Chapter 272

“Open your legs, sweetie,” I said as I positioned myself above her. 

“You need a better connection … of course,” she murmured, a little annoyed, but mostly aroused. Her core glistened as well, showing she was ready for my invasion. 

“Brace yourself, and try not to use any mana,” I suggested as I slipped into her wetness. She hugged me, her arms tighter than necessary.  She was afraid … not that I blamed her. 

I started moving, slow and tender, even as I closed my eyes, focusing on the magical side of things. 

Her Divine Sea was churning chaotically as another point of foreign Divine Spark joined the mix before the previous one could have been assimilated. Left without intervention, I could easily imagine a few more points erasing Seldanna from existence. 

Which begged the question … what they were trying to do. I doubted it was a fancy execution, especially since Seldanna was, for all intents and purposes, a peasant that could be killed without any political implications. 

Meaning, they had a different objectives. Pity I didn’t have the time to go around and search for that answer. 

{+2 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Not with the process getting faster and faster, as my homemade System warned me. I turned my attention to Seldanna’s Divine Sea, our connection at the maximum level, which was necessary as I interacted with the new Divine Spark through her Divine Sea  — as my Divine Spark would have just purified it, destroying the point. 

As I touched the Spark, memory fragments rushed into my mind. Memories of war and disaster, the sky itself splitting, rains of fire mixing with raging tornados, the very ground disintegrating. 

{+10 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

The memories flew too fast for me to pin them down. The only thing I could understand was that the view was from the perspective of a forest, made from trees that dwarfed the Tree of Life that we were currently in. 

The intense flow of the Divine Spark forced me to add some of my Tantric Mana to the mixture, softening the foreign Spark to make it easily absorbed by Seldanna. 

Just in time. 

{+10 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

As I saw the memories, I realized that I wasn’t sharing the perspective of the trees … no, I was sharing the perspective of an incredibly strong being that was using the trees as a medium to fight against those beasts … only to fail horribly. 

{+10 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Shocking, as the being was channeling an incredible amount to channel directly, wasting more than a million points each second — maybe even more, but lost in the fragmented memories. 

I had a feeling that I was getting my first experience of what a god was … and it scared me, even worse than I did when I realized the power of the Eternals. 

{+50 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Yet, despite all their powers — no, all his power, I corrected, the memories giving me a better understanding of his identity. Just to be on the safe side, I wrapped the Divine Sea of Seldanna with a layer of mana, and over it, a layer of my Pure Divine Spark. It prevented Seldanna from using any mana, but it also prevented those memories from touching her. 

{+50 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

I could isolate myself from those memories easily. My stats helped to strengthen my mind, and even without that advantage, I had a better advantage.  The memories came buried in Nature Spark, which was distinctly not me. Seldanna, as a Nature-Spark carrier, would have a more difficult time. 

Still, a few days of meditation were all she would have needed to cleanse those memories, I thought as I continued to decipher the fragments. The battle raged, as I saw the glimpses of other Divine Sparks, sometimes used against the trees, sometimes allied. Fire, light, Healing, Martial …, and others that I couldn’t recognize. 

{+100 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Yet, there were other concepts, like pure elements and undead, that constantly fought against the trees, cutting the reach of the lone god of nature that tried to stem the tide more and more. 

Soon,  I found myself revising Seldanna’s capability of keeping the memories isolated from hers. The intensity of the memories got stronger, which made it much more unlikely that Seldanna could have handled those memories even if she meditated for years. 

Even for me, they were impossible to isolate. I wanted to process them … and if I still had access to System, I might have succeeded, but without it, it was a hopeless affair. The more intense the memories got, the harder they were to comprehend. Soon, I had to cut the connection with the memory, and start destroying them.

{+100 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Either that, or they would pollute Seldanna’s Divine Sea.  

Luckily, the memories weren’t the only thing that came with the flow. I also received a lot of magical knowledge, and I did my best to save some, separating them from the others. For them to be safely recorded. 

Yet, I could feel that, the flow was not slowing down but getting faster, making me fear that I would have trouble controlling the flow. Luckily, I was prepared for that. 

{-1000 Nature Spark, God Forest}

{+1000 Purified Divine  Spark}

The amount of Divine Spark I took from the forest left the tribes in a dangerous position, but the forest already stored enough mana to keep them safe for a few days, so it should be alright. And, if we were still trying to deal with the connection a few days later,  we had much bigger problems.  

I focused on helping Seldanna metabolize the Divine Spark, feeling the most recent rush would have been enough to contain it. Unfortunately, another notification was quick to steal that confidence. 

{+200 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

I squeezed my teeth, focusing fully on the mental state while my body continued to move, a part of me annoyed that I couldn’t enjoy the beautiful, desperate embrace of Seldanna even a bit, missing a special moment. Luckily, my reflexes were fully trained in the art of lovemaking, and even with my wandering attention, Seldanna was moaning ceaselessly… 

{+500 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

The next burst of Divine Spark was enough to destroy my confidence that I could actually suppress the flow. Luckily, I had other methods to cheat. A bit riskier,  but it was still better than cutting the connection that offered such incredible benefits … or worse, letting Seldanna burn out with an overflow of power. 

I dived down into her Divine Spark directly, letting my Divine Spark mix with hers. My Divine Spark formed a scalpel before cutting a generous portion of her newly acquired Divine Spark. I didn’t have time to ask for her permission, but I was sure that she would forgive me. 

And even if she didn’t, I could earn it the fun way. 

{-200 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

{+200 Purified Divine  Spark}

So, I was shocked when a voice echoed in my mind. 

“HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY POWER!”

The voice echoed in my mind … no, not my mind, I realized. In my Divine Spark, particularly the newest part that I was in the process of purifying completely. And, it was certainly not Seldanna. 

I didn’t try answering. Trying to answer angry incorporeal voices didn’t seem to be a good idea … especially when the voice in question tried to hide his presence as harmless memory fragments, creating a trap. 

I bit my lips as I focused my Divine Spark, purifying the amount I cut far faster than any other attempt. Just as well, as the flow suddenly increased. 

{+5000 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

He was playing for the keeps. The sudden infusion of the new Divine Spark not only threatened to kill Seldanna, but also destroy our surroundings completely. Her Divine Sea was ruined completely already, losing all coherence. 

Unfortunately for the incorporeal being that was trying to drown us, that was all that did. The two-layered protection, the first layer mana, the second layer Purified Spark, was especially effective against the tactic. 

I would have pitied the guy if he wasn’t trying to steal the body of my lover. An amazing ploy, yet somehow, his minions picked a target that was uniquely equipped to prevent it by a complete accident. 

I decided to attack back. 

{-1000 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

{+1000 Purified Divine  Spark} 

“STOP,  MORTAL!”

I expected the being to either stop, or attack harder. Yet, it did neither. 

{+4000 Nature Spark, Elven Priestess}

Weird, I thought as I focused on the connection, only to realize it getting stronger, despite the flow lessening, and the realization hit. The being didn’t have the ability to stop the flow … not at this point. 

He was a god, I realized, and the memory fragments were from the war between Gods and the Eternals — though the memories confirmed the war was certainly not that simple — and he was probably sleeping in the tree for centuries, one last relic from the forests that he once commanded.  

Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of even trying to speak. The god was knowledgeable and strong …  and also desperate. A  horrible combination to face, and now that I had the opportunity, I had no intention of allowing him to succeed. 

Ironically, killing him was too simple. I just followed the strengthened connection with a line of Purified Spark, and reached the center. I found his soul at the center of the tree, hibernating to protect himself with his lack of power — giving me the realization that,  true godhood required a lot of Divine Spark to prevent fading away. 

The power that I isolated from him … making him die ignobly. I destroyed the rest of the memories as quickly as I could manage, prioritizing speed over perfection. I had dealt with such problems too much to assume that it was the end of it. 

Especially not in a plane that was dealing with elven traitors, undercover teams from the Eternals, and an ongoing undead invasion…

—

{Strength: 16    Charisma: 22

Precision: 16    Perception: 16

Agility: 16     Manipulation: 22

Speed: 16       Intelligence: 16

Endurance: 16      Wisdom: 16}

{Purified Divine Spark: 2542}

{Pseudo-HP: 8000  Mana: 15000}

{ADDITIONAL SPARKS

Light – Chosen 7.4

Nature – Chosen 10}

{MINIONS 

Guardian God Forest – 152}

Elven Priestess – 9104}

—

[Level: 36 Experience: 631374 / 666000]