(Edit: Kurgos' lack of affinity to magic will be edited to lack of affinity to mana, to avoid confusion.)

The green leaves fluttered down, raining on the man who sat cross-legged. His face, though hollow and thin, was rosy, unlike the deathly pale that it was a week ago. In front of him was a piece of wood with symbols carved on its surface.

“You want to know where humans were summoned?” Kurgos asked, furrowing his brows in puzzlement. He thought Eve would ask where the temples were, but he was suddenly sent a wild left hook.

Eve, standing at the edge of the wooden “map,” spoke in affirmative. “You said that priests exist, didn't you?”

“Yes,” Kurgos nodded. “I know you're worried about gods, but they can't come down in the Mortal World,” Kurgos pointed out, figuring out his boss’ concern.

Eve chuckled. “Enlighten me, if you're so wise,” he smiled. Looking at the map that Kurgos made, there was a fist-sized circle in the middle—it was the forest they were at, the Forest of Yuka.

Then, there was a pebble-sized circle carved right next to it, it was where Eve met Kurgos.

“Gods once had saints and apostles in the Mortal World,” Kurgos explained, sighing. “Through them, gods can manifest in the Mortal World and fight. However, those saints and apostles all ascended to the Heaven World years ago.”

Eve scoffed at the mention of the “Heaven World.”

“So,” Kurgos nodded certainly. “Gods can't manifest in the Mortal World anymore.”

Eve shook his head.

‘Gods, hateful as they are, they're crafty and cunning,’ Eve thought, looking at the blindfolded Kurgos. ‘I was once blinder than you, human.’

Originally, Eve wanted to raid a small village to test his army's power, as well as to harvest livestock—animals, humans, and even fruits. Materials would be plundered too, if possible.

‘Human meat is a lifesaver.’

Eve recalled last week. As they guided Kurgos back to their base, he didn't forget about the barbarians. There were thirty three of them, all burly men and full of muscles. Needless to say, Eve had the clay soldiers cut it in pieces to carry back home to eat. The rest that they couldn't carry, they ate them on the spot.

The effects were instant, their bodies doubled in size in just a minute. After another minute, the evolution slowly subsided and the clay soldiers tripled in size, while Eve was the same.

‘I need more meat,’ Eve lamented. Arriving back at home, he had the clay soldiers go through a cycle of rebirth, spreading the “evolution” around. The process made the army of 40 thousand grow to a finger and a half in size, sacrificing the two thousand palm-and-a-half sized clay soldiers.

‘I didn't include Lucky in the resurrection, I wonder if that will affect anything…’

He shook his head. ‘Normal meat doesn't evolve us anymore, what's so special about humans?’

He suspected it had to do with their mana-infused bodies. After all, even barbarians had an inkling of mana in their bodies, though the barbarians themselves might not know.

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‘Raiding villages shouldn't be an issue, but the priests are troubling.’

“Kurgos, let me tell you something,” Eve sighed. “While I would love to believe what you said, and I'm sure you wouldn't lie now,” Eve narrowed his eyes at the blind man, smirking. ‘I hope I can trust you more and more, human.’

“Everything that possesses mana is an eye of the gods. And those who practice mana for the sole purpose of getting closer to gods,” Eve chuckled darkly, his voice weighing down the air. “The gods can force themselves in their weak bodies, even if it means killing them.”

Kurgos frowned. “So you mean to say, gods can manifest through priests forcibly?”

Eve nodded, waiting in silence. Remembering his blind ally, he bitterly smiled. “Yes. There are limitations, but priests should be a common profession.”

“They are,” Kurgos said, the corner of his lips digging down to his chin. “If we raid a village that has a priest, surely the gods won't be bored enough to manifest, right?”

“If it was an ordinary raid, you're right,” Eve hollowly laughed. “But I'm Eve. My name… well, my existence is the bane of gods—will be the bane of gods. If they realize who I am, we'll die instantly.”

Kurgos went silent, Eve didn't bother him. “Now, the plan has changed. We'll still raid villages, but our main target is this,” Eve picked up a pebble, placing it down near the edge of the wooden map, where a castle symbol was carved.

Kurgos moved his arm, touching the pebble and the carving. “You want to raid the capital?”

“Yes,” Eve nodded. “You said humans were summoned in the capital, right?”

Eve looked at the pebble, glaring at it. ‘If my guess is correct, there should be a World Beacon somewhere in there.’

“But the capital is… well, it's the heart of the Kingdom of Garvan,” Kurgos pointed out.

“Indeed,” Eve nodded. “If you're worried I'm going to blitz there on day one, you need not be,” he chuckled, moving the pebble and placing it down on a house symbol.

“The villages?” Kurgos said after touching the carvings.

“Do you have short-term memory?” Eve frowned, prompting Kurgos to scoff.

“So you're going to bulldoze through everything on our path to the capital?” Kurgos asked, though knowing the answer.

“Correct.”

“That's dangerous,” Kurgos warned. “You should know, I'm not even as strong as a fraction of my true power when you fought me.”

“I would hope so,” Eve sneered. Of course, the plan was absurd. But Eve was desperate. He couldn't raid small villages to slowly evolve his army, that was a path toward doom.

If he took his time, he'd be giving the enemy ample time to prepare, rally, and strike back at full force, something his army couldn't face.

‘What’s worse is that there's no clay men villages around, not even a lone, wandering clay soldier,’ he clicked his tongue. All his plans were being thrown away.

He thought he would enter a low-level world, instead he was chucked into a world heavily influenced by gods.

He thought he could hide and gather all the clay soldiers in this new world, he was wrong again.

When Kurgos initially told him that there were no saints or apostles in the world, he grew hopeful. But then Kurgos remembered about priests on the last day of their preparation, throwing his one week of planning astray.

He didn't blame the man, no one was perfect.

He blamed the gods instead, who else would he blame?

Chuckling to himself, Eve tapped Kurgos' knees, a signal for him to stand up.

“Have you been doing what I taught you?” he asked.

“Meditating?” Kurgos laughed. “I've been doing it day and night, what else can I do?”

Eve ignored the remark. The man couldn't even help hunt animals, not without his eyes.

“Did you feel anything?” Eve asked. After taking Kurgos under his wing, he wanted him to be strong. Even without eyes, a person's potential is limitless given the right tools. Eve knew too many powerful beings that were blind, or purposefully blinded themselves.

“No,” Kurgos shook his head. “Not at all. You said I should try to feel my mental energy, but I can't. I don't even know what it's supposed to feel like.”

Eve nodded. “That's obvious, you just started.”

“But I'm…” Korgus sighed. He was a genius, he meant to say.

Eve, unaware, said a few words of comfort. “Now, I'll let you feel what ‘mental energy’ feels like,” Eve smirked, grabbing a thick tree branch he prepared on the ground.

“Are you ready?” He asked, stepping back to gain distance.

“Yes,” Kurgos nodded, standing in place.

“Good,” Eve chuckled to himself. This was a training method he developed as a human. It was crude, but perfectly effective if you knew what you were looking for. Not only that, with this method, he could make the man pay for his “short-term memory.”

‘Maybe this'll make his memory even shorter.’

He dashed, the wind whistling as he jumped, raising the tree branch high above Kurgos' head—WHACK!

+

“Urgh,” Kurgos rubbed his forehead, stirring from his forceful slumber. “What happened?”

“So?” Eve's voice trickled into his ears. “What did it feel?”

“...” Kurgos breathed in slowly, calming himself. “Awful, as how it should feel. Why the hell—”

“No,” Eve said, his loud and low voice hushing the man instantly. “Describe what you felt and you'll realize it yourself,” Eve suggested.

Oftentimes, uncovering truths yourself would have the best results.

“Shit,” Kurgos frowned, feeling a sharp migraine brewing in his head.

“When you hit my head, it felt like the world was shaking. I didn't know where my body was, if I was falling or if I was already on the ground. It was like I was floating…” Kurgos paused.

“It felt like I was floating… as if my soul flew away…” Kurgos looked at Eve, guessing the latter's position from where he last heard him. Unfortunately for him, Eve moved and sat in front of him a moment ago.

Stifling a laugh, Eve coughed, gathering Kurgos' attention. The latter turned his head too, facing Eve.

“Your soul didn't fly away, and no that's not mental energy,” Eve cleared out the questions visible on Kurgos' head. “But that's what it feels like when you harness mental energy. So, did you like the training, my blind disciple?” Eve grinned, his eyes curling in mischief.

Kurgos stayed silent. After a few breaths, his mouth slowly opened. “I see… thank you, Eve,” he said before zipping his mouth shut.

“...hey, at least call me teacher!”