Amara sat on the observation deck holding her knees as she heard the flap of wings and the sound of rushing air. Amara looked up to see Sophelia stand next to her. 

“Hey.” Amara greeted listlessly.

“Mortal.” Sophelia responded.

Sophelia watched the clouds of light as silence descended between them. Amara’s cheeks were already drying up. Even without saying anything, Sophelia’s presence was soothing. 

Amara couldn’t help but be reminded of her mother as the angel stood calmly next to her.

Reminded by her mother who Amara had lost years ago brought upon a new wave of tears. Her foster parents had never been ones for emotional support - more the opposite in fact.

I wish I was still a child with my parents. None of this champion crap.

Amara’s shoulders shook gently as she began sobbing silently.

I don’t wanna cry in front of someone I don’t even know.

Amara felt a warmth embrace her as Sophelia’s voluminous wing wrapped around her. Sophelia had sat down on her knees, watching the clouds as she silently comforted Amara.

 

Once Amara’s feelings settled down she wiped her cheeks with her hands.

“Thanks.” (Amara)

Sophelia’s soothing voice suddenly pierced the silence.

“A mortal fears the coming night with despair, for in the shadows gleam a predator’s glare. But with the dawning sun’s light, the predator shall make its flight. Lesson learned, he brightens the night with fire. Twilight falls, and the dark no longer seems any dire.”(Sophelia)

Amara frowned. Eh?

“A thing I thought.” Sophelia smiled gently as her eyes turned to look at Amara. “You have not yet made your keys.”

“I made a to-do list.” Amara replied.

Sophelia blinked. “And have they granted you a path to victory?” 

They hadn’t. “No.” (Amara)

“Those are not keys, but the prerequisites for them. You have studied the locks and decided what to make the keys with, but you have not designed the keys that open the locks.” Sophelia stated.

“I just don’t know what to do, nor how anything would help. Ezme said I’d reach my limit quickly, and I already feel that I will reach it sooner or later.” Amara said dejectedly.

“Indeed. At its current state your body will reach the limits of its potential soon.” Sophelia replied.

“Then there’s nothing I can do is there? I can’t get stronger.” Amara complained.

Sophelia paused and turned her eyes to the clouds. “Interesting conclusion.”

Amara shrugged. “It’s true isn’t it?”

“Another interesting conclusion.” Sophelia stated.

Amara paused. “...Are you implying something?”

“Certainly not, that would be against the terms of the armistice. I simply wished to know your mind.” Sophelia said while gazing at the pulsing lights. “What did I remind you last time?”

“...Not to cloud my goals with emotion?” Amara asked.

“Indeed. That I did.” (Sophelia)

So my goals are clouded with emotion is what you mean.

Sophelia turned her head to look at Amara. “What is the relationship between mana and divine power?”

Amara shrugged. “None? Aren’t they independent? After all, mortals only have mana, angels only have divine power?” 

“Interesting conclusions.” Sophelia stated. “If you believe mana and divine power to be independent, then you must believe their combined power should be considered additive.”

“...I suppose?” Amara tilted her head in confusion.

“Interesting conclusion. Very interesting.” Sophelia smiled serenely as she turned back to the clouds.

What the hell is she aiming at? Think, Amara.

From what I gathered from what Ezme said, then mana comes from the framework of souls, and divine power is memories. So I guess they are both related to the soul in that way?

If Sophelia said ‘interesting’ whenever I said something that was wrong, then that means I can get stronger. And that divine power and mana combined isn’t additive, but someth-

[Ding!]

What’s this?

...Forbidden knowledge?

Sophelia stood up as she unfurled her wings and walked to the ledge. Before taking flight she turned her head and looked back at Amara.

“Good luck, Champion.” (Sophelia)

________________

 

Amara went back to her bed and lied down with paper in hand. 

Let’s make a plan.

Point one. My pool of divine power is going to reach the maximum sooner or later. I’ve mostly been increasing the pool cause the divine skills seem so damn inefficient, but maybe I shouldn’t rely on it too much.

Point two. I can create new divine skills. But I have no idea what. I guess the abilities I saw on Sophelia’s Silence sounded nice, but I have no idea if I’ll be able to use them. Ask Ezme on this.

Point three. I have no idea how to get mana, or what mana is exactly or how it behaves. I just remember it behaved kind of like divine power. Can I create a skill that creates mana directly? But maybe it’s better to get it here from somewhere else. After all, Ezme is willing to fly to Earth for a simple smoothie. 

Mana was also related to this forbidden knowledge. I guess I won’t be receiving divine judgement from Tom for it, yet anyway. I doubt Sophelia came without his knowledge. He may even have told her to come.

Point four. Redundant until I find mana.

Point five. Also redundant until I get mana.

Point six. Get weapons and armor. I should sneak into the workshop and have a looksie. Either way, I’ll have to make my own. But what kind of weapons should I get? It seems items can be created with magical effects at least, so I can probably learn some kind of enchanting. 

For armor, maybe I can create skills to forge something. But I also have to get materials. Both are related to point two. 

For weapons, I should get a mix. See how I do with the enchanting idea. I should probably have a sword or other melee weapon, just in case. I should also steal some weaponry from Earth. Those with modern weapons kinda ruled once first invented. But I wonder how efficient modern weapons would be on demons. If they require some kind of magic skill to even penetrate their skin, modern weapons would be useless.

Amara paused.

Now that I think about it, the whole idea with the arms races was to see who could get the best toy that could kill the most people with the least effort. Drones and missiles already exist. Push a couple buttons and you kill a dozen people. Or more. A lot more if we consider nukes. 

...Could I create terminators? Damn that thought is scary. But what if? Image recognition is already getting into the game, and automated driving was on the rise. 

...If I have a thousand years on me, can I create AI? REAL AI? Damn. I’ll think about that too later. It’s an interesting thought anyway, it doesn’t matter if I’m weak if I can create weapons that will send the demons running where they came from. 

Point seven. Yeah, I can’t really get allies at the moment. Need to start off with a mouthpiece. But then again. If I can create killer-droids...it wouldn’t matter if I recruit allies or not. I can just make them.

Point eight. Well, I’ll have to study how to store divine power. What it can be stored in. And create skills for it. All of it comes back to creating new skills.

Point sixtynine. Heh. Got Ezme, don’t need to worry about it for now.

Lets rewrite it and order by priority.

Ah, I forgot.