier 1)
Rank: Divine
Durability: MAX
Effects:
Passive 1 – Energy Generation: Your Inner Sun constantly spins and combusts to generate endless heat and Light Energy for you. No matter your mana or stamina stats, you will always be able to use techniques and skills related to these two elements.
Passive 2 – Power Boost: The fundamental nature of the heat and Light Energy used in your skills and techniques has been replaced by what is produced by the Inner Sun, increasing the effectiveness of both elements by 10,000%.
Active 1 – Sunderpress: The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. When it rises, it sunders the horizon with its might and when it sets, it suppresses the horizon with its power. All enemies with a zone of your designation will either go through the effect of being sundered or being suppressed. Duration: Variable. Cooldown: Variable.
Active 2 – Raze: The heat of the sun can only be borne by special fire species like the Sun Crow, the Phoenix, etc. Any other species subjected to its heat would be turned into ash, without a chance to fight back. Summon your Inner Sun out into the real world and allow its explosive heat to sweep through the battlefield. Duration: Variable. Cooldown: Variable.
Note: At Tier 1, only Passive 1 and 2 are usable and their effectiveness is limited to 1% of their full output.
Description: A Young Sun that is currently in its growth phase within a Divine Being with the Heat and Light Domains. Even though it is still in its infancy, it boasts a great chance of growth and amazing compatibility with its host, allowing it to manifest abilities that are beyond what most could acquire.」
Her power had grown by a significant amount with this rise in Tier. For one, it now granted her the benefit of the second passive. The first passive only allowed Eva to have limitless fire and Light Energy for skills and especially techniques.
However, it was still limited by a fraction of its full amount, which in this case was 1%. Previously, it had been 0.1%, which was barely anything. At that time, it had basically meant Eva could have a lot of heat and Light Energy at her disposal.
Well, 0.1% of infinity was still infinity, but in this case, the AI had made it so that Eva could only use it in a trickle, instead of like a surging river that never stopped. It was as if that surging river had 99.9% of its width dammed up.
Now that it got increased to 1%, Eva truly perceived the difference. She now felt like the energy within her could never expire, yet the vast majority of the power was still sealed. Eva began to understand why Sunna might have become a Sun Goddess and that this Sun Seed was only slightly weaker than the Etz Chaim Seedling and the Seed of Yggdrasil put together.
Of course, compared to the Universe Seedling, it was still greatly lacking. However, the Sun Seed was perfectly suited for her and it wasn't a competition between the two soulmates.
Now that she had access to the second passive, Eva felt like the Light Energy that her bloodline produced had also changed somehow. She casually created a ball of light that hovered above her palm, but Draco suddenly cried out and teleported away with the resources around him.
He appeared at the other end of the room with a Destruction Barrier around him, his eyes inflamed and bleeding while most of his skin was charred and red like he had a serious rash.
Eva hurriedly dispelled the light and rushed over. Draco smiled bitterly and cast a healing spell on himself before letting Eva check up on him, fussing over him until she sighed with relief.
"Draco, what happened?" She asked with confusion.
Draco scratched his head. "Well, your light used to be pure energy with properties like cleansing, disintegration, and sharpness. Now, you've got the added benefit of intense ultraviolet radiation, which was what did me in."
Eva was shocked by this. Even as a reincarnation of Amaterasu, she had been unable to make her Light Energy adopt the traits of the sun's various waves, such as ultraviolet ones, because she hadn't known how.
As the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu would definitely have such a capability. Eva lacked this because of various reason, most of which had to do with how her subhuman genes limited her.
In truth, she would have acquired this ability in time, after she reached Rank 4 and beyond since the goal of those Rank Ups class-wise and bloodline-wise would be to help Draco and Eva achieve full control of their capabilities.
Now that it had come early like this, it was definitely a great boost to her power. What she and Draco did not expect was that its intensity would be so high. Draco who had been opposite her and was not even targeted had been significantly injured by just a ball of light.
If it had been a beam fired at him, what would have happened?
According to the Sun Seed's details, she only got 1% of passive 2's boost, which should translate to a mere 100% increase. This would definitely make Eva stronger, but not enough that it could even hurt Draco so much.
This seeming riddle made Draco adopt a strange expression as he gazed at Eva, however, the Celestial Maiden simply smiled and clarified it for him.
"It's a modifier for my Light Energy, right? Don't forget that almost all my items give me modifiers for that too."
Draco's face changed to a look of understanding, slapping his forehead like he was an idiot. Eva showed him the various items that boosted her Light Energy effectiveness and by how much.
The first two were from the Lightfire Mystic Flame.
「Passive 1 – Purification: Cleanse all darkness and evil in the world. Every Light or Fire based skill, spell or technique will deal 2,000% more damage to evil beings.」
「Passive 2 – Light's Might: Light and Fire-based skills, spells, or techniques deal 700% more damage.」
There was also the Eye of Heaven which had been her first Epic item which was now Legendary.
「Passive 1 – Light Amplification: Light-based skills and techniques are boosted by 500%.」
And finally, her Celestial Prime class passive.
「Might of Light (Rank 3) – Passive skill
Effect: All attacks are infused with the cleansing and edifying property of light, boosting damage by 2,000%.」
This meant that in total, and not counting the Lightfire's first passive that only worked on evil beings, Eva received a 3,200% boost to her Light Energy's power, not even adding the 100% that was coming from the Sun Seed's second passive.
Since the fundamental nature of her Light and Fire energy had been swapped by the Sun Seed, it meant that this specific energy was boosted by that amount. In other words, the passive would eventually grant her a 10,000% boost to her Light and Fire energy's power, right?
Well, since Eva had an external 3,200% boost, it was as if she had already unlocked 1/3rd of that passive's power, not just 1/100th. She theorized that this was equivalent to the power she would have only received at Tier 4 and above normally.
With the upgrade done, everything settled down. Draco made sure to check with Eva on what the next tier's resources requirements were, and he was told that she needed to reach Rank 2 and provide a list of Legendary resources.
Seeing that the Sun Seed had a Rank requirement surprised Draco since his Universe Seedling did not. In fact, as long as Draco could keep pumping it up, it would keep getting better and better.
Whatever the case, Eva had already met the Rank requirement, unfortunately, the resources required differed from the previous tier. Had it been the same ones he could have easily created them thanks to Refinement.
Draco briefly looked through and noted that the Tower had them all. He could redeem them right away if Eva so wished. After all, his total spendable score points had reached 328,437 after he had cleared the first 10 floors as well as what he had been given as righteous compensation from those lackeys who had dared to harm him.
Eva though wasn't in any rush. His better half also did not want to ruin Draco's efficient plan of harvesting what he could through trade so he could replicate them later on the main plane to expand Umbra and Vita Kingdom.
Besides, she needed time to acclimatize to this new power first. It wouldn't do for her to use her Light techniques and end up harming all her allies because she couldn't control the emittance of ultraviolet rays.
She had to find a way to compress those rays within the Light Energy she summoned or even weaponize it specifically. Agreeing with this, Draco quickly headed out and tweaked the shop's interface to list the new items they needed.
Once done, he realized he was no longer as pressed for time and spent the next few days storing the composition of various items in mind while enjoying time with his family that was growing bigger by the day.
Rosella especially enjoyed the opportunity to lie in her father's arms. Whenever Draco was around, she seemed to have a shy and respectful expression on her infantile face which made Roma laugh. After all, her daughter usually wore a stoic and calm face due to her Ultima Sunt bloodline which made his firstborn daughter a genius.
Roma didn't mind as that was how her own mother used to be, and Rosella was supposed to be like that. Rather it was Roma who had been the anomaly, being so kindhearted and gentle which clashed with her Mystic Arts.
It was the reason why despite being an adult when Draco found her, Roma hadn't progressed far.
Her father spoiling her seemingly made her remember that she was still a little girl, and not wanting him to go away, she would act clingy. Roma was pleased with this contrast, she didn't want her daughter to be too rigid, rather being able to fluidly change her nature to fit the situation.
As for Loki, that little devil, he would sniff arrogantly whenever Draco came to pay him a visit and turn away. He would then act cute and end up in the arms of one of the various mothers, rubbing his vile little head on their chests while giving his dad a provocative look.
If it wasn't for Zaine pampering the boy and protecting him like a fierce lioness, Draco would have long since spanked some dignity into the boy. Eventually, he schemed a plot with the other two stooges and managed to capture the boy alone.
Loki realized he had been backed into a corner and would finally pay for his crimes, so he displayed a vicious expression and floated up into the air with a blue outline surrounding his body.
He then tried to use telekinesis on Draco, but his father also glowed with a blue outline and waved away his son's feeble resistance. His thirst for vengeance on the boy was replaced by curiosity.
"Boy, quickly explain how you managed to learn Transvection and Telekinesis so quickly and this father might let you go." Draco warned with a stern expression.
Although not as intelligent as his older half-sister, he had inherited his mother's smarts which were further enhanced by bits of Ultima Sunt bloodline, allowing him to understand his parent.
However, rather than repent, the little fellow became furious and tried to expand his power, yet he was soon exhausted and floated to the ground, where Draco picked him up casually.
Loki was worried that his weakness would see him free to be maligned by his evil pops, but Draco just flicked the lad's nose and smiled with amusement.
"Brat, stop looking at me like an executioner. I am your father and you are my beloved son. How could I bear to hurt you?"
Loki settled down in his father's arms and looked away, his tanned face colored red. Draco simply laughed at the silliness of his oldest son and brought him back to his mother who had been fretting.
When she took Loki back, she gazed at Draco with hostility and questioned him fiercely. Draco simply folded his arms and pointed to Zaine.
"Hmph! Ever since he was born, you have forgotten that you love me and only give him your love! Am I no longer your husband?!"
Hearing this, Zaine felt guilty. She was a crazy mom precisely because Loki was the first son of Draco, embodying her absolute love for her husband as well as the continuation of her line. As such, she put their son in his bedroom within her nightmare castle and brought Draco to her room.
Loki rolled his eyes after what Draco had said, regretting that he couldn't speak so he could tell his mother that she was being deceived by this crook. However, how was it possible for Draco to outsmart the succubus? Still sometimes, it didn't hurt to play the fool.
A while later, the small boy saw his dad come out looking incomparably refreshed. He then gazed at the boy with a provocative look and hint of disdain which made the fellow furious, but he couldn't do anything as he had already exhausted his mental stamina earlier.
Draco then strutted out like a proud peacock, his nose so high that the sky had to bent itself to make way. Loki only watched helplessly and sighed internally, remarking that there was a reason why his dad was his dad. Too strong!
Loki then wondered why his mother wasn't coming out, but then became sleepy as he began to doze off. It was a good thing, because if he entered Zaine room right now, he would only see a wrecked area covered in vestiges of white.
One could barely make a slumped-over body covered in white on the ruined bed in the center of the room. Digging Zaine out of that would probably be a task akin to rescuing people from a collapsed building.
After dealing with Zaine and reminding the succubus who was the boss, Draco checked up on Hikari. She had placed their two eggs beside her bed, in special incubators Draco had made that should shorten the amount of time they would need to hatch as well as grant them optimal conditions for hatching.
Hikari was usually accompanied by Rila, as she was lonely and so too was the little tot. However, Draco felt bad for the Origin Goddess because once the eggs hatched, Hikari would be focused on raising her children, no longer having the time to replace the mother Rila didn't have.
After all, Draco was merely her surrogate father because he had acquired the eyes of Caelo. She was, in truth, Caelo's daughter with a Goddess he knew nothing about. However, contacting Caelo was impossible since from the way he spoke, he wasn't even in their universe.
In fact, the version Draco met when trying for the Paragon of Destruction class had been recreated by the AI based on the real Caelo who somehow ended up in its database. The fellow had been so powerful that from countless universes away, he was somehow able to sense this incarnation and descend into it, meeting Draco.
He had even punished the AI for daring to replicate him without permission. Draco couldn't help but wonder what Caelo would do if he found that the AI had replicated his daughter as well, assuming the real Rila existed.
Draco couldn't help but shudder and smack his lips. If he saw a copy of Rosella hugging another man like he was her dad, he would probably enter his General Aspect form and destroy everything within sight.
… so it was best that Caelo didn't find out about this.
Be that as it may, Draco now spent some time with the two eggs which were long overdue. Using this opportunity, he made sure to check to see his future dragon descendants to see how long he would have to wait to meet them in person.
「Dragon's Egg – Offspring
Description: This egg contains the offspring of a Supreme-Rank Black Dragon and a Supreme-Rank White Dragon. The offspring furthermore possesses a sparse amount of Ultima Sunt genes. Lastly, there is an almost negligible amount of human bloodline.
As such, the final status of the offspring cannot be calculated.
- Time left till hatching: 424 days.」
「Dragon's Egg – Offspring
Description: This egg contains the offspring of a Supreme-Rank Black Dragon and a Supreme-Rank White Dragon. The offspring furthermore possesses a normal amount of Dragon genes, while there is an almost overwhelming amount of human bloodline.
As such, the final status of the offspring cannot be calculated.
- Time left till hatching: 525 days.」