Meryl no longer wanted to go shopping. She flopped onto her bed wearing her beautiful new clothes, hugging herself as worries filled her mind.

In her eyes, Iva had everything. He was handsome and powerful, able to buy anything she could ever want.

Yet she herself could offer nothing in return.

Meryl looked at all the gifts piled up in her room, things she had always wanted but could never have before. Suddenly she understood something about these presents. It wasn’t that Iva bought them because he cared about what she wanted.

Instead, it was simpler than that.

She wanted things, and Iva just casually bought them without a second thought.

One showed real care. The other showed these things meant nothing to him at all.

Upon returning to the inn, Iva took out his lamp.

He cleaned it with tender care, even though not a speck of dust marked its surface.

Meryl came out of her room, having never seen Iva treasure anything like this before. A strange light glowed from the flame burning inside the lamp.

Iva noticed Meryl watching and asked her.

“What do you see?”

Meryl stared at the flame within the lamp, almost saying she saw nothing at all.

But quickly, images began appearing before her eyes.

She saw happy memories she had buried deep in her heart, moments of pure joy she had almost forgotten.

“I see happiness inside,” Meryl said in wonder.

Iva nodded. “This is the only feeling I have ever truly known.”

Meryl suddenly felt sorry for him. “That’s really sad.”

Right then she realized Iva wasn’t all-powerful after all. He had his own troubles and worries. Some things remained out of even his reach.

And maybe those were things she could give him.

“But I think you’ll feel lots of different emotions soon.”

Meryl meant that she would help him experience all those feelings herself.

Iva nodded in agreement. “I think so too.”

“Soon I will experience every kind of emotion and desire.”

“When that happens, I will capture them all in my lamp and keep them safe forever.”

“Then I can take them out whenever I want to experience them again.”

Iva spoke of how he would grow through time.

As an immortal demigod of wisdom, he would slowly gather all these flames of feeling and desire.

“Put emotions and desires in a lamp? How is that even possible?” Meryl couldn’t believe it.

But then she remembered Iva was a powerful Ability bearer, and thought maybe he really could store desires in his lamp.

“It is possible,” Iva explained.

“When the Wisdom Ability reaches the fourth rank, it can split a person into four parts: Spirituality, Wisdom, Desire, and Knowledge.”

“My path follows Desire. I am best at drawing out the power of desire from within people.”

“But sadly, these are only other people’s emotions and desires, not my own.”

Now that the topic was opened, Iva prepared to tell Meryl what he truly wanted to do.

“Meryl.”

“There is something I need to tell you.”

“Go ahead,” Meryl said, giving him her full attention.

“My name is Iva, and I come from beyond your world,” he revealed.

The name sparked something in Meryl’s memory, though she couldn’t quite place it.

“Iva?”

“That name sounds so familiar!”

Iva moved his lamp, making the flame suddenly burst forth in waves of light that filled the space around them.

The light flowed through the world like countless shooting stars passing by their sides.

The magical scene swallowed reality, carrying Meryl and Iva into a realm of visions.

In the endless void, Iva floated in the air.

He held his lamp in one hand while reaching out to Meryl with the other.

Iva had never been good with words. He hadn’t learned how to lie, and he didn’t like hiding his thoughts.

He decided to show her through images instead, thinking this would explain things more clearly.

Meryl’s mouth fell open in amazement, unable to understand how Iva was doing this.

She watched the streams of starlight flowing past her, their glow reflecting in her wide eyes. The beautiful sight clearly took her breath away.

Below them stretched endless darkness, though at first she was too captivated by the beautiful dancing starlight to notice.

When she finally realized there was no ground beneath her feet, she let out a startled shriek.

She grabbed Iva’s outstretched hand like it was a lifeline.

But when she discovered she could stand firmly even without ground below, she felt embarrassed.

“I wasn’t scared or anything.”

“It just surprised me, that’s all.”

Iva didn’t mind her reaction and led her forward.

As they walked, he shared his story.

He told her where he came from and why he was here.

“I come from the Creator’s realm.” As he spoke, visions of that sacred place appeared before them: the dream star sea, Gate of Desire, Divine Boat, and Sun Cup Flower Sea, one after another.

“I carry a sacred mission from the Creator. I must help the sacred beings known as spirits return to this world.” The scene changed to show Iva kneeling before something magnificent. Meryl couldn’t see the great being directly, only endless light and a sacred temple.

“These sacred beings are born from the most beautiful dreams, coming from the purest wishes in the world.” The vision changed to show the Sun Cup Flower Sea and the beautiful spirits that once danced among its flowers.

“And I have chosen you.”

Iva spoke honestly and directly, perhaps too directly.

Meryl just stared at him, overwhelmed by what he was telling her.

She had wondered many times about who Iva really was this mysterious, handsome man who carried such power, who moved with such grace, who seemed to float above the ordinary world.

She had imagined many things.

Maybe he was a city lord’s son, or a noble from the City of Fire Protection, or a powerful priest from the temple.

But she had never imagined she was standing next to an actual god.

Meryl looked at Iva, feeling lost and small.

Even though she stood right beside him, even though he held her hand as they walked through these amazing visions, she suddenly felt worlds apart from him, like their joined hands stretched across an entire galaxy.

Because she was just a normal girl, a mountain tribesman’s daughter.

And he he was a god.

Finally she remembered where she had heard Iva’s name before, why it had seemed so familiar.

She had heard Prince Smerkel’s poem too, those magical stories that seemed too fantastic to be real. She had only half-believed them before, but now she knew they were true.

Because now she stood inside the myth itself, becoming part of the story.

Though Meryl already knew the answer, she had to ask again.

“Wait… are you really…”

“Are you the God Iva? The one from ‘Divine Blessing’ who showed Prince Smerkel the Creator’s sacred realm?”

Iva nodded.

“I came to your world to plant wishes in people’s hearts,” Iva continued.

“You are the one I chose.”

“I want stories of spirits and wishes to spread through every heart, for the festival of wishes to return to this world. When every child knows the spirits’ names, the sacred beings will cross time’s river and return to us.”

Iva looked at Meryl with gentle eyes and asked:

“Tell me, Meryl.”

“What do you wish for?”

Meryl still seemed stunned by learning Iva was a god. She answered automatically: “My wish?”

Her face flushed with uncertainty.

Meryl struggled with confidence, especially now that she faced a god. Yet she didn’t want to appear too small before Iva.

But what could she, a mortal’s daughter, really do?

She could only lift her chin stubbornly, pressing her lips together as she looked at Iva.

She stood unsteadily, feeling as if she might fall from the sky at any moment.

Iva would become like the stars above, and though she might chase him with all her might from below, he would never notice her among the countless masses of the mortal world.

After all, she was just an unremarkable girl. Even her golden hair and eyes, those colors she had thought made her special, now seemed meaningless.

Her practiced pride crumbled before the simple words “god,” becoming almost laughable.

Iva clearly hadn’t noticed Meryl’s inner turmoil as he continued sharing his thoughts.

“It must be the most beautiful and grand wish imaginable.”

“A wish full of wonder, the most beautiful in all the world.”

She looked at him and finally asked.

“So once you make me happy and fulfill my wish…”

“You’ll leave?”

Iva nodded. “Yes, that is why I am here.”

Suddenly Meryl smiled, a brilliant idea taking shape in her mind.

An idea that would let her help while keeping Iva by her side.

“Then…”

“My wish is to help make your wish come true.”

Iva paused, confused. “Is that truly a beautiful wish?”

Meryl’s eyes sparkled with cleverness. “It’s the most beautiful wish in the world because it’s a god’s wish.”

“Isn’t it beautiful when a mortal wants to help fulfill a god’s wish?”

Iva questioned further: “But it seems too simple.”

“No.”

Iva realized he had used the wrong word. Simple wasn’t quite right.

“I just feel it’s not as complex as I imagined it should be.”

But Meryl responded: “Beautiful wishes are always like that, aren’t they?”

“When something comes straight from the heart, it’s always simple and clear.”

Iva nodded. “Very well!”

“I accept your wish.”

Iva agreed that beautiful things should be direct, born from that unstoppable moment when the heart’s desire bursts forth.

Isn’t that how it should be?

Yet beneath the surface of this simple wish, deeper currents stirred that Iva’s divine perception had not yet fathomed.

Hearing Iva’s acceptance, Meryl’s heart soared with joy.

She clasped her hands behind her back, barely containing her happiness.

Within the grand hall where ancient stones held countless secrets, Meryl rested her chin in her hands as she suggested to Iva: “We should have a proper plan instead of just wandering around like this.”

Iva nodded. “Do you have something in mind?”

Meryl walked up to Iva, her golden eyes bright with purpose.

“Listen to my idea,” she said, her voice carrying both childlike enthusiasm and surprising wisdom.

“Instead of searching everywhere, we should make people come looking for us.”

“We need to find a place of our own, somewhere ordinary people can’t easily reach.”

“But once they do get there, they’ll receive benefits beyond mortal imagination.”

“That way, everyone will desperately search for our place.”

“We’ll only need to answer one or two people’s wishes to gain thousands, even countless followers yearning to find us.”

Iva shook his head. “No, no, no.”

“Spirits dislike greedy people, especially adults.”

“Spirits only accept the purest, kindest wishes. They hate complicated and ugly hearts.”

In truth, Iva had misunderstood. Though ancient, he had been born around the time of Henir.

He hadn’t witnessed the spirits’ birth.

The spirits’ beauty came from their origin in the Creator’s beautiful dreams, not from mortals’ pure wishes.

Wish-light could crystallize from any genuine desire or prayer. The massive amounts of wish-light in the Divine Cup, forming the Dream Sun’s radiance, arose from exactly this.

But spirits themselves always sought the purest, most beautiful wish-light by their very nature.

Meryl’s mind sparked with inspiration. “Then why don’t we answer kind people’s wishes and punish the greedy ones?”

Iva thought this sounded reasonable.

Iva contemplated the vastness of her suggestion. “Such a sacred place feels beyond our mortal world’s boundaries.”

Meryl remembered the beautiful Sun Cup Flower Sea Iva had shown her. She jumped to her feet.

Her pretty white dress swirled as she rose, looking at Iva with hopeful eyes.

She wanted a flower sea just like that one.

She imagined herself walking through that beautiful field in her lovely dress, lying among the flowers.

Feeling their sweet fragrance and the gentle breeze.

But when she spoke, she didn’t say it was for herself.

“Could we build our own beautiful place, somewhere far from the mortal world?”

“Just the two of us living there, waiting for people with wishes to find us.”

“And more than that.”

“I could pretend to be a spirit, appearing to grant their wishes and spread stories of spirits throughout the world.”

As Meryl spoke, her excitement grew.

She rushed to her room and found a golden robe styled like spirit clothing.

Meryl put on the spirit robe, hiding her tail beneath the skirts.

She twirled before Iva, showing him how she looked in the outfit.

“What do you think?”

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Meryl declared proudly: “I bet even real spirits aren’t as pretty as me.”

With her golden hair and eyes, her graceful and lively manner, she truly resembled a spirit.

Iva scratched his head. “But wouldn’t this be deceiving people?”

Meryl countered: “People care about having their wishes granted, not who grants them.”

“Besides, we’re not saying we’re spirits. I’m just wearing golden spirit clothes, aren’t I?”

“It’s not deception.”

“We’re just playing pretend, like actors in a play, showing the story to our audience.”

Iva wasn’t sure if this was right.

For mortals always found reasons to speak untruths, their words often hiding their hearts.

They lied for love, for desire, and even for hatred.

They pretended not to care about someone they deeply treasured.

They claimed indifference toward things they desperately wanted.

It became so confusing that one could no longer tell if lies were good or bad.

But Meryl’s words made sense, and he decided to try.

“Truth speaks through many voices,” Iva said thoughtfully. “Perhaps in playing this role, we reveal something deeper.”

They lingered several more days in Maya City, each moment weaving their destinies closer together, before finally setting out on their journey.

Meryl led their path toward her homeland.

The Sunrise Mountains welcomed them with ancient majesty.

Time itself seemed to bend to Meryl’s will, or perhaps fate guided their steps, for they arrived at the perfect moment.

The mountain range erupted in celestial fire as dawn broke across its peaks, each stone transformed into molten gold. The sun’s corona burst forth with such divine radiance that mortal eyes could not bear its glory.

Meryl pointed to the peak where the sun emerged, telling Iva.

“That’s where I was born.”

“The sun rose from the edge of heaven at the exact moment I came into the world.”

“That’s why I have golden hair and eyes. The sun itself painted me with its colors.”

Iva gazed at Meryl thoughtfully. “Those are the sun’s blessings upon you.”

Meryl clasped her hands behind her back, walking proudly beside Iva.

She no longer felt ordinary, believing herself worthy of walking alongside a god.

At least.

In this moment.

Iva and Meryl stood upon the highest peak of the Sunrise Mountains. The path here wound treacherously through countless layers of ridges and cliffs.

No ordinary person could reach this place.

Sacred waters tumbled from the mountain’s crown, transforming into a river that carved its way through ancient stone, creating a paradise untouched by mortal concerns.

Years ago, a village had existed at the mountain’s foot, but now only ruins remained, with no sign of human life anywhere.

“Was this your home?”

Meryl nodded. “It’s all gone now.”

Iva: “Because of war?”

Meryl: “Another mountain tribe attacked us and sold our people as slaves to the city-states.”

Iva: “What happened to them?”

Meryl: “Most died. They became slaves too.”

“To yet another group.”

Iva contemplated the bitter cycle of violence, where victors became victims and the chains of bondage bound both conqueror and conquered alike.

At the mountain’s peak, Iva established the Gate of Desire. An ethereal stone archway manifested behind him, so vast it seemed poised to devour the world itself.

The stone gate bore inscriptions of the Cup of Desire, symbols of the Path of Wisdom, and markings representing the deepest longings of all living beings.

A resonant hum filled the air as ancient power stirred.

As the Gate of Desire opened, streams of ethereal energy flowed forth from its depths.

The gate’s essence seeped into the earth, as the Wisdom Ability’s power gradually transformed the mountaintop soil into something ethereal, like spirit essence itself.

The power of Dreams wove illusion into reality’s fabric.

While Wisdom’s touch transformed the solid world into something beyond mortal comprehension.

From the mortal world below, the mountain peak simply vanished, as if cleanly severed.

Yet from above, the world below disappeared entirely, leaving the peak and its grounds suspended in mid-air.

Though this land still existed within reality, mortals could neither enter nor perceive it directly.

Iva walked across the ground.

Wherever his feet touched, life burst forth as if spring itself passed by.

Dark silver Cups of Desire sprouted from the earth, covering the entire space and cascading down the cliff faces beside the waterfall.

This garden held beauty beyond imagination, each flower radiating the power of desire.

These flowers possessed consciousness, capable of conversing with humans.

They could know the deepest wishes of anyone who entered their domain.

Iva raised his hand, and a path of solid crystal manifested through the flower field.

Magnificent stone archways rose one after another.

The path and arches wound upward to the highest point at the garden’s heart, where a castle stood above a lake, with a rainbow eternally reflected behind it.

A crystal bridge led to the castle, so precious that those crossing feared their steps might shatter it.

Meryl had never seen such beauty.

She thought that even the legendary City of Life must only surpass this place in size and majesty, never in pure beauty.

Meryl followed Iva through the flower sea, wearing her spirit-like golden robes.

Unable to contain herself, she darted forward, her hands brushing past the Cups of Desire.

The dark silver blossoms stirred with awareness, their voices gentle as morning dew.

“What a beautiful person!”

“She’s so happy.”

“Because she deeply desires such a home.”

Meryl turned to Iva in amazement: “They’re all alive?”

Iva replied: “You can think of them as many individuals, or as one being.”

Iva led Meryl into the castle.

Vibrant red carpets covered the floor, delicate white jade formed the pillars, and exquisite gold and silver crafted every implement. Colorful gemstones adorned the ceiling, while large crystal panes filled the windows.

Vivid murals decorated the walls, depicting various legends of spirits.

At the highest point stood an ornate throne with an openwork back.

Iva stood beside the throne, inviting Meryl to sit.

Meryl hesitated shyly, but seeing Iva’s expectant gaze, finally took her seat.

Iva spoke to her.

“From now on.”

“You will sit here, receiving all mortals who find their way to this place.”

“Tell them of the power of wishes, teach them of the spirits’ greatness.”

Meryl nodded.

“Let’s work together to make this wish come true.”

She looked around excitedly at their surroundings, feeling such a beautiful place deserved its own name. “What should we call it?”

Iva, clearly not one to take initiative, pondered long without finding the right words.

Meryl offered a name in his stead: “Let’s call it the Miracle Garden!”

“God Iva’s Miracle Garden.”

Meryl asked Iva: “How does that sound?”

Iva didn’t particularly mind what name they chose.

“Miracle Garden it shall be!”

Across Ruhe Beast Island, a legend began to spread.

They spoke of a great spirit deity who blessed all people and established the Festival of Wishes.

On this festival day, those pure of heart who prayed to the spirits might receive their blessings and answers.

In the Sunrise Mountains, they said, there existed a Miracle Garden built by spirits.

Its rivers flowed with gold and silver, its ground formed from precious gems, its palace filled with countless treasures.

Only those carrying the most intense desires could see the path to the Miracle Garden.

You would board a boat sailing against the current, following the river up the waterfall to reach a garden suspended in the sky.

There, suspended between earth and heaven, floated a garden that transcended mortal understanding. It existed as a bridge between the divine and earthly realms, a sanctuary where dreams took physical form.

Silver flowers filled the garden, each capable of speech, able to see into hearts and desires.

Throughout the garden and palace burned various lamps, their flames reflecting all manner of lives, showing countless successful destinies.

Within the Miracle Garden dwelled one called Meryl, perhaps the spirit from legend.

When visitors reached her presence, the being called Meryl would ask:

“What wish do you seek to fulfill?”

If the person’s wish proved beautiful, the one called Meryl would draw forth their longing for that wish, infusing it into a treasure to give them.

For those who desired wealth, she would merge their desire into a piece of gold.

For those who sought power, she would infuse their longing into a scepter or crown.

These objects carried the power of demigod enchantments, able to transform heart’s desire into tangible force.

Beautiful wishes and controlled desires always received positive responses, helping their bearers achieve their goals.

Greedy and unbounded desires would consume their bearers entirely, bringing fitting punishment.

These objects would return to the Miracle Garden after their bearers’ deaths.

As seasons turned and years passed, the garden’s legend grew deep roots in mortal hearts.

More seekers journeyed to the Sunrise Mountains searching for the wish-granting spirit, though few succeeded.

Yet this could not stop mortals’ yearning for that realm.

Mortal desires and longings gathered here like streams flowing to the sea, passing through the massive Gate of Desire.

The garden blossomed ever outward, a living testament to dreams made manifest.

The Cups of Desire bloomed with increasing radiance, their silver petals catching and reflecting the light of countless wishes.

The halls filled with more gold and silver treasures, while mysterious and wonderful objects crowded the palace and castle.

Mountains of coins, thrones and scepters, beautiful statues, and countless other treasures beyond measure stood as silent witnesses to humanity’s eternal longings.