I stood in front of the white granite stairs, first in a line of over a hundred manaless. As we waited for everyone to get in place and the crowd to settle down, I saw Priest Imar smiling at us and Priestess Cheandra winked at me playfully.

When all was ready and the sun’s rays were almost upon the small pedestal in the middle of the platform, Priestess Cheandra started to chant the summoning ritual. At the second turn of the incantation, Priest Imar joined her.

During the third turn, some of the spectators also began to chant softly.

I had no idea that the crowd would join in, and judging by the faces beside me, neither had anyone else in the long line of teenagers and kids. By the eighth turn of the chant, almost everyone had joined in. Then the light rays moved abruptly and locked in on the middle of the platform.

All of a sudden, everything fell silent. The priests made their way to the other end of the platform and a deafening invisible bell rung once, twice…

The third ring was so loud I felt its aftershock in my chest. What few clouds there were in the sky, raced away and a grand pillar of light shone from above onto the platform.

The light was brighter than the sun, and even though it went as far as the eye could see, I perceived it moving toward us. Smaller pillars of light appeared on the back side of the platform. One, two… five of them.

The first thick pillar of light was still shining when the smaller ones began to dim, revealing what looked like humans.

But they were not humans. Humans feel pain and time and fear and joy and sadness. These were the archangels that accompanied The Divine, and their faces carried no expression and bore no mark which would signify they ever had carried one.

It was as if they were born a minute ago but had also lived for thousands of years. They had no worries or wrinkles, but their yellow eyes showed a tremendous amount of depth and wisdom. Their golden skin meant they shone like statues under the sun and even though the gentle breeze moved their shining long white hair, their white robes stood perfectly still.

Name : Haimalun

Race : Archangel of The Divine

Class : Doomsday Proclaimer

Level : ??

It took a lot from me to glance at one of the archangels but absorbing their information filled me with a kind of elation and awe I had not felt ever again. Before I was able to completely comprehend what I had just seen of the first archangel, I turned my eyes to the one next to him.

Name : Fenirith

Race : Archangel of The Divine

Class : Protection of Just

Level : ??

I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Their eerie grace and tranquility was something deserving a thousand songs, their beauty, a testament to the power of The Divine. I wanted to look at more of them, soak in their divine beauty but was disrupted.

One by one, the archangels broke their peaceful facades and began screaming in high-pitched voices, so loud that most of us had to move our hands to our ears. Seconds later, the central pillar of light started dimming and the screams were replaced by an ever increasing bass sound. My chest and guts were vibrating so hard I thought I would faint.

And then, as suddenly as the sounds had started, they all stopped. The light, the noise. All of us were filled with emotion and humility. Moments passed before we realized that we were staring at the ground, having dropped down to our knees. Slowly, I raised my eyes toward the center of the platform.

A golden body twice as tall as a human was now before us, as if standing in the middle of all existence. It was naked but neither male nor female. It was the purest embodiment of wisdom and power. It had no hair at all, and Its eyes shone white. It was The Divine. The beginning and the end of everything. And It slowly turned its head to face me.

Name : The Divine

Race : The Ones Before Time

Class : Greater Deity

Level : ??

I felt Its voice in me. No, not quite a voice, but a surge of emotions that my mind perceived as words, or their meanings. It was inviting me.

I sensed my heartbeat become faster as all of these feelings ran through me. I put one foot in front of the other and slowly made my way up the stairs. The archangels were looking at me, but it was as if they were seeing through me.

Forcing myself to walk toward the small pillar in front of The Divine, I tried to control my self. There lay the dagger. As I moved closer, I got a better look at The Divine’s stare.

Its eyes had no pupils at all. They were instead filled with a bright white light. Even the shortest of glances filled me with humility and I immediately dropped my gaze to the ground again. New emotions surged through me.

I was invited to pick up the dagger and commune with It. Hands shaking, I grabbed the ceremonial weapon.

Item : Dagger of Divine Liturgy

Type : Magic Item - Dagger

Durability : 75000000/75000000

Grade : S Grade

Weight : 40st.

Description : Communicating with greater deities can be extremely taxing and damaging to mortals. For this reason, certain magic items that enable two-way communication that would not result in madness or death were created. This dagger allows for communicating with The Divine and the flow of power in the form of divine mana from the deity to Its worshipper.

Its handle was made of a matte black material that was cold and smooth to the touch, while the blade itself was golden and spiraling. Gathering all my effort and courage, I stabbed It.

It spoke with me, or rather to me. It told me of worlds blazing with fire and others enveloped in perpetual darkness. Of gods and magic, and of eons long gone. It examined the entirety of my existence.

My fears and my hopes, my regrets and my aspirations were laid bare for It to see. I was unable to deny It anything, but I wouldn’t have, even if I could. I gave It my all. And in exchange for my offerings, I was gifted with mana.

It flowed from The Divine, through the dagger, to me. I had heard many stories about people who see their life in pictures when they think they are about to die. I experienced something similar, though I was not dying but rather being born again. And I saw not my past life, but all the possibilities that The Divine’s gift would create for me. A life of happiness, prosperity, and safety.

The muscles of my legs became tense as if I was about to leap into action, to start all of the things I could do with my new powers. I felt that I had a million tasks to carry, and was excited to start this journey.

Soon after, I felt The Divine’s gaze move away from me and I managed to raise my eyes from the ground once more. It was now looking over at Kai who next in line. My hand was resting on the hilt of the dagger, which was back on the pedestal even though I did not remember pulling it back or moving my hand there.

When my mind came back to its former state, I had already crossed to the other side of the platform, past all of the archangels and I was in the embrace of the archpriestess. I could feel an immense amount of mana and even though I could not concentrate enough to cast mana gauge, I could tell that my reserves were significant. Or perhaps that was just the thrill that everyone felt the first time they had mana in them.

Priestess Cheandra used a white handkerchief to wipe away the tears that were still running from my eyes and turned me toward the stairs that Kai was now climbing. As my eyes became able to focus again and my tears stopped flowing, all memories of my conversation with The Divine became a blur.

It was not a mortal’s place to hold such knowledge, I realized. We would only get a glimpse and hold a blurry memory of its magnitude.

I was filled with joy as I saw Kai walking toward The Divine, smiling broadly. He reached the pedestal, picked up the dagger, raised his hand as high as he could and stabbed It just as I had done.

This time The Divine flinched and It made a sound. I didn’t recall the same thing happening just moments before, but, as in my case, I could soon see the mana flow from The Divine through the dagger and back to its wielder. This whole procedure had lasted only a few seconds for me, and judging by the look the Archpriestess had given me after the fact, I must have indeed accumulated an extraordinary amount of mana.

Something was different with Kai though.

The bluish-white light of the mana being drawn from The Divine was far brighter. It was so bright, in fact, that many people had to cover their eyes. I looked at the Archpriest and could see immediately from his expression that this was something he had never seen, and Kai’s communion with The Divine went on much longer than it had in my case.

It seems that they have a lot to talk about, I thought. Suddenly, a gasp spread through the audience like a wave. Kai was still drawing mana but The Divine had stumbled and put Its hand on the small pillar, as though It was feeling faint. It looked as if It was trying to steady Itself.

Something was terribly wrong.