Lex juga mempertimbangkan kemungkinan memelihara Dewa miliknya sendiri, tapi akhirnya membuang ide itu. Seiring bertambahnya kekuatannya, apa pun yang bisa dilakukan Dewa, dia pun akan mampu melakukannya. Bahkan sebagai Earth Immortal, cakrawala kekuatannya sudah luar biasa.
Lagian, Cassandra sudah bilang dia jangan melangkah ke jalur Ilahi, dan bahkan Vinei, yang sudah jadi Dewa, kayaknya menyesal. Jadi efektif tidak ada gunanya memelihara Dewa sendiri.
Tapi kemudian, pikirannya meleset ke arah lain. Selama dia tidak bisa memelihara Dewa, seorang Phoenix…
"Jadi berarti Dewa-Dewa lainnya semuanya Phoenix juga?" tanya Lex, begitu Vinei memberinya bulu Phoenix, dan mereka meninggalkan kuil, kembali ke medan perang.
"Ya, kelima kami dulu Phoenix. Saat ini hanya tinggal satu."
"Jadi berarti semua burung Sol adalah keturunan Phoenix?"
"Keturunan, ya. Tapi tidak berarti mereka Phoenix. Paling-paling mereka cuma punya sedikit darah Phoenix, tapi hampir pasti mereka tidak akan pernah jadi Phoenix. Lahirnya Phoenix sejati memang tidak mudah, baik cara apa pun."
"Mengerti. Nah, kita ketemu lagi kalau aku sudah dapat inti Defiler, atau kalau kamu siap bertindak melawan pangeran Kraven."
Keduanya sepakat, dan Lex kembali ke alam Midnight. Rencananya awalnya mau kirim Batalyon ke alam Kristal juga, tapi pertarungan di sana di luar level mereka. Meski mereka butuh pengalaman, tidak sepadan mengirim mereka ke maut.
Lex meregangkan badan, enak sekali bisa kembali. Dia sudah berjanji pada diri sendiri untuk tidak campur tangan, dan pada umumnya berhasil. Tentu, sekarang dia punya quest kecil sendiri buat dapatkan inti Defiler, tapi tidak terlalu mendesak. Dia bisa fokus lagi ke Midnight Inn. Yang lebih penting…
Dia teleport ke kura-kura itu, yang sedang menanam sesuatu di inti salah satu gunung api di alam ini.
"Apa kabar?" tanya Lex, mengecek kura-kura sambil mempelajari benih di depannya. Kenapa benih ini lebih besar dari 300 minivan yang ditumpuk? Lex berkedip, sadar itu pikiran aneh, lalu fokus ke kura-kura.
"Baik-baik saja, tapi tanaman baru butuh jenis energi yang lebih beragam."
Lex benar-benar terkejut mendengar itu. Di alam baru, hal yang paling tidak boleh kekurangan justru energi.
"Pastikan kirim aku daftarnya. Aku lihat bisa bantu apa. Kalau memang tidak bisa apa-apa, aku bicara ke Pengelola Inn. Hei, aku mau bicara soal lain. Kamu ingat burung berkobar-kobaran yang kamu adoptin dulu? Burung Sol yang terluka?"
Kura-kura itu sudah adopt banyak hewan peliharaan bertahun-tahun. Pada dasarnya apa pun yang terluka atau butuh bantuan diadopsi kura-kura, dipelihara hingga sembuh dan diurus.
Faktanya, Lex sendiri pernah diurus kura-kura saat butuh banget, jadi kalau apa-apa, Lex benar-benar menghargai kebiasaan kura-kura ini. Sekali lagi, kebiasaan itu berguna.
"Ya, tentu aku ingat Sunny yang kecil," jawab kura-kura. "Dia membantu aku menyemak di kebun barat."
Lex tidak harap selain itu dari kura-kura, menyuruh keturunan Phoenix menyemak kebunnya.
"Bagus. Denger, aku mau kamu perhatikan Sunny secara khusus. Aku tadi ngobrol dengan teman orang tua Sunny, dan baru tahu kalau burung miskin itu malnutrisi, itulah kenapa garis keturunannya tidak bangun. Itu tidak bisa diterima. Sebagai anggota Inn, Sunny harus diberi nutrisi penuh, dan mencapai potensi penuhnya."
Kura-kura diam sejenak, dan pakai salah satu tanaman yang keluar dari cangkangnya untuk menggosok dagu, seolah berpikir.
"Kamu benar. Aku memikirkan Sunny kelihatan lemah, tapi aku tidak yakin. Tidak heran apinya hanya bisa membakar rumput liar, bukan duri ilahi dari Ruse Bush Deity yang aku tanam."
"Tunggu apa?" Lex tiba-tiba terkejut. "Kamu… kamu menanam Dewa? Gimana caranya?"
Dia memindai Inn tapi tidak menemukan tanda-tanda Dewa yang tumbuh. Ada apa?
"Manusia bodoh, kamu tidak bisa menanam Dewa," kata kura-kura dan memandang Lex seolah memandang anak kecil. "Aku menanam semak mawar yang akan tumbuh jadi Rose Deity begitu dewasa. Gimana lagi aku mau bikin kebun lebih besar dari Eden kalau aku tidak tanam beberapa bunga Dewa?"
"Tunggu apa?" Lex tanya lagi, mengulang kata-katanya. Dia belum pernah sebingung ini. Dia baru saja ngobrol dengan Dewa yang jelaskan bagaimana Dewa lahir. Tidak satupun berkaitan dengan berkebun. Dan apa ini soal bikin kebun lebih besar dari Eden? Eden yang dia kenal cuma Eden corp, dan itu perusahaan, bukan kebun.
"Manusia bodoh, jangan terlalu memikirkan. Terlalu mikir tidak baik untuk jenismu. Aku lihat manusia lain hari keguguran rambut kepalanya. Terlalu mikir pasti bikin dia rontok."
"Tidak, tunggu, itu bukan maksudku," kata Lex, bibirnya kembali berdenyut. "Maksudku, aku baru tahu soal Dewa baru-baru ini. Aku belajar seseorang jadi Dewa karena disembah. Jadi gimana kamu bisa tumbuhkan Dewa dari tanaman?"
"Manusia bodoh, itu hanya untuk makhluk yang tidak lahir sebagai Dewa. Itu tidak termasuk yang lahir alami sebagai Dewa. Lagian, Dewa bunga tidak sama dengan Dewa biasa. Jangan khawatir - kalau Pengelola Inn khawatir, dia sudah menghentikanku dulu. Kebunku akan luar biasa, nanti kamu lihat."
Lex also pondered the possibility of nurturing a Deity of his own, but eventually dismissed it. As he grew in power, anything a Deity was able to do, he would be able to do. As it was, even as an Earth Immortal, the scope of his power was incredible.
Besides, Cassandra had told him not to step onto the path of the Divine, and even Vinei, who had become a Deity, seemed to be regretting it. There was effectively no purpose to nurturing a Deity of his own.
But then, his thoughts went into another direction. While he could not nurture a Deity, a Phoenix…
"So does that mean the other Deities are all Phoenixes as well?" Lex asked, once Vinei handed him a Phoenix feather, and they left the temple, returning to the battlefield.
"Yes, all five of us were Phoenixes once. As it is, there is only one left now."
"So does that mean that all the Sol birds are descendants of Phoenixes?"
"Descendants, yes. But that does not mean that they are Phoenixes. At most, they merely have trace amounts of their bloodline, but it is almost certain that they will never become Phoenixes. It is not so easy for a true Phoenix to be born, one way or another."
"Got it. Well, I'll see you when I have the Defiler core, or if you're ready to act against the Kraven prince."
The two reached an agreement, and Lex returned to the Midnight realm. He had originally planned to send the Battalion to the Crystal realm as well, but the fight there was beyond their level. Although they needed to get more experience, it wasn't worth sending them to their doom.
Lex stretched, feeling good to be back. He had promised himself not to get involved, and for the most part he succeeded. Sure, he had his own little fetch quest now to get and get a Defiler core, but it wasn't so urgent. He could focus once more on the Midnight Inn. More importantly…
He teleported to the turtle, who was planting something deep in the core of one of the volcanoes in the realm.
"How are things going?" Lex asked, checking in on the turtle while studying the seed in front of it. Why the hell was this seed larger than 300 minivans stacked atop one another? Lex blinked, realizing that was an odd thought, and then focused on the turtle.
"They are going well, but the newer plants require more diverse energy types."
Lex was genuinely surprised to hear such a thing. In a newfound realm, the one thing they should not lack is energy.
"Make sure to send me a list. I'll see what I can do about it. If we really can't do anything about it, then I'll go talk to the Innkeeper about it. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something else. You remember that flaming bird you adopted once? The injured Sol bird?"
The turtle had adopted many pets over the years. Basically anything that was wounded or in need had been adopted by the turtle, who nurtured them back to health and took care of them.
In fact, even Lex had been taken care of by the turtle when he was in dire need, so if anything, Lex genuinely appreciated this habit of the turtles. It was now, once again, coming in handy.
"Yes, of course I remember little Sunny," the turtle said. "He has been helping me with the weeding in the western gardens."
Lex expected nothing less from the turtle than to have the descendant of a Phoenix weed his gardens.
"That's great. Listen, I'd like you to pay special attention to Sunny. I was just having a chat with one of Sunny's parents' friends, and I just found out that the poor bird is malnourished, which is why its bloodline is not waking up. That's unacceptable. As a member of the Inn, Sunny should be thoroughly nourished, and achieve its full potential."
The turtle paused for a moment, and used one of the vines coming out of its shell to rub its chin, as if thinking.
"You're right. I was thinking that little Sunny looked weak, but I wasn't sure. No wonder his flames can only burn weed and not the divine barbs off the Ruse Bush Deity I planted."
"Wait what?" Lex asked, suddenly shocked. "You… you planted a Deity? How does that work?"
He scanned the Inn but found no signs of growing Deities. What was going on?
"Silly human, you cannot plant Deities," the turtle said and looked at Lex as if looking at a child. "I planted a rosebush that will grow a Rose Deity once it's mature. How else am I supposed to grow a garden greater than Eden if I don't even plant a few Deity flowers?"
"Wait what?" Lex asked once more, repeating his words. He had never been more confused. He just had a conversation with a Deity who explained to him how Deities were born. None of that had anything to do with gardening. And what was this about growing a garden greater than Eden? The only Eden he knew of was Eden corp, and that was a company, not a garden.
"Silly human, do not trouble yourself too much. Thinking too much is not good for your kind. I saw a human the other day lose his hair on his head. Thinking too much must have caused him to shed his hair."
"No, wait, that's not what I mean," said Lex, his lip twitch returning. "I mean, I just found out about Deities recently. I learned that one becomes a Deity by being worshiped. So how can you grow a Deity from a plant?"
"Silly human, that is only for beings who are not born Deities. That does not include those who are naturally born Deities. Besides, flower Deities are not the same as regular Deities, anyway. Don't worry about it - if the Innkeeper were worried about it, he would have stopped me already. My garden will be amazing, just you watch."
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