"I can assure you beyond all reasonable doubts that every word I've just uttered is the truth," Aegis of the Arctic Deity replied, "Besides, I have no reason to lie, so there's no reason for me to hide the truth."
Aerialia, however, continued to look at the large pair of golden eyes with varying emotions etched on her face.
"What do you think of your new apostles, goddess Aerialia?" Aegis of the Arctic Deity said immediately after noticing that Aerialia was about to ask another question.
Aerialia furrowed her brows with a frown as she turned her gaze to look at the unconscious Crystalforge Clan's warriors behind. She withdrew her gaze back forward and shook her head at Aegis of the Arctic Deity, "I never sought this. Besides, dost thou not know that 'tis against the rules to employ another god's blood to create an illegitimate apostle?"
"Oh, but the thought that the rule was no longer in place considering the number of illegitimate apostles used during the 'Great War'," Aegis of the Arctic Deity responded.
"That was during the 'Great War,' so it was normal that a few rules were broken," Aerialia replied, her lips twitching in irritation as she thought about the countless rules that had been broken during the 'Great War.'
But she had also broken a few rules herself to secure a stellar gate for her and her children, so who was she to argue?
Meanwhile, Orion's ears couldn't help but twitch uncontrollably.
Apostles?
What were they? When did Aerialia get an apostle?
Orion's mind raced with many questions as he pondered how Aerialia could have acquired an apostle when she was with them throughout this time and what it entailed.
Seeing Orion's thoughtful expression, Aegis of the Arctic Deity focused his attention on him.
"Do you remember the 'Divine blood' you collected during the trial?" he asked.
"Yes," Orion responded.
He hadn't forgotten about it and was only waiting for Aegis of the Arctic Deity to finish explaining what he knew about Naka so that he could explain why he was sent off the mountain and what had happened to the 'Divine blood'.
"Alright. Since you might not be able to understand, I should explain it first. You see, a god rarely grants a mortal their 'Divine blood' as it contains their 'Divine essence', and in such cases that they do, such a mortal will be granted the privilege of becoming their apostle. As for what they do, they are given a small set of their god's abilities to use. However, in return, they would provide eternal servitude and loyalty to their god and are a god's hands and limbs willing to carry out whichever task that is given to them by their god."
"Of course, there is still a choice to break free; however, as a mortal, breaking a promise made with a god is the worst thing one could do, and extracting the 'Divine blood' from the individual is something that even I, in my current form, would find difficult to do. So, I wanted to wait and hear your decision on whether you want to merge with the 'Divine blood' or not," Aegis of the Arctic Deity replied.
Orion's face suddenly folded up into a frown. "So you mean…"
"Yes, once you become a divine apostle, there is no going back. And although there are some limitations, considering that you will be granted access to the divine abilities of a god, I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages."
Orion thought deeply at Aegis of the Arctic Deity's words before redirecting his attention back to the large pair of golden eyes. "Are there any other reasons why you waited for my decision regarding the 'Divine blood'?" he asked.
Although he was relieved after hearing Aegis of the Arctic Deity's explanation of why he hadn't merged the 'Divine blood' with his body after the trial was over, he wanted to know if there were any other reasons that made Aegis of the Arctic Deity consciously hesitate about doing such a thing.
"There is another reason," Aegis of the Arctic Deity admitted. "It's related to the Vylkr energy currently stored in you," he said, briefly focusing his attention on the rest of the warriors that had followed from the village. "Or should I say all of you? There are different kinds of energy in this world, and each represents a race's strength, so listen carefully as I explain them all," Aegis of the Arctic Deity said, focusing his gaze back on Orion.
Orion nodded and listened as Aegis of the Arctic Deity explained.
The more he explained, the more Orion couldn't help but be stunned and suddenly realized why the Prismerions seemed strong but actually appeared weak.
According to Aegis of the Arctic Deity, there are several types of energy, with the most paramount being the 'Primordial energy' and 'Divine energy' exclusively wielded by the True gods, gods, or any entities associated with the divine. Then there was 'Magical energy', from which other energies were derived, like 'Celestial energy'—a strength drawn from the stars and other celestial bodies. There was 'Dragonic energy', which he had already guessed which kind of race harnessed it before Aegis of the Arctic Deity had even mentioned dragon kins.
Another type was 'Elemental energy', drawn from classical elements like water, fire, earth, and air. Some beings, like golems and other races, were purely elemental. Additionally, there was 'Nature energy', drawn from the natural world, which was what Anara and the tree nymphs used.
The higher the rank of energy of a race, the stronger they are, and the less effort they would have to put in to become stronger than others at a lower rank.
In other words, it was simply a case of quality over quantity.
According to what Aegis of the Arctic Deity had also said, it wasn't that the energies were less flexible than others, but instead, the potency of their uses was much more powerful.
