After witnessing my mother manifest that ethereal yet seemingly mystical bird, I began to grasp the essence of what a spirit is.

So, to materialize some creature subconsciously means I've successfully shaped my spirit?

According to my mother, I must possess a dominating personality trait. However, I find myself entirely neutral. Can a neutral trait grant me a spirit? From my readings, gods with a neutral trait must undergo specific circumstances—be it joy, pleasure, or tragedy—to awaken their dominant traits and shape their spirits.

It seems I have to experience a certain NPC event to finally awaken my spirit. Impatience consumes me; my mother's words imply that not awakening a spirit by the age of two is a setback.

What if I climbed the top of the Chaos Tree and jumped? Could such a high fall stimulate me and awaken my spirit? Would my mother even permit it?

Astasia's POV*

[Goddess Astasia, the goddess of kindness and love, please hear my prayers! I need your strength to fuc—]

[Goddess Astasia, the goddess...]

I constantly hear these prayers in the back of my head, but I'll let my Divine Spirit, in the form of an Aurelia Aviarum, handle the requests.

This Aurelia Aviarum exists within the Colossal Epic Mountains, situated at the southern end of the Kingdom of Elysians. Shaping a spirit of such a bird made it evident how potent my spirit is.

While fulfilling my duties as a goddess with hundreds of millions of followers, such as bestowing a bit of my divine energy upon devoted followers, my Spirit handled most of the work. I observed how my followers dealt with other religions.

"Sigh... I do hope the Will of the Heavenly Realm blesses my son." I sighed, expressing concern for my intelligent son.

Honestly, even if my son's spirit turns out to be weak, I could link it to a world under my full authority. The challenge is, I lack a world over which I can confidently assert full authority. The worlds my spirit has linked to are dominated by powerful gods above the Power Authority. Perhaps my husband could help, but he seems indifferent to our son.

Sigh. Even gods face challenging problems.

Matthew's POV*

Morning arrives in this realm with 72 hours a day—I counted, and it is indeed the case.

I wonder how time flows in this realm. My mother informed me that this realm's time, called "Divine Time," differs from mortal realms. Unlike mortal realms where time can be manipulated by Angel Authority gods, known as "Mortal Time," Divine Time is complex, beyond mortals' and gods' comprehension. I'm curious about how time in this realm differs from mortal time.

"Yawn, I guess it's time for practice." I stretch before leaving my room.

There, I spot Susan, a middle-aged woman, waiting for me. She nods as I approach.

"Please train me again!" I politely request.

"Of course, young Lord. I'll do my best to train you," Susan smiles, materializing a wooden sword and handing another to me.

"Now, let's go to the garden," Susan smiled kindly at me, though I found that smile to be somewhat intimidating.

Susan is genuinely powerful, at least in my eyes. According to my mother, Susan was at the Archangel level. Initially an Angel Authority, Susan pledged her allegiance to my mother, and over the years, her faith bore fruit, propelling her to the level of an Archangel. Some servants even mentioned that Susan's authority level is approaching Principality Authority.

She became my trainer, excelling in Archery, Swords, Spears, and more. Months have passed since she started training me, and it's already been 1.9 years since I arrived in this world.

Lost in my thoughts, Susan and I reached the wide and spacious garden.

"Alright, my little lord, I'll summon my Bladewyrm. If you can handle it, we'll exchange blows!"

I simply smiled in response as Susan pointed her hands towards the ground, creating a magical circle with a purple glow. Gradually, a humanoid creature enveloped in shining silver armor emerged after the glow subsided.

As the magic circle disappeared, Bladewyrm kneeled down towards Susan.

"Please exchange blows with the little lord, Bladewyrm."

"Understood, my Lady," it responded with a deep voice.

As Bladewyrm turned towards me, I assumed a fighting stance and gripped my wooden sword with both hands.

In our initial encounters, I doubted that my wooden sword could withstand Bladewyrm's shining silver blade. However, as I blocked with the wooden sword, it didn't break. It turns out that the wooden sword is crafted from Everlasta Oak, a wood tougher than any steel or metal in the mortal realms.

"Here I come, Little Lord!" Bladewyrm swiftly approached, aiming to strike me without hesitation.

"Hmph!" I snorted and blocked the attack. The clash of the two swords produced sparks.

The two swords trembled as Bladewyrm and I pushed our blades against each other.

Bladewyrm swiftly withdrew his sword, seemingly analyzing my weaknesses.

We exchanged blows until it became apparent that Bladewyrm was trying to distract me for a kick.

"That same trick you always use won't work!" I evaded, creating distance between us, and circled around in an attempt to flank Bladewyrm.

Bladewyrm, on alert, assumed a defensive stance, facing me each time I circled to get behind him.

'The young Lord is improving quite well...'

I heard Susan's thoughts as I circled, and sensing Bladewyrm's excessive defensiveness, I decided to employ a trick.

I threw my wooden sword at Bladewyrm, who flinched and evaded the attack.

"Hm?" Bladewyrm tilted his head in confusion, perhaps wondering why I threw the sword.

I smiled cunningly, utilizing the [Manipulation] power I had just recently awakened.

Bladewyrm, thinking I was defenseless without a sword, advanced towards me. However, as he approached to strike, the thrown wooden sword returned at remarkable speed, hitting him in the head before he could land a blow.

Clang*

The sound of the wooden sword hitting Bladewyrm's silver helmet echoed, forcefully pushing him to the side, and he fainted.