Simon could take this path, and he knew it himself. Possessing Kyne's divinity, as long as he continuously imitated the Goddess of the Sky and made the spirits in the Pure Land believe he was Kyne to gain faith, he could complete the process of Mantling.
Changing gender wasn't unacceptable to him, but he personally preferred CHIM. Mantling wasn't exactly a proper method; there were historical examples of failure. For instance, there was a peculiar Gray Fox mask that could assimilate its wearer, but the assimilated person was neither the Gray Fox nor their original self—they became a dead spirit with an extinguished personality, left only with the label 'Gray Fox'.
Of course, there were successful instances of Mantling, such as Tiber Septim, who unified the continent of Tamriel and mantled Akatosh. But his success was unique, involving another path to godhood: Proving by Mirroring.
Many documents mention that Talos is a 'Triune' god, consisting of the Dragon King Tiber Septim, the rebel Wulfharth, and the observer Zurin.
These three completed a path to godhood through Mirroring, essentially replicating the process of the Dragon and the Serpent as one.
The Dragon—Aka, Time.
The Serpent—Lorkhan, Space.
Time and Space as one.
Aka ripped out Lorkhan's heart on the battlefield to become the Dragon King, representing eternity and stillness, while Lorkhan became the rebel Serpent, representing change and motion. The observer of their act was Magnus, and the catalyst was Trinimac. This act established the stable framework of time and space.
Tiber Septim ripped out Wulfharth's heart, with Zurin Arctus as the observer; the catalyst is unknown.
Tiber himself was a Dragonborn, an Incarnation of Aka, while Wulfharth was an Incarnation of Shor (known as Lorkhan by the Elves and Shezarr by the Empire). The two were perfect mirrors, capable of perfect Mantling.
The original Talos was merely an alias for Wulfharth, a mask. It was a mantle he took after being cursed with death and hiding underground to become the Underking, acting under the name of the son of the North, Talos Stormcrown.
Thereafter, the legend of Talos continued to spread. It was actually an epic collective, gathering the military achievements of Wulfharth, the magical miracles of the Grand Mage Zurin Arctus, and the exploits of Zurin's lord, 'Early-Beard' Hjalti—who later became Tiber Septim.
Under the convergence of faith, the preliminary framework of the Talos Trinity had already formed.
At this time, towards the end of the Second Era, the great Tiber Septim was determined to conquer the entire continent of Tamriel and seize the High Elf homeland of Summerset Isle. He planned to use the power of the brass god numidium, obtained from Vivec, to help him defeat the Elves.
However, numidium lacked a power source—the Heart of Lorkhan—and thus could not be activated.
So Tiber and Zurin decided to extract Wulfharth's heart to power the Brass Tower. According to the 'Arctus Heresy' written by the Underking himself, a great battle broke out among the three. Wulfharth killed Zurin, and his heart was also torn out during the fight. The surviving Tiber used Wulfharth's heart and Zurin's blueprints to repair numidium and swept through Summerset Isle. It is worth mentioning that the Underking did not die; he is truly immortal, and losing his heart only made him decayed and weak.
Like Reman and Ebony Arm, the original Talos was also revered as a Hero-God, not an Et'Ada-level ancient god.
However, during the Dragon Break known as the 'Warp in the West,' the Souls of Tiber, Wulfharth, and Zurin met and fused. Since the world believed they were all Shezarrines—Incarnations of Shor—they had the foundation of faith. From then on, they became their collective mantle—Talos.
A brand new timeline appeared because of this, allowing Talos to completely replace Ebony Arm's historical position as the 'God of War'.
After undergoing Tiber's Mirroring into godhood, the original Mortal god Talos was sublimated. He gathered the powers of time and space, allowing him to stabilize the cosmic wheel of Mundus after the Heart of Lorkhan collapsed.
Talos's power did not stop there; it is said He also walked the path of CHIM.
Tiber Septim once demonstrated the reality-warping power of the Dao of CHIM, transforming the tropical climate of Cyrodiil province, where the Imperial City is located, into a temperate grassland climate.
Having stepped onto the path of CHIM, Talos was no longer a Mantled god reliant on faith. He already stood at the peak of the second layer and could reach for the first layer, breaking away from the world of the elder scrolls to open a world of his own, achieving an Amaranth.
Simon reviewed his memories and found that the truths of the Universe were actually connected to a great extent.
In the world of Hollow Knight, as the Repair Bug, Simon had fused the powers of Light and Void, mastered dreams, modified reality, and turned his body into stars. This was the path of CHIM, belonging to the second layer.
In the world of the Scroll of Taiwu, as the Buddha's Son, Simon entered meditative enlightenment and directly stepped into the first layer, achieving the right fruit. Leveraging the unique nature of the scroll world, he gradually mastered the superior affinity, became a Bodhisattva, and established the Pure Land, setting a milestone on the path of CHIM.
Now, as the Gourmet Simon in the world of the elder scrolls, he had also entered the third layer. He was born carrying an 'Amaranth'—the Pure Land bestowed by the Bodhisattva. Precisely because the Pure Land was a power of transcendence, none of the Et'Ada could glimpse the trajectory of his fate.
For Simon, among the six paths to godhood, the only one he truly should take was CHIM.
Among the remaining paths, the Psijic Endeavor was joining a god—for instance, Nords entering Sovngarde after death to become part of Shor's divine realm, Dark Elves entering Azura's Domain, lycanthropes entering Hircine's Domain, and so on. Ancestor Worship was the path of the High Elves' ancestors. 'Death' was somewhat different; it was a method similar to'severing the three corpses,' removing unnecessary 'Impurities' to purify the Soul. Talos's death caused the hatred Wulfharth and Zurin held for Tiber Septim to vanish, allowing them to fulfill their duties earnestly and maintain the Trinity.
Outside the six orthodox paths to godhood, there was actually a side branch: Reincarnation and Descent. This was a reversal of Mantling—not to conform, but to create.
Reincarnation meant a Mortal god throwing their all into the present world, their original will transforming into fate. The representative figure was Nerevar, the leader of all Chimer and the mediator who made the Great Houses of Morrowind submit, who died in the Battle of Red Mountain. The Ashlanders prophesied his eventual return; in fact, his Reincarnation, the Nerevarine, was the protagonist of the elder scrolls III: Morrowind.
Descent meant a god (Et'Ada) throwing a part of themselves into the present world to carry out their will. Representative groups included Shezarrines and Akaviri Dragonborn.
This side branch had a heavy sense of epic and destiny, similar to the path of achieving Buddhahood after eighty-one tribulations in Journey to the West, where the cause, process, and result were all predetermined. Unsurprisingly, Simon could also be seen as a Descent of the Bodhisattva.
Thus, his ascension to godhood was inevitable. He would also inevitably achieve the Amaranth, merging this world into the Pure Land and strengthening the Bodhisattva's power.
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