Neply was in deep concentration as fire blossomed around him. It raged but in a delicate way that was more calm than when he had first used it.
"Your control is getting better but you still aren't at the level of master. I think you'll get there in a few weeks, impressive," Aria slowly clapped behind him.
"Thanks for watching me and making sure I don't accidentally kill myself," Neply laughed lowly. He messed up his control beyond belief.
"I didn't do it for myself. I did it for your teacher," Aria mumbled.
"Yeah, I saw the battle," Neply sighed. He had lost and gained a teacher in such a short time but at least she left him with a good position instead of being a lowly soldier.
Because Celine had recognized him as her student, Neply was immediately given privileges he wouldn't have obtained otherwise.
"Ahem, I have some tasks for you," Aria broke his thoughts. "I will send somebody over and you will try to explain whatever you know of human technology. Celine was too lazy to tell us but you don't have a choice."
It was only natural. The Valerian Kingdom needed to improve against their enemies because humanity had magic so they needed to learn technology as quickly as possible.
…
Aria climbed a large mountain during a stormy night. She was tired, wishing to sleep but dedicated to reach the peak.
When she arrived at the peak, she took a meditative stance and the environment hummed around her. She began to feel the lightning around her and how the storm raged on. To her, it was calming.
Strengthing one's affinity was the easiest way to gain stable magic power. Aria was born with affinity to lightning, so her lightning affinity needed to be strengthened under the relentless storms of a rainy night.
Suddenly, Aria found a presence close to her. She saw her father appear out of nowhere.
"You couldn't let me leave without spying on me?" She facepalmed at how protective her father was. He had followed her far from his kingdom, what if they suffered an attack?
"So you don't want to learn how to defeat Gods?" Arthur huffed. If he wanted to see his daughter, then he had all the right to even if he had to abandon his kingdom.
Aria quickly went silent and stared at him with expectant eyes. She couldnt wait to hear his response.
"What a needy daughter," he began to explain the methods he knew for mortals to rival Gods.
"There are three mortal ways to match Godly Powers: Divine Magics, Divine Vitality, and Divine Technologies. For you, it is only possible to reach Divine Magic level so I'll talk about that."
"The difference between magic and divinity is that divinity is power that comes from within while magic is power that comes from the universe. So, in order to make magic divine, you must take the power the universe has given you and bring it within."
"It sounds complicated but it's simple, really. Instead of strengthening your affinity to lightning, instead become lightning yourself. Change your personality to understand lightning. Change your perspective to match lightning. Literally become lightning. Only then can you use magic like it is a form of divinity. This is the Divine Magic level, using magic like it is divinity."
Aria looked confused slightly. "What's the difference between regular magic and Divine Magic? I don't understand?"
"Divine Powers come from a person's personality. I want to protect my kingdom so my powers only protect my kingdom. Celine's innate adaptability and life experiences caused her to want and have 'change' which is her power."
"Making your personality match your magic will let it become as close to an actual God as possible. You will be using magic as if it was divinity and it is more effective than simply attuning to your affinity."
Arthur let out an exasperated sigh after explaining so much. He originally didn't want to tell Aria because this method changes her personality. She becomes strong at the price of changing what she believes but Celine's imprisonment left him no choice.
"Let's go home now, my child."
…
The door to Aria's room closed and it likely wasn't going to open again for a long time. She was going to isolate herself and try to gain Divine Magic but Arthur only felt dejected.
"It never goes good when she learns this magic." He put it to the side for now. New life, new changes. Maybe something would be different this time.
He was about to teleport and vanish away to another place but a firm hand was unexpectedly placed on his shoulders.
Ken looked at him with expectant eyes. "The methods to beat Gods, you taught her that, right? Teach me too."
Just as he was about to refuse, Arthur remembered the position Valeria was in. He had a few Gods hiding in case of a surprise attack but his overall force was reduced due to the loss of Celine and magic masters. Having one strong ally couldn't hurt.
"I don't know how to obtain it but I've seen it in the past," he began. "Divine Vitality is a rare phenomenon and only a few known people can use such a skill in the future. The first person who uses this ability and who always masters this technique first is you, Ken Volatir."
"In the past, we've fought because of your demonic side. Sometimes you ally with your father and Valeria can't stand demonkind so I've had a fair share of scuffles with you. This let me understand what Divine Vitality is."
Arthur took a deep breath and began to explain. In some other lifetimes, he would've never thought of this but Ken Volatir was a coinflip when he chose allies. This time, he chose Valeria and Arthur wouldn't let him down. He's seen Ken's strength and unmatchable physical talent.
"Sometimes you developed this weird thing in the future. The only limit of your current body is that your vitality takes too long to recover or strengthen. If you could somehow increase the rate at which you gained vitality, your strength would be unimaginable."
"All I know is that you somehow invent a method that lets you gain an incredible amount of vitality in some futures. I've seen you shatter mountains with a single strike and break divinity with your bare hands. That's how you can kill a God."
Ken relished in what Arthur describe and a jubilant smile smeared across his face. "I'll start making the vitality growing method, or as you call it, the Divine Vitality meant to kill gods."
Ken whizzed away with a hearty laugh at what he knew he was going to accomplish. His jubilantly bright hair catching the attention of everyone as he left confidently.
"Divine Hostages are scary," Arthur mumbled. There was a reason why some Gods wouldn't let Ken become a God and Arthur hoped it would turn out good for him at least.