CHAPTER 72: PLANE OF LIGHT

Azel blinked once.

Then again.

Slowly, he exhaled through his nose.

"The Goddess invited me?" he murmured to himself, half in disbelief, half in weary resignation.

He couldn’t believe it, yes he had caught her attention but why would she invite him so directly?

His voice was flat, though there was a faint curl of amusement at the edges.

It wasn’t as if this was entirely foreign to him.

He’d never visited a divine plane personally, but in his mind’s eye, he could still recall the tidbits of lore from the game — the kind of details only obsessive players bothered memorizing.

After all the creators had bothered themselves to add god lore and he had learned it, it was going to be useful now.

Every god or goddess in this world possessed their own domain — a plane.

A pocket reality tailored to their nature.

The God of Flames ruled the infernal seas of the Plane of Fire, where the air shimmered with heat and the ground bled molten rock.

The Goddess of Water reigned over an endless, sapphire ocean in the Plane of Tides. The God of Lightning had the Plane of Clouds, a realm where thunder roared like drums of war.

And then there was the Goddess of Light.

Her domain, the Plane of Light, was arguably the most powerful in existence — rivaled only by the ancient and enigmatic Plane of Earth, the fortress of the Earth Goddess herself.

And the Plane of the Stars, owned by the moon goddess. Those were the three strongest planes.

The invite meant one thing: he had caught her interest that much that she wanted to see him.

It was not an easy feat, given that divine beings didn’t hand out invitations like sweets.

The sheer weight of that fact should have made him nervous.

Instead, he just felt... tired.

The System, however, didn’t care for his lack of enthusiasm.

[Accepting this request will lead you to getting more rewards upon returning.]

Azel snorted. "Even the System’s trying to bribe me now."

He stared at the prompt for a long moment, weighing his options.

The offer of rewards was tempting, but it was more than that — opportunities like this didn’t come twice.

"Alright," he said finally, his lips curling in the faintest smirk. "I accept."

[Your soul is being transported to the Plane of Light.]

[Note: Be respectful.]

Azel chuckled. "Like I was planning to disrespect a—"

He didn’t get to finish. His consciousness cut out instantly.

When he opened his eyes, the world was different.

He was sitting on a bed — not the creaky, modest one in his inn room, but a wide, plush mattress that seemed to mold itself perfectly to his body.

The sheets were silky, almost too comfortable, and for a dangerous second, he thought about just lying back and falling asleep here.

The air carried a faint, soothing fragrance like a blend of morning sunlight, fresh blossoms, and something richer, sweeter, impossible to place.

"Welcome to the Plane of Light."

The voice was melodic.

Not in the way a songstress’s voice could be melodic, but in a way that felt like the sound itself was woven from beauty.

Azel turned his head toward it — and stopped.

The woman before him was... divine.

And not in the casual sense. She was literally divine.

Her beauty was so utterly flawless that it didn’t just outshine every woman he’d seen before — it made them feel like they belonged to an entirely different category.

It wasn’t that the women he’d met were ugly; they simply existed in the mortal realm, while this woman’s existence was painted in the brushstrokes of the gods.

Her features were perfect without seeming artificial, her skin glowed with a soft, eternal radiance, and her golden hair fell in luminous waves down her shoulders.

She moved with a grace that made the air seem to flow differently around her.

"Are you too entranced by my beauty to speak?" she asked, her lips curving into a playful smile as she poured tea into two porcelain cups.

Her confidence was effortless, unshakable, the kind that came from knowing the entire world bent for you if you willed it.

"Yes," Azel said without hesitation, exhaling as if surrendering to the truth. "Your beauty is truly... entrancing."

The Goddess chuckled, a warm, lilting sound that seemed to hum against his very soul.

She glided closer — no, appeared closer, one moment across the room, the next standing before him with a cup in her hands.

She extended it toward him with both grace and authority.

"I apologize for inviting you here on such short notice," she said, settling herself beside him on the bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Though, I must admit... today must have been tiring for you."

Azel accepted the cup without taking his eyes off her.

"It was," he admitted, before taking a sip.

The moment the liquid touched his tongue, his body reacted.

It wasn’t just refreshing — it was revitalizing.

A deep, pure energy coursed through him, not unlike mana, but richer, denser.

His fatigue melted away in an instant.

[You have consumed the Goddess’s fluids.]

[You have formed a Magic Core.]

[You have gained the ability to use Holy Magic.]

Azel nearly spat the tea out.

Consumed the what now?!

If this hadn’t been happening to his soul, he would’ve believed the liquid was physically altering him on the spot.

His mind scrambled for an explanation — and none of them were comforting.

What fluids?

Why did it feel like the System was deliberately phrasing this to mess with him?

The Goddess tilted her head slightly, watching his sudden stillness.

"Do you not like the tea? You went silent all of a sudden."

"The tea?" Azel quickly masked his expression, taking another deliberate sip.

The energy flowing into his newly formed core intensified, filling it to the brim with holy magic.

"The tea is delicious... but it tastes very different from what I’m used to. Is there an... added ingredient?"

Her lips curved into the faintest smile, one that carried no guilt — only amusement.

She raised a slender hand to her lips.

"The ingredients I use here are magic-rich," she said, her tone serene. "Different from those of the mortal realm. Besides... the Plane of Light is ancient. Here, there are no complications in granting you new abilities. Consider it... a gift from me."

Azel hid a sigh.

She completely dodged the fact that she used her own fluids.

Still, he wasn’t about to refuse.

Whatever was in this tea, it was powerful, and refusing it now would be worse than foolish.

He drained the cup with a satisfied smile.

[A/N: 😂Yes me and you want this tea]