"You don't need to worry about that," Eldros said evenly. "There are other ways for you to obtain divine power."
He continued after a breath, "All you need to do is form contracts with ten divine artifacts. You already possess the Spirit Orb. As for Spirit Stones, you still lack five. The rest are sacred relics—those in Phoenix Cry City, as well as in the cities where your former betrothed reside."
"Can't you just give them to me directly?" Nina shot back. "Why do I have to collect them one by one?"
"You cannot," Eldros replied. "This is both a trial and a tempering. Only through this process will the artifacts truly acknowledge you."
Nina pressed her lips together, clearly unconvinced. "What if I don't want to do this? Can we… change the terms?"
It sounded difficult, dangerous, and endlessly troublesome. She really wasn't eager to take it on.
"You will need divine power," Eldros said calmly. "Divine power can lift the Beast God's curse."
