Strongest Among the Heavens

Humans were lousy and imperfect creatures. Even in the afterlife, they came to bars in order to drown out their despair and weakness. They drank and sang and had as much fun as they could. Vulnerabilities appeared in their expressions and characters, and the Sapphire Order were taking advantage of that. They were bribing and recruiting and giving promises to these drunk players.

They reminded Dasha of the Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on his family's door. Persistent didn't describe them, they were relentless. Opening the door and getting the Bible shoved in his young face was a core memory he would never forget. The Saintess had been subtly doing the same with him. She only left because she realized she couldn't convert. That was what he suspected anyway. There was no way she was talking to these drunk idiots out of the kindness of her heart. No way. Even Saints weren't that patient.

Regardless, Dasha learned two key things: one, that after Gate 50, the full force of the guilds would swing into the Heavenly Games. Currently, they were nothing more than advisors but once that threshold passed Dasha would be facing players with centuries of experience; two, that understanding magic was vital to a player's growth and that the Game System alone wouldn't propel him to great heights.

And there was a third, albeit it was to be expected. There was deep rooted politics in the Heavenly Games. Why was a Christian Saint with the agnostic Sapphire Order and not the devout Templars? Dasha smelled a story there.

'Open contracts.'

A long list appeared, albeit filled with only two titles:

[ Xavier — Blood Pact ]

[ Sapphire Order — Geas of Service ]

Xavier wasn't a friend but he could still message him and transfer points as their contract prescribed. So far, he had received nothing from him.

[ > Dasha: Progress? ]

Dasha stayed in the bar and waited for a response. His ears were open to eavesdropping. He heard whispers of the player that killed the Slime King. He also heard mutters of three soldiers that fought like no others—whose modern training gave them an edge in combat and were described as cold-blooded killers.

There seemed to be a common theme, however. The Heavenly Games this time around seemed to spawn unbelievable players.

[ > Xavier: I'm in the process of acquiring 2 ingots. I hope that will suffice. ]

[ > Dasha: For now. ]

He closed the chat box. Even if he acquired all the materials, he needed a phenomenal blacksmith to forge it. A dwarf of the highest level or its equivalent. The cost for an individual of that calibre would also be absurdly high. Luckily for Dasha, he was loaded with points.

He could afford his own teacher, there was no question about that. 'However, before I needlessly spend points, I should check the library. It might already have what I'm searching for.'

Leaving the bar incurred a strange sensation at the back of his neck. He ignored it…for now.

***

The thirteenth floor of the House of Wisdom symbolized the section for mana and energy-related works. Brigid greeted him politely and gave him direction. He thanked her with a silent nod. The quiet ambience was a pleasant contrast to the rowdy Endless Bar. The elevator music too. Jazz was nice.

Chakra, qi, prana, lung, ka, num, baraka. So many terms, so many similarities, yet distinct from one another. He soon came to discover that getting an Earthly perspective was useless. He needed a player. He needed a piece of work that described a way for players to manipulate their inner energies.

From his understanding, although the energy inside a person was the same, the method of wielding it was different. For example, chakra focused on energy points throughout the body like a wheel. Ki (or qi) was a force reliant on a flow—on breathing, cultivating, and balancing. The applications were distinct too. Chakra's purpose was not violent, but rather it was to find inner peace.

It was interesting. Interesting, but not useful, hence why he averted his attention to journals; to the experiences of players who had attained actual combat prowess through mastery of their inner energy.

Thus, Dasha met Giovanni Bruno. He participated in the very first Heavenly Games and wrote down his experiences in a messy journal. The writing was ancient and nothing like modern Italian linguistics. It was a mix of old Latin and the Tuscan dialect before it got standardised. A colleague of his at university once made him edit a thesis on the transitional period and its effects on Italy's administration. Although aware of the language shift, he would not have been able to read if not for Martanda's Boon. Dasha could read and grasp the essence of the journal as if he himself had written it.

Giovanni explained his theory on how humans from long ago were born to manipulate natural energies. However, with the advent of technology and the lessening presence of the gods, humans slowly forgot what they were truly capable of. Every culture started to build nations reliant on quantity rather than quality. In his journal, Giovanni attempted to pinpoint exactly when that shift happened. The Italian male concluded that the change occurred sometime before Jesus' birth.

A human's potential flow of their inner energy was dependent on their training and ancestry. For instance, Egyptians channelled their ka into sekhem, and the pathways were structured in such a way that it bolstered magical rituals. Nobles such as pharoahs were often born with a semblance of a pathway without training.

Dasha, though hailing from Singapore, was ethnically a mix of Chinese and Malaysian. He checked his family tree for a school project and he could say for certain it was nothing special. He wasn't a secret, long-forgotten descendent of a Chinese Emperor. His family were as ordinary as they came.

Giovanni's theories were incomplete and did not address all his questions, but Dasha could fill in the blanks.

An hour later, he closed the journal and tilted his head up. Elbows on the table, he began thinking. He suspected that children of mixed descent such as himself were also a mix in regards to their powers. A canvas with several pathways.

Dasha got what he needed and returned the book. He understood what he was required to evolve his body. He saw the diagrams. He saw his own potential.

"Goodbye and take care, my friend."

He sent Brigid a firm nod. Once again, he appreciated her assistance. Between everyone he had met here, she was the most useful.