For the first time in days, Vastarael Richinaria was alone. The glade he sat within, hidden deep in the southern forests of Spheraphase, was still.
The morning dew had not yet left the grass, but in this place, it did not rest upon the blades. All around him, the dew hovered in mid-air, suspended in gentle orbit. He sat cross-legged in the heart of the clearing, his eyes closed. He had not spoken in hours. When he finally exhaled and his eyes opened, the suspended water, as if recognizing its cue, dropped softly to the grass in perfect unison.
The moment he had been waiting for was here. The time to confront his Divinities had arrived.
There were five within him.
Time, the most powerful of them, was the Major Divinity. The Divnity of Time had overwritten the others when he received his First Sacred Trial, elevating itself to absolute priority. Its pull was too great.
The others had been forced into submission. Protection and Love were now Minor Divinities alongside Justice and Water.
Within Divinity, there existed a strict rule. Only one Major Divinity can exist in a single Divine, regardless of how many are awakened. The strongest, most potent one always claimed dominance. The rest bowed. Just as Tethers came in Base and Pinnacle, so too did Divinities manifest as Minor or Major.
Vastarael had been born from divine origin. He was a child of two Nexuses. Most Divines never even gained Minor Divinities. The vast majority—those born mortal or immortal—only achieved one. And often, it came fractured or malformed.
He knew each of the Sentina Erideae must have had their own Minor Divinities too. It was only natural but that didn't make this next part any easier. The only way to pass the First Enlightenment Stage for himself was through Divine-Tether Integration.
It was phase not even Divines could attempt and even then, only if their souls were prepared to handle the risks. Vastarael had studied it extensively for five years. All he had was to get a trial for Time to dominate his other Divinities for him to do this.
Tethers were power. Divinities were identity. Fusing them meant allowing one's true nature to alter one's ability to exist and the very functionality as a being.
He leaned his head slightly upward, his eyes blinking slowly at the blue misty sky as the early sun peeked through the thinning canopy above.
"Protection. Of all my Minor Divinities, that one has always felt the most natural. Almost like it was mine long before I ever touched divinity."
His fingers curled faintly. He already saw four Tethers that would inherit the Protection Divinity.
Sapphire Materialization, Rune Drawing, Mystic Eyes of Awareness and Circlecraft would inherit the Protection Divinity.
His turned to Justice.
It was a quieter Divinity in him. He never used it before but to him, it resonated most with one Tether in particular; Memory Implantation and Extraction.
It just felt right.
Then came Water, an old, fluid ally. And perhaps the most flexible of his Divinities. He would bless his Aeterium gifts with it, allow it to return to his origin, to the depths of his reconstructed body and soul.
He could already see it. Body and Soul Reconstruction, Limitless, which was the capability of using Soul Energy and have massive energy pools, Soul Vision, that made him see the soul and body state and at last, his strongest Tether, Omniphage.
His first Pinnacle Tether.
Vastarael's expression shifted as he thought about it.
It made sense. The Divinity of Water would make Omniphage less… predatory. It would make it adaptive. And honestly, it was too weak after he became Divine.
And then, Love.
He closed his eyes again, finally smiling faintly for the first time in hours. There were only two Tethers for it.
Sapphire Bond, the original connection between him and Phaenora, a bond forged long ago and yet deepened every day. There was no Tether in his arsenal more deserving of Love's touch.
And Peony Creation, the gentle floral art born from his heart. Honestly, he never used Peony Creation before. It was connected to his tattoo but he never got to activate it. He didn't know how so it was just passive.
He laughed softly under his breath.
"Inventory's getting nothing. Poor little Tether, but it's just a bag. I can always ask Narisva to make it bigger if I need to carry something absurd again."
Now... he was ready.
He straightened his back. Then, with one hand, he slowly reached to the side and gently pressed his fingers to the grass. The earth pulsed in acknowledgment. The Seventh Star Control Circle appeared. It had seven concentric circles as his Star level, each circle with runes on it as the concentric circles rotated in different directions to the other one next to it. The glade lit up like the moon had descended.
Vastarael exhaled once more.
"This is the last breath before I change. After this, my Divinities will no longer be philosophies. This is going to be painful."
He lowered his hands into his lap again and closed his eyes. It was time.
As Vastarael focused, his Control Circle responded. The Seventh Star flared with brilliant white radiance. It pulsed once before it snapped. It split apart into five luminous segments, each one orbiting around Vastarael like satellites. Each piece burned with a different hue.
Protection was sapphire. Justice was gray. Water was colorless. Love was rose pink and Time was golden.
The moment the Circle shattered into five, Vastarael's chest seized. His breathing stopped as if the divine forces coursing through his soul were ripping something foundational out of him. But he didn't move. He felt like his soul was being disassembled, even though it was near indestructible.
"Starting with Love."
One of the glowing fragments, pulsing in soft rose light, drifted toward him. The Divinity of Love hovered for a moment before lowering itself, slowly spiraling downward.
A deep vibration rolled out from Vastarael's chest. The Love Divinity, represented as part of the five pieces of the Control Circle, was glowing brighter now, illuminated the space before him.
Two symbols manifested.
One was a crimson peony, blooming slowly in mid-air. Each petal glowed as though love itself was blooming through grief and memory. It was trembling exuding a bittersweet warmth that reminded him of Shimmer and Runner's small hands, Adelasta's laughter and the quiet mornings when Elyonari didn't need to say anything to be heard back in the academy.
The other was a thin sapphire string but infinitely strong. It vibrated softly like a harp string. It reminded him of how he saw Phaenora's words after he woke up from his one year old coma after his Reversal Ascension, the moment she gained a body after he became an Ascender and also when she used to tease him.
The fragment of the Control Circle representing the Divinity of Love rotated once then enveloped the peony and the string in particles.
Vastarael's body spasmed but only once. He did not cry out. His arms trembled. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth but his face remained still. His body screamed in ways his voice refused to allow. Inside, it was like being torn apart. The Divinity of Love wasn't just merging. It was interrogating him. Why did he love? Who did he love? Would he still love if the universe turned on him? Could he endure the cost of it?
The peony flared. The string snapped and reformed and snapped again, weaving itself anew every time. The fusion wasn't simple. Love required surrender and Tethers were not meant to surrender. They resisted.
He felt as if his soul was burning. His ribs felt like they were being peeled open from the inside out. His mind flooded with too many memories and emotions he didn't know how to process all at once. Adelasta's cold but cure nature. Shimmer's broken sob the first time she called him Dad. Runner clinging to him when he saved her from the avalanche in the Lake of Miracles Island...
He clenched his fists. The wind howled through the glade. Finally, the string and the peony stopped resisting. A gentle pulse spread outward from them. Without warning, a chime echoed through the air. He couldn't see the words because he still closed his eyes.
[Tether Evolution Complete. "Peony Creation" and "Sapphire Bond" are now Divinity-Touched.]
[Love Divinity Integration: SUCCESSFUL.]
He felt the change burn into his soul inked into his very essence.
Love, the kind that broke and rebuilt him, now lived within the fibers of his Tethers. His body was still trembling from the ordeal but he exhaled again, deeper this time.
"One down, four more to go."
It was time for Justice.