Chapter 10: Ch 10 : Resolve

Sunny observed the rat-like mammal as it scurried across Veridia's burgeoning landscape. It was the planet's first mammal, thriving amidst an abundance of resources and, crucially, an absence of predators. This perfect environment ensured the rat's survival, minimizing any immediate threats to its existence. Sunny felt a surge of triumph, a quiet victory in the vastness of creation. He materialized his celestial throne in the vacuum of space, the cosmic alloy humming with latent power beneath his touch. It had been an entire year since he had last truly engaged with the God Chat panel. The last year, in his perception of divine time, had been almost entirely consumed by the intricate and demanding process of developing the complex genetic code necessary to evolve a mammal. As he opened the chat, a flurry of notifications and new messages cascaded across his vision. "Hey guys, I have a discovery to show," declared one God, with an attached video that immediately seized the attention of the cosmic community. Every other conversation ceased as Gods paused their divine duties, their essences focusing on the shared screen. Sunny, too, opened the video, his curiosity piqued. The video displayed a microscopic world. Within it, a tiny, translucent microorganism darted frantically, clearly fleeing from another, larger microorganism that pursued it relentlessly. Sunny recognized the phenomenon; similar predatory-prey dynamics, though on a much grander scale, were already playing out in the primordial seas of Veridia. But the next motion in the video left Sunny in a daze, a ripple of astonishment crossing his divine awareness. The running, almost flowing, creature suddenly emitted a brilliant spark from its body. This bolt of energy struck its pursuer, instantly incapacitating it. In a shocking reversal, the predator became the prey. "Lightning? Is it a pre-evolution of an eel?" Sunny mused, his mind racing through biological possibilities. "But this creature is too small to generate that much energy." He dismissed the idea of a simple bio-electric discharge; the raw power in the spark seemed to defy the creature's minuscule size. Across the universe, many of the System's resident experts in biological life were already furiously theorizing about this inexplicable phenomenon. Even though there were 300,000 Gods in this vast universe, only a small fraction possessed a deep understanding of complex biological processes. If it weren't for the basic knowledge of life provided by the System upon ascension, many of them wouldn't have been able to form even a single, simple lifeform. Sunny, too, began surmising in his mind, exploring every rational scientific explanation. But each pathway led to a dead end. The only conclusion that made any logical sense to his mortal-trained mind was "Magic." "If it is really magic, then why aren't my lifeforms using it? I even have a rat now," Sunny exclaimed internally, a hint of frustration touching his divine thoughts. He was, however, oblivious to a startling fact: in the last 15 Godly minutes (which equated to approximately 208 planetary days on Veridia), that single rat had already spawned over 5,000 children, and its descendants had grown to a size larger than a lion. After more than an hour of intense theorizing, every single God engaged in the discussion arrived at a singular, shared conclusion, one that echoed Sunny's own private thought: "Magic." Since ancient times, it was the primary nature of humans to label any unexplainable phenomenon as "supernatural." The vast, impersonal System had just confirmed that some worlds were simply imbued with something beyond the scientific laws they understood. After the posting of that astounding video, many Gods, driven by curiosity and a competitive urge, began frantically searching for similar phenomena on their own worlds. Some Gods, already grappling with impending misfortunes, found themselves too busy fending off destruction to pay much heed. Many others, it turned out, were already aware of this "magic" in their worlds but had chosen to remain silent in the chat, guarding their unique advantage. The remaining Gods were akin to Sunny, meticulously aware of every single detail about their worlds, and thus didn't need to check; they knew whether magic existed or not. The discussion continued heatedly in the God chat, a storm of speculation. "Why have some Gods noticed this phenomenon while others haven't?" asked one particularly perplexed deity. Under this comment, countless replies and theories immediately flooded in. Many talked about "wrong evolution," others posited "gene deficiencies," but Sunny, though silent, had his own answer forming—an answer he was not yet ready to fully acknowledge. After another hour of passionate, almost frantic discussion, Strategist, ever the pragmatic intellectual, came to a simple, elegant solution to definitively find the answer. "Brothers, I have similar microorganisms in my world," Strategist typed, his words cutting through the chaotic debate. "We can use the trading platform to trade it into a world where there are no such creatures. If it can use that power in that world, it will mean that that world inherently has magic. But if it didn't..." Strategist didn't need to finish his sentence; the implications were clear. He immediately opened a trade, offering a sample of his 'magical' microorganism. After half an hour of diligent experimentation in various worlds, every God who participated in the test was forced to acknowledge the truth: some worlds possessed magic, while others did not. Sunny was dazed for a minute, the revelation hitting him with the force of a cosmic wave, before he snapped back to his senses. As a lifelong lover of fantasy novels, he had been ecstatic after witnessing that initial video. He had held a fervent hope that his life forms could perform magic, that his world would give rise to powerful mages – mages who could uproot mountains with a single spell. And though he himself could use Faith points to manifest such colossal power, the crushing reality was that his lifeforms, lacking that inherent magical spark, could not. Unless, he realized with a pang, he could develop his civilization to the interstellar age and somehow find a world where magic was inherently available, a world imbued with "mana." All his previous, hopeful ideas regarding magic came to a halt. Many other Gods whose worlds were similarly devoid of mana were undoubtedly thinking the same thing. Their only recourse, their only way to not fall irrevocably behind the "magic world" Gods, was technology. It was a path similar to how humanity had advanced on the Blue Planet. "So what if they can't use magic?" Sunny resolved himself, a newfound determination hardening his divine will. "I, as their God, will help them reach what we, in the Blue Planet, were never able to." He drifted his gaze back to Veridia, refocusing his boundless attention on his own world. It had been two Godly hours since he had last checked on its general progress, his attention consumed by the cosmic chat and his strategic planning. The change was astounding. The descendants of the initial rat-like creatures had become much grander, more majestic. They had further diversified, splitting into distinct species of carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. They were now as large as elephants, stomping across the evolving terrestrial biomes. Given enough resources, Sunny was certain they could evolve into creatures resembling dinosaurs. Many other types of primitive mammals had also evolved in the interim, flourishing in the varied habitats created by the hydrological cycle. His divine vision covered all of Veridia, its intricate ecosystems as clear to him as the back of his hand. "A gorilla?" Sunny grinned, a broad, triumphant smile. He was witnessing the wonders of hyper-accelerated evolution, directly molded by his interventions. He was certain it was only a matter of hours until the most primitive of human-like ancestors began to emerge on his planet.