Barbatos cherished his time with Restara. Being with her allowed him to reminisce about their days as mortals.
Restara was not only his best friend but also his rival.
'No matter how hard I worked, Restara always took the top spot in school, leaving me in second place.'
'Sigh, I often wondered if I was just not smart enough or if Restara was simply exceptional. She was always lethargic and obsessed with anime, comics, games, and novels. Despite rarely putting in any effort, she easily memorized and comprehended everything.'
'This dynamic started when we were children. Restara might not have thought much of it, but it was a one-sided rivalry for me. I wanted to be number one, but she always kept me at number two. Even in games, she usually beat me. When I did win, it was because she let me.'
'Maybe it's this peculiar relationship that made me so attached to her. It seems like fate that we ended up as neighbors in the Divine God City.'
'After all, the Divine God City is as large as a galaxy. In such a vast place, it's remarkable that I still managed to become neighbors with Restara.'
'However, as a demigod, concepts like fate are still elusive to me. Nonetheless, I'm grateful I can enjoy my time with Restara.'
Barbatos sighed as he remembered the difficulty of surviving in the Eternal Continent.
Just yesterday, their classmate, the God of Spork, had died. He had been unlucky enough to spawn his base near that of a veteran demigod.
For new demigods like them, encountering demigods who had spent hundreds or even thousands of years in the Eternal Continent was like a death sentence.
Even the weakest demigod had an everlasting lifespan. As long as they weren't killed, they wouldn't die.
Because of this, it wasn't unusual for demigods thousands of years old to remain in the Eternal Continent. These ancient demigods were mostly Gold Demigods, and since they hadn't ascended to True God status, they could still stay in the Eternal Continent.
Barbatos wasn't sure if his base had spawned near a veteran demigod, but if it had, he decided he might as well enjoy his time with Restara while he could. Despite having two Origin-rank talents, they still needed time to develop.
At this early stage, a demigod like Barbatos relied on the power of his believers to grow stronger.
Only the Main Gods could afford to be indifferent to their followers since they were powerful enough without needing worship.
Barbatos had already given his believers the Fourth-Order Silver Bear corpse, so it was up to them to use it to enhance their power. It would take a year for them to fully absorb the resources from the Silver Bear's corpse, so Barbatos had to be patient.
As he spent time in Restara's room, a thought occurred to him, and he decided to ask, "It's been a month since we were transmigrated into the Divine God City. What talent have you awakened? The Class 69 Chat Group has been buzzing about it, and even Taleos has been bragging about his gold-rank talent."
Gods rarely hid their divine talents since these were indicators of their potential. Even those with red-rank talents would often reveal them to attract a Main God as a mentor.
Some Main Gods with daughters would even consider demigods with red-rank divine talents as potential sons-in-law. Having a powerful Main God father-in-law and a beautiful fiancée made those demigods feel like winners in life.
Because of this, most of Class 69 didn't hide their talents. There was no reason to, except in special cases like Barbatos.
Gods would either conceal their talents if they were too weak, to avoid embarrassment, or if they were so strong and unique that they might attract dangerous attention.
For Barbatos, it was the latter.
While divine talents weren't classified information, they were still only shared among acquaintances. Just like you wouldn't go around asking every god in the Divine God City for their name, divine talents were respected as somewhat private.
Given his close relationship with Restara—more than friends but less than lovers—Barbatos assumed she wouldn't hide her talent from him unless it was as extraordinary as his own.
Sure enough, Restara didn't hold back. Answering lazily while still lying on her bed, she said, "I awakened a Transcendent-rank divine talent."
"It's called 'Idling to Rule the Gods.' I don't have to do anything to become stronger; I'll naturally grow more powerful over time."
"I don't even need to consume resources. Just by doing nothing, I'll become stronger. Even if I engage in activities, it won't slow down my growth."
"For someone like me who loves to laze around, it's the perfect talent. I can stay in my room all day and still get stronger."
Hearing Restara's explanation, Barbatos was puzzled.
'What's a Transcendent-rank divine talent? The highest publicized talent rank is red. I already knew red-rank isn't the highest since my Origin-rank talents surpass it.'
'But I never expected to meet someone with a talent higher than red-rank. Red-rank talents are rare because they have the potential to become Main Gods.'
'Even Taleos, with his gold-rank talent, acts like a big shot in the Class 69 Chat Group and has a Median True God as his mentor. Most of our classmates only have green-rank talents, with only a few possessing blue-rank or purple-rank talents. Taleos is the only one with a gold-rank talent.'
'To think that Restara has a Transcendent-rank talent... I wonder which is stronger: Transcendent-rank or Origin-rank?'