Chapter 79: Natural selection
‘Experiments? What could gods possibly gain from us mortals?’ Percy raised an eyebrow.
‘Lots of things, actually.’ Gabe shrugged. ‘The most obvious benefit is getting more people to ascend to godhood, expanding their ranks.’
While the chances of any one child reaching divinity were laughably minuscule, it was ultimately a numbers game. Especially for immortal beings who could keep pumping out kids for millennia on end.
‘But that’s just a matter of luck, isn’t it?’ Percy asked.
Gabe shook his head.
‘It’s true a child’s grade is random, which means it’s not possible to control the emergence of new gods directly. However, an indirect solution is to simply have children more often.’
‘Having more kids means you need more space to house them, and more food to feed them. How is that sustainable?’
‘It’s not. At least, not if you care about what happens to the failures.’
Percy’s eyes widened. Resource management was a problem all worlds had to deal with. That said, it was even more pronounced in the Vault of Magic, due to its smaller size and barren environment. Consequently, it could only support a small number of mortals. This meant the gods had to be a lot more deliberate when choosing which of their kids to keep around.