Ascension (1)

As Lily continued to ramble on, Arthur finally came to terms that his sister had been changed - not in the physical sense, more in the way that he knew today was the birth of a star, the birth of a god that was his little sister, and he as the mundane older brother could only do what he'd been doing for the past years - step aside and let her shine.

"Looks like you've actually done it, Lil," Arthur chuckled, stopping his little sister from rambling on about her skills. "You've finally become a star."

Lily didn't need the [Divine Wisdom] skill to understand what was actually going through her brother's mind right now, and instantly, she felt guilty. "I-"

"Stop." Arthur raised a hand. "I pretty much know what you're going to say, and if you really want to help, do the same thing you've been doing since you came in high-school."

"Don't worry about me. Just because I'm not a god like you doesn't mean I don't know how to take care of myself," Arthur said with a chuckle. He saw the disgruntled look in his sister's face. "Promise?"

"But-"

"Promise?" Arthur crossed his finger, above his heart. A promise between the two was something special because it meant that no matter what, you couldn't break it or else you'd have to swallow a thousand needles. It was childish, foolish perhaps but this was their way of asking the other person to trust them, to trust was something, the only thing that two orphans growing out of the streets had, and it was something Arthur was asking from his little sister again. 

With that, how could Lily refuse. She gave a long sigh, before crossing her finger, and placing it above her heart. "I promise."

Arthur smiled, before placing his hand away. "Then, it's all good."

"Yeah, yeah," Lily grumbled. This was something that she hated about her older brother, with how self-sacrificial he was for her. But, well, it was something she adored a lot as well. 

"Alright, since we've gotten that out of the way, I really need to ask," Arthur said, before taking a gulp. "Lil. . is this 'Mana' stat what I. . .think it is. . .right?"

Lily just smiled. "Mana. The essence of magic, and the energy that fuels my divine abilities. So, basically, yes." 

"Holy. . .shit," Arthur's eyes sparkled. "I can't believe you can do magic now. No, wait, how's that going to work? Does it mean that you can create your own skills now, if you have enough mana?"

"I don't think so," Lily said. "If it did, it wouldn't make sense for us to have a skills tab in our status screen. Hm. .I might be wrong but I think it just means that it's going to be some sort of fuel for the skills we'll have in the future."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well, speak for yourself, I don't have it."

"You don't?" Lily asked, befuddled. 

"Oh right, I haven't exactly shown you my status screen, have I? Hold on," Arthur said, and tried to emulate what his little sister had done. 

"It popped up," Lily replied. "Annnd, accept."

The next minute was spent with Lily going over Arthur's status screen and for some reason, Arthur felt naked under his little sister's scrutanizing stare. It felt like he had shown all of his weakness at Lily, and he wondered if this was how she felt when she decided to show him hers. Eh, probably not, since what was there for her to be ashamed of as a god?

"Oy, are you done? For someone with Divine Wisdom, you sure take long as hell to go over someone's status screen," Arthur said. 

Lily looked away from his status screen and finally replied, "Oh uh, yeah, I'm done. I just. . .didn't expect you to be so. .weak?"

"Damn, hit me right in the head, why don'tcha?"

"I mean, it's not like your stats are bad or anything but I'm just saying, it's not really that good either I guess. I have no way of knowing since I don't really know how you compare to other mortals," Lily tried to salvage the situation, but looking at how Arthur clenched harder at his heart, it wasn't really working.

"Please stop," Arthur felt invisible tears rolling down his cheeks. 

"And your strength stat is so low," Lily said before she started smiling like a cheshire cat.

". . .Hell no."

"What? I haven't said anything yet!"

"You're totally challenging me to an arm wrestle, aren't you?"

"Nooooo. . . .okay fine, maybe I am," Lily placed her hand on the table, challenging her big brother with a smirk. "Don't worry, I won't humiliate you that badly. Besides, this is for research purposes - I just wanna see how different a 'C' in strength is compared to an 'E', totally not because I want to get revenge on all those days you pissed me off."

"So, hand over," Lily giggled at her own stupid joke. "Get it?"

"So goddamn stup-Huh?" Arthur began to respond, but their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a sudden DING! A system notification materialized before their eyes, demanding their attention.

<<System Notification>>

[Attention, Players! The world is about to undergo its next evolution in 24 hours. Please make necessary preparations and ensure you are in a safe location during the transition. This evolution will introduce new challenges, quests, and opportunities. Good luck!]

Arthur and Lily exchanged glances, their excitement momentarily halted by the gravity of the impending evolution. The world they had just entered was about to undergo a significant transformation, unveiling new mysteries and tests that awaited them.

Arthur and Lily both groaned, " "Fuck, I hate deadlines." "

***