(I'm very open to suggestions. If you have any ideas—characters, settings, or anything else—just drop them in the comments. While I can't guaranteed that every suggestion will be adopted, I can only say I will try my best to incorporate them.)
(In the perspective of pure-blooded dragons like Kuro and Shiro, the term 'dragon' is used exclusively to refer to those of pure bloodlines. Other lesser draconic creatures, including the mixed-blooded, are not recognized by them as a 'dragon' no matter how much dragon-like they are.)
It has been a week since Shiro and Kuro came into our divine kingdom. During this past week, we have already familiarized ourselves with all our divine arts. Because we spent some divine power to try some of our innate divine arts, we only have 30 units of divine power left. But it was all worth it. We have gained initial understanding of the godhead, the authority, and our innate divine arts.
First, let's talk about our innate divine arts. Since Shiro and Kuro shared an authority, we also share the same three divine arts.
Our first divine art is [The Eyes of Deconstruction], an observation divine art that allows us to perceive the structure, energy flow, and core principles of anything. Of course, the more complex or powerful the observation target, the more divine power is consumed.
Our second divine art is [Thought Acceleration]. While it certainly speeds up our thinking, we suspect it has deeper applications. However, with so little divine power left, so we can't afford to waste anymore of it.
The third divine art is called [Twin Connection]—definitely the best divine art ever! It ensures that Kuro and Shiro will be together forever. This divine art allows us to resurrect infinitely, as long as one of us is still alive and we have divine power remaining. Even if we don't have enough divine power to resurrect at a given moment, our bodies can still house our soul indefinitely. With this divine art, not even death can separate Shiro and Kuro!
Next, the godhead. The godheads are divine power constructs condensed only after the divine kingdom is constructed. Their function is to transform faith into divine power. However, a godhead can only transform faith that is directed at oneself.
Normal gods can only have one godhead each, but Shiro and Kuro are different. Although we share an authority and are considered a single god, we can condense two godheads. Though there doesn't seem to be any use for them, since godheads can transform faith into divine power almost instantaneously, having one more godhead doesn't seem to make any difference. A total of 10 units of divine power was consumed to condense two godheads.
For ancient gods, the divine power transformed by their godheads is unmarked and not usable until it is absorbed. It is only after an ancient god absorbs the divine power that they can mobilize it to perform divine arts. The absorbed divine power will be automatically marked.
Unmarked divine power can be absorbed by any god. By marking it with one's authority, other gods will not be able to absorb it until they unmark the marked divine power.
For gods of faith, however, the divine power transformed by their godheads is automatically marked by their authority at the moment of their transformation.
(The Observer's Interludes: To put it simply, ancient gods' godheads are the standardized version, while gods of faith's godheads are the high-end customized version.)
Regardless of whether they are ancient gods or gods of faith, their divine kingdoms cannot absorb unmarked divine power. Only divine power branded with their authority can be absorbed and stored by their divine kingdom.
The reason why divine kingdoms cannot absorb unmarked divine power seems to be related to its mechanism to protect divine power from being stolen. This mechanism only allows those with aura of the divine kingdom's owner's authority to come into contact with the divine power stored in the divine kingdom. Since unmarked divine power does not have aura of the divine kingdom's owner's authority, it cannot enter where divine kingdom store the divine power. This results in divine kingdom not being able to absorb unmarked divine power.
(Whispers from the Void: Not being able to absorb unmarked divine power into a divine kingdom is better than all the divine power stored being gone after the divine kingdom is raided, right?)
Of course, marking divine power isn't difficult; it can even be described as effortless. Unmarking it, however, isn't an easy process, even for one's own mark.
Whether the divine power is marked by their authority or is unmarked, absorbing it is a very slow process for ancient gods. The sole exception is their own self-generated divine power, which they have no trouble absorbing.
Based on this, we hypothesize that ancient gods in the past must have had another method of obtaining divine power. After all, they couldn't truly rely solely on self-generated divine power, could they? Ancient gods in the past didn't have divine kingdoms or the godheads, so they couldn't transform the power of faith into divine power at all.
In comparison to the ancient gods, the gods of faith can absorb divine power as freely as they wish. This is because they don't actually absorb any divine power; rather, their divine kingdoms absorb it through their connection to them.
We speculate that a god of faith's true form is their divine kingdom and that their energy body is an incarnation. This would explain why gods of faith die when their divine kingdoms are destroyed and their almost infinite resurrection capability as long as their divine kingdom is intact and they still have enough divine power to construct a new body, though we currently have no proof to support our claim.
(Whispers from the Void: No matter how many times a remote control robot is killed, its controller won't be harmed, will they?)
That was the end of our reminiscence. Let's go back to the present.
After Shiro decided we were ready to head out to the main material plane, she has been spending a few hours reading the stack of papers Aunt Phyllis gave us to decide where to go. Since Shiro is reading so intently, what about Kuro, you ask? Kuro has been sitting there in front of Shiro, staring dazedly at her face this whole time!
She is clearly just waiting for Shiro to feed her what she has analyzed! Really, Shiro should know better than to expect Kuro to help her read, let alone analyze anything! Shiro is highly doubtful that Kuro would be able to read without our mind connected, even with the help of the dragon language!
The dragon language is not just a language; it's also a draconic art. This innate ability allows us to understand any language and ensure others understand us, even if they don't know our dragon language. Because it is an innate draconic art, every dragon is born knowing how to use it—Shiro and Kuro were able to use it before we even hatched!
speaking of 'draconic art', it is the term for magic fueled by draconic power, just as 'divine art' is the term for all magic fueled by divine power.
Speaking of which, when was the last time Kuro said even a single word to anyone other than Shiro? It seems like it was a year ago, right? But that doesn't matter; Shiro will always, always be there to speak for her!
It is already the middle of the night when Shiro finishes reading all the papers. So why does Shiro still keep reading even after the sun set, you ask? It is because Shiro is a dragon, whether there is light or not makes little difference in her eyes.
After putting down the last piece of papers, Shiro looks up to the starry sky. It has been a week since Shiro and Kuro built our divine kingdom. During this past month, Shiro was too busy with her divine arts, that she had no time to look up at the night sky.
A night sky filled with glimmering stars, like countless glittering gems flashing on a black canvas—such a sight is unseeable in the Dragon Domain. After all, Dragon Domain is constructed in a circular shape, much like most divine kingdoms, though it is far bigger and has every kind of terrain imaginable. There are no stars in Dragon Domain; its night sky is a pure black void. Even the sun and moon are but fake models, merely there for show and serving no purpose at all.
"So these are the stars in the night sky we read about in the books... They are so beautiful, so captivating..." Shiro stares unblinking at the starry night sky, wishing to engrave this moment deep into her heart. "Shiro really likes them... Does Kuro think so too?"
Kuro looks up at the sky. "Kuro also thinks the stars are beautiful, too," she says in her flat, monotonous, and emotionless speaking style. "But even if they were hundreds of times more beautiful than this, if Shiro isn't with Kuro, Kuro doesn't want to see any of them."
"Shiro thinks so too! Even if the night sky were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of times more beautiful than this, without Kuro, she also doesn't want to see it!"
"Kuro, let's quickly decide where to go! Shiro can't wait to see how beautiful a real starry sky is, together with Kuro, of course!"
No matter how beautiful the night sky in the divine kingdom is, it is but a projection of the real night sky of the main material plane. Shiro doesn't think that a real starry sky could possibly be any less captivating than its fake counterpart. The Dragon Domain doesn't have a starry sky at night because its boundary is too strong for even the light of the stars to pass through. Shiro and Kuro's divine kingdom is different; its boundary is much weaker compared to the Dragon Domain's. After all, Shiro and Kuro's divine kingdom is just a newly built sub-plane.
"Kuro, Shiro has chosen two starting points that she thinks are equally good, so she will leave the final decision to Kuro."
Shiro's relaxed expression vanishes, to be replaced by a serious one. Aunt Phyllis asked us to be careful when deciding where to go, so Shiro thinks she should adopt a serious expression.
"The first starting point is the planet named 'Lazuria,' a planet primarily dominated by humans. It is not yet touched by any gods or extraterrestrial visitors, and humans there also don't know that life exists beyond their own planet. Although there are religions, the gods they worship haven't come into existence yet. Even the god of their dominant religion is still a few millennia away from truly condensing into a god of faith and gaining complete autonomous consciousness. It should be very safe, so it is a perfect place for Shiro and Kuro to start!"
"The second starting point is the planet named 'Emeralium,' which is also dominated by humans. It was once ruled by a powerful empire, so powerful that it established connections with other planets. But that empire is gone now, and the connections are long severed. The religions there also suffered immensely during the empire's reign; even now, a thousand years after its collapse, they still haven't fully recovered. The legacies of that empire may be useful to us, and even if they aren't, it should be easier to develop from the ruins than to build everything from scratch, right? So, this starting point is high-risk, high-reward option. Which starting point does Kuro like more?"
Kuro remains silent, appearing to be in deep thought. But Shiro knows she isn't! Her mind is basically overrun with 'Serious Shiro is so cute!' thought! Although Shiro knows that she is very cute and that even adopting a serious expression will not make her look any less cute, she will get angry if Kuro keeps ignoring her question!
Oh! She is starting to think now! Fortunately, our minds are connected, so even if Kuro listened absentmindedly the whole time, she can still understand perfectly well what Shiro had analyzed from her (Shiro) memory.
Hmm! Since Kuro dares to ignore Shiro, she will also ignore Kuro for 10... 5... 1 minute! Yes! Shiro will not speak to Kuro for 1 minute! Shiro will really do it! She is very serious! She will really ignore Kuro! Even if Kuro makes puppy eyes, Shiro will still ignore her!
"Kuro thinks we should go to 'Lazuria'. Although the legacies on 'Emeralium' may be useful to Shiro and Kuro, they also an pose equal threat. Even if they cannot kill or injure us, they may still hurt us. Kuro doesn't want Shiro to feel any pain. In addition, 'Lazuria' has a religion that worships an nonexistent winged lizard. Kuro thinks we can take over that religion."
Shiro nods, "since Kuro thinks we should go to 'Lazuria', then we will go to 'Lazuria'! As for taking over a religion, Kuro will do the planning, right?"
Kuro remains silent. Shiro knows it, obviously the planning part is left to Shiro.
"Forget it, Shiro will think of a way. Anyway, let's sleep first."
(Whispers from the Void: It has only been a few seconds and Shiro has already give in.)
Because our divine kingdom is newly built, there is nothing here except a stack of papers Aunt Phyllis gave us. Shiro and Kuro simply lie down on the ground facing each other and doze off to sleep while holding hands.