Murai still held his own core at bay, and his mind remained calm. Feeling how the Robust Spirit absorbed the majority of this pressure, he got a hunch how this little gift he got from the Will of the Battleworld seemed to work in tandem with his own soul, and was not some kind of borrowed power. It was his—albeit it was a gift—and it worked for him and his side alone.

In fact, it was working wonders, as if it was something he was born with long ago since it involved his Will and soul.

“I meant what I said. Pain.” Murai spoke with his Will aiming at this Divine being that was nowhere to be seen, but Divine Sense was the epitome of God's Will. It was a face of Divinity and worthy to be feared. A mere clutch of it can kill any lowly Path.

“And that is?” Pakutan said with a distinct amount of pity and sneer.

“You present this as no Law. Divinity is part of Godhood and for the Blessing to have any kind of effect, it's better done carefully, or they will end up being useless because of weakly-minded mortals. Of course, it can be changed depending on the Law and made into different, or smaller Blessings. If you are forceful or poor in their approach, it can lead to many disasters, such as your past guinea pigs. Considering the Madness, and as you said, the part of the Chimera Bloodline, it's no wonder they ended up drowning in it. They were poor bastards that had chosen heavens without seeking the moon.”

“Hmp! Heheh.” Pakutan chuckled, finding those words fitting but what would solve an issue of this caliber?

“I bet you ended up working unkindly around this Law of yours and made it like an addition to the Battleworld and its Evolutions, which is a bad choice. You should do something with it for yourself and not act with other intentions in mind. That's not what God's Blessings should be like. It's limiting YOUR factors. A Blessing should be a manifestation and fit for the God.”

“You speak as if you know all about it!” Pakutan complained. “For a duck... I don't like to be questioned.”

“Then think of it as if I am speaking for myself. If I followed the normal sense, I would change the part of the Blessing that involves too much Madness and focus on what benefits it can offer outside of some Bloodline or evolution. Creating tangible benefits with defined or no disadvantages is better than fearing Chaos itself.” Murai offered his opinion while thinking of more reasons that made sense. Although he wasn't sure what it would do for this God, or if his words may piss him off more.

“You... Your words may sound reasonable for someone... like you, but... I am improper. My Laws aren't something to be specific and custom-made. Playing with the Bloodlines requires many experiments and part of my Divinity. It's something that Battleworld requires while creating something outside of it works too, but... It's hard to create things. Blessings require rules. Power too.” Pakutan said, not as angry as before.

“Of course they do. If we are talking about the Bloodlines, your choice of the chimera isn't a bad one.” Murai figured it was fine to continue. “Even though it's full of chaotic behavior with many kinds of benefits, it holds also fatal disadvantages.”

“You don't have to lecture me... duck!”

“In that way, why not make it something specific that may provide more benefits?”

“As if it is that easy!”

“It doesn't matter if it's hard, or time-consuming if the blessing ends up being good enough for God's cause. They are there for something great. To move the mortals and signify God's position. Shouldn't be that better? Chimeras have many mutated Paths, I bet. Some specific ones even. You can consume, inject, or create a specific kind of effect to your liking, which may reduce the disadvantage of your Law.

“Again...” Pakutan wanted to argue again, but Murai spoke as if this didn't matter to him at all.

“The way to create something that wouldn't hurt the user. That is how equipment often is, and how abilities and Blessings are deemed from a mortal perspective. No one wants a created issue, but a certain skill of the Blessings can help and kill a person. It won't drown someone. That is the first act. The Demonic Pathway of Chimeras has many choices to seek answers. Chaos is countless times more complicated, so making special Abilities may also work instead of mashing your way into the road of Bloodlines or literal Chaos.”

“You....” Pakutan's grunting voice passed and shuttered throughout the whole room, shaking Murai quite a bit.

“What? Is it wrong? No. Don't think so. Something too disadvantageous is simply too unfit for a Blessing. There is no bless part at all, so none will take it. It should be fitting for your divinity and cause the Blessings to be more reasonable.”

Pakutan paused for a minute, listening to Murai's extensive overview with defined logic and things he feared and had known for centuries. His overall pressure was still encompassing the whole room but something within his Will changed.

Murai's little legs were beginning to tremble amidst the pressure but he was yet to succumb to it. He clutched his beak while speaking with this God as if he was close to him in power.

No. That was wrong.

In fact, he was doing his best to move past such pretext of going against such a Will. Appearing as if this talking didn't bother him at all was a simple way of the placebo effect to make himself more powerful. It was working, but only for himself, since the next things Pakutan said were less than pleasant.

“You... You speak about this as if it's the easiest thing in the world! Working with Divinity isn't... like that. Your whole perception is wrong! It's the mortals who can't keep up with the Blessings of a God! Madness? The Blessing of the Ferocity creates more good than bad, providing changes for those humans and an orc. They became stronger from the physical standpoint, and their abilities all strengthened by leaps and bounds, but they couldn't keep up mentally. They died in agony of the Madness because they were weak-minded fools.” Pakutan spoke firmly by his own comprehension, but it mattered little to Murai.

“Weakness or your perception within your Blessing is the cause. I am just stating the obvious issue I found with it. It isn't fine, so why not recreate it for something that would benefit your position more? It... no. You are insensible towards it. Whether it is easy or not is secondary. If it's a possibility, and what I speak about is right, then your divine standing in the godhood shall become stronger along with your Law perception. Gaining more devotees because of proper blessings may be another advantage. Blessings are the reasons the mortals would care for you after all.” Murai told, but couldn't help but sneer inside. For a God of Pain, that is. Hehehe.

Such a God shouldn't be anything that people needed, nor should worship, but some would be there. After all, such a Chaotic God should have plenty of devotees on the chaotic side, while the humans shouldn't be for him to take, but who was sure of that? The world was wide, and many people were one with Chaos as well. It all seemed that Murai was mocking Pakutan's choices or words of his Blessing, but that wasn't the case.

Murai was pretty much comfortable taking his Blessing since it wasn't anything that he couldn't take on. Some Madness? He already worked with it and experienced many things in the past and frankly speaking, his mind was full of it anyway, but it was so mild it didn't affect him at all. The kind that this God offered wasn't responsible for the deepness of the word chaos, as he guessed because of his Rank.

“You... Your idea has some validity but it is implausible. Changing my Blessing of Ferocity to something more special isn't something that can come easily. It requires a lot of research and my own divinity to see what to do with it. Do you have any idea how long it took me to come with 3 Blessings?”

“3 days? 5 if I include the last one?” Murai replied.

“This... Huh?” Pakutan sighed. “You are right... It is true, but what could the Blessings do when it comes to my Divinity? The first 2 are fine as it is, but I thought the Ferocity would be leaps and bounds better than anything that any Rank 2 could offer. Putting a subjective Law without my divinity involved should be already plenty enough. It's a tremendous gift! That's the reason I put any restraints away, and that's why it's good but dangerous. Making it dangerous for the big benefits was the idea behind it.”

“I can tell. How about this, dear God of Pain,” Murai spoke with unnatural politeness to appease this god's hesitant anger. “What you offered isn't a bad thing, since it requires no forceful quality of your Divinity—which is good—even when the Law of it is offered. That's like giving a cake to a kid, but it doesn't include any sugar.”

Pakutan snickered like a man who heard a beggar beg for money. He certainly didn't like this aspect of talk, but he wanted to know what this damned duck had in mind.

“It's a tiny idea, like a speck of it, but it can be changed to anything one wishes. Laws can be a lot of things, and not even one's core beliefs may be there within them. That's why you are Rank 2. Your limited comprehension adds huge disadvantages but they could be more desirable. Work within a premise. Being a God of Pain, you should think about what it means. Overcoming the hurdle of a higher rank of godhood is hard as is, so how about hearing my proposition towards the betterment of your Blessing?”

“Hmph” Pakutan sneered for real. ”You already told me to fuck off, but what do you want to tell more? Mock me? Laugh at me? Are you taking advantage of the reason that I can't do anything to you? Hm... I get it.”

“I could. Sure.” Murai acknowledged. “But that is unnecessary. This is business after all.”

“Weak.... Those excuses. Do you think I haven't thought of anything when I decided on my Blessings? That I haven't taken eyes to others? I watched and sought countless ideas, and came up with something unique, albeit dangerous. Working around, or against the Battleworld in mind can piss off certain things. Though, Lordis should be fine if it's up to his tastes. If you think about the Evolution or something around the Battleworld, I am willing to listen to your ideas, duck.” Pakutan said, appearing and sounding intrigued enough, even though Murai pretty much told him he was too weak and bad at being a God.

None like him should be happy to hear that.

Duck? Murai twitched his brows, unhappily gulping his harsh words down his throat. “It is simple... I suppose these Blessings aren't something that happens every so often, do they?”

“Of course not. It's a part of many trials, as every Blessing is a special way to reward a remarkable soul to receive the Blessings. It shouldn't be anything easy. That's the basis of the Blessing, duck.”

“Then why not make them more specific since they are rare, to begin with? I gave you good examples before. For the sake of the Battleworld and your words, I think the best way to do anything with the Blessing of the Ferocity is to get it an outside Flavor. A simple slip of something from your wisdom, without doing any harm to your core Divinity. Abilities behind the Blessing are fitting, making it more powerful, or adding a Spell to it? Magic, or mana? That, or something outside of the core of your being, or something like that. A small tinge of a specific quality of Chimera would work too, but it shouldn't be overbearing. A spell, body power, or ability should work best.”

“Again. Those aren't simple ideas.”

“It doesn't have to be involved with the Madness, or Chimera. Pathways are vast, and Divinity works with far too many things. Additional Fusions or making Abilities outside of the Evolutions work in tandem with rules. We are living in the flow of the River of Manaflow, so including something about mana should be more than welcomed with many Blessings. Blood and Chimera's Chaos may work for some, but possibilities are endless in the shape of mana. Blessings are similarly endless.” Murai talked some sense, and Pakutan listened with some calm interest.

“Mana? River? MANA! Why have I not thought about it earlier?! I could do something with the Blessings! Right I can.“ He said in a good mood and almost cheered the heavens. “It's all about incorporating small portions of ideas and power to the Blessings, Chimera Bloodline... is Chaos, which is making the mana unsteady, since the pigs had a core. I can force something else, because of my lack of proper godhood, I am lacking comprehension.”

“Rightful head too...” Murai added, but Pakutan didn't catch it or took it to his head.

“What they can offer to begin with depends on my Will and ideas. Imagination too. It could be physical or mental or take a unique approach since a Law is unique enough.”

Murai continuously nodded, as if agreeing with anything, but didn't. There were way too many answers and possibilities out in the endless skies of Pathways.

“Treasure, Spell, or Ability, to touch on a Law can work. But I've heard that already and it makes my mind boil. Madness isn't a part of it, but it's the core of my godhood because of my involuntary influence that can't get away from my core. Weakening it enough by making it pure and workable with certain abilities should be worth more. It's like the sides of coins. 3rd one won't come, nor the sides can change places. That's what the Ferocity should be, unlike the others.” Pakutan made his own guesses while talking to himself and coming up with the reasons on the spot.

“Sounds like a good start,” Murai added. “Think of this better, and you should manage to strengthen your godhood too. The same could be done with anything, and even Presence or your Samsara Rings could come your way. But this is business about Blessings. Not the Godhood. The Ferocity is certainly a maddening idea already.”

“NO! Blessing of the Ferocity is a core of something better! MY idea is to give a Blessing so large, none shall question my PATH! Including the mana, that should be it! Give me a few days to a week and I will figure something out! This is of utmost importance. Blessings shouldn't be forceful and make living more chaotic... Dividing it for something better is much better. Yes. Yes. Chaos. Mana. Chimera and others. Countless. Right, that too.” Pakutan said in agitation, thinking with his words as his Will shook and wavered.

Without a change of his mind, he retrieved his Divine Sense out of the land of the mortals, leaving Murai alone without giving him anything in return. The pressure disappeared, and even Lisa became free from the pressure that was putting her soul on the floor. Even Murai almost collapsed but remained on his feet to the bitter end. This discussion was quite straining on his mind. So much so, that something was happening to his body and he couldn't even notice it. He grew a pair for sure.

“M-Murai Hisagi...” Lisa struggled to put her head upwards and forced herself to kneel.

“What? Never heard of the Descent of God's Will before? This was a fine business talk for a Blessing for sure, wasn't it? I thought you were part of the Pantheon, and this Pakutan should be part of your Demonic faction if I am not mistaken.” Murai asked, turning his face towards Lisa behind him.

“Yeah... I guess. The thing is, your legs are shaking.” she said weakly, paying attention to his trembling legs. Murai was more than pissed off afterward, and even somewhat embarrassed.

After a while, both of them calmed down, minding their own mistakes, and thinking about what had just happened. The counterarguments that Murai said, made sense. Since the pressure was gone, he was somewhat satisfied, but this wasn't the kind of attention he wanted to give to a God.

Pakutan straight up left, leaving him to wait for behind nothing.

“I am seriously underestimating the length of your experience and power, Murai Hisagi,” Lisa said, frowning as she floated calmly before him. “For you to haggle with the Rank 2 God seems to be less problematic than a fight against a golem. I never heard anyone below an Extreme talk like that to a God, since they can cause disaster to any kind of mortals if they get pissed off enough.”

“Hmph... Who do you take me for, Lisa? They are still living beings and could be even stranger than some of us. But you are forgetting an important factor of this descent. Do you think this case was normal? This case of the Blessing? Is this how it's done in this world?” Murai asked, indicating something meaningful.

“Well, this was the Divine Sense with encompassing Divinity so the Blessing should be the reason since the Will of the Battleworld said so about this Dungeon. It should be the systematic cause, since this is a Somalis Dungeon we are talking about. That God said it was under his supervision for many years, and secretive. This is probably some stash... for that flower aside.” Lisa assumed.

“I thought so too, but he left. I hope this didn't cause some sort of problem with this messed up system that this Lordis guy created, and hopefully, the Battleworld will still give me my rewards.”

Speaking of wolf and wolf around the corner, the Will of the Battleworld descended to the cave next. It was a different kind of feeling from God's Will.

Encompassing it was much weaker intent, but there was also something different about it. No Divine Sense of any god was present this time around, but it seemed harsh and sharper.

[Somalis Dungeon: Acaman Tower ~ Acaman Grounds vanquished, and your presence at the end of the Tower is for your taking]

[All time limitations were within the rights and will be rightfully claimed]

[Following all of the rewards that you have accomplished within your path, including the case of your own comprehension and rewards, are there as well]

[YOU! - Level Up]

[Current Level 8]

[Atributes are streghtned]

[Beak's Fury gained a fundamental strength because of your careful use and management of your efforts along with the kill of an Acaman Golem that wasn't supposed to be destroyed, but oh well...]

[Beak's Fury - Level up, Level up, Level up]

[Your time in the drenched state, including the use of Diving Sphere or not, allowed your mana to shape up a little better, gaining you a better understanding]

[Mana Shaping has been improved by 3 Level ups]

[Mana Pool has been improved by 50 points]

[As for the additional rewards of your effort and fight against the Acaman Golem, the following rewards are.....]

[Brand new Ability and Affinity reached]

[Mana Sharpness: Your humble tries with the Mana Blade and Javelin allowed you to get familiar with the state of the Sharpness. Your mana, including the Flame in itself, has reached the state of elemental affinity and better Shaping.]

[Each can be used separately, or in conjunction with the other, but be careful, the world of mages is a tough place. Experimenting within, or around them, the way of Mana Affinities can lead to many disasters and problems for one's Mana Core. Take too much, and you will suffer. Take too little, and it will be poor]

[Mana Sharpness: Affinity with the influence over the Shaping of mana.]

[Your Shaping within the spectrum of Sharpness will be greatly strengthened, flowing more naturally, and gaining special potency in sharpening]

[Grade D: Your familiarity with it is already better than usual. Not bad]

[Your Beak's Fury is great, but the vast variety of Abilities within the repertoire of Anatidae are much stronger than their Fury. For the time being, Beak's Fury is in its core state, but the future may be different]

[Get familiar with it some more and evolve the abilities to brand new heights. For the time being, a new species ability has been created]

[Beak's Peak]

[Beak's Peak: Physical and mana-based ability of the Anatidae species. It's nothing fancy, but the Anatidae are fancy, to begin with, negating the fanciness altogether]

[Beak's Peak is a part of the Peak! This ability allows you to strengthen the power of your physicality, core, and beak to greater heights, allowing you to push and strike the foe with much more significant damage than ever before]

[But be aware that channeling is a sworn enemy of many mages, and this ability holds some advantages and disadvantages. It isn't any different for you as well. The speed of the channeling of Beak's Peak can take a few seconds, depending on your control of the mana and this ability]

[Furthermore, tries and experiments with it may include and perform additional effects and get your Beak's Peak additional flavors. Further strength and experiments around the channeling that works in tandem with your Beast Core which means Shaping and Conjuring along with Mana Affinities, are also included. Beak's Peak is part of magic after all]

[Basic premise of its power: unknown, depending on the amount of Mana used it is roughly at 20 to 25]

[Grade C]

[Level 1]

[Your soul, core, and whole being have undergone the battle to close dying. Your Will is firmer than should be]

[Will +4]

[Your Soul was calm, yet the mind is too]

[Soul Power +3]

[The underwater state within the Somalis Dungeon made your Beast Core drenched in the richness of the Mana and usage]

[Mana Replenishment has gained 2 Level ups]

[Mana Detection has gained 2 Level ups]

[As for the Dungeon rewards, you are allowed to take two things within the jurisdictions of Somalis Dungeon that work and consist of the World Essence Trove. According to the tokens of the Gate of Wisdom, you can take 2 things from there, excluding the World Essence, that is. Too bad]

[Purchases of the additional rewards will come forth through the lists with prices later]

“FUCK YOU!” Murai quacked loudly at this message. These single two quacks echoed within this cave for a couple of seconds, leaving Lisa surprised.