Chapter 12: “Wow, You’ve Disabled My Trait!”

When Ava Gray arrived at the familiar dormitory, she found nothing but an empty bed.

She didn't mind. In this school, dorm beds mostly served the wealthy, who used them to meditate on divine laws.

Without a systematic training approach, Ava Gray just muddled through. Most of her time was spent scribbling divine decrees and scheming against her unruly subordinates.

Right then, her roommates trickled back. A clamor at the door announced the arrival of three girls, chatting and laughing as they entered. The red-haired girl in front saw Ava Gray and exclaimed excitedly, "Oh, so you still remember you have roommates, huh? Thought you'd forgotten us entirely!"

Ava Gray merely gave a slight smile. "Sorry. I've been caught up in a bunch of stuff lately, always busy."

Another girl nearby exchanged glances with her companions and teased, "So, you're the big busybody. How come you suddenly remembered you have a dorm? Usually, we never see you around."

Ava Gray shook her head helplessly and sighed, "I'm under a lot of pressure these days."

Deep down, she thought sourly, If not for my ancient phone lacking any online sign-up function, I wouldn't have to come borrow the dorm's computer!

In the Divine Realm, there exists a "Virtual Divine Space" linking all gods. One can roam freely there or create private zones. For instance, to conduct a "divine battle," you need to go to a designated location built for 1v1, 3v3, or 5v5 matches.

Likewise, logistics are handled in that Virtual Divine Space—just go to a pickup station, pay, and collect your purchases within minutes. But there's no return policy: once you buy something, you keep it, tears and all.

Plenty of people have wasted tens of thousands of divine power crystals on fancy but useless "high-tier artifacts" that function no better than common trinkets. Ava Gray, however, barely cares. She has no money, no labor, and no one to please.

She can't even take out a loan—her student debts are still unpaid. Even though, as a special admit, her tuition is waived, the rest of her expenses are brutal.

For someone as poor as her, with no credit worthiness, how could capitalism exploit her anyway?

Seeing Ava Gray's calm expression, her three roommates were exasperated. She was polite but detached, constantly coming and going without explanation.

Then the red-haired roommate asked, "We heard your Divine Kingdom reached Tier 3—have you ignited your divine fire yet? Which Authority did you get?"

Upon reaching the third tier, one can ignite a divine fire and gain a personal Authority, marking a crucial threshold.

But igniting that fire costs a fortune in divine power crystals. Ava Gray had no choice but to postpone it. She shook her head. The girls looked disappointed; they'd hoped their roommate might be the first in the dorm to ignite her divine fire, letting them bask in the glory.

A moment later, another girl said, "Anyway, you're probably signing up for that upcoming duel, right?"

Ava Gray nodded. The others looked thrilled—especially the lead girl, who grabbed Ava Gray's hand. "Good luck! Aim for first place, so we can see what that grand-prize artifact looks like. And who knows—once you become a disciple of some big shot, we might ride on your coattails!"

Ava Gray could only respond with a wry smile. Deep down, she wondered if they'd still be so friendly if they knew she was just a broke, powerless deity.

In truth, Ava Gray wasn't this aloof by nature. In her own domain, she acted crazy and tried every means to learn new skills and teach them to her subordinates. But she understood the gulf separating her from the rest of these students. Here, anyone could crush her if they felt like it. One misstep and she'd be in serious trouble.

Hence her caution. She was polite but guarded, even around Chloe Star.

She managed a few polite replies—until one of the roommates said something that made Ava Gray's heart sink:

The last girl remarked, "Have you heard? The newly published rules say that subordinates with special traits are banned from this competition."

The others paused, then waved it off. "Traits like that only exist in super high-tier or unusual subordinates. What's that got to do with us?" they said with casual grins—until they noticed Ava Gray's forced smile, realizing something was amiss.

Ava Gray felt numb, raising her hand to check the lines on her bracelet: All subordinates share these traits: [Desolation], [Abyss], [Void Resistance].

She recognized [Void Resistance] well enough—breathing in all that black miasma each week had boosted her subordinates' tolerance. But she knew nothing about the other two. The problem was, all three traits were innate—even her most unremarkable human devotees had them.

Faced with that revelation, Ava Gray felt like crying. Why does fate toy with me so? I earned these traits fair and square. Why can't I use them?

Fighting to stay calm, she was silent for a long time. Did this mean she needed to gather a new batch of subordinates? But conjuring new devotees by divine decree was a delicate process requiring precious divine aura—and at her current resources, who knew if they'd come out as actual warriors or just tomorrow's lunch?

Damn it, what's left to do?

After a brief silence, she clenched her teeth. If she didn't want to spend money, her only option might be to venture into the Lost Lands.

The so-called Lost Lands are fragments of territory adrift in the void, loaded with treasures. Even if not on par with the Abyss, they're still quite lucrative. Yet she hesitated: her subordinates' traits also applied to her in some ways—deities often enhance themselves by adopting those traits. But this was only "void resistance," not "void immunity." One slip, and she could lose her life for real…