The explosion of light caught everyone's attention in the fief, but I was the first to arrive. The very instant I felt my clone die, I rushed there with my heart in my throat, overcome with worry.
"ELISE!!" I screamed with all my might at the desolate space left behind by the explosion.
Luckily, the archmage's tower was far enough from the town—unlike the merchant's. Had it not been, the damage and danger to others would have been far greater.
I hurried closer, feeling an overwhelming aura wrap around my entire being. It was strange, powerful, but above all, unstable and uncontrollable. As I stepped into the smoking crater, I saw her. Elise was there... and I let out the biggest sigh of relief I had ever felt.
She was trying to stand, struggling, as if her legs couldn't support her, as if her body was heavier than her strength could bear.
"Elise…" I called out, without thinking.
That was a mistake.
Dazed, she raised her gaze at the sound of her name. Her eyes—now with a bright sky-blue iris she hadn't had before—locked onto me… and in that very moment, I felt an invisible force crash into me. It hurled me several meters back, sending me flying.
An unexpected attack. But the damage was minimal compared to the worry consuming me.
Elise didn't seem in her right mind. She wasn't insane… she just seemed to be losing control—especially of her magic.
As I stood up, I felt it clearly: wild waves of magic pulsing from her, like erratic heartbeats of power. She was the epicenter, struggling against her own rampaging power… without success.
Every time her hooves hit the ground, cracks spread like lightning. Each flap of her wings unleashed blades of wind in every direction. And with every scream, a devastating sonic wave burst out around her.
The pressure was crushing, but not something I couldn't handle.
I began approaching slowly, resisting that oppressive aura, that magical torrent pushing me like a hurricane. I activated [Magic Drain] along with [Gluttony], absorbing some of the wild energy Elise was releasing. Since it wasn't a spell per se, but rather raw, untamed magic, it was hard to absorb… but not impossible. Not completely.
To endure the accidental attacks I received and the part of the magic I couldn't neutralize, I activated [Wrath]. Thanks to it, I managed to advance, step by step, toward Elise, whose power continued to grow.
I kept using our bond to try and calm her. I knew it was her unchecked emotions fueling that magical storm. But the more power erupted from her, the more agitated she seemed. Even though she could hear my voice, the fear of what was happening to her overwhelmed her. Her mental state was fragile, nearly broken, and any stimulus could push her over the edge.
When I was just a few meters away from Elise, my body covered in wounds, the overwhelming aura suddenly halted… and imploded. The incredibly pure power Elise had been unleashing began to withdraw, second by second, as if an invisible force was pulling it back into her. After a few moments, there was no trace of that wild magic left—except for the devastation it had caused.
Elise collapsed to the ground, panting and dazed. At last, I reached her… and held her tightly.
"What… happened?" she murmured shakily, her breathing uneven.
"I don't know," I replied, as I used my powers to examine her condition.
It was strange. That pure and violent magic had vanished completely. Though when I probed her energy, I noticed her mana was more refined than before, it didn't come close to the intensity she'd displayed just seconds ago.
My mind filled with questions, thoughts that came and went without finding answers. I had no idea what exactly had happened, but I had felt something… something familiar, though vague, that left me uneasy.
Just before the explosion, when the experiment reached its peak and that "egg" broke, I felt a strange sensation. I couldn't describe it precisely, but it was something I had experienced before… within myself.
It was during the moments I obtained the [Essences]. Yes, that was it. It didn't happen every time, but with some of them, I felt it clearly. The Essences of the Sins… I think something similar happened the first time I obtained each of them, though perhaps I only became fully aware of it with the last two.
With [Lust], I felt it quite clearly, though at the time I ignored it, not understanding what it was. With [Gluttony], I felt it too, but only when I reached that state where I consumed the planet of "it." Maybe it happened with [Wrath] and [Envy] as well, but since they were the first, the sensation was weaker… or maybe I just didn't recognize it.
I always thought that, by obtaining them, I was gradually getting used to their power and that's why I managed to control them better. But… what if that's not it? What if their power is cumulative and there's something more that connects them?
And now… now I believe there was another time, another moment when I felt something similar. With "it." Yes, the first time I perceived it, I was scared, and I thought it was because of its overwhelming vitality, its overflowing power… but maybe there was something more.
It wasn't a complete sensation like with the Essences… nor like what happened with Elise. It was as if I were trying to reach that feeling, but always falling just short, as if something were preventing me from fully getting there. Could that sensation be a purer form of magic? A higher level only accessible in certain states of extreme power?
I've only felt it at times when my strength was at its limit… though in different aspects. Maybe I'm not so wrong after all.
My doubts were cleared up by one of my clones, who had already headed to the Archmage's tower. No, it hadn't been permanently destroyed. In fact, as soon as it was disintegrated, it reappeared in another random area of the fief… as if nothing had happened.
There, I got the answer from the artificial intelligence version of the Archmage. This version, much more communicative and concise than his eccentric old counterpart, was the one I usually used when I needed direct explanations. Although of course… being more technological than magical, certain details related to the mystical were out of its reach.
The answer it gave me about what had happened to Elise was straightforward:
[The God Gene]
Yes… a name that on its own forces your eyes open. But it's still the most scientific and precise name ARK-M.A.G.E. could find for something so abstract. According to its explanation…
The God Gene is, indeed, a gene. But not one that can be easily analyzed physically or magically. In fact, the moment it awakens, any measurement—whether muggle or arcane—becomes useless. If anyone had tried to scan Elise during her loss of control, the results would've been unintelligible.
The name can be misleading. Anyone might think that someone who carries this gene automatically becomes a deity… but that's not the case. The God Gene doesn't make you a god; it only means you have the potential to become one.
The number of non-divine beings who have awakened it throughout history is minimal. On the other hand, those who have tried and failed are countless. Its appearance also doesn't depend solely on power: it doesn't matter how much you train, how much you accumulate, or how strong you become… the gene doesn't awaken through sheer strength or power.
No. Its activation depends on a minuscule possibility, an exceptional, almost miraculous event. Elise got absurdly lucky… too lucky.
The experiments we subjected her to were intended to break the shackles of her lineage, her species, her very being. In that process, she finally reached the minimum requirements to even have a chance at awakening the gene. But meeting those requirements doesn't guarantee anything: most beings fail right at that final point, unable to break the "egg," that kind of shell symbolizing mortality, mundanity, and limitation.
Anyone else would've died trying. But thanks to my [Auxiliary Skills]—the ones I received upon arriving in this world—it was possible not only for Elise to survive the process of integrating pure bloodlines into her being, but for everything to be perfectly controlled to maximize her chances. It was an unprecedented, practically impossible event, but it happened. And that gave Elise, a mere unicorn, the opportunity to crack the shell and awaken the God Gene.
What she achieved is something of cosmic proportions. According to ARK-M.A.G.E.'s estimates, it's possible that in the entire lifespan of a planet, no being will ever manage to achieve it. That's how rare it is.
But going back to the main topic, as already explained, this does not make her a deity. It only breaks her natural limits and allows her to walk the path that could lead to becoming one. And even so, according to ARK-M.A.G.E., many beings who have awakened the God Gene end up dying without ever even approaching a truly divine state.
And that led me to an inevitable question: "What is a god, really?"
Trying to answer, the Archmage provided me with a general classification to place the different levels of magical existence. I asked him to adapt the scale to make it more understandable to me. The result was this:
Apprentice → Mage → Elite → Grand Mage → Legend || God
Mage Apprentice: This is the most basic level, corresponding to those with minimal magical manifestations. Level 0 or 1 in this range would be a child of muggles with magical outbursts but no control or knowledge of magic. Here, no matter how much you know, what defines the limit of this level is the amount of magic available. You could know every spell, but if your energy is scarce, you'll still be an apprentice—though a very advanced one.
Mage: The most common level, defined by reaching a certain amount of magic. In the magical world, it's usually attained around the age of majority, about 17 years old. However, there are exceptions. Some, magically weak, may take longer or, in rare and sad cases, never reach this level. There's also the opposite case, where due to having a large magical reserve from a young age, or growing up in intensive environments, or possessing powerful bloodlines, they reach it earlier. I myself surpassed it during my first year here.
Elite Mage: Practically the opposite of an Apprentice. Here, raw magic isn't measured, but control is. This level is achieved by mastering efficient use of mana—getting more with less. Most duelists, aurors, and scholars strive for or reach this level.
Great Mage: This is the balance between power and control. Those who reach this level can manipulate magic with unique mastery. They have achieved remarkable feats, like McGonagall in Transfiguration or Snape in the Dark Arts. Even cases like Newt Scamander, whose power lies in his magical affinity with creatures rather than the expression of magic in the physical world—a more passive ability. They usually have more power than any mage and more control than the elites, making them clearly stronger than most magic users.