Chapter 111: A Glimpse of Divinity

Valerian appeared in the training room that was part of his dorm. It looked a lot like the training area Professor Lyanna took them to, with a wide open space that spanned for what felt like kilometers.

Excitement burned inside his chest as he thought about the idea that Seraphine’s drawing gave him.

’Calm down, no reason to rush it.’

Bringing down the excitement so it wouldn’t influence his focus, Valerian sat down on the ground in a lotus position with one leg over the other.

Resting his hands on his knees, he took a deep breath, something he didn’t need to do, but it still helped him calm down as he thought about his idea.

When he felt calm enough, he brought out his status screen and focused on his physique.

[Description]

[Physique: Infinite Cosmos Physique]

A physical vessel engineered to shatter mortal limitations. This body possesses no internal boundaries, allowing its storage capacity for mana and power to expand infinitely. Death is treated as nothing more than a temporary state; if a single drop of mana remains in the vicinity, the flesh will violently reconstruct itself from the brink of destruction. It is an unyielding, immortal shell built for the sole purpose of carrying a God.

It was the normal description he had seen before, but before he did anything, he thought about it.

What exactly is a "God"?

He clearly had the potential to become such a being, but was it just another rank? There was Demi-God after all, so the rank beyond Transcendent must be God, right?

But as Valerian thought about it, it just didn’t feel right to call a God just another strong being.

There were many religions on Eldoria that each worshipped their version of a "God", but Valerian never believed in any of them, as he who had a [God Seed] just couldn’t imagine bowing to someone.

But then the question arose: these "Gods" that people worshipped, were they fictional beings they created to have something to pray to, or actual people who, like him, had a [God Seed] and ascended into a different plane of existence, essentially becoming a God?

While Valerian wasn’t sure about the answer, he knew that this [God Seed] that had been lying dormant in him had a connection to his physique.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that the moment he gained the [Infinite Cosmos Physique], he also gained the [God Seed]. They had to be connected, and to make progress in his strength, Valerian didn’t see a different way than to find a way to mature his physique.

Looking at the description, Valerian activated [Dragon Eyes], and new information displayed in front of him.

[Physique: Infinite Cosmos Physique]

A physical vessel engineered to shatter mortal limitations. This body possesses no internal boundaries, allowing its storage capacity for mana and power to expand infinitely. Death is treated as nothing more than a temporary state; if a single drop of mana remains in the vicinity, the flesh will violently reconstruct itself from the brink of destruction. It is an unyielding, immortal shell built for the sole purpose of carrying a God.

However, in its [Infant Stage], the vessel is incomplete. It cannot carry a God with its energies running scattered and disconnected. While its near-immortality is already active, real growth will never happen on its own. The body will only take its first step toward true divinity once all elements inside are locked into a single, working cosmos.

’Like I thought.’

The information revealed by his dragon eyes confirmed what he had already guessed when he looked at Seraphine’s sketch: his physique wouldn’t mature just because he got older.

For it to grow, he had to align and synchronize his affinities with his physique; only then would he be able to advance to true divinity.

’But... how do I do that?’

Unfortunately, his [Dragon Eyes] didn’t come with a user manual for affinity synchronization, and he had to find that out on his own.

’Let’s just try it.’

He closed the window and focused on his body, reaching deep into the depths of his being.

The world around him disappeared, and he found himself in the same cosmos he was in when he talked with Valerie or saw his mother for the first time.

He looked around and saw the beauty of space sprawled out in front of him. Since his last visit, it hadn’t changed one bit, something that only showed him how little progress he had made.

—So, what’s the plan?—

Valerie’s voice came from directly behind him, but he didn’t flinch or look surprised in the slightest. When he turned around, he saw the same Valerie that had met him the last time.

Still with the long silver-white hair, purple slitted eyes, and horns, she was the spitting image of Valerian, with a charm stat just as ridiculous.

"I don’t know. I somehow have to align my affinities, but I don’t know how to even access them here."

He was in the middle of the endless cosmos that was his soul, and he had no idea how he should use his affinities, let alone align them here.

—Pfft, this is your soul, dummy. You can do anything here.—

Holding her hand in front of her mouth, she tried to hide her laughter, causing Valerian to frown in annoyance.

But she was right; this was his soul space, so he should be able to do anything here.

He held out his hand and began to replicate channeling his affinity. Without any delay, a deep purple flame appeared above his hand.

’One.’

He let go of the [Cosmic Fire] and let it fly away from his body as it began to orbit around him like a celestial body.

Channeling the next affinity, a small rift in the fabric of space appeared above his hand before it disappeared and covered him and the [Cosmic Fire] orb in an almost invisible barrier.

’Two.’

Black-purple lightning crackled along his arm before leaving it and joining the fire orb by floating around him.

’Three.’

As he tried to channel the fourth affinity, he felt a blockage, making it way harder to call upon it.

But Valerian didn’t give in and pushed through the block as a miniature black hole appeared above his open palm, distorting the light around it.

Stretching out his hand, the black hole hovered to the other orbs and rotated around him.

’Four.’

Taking a deep breath, Valerian tried to use the next affinity. But if the fourth one was difficult, the fifth one felt impossible, like his body wasn’t ready to use five cosmic affinities at the same time yet.

But that was what he had to do to advance his body so that it could use these affinities better.

He had to break down whatever barrier was blocking him and let his physique adapt to it and evolve further.

Valerie watched from the side as Valerian struggled to call upon the fifth affinity. She wanted to help, but she also knew that this wasn’t a problem that she could solve with her powers as [Law Breaker].

This wasn’t about just reaching the goal of using all the affinities at the same time; it was about letting his body evolve with them. If she were to use her powers and give him the ability to go beyond his body’s limits in an instant, the whole evolution process would be skipped and all of this would be for naught.

Valerian forced his body beyond its current limits, breaking down whatever barrier was keeping him down, and his hand began to freeze in a layer of [Absolute Zero].

The frost formed into a cloud of coldness and ice and left his hand to hover around him like the others.

While all of that was happening, Seraphine sat in the living room, completely surprised by the sudden disappearance of Valerian.

’Why did he suddenly leave? He seemed so excited.’

She got more than curious why he would suddenly kiss her on the cheek and praise her genius before teleporting away. She stood up, straightened her dress, and walked to one of the doors leading out of the living room.

’I wonder if he is still here.’

She cautiously opened the door and was now standing in a hallway that had way too many rooms for just one dorm unit.

’Seriously, why would the apex need so many rooms?’

She walked through the hallway and slowly opened every door, and was shocked to learn that every one of these doors led to a bedroom the size of her own here at the academy.

When she opened another door, a sudden heat washed over her; it felt like she was standing right in front of the sun itself.

’What is that??’

The heat came from the door at the end of the hallway, but as soon as the heat washed over her, it disappeared again and was replaced by a dizzying feeling, like her perception of space and direction was inverted.

Stumbling forward, she caught herself on the wall, and the feeling disappeared again.

’Just what is that?’

She took a step forward as her hair began to stand on end like she was under high voltage, and her whole skin began to tingle.

The feeling was followed by a massive increase in gravity as she slowly came closer to the door.

With a painstaking click, she opened the door right as a wave of ice-cold air came right at her, nearly freezing her into an ice statue.

She only managed to save herself as she activated her fire and solar affinity as well as [Reality Weaver] to protect herself against the cold.

As the wave of ice passed over her, she was met with a sight that she didn’t know how to put into words.