His stupefied expression amused Della, making her chuckle. It felt good to know that he cared about her opinion… Well, not like she didn't already know it.

Wrapping her arms over his neck, she continued slowly, "You don't have to act so surprised. It was not your fault in the first place. Just that things happened in such a way that it was bound to happen."

"What do you mean?" Anom asked. He was unable to trust his own judgment as he couldn't be sure whether the conclusion he would reach would not be affected by his unstable state. Therefore, he needed her help to analyze and overcome his problems.

Della didn't keep him waiting and explained, "As I have already seen your memories, I can say with certainty that your soul changed the moment you touched the World Stone. No, it can't be said to have changed, just that its original nature was broken free, and it's not being suppressed anymore."

"The emotional changes that you experienced only started happening during the period you stayed in my dimension." There was a special tenderness in her voice when she talked about the time they spent together.

"But they were in no way bad for you," she continued. "As I have mentioned before, your soul conforms with the way of the world. Actually, every soul does, but the difference remains in its nature. Your soul is clearly different in that it is closer to the natural laws than the other souls I have seen before." She paused and added after some thought. "Including those of the gods! The soul of a god is also special in some ways, but it is in no way as closely connected to nature as your soul is – it is simply inconceivable."

Anom heard her serious tone and realized that he had still underestimated the origin of his soul. But he didn't try to interrupt as he knew she would tell him all that was necessary.

"But having such a soul does not mean that you can become an almighty being instantly!" Della spoke in a tone of warning, though she knew that Anom was not one to get easily swayed. "You need to train and evolve your spirit to allow it to gain control over your soul. Every being is capable of such a feat, though not everyone can accomplish the task. Let alone mortals, not even the gods have understood the mysterious existence known as soul completely."

Della paused to let Anom digest her words. Meanwhile, she continued to caress his cheeks while her head rested on his chest.

Anom did his best to ignore the naughty goddess who had recently become a lot more assertive. He repeated her words in his mind for a while before asking, "So you mean that my soul being too strong is the reason for my problems?"

Della nodded. "You can consider it like that... But, saying that your soul is strong is also wrong."

Seeing Anom's questioning look, Della hurriedly explained. "I know. I was the one who said that your soul is strong, but that was only to let you understand your situation in simpler terms... Let me give you a more suitable example."

"Let's assume that a normal soul is like a stone, then your soul can be considered as steel. Equal amounts of both are strong but only one of them is more dense and malleable – it can be evolved, its strength enhanced further."

"It is not that your soul is strong, but that your soul has a better intrinsic quality – it has touched the rules of nature more closely." Her explanation was quite easy to understand. The only thing that bugged him was that she kept mentioning his soul being close to the world or whatever, but he didn't really get the use of that. 'Is it all about the ability to help me control energy more efficiently?' He wondered.

"You just said that every being is capable of improving their souls, right?" Anom suddenly asked.

Seeing Della nod, he continued, "Then, doesn't that mean, although not all many people can still refine their souls to reach this point?" He was not trying to belittle his specialty, he only wanted to know where exactly he stood. "Then that means I only have a head-start against them, that can be fathomed by many if given enough time."

"No, it's not like that. This innate nature is not something which can be trained just like that!" Della flatly rejected his conjecture. "I'm not too sure either, but from what I've felt, your soul resonates with an existence beyond the control of my world – The Universe." Her eyes shone with reverence as she talked about the Universe. It was the adoration that the weak had for the strong; that the ignorant held for the wise. Anom could also sense her undisguised curiosity towards that mysterious existence.

Everything else aside, he could barely imagine an existence which even the gods worship.

'Gods worshiping someone?' He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"Don't laugh." Della pouted. "Of course we have to respect it; it is the origin of all creation after all... Despite all our abilities, we gods are only able to work on the minor aspects."

"The Universe gave you all a mission or something?" Anom asked curiously.

"It's nothing like that... In reality, we gods are free to do as we please." Della explained. "Gods are curious creatures, but as beings who stand at the top, there is not much that can truly surprise or attract them. But the subject of the mysterious existence known as the Universe is enough to occupy their curiosity. That's why the majority of the gods spend all their time trying to study that mysterious existence by using different methods. The most common way is the method I use – creating worlds. There are even gods who consider destruction as the true way of studying the mysteries of the universe. Oh, there are also some weirdos who just keep messing around everywhere, just seeking some fun. Maybe that can also be considered a method... All in all, everything goes as long as it is within the boundaries."

"What boundaries?" Anom frowned. "And what will happen if you cross them?"

"Um… That I don't know."

"Huh? Why?" Anom asked, confused.

Della thought for a second before replying, "Since the time I have come into existence, I have witnessed all kinds of events, many of them spanning across and capable of affecting multiple worlds… Whether it was creation of worlds or large-scale destructive battles between gods. Every such event had the ability to make the gods nervous, but not even one of them was enough to rouse its attention." She sighed. "We never had the honor to be graced by its presence."

Anom was a bit speechless as he asked, "Then why do you believe in its existence if you haven't even verified it yet?"

"We have to!" Della replied firmly. "Every existence, after reaching a certain level, will be able to sense its existence. All gods know about its existence the moment they are born."

She looked into his eyes and added, "Now do you understand why I consider your soul as something special?"

Anom nodded. Although quite vague, he now had a better idea about the origins of his soul. Though he doubted that it might directly have anything to do with 'The Universe'.

"Ah, we've gone off topic." Della suddenly remembered and stirred the conversation back to the topic they were discussing earlier. "Let's talk about the reason why your soul is being affected."

Anom became attentive as he heard her. All the other topics she had mentioned were too far away for him to discuss currently. He needed to deal with his own problems first before he could begin worrying about anything else.

"You see, the problem lies in the fact that as soon as you descended down there, you encountered some things which were beyond what you could handle right now."

Anom suddenly recalled something and couldn't help but ask, "Is it related to the people I met?"

Della nodded. "It is."

"Was it Crystal?" Anom suddenly asked as he remembered the first human he interacted with.

"Not her." Della shook her head. "…It was her mother."

"Loreana?! How could that be?" Anom recalled his interactions with the strict but kind mother, but couldn't remember her doing anything that could've affected him.

"It was not something she did intentionally… Actually, she might not even know about her own origins. And if I'm not wrong, her bloodline contains some traces of a race that specialized in mental manipulation."

"You mean to say, she manipulated me... subconsciously?"

"Yes," Della confirmed. "But she alone could not have done something like that. It was actually quite a complicated situation." She was also helpless regarding the bizarre arrangement of events that had transpired with him. "It was so rare that I might have suspected someone arranging it intentionally if not for this being my world."

"Uh… So, what is it exactly?"

Della smiled. "It was Luna. She was the key that allowed Loreana to bypass the innate defence and access your soul."

'It was her alright.' Anom was not surprised. Luna was the first person who came to his mind when he thought about the meetings that could have triggered a change.

"Although I haven't interacted with them directly, I can still infer some things from your memories of your interactions with both of them." Della paused to think and explained, "In the case of Luna, her specialty lies in her soul. I don't know the exact reason, but her soul probably carries some remnant power from a powerful being. It's like how your DNA carries your genetic information. The soul can also function in the same but improved manner."

"But it requires you to attain a certain level before you can learn to leave an imprint on your soul. As for how powerful you need to be? Well, disregarding some special instances, you need to at least undergo a Soul Sublimation at the level of the world."

"And what does that mean?" Anom asked, curious.

"Soul Sublimation at the level of the world is the process you undergo just before becoming a god." Della smiled.

Anom lost his cool as he asked hurriedly, "You mean to say that Luna might be the reincarnation of some god?"

"Maybe," Della shrugged. "As I mentioned, there are also some special circumstances which might achieve similar results. But considering her influence over your soul, there's a major chance for it to be true."

Anom took a breath to calm his emotions. He recalled all his interactions with the cute and innocent maid.

Who would have thought that she would turn out to be a reincarnated goddess?

"Wait a minute." He suddenly realized something. "How can another god enter your world without you knowing about it." He then remembered Della's current situation and asked, "Is it due to you not using your powers?"

Della nodded. "That's right. It might have happened after the time I started practicing to be a mortal. But my world would still have alerted me if the intruder had any negative effect on its growth."

"You don't mind having her around in your world?" Anom asked in surprise. Although he knew Della's kind nature, it was still surprising for her to accept the presence of another powerful being in her territory this easily.

"Why not?" she asked. "Think about it. What can cause a god to reincarnate? I'm quite curious to know the circumstances that caused her to regress to this state." As she had mentioned before, gods are curious creatures. This issue with Luna had attracted her attention. Besides, even if that was not the case, Anom's affection towards Luna was a reason enough for her to take interest.

Anom nodded as he also thought about this. This matter was not that simple.

"Besides," Della chuckled. "don't you think that she's quite cute?"

Anom also smiled. "Yep. Cute enough to make me want to help her."

"Yeah. And you are the right person to help her." Della also smiled.

"Although she doesn't have a power similar to that of Loreana, Luna still carries an imprint of a higher being after all. Her soul carries an innate instinct to survive. That's why she can subconsciously judge people to check whether they mean her any harm or not."

Anom nodded. He had experienced that himself when Luna was sent to his place to check his intentions by the Safaira family.

"In a similar way," Della continued, "her subconscious, or you might say, her soul, has an innate attraction towards anything that can help her restore her powers. And in this case, that attractive thing would be you — your soul, to be precise."

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Thanks for reading!