Back To Helios.
Helios immediately began inspecting his body as soon as he exited the throne room. His soul scanned the stigmata and the changes it has undergone. He rushed to his research room for privacy and activated the privacy runes he had set up for good measure. Then he laid face first on the table and activated his rune pen. A translucent pen with a shining crystal on top of it rose from its position where it was clipped to the side of the table.
It hovered on Helios's back and began draining the divine energy in the crystal. The translucent pen filled up with a golden liquid and turned into a golden pen before it lowered itself onto Helios's back. Then it began to etch very tiny golden characters used to form larger characters that made up the golden runes on Helios' back.
Helios is controlling it with his mind through his divine sense. Giants of order don't have a divine sense unless they are demigods or until they become transcendents. Their body is a prison that cages their soul. He is a demigod with a very powerful soul, so he can control the rune pen better than anyone. His perception allowed him to make runes within runes and runes on top of runes, a concept beyond the knowledge of other runes masters.
He has become a forerunner in the field of rune making and yet it took him 5 days of non-stop work for him to complete the failsafe for a Stigmata that Stelios didn't take a total of 5 hours to write from beginning to end. The Stigmata is too complex.
He rose from the table and sighed in relief when he was done.
"That's done. Now to see what it really is."
He is not going to take some random god's word for it even if that god calls himself his father. He doesn't want to go around with a bomb on his body so he has to be sure of what the Stigmata is. Since it's completed he can see what it does and if it isn't favorable, he will become wary of it and double down on the failsafe. He will be able to plan better with more information.
He activated the Stigmata. The image of the sun on his back lit up and began to shine. It really looks like he has a three-dimensional star on his back. It is even radiating heat. The failsafe around the runes kicked in and began to fill up with divine power.
"Nothing else is coming out. It is just like Stelios said it does." Helios was perplexed.
The fail-safe he inscribed is a complex formation of runes without a purpose. They are empty and will fill up with energy from the Stigmata. If an object tries to come through the Stigmata, it will be delayed until the failsafe is filled up. He can use up the energy in the failsafe to power his other runes if he doesn't want the Stigmata to work. That is unless the failsafe is overloaded with input.
But if what Stelios said is true, the failsafe will fill up with energy that is divine power coming straight from the stigmata and only that. In that case, the failsafe wouldn't overload because it is not even needed.
Divine power amplifies the power of a demigod in a way similar to how their mana core works. The amplification of the mana core is permanent because of the divine energy within its focal point, while the boost from divine power is temporary because it is external. But the amplification of divine power is higher since it is from a god while the core is demigod level.
"So it is just a large sun core on my back. Could I be mistaken?" He asked himself.
He had expected something worse to happen from the stigmata. He doesn't trust anyone, certainly not Stelios and he certainly won't trust whatever comes out of his mouth. But as far as he can tell, all Stelios is doing is giving him a means of protection.
"Let's see."
He tapped into the divine power and he began to grow taller and bigger. It proved that the Stigmata is doing what Stelios said it will do. It is harmless and even beneficial. It seems he had been worried for nothing.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about contingencies.
"Extraordinary. This stigmata is just extraordinary. Maybe I am being paranoid. There's no use for that now. I have done everything I can."
The Stigmata is not only helpful but it is also wonderfully made. The intricacies of its construction have impressed him. He has to admit that the sun god cannot be underestimated when it comes to runes. This admission also made him earlier of the Stigmata but there's nothing he can do about it. He is not intimidated by it but he can't decipher it yet because of the divine will within it. So he is giving up for now until someone that can help him arrives, which will be soon.
He clapped his hand merrily and said with eargerness, "I should prepare for the heroic quest. It's going to be a blast."
The amplification from the divine power on his back made him look forward to getting those sun cores. He will be able to increase the size of his sun core and get more power from it. But that's not why he is delighted about the heroic quest.
One of the most important things that the heroic quest is giving him is freedom from Stelios' constant supervision. The sun core is just a bonus he conned out of Stelios. He would have gone without the incentive but it worked out well after he showed reluctance to leave instead of eagerness.
Helios smiled to himself. "Plus it's my job to be the star of the show. It's like killing three birds with one stone."
The heroic quest is an opportunity for him to change things and he will take it.
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