In the large village center, Asur sat on the central platform while around him were others, including the ex chief.
An interesting thing was that after the intense fighting, Asur actually had to consciously suppress his first asura mark from activating or he would remain a 3 meter tall giant constantly. That said the 2nd mark was easy to seal off as it had a clear lockable entrance and exit in its flow.
In human sized clothing, Asur looked at the depressed ex chief.
“What is with that look? Is it about that mad woman you call a wife and your stupid son?” Asur asked.
The chief sighed, “Why bother asking?” He said.
“I remember seeing you honestly surprised, did you never know your wife was like that?” Asur asked.
“No, she wasn’t. When we came to this world she was no different from any person. Although she grew quieter because she became a seer, since she couldn’t handle the power, she didn’t show any of these types of attitudes.” He said.
Asur seemed to slightly clench his hand, “I want to know, honestly, what is a seer and what is a prophet in this world?”
The chief smiled weakly and shook his head, “I honestly don’t know. I know that one day she returned like that, her voice contained power and spoke no lie and her eyes saw truth, destiny and supposedly the flow of nature's energies. These are things she told me. That said, about a week after that we were exiled from the Asura kingdom, I never learned the reason but they blind folded us and left us in the wild far to the north. We followed what few villages we could find but they still knew about us it seems and rejected us until we reached the mother tribe of this one that exists further north.” He said.
“So is she actually aligned to Adityas? From what I have understood from her words, gods of the upper world transfer a tiny bit of power to make unique followers.” Shira asked.
The chief shook his head, “Like i said, she suddenly appeared like that. I honestly don’t know which god she got her divine power from but she firmly said it was Adityas.” He said.
Asur looked at him and knew the man wasn’t lying. Losing both wife and child, he had little to live for honestly.
“Are there any other seers within any tribe in the surroundings?” Asur asked.
“We don’t know.” Shira said.
“As he says.” the ex chief said.
Asur frowned and nodded, “Alright, since that is the case, I will probably have to pay the price to get that answer.” he said.
“Huh? What do you mean?” the chief asked.
“The gatekeeper of the Gate of Evolution is likely to know but I will be filled with bad karma as a result. Since I need answers to something I need to know then I will have to pay the price.” He said.
“No!” The chief exclaimed.
“Huh?” Asur muttered. “Why not?” he asked.
“No, you misunderstand, don’t overload yourself, in the time I lived in the kingdom, I was very sure of the fact that kings are able to distribute the price of his questions upon all his people. Supposedly, it allows the entire kingdom to sustain the price so that not one or two have to suffer the price. When spread out between millions, the price becomes inconsequential!” he said.
“Oh… alright.” Asur nodded and got up. “Shira, have the men build the forges and start to build spear and arrowheads. Adsila, take the women and the tools and start making proper carpentry workshops and bow making stations.” the two nodded.
Asur looked at the chief, “You should help gather karma stones. We need to enhance the entire village’s bloodline.” He said.
The chief’s eye twitched, “Why karma stones? That uses up all your karma!” he said.
Asur sneered, “As if the ritual bath you did before didn’t do the same. In fact, it was even worse because you kept stealing karma from all the villagers to enhance one person.” Asur said coldly but quietly.
The ex chief’s face turned cold and pale before finally relenting.
“Good, take the hunters and gatherers to locate karma stones before snowfall arrives.” he said.
The village soon became active while Asur put on his armor and left the safety of the cave into the open wind. His first mark was active and his internal temperature was already very high.
As the gate opened for him, Shira and Adsila were seeing him off when they saw a group of ten foreign warriors arriving.
“Trash of the Deva, is this the tribe i heard a fool was preparing to challenge our might!?” a loud and powerful voice came from the leader.
Built like many of the men of the Asura race, his mark could not be seen but just from the tone he had when saying ‘Deva’ showed he was from another tribe.
“Raksha!” Shira exclaimed.
“Huh? Why are they here?” He asked.
“The fool was preparing for war since hunting parties were having conflict recently, remember?” Shira said.
“Oh right…” Asur nodded and walked out.
“Giant?” the raksha said but the next moment they felt danger and instantly his size began to rapidly grow to 270 cm tall and he formed many feline traits. He felt great danger and it showed when Asur got within 10 meters and the pressure from him grew and his body expanded even more to his full 4 meter size.
He was a giant compared to the others.
He reached the Raksha but sidestepped the leader but patted his shoulder.
As soon as his hand hit the transformed Raksha, he felt an impossibly deadly force pressing down on him like a mountain had fallen on his back. “If you wish for a fight, tell your leaders to come.” He said and took his hand off the Raksha and walked off before increasing into a run.
Only after a while he dared turn around to see the giant gone but his tracks clear as day.
“W-warchief…” the Raksha hunters muttered in intense fear.
“L-let’s go back… it is not bravery to fight the unfightable.” he said.
The Deva tribe watched them quickly running off.
Shira looked in awe at the power that even a simple action possesed from Asur. He was clear that it wasn’t something common people could ever hope to do. Only after countless generations would they have a bloodline pure enough to reach that. He was clear that without a bloodline of at least 3 asura marks, he would never be able to do something like that.
The chief had also seen it from behind and sighed, “It is no wonder my wife wanted to reach at least 4 asura marks. King level bloodlines are truly different.” he said.
“King level… although we did call him a king but there is actually something like that?” Shira asked.
“Well I still learned a little bit about the Asura in my stay. Asura with a blurred mark are called commoners or bloodless. In a large kingdom, you will find them in many farming villages but never towns or major cities, they aren’t allowed in them. One complete mark is just a Common Asura nothing to say and their bloodline is rather weak and can’t hold up against degrading as generations pass. Two marks is a Bloodline Asura, these have strong ability to maintain their bloodline. Like my son who had one and a half. Three marks are called Noble because there is some kind of change not just by adding but in the first two. Finally is the King that is four marks. I don’t know much about this one though.” he said.
“Hmm… so it wasn’t just some random thing, he is actually a born king?” Adsila asked.
“I guess, i don’t really know how much karma a person has to possess to even get that kind of bloodline.” the ex chief said.
“Asur once said that in his world, there existed technology that allowed him to live many times his own age and interact with many things. He had been king of many kingdoms within different worlds.” Adsila said.
“Guess that is just all the karma he had been accumulating inside him.” the ex chief said. He walked off to get some people to help him.
The other two went about their own work as well.
Asur on the other hand was like the wind through the forest. Even with his massive size, he was not heavily obstructed because the forest naturally adapted to the size of being he was. Many animals were large so naturally spacing between trees eventually spread enough to not obstruct them as they bulldozed many trees down over time.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
In a short while he reached the cave, there was no one there as it had been emptied the day prior.
“Gatekeeper.” he called and the tanned and beautiful gatekeeper materialized.
“Oh, it seems you had quite some fun recently. That divine spark though.” She said.
She had seen him plenty after his run in with the tiger king. She marveled at his development speed but he didn’t ask much at the time.
As for the spark she spoke of.
Asur lifted his left hand and shockingly, a very familiar white glowing flame appeared. The same flame that he had supposedly snuffed from the seer.
“So it is called a divine spark?” Asur muttered. “So… is it costly to ask which god this comes from?” he asked.
“Not at all, in fact there is no cost.” She said and called him over.
When they were close, Asur bent down and held it at her eye level. She waved a few times and the wind seemed to whisper something into their ears.
“Oh dear… the elder goddess Jyestha, to think you would actually find her divine spark in that seer. No wonder the woman didn’t even possess the innate transformation of the Deva and was reduced to going mad due to the pain of holding this spark.” She said.
“What do you mean?” Asur asked.
“A Seer is a very good thing to have in the lower realms however, that is on the off chance that they can support it. Normally those who become seer already have the ability to transform. This gives them a body to handle the divine power blending with their bloodline power. Trust me when I say it is a huge burden to carry something like this.” She said.
“That is to say, this is a ticking time bomb?” He said.
“Yes and no. Jyestha is… fickle to say the least and without a Seer being someone she truly values, those who are her seer generally are people who will cause no good to the world. Please don’t look down on all Seers, many of them do great work for their races and even more, they are immensely powerful and act as deterrents against other races.” She said.
Asur looked at her and he could feel that she was holding back.
“I feel like there is a big cost in what you are holding back.” He said.
“A bit, it is in relation to your 3rd asura mark.” She said.
Asur froze and looked at the right leg. “I heard that kings can spread the karma amongst their followers.” He said.
“Oh so you already learned that, good, that is lucky to find out without me telling you. The price is basically 100,000 bad karma, spread among the over 3,000 members of the village barely increases much for each person.” She smiled.
Asur nodded after hearing the number of members they had. “Tell me.” he said.
“Good, divine sparks have 2 purpose in the lower realms. The first is to make a Seer, these are people with 1 or 2 marks of whatever race they are. Upon reaching the 3rd mark, however, the divine spark is put to a completely different use. It binds you to a faction among the gods aligned to the one you gained the power from. Naturally the divine spark has a karma attached to it so if you steal a spark then it naturally isn’t safe. If you absorb this to unlock the 3rd mark then you will be in a death feud with Jyestha.” She explained.
Asur was in awe by the effect and scowled at the end.
“The seer said something about prophets?” he said.
“Oh, that is just a name for people with 2 marks and a divine spark. They have immense power compared to others with the same number of marks but they are eternally weaker than those with a 3rd mark. The seer had been delusional after years of pain and the whispers from Jyestha that corrupted her.” The gatekeeper said.
“This is useless then.” he said.
“Yes and no. As it currently is, that may be true but the gate of evolution is connected to all realms and is the easiest place where you can actually trade a divine spark for one of a faction you actually desire.” She said.
“No drawbacks?” he asked.
“Nope, because the upper realm gods always want to one up each other, the chance to steal the divine spark of a different god is a treat served on a platter, even more so when they can get more members to their faction. It helps that they have the power to multiply when new generations are born so upon the trade and assimilation of the spark, you are tied to a faction whether you like it or not.” She said laughing.
Asur felt a faint feeling as the karma was uploaded but as he had asked, it was spread throughout the villagers. He understood that by doing this, he would not fear the questions unless it was an immensely costly one that spoke of worldly secrets.
“If that is true, which faction do you think I am best fit?” He asked.
“Oh, a good question. The seer said Adityas were the main religion but she taught it improperly since she was under Jyestha. In fact Adityas is not the name of a god but a group of benevolent gods born from the goddess Aditi who is called the personification of infinity. Adityas are her children of which 8 exist and only 7 she truly accepted.” She said.
She went on to explain all 8 as well as a huge number of information that followed about different categorization which increased the number exponentially.
“This all feels familiar.” Asur said.
“Naturally it does, it all comes from information on Hinduism from your earth plane. It is always easiest to explain with native information that has passed down.” She said simply.
He finally understood why it sounded familiar. Naturally he had seen a very large amount of information about Hinduism and beings related to it. Not to mention virtual reality games emulated a lot of mythical things including religious objects.
“Still… they feel vague.” he said.
“Well most of the information on high realm gods are vague to start with.” She replied.
“I guess.” he replied disgruntled. He sat down as his leg was getting tired as did the gatekeeper but she did that floating in the air around him.
“Shall I tell you about other gods?” She asked.
Asur grumbled, “I assume that many people advance and become gods themselves right?” he asked.
“You need a bare minimum 2 asura marks fully activated as well as over 500 million of both good and bad karma to evolve to the 3rd realm.” She replied nonchalantly.
“So there really are a huge number of gods.” He grumbled, “Then give me a god that is not extremely aggressive but not overly weak, by that I mean I don't want some sissy that doesn’t like to fight. At the very least someone that is leaning towards benevolent but is not shy towards battle.” he said.
“Then you will likely get those from different realms and maybe even unknown gods.” she said giggling. “Any specific titles? It would greatly help narrow down the search.” She said.
“I have always favored gods of strategy and war, they are extremely powerful but not blind in their pursuits. Don’t want some random element… maybe a god that is heavy on the learning aspect and culture. Yeah, Strategy and learning are very much compatible with war being the source of their power and prestige.” he nodded.
“Hmm, that is a unique outlook indeed.” She nodded and closed her eyes. “Does it matter male or female?”
“No, I just want them to be actually fair and not bring unneeded misfortune.” he said.
She smiled and floated over to the floating divine spark and gripped it in her hand. It began to shine brightly for a while before the glow vanished revealing the same thing but it was a tad bit bigger and seemed like it was ‘complete’ as if the other one had been broken.
“You will learn about her as soon as you activate the 3rd mark. Now anything else?” she asked.
“Well, when i punched the seer, my asura mark suddenly flared and expanded like the markings used during the damned ritual the seer was doing.” He said.
“That is a unique king level bloodline ability known as Burst. Only those with the 4th mark can produce the evolved marks to have that and it also opens the 2nd mark to the 3rd one. Normally the 2nd mark is sealed differently and only by sacrificing an energy orb can you open the exit in normal cases.” She said.
“What does it actually do besides making me look cooler and more intimidating?” He asked.
“A lot actually, first off it instantly triples your power as long as you have the energy to sustain it. You can resist prophet abilities like bloodline death that the seer had been trying to do to you, and naturally, it lets you have more intricate control of energy allowing you to get things like these sparks without actually merging with it.” She said.
As she said that, the spark entered his palm but didn’t merge. He couldn’t even feel where the spark was hiding as it instantly vanished once inside him. Still he could feel the presence as clear as day.
“One thing though, do you think it is safe to make a kingdom by gathering the three tribes or just letting people come up from the worlds below instead?” he asked.
“Is there a difference? If you favor one tribe and discriminate against the others, then they will come back to bite you, trust me. Also, making an equal nation with all tribes is not easy either as their habits are different and all that.” She said.
“True but I already see many different aspects that I can separate among the three tribes but I just wanted confirmation of which is safer.” He said.
“Good, don’t disappoint me. I hope to get more company soon as well.” She smiled.
“After winter, there is no time for us to build up a village around the mountain even if we wanted to.” He said.
“Yes yes, I will just have to spend the lonely month's of winter alone.”
Asur just snorted at the clearly subjective wording. Asur got up but after doing so he suddenly remembered something, “By the way, why is it that my first asura mark is constantly active now?”
“Huh?! You already achieved that much?!” the gatekeeper exclaimed in shock before coughing, “The Asura marks are a symbol of power but also of evolution. They activate your bloodline and as you energize your body more and more, the more active the marks become. By the time you activate your 4th asura mark, the 1st and 2nd mark will be active indefinitely for sure.” She said.
“I see… so it seems I should plan the future in regards to architecture based off of our innate state.” he muttered. “Thank you for the information. Come spring, I will definitely be moving the tribe over here and try to start my own nation.” he said turning around and walking off, “I just need to deal with those Raksha.”
After Asur left, the gatekeeper didn’t instantly vanish, from her hand the gatekey opened and activated the surrounding scan.
The numbers were just over 4000 for the good karma and 2000 for bad karma. Two points of good karma were added every minute while one point of bad karma was added in the same timeframe.
She estimated the timeframe for the entire end of the year and made a guess that by the time the Deva tribe arrives here the following spring, the entire area will be filled with over several million if not more in case karma gathered slowly.
“Hmm… the rise of another Asura kingdom with very great auspicious tidings. Makes sense since the intense karma in Asur is already blending with those around him. That tribe and all those in the surrounding are truly lucky for his birth. His decision to take this path is already influencing them more than he can imagine.” she smiled and her body slowly vanished like mist and the last to vanish was the gatekey.