The Beginning
Empty.
Void.
The darkness unfurled, stretching to infinity, a yawning chasm where no thought dared to wander. The space of nothingness. This was the primordial canvas, an untouched expanse, itself obscured by the silence of pre-existence. In this abyss, there was no longing, no whisper of intent—save for one.
Its purpose; does not know. Its infinite plain spread to no bound yet it existed in no place. Itself, no thoughts for cause. Frozen in a state, which it does not know what. However, it will soon to learn, the imagination of a bored god. The time will come, and it will. Is. Was. Going to receive their answers.
Then, in the heart of this nothingness, a spark ignited—a shining ember cutting through the void, a flicker of defiance against the eternal night. It pulsed with life, its warm glow clear against the chilling dark, drawing the attention of cosmic watchers.
The Primordial stirred in their slumbers. The Higher Dimensional peered down with eager eyes. The Gods held their breath. The Celestial unfaded. They gazed at the show.
And then, it happened.
A shockwave spewed forth from the spark.
A boom of creation so loud that the Primordial woke from their slumber.
A force so arrogant that the stoic face of the Celestial started to crack into a smile.
An explosion so powerful that the Higher Dimensional grinned for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
There had never been and never will be… an explosion as big as this one.
[BANG]
—--------------------------------------
Woosh…
…
The entities, now huddled up, stood there in amazement, gazing at the show as the heat flashed by them.
The newly birthed universe continued to expand and expand for tens of millions of years, unhindered by any form or laws.
Not soon after in the vast material universe, the first star was born. From the primordial cloud of gas and cosmic dust, gravity started to forge the celestial stars. Sparks of light darted across the cosmos. The age of gas giants began.
As hundreds of millions of years passed, gravity connected the planets to stars, and cosmic wonders formed in front of their eyes. Solar systems formed. Galaxies circled each other. Stars collapsed into supernovas. Others failed, creating black holes. Many bewitching miracles appeared and shined in this new universe.
As time passed while the dazzling existence expanded ever further, it had time to breathe. It began forming its consciousness. It watched. It watched as time unfroze itself. It watched as the first matter came into existence. It watched the stars being born. It watched the explosion expand. However, in the process, it granted rooms to think. Ponder what it is. Trying to find the answers to its ever expanding questions. But, before further thought, it suddenly noticed something. It noticed something small. It looked down. In the small part of itself, there, a strange group of entities gathered together.
Gazing downwards, it promptly saw many things. Many things that shouldn’t be. Unfathomable images of ghastly giants, unparalleled planes of existence, pure, undiluted cosmic power, walking concepts, and much more and somehow much less. Too many things to think about. Too many to comprehend. What are they?
Naturally, as a newborn, it turned its eyes away, reeling in discomfort at the sight before them. Click. However, not soon after, its eyes forcibly reverted back to the group, hearing a foreign noise emanating from a certain point. A new figure appeared out of a shining, white door. It wasn’t there before, nor did the girl.
Out walking from the doorframe was a human. More specifically, a girl, judging by the cute and feminine features across their face, with the hair length to her shoulder and heart-like face shape to match. To its surprise and confusion, her hair seemingly glowed in an ethereal black hue, moving images emanating from within it as if there were substance and depth in it. In that hair, like a window to another world, contained what appeared to be a dazzling representation of the universe and its galaxies. Almost like a reflection of itself. The human also seemed to be wearing mundane modern clothings. Modern Clothing? Humans? But there was something mystifying about this entity despite their appearance. The power of this being, entity, creature, whatever it was, had, it wasn’t natural. The aura exuding from it was akin to something incomprehensible and immense. Almost ethereal in its authority.
And almost like upon the arrival of the human, the other god-like entities began to transform into something less complex, more comprehensive to a mortal frame, while delicately attempting not to tear a rift into reality by their actions alone. Three of the four entities transformed into humanoid shapes. One came in the appearance of a humanoid hole in reality, consuming everything as they move, the other a celestial body with an accretion disk spinning around it, another a material form of a cosmic Dragonoid, and the others morphed into floating orbs.
After the material space adjusted to their new guests, the sudden shaking of the fabric of the universe slowly ceasing, a table popped out of thin air. Multiple chairs followed suit and lined up around it, teacups suddenly landing upon the surface of the table as it materialized from the aether. “Have a seat everyone~!” The human spoke in a smooth, angelic voice, her barely contained excitement escaping her lips. Taking a seat as per request, most of them grabbed and began to drink the tea, despite not having a need to. The human watched amusedly, quietly giggling as she watched some of the orbs attempt to drink a cup.
Hearing her laughter, it looked over at the orbs, seeing a collective of many different colorful spheres, each emanating in a soft glow as they floated in the empty, dark space. With a teacup in hand, they promptly drink them, despite not having any physical hands to do as if to fulfill some kind of social custom it was not familiar with. Meanwhile, the image of a ball trying to drink tea with the power of their mind did not help the little human hold in her growing laughter.
“Greetings my lord,” a cosmic nebula-shaped body spoke first. Two golden eyes shined out of her face. Complimenting her looks, her body was surrounded by a beautiful orange light accretion disk, the edge spinning in a fast, albeit hypnotic, rhythm. Noting her appearance, she slightly resembled the ghastly giants from before. Or was it the cosmic power one? It couldn't tell.
“Well, if it isn’t the Celestial herself,” the human girl greeted back with sarcasm, a cheeky smile tugging at her lips. Her body bounces in barely concealed excitement as she continued, “And serious as always.”
“True my lord,” she said with a giggle, unable to contain her stoic appearance. Her eyes bend upward with glee. “How have you been…-” Both of them continued to talk to each other, having a conversation in their own little world.
Before the conversation got derailed, a loud “ahem” echoed from an empty space next to them. No, not an empty space. A gaping hole in reality that was shaped like a human with only his mouth and white teeth visible.
“Ladies, it is rude to ignore your guests, no? So, let's get back on track now, shall we? So… Why are we here?
“My apologies.”
“Hehe~ oops. Wait, ladies?! Ahem, whatever. Ignoring him, as you can see, this is my latest creation! With this blank canvas as a stage, I wanna set a game for us. The game of civilization. Like rulers of kingdoms, we shall guide and lead the people into a better path, watching them grow from nothing. But here’s the twist, the world shall have magic and power!”
“... okay, and? Going to explain a little more in detail?”
“Nope!”
“...”
“...”
“That is swell and dandy my lord, but I do have to ask, why? What purpose does it have this time?” the Celestial said.
“Cause I’m bored! I just wanted something fun and fresh. I wanted to make new creations for us. To see and watch them grow! It’s gonna be fun~!”
“Oh? And why would you need us?” the Dimensional said while looking around at the entities surrounding the table.
“You’re gods, no? I planned to give these people a form of power, so why don’t you help me create some. Also, you guys are no fun and I, Lord of Creation, aim to change that. I challenge you to watch over my world. And stop being lazy and try to have some interaction! Talk to them or something.”
“Eh, I guess it wouldn't hurt to exercise these old bones or two.” he sighed and smiled while the Primordial shrugged, his dragon-like claws lifting up in a gesture of laziness.
As they started to talk and ask questions, communicating and exchanging ideas with each other, they planned the future and health of the new world. They continued talking, and the Celestial asked, “Right, yeah. I can give them life and growth. But in this world, what would it become?”
The girl stopped for a moment and said, “The world would be like any other, but multiple species and races inhabit the same planet. I want them to grow and adapt. Learn about each other. Advance their society and its form of power. And… I want them to reach the stars. Explore the cosmos. Greet other creatures from different planets, solar systems, and galaxies. But… I don’t know how long that will take, however, here, I do hope. To the eventuality.”
She stopped for a moment and continued, “Anyways, I want some magic in this world! Any kind would do. Have you guys heard of Western Fantasy? I want to make the fantasy concept of it and turn it into reality! Dragons in the sky, giants walk the vast oceans, krakens swim in the depth of the cold sea. I want their technology to advance over time from the stone age to the medieval age then to the golden age of technology and magic or something. Of course, this will be their own choice and creation, we will not take part in their design. And then we can have a power system and karma system to encor-”
“Ahem, before all that, what are the game rules for this new world? This magic and power?”
“Oh, the game rules will be found when we get there. I’ll improvise on the way,” she exclaimed unconfidently while she moved her gaze elsewhere. “For the powers, I want all of us to make one gift for this universe. Any would do. And no spoilers! I want it to be a surprise. Oooo, I already got some in mind.”
As in saying this, she began to make diagrams and lines in front of her eyes, her hand extending out in quick motions to shift the sudden paragon of magic displaying before their eyes. The lines moved in sync with her fingers and arms, the diagrams circling and overlapping each other now and then. While the thread of gray mists gathered and spewed out from [Creation], she began gently floating away in her own headspace, leaving the rest to speak on their own.
Distracted in her thoughts, the Dimensional turned his head over to the others, his mouth opening to say, “Been a long time, no? Last time we met, I’m pretty sure you gave me a black eye! Haha!”
Hearing his voice, the Universe couldn’t help but to note his appearance. The contrast between his white teeth and black void made his appearance uncanny, but compared to his first appearance, this was relatively nothing. “Couldn’t be helped,” the dragon-shaped humanoid said as he turned, seeing the comment aiming at him. “Could’ve let me sleep more.”
A voice came from a distance, “My fault.”
“Hmph, yeah, it was. But, I suppose it was a decent show nevertheless,” he said, his head turning away and back to the Dimensional. “Are you going to give the inhabitants an administration system?”
“Haha, heavens no. They have to earn it. Learn and experience. Experiment and adapt. Then, they will have the power to wield.”
“It’s not the system is it?”
“Who knows?” he smiled, “What about you?”
“Simple, just give them strength. What they do is up to them.”
“Mmhm, and you guys?”
“I have an answer in mind already. Unfortunately, I can not say it right now. And no, it is not a technique,” the Celestial said, turning her head to the Primordial.
“We also have decided already,” a floating sphere added, the orb glowing each time they talked.
Before they continued, the human girl flew back. “Okay, let’s wrap this up. I need to create the world. Now give. Give me your stuff and people.”
Four balls of different energy group together. They landed in front of her. “Well, show time. HEYYYYYYY! Not going to show yourself after watching us all this time? Not gonna say hi?”
“?”
“YEAH, you! Come down here and say hi.”
It didn’t know what to do as it sat in confusion, staring at the human calling out to it. Reaching a conclusion after a long, silent contemplation, a thought promptly played in its mind: It had to come and greet the girl. However, when it tried to copy the girl’s appearance to mimic their action, it was met with failure. Forming matter and life was not so easy. On its third attempt, it finally made a pitch-black, humanoid woman. She began to move each limb one by one until she was able to fly. She glanced back and glided down.
They watched, waiting in anticipation for the Universe’s first words. Nodding in satisfaction, the human girl sat down, contentedly drinking some of the tea. When it finally reached their level, it said, “Who am I? Am I your child?”
“PFFFT,” the girl choked, accidentally spraying the cup’s contents out of her mouth.
“Are you my mother?” Another blow was struck, her hand grasping at her chest in pain. The group burst into laughter and some chuckled in amusement for some reason.
“Hahahahahaha. That is funny, oh my. I haven’t gotten a good laugh like that in a while.” Before the girl could emotionally settle with the unexpecting familial words, a laugh echoed from behind. Another human walked out from behind the girl, who was still clutching their chest. A new entity.
“Oh hello, my name is Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar. And this…” pointed to the girl on the floor, “This is my father, God. Despite his feminine appearance, he is… male.”
“Ahem, you can call me God or Father, I don’t mind. For your, uh, questions, you are the universe, you are not my child, yes, mostly everything and anything is created by me, but that does not mean I am their creator. Yes, I do take pride in my creation, but they could have or will have a will of their own. No object nor life shall be owned by another. Although I may not be your parent, I don’t mind opening an adoption center :D. Gasp, you can be Lucifer's adopted sister!”
“Okay Father, enough.” A yelp of surprise escaped from God’s lips when his son jabbed his elbow into his ribs.
Universe…?
“Ow! Right! Hello! We just need a little bit of your time,” he took out the four balls of light as he spoke. “Hold these, we’ll need them for later.”
“Alright, let me introduce you to the people behind me. This is Ava, Zhao Ji, Aruivan, and Pantheon. And everyone, this is… Oh yeah. What do you like to call yourself?”
The group focused on the new arrival. They looked eager and curious about how this being will make a ripple across [Creation].
“My name is… Sol,” a feminine ethereal voice spoke.
Some of them gave a look of surprise. The others unfaded and gave her a warm welcome. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
“NOW SHOO. Bugger off. Come back later. We have planets to make and creatures to form. C’mon, let’s go!” Unable to contain his excitement, he grabbed Lucifer and Sol. He blasted off with high dimensional speed into the dark universe, the speed shocking the both of them. But, Lucifer already accepted his fate. A blue trail was left in their wake as the four outer gods looked at the lingering lights left behind.
“Bless their souls. Oh well. Aye little dragon, gonna take a nap again?”
“No, I’ll take a look around here.”
“Shame, I guess I’m going to sleep under a star by my lonesome.”
“Friends, thank you for your time. I hope we’ll meet again someday. Until then, this is where I take my leave.” Ava disappeared from this universe.
One by one, the others left as well.
/—/
Chapter 1 - Balance
In the far outer region of space, a molten rock sat dormant, peacefully orbiting its star. Suddenly, a giant meteor, a juggernaut of cosmic debris, appeared out of the blue. And the weird thing was, the meteor was heading toward it. It flew closer and closer in a trajectory just happened to be following the orbiting rock. When it neared the planet's atmosphere, bits and pieces of the meteor started to break off the main body. However, the impact was imminent. So, as nature took its course, the two celestial bodies collided in a cataclysmic explosion, disintegrating all in an instant of blinding light and searing heat.
Shockwaves rippled through space, scattering the remnants far and wide. Thus, for the next millions of years or so, the broken planet filled the empty space with fiery debris and volatile energy, leaving the area that once was a peaceful world in a red hue. After some time lapsed, it started to settle from the explosion, beginning to gather up and snowball in size as gravity pulled at each other. It started to reforge the broken planet. Unfortunately for those pieces that were too far out, they started to form their own mini body. It formed into the moon while the primary planet gained most of its mass back. This was how their world and moon was created.
Once the planet finished absorbing, it got bombarded with mini meteors from the asteroid belt without a break in between, as if it was orchestrated by some impatient god from the sideline. Incidentally, these meteors had pockets of ice within them, but the heat was still too great. Due to it, the ice quickly evaporated into steam, leaving the planet’s sky in an endless cloud of mist. Once the planet finally cooled down from the events, it sat in silence again, orbiting around its star in peace.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Then, another thousands of years passed, causing the stream to cooled down, the mists starting to condense into clouds and rainwater. The world began to rain for the first time, and it did not stop. The rain flooded the world in an endless tide of water, covering the planet in vast oceans that stretched across the world. No land mass can be seen in sight. Until a volcano erupted, causing multiple large and small continents to take shape. These lands will later be called the great four. Not soon after that, life formed and populated the ocean. The sky became blue. The land became covered in green. One by one, creatures started to walk the Earth.
Overseeing the progress of the planet, Sol and god sat in contemplative silence, watching over the new inhabitants scouring the lands. They watched species strived and died. Civilization rose and fell. Technology bloomed and regressed. However, to the dismay of the bored god, the world became naught what he had imagined or aspired to be. The planet turned darker and grimmer each passing century. A race would take a step forward in progress, only to take two steps back. It stalled their development and entrenched themselves deeper into the abyss that was their own making.
It was occurring across the globe, and he had no influence over them to stop it, short of direct divine intervention. But it wasn’t yet his time. So, his lips pursed into a pout, his brows narrowed in frustration. He wasn’t much of a planner anymore, hence why it became like this, but he had an idea. It was still a working progress… but it could work. His frown changed into a firm nod. Suddenly, to his surprise, a smile tugged at his lips despite his previous displeasure, his eyes promptly darting to the wall of texts as it continued.
Nevertheless, things would change with the emergence of a lone boy in the ever-divided world that was his planet. From the former cosmic dust, this boy would become the bridge for those in need, an opportunity to cease strife, or a leader to those who wished to follow. His journey to help others would be difficult. Painful. Horrifying even. But, he would endure. He would brave through. He would become the beacon of hope in the world of darkness. Or would he just die like the rest? Only time will tell.
Thus. The story unfurled.
/—/
On the planet, on a hill, a lone boy sat in silence, gazing over the vast jungle. A piece of hide clothing covered his lower body, and a basket held in his hand. In the distance, a tiny tribe could be seen, a cave within the walls of the village was slightly visible. When the simple boy refocused from his daydreaming, he started to head back to where his family was. During the trip, he picked up some fruits and herbs along the way.
Although it wasn’t much compared to the daily yield of his village, he was still happy with his progress. Soon, he heard noises ahead that sounded like activities from people. Slightly speeding up, he strode to the main entrance, his footsteps growing quicker, until, suddenly, a voice spoke out from the gate. “Lazas! Where have you been? We have been looking all over the place for you!”
A pair of women and men walked over to Lazas with heavy footsteps and a less than pleased expression plastered across their faces. These figures were the worried parents of the boy. Arriving in front of him, his father promptly said, “Son, don’t you ever run off like that. You made your mother and I worry about you!”
This was his father, the chief of the tribe. He might be harsh on him sometimes, but nevertheless, he cared for him. Even now, despite his father practically yelling at him, Lazas could hear his father’s concerned tone laced through his stern reprimand. It made him feel warm.
“But father, I found some fruits! We can give it to the others! Since we haven’t found many foods recently, I thought I could help out.”
Hearing his words, his father promptly sighed. He was handed the title of chief because he had the capability of a leader. He’s responsible for getting his people enough food to survive through the seasons. He still took pride in his work. However, his son was right, there wasn’t much left, and it really damaged his pride as chief. But, he also really couldn’t get angry at his words. He sighed once more, “I know, but you can’t go out there alone. There might be beasts roaming the areas.”
“I am old enough to go hunting and foraging already. And soon I might be strong enough to fight with you!”
“No, you aren’t. Come here you,” his mother said, grabbing him.
After 5 minutes of hellish scolding, the boy was let go and wandered off into the village. Around the village were simple wooden fencing and tents. It was a peaceful tribe, doing what they could to survive, doing whatever needed to be done around the village. Women and men crafted stone spears, sewed clothes, tanned skins, and more to contribute to their homes. But the people around him looked malnourished and slim as he walked through.
He could see the rib cages of some. He couldn’t help it upon seeing their state compared to his, thus he came up to one of them, extending the basket with a hand. “Hey, I found some fruits deep in the jungle. I hope you like them.”
The man paused for a moment, then smiled. “I’m okay. We need to save strength around here. You are still growing up, no? You need to eat more to become a hunter,” he says while patting the boy on his head, causing Lazas to pout.
“No! I insist!” He shoved the basket closer to him.
“Ha, okay okay. I’ll take it. Can’t help it if you're insisting. Vanvari, come out here. We got food.” A young girl came out from one of the tents. She looked petite, almost on the verge of malnourishment. “This young man helped give us these fruits. Now what do we say to people who helped us?”
“Thank you, Lazas.” A young nervous voice came out from the girl.
“Haha, good girl.” Her father patted her, causing her to softly giggle. Then, taking one of the fruits from the gift, she bit down on it, her teeth taking a chunk out of the plump Abbas. The sweet, albeit sour, juice burst into her mouth, making her taste buds tingled in delight. A pure smile promptly played at her lips, her thin body cutely bouncing in a mixture of pleasure and hunger.
Seeing their joy, it filled him with his own happiness. Now than ever, he was determined to receive more food for his people. If it makes them happy, then he must do it. Suddenly, as if upon uttering those thoughts in his head, he felt a strong, heavy pressure fall over him. Something immense. Almost suffocating in its nature. But, he knew what this was. It was responsibility, something his father taught and instilled in him. Feeling the sensation and a new drive in his system, even if temporary, he waved goodbye in a hurry to the family duo and thanked them for their time. In turn, the family smiled with joy, warmly waving goodbye at him.
Swiftly running back out the front gate, he tried his best not to draw any attention to himself while sneaking out. Dusk was coming, so he hurried his footsteps. He snuck out of the village, quickly coming back to the spot where he found the fruit, now with a larger basket. The tree was brimmed with fruits and color, its leaves dazzling in the evening light. He was happy that he found this tree that can produce so much. Grabbing all he could, he searched around the jungle for any more food, trees, or other edible shrubberies for his village. Unfortunately, seeing nothing more, he sighed in disappointment.
So, he stopped, his foraging ceasing, his body turning back to the village. However, as he prepared to go home, he suddenly tripped on a rock. When his foot touched the stone, it felt weird. He looked down to see a metallic stone. He had never seen metal in his life before until now. He reached down and grabbed it, and it felt smooth on the surface. Weird. But, he couldn’t care less right now. So, he pocketed it away in his pants as he strode back.
However, to his surprise, he heard a quiet voice coming in front of him. He was startled at first, thinking that it was his parents, but the soft voice from the distance didn't sound like them. He slowly walked over some distance forward, only to find a stone structure that had a bird skull curve into it. Before he could examine it further, his vision suddenly turned black as the surroundings got sucked of its color. He fell unconscious, his body making a soft thud as it met the ground.
/—/
Then, what felt like hours to him, he finally woke up, his eyes reopening in a hurry. He glanced at his new surroundings, his eyes surveying the unknown location he found himself in. In this plain, no features except for the white fog on the floor could be seen. The sky was an orange hue, and the surroundings spread to infinity. He tried to look further, but there was no end in sight. As he got up, the cloudy ground moved out of the way, the fog spreading out of his path.
Upon sensing the smoothness flowing over his skin, his eyes slowly gleamed with childish excitement. He began to “test” the weird cloud and its properties, closely examining its reactions with glee despite the situation. Once satisfied, he stopped and looked around to see anything new until his eyes landed on a figure, next to a shrine. They came into existence without making a single sound. Both of them weren't here before. In shock, he took a step back in surprise. Seeing this, the man simply smiled at Lazas and said, “Hello young one.”
When the man spoke, he suddenly felt a comforting feeling overcome him. He felt like he could trust this man, the words coming out were like the sweetest honey in his ears. Then, he shook his head out of his trance, becoming wary of this finely dressed gentleman. The feeling was foreign, and he did not like it. “Heh. No need to fret, I will not harm you.”
The boy remained silent, his eyes still widened in surprise, until he said, “Who are you? Where am I?”
“I am Lucifer, and this is God’s Domain,” he gestured around him, his arm extending outward. His black sleeves fluttered in the air as he spoke.
“Wait… God’s Domain? Hey! Are you a god?” He was shocked. He had only heard of them in stories. Apparently, they could move mountains, split oceans, and make the weather rain on command.
“Yes, guess you could say that. I am the Lord of the Afterlife.”
Hearing his title, the boy gasped in shock and quickly kowtowed, causing a slight chuckle of amusement to escape from Lucifer’s lips, “I’m so sorry for being disrespectful. Please forgiv-e me. Wait, am I dead? Am I in the afterlife?”
“Hmm. I will say this again, there’s no need to fret. You are truly well and fine. The reason I brought you here today was because I want you to decide. Decide rather or not if you are willing to follow me. Without any fares and dramatics, I simply offer you to become my champion. I sense you have the talent to become one.”
“Champion? What’s that? What does that do? Do I have to do something for it?”
“Champions are beings that are blessed by the gods. Graced with the power of gods. And the potential for infinite growth. They’re able to channel holy magic through their blood with the help of the divine. Any wish can be granted once the title of apostle is place upon your name. But this will only come after. To gain their attention, the gods’ eyes, one must have the highest qualifications. Most chosen must pass a trial set by them. But for you, there’s really no need. You will have many challenges in life ahead of you, some sooner than you expected. That’ll do for now. Pass through them, and you will gain my approval.”
“What challenges are there? Is it like being the fastest or strongest person in my village? There are more gods? And… this might be a silly question, but can I wish for more food?”
“Sure, I suppose I can grant that for you. And for your other questions, well… you’ll find the challenges soon enough. That’s all I can tell you,” Lucifer reached his hand out to the boy, offering a farewell handshake. “I wish you luck in your endeavor.”
Lazas was excited by the prospect of becoming powerful. But, he quickly shook his head to reaffix his thoughts, slowly making his way over to him. He took a closer look at this deity, trying to see whether or not this man was lying. Although he held some fear and reverence, he still needed to keep a clear mind. Meanwhile, Lucifer simply stood there, patiently waiting for the boy. Lazas sighed after a long, thorough look, unable to glean information from his expression alone. Shaking his head, he grabbed the outstretched hand hanging in the awkward silence. As he shook it, the man said, “This is goodbye for now.”
Then, Lazas disappeared from this plain, vanishing without a single trace left. Once the boy was gone, he dropped his smile and turned back into his stoic self. He glanced down at the spot where the boy once stood, and couldn’t help but give a faint smile. “Do you think he will be okay?”
A familiar yet feminine voice echoed from his side. The voice, of course, came from his father. Then, he walked out of thin air as he became visible, his body gradually materializing in a vacant space next to his son. Lucifer replied, “Of course, Father.”
“But—but… I just hope that he’ll make it in time,” he said with worry on his face. His expression filled with concern and angst, his arms bouncing in anxiety. His once ever perpetual cheerfulness was now covered by a solemn quietness. Let the story be true. He thought to himself. “Please, don’t die Lazas.”
“It’s okay father. He knows how to fight. Plus, I tried speeding up the process,” he patted his father’s dazzling hair on the head to let him know not to worry about it. “What have gotten into you recently? Why are you always so gloomy?”
“Stop it! I’m not a kid,” he said, waving his hand off and pouting. However, when Lucifer stopped, he turned to him. “Wait, you didn’t have to stop…” as he grabbed Lucifer’s hand back onto his head.
Lucifer chuckled in amusement. Did he really changed? He couldn’t help but think to himself.
/—/
Waking up, Lazas’ vision turned to their original colors, his surroundings saturating with emerald pigments as the green jungle reappeared in his sight. He was still in the same position when he left, laying on the ground, covered in dirt. In front of him was the stone structure with a skull incurved in it. Standing up, he gazed at it. Was that a dream? No, it felt so real not to be. So weird. If the gods do exist, would I get—never mind, that would be too absurd. Hmm, I’ll ask my father all about this later. A sharp jolt of static tingled through his hands, making him shiver unexpectedly. What the—what was that?
His heart started to race for some inexplicable reason, his adrenaline suddenly surging through his veins. This… I know this. Last time, when someone was being gnawed by a Dire Boar, a tingle shot up my hands like this. Even when I was no where nearby. He quickly glanced around, his eyes rapidly surveying the greenery for any threat. There were none. So, what could this mean? Even though he’s young, he’s very intelligent even in situations like these. Lazas’s head started to analyze, but soon enough he panicked as he realized what could happen.
‘You’ll find the challenges soon enough.’
Then, correlating Lucifer’s message to his tingling sensation, his eyes widened in slight fear, his head shaking in disbelief. In fact, he refused to believe it, so he had to make sure. He lowered his stance, his legs squatting in a springing motion. In one quick dash, he ran. He dropped all he had, the basket, fruits, whatever was needed to lose the extra weight. Except for one. Gaining momentum, he kept running and running without a breather in between. With the adrenaline still in his system, he zoomed by the forages, dodging through the trees and bushes. Leaping onto a branch, he slid down a vine down a cliff. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the perimeter of the village.
Then, to his horror, he heard screams and clashing from a distance. It… it was true. His home was being invaded by beasts. He stood there frozen as he couldn’t register his current reality, unable to comprehend the events unfolding in front of his eyes. No, no no no. Please, anything but a Dire Beast. But he shook his head to refocus, pushing away the worse scenario his mind that was plaguing his thoughts. Moving out of his headspace, he slowly edged his way toward the cave to see the situation. Sneaking by, trying not to draw any unwanted attention, he seemingly blended into the surroundings, his movement subconsciously mimicking the natural flow of the environment. When he finally reached the broken gate in front of the village, he peeked in to scan the situation, his eyes promptly landing on eight broken tents and two corpses. A man and a woman, dead on the ground. Yet, the sound of fighting could still be heard ahead.
His face filled with shock and grief, his eyes mortified. Then, replacing his sorrow, a slight spark of thunder flashed through his pupils afterwards, his hands slightly gripping into a fist. He closed the distance between him and the dead body, hurriedly walking past the wall. As he crossed through the gate, he saw six large Dire Wolves on the other end of the village, at the cave’s entrance. Each of them reached six feet tall, and, to make matters worse, two more were coming to reinforce. Dire… Wolves. This was not good.
On the other side of his home, most of the hunters were clashing them head on, pushing the giant beasts back little by little. While all of the others must have fallen back into the cave so they could push back against the horde of wolves in the tight corridor, it seemed like it couldn’t fit all, not all 62–no… 60 people inside. So they were forced to resort to fighting outside of the cave, where they had no advantage against larger numbers. Thus, leading to a few casualties. Reminded of the two dead bodies in front of him, his face turned into rage, his jaw tightening. He promptly picked up the stone spear and javelins from his tribesmen’s corpse. He breathed in, his heart pumping with adrenaline.
A Dire Wolf usually needed four men to bring one down. It was quite an impossible task for Lazas to handle alone, even with the aid of his father. He knew he was doing something stupid. He knew it was foolish. He knew it would be a difficult challenge ahead… but he must. He must end them. He had to protect those who could not defend themselves. And avenge those who had fallen. At this moment, he vowed to kill those wolves. No matter the cost.
Breathing out a barely concealed tempest, he walked closer to the battlefield, slowly ascertaining the situation of the fight. He saw six of the hunters, each of them fighting off the pack in a tight-knit formation. One of them seemed to be struggling to fend off the dire beast, however, in that very instance, he surprisingly abled to lunge his spear into a side of the wolf, the weapon cutting through its skin and deep into its bone.
Not long after, he succumbed to blood loss as the wolf retaliates, sinking its massive teeth into his shoulders. Seeing this, Lazas did not hesitate and promptly threw one of the javelins at one of the two reinforcements, hoping to relieve some of the pressure. [Talent: Aura of Combat]. As he threw the spear, his blood boiled with rage and his eyes gleamed with unnatural focus. The javelin flew high in the air, gaining 40 feet of distance, until it fell and landed on the wolf’s back with a sickening, wet thunk, its cries echoing through the surrounding.
-8 damage
The piercing damage from behind made it fell over, tripping over itself as the reinforcement ceased in its track. It grunted in pain as the spear embedded itself into its spine perfectly, the other wounds crying in agony at the new injury. Seeing the weakened creature, Lazas took advantage of the situation to dash toward the wolf, his figure blurring with unnatural swiftness. [New skill unlocked!] [Action Surge: 1–>0]. Without giving it a chance to retaliate, he held the spear with both of his hands and thrust downwards, causing the spear to sink through its head with a crunch.
-8 damage
With the weapon piercing through its skull with ease, the wolf tensed up for a moment, its body stiffing in shock. But, it ultimately went limp, its corpse failing to response as it died. One down. Seven more to go. The other wolves turned, seeing their comrade laid dead next to the small child, who had moved with unnatural momentum. Snarling, two of the Dire Wolves broke off from the main pack and dashed toward him, while the other reinforcement followed suit. Seeing this, a hunter, who was on the verge of death, took advantage and nipped one of them with a slash. A last act before he died.
-3 damage
Without slowing down, the wolf dashed over 25 feet toward Lazas in a flash, its hulking figure invading his personal space. Then, it opened its canine, his entire body launching forward to bite his body. Unable to retrieve his spear out of the head in time, the razor-sharp teeth sank into his shoulder, its mouth tearing pieces of his flesh off. Lazas howled in pain.
-7 damage
[20/27HP]
Ripping off the chunk of meat from him, its whole body pulled away in one swift motion, giving some distance to itself. So… so much blood. Gritting his teeth in pain, Lazas picked up his weapon and prepared to fend off the other incoming wolf. Before that, the second wolf seamlessly dodged two of the hunters' attacks and maneuvered over to him. Luckily, he used his spear to push back the wolf, making them miss entirely. Distracted, the third one ran to his left side and bit him from behind.
-12 damage
Chunks of flesh fell into the wolf’s mouth as he tore half of his calf off. His blood soaked the grass, dyeing them in a crimson mush. “ARHHHH!” Screaming in a bloodlust craze, he turned around and retaliated with a stab in the face.
-5 damage
It backed off as the tip of the spear slashed its mouth, the edge cutting a permanent scar through its left cheek. The Dire Beast snarled in pain. His slashes and thrusts were perfect, always landing a hit on one of them no matter the circumstances. The second one narrowed its eyes, its mouth turning into a scowl along with its brother. A bit of concern and fear creeped into their gesture. They were all hurt, the accumulated damage making it difficult to move. Not to mention, killing the rest of the humans after the battle would be a challenge. They needed to be careful.
Then, a noise came from the distance that sounded like three bodies hitting the floor. Before Lazas’ mind could wander off, one of the three wolves continued its attack, attempting to bite down on his right arm. Unable to pull back in time, its jaw chomp upon his limb with a powerful crunch. Lazas screamed in agony. Using its massive frame, the beast flung him to the side to side, its grip holding onto him tightly. Clutching onto his shoulder, he screamed in pain as he felt his arm slowly ripping off him fiber by fiber. Snapping of his muscles could be heard echoing through the battlefield with each shake. And, in a final motion, it tore out his arm. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Critical hit
-14 damage
His body went flying, his whole self landing on the ground with a heavy thud. It was a hectic situation with no time to think or talk. Before he could even notice, his arm got torn off. Not even enough time to register the pain, fortunately. Now, he found himself dying of blood loss. Or was its shock? He couldn’t tell as his life started to fade away from his eyes. He looked around for one last time, and he saw the last two hunters dying one by one. Saw the beautiful trees around the village. Saw the vast orange sky. Saw the sunset in his last breath. The serenity was nice.
However, it was not yet his time. “NOOOO!” A voice of a horror-stuck man echoed from within the cave. The man quickly ran out, dodging the wolves left and right, and threw a javelin. The flying javelin impacted the wolf, causing the beast who had the audacity to killed his son to bark in pain.
-8 damage
Lazas’ consciousness was fading out of existence until he heard his father’s voice. He opened his eyes once more to see his father fend off two incoming attacks and counter them with an attack of his own. Not yet, not over. He roared and attacked the wolf on the left side, his eyes burning back alive with an undying fury.
-10 damage
[New skill unlocked!] [Second wind: Restore to 1 hp] [1–>0]. The wolf took it but struggled to stay up. Then, the father stabbed it in the legs in addition.
-3 damage.
It growled at him and lashed back with a bite. He fought back with the spear, keeping it at a distance and making it miss. Then, he sidestepped a second wolf that was waiting for him to make a flaw in his movement. The wolf missed, incidentally receiving an attack because of that. The spear opened up a cut as he launched forward.
-4 damage
Unfortunately, there were too many wolves, too many to count, and one of them bit down on his father. The injured one tore out a deep wound.
-8 damage
Then, three more reinforcements came to the wolves’ aid, one of them had half a human body between its teeth. “DIE,” Lazas said with a spear striking the injured wolf.
-10 damage
With a missing arm, he struck the wolf in the neck, piercing through the other side with a fatal gash. The beast’s eyes widened in agony, and quickly went stiff. It hurt so much. The pain from moving alone was unbearable, but Lazas gritted his teeth nonetheless. Meanwhile, the wolf struggled against the spear’s grip, but it was already too late. It was struck by the back of weapon’s head, the sharp edge digging deep into its flesh and organ. The beast could only hang limply as its life faded away.
Seeing it die, Lazas saw an opportunity to get out of this situation and began to formulate a plan. Finished after what felt like minutes, but was a few seconds in reality, he suddenly pulled up the spear toward the sky with all his strength, causing the beast to flail its limbs around. The blood from the wolf began pouring down on him like a tide. Now drenched from head to toe, he gazed downward, his crimson-like attire catching their eyes. The battle ceased for a moment.
Then, he slowly lowered the corpse next to his mouth and suddenly bit into it with his teeth, tearing out its head with the help of his spear. Just as they had done to him, he ripped and ripped. With each fiber popping, the noise caused them to cringe in pain. And, with one final pull, Lazas snapped the head off its body, the tore echoing with a sickening click.
Holding the head in his mouth, he swapped the spear for it in a swift motion. Then, like a proud owner, he held it up high like a trophy as if to show the consequences to all those who had defy him. Witnessing the needless debauchery, the surrounding went quiet for a moment. The headless corpse impacting the ground was the only thing that could be heard.
“Two down, six more to go,” he finally uttered, his husky voice breaking through the silence. His tone dipped each syllable and words with a hint of promise and zeal. He simply smiled, gazing over each of them one by one with a glint.