After an unknown amount of time had passed, the awakening process finally came to an end.
The enormous cocoon suspended beneath the World Tree gradually stopped pulsing, and the brilliant green light flowing across its surface slowly faded until only a faint glow remained. The countless vines wrapped around its exterior loosened one after another, while the massive structure itself steadily shrank in size as though every bit of energy contained within it had finally been exhausted.
Without any warning, the cocoon suddenly opened.
Rather than gently lowering William onto the ground as one might have expected, it unceremoniously spat him out.
His body fell several feet before crashing face-first onto the soft grass below.
"Ow... cough...!"
William immediately coughed several times as his consciousness returned. His entire body instinctively curled slightly while he tried to gather his bearings after waking up so abruptly.
For several moments, he simply remained lying on the ground while struggling to process what had happened.
Eventually, he planted both hands against the earth and attempted to stand.
The moment he did so, an intense wave of discomfort swept through his body.
It felt as though every bone inside him had been fused together into one rigid frame. His joints refused to move naturally, while his muscles felt painfully stiff after remaining motionless for so long. The worst sensation came from his back, where it felt as though countless nails had been driven directly into his spine.
The pain was dull, deep, and incredibly persistent.
William slowly straightened himself despite the discomfort before taking several uneven breaths.
"So... this is what it feels like..."
He reached toward his face and wiped away a thick layer of translucent green fluid covering his skin before coughing once again.
The strange liquid clung to his hair, clothes, and every exposed part of his body. It felt slightly warm and carried a faint fragrance resembling fresh leaves after rainfall.
At that moment, Orion’s familiar voice echoed inside his mind.
[Welcome back, Host.]
[You certainly look brand new.]
William blinked several times before quickly running both hands across his body.
"Oh, shit!"
His expression immediately became alarmed.
"What happened?"
He hurriedly checked his arms, chest, and legs as though expecting to discover some horrifying mutation.
After confirming that everything appeared to be where it should be, he finally relaxed slightly.
Orion answered in the same calm tone as always.
[Nothing particularly unusual.]
[You simply awakened a Divine Physique.]
William stared blankly into the distance.
"Just... like that?"
He looked down at himself once more.
"I honestly expected a much worse experience than this. I thought I’d be screaming for hours."
There was a brief pause.
Then Orion replied.
[It appears you developed the trait of masochism somewhere during the awakening.]
[I never expected to witness someone acquire such a personality trait completely out of nowhere.]
William’s lips immediately twitched.
"You really aren’t funny."
Despite saying that, he could not help shaking his head with a helpless smile. He raised one hand before gently circulating his Water Element.
Streams of crystal-clear water immediately gathered around him, washing away every trace of the sticky fluid covering his body. Within moments, he felt completely clean again.
After changing into a fresh set of clothes, William slowly walked several meters away from the enormous World Tree.
Standing beneath the pleasant warmth of the sun, he stretched his stiff muscles while allowing the sunlight to relax his exhausted body.
Only after recovering for several minutes did he finally smile.
"Alright."
He looked toward the sky.
"Show me the effects of my new physique."
Almost immediately, a translucent blue screen appeared before him.
=====
Divine Genesis Physique (Divine) (Suppressed)
A physique born even before the First World Tree, Yggdrasil, before heaven and earth were separated. Legends proclaim it to be the Origin of All Life, a physique that had never existed before you. Every forest, spirit, beast, and World Tree instinctively recognizes its bearer as the rightful Sovereign.
Nature Affinity: Grants Nature Element Affinity (Absolute Rank)
Creation Affinity: Grants Creation Element Affinity (F-Rank)
King of Yggdrasil: Host is now a King.
Primordial Origin Blood: The Host possesses the First Blood.
Blessing of the King: Heal and restore your allies.
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
=====
William stared silently at the status screen.
Then his expression slowly became increasingly strange.
"^__^"
"What the heck, Orion?"
He rubbed his eyes once before reading everything again. The physique he had awakened felt far too extraordinary to simply be categorized as Divine.
The first entry did not surprise him very much.
An Absolute Rank Nature Affinity was surprising but still somewhat within his expectations of what he had expected after witnessing Seraphine’s awakening.
However...
His eyes remained fixed upon the second line.
"Creation Affinity..."
William quietly repeated the words to himself.
"And it’s actually another elemental affinity."
For several moments, he simply stood there trying to digest what he had just read.
Finally, he shrugged.
"Well... it doesn’t really matter."
"It’s only F-Rank right now."
He smiled confidently.
"With adaptation talent, it’ll become an Absolute Rank affinity in an instant anyway."
Just as William began reassuring himself, Orion immediately interrupted.
[No, Host.]
[Your Creation Affinity will not become Absolute Rank.]
William blinked. This time, genuine curiosity appeared on his face instead of disappointment.
"Why not?"
His calm reaction actually surprised Orion. The spirit had expected William to complain. Instead, he simply waited for an explanation.
Orion answered patiently.
[Because the physique has been forcefully suppressed by the Supreme System.]
[Everything capable of upsetting the natural balance of the Scarred Realm has been sealed away.]
[If those abilities were left unrestricted, the realm itself would eventually collapse beneath your existence.]
[The timing simply isn’t right for you to possess that level of power.]
William slowly nodded while thinking about the explanation.
"I suppose that makes sense."
Then he clicked his tongue.
"Still..." He looked back toward the status screen.
"Could you at least explain these abilities properly?"
He pointed toward several effect descriptions.
"’King with Yggdrasil Blood.’"
"’Primordial Origin Blood.’"
"’Blessing of the King.’"
He looked rather dissatisfied.
"Those descriptions are unbelievably lazy, there is no limitation or scope stated for them. what do you even mean by ’Host is now a King’?"
Orion remained silent for a moment before replying. [That is because those descriptions contain everything I currently know.]
[I am not hiding anything from you.]
[You need to remember that the Supreme System also limits my own knowledge.]
[I am merely one spirit operating under the system.]
[I am not the system itself.]
William slowly rolled his eyes.
"I’ve heard you say that so many times."
[Because it happens to be true.]
William could only sigh.
"So, in other words..."
"I’ll have to figure out how these abilities work by myself."
[Yes.]
William nodded without complaining further.
"Fine."
"It isn’t the first time I’ve had to experiment with my abilities."
After thinking for another moment, another question entered his mind.
"What exactly is Yggdrasil? I remember hearing that name back on Earth. It appeared in plenty of fantasy novels and games."
Orion answered casually.
[Nothing particularly important for you to know right now.]
[Yggdrasil is simply the Father of all World Trees.]
William slowly turned around.
His gaze naturally landed upon the gigantic World Tree towering inside his Infinite Domain.
"So there are actually multiple World Trees."
[Yes.]
After a brief pause, Orion spoke again. [Fun fact.]
[Every World Tree possesses its own name.]
William smiled slightly.
"Oh?"
He looked toward the enormous tree.
"So..."
"What is this guy called?"
There was another short silence.
[It doesn’t have a name, It has only recently been born.]
[Why don’t you give it a name yourself?]
William folded his arms while seriously considering the suggestion. He spent several minutes trying to think of something suitable.
Unfortunately nothing came to mind.
After exhausting every idea he had, he finally laughed helplessly.
"I’ll leave that honor to Seraphine."
"I think she’ll come up with something much better than I ever could."
With that decision made, William turned around and prepared to leave. Just as he took his first step...
His expression suddenly changed.
An enormous fluctuation of Variance Energy erupted somewhere inside the Infinite Domain. The disturbance spread across the entire realm like ripples across a lake, and William immediately sensed it with startling clarity.
He slowly narrowed his eyes. "What is happening over there?"
Instead of answering directly, Orion calmly replied,
[I believe it would be better if you witnessed it yourself.]
William did not ask another question. His body instantly disappeared. A moment later, he reappeared high in the skies above the Infinite Domain.
From that vantage point, he immediately spotted the source of the disturbance.
Two figures stood facing one another in the air.
One of them was impossible to mistake.
Rah’s enormous body dominated the sky with his usual overwhelming presence.
Standing opposite him. Was a much smaller figure.
William narrowed his eyes.
For several moments, he simply stared.
Then his expression froze.
"What the hell..."
He looked toward the figure again, making sure his eyes were not deceiving him.
"Orion..."
His voice became noticeably wavering.
"Am I actually seeing this correctly?"
Orion hesitated. For the first time in quite a while, William noticed an unusual pause before the spirit responded.
[Yes.]
[I think it happened because of the new World Tree, it was releasing a lot of energy during the whole process.]
[She was exposed to an enormous amount of Nature Mana during the awakening.]
[Perhaps... she recovered because of it.]
William continued staring silently.
After spending so much time with Orion, he had become surprisingly good at recognizing even the slightest changes in the spirit’s manner of speaking.
A faint smile slowly appeared on William’s face. He folded his arms.
"Tell me the truth."