081 My Divine Duties Are a Bit Much

In the system shop, the price of the Divine Spark displayed was "1" followed by six zeros.

"1,000,000…!"

Shiroyasha's eyes widened in shock.

That price… was ridiculously high.

Souta also showed a surprised expression upon hearing her exclamation.

He had only made a random guess about the price earlier—he never expected it to be double his estimate of 500,000!

What? You're asking if he was worried about eating his phone if he was wrong?

Not at all! Worst case scenario, he'd just reach into his pocket, grab another one, and pretend nothing happened. Besides, with his vampire transformation abilities, swallowing the phone wouldn't even hurt.

Scamming free food and drinks in the future? Easy.

"That price is kind of insane."

Souta opened the system shop himself and was stunned.

After all, a Divine Spark didn't directly grant overwhelming strength—it only gave the qualification to cultivate a divine power system.

Sure, the potential was limitless, but… whether someone could actually reach that potential was another matter.

How many people in fantasy novels ever reach the final realm of their cultivation techniques?

Just because you practice a Nascent Soul Supreme Deity Slayer High Venerable Holy Seeker of Great Buddhi Supremacy of Unholy Penance Destruction Overlord's technique, does that mean you'll automatically reach Nascent Soul Supreme Deity Slayer High Venerable Holy Seeker of Great Buddhi Supremacy of Unholy Penance Destruction Overlord rank?

Of course not!

"Could it be… because it grants divine power right from the start, making it universally valuable?"

Souta speculated inwardly.

"One million points…"

Kurumi stared at the price, astonished.

"Even if someone claimed the entire reward for a multiplayer mission every time, they'd still need to complete 100 missions to afford it, right?"

"Not necessarily."

Souta thought for a moment before replying,

"We don't know if the rewards for future missions will stay at 10,000 points. They could increase or decrease—it likely depends on the difficulty."

"I'm actually pretty curious about this Divine Spark now."

Shiroyasha pulled her gaze from the phone, her expression thoughtful.

"If the system is assigning such a high value to it, then it must have some truly exceptional qualities."

She turned her attention to Souta, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Brat, judging from how confident you were about its price earlier, you must know a lot about it, right? Care to enlighten me?"

"Sure, no problem. It's not really a secret or anything."

Souta recalled the details the system had provided when it awarded him the Divine Spark.

"This Divine Spark allows someone to ignite a Divine Flame and ascend as an immortal god. In simple terms, the Divine Flame acts as a converter that turns faith into divine power."

"Faith into divine power…" Shiroyasha immediately caught onto the key point. "So, does that mean after becoming a god, you'll need to collect faith to grow stronger? Is faith your primary power source?"

"No, only in the early stages."

Souta corrected her:

"Later on, things change. Once I've accumulated enough divine power, I can use it to cultivate and establish Divine Authorities. And once I possess Authorities, I can absorb Source Energy to generate divine power."

"Source Energy?" Shiroyasha frowned. The term was unfamiliar to her. "What's that?"

"I don't fully understand it either," Souta admitted. "But you can think of it as the fundamental energy that makes up the world."

"…"

Shiroyasha's eye twitched.

"So you don't actually know, huh?"

She pressed on, "And how exactly do you collect Source Energy through your Divine Authorities?"

"It's simple." Souta grinned. "As long as I perform actions aligned with my Divine Authority, I can absorb Source Energy. For example, if I had the 'Authority of Deception,' I'd just need to tell lies to accumulate power."

"Oh-ho?"

Shiroyasha's interest was piqued.

"That sounds like a rather convenient way to gather strength! But…"

She paused to think for a moment before raising another crucial question.

"Faith and Source Energy both convert into divine power, but divine power itself seems like a vague concept. What can it actually do?"

"Anything!" Souta answered without hesitation.

"…"

Shiroyasha blinked in surprise.

Even Kurumi looked over at him with skepticism.

"Anything? Isn't that a bit exaggerated?" Kurumi asked doubtfully.

"Not at all. Divine power truly is omnipotent. However… using it directly to achieve results is extremely inefficient. That's a dumb way to use it."

Seeing their confusion, Souta elaborated:

"Let's say I want to kill someone. If I just will it with divine power, it might cost me 10 units of divine power—something that could take days or even weeks to regenerate.

"But if I simply pick up a sword and stab them, the job is done instantly."

"…"

Shiroyasha deadpanned.

"That… makes divine power sound kind of useless?"

Sure, omnipotence sounded great, but if the energy consumption was so absurdly high, what was the point?

"Not when combined with Divine Authorities!"

Souta smirked and continued explaining:

"If I try to manipulate time using divine power alone, it might cost me 10 units. But if I possess the 'Authority of Time,' then using divine power for time manipulation might cost less than 1 unit."

Shiroyasha pondered this for a moment.

She seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of this system. Eventually, she gave a nod of approval.

"When combined this way, it's actually a pretty solid power system. And with its limitless growth potential… Brat, you really hit the jackpot with this one."

After hearing Souta's explanation, even Shiroyasha was tempted to get her hands on a Divine Spark.

"Want to trade your Divine Spark with me?" she offered. "I have plenty of good stuff too, you know."

"Not happening." Souta rejected her without hesitation. "Don't even think about it!"

He wasn't about to let go of this treasure.

After all, his system allowed him to extract abilities from friends once their relationship reached a certain threshold.

This meant he could acquire an absurd number of Divine Authorities in the future.

This Divine Spark was practically tailor-made for him!

Shiroyasha pouted. "Tch. Fine, keep it. Not like I needed it that badly anyway."

She then checked her system menu and reviewed her accumulated points.

"Alright, since the mission's done, I'm heading back. There's a ton of work waiting for me in Little Garden. Brat, send me home."

If she had come to this world using a Traversal Card, she could simply will herself back.

But since she arrived via Souta's system, she first had to return to his world before she could leave.

"You're leaving already?" Souta was surprised. "Is it urgent?"

"Hmm? You still need me for something?" Shiroyasha asked.

Souta nodded.

"Kurumi and I are planning to rescue a Spirit named 'Nia Honjo.' She's currently imprisoned by this world's strongest magician, and I'm not sure if we can beat him… Okay, to be honest, Kurumi might not be able to beat him, and I'll probably just be there as backup."

"Also, I'm not sure if our fight will attract Mio Takamiya's attention…"