Chapter 1

I opened my eyes and felt better, not by much but enough that I could focus.

“A god?” I asked while looking at the box, “how did that happen?”

The screen gave no response.

“Right,” he laughed, “well, I can’t figure this out alone.” His eyes fell on the last entry in the box.

Please choose Guide.

He reached out and tapped the lettering. The box felt like cool glass under his skin and seemed to buzz slightly in his hand.

Samuel Greensile

Guides: Type

Fae: A small humanoid creature with wings similar to a dragonfly.

AI: Digital, fully sentient entity

Angel: Large humanoid with two wings similar to a bird

Demon: a large humanoid with four wings identical to a bat

Cryptid: See more…

Design…

I decided it didn’t matter and pushed Fae. Suddenly a brilliant light lit up the darkness before dying back down. Floating in front of me was a tiny Fae. He, for he was male, looked up at me.

He was only about five inches tall with four gossamer wings beating quickly behind his back. He wore a blue robe over his body with small slits in the back for his wings. He had black hair and green eyes and wore no shoes.

“Hello,” I said. “I’m Sam.”

“Hello,” he responded. “I don’t have a name, but if you wish, you may assign one.”

“How does Luke sound?” I asked.

He nodded, “I am Luke.”

“Okay, Luke, what do I need to do to get started?” I asked, feeling impatient. The darkness was starting to feel like it was creeping in again. And I could feel it like a creep of cold in my bones.

Luke looked around at the darkness and said, “the first thing you need to do is make a space to live for yourself, while as a god, you don’t need food, drink, or even air; you do need sleep.”

“How would I do that?” I asked.

“You must pull your power out of yourself and use it to shape your will.” He said, “close your eyes and look through your body. Is there anything that wasn’t there before, or maybe something missing?”

I did as he asked, looking at my body from within, and almost immediately, I could feel what he meant. An ocean of power was sitting in a spherical object where my heart should be. But I couldn’t find the actual organ. Instead, the core seemed to be pulsing every time I felt my heartbeat. Five thick tubes were also coming out from the center of the Core. Four went down each of my limbs, and one reached up and stopped in the center of my brain. The energy in the core seemed to be spinning slowly as I watched.

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I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin; I saw Luke hovering just in front of my face. His eyes looked excited as he laughed and flew backward a few feet.

“Sorry,” He grinned. “I couldn’t help myself, but you almost had it. This time when you see your core pull the energy down the channels to the skin’s surface, then push it outwards while concentrating on what you want.”

I nodded and closed my eyes again as I pulled the power from my core. I could feel it race down my arm and legs like the one time I’d accidentally touched a live wire. But the energy didn’t push upwards toward my brain. I focused on the power and pushed upwards as well. As the power flooded my mind, a new sense opened up for me. Even with my eyes closed, I could see all the energy in my body.

I pulled the energy to my skin and concentrated. Then I released it. I opened my eyes to see a room. The room was twenty-five feet by thirty feet and had a single blue bed shoved in the corner, a tv sat on the dresser, and a computer on a desk across the room near the window. An exact replica of my room at home, if a bit cleaner. Looking out the window, I could see an ever-changing landscape of natural scenes from the earth. But when I opened the window, there was nothing on the other side as though it were being projected on the glass.

I looked over at Luke, who was looking around the room, and realized he didn’t have anywhere to stay. I closed my eyes and pulled the power up again. This time, I wanted a recess set into the wall.

On the opposite wall, the alcove formed. I pushed until the area was five feet by five feet, then made it, so the ceiling was only three feet tall. Inside I added a bed and a set of drawers, miniature copies of my own.

“Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” Luke sat on the edge of his alcove, his feet dangling, “you need to decide what planet you will choose. Be careful, however. Some types of planets will automatically limit the types of life that can form.”

“Hold on,” I said. “I understand that I’m a god, as unbelievable as that is, and you are supposed to help me, but what is the rest of this stuff? Why do I need a planet? Why do I need a people? I need answers.

“Sorry,” Luke said, “I will explain as much as I can; you are a god; congratulations, but this means a few things.” Luke paused and said, “pull up your menu. This’ll be easier if I show you.”

Samuel Greensile

Age: 26 (Earth years)

Gender: Male (Born)

Species: God (minor)

Sub-Species: Human

Please choose Star type.

Please choose Planet type.

Please choose Sentient.

Please choose Afterlife.

Guide: Fae

Welcome, New God, to The Shattered Ring. This is your life now. Adjust and win glory and fame for your people or fail and fall. Such is the reality of your new existence. Choose Wisely. Admin @@@@@@@

“You are in what is called The Shattered Ring. It’s a huge competition between gods. Each god is paired with another of the same relative strength. They then fight, sending their world against each other. During this time, the two worlds are only separated by a rift,” Luke explained. “This does change as you get stronger and gain more worlds, but the basic premise is the same. The point is to dominate the enemy’s world, not destroy it. If your world is conquered, you lose the world, and it becomes a part of the enemy’s system. This will not kill you but will set you back to zero.”

“So, if this is a huge competition, then who’s watching?” I asked.

“The other gods. You will qualify to see the fights as soon as you finish creating your planet and sentients.” Luke said, “now, are you ready to get started?”

“Almost,” I answered, “you said that I wouldn’t die if the world were conquered, but you didn’t say what would kill me.”

“Ah,” Luke nodded, “some other gods will attempt it. Understand that if another god kills you, you will be gone.”

“I’ll just have to be sure they can’t,” I said.

“That’s the spirit,” Luke laughed, “but you won’t have to worry about that for a while; you may

be allowed to watch the fights when your world is made, but you won’t start fighting until your world has made it passed a certain power threshold.”

I looked around the room one last time and nodded.

‘Time to work,’ I thought and stepped out into the void.