Jack was delighted as he examined his new ability. At last, he felt like a true god. He envied the Goddess of Light, who granted genuinely powerful abilities to her believers.
Even though it was just the Light, Jack was still thrilled by the potential of this power. Seth had learned many new things during the months he spent in this world.
He had gained insights into how the gods operated. Most importantly, he learned about the concept of divinity. Contrary to what Jack thought, divinity wasn't something innate.
The experiences Jack accumulated in a short time had shown him the truth. Gods were indeed different from humans. While everyone, both humans and gods, possessed magic, the type of magic created a distinct separation.
Gods had a more unique soul. Their divine souls made their Mana exceptional. If Jack were to give an example from his perspective, he had given only 5 Mana to Urien.
This amount might be low for gods, but it was considerable for humans. When Jack transferred Mana to Urien, only 5 Mana had been depleted from Jack.
While Jack's Mana consumption was minimal, the amount of Mana flowing to Urien was extraordinary. What Urien must have felt was an immense surge of Mana enveloping his body.
This was due to the special nature of divine beings. Previously, Jack had assumed his Mana was equivalent to that of an ordinary person. But it seemed he was wrong. His Mana wasn't impure Mana or some other type.
His Mana was Divine Mana, unique to gods.
"My very soul has even transformed..."
Jack swallowed involuntarily. The soul was of immense significance. Even if the body were to perish, the soul would continue to exist. Jack couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him after death if Heaven and Hell truly existed.
Yet, this was a topic for another time. Jack's current thoughts were focused on exploring Divine Mana.
"The stronger I become, the more my soul changes," Jack murmured, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "Or rather, the more my divinity grows, the faster I develop."
Yes, Jack had noticed it. The more his divine attribute advanced, the more he sensed a shift within himself. This sensation only arose occasionally. The strangest part was his inability to define this feeling in any way.
Even though this drove Jack mad, he didn't dwell on it too much and instead focused his thoughts on more pressing matters.
Most importantly, he was starting to feel bored. His power had almost reached a plateau.
While his overall level was 65, the Body of the God of Darkness was at 30, Lightning Manipulation at 30, and his total Mana had reached 6,500.
The biggest issue was that his Mana was now increasing more slowly with each level. Still, Jack understood this was due to the difficulty of leveling up as his strength grew.
Beyond that, the Divine God Domain had expanded, and the area over which Jack could know everything had widened. Yes, within a limited area, Jack knew everything.
He estimated this range to be at least 50 meters.
It might have seemed strange and potentially headache-inducing, but since there was nothing within it, perhaps Jack didn't feel any discomfort. In time, as his Divine God Domain level grew, he might gain a better understanding of it.
For now, it was just an empty realm.
Additionally, his Dark Divinity had reached 5%, Lightning Divinity 8%, and Illusion Divinity 12%. While Jack sometimes felt disappointed by the slowdown in his rapid power growth, he no longer expected defeating random bandits or animals to grant him high amounts of EXP.
Now, bigger events needed to happen for Jack to grow stronger. The oldest and most reliable tactic immediately came to his mind.
And that, of course, was war.
The suffering that war brought might be immense, but with enough strategic thinking and a bit of power, anything was possible. Jack was certain of this.
"Morvos Consortium has generated good income, reaching nearly 40 million gold," Jack noted while looking over his records. His intention was to bring Morvos Bank to Erntestadt.
By sacrificing all of the ice giants, the Ice Goddess waged war against the 12 Great Gods. In the end, both sides were weakened, and peace settled over the continent for a long time.
When the two sides were about to go to war again, the Goddess of Light and her sharp, ruthless blade, Arthur Pendragon, defeated both sides with ease, allowing the Goddess of Light to proclaim her dominion over the entire continent.
How the Goddess of Light had appeared so suddenly, and how she defeated two powerful factions in such a short time, remains a mystery. No matter how much Jack researched it, he found only theories.
Anyway, back to the other god, Hjolmir, the God of Seas, Rivers, and Destruction. Jack had only seen one painting of this god.
He wielded a massive hammer in one hand and a trident in the other. He wasn't well-loved, but he was powerful and believed that sometimes, for the greater good, some sacrifices were necessary.
Next was the Goddess Freydhild, Goddess of the Hunt, Nature, and Vengeance. Jack, who knew certain things about Freydhild, recalled that she had a rather tragic past.
The Goddess Freydhild was the goddess to whom all women who were raped and killed prayed for vengeance.
The hunger and rage for revenge among women were so immense that they prayed to a goddess to avenge them, and that goddess was none other than Freydhild.
Empowered by such belief, Freydhild first devoured her mortal husband alive, then brutally killed her three sons, tearing them apart completely.
After her thirst for revenge subsided, Freydhild remembered what she had done, and was so devastated that she wept for seven years. She even tried to end her own life.
But in the end, finding no relief, she chose to erase her memories voluntarily, transforming entirely into someone else.
"To think that even gods can suffer..." Jack murmured, pressing his lips together. Though it was sad, there was nothing he could do about it.
Yngvildr, Goddess of Night and Secrecy. She was the goddess of vampires and certain hybrids who strayed from the path of Vampire Queen Carmila. Her followers were typically assassins and temple guards.
The existence of these temple guards was hidden. Even Jack did not know their purpose or what they intended to achieve.
Skjolvar, God of Justice and Law. A divine judge among the 12 Great Gods, known as the Court of Gods, who oversaw disputes among them.
In some city-states in Drachenreich, people would swear by Skjolvar in court to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.
Galdmarr, one of the rare gods worshipped by both humans and dwarves. Jack often heard good things about Galdmarr.
The God of Fire and Blacksmithing, Galdmarr was said to roam among humans in disguise and, on certain nights, would appear as an elderly man to give gifts to children.
Aside from the King of Gods, Ragnvaldr, he was the most popular god in the West, even considered the chief god of the dwarves. Though not their creator, he was regarded as such by nearly everyone.
Solmyra, the Goddess of the Sun, was the second most popular deity after Galdmarr. She was somewhat like Athena in this world.
Worshiped in many cities, Solmyra was one of the most distinctively powerful goddesses. There were even tales of her rebellions, theories, and rumors about her attempts to usurp the King of Gods' throne.
To this day, mothers tell their children the stories of the Sun Goddess.
Lastly, there was Arvild, God of Death and the Underworld. Born as the rightful King of the Underworld, he possessed the power to challenge even Ragnvaldr.
Early on in the game, Jack had found him rather cool. However, like with the other gods, much remained hidden in the game.
"These gods can't interfere with me in all their power, even if they wanted to," Jack muttered with a grin. The gods' withdrawal from the mortal realm meant that this world was now like a game for Jack, the Goddess of Light, and the Ice Goddess.
Jack had yet to meet the Ice Goddess, nor was there any hostility between them. As for the Goddess of Light, she hadn't appeared much, aside from her angelic army.
"I can move freely in this world for now." Yes, there was nothing in Jack's way. If he could erase the faith of the 12 Great Gods and make the western part of Albion continent submit to him, there would be no obstacles left.