Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 78: Mutation vs Evolution

"You... Can’t fly?" Gravana repeated Alchemy’s words. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"That is what I said, yes." Alchemy nodded.

"You can heal yourself from the brink of death immediately. But you can’t fly despite having wings?"

Alchemy nodded once again.

"Why did you evolve wings if you can’t use them? That’s not how that should work?" Gravana stated.

Alchemy tilted her head. What he said made sense for exactly half a second until she thought about it.

"There are birds that can’t fly... Wait, how do you know about Evolution, but Rio doesn’t know about gravity?

"What’s Gravity?"

Alchemy blinked twice.

Alchemy knew that the theory of Evolution was published sometime before that of gravity in her world. Still, she didn’t believe for a moment that either theory was prevalent enough for Gravana to know.

If it was Rio, Alchemy might believe it, but Gravana? The muscle head? That’s a question mark in her mind that might never be fully solved.

"I’m not pushing that any further. How do you know about Evolution?"

"How do you explain me? How do you explain those annoyingly intelligent monkeys? A large change in our bodies makes us the way we are. As a master of the body, how could I not know of such a thing?"

Alchemy paused for a moment before she gave Gravana a pitiful look.

"Oh, honey." She said in a soft, condescending voice.

"That’s mutation, not evolution. Evolution doesn’t happen that fast. Even if a stupid floating panel tries to tell you otherwise every 25 levels."

"What?" Gravana had absolutely no idea what Alchemy just said.

"Nothing important. Anyway, to answer your question, I didn’t evolve this way. I didn’t evolve at all. I just kinda am?" Alchemy said in an unsure tone.

"What?" Gravana repeated.

Alchemy herself wasn’t exactly sure.

’Hey, System. What exactly is a God?’

|<Notice: A Divine Spirit is an existence made purely of Divine Power, usually starting as a ball of light until it accumulates enough power to shape its form as it wishes.>|

’Wait, then why do I look identical to my Earth self? And, for that matter, what did you do with my body? Where is it?’

|<Notice: We regulate your Divine Power automatically. You may learn to regulate it yourself and can eventually shapeshift freely.>|

|<Notice: Your body is stored within a subspace of the system’s. Since you are made out of Divinity, if something or someone were to take it away, you would cease to exist, soul and all. Your body is stored as a backup, just in case.>|

’Right, okay. I’m about to start speaking nonsense, so keep me updated on whether I’m on the right track to explaining this.’

A rare time when the system was transparent; how pleasant. The existential dread of knowing that something could make her cease to exist was secondary.

"Okay. Gods, right? We’re usually just born from people’s beliefs. I, like you, am a mutation, so my situation is a little different. Generally, Gods just don’t exist until they do. You following?"

Gravana nodded.

"So you can’t fly because people don’t believe you can?"

’Holy shi– shoot, he got that quick. He really does understand how the body works.’

"Sort of, yes. Rather than that, though, I can’t fly because people don’t believe in me in general. My following is 146 Verminae, 1 Verminae Rytsar, and one deer. I don’t know how many humans exist, but 149 is a VERY small number. I do not have the power to manifest my own ability to fly. The best I can do is float, but even that is a little iffy."

’Or rather, I lack the power to allow the system to manifest my flight. Is that right?’

|<Notice: You are correct. The System’s use of Divine Power is inefficient, however. If you learn to manifest on your own, it will be far easier and cheaper.>

’Good to know.’

Alchemy had tried flying briefly yesterday. Her testing lasted no longer than an hour, perhaps less than that, but she could only keep altitude for so long.

Slowly, she floated to the ground like she had a constant parachute on her.

Gravana caressed his chin hair while deep in thought.

"But you can still keep altitude. Hypothetically, could you do a flip without jumping?"

That question came out of nowhere.

"Like, a handspring? Or a weird stationary cartwheel of some kind?"

"Could you spin yourself diagonally while standing still?"

When Gravana said that, a vision of a pig wearing a wizard’s hat popped into her mind. That pig was locked in one location, a bubble of sorts, and when he ran, he ran; instead of moving, he spun.

"OH, YOU MEAN LIKE RUNNING IN PLACE?! Uhm. Physically, yes, I can do that on a biological level. Am I capable of doing that, though... No." Alchemy answered bluntly.

She had no idea why Gravana wanted to know that. It was effectively the same as her spinning and repositioning herself in the air. She could do it if she jumped, but starting it stationary was beyond her control.

"Good, that’s good." Gravana smiled maliciously, causing Alchemy to shiver.

’He’s thinking of something bad. Very, very bad.’

|<Godspeed, Monarch.>|

"Okay then! What the hell was that blade? Are you capable of manipulating wind? That was eerily similar to how I use the wind, but it felt... Different somehow."

Gravana’s malicious expression changed. Whatever he was planning, he had figured out, and he was now inquiring with immense curiosity.

His face reminded Alchemy of Nera and Rio, which only made her shiver more.

’Not a third one, please.’

"It was Divine Energy if I had to guess. You need to understand I don’t know how half of the things I do work. I know it happens whenever I throw a punch, kick, elbow, or slam. You get the idea, regardless of my intent."

Even that seemed a little wrong since the skill didn’t consume SP, but she couldn’t think of anything else. If the skill description didn’t say it, the system wouldn’t reveal its secrets to her... Even if those secrets are so mundane, they couldn’t possibly be used against the system and be extremely useful to her.

The system, at least to Alchemy, felt like it hid information just to screw with her and other Prospects.

"I see. We’ll need to fix that then. Once I’m done with you, you’ll know every facet of your "tricks," as you call them. And I must say, good job reaching me. The element of surprise is one of the most powerful weapons in the world, and you should always leverage it! That being said, it seems I need to start giving you even harder training."

’Daddy... Help me... The big bad wolf is bullying me...’ Alchemy nearly cried.