TGS - Chapter 137
Chapter 137: Proficiency Up
Sparring with gods who also controlled the forces of nature was very helpful for Lotus.
Yes, gods are born knowing how to use their divine power. They are born and awakened to become incarnations of certain things, forces, and concepts. The knack for controlling divine power naturally exists within their consciousness.
But without practice, it's difficult to wield this power perfectly.
Sparring with her fellow major gods made up for this.
After Suojia, the Goddess of the Earth, Lotus sparred with the Moon Goddess Anmila and the God of the Sky, En.
Anmila's full title was the Goddess of the Stars, Moon, Moon Phases, and the Night.
As her name implied, the authority she commanded was everything connected to the night: the moon, the stars, the tranquil darkness, and some related imagery.
Lotus hadn't expected that Anmila, who appeared slender and aloof, would turn out to be a brutish, violent type in combat—
The gentle, beautiful moonlit night was like a giant hammer in her hands. Without a word, she would just smash things. The deep darkness and bright moonlight within sight were like a herd of wildebeests charging from all directions.
...But the Moon Goddess's messenger was a white deer! A white deer!
Wasn't there even a hint of its slender, agile, and nimble characteristics?
Although Anmila's fighting style was very pressuring, Lotus could still sense that the Moon Goddess's strength was not on par with Suojia's.
Perhaps it was due to differences in their mythological settings, or maybe a disparity in the amount of faith and divine power they possessed. In any case, Anmila did not display the same ease as Suojia.
The battle with the Moon Goddess ended in a draw.
Anmila clearly hadn't expected this outcome. She slowly put away her scepter and calmly summarized, "I thought I could at least win one match."
Lotus: "Hm?"
"Your divine power ceiling is higher than mine, and the power you can mobilize is also stronger. Plus, you're improving quickly... You'll probably beat me in the next match."
Solancia had eight major gods, but faith was never divided into eight equal parts. Although there were no clear statistics, as the goddess of the Yilu River and the world's waters, Lotus would naturally have more believers than the Moon Goddess.
After all, Solancia was a predominantly agricultural nation, and water has always been indispensable for cultivation.
The Moon Goddess didn't seem to feel any particular way about this and even offered enthusiastic advice: "Just now, if you had chosen to immediately control the moonlight instead of prioritizing using ice to counter the impact, I would have already lost."
Lotus reviewed the fight in her mind, thought for a moment, and agreed with Anmila's assessment.
Suojia stood in the observation area, sighing silently.
Lotus thought the Earth Goddess had some advice to offer, so she assumed a posture of attentive listening.
Suojia said gloomily, "I misspoke earlier. I shouldn't have said the penalty for losing was eating a cookie."
Lotus glanced at her in surprise.
Could it be that the dessert assassin had found her conscience?
Suojia continued, "I should have said, you have to eat a cookie if you don't win. Otherwise, in a situation like this, you wouldn't get to eat one, Lotus."
Surrounded by water and mist, Lotus suddenly realized something and said with difficulty, "Wait, wasn't the penalty only for the match against you?"
"Oh no, it's for every match from now on." Suojia smiled kindly, but her words were anything but merciful. "For the sake of protecting your taste buds and throat, please do your best, Lotus."
Lotus: "..."
It seemed the Earth Goddess was perfectly aware of the power of these cookies. So, sending that large basket of desserts earlier must have been intentional!
As expected of Adia's sister from the same mythological era. They were so alike in this regard.
Next, Lotus faced her third opponent: En, the King of the Gods, who held authority over the sky, air, and wind.
King of the Gods, Sky God, the main faith of the royal family.
These factors determined that En was the ceiling of divine power in the Solancian pantheon, not to mention how long he had existed. Even En himself couldn't say when humans had begun to believe in him.
Lotus was defeated with almost no suspense.
Her opponent commanded the wind and freely manipulated thunder and lightning. The sky was his backdrop, making En look like a child of the storm.
As for why not the King of the Storm?
Well, his infant form was just too prominent, easily giving other gods the illusion that they were bullying a child—even though, in reality, the child was guaranteed to win.
En simply pointed out a few areas where Lotus's use of divine power was not yet fluid, then stood quietly to the side, his gaze fixed on Suojia's cookie basket.
"You can't have any. These are currently reserved for Lotus."
The Earth Goddess said with a grin, then turned and handed Lotus the penalty for her loss.
Just give them all to En, I really don't mind, Lotus thought.
Lotus grumbled internally as she melancholically ate the second cookie, almost suspecting that Suojia had brought this basket of cookies when she left the Kingdom of the Gods specifically for this purpose.
This phase of training, with no breaks in between, lasted for four days.
At first, there were only three opponents. Later, the Sun God Suriel finished his search for the foreign god of emotions and came to this divine battlefield with Adia, swapping out with Anmila.
The Sun God controlled the solar disk, light, and heat, as well as the daylight that symbolized vitality.
It had to be said, this opponent was the noisiest. Fighting him was like facing a hundred ducks, ducks riding on wheels of fire at that. And these ducks hadn't given up on the idea of claiming kinship, still harboring ulterior motives and trying to persuade Lotus to call him 'big brother'.
"Fighting with Suriel is very meaningful," Adia commented. "You can simultaneously experience the power of a nature-aspected god and an emotion-type god. You'll feel like the god of irritation is constantly affecting you."
"And the god of sound," Lotus said. This is a sonic attack.
"Yes, and sound," Adia agreed. "And are you sure you don't want to call me auntie?"
Just as she had during their first meeting, Lotus refused without hesitation.
So, when sparring with Adia, this goddess of love and desire—or more accurately, the goddess of the instinctive impulses of living beings—unleashed her divine power on Lotus with a charming and bewitching smile, all for the sake of hearing a perfectly enunciated address of 'elder'.
Lotus didn't let her succeed.
The Goddess of Love: "What a pity."
Lotus took a deep breath.
They were all cut from the same cloth.
After that, the God of Wisdom and the God of Death also joined the sparring roster. Each god's fighting style was different, and every battle brought Lotus new insights.
It was a bit like a max-level character madly grinding proficiency, but it was much faster and clearer than that, because the instincts for using divine power and reacting were practically engraved in a god's very bones.
From losing more than winning at the beginning to gradually becoming more fluid later on, Lotus didn't deliberately count how many matches she fought, but she was certain that the frequency with which Suojia handed her cookies was decreasing.
By the fourth day, after a full round of battles, Lotus only had to eat two cookies, one loss each to Suojia and En. There was also one draw, against Emute, the God of Death.
The other major gods didn't seem to mind much. Compared to winning or losing, the process of sparring seemed more to their liking.
The Earth Goddess couldn't stand it any longer and finally decided to treat everyone equally.
The cookies were no longer reserved for Lotus. Anyone who lost had to eat one. Try to cheat and not eat? Were they sure they could escape the soil and vines?
Under this real threat, several of the major gods for whom the sparring was no longer as meaningful decisively retreated.
"I'll go watch over the mortal world," said Adia.
"I'll go check on the results of my subordinate gods' captures," said Nierde.
"We should also..." The Sun God frantically signaled to Anmila with his eyes.
"Goodbye." The Moon Goddess finally got her brother's meaning and followed the retreat.
In the vast spatial battlefield, only four gods remained.
When another round began, Lotus was already able to defeat the God of Death. The unlucky Emute became the second god to eat a cookie. The half of his face visible beneath his hood twitched strangely, and his entire divine aura seemed to grow even gloomier.
Even so, he did not leave immediately.
Finally, Lotus was able to fight Suojia to a draw.
Actually, from Lotus's perspective, if Suojia had wanted to fight to the death, she still would have won, but there was no need for that between companions.
Lotus was immersed in the relief of not having to eat a cookie.
But in the blink of an eye, she saw Suojia pick up a small cookie for herself and give one to En. The two gods ate the cookies, calling it a reward.
It had to be said, Lotus was greatly shocked.
She knew En liked this flavor, but she never expected that Suojia, the creator who had never eaten the desserts in front of her, was also quite fond of her own creations.
Do you ancient gods all have such strange tastes?
"It's just that gods are different. If you're curious, you can stuff one in Perseus's mouth when you face her."
Suojia said this, clearly certain that the Goddess of the Mind would come looking for her.
Lotus was noncommittal and politely refused the small cookie Suojia offered her again.
After enjoying their reward desserts, Suojia looked at the basket, which had only a few cookies left, and showed a troubled expression.
En used the wind to grab another one. "Shall we continue?"
"I think your divine power ceiling might be higher than I imagined. You have a chance of winning against Perseus," he added.
Lotus shook her head and put away her scepter of water.
In front of the few major gods, the River Goddess revealed a faint smile. "Training is suspended for now. We're almost there."
After several days of forced marching, her main body and the Princess's party were about to reach the second line of defense on the border, Seaton City, which was located behind Digebia.
Of course, Seaton City had now been promoted to the first line of defense. Separated by a hill, it faced the enemy-occupied Digebia from a distance, and could follow in its footsteps at any moment.
The foreign gods were all outside the barrier, and the Solancian pantheon was also unable to punish the invaders.
Even if the spirits and lesser gods could imitate the Kasnie pantheon and influence the Sanur army psychologically and emotionally, the effect would be negligible.
To influence the mind, the most important thing is that the target already harbors similar thoughts. But the Sanur were vultures and jackals from the wasteland.
Their will to invade and plunder was almost monolithic. Even if they could influence a few soldiers who still hesitated, what could that change?
The battles of mortals, in the end, are fought by mortals.
Lotus reined in her thoughts, preparing to leave the battlefield space and return to reality.
But just then, Emute called out to her.
"Lotus."
The Death God raised his hood. After uttering a few short syllables, he fell silent as if he had gone mute.
Judging from his expression, he probably hadn't figured out what to say and had thus fallen into a sullen dilemma.
The Ravens were better at expressing themselves than their master. With a spread of their wings and a lift of their talons, the background music changed its tune.
Lotus felt that this melody was somewhat familiar.
The Death God finally gave up on organizing his words. He pointed behind him and then stepped back.
Lotus followed the direction of his finger and saw two exceptionally quiet Ravens.
Lotus was silent for two seconds, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
She remembered where she had heard such a melody before.
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