Divinity: Against the Godly System

Ryder placed Aluren's body on the floor of the bathroom as he positioned himself. 

"Janus, I'm ready. Give me his strength," he muttered softly as everything was prepared. 

Janus was standing before the house of one of the god-sons that was residing in India for his trial; even he heard Ryder's words. 

Janus disappeared swiftly as he appeared inside an empty house.

....

"Prepare yourself. The strength of Aluren will make your body like you never felt before. It would finally become closer to the body of a god than the body of a human," Janus told Ryder. 

" When the process begins, you'll feel like your body is being destroyed from the inside out. You'll feel like you're about to die, and you might even scream in pain. So prepare yourself and isolate that place so that your scream doesn't leave that place," he further reminded Ryder, who nodded. 

Ryder took a deep breath as he tried to calm his heart. He had thought that the process was going to be similar to others, but Janus successfully managed to scare him about this. His motivation was shaken. 

After a few deep breaths, he finally brought out a sticker from his inventory that he placed on the wall, making sure that the noise of this place wasn't heard outside. The entire room was sealed. 

After preparing everything, he again took his position as he started the process. 

...

Alice remained on the bed, waiting for Ryder. She didn't know that inside the room, Ryder was inside the bathroom, screaming in extreme agony. She couldn't hear even the slightest of sound. Even the sound of water falling wasn't heard by her, which she found strange. 

Inside the bathroom, Ryder was screaming at the top of his lungs as he felt like every nerve in his body was going to burst apart. As for his skin, he felt as if thousands of poisonous snakes were biting him all around the body, leaving their poison inside him. 

Ryder had already understood that Janus had understated how painful it was going to be! It was hundreds of times more painful than he had said.

"Don't lose consciousness! And don't take off your hands! You can do it!" Janus comforted Ryder as much as he could, trying to keep Ryder conscious. If he lost consciousness, Aluren's energy was going to be wasted, and he wouldn't be able to absorb any more. 

Janus tried his best to keep Ryder awake. 

Ryder also kept holding on even under extreme pain. The only difference was that his body was in pain. As for his spirit, it seemed to be perfectly safe, as if completely unaffected from this tiny bit of strength.

The energy of Aluren started filling up Ryder's body, making it stronger.

The entire process continued for what seemed like an hour before it finished. Ryder's whole body was covered in sweat as his skin had turned red from the pain. His clothes seemed as if he had just taken a shower. 

As for Aluren's body, it had disappeared entirely. 

As the process ended, Ryder also lost his consciousness as he finally dropped to the ground. His strong will finally stopped working as his frail body fell down. 

...

Janus was inside a dark room, smiling. "He actually managed to hold on alone. I thought I'd need to interfere."

Janus once again disappeared and appeared where he previously was. 

He was standing in front of a house that a god-son was occupying with the name of Aryan. 

Just as Ryder had appeared again, he saw the silver-haired boy leave the house with a college bag on his back. He was running as if he was getting late. 

"Frick! I'm going to be late for physics test. All these tests are ruining my life! How will I finish my trial like this?" He thought as he sighed. 

As the boy was running, he suddenly noticed Janus in the distance. 

He changed his direction and ran towards Janus instead. 

"Sir Janus, what are you doing here?" He asked Janus, frowning. 

"What am I doing here? The answer is simple. I'm looking for someone. As for who I'm looking for, you don't need to worry. And before you ask, yes. I got permission from everyone before coming here. I'm not breaking any rules," Janus answered, smiling. 

"Ah, that's better. Who are you looking for? May I help you?" Aryan asked Janus. 

"Are you sure you want to help me? I thought you were getting late," Janus inquired as an amusement-filled smile spread across his face. 

"Oh right! I'm getting late! If I miss the test, finishing my trial will become tougher! I'll run!" Aryan exclaimed as he started running.

"Please come later. That's the house I live in! I'll love to talk to you again!" he said, yelling as he ran to make sure Janus heard him. 

"Nice kid. I don't want to see him die. He's the only of the seven that I like. But if the other six fail to prepare Ryder's body, I'll have a tough choice to make," he muttered as he glanced at the silver-haired boy who was running away. 

...

Ryder was still lying on the floor unconscious while Alice was sitting outside. 

It had been an hour, but Ryder wasn't out yet. She couldn't help but start getting worried. What was he doing for an hour inside? Was he really taking a shower, or was it his stomach that was bad?

She got off the bed as she decided to check. Getting to the bathroom, she knocked on the door. 

"Are you inside?"

She didn't get a response. She again knocked on the door, but there was no response again. 

"Come on, don't make me worried. Tell me if you're inside! Answer me!" Alice said even loudly, but there was again no reply. 

Getting no response, Alice started getting even more worried. Could it be that something happened to him?

"I'm fine. I'll soon be out. Don't worry about me."

Just as she was about to get the hotel staff to open the door, she heard Ryder's voice. 

Inside the bathroom, Ryder was still lying unconscious. It wasn't him right who had spoken. It was Janus who came to Ryder's rescue.

"Are you sure? Why weren't you answering me? You know how much you worried me?" Alice asked, sighing a breath of relief. 

"Don't worry. I'm actually fine. It's just that my stomach is upset, so I might take a little longer. Give me more time. I'll come out on my own when I'm feeling fine."

...

Three more hours passed before Ryder's eyes actually opened. 

His body was still aching everywhere. As for his head, it seemed to be thumping. 

He looked around and realized where he was. He weakly pushed his body up as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"You're looking so red. Are you sick? Let me call a doctor," Alice said as soon as she saw the condition of Ryder. 

"There's no need for that. I'm just tired. I need some sleep. Don't disturb me for the next few hours," Ryder said as he barely managed to walk as he dragged his body to the bed before he fell on it. 

He closed his eyes and started giving his weak body the rest it was aching for. 

Alice kept looking at Ryder, worried. She even checked up on his body every few minutes to make sure he was still fine and breathing. 

Ryder's rest lasted for the entire night. Alice didn't get even an ounce of sleep as she kept taking care of Ryder. 

As Ryder slept the entire night, his reddish skin seemed to have returned to normal. At Least now, he didn't look like he had received a sunburn. He was looking more like a person that had received a tan at the beach. 

His breathing was also stable throughout the entire night.

He slowly opened his eyes which happened to coincide with the first ray of sunlight falling on the window of the hotel.

As Ryder opened his eyes, he noticed Alice looking at him. 

"What happened? Why are you looking at me like that? And your eyes, did you not sleep?" Ryder asked as he sat up. 

Alice shook her head. 

"You idiot, I told you I was fine. I only needed some sleep. Take a nap of a few hours, or you'll actually get sick instead," Ryder chided Alice as he made her lie on the bed 

...

It was eleven in the morning as Alice woke up from her sleep as well. 

She and Ryder ate together before Ryder told her that he needed to leave for a meeting. 

Leaving Alice back in the hotel, he departed. 

Ryder booked a cab which took him straight to the Itsuki Corporation headquarters. He paid the driver and let him leave.

Standing at some distance from the building, Ryder observed it from top to bottom. 

"So this is where he lives. My next target... A son of god," Ryder muttered as he smirked.