"The day you stepped foot on my territory’s gate," Mize began, her voice calm, laced with something unreadable. 

"The day you received my blessings, none of that was fate’s doing."

"Strange, isn't it?"

"How everything you have at the moment was merely a gift of a second that wasn't intentional."

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze steady. "It was nothing more than a whim. Perhaps fate did nudge us into alignment, but you should’ve realized by now, I didn’t come there... at that time, for this world’s peace, or its comfort."

"And you should've realized I am not as all-powerful as you imagined me to be."

"I am just the wife of the lord who owned this territory. Some called me an angel, some called me a goddess... but really, I am just like you, a human."

As she spoke, the shimmering illusion that had hung in the air between them slowly unraveled, dissolving into faint wisps that drifted away like evaporating mist.

The window on the side opened with a flicker of her wrist, the light pouring in. 

Faint particles could be seen within the incoming beam, and Mize poked them with her finger, playfully.

"But it was you who came to me," Mize went on, her eyes squinting, her mood joyful, "You kneeled. You begged. You asked for something so hopelessly human... hope, for your people."

"And that moved me."

"Perhaps I sounded a bit hypocritical, no?"

"At times, I addressed myself as a divine being, and at other times, I addressed myself as a human."

"As for what I truly am...," she paused, her fingers retracted as she hovered aimlessly in this library, discerning the simple decorations, "I am unsure myself, too."

Her voice softened, not out of sentimentality, but as if tasting the word before letting it settle.

"Ultimately, this confusion leads me to believe that I am both and one at the same time."

"And as a being that could change the course of this world, I gave you what you wished for—"

"Hope."

"I had never seen someone so young... so desperate for something so absurdly pure."

She paused, searching for a phrase that captured it without ruining it. “Hope in despair,” she repeated, almost experimentally.

Then her eyes sharpened, those crimson irises glowing faintly like quiet embers in low light.

She locked eyes with Harapan.

He flinched before he could stop himself.

"I saw it in you. Strange, isn’t it?" she murmured.

 "A mortal who knew no bounds, who dared to seek something incorruptible from someone like me, someone who carries the divinity of beauty."

"The divinity of..." Harapan’s breath caught.

"Beauty?"

His voice cracked slightly at the end, and the instant his eyes returned to her, Mize deliberately released the protection skill that cloaked her form.

And the effect was immediate.

His body was locked in place. Jaw slackened.

For a terrifying second, his mind simply... stalled.

Before it could spiral further, Mize reactivated the barrier.

An unseen veil shimmered around her as she floated upward with practiced grace.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she discerned Harapan's reactions.

A sharp gasp escaped Harapan. He stumbled back, one hand clutching a nearby shelf to steady himself.

His skin had gone cold. His back soaked with sweat. Whatever glimpse he’d caught of her just now had short-circuited something that no mere existence should see.

He pressed his lips tight, trying to contain the breathless dread clawing at the base of his neck.

“Th-that sight...” he rasped, swallowing against a dry throat. “This world... wouldn’t survive such beauty.”

"Despite being someone who had broken through the shackles of a mortal's body, I almost couldn't control my body just now."

He dared another glance, and this time, with the protective veil back in place, he managed to meet her gaze without slipping.

"How was it?" Mize asked with a hint of amusement curling at the edges of her lips. "A taste of what it feels like to almost lose yourself... just from a glance?"

"It was horrifying, Mother..." Harapan admitted, his voice strained but sincere.

He took a breath, then steadied his posture.

 His gaze returned to its usual reverent awe, though the shimmer in his eyes now carried a tremor of fear.

“I could sense it, the protective film. If not for your will... I’d have fallen to madness."

"If not for Mother's mercy, I would've... lost myself in such a beautiful scene."

Mize smiled again, floating like a feather suspended by unseen currents.

Her long hair flowed behind her, catching the air in soft, cascading waves. “Quite the flatterer,” she said lightly. “But what you saw just now, that was proof of my true divinity.”

"So please, I heard the prayers from those people just now. If possible, change them so that they fit my... divinity."

"And those statues, if possible, decorate them more beautifully. They lacked the aspects which complement what I am," Mize commented casually.

She hovered there in silence for a moment, the air oddly still.

Then her tone shifted.

"You need to understand one thing. The main reason I gave you hope, the will of hope, was not for me to gain a series of believers in my name."

'Which I lied,' Mize secretly muttered within.

"It's for your people to be freed from the shackles of your world's current state. A glimpse of peace and hope under my name."

'That's right, I will state that I don't need you, and proceed to confuse you with my intentions.'

[Host, I think we should add another title for the host: THE DECEIVER.]

'Shut up. I am simply doing it for my own benefits.'

On the outside, she continued.

“Unlike those other beings... the ones who’ve bound themselves to endless greed, surviving off the prayers of their followers, I’ve chosen to stand apart from their system.”

"And today," she added, "marks the end of my indifference."

Harapan's shoulders stiffened. “M-Mother… will you take action? Wage war against them?”

His voice wavered, but it wasn’t fear of divine wrath that made him tremble.

It was the fear of being helpless.

Mize, however, dispelled the notion with a flick of her hand. “I won’t be acting directly.”

“The enemies, like me, hide in the folds of the world. So I’ll follow suit. This world will become the game board,” she said smoothly, “and I’ll play.”

Harapan straightened, tension still etched into his frame. 

But then he spoke, clearly and without hesitation. “Then... let me offer myself as your piece. A pawn in this holy war, if need be.”

There was no hesitation in the way he said it. 

And Mize smiled in return, pleased that these bunch of made up stories worked out fine in the end.

“Very well,” she said, reaching her hand out to him.

"But your current strength isn't sufficient enough, let me fix that"

Boom.

As she spoke, a strange orb emerged from her fingertips. 

With a precise twist of her fingers in the air, a pulse of concentrated mental force poured outward. 

A radiant purple light erupted from her hand.

In a heartbeat, it shot into Harapan’s forehead before he could blink.

His entire body jerked. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words never made it. 

The light wrapped around him in a single sweeping wave, and vanished.

Boom.

A deafening trumpet rang through his mind.

He gasped, eyes wide, as something unfamiliar unfolded inside him.

 For the first time, he could see it, a vast, empty space illuminated by the lingering glow of that light.

“I’ve granted you two abilities,” Mize's voice echoed in his thoughts.

“A lesser version of mine, tailored to you, but better than what you have now, more than enough for what must be done.”

"This...!" Harapan blinked rapidly.

There, within his mental landscape, floated two luminous golden orbs, like tiny galaxies, gently rotating in the darkness. 

They shimmered within this space, pulsing like distant stars.

“One allows you greater command over nature,” Mize said.

 “You can now wield the power of nature easier, stronger, and sharper. You are now the rightful lord of the green among these mortal awakeners.”

"An enhanced version of the previous one"

Harapan raised his hand instinctively, curiosity guiding him.

He gestured toward a nearby wooden shelf, and something shifted.

Boom.

Thin branches sprouted from the shelf. Leaves unfurled in seconds.

 Small fruits dangled in clusters, and blossoms exploded in a slow bloom, casting soft fluorescent glows into the dim space.

Mize watched with a small nod, satisfaction glimmering faintly behind her eyes.

‘He’s made for this,’ she thought. ‘With that mind of his, it won’t be long before he reshapes this power into something far beyond what I gave.’

'and perhaps, there would be more tiny derivations from it that can be created'

Outside, her voice continued.

“That strange stench you noticed, the corpse, and the thousand other strange cases Elias filed...” Mize’s voice trailed slightly as she leaned back, arms folded. 

Her gaze flicked toward the open window where wind carried the scent of leaves and faint rot. “Something foul is close to our land"

Harapan straightened, retracting his hand. “It’s no surprise, Mother. The dawn of chaos is here. The prophecy was real.”

Mize’s lips curved faintly, pleased by his composure. “Prophecy huh?" she murmured, eyes sliding toward him again. “I suppose your people had been given these warnings for quite sometimes"

She floated closer, and continued. “That first skill I gave you... it’s not just one ability.”

Harapan blinked. “It’s not?”

Mize tilted her head. “No. It’s dual-purpose.”

Harapan frowned slightly, the confusion plain on his face, but Mize didn’t stop to explain with words. 

She lifted her hand and gave a casual wave toward the floorboards beside them.

Wood groaned.

The planks shifted unnaturally, not like anything affected by tools or wind, but as if stirred by liquid thought. 

In seconds, something humanoid began to rise, its body smooth and polished, carved yet unnervingly fluid. 

Features took shape, eyes, mouth, a nose, wrinkles around a furrowed brow.

 And then the color of bark faded away like paint melting under sunlight.

What remained was an old man, dressed in a heavy grey robe with a hood that pooled around his shoulders. 

His hair was long, silver-grey, and his beard full but trimmed, framing his solemn expression. 

His skin, though newly formed, bore the subtle wear of age.

"Creation?" Harapan asked to which Mize casually corrected, "No, it's merely moulding and reshaping"

Mize exhaled softly. “When I created you to become that beacon of hope, I used a single strand of my hair"

"I twisted it into the essence of creation and built you from it. You weren’t just granted a role, you were apart of me.”

She turned her gaze on Harapan again, her tone casual, but her words precise.

 “So it didn’t surprise me when you started showing traits that resembled mine'

" You carry some of my nature, quite literally. It makes sense you'd inherit a shadow of my ability.”

Harapan bowed his head slightly in reverence, but she raised a hand before he could speak.

“Still, what you’ve got so far... barely scratches the surface. Not even one percent of the potential it holds.”

“That’s natural, Mother,” Harapan said, voice respectful. “It would be blasphemous for me to possess anything equal to your sacred power.”

Mize laughed gently, but there was no mockery in it. “Maybe so.”

Her smile faded into something more thoughtful. “But what you have now won’t be enough for what’s ahead.”

She gestured at the wooden man still standing silently nearby. “That skill I gave you, this is what it can do.”

She stepped up and rapped her knuckles lightly against the figure’s chest.

 A dull thunk echoed, firm yet oddly muted. 

With one hand she tugged at the robe’s sleeve, pulling and twisting it. 

The cloth flexed without resistance, like fine silk, despite being made from what should’ve been solid wood.

“Strong, solid, but still soft enough to pass as real,” she said. “And here’s the best part”

She flicked her fingers, and a ripple of power surged through her palm, flowing directly into the figure. 

In an instant, it moved. Not stiffly, not like a puppet, but more like a human.

 A heavy pressure bloomed outward from its core, the aura of tier 5 realm spread wildly. 

Harapan’s eyes widened as the aura washed over him.

“We can animate it,” Mize explained, calmly watching the figure flex its hands.

 “Control it like a living being, inject energy into it, give it purpose. That’s just one side of the skill.”

Harapan was still absorbing that when Mize tilted her head, stepped close to the figure’s face, and blew softly across its brow.

A flicker of light, subtle, almost invisible, drifted from her lips into the head.

The change was immediate.

The figure jolted. Its limbs twitched like someone rousing from a deep coma. 

Then its eyelids, once wooden and lifeless, blinked. 

Real, organic folds formed where there had been smooth carved lines.

Muscles shifted beneath its skin. 

Its throat moved.

Then, in a voice raw but full of clarity, it dropped to one knee.

“This humble one sees the Creator!”

Boom, his fist slammed to the floor. 

The impact shook the boards. 

A gust of wind rippled outward like a pressure wave, rattling the loose papers and leaves nearby.

Harapan flinched, one hand instinctively flying up to shield himself from the pressure.

 “To... give life to an object?” he muttered, staggered. “Incredible!"

His mind spun, and whatever vague ideas he’d been clinging to about Mize’s mortality collapsed all at once.

Not Mother of Life, he thought, dazed.

Mother of Beauty. Goddess of Beauty.

And Mize wasn’t finished.

She raised a finger and pointed at Harapan. “From now on, this person will be your master. Do you understand?”

The animated figure rose.

 It turned toward Harapan, then dropped again to one knee. “This humble one sees the Master.”

Harapan looked between the figure and Mize, stunned. “M-Mother...”

Mize nodded in approval. “Good. Serve him well.”

She turned back toward Harapan, her tone shifting into something more instructional.

"That’s the first ability I granted you. This.. ” she motioned to the kneeling figure, “was just a demonstration of what’s possible when it’s used correctly.”

“Your version might be less potent, yes. But with time, effort, and practice, you’ll be able to do this too. You’ll craft powerful, loyal followers in your name.”

"Perhaps not as strong as mine, but you will get there eventually"

Harapan stood straighter, fists clenched, and saluted with both hands pressed together. “Y-yes, Mother!”

Mize didn’t answer immediately. 

She simply gave him a glance, noticing the subtle flinch over his face muscles. 

She could see it clearly now.

Harapan’s worldview had already shifted. 

After all, he now possessed the ability to create and give life to objects. 

How ridiculous it was!

And to the fact that Mize was able to share such ability to him with ease, it showed how much she trusted him to carry this responsibility. 

But of course, it's a downgrade version after all.