Listening to the prayers around him, Syd sensed a faint, almost imperceptible connection.
Following this connection, he could even perceive what the person praying looked like, what their surroundings were like, as if he were physically there, with a 360-degree god-like perspective.
Syd also felt that through this connection, he could exert divine power. If he made a slight manifestation before the believer, their faith would undoubtedly increase significantly, leading to a greater influx of belief power and a faster upgrade of his Divine Essence.
Such benefits were tempting, and if possible, he wouldn't mind manifesting a bit when he had the time and inclination.
Unfortunately...
Hearing one of the prayers asking for the restoration of sight...
Syd twitched his lips, realizing he was not a wish-granting machine. With his current abilities, he couldn't possibly restore sight—how could he help...
Just then, he paused in thought.
"Wait a minute. The situation might vary. If it's a simple case of sight restoration, I might still manage?"
"For instance, light energy has a basic restorative effect. Although it's not as miraculous as Wolverine's healing factor, it can still heal minor wounds."
"If the person's vision loss is due to acquired injuries rather than congenital defects..."
Syd hesitated.
If it was a situation like that, he might...
With curiosity and a spirit of experimentation, he decided to follow the mysterious connection and examine the most devout believer praying for the restoration of sight.
In the next moment, he perceived a scene.
In a dim, rundown yet very tidy room, a middle-aged woman in her forties, dressed in blue with golden hair, was earnestly kneeling and praying with her hands clasped together.
Syd focused on her closed eyes.
"What's wrong with her eyes?"
He wondered.
As time passed, he gradually understood the situation.
Through Syd's powerful mental and spiritual abilities, as the middle-aged woman, holding a blind cane, walked out of the dark room and passed through some streets, he keenly heard the discussions of some neighbors and passersby.
"Poor Audrey, she's over forty and still blind."
"I say, it's better this way. She's a mutant, and if it wasn't for her exposure at the hospital, I wouldn't have known she's a mutant freak!"
"Even so, Audrey didn't do anything wrong. Isn't it a bit harsh to say this?"
"What's wrong? Mutants are monsters and freaks. Just because Audrey seems fine now doesn't mean she won't go out of control someday, and then we'll all be in trouble!"
"Really?"
After listening to some of the neighbors' and passersby's discussions, Syd roughly pieced together the situation.
Audrey, the middle-aged woman, had once been a nurse at a nearby hospital. During a patient's critical condition, she accidentally exposed her mutant abilities.
Her mutant ability allowed her eyes to function like a microscope, adjusting the viewing distance to see bacteria and other things, and even provided rudimentary x-ray vision to view inside a patient's body.
In short, it was a useful ability for medicine. Although she helped the patient see the cause of the illness and facilitated a quick rescue, she was still dismissed by the hospital afterward. The patient she saved didn't thank her, leaving her unemployed.
Eventually, some extremists who hated mutants learned about her situation. One day, while Audrey was asleep, they cruelly blinded her with a knife in their rage.
Afterward, when the perpetrator was caught, he smugly claimed it was to eliminate a threat.
The perpetrator was soon released on bail, possibly due to Audrey's mutant status, having paid some money.
With her eyesight gone, Audrey's already miserable life became even worse. If it weren't for finding discarded food while scavenging and occasional help from her son, she might have died in the rundown small house.
As for why she prayed to him, through the power of the Mind Scepter and his own mental and spiritual abilities, Syd delved into some of her memories and figured out the situation.
Since the news of the New York battle spread worldwide, Thor's information as an Avengers member also became known far and wide.
Audrey, who had an interest in Norse mythology, discovered that Thor was real, so she naturally believed that other Norse gods, like Balder, must also exist.
Thus, she prayed to the rumored god of light, Balder, hoping to restore her sight.
Realizing all this, Syd's lips twitched.
He wanted to say that just because he wielded light didn't mean he could restore her sight or bring light to her.
"Though, if my Divine Word were at Level 5, maybe I could indeed help her see things, even if her eyes were problematic…"
"After all, it's well known that sight depends on light. This power might actually be within my control…"
Syd pondered.
Seeing things requires light, and light makes the retinal photoreceptors generate visual information, which travels through the optic nerve to the brain to form images. Without light, photoreceptors are useless, and objects remain invisible.
Different colors are due to varying wavelengths of light.
If he could slightly alter the wavelength of light, the person might become colorblind...
"Perhaps I could even deprive enemies of their sight?"
"Or make their vision distorted, seeing chaotic and incorrect scenes…"
Syd considered with growing excitement, realizing that such feats were quite possible.
However, his control over light might still be insufficient to achieve these effects perfectly.
"Anyway, I'll try it later. For now, let's focus on this believer."
Syd redirected his attention back to Audrey.
As the sun began to set, Audrey, having finished scavenging for food she could find by touch and smell, trudged home.
When she sat down in front of her food and instinctively clasped her hands in prayer once more in despair, Syd felt a pang of determination and began his attempt.
(End of Chapter)