Artifact of Divinity

"Oi, idiot... wake up!" 

Harold felt feathers smacking against his face, prompting him to open his clasped eyes. "H-Huh? Wuh..." 

It was Konge; he was the one who woke him up. "Hey Konge, I didn't know you were back." Harold rubbed his groggy eyes before letting loose a yawn.

Konge smacked Harold in the face once again. "You idiot, you used way too much power!" 

"I mean, it worked out, right? I'm still alive." 

Konge smacked him again in response.

"Listen here, bucko! I had to sacrifice some of your life force and a lot of mine to keep you from self-destructing! If you had charged a little more power into your Artifact with that attack, we would've both died!" Konge had smacked Harold so often that his feathers ruffling against his nose nearly caused him to sneeze. 

Then Harold came to a realization. "Oh, so that's why you disappeared after the time-stop!"

"No shit!" Konge yelled, slapping Harold with his wing.

"Well, I'll try to refrain from using that much power next time. Even though it was super cool." Harold held high hopes for his Artifact, seeing how it could simply stop time, or unleash a powerful slash of light that could topple neighborhoods in an instant. Konge sighed, stating, "You won't be able to anyway."

"Huh, why's that?" Harold asked. 

"It's because, at that time, I activated a transformation called the King's Will. It's a special power that you can access with your Artifact."

"Oh, so it pretty much gives me overpowered abilities?" 

"Well, you could say that. You see, your Artifact is special. Something that is considered a divine Artifact. A legendary power that no one could fathom. It all goes back to in the books of history!" 

Long ago, the world was in a crisis. A never-ending darkness purged the world and nearly brought ruin to all. This darkness was called The Everlasting Darkness. The Everlasting Darkness caused people to turn insane, filling their minds with despair and madness. This caused many to kill each other, or to end their suffering. It was like a plague, spreading to every living creature; no matter how many times kingdoms tried to fight against this power, they would soon collapse. 

That's when the first king of the Yula Kingdom came to the holy cathedral and prayed to the gods for hope, and that hope came. The gods gifted him an Artifact stone, but not just any Artifact stone. It was something created by the gods. The Artifact was called Grand Radiance, the Artifact of Divinity.

 And so, using this Artifact, the king was able to defeat the Everlasting Darkness and save the world. 

"Not to mention, the ability this Artifact contains is truly impeccable. Did you see the Grand Radiance's ability to use divine light and time-stop?"

Harold nodded. "Yeah, I remember that during the battle with that police captain."

"That's because, just like a king, you pass things down to your descendants. The King's Will ability with this Artifact allows you to use the abilities of the previous users. Every ability of Grand Radiance is different when it comes to the user's resolve. The ability to time-stop was originally used by the third king of the Yula Kingdom." 

Harold points to himself. "If that's the case, what ability did my version of Grand Radiance get?"

Konge shrugged. "I... am unsure. During that fight, I forcibly activated King's Will, so I genuinely don't know what you can do. Either way, don't push yourself like that anymore! Just using that time-stop ability at your current strength took away 9 years of your life! Imagine how much life force you consumed when you went full power with that big flashy attack you did at the end!"

 Harold gasped, hearing his precious years were taken away. "WHAT! You're telling me I'm going to die young! This Artifact sucks!"

"Calm down, for now, let's just focus on what you can do. You see, we can potentially get you to live longer if you get stronger. Didn't you know all kings of the Yula Kingdom had lived for over 300 years? That's because this divine Artifact's blessings allow this to be possible. There are also other blessings this thing holds, like making your skin smoother, making you more handsome, giving you chiseled abs-"

Harold slumped over in his bed. "I don't give a damn about that. I just want to get stronger so I don't die in my forties..."

Konge aimed his feathers at Harold. "Then let's see what you can do! First, call out your Artifact." Upon the request, Harold held out his hand and released the same feeling he had done before summoning this Artifact. Materializing in his hand was a standard steel longsword. "Now, I want you to try really hard to activate some of its abilities! Just try to find some mental trigger to do anything!"

As commanded, he tried hard to call forth the Artifact's power, trying to get something to come out. And so, as his attempts nearly came to a stop, something finally happened. His sword glowed an illustrious yellow light, the same light that emerged when he fought against Sirus the day prior. Konge started to peck at his head. "You idiot, did you activate King's Will again?! Turn it off before you lose more of your lifespan!"

"I don't know how; stop pecking my head with your beak!" Harold said, trying to figure out how to stop his sword from glowing. "Fine, I'll just turn it off for you!" As Konge closed his eyes to focus on deactivating King's Will, what he sensed shocked him. 

"What's this? King's Will isn't activated at all! So how is this brat using Divine Light?"

"Oi, brat, try using more of that light you're using with your blade." Konge said, looking down at Harold's sword. "Like this?" Harold raised his blade to eye level and focused on producing more light. As he focused, the Divine Light gathered on his blade, making winds shift around his room. Konge's jaw dropped. "No way, don't tell me... your Artifact's ability is just like the first king of Yula; the Light of Divinity?!"

"Maybe... it's just I can't make the light as huge as what I did yesterday." Harold stated, trying to intensify the light."

"That's probably due to King's Will granting you a fraction of the first king's power. If you were using his powers right now, I would be able to sense your life force being drained. But looking at it right now, you're perfectly fine... That means your Grand Radiance has the power of the first king!"

Turning off his Artifact, he plopped back into his bed and turned over. "Well, that's cool. I'm going back to sleep now."

"Y-You're simply just going back to sleep after finding out that you currently hold the powers of the first king of Yula?!"

He lifted the covers over him and closed his eyes. "Well, you woke me up early, so I'm kind of too tired to give a bigger reaction..."

Konge fluttered over to his bedroom window. "Anyway, how did you manage to get this Artifact? We're clearly not in Yula Kingdom!" Konge asked, looking out the window. He saw the airships soaring through the sky, the mechanical clockwork walking alongside humans, and the tall skyscrapers built off of bronze cogs and steel; pipes coursing through the buildings. "Yeah, this is Argon City. If you're new, welcome." Harold slowly drifted to sleep, his eyes weighing on him.

"Wait, which continent are we on?!" Konge demanded, his tone sounding desperate.

"Avira, that's what continent we're on..." Harold mumbled, nearly blacked out in his comfortable position. 

"DANG IT!" Konge screamed, jolting Harold awake. "H-Huh, what was that for?!" Harold asked, scared by Konge's sudden scream.

"The issue lies in that we're on the other side of the globe from Lydias, the continent that Yula Kingdom resides in!" 

"And why's that an issue?"

"You see, we need to go to the Grand Cathedral; that's the only way we can get in contact with the gods!"

"And why do we need to get in contact with the gods?!" Their tones get more aggressive with each response, building up their tense conversation.

"Because, normally, Grand Radiance cannot be absorbed by anyone, even if you have the traits of being a king. The gods activate it when there's a time of crisis that's happening in the world! And normally, Grand Radiance is supposed to be designated in Lydias where you can easily get in touch with the gods! So how the hell is it on the other side of the globe?!"

"Ah, sorry, my mom probably took it."

"HOW DID SHE TAKE SUCH A PRECIOUS ARTIFACT AND BRING IT HERE?!"

"I dunno." 

Suddenly, the conversation is cut off by noises downstairs. The voice of Shannon cheering with joy. Curious, Harold got up from his bed and went downstairs. As he saw from the stair-steps, it was his father, taking multiple photos of Mina in a cute, frilly white dress. "Wow, you look amazing in that, Mina!" 

"Father, what the hell are you doing? And why is she still here? I thought you would've taken her to the homeless shelter by now!" 

"Oh, Harold, good morning! I had just gone shopping and got Mina some new clothes!" Shannon said excitedly, taking more photos of her. Harold facepalmed, coming down the final steps. "Ugh, why exactly?"

"Because Mina is going to be living with us now!"

Harold stopped in his tracks, speechless.

"You see, she told me how her entire family was killed off, and how she was sold as a slave right after! I was so heartbroken that I offered to take care of her under our roof!"

"F-Father, you can't just hastily decide that; how can we afford another person in this household?"

Shannon gave a thumbs up. "I'll make it work!"

Harold sighed before Mina rushed to his side. "Please take good care of me, my savior!" she said, bowing her head down. "Don't call me that, just call me Harold, you idiot!" Harold responded, irritated. "O-Okay, Harold!" Mina's flustered face was disguised as she bowed further down. As much as Harold did not want her around, he could not ignore his father's kindhearted nature. "Well, as long as father is happy... he did talk about wanting a daughter as well."

The door to the house knocks. Upon Shannon opening the door, a man wearing a fancy collar dress greeted him, having a monocle on his face. "A wonderful day, isn't it?"