The Andelaris twins stepped forward. They didn't ask for permission.
They simply moved, side by side, like mirrored silhouettes in motion. They placed their hands on the Obelisk at the same time. Sireth gave the smallest approving nod.
"Twins may test together. Their divine signatures are often linked by soul threads in the early stages of Enlightenment."
As soon as the twins' palms met the sacred surface, the Obelisk reacted. It pulsed gently and warmly. The golden glow wrapped around the twins like a living veil.
GECISIA LEVEL FOUR VITALIS
There wasn't even suspense. Everyone just nodded.
"Yeah, that tracks," Narisva said with a half-smile, arms folded across her chest. "Literal goddesses of healing."
"Vitalis is healing, life flow, growth, and biological augmentation," Peroncerea chimed in. "I would have been concerned if it wasn't your Attribution."
The twins stepped back, the glow receding from their fingers.
Natalis smiled warmly. "I thought it might be Mortanis... but I guess our power never really touched death."
Denisia shrugged. "Even when we tried, our powers healed what was meant to die."
The group chuckled, but Sireth's voice cut through gently.
"Vitalis Divines are often underestimated. Do not fall into that trap."
He pointed his harpoon toward the group.
"Among all Twelve Attributions, Vitalis Divines are the hardest to kill."
That silenced the chuckles. Vastarael looked at the twins with a new, sharper glance. Sireth continued.
"They survive what others do not. They regenerate, adapt and even mutate under divine strain. And more than that, they preserve what others give up on."
Natalis raised her chin slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should," Sireth answered plainly.
The Obelisk dimmed, ready once again. The twins returned to the group. Elyonari smiled at them as they passed.
"So... soft girls, huh?"
Denisia gave her a wicked grin. "Only until we have to break someone's legs and then reattach them backwards."
"Okay then."
Sireth raised a hand.
"Next."
Peroncerea Ceres stepped forward. The Demoness Duchess of Hell didn't rush. Everyone stepped back instinctively.
"Okay, your turn," Xander muttered under his breath.
"Bet it's Mortanis," Farrynelle whispered to him.
"Obviously."
Peroncerea didn't speak a word as she raised her hand and touched the Obelisk. The moment her fingers pressed against the ancient stone, a cold pulse echoed outward..Then, the Obelisk turned black. A void-like obsidian glow swallowed its exterior in an instant, like it had been inverted into a hollow abyss. The plaza dimmed slightly. Even the sunlight got dim.
Vastarael narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. That's Mortanis."
The inscription formed a breath later:
GECISIA LEVEL FIVE MORTANIS
Peroncerea tilted her head, her eyes narrowing at the display.
"Tch. Took it long enough."
Sireth's tone turned subtly cautious. "Mortanis. Death, decay, endings, passage of the soul."
"It suits her," Narisva muttered with a hint of unease.
"She is the Duchess of Hell," Elyonari replied with a slow nod. "I'd be more worried if it didn't choose her."
Farrynelle raised an eyebrow. "Is it me or did the Obelisk look like it was scared of her?"
"No," Eldrigan added. "It definitely flinched."
Peroncerea finally turned around, her eyes scanning them lazily, as if she already knew what they were thinking. The black glow faded, almost like the Obelisk respected her. When it returned to its normal blue state, the area around Peroncerea still shimmered in faint black veins, trailing along her shoulders. She walked back and foronce, she looked... genuinely pleased.
"Can't lie," Xander said. "That was creepy."
As Peroncerea took her place again, the Obelisk pulsed once more, resetting, ready for the next one. That was when Eldrigan Hanabas stepped forward. Unlike the others, Eldrigan didn't walk slowly. His expression was thoughtful, but calm, as if he wasn't expecting anything extraordinary.
Vastarael folded his arms. "What do you think he'll get?"
Narisva sighed. "Gecisia Eight maybe. Elementa type."
"No," Adelasta said quietly. "He doesn't carry Elemental presence. His aura's always… distant. More darkness."
"Maybe Vitalis?" Farrynelle offered.
"No way," muttered Xander. "He doesn't scream healer."
Eldrigan reached the Obelisk. He extended his palm and placed it flat against the shimmering blue stone just as the sunlight peaked behind it. The Obelisk didn't glow. It pulsed. S deep, resounding hum radiated from within it. The ground under them trembled violently. Then came the pressure. A sweeping, intellectual gravity descended on the plaza like thought itself had been compressed into weight. Everyone's heads felt heavier. The light around the Obelisk dimmed and twisted, morphing into a prismatic black.
Adelasta stood upright. "Wait—"
"Something's wrong," Elyonari whispered, taking a step back.
"No," said Sireth. "Something's right. This is rare. Exceptionally rare."
And then the words appeared, etched in divine glyphs across the face of the Obelisk in glowing golden script:
GECISIA LEVEL TWO IDEATION
No one moved.
The Obelisk's energy continued pulsing as the golden glyphs glowed, burning the truth of Eldrigan's divine quality into the very bones of the plaza.
Eldrigan blinked. "Wait. I'm… Gecisia Two?"
"Ideation," the Hydrangea gasped. "The second-most dangerous Divine Attribution in the cosmological hierarchy. You… have a Conceptual Divinity."
Farrynelle stared at him. "That means he can influence belief,.perception and thought."
"Not just manipulate," Narisva added, her starry eyes narrowing. "If he masters it, he could overwrite a person's reality with his Divinity."
Even Vastarael looked shaken. "That's… not normal. At all."
"Not even rare. Myths exist about Gecisia Two Divines. They are often mistaken for gods of madness, of logic, or indoctrination. The power of Ideation was feared even by First Generation Deities in the Destras Era."
Eldrigan staggered back a step, blinking slowly. "I thought I was just… smart."
"You're not just smart," Adelasta said. "You're weaponized cognition. He's a monster."
"Can we not say that out loud?" Xander muttered. "Ever again?"
Sireth, who had remained quiet for the last few seconds, now crossed his arms and nodded solemnly.
"A Gecisia Two Divine... I haven't seen one in over a few husband years. And even then, he nearly ascended to Divine Pillar by age fifteen. She rewrote war treaties with a dream. You—"
He looked Eldrigan in the eyes.
"—are the single most important candidate in this cohort of seventy-thousand. Guard your mind. Guard your words. For your enemies will fear you. And your allies... will never fully trust you."
Eldrigan swallowed. "This wasn't what I expected."
"You now know what you are," Natalis said softly. "Now you must decide who you want to be with it."
The Obelisk slowly returned to its blue hue, as though exhaling from the tension it just endured. Eldrigan turned back, walking quietly. His composure never cracked. But for the first time… there was uncertainty in his eyes.
And only three remained.
"Okay, between Narisva, Vastarael and Adelasta, who is next?"