Chapter 24: Ch 24: Realm of Advancements

After checking the great use of the Innovation Buff upon Veridia, observing the tangible shifts in his world's progress, Sunny decided it was time to turn his attention to the other, equally intriguing items he had acquired from the System shop. His divine perception shifted, focusing on the newly materialized tools within his ethereal God Space. First, he drew forth the Talent Appraising Ball. In Sunny's hand, a spherical orb of luminous blue shimmered, visibly resonating with the surrounding mana, humming with latent power. As he held it, words materialized on its smooth surface, hovering like ethereal light: [Name : ??] [Talent Grade : ??] [Description : ??] "Is this ball broken? Should I use it for football then?" Sunny quipped, a wry smile touching his lips. He tossed the thought into the vast emptiness of his God Space, but there was, predictably, no one there to share in his dry humor. A small sigh escaped him, a brief moment of loneliness in his divine solitude. He quickly deduced the reason for the failure. There was evidently a fundamental limit to this B-Grade Talent Appraising Ball; perhaps it simply could not evaluate the immense, transcendental talent of a God. Or, more plausibly, it lacked the capacity to measure anything as exceptionally potent as an SSS-Grade talent, like his own Skill-Resonance. Sunny didn't dwell on this minor inconvenience. The ball's inability to appraise him personally did not diminish its overwhelming utility for Veridia. With a swift mental command, he directly manifested 20 more pieces of the Talent Appraising Ball. Their cost, though unseen in his current abundance, was clearly negligible enough for mass production. His intention was clear: he would bestow these invaluable tools upon the humans and elves of Veridia. This would empower them to discern their innate talents in advance, preventing them from squandering precious years of their lives striving in unproductive fields. Imagine, he thought, a lifeform blessed with a powerful body-strengthening talent attempting, in vain, to master the intricacies of magic; it would be an endeavor utterly without merit, a tragic waste of a lifetime. Thus, the importance of the Talent Appraising Ball was imminent, a catalyst for efficient societal and individual development. Sunny acknowledged, with a pragmatic nod, that such a tool could inevitably create a talent-based hierarchy within Veridia, naturally elevating those born with higher aptitudes. Yet, he was not going to impede this natural stratification. For his own divine purpose, for his own SSS-Grade talent to bear fruit, he critically needed his lifeforms to cultivate and refine their inherent talents to the highest possible levels, enabling him to eventually copy their perfected skills. As was his custom, Sunny decided he would wait for the next scheduled offerings provided by the shamans of both races to deliver these insightful artifacts. He mentally set aside the comprehensive exploration of the God's Eye for a later, more focused session, recognizing its profound power required his undivided attention. The next item he intended to examine was the Divine Embryo. He began to deeply ponder the optimal shape and the essential abilities he would imbue into this unprecedented divine creation. "Can I manifest this directly?" Sunny mused, his intense gaze fixed upon the pulsating, formless mass of the Divine Embryo. He now possessed a clearer understanding of the profound implications of his "God of Manifestations" title, especially concerning the cost of creation. The more inherent energy and complexity an item or being contained, the greater the Faith points required to manifest it into existence. From his astute divine observation, it seemed it would only take about 5,000 Faith points to manifest one Divine Embryo into its most basic, unformed state. "I could even create an entire army of divine embryos instead of relying on these evolving lifeforms," Sunny's mind raced, briefly captivated by the tantalizing prospect of an unswervingly loyal, custom-made legion. Yet, he swiftly dismissed the notion. While the Divine Embryo was intelligent and guaranteed absolute loyalty, it was not truly a 'lifeform' in the organic sense, at least not in the way he understood it. "Something like an artificial intelligence," Sunny categorized it. He remained uncertain, and held little hope, that he could actually gain Faith points from these artificially created embryos, a crucial factor in his grand strategy. Sunny entertained a myriad of designs for his very first Divine Embryo. He considered crafting a powerful human champion, a graceful elven sage, a sturdy dwarven warrior, a fearsome werewolf, an ancient vampire, or even a nascent world tree that could anchor Veridia's spiritual energy. But in the end, he discarded all these pragmatic, utilitarian choices. His heart, still rooted in the fantastical lore of his Blue Planet, yearned for something truly grand, truly iconic. He settled on the ultimate mythical creature. "A Dragon," Sunny declared aloud, a wide, enthusiastic grin spreading across his face. He was already vividly imagining a grand and mighty dragon, a magnificent beast that he could one day ride, soaring across his world. He even conceived of leveraging its awe-inspiring aura for "aura farming," passively generating immense Faith points through its sheer existence and the reverence it would inspire. He meticulously chose its physical form: a classic black western dragon. It would possess a formidable, muscular physique, characterized by a long, serpentine neck that coiled with grace and power, leading to a massive, barrel-chested torso, indicative of immense strength. Its powerful limbs would end in razor-sharp talons, perfect for rending and gripping, and its tail would be long and whip-like, capable of delivering devastating, crushing blows. It would be endowed with two vast, bat-like wings, stretching wide enough to blot out the sun. Its entire body would be covered with thick, overlapping scales of glistening obsidian, their dark surfaces absorbing light and radiating an ominous, almost terrifying majesty. As Sunny concentrated on this incredibly detailed image and mentally commanded the Embryo to take shape, it immediately responded, morphing and expanding, solidifying directly from the crucible of Sunny's divine imagination. A creature, tall and mighty, now hung suspended before him. Even without true life animating its form, it exuded an aura of ancient arrogance, an aloof creature seemingly detached from all worldly possessions. Immediately, Sunny sensed his immense Faith points dwindling at an alarming rate. Approximately 50,000 of his Faith points vanished, consumed by the act of shaping this magnificent draconic form. Sunny was momentarily stunned. His initial estimation for a base embryo was only 5,000 Faith points. If the mere body of this creature amounted to such an astronomical sum, then he could only imagine the exorbitant cost that its formidable abilities would demand. Still, Sunny began to ponder the creature's potential abilities, shaking off his brief shock. He didn't pay much heed to the dwindling Faith points. His private God chat was constantly beeming with thousands upon thousands of messages from other eager Gods, all clamoring for his unique manifestations. He knew, with absolute certainty, that he could easily earn millions of Faith points in just one or two hours by fulfilling their constant requests. Thus, for Sunny, Faith, while essential, was not the most pressing concern at this moment. "What to choose, what to choose," Sunny murmured, resuming his profound contemplation regarding the abilities of his nascent dragon. He began to articulate his core strategic needs for this loyal companion. "I need it to have exceptional traveling abilities, capable of traversing every Continent of Veridia with effortless grace, and furthermore, to journey to other planets also when my territory inevitably expands beyond this single world" He decided on granting his dragon Space Affinity, an ability that would allow it to move through the void itself. As he focused his thoughts on bestowing this profound power, he suddenly felt his Faith diminish once more, this time by an even larger, more painful sum. "About 150,000 Faith points!" Sunny lamented, a genuine wince crossing his divine countenance at the enormous, continuous loss. He now needed to equip his dragon with essential Attack, Defense, and Support abilities. For defense, he bestowed upon it Elemental and Physical Defense, costing another colossal 100,000 Faith points. For its offensive and utility capabilities, he granted it Magic Affinity to wield spells, another significant outlay of 150,000 Faith points. His Faith reserves were now considerably depleted. He held only 50,000 Faith points remaining. He decided to halt the dragon's development, choosing to wait and accumulate more Faith to give it more powerful abilities like specialized eye powers, the ability to communicate fluently, and its signature breath spell, reserving these for a later date. For the next four hours of his own time, Sunny wholeheartedly committed himself to manifesting various items for the other Gods in his private chat, efficiently replenishing his Faith reserves with practiced ease. Just as he felt his Faith coffers refilling to a more comfortable level, about 3 million, a powerful, resonant global notification echoed throughout the vast divine realm. [Global notification!] [Congratulations Gods for Completing your second Godly day!] [From now, the realm of advancement is open for every world!]