Sunny looked directly at the young boy and, in a voice that resonated not just in their ears but in their very souls, declared:
-You will be called ‘Thorn’ henceforth and be the first leader of the humans.- The young boy, Thorn, seemed to shimmer with an internal light, as if physically imbued with the weight of being the chosen one. Every other human present began to chant -Thorn!- over and over.
Though they didn’t comprehend Sunny’s precise words, they somehow intuitively understood the meaning behind his divine pronouncement.
These primitive humans were not yet aware of the boy’s inherent talent, but Sunny was. He had orchestrated this entire -play- to make them believe that Thorn’s incredible strength was a direct result of Sunny’s divine intervention, solidifying his chosen leader’s authority.
From his System space, Sunny then summoned the spear he had manifested earlier���the one made of wood, but infused with his Faith���and gestured for Thorn to take it. Thorn was momentarily stunned, but then a wave of profound joy washed over him.
He slowly walked towards Sunny, his primitive mind now daring to look directly into the awe-inspiring, cosmic eyes of the mask.
He then bowed deeply again before reaching out and placing his hands upon the handle of the spear.
The simple wooden spear, touched by his hand and blessed by a God, shimmered with a soft, golden light.
Sunny knew this spear, manifested using his Faith, was anything but ordinary; even a spear forged from the purest steel would not be able to scratch its divinely imbued body.
While every other human gazed at Thorn with a mixture of envy and newfound reverence, Sunny vanished as quickly as he had appeared, returning to the serene expanse of his God Space.
-So faith-consuming!- Sunny practically shouted from the bottom of his heart, as he immediately checked his Faith points.
Only 5 points remained. The rapid depletion had been staggering.
-System! Can you please explain why the faith was consumed so rapidly?- Sunny questioned his all-knowing System, his tone demanding answers. �������������������������������������������.�����������
The System’s response was swift, its melodious tone carrying a stark, almost chilling clarity:
The consumption was high due to 3 reasons:
1. As the wisdom and strength of the lifeforms in your world increase, the Faith points needed for descending onto the mortal plane will also increase.
2. Sharing any knowledge or artifact will consume faith proportional to he usefulness of the knowledge and power of the artifact
3. As a God of the World Veridia, every lifeform here is a part of you. If you kill one of your parts, it will backfire and result in a loss of Faith points proportional to the strength and wisdom of that lifeform.
Note: The third point is only applicable if the lifeform does not harm a God’s dignity or act against divine will.
This System notification made Sunny’s metaphorical hair stand on end. The implications of these answers were simple, yet terrifying: the consumption of Faith points was only going to increase, not decrease, as Veridia evolved.
Just then, a colossal influx of Faith washed over him, a warm, invigorating surge of energy. -About 30 points or more,- Sunny murmured, looking towards Veridia and the growing human settlements.
Below, Thorn stood proudly in front of a newly constructed altar, crudely fashioned from the bones of many different animals, from rats to the recently felled elephant. All the humans were bowing their heads, offering a tribute of fruits and fresh animal flesh.
-So this is what prayers from a wise race feel like,- Sunny said, a slow, profound understanding dawning upon him.
He quickly calculated: if all these humans, spurred by their reverence for Thorn and Cosmos, offered food daily, he would gain an astonishing 30,000 Faith points (10,000x) daily!
Sunny was immensely amused by the prospect, even as he knew they couldn’t possibly maintain such offerings every single day.
It had been a full planetary month since Sunny had last descended to Veridia.
In that time, the humans had fully accepted Thorn as their divinely appointed leader. And Thorn, armed with his Super Strength and the shimmering divine spear, was already leading humanity towards greatness.
They now faced the giants like elephants or fierce predators like lions and tigers with a newfound courage.
With the advent of spears, their chances of dying in the harsh wilderness had decreased dramatically. The humans were clearly thriving.
Chapter 16: Ch 16 : The Mana Bloom
Chapter 16 - Ch 16 : The Mana Bloom
Now that the fundamental problem with the usage of his unique title, God of Manifestations, was gloriously solved, Sunny plunged wholeheartedly into experimentation.
His first and most pressing priority was to determine if his primitive humans could, in some form, directly harness his Faith points in lieu of mana.
While his divine experiments progressed, the primitive humans on Veridia were already establishing their dominance.
The remarkable aspect of the 10x evolution rate was that it seemed to primarily accelerate the body’s development to its perfect physical condition���around 30 years of age���rather than merely aging them rapidly.
Once they reached this prime, their bodies would not simply decay and die at an accelerated rate; instead, they would remain in peak condition.
The human leader, Thorn, was currently in his prime, and his Super Strength (C-Grade) talent truly shone in these burgeoning days.
Everywhere he went, the loud cries of vanquished animals wailed through the forests, signaling the ever-increasing prosperity of the human tribe.
Thorn, as a charismatic and successful leader, had already taken many wives, and his children numbered a remarkable twenty.
Sunny, as their God, observed Thorn’s offspring with utmost importance, eager to discover if the coveted talent could be inherited.
Out of the twenty children, sixteen possessed F, E, or sometimes D-Grade talents, while the remaining four were entirely talentless.
This didn’t deter Sunny’s initial assumption; instead, it fueled the fire in his heart, making it burn even brighter.
The reason for his renewed vigor? Five of Thorn’s sixteen talented children had inherited some form of Super Strength, even if at a lower grade.
As time flowed, the human populace swelled rapidly, growing from the first few hundred to many thousands.
This burgeoning population generated a colossal amount of Faith for Sunny, constantly replenishing his reserves.
-Failed again!- exclaimed a divine voice, frustration clear in his tone.
He looked at the blood and flesh that still lay fresh in his God Space from another failed experiment.
With a simple wave of his hands, both vanished into the vast cosmos.
-Is it not possible to integrate humans with the power of Faith?- the divine voice whispered, disappointment creeping in.
He had tirelessly experimented on countless manifested humans.
Whenever he allowed his Faith to connect with the human body, it went smoothly.
But if he then let that Faith roam wildly within their manifested form, the outcome was consistently the same: a gruesome, explosive disintegration of the body.
Sunny had even consulted the System, but sadly, it remained silent this time, offering no answers.
He sat back on his celestial throne, pondering his complex plans to truly empower the humans of Veridia.
-All these worlds with mana have such strong creatures. If only my world had mana,- Sunny said casually, his eyes wide, lost in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open wider, a new realization dawning.
-How stupid of me!- Sunny blamed himself for not conceiving this idea sooner.
-Haha! Just manifest mana into the world!- Sunny laughed loudly, a booming sound across his divine domain.