When it comes to conflict between gods, the unfortunate beings caught within the collateral damage are the mortals. Despite being our creators they treat us as if we have no value, no soul, no consciousness, apathetically using and manipulating us in order to achieve their avowed devine goals. They righteously believe they are the perfect beings in their own universe, knowing everything, knowing everyone and controlling all of time and space. Well if that's the case, then they should know that even a mortal, who is driven to a certain point of no return, can ascend to godhood if need be, and take revenge on their creators who have so clearly damned them. A mortal who lives in peace, ignorant to the world around them, can be forced into a corner by terrifying memories. A wall in which the only way to escape is to break through such obstacles, and destroy their current boundaries, reforging themself anew. However, the gods are full of their pride, they wouldn't care for such folly, which also causes great ignorance among them, creating flaws and weaknesses, despite their self proclaimed perfection. A god isn't a perfect being, and gods don't always have the best interest for their subjects. Gods can be naive, gods can be irrational and above all else, gods are slaves to their own dignity. But it can only take a few mortals to prove them wrong
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OLIVIA VINSPEAR’S (POV)
The brittle chill in the air was as dominant as ever, and I could see as I walked into the living room from the kitchen and leaning against the doorframe, that my son's feeble child body was struggling to cope as he sneezed and shivered by the second. Winter was around the corner and It appeared that Raja, my husband, had picked up on his child's suffering too as he began to chuckle to himself while looking at him with a worried yet teasing expression. Raja always played with Elex in ways I thought were unessesarry, but I suppose it was a father and son thing that I would never understand. After all, I'm sure Elex is now used to his father making light of situations I assume he deems to be quite serious.
“Ok, I hear you loud and clear buddy” Raja said while smiling.
He got up from his seat and headed towards the fireplace, aiming his left palm at the stale oak. He turned his head towards Elex's direction while grinning at him, as if he were about to put on a show. Then suddenly, a vibrant yet smooth yellow glow emitted from the gem embedded in his left shoulder, as fire simultaneously was expelled from his hand and brought the dull wood ablaze. Everytime he did something involving his powers, Elex could never help but stretch his eyes open in amazement. As if everytime he saw it was the first time. Raja held a smug satisfied look on his face as he saw Elex's reaction. It seemed as if his intention was to show off in front of our son instead of provide warmth in the end. However, as I said, it must be a father and son thing. I will never understand where he gets off at things like this. However despite my judgement, I couldn't help bust smile as the two of two luaghed with each other.
What Raja did next, howeveer, seemed to be more like adding sugar ontop of the cake he had already made. Despite his acheivment in making Elex happy and warm, he proceeded to gift him with some book he had brought in from God knows where? He handed the large book to his son and watched as his face lit up again. Elex replied with thanks, however it seemed that all his attention had been completely stolen by the book as it entered his fingers. He studied its hard surface, rubbing his hands up and down the smooth spine now and then. Feeling the different material of the words plastered on its face. Looking up at his father with a great grin, smiling like he had just received his money's worth from gambling.
"Uhh, Raja, what do you think you're doing?" I asked my husband while Elex was distracted by the book.
He approached me with a smile, "Well, I knew Elex would love the little light show I put on, and I also knew it would be a good way for me to create a situation where I could give him the new book I bought for him," he said genuinly. "I mean, c'mon Olivia, the little devil doesn't know when to stop asking questions, may aswell let him find the answers himself, right?"
"What kind of book is it anyway? It looks old and worn." I said eyeing its cover from a far.
"I'm just about to tell Elex what it is, so you can listen if you wish." he whispered in close.
Taking a few steps back toward the fire place, he stood in plain view of room.
“Ahem” he coughed firmly. “Listen here Elex, that book will tell you everything you need to know about the history of our world, including information on arc stones. So if I were you, I’d keep a hold of it tight,” he said with an expression of concern.
I suppose the book looked somewhat valuable, I wasn't sure about the cost, but it's thick body couldn't have made it any cheaper.
"You see El, books like these are quite expesnive, sure. However, that's not where its true value comes from," he explained. "The value of this book, is in its rarity. Nowadays, it isn't that common to find books that hold general text about the world, since so much has been lost and there is so much we simply don't kow."he continued, glancing up at me every now and then. "Luckily, your father has a keen eye, and was able to spot it out amongst all the other garbage you usually see in the village market." he boasted. "Of courese, the shopkeeper knew that this was no ordinary book. Wherever he got it from, he didn't tell me, but I knew that after some haggling with the man, that I would be able to afford and obtain a seemingly priceless item."
"What's the name on the cover," I asked.
"'The history of Lumerick and the Arcin'," Elex read aloud.
"Does it sound familiar?" Raja asked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"No it doesn't."
I was expecting to recognnise the book, I was just curious is all. However, I had read my fair share of literature in the past and I knew some of the more famous titles along with a wide range of the underground ones. Unfortunately, a book like this was something new to me. I suppose the only thing that made me curious was the fact that it had such a prominant-sounding name, and yet, I had never heard of it.
“Thank you so much dad” Elex excalimed with red cheeks, so invested in his new gift that he didn't even look at his father as he said so.
After a few moments of admiring this family moment, I announced, "Honey, I came here to tell you that food is ready! Elex, go and get your little brother to come down for dinner!” I said thoroughly.
Raja told Elex to head to the kitchen and that he would go and get his younger brother. As he did so, he walked past me with his light blue eyes stairing into mine, kissing my cheek and then making his way up the stairs.
"Come on, Elex. Let's head to the kitchen." I said as i watched him get up from his seat slowly.
He staired at me with his deep-green eyes, wiping away his rich golden locks from his face as he did so. It would seem that his hair has grown quite a bit since he turned nine earlier this year. The more I look at him, the more I understand what Raja means when he says he took all of my features. His little brother, Casper, on the other hand, seemed to take all of the features from his father.
As we I followed behind Elex to the kitchen, Raja came down the stairs with Casper in his hands and I could confidently say that Casper was the spitting image of his father. The brunette hair and the blue eyes were dominant in both of them. Sometimes I wonder how there is no mixing of our features in any of our childrendown. However, I suppose it is all random. As we sat together around the table for dinner, Elex was telling his little brother all about the book his father had given him. I'm sure Casper wasn't taking in all the information that came out of Elex's mouth, but I was more surprised at how much he spoke about it, considering I only saw him flipping through the first couple of pages. However, that was our boy, wonderful at everything he did and driven with a passion that puts a smile on my face.
It's hard work taking care of this family, but it's a good type of hard work. I had always wanted a son, and two is great. I love them to bits, however, sometimes I do wish I had a daughter for myself to groom into a nice young lady, and watch how a younger version of myself makes all the boys swoon over her looks. Elex was a cute little boy, who I knew would cause trouble when he matured if not taught well, but sometimes it feels like I don't scold him enough, or more so that there aren't really any opportunities for me to do so. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I want to scold him, but it feels like he has known right from wrong since he was a toddler. Even Casper, his little brother, has gotten into more trouble than he did when Elex was his age. Nevertheless, he knows that I love him, and I know he loves me, so I guess that's all that matters. I was skeptical at first to imagine Raja taking care of children, as during his time as an adventurer he gave off rough first impressions. Looking at him now though really baffles my mind, I mean, is this really the same man who constantly drank and had a flirting problem? He puts in so much effort into the care of his sons, acting as a guide for them and showing them the right path. Almost as if he is ashamed of the way he was before he met me, and would be guilt-stricken if he saw his boys turn out to be the same.
As I finished serving the food on the table, Elex decided to educate me on what he had read within the book during the little time after he received it. He went on and on about how fabulous and cool arc stones were, and despite the fact that I was sure he had no idea how they worked or what they really were, he talked for ages about how his plans for the future included him becoming the strongest adventurer in the continent. A bold claim completely worthy of my fervent son, however, I didn't want him to get hurt or run into trouble as I know the risks of being an adventurer all too well.
“That's a very big dream, don't you think Elex?” I teased. “Have you any thoughts on learning from your grandfather on how elixirs are made? You know, he has been researching in that field since he was young and started our own family elixir business around thirty years ago. Just so you know, we are coming up smoothly, and it's only a matter of time before the family business is on par with some of the bigger companies.” I said proudly while folding my arms with a slim grin, peeking one eye open to see if my slight flex had caused a reaction.
“That's cool mommy,” Casper said unclearly with a face full of mashed potatoes, making a mess of himself all over his white shirt.
“I know, that is a very interesting mother, but I want to become a powerful adventurer and compete in the ‘Arcin Games’ when I'm older,” he said with his mouth wide open and glancing at his father to gain approval.
“Well I'm sure you will be able to do it Elex, after all I was a pretty strong adventure myself,” Raja boasted, getting up from his seat with a smug look on his face whilst helping Casper clean the mess he was making, and clearly overestimating himself. Elex turned his head to face me, waiting for any objection, but instead I sighed in defeat. There is no point in forcing him to do something he isn't fond of, afterall, I still have Casper. After Raja came and sat down next to me again, I looked across the table to see Elex staring blankly behind me with a stressed look on his face.
“Father, why is it getting so dark and foggy outside?” Elex shriveled, placing down his fork, and pointing at the window with a gentle yet slight shaking tone in his voice.
“Oh your right, that is strange… hmm, i'm not sure. I know it was nearing the end of the day, but this is unusual” he responded while getting up again and looking out the window with a confused look. I told the boys to keep eating their food while I got up myself to inspect what was really going on outside. Despite the fact that it was the evening and winter was just around the corner, even Elex could tell that the erratic change in color of the sky was unnatural. Suddenly, a huge wave of mana hit me and I could feel an ominous pressure engulf my body. I looked over at Raja who I could see felt it too by the look on his face, I told the boys to get up and put on their shoes with a thick shouting voice, not giving them a moment to question my words.
As the boys left, Raja turned to me and whispered “We need to leave the village, something isn’t right, I know a carriage post just a few hundred meters outside the town that still runs at night, we can go there and then head to an inn in the next village.” I nodded in agreement, and we simultaneously headed to the door where the kids were waiting. Despite the fact that Raja may boast about being a powerful adventurer, it wasn't all lies. He had experience, and I knew that since I used to join him on his adventures every now and then with his old party. Just now, I could see his old adventurer instincts take over again and I know that no matter what happens I can leave the safety of my family in his hands. As we approached the boys who were at the front of the house I could see them holding each other. Elex was too cunning to know something wasn't right, so I didn't bother lying to him. Casper on the other hand probably wouldn't even understand what was going on. I picked my youngest child up into my chest and we headed through the front door together.