"The way different races use spirits is different. Just like the Elf who weave magic spell formulas, the Siren who use their innate ability to charm, or the Flügel who win by sheer numbers. Besides the ones Mr. Monkey already knows, there are also many races that gain the greatest lethality by directly destroying spirits - the most typical example is the Ex-Machina. Many of their offensive and defensive measures are achieved in this way."
"Them?" Su'er was confused by Think's choice of words. Although he had long known the name of the Ex-Machina, he had never seen them before.
"A race composed of machines created by an unknown Old Deus. Their actions are completely without purpose. They simply survive in the world through defense and counterattacks. They are just pure machines. They can't even be considered living beings," Think said in an understated manner.
"In short~, it is precisely because the Ex-Machina and similar races cause irreversible damage to spirits that if it weren't for the fact that spirits were always overflowing from the Spirit Corridor in an unbalanced way, many places after a series of big battles would probably have so few spirits that they would be hard to see with the naked eye."
"I see... an important node?" Su'er murmured thoughtfully and looked down at the Divine Core that was immersed in the sea of spirits. After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "How long will this recovery take?"
"Who knows? Maybe a year? Maybe ten years? Maybe a hundred years? I don't know more about the Old Deus than you do, Mr. Monkey?" Think's slightly playful words did not make Su'er feel relieved, but rather more worried.
After all, Think could wait for a few hundred years, but it was very likely that he couldn't even wait for a hundred years.
"Don't worry. It will definitely take a long time to recover all her power, but it shouldn't take long to recover her consciousness. Mr. Monkey, you don't have to worry too much," Perhaps she noticed Su'er's heavy expression at the moment. Think's words suddenly became gentle. She was comforting Su'er.
"Eh? Really?"
"Really~"
"That's good... I hope she wakes up soon..."
Su'er forced a smile and leaned on the edge, quietly staring at the vase-shaped Divine Core.
Although he knew that Think was probably just comforting him, after hearing such a certain answer, Su'er's mood did relax a little.
Wake up soon, Old Deus.
As if clocking in for work, Su'er maintained a regular routine every day. Besides his daily physical exercise and maintaining his fitness, he spent the rest of his time with the vase-shaped Divine Core, starting his 'talk therapy.'
Although he didn't know how much the suspended animation of an Old Deus was different from that of a human, judging from the fact that this Old Deus had replied to him a few times before, she was still capable of it - but Su'er always felt that she might have only replied because she was so annoyed by him.
Would an Old Deus who was awakened in this state really be in a good mood with him?
While having this question in his mind, Su'er still persisted with this talk therapy with trepidation. After all, he really didn't have that much time to wait. After a sudden inspiration, he simply developed the habit of exercising and talking to the Divine Core at the same time.
To be honest, it was a persistence without a purpose, like a journey. Su'er had even prepared himself to wait for more than ten years, but the surprise came so unexpectedly.
[...Useless...]
That Old Deus spoke.
Although it was a word of discouragement from the get-go, Su'er's joy at that moment could reach the sky.
This was about a year after the vase-shaped Divine Core of the Old Deus was placed in the sea of spirits, which was much shorter than the time he had imagined.
"...Ah, great Old Deus," Su'er took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice steady, "My name is Su'er, a human. I have come here to seek answers to some questions."
He felt an indescribable sense of nervousness. Su'er even felt that the muscles on his face were twitching slightly. The one he was talking to at the moment was a noble Old Deus, and not one that clearly showed goodwill like Ocan.
Even though her current state was not capable of doing something as exaggerated as Ocan's feat of creating a real small world with a wave of her hand, her power itself was enough to trample Jibril under her feet.
The personification of a concept. Her existence itself was the most powerful magic. The information about the Old Deus kept flashing through Su'er's mind, which added a bit more nervousness to him.
[Questions... are meaningless...]
The Old Deus's voice had no gender. It was neither male nor female. It was so ethereal that it was as if a thin veil was passing through his ears.
"It's still very meaningful," Su'er subconsciously added a sentence, and then he realized later that something was not right.
What's wrong with this Old Deus? He didn't react the first time he heard her speak, but now, she was still discouraging him from the very beginning?
She was like someone who worked overtime on 996 to earn money for the family, and after dragging her tired body home, she found that her wife was having sex with someone else out of love, and she wished that the world would end quickly and all things would perish... She was so depressed?
Or was this the personality she had because of the influence of her own concept?
What kind of god is this? The God of Disappointment? The God of Despair? The God of Sorrow?
While constantly speculating about what concept this Old Deus represented in his heart, Su'er's mouth did not stop at all. He was afraid that this Old Deus, who seemed not to be very normal, would suddenly say that chatting was also meaningless and then become reclusive in the next second.
"Look, at the very least, you will know the direction to move forward after you have questions. For example, because people are curious about the sight in the universe and the distant stars, they will specifically invent a telescope. Because they are curious about the cause of various diseases, they will explore and eventually discover the microscopic world that is imperceptible to the naked eye. Uh, I mean, that's how the Imanity in my world are," Su'er poured bowl after bowl of inspirational chicken soup without hesitation, conveying positive energy to the Old Deus.
To be honest, in this long talk therapy, Su'er basically talked about everything he had learned over and over again to keep from feeling lonely. The Old Deus should already know everything she should know, so there was no need to deliberately avoid anything.
"As the saying goes, a small question leads to a small progress, and a big question leads to a big progress. If you don't even have questions, how can you improve yourself? Right, right? It's precisely because you have a direction that you can move forward with a clear purpose and motivation," Su'er rattled on for a while before he remembered that this was no longer a time for him to do talk therapy alone. What if this Old Deus considered his rambling to be disrespectful?