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Translator: adomman
Editor: Snorri
Geshtinanna looked at Amon, her eyes shining, and suddenly opened her arms. Amon smiled faintly and also opened his arms and embraced her gently. Geshtinanna whispered: “Thank you for your advice, I specialize in the power of awakening the living, and the day and night that you mentioned are the four seasons that I experience. I will go find Kella.”
Amon persuaded again: “What’s the rush? It is summer right now, you can wait until winter before you go. Alternating in such a way, there is always someone to bear the burden, always someone freed from the burden, always trials and tribulations, but also always hope.”
Geshtinanna looked up and said: “I know what to do now, but how can I thank you?” As she spoke the roses in her wreath had regained their vibrant colors, revealing their beauty in the cold wind.
Amon patted her shoulder and smiled. “If you are willing, I would like to ask you for a small favor. I heard that the divine palace of Ea is the most beautiful among the palaces of the gods of Anunnaki, and it was you who built it for Ea. I am thinking of building a Garden of Eden, everything within the garden will be left to the disciples to construct, but that spatial formation to separate the palace from the world must be set up by one who has achieved the ninth level, can you lend me a hand?”
Geshtinanna smiled. “The separation of the divine palace’s space is a stable magic spatial formation that can operate on its own, and in fact, a ninth-level supreme mage can do this, you just need to tell them the principles behind it. But a ninth-level divine emissary like you and me is more suitable for the task, and this is exactly what I am best at doing, so I will go to your Garden of Eden for the next six months. I know that the location of the divine palace is the secret of every god. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else about it, much less Dumuzid.”
……
Moses came to the “Garden of Eden” as Amon had instructed, and met with Lynk and Metatro, along with Gabriel and Hardedef and Misphi. Now that the city of Salem had Aesop and Idu to take care of things, everything is in order, so Amon ordered his disciples to come to the “Garden of Eden” to focus on training.
The so-called “Garden of Eden” did not yet exist at this time, and the location chosen by Amon was where Lynk’s original caveman tribe lived. It was located on the high mountains near Euphrates Valley, a good place for training in seclusion. The cavemen had long since moved to the city of Salem, but the village houses and grottoes on the cliffs were still there, and they could live there temporarily after a little cleaning up.
Amon gave Moses a Terroculus, which was recorded as the blueprint of the Garden of Eden. Its scope was very wide, including not only the original village of the caveman tribe, but the eastern boundary also contained the territory where El Mar once lived outside the village, while the farthest west included Bair’s final hiding place in the mountain cave. This meant that the Garden of Eden spanned two high mountains, with an area in the middle that was overhead and required the ability to fly if one wished to traverse the entire divine palace.
The Garden of Eden had water sources and even mines, with four streams distributed around the area, and the residences of the disciples would be scattered among these streams and mountain forests, where they could build them according to their own wishes. The huge cave where Bair hid was surrounded by white clouds and could only be entered by stepping on clouds, and it was a place of training which Amon had prepared for himself and at the same time, a sort of remembrance of his past experience.
Building the Garden of Eden according to this blueprint would take many years. Amon was not in a hurry and simply wanted to establish a rough foundation first, before letting his disciples slowly build it over the years. This earthly paradise which allowed one to glimpse the heavenly kingdom of the gods was now the home of Moses’s soul.
The first and most important step was to set up a spatial formation and use the natural elemental energy to operate it and make this space “disappear” from the world, beyond mortals’ perception. This step had to be completed by a ninth-level emissary or mage.
Many parts of the Garden of Eden were also quite interesting, for example, Amon appointed Moses to build a cold spring within the mountain forest in the western part of the Garden of Eden, which looked exactly the same as the cold spring that Crazy’Ole had placed in the Charcoal Forest, which would serve as a silent tribute to Crazy’Ole.
Lynk and the others were a little worried when they heard that Dumuzid had gone to find trouble with Amon. It was already two days after Moses arrived at the Garden of Eden. If Amon and Dumuzid had clashed, there should have been a result long ago. These disciples were thinking of going to see what had happened together, but they didn’t know where to look for Amon.
At that moment, Goddess Mourrin’s elf maid Shubra came and told them not to worry, Goddess Mourrin had sent someone to help Amon take down Dumuzid, and the disciples just needed to wait here. Despite being informed about it, all the disciples were nearly speechless when they saw Amon. Especially Lynk, the more surprised he was the wider his mouth opened until an egg could fit inside.
They knew that Dumuzid was the ex-husband of Goddess Mourrin, and naturally, Dumuzid had gone looking for Amon’s trouble due to certain reasons. However, after Amon left Mourrin’s divine palace, not only did he take care of Dumuzid, he also managed to abduct Dumuzid’s sister Geshtinanna to the Garden of Eden? Looking at the two of them, their relationship seemed to be pretty good. Although the disciples did not say anything, they inevitably speculated in their hearts. What kind of means had Amon used to win the heart of Geshtinanna?
Amon did not say much when he arrived and directly told his disciples that they would build their own palace from now. They would first construct the outer formation according to the blueprint, and that they would have to follow the commands of Geshtinanna. Then he went to the huge cave for training in seclusion, and unless there was an urgent matter, no one should disturb him.
Before Amon arrived, the disciples had already cleared the cave, and even though construction had not been carried out, the environment was very peaceful and serene.
Metatro accompanied Amon into the cave, and when there was no one else around, he asked while gesturing suggestively with his eyes: “God Amon, you are too good! Everyone says that Dumuzid’s ex-wife Mourrin abandoned Dumuzid for you, but now you even managed to abduct Dumuzid’s sister, aren’t you afraid that Goddess Mourrin would get jealous?”
Amon gave him a punch as he replied: “What are you talking about? Things are not like what you think. The relationship between me and Goddess Mourrin is not like how others think either!”
The disciples began to chisel and build the Garden of Eden’s magical space under the command of Geshtinanna, similar to the construction of a courtyard of a house. Gabriel’s identity here was very special, she was not a disciple of Amon but a prisoner of war of Amon, but everyone treated her as a guest, and Gabriel also helped to build this divine palace.
Ten days or so later, El Mar brought Raphael with her, so there was another guest in the Garden of Eden. Amon had accepted Golier’s private request and wanted to guide Raphael for a long time, but he used an indirect way so that he could learn on his own.
Why did Amon want to train in seclusion? He needed such an undisturbed and peaceful time so much. Over the years, his power became stronger and stronger, and his achievements became higher and higher, but one thing after another happened to him. One can grow through experience, but one must also mature through reflection.
After the inauguration of the shrine in Salem, Amon has not yet had the time to carefully experience and understand the mysteries of a divine realm. Any other god, after having such a divine realm for the first time, would have spent many years to consolidate the realm and feel the harvest, but Amon had been busy all this time.
With Amon’s achievements today, he could already be called a god on earth. He must seek the meaning of this god, and from the power that is capable of repairing the soul, study and understand the seemingly endless life. In fact, when one has reached this level, there is no longer any need to rush or even care about many things. When Amon settled down quietly and immersed himself in the soul world, he experienced a new feeling different from the past.
When the form of your existence changes, then the understanding of life also changes. When death is no longer an imminent threat within a few decades, one will no longer be willing to undergo the fierce dangers in the world for no reason, but only wish to live a leisurely and comfortable life. For example, Geshtinanna had lived for hundreds of years in such a way.
In their hearts, of course, they are not willing to fight mortals to the death. Although they have great power, if they encounter powerful experts on earth, they can still be hurt, so it was not worth doing so. People may die together with another warrior on the battlefield, but no warrior would be willing to fight a mouse if there was a risk of dying. This analogy might be inappropriate, but the mindset depicted was the same.
When the gods heard the prayers and wishes in the shrine and sent emissaries to assist the believers in carrying out their missions, those emissaries often assisted in secret, like striking a blow at the crucial moment, and not directly charging in front. The emissaries sent by Seth, such as Heqet, only used various means to block the path of Moses and his people, instead of fighting directly with Lynk or Metatro. After all, there were not many divine emissaries like Bastet who were often sent to slay demons, and Bastet had been the emissary who was closest to becoming a true god in the Ennead divine clan.
Amon was training in the Garden of Eden, he needed to integrate his previous experiences and everything he had learned, calmly reflect on the gains and losses, and consider the meaning of his new existence as his life changed. Although he was far away in the Garden of Eden, he was aware of what was happening in the city of Salem. He focused his practice on the consciousness attached to the statue on the altar, allowing him to hear people’s prayers clearly, and through them, he could also find out the true emotions in people’s hearts.
If he wanted to, he could be informed of the things happening in the city of Salem from the altar, and if he did not wish to, he could remain undisturbed by it.
The gods do hear the prayers of the believers, but sometimes they do not listen or do not bother to pay attention to them. For example, when neighbors quarrel, some people come to pray to God Amon to make their neighbors sick and suffer; or when mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law disagree, some wives would come to pray to God Amon to make their husbands “stronger” and not so “weak” at the mercy of their mothers-in-law.
For these prayers, Amon just pretended not to hear at first. After hearing more, he could only laugh bitterly, so later on he simply stopped listening. But the thoughts of all people on earth are actually another kind of message, and when you can listen and feel them, it is like embracing countless souls with your own soul, making the soul stronger, and in the case of injury, this power could even repair the soul.
Amon’s current status was equivalent to being the king of god in the city of Salem alongside Mourrin, which was not enjoyed by other divine emissaries or even gods.
Amon had transformed into two selves in the battle with Dumuzid and Bright Moon Night, and back then he was not yet very familiar with the technique. Now, after experiencing it clearly during his training, he has completely mastered the technique. His training this time might take a long time for a mortal, and if nothing urgent happened, people may not see Amon for many years.
But Amon still had a lot of urgent matters right now, such as the need to complete the Garden of Eden’s magical space as soon as possible. According to Amon’s estimation, Metatro, Lynk, and Hardedef would soon have to face the test of losing their power, and when the time came they would have to stay in the Garden of Eden for safety.
Geshtinanna lived in the Garden of Eden for half a year, from the height of summer until midwinter. In this half year’s time, she basically completed the outline of the spatial magic formation, causing this area of space around the Euphrates Valley to disappear and become invisible to mortals. But this spatial magic formation needed to be strengthened with more power in order to protect the Garden of Eden from the outside world, and this could only be slowly accomplished over the next few years.
Half a year later, Geshtinanna left the Garden of Eden for Kur, the Underworld of the Anunnaki gods, and exchanged Dumuzid for herself. She made a pact with Kella, to carry out this exchange every six months from now on, with her and Dumuzid taking turns serving in the Underworld. As Amon said, the suffering in the underworld is not endless, and the joy in the light is not eternal, there is always hope in the darkness, and one must learn to cherish it in the light.
Many years later, there appeared a legend on earth that the cycle of decay and prosperity due to the changing of seasons was a symbol of these two gods taking turns to return to earth.
Geshtinanna did not see Amon when she left, and by this time, the great war between the city of Salem and the city of Enlil had already begun. At this time, except for Moses, all of Amon’s disciples had already left the Garden of Eden, and even the goddess Mourrin and her emissaries had also left Mourrin’s palace, and everyone was searching for Amon all over the continent.
Why did Amon go missing? Why were people anxiously looking around for him? This matter started from a big battle on the Plains of Duc.
……
If there were no unexpected situations, Amon would have spent a hundred years training in seclusion like the gods in the legends. However, there were still many things to worry about in this world, but at the very least he should not be leaving the Garden of Eden for the next few years. Unfortunately, only after a month of training, Amon sensed something while immersed in the soul world, as if there was some voice calling him, praying to him, and asking for help.
This prayer was not something that Amon was unwilling to heed, and even more unexpectedly, the prayer did not come from the shrine in the city of Salem. The one who made the prayer had called the name of Allaha, and it was most likely Joshua and his people who were in trouble. If Amon had not developed the incarnation of both God Amon and Allaha at the same time, he would not have been able to hear this prayer, and even though he heard it now, he could only barely sense it, and could not experience it.
The Ducians were still on their way, and they brought with them the great tent with the golden top left by Moses. Whenever they camped, they would place the golden plate with the ten covenants written on it in the tent as a mobile shrine. Since Allaha forbade them to build any statues, they prayed to the golden plate, and it was the heartfelt thoughts emanating from such prayers that Ammon sensed.
……
After the departure of Moses, the clan, led by Joshua, crossed the city of Marduc into the Plains of Duc. They could not travel very fast on foot, and it would take another month for them to reach Salem. With the twelve Judges in the group, walking along the paths trodden by the caravans in the wilderness, any bandits and beasts that might appear did not pose any threat.
Just as they were about to reach Salem, Aesop sent a small group of soldiers from the city to meet them. The captain told Joshua that the city of Salem was only two days away, but the situation was not peaceful recently, so Lord Aesop sent someone to escort them.
New conflicts had broken out between the city of Salem and the city of Enlil, and the situation was tense. According to the previous agreement between Aesop and the city of Enlil, the mines at the foot of the Syah Plateau were owned by the Ducians, but Enlil was allowed to send highlanders to mine iron ore and parangons, with half of the harvest to be given to Salem as a form of tax, and there was peace for a while.
But as a steady stream of people entered Enlil City from across the plateau, they sent someone to Salem to make two new requests. The first was to buy daily supplies from Salem, as many of their supplies still needed to be transported across the plateau, and it was obviously easier to buy them from Salem.
The city of Salem was established much earlier, and the surrounding land had been cultivated and sown for two seasons. The city’s various handicraft workshops were also plentiful, their products much richer than the city of Enlil. Obviously, Aesop was not willing to agree, because the supplies that Enlil City wanted to buy were also exactly what the city of Salem needed, and furthermore, they had to replenish their own supplies through the trading route that was established with much difficulty, so negotiations fell apart.
Immediately after that, Enlil City made a second request. Since their people were working in the mines, then these mines should belong to Enlil City, and they would no longer hand over half of the fine iron and parangons. The reason was very simple, the people of Duc had all died long ago, so there was no owner of the land, and their gods had guided them to take possession.
Aesop told the other party very clearly that the Ducians were still alive and they had the legal right to inherit the mines. In the end, Enlil City gave a one-month deadline, and if they did not see the Ducians within a month, they would take complete possession of the mines. Realizing that a real conflict would be inevitable, Aesop intensified the training of the city’s army to set up defenses in various locations.
As Aesop made preparations, the other side was also making their own. The governor of Enlil City sent a force of about a hundred people disguised in hunting gear into the nearby forest. After that, they quietly assembled at the western side of the Plains of Duc where the Euphrates Valley was located and bypassed the city of Salem to intercept the incoming Ducians. Their orders were clear: capture the strongest and most skilled miners and bring them back and exterminate the young and old who could not be taken.
