“Ahhhh—”

Slam!

The wind flared against the obsidian platform at the top of Avalan's only mountain as Edna and Novus landed.

“—choo!”

Novus let out all the air that had collected inside his body with one baby-scaring sneeze.

Yawn!

Novus’ body shook alongside his yawn as it tried to adjust from travelling too far and fast. That was when a resounding slap on his back nearly sent him toppling over.

“Ah!”

Novus looked back at Edna, eyeing him suspiciously as she brought her hand back to her side. She spoke with questions laced in her words.

“Come now, just getting your body used to the ground again. No fear of flying?”

Novus decided to let it be as he waved to a greenish, brown-skinned friend standing at Edna’s backdoor entrance to her house.

“You could say that I've experienced flight before. Many times, actually. The hand holding was new, though.”

“I held your wrist.”

Novus snickered at Edna’s displeased words and approached the smiling Garbal.

Garbal looked weary from days of restorative efforts for his tribe. Edna had tucked away Garbal’s remaining tribe of goblins, but losing their home led to a large-scale constructive effort. Thankfully, the goblins weren’t busy and were an otherwise motivated construction force.

“Edna! Edna, but not Edna.”

Garbal approached them. Thankfully, after a few dips in the new basin of ocean water where the new goblin settlement was, Garbal at least smelt somewhat bearable now.

Garbal’s arms wound around the two of them and brought them in close as he gave rancid kisses on the cheek. Funnily enough, both Novus and Edna had the same series of reactions: initial disgust, reluctant acceptance, and a tucked-away hint of happiness that was hard to notice.

“Garbal, just call me Novus.”

“No. Vus?”

Perhaps due to letting Novus see a weak side of herself, Edna was the first to escape into the house as she wiped away Garbal’s spit from her kissed cheek.

“Just call him cheeky, and let’s get on with it already.”

That made Edna snicker as Novus put on the displeased face.

Suddenly, Garbal interlocked his arm with Novus’ as he whispered in Novus’ ear.

“Young Edna have joy face with kiss. Now she hold joy. Like you.”

Garbal’s finger struck the point over Novus’ heart as he reminisced about the olden days. Novus’ free hand rubbed the point over his chest as he looked at Garbal slip away and enter the house. Left alone to think for a moment, Novus couldn't help but doubt his initial opinion of the goblin.

That goblin is a little sharper than I thought. Who is Garbal? What role did he play in my previous lifetime?

Novus shook his head and cleared his thoughts. They wouldn't do any good unless he had the power to look back in time. So, he stepped into Edna’s eccentric aquarium house.

Upon entering, Novus saw a mess of etchings across the main living room floor a small distance away.

Shapes and patterns of rings, triangles, rectangles, and any form between were scribbled with neat care as the ink coming from Garbal’s runic pen added more. Meanwhile, Edna performed some type of check as her white fog searched the formation. Novus watched with envy as one of the rings on Edna’s fingers flashed before a small amount of whatever ink Garbal was using filled in a missing section.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I need to get a Spacial Ring or a Bag of Holding. Being able to store anything in a tiny little item is much faster than taking things out of my inventory. Also, it'll be easier in combat.

Within minutes, strange formation markings covered the entire living room except for four empty spaces on the floor. The center space was the largest circle, with a smaller circle adorning the side of it. The other two spaces had Edna and Garbal standing inside them, beckoning Novus to take his place in the center.

Is the smaller space for an item? A ritual object, maybe?

Regardless, Novus would find out soon.

Garbal watched as Novus made it inside the circle without touching the formation markings and looked toward Edna.

“Edna explain best.”

Sigh.

Edna’s face was still washing away the last dregs of reluctance as she waved her hand and murmured to herself.

“Is this what it’s like letting a child go?”

A slight force lifted the now-squirming Mino from Novus’ nest of crimson hair and gently stuck him inside the smaller circular space. Mino didn’t stop squirming until Novus pet the black beetle’s shell under Edna’s aggrieved glare.

“Don’t worry, little guy. They’d kill me before they’d lay a finger on you.”

“Listen up, and don’t interrupt.”

Novus met Edna’s piercing gaze as she started the preamble to the Soul Predator ritual.

Whew.

“Shall we start at the beginning? That was rhetorical. Don’t answer.”

Novus closed his mouth.

“Considering your disgusting knowledge base, I’m sure you're already aware of the Pantheon’s origin story? That was also rhetorical.

Regardless, I’ll walk you through it for the comparison to the Soul Predator’s origin story.

We start—”

Edna’s hand curled as the room around them twisted and blackened. Faint wisps of magical power surged from Edna as Novus found himself floating, and one by one, lights blinked into existence all around Novus.

Novus had never seen it himself, but he instinctively knew that this was what the Divine called the cosmos.

“—At the world’s peaceful beginning. No ruler, no cities, just one large sphere of mass.”

Novus squinted as a rapidly approaching rock became a colossal planet that expanded beyond his vision and widened his eyes.

“Decades of research, divine prophecies, and more, yet, the Pantheon can still not commit to one detail. But, at some point, the Angrean Goddesses and Gods, formally referred to as The Divine, appeared.”

Some of the lights shining in the sky around Novus grew at a similar speed to the colossal planet, and within moments, were close enough to make out the various details of their forms.

“The Divine, in their infancy, were fascinated by their abilities. Especially as each of their powers shaped the perfect planet: Angrea.”

Novus noted the shift in tone and watched as The Divine in the sky launched into Angrea’s desolate rocky crust.

“The Water Goddess’ steps would race tsunamis against the tornadoes of the Wind God’s breath. A single quaking punch of the Fire God’s fist would erupt volcanoes across the rocky crust as the Earth God attempted to seal them with a matching palm.”

Novus’ memory prompted the next piece of information before Edna finished her thought. But he didn’t speak out.

“Some among The Divine set themselves apart due to their innate strengths. The Pantheon’s holy scripture detail them as the Origin Six: The Time God, Creation God, Oblivion Goddess, Fate Goddess, Power God, and Space Goddess.”

Edna’s voice dimmed as she continued her narration.

“The next part divides into two paths of the same story.”

Novus’ ears perked up as he listened to Edna’s narration.

“The Pantheon claims the natural reign of The Divine began and ended with the endowment of blessings onto our planet. Namely, they created the species across our world as we know it.”

Novus watched as The Divine used their world-shaping powers to expand across the earth. Wild beasts and forlorn creatures housed the planet's tropics, deserts, valleys, and more. Particularly, Novus saw six of The Divine travel to the six points of Angrea and unleash a worldwide barrier that enabled such drastic changes; assumedly, they were the Origin Six. They, too, created influential species that reigned as kings of their six areas. An enormous tree rose to the heavens, another became trapped inside a rift in hidden space, and more roamed around the world with untameable powers.

“Having blessed the planet with comparably weaker creatures, The Divine faced a new problem: they were restrained and unable to roam around the very planet they had blessed. Should they run rampant on Angrea, the very creations they created, after countless amounts of effort, would perish under their uncontrollable might. Thus, to avoid cataclysmic battles, worlds like ours were born around Angrea. These are called The Divine Kingdoms, and from them, The Divine watched their greatest accomplishments with unsurpassed emotion. And, they are free to roam with their most trusted spirits and creations.”

Novus watched The Divine rise into the sky from Angrea and gathered together in a ring around the world. Then, simultaneously, The Divine released a blinding flash of light that consumed space and caused Novus to shield his eyes. When Novus reopened his eyes, rifts of land catering to each of The Divine were abundant like the stars in the sky and shone equally as bright.

At this point, Edna's voice stopped. Novus could tell her reluctance to continue, so he spoke up.

"And? Do you agree with the story everyone learns in the pantheons?"

Edna shook her head slowly, and her face turned solemn.

“The Soul Predator’s retelling is much more… resounding.”