This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1200: Divine Game, Divine Instruction 14

The Flower Crown Murder in the sky did not return to its original place. Instead, it drifted above the cloud island with the wind. That was one of this flower’s traits.

Once it matured, it would spend at least half of every day wandering freely in the air. The other half was reserved for tidying up any flowers it found displeasing.

After all the apprentices took their seats, Sea Pony, now accompanied by Nivalis and B80 in matching suits, began serving breakfast to every player.

Five round tables were soon filled with a dazzling variety of dishes. Each race’s preferences were accounted for. Without exception, every dish provided the same effects: enhanced mental agility and a higher chance of sudden inspiration.

Once the students began eating, Foolishness and Deceitful Bloom laid out the plan for the day.

Foolishness said, "Three skill sigils will appear randomly on each table. You will dismantle them and recombine the fragments into skills to attack your opponent. I will refresh the sigils once I determine you can no longer extract anything meaningful from them."

Deceitful Bloom added, "Cherish this opportunity. The process of dismantling and recombining skills is the best time to train in seizing control. Especially since your opponents are beginners. Their reconstruction process will be slow, obvious, and unstable."

Foolishness continued, "When your opponent attempts to seize control, adjust your sigil structure quickly. Learn to stabilize your configuration. You must successfully cast at least thirty skills per hour. Otherwise, I will transfer you out of my class."

Deceitful Bloom said calmly, "If you fail to seize control at least thirty times per hour, you will also be transferred."

They spoke in turns, almost like a comedic routine. No names were called, yet both classes knew exactly which instructions were meant for them. Even the threats were identical.

And from the structure of the training itself, it was clear this joint session was not a whim. From a curriculum perspective, each class was the perfect training partner for the other.

Once the training objectives were set, Deceitful Bloom turned to Foolishness and said, "Give my students some of your flying spheres."

Foolishness snapped her fingers. Twenty five golden spheres scattered into the air, slowly circling all ten apprentices.

"Starting now," she said, "targets will be random."

As for when they would attack, Foolishness’s students already knew. The spheres would strike at the moment closest to success.

The ten apprentices continued eating while mentally reviewing what they had learned over the past few days, rehearsing their approach.

As soon as everyone had food, Sea Pony gestured for Nivalis and B80 to keep watch over the tables. Then it marched straight toward Deceitful Bloom, rolling up its suit sleeves along the way.

It had endured the earlier gossip out of professional restraint. That did not mean it would let this go. How could work-related speech count toward its daily word limit?

Watching Sea Pony sprint and leap onto the table between the two gods, Crab said to Mistblade beside it, "Admit it. It’s brave."

Mistblade’s fork slipped slightly, skewering her bacon at an angle. She calmly adjusted it and gave a small nod. Experience had taught her that Crab only responded to affirmation.

Fury Prayer, who had dealt with Sea Pony before, made a strained expression. "From where I’m sitting," he said meaningfully, "you’re the brave one."

Dawn Cicada frowned. "It’s approaching a god up close. That’s an honor. What’s brave about that?"

Rita said flatly, "Talk less. I’m trying to eat."

"Then starve," Dawn Cicada replied.

Ash Cinders said gently, "Cicada, I can confidently say my psychological age is more mature than yours."

Dawn Cicada pinched the bridge of her nose. "If your psychological age were mature, you wouldn’t feel the need to announce it."

Meanwhile, NightFury stood on his stool and pointed at a plate of chilled fruit on Rita’s table. "Can I trade half my asparagus rolls for half of that?"

After Ash Cinders nodded, Rita completed the exchange with Nuclear Flash NightFury, all while sneaking glances at Sea Pony, who was furiously signing and gesturing at Deceitful Bloom in what appeared to be heated negotiation.

The apprentices’ tables were lively. So was the gods’ table.

Neither Deceitful Bloom nor Foolishness had begun eating. The moment the meal started, Sea Pony had jumped up and begun its animated complaint. It gestured dramatically, clapped its hands, pointed at its chest, jabbed a finger skyward, stomped its feet.

Both gods watched it like a silent comedy performance while sipping their drinks.

Foolishness commented, "What did you do to it? It’s this angry and still not speaking."

Everyone knew Sea Pony. Any god who watched Divine Game for entertainment recognized it instantly.

Deceitful Bloom took a sip of flower wine. "I set a rule. If it exceeds its word limit by even one word, it becomes mute for an entire day. And no player will be able to see it."

For Sea Pony, that was torture. Twenty words a day, or complete invisibility. The choice was obvious.

Only after the meal ended did Deceitful Bloom wave her hand dismissively. "Fine. Those nine words don’t count. Go. Help with scoring."

Sea Pony immediately stopped protesting and hopped back toward the row of tables.

Scoring was symbolic. With gods and top players present, no real tally was needed. This was clearly meant to let the mascots interfere and add difficulty. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

B80 had already cleared the dishes with a skill. Now each round table transformed into the face of a clock.

A red outer ring. Golden hands. Several small gears embedded within. Silver clock faces sprinkled with faint shimmering sand.

Deceitful Bloom and Foolishness sat perpendicular to the row of tables, able to observe every battle at a glance.

Foolishness’s students all wore identical glasses. Blue gemstone chains swayed gently in the breeze from the flower fields.

Deceitful Bloom’s students wore ruby brooches shaped like the Flower of Deceit. Light flickered faintly within them from time to time.

The hamster in a suit poured wine for the two gods.

Across the round tables, apprentices stared tensely at their opponents.

When the golden minute hand reached twelve, three crimson skill sigils rose from each table.

The game had begun.

Three sigils stood upright like puzzle panels. In Rita’s eyes, they were not pictures but components. Vocabulary.

"Dawn."

"Reluctance."

"Expose."

"Noise."

"Flight."

"Devotion."

"Warm winter."

"Out of season."

And countless smaller modifier fragments.

She needed to extract at least one element from each sigil and recombine them.

The richer, heavier, and more layered the emotional content embedded in the sigils, the stronger the resulting skill.

Rita spread her fingers. From each sigil, one to three fragments peeled away and drifted into her palm, shifting slightly as they hovered.

At the same time, across from her, Ash Cinders’ eyes glowed red. She began searching for a node suitable for deception, a pivot point where she could alter the ownership of the skill itself.