The group sat in a silence so thick it was a physical weight. The phrase "God-contracts" still echoed in the secluded training ground, a ghost of an idea they couldn't fully grasp.
Axle, soaking in their stunned expressions, leaned back, a slow, satisfied smirk stretching across his face. "Yes. You all just demonstrated that you know nothing about them."
And also nothing about me!
He screamed within his mind, a private, bitter triumph.
Jorel's jaw tightened, a silent knot of frustration, but he said nothing, waiting. Marichi, ever the scholar, just leaned in, his entire focus on Axle.
"There is no 'The God of this' or 'The God of that'." Axle began, a slow pace in front of them.
He spoke like a man telling a story he'd told a thousand times. "It's a god under a concept."
"There can be many gods under one concept."
He used his hands, painting pictures in the air. "For example, under the concept of Heat, there could be a god that allows you to manipulate flames."
