On an ivory throne, seated on a red cushion, was a woman that was currently 'folded' over in laughter. She was a woman with golden, curly hair, and with beautiful red lips that were currently parted as she laughed uncontrollably. Her golden eyes were currently shut, tight, as little beads of moisture formed at her tear ducts.
This woman was a 'Goddess' and right now she couldn't bring herself to act righteous or haughty in front of the man's ridiculous request.
The man, a 25 year old youth, called Feng Long, sat opposite the woman. He was a few feet away from the throne sitting on a similar red cushion to the one the Goddess had underneath her plump rear. He was just an ordinary intern who enjoyed the occasional fantasy novel, played video games, and liked to read. At least, he used to enjoy those things before he died.
Now that he'd died. He was one of the lucky few that was chosen by a god to save another world.
When he'd arrived before the Goddess she'd placed a strange glowing ball of light into his chest and then asked him if he had any requests. His request.. had sent the Goddess doubling over in laughter that ended up irritating the young man the more he heard that 'divine' giggling.
Finally after another fit of giggling she finally regained her composure, wiping away the tears from her eyes as she peered down at the ordinary looking youth below her and spoke in a mumble.
"Y-you desire the ability.. make every woman fall in love with you at first sight?"
"Yes!"
"Not happening. Try again."
"B-But.. I'm the hero! I should have some extraordinary skill."
The Goddess practically rolled her eyes, a hand working it's way to her cheek as those long manicured nails played over her red lips.
"You lot sure are strange these days.. Before, if I asked them to make a request, they'd ask for an powerful swords.. armor. Now.."
The Goddess looked at him, whatever amusement she had gotten out of the young man seemed to be gone. It was impossible for Feng Long to tell but her eyes, for a moment, seemed to be coldly glaring at the youth.
".. It's ridiculous things. The 'Aura' of a King. Invincible Bodies. Infinite Growth. Instant Kill Spells."
"B-But that's only natural! Avalon is dangerous! You said it yourself!"
When he'd first appeared in the room the Goddess, seated in her throne, had looked down at him and announced that he was chosen to have a second chance at life and to serve the will of the Gods. With a bitter expression the Goddess told the young about Avalon, the world under her care and its current predicament.
No more than a thousand years ago Avalon had been a world of relative peace. There were dozens of kingdoms, and Emperors. There were a few skirmishes, a few wars, but hardly anything of true consequence for the Gods to be involved.
One day, however, an Emperor dreaming of immortality that was far out of his reach began to study forbidden magic. As a consequence, a rift was formed above the emperor's capital, plunging the city into endless darkness and chaos. The Emperor had created a rift to another world. A world that was ruled by 'Dark Gods.'
The Goddess, the mistake the mortal had made, passed down a divine decree for the Heroes of Avalon to unite against the darkness and even promised the savior, the one who closed the portal, any wish of their choice.
Heroes came forward, some alone and others in parties, but all of them failed. The blight of that rift continued to spread until an entire continent was soon engulfed. From the rift came demons and denizens of that dark world who soon started to spread across the other continents.
Soon the heroes were overwhelmed. The Goddess was left with no choice but to bring in the denizens of other worlds. Many of these people only had traces of magic, making sub-par heroes, but the sheer amount was enough to at least keep the demons at bay. A few true heroes were created from this pilfering of other worlds; the few people she found who possessed inborn magic or innate ability made exceptional heroes.
Feng Long was neither of those two. He was an ordinary human with not a trace of magic from a world where things like magic, demons, and monsters were nothing but fantasy.
"Nope. It's impossible. Listen, kid.."
The Goddess leaned back in her throne, a long slender leg crossing over the other. She leaned her cheek into one hand while the other pointed towards his ordinary body.
"You'd die. Instantly. You think your measly little body can hold that sort of energy. If it was a request from one of the Heroes from the other worlds than I could at least tweak the request so that it wouldn't burden the Hero but you!?"
The Goddess scoffed as she dismissively glanced to the side. This kid really didn't understand where he was going, or what he was getting into. She had no choice but to explain it to him so that he properly understood his position.
"You aren't a Hero. You're just one of the 'Extra's!' Get it!? Ugh.. I was just being nice since you were the first person your God decided to send over for my request but.."
The Goddess rolled her eyes as she suddenly stood up. She slowly made her way towards him, descending the two small marble steps between the young man and the Goddess throne till she was standing directly in front of him while peering down at him.
"Honestly, a little guy like you probably isn't going to survive."
The Goddess wasn't being overly harsh. It was just the grim reality. Some of the peopled that arrived before the Goddess, even those who had the ability to make requests like Feng Long, still ended up dying no matter how 'exceptional' they might have become. That was because, outside of the gifts and the quests she gave once they departed, the Goddess couldn't interfere once they entered Avalon.
All the heroes that left her throne room were deposited onto Avalon. She didn't even get to choose where they ended up!
Just thinking about it caused her to feel bitter.
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So many potential heroes, who'd she'd given wonderous gifts, had ended up being summoned to Avalon in the middle of territory that was already taken over by the demons. In a situation like that.. less than a handful survived. The majority were never heard from again.
What made it particularly difficult was that the heroes were all given a beginner quest when they arrived. They'd each start at level zero and be tasked with their first quest; to survive one month in Avalon. Only then would they reach level one and finally 'unlock' the gift the Goddess had given them. Surviving one month in a land infested with demons? Those poor souls simply didn't have a chance.
As for the young man before her.. the Goddess was skeptical. He'd probably only survive if he ended up appearing in the safest city in Avalon.
Suddenly the Goddess stepped back and an ornate table appeared between the two of them. On top of the table was an ancient and complex looking map. From Feng Long's kneeling position, he could see just the tidbits but, it didn't help him much. The language was completely foreign and from the landscape of the map it was obviously nothing like the world he'd left behind.
"Stand up already! Sheesh.."
The Goddess looked down at him with cold eyes, and while conflicted about the arrangement he inevitably nodded his head and stood up. His eyes immediately darting over the map to find, to his disappointment, that nothing on the map made sense.
Even worse, it seemed like everything on the map was moving.
"Put your hand on the map."
The young man reluctantly put his hand on the map. Just as his fingers firmly pressed into the ancient scroll, he felt some sort of strange 'suction' force trying to draw him into the map.
"Don't forget to check your status!"
The Goddess coldly reminded while snapping her fingers. Suddenly the suction force from the map grew infinitely stronger. Within seconds the young man was gone, completely pulled into the map.
Once he was gone the Goddess gave a relieved sigh while peering down at the map. For a brief moment she pondered where the strange man might end up but in the end she dismissed the thought and started mumbling to herself.
"Now to decide his pa-.."
Before she could cancel the contract between herself and the young man, however, the Goddess' head glanced up towards the sky. Those perfect lips frowned, then started stomping into the ground, before she yelled up into the air.
"Ugh! Fine! We'll leave it to fate.."
"It's not like he's going to get a better path than one I would give."
The Goddess was still staring at the sky, a fist raised in the air violently shaking, while she cursed the young man that had just left.
"Hopefully he ends up a stinky farmer!"
Feng Long's body dropped onto the cold, snowy, floor. The moment his body made contact with the snow he involuntarily shivered and grabbed at his arms. The shirt he was wearing, those thin slacks, provided almost no protection from the cold. Right beside him, landing without even a thud, in the snow was an ornate looking amulet. A golden plate with a leather string around it that gleamed next to the snow.
"Could have at least dropped me on my feet.."
Feng Long grumbled and stood up, his backside now slightly drenched from the snow which only made getting warm all the more difficult. He tried not to curse out the Goddess as he started to glance around at his surroundings. A thick forest that was covered in snow. He could spot some hedges and what looked like a rabbit.
It didn't seem like the worst place to be deposited into Avalon.. still the freezing cold filled him with irritation and his now wet clothing only made him frustrated.
In his frustration Fen Long kicked the nearest tree, as hard as he could. The tree violently shook, far more than Feng Long expected, as several dozen pockets of snow fell from the branches and covered his body along with the ground around him.. including that ornate amulet-resembled plate of gold.
But Feng Long, in that moment, was trying his best not to curse inside his little burrow of snow.
After digging himself out of the small hill of snow Feng Long took another glance at his surroundings and couldn't help but sigh. If there had been a city in the horizon, or even a village, he might have an idea of where to go. Even if there had been a demon in the distance it would have at least given him a direction not to go. But in the middle of a forest of snow? Feng Long had absolutely no idea where to head. It was only after pondering for a minute or two that he was reminded of the Goddess parting words.
'Don't forget to check your status!'
He needed to check his status.
He'd read plenty of books like this before so he started going through the list of what might trigger his status to appear.
He thought the word. Multiple times. Practically screaming it in his head.
He saying it out loud, screaming it out, to no avail.
Then he started singing the word.. before glancing around in silent shame.
His desperation only grew as his 'status' remained elusive. He started tapping parts of his body. His forehead. His chest. His arms. Eventually resorting to more ridiculous methods. He even shamefully tapped his face, his crotch, and his ass.
All to no avail.
Furious, Feng Long stared up at the sky and started to curse as loud as he could.
"What sort of bullshit is this!? You shitty Goddess! At least explain things properly!"
After shouting a violent storm of curses up at the sky, becoming more frustrated with the lack of response, his gleeful 'venting' was cut short by an ominous roar that shook the very ground.
Momentarily distracted by the roar.. he didn't notice the tree's above him shaking as the snow piled up on the rest of the tree's soon spilled onto the ground; completely burying Feng Long under another hill of snow.