"Well then, what do I have to do?"
"Put your hand on it and then channel your divinity into it."
"Like this?"
"Yep. Now transfer all of it into the ball."
As Amelia commanded, I put my palm on the upper surface of crystal ball.
I started to pour my energy slowly into the crystal ball just to be on safer side.
Suddenly applying pressure on thing may ruin them.
"Don't hold back, just throw in everything you have."
Apparently, that wasn't the case here.
As I increased the input of energy, it started to glow up and, shined brighter and brighter. For few minutes, I continuously increase the flow of energy as every moment pass until I eventually hit my limit.
"My goodness... Just how long have you been holding it back?" Amelia uttered those words in absolute amazement.
"Well..."
๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐บ "๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐". ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต.
"How does this thing actually work?" I asked as I continued to transfer my energy.
"It's a kind of an artifact that absorb all the divinity one holds. Ah... Soory"
She read my disappointment and apologized right away.
"No... You don't have to apologise. That much was expected."
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ข'๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ... ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต
The artifact is for absorbing one's energy but that doesn't mean it could free me from divinity.
Take it like this, once you train your body you get tired. It's because your stamina runs out. But after sufficient amount of rest, your stamina will recover and you'll be good to go.
Even if artifact sucks the last drop of divinity from my body, over a period of time, I will regain it by itself. That's only natural.
It was me who was having such unrealistic expectations.
After all, it's impossible to change reality.
"Ugh..."
"Wh-What? A-Are you alright, bhaiyaa?"
"That I am. Don't worry, beside that... I think I'm almost there."
"Yeah, do it."
With the last bit of my divinity carrying out, crystal ball stopped shining.
"Seems like it's done,"
"Yeah..."
"But, you sure you Okay?"
"I am. Moreover, how long will it take for my body to recover?"
"How long have you been holding it. That's the time it will take to build up and reach the current level."
"I see..."
That surely isn't much of a disappointment.
"Hmm..."
"What is it? Is something wrong with me?"
Amelia had been staring me so hard that I doubt myself.
"No, it's just... you feel a bit different..."
"Different?"
I tilted my head as I was unable to understand meaning behind her words.
๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต... ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ? ๐๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต?
"N-Not I meant to hurt you! It's, how can I say? You seem to be much more stable now. Calm and not intimidating at all."
So that's what she meant when she said different?
"And, I think, you are less attractive now from before..."
"Huh?"
๐๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ...
"Wait! Allow me to correct myself. You are same as before but since all your divinity is drained out, you look less from the perfect existence."
"Oh, I understand now."
๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ.
All in all, divinity is the reason of all unnecessary attention.
Well, I'm fine with it. Not that I am here for messing around.
๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ,
I do feel like much more stable now. I am in-control ever from before.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐บ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ... ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ!
"I assume that you wouldn't lose your cool over thing that easily now,"
"That... Yeah, I feel like in much control now. I won't make such mistakes again."
I can't deny. Lately, I have been over-reacting way too much. I need to regain control.
Now that I think about it, when did all this actually started? Being so emotional unstable, I wasn't like this. Maybe it was due to the overflow of energy within me.
"Well, I don't think I'll let go myself anytime sooner."
"Good... Plus, you're can't rewire mortal brain as you please,"
"Ah, hahaha... I didn't mess with their thought process that much, it just happened,"
Yeah, rest of it was so smooth that it bothered me for a while now. But, maybe I'm just overthinking...?
"Now, few don't mind, can I ask you something before I leave? It's something I genuinely need to confirm with you?"
"Go ahead,"
"Devlok... Are you aware of the state of affairs over there?"
She asked me. The room was suddenly intense.
Devlok...
It's the land where Deities resides. God Of Thunder, Vajra, one of the ten mighty supreme beings, rules over that land. It is the place where Gods are made and Vajra is incharge of the system.
That place...
"No idea..."
"Have you ever considered to visit that land?"
"Right now, no."
Amelia was looking straight at me but sad for her, there is no way she could read no matter how hard she tries.
"You know, I'm interested now. Why did you bring up Devlok all of so sudden?"
"I'll tell you that, after all I am the one who is upto this investigation."
Devlok.
When I say Devlok, how do I feel about that place?
Do I actually need to feel something about such place?
"That holy land, Devlok... one-fourth of that land is annihilated. Those who survived, beyond recovery, didn't stayed for long. Zero casualties. It was an absolute demolition..."
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ-๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ...
From her face, it doesn't seem to be a joke... No, I don't think Amelia would ever joke about such thing.
Just what in the cosmos could do such thing...
"How could such thing possibly happen,"
"It's true. Vajra is in serious stated of trouble. Infact, he is being suspected as mastermind behind the menace."
I am not acquaintance to Vajra but he definitely doesn't seem to be that type. He is ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ after all.
Even if I try to imagine the scenario I still couldn't get the grasp ofโ
"Who do you think is behind all this?" Amelia asked as if she wanted to hear my thoughts.
"Even if you ask me that, there only one person I could possibly imagine of. I think ๐ต๐ฒ is involved in this terrorism."
"I expected nothing else from you. But,"
It seems like I was wrong.
"We investigate him, and unfortunately, it turns out he isn't the one behind all this."
๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ?
But, I can tell that Amelia knew something.
"You know the one?" I asked.
"Yeah... It was one person. She did it all by herself,"
"What? One person, annihilated one-fourth of Devlok. Who is it?"
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ.
"Apparently, her identity is still a mystery." She sighed.
"Such a disgrace..."
"We have been investigating her for a time now but she dare not to utter a word about ther motives. What's more, she mocks, provokes us..." Amelia clinched her fist in frustration.
And here I was already think of countermeasures.
"But why did you asked me about my plans for Devlok?" It had bothering me for a while now.
I need to confirm.
"As it happens to be, one victim, at the verge death, lend us a vague but possibly the strongest clue that could possibly help us to solve this case, or atleast lead us somewhere."
What clue could led her to investigate me?
"They said that the girl, before going berserk, uttered these wordsโ
๐ธ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!"
To my surprise, it turned out like this.
"I see..."
Now I understand why it was so important to investigate me.
"So... What are your thoughts about this? It could purely be coincidence," Amelia said as she rose one of her eyebrow.
"It is, without a doubt, a coincidence."
"Yeah... A scary one." She hugged herself a shivered while rubbing her arms.
But, it felt like she was still wary about the matter in-hand.
"Well, then..." She raised from sofa.
"I'll take my leave now... Thank you for everything."
"Wait."
She was about to leave but I stop her in track.
"You... The knowledge you have, about this land, lend it to me."
Amelia seemed to be dumbfounded by my statement as she started at me.
She'd never expected that I'll be willing to co-operate for the current situation from the very beginning. Even before she arrived. Due to that, it was a complete shock for her.
"...I thought you were not interested at all,"
"You know, all this stuff... you seem to be working really hard so I just wanted to share some of your burden, that's the least bit I could do for my dear sister."
This left her into more shock as here eyes widened.
"I... Thank yโ,"
"And, I think it might get interesting if I tried to make it a show... Think of it as my way for thanking you for everything." I interrupted her I could finish.
"Yes. Then, I'll tell you all,"
She smiled and seemed contented.
------------------
"โAnd that's everything. But are you sure?" Amelia asked, distressed.
"Sure about what?"
"You know, about everything... There is so much and I don't even know what to do. Do you really don't mind getting involved?"
"I could have not asked you if I don't wanted to,"
"Then... I'll leave everything to you."
"Sure,"
With that, Amelia got up.
I thought that she was going to leave for now but that doesn't seemed to be the case.
Instead she stood there and stared at me.
"Come on, now!"
She seemed to be dissatisfied for some reason and said those words as if indicating at something.
"Seriously, you're not a child anymore," I sighed as I stood up.
Get closer to her, and pulled her into a hug.
"Hehe~"
And, she seems to be enjoying it.
"You know, I haven't received my reward yet,"
"Still not satisfied," To which she tilted her head and give me a smile.
I sighed as I gave her a small kiss on forehead.
She was delightened but still pretend to be unsatisfied.
"Amouu~ Again not on lipss~"
"I told already, I'll rather die then kโ"
"OK. OK. You don't have to say that!" She cutted in and prevented me to say it.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ, ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ...
I sighed, again.
But this time, Amelia didn't missed her chance.
She swiftly stole a kiss.
She immediately made some distance,
"Hehe, finally got one~"
And with those words left behind, the presence of young lady, or so she claim, vanished into thin air.
"...This girl really is something."
I fell to my knees.
"*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*"
I gulped my saliva.
My breathing were unstable as my body felt much heavier than usual.
I didn't have much strength to stand by myself.
I could barely open my eyes.
๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ...
I tried to support myself through furniture near me and somehow carried myself to bed.
I threw my body on bed, my face on pillow, surrendering myself to extreme fatigue.
The backlash hit me real hard.
"*Huff* *Huff*, m-maybe, I'll rest for today..."
As my eyelids dropped and I lost my consciousness.
. . . . .