Ikenga looked at Tide with a heavy serious expression on his face "This is exactly where you come into play. Because while the world is entirely devoid of these ten components, they are things that we, the Origin Gods, can manufacture. You are the God of the Treasury, Tide. You understand the laws of supply, demand, and absolute leverage. You should know exactly where I am going with this."

Tide’s breath hitched as the full scope of the monopoly unraveled before him. He was the God of the Treasury and he didn’t just understand wealth, he also understood control.

"We will supply you with a steady, exclusive stream of these ten major components," Ikenga stated, his voice echoing off the newly restored gold walls. "As the sole distributor of the pieces required to actually finish a Mage Tower, you hold the leashes of every Paragon on the planet. If they want to survive the coming age, they must crawl to your treasury."

"Trade with them. Extract their rarest assets, their deepest secrets, and most importantly, their devotion. Use this monopoly to cultivate and strengthen your faith across the domains. By the time this race is over, the name Tide will not be associated with a heartbroken recluse, you will stand as one of the most powerful and influential gods in this world."

The allure of the proposition sent a violent jolt of ambition through Tide’s veins, a feeling he hadn’t experienced since Siren’s departure. But Ikenga wasn’t finished.

"However, I do not just want you managing our supply," Ikenga continued, pointing back to the glowing world map where the natural bedrock deposits flickered. "I need you to get involved in the extraction of the minor components located right here in our world. Use your followers, your merchants, your hidden syndicates. Establish operations over those useless bedrock veins before the rest of the world wakes up to their value."

Ikenga’s eyes narrowed into slits of cold, calculated foresight. "I am well aware of the bloody chaos this scarcity will unleash. Total anarchy is inevitable, but with your followers embedding themselves into the resource chains early, you can briefly control that chaos. We can steer the coming storm, dictating exactly which kingdoms rise, which Paragons fall, and who gets to survive."

He looked deeply into Tide’s rejuvenated eyes. "The chessboard is set, nephew. Are you ready to take your seat?"

Tide fell into a feverish, murmuring spree, his fingers rapidly tracing imaginary supply lines across the glowing map. The long months of sluggish apathy were violently incinerated, replaced by the hyper-efficient, calculating mind of a god of commerce operating at his zenith.

"The auctions..." Tide muttered to himself, his eyes darting back and forth. "No, a direct drop into the open market would cause immediate panic and trigger the wars too early. I must stagger the introduction. I will select three...no, four of the most prominent trans-continental merchant guilds. I’ll feed the first few batch of Prismatic Regulators into their elite branches as unidentified ancient anomalies unearthed from the deep sea."

He began to pace around the table, his voice dropping into a rapid, rhythmic whisper as the logistical gears turned. "For the Paragons, the manegerie could be a perfect place to host them. I can host exclusive auctions through my followers, where we let them bid not just with gold, but with territory, blood-pacts, and rare local elements"

Suddenly, Tide stopped in his tracks, a breathless laugh escaping his lips as a deeper, more staggering realization hit him. The sheer volume of steady, refinable faith energy to be gained from this setup was astronomical.

Because he would be executing his divine function at such a flawlessly high efficiency, the metaphysical returns would be unprecedented. Faith would not just trickle in from superstitious peasants praying for good coin or his grace, it would pour in from two distinct, massive strata of existence in their world.

One strata being the mortals, the merchant princes, the guild masters, the miners, and the common folk swept up in the economic boom would worship the very concept of the Treasury that brought them such sudden, world-altering wealth.

The Paragons, the apex rulers of the world, desperate to secure their military dominance, would practically throw themselves at his altars, calling upon his name just to guarantee a steady allocation of the ten major components.

"The devotion of a Paragon is worth many times that of mortals," Tide whispered, his hands trembling slightly, not from fear this time, but from an intoxicating rush of incoming divinity.

Ikenga sat silently watching Tide’s feverish pacing, a deep voice echoed directly into his mind. The sheer pressure of the voice would have crushed a lesser entity, but it only brought a calm smile to Ikenga’s face.

"Thank you, brother," Jaus said, a rare, pure joy bleeding through his usually strict tone.

"I had my own selfish reasons for doing this, brother," Ikenga replied smoothly, his smile remaining fixed. "If he had failed to see the path I laid out for him today, I would have done no more. I would have abandoned him to the destined fate of death that was actively waiting for him at the bottom of his pit."

"You still have my absolute thanks for it," Jaus countered, the pride in his voice returning. "I have forced myself to watch as the boy entirely forgot his own status, completely ignoring the immense power he wields. To be frank, his impending downfall was a tragedy I was already actively preparing myself for. But with your actions today, a saving grace has been carved out for him."

Ikenga chose not to respond. Instead, he simply kept his eyes anchored on Tide’s hyper-focused figure.

As he watched his nephew, a specific face crossed his mind, Ikenga gave a slow shake of his head. He was acutely aware of what he had just done. To secure this glorious future for his nephew, Ikenga had just traded away a different life. He had essentially signed someone else’s death warrant to ignite Tide’s ambition.

Yet, to himself, it was the only logical path forward. In the objective view of the situation, the spiritual and physical value of that doomed life held absolutely nothing compared to the monumental value his now awakened nephew could bring to his designs.

If that sacrificed life had possessed even a fraction more value than Tide, Ikenga doubted he would have ever had this conversation with Tide today.

Ikenga stood up from his seat, signaling that his time in the Everflowing Treasury had come to an end. But before stepping into the void, he looked back at Tide and delivered his final directives.

"Take your time with these preparations," Ikenga spoke "We still have a generous window before the gears are truly set in motion." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He gestured to the two hovering prototypes between them. "We, the Origin Gods, still have to construct the remaining eight missing components to complete the set. Use this gap to carefully set up your plays. Above all, be entirely discreet in your actions. We cannot afford to garner early attention from the desperate paragons."

Ikenga paused, his eyes narrowing as he thought of the logistical safeguards. "Once your networks are seeded, get in contact with Krogan. His divinity over contracts and binding oaths will play a vital, non-negotiable role in securing these upcoming transactions."

As the name left his lips, Ikenga suddenly stopped. The fiery, unpredictable image of Ember crossed his mind, shifting his calculations. He looked deeply at Tide, dropping a crucial piece of foresight.

"There is another relative of yours whose status as a deity will rise exponentially through the ranks the very moment he ascends. He is a vital, irreplaceable piece of this puzzle. Ultimately, both you and the Paragons will absolutely depend on him, for without his unique influence, the true value of these raw tower materials can never fully play their role."

"An ascendant relative..." Tide murmured, his eyes narrowing as he ran through the lineage. "A god of forging?"

Realization dawned on Tide. He looked at the prototype components still floating in the air. "It was one thing having the materials in hand, and it was another knowing how to put it together. A Mage Tower isn’t just a pile of stone and law anchors. It is a cosmic conduit. It needs a master smith of divine proportions to actually fuse the materials, temper the law structures, and spark the forge fires hot enough to bind the rare components."

"Precisely," Ikenga replied "You understand the market, but Ember will control the actual production. The paragons could learn to forge a tower on their own but that is something they can’t do under the limited time they have, where a rival could have a ready made tower while the other is still learning."

With those final words, Ikenga vanished from the realm, leaving the space where he stood entirely vacant.

Tide stood alone in the newly glowing heart of his palace. The heavy scent of alcohol was gone, utterly replaced by the crisp, aroma of treasure. An aroma that was once overwritten by Siren’s scent. He turned back to the floating map of Nana, a ruthless, confident smile stretching across his face.