After dropping off Dylan and Sofia at a spot, Ainen went deeper into the forest.

He flew at a normal speed of 80 miles an hour instead of going supersonic. He flew in a standing position, with his hands behind his back and eyes active with information about the surrounding one-kilometer radius.

A level 338 Twin-Fanged Iceblaze Tiger suddenly pounced at him at supersonic speed.

But right as it entered within five meters of Ainen—boom.

Gale Combustion: Triggers combustion of heated air particles within a radius, creating detonations of invisible fire and sonic shockwaves.

The Tiger died instantly, turning into ashes and scattering away.

'Oof, I need to tone it down.' Ainen's eyes flickered as he set the temperature and power of Gale Combustion in directional focus, entering into ears and other orifices to fry the brain and then leaving without doing extra damage to the body.

'Hmm… let's bond the oxygen atoms with these ones.'

'Alright, produce and set.'

Ainen continued after setting up his attack field.

Soon, any monster that came at him and entered the one-kilometer radius around him would instantly die as pale yellow flames entered their orifices, fried their brains, and left them before he stored them in his Inventory.

Soon, Ainen entered a strange part of the forest. The ground was wet and had water a couple of centimeters deep.

He was nearing the sea.

[ Main Quest triggered. ]

'Eh?' Ainen blinked and checked it.

[Main Quest: Giving Offering To a Deity]

Objective:

—> Find the hidden temple of Paniro, the Azure Everflow Goddess, in the ocean past the Bluedge Forest and give an offering to her.

Reward:

—> 50,000 Cook Points.

—> Chance to gain blessings of Paniro depending on your offering.

'Oh? This is interesting.' Ainen was surprised at the quest.

Without further ado, he went to search for the temple while collecting resources and monsters on the way.

Soon, he arrived past the forest and quickly entered the sea. He didn't want to attract Lord-rank Monsters residing in the forest since this beach had a big forest past it and large hills on the sides, perfect for nests of Lord-rank Monsters.

'Oh, I sense it.' Ainen's eyes glinted as he swam in the water.

He could feel a distinct flow of mystical water energy in the ocean.

'Let's follow this trail. Even if it's not a temple, it's surely an awesome resource of water-attribute.'

Ainen encountered some monsters, but he simply exploded them by creating a vacuum and blasting the area around them. This was the easiest way to kill in the ocean—better than using projectile-type attacks.

He continued following the trail. Fortunately, he could create oxygem with his S-rank Wind Manipulation. This wouldn't have been possible with A-rank Wind Manipulation because that didn't allow him to view and understand the compositions of atoms and molecules compositions, and produce them.

But now, he could produce whatever atoms he wanted when transforming Mana into Wind, as he acquired knowledge and mastery of them at S-rank, allowing him to create various kinds of flames with higher temperature and reactions according to how he cooked atoms together in wind to boost the flame.

…

'It looks like we arrived at the right place,' Lord Black said as he looked at a passage at the ocean's floor.

'Let's meet a goddess.' Ainen grinned and went inside.

After swimming for a kilometer, the water was gone, and he arrived in a massive cavern, like it was the hollow of a mountain.

'The magic here is so much. Mana is crazy rich in the atmosphere.'

Ainen's eyes glinted. 'Water elements, especially. But they are so different from the usual water elements I see.'

'Of course. This is a temple of a goddess. She has mastery over all elements, but her main is water, and her powers are beyond my understanding, to be honest.'

Lord Black sighed. 'People who get powerful blessings from these higher beings are truly fortunate. Some have such strong blessings they crush people of higher rank.'

'I was fortunate enough to see the reign of my father as he dominated the entire world over a thousand years ago because he got the blessing of the deity we worshipped. Before I could ascend and go to him, our entire clan was destroyed, and now only one daughter lives.' Lord Black sighed again. 'I just hope she is safe.'

Ainen arrived before the majestic and beautiful statue of the Goddess Paniro.

'Don't worry, we'll find the last blood of your family.'

The statue stood tall upon a pedestal of translucent blue stone, its surface rippling faintly as though alive with flowing water.

The goddess's form was both serene and commanding—slender, draped in robes that shimmered like liquid glass, endlessly shifting between hues of silver, azure, and pale white.

Her hair streamed down like molten crystal, cascading to her feet in frozen waves, and her eyes were carved as smooth orbs of deep aquamarine that seemed to hold the calm of oceans and the wrath of storms alike.

Around her hands, water spiraled in graceful arcs, captured mid-motion, while behind her rose a halo shaped like an unbroken ring of flowing currents—the symbol of eternal movement.

Despite being stone, the statue seemed to breathe.

'If you can get the ultimate blessing from this goddess… You will be able to complete my quest earlier,' Lord Black said with a wry chuckle. 'But it is absurdly hard.'

'I don't know how many people are at the pinnacle on all three continents of this world, but I know that those at the top have an ultimate blessing. Otherwise, they can't be at the top.' Lord Black's tone was filled with certainty.

Ainen's face stanked. "Does an ultimate blessing make you that strong?"

'Yes. It is absurd. And people with these blessings are the ones who constantly change the eras of this world before leaving. My father was one of them.'

Ainen smiled. "Well then, let's get one ourselves."

"But what should I give as an offering?" Ainen grinned as he already knew. "What else but a superbly delicious food dish?"

"Alright, I'll cook a special ten-dish menu—Goddess Paniro version."

'But you don't have your Limitless Kitchen here.'

"So what?" Ainen rolled up his sleeves and took out the monsters, resources, and herbs he had collected so far.

"I can cook without my kitchen. I got everything I need."

Using his S-rank elemental manipulation skills, Ainen created the required tools, prepared ingredients, and started cooking food.

After half an hour, he was done and presented ten dishes in front of the goddess, topping them off with three bottles of cocktails.

"Well, I wonder if the goddess will even take these." Ainen wryly smiled.

But in the next moment, everything vanished.

"Oh…"

'She took it. This is good, because sometimes they don't even take offerings. These beings are picky.'

Ainen cheekily grinned. "Who can resist my food?"

'I am expecting rather good blessings, given it's your food.' Lord Black chuckled.

Suddenly, the statue glowed brightly.

And then, an overwhelming phenomenon of magic occurred. Ainen was completely enveloped in a stormy bubble of water and was knocked out instantly.

Five seconds later, the phenomenon vanished, and Ainen was gently put down on the floor.

A few seconds later, Ainen's eyes shot open.

His head rang with system notifications.

[Congratulations, my lord. You have been granted a special honorary blessing from the Paniro Goddess.]

Lord Black, who was inside Ainen, was the first to check the new powers Ainen acquired—and when he saw them, he screeched like a mental patient.

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