Nate ran Grommir’s line through his mind a second time.

“You want my help in creating an artwork to help you gain the attention of your beloved?”

“That is correct,” stated the Grand Marshal matter-of-factly. “Prim is a beautiful Ogress and a High Gardener of the Evergreen Grove. They are a small faction, holding only a few planets, but they are exceptionally wealthy as they are often called in by many factions after a World Reaping to curate the world for its next growth cycle.”

Nate frowned in confusion and Grommir clearly picked up on it, continuing his explanation unprompted.

“World Reapings are incredibly damaging to the natural structures put in place to encourage not only Divine Artifact growth, but the specific Concepts of Divine Artifacts a faction might want to produce. Lesser or Greater Divines doing battle during the Reaping often destroy these natural formations. The Evergreen Grove specialises in creating natural formations. They, along with a couple of other specialised factions in this sector are often paid to come in after a Reaping and prepare the world for the next growth cycle to optimise the the number of Divine Artifacts produced as well as encourage the growth of specific Concepts.”

Nate nodded his understanding.

“High Gardener Prim is a True Divine, like myself, but so far I have been unsuccessful in gaining her favour. I think an artwork displaying something grand, like myself commanding The Golden Tide against an opposing force, might get her to be more receptive to my interest.”

Nate tried to process what he was being asked without his mind breaking. A True Divine Ogre who commanded a highly competent military faction was asking for his assistance in wooing the Ogress that he loved, using a painting. Kiri was going to tease him endlessly about this. That didn’t mean he was going to squander the opportunity though. But to help the Grand Marshal, first he needed to know more about… well… everything.

“I’m open to assisting,” said Nate. “But to do so properly, there are a few things I need to know. Firstly… who is it The Golden Tide even fights against? Don’t you mostly use these World Reapings to compete with each other?”

Once more, Nate felt the debt between Grommir and himself lessen.

“It is true that the larger factions mostly use Reapings as a way to compete for Divine Energy, worlds, and to kill off some of each other's power base. However, not all factions are that large, and not all of them specialise in warfare. The Evergreen Grove is just one example. Can they fight? Probably. But it’s not what they’re good at. They sell their services to other factions, and if they were to come under attack by a greater force, they would likely hire a faction like The Golden Tide to defend them. Conflicts like these happen all the time, usually over singular worlds. But the biggest threat comes from the outer and inner edges of the Heartlands. The universes that have a foot in the Wild Realms sometimes give rise to Beast Lords who command armies to invade The Heartlands. These battles are far more brutal as the beasts rarely care for taking land so much as taking lives and consuming resources.”

“They are, however, the best possible outcome for such attacks, as the beasts are rarely organised. Insect Queens are far worse. Their forces are organised and designed to purpose. Any invasion conducted by an Insect Queen is a bloody affair. That covers the borders of the Wild Realms, but we have similar issues for those just beyond the Heartlands in what we call The Hollows. The universes beyond The Heartlands where mana is in short supply and Divine Artifacts even shorter. Beyond that lies the Dead Realms. The universes of The Hollows that border The Heartlands also sometimes invade. They make up for their lower levels and weaker Divinities with numbers.”

“So you see, there are plenty of opportunities for a force like The Golden Tide. We are a mercenary army who hire ourselves out to those in need.”

“Okay,” agreed Nate. “Second question, why would High Gardener Prim appreciate seeing you leading an army? Doesn’t she already know you’re the Grand Marshal?”

Grommir stiffened, his bulging muscles flexing as Nate’s question apparently brought his mind to a standstill.

“...why wouldn’t she want to see that? Would such a painting not appropriately show my control of War? How I use Order to triumph? Do… do you not think she would like that?”

Nate tried very hard not to sigh, pressing his teeth together to prevent the whoosh of air out his mouth. Why was he giving ‘love’ advice to an Ogre? And a True Divine one at that.

“She’s not a warrior is she? You mentioned the Evergreen Grove specialise in fixing worlds ruined by Reapings? I am guessing that means she specialises in a Nature based Path?”

Grommir nodded.

“Well,” continued Nate. “In my admittedly limited experience, people prefer an acknowledgement of their own interests and desires when it comes to such overtures…”

Grommir leaned back thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with thick, meaty fingers. Despite the rubbing, his granite skin and jaw barely moved.

“Limited experience…” mused Grommir. “But you have some experience in these matters?”

Nate thought of all the women he had been with. He had painted or drawn almost every single one before they had invited him to their beds. In his, again, limited experience, people craved the feeling of being seen. And once they were, they tended to look more closely at the one who had offered them recognition.

“I have a little,” agreed Nate reluctantly.

Grommir nodded slowly before leaning forward, “What would you suggest then?”

“A painting of her standing within a grove of trees and weaving her nature magic with you standing guard in the background. Present but not interfering.”

Grommir looked uncertain at Nate’s suggestion.

“Explain the reasoning to me.”

Nate considered his words carefully.

“You want her to feel seen. To be the heart of the painting. To do that we should acknowledge her. Who she is, and what she does. That is why the painting should be of her. However, we also want to leave a subtle reminder that it is you doing the acknowledging. That you are aware of who and what she is, while also keeping your presence in the back of her mind. So that she doesn’t see you as separate from her. That’s what I am thinking.”

Grommir had started nodding before Nate had even finished his explanation.

“Yes. Yes, I see it now. Perhaps this is the path forward. She has not responded to any of my other gifts, returning the pennants of defeated Hollowlanders and the mane of a Leonine Beast King. So, Nathaniel Weber, will you do it? Will you craft this painting for me?”

Nate could feel the pressure of Reciprocity weighing down on him from the simple question. This was no small ask in the eyes of Grommir. The Grand Marshal truly wished to gain the interest of High Gardener Prim and he was willing to pay to accomplish it.

“I can. I’ll need a picture or image of High Gardener Prim so I can paint her likeness. Several would be better. Should we discuss payment?”

“I can get her likeness for you. It will take a few days. As for payment… Reciprocity demands… two High-Divine Artifacts. Name the Concepts you want and I will acquire them.”

“Chaos,” stated Nate, so he could finally start to settle his debt with Frick. “And Separation, if you can find it.”

“Agreed,” answered Grommir. “Separation may take me a little longer but I will find someone willing to trade for it.”

“Then I will start work on the painting as soon as I receive Prim’s likeness.”

“Excellent,” boomed Grommir, a triumphant smile blooming on his face. “The food should be about to arrive. Let us enjoy it and some friendly banter before we part ways.”

The food that followed was decent as far as Nate was concerned. Hearty and filling, but lacking the depth of flavour he found at the restaurants they had visited or the warmth that he felt consuming Rania’s cooking. Grommir made small talk with a few probing questions about the Risen Sun Sect which Nate refrained from answering. To settle their debt at the end of the dinner the True Divinity handed over a Low-Divine Artifact with the Concept of Metal within it. A known quantity for Nate that didn’t trigger any reaction from Reality.

Back in his room, he explained the entire event to a laughing Kiri before handing over the Low-Divine Artifact of Engulf to Frick. The other three Low-Divine Artifacts he laid out on the table before him. War, Order, and Metal. Beside them he set the Totemic Transformation Ring.

“What are you thinking?” asked Kiri.

“Deciding which ones to drain for Divine Energy, which ones to store for future cultivation, and which ones to feed to my Regalia. The ring I am probably going to feed to my Regalia. It’s the others I am unsure of.”

“They’re all Low-Divine anyway. Are they worth keeping?”

“No, I suppose not,” agreed Nate.

Reaching for the Totemic Transformation Ring, he held it close to his amulet and commanded his Regalia. Paint reached from the amulet on his chest, surrounding the ring and dragging it back into the space inside of his Regalia. The runic structure detailed in the container that surrounded the paint shifted, a new Sigil slowly forming as his Regalia added Transformation to the Concepts inherent within it. Nate smiled at the addition of one more Concept to his grand tapestry.

Draining the Truths from the other Low-Divine Artifacts took him around ten minutes. In the end they added a total of twelve units of Divine Energy to his total pool. A splash in the bucket for him. After all, he’d made almost as much that day just by recognising Concepts. But for a normal Lesser Divine who likely only produced a couple of units of Divine Energy a month, that was the work of months. Just another reminder of the difference between the Path of Ascendancy and the Path of The System.

With the artifacts handled, Nate turned to his own development. He’d been ignoring a notification all day, because he already knew what it would be. The System was simply recognising the work he had already done, after all.

First though, he brought up the changed details of his Regalia.

Regalia of the Conceptual Artist (Divine) (Growth)
Features: Conceptual Consumption (Divine), Spatial Paint Container (Divine), Adaptable Form (Divine), Paint Creation (Divine), Item Concealment (Divine), Innate Repair (Mythic), Temperature Control (Mythic), Self-Cleaning (Mythic)

Conceptual Consumption: This item can absorb the Concepts of any item fed to it up to the Divine-tier.
Current Concepts: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Shadow, Barrier (D), Gravity, Shape, Control, Art (D), Paint (D), Space (D), Creation (D), Destruction (D), Transformation (D)

Spatial Paint Container: This item can store up to one-thousand litres of Divine-tier Paint. This Paint can take on aspects of any Concept fed to the Regalia.
Current Stored Paint: 498L

Paint Creation: This item can produce Divine Paint over time. This amount can be grown by feeding Divine Energy or Divine Artifacts to the item.
Current rate of production: 2L/Day (+1L)

The list of Concepts had been growing slowly but some needed upgrading as he did not have the Divine versions stored within. As for his Divine Paint, he was sitting below half and had been for a while. Thankfully, with the consumption of the Ring of Totemic Transformation, he had finally increased his paint production to two-litres per day.

With his Regalia sorted, he moved onto the notification from The System.

Skill Synergy discovered between your Conceptual Insight (Divine) Skill and Conceptual Sight of The Runic Artist (Divine Skill). Combine these Skills to gain the Conceptual Sight (Divine) Skill.
Proceed?

Nate accepted the proposal, even if he intended to use his own Ability rather than the Skill. That way, he shouldn’t incur any additional debt to Kali’Terra. The Skill description flashed before him.

Conceptual Sight (Divine)
The artist sees Reality. That maxim is the core of what separates an artist from a Mage. This Skill allows the user to see the flows of energy in a sphere around them, be they mana, soul, demonic, celestial, or even Divine, and interpret their meanings. In addition, the user may expand their sight to encompass their surroundings, seeing far into the distance as they see through tendrils of mana rather than flesh and blood. Excess mana from these tendrils is absorbed and stored within this Skill and may be spent to reveal the Concepts of Reality. Perception and Intellect are increased by two times Skill Level. Creativity is increased by Skill Level. Sphere of awareness while active is equal to Creativity divided by fifteen, in metres. Range of awareness is equal to Skill Level multiplied by ten, in metres.
Divine Bonus I: Multiply excess mana ingestion by four. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 hours.
Divine Bonus I: Improve a Grandmaster-tier Sigil to Divine. Cost: 30 Divine Energy. Duration: N/A.
Divine Bonus I: Visually perceive Concepts within vision range. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 minutes.
Divine Bonus I: Sphere of Awareness Range multiplied by ten. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 minutes.
Divine Bonus I: Sphere of Awareness Range summoning range multiplied by ten. Cost: 1 Divine Energy. Duration: 2 minutes.

Conceptual Sight 71 > 71

As he had expected, the only real difference between the Ability he had created and the Skill itself was the way the Skill retained his existing Divine Evolutions. While he might add similar pathways to his Ability in the future, it was also possible he would push it in a different way.

The final step was to take the Divine Energy he had been storing over the past week, along with all the energy he had accrued from consuming the Low-Divine Artifacts, and bend it towards improving his Divine Vessel. Kiri sat across from him as they both improved themselves, lines of Divine Energy in gold snaking beneath their skin till they glowed in the dark of his room as they refined their bodies, becoming closer to Reality.

An hour later they were done and opening their eyes together they both smiled. Nate brought up the information about his improvements to see how far he had come.

He was now a step closer to achieving his goals and divesting himself of his Class Core.

Nate looked at Kiri and smiled, “You ready?”

She snorted in response, “I was born ready. Time to see how we stack up against the Seeds of The Heartlands.”

It was time for the World Reaping Entry Tournaments to kick off and Nate was ready to show The Heartlands the depths of his craft.