Journey Begins

Arthur's expression remained indifferent when Celine revealed what she was going to fuel her divine power with. He gestured for her to walk with him and they both soon arrived at his personal training area where they had fought just one day ago. "It doesn't matter what your desire is. All that matters is that it is strong enough to empower your divinity."

"Now, I'll start teaching you how to form your Divine Kingdom," he continued. "All you have to do is focus on the desire that you chose and use it to affect your divinity. Usually, divinity is formless power and cannot be controlled. However, your desire can make your divine power take whatever form fits you, so focus on manipulating your divine power with your desire."

Celine entered a meditative state and the godly aura around her began to settle and move in a flow. The erratic patterns slowly began to change into a calm power that could be controlled. Celine finally felt she could control her radiating power slightly.

Hours passed as Arthur watched Celine train in quiet. Eventually, Celine collapsed from her meditation with rugged gasps of air. "Breathe," he calmly said. "You are getting used to manipulating such power so make sure to take breaks and to not over exert yourself beyond this point."

Celine couldn't even muster the strength to look at him and she felt sapped of all her mental and physical energy. Arthur helped her up and brought her to her room. "Just repeat this process many times and then we can move to the next step of creating your Divine Kingdom once your control is high enough."

Celine liked the feeling of gaining power and becoming stronger again, but she wished for nothing more than to do anything else. There was all the time in the world for her to train but her loved ones couldn't live forever.

"I should probably find Ray, Ken, and Meline again," she muttered and began to immerse herself in a long training session.

*Knock knock! The sound rang on Aria's door as she mediated. Aria easily stopped her focus on the lightning magic and pushed the door open to see a familiar face that made her expression drop.

"At least I knocked this time!" Celine eagerly said but Aria soon noticed how exhausted and bruised Celine was. "Your father has quite the battle maniac side of him. Bastard wouldn't even let me rest," she silently cursed.

"It's good to know you actually train instead of laze around all day," Aria said and began to push Celine out the door. She wanted nothing to do with this woman and would rather train for the upcoming battles.

"Wait!" Celine cried. "I have something important to tell you! For real!" She pleaded and dragged herself back into the room through her exhaustion.

Aria looked at her inquisitively. Although she didn't like the woman, the god had immense knowledge from the future that could help her.

Celine took a big breath of relief and began to explain herself. "Arthur is sending me on a mission to recruit strong allies for Valeria while they are still young and haven't joined any major organizations. The best part is, he allowed me to bring you with me! He said that, because I have basic knowledge of divine powers, I have the ability to protect you."

Aria scrutinized the god with a gaze. She almost wanted to say, "how can I be so sure you won't harm me?" But that thought was easily discarded because of the amount of trust her father had in this woman.

In the end, Aria only had one thing to say. "I agree to go, but tell me why we even liked each other in the past. You were part of the reason my kingdom was destroyed. I can't imagine us being friendly after that." She wanted to be sure of Celine's trustworthiness herself before going.

Celine brought a finger to her chin as she thought of an answer. "I don't really know why but I think it's because the 7th trial forces people to team up to survive. I chose you because we were never enemies and were just acquaintances but I remember you not liking me in the beginning. I suppose the destruction of your kingdom caused our relationship to strain but we were acquainted for too long to not be friendly in the end."

Celine concluded her statement before a thought passed by her head. "Oh, I also planned on going to meet somebody I allied with in the 7th trial first on this trip Arthur is sending me on. His name is Ken Volatir and he is a true battle maniac."

"Where are we headed then?" Aria asked and began to pack food, clothes, and more for the travel. She didn't know when she would return so it was better to be safe.

Celine excitedly got up upon seeing how Aria was ready to go. "We're going to the outskirts of dragon territory. And maybe, just maybe, we will go to the elven territory as well to meet another friend from my past."

"We leave tomorrow morning. I need rest," Celine said and left with an eager smile. This opportunity alone with Aria was the best way to get close to each other.

In the morning, Celine and Aria waved goodbye to the king and queen as they began to fly away.

Alina turned to Arthur. "I understand that you trust Celine, but do you think she is strong enough for the outside world?" She asked him.

Arthur looked seriously at her. "I am the Fourteenth God, one of the elder gods. I have seen this world numerous times and lived for many years. In all those times, Celine Lithold is always the strongest, most promising talent."

Arthur's gaze intensified.

"The only reason she hadn't become a god earlier is because others feared her. They hindered her path to godhood but I have been helping her for a dozen lifetimes now. It was unfortunate she was forced to become our enemy in the last world. Nevertheless, she finally has now found a path and can become the strongest she was meant to be. She will be our strongest ally."

Arthur proudly proclaimed and almost shed a tear in joy. All this time he had spent with her basically made Celine his second daughter, she just didn't know about how the many lifetimes he had really spent watching her. "This small journey cannot be dangerous for somebody like her," he calmly walked back to the castle.