That was not an answer I had expected, but it was better to know her true intention rather than assume she was doing it because I was a good person. I knew countless people better than me.
She walked over to me, wrapped her hands around my neck, and whispered in my ear, "But I also liked how you sacrificed your life to save your sweetheart."
"That's because I wanted to die," I said.
"Lying is useless against me," she whispered as her hands roamed around my chest.
I used my right to remain silent and diverted the conversation. "Who are you?"
"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself sooner," she said as she walked in front of me. "I am Althaea, though you may also know me as the Goddess of Fate ."
Just as I had expected, she was a goddess and also the one our whole world worships. It was said that the ancestors of the Dracos Royal Family were descendants of the Goddess of Fate.
"That is a wrong assumption, as I am still a pure maiden. However, I did modify their genes a little," she said.
"What do you really want from me?" I looked directly at her and asked.
"There are seven gods; you only know me from your planet," she began, walking back to her chair and sitting down. "Some of us govern our own planets, while others prefer to stay out of human conflicts and simply rest. A few play with the lives of humans, considering them 'lesser creatures'. All of us were born with the blessing of the universe, allowing us to learn two concepts. However, there were others born with the blessing who couldn't grasp even a fraction of the concepts and were turned to dust over time—except for the seven of us."
I waited as she continued, "Just because you were born with the blessing doesn't mean you can become one of us. You could very well die trying to achieve it. We are one with the concepts we embody, and no one can take that away from us. If one of us dies, the concept he/she embodies will cease to exist forever. Rheagar, however, attacked one of us in a failed attempt to devour her concepts and was sealed. But the seal won't hold him for long, and when he returns, he will have three more gods to work with. They believe in an all-out battle, where the last one standing will control all the concepts. They are simply bored living for so long without any purpose."
"Is there a reason why each of you can only control two concepts? Can't you just learn more?" I asked.
"That's impossible, as there are only sixteen main concepts," she replied with a smile. "Only two remain, but none of us could learn them. As you master one concept, it becomes harder to learn the second. As for a third? None of us have achieved that."
"So you want me to become one of you so we can even the battlefield?" I asked.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"What if I refuse?" I pressed, testing to see if she would try to force me.
"Then we part ways here. You can go live your life as you wish, and I'll send you directly to your family," she said.
I looked at her, trying to find any hint of falsehood or deception in her words. After a long moment of silence, I sighed. "Alright, fine. But how do I go about learning these concepts you speak of?"
She smiled at me and said, "I have no idea. Each of us has a different experience when it comes to learning our concepts. I'm not saying you should abandon your cultivation and magic right now because it will take time to learn them. In the meantime, you can't just hope you'll be safe from harm or count on me to protect you. I'm saying that you should speed up your cultivation and magic. You've been slacking, Ryan. You don't want your family to treat you differently, so you purposely slow down, thinking that you might give your sister an inferiority complex. However, without strength, you can't protect them. And trust me, if you achieve greatness, she'll be the happiest."
I was left wondering if she had been spying on me all this time.
"Not all the time, but I've seen almost everything," she said with a mischievous smile.
I was left wondering if she saw what me and my sisters were doing.
"Yes," she said, just as I had suspected, she saw everything.
"As for learning about concepts, I'll tell you their names, and you should try to learn them. You will fail countless times, but never give up," she said.
"What are the concepts that you embody?" I asked, fairly certain that one of them was 'Fate' and guessing the second might be related to life, reincarnation, or something similar.
"Nope, my second concept isn't related to any of those," she replied, smiling as if she had read my thoughts. "I just tweaked your fate a little bit to send your soul 'accidentally' into an empty vessel. The Ryan that was supposed to be born was without a soul, destined to be stillborn. So you don't need to worry about stealing someone else's place in their family."
I felt a wave of relief wash over me, happy to know that I wasn't inhabiting someone else's body.
"The innate ability we receive when we turn 16—do you know why we get that?" I asked, knowing she was far more knowledgeable than anyone on the planet.
"Well, that is actually my doing," she replied with a gentle smile. "The abilities you all receive are my blessing to everyone living on my planet."
Her words stunned me. This was the first time I truly grasped how powerful she was. I'd heard of people in the past wielding absurd abilities, like 'Erase,' which lets the user erase anyone they touch. And now you're telling me she's the one bestowing these abilities? That also means she can use those abilities herself.
I wasn't going to ask her why she grants abilities to everyone, even to those who will use them to spread chaos, pain, and suffering. After all, she can clearly see who will turn to evil in the future. And sure enough, she read my thoughts but remained silent.