Gods.
These were deity-level beings of immense power who did not dwell in the mortal realm.
They specialized in divine energy, bestowing their followers with power in exchange for faith.
It was said that the greater the number of believers, the stronger the god became, and their worshippers gained their abilities, which was fueled by their devotion.
It was really a win-win situation for both parties. The gods had to bestow power to get stronger, and the believers had to show devotion to get stronger.
But what happened when a god lost all its followers?
What happens when their believers, temples, and churches are destroyed and no signs of them can be seen again?
They lost their faith, their belief, and eventually their strength. Without worshippers, they faded from the memory of people, they were erased from history, and eventually became forgotten.
That was how a forgotten god came to be. It was truly a scary thing for a god, because who knew when next a random person would stumble upon their remains like this?
Baines extended his hand, summoning a dark golden flame the size of his finger. It flickered weakly as it lacked divine energy, resembling magic rather than divine power.
"So a god's technique without divine power functions like magic, huh?" He studied the flame on a closer look, deep in thought. He knew this because to learn Ashenfall, he had to learn magic, and at the moment, what he was staring at was magic.
Then, a wild idea struck him, and he asked Eye, "Could divine energy just be an advanced form of mana?"
[USER IS CORRECT AND INCORRECT]
Baines showed his second shock on that day, "What do you mean?" He seemed more surprised than when he reached the master realm.
[DIVINE POWER FUNCTIONS SIMILARLY TO MAGIC AS IT USES ENERGY TO INFLUENCE THE WORLD. HOWEVER, DIVINE POWER STEMS FROM ABSTRACT AND TANGIBLE CONCEPTS OF THE WORLD, WHILE MANA ORIGINATES FROM THE TANGIBLE CONCEPT, THE WORLD.]
[A STRANGE MUTATION WAS UNDERGONE THAT CHANGED THE CONCEPT, WHICH ALSO MAKES IT INCORRECT]
"Then what about aura?" Baines asked.
[AURA DERIVES FROM THE BODY, A COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ONE'S PHYSICAL FORM, SOUL, ENERGY, AND THE WORLD.]
"Wait, wait, what are you saying here?" He felt Eye getting onto something.
[MANA, ITS TECHNIQUES, AND POWER. THEY ARE LARGELY DONE BY THE WORLD. IT SOLELY DEPENDS ON THEIR COMMUNICATION WITH THE WORLD. WHILE DIVINE POWER AND ITS TECHNIQUES ARE THE INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD.]
Baines's mind raced. "So, magic relies on the world, and divine power influences the world, while aura is purely dependent on the individual?"
[USER IS CORRECT.]
"Then… if divine power is an advanced form of mana, there should be a higher form of aura too!" His heart pounded with excitement. There had to be, right?
[THERE IS.]
"What is it?" he asked eagerly. He hadn't heard of any energy like that; maybe he would learn of it now.
But the answer was unexpected.
[ASHENFALL]
Baines froze.
The Ashen family had fused mana and aura together, triggering an unknown mutation. That mutation had wiped out much of their lineage. Even now, it was unknown if the surviving members understood what Ashenfall truly was because it wasn't just a technique; it was something entirely new.
"Ashenfall is aura's equivalent to divine power?" Baines asked in confirmation
[CORRECT.]
"Then, which is stronger, mana or aura?" he asked, still processing this revelation. The way Eye put it, Aura was certainly better than mana.
But,
[THEY ARE EQUAL.]
Baines frowned. That didn't make sense. How could someone using the world as their tool be equal to someone relying solely on themselves?
But he didn't think much about it.
He just accepted it and sighed. "Thinking about this won't change anything. The only thing I can do is keep mastering Ashenfall."
He extinguished the flame in his hand and stepped outside. The sky was as dark as ever. He hadn't seen the sun in years, but he didn't mind. The darkness was like a reminder of his struggles and his rage.
With two years left of his time limit, it was time for the final push.
The process of forming a new star in his core took longer than the last. There was the fact that the already formed stars didn't seem to want another star formed, and kept taking in the energy around it.
There was also the matter of purifying the ashenfall in the air. The amount of pure refined ashenfall he could draw from his position was only so much. And then again, he didn't dare go closer.
Due to those factors, creating his fourth star took six months.
BOOM!
The ground beneath showed signs of cracks, but it held on; after all, he was atop a mountain that had withstood the presence of this ever-spinning storm.
His dark purple ashen energy surged into the sky with full force. His heart core pulsed violently, greedily absorbing the dense energy back into his body.
A slight smile bloomed on Baines' lips as he felt the vast energy in his heart core. It was larger than his main core, where he had the aura of a master.
"I thought I needed to reach five stars first…"
Among the special techniques Bartos taught him, the minimum requirement to perform them was reaching the fifth star in Ashenfall. But he was wrong. With this much power, he could already perform the techniques Martos had shown him.
But he wasn't done yet.
He didn't hesitate and returned to his meditation to form his fifth star.
Another year passed.
He was still compressing Ashenfall for the fifth star within him, though his aura kept surging to new heights.
The more he purified the energy, the clearer the nature of the energy became. Ashenfall was extremely chaotic and rebellious. It didn't want anything besides it. Anytime he gathered the energy, it felt as if his aura scurried away in freight.
One would ask, how the Ashen family was able to create a technique to safely absorb such a dangerous energy? They were very clever in the matter.
Since the energy always rejected anything close to it, they then devised an absorbing technique around it. The technique was made to constantly reject itself.
Inside his heart's core, four dark purple stars glowed, swirling with overwhelming energy. The fifth star nearby was near completion. That was when the other four reacted violently, devouring even more Ashenfall energy from the almost-formed fifth star.
The fifth was taking shape.
Ashenfall resisted, struggling against his control. It wanted to reject him; however, Baines' will burned brighter.
He let out a roar, forcing the last surge of energy into his core.
The last finally turned into a five-pointed star, the final piece falling into place
Then—
BOOM!
His energy exploded into the dark sky.