Fear Divinity

The faint light awakened Soren from his slumber.

The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to roll over and sit up, then reach for the weapon beside him. Only when his hand touched the Scimitar did his expression relax slightly. A series of memories began to surface in his mind: he had walked a long way, seen a city, and although extremely tired, he had finally reached the pinnacle of his will. The journey had been like sharpening a knife; the moment Soren was most exhausted was also the moment when his will, spirit, and momentum were concentrated to their peak.

Then, without hesitation, he chose to merge with Divinity, and was immediately dragged into a very real dream!

Soren seemed to see many Demon, but he had only one thought in his mind: to kill any creature that dared to stand in his way. He didn't know how many he killed, but when he finally relaxed, all the Demon, including the Demon God Will, had been slain. He vaguely heard Vivian's cries, but before he could see clearly, he fainted. The fatigue and injuries accumulated over seven days finally erupted the moment he relaxed, and he felt as if he had fallen into darkness.

If it's stretched too tight, it might break!

Soren held on with unwavering will until the very last moment, but when he defeated the Demon God Will and heard Vivian's voice, sensing that she was still alive, all the exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed him. From the moment he was separated from the hunter until now, the sudden relaxation of Soren's nerves resulted in him falling into a coma.

He collapsed unconscious in the icy snow, lying on the side of a road in an unknown city, in the cold, snowy landscape.

Soren slowly stood up.

He had changed his clothes. Everything was neatly arranged to the side, as if no one had touched or opened it. The frostbitten wounds all over his body had almost healed, whether due to the effects of merging with Divinity or because someone had treated him, it was unclear. Perhaps both were true. The accumulated frostbite had dragged him into Heavy Injury Condition, and such serious injuries would be difficult to Regeneration in a short time.

The time should be the next day; Soren's intuition told him that he hadn't been unconscious for too long.

He heard sounds of human activity outside and surveyed the room before him. The furnishings were simple and dignified, all constructed of large logs—the most common type of house in the North. The owner was likely a reasonably well-off, middle-class person. Fires were rare in this Land of Ice and Snow because of the cold climate and the tall trees, which provided excellent timber for building houses. He took off his clothes. They appeared to be another man's, the fabric rough, suggesting a larger physique.

Soren changed back into his own clothes, then opened his Bag of Holding and looked inside; it showed almost no signs of having been disturbed.

Someone must have rescued him.

They brought Soren here after he fell unconscious, and the other person seemed to be of good character, as he didn't touch any of their belongings.

Such people are extremely rare.

As if hearing a sound from inside the room, heavy footsteps came from outside, and then a somewhat plump North woman walked in. She was probably in her thirties, possibly a little obese, weighing over two hundred pounds, but her face was very kind, and she seemed quite approachable.

"You're awake?" The rather plump North woman smiled and said, "You've been unconscious for a day."

Soren bowed slightly in gratitude and said, "Did you save me? Don't worry, I will give you what you deserve."

"No! No!..." The obese woman waved her hand, glancing at the Scimitar in his hand. Seemingly frightened, Soren quickly lowered the knife. The woman's expression became noticeably more relaxed, and she smiled broadly on her plump face, saying, "A noble lady saved you! She seems to be a high-ranking noblewoman. Her maid asked me to take good care of you and even paid for a priest to treat you."

"What a kind-hearted noble lady! I haven't seen such a kind noblewoman in many years!"

noble?

Soren frowned slightly. Then he said, "Where is she? Perhaps I should thank her and return the Gold Daler I spent."

The plump woman smiled and replied, "She left yesterday, without even leaving her name."

"She also told me not to touch your things, saying that Adventurer like you is probably quite fierce. But you seem quite kind, almost like my nephew. The things are all over there; I just left them there and didn't touch them at all."

At this point, her tone became a little harsher, as if she didn't want to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.

Have you left?

Soren paused for a moment, then asked, "Where did she go?"

It seems like my luck has really turned around; I've actually met such a kind person who doesn't ask for anything in return.

"It seems she went to Arendelle," the North woman said with a smile. "She seems to be of high status, with many guards around her. I feel she has more presence than the City Lord of Glacier City. You must be hungry, right? I'll go get you some food?"

Soren nodded slightly and thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your help."

The plump woman quickly turned and left. Soren began packing his things, carefully putting them away one by one. They appeared untouched, and he noticed nothing was missing. His injuries were healing rapidly, so what the woman had said might have been true. However, Soren genuinely couldn't remember who had saved him. Someone must have found him unconscious by the roadside and brought him here.

He checked his profile and found that there were quite a few more entries.

"Lesser Cold Resistance [Personal Feat]: In the process of fighting the cold, you become increasingly resistant to cold environments. You will adapt to most cold climates, and your resistance to special cold environments will also be greatly increased. From now on, you are immune to any Cold Damage of 3 points or less. When attacked by Spell or Spell- like attacks, any damage with a cold effect will be reduced by 3 points." [Prerequisite: 18 points or more in Constitution.]

Soren's Cold Resistance has been increased.

After accumulating hundreds of points of frostbite effect, he finally mastered the [Lesser Cold Resistance] Feat.

Then there's another very important area of Feat.

"Ascetic [Background Feat]: You have attempted to hone your will in extreme environments. While battling cold, pain, and the danger of death, your will has been further refined. You have used your unwavering will to withstand the extreme survival conditions. In this process, your will has gradually become as hard as steel, and you will gain a 3-point training bonus when facing any willpower test." [Willpower +3, prerequisite for Ascetic advancement.]

Soren would naturally not advance to become Ascetic.

He has come this far to hone himself, to confront the Demon God Will within his Divinity at the moment when his will has been forged to its peak.

If he gives up halfway, or even has the thought of giving up, then Soren will abandon the fusion.

But he persevered in the end!

As the Divinity was merged, Soren also gained an additional line of information -- [3/10] (Faint Divinity).

It Divine Rank to reach the level of Faint Divinity.

Soren is not yet able to gain any attribute bonuses from Divinity, but he has already gained some special abilities.

"Fear Gaze [Talent Ability]: You have successfully fused with the Fear Divinity. When you concentrate your will to apply the pressure of fear, anyone who looks directly at you will feel a trace of fear under your gaze. They must pass a willpower judgment with a Saving Throw throw difficulty of (10 + Divine Rank), otherwise anyone facing your gaze will be affected by an effect equivalent to Dread."

Dread is 0-level Spell.

Soren's innate ability is equivalent to being able to cast Dread on any target without limit. If the target's will is not strong enough, they might be scared out of their wits.

This ability is effective against ordinary people, but not so effective against professionals.

Then there's the second innate ability.

"Cause Fear [Talented Spell]: You have successfully fused with the Fear Divinity, and can instantly cast Cause Fear once per day. Any creature within 30 feet must undergo a forced will save, with the difficulty of the Saving Throw equal to your casting level plus Spell power. Any creature that fails Saving Throw save will experience extreme fear, exhibiting emotional reactions such as surrendering, fleeing in panic, or trembling in despair. It may directly kill some weaker targets." [The number of uses of this talent Spell increases with the level of Divinity.]

Fear Divinity.

Soren looked at the extra Quicken Spell, and a satisfied expression finally appeared on his face.

There are many Spell that require a willpower-based judgment, ranging from level 0 Dread, level 1 Scare, level 2 Cause Fear, Mass, level 3 Cause Fear Cloak of Fear, Law: Fear, Holy Word: Fear, and so on. These types of Spell all possess very powerful control abilities, and if you cannot pass the willpower judgment, you are almost doomed.

What Soren cared about most was not the power of the Spell, but that most of the Spell granted by Divinity were instantaneous!

What is instantaneous firing?

Soren simply raised his hand and pointed, or even without pointing, cast a Cause Fear, forcing the opponent to undergo a will test.

How does your body react when your will fights against fear?

Unless one's will completely resists the Cause Fear, there will inevitably be a brief period of sluggishness. Soren had been hit by a level 3 Cause Fear before, and his heart suddenly started racing, as if he had been severely frightened. Even after passing through the willpower assessment, it took him a while to recover.

If this is not overcome, the target of fear will completely collapse!

The most common reaction is to run away, or to tremble all over, or to give up resistance; there is even a possibility that they might die of fright.

Cause Fear can also kill.

The 3rd-level Spell could easily scare a timid person to death. (To be continued~^~)