Core of Knowledge

“Yes! In my former homeland, a cultivator would need to spend decades to create and perfect a new cultivation technique. Compared to that, the creation process of this world is ridiculously easy. Too easy!” Xu Han complained as Jemma rolled her eyes. Evidently, this was something the dungeon fairy had heard before.

Gressian had not. After a silence, the Goddess of Warmth couldn’t help but ask, “Is that a bad thing?”

“I can see the attraction of making things easy, but in a way; Yes, it is unfortunate.” Xu Han explained further when he saw the goddess’ bemused smile. “When I tried to meld a simple cultivation technique to the Systems of War and Magic, all I needed to do is think of it. I know from Jemma this is normal. As long as I know exactly what the skill is supposed to do, provide the required divine power, the Systems would do the rest.”

“Intention, Power, and Knowledge.” Gressian said. “Why is that a bad thing?”

The goddess was willing to let the dungeon core explain, and he did. “In my former homeland, there is a saying. ‘Failure is just a part of success’. We were cultivators. We cultivate our mind, body, and soul to be something more. Something better. But in many ways, cultivation is akin to following a recipe. A cultivator creates a cultivation technique, and other cultivators follow the recipe to get the desired result. However, many cultivators try to make their cultivation technique better through experimentation. They try new things by adding minor differences to the technique, most of them failed but some do succeed. That is progress. Experimentation is needed for progress. Unfortunately, the Systems do not allow experimentation and I feel that is a bad thing in the long run.”

“Sorry goddess, I already told him that makes no sense.” Jemma huffed.

“It does actually,” Gressian corrected Jemma with a smile, “It means you need to fail first before you can be successful. Even if you are unsuccessful, someone else can build their success on the backs of your failure. It is a common saying on many worlds. However, your dungeon core forgot one thing. A lot of these failures cost lives, waste resources, and are liable to cause a lot of damage. It is not a philosophy suitable for this world.”

Xu Han caught that and asked a question he had since the day he came to this world. “About that. What is the name of this world? I asked Jemma but she says that this world has many names.”

“Different species have different cultures. Different cultures have different languages. Different languages have different names for the same thing. That is not unusual.” The goddess said.

“Then, what is the name the gods used for this world?” Xu Han asked.

“We don’t have one.” Gressian said. Sensing Xu Han’s surprise, she explained. “Most gods can touch several worlds, and it would be ridiculously troublesome for us to come to a consensus on a name of every world we touched. It is far better to let the natives of the world come to an agreement on the name of the planet they live on.”

Xu Han frowned. “It does sounds troublesome, but surely the local gods of this world would name it when they ascend.”

“Foreign gods had already touched their world when the first of the natives reached Godhood. This world is still considered to be young and has only produced three natives gods thus far. And like most gods, they went travelling after their ascension. The Three has not return yet.”

Something about what the goddess said touched Xu Han. For a moment, it was like a secret of the divine had been whispered to him. Xu Han could almost understand it. Then, the moment was gone.

“Anyway, we are going away from the point.” Gressian said. “You were saying something about improving the Systems.”

“Oh yes, I am sorry. I am…was a sage, and have a tendency to question everything. It is a bad habit. I beg for your forgiveness.” Xu Han apologized. He paused, knowing that he may have cause offence by going off-tropic and criticizing the Systems created by the gods. However, the Goddess of Warmth seems more bemused than offended. Not wanting to assume anything, Xu Han waited for the goddess to continue the conversation.

“No harm done, though I would advise against it with my follow gods. Some of them are less than patient. Please continue. How do you intend to improve the Systems of War and Magic? To build this Place of Knowledge you wanted.”

“The main issue I see are not the skills, but the Classes.” Xu Han said. “They are too restrictive. They tied the Classed too much to just War and Magic, and I believe the gods know that.”

“Why do you say that?” The goddess asked, but her smile telling the dungeon core he was right.

“Winskull, the God of Music and Patron of Musicians,” Xu Han said, “According to my dungeon fairy, the [Bard] class was not originally in the Systems of War and Magic. Winskull introduced the class on his own as a way to lift the spirits of the mortals much later, and it was only available at his temples at first. Only later did that change. The Classed and the mortals of this world do not know why, but that tell me two things.”

“Which are?”

“Changes to the System are possible, and that individual gods can create Classes of their own without the help of the Systems.” Xu Han said. “If Winskull could create a class on his own, then it stands to reason that other gods can do the same. I do not know why, but the Gods care about the well-being of the mortals of this world and are willing to use their divine power to to make changes to the Systems if it make the lives of the mortals better, safer, and more prosperous.”

“You are right. We can all do it, though most of us do not as it cost a lot of divinity to create a Class of our own. Far easier to go through the Systems.” The goddess admitted after a short silence.

“How does that work? How did the Gods create the Systems and how do you keep the Systems working?” Xu Han asked.

“The Systems are operated by a shared pool of divinity called The Pantheon. I know, not the most original of name, but it was the only one we can all agree to. All the gods who wish to operate within this world need to give a portion of their divinity to The Pantheon, and we occasionally meet to discuss adjustments to the Systems.”

“So, all the gods in this world help with the operation of the Systems?”

“Yes,” Gressian said.

“Why?” Xu Han asked. “Why would the gods waste their divinity to keep the mortals alive? I’m sorry, but that does not sound like any gods I know from my world. We have almost no interaction with them. Why are the gods of this world so different?”

“The Will of the World commands it.”