Chapter 56: Manifestation

Chapter 56: Manifestation

A lot of things happened all at once.

First was the sudden influx of an absolutely monumental amount of divine mana the kind that would escape the notice of most people's [Mana Sight], but not the notice of the [Divine Sense] that many clerics had. Several priests over in the nearby temple jerked their heads over, their eyes growing wide; Velykos, in contrast, narrowed his eye-equivalents and stepped back somewhat cautiously. A spell began to form in his hands, though there was too much of a storm of divine mana for Sev to be able to tell what kind of spell it was.

But the caution was warranted, in Sev's opinion. The magic was terrifying. It acted like no form of divine magic he'd ever seen before. Layers of divine mana twisted themselves over him, then attached to his body to his soul, if he was understanding what he was seeing correctly like golden, divine strings. Those strings led a short distance away, and then abruptly vanished.

Just as quickly as it began, it was over. The notification box vanished, and the storm of divine mana abruptly calmed, although it didn't disappear; instead, it started to slowly dissipate, spreading out from where it had coalesced.

For a moment, Sev was confused. Hadn't the box said that it was manifesting? What, exactly, had manifested, except the strings that now seemed attached to the stuff of his soul?

"What was that?" Velykos asked him, and Sev realized with a start that the stone elemental had been gathering healing magic into his hands. Now that the immediate danger seemed to be over, he let the magic flow away, joining the rest of the ambient divine mana in dispersing.

"It was..." Sev hesitated, then sighed; there wasn't much use in keeping it hidden, he thought. Velykos knew most of the story, anyway. "I told you that the system is erasing gods. My team was able to rescue one that we think was in the process of being erased. We don't fully understand the mechanics of what happened there, but apparently the god needs something to anchor to, and I was the only available option."

"Anchor..." Velykos repeated the word with a slight frown. He shook his head after a moment, not getting whatever he needed to get out of the word. "It reminds me of the connection that we share with our gods, perhaps," the stone elemental said. "Though I am certain it is not the same thing."

"The notification text implied that all gods need to be attached to an anchor," Sev said. "On top of all the people that worship them. I'm not sure exactly what relationship that implies, but... we'll find out, I guess."

The strings were still there, attached to him. There were no notifications that he could see about new skills, or new abilities though his status was still fuzzy and grayed out, like something about it was still updating. Experimentally, he tugged on the strings of divine mana he could now feel.

This time, there was a response.

H-hello?

That was Aurum's voice, echoing back down through the connection; Sev metaphorically jerked back from his grip on the thread, startled. He didn't quite know how to process that. Aurum's voice was gone almost as soon as he released his grip on it, so he reached out again, feeling for the connection and this time connecting as gently as he could.

Aurum? he asked, trying to send his thoughts along the connection the same way he'd done with Onyx, before his god had been forgotten. The sensation wasn't exactly the same; the nature of the connection was different. Can you hear me?nove(l)bi(n.)com

Yes! Aurum's mental voice was suddenly enthusiastic. I'm back now! The angels were all so worried about me... Histre is here, too. They didn't think I would come back, but I did! Did you guys do that?

I think so, Sev answered. The system says you're connected to me, now. Do you know what's up with that?

I dunno, Aurum said. Um... Lemme ask!

A short pause.

All of us have to be connected, the angels say, Aurum reported back after a moment, sounding more confused than anything else. They don't really know why. But they say it's a price we have to pay. Um... They say that it's also the source of our powers? It's how I can send down angels and stuff! If I pull from the connection.

Please do not do that, Sev said with a slight wince. You're connected to me, now, not to an anchor. If you try to pull anything like what you did before, with the angels, uh... I don't really know what will happen to me.

Sev blinked, glancing back at the plant. "Huh," he said thoughtfully. That was a line of research to follow, if he could get Vex to research it. If he could heal people that were disconnected from the system... it'd be easier to heal people like Kestel. Healing magic was too ineffective otherwise without health to help it along.

"Will you be telling anyone what happened?" Velykos asked him curiously, and Sev blinked up at him. "It was rather obvious, and many of the priests seem eager to ask."

"Oh." Sev had almost forgotten. "Uh... no, I don't think so. That's something that I want to keep private. I'll say I got a divine message from my god, or something, and it's not meant for them."

"Did you?"

"I mean, technically, that happened," Sev said. "It's just that the god just wants to taste ice cream."

"Ah! Thus the current quest." Velykos seemed inordinately amused by the prospect. He continued leading the way into the temple several priests immediately began to approach them, but Velykos waved at them, and they backed off, seeming to get the message.

"Wow," Sev said. "Maybe I should get you as an escort more whenever I need to visit the temple."

"Remember," Velykos said with a chuckle. "I am planning to return to adventuring, to uncover what may have happened to Ramos. You may not find it quite that easy to find me."

"Well, I'll be in Elyra, anyway," Sev said with a shrug. "Are you planning on heading in that direction?"

Velykos nodded. "It has been a long time, and all traces of him may be gone," the stone elemental said. "But that is where I last saw Ramos, and I believe I will try to track down where he went, and what happened to him. There were dungeons near that area that I will have to check."

"Can you do it alone?" Sev asked.

"I hear there are teams of adventurers that are recruiting, now," Velykos said with a shrug. "A paladin of gold? His party is down to three members, and they may be in need of a mage."

Sev winced slightly. "Uh... good luck with him," he said. He couldn't imagine what Jerome's team would look like with Velykos there, actually. "If you do join his team."

"It is just a thought," Velykos said with a chuckle.

They arrived at a small room at the back of the temple all of the priests had their own little bedrooms, each separated by a thin cloth barrier, although Velykos' was larger than most due to the simple nature of his size. In the corner of his section was a small chest; the telltale mist of frost magic spilled out when he opened the chest.

Velykos retrieved a small bottle of milk, some sugar from the nearby drawers, and the various other ingredients he needed, including the small pods from the plant that he'd retrieved. Sev simply sat back and watched. It was nice, in a way, that so many planeshifted recipes had spread as they had.

Soon enough, he had a small bowl of ice cream, and a very pleased god humming along to the taste in his head.

Sev couldn't deny that he was enjoying it, too.

I'm gonna try to remember, Aurum told him, while enjoying the taste of the vanilla-flavored ice cream alongside him. The angels think I should, too. But gimme a few hours.

Sev just nodded. Aurum had only just returned. He'd figured it might take a while. He could wait.

Hopefully Aurum didn't barge in with a world-changing revelation during dinner with Misa's family, though. That would just be awkward.