The town of Riverfront was a prospering town full of life, away from wars and where no crime bigger than a theft occurred. Murder was incomprehensible and it was a happy village. The children were well-behaved, and the adults were nice. That is before the rise of the Cult of One Sun as Edward liked to call it.
It all started with a sunny day like any other, except the lack of clouds. The children started disappearing one after another, and then some adults too. The baron was, of course, speechless. It seemed that his child was the only one spared, placing all the doubt on his shoulders alone.
“Give us back our children!”
“Where is my son?!”
“Murderer! Die!”
And so went on the infinite curses from outside the fence, kept away by the guards. Edward sighed as he looked out the window. How was he any different than the other children? Of course because he was an Avatar. That linked the crimes to another Avatar.
‘I’m sure it is something connected to an Avatar.’ A female voice sounded out inside his head. Macha now lived inside his head, signifying the tournament has finally started after the tutorial stage. He had learned many things in his five years of life, albeit in the body of a 14 year old. An adult by the standards of Terra.
Clapping his book shut, Edward thought back.
‘I know that. The problem is, are they being converted?’
The silence remained for a while, suffocating the boy. She had a habit of thinking in complete silence, and that was oddly eerie.
‘It seems so. But only high gods or above could bless so many.’ Macha explained.
‘Then it is possible they are the Avatar of a high god or there are several.’ Edward suggested.
‘It is possible, however, I suspect a certain god for this.’ Macha said.
‘There are no clouds, right?’ Edward asked.
“I don’t know how Badb found you, but you are rather resourceful.’ Macha stated. ‘It seems you won’t have any trouble with just my blessings alone.’
“It seems so. But is it truly that simple?” Edward said out loud, letting Albert in on the conversation.
“Do you mean it isn’t a kidnapping?” Albert asked, turning to look at Edward, his conversation with the guard captain interrupted.
“Are you aware of others like me or the Empress? It seems to be their work.” Edward suggested, closing his eyes.
“That is absurd! Do you think reincarnated beings are grass? It is impossible for three to exist in the same kingdom!” The hot-headed guard captain shouted. He was in charge of protecting peace in the town and was the one who was shaken to the core.
“Oh, but what if there are, let’s say, a thousand of them in existence right now. Then would that be possible?” Edward asked, raising his eyebrow.
“You’re just a brat after all!” The captain shouted, stopped by Albert’s raised hand.
“Wait just there, Barry. What might that entail, my son?” He asked.
“It seems the world is about to change. Kingdoms will fall and monsters will be born.” Edward answered, looking out the window. “The clouds have disappeared, have they not?”
“What might that have anything to do with this?” Albert asked. “That doesn’t explain the disappearances of the children and the guards.”
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“Nothing at all. It’s just that this might be an omen of something big.” He said, walking out of the room.
“What do you mean?!” The captain shouted.
“It just means don’t believe the words of the ghost.” Edward answered, closing the door behind him.
‘Do you think it was necessary to reveal its existence?’ Macha asked, referring to the shadowy ghost from before.
‘Not really. Better ready than not.” Edward explained, lying down on his bed.
Closing his eyes, he entered his mindscape. The form of Macha appeared before him, staring at the peculiar piece of weaponry known as a gun. Edward created several other bullets. An absurd world called for absurd measures. Pointier things pierced better, that was the logic behind it. That called for some tweaking to the weapon, but he easily changed the bullets into pyramids and the holes in the cylinder as well. In the end, it became something closer to a needle than anything else.
“I’ve been wondering for a while, what are those strange things?” Macha asked, examining the strange clockworks Edward had come up with.
Mana didn’t serve as a power supply, but also as something that gave meaning to nothing, mass to nothing and turned nothing into something. That also meant instead of what Edward had been trying to do all that time ago, he just had to give a meaning to a drone and it would do what he wanted.
The drones stayed at a steady circle from him, each charged with twelve bullets which would be shot at an interval of two seconds if anything tried to attack him. It was ineffective against assassins, but any open hostile could be shot in the face if Edward didn’t will it to turn off.
And that wasn’t on his to-do list.
“They’re called drones. Kinda like golems, but more modern.” Edward said, turning to look at the woman. “Anyone will suffice as long as they accept it, is that right?”
“Indeed.” Macha nodded her head. “It seems that you have an idea of who your first blessed is.”
“Yes. Albert will do, won’t he?” Edward asked.
“Of course. The closer you are, the stronger he will be.” Macha explained. “That is actually a good idea. That protects him from the hands of the angel as well.”
“Angels are judges as you said. Why would they interfere?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.
“They can’t be described by the human standards. Think of corrupt politicians who can’t raise their hand directly.” Macha explained.
“Thought you never got out of your lab.” Edward joked.
“Badb brings movies sometimes.” Macha said, inspecting the area. “Your mindscape is rather peculiar. I can see how you can materialize mana outside of you so easily.”
“Does that have anything to do with the methods? Someone else told me the exact same thing several years ago.” Edward grumbled, loading up two more clocks, raising their number to 10. They were his version of machine guns, after all.
“It does. If you concentrated it in the form of a pond, as many people do, then you would have to will the liquid outside of the mindscape and solidify it, think of freezing water. However, as you always do that in your mindscape, by sacrificing a certain amount of mana, you can effortlessly do so in the real world as long as it is in your domain.” Macha explained.
“Domain?” Edward asked, his attention fully on the woman.
“Ah, yes. You do not know yet. It is the area that you can materialize your mana effectively, sometimes diminished in the presence of stronger mages. I doubt yours would be any different than a Magus even after diminishing. You are my champion, after all.” Macha said with a smile.
Edward nodded. He had to become a god, and the war had only started. Fire burned in his eyes. He lost too much time. There was no need for more dilly dallying and friendship.
***
A boy with short blonde hair, no older than 12, sat on a throne. The number of his servants had finally reached a hundred, each one blessed by the name of his father. Still, he wasn’t used to this treatment. As a former delinquent, George was used to making people do what he wanted. Now they did it willingly, greatly disturbing.
“Charisma.” He mumbled, looking out the window of the church. The stained glass had been shattered, the belief in the sun god all but abandoned. The guards had all been converted into his forces, which would be protected by the angel if anyone wanted to interfere. Then the children were trained under the guards, effectively creating an army. There was no one capable of standing up to him, not yet. If there was something he learned from card fights, early rushing was the best method available.
“Rise, my brothers and sisters.” George said, keeping up the kind Samaritan act. “Why is this world so unfair? Why do things such as talent exist? It is because this world is corrupted. Fret not, you have been granted everything you may need to overthrow this world with me. Let us pray to the great Sun God Lugh!”
The hundreds of his slaves prostrated themselves before the shattered remains of the statue. George couldn’t get enough of it, the tingly and pleasant feeling he got when people started worshiping him and his god. He felt almighty if even for a second.
His lieutenants sat on miniature thrones similar to his, next to him, numbering three. The three other Treasure Holders that served under him, not of weakness but respect. With this strong of an alliance and this big of an army, George laughed maniacally. The win was as good as his. There would be no challenge at all.