Your Real Capacity

Darian had read a bit in the library about the powers of the Spiritual Guardians. Everyone absorbed a single law during the test, already being in another universe. A blessing, on the other hand, could be used with countless different laws, but that one law would define their future, depending on what it was and its level. 

But he had gotten his blessing and two laws at the highest level before even taking the test. 

According to Rhea's description, the Empire had a method to locate newly awakened ones and identify if the awakening was abnormal. Lucy and Lucius had an ancestral awakening, something that happened in the distant past, where everyone would awaken with a law and a practically complete blessing. 

That's why his siblings didn't even need to take that common test like the others. Theirs would be different, but it would happen at the same time. Darian definitely met the same criteria, but he was recruited as if he had a regular awakening. 

In other words, some really strange things had happened with Darian. 

This only reinforced what was in his mind: He couldn't just go around revealing his power. 

What would happen if the people from the Empire wanted to study and use him? His black power had already shown similarities to the Risen. And what if they wanted to control him even more to use his abilities? What could he do to escape? Nothing. 

He definitely had to rise silently. He could feel it clearly—the Empire wasn't trustworthy, the High Humans weren't trustworthy. Using Niara as an example, even what his eyes could see wasn't completely reliable. 

Everything around him had always been very confusing, but now... he had understood something. 

Darian thought tensely: '... Everything from that book turned out to be useful and very real. I've always been obsessed with that story, for no reason. Now, I really have a power very close to that protagonist.' 

Leander was the first to speak: "That explains a lot. You fucked up your blessing and still ended up with a powerful ability, makes sense. Imagine if you had just chosen a proper healing blessing..." 

Everyone agreed, sighing. But at the same time, they felt a bit of excitement. There were no detailed records about the extent of a law at the Calamity level. Maybe he could actually do the impossible and merge the three blessings, creating something incredibly powerful. 

Darian, however, remained silent and deep in thought. In a year, after his siblings went to that universe and became Spiritual Guardians, he would be able to compare himself to them and uncover more things. 

*** 

The next day, Darian woke up in a private room that Damon had given him to stay in while he was at the clan. 

He headed to the bar, and on the way, he ran into Veyle, who greeted him timidly. Then, the two of them found Harper, Zeal, Leander, and even Rhea, all passed out in the bar after a long night of celebrating. 

They had all drunk in honor of Oliver. Now they felt a little better since they had recovered something that was very precious to him. 

Darian learned the details throughout the night. In the Divine Protection Universe, Oliver had a Summoner who was a Dragoness, just like Darian. 

But at some point, she ended up in a relationship with someone else who had Divine Dragon Blood. 

To everyone's surprise, she didn't have a normal child. Even though they had a Divine Bloodline, all the Mannaz in that universe were still half-human. They should have had a child just like a human would. But a mutation happened, and her Bloodline produced an egg, just like pure Dragons did in the legends. 

Niara had said she was also born with a type of mutation, so this was something common, but the type of mutation seemed to be completely random. 

However, mutations, in most cases, weren't a good thing. Almost always, they came with a huge problem, and this time was no different. The child inside the egg was completely devoid of natural Yang. 

All forms of life had Yin and Yang in their bodies. In races with two genders, like humans, men had more Yang and women more Yin, but they still needed to have a bit of both. Even in single-gender races, both laws of life had to exist. 

So, the situation was serious. That child was destined to never be born. Finding something with pure Yang in that universe was incredibly difficult—after all, there was only one galaxy where they could live. But Oliver had the solution: he possessed the Blessing of Pure Yang. 

Blessings were a power connected to the heavenly laws, a miracle capable of altering reality. His was a support-type, allowing him to manipulate the Yang in the environment in various ways. 

He told the people in the clan, and they all helped him gather a massive amount of merit points. It took a billion, so they negotiated with the Empire, which brought the egg to this universe. 

It was impossible to bring regular beasts into this universe, but eggs that were still far from hatching could be transported. The reason was that the Universe of Heaven's Will barely had any laws or power, which severely hindered whatever was born. In the end, they always turned into weak, mediocre beasts. 

Obviously, these beasts had to be kept hidden from the world and were only used for missions. The S-rank was measured by the Empire when the egg was brought in. The mutation had shown a potential beyond the eggs brought in the past. But even so, whatever was born shouldn't have been that significant. 

On Earth, Oliver had three times more power to use, just like everyone else. He managed to keep the egg close to him at all times, nurturing it with his Yang. One day, it would be born, and Oliver had taken responsibility for raising his Summoner's child. 

Then, the egg was stolen. 

This had sparked immense hatred in everyone, and they were willing to risk their lives to get it back. But now, everything was coming back. 

How they'd make the egg hatch was a problem for the future. But after explaining all this, they turned their eyes to Darian. 

He had a Calamity-level Yang law and had played a huge role in recovering the egg. Was it fate? 

No one said anything. First, they had to see if he could actually do it. 

For now, Veyle gently woke Rhea up. She opened her eyes as if she'd just had a normal sleep. Then, she let out a roar, waking everyone else. 

Even though they had been drinking all night, none of them had a hangover. A High Human's body was incredibly resilient, and even getting drunk took a serious effort… and they had all put in their best effort the night before. 

A new day had arrived, and no one wasted time. Finally, the group and Darian were going to train together for real. 

Or not… 

As soon as they arrived at the training building, Leander got a call on his card. It was just like that judge had said—he needed to collect all the points from the defeated. 

"If it's this early, that means that bastard's father is definitely trying to cause trouble," Leander said dryly. "I'll go with my brother and mother. I'll be back soon. Start with the mental artifact—it's the most important thing for Darian since he needs to forge his own path with his blessing." 

After saying that, he left, leaving the four of them behind. 

Harper, being the oldest, took charge in Leander's absence. 

"The mental artifact is a classic training method used by all the most powerful clans," she explained to Darian. "It puts us in a world inside our minds, where we can use our imagination to think and come up with new ways to use our blessings. In that world, you can also manipulate your law to test things out." 

"There's a time limit on how long you can stay inside your mind because it's exhausting. So we stay for about two hours, then train together as a group. That means Leander being gone doesn't really change anything." 

Darian nodded, understanding. 

Everyone sat in the center of the training platform. Harper brought out a small, round, violet object. As she activated it, an intense purple light covered them all. 

Immediately, Darian found himself in a dark world. 

It felt like his soul had been pulled into an entirely different space. But since his laws were connected to his soul, he could use his power just fine. 

The difference was that, when he was in the Divine Protection Universe as a Spiritual Guardian linked to a Summoner, he could only use a third of his true power. Now, though, since he was still in his real body, he could use it all. 

'I managed to do some crazy things with my power in that universe. It was pure instinct—I had no idea I was even capable of that. Maybe now, with my full strength…' 

Darian remembered the moment Niara absorbed both his white and black power. 

The world reacted as if he wanted to see her. Instantly, a subtle distortion rippled through the space, and a figure appeared in front of him. It was an exact copy of Niara. 

They stood face to face… 

'Will I ever be able to talk to her in my real body?' Strangely, that was the first thought that crossed his mind. 

Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused… 

Then, his two marks pulsed, releasing a bit of power. 

First, he activated the white power, trying to recreate that feeling from before. When Niara had absorbed his power, he had just let everything flow, and he felt it gathering inside her at a single point. 

That power started condensing in front of him, merging and becoming denser. 

This time, Darian could perfectly sense its flow. Before, when he could only use a third of his strength, that had been impossible. 

Fully focused, he tried to replicate what he had done with his Summoner. A few seconds later, all the white power disappeared. 

Only a single, pulsating white rune remained in front of him. 

He observed it thoughtfully, then nodded. The rune moved toward Niara and vanished into her. 

Then, her scales changed, and she transformed completely. 

It was just an illusion based on his memories, but Darian felt like he was starting to understand a bit more of his true capability. Soon, his eyes lit up with a new thought.