Chapter 618: What Is Divinity?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 618: What Is Divinity?
He knew what Will was. Or rather, even if he couldn't say he understood it perfectly, he could define it to some extent.
Simply put, it was an intangible force born of willpower.
Then what was divinity? And what about sorcery?
Even though they were people accustomed to mastering things with their bodies, it didn't mean they didn't use their heads. Above all, everyone here had surpassed a certain level in their respective fields and achieved enlightenment.
Surely, they must know something.
"That is a good question," Luagarne agreed.
Audin asked back with a gentle smile, "What do you think it is, Brother Captain?"
Encrid turned over a few answers in his mind. The conclusion he finally settled on was this: a question—an inquiry—that preceded divinity's utility or its unique properties.
"An absurdity. Something incomprehensible. A power filled with questions about why, if God exists, He does not step forward Himself and only lends His power."
This might have been the influence of the questions Mull had thrown out at random right before she died, or perhaps it was just a thought he had always harbored. He had never deeply contemplated the existence or absence of God before, but if asked right now, this was the question he wanted to pose.
If God exists, why does He not act?
A question about the nature of divinity had led to an ontological inquiry. His words also carried an underlying doubt: Does the existence of divinity truly prove the existence of God?
If one went deep enough, it was a statement that might deny theology itself. It was not a question that should dare be asked in an era where faith spanned the entire continent—and it was certainly not something to say to someone who was clearly a former high priest and paladin.
"Well, aren't you fiery," Rem remarked, watching the exchange.
Everyone subtly watched Audin, wondering if he might fly into a rage.
"That is blasphemy, Brother."
Even with the most generous interpretation, such words could have easily been his response, but Audin did not react that way.
Sshhh.
Snowflakes fell onto Audin's head and shoulders, melting away. A faint smile still lingered on his face. With an expression that was, as always, gentle enough to be called benevolent, Audin spoke.
"Since we are the ones living on this earth, we should not expect God to come down and clear the snow piled before us. We must clear the snow ourselves."
Contrary to the group's worries, Audin felt no offense. If it had been the Barbarian Brother, the directionless brother, or the wildcat brother who had said it, would he have felt insulted? He didn't know. Even if they had said it, rather than feeling genuinely insulted, he probably would have just thought they were trying to provoke him. He would have understood their reasons.
But words that would make sense coming from the mouths of Rem, Ragna, or Sachsen had instead come from Encrid. Audin understood this deep in his heart.
He acts and walks at the forefront, so is it any wonder he asks?
Because Encrid was that kind of man. He had no complaints about the lack of divine help, but he could certainly question all those who failed to act—even if that someone was God.
Of course, if one were to ask such a question in the Holy City-State, it would cause an uproar over blasphemy. The more extreme types would demand an immediate heresy trial.
Or maybe not in the current situation?
No, they would be angry if Encrid said such things, but it would be more accurate to say they couldn't suppress him with authority. Overdear wouldn't just stand by and watch. Audin had known it when they traveled together, but seeing Overdear quickly take Encrid's side and clearly state his allegiance this time made it absolutely certain.
He has chosen to stand on this side.
A man like that wouldn't brand Encrid a heretic over a mere comment. Even putting Overdear aside, Naurilia stood behind him. The King was always on Encrid's side. Even if they tried to use force, not only was Encrid's personal martial prowess formidable, but the mad knights stood by his side, leaving the Holy City-State with no proper means of suppression.
Encrid wasn't trying to start an argument, either. He had simply posed a question out of pure curiosity, and upon hearing the answer, it made enough sense that he nodded in agreement.
"I see."
"Hey, both the guy asking and the guy answering... what's with all the nodding like you've figured everything out?" Rem chimed in with a deflated expression.
"That's true too."
Encrid nodded again nonchalantly, his expression subtly grating on Rem's nerves.
"I feel like you're just mocking me right now," Rem said.
"Sharp of you," Sinar, the master of jokes, praised the barbarian's quick wit.
"You're right," Encrid said, nodding once more.
This prompted Rem to briefly strip off his Thermal Leather. Even so, they didn't stop walking just because they were sparring in between.
Audin smiled and thought to himself: Somehow, I ended up repeating what I learned from you, Brother Captain.
The answer he had just given was actually something Audin had realized by watching Encrid. To be repeating it back to him now filled Audin with a strange sense of nostalgia. He had seen a man who lived burning through each day despite his meager talent. It was because he had ended his wandering upon seeing that sight that he stood here today. Even his lack of regret over releasing his restriction was entirely due to the realizations he had gained from watching Encrid's attitude toward life.
"But why did you come back anyway?" Perhaps wanting to vent his frustration, Rem threw a pointless question at Audin.
"Hmm."
Audin looked up at the distant sky, pretending to think for a moment. Originally, releasing his restriction meant he could return to being a paladin, but he had absolutely no intention of returning as an Apostle of the God of War. He wasn't such an idiot that he didn't know where he belonged.
"Will you get scolded if you go back? Is that why?" Rem asked again.
Audin nodded and replied, "That is also true."
It was the exact same nod Encrid had given earlier.
"...Shit, have you all lost your minds? Fine, let's all die today. Captain or whatever, I don't care. The order is disbanded today!"
"Says who? Why don't you just go back to the West? Ah, did you stay because you didn't know the way? Want me to guide you? Out of the goodness of my heart, I'll escort you up to that point over there."
When Ragna chimed in, their conversation naturally ground to a halt. In the end, it was time for a round of sparring. Encrid, looking the most excited of them all, was the first to dismount from Odd-Eye.
"Bring it on, gray-head."
"Are you too lazy to even provoke me properly now?"
He was spot on.
Watching the snowflakes fall, Sachsen went to gather dry branches nearby. Ropode and Pel began preparing camp.
"Amusing," Luagarne sat to one side, becoming a spectator, and Sinar sat down next to her.
"It's always a pleasure to watch my fiancé break a sweat."
Though everyone did as they pleased, it wasn't a problem; it was quite entertaining in its own way. Only after they had finished sparring and eaten dinner did the answer to the question Encrid had posed shift from an ontological discussion to a methodological one.
"It is a power granted by God for us to protect ourselves while living on this earth, and it differs from Will in several ways."
As they listened to Audin speak about divinity, a bit of theological discourse mixed in, but everyone listened intently. Ropode, Pel, and Teresa, in particular, had much to learn.
Afterward, Encrid also asked Rem about sorcery.
"What makes sorcery power different?"
"They say it's easy to manifest intangible power, but can't you do that with Will too?" Ropode interjected.
"That's not the only difference," Rem replied calmly. He didn't explain it all at once; instead, everyone chimed in with a word or two while going about their tasks.
Their tasks weren't anything grand. Sachsen gathered branches, and Esther snapped her fingers to light the fire. Over the flames, Ropode and Pel skillfully set up a pot, boiled water, and heated stones. Roasting jerky and mixing grain powder into the water made for a quick field meal. Rem, having finished sparring, even brought back three rabbits and cooked them himself.
"I happen to have a few bottles of good wine." Audin pulled a few bottles from his pack. Instead of water, everyone took out tin cups or wooden cups, poured the wine with a soft trickle, and held them in their hands.
It was a wine with an aroma so fine that even Encrid nodded in approval after taking a sip. Luagarne ate dried grasshoppers and the like, while Sinar filled her stomach with dried fruit. They washed it down with the grain soup.
Just because she was a Frok didn't mean she only ate insects. She simply enjoyed eating them when possible. Still, no one had ever seen her snatching flies out of the air with her tongue in the middle of summer. When asked why once, she had replied: "If it were you, would you want to eat a moving cow alive on the spot without even draining its blood?"
While some things were delicious eaten alive, flies were not one of them. Even Froks had a concept of cooking. She even had favorite herbs.
While everyone went about their tasks, Encrid, Audin, and Esther sat in the center in their human forms, so the conversation naturally revolved around the three of them.
"So you're saying divinity is stable?" Ropode said, taking a sip of wine and pouring more after taking the bottle from Pel.
Although the snow was growing heavier, they had found a small cave and set up a makeshift tent in front of it using poles and blankets, making it easy to shelter from the snow without feeling too cramped. It was a conversation held over wine, watching the crackling campfire after finishing their meal. They exchanged views on the differences between divinity, sorcery, and Will.
Even when their opinions clashed, no one got angry. Because they were all highly skilled, they knew that each of them had forged their own path. Though they teased each other jokingly, no one disputed anything in earnest.
Encrid sat among these passionate individuals. Watching the burning campfire and the falling snow while sharing such a conversation, a thought occurred to him.
This is fun.
He felt as if he were tightrope walking between joy and happiness. Encrid was a man who, in his pursuit of becoming a knight, loved honing his actual swordsmanship and techniques so much that he would lose sleep over it. It would make no sense for him to dislike a moment like this. While there was the thrill of growth, the moment of talking so openly was also immensely enjoyable.
He had imagined something like this when he was young. A time when, after becoming a knight, like-minded people would gather to discuss each other's techniques, point out weaknesses, and complement one another. Though they weren't actively correcting each other's weaknesses right now, the atmosphere was remarkably similar to what he had imagined as a child.
He couldn't help but find it deeply satisfying. And he was gaining quite a lot from it. Encrid organized the words being spoken and stored them in his mind. Remembering and reflecting was his specialty.
One of the pieces of knowledge he acquired was this: Will causes a sense of exhaustion, but divinity does not.
"You will feel tired and weary if you exhaust it, yes, but because we view it not as a fading of willpower but as the vessel becoming temporarily unable to receive more of the power granted by God, there is no sense of exhaustion. Instead, you might simply be unable to use divinity for a few days."
Sorcery was also different from Will.
"If you make a mistake with sorcery, it doesn't end with mere exhaustion. The worst-case scenario is possession."
"Possession?"
"Think of it as a different kind of god entering your body, unlike the God that the glowing lump speaks of. To put it more simply, it's like being seized by an evil spirit, though the nature of it is somewhat different."
"How is it different?" Pel asked. The Shepherd of the Wilderness dealt with evil spirits quite often, so it was only natural for him to be interested.
"It's not that you do whatever the evil spirit commands, but rather that you enter a state of following some primal instinct or obsession. It's hard to explain. Just know that's how it is. And someone possessed by sorcery like that becomes far more troublesome than usual."
Rem said so, but Encrid couldn't fully comprehend it either. However, having spent time in the West, he had a rough idea of what they meant by spirits, like the Grime.
"If a gentle spirit like a bear spirit borrows your body, it might just eat some wild honey, get a bit of a stomachache, and then leave. But if it's anything else, things can get very serious."
If Will resulted in exhaustion, sorcery could be said to result in losing one's sense of self through possession. On the flip side, there were almost no cases of losing sorcery power, and if one was lucky, it might even increase. However, Rem added that no ghoul-like bastard would be stupid enough to exhaust their sorcery power just for that.
Looking at it this way, divinity possessed outstanding stability, but that wasn't necessarily an absolute advantage.
"It is difficult to use explosively. To do so requires innate talent. You can think of divinity as a long, sturdy rope."
"With sorcery, you can exert several times more power than you normally possess. I suppose that's the biggest difference. However, if you use it that way, problems will inevitably arise."
Since sorcery allowed one to catalyze power using a medium, if divinity was about endurance, sorcery possessed the explosive power to shine in short-term combat. Just as one could exaggerate words to inflate the truth, they said power could be inflated as well.
What about Will? What made Will different? The answer came from Ragna.
"I believe Will is entirely dependent on how the user wields it. Its color changes completely depending on the person using it."
As he spoke, Ragna glanced subtly at Sachsen. It was as if he was pointing out that their two methods were distinctly different. It also meant that while divinity and sorcery possessed a certain degree of uniformity, Will did not. Will was something where every single person could have a completely different color. It was also the reason why there were basic skills like Foresight and Endure. Perhaps one had to reach at least that level to even speak of individuality.
Sharing a conversation like this was enjoyable, but it didn't end with mere enjoyment. For Encrid, this entire process became a way to realize and reflect upon things he had already vaguely known.
On top of that, the perspective of a mage was added.
"Their roots are the same," Esther said.
This provided Encrid with a completely different perspective.