Tears of God and Bones of God

  According to the city-state's decree, for every household in Du Ke Town that mines divine stones, nine out of ten must be submitted to the city-state, and only one can be kept as their own. However, the decree also stipulates that each registered miner per household must pay at least one divine stone per season, four seasons a year, which is the basic tax.

  The adults in the town all loved to drink, including the robust women, whether they were mining or forging iron, it was extremely hard physical labor. It's said that liquor is a magical thing with some mysterious power. It seems to really be able to relax one's spirit and relieve bodily fatigue, but drinking too much isn't good either. Amun's father loved to drink, especially fragrant and expensive fine wine, in recent years his hands had been shaking more and more severely.

  Apart from wine, the residents of Deke Town also love all kinds of delicious meat dishes. However, except for a small number of sheep raised nearby and occasional hunting in the mountains, most of the meat food almost needs to be transported from outside. Amun's father exchanged his wealth for enjoyment as soon as he got it, but this season's tax of one divine stone has not been paid yet.

  The town mayor of Daste, who is in charge of collecting taxes and statistics, is usually very kind. For the occasional default of miners, he will not urge too much. After all, mining divine stone requires not only hard work and skills but also luck. Even if it is temporarily defaulted, it is not impossible to make up for it when the luck is good. This is why the town mayor of Daste has been supported by the townspeople for a long time and lives a very comfortable life.

  However, three days ago, the town mayor ordered that all households who owed divine stones must make up for them within three days. All households in the town made up for it within three days, and most people had savings from previous years to meet unexpected needs, except for Ah Meng's family. The mayor's order may have something to do with the noble Mr. Egu who came to the town three days ago, but Ah Meng is not clear about the specific situation, and it's not his turn as a child to ask questions.

  Amon's father exchanged his last divine stone for fine wine as soon as the merchant caravan arrived in town. When the mayor gave the order, he realized that he still hadn't fulfilled his tax quota for the season and went to borrow from the old madman Nitsa, but only borrowed a well-excavated mine core. The old madman assured Amon's father that there must be a divine stone inside.

  Not all ore cores have divine stones, but divine stones will only appear in this type of ore core. Father's hands were shaking and couldn't control the pickaxe, so he called 14-year-old Armon to try.

  The traditional rule of Du Ke Town has been that after a man reaches the age of sixteen, he must participate in a prayer ceremony presided over by a priestess at the Mu Yun Goddess Temple to receive the blessing of the gods before being qualified to learn the unique craftsmanship passed down through generations. Only when one's skills are accomplished can they independently open the mine core and extract the divine stone. Those who have not obtained this qualification can only do some auxiliary work, such as searching for ore in the mountains and extracting it, cutting wood and burning charcoal to provide fuel for the furnace.

  Amon's father felt his physical strength declining rapidly over the past two years, and his hands were shaking more and more violently. He was afraid that if he waited until the day he passed on his mining skills to Amon, it would be too late. So, in private, he taught Amon the local mining techniques ahead of time. After two years of practice, Amon had mastered them with remarkable proficiency, which also surprised his father. Generally speaking, young people in Du Ke Town who wanted to master this unique power control method started learning at 16 and wouldn't be able to graduate until they were 20, and even then, they might not be able to use it as skillfully.

  His father was surprised, but Armon was even more surprised. It wasn't because he had learned so quickly. Didn't the priests and officials say that one could only learn the unique skills passed down through generations in Duke Town after being blessed and permitted by the guardian deity? He hadn't experienced that solemn and sacred ceremony, so how did he awaken the legendary dormant power? He didn't ask his father but asked Old Crazy Nicholas, who snorted disdainfully and told him to keep it a secret.

  When Ah Meng swung the big hammer towards the mine core, his father's expression was tense, and his hands were shaking involuntarily. However, Ah Meng's expression was focused and calm. His father thought it was his first time doing this job, but he didn't know that Ah Meng had done it many times before at Old Crazy's house. The person who secretly taught Ah Meng skills wasn't just his father; the old crazy man in town also taught him, often watching Ah Meng help him with work while drinking wine.

  The large hammer struck the ore core, controlling not only power, but also releasing a burst of penetrating shockwaves into the extremely hard ore core in an instant. The room was filled with a lingering humming echo that refused to disperse. Then, countless fine cracks appeared on the surface of the ore core, which was harder than pig iron. The cracks continued to intersect and expand, becoming dense and messy. The ore core also gradually changed from its original dark color to a dull grayish-white, losing its luster.

  The crack extended to the extreme, and the ore core naturally opened or dispersed, like falling fine sand. If lucky, a grayish-white grain of sand would reveal an elemental stone.

  The Divine Stone cannot be extracted by brute force alone, it is extremely hard and ordinary strength can hardly damage it, but when it is still in the ore core, it is very fragile and will easily turn to dust along with the ore core if not handled carefully.

  All the divine stones are exactly the same in shape and size, about as big as a cat's eye, and form a perfect regular dodecahedron. It has thirty edges, twenty corners, twelve faces, each of which is a standard regular pentagon. According to legend, in the distant northwest of the Tianxu continent, there was a wise man named Tai'a Te De who said that there were only five regular polyhedra in the world, and the regular dodecahedron was one of the most special ones.

  It is the divine outline of the world, containing mysterious information of the fifth element, and is the source of mystical power and symbols. The most common sacred stone is colorless and transparent, holding it in one's hand and looking at it from different angles reveals various unpredictable five-pointed star shapes, so perfect, dazzling, enchanting, and astonishing the creator's magic.

  Apart from the colorless and transparent divine stone, Amun knew that there were four other divine stones, which presented blue, red, black and white colors. According to a distant sage named Empedocles, they symbolized the mysterious information of the four elements of water, fire, earth and air that make up the world. Of course, all these Amun heard from the old madman, he couldn't tell whether it was true or false, nor did he know whether those so-called distant sages really existed, maybe they were all fabricated by the old madman himself.

  Regarding the Divine Stones, Old Man Nietzsche had a heretical view that they were crystallized remains of fallen gods, which could be called the Bones of God. Armon couldn't believe this and once asked the old man - would eternal divine spirits also fall?

  The old madman retorted, "According to legend, humans were created by the gods. Humans die, so who created the gods? Why can't they fall?" In the most ancient legends, the area around Deuk town was where the heavenly gods fell during the ancient wars of the gods.

  The old madman also said that in his early years, he had traveled to the mainland and met a monk from a distant eastern land who called the divine stone "the relic of the earth". Amun didn't understand what it meant. When saying this, the old madman's messy beard was stained with bright red wine, and his smile looked very sly. Then, he also winked at Amun and said: "Many countries on the mainland have legends about gods, the earth is the body of ancient heavenly gods, so what's wrong with the divine stone being the remains of a god?"

  Amon could only treat these as the ravings of an old drunkard, but in his heart he didn't dare say that this was absolutely impossible. So he stopped thinking about it and continued to focus on doing his own thing - this was his best habit.

  Although Ah Meng didn't understand what the divine stone was, he was very clear about the types of divine stones. The four special divine stones were much rarer than ordinary divine stones, with a probability of only a few hundredths of being mined. Specifically, how valuable they were, Ah Meng wasn't sure either. All the special divine stones that had appeared in Du Ke Town had been taken away by the city-state as important tributes.

  But tonight, after the ore core turned into a grayish-white fine sand and fell onto the anvil, Armon was stunned, and the heavy hammer also froze in mid-air. His father, who was watching from the side, also froze there, his eyes wide open, his mouth agape, and his hand holding the wine cup still trembling uncontrollably, but he didn't even notice that the wine had already spilled onto his clothes.

  All that can be seen is a piece of divine stone quietly lying among the grayish-white fine sand. It's actually light golden in color, semi-transparent, and seems to have an unusual luster flowing mysteriously within it, as if containing **drops of tears——what kind of divine stone is this!

  When the divine stone appeared, a mysterious ripple spread silently to all sides. Amun noticed it very keenly, but his unexpected surprise made him not pay much attention, and his father was completely stunned. Not long after, a polite voice outside the door brought the father and son back to their senses.

  "Is anyone home? I am **Gewal Yorath**, an official of Lord Rodick, the ruler of Cape Town in the Empire of Egu. I have come on Lord Rodick's orders." As he spoke, the speaker pushed open the door and walked through the house to the back yard, arriving at the entrance to the workshop.

  His voice was very cultured, but his demeanor was very casual. He walked in without the owner's permission, with two fully armed warriors standing guard outside the gate and another two following him on either side of his body. When Amun came to his senses and turned his head towards the door, Fayol had just stepped across the threshold, revealing a look of shock and ecstasy on his face.

  Fawley was in his mid-thirties, of medium build, with a slightly tanned complexion, curly hair and wearing a linen robe that was spotlessly clean. His lips were thin, his eyes narrow, and he always looked as if he were thinking deeply; only when speaking to such exalted personages as Lord Dick did he assume an expression of intense concentration. Now, however, his gaze held nothing but the glinting pale gold of the godstone.

  "Thanks to the great goddess Isis, thanks to the pity of the gods, the light of God will forever shine on Eju, forever protect the city-state of Haicheng..." Amidst Amun's confusion, Fayol had already stepped over the threshold, one hand stroking his forehead and the other propping himself up, kneeling down on one knee. The two warriors outside the door also followed Lord Fayol in kneeling down on one knee, their long swords propped against the ground, their chest armor colliding with a heavy sound.

  "Who are you, just coming in like this?" Amun asked hesitantly.

  Amon's father had put down his wine cup and stood up, asking in a trembling voice: "Noble sir, what kind of divine stone is this? Why have I never seen it before?"

  "Oh great Isis, forgive this ignorant voice!" Hearing the father and son's words, Fayol put down his hand that was stroking his forehead, raised his head with an exaggerated exclamation, and then saw Amun and his son still standing there, and shouted in displeasure: "Don't you kneel yet?"

  Faylor had already knelt down, and the civilians of this foreign town were still standing there, looking as if Faylor was kneeling to them. How infuriating! Amun's father moved his lips, but didn't dare say anything, not knowing whether he should kneel to the divine stone on the anvil or to the noble person in front of the door? He thought for a moment and still knelt down to pay respects to Faylor.

  Amon gently placed the large hammer on the edge of the anvil and replied as calmly as possible: "When mining divine stone, it's best to stand up to swing the pickaxe, otherwise how can you see it being extracted perfectly?" After finishing speaking, he also imitated Fayol's previous posture, kneeling on one knee in front of the divine stone. He had already realized that today's mined divine stone was not ordinary, and these people were here for it.

  When the two men knelt down, Fayol had already stood up. He had just seen clearly that it was the child who excavated the tears of the gods. When Fayol came in, Amun's pickaxe in his hand had not been put down yet. And the sloppy old drunkard next to him had been trembling with both hands, obviously unable to be the one who excavated the divine stone.

  "Child, you have been favored by the goddess Isis. Fortunate one, who welcomes the tears of the gods to humanity, what is your name?" Fayol asked Amun.

  Amon thought to himself, so this divine stone is called the Tears of the Gods. It seems that Old Crazy's words about the divine stone being the remnants of the gods weren't entirely unfounded after all. At the same time, he replied very respectfully: "I am Amon, everyone here calls me Amon."

  Amon has a full name, called Aroqamun-Montemont, but this full name was given by his father and only his father mentioned it when he was young, even Amon himself doesn't remember it clearly. The townspeople usually just call him Amon. His father gave him such a name because of his noble birth, only aristocratic families can have such a long string of titles and write them down, representing hereditary glory.

  Amon is neither a slave nor a noble, just an ordinary commoner in the town of Duk. Giving him such a name was just a self-consolation for his drunken father's delusions of grandeur, and that long string of titles wasn't even from his family lineage - it was something his father came up with when he was drunk, so Amon himself wouldn't even bring it up.

  Fayer looked at Amun with an apparently satisfied nod, his expression turned solemn and stern, and he said seriously: "I am Fayer-Judah, from the Egur Empire's Hatti Kingdom's Cape City-State, I am the chief official of Lord Dick. Lord Dick received a great revelation from the goddess Isis in his dream, the holy maiden of the Temple of Isis was pitied by all the gods and was given a tear of the gods, and the place where it fell is here."

  After finishing his words, Fayol cleared his throat and looked at Amun, finding that the child had no reaction, perhaps he was already stunned. He lightly coughed and continued: "Amun, under the benevolent gaze of Isis, you are fortunate to welcome the arrival of the tears of the gods. Be grateful for your offering, it will belong to the guardian saint of Isis, the goddess will remember your name... These are generously bestowed upon you by Lord Rodick."

  After finishing speaking, Fayol took out a bag and placed it on the chopping board, picked up the Tears of the Gods, put it in a golden box he was carrying with him, turned around and walked out. Amun's father saw what he did, his lips moved as if to stop him but didn't dare make a sound.

  When Ah Mon finally came to and stood up, Fayol had already left, with two warriors closely following him for protection, the hilts of their swords clanking against their armor in a cold and majestic sound.

  The voice made Armon understand that even if he chased him out the door, it would be useless. This strange and mysterious divine stone, which had never been seen before, was taken away by this uninvited guest as soon as it was dug up, leaving only a purse behind. The man said "Thank you for your contribution" as if Armon had voluntarily offered the divine stone to him.

  Amon's heart was filled with anger and resentment, thinking that tomorrow his father would still have to hand over a divine stone. This strange divine stone could originally complete the task, but now it had been taken away. Then he thought again, the divine stone was taken away by someone sent by Lord Dick, if the mayor wanted to investigate, he should go find Lord Dick, their family wasn't the one who didn't fulfill the tax.

  In an instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind, but Amun did not think of another thing - Fayol's actions would reveal that he had privately learned the mining techniques of Duketown without permission.

  Xu Gongzi's note: Thank you to book friend "San Meng Zong Dizi" for creating this chapter's regular dodecahedron divine stone diagram.

  Character Appearance Table for This Chapter

  Amon's father: a miner and blacksmith in Duketown, is an alcoholic.

  Nietzsche: A resident of Duketown, an old friend of Armon, nicknamed Old Crazy.

  Fawcett–Judson: Roddick's **officer**