Chapter 532 - 532: Tower of the Trial Master

The next day came, and Silva was ready.

He rose into the sky above the city and waited. The air was calm and clear, and the clouds drifted slowly below him. He did not have to wait long. The sky rippled a short distance away, and the god stepped out of it with his white robes moving in the wind.

"You are punctual," the god said.

"I said I would be," Silva replied. "Where is Ophelia?"

"I do not know what happens in the throne room of the Emperor. I only delivered her to the capital." The god folded his hands. "But she will be fine, as long as she does what she needs to do."

"And what would that be?"

"I do not know."

Silva studied his face. He found nothing there, no lie and no hint of the truth. The god simply was not willing to give him any more information, and pushing would not change that.

'Fine. I'll find out another way.'

"Then let me tell you what I have planned," Silva said.

The god inclined his head, waiting.

"The first stage will be simple. Everyone in every sector of the world will be given a quest to complete. It might be taking down a certain monster that spawns in their area, or something like it. It gives everyone a fair start, and it lets me see who has the will to keep going."

"That is acceptable," the god said.

Silva waited for the catch. It came a second later.

"However, I would suggest something to improve it. You will be facing the abyss in the future. It would be wise to prepare your people for it. Use abyss monsters in your trials, more than any other kind. It will sharpen their hands before the real war begins."

Silva thought it over.

It was not a bad idea. If his people were going to fight the abyss one day, then learning what its creatures could do would be the best training they could get. He did not see any issue with it.

"I'll do that," he said.

"Good." The god stepped back. "Then there is nothing left to wait for. Begin."

Silva turned to face the world.

Below him, the land stretched out in every direction. He could see mountains, forests, cities, and the thin silver lines of rivers. Somewhere down there were Drake, Lily, Elsa, his parents, and millions of people who had no idea what was about to happen to them.

He pulled the star from his inventory and held it up in front of him.

It sat in his palm, black and gold, and it was perfectly still.

He paused.

For a long time, he stood there without moving. The wind pulled at his clothes. His thumb brushed across the hollow at the top of the star, and he thought of the friends he had lost and the ones he still had.

'There's no turning back after this.'

He took a deep breath.

Then he poured his divine energy into it.

The star lit up. Golden light spread across its surface, flowing into every edge and line, and the hollow at the top began to glow. Silva pushed more. The energy poured out of him in a bright stream, and the star hummed in his hand.

Behind him, something flickered.

A faint circle appeared on his back, thin and shimmering, barely there. Silva was a demigod, but he had never had a circle. Now one showed itself for a few seconds, glowing softly behind his shoulders. Then it faded and vanished, as if it had never been there at all.

He did not have time to wonder about it.

The star shot out of his hand.

It tore down toward the world faster than a bullet, a streak of black and gold that burned through the clouds like a meteor. Silva watched it fall until it hit the ground in the middle of a vast plain.

BOOM!

The impact rolled across the land. Dust and rock flew into the air. The ground shook, and then something began to rise out of the crater.

It was a tower.

It climbed out of the earth slowly at first, and then faster, a massive and elegant structure made of black stone and veins of gold. It was highly artistic, with carved spirals and arches along its sides, and every floor was wider and more intricate than the one below. It rose and rose, past the clouds, past the birds, until its top was lost in the heavens.

Silva stared at it.

He had never imagined anything like it. He had only pictured something small and plain, a place to run the trials. This was more like a monument.

Then the tower pulsed.

A wave of divine energy burst out of it and swept across the land. It did not stop. It rolled over forests and mountains and oceans, spreading at a relentless pace, passing through the walls of every city and every house. Silva felt it brush past him, thick and heavy, and his eyes went wide.

'This much? Is the world going to hold?'

The amount of divine energy flooding Argon was immense. It was so great that he was scared the planet itself would crack under the weight of it. He could feel it settling into the ground and the sky, changing the energy levels of the entire world in an instant. The air tasted different. The light looked different.

It would not be long before the whole planet changed.

"It is good," the god said.

Silva turned. He had almost forgotten the god was there.

"You can start now. The tower that came from the star is your control. As the trial master, you will use it to run and manage everything."

"How much energy is that?" Silva asked, nodding toward the wave still spreading below them. "It feels like too much."

"It is," the god said. "The world gained five to ten times more divine energy than it needs. That was intentional. With that much in the system, many things will happen, and they will make the trials more interesting."

He tilted his head.

"Artifacts will form. Unexpected finds will appear in places that even you cannot predict. It is meant to add unpredictability, so that the trial master cannot fully control the outcome, should he ever choose to try."

Silva frowned.

"You mean to stop me from rigging it."

"I mean that the trial should be a real one."

Silva said nothing. He could see the logic, even if he did not like it.

The god nodded once, as if the conversation was finished. He turned and rose into the sky, and the air around him began to shimmer. His form blurred, and then he was gone.

Silva was alone in the air.

The tower stood below him, glowing softly, towering over the plain. The wave of divine energy was still spreading, and the first signs of change were beginning to show on the horizon.

He understood something now.

He was, in every way that mattered, the god of this planet. Everyone down there would depend on how he handled the trials, and how well he guided them. He could not abandon them to their fate. He had to nurture them.

'Alright. Let's see what I made.'

He folded his wings and dove toward the tower.