GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

She was full of optimism earlier when she spoke about the benefits of innate abilities. But now she had to speak about its shortcomings, so her voice and demeanor became subdued.

She said, “Of course, this matter is very difficult to take advantage of. Most times, innate talents don’t awaken throughout the life of an individual regardless of what they do. Not even becoming a godclad is a sure way to awaken it. So innate talents are unreliable.”

“Because it is difficult and nearly impossible to know what someone’s innate ability is, it is difficult to pick which pathway they will be compatible with. Even if we could tell what the innate talent is, it might not be compatible with the pathway.”

“The only way to know if there is a compatibility is to become a godclad. But by then it is already too late if the talent is not compatible with the pathway. And to top things off, if we know the innate talent and it is indeed compatible with the pathway we select for it, the talent might not awaken.”

“So the matter of using talent to increase the compatibility with pathways is illusionary. But at least there is a chance with it. You might get lucky with trying any pathway that feels good with you.”

She sighed and clasped her hands together before saying, “This is your choice. I won’t force you. But I will say that if you want to make achievements quickly in the organization, it is best that you pick a pathway other than the judge pathway because there are a lot of judges in the organization.”

“You won’t stand out if you repeat what many others have done before. Do you understand me?”

He nodded and said, “The judge’s pathway is safe but will give me mediocre rewards, while other pathways are dangerous but have the potential to make me stand out.”

She coughed and said, “Something like that.”

He thought to himself, “So much power, yet so many shackles. To be strong and yet be weak at the same time is an unfortunate fate.”

It is clear to him that she wants him to pick any pathway other than the pathway of the judge. Only in that way will it be useful to her, more than just another judge with a similar ability to hers.

Not only will a new judge have similar abilities to hers, but they will also be weaker. So they will be nearly useless to her.

But she can’t force him to make that decision, and she has to tell him the disadvantages clearly without sugarcoating it.

However, she is indeed right about the matter of innate ability. The matter of innate ability is illusionary, but one thing is sure, and that is that if he has an innate ability, it will be useless in the Judge’s pathway because of the existence of the god of justice.

That might not matter much to others because they don’t know what their innate ability is and if it will awaken at all. But he is different because he knows what his innate ability is, and he knows that it will awaken.

Actually, he suspects that his innate ability has already awakened because he survived an encounter with an anomaly that killed everyone in his village.

This anomaly is the authority of the pathway of undying. It is not some divine flesh. With this authority, he has fulfilled most of the requirements to become the true god of the pathway of undying.

Usually, only rank 10 godlings can become true gods. Anyone else that comes into contact with the authority of the pathway of undying who isn’t a true god already or isn’t a godling of the pathway of undying should die. Yet, he survived.

He was a mortal, not a godling, yet he survived. No amount of talent can allow that to happen. Only the maximum amount of talent and an innate ability that is highly compatible with the pathway of undying can allow a mortal to survive that encounter.

He might be wrong about this, but he is certain of the identity of the anomaly, and he also knows about his innate ability. He is sure about his innate ability because, unlike other people, he has had many lives to become a godclad and awaken his ability.

He lost his memories after his death, but he can remember now that the ability he awakened each time was the same ability, and it is highly compatible with the pathway of undying.

He also knows that the ability is compatible with other pathways. So he is not in danger of picking other pathways. This thought made him chuckle inwardly.

He thought to himself, “I guess I have always been greedy. I was so greedy that couldn’t let the Authority of the pathway of undying go. I guess there is nothing I won’t covet.”

He paused and acted as if he was thinking about which decision to make. Then he replied after doing his so-called thinking.

“I have decided. I will go with another pathway. It is risky, but the rewards are higher.”

She was happy to hear that, but she remained calm and asked, “Do you understand that you could die? This decision can lead to your death in a few days. So I recommend that you take time to think about it.”

He shook his head and said, “No. There is no need for me to think about it. I’ve made up my mind. I want to ascend other pathways.”

She tried to convince him to take his time before making the decision. She wanted him to take a day or even a week more to think about it.

But he refused her each time. He didn’t want to waste another moment dancing around his goal when he could just reach out and grab it.

Seeing that he was very determined, she didn’t try to convince him to think about it anymore. She decided to fulfill his wish.