Suddenly I felt an influx of divinity enter my being.
[Name: Zane Mercer]
[Age: 20]
[Talent: System Creator (SS)]
[Divinity: 12.0023]
[No. Organisms: 1.1 million]
Looking at my increased divinity I was excited for the prospects that would come from this gain, but before I could do anything another set of notifications appeared before my eyes.
[You have been rewarded a common blessing]
[Choosing random common blessing...]
[Blessing selected]
[Blessing name: Fertility boost
Blessing effect: For the next 2 days the reproduction rate of organisms on your planet is tripled.]
Reading the description of the blessing I was surprised. Who would think that a threefold increase in reproduction rate would be classified as a common blessing. It made me wonder what the higher tier blessings could do if something this effective was considered so basic. If the common blessings could influence life on such a large scale then the rare or even legendary ones must hold powers capable of changing the entire course of a planet's development.
Taking my eyes off the glowing text I once again shifted my attention to the planet and the volcanic spring where everything had begun. The tiny pond of steaming water that once held fragile protocells now showed the presence of something far more advanced. The protocells had finally evolved into a more complex form of life, cells known as prokaryotes.
These were no longer simple bubbles of molecules drifting aimlessly. They had structure, a defined way of existing and multiplying. I watched closely as one of the small prokaryotic cells quivered, stretched, and then divided into two. Each of the new cells moved in their own way, already preparing for the next division. It was mesmerizing to witness, almost like watching a spark turn into a flame.
What struck me the most was the difference in speed. The blessing had clearly taken effect, as these prokaryotes were multiplying far faster than the protocells before them. Where the protocells had only managed to divide into a handful before dying out, these new cells were far sturdier. They did not simply vanish after one or two splits. Instead, they survived long enough to divide again and again, creating a chain of life that could endure. In only a short amount of time I saw single cells become clusters, small groups spreading through the spring like a living film covering the water.
I counted roughly, realizing that each individual cell seemed to split more than ten times before dying, leaving behind countless descendants. It was a massive leap in durability and reproduction compared to before. With the added fertility boost this growth was even more exaggerated, the numbers rising so quickly I could barely keep up.
As I observed the spring teeming with new life, I could not help but feel a sense of awe. This was the true beginning.
But it was still too slow, especially compared to the gods that ranked higher on the daily ranking. Every hour that passed felt like I was falling further and further behind. Their worlds were developing at a speed that left mine in the dust, and the rewards they gained only widened that gap. Thinking of this I naturally turned my thoughts toward my own talent, the one I had instinctively dismissed in the beginning because of the underdeveloped intelligence of my creations. At first glance it had seemed useless. What could a mindless cell do with a system? They lacked thought, purpose, and even awareness. But as I thought about it more carefully, I realized that this was a mistake.
After all, the talent's description clearly stated that any organism bestowed with a system would understand how to use it intuitively, no matter their level of intelligence. That meant even a single-celled prokaryote could grasp the functions of a system at the most basic level. It might not be intelligent, but it would act in accordance with the system's design, almost as if instinctively guided toward its own improvement.
Realizing this, I felt a rush of excitement and a faint sense of shame at my earlier shortsightedness. If I had been using my talent from the very beginning, who knows how much progress I could have made by now? But there was no use regretting what had already passed. What mattered now was how I could use it going forward. Steeling myself, I decided to activate my talent for the first time in my brief godhood.
[Activating talent System Creator (SS)]
[System name: .....]
[System effect: ....]
[Type of lifeform bestowed upon: .....]
Looking at the blank prompts that unfolded before my eyes, I immediately began to think about what kind of system would help me achieve my goal the fastest. There were endless possibilities. I could create something that focused on reproduction speed, or perhaps durability, or even specialization between different strains of life. But in the end, I knew that none of those things mattered if the organisms themselves remained stuck at the same simple stage forever.
What I needed most was a path toward complexity, toward evolution.
After a couple of minutes of careful consideration, I finally made up my mind on the function of this first system.
[System name: Basic Evolution System]
[System effect: The user gains evolution points every time they reproduce. These evolution points can then be used to buy different kinds of evolutions, such as a more complicated cellular structure.]
[Type of lifeform bestowed upon: Prokaryote]
[Analyzing system functions]
[Calculating cost]
[Cost: 4 divinity]
When the final cost appeared, I was surprised at how low it was. I had been expecting something far greater, especially for a system that might serve as the stepping stone for all future life on my planet. But perhaps that was exactly why it was so cheap. The being I was bestowing it upon was a single-celled organism, barely more than a sack of chemicals struggling to survive. To grant a system to such a primitive creature naturally required little divinity compared to bestowing it upon something more advanced.
If my guess was correct, the cost would only rise higher and higher as I used this power in the future. The stronger or more intelligent the creature, the more divinity it would drain from me. For now, though, the price was one I could afford.
With this thought I turned toward the final piece of information displayed before me.
[Please choose which lifeform to bestow this system.
Warning: Once the system has been bestowed the divinity required will automatically be deducted.]
With this final message I once again focused in on the volcanic spring and the organisms within.