"One aspect of a god's power!?
What does that mean?
Could you become a-god, Teacher?"
Smack!
Before Wizardmon could finish, Wizard Mo Yan flicked him on the forehead.
"What are you thinking?
For us Digimon, even if gods exist, only a manifestation of the Digital World's will can be called a god!
Any other Digimon can only be praised as possessing some aspect of a god.
For example, strength, wisdom, hands and feet, and so on."
After giving Wizardmon a lesson to remember, Wizard Mo Yan explained.
"The fact that I possess Twelve Digicores isn't solely due to my own efforts. It's also a blessing bestowed on me by the Digital World.
At most, I might someday be called a god's something-or-other. Being called a god myself is never going to happen in this lifetime!"
Putting away the simulated data in his hands, Wizard Mo Yan spoke in all seriousness.
"But Teacher, don't you often call the Four Holy Beasts gods?"
The death wish Wizardmon had inherited from Impmon was still going strong.
"Can those two uses of 'god' even be compared?
During this period, while the Four Holy Beasts keep this Digital World in check, they can naturally be called gods.
It's a sign of the respect Digimon show those who have made great contributions to the Digital World!
It's also because the Four Holy Beasts possess Twelve Digicores and wield incomparably mighty power, enough to rival a god's.
That's why we honor the Four Holy Beasts as gods.
Of course, that title is only used in this Digital World, and only by the Four Holy Beasts' subordinates.
As it happens, I'm one of Qinglongmon's apostles."
Hearing Wizardmon's question, Wizard Mo Yan dutifully fulfilled a teacher's responsibility to resolve doubts and answer questions.
Even if that explanation somewhat diminished his own standing.
Still, sticking to the facts was a habit among Wizards.
"But Teacher, don't you have Twelve Digicores too?"
After thinking it over, Wizardmon still decided to ask that irritating question.
He was simply too curious, and he had also come to understand his relationship with Mo Yan as teacher and student.
So Wizardmon didn't hold back much.
Besides, he believed that Mo Yan, dressed as an Archmage before him, wouldn't mind.
Ultimately, it wasn't a sensitive subject.
"You want to ask whether, since I possess Twelve Digicores,
there isn't actually much difference between me and the Four Holy Beasts aside from the gap in our power, right?"
Seeing Wizardmon's expression, Wizard Mo Yan knew exactly what he wanted to ask.
"Being qualified means nothing more than being qualified.
I still have a very long road ahead of me.
The Four Holy Beasts, on the other hand, have already reached the end of that road.
So what's wrong with me serving as an apostle under Qinglongmon, the oldest of them?"
Somewhat worried about Wizardmon's intelligence, Wizard Mo Yan nevertheless answered patiently.
"..."
"So, Teacher, you're trying to tell me that staying alive is what matters most, right?"
After a brief silence, Wizardmon said something that stunned his teacher.
Of everything Wizard Mo Yan had said, all Wizardmon had heard was "stay alive."
"..."
Is it too late to kill this ungrateful student now? The thought flashed through Wizard Mo Yan's mind.
"You're right. Only by staying alive can you accomplish anything.
Only by staying alive can you pursue your own path.
Only by staying alive can you enjoy everything this world has to offer."
After an equally brief silence, Wizard Mo Yan spoke, while Wizardmon waited in terror.
As pseudo-immortal beings, Digimon could passively acquire all kinds of incredible powers with the passage of time.
As lives born from data, Digimon naturally drew the data around them toward themselves, incorporating it into their own data.
However, the power this passive recording of data brought them was neither particularly noticeable nor especially potent.
That was because they didn't select the data, but simply piled it into their own.
The data could even suppress other data, or outright conflict with it.
Sometimes, however, miracles occurred, producing quite peculiar powers and special abilities.
So Digimon who passively recorded data weren't necessarily strong.
But Digimon who had lived a long time were certain to possess abilities beyond other Digimon's capacity to counter.
(Manually tagging Jijimon and Babamon here.)
Otherwise, they could never have survived those long ages.
"Then..."
Wizardmon was about to speak when Wizard Mo Yan raised a hand to stop him.
Having a pretty good idea of what Wizardmon wanted to ask, Wizard Mo Yan cut him off before he could get on his nerves.
"Although the form of our existence as Digimon is very unusual,
we Digimon are still a form of intelligent life.
And since we're intelligent life, we have the desires that come with being alive.
Otherwise, we would still be nothing but cold data."
Wizard Mo Yan looked up at the sky, his voice a little hollow, a little distant, and tinged with melancholy.
When data came to life and developed desires, all kinds of errors in understanding followed.
Especially when those lives born from data encountered other intelligent life.
What they saw and heard differed greatly from the records contained in their own data.
They couldn't understand it or process it.
These conflicts caused many Digimon's logical thinking and their own data to become disordered, distorted, or even collapse, which also indirectly led to the creation of the Dark Area.
Of all these influences on Digimon, humans had the greatest impact.
After all, the Digital World's original data had been born in the Human World.
Thus, life that had been indistinct and undefined divided into light and darkness, giving rise to all sorts of struggles and factions.
Lives born from data were no longer as harmonious, innocent, and beautiful as they had been in the beginning.
No Digimon knew whether this was ultimately good or bad.
Not even Yggdrasill, who had been born along with the Digital World, knew.
Otherwise, why would Yggdrasill repeatedly consider destroying the world?
Although Digimon often thwarted Yggdrasill's actions and plans, and those thoughts were eventually quelled,
the turmoil within these ancient digital lives had always existed.
Of course, the Digital World also grew anew through each of these incidents.
"Hmm...
Let's not talk about that anymore.
Here, take this."
As he spoke, Wizard Mo Yan formed a mark and tossed it toward Wizardmon.
Wizardmon instinctively reached out to catch it, only to discover that the mark had merged directly into his body.
He hurriedly asked Wizard Mo Yan, "Teacher, what was that mark?"
"That's the Access Authorization Mark for opening my Knowledge Treasury."
Faced with Wizardmon's curiosity, Wizard Mo Yan answered unhurriedly.
"Knowledge Treasury!?"
Before you continue