Checking his stats on the god interface, Barbatos felt quite satisfied.
"Those guys in the 69 Class Chat Group have already been bragging about their progress, but none of them have a Third-Order believer yet."
Barbatos shook his head. "Well, I shouldn't compare myself to them. Even on Terra, Restara and I were already way ahead. I should just check on Restara's progress and see if she's become stronger than me."
"Although I'm confident in my Origin-rank talents, I'm still not sure how fast Restara's growth rate is with her Transcendent-rank divine talent."
"But on the bright side, only a year has passed, and as a demigod, I have a virtually infinite lifespan. I've never heard of demigods dying of natural causes."
"If I had a hundred years, I might be able to become a True God or even a Median True God."
Since he was still in the early phase of this so-called "game of life," Barbatos could only rely on his Origin-rank Hundredfold Increase talent.
As for his second Origin-rank divine talent, Barbatos felt it wasn't very powerful in the early game, especially with his limited number of believers.
If he had started with ten thousand believers like Restara, the Divine Faith Nexus talent would have been very useful. At least then, he could use the beliefs and faith of his followers to transform into his own power.
"Sigh, I feel like I'm being too hasty. I know haste makes waste, but it's hard to stay calm and wait for time to pass when it takes so long for my believers to increase their numbers."
"From the information shared by other gods in the god forum, aside from the reproduction card, a demigod can also use strands of divine energy to accelerate time within their territory."
"However, not all gods choose to do that since it's very expensive. And not all gods are as impatient as I am. Most gods have infinite lifespans, so spending a lot of money to accelerate time when they could just wait is seen as wasteful."
Barbatos knew he needed to balance his impatience with the reality of his situation. While his talents were powerful, they required a lot of divine energy and a steady increase in his followers to fully utilize their potential.
His Hundredfold Increase talent required resources, while his Divine Faith Nexus talent required both divine energy and believers, which made Barbatos feel troubled.
"Furthermore, I've become the first-generation God of Free Wind, and my comprehension of my divinity has increased. I could easily advance to a Two-Turn Demigod, even a Three-Turn Demigod, but who said I had to be poor?"
"Becoming stronger from Bronze Demigod to Silver Demigod doesn't require divinity comprehension, just divine energy resources. Unfortunately, that's what I lack the most."
"And as a first-generation god with powerful divinity, the divine energy I need is far greater than the average demigod. I need at least three times more than the average consumption from One-Turn to Two-Turn."
Thinking about this, Barbatos realized just how poor he was.
He understood that this was the price he paid for not having a mentor, unlike his classmates who had awakened gold-rank and purple-rank talents.
His classmate, the God of Novel Writing Taleos, had a Median True God as his mentor. Taleos often bragged in the Class 69 Chat Group about the abundant resources he received from his mentor.
The resources that a Median True God possessed were indeed vast. Most Median True Gods were already hundreds of thousands of years old, and some were even a million years old before they reached that rank.
In the Endless Void, talent alone wasn't enough; resources, luck, and opportunity were equally important.
There were resources in the Endless Void said to increase the rank of a divine talent as well as the talent of a god. Although Barbatos didn't know their specific names since the information on the god forum was incomplete, he learned they came in the form of an apple.
It was said that this apple could give someone with no talent the chance to become a Main God. Those who were already talented could further increase their chances.
Barbatos wondered if he could use his Hundredfold Increase talent on such a powerful resource; he would reap immense benefits.
"Sigh, I still lack divine energy. I'm a weak One-Turn Demigod, so even if I want to expand my territory and fight other demigods, I might die if my neighbor in the Eternal Continent is a Silver Demigod or, worse, a Gold Demigod."
Barbatos muttered, "I have nothing else to do and can't procure any divine energy unless I get a job in the Divine God City. But I don't want to be a waiter or a janitor, so I'll just be patient and wait."
"For now, let's just meet Restara as usual, cook for her, and feed her with my divine cooking."
Barbatos sighed as he headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch for Restara. "It's quite stressful to have a powerful divine talent but, due to my poverty, I can't make full use of it. It's even worse knowing that I'm currently an insignificant ant in the vast expanse of the Endless Void. Many gods could easily defeat me, and that's such an uncomfortable feeling."
"Only spending time with Restara can heal my heart and restore my mental health."
…
After Barbatos finished preparing lunch for Restara, he left his villa and headed to hers.
The commotion caused by the sacrifice of his God of Wind godhead had been contained within his villa. Because of that, none of the gods in the Divine God City, not even his neighbors, were aware of it.
As usual, Restara didn't respond to his knocking but opened the door for him.
A god's villa was their domain within the Divine God City, giving them a home court advantage. Furthermore, fighting was not allowed within the Divine God City, and the powers of gods were drastically reduced there.
As soon as Barbatos stepped onto Restara's property, she was aware of his presence and allowed him entry. If it had been a malicious god, Restara couldn't have killed him due to the rules of the Divine God City, but crippling him wouldn't have been a problem.
Aside from gods with good relationships, no one would enter another god's villa, as it was tantamount to entering a tiger's den. The laws of the Divine God City favored the villa's owner.
Barbatos entered Restara's villa and proceeded to her room. As usual, he was greeted by her beautiful yet lazy appearance.
Restara lay on the bed lazily while Barbatos fed her the lunch he had prepared.
After they finished, Restara looked at Barbatos and asked, "You became a first-generation god? Your divinity is no longer that of a God of Wind."