3 Not God's Work
"Unshackled, heh..."
What was the purpose of a Falna? Everybody and their grandma knew that it was a blessing from the gods for their "children", but what was its exact function?
It was a tricky question for someone who didn't technically have one, and I wouldn't know the exact answer without asking a god directly, but I could make logical assumptions based on the information I possessed.
First and foremost having one was not 100% required for becoming superhuman in this world. I remember "ancient heroes" being mentioned in the show, having existed since before the gods decided to play in the mortal world.
Also, I didn't know about others, but there were some elves who could use Magic without a falna, and that green-haired elf from the Loki familia used to be one of them.
That being said, having a falna definitely propelled one to the next level, so to say.
By simply stripping and having a god scribble with ichor on your back, you instantly improved your parameters a bit. Some extra endurance, a small heightening of senses, and so forth.
Still, this completely paled in comparison to the sheer amount of potential this divine tattoo could unlock. Even the most average of Joes could reach the peak of level 1 in a few years with a moderate work ethic, attaining strength and speed that would make Olympic athletes back on earth look like a 90 year old grandma.
And of course, level 1 was considered the bottom of the barrel in Orario, showing just how significant the falna's boost was...
But it wasn't completely NECESSARY, now, was it?
Whose to say that same Average Joe who reached the peak of level 1 in 5 years, wouldn't have been able to reach the same level of strength eventually with enough struggle?
It might have taken 10 years, 15, or even 20, but the probability was there, even without a falna.
However, reaching higher levels of strength would become increasingly impossible as they grow older, otherwise, the number of "Ancient Heroes" would have been much much larger.
So, based solely on this information, one can already understand one of the main functions of the falna.
- Enhancing or extracting one's potential through divine intervention, allowing much faster progress.
There were some questions I couldn't answer, like the effects of excelia on falna-less humans.
If one killed a monster, would they still be strengthened with a lower efficiency, or would the monster's essence dissipate completely?
Questions upon questions...
But it was time to formulate some answers...
I remembered the fact that all the members of a familia would have their powers sealed if their god died/returned to Heaven. Skills, Levels, and everything in between would become unusable in such a case, but the moment one became part of a new familia, their strength would return. This served as proof that the power they accumulated was owned by the humans themselves, yet could only be brought forth by gods.
All of this painted a decently clear picture, leaving little room for doubt or interpretation.
The falna was a blessing, yes, but in a more literal sense than one imagined.
Maybe through blood, or maybe some other means, the gods inserted "something" in the souls of humans, (or maybe just in their physical body, though that was doubtful). That "something" would draw out their potential and allow for the absorption of excelia. It wasn't building upon nothing, but merely allowing one to do more, to become more.
What else could it be than a spark of divinity?
Why else would their powers get sealed when the god disappears, if not due to the spark dissipating as well?
Like a computer whose motherboard was removed, people would suddenly become unable to access their power despite it still being within themselves.
Looking for it from this perspective, in a world like Danmachi, is there anything more precious than a falna, at least for a mortal being?
A literal piece of godhood whose only purpose is to strengthen its wielder, coming with barely any strings attached if one finds an honest god.
Indeed, joining a familia would be the most rational decision...for someone who doesn't already possess a spark of divinity, that is...
"Non Deorum Opus... Calling it a skill is a bit unfitting, no? Yet, I can't argue with my soul..."
The white letters floating in front of my eyes slowly morphed, reverting to their original form...an unintelligible mess...that I could somehow inherently understand.
ስምደምበ
አስተዳደር እንቅስቃሴዎች (ክፍል መጠን)ተአምራትማጀበርበስምን
̴̡̡̢̨̢͉͎̟͈͍͍̝̖͖̠͉͙͇̯̳̙̿̏̔̍̈́̅ ̶̧͓͖͔̩̱̖͎̮̝͓͇̞̙̝̦͉̱̗̜̟͌͊̌̉̓̓́̆́͑̃̍͊̔̍͊͋̐͗͂̉́͜͠͝͝͠͠͝
̶̛̠̹̠͙̂̑̿͐̅̓̿́̽͊̈̂͑̊̀͛̒̚͝͠ ̸̦̺͎̞̗̼̜̬̘̮̗͙̝̱̜̲̬̜͔̎́ͅ ̵̧̧̼̟͇̱͇͕̲̖̗̪̠̭̠̪́̋͜ ̴̡̧̙̠̮͔̺̹͚̋̑́̓̑́̀̾̀͒̀̓̈́͐͌͝͠
̷̧̡̜̻͕̺̞̟̰͔̥̳̙̦̼͉͈̮̗͆͊́́͐̕͠ ̶́͂̄̉̈́̈́̎̆̈͑̅̽̓̕̚አምራት
ማጀበርበስምን ̷̡̛̱̪̟̼͚͕͍̞̰̙̻̹̣̲̑̔̅̍̍͌̽̋͌͝ͅ ̶̢̨̡̛̮͖̮̳͚͍̬͔̖̮̲͇͕̩̤̩͖̺̱̖̮̰͍̲̫̩̿̓̄̓̂̓͛̔́̑̽̿̊͊͛̔̅̈́̑̓̋͗̚̚͜͝ስም
ደምበአስተዳደር እንቅስቃሴዎችክፍል መጠን
It was daunting, looking at something so far beyond the scope of my perception yet understanding it so clearly.
Crystalized meaning, derived directly from my soul... interpreted by my very own divinity... transmitted to my mind.
Indeed, without being a god, I possessed a spark of divinity...
Not borrowed, not stolen, not faked...yet having appeared for unknown reasons.
Was it created for me specifically, then implanted by a ROB within my soul? Was it attained by surviving through the void without losing myself?
I couldn't explain the feeling, even as I felt my very being aching as I looked at the letters in front of me. Commanding them with my thoughts, they reverted back to how they were before.
Skills :
1-Fenrir's Unending Hunger ( Everything is prey if you are hungry enough.)
2-Non-Deorum Opus ( Throughout heaven and earth, you alone remain unshackled.)
3: Thick skin (devoured) (You must be good at poker.)
My so-called "system" wasn't anything more than a visualization tool I used so that my mortal brain wouldn't become too fried.
It had no effect on the outside world, unfortunately, it was merely a way of managing the influx of information transmitted to my consciousness.
Everything was an illusion created for convenience's sake, and every word displayed was either an interpretation of my soul's current state or a stray thought from my subconscious mind that got carried along, like that Gojo meme.
"Who the hell was Gojo, though...was it that dude who got cut in half? I can't quite remember...Either way...'
With a thought, the meaningless descriptions faded, and what was left was merely the skills imprinted on my soul, in order of importance.
1-Fenrir's Unending Hunger
2-Non-Deorum Opus
3: Thick skin
The names of these skills, at least the first two, held meaning, yes, but only because I gave it to them.
I had been the one to name them, or at least, my subconscious mind did.
The moment I found myself inside this new world, in front of the humongous Tower of Babel, I felt them instantly, as if they had always been part of me.
The ability to become stronger by devouring other beings.
The ability to understand my soul, awakened through a spark of my own divinity. A self-created, self-operated falna so to say, turning the blessings of the gods into something inconsequential. It was named in turn.
Not God's work - Non Deorum Opus
I found it to be fitting.
And now, a third ability, one plundered from my little green friend whose remains I was in the process of digesting.
"The real System was the friends we made along the way..." I muttered, feeling the drowsiness become stronger with each passing second.
I didn't feel like Fenrir's Hunger had a limit on the number of skills I could absorb as long as I satisfied it's activation condition, but the inscribing process on my soul was both painful and incredibly tiring, at least for the current me.
Finally, I felt myself drifting to sleep, back leaning against the massive wall, my thick skin allowing me to shrug off the slight cold within the Tower's bottom floor.
I dreamed of an insane white-haired woman with a pitbull, forcing me to become a hobo out of fear of being kidnapped...
