Every world has a lord. Every lord embodies the natural laws of that world.
Once upon a time, this land was a verdant green grassland. Animals flocked freely; flora bloomed lusciously. The lord of these lands was a spirit of nature, a dryad. The dryad looked like a wooden, gentle giant. Around it flocked a massive congregation of animals.
One day a magical tree sprouted, taking away its flock. The loneliness it felt was an unexplainable sensation. Dryads were known to be nourished by nature and gave back equally in return. When the animals left it, gained sentience from the starlight apples, and formed a kingdom, the dryad began to experience a slow death.
A slow rotting, that lasted for the rest of its life. When the land started spilling with blood, it soaked it up. It took into itself corruption. The dryad formulated a plan and enacted upon it. It was the perfect host, and once again, embodied the new laws of the world.
A slowly moving creature of blood and rotted wood. As it traveled the lands, it consumed. Animal, human, and beast alike. The more it consumed, the more its form faded, the faster it charged forward. With one sole purpose. Consume. The horde gained strength and speed rapidly, charging ever forward. Many willing plunged themselves into the horde, to feel a part of something, in an otherwise meaningless existence.
The stampede gained hoofs and feet. Legs and more legs. Hands, claws, faces, noses, teeth, fingers, and ears. It became ever more grotesque, one creature, the past lord, and the current lord. It had lost its mind long, long ago. But deep within, echoed the lord's deepest desire.
Absorb all this blood, and one day. In the distant future, this land may return to me.
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It was simply an endless blob of blood. Hands, legs, and extremities of all sorts wiggled incessantly. The pressure I suddenly faced was that of an ocean descending up you. It did not hesitate to fall upon me, its full weight crushing me deep into the earth.
An entire ocean, taking me into hell.
Instantly my limbs were broken, my armor cracked, and fur melting. I was delved into a sea of blood, and disoriented to the extreme, I could hear the Lord of Stars shouting in my mind faintly, but the sounds of death rang much clearer at the moment. It melted my body and sought to dissolve me entirely.
My wings were broken, and quickly melted in a moment of irony. Icarus would find the situation quite relatable. The only thing keeping me alive was a desperate regeneration that could not keep up. If this was before, I may have had no choice but to give up.
Now, the blood of warrior beasts ran through me. I used my Claws and dug wildly into the soil beneath. As I dug, the blood quickly followed. I was no mole, but at this moment, I must have channeled the spirit of one. I was barely able to dig fast enough as the blood in my veins boiled, trying its best to reform my limbs. and forming a complex looping pathway, I evaded the blood for as long as possible. Arms wiggled out and reached forth. My claws occasionally swing back to stem the tide. Finally, a voice inside resounded once enough distance was reached.
“-ake its core, this is the only way! Don’t die on me like this, you sorry little weasel, it was I who made you! You owe me this!” selfishly spoke the slime.
“What core, where? I had no time and got straight to the point.
“It should be somewhere inside, the center of the horde should contain it, you must kill it. Fast. This is a terrible situation; the lord of this domain was actually so corrupted…” the Lord of Stars voice faded with what sounded like a tinge of guilt. Or stifled mockery.
I continued to dig. I was now a drill, who dug tunnels in the already soft soil at alarming speeds. It was then, I came upon a cavern. Inside was another village, bone-laden. Thank god, luck was on my side.
“Who’s there?!” shouted many a Necrolite. Ignoring them, I dashed forward, Smashing the ground a few times with my entire strength, creating massive craters which sunk the ground. As it cracked and crumbled, it began to fall, revealing hints of a massive ravine underneath. I ran and continued to dig, upwards this time.
The cultists stood there very confused, but a second later, a tide of blood poured in savagely. It grabbed and twisted and slaughtered whatever it touched. The most important part was the fact that it was a liquid being with little control over itself. It flooded the cavern, which was fairly large. A few times larger than the last Necrolite cavern I entered just a bit ago.
Some screams sounded, but quickly died out. There was no chance they would be able to fight back. They soon joined the horde. As I dug straight upwards, the cavern slowly filled, the floor falling under the weight. The Blood Horde was absurdly large in size, and could fill this ravine many times over, but that was not the goal.
Climbing back to the surface, the wounds were slightly regenerating. My fur and wings had completely melted off, but the carapace, claws, and tail remained. The stronger beast blood could withstand the blood’s corrosiveness, it seemed.
At the surface, the blood diminished greatly into a knee high ocean that stretched farther than the horizon; a quick scan revealed a bloodied, wooden monster.
It sat there still, in the middle of the blood sea.
“Ahhh, Little beast, come here.” The wooden creature spoke, with deep booming reverberations. The writhing hands stopped, and the wild ocean calmed itself.
It revealed a bright, red crystal, at the center of its body. The core.
“When I saw a being take flight, at last, I rushed forward with mad glee. I tested your skill, and here we are. You have earned the right to battle with me, indeed. But let me tell you child, I am tired.” The creature sighed
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“How long have I roamed? How much blood have I consumed? A long time ago, when that tree caused this chaos, I took it upon myself to cleanse the world. Along the way, I felt the suppression of those above. The ones up high now use this world as a graveyard.”
It eyed me deeply.
“You host it within you, if that creature is listening, I want it to know this.”
“You must slay that false king.”
This conversation was one I could not follow, but a stirring in my consciousness which felt like soundless weeping invaded my mind. A faint whisper.
“I will. And I am sorry.” I spoke as an envoy.
The gentle giant smiled. Ripping out its own core and handing it to me. The entire Blood Horde, the entire ocean of blood faded within seconds. It was all held within this sphere, the size of a coconut.
“Go downwards, find the lord of Alloy. Upwards is a death trap, had you reached the top, you would’ve been grinded into pieces. This land is forever cursed, always observed by the golden ones. This burden is now yours.” A peaceful expression the likes of which I have never seen, appeared on the grotesque wooden giant, right before it faded away.
“I…can rest at last.”
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On the lands of gold, in the Kingdoms on high, there sat an imposing figure, rune marks engraved on exquisite and glowing golden armor, Golden flowing locks of hair, eyes that shined of sunlight. A gorgeous creature, with an exhausted look. A mighty general of the strongest army in the entire 81 worlds.
A prodigal child.
She heard a report, that the Lord of the World below this one, has died. It seems the graveyard would need a new leader. Furthermore, the abyssal kin broke through the eastern far wall, and the soldiers retreated to the middle walls.
*sigh* The general rubbed her temple. There was no time to worry about that disgusting graveyard. It would find a new lord on its own, or birth one. It would be a potential danger for a moment, but the invaders from the abyss required much more attention.
“Leave the graveyard alone, send reinforcements to the east and west. Expect another attack soon.”
Reports also told of a beast, who nearly flew up, only to be stopped by the Lord of the land. Moments later, the lord was gone, and the beast was nowhere to be found.
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I held the core in my hands, the surroundings eerily silent. Everything around was destroyed, and the Blood Horde completely receded. The core was the brightest red I’ve ever seen.
“Were his words true? Of the death that awaits above?” I questioned the Lord of stars.
“Presumably. You must understand. I have been dormant for millions of years. The specifics don’t matter. Eat the core, and dive below. We shall trust him, in the end, his enemies are the same as ours.”
This was not like the other beasts I ate. It was nowhere near as brutal. This core was delectable, a sweetly and perfectly ripe fruit. It was easy coming down. As it stood now, My fur and wings were gone, my wounds still regenerating, the carapace armor barely surviving. I swallowed the last of the core, and prepared for drastic changes.
Suddenly, I turned into a pile of blood. A formless puddle. It was the strangest sensation felt to date. I couldn’t help but panic to regain form. I struggled and struggled until finally, an arm appeared from the blood. It was a dark, red arm, with a much stronger, yet thinner carapace armor, an infinitely more powerful aura than before.
This was referred to as an evolution. When a beast consumes enough, it will transform completely, and become something completely new. Similar to a cultivator reaching a higher realm of strength. First was a Beast’s Body, now it was a beast's blood.
The change was qualitative. Before, I simply added on new powers, and grew in strength slightly. Now, I was going to become a unique creature, officially setting me upon the path of beasts.
The next arm formed, and I pulled myself out of the blood puddle. My body had reformed itself. No more wings, no more fur. My face was now mostly human, and slightly demonic. Maybe a result of all the consumed corpses in the blood horde.
My eyes contained slits like a beast. I felt my strength was boosted by hundreds of times over, and I felt my defense and speed did not lag far behind. My hair was plain, short, and red. My skin was the dark red of a star, and the Carapace shell was newly formed. It appeared as If I wore a full body, red suit of armor. A tall red monkey’s tail remained in the back. My claws had transformed into a single blade, which extended from my forearm at will. The length of the blade was quite long, upwards of 4 feet. Thin, yet sharper than ever.
My body was now made of almost pure blood, and I felt I could change parts of my body, shift them into new pieces. I began playing around. My forearm could now form a sword, and it was many times sharper than my claws. Speed, defense, strength, all massively increased.
At the center of my being, a newly formed core of blood. My legs turned humanoid, but I could reform the talons at will. My tail began transforming into a sword, a spear, and a hammer. It became infinitely more versatile as I changed its shape. It could also extend quite a distance now.
Most amazingly, I could sprout blood wings, and take flight. This flight was no worse than harpy’s wings, and even exceeded it by quite a bit in speed and maneuverability. The blood of this beast was completely different from any other and was a complete and total transformation.
This feeling of growth was incredibly addictive.
It was all thanks to that tired Dryad, who became the Blood Horde.
“May you rest in peace, warrior.” I gave a warrior's salute, for a warrior's death.
“Indeed, we shall respect his wishes.” Solemnly spoke the Lord of Stars
“He seemed to know you, how?”
“I landed on this world; a foreigner to all. I came from outside the 81 worlds, a cosmic born being with no name. Due to unfortunate events, this once green grassland has now become a cauldron of blood and disease.” He continued quickly. “You will learn everything eventually, should you survive long enough. Get stronger, go down. Then go back up. Everything else is empty fluff.”
After one last look around, I turned into a puddle of blood, and leaked through the earth, slowly making my way downward, into the world below.
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There was a man named Johnson. He did nothing all day, every day. His parents landed him a nice, easy, cushy job with good pay.
Once a dream of his, now he just sat right there, staring at a crack in the sky. A massive metal funnel collected blood that seeped from it, which went through a technological purification process, turning the blood into fuel, which poured into Barrels. It was all he saw. He supervised the process in this section, ensuring it ran smoothly, which it always did. If it broke, he called a mechanic. That was it. Many jobs in the new era were just titles with pay, made to appease a population that would have revolted otherwise. Everything was now automated.
He was bored out of his mind and going insane. He would read stories of cybernetic superhumans that leaped across buildings, laser beam swords, rocket launchers coming out of their wrist. This was the life he craved. These days, no, these past few years he felt as If something was completely missing in his life. He had no wife, no children. Only a couple of old fart parents that wanted nothing to do with him, only his sibling, who was a famous warrior.
His whole life, he lived in that shadow, the shadow of a world-renowned warrior, “The Light blade.”, please. More like ‘glowy stick person’. Johnson looked at the blood flowing through that crack, as he did for the past 5 years, and suddenly, he left. Just like that, he was gone.
The man named Johnson had disappeared, With dreams of becoming a cybernetic samurai in his head.
A Barrel began to shake and exploded violently. In that pool of blood, formed a man. Large and devilish. Red skin, bloody and ornate carapace armor, with a glowing red tail.
Around him was a world of metal, technology, and science. It was a land far, far different from the one he was born into.
This world was called Earth.