CH358 Theology

***

The new week passed quietly, without much drama.

The Golden Palace gradually delivered Alex's resource orders to the HQ, where he personally collected them before transferring everything into his Sanctuary Pocket Dimension.

The less sensitive and general supplies were later moved out and stored in two large interspatial chests. The more sensitive items—the ten top-grade Mana Stones, thousands of high-grade Mana Stones, high-tier materials for his rune tattoos and others—remained secured within the Sanctuary.

Since he hadn't received any word from his father and had no clear line of contact regarding troop deployment—especially as his expedition was meant to remain a secret even within the Fury family—Alex decided to take another route.

He asked Zora to scout the Enclave for talented individuals he could bring along. If not as direct party members, then as part of his expedition force in other vital roles—military or otherwise.

Officially, his upcoming journey was listed as a sabbatical. That meant anyone joining him would have to do so willingly, ready to travel across the lands and, most likely, choose to place themselves under his command.

Unfortunately, despite being the heir of the infamous Mad Earl, Drake Fury, and winning the hearts of both the Enclave's Ice Queen and the Empire's Flower, very little else was known about Alex.

That particular situation with the two women had already made him public enemy number one among the men of the Enclave. And that was on top of the envy he already attracted as Merlin's most favoured and supported student.

Since it hadn't been revealed that he was, in fact, Merlin's True Disciple, many of Merlin's paid students—past and present—were deeply dissatisfied with the disparity in treatment between themselves and Alex, who was also technically a paid student.

He was not treated like an in-name disciple at all. Instead, he enjoyed close rapport with key figures like the Enclave's Chief Financial Officer, several Grand Mages—including Grand Mage Agrut and Grand Mage Taman, who represented the Enclave's non-human and human circles respectively—and even a number of elite craftsmen, among them Tier IV Masters and Tier V Grandmasters.

These two matters had caused most talented individuals who met Alex's standards to grow dissatisfied with him—and, as a result, unwilling to join his cause.

Alex, in turn, wasn't particularly keen on them either once he understood their mindset. He simply couldn't bring himself to trust them anymore.

Still, his search wasn't entirely fruitless. The dwarven forgesmithing Grandmaster he had collaborated with to produce the first Rune-Net Server—the very one now used by the Enclave—approached him personally to recommend a promising candidate.

Not long after, Agrut also sent word that Alex could visit his tribe's home in a few days to personally select a gifted youth from among their ranks.

Hence, Alex decided to meet all potential candidates simultaneously.

Interestingly, he found himself biased toward the Enclave's candidates, as they leaned more towards magical and craftsmen-type professions—precisely the kind of diversity he wanted for his expedition team.

In contrast, he imagined most candidates from the Fury Agoge would be warrior-types—brutes who knew more about fighting than crafting.

That wasn't to say they lacked value. They likely possessed useful auxiliary skills—especially in the field of security and survivability—that would prove handy in the field.

Still, Alex preferred to select a few from the Enclave to keep his roster well-rounded. After all, even if there happened to be a mage among the Agoge's candidates, he couldn't bring himself to trust their magical competence, not after seeing the standard of spellcraft practiced within the Fury family.

While waiting to meet the candidates, Alex turned his attention elsewhere—towards a name that had piqued his curiosity; Zedicus Zoran.

The Runesmith whose book he'd found sitting on the shelf in his Golden Palace office.

As it turned out, the man was even less renowned than Alex had expected. Still, thanks to Haggleworth's network, his team managed to locate and acquire three more of the Runesmith's books.

After reading them, Alex quickly realised why the man's fame had crumbled. The Runesmith was less a craftsman and more a philosopher of Runecraft.

Most of his writings were abstract musings on the possibilities within Runes rather than their practical application.

Yet, one theory stood out.

The man had speculated about the potential of an individual who mastered every Rune in existence. He claimed that such a person would, in essence, become a Navi.

Musings like these were precisely why his reputation had plummeted into obscurity.

The rise of the Era of Interplanar Travel brought many changes to the Realm of Pangea. One of the most profound was the Faith Enlightenment of the realm.

Among its many consequences came the fall of every god that once reigned over Pangea—slain by a coalition of the realm's Legendary and higher beings.

With the dawn of the Era of Interplanar Conquest came a chilling revelation: every plane across existence had its own so-called gods.

And so the Pangeans wondered—

If every world had gods, were they truly divine?

Their curiosity became obsession. In their relentless quest for truth, the Pangeans discovered a way to kill these beings.

Eventually, a group of Pangean denizens achieved the impossible—they slew a god in a lesser realm.

From this victory, they uncovered the secret behind these so-called deities.

The answer lay in Emotional Energy, Faith, and… Providence Theft.

From that moment, the Pangeans ceased to see those beings as gods.

They renamed them Navi.

In their eyes, the Navi were not omnipotent creators, but merely powerful entities walking a different branch of power—

The Path of Faith.

And once that truth became known, the proud powerhouses of Pangea came to scorn that path.

Unlike the Warrior, Mage, or Warlock routes—each rooted in self-discipline and personal cultivation—the Faith Path depended on others.

It drew strength not from within, but from the belief of others.

Without faith, those who walked that path became powerless—parasites in the eyes of the Legends And beyond.

This revelation spread swiftly through the realm, and in what amounted to an instant on the cosmic scale, faith collapsed.

The five gods of Pangea lost their kingdoms of belief… and were massacred by the world's most powerful beings.

Since then, the Pangeans became theists—not believers of planetary gods, but of a True God, a Creator of all things.

A being self-sufficient, eternal, and beyond worship.

However, since they had long forgotten how to properly honour this Creator—believing the knowledge lost to time by the actions of the Navi—they chose not to worship at all, lest they offend that divine being further.

Thus, the closest thing the Pangeans retained to a religion… was cultivation itself.

The pursuit of power became a form of enlightenment—

An awakening to the vastness and beauty of existence created by this unfathomable being.

A silent reverence toward creation... and the creator

It was within such a world that the Runesmith dared to speak of the Navi.

'No wonder he was cancelled,' Alex thought.

**(8/70)**

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