Assuming the clock on the wall is correct, it's been two and a half days since that crazy old Demigod left Yue, Lia, and I here, stuck in this underground room. Maybe it's just me, but I think she forgot about us.
"How long do you think it will take until she remembered we're here?" I ask.
"Not sure, could be today, maybe tomorrow, or possibly next week. What haven't we tried yet to get her attention?" Yue asks.
"We tried roasting meat, making noise, messing up the room, and we attacked the walls," Lia says.
"How about we try doing all of the above at the same time?" I suggest.
"Not like we have much else to do, might as well," Yue says.
Getting up, the three of us get started on our plan as I cough up some meat and begin roasting it while Lia and Yue begin shifting things around while throwing attacks out at the walls. This ruckus continues for a few minutes until the room is lit with a blinding light, which can only mean one thing, she finally came back.
While we're still blinded, I feel the meat is taken away from me and hear a cry of pain not too far away. As our vision is restored, I notice Yue on the ground out cold with that Demigod standing on her back while munching on the meat I was roasting. Thankfully neither Lia nor I ended up with the same fate as Yue.
"Jeez~, can't a cute girl get some beauty sleep? ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan needs at least a week of sleep like any good girl."
I am almost 100% certain that she's lying about how much sleep she needs, but I wouldn't put it past her to sleep then wake up only to immediately go back to sleep. My guess is she went to sleep and forgot about us so she went back to sleep.
"You're thinking something rude about ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan, aren't, you naughty little girl~."
"Nope not at all, so can we pick up from where we left off a few days ago?" I ask while lying as naturally as I breathe.
"Okie Dokie~, but what was the topic from before?"
"Magic," Lia says.
"And how to use Divine Energy," I add on.
"Let's start with magic then, to differentiate the magic that is widespread in Grauntia will be called false magic by me from here on. Magic is used without the aid of the System, and there's a bunch of different types, not even the genius ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan knows much more than the surface. When you cast magic, you interact with the system to produce an effect based off of predefined values. Magic is actually closer to a monster's innate skills but far more flexible. The arrays that are used here in Shengdi is actually a type of magic and the workings of automatons are derived from magic."
"What are the types of magic you know about?" Lia asks.
"Little ol' ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan knows about a couple, not counting arrays and automatons, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan is a magical girl after all. There's the basic elemental magic that everyone knows, unlike false elemental magic, this is actually a degraded version of the Elemental Spirit Dragon's abilities. There's what's called Rune Magic, but ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan doesn't know much about it. Above magic is sorcery, but even the adorable genius ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan is only aware of the concept."
"Sorcery?" I ask.
"It's the highest form of magic, one could call it's affects miraculous. ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan only knows that there are three branches of sorcery. But teaching magic wasn't apart of the deal so let's move on to Divine Energy. Whether or not you realise it, you're passively absorbing some of the Divine Energy in your surroundings, by ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan's estimate, you'll have that Essence you want within a day or two. But other than being able to wield Divine Energy, you won't be on the level of a Demigod by just passively absorbing energy, unless you want to laze around for a few hundred thousand years. For starters, try focusing your energy into your fist and punch the wall."
Following her advice, I try to feel for the Divine Energy in my body and direct it towards my fist like I would mana. After a few seconds, my right arm has a comforting warmth to it as I punch the nearby wall, making a small hole. Previously, when we were trying to get her attention these past couple of days, we couldn't even put a dent in the wall, but with Divine Energy, I made a hole the size of my fist.
"^°´?-*+|#<§-chan thinks your control is lacking, but with some practice, you'll be able to do a lot more. Stick around for a few more days and assist my research, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan is close to a breakthrough and I should finally be able to enter Godhood, you don't actually have a choice, by the way~," she says as she winks.
Finally getting up, Yue rubs her back and tries to stand up, saying, "huh? what just happened?" but before she realises what's going on and either Lia or I can respond, that Demigod smacks the back of her head, knocking Yue out cold once again.
"So you two will be staying to help, right~?" Although she's smiling and her voice is cheerful, I can't help but feel I little scared from seeing her face.
--
The next few days were... tiring, to say the least. Between practising my control over Divine Energy and stopping that crazy old Demigod away from trying to dissect me live, I haven't gotten much rest. But even with all my efforts, she still got a hold of my left arm, specifically from my forearm down to my hand. Thankfully I was able to form my Divine Essence which boosted my healing capabilities, then with help from Yue and Lia, I was able to regenerate my arm within a days time, but my fucking god was it painful!
One of the better things that have happened over these past few days was finding the location of the Gravity Root. I should have expected as much, but that Demigod knew the location. She said the only reason she didn't take it back with her was that it would have been troublesome. In the depths of the ocean, below even the hadal zone, laying at the deepest point of the planet is the Gravity Root. A ravine within the hadal zone leads to an unusual cavern where gravity is in a constant state of flux and where water can't enter, it is here where the Gravity Root is located. This certainly explains why no one has laid claim to the Root, it's near impossible to get to.
Today, we are just going about the usual routine, I'm practising my control while Lia and Yue are trying to uncover the secrets behind magic as we all wait for whatever unreasonable task that Demigod wants to put us up to. But interrupting or focus is a large burst of energy as the ground shakes and the air trembles. An eruption of power can be felt as one of the walls around us gets blown to bits, revealing another room with that Demigod at the centre.
"At long last! It's finally done! ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan is truly a genius, oh, what's this?"
The three of us are walking over to her as I ask, "so what's up? You get what you want?"
"Correct you are my unwilling student~, but there's something strange. There is a prompt from the System asking if I want to remove the shackles and ascend to Celestia or remain here as a God of Grauntia. No one who has ascended before me has ever mentioned something like this and they are all over the world."
"Congratulations, I guess, can you open the door so we can go now?" I ask.
"Hmph, this isn't the reception I wanted, where's the surprise and awe at my cute visage. But fine," she says as she snaps her fingers, "the pathway to the stairs is open. I'll be leaving this world for this so-called Celestia, so as a parting gift ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan will share her true name with you all."
Her form begins to fade, becoming more and more transparent with every passing second, eventually disappearing but not before saying one last thing.
"Serabane."
***Third Person***
Just a few moments before at Mount Dragspear, Akkre and Tsuki are lazing around in Milla's office when he notices something.
"Seems like someone very interesting is going through apotheosis using my Divinity," Akkre says.
"Hmm, I never would have expected that. For someone from Grauntia to be able to reach the required understanding of your Divinity to be able to ascend. So what will you do about it?" Tsuki asks.
"I've just sent the invitation to Celestia, so we should hurry and move to the Gates of Ascension. Don't want someone else to pick her up after all. Miss Milla August of the Dragonoid Khanate, we'll be taking our leave now, but I'm sure we'll see each other again, until next time," Akkre says as both he and Tsuki vanish from Milla's office.
With the duo no longer here, Milla just mumbles, "I'd rather I never see you two again..."