The days passed, and soon word of the new method of ascension began to spread throughout the world. When the information was first made known, it was met with heavy disbelief and criticism, despite having originated from the research institute of Deckan. Although everyone knew of James’s reputation, few people believed that you could earn godhood by simply paying for it.

Until this point, divinity was something that had to be trained for diligently, with people struggling to make any progress. Those who were brave enough to face the challenges would face two harrowing trials, either of which had the potential to completely eradicate them from existence. However, there was now news of a method to ascend which carried no risk to the life of the participant, and simply required them to purchase the necessary materials?

Those most disgruntled by the news were those who had already gone through the first steps of the normal ascension method, as it was made clear that they would face lethal consequences if they tried to switch to the new method. While everyone else could simply pay to ascend, they still had to struggle for it. Yet, there was a piece of information that caused people to pause.

Those who have ascended through the normal method may still obtain a new domain through forging, but those who have their divinity forged can’t obtain a domain by practicing the three steps. When this information was released, even the gods began to stir. There were many who wanted another domain more than anything. Perhaps they were unsuccessful in getting the domain that they wanted on their first attempt, or maybe they were seeking a higher level of power.

Regardless of their reasons, several established gods sent in requests to the research facility, asking what was required for them to receive this treatment. The answer that they received was, sadly, disappointing to most of them. “We have currently identified the required materials and confirmed the validity of the method. However, the process is unavailable at this time for established divinities due to extenuating circumstances. When the process becomes available in the future, we will be sure to inform all relevant parties.”

This release caused many gods to grind their teeth in frustration. The process to obtain a second domain was right in front of them, and yet they couldn’t achieve it. In fact, there were even a rare few who had undertaken the trials of Lorek to receive a domain. For those people, what they were trying to achieve was not a second domain, but a third.

It was common knowledge in the world that only the Greater Pantheon possessed three domains, and many people believed that they would be elevated to a similar status if they themselves earned a third domain. While there was no true basis for this belief, there was a precedent for someone being elevated to the status of the Greater Pantheon. That was the Keeper’s daughter, Leowynn, who proved that such a thing was possible.

Granted, the way she did so was not by obtaining three domains, and she had a personal relationship with the Keeper himself. However, since they knew it could be done, they believed that the path would open for any who reached the same level as the Greater Pantheon.

Perhaps the group that reacted the most positively were the ninjas. Within their isolated world, they still received news from their many informants. Thanks to the fact that they had long since repaired their relationship with the research facility, they immediately sent a message asking if there were any other materials that were needed to obtain a divinity.

What they received was a short list of ingredients, many of which could not be found on the market in great numbers. In fact, some of the materials could only be purchased off of the Boundless Caravan, such as the Holy Rose

Although that flower did indeed exist in the world, it was remarkably rare. It was said that it had no set conditions for it to appear, and there was no seed that would spawn it. Instead, only one such rose could appear in the world at a time, and it could be anywhere that held a trace of divinity. Whenever it bloomed, it reached the height of a fully grown man, with over a hundred petals to be seen.

The holy rose would bloom for three days and three nights, absorbing the light of both the sun and the moon, before the petals changed to a deep black color. Once this change happened, it was no longer a holy rose, but a devil rose, and it became a powerful monster that could dominate a small region.

Thanks to the limited lifespan of the holy rose, the difficulty in determining its location, and the threat that would come if it was not harvested in time, there had only ever been three successfully harvested flowers. These three flowers soon led alchemists to discover the terrifying levels of energy contained within every piece of the flower itself. When used as an ingredient in an elixir, it was said to have the power to cure any mortal illness.

Now, they were being told that they needed the petals of this very flower as an ingredient to achieve godhood. Truly, the only way to obtain one would be the Boundless Caravan, though the prices were likely to be quite high. If one were to purchase all of the materials from the caravan, it was likely that the cost would become as high as five tokens of Terra.

While this did not seem like a lot, it must be stated how valuable Terra’s tokens were. As the highest tier of token, they were only granted in exchange for a truly devout offering, one which held great personal significance. To convert the value into the lowest currency, Leowynn’s, it would be the equivalent of over ten thousand of her tokens.

On the scale of a city, or even a country, this was not a large sum. But, when compared to an individual’s wealth, there were far less people able to pay that cost. Typically, those that could were fighters who cleared out dangerous areas, the Maxers of Fyor, or nobles and merchants that earned a large sum over their years.

Naturally, the ninjas were by no means poor. However, what they wanted was not merely the information for the basic forging method, but for a deity to obtain an additional domain. What they learned was that all materials required were tripled, and that there was an undisclosed requirement that they were not ready to announce yet.

Hearing this, the ninjas felt overjoyed. The fact that the materials did not become even more rare was gladdening, though the mystery requirement did concern them. However, that was not their focus at the moment.

“Eh? I can get a new domain?” Alme asked in shock when she saw the news being displayed on her terminal. She had been running through a meadow on Sanctum when she was alerted of a new major release of information.

In truth, Alme had long been satisfied with the power that she had obtained. She did not lust for strength, nor for authority. Even her time spent as the Eternal Queen of Sher Dien was only to fulfill her promise to her father.

“Would you like one?” Tryval asked, slowing his pace to circle around after noticing that Alme had stopped her trot. He was always a gentle and loving father, and would certainly plead his case with Scarlet if Alme expressed an interest in the process.

Yet, Alme simply shook her head, a radiant smile on her face. “No. It’s unexpected, but that’s fine. If I ever need it in the future, I can just ask then.” She giggled playfully, moving to start running with her father again. “Let’s hurry! If we’re late, we’ll miss the show!”

Tryval gave a slight chuckle, shaking his head as he followed after his daughter. The two of them were on their way to a special event of Sanctum, held at the Tower of Stars. Leowynn had slowed the planet’s speed enough for them to witness the final moments of a star that they had originally been passing by.

This was an incredibly rare occurrence, even within Sanctum, so anyone who was free did their best to make their way to Leowynn’s tower.

Within the Admin Room, the days passed in a rather refreshing manner. Our newest resident, Scarlet, was being shown all of the different functions available within the Admin Room. This included everything from how to modify the environment to the various games that we had access to.

In fact, she spent most of the time either watching the world with me, or dragging Aurivy and Leowynn off to play games together. Sometimes, she would even ask Accalia to arrange a training session for her to further hone her power. All in all, this seemed to undoubtedly be the happiest time of her life.

As I watched the timer ticking down, knowing that the invasion was imminent, I was relieved that this was simply going to be a trade deal. If Scarlet were to suddenly be cut off from the world after having just adjusted to the Admin Room, it would likely upset her quite a lot.

“I’ll be back once I have the new people all sorted.” I said with a smile, waving towards Irena as soft blue light wrapped around me. It was finally time to complete the trade with Oldbeard. One shipment of Aurans, and the level transfer orbs. With this, the foundation of our world would be able to further stabilize, and my people would be able to grow stronger as a whole.

Tsubaki walked the halls, inspecting every corner and brick as part of her routine cleaning. Whenever she saw something out of place, she would immediately gather her tools and ensure that the place was as spotless as it could possibly be. However, as she was doing this, she felt a very faint resonance of energy, one that she had long since trained herself to detect.

Her body moved in a flash of light, immediately appearing in the Keeper’s throne room. Some time ago, he had disappeared from the Sky Citadel for a few hours, due to having left while Tsubaki was receiving training from Irena. This time, she wanted to ensure that she was properly present to greet him upon his return.

And sure enough, he was still just opening up his eyes when she arrived, allowing her to present the image as if she had never left her position. The Keeper offered a soft smile, nodding his head at her. “It’s time to welcome our guests.”

“Understood, my Keeper.” Tsubaki responded with a curt nod. She had been made aware that this ‘invasion’ was more like an immigration than an actual battle. However, she was still on guard against any potential attacks. Especially considering that the foreign party would have no way of understanding their language or culture.

It was impossible to predict how a foreign culture would react to meeting new neighbors, so she had to be prepared for the worst case scenario. The Keeper, meanwhile, simply rolled his shoulders as he stood up, taking a deep breath. “And… it’s starting.” He muttered, allowing Tsubaki to know that the invasion had officially begun.

There was silence within the room, the Keeper not deploying any of his large-scale tracking abilities. He simply stared into the emptiness, no doubt watching a screen that only he could see. This lasted for roughly ten minutes, during which Tsubaki did not utter a single word.

At the end of that ten minutes, Aurivy appeared within a cloud of golden mist. “I’ve found them!” She called out with a wide grin. “Boy, they really like to randomize these transports. I think this is the first group that’s appeared directly in Fyor.”

When the Keeper heard that, his eyes twitched. “If they appeared in Fyor, are they able to use the gates?”

Thankfully, Aurivy gave a nod. “Invaders have the same privileges of a purchased race, it looks like. Once they ‘surrendered’, I had one go to the nearest gate to test it, and he went through without a problem! They’ve also already started gaining levels, so it looks like the trade was successful!”

The Keeper gave a relieved sigh at that. “In that case, send half of the shipped goods to James, and let Dana a few of them. The rest, you can distribute to other research facilities to allow them to reverse engineer it.”

“I’m on it, chief!” Aurivy saluted, golden mist rising from the floor. “Would you like to meet them yourself?”

“Not at the moment.” The Keeper answered, seeming to think of something. “I’ll make an appearance once they have finished settling in. Speaking of… which level did they spawn on?”

“The twenty-seventh.” Aurivy chuckled, the mist rising higher. “That’s why it took so long to find them. They’re in a totally uninhabited area, where nobody has explored within a hundred thousand kilometers. Without Terra pointing them out to me, I might not have been able to get them so quickly!” After she said that, her body disappeared into the golden mist.