As Phaenora's glowing interface finally settled into twelve separate symbols hovering in the air, Vastarael blinked at the list that had just opened before her eyes.
------
[Causality Gecisia One]
[First Enlightenmentx.Nudge Shifta.]
[Slightly shifts the probability of an immediate event in your favor. It works only on very minor, short-range outcomes and can't be stacked repeatedly on the same event.]
Second Enlightenment, Waver Uncerta
[Induces uncertainty in a target's choices by disrupting the short-term decision-making link between intention and action. This causes hesitations, second guesses or even contradictory behavior.]
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Narisva leaned back, hands behind her head, squinting at her own projection.
"Waver Uncerta, huh… that might come in handy."
Vastarael narrowed her eyes and turned to Phaenora.
"How did you get these descriptions for the powers?"
Phaenora froze then sighed.
"Alright. Fine. You caught me."
She waved her hand and the interface glitched a little. The shimmer of the descriptions dimmed like a breathing light.
"I don't actually know how your Enlightenment Powers from Causality work."
A silence spread across the room. Vastarael tilted her head.
"Come again?"
"I mean, I know what they do based on observation, but I don't know how they're used or what the next five in the sequence are. I can only pull up the ones you've already unlocked."
"But you know the other sixty-five Enlightenment Powers across all other Gecisia?"
"Yes, Adela. I've documented and cross-referenced them from my system knowledge. I've even witnessed some firsthand in my journey. But the moment I try to read ahead for Causality Gecisia One, the system hits a block. It's like there's a cosmic blind spot surrounding it. I can't peek past it, not even with Omniscient privileges."
"That's weird. You're telling me the system censors itself?"
Phaenora shook her head, flicking a golden data shard into view. It cracked and fizzled the moment it tried to display Causality's Third Enlightenment power.
"It's not censoring." It's... omission. It's like the data literally doesn't exist in advance. To me, it feels like Causality only writes itself after the user embodies it."
Vastarael leaned forward now. "You mean it's reactive."
"Exactly. Causality is the only Divine Attribution that doesn't follow a predetermined enlightenment path. It forms around context, consequence, decision chains. It's like—"
"Like causality testing how serious we are," Vastarael said quietly.
Phaenora snapped her fingers. "Yes. That. It only reveals the power after you hit a new Enlightenment."
"So none of the Seven Enlightenment Powers of Causality exist until we enact the condition that proves we've earned them by getting through Enlightenment Stages."
"That's a terrifying mechanic," Peroncerea said, pulling her legs up onto the couch as she finally finished a bottle of wine.
"It's the only one that uses time as both the ink and the page," Elyonari murmured.
"Exactly."
Phaenora summoned a new window, blank and labeled.
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Causality Gecisia One.
Enlightenment Powers 3 to 7
[Unknown]
[Unknown]
[Unknown]
[Unknown]
[Unknown]
------
"No other Divinity type does this. With every other Gecisia, I can tell you what the next step is from the First to the Seventh Enlightenment. But Causality? None."
Vastarael let out a breath as he glance at the holograms.
"So this is why we didn't even feel the change. Nudge Shifta is our first nudge against cause. And Waver Uncerta is the seed of interference, making someone's choices crack under invisible pressure. I think Causality's Enlightenment sequence isn't a power chain. It's a concept one. That explains why it's the first of the Conceptual Divinities."
"So you're saying," Narisva looked smug again, "our powers are too complicated even for you to know ahead of time?"
Phaenora groaned. "Unfortunately. It hurts my pride."
"I live for this. So Causality's mysterious and sexy. Got it. Who's next?"
"I vote we look at Elyonari's," Farrynelle said, turning slightly with a warm smile. "I always wanted to know how her Noreq Gecisia works."
Elyonari agreed. "Oh… alright, if that's what we're doing."
Phaenora's interface flicked in front of her, spinning gracefully before clicking into place with a pleasant chime.
"Let's take a look at our Nature Queen," Phaenora said, tapping the symbol of Noreq Gecisia Seven.
A glowing screen bloomed before them, leafy green over soft, dappled golden light. The header read:
[Elyonari Mintheris.]
[Divine Attribution: Noreq Gecisia Seven]
[Enlightenment Level: Second]
[Divinity: Nature]
[First Enlightenment: Mutation]
[Alters the elements to produce unstable materials. These reactions occur unpredictably and can harm enemies or reshape battlefields in dangerous ways.]
[Second Enlightenment: Phasea]
[Briefly transforms one state of matter into another: solid to gas, liquid to solid, etc. Makes elemental use more fluid and adaptive.]
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"You've already used Mutation when you balanced all your elements. So Mutation creates chaos, and Phasea brings control. Nature is always a balance between the two. Mutation is the wild card. You stir elemental matrices and produce outcomes even you can't fully predict. Sometimes it's venomous fog. Sometimes it's flowers that scream when burned."
"Ah. Please don't do that," Xander grunted.
"And Phasea," Phaenora continued, "is more direct. You're using Nature's latent states to bend reality, momentarily shifting elemental laws."
Elyonari faced Phaenora.
"Can I… see the rest? Of Noreq's Enlightenment Powers?"
Phaenora winced.
"Ehhh… I could... but I won't."
"Why not?"
"I'm not restricted. It's not like the system forbids me. But it's… an ethical boundary."
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Phaenora has ethics?"
Phaenora flipped him off without breaking eye contact with Elyonari.
"You see Divines, especially newer ones, love chasing the next stages. It's like knowing what presents you have before the surprise. The second they know what power they're going to get next, they want it. They rush and push themselves. They even burn faster than their bodies and minds can handle."
Elyonari nodded slowly. "So showing it too early would just… pull me out of the now."
"Exactly. The system isn't just a skill tree. It's tied to your journey, growth experiences and life happenings. And I don't want to overwrite that with spoilers."
"But what if someone else already has more of Noreq's Enlightenment Powers?" Peroncerea asked, leaning forward. "Wouldn't Elyonari find out from them?"
"Nope. Not unless they tell her and even then, good luck. Enlightenment Powers are considered as secretive as Boons and Banes."
"They're that private?" Denisia frowned. "I thought Enlightenment stuff was public knowledge in some places."
"In some, yeah, but only the name and never the full mechanics. It's a respect thing. Boons, Banes, and Enlightenment Paths... they're your soul's personal fingerprint. If someone flaunts theirs, that's their business. But you can't just demand someone else's."
"Except mine," Narisva said, smirking. "I show off mine every time I walk into a room."
"That's because you're the strongest amongst us all."
Elyonari glanced down at her interface again, smiling gently.
"So Mutation and Phasea are mine for now. And the rest will come when they should."
Phaenora gave her a proud nod. "That's the Nature Divine way. Please don't beg. As much as I want to tell you, it would just make you desire more and ruin your progress."
Narisva leaned sideways and whispered to Vastarael.
"I bet that her Seventh Enlightenment is going to be something like turning forests into sentient animals or erupting fruit that explodes into spores."
"That is oddly specific."
"Hey, you can't blame me. And when are you going to switch to your male form?"
"Until my Love Divinity balances. And when Phaenora here has enough of it."