Elyonari sat cross-legged on the floor of the training chamber. Her seven-meter Divine Transformation was already dismissed so she could fit comfortably in the space without accidentally crushing anything. Even at her reduced size, she still looked slightly uncomfortable. Beside her sat Protection Veneri while I hovered a few centimeters above the ground with several holographic panels around us.
Her system profile floated in the air,
°°°°°°
Name: [Elyonari Mintheris.]
Alias: [Ely]
Age: [???]
Title: [The Last High Priestess], [The Elven Princess]
Species: [Verdarite (Nexus Bloodline)]
Affiliation: [Dynasty Mintheris]
Status: [Divine Rank, Fifth Enlightenment. 1%]
Pinnacle Tether: [Elemental Manipulation]
Base Tethers: [Cosmic Anchoring], [Life Manipulation], [Infinite Absorption], [Regeneration], [Advanced Senses], [Mage Constitution] [Archery Grandmaster], [Inventory]
Major Divinities: [Nature], [Life]
Minor Divinities: [None]
Codex: [None]
Artifacts: [Touch], [Nanorune Armor]
Overwrite: [Sanctuary's Crypt.]
Life Fragments: [Verdarite Demesne]
Divine Transformation: [Active]
Boon: [Extreme Luck]
Bane: [Dependency]
[Elemental Manipulation: You can create, shape and manipulate elements. Various combinations of elements can be used to create other elemental versions.]
[Cosmic Anchoring: You act as the fundamental, immovable anchor for your own Verdarite Realm. The Verdarite Realm will still exist after your death and you will be reincarnated in it after 10,000 years of you perish.]
[Life Manipulation: You can control the life force that resides within living beings. With the authority of the Split of Life, this is further enhanced. You can revive Mortals and Immortals as long as their Destiny and Fate does not intervene with their death. You cannot resurrect Divine or Demonic Beings.]
[Infinite Absorption: Your body is capable of containing and absorbing an infinite amount of Nature Energy. Excess Nature Energy will be used to nourish your Overwrite. Your body will endlessly absorb Nature Energy that can be used for future use.]
[Regeneration: You can regenerate endlessly depending on how much Nature Energy you possess. The Life Divinity greatly enhances this.]
[Advanced Senses: As a High Elf, you have extremely accurate senses, allowing you to see, hear, smell, taste and feel better.]
[Mage Constitution, Circlemancy, Castless Magecraft: You have the body constitution of an elf mage, enabling you to use Magecraft easier.]
[Archery Grandmaster: Your skill in the bow and arrow has almost reach the peak of Weapon Mastery.]
[Life Divinity: You can manipulate the laws of life as you so wish as long as it doesn't interfere with the rules and works of Destiny and Fate.]
[Nature: You can control, manipulate and use nature as you so desire.]
°°°°°°
Protection Veneri leaned forward first, resting his chin on his palm.
"Why do you have so many Base Tethers?"
"Because I'm a High Elf Verdarite. Elves already have Mage or Archery Constitution and Enhanced Senses by default. Verdarites then gain their own core set on top of that."
I let out a low whistle. "You say that like it's normal, Ely. Do you realize most Divines would sacrifice a lot for even one of those?"
She shrugged, looking slightly sheepish.
"It is normal where I come from—wait a minute. I have two Divinities. Why don't I have two Overwrites? Shouldn't each Divinity create one?"
I flicked one of the holograms and enlarged the section showing her Overwrite: Sanctuary's Crypt.
"Because your Divinities are not isolated concepts. Nature is not separate from Life. Life emerges from nature, returns to nature, and is sustained by it. The two are conceptually nested. When Divinities share a metaphysical lineage, the universe generates a single Overwrite that embodies both. So if two Divinities were unrelated…"
I smirked and tilted my head toward the far side of the chamber, where the other four Veneris were fighting each other using martial arts.
"Then you get him."
Ely followed my gaze, watching the cluster of Veneris fighting. "He has five Divinities."
"And none of them are related. Each one stands on its own which means the universe will generate five separate Overwrites for him eventually. I very much doubt they'll all be World Overwrites, but even one is already enough to cause trouble."
Protection Veneri gave a dry laugh. "I'm a walking natural disaster."
"Verdarites are overpowered. We really are. Our Base Tethers alone are insane. Infinite Absorption, Life Manipulation, Regeneration, and Cosmic Anchoring… it's like someone decided to ignore balance entirely."
"Someone did, Ely. The World Tree."
She grimaced slightly at that. The Tree Mark on her forehead gleamed as if reacting to the mention.
"I don't even know how to use half of this properly yet, especially Life Manipulation. I can revive people in theory but I don't even understand how to give something life from scratch."
Protection Veneri tapped the floor thoughtfully.
"Then don't start with living people. Start with constructs."
"Constructs?"
"Luciana's puppets already operate on artificial life principles. They move, react and simulate emotion because of the artifact she uses. They're the closest thing to controlled, ethical test subjects you'll find."
I nodded slowly, recalling Vasreveilder's recording.
"Vasreveilder put her there for a reason. She wanted you to learn from her. It wasn't random. He knew you'd eventually reach a point where your Life Divinity would awaken fully and you'd need a safe medium to experiment with."
Ely hugged her knees slightly, clearly overwhelmed by the scale of what she was expected to handle.
"So I'm supposed to study how her artifact simulates life, then try to replicate that using my Divinity?"
"Not replicate. Understand. You're not bound by mechanisms the way artifacts are. Where her puppets require external influence, you will eventually be able to imprint life through your authority alone. But jumping straight to that level without groundwork is how Divines accidentally create abominations."
Protection Veneri gave me a sideways glance.
"You sound like you've seen that happen before."
I smiled sweetly. "More times than I care to count. At least according to the data I receive from my System."
Ely exhaled slowly, letting her shoulders slump.
"This is too much. Fifth Enlightenment sounded cool in stories. In reality, it's just… responsibility stacked on top of power I barely understand."
"That's because Fifth Enlightenment is where you stop being a powerful being and start being a pseudo-deity, Ely. Up to Fourth Enlightenment, you are still reacting to the world. At Fifth, the world starts reacting to you. Your Overwrite alone can sustain ecosystems, reshape climates and even house millions of lives. That is not something you learn by swinging a bow around."
Protection Veneri smirked. "Congratulations. You've officially graduated from 'dangerous elf' to 'walking pantheon.'"
Despite her worries, Ely let out a small laugh at that, though it quickly faded into a nervous smile. She looked back at her system profile. Her finger hovered over the section listing Infinite Absorption.
"So all the Nature Energy I absorb feeds Sanctuary's Crypt automatically?"
"Yes. Your Overwrite is a living realm anchored to your existence through Cosmic Anchoring. The more Nature Energy you accumulate, the more your realm expands, stabilizes, and diversifies. Eventually, it will be able to host entire civilizations without collapsing."
"That means if I die…"
"You don't," Protection Veneri interrupted. "Not permanently."
"Cosmic Anchoring ensures that even if your physical form is destroyed, your Verdarite Realm persists. After ten thousand years, you will reincarnate within it. Your Overwrite becomes both your sanctuary and your womb."
Ely's face turned red at that phrasing, and she glared at me.
"You didn't have to say it like that you know."
"I'm an Omniscient. Accurate terminology matters."
Protection Veneri pushed himself up to his feet and stretched.
"So for now, forget about resurrecting the dead or creating life out of thin air. Focus on your elements. You already demonstrated control across eight realms. Mastery there will stabilize your mental framework before you start playing god."
Ely looked up at him. "Playing god…"
"You literally have Life Divinity. There's no softer way to phrase it."
She buried her face in her hands for a moment, groaning quietly.
"I just wanted to protect the World Tree and shoot arrows at Krepsunas. Now I'm apparently responsible for the metaphysical stability of an entire realm."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "Welcome to enlightenment, Ely. The higher you climb, the less your problems resemble anything remotely normal."
She peeked at me through her fingers, then sighed and let her hands drop.
"Fine. Elements first. Puppets later. Resurrection… never, hopefully."
Protection Veneri grinned. "That's the spirit. Now come on. If you're going to be a pseudo-deity, you might as well start acting like one instead of sulking on the floor."
She shot him a half-hearted glare but she still pushed herself to her feet.