The storm flickered and roared. Lightning flashed as space was warped and bent. The qi contained in these lands bled out. The winds that had once ravaged this land had become nothing but whispers. The land of Tena, the storm God was crumbling.

Beasts that usually wouldn't dare approach were beginning to move in. They approached first with caution, but when they met no resistance, they became bold. They pushed deeper into the lands and began to act with impunity.

All the while, the storm continued to slowly flicker out of existence. The body of the storm god continued to weaken.

The very thought seemed absurd. The death of a God?

What could possibly cause that?

What had happened to him?

That was why they acted with such impunity. There was none to put these beasts in their place.

There was no constant threat to their existence.

They walked on these lands with their filthy mortal bodies.

They dared!

That disrespect was why I had been the deterrent for a while.

But the futility of that action soon made itself apparent.

I could not protect that land forever. Eventually, they would keep coming. Unless I intended to wipe them all out or live in these lands.

My spirits had been tasked to guard these lands, but they were few in number, and not all beasts were weak.

I could not help but feel a little pressure on my chest as I watched his domain be invaded. Killing the beasts was futile. My precognition allowed me to know that.

Saving his body was simply not possible.

Whatever spatial lock he had placed his body within couldn't be pierced by me. I just wasn't powerful enough.

I had tried many times, but each had led to failure. I could only watch in horror as the storm ebbed away.

His slow decline was apparent to all beings. Even the humans had caught on to the fact rather quickly.

The worst part of all is that I hadn't seen it coming.

I Deventus [The North Wind], the prophetic goddess, had been caught unaware at the disintegration of the one being she considered an equal. It should be expected, given it was an event concerning Tena, but it was no less infuriating to both divine and mortal aspects of myself.

One out of fear and self-loathing. The other out of rage at being incapable of taking action.

It was moments like these that made me despise my human emotions. They hurt so much more. I felt so weak and small, a tool of fate like all other beings.

I would take anger over this sorrow and incandescent flurry of emotions.

His crumbling had not been a matter of days. No, this had been years of watching, unable to do anything.

There were many instances where I wept, and many others I lashed out in anger. Now I simply watched in silence.

He shouldn't have gone.

The idiot, why did he have to leave?

It wasn't like boredom was a thing we needed to worry about. We are God's. We could have done anything.

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Changed the world if we wanted to.

Destroy it if we so felt like it.

So why?

As the final vestiges of the storm flickered out, I felt the fluctuations of the space lock dissipate.

Without a second thought, I used my divine power to capture the little storm. Through it, I could feel something of a heartbeat.

Faint and far, but it was connected to Tena. I infused my power into it and felt it stabilize slightly, but it grew no stronger.

The drain on me was immense and weakened me, but I had to do this. Perhaps I could keep it alive long enough to figure out a solution.

The storm was so small that it could fit in my hand. Tiny bolts of lightning flashed across it, but they held no power.

It was a saddening sight to behold, but I could not dwell on that. I needed to do something.

I took only a short glance at the bleeding lands before I flashed away in a beam of green light.

Don't worry, Tena. I'll save you.

........

Izipu Ihe Caligo shimmered in unrest.

The fog rolled in unease.

It was anxious.

It could not feel its maker. This was something it had never encountered before in its life. Even when the maker wasn't here, it had always felt his presence.

That presence had been a constant warmth that had left it feeling joyous.

Its absence was unbearable.

The towers that usually sang those beautiful songs were quiet, and it didn't know what to do.

For the first time in its life, Izipu felt afraid and alone.

Where should it go?

What should it do?

It had never faced such questions before. It was used to simply living and following the orders of its maker. Initiative was not something it really had.

Initially, it did as all young beings do when left alone. It wailed....but that was of no use. Nothing changed.

So Izipu fretted and thought for days, what could it do to bring back the maker? For days the mist moved little and simply contemplated various solutions that it could think of. Until it came to what seemed to be the perfect solution.

That solution was to go where the master usually went. To the young mind of Iz, it was a brilliant and ingenious plan. Unfortunately, it was not a feasible one.

It could not go to the maker's original realm. It tried everything it could, and nothing worked. Iz was distraught at the idea of failing its master, but it held on to hope. After a little bit more thought, it decided to go to the other realm that the maker went to.

Perhaps there was a way to save the master in his other world. Its attempts this time were successful, and it could feel a piece of itself slip into the universe. If it could, it would've hollered in joy.

So without a second thought, Izipu Ihe Caligo entered the universe.

While pure in his intentions, his actions changed the very fabric of reality.

A desperate attempt of creation trying to save its creator would forever change this realm.

.........

These last decades have not been kind to us. The disappearance of the storm god had sent lady Deventus into a rage. Time and time again, the world has been battered as she lashed out.

With that came the loss of our abilities granted by her. The winds no longer aided us and we were left weakened. Those with cultivation based on the wind spirits have either been gravely injured or have perished. We have tried, but nothing we do has seemed to appease the goddess.

Her sudden disappearance has left us even more vulnerable.

Humanity has never been this low before.

My brethren continue to suffer, barely holding on. Many have already abandoned their faith in the Gods. I understand why but for one who has felt their presence, I cannot do so.

They do not see that bigger things are happening. We need to stay united.

We need to have faith.

This is but a test.

Crash!

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the door was kicked down. As I turned, my gaze fell on multiple members of the families hunting force within my house.

"What is going on?" I was confused. What were they doing?

"Micheal, we have asked you to cease spreading the worship of those filthy gods, yet you have not stopped."

"Of course, I have not stopped Felix. I am the prophet of the storm. My loyalty lies there first. You do not see that there is more going on than what we know.."

"Enough, Michael."

Looking at Felix, I could not help but feel betrayed. He had been a devote believer before. He should know better.

He walked towards me, his grey beard seeming to glow as the sun shone at it. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"You must let go. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be something that you will willingly do."There was a pause as he sighed.

"So we are here to announce that you been exiled from these lands. You have 3 days to leave."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Michael. Orders of the council."

I am part of the council! Spit flew out of my mouth as I shouted. What were these fools thinking? They couldn't abandon the gods!

He did not reply and simply walked away.

"Felix, I'm talking to you! As I lunged for him, I found myself being thrown back as one of the others slammed their foot into my Gut.

It hurt little, but for a second, I couldn't move.

They were actually serious about this.

"3 days, Micheal."

"Felix!!"

It can perhaps be said that the years between 0000 BF and 0300 Bf]F were the ones that forever defined humanity's path.

The fall of the lord of the storm was the event that started it all, but one must not overlook the disappearance of Deventus, Goddess of wind.

Their absence fundamentally changed many things for humanity. Many of the more complex topics will be addressed later on in this book but let us first turn our attention to the most impactful changes.

The humans were weakened by their absence. All the while, every generation grew weaker than the last. The lack of Deventus meant that all wind abilities were no longer as powerful as they used to be.

The reshaping of the land by Deventus due to her grief was also rather impactful. Many scholars argue that her reshaping of the land was what broke whatever protection had been granted to our lands.

Which led to the arrival of more powerful and carnivorous beasts, and the return of one that had been thought of as a fable.

Erzafa, the hunter of man.

The beast that took the arm of the first man.

A beast whose power grew stronger the more it killed humans. Its hunt brought them to the very edge of extinction. Only through great sacrifice were we able to finally seal it away.

Though many argue about whether the consequences of using the knowledge from the void library was the wisest option.

So it's almost funny that while humanity was reeling from all these events.

The fog descended.

- [The rise and fall of man by Deltus Farseer]