Chapter 17: Divine View

[Let this system show you the truth]

The mechanical voice of the system rung and Varian felt his consciousness being pulled... everything went blank.

When his consciousness returned, Varian "saw" a dark space. However, he could not feel his body. He just felt being present. He struggled to move and finally accepted that he was dragged here with only his mind.

Then he observed the space. In was completely dark. But in the distance, there was a glow. It was sometimes red, sometimes blue, and sometimes yellow.

He focused on the glow and soon, his view "zoomed in".

The light got clearer, and he saw the glowing structure.

Three smooth surfaces, like in a prism were connected to each other at 60 degrees. Each surface glowed with its own distinct color. Yellow, Red and Blue.

Varian felt like he was watching an immersive movie.

He didn't exist in this place yet he could see it. He could zoom in and out, watch it in 3D. He could control how he viewed this space without interacting with it.

'Where am I?' He wondered and noticed something.

Varian focused on the prism surfaces and without him willing it, the view "rotated".

In front of him was the red surface. It was inclined upward, like a mountain's slope. He couldn't see the end of the surface. It was like an uphill road.

It was incredibly smooth and gave off a dazzling red lustre. The beautiful and mysterious red road stretched to infinity.

In the dark space, this red glass road, along with the blue and yellow roads was like a painting of gods. He was enthralled by the surreal beauty.

'This is... Divine.' Varian sighed in amazement or would've, had he been in a physical form.

[Indeed. This is the Divine Path after all.]

The system's voice pulled him out of his stupor, and Varian was shocked hearing the system's words.

'This is Divine Path? Isn't it just a figurative name for the existing power system? Do real Divine Paths actually exist?'

[What is real? What isn't?

The space... the location you are in now exists and doesn't.

It cannot be accessed physically, dimensionally or mentally.

It doesn't exist in Space or Time. It is the microcosm of the Divine Paths.]

Varian felt baffled by the System's explanation. But at the same time, he felt he chanced upon something important.

Keeping his speculation in mind, he observed the red road. This time, he noticed it was divided into three lanes of equal width.

On the leftmost lane was a small white sphere. There was also a black line at some distance from the white sphere.

The white sphere was exactly in between the start of the road and the line — it was halfway through.

Suddenly, it clicked to him.

'So the lane in Red Road is the Body Path? That white sphere represents how much I've progressed in my Body Path? I'm now half through Level 1.'

Varian remembered his progress in Body Path Level 1 was 50/100. Exactly half.

[You're right. The lane in which that white sphere is on is the Body Path. It covered half of Level 1. The black line is the peak of Level 1 and crossing it, you step into level 2]

Varian nodded mentally and carefully observed the three lanes on the Red Road.

He tried to move forward on the road and into Level 2. But unlike before, the view didn't "zoom in" or "move forward", his view was limited to the Level 1 section of the lanes. He couldn't see what was beyond the line.

He understood that he couldn't access the levels he didn't reach.

Then Varian zoomed out and saw the prism once again. He "focused" on the Blue surface and expected it to zoom in.

To his disappointment, nothing happened. Then he focused on the Red surface and he was back on the Red Road.

It was the same conclusion.

'I know now.' He said, looking at the three lanes of the Red Road 'The Red Road is the Divergent Group. The Yellow and Blue are Elementals and Dimensionals.'

[Go on]

'These three lanes are the three different Divine paths of the Divergent Group.' He mentally pointed to the three lanes of the red road.

Then he pointed at the lane with the white sphere.

'This is the Body Path. So the other two lanes are the Mind Path and the Morpher Path.'

[Humans have a basic understanding of the Divine Paths. However, it is limited.

What you call as a Group is essentially an Avenue of Divine Paths.

All Paths of an Avenue ultimately converge. That is why they belong to a single Avenue.

So Red Road is the Sage Avenue or as you call it, Divergent Avenue.

The lanes are the Divine Paths.

The white sphere is Origin — the ultimate representation of "you" in vital, dimensional and intrinsic qualities.

It is like your unique cosmic identity.]

'But what does this have to do with my original question?' Varian was baffled at the way things turned out, though he didn't oppose knowing more.

He just asked the system if it changed his talents and was thus responsible for his insane rate of progress. But now he was being told something apparently entirely different.

[Concentrate on the Origin] The System responded as if that was the answer.

Varian mentally sighed and did as it suggested. He "focused" on the origin and the view "zoomed in".

He saw Origin, the white sphere, was composed of three colored fluids within it. Red. Blue. Yellow. Same as the Avenues.

They weren't really fluids. Sometimes, they looked like colored gases, then turned into colored liquids and at others, like solids. The only constant thing was that they intermixed, but didn't merge.

'This is...' Varian was fascinated by the sight.

If "Origin" was supposed to be his representation at the most fundamental level, then these three must be its building blocks. His building blocks.

He remembered what the System said about Origin — the ultimate representation of "you" — Vital, Dimensional and Intrinsic qualities.

These three aspects are core to everything!

Varian felt that he solved a puzzle and would've snapped his fingers if he were in a physical body.

'So these three Aspects you mention are the fundamentals of everything. Vital, Dimensional and Intrinsic.

They make up me — they are the building blocks of my Origin.

They make up the universe.

They make up the Divine Paths — each Avenue is but a representation of an Aspect.

Divine Paths in the Avenue are the way for Awakeners to seek the powers of these fundamental aspects.

The three Avenues each allow awakeners to progress in one of the aspects.

Body Awakeners pursue Vital aspect or the so called Sage Avenue. Space Awakeners pursue the dimensional aspect. Elementals pursue the Intrinsic aspect.'

Varian realized the profound truths and felt a new world unfold in front of his eyes. The Divine Paths were a lot more complex than what he initially believed.

[Smart. This holds the answer to your original question. Talent.

Some people are more talented than others. What the so-called geniuses achieve in a year takes even 10 years for a normal person to achieve. Some may not reach the same level in their lifetime.

The reason is Origin's aspects.

If the Dimensional Aspect of the Origin is of high quality, then the Awakener would progress faster on Dimensional Avenue.

So a genius Space Awakener has a high dimensional aspect in his Origin.]

'So the ones whose talents increased after some mystic fruit or pill, taking those things increased the Aspect of that thing in their Origin.'

[You're right. Even though 'Aspects' or 'Talents' are inborn, they can be changed.

But the higher your starting talent, the harder it is to improve further.

Turning a trash to ordinary is easier than turning ordinary to genius and genius to super genius.]

'So what you did was improve my Origin Aspects and improve my talent to some crazy degree?'

[Yes. On Earth, you'll have no one to rival your inherent talent.]

'On earth, huh.' Varian decided to not ask further. Since the Abyssals existed, he knew there were more civilizations. But now, he was not interested in knowing more.

He looked at the Origin on Body path in Divergent Avenue. It was halfway through level 1.

Varian rejoiced, knowing things he'd never know otherwise. He never heard of these things anywhere.

[Of course you wouldn't. You're supposed to access this "Divine View" only after reaching Level 9. But it's an advantage of having this system.]

The System sounded like it demanded a speech of gratitude.

'Thank You for selecting me without my permission and pushing me into deadly situations every time I do something?' Varian spoke in a monotonous tone.

The System seemed pissed, and Varian felt his consciousness go blank.

The moment he opened his eyes, the bright sunlight hit him, forcing him to shut them. In the darkness, he felt himself back in familiar warm and cozy interior of his hover bike.

He also felt his body after a brief but bizarre experience. He, or his body to be precise, was brimming with strength and the chi flow everywhere inside him.

Varian slowly opened his eyes.

"Sir, I was worried about your sudden nap." Isha's cute voice sounded, reminding him of the "Divine View".

"From now on, I'll be taking such naps. Don't worry about them."

"Noted, sir."

"Now, take me to Good Days Orphanage." Varian continued to digest the knowledge he just gained and decided to unveil the mystery bogging his mind.

Good Days Orphanage — It was where he met Sia in that... dream.

Now he'd see for himself if it was a dream or a memory.