Li Ge had already taken his hand off the drawing paper. As he looked at the blocky world on the paper, his thoughts were exceptionally clear.
He did not like diamond-shaped, polyhedral Divinities. Instead, he preferred a simple, straightforward sphere that represented completeness.
As a would-be dimensional demon god with a design ability, he naturally had to design a Divinity he liked.
He took stock of the energy in his body. As expected, his reserves were only those of an ordinary, healthy person.
It seemed he could only Design Manifestation the most basic stage of an energy absorption ability for now. He could not make the ability sufficiently powerful all at once.
As for the Divinity, he could only manifest a virtual one first, then gradually fill it out with the energy accumulated through his energy absorption ability.
Li Ge turned to glance at the electronic clock hanging on the wall. It was already around five in the afternoon, and his parents would come home from work after six. It seemed he needed to hurry.
Li Ge stood and walked over to the window to look out at the street. The antique shop next door was as deserted as ever, with only a lone figure passing through the intersection a short distance away.
He pulled the curtains shut in one motion, then turned and returned to his drawing spot.
Sitting in his chair, Li Ge felt somewhat stirred. This would be the foundation of his power, his starting point for transcending the ordinary and entering the realm of the divine.
"In... out... in... out..."
After breathing deeply in and out several times, Li Ge finally calmed himself and focused his attention between his hands.
Although he could imagine, design, and manifest it directly within his mind, this was his first time activating his ability. Placing it between his hands would be more tangible and help him concentrate better.
Besides, since he had already decided to become a Mutant who would overturn the established order, he would have to spread the abilities or treasures he designed if he wanted to overturn the world.
Surely I can't design and manifest them on the spot every single time?
So Li Ge came up with a solution.
If he designed an ability, he could make it into an ability seed and attach it to an object. If he designed a treasure, he could also seal it within an object.
That way, he could carry them around and take one out directly whenever he needed to give it to someone.
It would be best to add an activation method to these objects as well, such as-blood recognition.
With all these steps in place, Li Ge could become a mobile "old grandpa" or "golden finger" who stirred up storms wherever he went.
As it happened, Li Ge was quite accomplished at both sculpture and drawing. This was the perfect chance to put those skills to use.
Sculpture would be a little troublesome to use, though. He would have to carve something every time, and even the simplest sculpture would take quite a bit of time.
Should I just make do with some raw stone or uncarved wood? Wouldn't that lower my standards?
As for drawings, they still took up a fair amount of space. Was he supposed to learn from ninjas and carry a large number of scrolls around?
Childhood memories from his previous life surfaced unbidden. Back then, Li Ge had loved collecting all kinds of exquisite cards. The cards were neither too large nor too small, with beautiful pictures on them and descriptions written in boxes below. One look made people want to collect them.
Doesn't that fit my requirements perfectly? I can carry plenty of them around, they're convenient to use, and exquisite cards can show off my taste.
Right now, Li Ge was designing an ability for himself, so he naturally did not need to spend time making a card. Still, it would be good to practice Design Manifestation of an ability seed in advance.
As Li Ge focused his attention between his hands, his design ability activated as well. The energy stored within his body moved bit by bit toward the space between his hands, gathering into a sphere. A multicolored ball of light the size of a longan gradually appeared between them.
Under the control of Li Ge's will, the ball of light slowly took on the transparency of a crystal sphere. It looked round and smooth, clear and flawless, with a faint multicolored radiance shining around it.
Li Ge exerted himself further, and a neat little cube appeared at the center of the ball of light. The grassy green on top was particularly conspicuous. It was none other than the grass block from Minecraft.
Although Li Ge would not copy Minecraft exactly as it was, he could still keep the iconic grass block as a memento.
Most of Li Ge's will was concentrated on the grass block. This block was a concrete manifestation of the outward image of his future dimension, as well as the condensed form of the various rules he would inscribe.
Closing his eyes slightly, Li Ge used his will to inscribe his various designs into this Divinity, one by one.
Physical energy absorption, mental energy absorption, permanent enhancement of the soul and body, matter collection, rule inscription, and information scanning and recording.
As he inscribed them with his will, the grass block inside the Divinity grew increasingly clear, as though it were about to turn from virtual to real.
The inscription process did not end with the completion of these abilities. Memories of playing Minecraft in his previous life kept surfacing in Li Ge's mind, and he inscribed every rule he could remember into the Divinity, little by little.
Because Li Ge had not been an expert Minecraft player in his previous life, he had not tried every way of playing it. He had mostly built strange structures in creative mode and tried relatively common things such as iron farms, so there were not many rules he could remember.
Thoughts moved very quickly. Rules that would have been complicated to express in words were all inscribed into the Divinity without taking much time, and the grass block floating at its very center had condensed until it looked solid.
Li Ge withdrew his will from the godhead and suddenly felt waves of weakness wash over his body, along with stabbing pain in his head. His whole body felt so awful that he could not muster any strength, leaving him as weak as if he had suffered a severe cold.
His body involuntarily slumped. Had he not forced himself to summon a little strength, he would have fallen straight to the floor.
At this point, Li Ge realized what had happened. Although he had only used Design Manifestation to create a virtual Divinity, it was still a Divinity, and he had inscribed so many abilities and rules into it. His current mortal body simply did not have enough energy to supply it.
The reason he had not been drained into a dried husk was probably the passive enhancement he had received when his ability awakened.
It looks like I'll have to watch the consumption when designing abilities or treasures in the future, so I don't end up getting myself killed.
Looking at the Divinity shining with a faint multicolored radiance between his hands, Li Ge temporarily set aside his physical weakness and mental discomfort. Forcing himself to focus, he used his will to guide the Divinity toward the space between his brows and felt it gradually sink into his soul.