Phase Two of the God Pool event like mentioned before was nothing but a Culling Game.
One meant to separate the exceptionally talented from those who would add no benefit to factions. As these children were all orphans it mattered not to the powerhouses and factions whether those weak died.
This wasn't solely about talent either, as it was more about potential.
It was widely known across Panthun that the rankings of Stars in specific mattered little to the greater picture.
There were many legends... and even those that went onto to become True Gods that started with Lesser Stars.
And as the two-year countdown ticked away, there were two of these infants who'd never separated since coming together.
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From the moment the little girl saved the infant, never once over the next six months did, she leave his side.
The entire time, the two infants remained inside the quiet cave, untouched by the chaos of the culling forest beyond.
She sat pressed against the blank gray child, small wings folded, with a golden aura wrapped around them both like a second skin.
As awakened beings they didn't have to worry about eating. Well, under most circumstances that was....
Usually, one would be born with divinity that would be enough to sustain them.
However, the blank child had no divinity. Through the guardian connection... she could do many things, and one was sharing divinity.
Every day for hours she would channel divinity into him, the moment she felt a weakness coming from him.
Not even knowing that... before her was God, one that should be dead without Divinity.
And with each action... each act of grace and protection, she too felt her power grow.
Whenever danger came, she met it without hesitation.
A lone Tier-One wolf would pad too close—sniffing at the scent of easy prey.
She would stand, raise one tiny hand, and speak in her high, determined voice.
"G-gwo way!"
Using her divinity, she would create her white chains that would lash out, snapping necks or burning holes through skulls before the beast could even growl.
Many times, through the night Tier-Two shadow wolves appeared.
And just like all other times... She protected him, never allowing a single claw or tooth to graze his still-featureless body.
As her power grew, so did her intellect.
The power these beings gathered wasn't just about boosting their output.
Even small tier jumps played a role in filling the very state of their existence.
As she grew stronger, her entity offered more guidance, and in turn, she became sharper and wiser.
Every night, despite his lack of ears, mouth, or eyes, she would rest her head against his smooth shoulder and speak to him in gentle, simple words.
"You… safe. I'll pwotect you. Alway."
Every morning over the course of those six months...
She told him about the pretty lights she saw when she first woke up.
The nice lady in her head always said that protecting was the best way to grow strong. She sang little nonsense tunes her Star would sometimes hum inside her mind.
She painted awkward pictures of the forest outside: towering trees, glinting bugs, other babies soaring like birds.
Month after month, her gentle voice filled the cave with these one-sided conversations. It was something she did without even thinking...
It was as if the invisible bond that had drawn her to him from the start urged her to pour all the light she could see into him.
After the first full month, something in the once abominable infant began to change.
Badump!
A faint thump echoed in the boy's chest, a heartbeat—it was weak, slow, but real.
A few days later, small dents appeared on either side of his head, deepening into rough ears.
Another week went by, and shallow hollows emerged on his face, the beginnings of eyes—still gray and empty, yet able to open.
By the month's end, a thin line appeared where a mouth should be. His features were still rough, as if sketched by an unsure hand, but they were enough.
For the first time, he saw her.
For the first time, he heard her gentle words.
He stayed quiet, just watching the little girl with his new, uncertain eyes as she smiled, her wings fluttering softly with joy.
"See me?" she asked one night, tapping her own face.
He gave the tiniest nod.
She clapped her small hands once and hugged him tighter. "Hehe."
The months passed in the same way—safe, warm, unchanging—until tonight.
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BANGG!!!!
BANGG!!!!
A sudden commotion shattered the peace.
Shouts and tiny frantic footsteps echoed from deeper inside the cave system.
Then before long a group of five other infants—some with budding horns, one trailing sparks of lightning—burst into their chamber, running for their lives.
GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
Behind them poured a wave of Star Beasts: at least a dozen Tier-One wolves mixed with several larger Tier-Two boar-like creatures, tusks glowing with acidic light.
When the beasts had caught the scent of fresh, awakened prey.... they went into a full frenzy.
The little girl's head shot up.
By now, she was already a Tier Three Awakened, and in her eyes, there was no fear—only determination.
She sprang to her feet, her small frame glowing with a shield of light, and stepped in front of the rough-featured boy.
Her voice rang out, high and childlike yet steady with unshakable resolve.
"Stay back! He's mine! I pwotect!"
Inside her mind her entity scoffed as she viewed everything from her safe space.
[Sometimes.... to protect you must also sacrifice!] She advised, but she knew that this little girl had for some reason grown way too attached to the abominable infant.
[Just... why?] She muttered, [I can't even feel a drop of divinity from him...]
However, as she wondered... the little girl had already moved.
HUMMMM!!!!
Instead of waiting for the others to move she used 10 DP and manipulated her divinity into white chains yet again.
WHOOOSH!!!!
BANGGG!!!!
In less than a heartbeat two of the wolves found themselves flung backwards into the cave walls as she then retreated back in front of her prized possession.