Chapter 96

"Who is your father?"

"..."

"You promised me you won't get angry," Aria remarked.

"I am not angry," Zach sighed and uttered, "My father was a normal human."

"But… when we first met, you said you have your father's powers and blood…" Aria was confused. She thought she remembered wrong, but it wasn't her fault.

"Yes. But my father was a human before. He wasn't born with… well, powers and all. He got it from someone," Zach replied. "And to be honest, I don't know much about my father. He was rarely home to spend time with me. He was always busy. I trained hard every day, hoping he would come home and pat me on the head."

"I was… uhh… as you know, I was born without magic, so I couldn't do things my father wanted me to do. I was sure he was disappointed in me. At least, that's what I thought until he told me that he was proud of me. And then one day, when I turned seven… he died in a battle."

"Did he die in front of you?"

Zach didn't say anything and simply shook his head in response.

"Did you see him die?" Aria asked in a calm voice.

Zach shook his head again.

"Uhh… What about his… umm… his dead body? Did you see it?"

"No. It was never found," Zach replied.

"Then he might not be dead, you know?" Aria reassured with an anxious look on her face.

"Then why did he never come home? Why did he never come back to us?"

Aria regretted giving false hope to Zach. Now, she had no words to say.

Zach let out a weary sigh and uttered, "Don't worry about it. If he is truly alive, then I will beat the shit out of him and ask him the reason."

Aria scoffed after hearing that, and so did Zach.

"But you were born with powers, right?"

"Yeah. Some of them," Zach nodded.

"Then… how did you use the wrath of the Phoenix?" Aria asked in a hesitant tone.

"When I was born, I was blessed by many celestial beings including elder Phoenix, elder dragon, grandmaster elf, demon lord, and apparently a god too— although I don't remember who," Zach asserted in a solemn voice.

"No wonder you are so strong," Aria remarked.

"Oh!" Zach suddenly exclaimed and said, "I also finally awakened my soul powers a while ago."

"What?!" Aria exclaimed even louder. "You… you… I can't believe it."

Aria rubbed her hand on her face and thought, 'Soul powers enhance the powers depending on how strong the soul core is. So if Zach was without soul powers when we made the contract… I can't imagine how strong he will get after his soul core reaches its maximum limit.'

"What's wrong?" Zach raised his brows and said, "And why are you acting like I do when I am speechless and frustrated."

After hearing that, Aria's face flushed, and she covered it with her hands.

"I am not copying you," Aria said in a muffled voice.

"Anyway, can you help me out?" Zach asked in a respectful tone.

"How did you awaken your soul powers?" Aria asked in a muffled voice.

"I myself have no idea, but I think it happened because the nun called me a god. She also said she would worship me," Zach asserted.

"Then that was the trigger," Aria quipped.

"The gods gain more power when someone worships them." Aria glanced at Zach with a serious look on her face and said, "That's why those cheeky pests introduced worshiping in the game."

Zach knitted his brows at Aria and asked, "So… I am a god?"

Aria nodded and said, "You said a god had blessed you with power, so that's probably the reason," Aria explained with a surprised tone.

"Hmm~" Zach raised his brows with a curious look on his face and asked, "So does that mean I will get stronger if someone worships me?"

Aria nodded in response and said, "As I said, that makes the gods more powerful."

Zach pondered for a while and declared with a snap: "Time to start my own religion!"

"Argh~" Aria let out a loud groan after hearing that.

Zach furrowed his brows and said, "What's with that groan?"

"Nothing."

'She never learns.' Zach sighed and uttered, "I order you to tell me the truth."

Aria bit her lips and said, "I lost my sister because of a religion."

"..." Zach averted his gaze and muttered, "I don't plan to be like other gods."

After a brief silence, Aria turned to Zach and asked, "If you awakened your soul powers recently, then you should learn soul cultivation."

Zach stared at Aria with a serious look and uttered, "I have no idea what that means. Believe me, my knowledge of cultivation is close to none."

"Let me give you an example." Aria pondered for a while and said, "Imagine a balloon, for example."

"I imagined it." Zach imagined a different balloon at first.

"If you fill the water in that balloon and keep filling it, eventually, the balloon will explode because of the excess amount of water. Because it was trying to contain something more than its capacity."

"Hmm." Zach nodded and asked, "And?"

"The balloon is your physical body in the real world, and the water is your power which is increasing day by day. And you just awakened your soul power too."

"Wait…" Zach knitted his brows and asked with an anxious look on his face: "Are you saying my real body is in danger?"

"It can be. If your body gets strained because of the power, it can cause injury that can lead to death, you know?"

If a player died in Gods' Impact, they would die in the real world too. Similarly, if a player died in the real world, they would also die in Gods' Impact.

"I will be damned…" Zach muttered under his breath.

***

Total players in the game 404611.

0 new players logged in.

58 players died.

===

Author's Note- To anyone wondering— Yes! It's (blushing) Aria on the current cover,