“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

Damián awoke to the sound of his eternal enemy; the alarm clock rang with an Incessant ring that never seemed to end. Waking up was always the hardest part of the day but afterward Damián had the energy to do what he always did every morning for the past 9 years, studying, Damián had a thirst for knowledge that went beyond simple curiosity. When he was younger he would always gaze out into the stars with wonder. While other kids played and socialized Damián was inside studying, and his efforts paid off, he graduated college at 13 focusing on physics and engineering Damián believed he had a firm grasp on the working of the world but in reality, he knew that was just hubris. As with the scales of life Damián’s knowledge came with the price of social ineptitude, he did not understand other people or emotions, as a child he understood this mild form of psychopathy was a good trade off for the dreams and plans he had. Damián had one goal and that was to become a god , he realized that if he was going to understand the world it would take power and resources that no other human king or empire could achieve.  Waking up to study to become god everyday did not seem practical or possible, in 2134 if you did not work every day you was either wealthy or homeless, and if Damián was to become a god being homeless certainly would not be very productive in achieving that, due to that fact Damián prioritized using his gathered knowledge for profit, making wealth from stocks and other entrepreneurial ventures until he amassed his current fortune, sometimes his status as a orphan worked wonder for his current independance and other times the stabbing hatred of his circumstances leading to his orphan status consumed him, and also pained him. At this point these were the only true emotions he felt and everything else fabricated. The hollowness that he felt came from the incident that happened when he was 7, at the time him and his mother her name now no longer thought of , lived in what was once known as japan, mother and him was always on the move in the countryside looking back he now realized they where running from something , willful ignorance kept him from the truth but now he realized they lived in constant fear and on that day his eyes were open to godhood and the power he now craved. As with everyday Damian thought back to the painful memory he never thought to supress.

The monster standing over what used to be his mother was hard to look at, not in a visual sense but hard to look at in the way that just focusing on the monster made his eyes hurt and his body shudder. He saw the monster but his mind could not comprehend what he was looking at. Something so unnatural it did not belong in this world, he knew that without a doubt. The monster was to busy shoving the lower half of his mothers body in its mouth to be concerned about Damián at the door looking back in a twisted sense of joke Damián was glad it was distracted for he would not be alive today to work on the revenge he had planned, the  monster was in the form of a man 7ft tall covered in blue scales there was no eyes, ears, or nose, only the gaping maw of teeth this monster was made to devour. Damián was already aware of his ability to fight this monster, a normal 7-year old would have cried or charged with the insurmountable bravery all children had when they thought themselves invincible. Damián did neither, he started burning the scene in his mind until every detail could not be forgotten. He would remember this unnatural and grotesque scene no matter what, the monster would soon finish eating his mother and with a satisfying belch that made tears well up inside Damián’s eyes, the monster faced Damián and watched as it became a man

Damián did not know how long they shared eye contact or long the silence dragged on, Damián did know the smile on the unknown’s man’s face after seeing Damián did not change. He now looked like a lean built man with oily black hair and white pasty skin, someone unassuming enough that no one would notice and that made him even more unnatural in Damián’s eyes like he was looking at a mockery of what a human would look like in the eyes of something that is not. The man that was not a man walked up to Damián and put his hand on Damián’s head and lifted him with the ease as if he picked up nothing, Damián still stared he knew the moment he opened the door to their home his life was also over he had no illusions of escape and he would not fall for the monsters ploy the thing may have wanted to play with his food but Damián refused to fall participate, looking into the monsters eye Damián showed the defiance of a man who was not afraid to die, Coming from a 7 year old boy even the monster impressed Damián knew this by the fact he was still breathing in that moment. I am impressed by your mental fortitude. Do you know why I killed your mother? Damián glared tears falling down his eyes. I killed her because she is mine just as you are mine, I ate your mother because just like you her bloodline is the strongest on this backwater planet you and your mothers blood has the strongest connection to the aether, the demon licked his lips as if remembering the taste of his mother. Aether Damián was confused by the word and what that contortedexactly meant but he saw no reason that the demon would lie. What will happen with me? Oh, the demon raised a brow as if shocked the 7-year old’s min was still focused on the present and not the information the demon freely gave, He smiled, I will be back for you just as I told your mother and every mother and father in your family you’ll have 20 years to sire another spawn if you refuse to do this I will torture you and keep your soul, he dropped Damián to the ground and opened his palm and a blue light gathered in his hand. In that moment no matter the situation Damián would forever be captivated by the evidence of a higher power in the world, the light condensed into the form of a small person he was small and curled up into a ball sobbing. He was an old man dressed as if he was from some movie set in the past. He was covered in a red robe with the symbol of a dragon, say hello to your ancestor. The demon smiled in a way that made his skin crawl. Way before your life your family ruled this planet and when I came I noticed the powerful blood they carry. After culling the nation, I made sure to leave some of your family members alive to make more will come as with the simple nature of human monkeys’ procreation is the base instinct you have after years no matter the situation, the monster grinned in self satisfaction at his words. Closing his hand and silencing the sobs of the old man the monster looked in Damián’s eyes and said “do you understand the situation you are in now boy” Damián nodded in silence looking up into the emotionless eyes he so no signs of humanity but that wasn’t surprising considering he wasn’t human, curling up into a ball he started sobbing.

Stolen story; please report.

By the time he woke his mother body was gone not even the blood remained, Damián ended in the orphanage thankfully he was able to still attend public school he graduated out of school in 6months and then afterword’s amassed scholarships with the academic excellence he showed and later graduated college, he disregards all or most human emotion and interaction. His mother always told him knowledge was power and no matter the outcome the next time he faced the demon he would fight with the power that he amassed.

One advantage of never-ending nightmares is the ongoing pressure that it gives and in Damián’s case that pressure was real and wrapped around his neck like a noose. In order to defeat a supposed god Damián understood he needed personal power not in the sense of money, as money was just a human construct what Damián needed and sought out most was supernatural power, the power one see’s in movies and comics. As the demon said he potentially killed a entire country no matter what age that was in if Damián could not achieve the same then his chances became more nonexistent than it was already especially for the 16 year old fatty who focused on reading instead of training his body, but what he lacked in brawn he made up for it in wisdom and he focused and enhanced his wisdom discovering everything there was about the world, history, science, mathematics , engineering, while these topics seemed pointless to study and no matter how much studying he did it wont change being eaten whole by a lizard monster Damián still studied as he mother told him and in return it paid off

The history of the world Is still a mystery and in Damián’s study of all known history in multiple languages and cultures gods and demons and monsters always appeared no matter the place or time humans believed in these myths and until that wretched day that’s all Damián thought they were too, myths and legends until myth ate his mother. Damián found records of tribes whose name can be translated into multiple languages in their time of origin, the lead was vague and most likely lead to nothing but Damián pursued and in return he found text depicting wonder. The tribe and people were strong and as fast as any animal on the planet they did not age and performed miracles. In that time of never-ending research Damián’s quest led him to a scroll, this scroll came from a small tribe in an unknown country that was destroyed before the known history of the world, the rarity of the scroll was obvious and it was something he would never have been able to take, until he hired a dozen blackwater mercenaries to steal the scroll. As a result, he had limited time to unlock its secrets as most world governments were now after his head after they tracked the mercenaries down.

The scroll felt fragile in his hands; the material was unknown to him; it felt smooth and rough at the same time. Looking at the scroll Damián was sure his years of no progress was worth it, the same feeling he had gotten from his mothers’ killer he now felt. Gritting his teeth Damián opened the scroll with anticipation as the scroll was fully opened, a hand as black as night shot out from the scroll and grabbed his face, dragging his body and consuming him into the scroll.