City of Sin Book 2, Chapter 204

The Sight Of Divine Grace(2)
However, Flowsand knew that Eternal Passage I had two more hidden effects. One of them allowed her to gain more grace during sacrifices. As her channel to the Eternal dragon grew more stable, the loss of power during a sacrifice would naturally decrease. The other was that it could transform the Book of Time into a proper altar in the future, one that could replace the Lighthouse of Time. if the Core of Time blessing was used to further enhance the Book of Time, it would become a temporary Lighthouse. As the Book of Time continued to strengthen, it would be granted a special gift from the Eternal Dragon, the coordinates of a primary plane!
She could go back to Norland! Although they could only build a temporary passageway that had limited effectiveness, it was a way back home!
Looking at the dozens of other gifts on the list, Flowsand could not help but clench her teeth. It wasn’t like the remaining options were useless, but Excitation and Eternal Passageway I were the most effective in their current situation where they were lost amongst the myriad planes.
Other circumstances would have made some of these gifts equally attractive or even better. For example, the gift of wisdom would permanently improve one’s intellect. A commoner could become a genius, while a genius would become a polymath. The blessing would immediately place her on the same level as Richard.
Another example was the divine gift, Reincarnation. It was a set of weapons that could trigger the power of time. This was a set, not a single piece. Even the current Flowsand would be as strong as a level 18 high priest if she wore the set!
Flowsand had obtained a limited amount of divine grace, and she could only exchange it for the weakest component of the set: the Necklace of Spring. Even that she could not get a whole version of, only a flawed piece that could just slightly increase the effect of time-related techniques. It also slowed down the wearer’s aging slightly, and had a supplementary grade 4 healing spell that could be used up to thrice a day.
However, Flowsand could see all the components of Reincarnation in the list, especially their effects. She was left clenching her teeth again.
Another attraction was the divine gift, Heavenly Guardian. It would form a divine warrior from the power of time to act as the guard of the recipient. Heavenly Guardians were not puppets; they had wisdom comparable to human geniuses, but their loyalty to their master was unshakeable. They would start around level 12, able to grow to level 16 through battle or divine power. There were further stages to this gift, increasing the number of guardians and the limit to their level. One could obtain a loyal level 20 guard after choosing it thrice!
If there was sufficient grace, the conductor could even obtain an entire troop of level 20 guardians! Even many normal legendary powerhouses would not willingly provoke such a group.
If only there were sufficient divine grace… Flowsand clenched her teeth even tighter, the sound of grinding teeth audible to everyone present.
“What’s wrong?” Richard asked, sensing the change in her.
“We… we’re too poor!” she said through gritted teeth.
“Poor?” Richard was puzzled.
Flowsand’s chest heaved rapidly. She simply closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she fiercely chose Eternal Passageway I. When she opened her eyes and looked at Richard again, a murderous aura was flowing out of her.
Richard grew even more confused, but past experience told him that now was not the time to ask.
The sentence was still lingering around in Flowsand’s head: If only there were sufficient divine grace.
The Church of the Eternal Dragon was accustomed to extensions of life as a measure of divine grace. The divine grace needed to summon a Heavenly Guardian was enough to prolong one’s life for an extra fifteen years. This required a sacrifice that was comparable to a greater devil. The majority of greater devils were at or above level 18, and at least three were needed for a level 20 guardian!
Devils were not sheep; they could not be caught as one wished. Even Gaton treasured the greater devil’s skull he possessed.
However! If five more greater devils could be offered up, the guardian could be raised by another level to level 21. This was crossing from the saint realm to become a legendary being! A mere nine greater devils could be exchanged for a legendary guard. The sacrificer would benefit greatly in this exchange!
Flowsand could not remain calm any longer, her breath growing heated at the thought of a legendary guard.
“What happened?” Richard could not help but ask again.
The rest of her retinue were shocked by the formidable power of their god. Not knowing Flowsand well enough, they only felt their young leader’s expression grew more solemn, not noticing the undercurrents.
“You don’t know!” Flowsand raged, leaving Richard bewildered.
She could not pay attention to his feelings right now. She was roaring in her heart, as though an ancient beast had emerged from deep within her, ‘Don’t let me see it! You damned old coot! You obviously knew what I needed, and you know I don’t have so much divine grace. Why did you let me see so many gifts? Do I have to collect offerings my entire life, living for you? Damn you! But… Ugh, I really want those things… Fine, you win! You damned old dragon, curse you!’
Regardless of her cursing, the Eternal Dragon would last through all time, unmoved by her anger. Even if she dedicated all of the world’s most malicious words his way, she still had to work obediently to collect more offerings and sacrifice them to him.
The many options were a habit of the Eternal Dragon. How could one not be motivated to collect offerings when they saw what they could get? People always believed in themselves, and always had desires. Flowsand was no exception; if anything her desires were even stronger. The more capable and talented one was, the more they wanted to obtain things that were hard to reach.
A new imprint of an hourglass appeared on the cover of Book of Time after it absorbed the divine grace, while the Book of the Gods became one of its pages. The ribbons of light representing the power of the various deities of Faelor still populated the page.