Nate sat beneath a purple flowering tree with the scent of lavender in the air and three rings held in his palm. Each ring was clearly a Divine Artifact and sitting so close to each other Nate could sense how they tried to warp Reality and each other.

Using Conceptual Sight of the Runic Artist he brought up their descriptions again.

Traveller’s Ring (Low-Divine)
Features: Forged Connection (Divine), Connected Portals (Divine) Innate Repair (Mythic)

Forged Connection: This item can forge a connection between two locations that the wearer can sense. Sight is not a requirement. The cooldown is five days for forged connections. Recharge time can be lowered by feeding the ring Divine Energy. Four connections can be maintained at once. Cannot forge connections with other universes.
Current Connections: 0

Connected Portals: This item can open a portal between the wearer of the ring and a forged connection. Portals can be opened up to four times. The cooldown per portal is ten days. Recharge time can be lowered by feeding the ring Divine Energy.
Available Portals: 4

Innate Repair: This item is enchanted to repair itself over time using ambient mana. Feeding the item mana can accelerate this process. This cannot restore lost Divine material.

There were a few things that Nate noted about the first Divine Artifact he’d gotten from Severen. He’d begun to wonder how people, or The System, differentiated strengths of Divine Artifacts. The moment he had The System had simply started including a new moniker in the descriptions. The Travellers Ring was Low-Divine which Nate took to mean the weakest tier of Divine Artifacts. On the other hand, Nate’s Regalia returned a classification of Peak-Divine. For now, he was guessing, but he suspected there were two categories in the middle of Mid-Divine and High-Divine.

The second thing he could feel was the Concepts involved in the ring itself. Unfortunately, as he had worked with both the Concepts of Connection and of Portals before there was no new rush of Divine Energy at the discovery. It did however give him some interesting ideas for his own future creations.

The third thing he noted was that it was this ring that had allowed Severen to show up at Nate and Kiri’s ascension with the other Lesser Divines of Galle. It was pretty clear that Severen must have set up Connections to Wulfgar and Jemima along with his own palace, leaving one spare for wherever he sensed Divine Energy. Then he could simply pop around, pick up the other Lesser Divines and ferry them all to the location. It was so perfect that Nate knew without a doubt that this was a System gifted item and not one crafted by another Lesser Divine.

However, sensing Divine Energy across an entire planet was, as far as Nate knew, not a Skill that Severen had possessed, which brought Nate to the second Divine Artifact in Severen’s possession.

Seeker of the Divine (Low-Divine)
Features: Divine Seeking (Divine), Divine Farsight (Divine) Innate Repair (Mythic)

Divine Seeking: This item is capable of sensing and triangulating Divine Energy. Distance is limited to within a single world. The user can set a minimum threshold for triggering a triangulation. Minimum threshold is 1. Maximum threshold is 50. Triangulation is automatic if the threshold is reached. Triangulations take 5 days to recharge. Maximum distance can be set from one-hundred to one-hundred-thousand kilometres.
Current Minimum Divine Energy Threshold: Not set.
Current Maximum Distance: Not set.
Current Triangulations Available: 3

Divine Farsight: This item is capable of triggering Divine Farsight, allowing the user to view a distant location that has been marked via Divine Seeking triangulation. Divine Farsight uses take 5 days to recharge.
Farsight Uses: 3

Innate Repair: This item is enchanted to repair itself over time using ambient mana. Feeding the item mana can accelerate this process. This cannot restore lost Divine material.

If the Traveller’s Ring was how Severen got to Nate and Kiri, it was this second Divine Artifact that the old snake had used to find them. Divine Farsight was nothing new as far as Nate was concerned, since he had his own Skill that involved Farsight and even the ability to use Divine Energy to extend its range.

The other feature present on the ring was far more interesting. Seeking wasn’t a new Concept for Nate either, having been introduced to it in the Wild Realms by an Elder of the Depths Walker Temple. Just thinking about it made Nate hope that Elder Jin’Kahn had managed to achieve her dream of becoming an Ascendant. Turning his thoughts back to the ring, the ability to tweak the trigger range for the minimum Divine Energy that would activate the Seeking function was, to Nate’s mind, kind of ingenious. It opened up some ideas for his own creations but for now he was focused on its immediate uses.

Then there was the maximum range. The upper limit should be able to encompass most worlds, Nate imagined. Most, but not all. He had to review his thinking as worlds much larger might have struggled to support life due to Gravity. But, he was a Lesser Divine now, and more importantly a Lesser Divine capable of manipulating Gravity. In theory he could go to such worlds in search of Divine Artifacts.

On Galle, it would’ve been incredibly effective. The planet had a weak amount of ambient mana and likely gave birth to very few Divine Artifacts or Lesser Divines. Severen could have easily used it and shifted the trigger threshold regularly to track down newly birthed Divine Artifacts. On the other hand, who knew how paranoid Severen was. The old Lesser Divine might have kept it steady to make sure that they picked up any Lesser Divine right after ascension. Either way, it would’ve been invaluable on a backwater like Galle.

But they weren’t on Galle anymore. They were on a world that already had a Lesser Divine population and almost certainly some Divine Artifacts. That meant this ring would trigger fairly easily. And since the triangulations were automatic, Nate would burn through its available uses very quickly. So for now, he was holding onto it for study.

That left the last ring.

Totemic Transformation Ring (Low-Divine)
Features: Totemic Imprint (Divine), Imprinted Transformation (Divine) Innate Repair (Mythic)

Totemic Imprint: This item allows the user to imprint a totem species into the ring. Totemic Imprint will destroy the material used. Totemic Imprint copies the life energies within the material. Use of the Totemic Imprint destroys the material within. Higher tier materials will result in a more powerful transformation when used. Combining materials is possible but not recommended.

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Current Imprinted Species: None.

Imprinted Transformation: This item temporarily shifts the user into the imprinted species defined by the Totemic Imprint. Transformation grants additional Stats and empowers Skills based on tier of material used and relationship between the user and the Concepts within the material. Duration of transformation is variable based on material used in Totemic Imprint.

Innate Repair: This item is enchanted to repair itself over time using ambient mana. Feeding the item mana can accelerate this process. This cannot restore lost Divine material.

Reading through the item's capabilities it was clear how Severen had begun to transform during their battle and also potentially why the result was some sort of malformed monstrosity. No doubt the man had tried to combine multiple serpent materials and the resulting outcome was an imperfect transformation. As for the ring itself, Nate was considering giving it to Frick. The problem was that it wasn’t perfectly aligned with Frick’s Path of Chaos and Consumption.

Nate decided he would keep thinking about it for now. Worst case scenario he could look to trade it for something more suitable on Serpent’s Wing. Surely a world that hosted a Greater Divine would have some markets or auctions for trading Divine Artifacts.

With his review done Nate turned to his Status and the state of his Divine Vessel.

He’d been splitting the Divine Energy he was absorbing and creating between his Class Core and his Divine Vessel. In his head the two had different uses. The Divine Energy in his Class Core was what he could use for crafting or fighting. The energy that went into his Divine Vessel was for improving said Vessel.

If he was being honest with himself he felt he should probably put more into his Class Core given what they were moving towards. From his understanding, most Seeds from the Heartlands would have a maximum capacity of sixty Divine Energy within their Class Core. That meant that right now he was only holding as much as one and a half of them.

The question was, how many Seeds went about unattended? His guess was not many. Which meant that if they had even one Lesser Divine attending them they could have almost as much Divine Energy to throw around as Nate. That didn’t give Nate a huge margin which felt like he wasn’t stacking the deck enough in his favour.

His saving grace was that his Regalia could also be used for Divine Energy, which was why he wasn’t filling up his Class Core. That and the fact that every time he expanded his Divine Vessel he was moving towards the moment where he could free himself from his Class Core entirely. On one hand it felt like his growth was glacial but he knew that was just his youth speaking. He was this far along after only two years and change. He suspected many of the people he would face, people like Wulfgar and Hrung’Jak had been at this for decades or even centuries. Swallowing his impatience he pulled Divine Energy from his Divine Vessel and used it to enhance and improve his body, attuning himself more closely with Reality.

The process was not quick, but it wasn’t slow either and an hour later he opened his eyes feeling revitalised and refreshed. A quick glance at his Status showed the changes.

He was preparing to go over his plans for Skill consolidation into Abilities when Kiri strode out onto the patio to join him, plopping down next to him beneath the tree and resting her back against his.

“I’m sensing… satisfaction,” Nate teased.

“Then as per usual, your senses are accurate,” Kiri replied, the smile evident in her tone.

“A one night stand, a fling or something more?”

“A fling, I think. Gwen’s close with her team and I don’t think I am ready for anything more serious anyway.”

“So, you don’t want to consider linking up with them for the World Reaping?” he asked.

Kiri snorted.

“Definitely not. For one, we’d have one too many. I could leave Jemima out but I would rather keep her where I can see her and besides she’s helping me with… you know.”

Nate did know. The constant stream of powerful poisons and toxins was no doubt eating into Jemima’s supply of materials but the result was that Kiri was generating Divine Energy hand over fist as she Endured the deleterious effects on her body.

“Besides,” continued Kiri. “I want to fight in the solo combat tournament. See how I measure up against the competition. What about you?”

Nate's eyes drifted up to the purple flowers above. The sight was picturesque and serene.

“Given the choice between fighting and crafting… was there ever a question?”

“Didn’t think so but you’ve surprised me before,” Kiri replied with a laugh. “Well then, I guess you and Jemima will compete in the crafting tournament and Wulfgar and I will compete in the solo combat tournament. Then we can link up for the World Reaping itself.”

“You’re sure we’re allowed to do that?”

“Yeah. I checked with Gwen. She was a little more talkative when we were alone.”

“Do you think I should give Wulfgar and Jemima some help to make sure they make it through?”

He could sense Kiri tapping her lips in thought.

“We should ask, I guess. Yeah, let’s ask. They might not need it though. They may have less Divine Energy to work with but they’re also both significantly higher in level. So, I assume any Divine Energy they do use will perhaps go further? I’m thinking of Stat enhancements mostly though.”

“We’ll ask,” Nate agreed.

Helping Wulfgar out was the least he could do. As for Jemima, well, helping her out was more like helping Kiri out and Nate could stomach that exchange.

“We’ve got a few days until the portal opens. Got any plans besides seeing Gwen?” he asked.

“Working on a new ability mostly,” Kiri replied. “You?”

“The same. Letting my Regalia restore itself a bit. I’m debating feeding it one of Severen’s rings.”

Feeding the Traveller’s Ring to his Regalia should give it access to the Divine Concepts of Connection and Portals, which would make it relatively easy for Nate to replicate the functions of the ring using his Paint.

“Need me for anything then?” asked Kiri.

Nate shook his head, “Go enjoy yourself. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright. Try and get some fresh air though.”

Nate rolled his eyes, waving at the tree and sky above them.

“You know what I mean,” chided Kiri. “Also, Gwen mentioned Jak would love to catch up again for dinner the night before we leave. Interested?”

“Sure,” answered Nate. He wasn’t opposed to chatting more with Jak and Nate was more than capable of ignoring Fili’s attitude.

As Kiri left Nate turned to his list of Skills. It was time to start combining them again. The goal was clear. A rune and material crafting ability, a sensory ability that specialised in Concepts, and a spatial ability to govern his own miniature world. And because he was a Runic Artist at heart, each one would be a rune-based design rather than the far less complex spell-based design that Ankh’Aris had seemed to favour. Even the ancient dragon had agreed it was a better Path for Nate since he needed his abilities to be far more modular, given he incorporated far more Concepts than someone on a purer Path, like that of Destruction.

The first ability he wanted to work on was the one focused on rune and material crafting. Nate smiled to himself, buckled down and got to work, only sparing a moment's thought for what Frick might be getting up to before dismissing it.

The week flew by, with Nate making middling progress on his new ability. Thankfully he also racked up some more Divine Energy from taking a few breaks to paint. Then there was dinner with Jak, Gwen, and Fili, and finally he was forced to track down Frick after the little goblin got arrested for starting a fight club with a bunch of elves from some of the larger companies outside of the Lesser Divine zone in Jungpo. Thankfully the fine was a minor one.

That was how he found himself standing in the early morning sun, beneath huge metal arches that pulsed with spatial mana, waiting for the portal to Serpent’s Wing to open. A new day to visit a new world and one step closer to stopping Arikanvil while freeing himself from The System. He couldn’t help but smile.