Chapter 08

Finn found himself dreaming, adrift in the vastness of space. Beneath him, two planets hung in the silent cosmos. To his left was a familiar sight: a planet dominated by blue oceans, green continents, and white, fluffy clouds—a vision of Earth as he remembered it from his previous life. Around him, the infinity of space stretched out, a tapestry of darkness that made everything else fade into obscurity, save for the Earth, which stood out as a poignant reminder of what once was.

To the right, the second planet presented a stark contrast. Its waters shimmered with a kaleidoscope of fantastical colors, its landmasses were shaped in odd, unfamiliar patterns, and its skies were alive with magical lights—stars that pulsed with energy, beams of light that danced across the atmosphere, and dark voids that seemed to swallow light whole. Finn was captivated by this alien world, intuitively understanding it to be the planet he now called home.

He didn’t know what the name of the planet was even called, it had never occurred to him to ask, and everyone only referred to it as the world. He continued to examine the 2nd planet, with its whimsical and fantastic colors, it looked every bit the fantasy world he had imagined when he was still just regular Henry from Earth. Surrounding the 2nd planet, Finn realized there were figures looming around it, massive titans, who radiated power.

“Not…titans…gods?” Finn whispered more to himself than anyone else. This was his dream after all. As if to contradict this point, two beings appeared next to Finn, startling him.

The first, a radiant female presence with a soothing aura, smiled warmly at him. “Hello, Finn. I'm Serena, the goddess of peace and harmony, you may not remember, but we have met once before.'' She introduced herself in a ton much more casual and friendly than Finn would have expected from a deity. Her voice carried the tranquility of a gentle stream, immediately putting Finn at ease.

Beside her stood a male figure, exuding a calm and rejuvenating energy. “And I,” he began with a laid-back grin that seemed to light up the cosmos around them, “am Aeon, the god of rebirth and cycles. It’s not every day we get to chat with someone from another world, even in their dreams.”

Their demeanor was disarming, lacking the formality or distance one might expect from divine beings. Instead, they radiated warmth and approachability, making Finn feel like he was talking to old friends rather than powerful gods of this fantasy world.

“We’ve been watching your journey, Finn. It’s quite the tale you’re living,” Serena continued, her expression both curious and kind.

Aeon nodded, his eyes twinkling with a mischievous light. “Indeed. And we thought it might be time to officially introduce ourselves. As I said, I am the god of rebirth and cycles. Typically, I work with the god of death in determining who is reborn, vs who…well that isn't really for mortals to know, suffice it to say, I work more in the scope of this world, it’s people, plants, etc, all comes somewhat into my domain.”

Finn looked at the god, unsure at first, but got the courage and asked “wouldn’t being the god of cycles encroach on the god of water for example? His domain is water, which has a cycle, how does that work?”

The god chuckled, a pleasant rumbling sound. “Yes…and no. We gods all represent aspects of the world and how it operates, but we have rules that we must abide by, we are not omnipotent. For this reason, I have relationships with any god who’s domain intersects with mine. We work in tandem to operate equally, to allow for a balanced world, this is our entire purpose for being, to ensure balance of the world. It is far more complicated than this, but is simply the best I can do without taking up the rest of your dream, so I will leave it at that.”

Serena stepped in to say “Yes, the world is very complex, there are physical laws, magical laws, and rules of beings outside of both physical and magical reality. But to talk about the laws of the world is not why we came to you, in fact, the goddess of knowledge would not be very pleased at us for disseminating knowledge to a being so young, especially without her here to proctor it."

The goddess scratched her head before continuing.

"Alas, the reason we are here is because we wanted to communicate with you, not that you have grown out of your infantile stage, and are moving into your early childhood, which typically serves as the time that you develop your core personality. However, as I suspected, Aeon here seems to have plucked your soul out of the astral and given you a new life here on this world.”

The god, Aeon, looked mock hurt.

“Heyyy, you make it sound like I kidnapped him or something! Rebirth is like my whole thing, I wasn’t going to let a soul with so much potential float through the astral without a purpose.” Aeon noticed Finn’s wide eyed look and gave another warm rumble of a laugh. “No no, don’t worry, you would have made your way to where you needed to be, I have only guided you to another chance. In fact, if you didn’t want a second chance, there would have been nothing I could do for you, even gods can not influence a soul, we can only guide them”.

“Ahem…” Serena interjected, “ My point was that you are from another world, with your memories intact, I assume. This is more rare than typical, but not unheard of. However, because you are still the person you used to be on the inside, and you have a new body, a new brain, a new persona, there will be a dissonance between your old self and your new self. Until you can find a way to become one with your heart and mind, you will likely be plagued with bad dreams, confusing thoughts, conflicts of principal. While you are within my domain you are safe from any violence, and I can help keep your dissonance at bay, but outside of my domain, I’m afraid you will be on your own.”

Finn gazed at his hands, feeling an odd mix of identities within him. On one hand, he was still the 24-year-old man burdened by past mistakes, but on the other, he was now a young child, brimming with curiosity and the promise of new beginnings. As he watched, two translucent figures materialized before him, offering a stark contrast between his past and present selves.

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One was the familiar image of his old body, the one he was accustomed to in his previous life – an adult with the weight of experience etched in his features. He looked tired, bags under his eyes that shouldn’t be there for someone as healthy as he had been. Beside it floated a strikingly different form: a small child, the embodiment of his new existence. This childlike version of himself bore pointy ears, a hallmark of his elven heritage. His hair, now a shimmering blonde, cascaded down to his shoulders in soft waves, framing his face. His eyes, a captivating sea green, sparkled with an innocence and depth that spoke of both his past experiences and the new life he was embarking upon.

This visual juxtaposition of his two selves was a reminder of the journey he had undertaken and the transformation he had experienced. He was no longer just Henry; he was Finn, a unique blend of his human past and his newfound existence in a magical world.

Finn looked up at the pair of gods and asked “this is all great, but why have you come to me in my dream? What does all this mean?”

Serena smiled, “Because as you approach you’ve been growing, I have watched as you have fastidiously to hone your skills in manipulating magic, learning the language of this world, and getting to learn our customs here in my domain. Your body has learned to channel magic very well, and I felt that now would be a good time where you are mentally ready and physically ready. As you should be aware by now, this world has categorized the level of magic into ranks. You are at normal rank, meaning you have access to magic, as it is a natural aspect of our world, but your ability to use that magic is at the lowest level. You have improved remarkably for your age, surpassing many normal rank people of this world, but that power will stagnate, and without reaching iron rank, you will not be able to improve your abilities further once you reach the peak of normal magic rank.”

Aeon stepped up to continue the explanation, “In this world, you can increase your rank by first, reaching your peak normal rank, and then there are several ways you can increase rank. If you serve one of the gods of this world, they can offer their own trials to increase your rank. But if you choose the path of adventurer’s you can increase your rank naturally, through combat and experience.”

“You mean like XP?” Finn blurted out.

The gods side-eyed each other, and Aeon arched an eyebrow, “we do not know what -”

A third god appeared, she was a goddess with long wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and some kind of glasses from this world, making her look a lot like what Finn imagined a librarian looked like in a magical world.

“He is referring to experience points, a concept from his world in something called a video game, which is like a magical version of entertainment, for a world with no magic” the new goddess said, without introduction.

“Who are you?” Finn asked, “Some kind of librarian goddess?”

“Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Sytania, the goddess of Knowledge”, I know all that is known in this world, that includes all the memories you have brought into our world from your world without magic. Very dull and messy, I must say”.

She said, waving her hand as if to shake the thought of the world away.

“To answer your question, yes, like “XP” but also no. Because magic is an inherent nature of this world, all living things and most items have magic to some degree. Your body is partially magic, and in order to increase your rank, you need to channel magic through your body enough and challenge yourself enough to initiate the magic transition to become iron rank.”

Finn Frowned, “So, if I constantly just channeled one spell all the time I could increase my rank eventually? Seems like an easy way to rank up”

Sytania laughed, “Actually, no. My explanation was very broad to cater to your understanding of magic. To put it simply, it’s a mix of needing to channel magic through your body, but also challenge your soul. It’s about continually increasing your ability to carry magic through your body and mind. you cannot just convince your mind you’re ready, nor train just your body.”

“Challenge my soul…what does that mean exactly?” Finn asked

Aeon nodded to himself. “Your soul is like the core of who you are. Without a physical form, all that’s left is your soul. When I found your soul floating through the astral, I simply guided you here and gave you a physical form. That physical form is just a shell to allow your soul to reside in a physical reality. You can turn your body into the most physically strong state that it can be in, but that is a separate entity from your soul”

Aeon's tone took on a conspiratorial edge, playful yet profound. "Think of your soul as a tree, and life's experiences as the sunlight, water, and soil it needs to grow. Some trees might be content with just a bit of light, but some yearn to grow. An adventurer's soul thrives on challenges, those moments that push you to your limits, question your beliefs, and invite you to step beyond what you thought possible. "Every decision you face, every path you choose, it's like watering your soul-tree, giving it the nutrients it craves to expand, to reach higher towards the sky. The physical feats, the mastery of magic, and the progress of your soul all work together to develop your rank.

Aeon and Serena nodded. “That is all we have to say, and all the time we have. Keep this all in mind as you continue to learn in this world.” Serena said, as Finn began to wake up, and watched as the three gods faded with the rest of his dream.

When Finn opened his eyes, he could see the starry night above him. One of the features he had learned of as he explored with a magical panel in his room was that he could make the roof transparent, allowing a full view of the sky. As he lay there in his bed, staring into the sky, and listened to the soft rumbling of his Oscar's snoring as he slept. Finn pulled out his book and silently scrolled through the pages.

There was a section labeled magic practice which had a decent chunk of information regarding methods on how to practice his magic, but they were broad, because every magic affinity has it’s own way of increasing.

Healing magic, for example, is best improved through peaceful exercises, healing wounds, casting boon spells, etc. Earth magic depends more on the person, some people were natural defenders, and creating protective shields or walls would help their improvement rather than offensive earth spikes.

Finn turned to one of his favorite sub sections, which went into detail about visualizing magic and then shaping it to his will. This was the way that Finn had naturally learned to use magic, and felt natural. After reading for a while, Finn realized it was about time to resume his normal schedule, and set off to meet up with Mirabel, of the older women from the village that he had become increasingly close with in his time in the village.

Finn set off, ready to begin another day in the peaceful domain of Serena. In the back of his mind, Finn knew that the conversation with the gods meant that it was close to time for him to leave the village to further his progress.