Self-Definition

A Sefirah gaining consciousness? That is one possibility.

Under the pressure of the Ancient God, the Book of Dreams erupted suddenly, allowing Truman to see deeper and see more.

Nowadays, he and the Book of Dreams were fundamentally inseparable; even the underlying structure of his body was composed of Dream Phosphor!

"In this way..." Truman stroked the fourth page of the Book of Dreams, where half of the symbol had already taken shape.

This was a type of authority related to change, symbolizing the infinite possibilities and mutability of the "Dream."

The Dream originated from the countless yearnings and desires of myriad people for beauty, including every individual's definition of self; even the thoughts of each individual were multifaceted, unrestrained, and boundless.

All of this was the third branch of authority of this Dream, and because it was unfathomable and lacked a fixed form, Truman's reliance on his own exploration made the process arduous.

The half-formed symbol on the book appeared somewhat illusory, yet it looked different to every person who gazed upon it. It had no physical form, manifesting only as whatever that person held in their heart when they looked at it.

Truman suddenly shook his head, ceasing to ponder philosophical questions like "Who am I." "Once this page is complete, everything will have an answer."

He put away the Book of Dreams and walked into the city-state he had saved from the natural disaster.

"Angel Sir." Hermes bowed to Truman in salute.

"The matter is concluded, let us go." Truman shook his head slightly, preparing to initiate a roaming with Hermes, with the Kingdom of the Creator as their destination.

Because of the elves' swift response, the Ancient Sun God's side could no longer openly associate with the Giants, or today's natural disaster would not be an isolated incident.

Feeling threatened, the elves might even trigger a terrifying catastrophe across the entire world sufficient to destroy the surface ecosystem.

"Wait, Angel Sir!" It was not Hermes, but the boy he had rescued.

"You..." Truman could see a sense of longing and admiration in the boy's eyes.

A longing for powerful strength and admiration that he could withstand that terrifying natural disaster.

This was no different from any other believer.

"If you wish to become a Beyonder, you should seek out the administrator of this city," Truman suggested.

Every city that worshipped the Creator possessed a heritage of Beyonder potions, as well as a system for cultivating Beyonders that was already yielding initial results. The Kingdom of the Creator did not lack materials or Beyonder Characteristics for low and mid-sequences.

"As for your so-called 'sin,' I grant you absolution on behalf of the Lord!"

"To compensate for the tragedy you have suffered, upon reaching adulthood, you may obtain a complete potion from the administrator of this city-state."

Truman pointed a finger, stealing a wisp of sunlight and tapping it onto the boy's forehead, where it transformed into a small Sun.

Afterward, Truman said no more and immediately took Hermes away from the city-state.

The boy stood dazed and stunned for a long time before he finally came to his senses. He turned around and realized that the way everyone looked at him had changed.

The previous hatred was gone, replaced only by awe for the Sun mark on his forehead.

The Angel had pardoned his sins on behalf of the Lord!

"..." The boy remained silent, then ran toward the administrator of the city-state. No one dared to stop him, for everyone had seen the Angel absolve him of all guilt.

"I want the potion!" the boy said to the city-state's administrator.

This was an exceptionally tall Priest, burly and stout, a Sequence 7 "Weapon Master" of the Warrior Pathway.

"You are too young; come back when you are an adult," the Priest said, looking at the boy's thin, small frame while shaking his head slowly.

"After I reach adulthood, the potion won't be mine anymore!" The boy was resolute, and the small Sun on his forehead shone brightly.

"No one dares to snatch away an Angel's promise!" The Priest was sufficiently pious toward the Creator.

"But I want it now!" The boy brushed aside the hair on his forehead, revealing the small Sun, using it to coerce the Priest.

"You will die!" the Priest warned him again, informing him of the truth behind the so-called potions—that they were things accompanied by madness.

"Give it to me!" The boy remained stubborn.

"...This is your choice." The Priest stopped trying to persuade him. "I do not have the actual potion on me; it needs to be concocted, and I can only prepare one in the short term."

"What is it?" the boy asked.

"An Assassin, a potion that, once consumed, grants proficiency in assassination and concealment."

"Good, I want that one!"

Truman returned directly to his territory, flatly rejecting the Giants' request for a meeting.

At this point in time, he could not have any overt contact with the Giant Race, or it would provoke the Dragons and the Elves.

The Giants were one of the twins; he could ignore them, but humanity could not.

"Lilith?" Truman looked up and happened to see the beautiful, glowing girl sitting on the shoulder of his own statue, overlooking the believers worshipping the Dream.

In Truman's eyes, Lilith was actually responding secretly to her Vampire Clan subjects.

That response was drowned out by the prayers of the Dream Believers, hidden perfectly within them, to the point where even Ancient Gods would find it difficult to discover the key.

"Too stupid!" Lilith's pretty face turned cold. "Why not just go find Alnia?"

Lilith pinched out a prayer light-spot from a Vampire's Book of Dreams.

It was hard to imagine an Ancient God having such emotional fluctuations.

"You are too slow." Lilith spotted Truman and looked at him, speaking with dissatisfaction.

Compared to hundreds of years ago, her expressions were much more vivid; she had truly gained humanity.

It was a process that could be called incredibly long.

Under the secret sacrifices of the Vampire Clan and Lilith's arduous pursuit, an Ancient God who had been indifferent for nearly a thousand years finally birthed a sliver of something that could be called "humanity" through a twist of fate.

It was just that this sliver of so-called humanity had arrived in a way that was far too dramatic.

For the first three hundred years, Lilith had been frantically searching for the existence of "humanity," but she had found nothing.

Yet, it was also during that long process that she truly achieved peace in her divine life on her own.

She was Lilith, the Ancestor of Vampires, a vampire who had spent hundreds of years fruitlessly searching for humanity, and finally, she was who she was now.

The initial humanity was merely a self-definition; the subsequent bestowals of grace upon the struggling Vampire Clan were the true sprouting of humanity.

It was a very strange state, almost imperceptible; if you said it was, then it was.

Afterward, Lilith began to act out the keys to every sequence of the "Moon" pathway and the "Mother" pathway within the Dream Territory.

Results were already beginning to show; she had jumped from "Moon" to "Mother," reaching Sequence 2, the "Mother of Abundance."

It was not that she could not become a "Nature Walker," but she was waiting for the right moment.

That was why she had such strong opinions about Truman and Sasrir acting too slowly.

"One cannot rush these things." Truman shook his head slightly. Driving the currents of history and plotting against the various Ancient Gods—if one were the least bit careless, all the Ancient Gods might come knocking at their door, which would be truly disastrous.

"Let's hold a meeting first; we can discuss whatever matters there are once we go inside." Truman opened the Book of Dreams.