Colt felt disorientated as bright lights seemed to flash past him!

[Welcome to the Divine Realms!]

[Starting Territory… Valheim City…]

[Congratulations! You have received a new Divine Spell]

[Skill Received: (Divine) Avatar]

[Cost: 3 DP per Hour]

[Description: Create a solid construct of yourself in the Mortal Realms to interact with the world. Your construct can descend in any Shrine or Temple that worships you. Please use it in a safe location as your main body in the Divine Realms can still be harmed.]

[Your HP and DP has been fully regenerated!]

Colt did not even get the chance to fully digest the notifications that bombarded him before he felt his feet connect with solid ground! The lights that were blinding him gradually faded away to reveal that he was standing on a white stone circle with marble columns around its circumference at regular intervals.

Colt glanced around in wonder as he realised that the structure was situated in the centre of a city square. The buildings were gorgeous to look at as if they were something straight out of ancient mythology. Marble seemed to be the primary material used to create this city, but the architecture was lined with solid gold bricks to really make the corners and hard lines pop.

As Colt stood there in wonder, he realised that something was off. 'Where are the people?'

Valheim was entirely silent. No players were walking around, or at least as far as he could see, neither did it look like there were any NPC's here. Colt's eyebrows took a dip into a frown as he glanced around more warily this time.

However, there were no sounds at all. Which is why Colt jumped in surprise at what happened next!

Ding!

[Your Oracle, Ania Eraldsen, is attempting to connect with you. Do you want to activate Oracle?]

'Damn! With everything that was happening, I completely forgot about her!' Colt slapped his own face in embarrassment before agreeing to the notification.

[Lord Exile! Where are you? Are you ok?]

"I'm fine, Ania, don't worry." Colt quickly tried to calm her down. Her voice sounded distressed through the mental link that the Oracle skill created. 'How do I explain what's happened?'

Colt paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He had to tell her something but would it sound believable? Colt cleared his throat as he thought about a plausible explanation before putting on his best God sounding voice.

"The time I could spend in the Mortal Realms ran out, and I had to return to the heavens." Colt naturally cringed inside, but it was worth it if it put Ania at ease.

[Oh… When will you be coming back?]

"I don't know. I have some business to attend to here for a while, but I'll certainly be sure to keep an eye on you." Colt lied through his teeth. Although Gods were meant to be able to see everything, he doubted that it would be a feature hidden in the game somewhere.

[I'll be sure to have the temple ready for you by then… Thank you…]

Before Colt could reply, the connection was cut off on Ania's side. He got the distinct feeling that he could forcefully connect with her, but he saw no point in doing so right now. It would only make the conversation even more awkward than it already had been.

'She seemed worried by my absence. Hopefully, she doesn't do anything stupid until I can figure things out.' Colt sighed as he shook his head and glanced around at the buildings again. 'I may as well explore a little and see what the deal is.'

Colt walked up to the first building he noticed that had a door. When he tried to open it, the door would not budge even an inch.

[This building is currently unowned. Purchase price: 50,000 Gold. Insufficient funds detected.]

'Hm? So you can own property in this game. That's interesting but hardly a new idea.' Colt tried a few more doors but got roughly the same answer every time.

[This building is currently unowned. Purchase price: 70,000 Gold. Insufficient funds detected.]

[This building is currently unowned. Purchase price: 50,000 Gold. Insufficient funds detected.]

[This building is currently unowned. Purchase price: 140,000 Gold. Insufficient funds detected.]

'Is there even anything to do here?' Colt could not help but wonder as he was rejected once again. The city of Valheim was massive. It would take him at least half an hour to walk to the walls that he could see in the distance. However, at the moment, he could not see any means of travelling quickly through the streets.

'Screw it. I'll just need to take my chances outside. This place makes me feel like it's supposed to be run by players, so I doubt there's any NPC's around. With that thought in mind, he began the long journey to Valheim's walls.

After around ten minutes of running, one golden beam after another landed on the city square at regular intervals. However, Colt was so focused on the walls in front of him that he failed to notice the phenomenon happening behind him.

"Yo! Beans! How you doing? You got invited to?" A player known as DonnaThaGreat called out.

"Hey, Donna! You know it!" BeansNtoasT replied with an excited shout as she swept her short brown hair back. "What do you think of the game so far?"

"What's there to say? It's kind of cool, but it took so long to find the NPC's!" Donna complained as she recalled the journey she had been through. "It's not very player-friendly either. There's a distinct lack of direction. Oh, right. Do you know what this Authority stat is for yet?"

"No clue, I focused on Strength and Endurance. You know my style." Beans replied as they both burst out into laughter. The square was starting to get lively as small groups started gathering to work together.

"I hear you! Speed and Endurance for me. Going for that evasive tank style, you know? Hey, you want to party up? It's getting crowded around here, and there doesn't seem like there's anything to do."

"Sure! It'll be just like old times! God, I can't wait till they let us stream this game. My channel has been dying lately! There haven't been any good game releases for a while." BeansNtoasT glanced around before she spotted the walls in the distance. "Since we've got here so early, what do you think of getting a look outside of the city before anyone else?"