In the sanctum of the Eternal Dragon, imprinting his own mark and will was much simpler than Garon had anticipated.
When he had initially assimilated the Time Aberration, although there was a certain compatibility due to both being temporal beings and the Time Aberration already being a mere shell, it still took Garon considerable time and effort. However, this time, it was almost done in an instant.
"It went smoother than expected."
"Well, this divinity was originally mine, and it bore no resistance against me."
Garon thought silently.
After he defeated the Eternal Dragon, regardless of whether the dragon resisted or submitted, the outcome was already beyond change. This meant he no longer needed to expend energy in creating new souls and memories.
Afterwards, Garon removed the dragon claw he had placed on the Eternal Dragon's facial armor.
The Eternal Dragon opened its eyes; its platinum pupils were once again full of brilliance, and the expression it showed was identical to Garon's, as its form underwent subtle transformations to become completely identical to Garon.
No longer just similar, but a perfect likeness.
"I feel as if I've been reborn."
In this timeline, the newly born divine Garon spoke softly.
Garon looked at the ravaged landscape of his divine realm and said, "First, let's repair this divine realm. Moreover, you are currently only at the pinnacle of demigodhood. You need to advance as soon as possible, achieving at least a lesser divine power to truly be called a god."
The divine Garon nodded seriously, "I understand. I will strive to expand the Time Dragon Church in this timeline and ascend to true godhood as soon as possible so I can assist the original body in times of crisis."
Garon had no plans to take this divine Garon back to the main timeline.
This was an experiment.
The divine avatar shared a connection with the original body, able to lend Garon some divine power when needed, much like the Covenant of the Dragon Court.
Garon wanted to know if, upon returning to the main timeline, he could still sense the divine Garon from this alternate space and receive its divine power boost. If successful, this would be good news.
"Having a divine avatar is already a rare achievement."
"In the main timeline, creating multiple divine avatars is as difficult as reaching the heavens; otherwise, the faces of the gods would be endless."
The first divine Garon avatar in the main timeline was born through the Ascension Art, seizing divine powers from other deities.
This one was born through faith in Garon.
Both methods are inherently demanding.
"But if I can replicate the way this divine Garon was born, establish churches in different timelines, and then leave, eventually more 'Eternal Dragons' will be born."
"After their birth, I will subdue them one by one and acquire countless divine avatars."
Garon's eyes gleamed ambitiously.
Even without the avatars, through this method, Garon could continuously gather time divinities to strengthen the divine Garon's authority over time in the main timeline.
"It's unclear if the divinity can be taken out of this alternate space."
"If possible, this would be a method to empower the divine Garon with strong divine powers."
Meanwhile, Garon's gaze shifted slightly as he recalled the scene where the future Garon beheaded a demonic prince.
He remembered that the Sword of Time Destruction wielded by the future Garon was not merely formed from the power of time.
The Sword of Time Destruction had a physical form, and on it, Garon sensed the presence of divinity. In that fleeting glimpse, he also vaguely saw that the sword seemed to be constructed from countless divine crystals.
"Could it be that the divine weapon used by the future Garon is forged using his own time divinities as material, crafted with the power of time?"
With this thought, Garon felt motivated to try it.
After looking at the divine Garon again, Garon thought inwardly, "It seems I need to search for more timelines with significant temporal flow discrepancies to cultivate divinity through the conveyor belt-like nurturing of deities."
Spreading faith in alternate spaces, nurturing deities, harvesting divinities, and using them to forge swords. This plan was undoubtedly insane.
But Garon felt that with his abilities, it was not impossible.
After all, being able to self-generate an Eternal Dragon here already proves that the scheme is feasible. Moreover, with Garon's active promotion in other timelines, it will be easier to nurture new 'Eternal Dragons'.
"In the future, if I encounter those with strong resistive wills, I'll take their divinities."
"If it's like the Eternal Dragon of this timeline, willing to merge with me, then it can be transformed into a divine Garon avatar."
"Hmm, why do I suddenly feel like I'm the villain?"
Garon chuckled to himself.
At that moment, the
divine Garon was concentrating on gathering divine power to repair the broken rules of the divine realm. Garon didn't stay any longer and used time teleportation to return to the continent of Faerûn.
Since the 'Eternal Dragon' was now his own, Garon didn't visit the headquarters of the Time Dragon Church again.
Later, the divine Garon needed to prove his identity to regain the faith of the shaken followers.
The method of proving identity was simple: just show that he had slain the troublemaking demon.
The initial failure of a divine avatar didn't prove much, after all, there are countless divine avatars that have failed in the main material world.
In a serene and beautiful canyon, a familiar figure arrived again.
Garon returned to the spot he had first reached, back to the secluded valley he had long stayed in.
Looking at the familiar yet strange place, Garon cast a spell, and the land immediately began to tremble. Earth and stones rose up, transforming as rocks turned into bricks and tiles, quickly forming a palace-like dragon's nest.
After glancing at the mage tower set up here by a female spellcaster, Garon thought for a moment, then cast magic again, adding layers of magical barriers to the canyon.
Except for the arcane masters of the king's level from the beginning, it would be hard to find this place again.
After finishing these tasks, Garon activated a time mark.
In a space vast as a silvery void, on a floating island made of magical crystals somewhere in the vast star realm, an old man with a face weathered by age, dressed in a white robe, his eyes twinkling with wisps of wisdom, opened his eyes.
"Ioelum, my friend, it's been a long time."
The time mark trembled slightly, conveying Garon's will.
Originally, when Ioelum was in the Domain of Magi, he communicated secretly with Garon through a time mark to prevent detection by the eyes of ancient death gods.
Afterward, having studied temporal magic for a while, Ioelum safely kept Garon's time mark.
"Carl has already told me you're back."
"I'm not in a state to leave easily right now, Garon, come to the star realm for a chat."
Ioelum smiled, giving Garon the coordinates of his location.
After receiving Ioelum's coordinates, Garon's body remained still, using Star Realm Projection to cast his spirit into the star realm.
This method is commonly used by spellcasters to travel to the star realm.
The star realm's time is eternally unchanging, and it seems like a pure spiritual domain, making it simpler and quicker to visit in spirit rather than in body.
The dragon's body coalesced and appeared amid the countless silver lights.
Garon looked around; the star realm was still as mystical as ever, with points of light, flowing light, and countless lights forming a dazzling silver galaxy, making this place seem like a realm of dreams.
His gaze fixed on the nearby crystal island, Garon moved his body with his will, descending toward it.
"Have you taken care of the Time Dragon Church matter?"
Ioelum was sitting quietly at the edge of the island, his back to the vast silver void.
"Yes, it went very smoothly."
Garon nodded and replied.
At the same time, his eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned Ioelum's body.
The magical aura on Ioelum was as brilliant as the sun, dazzling among all the spellcasters Garon had seen, Ioelum's aura was the most blinding.
To this day, Ioelum had lived for over eight thousand years, his level reaching sixty-one, and he was clearly now of a lesser divine power.
What surprised Garon the most was the hint of divinity he detected on this arcane master who secretly guarded the Netheril Empire, beneath the vigorous magical aura.
"Ioelum, are you becoming a god?"
Garon asked.
Ioelum's aged face broke into a smile, "You can't hide anything from your eyes, you've discovered it."
Saying this, he stretched out his palm.
A force of magic hovered over Ioelum's palm, continuously changing.
Garon's gaze sharpened, looking at this force.
Unlike ordinary magic, the magic in Ioelum's palm seemed solid, viscous like sludge or tar, small as a palm but carrying unimaginable energy.
"Heavy magic, is this what's making you nearly a god?"
Garon said.
When he last left Faerûn, Ioelum had mentioned that he and Karsus were researching a form of magic named heavy magic, but it was still very immature at the time.
Now, judging by the stability of the heavy magic in Ioelum's hand, it had become a mature capability.
"Yes."
"After collaborating with me for a while, Karsus focused most of his efforts on the domain of death."
"Not
long ago, I completed the final shaping of heavy magic, turning this form of magic into a stable and usable power."
Pausing for a moment, Ioelum looked down at the heavy magic and continued, "I didn't expect that the instant heavy magic was perfectly shaped, a spark of divinity was born within me."
Hearing this, Garon looked serious and also scrutinized the heavy magic, saying, "That means heavy magic is not just a simple form of magic; its creation has been recognized by the multiverse's rules."
Creating a god through one's own creations is very rare, but not unheard of.
With the birth of heavy magic, as its creator, Ioelum naturally mastered the authority over heavy magic.
"I'm thinking about how to remove this strand of divinity without harming my own essence."
"It has already merged with me."
"Moreover, although I have not spread a faith, I can feel it growing day by day."
"It won't be long before I become a god."
Ioelum said.
This king of arcane arts did not wish to become a god; he wanted to maintain the pure human intellect, which was also the original purpose of Ioelum's creation of the immortality spell.
There are many benefits to becoming a god, but Ioelum knew that once he became a deity, he would inevitably be influenced by the divinity, and his way of thinking would subtly change, which he did not want to see.
If he really wanted to become a god.
With Ioelum's prestige in the Netheril Empire and his magical accomplishments, he could have become a deity long ago.
Garon thoughtfully asked, "Have you shared heavy magic with other arcane masters?"
Ioelum nodded, "Yes, you know me, I never hide my creations."
"The requirements for using heavy magic are strict, out of a thousand ordinary arcane masters, only a few may be lucky enough to learn it, but it is ultimately a powerful ability that should be spread."
Garon understood, "No wonder, such things that become authority upon creation, even without faith, as long as creatures use it, it will gradually grow stronger."
Like the goddess of magic, the flourishing of magic represents the strength of the magic goddess.
The more spellcasters use heavy magic, the stronger Ioelum's divinity becomes, even if he doesn't establish a church or gather followers, he will still become a god.
"Ah, but I don't want to be a god."
Becoming a god, a word that would make the vast majority of creatures ecstatic, made Ioelum show a troubled expression.
Garon understood Ioelum, so he was not surprised.
"How about, try to use a deity as an avatar like I do?"
"That doesn't seem to be a difficult thing."
"I just turned the Eternal Dragon, worshiped by the Time Dragon Church, into one of my avatars."
Garon offered a suggestion.
Ioelum looked at Garon, said, "I guessed you would do that."
Saying this, he sighed, "Garon, not all creatures possess your caliber."
"Using a deity as an avatar? Only you, the immortal dragon, could dare to do such a bold thing."
"Even I, as a top-level arcane master, don't have enough confidence to control a divine avatar; I know my limits, and for me, it would be like playing with fire."
Garon scratched his dragon head, embarrassed, "I forgot my situation is special, it can't be generalized."
After thinking for a while, Garon seriously said, "In my experience, you don't want to be a god, nor do you need to remove your divinity."
Ioelum's eyes flickered, "What do you mean?"
Garon grinned, "Just let it grow. Once it condenses into a divinity, choose a suitable successor, and transfer all your divine grace and power to them."
"Perhaps you don't understand, once the divinity is fully formed, then stripping it away, if you are strong enough before becoming a god, it won't have much impact on you."
Ioelum's interaction with deities was not extensive, except for a good relationship with the Death God also born in Netheril.
His understanding of gods was far less than Garon's.
After all, with the existence of divine Garon, Garon's understanding was on par with that of deities.
In Garon's view, given Ioelum's current state, not counting his magical knowledge, just the divine authority alone, he was already a demigod, able to wield demigod powers without magic, just with authority.
A demigod, who has divinity and a divinity level between one and five, but whose divinity is not yet stable, is at the lowest tier of gods.
It's difficult for a demigod to strip away their divinity because it's just born and still unstable. At this stage, stripping
divinity, even though Ioelum is already of a lesser divine power level, still has a high chance of being severely harmed by backlash.
But upon advancing to lesser divine power, possessing a stable physical divinity, there will no longer be such problems.
"Really? There's such a thing."
Ioelum's eyes brightened, he said.
"If you don't want to be the god of heavy magic, when the time comes, you might as well transfer the divine power to my divine avatar."
The dragon chuckled, boldly stating.
Ioelum seriously pondered for a moment, said, "It's not impossible, but I've estimated that with my current growth rate of divinity, it will take thousands of years before my divinity stabilizes and I officially become a god."
"During this time, if I don't find a suitable person, I'll give the divine power to you in the end."
From the time when Netheril was still weak, and Ioelum was just a legendary arcane master, he met Garon.
Garon could be said to be the creature Ioelum had known for the longest time, and Garon had also helped the Netheril Empire escape a fate of annihilation. In Ioelum's eyes, Garon was a close friend, so giving his unwanted divinity to Garon required no further consideration.
"Before that, first teach me the principles and structure of heavy magic, I'm quite interested in heavy magic."
The heavy magic that could make Ioelum a god, bringing it back to the main timeline could likely add an authority to divine Garon, further progressing, it was undoubtedly a good thing.
"Right, and the outstanding spells that have emerged in the Netheril Empire over these four thousand years, the spells I know are almost outdated, already unable to keep up with my growth pace."
"Finally, I have a secret technique called Resonant Casting here"
Garon unreservedly told Ioelum all his various requests.
Ioelum listened with a bit of a headache, but as someone who enjoyed teaching, he couldn't refuse the knowledge-thirsty Garon, so he reluctantly smiled, "One thing at a time, let's start with heavy magic."